#Love as accepting loss in order to protect the loved one

[hephaestuscrew]

The most dramatic action that Minkowski takes towards Eiffel in the finale (sending him back in the Sol) is going against Eiffel's choices in an attempt to prevent him coming to harm. In contrast, the most dramatic action that Hera takes towards Eiffel in the finale (the memory-wipe) is causing him to come to harm in order to enact a choice that he's made.

In a sense, these actions are conceptual opposites. But they are both taken with love and respect for Eiffel. They are both extremely selfless actions which Minkowski and Hera find painful to take.

They are also both actions which could be considered to be harming Eiffel. Both of these actions involve doing something to Eiffel that Minkowski/Hera would hate to have done to them. And both of those actions are taken with the awareness that they are fairly likely to result in losing Eiffel in a sense (either because he's headed back to Earth while Minkowski is on the Hephaestus, or because he's losing part of what makes him him). That's part of what makes those acts painful and complicated and significant.

Minkowski and Hera both care about Eiffel so deeply, and their care often expresses itself in contrasting ways because they are very different people. The finale emphasises these different manifestations of their care. Love can be 'I will do whatever I can to keep you safe, even when that's not what you want'. Love can also be 'I will support the choices that you make to bring about our common goal, even when that causes you harm'. The way Minkowski's care for Eiffel manifests is tied up in her sense of responsibility for her crew's safety. The way Hera's care for Eiffel manifests is linked to how she's had to fight for her own autonomy.

Neither of their actions in the finale are perfect or typical expressions of love, but in their very different ways, they both act with love, and that's important to me.

[bunnys-kisses]

blueberry muffins with mai tail x Lando Norris?🥰

bakery menu

hey! do you want to submit your own order? then hit up the menu!! there's a whole host of things to check out. there are endless options and combinations. i accept larger orders and orders from fandoms outside of f1. i like writing these so i keep makin' em! so thank you! and for this anon thank you for the short and sweet order! i hope you love it!!

blueberry muffins ("i don't think it'll fit") + mai tai (loss of virginity) served by lando norris (formula one)!!

cw: smut/pwp, first time/loss of virginity, slow sex, lando takes your virginity (and is very nice about it), best friend!reader

when you were a teenager, you would often have dreams of this happening. to be intimate with the likes of lando norris, a boy turned man that you had known for a large chunk of your life. you had admitted to him during his visit back home that even after all the time you were still a virgin.

and without much thought he asked, 'want me to fix that?" and you almost fell out of your seat at the bar.

you swallowed and said, "yes." and while you'd try to play it off like the alcohol talking. that was a big fat lie, about as big as the crush you'd been harbouring for lando since your days in school.

you walked back to your flat, lando's hand in the back pocket of your jeans. you took a detour to an corner shop opened at this hour and bought a small pack of condoms. better safe than sorry.

"last thing you want to happena fter your first time i get pregnant." he laughed, "especially by the likes of me." then paid for the condoms before he led you out of the store and back to your flat. he remained close to you, loving the feeling of such intimacy between the two of you.

he kept an arm around you with the condoms in the back pocket of his jeans. you led him up the steps to your place and got the door open. once it was closed behind the both of you, lando took you by the shoulders and pulled you into a kiss.

"you have no idea how beautiful you are." he said.

"there's no need to butter me up, lando." you laughed as you gave him a little bit of a shove. but he only came back closer and held your chin to kiss him.

when the kiss eventually broke and you grabbed him by the wrist to bring him to your bedroom. that was when the clothes came off. lando put the pack of condoms on the nightstand as you got into the bed. lando eyed you up and down and licked his lips without thinking.

"and no one has ever had sex with you?" he couldn't believe it. the sight of you was beautiful, sitting up on your bed and looking at him, "no one? at all?"

you shook your head, "no one.. i just was too busy."

lando nodded as he got into bed with you. he was naked and he reached for you. he touched your soft skin, "are you sure you want to do this? i don't want you to feel pressured."

you shook your head, "it's all fine, lando." you reached for him an softly kissed him on the lips. his hand trailed up and down your side before he put you on your back. he eyed you down, taking in the sight of you.

"good. i want this to be good for you." he cupped your face, "you only deserve the best." he stroked his cock before he leaned over you to grab one of the condoms from the package. he got it on before he leaned back to look at you.

"i don't think it'll fit. what if it doesn't fit?" your words were a bit of an ego boost, but lando wanted to assure you. of course he looked like he wasn't going to fit, you had never been with anyone else.

"then i'll spend all night making sure it fits for the next time." he promised as he got into your space once more.

you got your legs around his waist at his request and he rubbed the protected tip of his cock up against your slick pussy. he sank into your pussy slowly, he took his time to make sure you were comfortable.

"are you okay?"

you nodded in response, "yeah, just never felt this before. this is different than any of my toys." your cheeks went hot, "better though! much better!" you shifted a little in your spot on the bed.

when he got to the base, he exhaled. he felt a shudder in his body. you felt like a dream. you were painfully beautiful. you drove him wild. you had for years, even when you over plucked your eyebrows and had braces in secondary school. beautiful then, beautiful now.

lando was lucky to be the one to take your virginity.

he moved against you slowly. his hands on your hips as he rocked against you. he wasn't putting too much force behind his thrusts, he couldn't. this was your first time and he didn't want to scare you. he could tell that your cheeks were warmed, even if he could see them fully due to hands covered your face.

"don't hide from me, beautiful. i want to see it all." his words were comforting as he moved against you. he rocked against you, his pace slowly gained momentum. he added, "please, beautiful."

you hated how his words impacted you, they made your cheeks feel flushed as you pulled your hands away and pulled him closer to you by the shoulders. he kissed you deeply as you moved against one another. you moaned against his lips and your stomach was in knots. here you were, under your best friend. letting him fuck you like you had dreamed about for years.

as if lando didn't do the same all that time. even when he was with other people, he thought of you. he wanted to make sure it was all special for you. even thrust, kiss and movement was perfect for you. as it was what you deserved. a perfect for time.

"you feel great, lando. thank you."

"of course, anything for you, beautiful. better me than some scumbag from your school. someone you could trust." someone you could love. but those words hung on his tongue before he brought you in for another searing hot kiss. lando had been playing chicken with his feelings for years, which was why he jumped at the chance to have sex with you.

and the way you looked at him as he moved against you was the hottest part. you looked up at lando like he hung the stars in the evening sky. that he was for a brief moment your entire world. the universe confined to your shoe box bedroom where the bed was creaky from years of sleeping. it wasn't used to these kinds of activities.

it didn't take long for you to feel close to climax. it felt similar to when you pleasured yourself in the same bed. but the movements made the air get caught in your throat. oh, this was something else. you panted and whined as the other man looked down at you.

"fuck you're beautiful." he panted as he rutted against you. his movements were quick, but not painfully rough. he held your hips for good leverage. i could feel the sweat as his temples and his heart hammering in his chest.

he knew he was a lucky man.

your toes curled and your back arched when you climaxed first. lando would make sure you got yours first before he got his. and when you relaxed after reaching your peak, he hiked your hips a little higher and moved against your faster. to a speed that he knew was going to send him over the edge.

you scratched a this back, leaving pretty red lines and he continued to fuck you. this was something else. he knew he wouldn't last long and soon he finished inside the condom while inside of your sweet pussy. he groaned into your shoulder and arched his back from the heightened pleasure.

"date me." he said, "please. just date me."

you blinked at him, you immediately coming back to your senses, "what?"

he kissed you as he slowed his hips to a stop, "let's go out, for real. not when we'd go on pretend dates as kids. i want you... more than this. everything."

you kissed him once more before he pulled out. the fight taken out of both of you. your heart pounded from his words. the deceleration felt like a streak of cold through you. but in a way that made you alert. you had been friends for years.

it would make sense, but still it left you breathless.

you laid curled up in his arms. focusing on his sleepy breathing he was practically knocked out by the time his climaxed. he kept you in his arms. protecting you while under the covers, you had suddenly become a safety blanket for him. you carefully trailed your fingers up and down his arm. this was a dream come true, but you were left wide awake. lando wasn't asleep long as he woke up a little bit.

he yawned a little bit, eyes slightly closed, "go to sleep, beautiful." he said tiredly, "i'll ask you out for real tomorrow. flowers and all that. can't right now, just wanna hold you" then shifted you closer to him and fell back to sleep.

tomorrow you'd have to have a grown up conversation about what you were. and the only thing that allowed you relax for the night was the promise that he'd ask you out. that lando wanted you as much as you wanted him. <3

[shiplessoceans]

Good Omens S2 Episode 6 confession scene speculation:

Aziraphale didn't respond to the love confession from Crowley because he didn't realise it was one until Crowley mentioned the Nightingale and kissed him.

Allow me to explain.

---

Aziraphale interrupted Crowley to give him the news from Metatron, so when Crowley starts his spiel:

"We've been together a long time, I could always rely on you...we're a group....we've spent our existence pretending we aren't...if Gabriel and Beelzebub can go off together then we can...we don't need heaven/hell they're toxic...you and me whatya say?"

Aziraphale interprets everything Crowley is saying as his rebuttal to the 'good news', not a separate declaration of his feelings.

What Aziraphale just told him shaped Crowley's confession, instead of finally telling Aziraphale how he feels about him, he's now backed into a corner and trying to change Aziraphales mind. Offering to run off with him as the alternative to the Metatron's offer.

The repetition of the phrase: "go off together" from the bandstand fight in season one feels very intentional here. It would be easy for Aziraphale to think 'this is just Crowley's response when the divine plan interferes, he always wants to run away'.

Aziraphale believes that he just needs to make Crowley understand the situation and opportunity that this is and everything will be alright:

"Come with me! To heaven, I can run it, you can be my second in command. We can make a difference!"

Crowley is looking defeated already, in his mind he's bared his soul and Aziraphale is a brick wall. So if he can't tempt the angel into staying with the love he has for him (which Crowley thinks he's declared but he really hasn't), he'll get him to change his mind by evoking something else he loves:

"You can't leave this bookshop."

Aziraphale scoffs fondly. 'Silly demon, you were just suggesting we run off together and abandon it only a moment ago!' He thinks Crowley is trying to 'work' him here and the old serpent might even be selflessly trying to spare the angel the loss of his beloved bookshop in order to restore Crowley and help the world, which would be just like him to be so covertly protective. So Aziraphale reassures him, a bookshop doesn't matter to him as much as Crowley and the world. It's just a collection of objects really. Humanity is more important. Crowley is far more important.

"Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever."

Crowley is crushed. Nothing lasts forever. Not even the two of them. So he covers his sadness with his glasses, walls back up, and he tries to leave.

Aziraphale is baffled. He just reassured Crowley that he was alright with change if it means things could be better. Why is Crowley leaving? Is he worried that they won't spend time together anymore? That he won't have time for his friend as a supreme archangel?

"Crowley come back!....we can be together, angels!...I need you!"

Crowley can't even look at him in that moment. Why would Aziraphale say that? The two of them together only if he accepts heaven again? Conditional love? That's not fair. It hurts.

Aziraphale meanwhile is hurt by Crowley's turning away, his silence and a bit incensed at what he perceives as ingratitude. Aziraphale didn't really want to go back to heaven, but he'd do it if it meant Crowley could be happy and safe and Crowley doesn't seem to appreciate that:

"I don't think you understand what I'm offering you."

Crowley went through the fall. He asked the questions. Did his best to protect humanity and it has brought him nothing but suffering. He's well aware what's on offer. He's seen heavens cruelty and capriciousness firsthand and been burned by it repeatedly. How can Aziraphale choose them over him and still think everything will work out?

"I understand. I think I understand a whole lot better than you do."

Crowley loves Aziraphale's big foolish optimism and kind heart and he thinks it's the very thing taking the angel away from him. This isn't how it was supposed to go. It's all slipping away from him.

"Listen. You hear that?"

Aziraphale can't even keep up at this point.

This is what comes of thousands of years of 'not talking about it' and living under threat of holy retribution if they are discovered. They're talking past each other, having two different conversations. Obfuscation and code has become their communication medium by necessity and it's failing them.

It's frustrating Aziraphale that he can't get a grip on this conversation:

"I don't hear anything!"

And Crowley drops the bomb.

"That's the point. No Nightingale's."

Oh. Suddenly we're on the same page. You can see from Aziraphale's face that he understands to what Crowley's referring. The Nightingale in Berkely square. Angels dining at the Ritz...

"You idiot! We could have been... us."

Crowley's talking about the big unspoken thing between them. Their relationship, thousands of years of dancing around each other like binary stars gravitationally and inexorably drawn together over and over. The thing Aziraphale was beginning to be bold about, (dancing notwithstanding) before Metatron came along and distracted him.

And it seems to Aziraphale that gut-wrenchingly, Crowley is finally acknowledging their mutual love only to point out that it's gone. Lost. They could have finally been together, an us, but Aziraphale ruined it because he's an 'idiot'.

After being quietly in love with Crowley for years, for Aziraphale to have his offer to return to heaven together and his unspoken love rejected in one fell swoop is devastating.

Overcome, he begins to cry and turns away, not wanting Crowley to see how hurt he is.

Crowley for his part is desperate. He has to do something. Maybe Aziraphale doesn't understand what Crowley is offering him! One fabulous kiss and va-voom right?

In a final desperate act, he kisses Aziraphale. Tries for passionate. Tries to show him that he loves him and show him what they could be because his words clearly aren't working.

Aziraphale is shocked and angry. He wants to kiss Crowley of course. But not like this. Not as a taunt. Crowley just told him their chance is over so what else could this be but a final insult. A kiss to punish the angel. It's a cruelty he didn't believe Crowley capable of.

And despite how mean it is. It's also what Aziraphale has wanted for so long he can't help but melt into it for a brief moment. Allow himself to feel what it would have been like to be that close before losing it forever.

Then Crowley lets go and Aziraphale breaks away on a sob, feeling wounded. Hurt beyond words that Crowley would use his feelings against him like this, gutted to be losing the man he loves and not understanding why.

The worst part is that Aziraphale doesn't have it in him to hate Crowley, even if he thinks the kiss was a cruel gesture. He still loves him. So he gathers himself and does what Aziraphale does when someone hurts him.

He forgives.

"I forgive you."

I forgive you for rejecting my attempt to restore you and make you happy, I forgive you for rejecting God and heaven yet again, I forgive you for acknowledging our love and then rejecting it. I forgive you for kissing me, giving me a fleeting glimpse of what we could have been to each other. I love you and I forgive you all that.

Crowley is done. Breath knocked out of him on a last sigh. He tried. And the Angel forgave him yet again for something he never asked or wanted forgiveness for. He doesn't want to be penitent for loving Aziraphale. Shouldn't have to apologise or regret wanting them to be together.

"Don't bother."

Aziraphale looks surprised Crowley is leaving because he genuinely is. He can't understand how it's all gone so horribly wrong. He gasps, shocked and can't even call out to him to stop, come back.

He cries, touches his lips where Crowley had kissed him. Tries to gather himself and barely has 10 seconds before Metatron is back.

At the end of that scene:

Crowley thinks he confessed his love and Aziraphale chose heaven over him because he didn't want to stop being a demon.

Aziraphale thinks Crowley rejected heaven, then rejected Aziraphale and threw their love back in his face as a final unkindness.

Aziraphale leaves and goes to heaven anyway because in his mind he's already lost Crowley and there is nothing left to stay for. If he doesn't have Crowley he needs a new purpose and it's going to be saving the world. He'll convince himself of it. And he'll push that broken heart down and the pain will fade if he just smiles through it. It will be enough, to make heaven better. It has to be. Maybe if he proves that he can make a difference Crowley might see the error of his ways and speak to him again? Surely. Hopefully.

---

Both of them are hurt and confused and lost and oh dear hell I really feel for them.

[ghost-with-a-teacup]

Hiii LOVE your fic 🫶🏻! I was wondering if you could write a fic where everything that happens in the chase scene, happens to fem!reader but Miguel actually catches up to her & kinda knocks her down. He begs her not to do this, to stay down. As she gets up she asks him if any of it was real, he says it was and still is. He tells her that he thought that if he pursue her romantically then she would accept her dad's fate & wouldn't go against him (of course it doesn't work) she says she can't do that & escapes. He loses it a little & starts destroying everything & makes it everybody's mission to find her

Just pure angst 😭 I'm sorry if this is a lot

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x Reader

Summary: You finally understand the true purpose of the Spider Society; protecting the canon, protecting the multiverse even at the cost of all the Spiders' suffering. But you were going to stop at nothing to find your way home, though Miguel isn't keen on letting you go.

Warnings: Angsty, Miguel gets angry.

“Miguel…what are you doing,” you ask softly, still not wanting to believe what you were seeing. All around you, members of the Society began closing in, caging you in an inescapable circle.

You didn’t want to accept it. That all these people, the ones you have grown to call family would turn their back on you in the blink of an eye. Or rather an order from their leader.

“I can’t let you leave, mi vida,” he says, eyes apologetic but unrelenting.

“What is the purpose of this place, the true purpose of this place Miguel,” you ask, your voice hardening. You had always believed when Miguel first recruited you it was to act as Spider-Man across the multiverse, no longer limited to your own hometown. But it seems there was some other agenda you were made unaware of.

He hesitates for a moment before exhaling lowly, eyes boring into yours.

“The Spider Society…was created to protect the canon of the multiverse. To ensure that in each world the events progress as they should,” he explains as the world disappears around everyone, replaced with holograms of a complex web.

“I don’t understand, what does that have to do with me saving my father?” you ask, and he winces.

You were never supposed to see the hologram and the message that followed it, you realize now. But you had snuck into the monitoring room, carrying a lunch of all of Miguel’s favourite foods when you saw it.

A hologram of your father going about his day, the message ‘Canon Event Detected. Time: 2 Days’ followed by the words ‘Soon to be Deceased’.

You thought it was some sick joke, some prank a cruel spider thought to play on you. But when you asked Miguel about it he refused to make eye contact with you, and that’s when the intervention began.

“Your father dying, is a canon event,” he says. “Just like how every person in this room undergoes their own canon events, their own version of loss. It's what ties every person in this room together in the web that makes up the Arachno-Humanoid Polymultiverse,” he explains, and you only grow more confused as he acted like that explanation justified any of this.

“So you’re saying you know that some of the most important people in every Spider’s life will die, and you just let it happen?” you ask, in disbelief at the blatant cruelty.

“It must happen, to ensure that life continues. That it doesn’t disintegrate into nothing…like how my universe disappeared.”

You only shake your head, taking a step back as your breath becomes slightly unsteady.

“You’re saying that our job here is to make everyone suffer, because of something that you fucked up a long time ago?!” you say, and his eyes narrow at you. It was harsh, but it was true. Perhaps the cumulation of disordered events could destroy a universe, but there was no way of proving that slight changes would hurt anything.

Scientific fact arises through countless hours of testing and experimentation. One result that happened one time shouldn’t dictate what the conclusion will be.

“You can’t tell me not to save my father, Miguel! I can’t just let him die if I can do something about it,” he says, and a look of pity washes over his face as he walks closer to you, but you take a step back.

“All this happens for a reason, these canon events allow us to become who we are, even if it hurts,” he says gently. And even though you hate to say it, it soothes you. His voice always has.

So much so, that you let down your guard for a single moment. Allowing him to come close and slip the watch right off of your wrist.

“No!” you say, trying to take it from his grasp but he was too fast. “How am I supposed to go home?”

“You won’t,” he says in turn.

“I’m sorry,” a voice cuts in from behind you. Jess, with a sympathetic look in her eyes. “I know it's hard, but it's for the greater good.” Looking around, you see all your closest friends surround you, but against you.

“Even you, Peter?” you ask softly, and he only glances away with guilt.

“2 days? That’s plenty of enough time, I’ll get home one way or another,” you say, glaring at Miguel.

“I can’t let you do that,” he says before he tosses a trap right at your feet. Before it can work, you use your telekinesis to throw it back, trapping him instead.

“STOP! ENOUGH OF THIS!” Miguel shouts. It was the first time in your life you had ever heard him shout, and frankly, it scared you as you watch him try to claw his way out.

Everyone immediately starts to move in on you, but you throw your arms out casting a force field that throws everyone back.

Leaving an opening for escape.

~

Running from hundreds of different spiders all on the hunt for you was not easy. It doesn’t make you feel very superhuman when all that are chasing after you were also superhuman, and quite frankly you were exhausted.

Not only physically, but mentally as well. The whole situation was taking a toll on you even if you were trying to shove it to the back of your head.

Luckily everything served as a pretty good distraction for the pain your heart was in.

“You can’t keep running,” Jess says as you leap from car to car on the freeway, tailing behind you on her motorcycle.

“What choice do I have?” you say, though your voice cracks. You see her determined expression falter. You and she grew close soon after you joined the Society, she was truly one of your best friends.

But best friends don’t keep things from each other, especially things as important as the supposed ‘cause’ you were all working for.

You notice her hesitancy, and that’s when you strike. Kicking her off her bike, you pin her to a car with your webs as you snatch the watch from her wrist.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” she says, looking up at where you hung from the vehicle, sadness in her eyes.

“You already did,” you say before swinging away.

~

You were very quickly running out of options for escape. Even with the watch, you couldn’t find an opening to program the watch for home.

As a last resort you latched onto the roof of the high-speed bullet train of Nueva York headed toward the skies, hoping that the force of gravity paired with the speed would at least stall some of the spiders off of your trail.

But before you could realize it, Miguel was very quickly on your tail until finally, he grabbed ahold of you, slamming you down into the roof as you yelped out in pain.

“STOP THIS!” he shouts, straight into your face. He doesn’t even take his mask off as he does, making the whole situation seem even more impersonal. You could only scoff in his face before the hurt overwhelmed you, and you spoke before you could stop yourself.

“Was any of it even real?” you ask softly, tears welling in your eyes as you do. Miguel looks taken back for a moment, eyes widened in surprise as his grasp falters for a second.

“What?” he asks.

“Was any of it real?!” you say louder this time. “Those times when you held me in your arms as I cried, the times when you kissed me in the kitchen as we made dinner together, or when we danced in the living room at night. When you said ‘I love you’ for the first time, was any of it even real?” You say as you feel the anger rise.

“Or was it just some kind of sick way of keeping me under your thumb because I’m the 'original anomaly’, to keep me from going against the canon and your sick agenda that you force everyone else to suffer?” you say, your voice loud now as you struggle harder against his grasp.

“It was real...in the end,” he admits, and you feel your expression drop. You wished that this was all some horrible nightmare, that you would wake up and this would just be in your head and he would hold you like he always did.

But deep down you always knew.

Knew that you loved him more than he did you, that this relationship was built on a lie. But you ignored it for the sake of your fragile heart, and here it is getting shattered all over again by the one person in this life you thought you could trust.

“We’re done, Miguel,” you say, resigned at last.

“Huh?” he says, as though he couldn’t believe your words even after everything you had been through.

“I said we’re done,” you say before you kick him straight in his stomach, launching him off of you so that he has to claw his way back onto the roof.

“Goodbye, Miguel,” you say, before you take a leap backwards, flying through the sky for a few moments until you open up a portal back home.

~

Miguel shouts in frustration as he marches back into the monitoring room, rage radiating off of his form in waves.

In his anger he shoves everything in his path out of the way, talons scratching into the walls as the rest of the Society surrounds him, awaiting his next orders.

Finally, he manages to calm down enough to utter out a single phrase.

“Find her, for the canon…for the multiverse,” Miguel says as guilt creeps in like vines around his heart at his lost love.

Taglist: @beiroviski, @scaraza, @blueoorchid, @remuslupinwifee, @local-mr-frog, @johfaam0, @rawegggohan, @honeycriess, @alexenoirex, @chimpkinnuggies, @rqdior, @banana—belle, @notasadgirlipromise, @6billionyearsold, @gods-perfectidiot, @ieatmunson, @honeii-puff, @wh0re4zaynmalik, @toplinehyunjin, @ohworm-writes, @ishii03, @snowywhiterose

A/N: Could you believe I was going to post fluff today? Crazy how life gets in the way sometimes, but hey, managed to get this fic out lol. Sorry, I know I'm the fluff writer and all but angst just hits sometime :3

[evelynpr]

The Fontaine main cast are all so thematically, emotionally, and narratively connected to each other that you can ship them in nearly every way and it somehow works.

I'm talking Furina, Neuvillette, Arlecchino, Clorinde, Navia, and Wriothesley here.

Wriolette? The upholders of the order of Fontaine. One on the surface, and one in the depths.

Clorivia? Childhood friendship, betrayal, and now healing with the truth and past resolved.

Neuvifuri? 500 years of closeness and understanding, mixed with distance and regret. Only after her sacrifice are they finally both free.

Arlefuri? Changing their fates through sheer force of will. Protecting the people who need on them, while accepting nothing in return.

Wriolinde? They were going to protect Fontaine together if its the last thing they do. Their trust is unbreakable.

Arlevia? Protecting their loved ones beyond the law. With a system and world that did not care for them, they care for their family their own way.

Knavilette? The seemingly cold and distant with bleeding hearts. They always keep their distance for fear of what would happen in a moment of weakness, especially with their overwhelming power.

Navilette? Personal regret with injustice and loss, now healing with compassion and understanding.

Furinde? The selfless princess and her loyal champion. She has always been by her side, protecting her with her blade, but only now does she get to know the real "Furina"

There are even more I haven't touched on (lemme know if you'd appreciate it ig?). These characters are just so...so interconnected through Fontaine with its themes on justice, order, love, loyalty, and more. They really knocked it out of the park with creating such a beautiful and complex cast of characters.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Do you have any recommendations for TTRPGs where Body Horror is a central theme or mechanic? Preferably ones where themes like loss of agency or control over one's body are the focus. Thank you!!

THEME: Body Horror (Part 2!)

Hello there, I’m going to start by providing a link to the Body Horror recommendation post I put up back in 2022, before I move on to new recommendations!

Mutant Monster Machine Girls, by babblegumsam.

In MUTANT MONSTER MACHINE GIRLS, you play as a member of "The Girls", a group of queer misfits fighting against an oppressive anarcho-capitalist state ruled by The Corporation. 

Each of you fights against them because all your lives have been ruined by The Man Responsible, a dangerous and cruel servant of The Corporation. Because of his actions and the nature of your evolutions, you can no longer return to your previous lives and the people you love.

Your only solution? Exact your ultraviolent revenge on him and bring peace to the city by force!

The Mutant part of Mutant Monster Machine Girls is pretty heavy on the body horror, although I think the other character options certainly have possibilities. Babblegumsam has a fondness for weaving trauma and emotion into many of their works, so you’ll likely find a lot of feelings about exploration and loss in this one. The game system uses a modified PbtA system, which gives you tokens that you can spend to add modifiers to your roll. (This same mechanic can be found in Apocalypse Keys!)

Soul Burner, by World Champ Game Co.

Soul Burner is a standalone tabletop role-playing game of adventuring ashen corpses wandering a volcanic ghostland in service of the gods of fate, protecting the timeline from imminent disaster by manifesting fractured memories to shape the world to their will.

Compatible with Mork Borg and inspired by Necronautilus, this game acts as a bridge between worlds of violent dark fantasy and stoner metal science fantasy.

Soul Burner embeds body horror both into the characters you play and the creatures you come across, using MORK BORG rules and depicting your characters as merely remnants of who they used to be. You will find creatures overgrown by fungi, desperate cannibals, and lava-worshipping cultists in this book, evoking a grim and gritty fantasy setting. Your own characters are ever-changing, morphing and distorting whenever you gain a Reminder - pieces of who you are that give you mechanical advantages in the game.

FLËSHMØG, by Freak Flag Games.

FLËSHMØG: THE FLESH BEGINS TO EXERT ITS WILL UPON ITSELF

mäw of hëck: flëshmøg is a pen & paper body horror character creator. draw your hand, discover your body, and mutate your form.

This isn’t so much a game as it is a character-creation exercise. Using a deck of playing cards, you assemble cards as you randomly draw them to give yourself body parts, strengths, and adaptations according to the world around you. This might be an interesting exercise if you want to come up with a wretched home-brew character for MORK BORG, or if you want to design some kind of horror to pit against your players in another game.

Do Not Fear: In Death We Bloom, by Hella Big Claws.

Do Not Fear is a Forged In the Dark Tabletop Roleplaying game, about accepting the fleetingness of life; and using the strength that gives you in order to combat a growing stagnation.

Fight as a Hunter, a person who has been given a Gift of Bloom; a fungus like infection that allows for incredible strength and regenerative ability; in exchange for subsuming your flesh as you die.

Combat or save the Rusted; living creatures infected by a growing viral stagnation; marbling their bones and rusting their flesh; sculpting them into horrifyingly beautiful creations. Ascend the Tower; a large, multilayered structure which you call home. Interact with the factions and people within, as you set down roots.

As a fungus-infested person, the characters for Do Not Fear feel like prime candidates for body horror. Your characters have accepted that their fate will likely end in death, but only because they must if they are to save the world from a horrible plague. The game is built off of the same system as Blades in the Dark, but I think there’s been some tweaks here and there, because there are teasers to creatures and weapons that indicate hit-points and stats. The character abilities however, look really powerful and exciting. If you are a fan of Bloodborne, Hunter X Hunter, or Technoir, you might like this game.

Mutagenic Hive Swarm, by Atelier Hwei.

Waking up as a transdimensional insectoid reptilian has never been more fun!You are a stone age psychonaut apparently occupying the body of a Transdimensional Insectoid Reptile, a bug.

But who you were is less important than where you are: you must navigate the bloody, alien meatscape of the MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM and find a way back to the Here & Now… before memories of who or what you fade completely.

Mutagenic Hive Swarm is all about playing bugs who are not really bugs - your characters have found themselves in the bodies of alien creatures, and will need to fight in order to hold onto their sense of self. Much of your character’s skills and effort will be directed towards trying to resist certain influences and changes, so I think the theme of loss of agency really shines through in this game. What you might really like is the d20 table of mutations that can threaten you every time your body changes. If you want a game where your character is more likely going to succumb to their changes than find a way out, you might want to check out Mutagenic Hive Swarm.

Other Games to Check Out

Wasted, by World Champ Game Co.

Bio-Drones & Cryo0Clones, by ChrisAir (for Mothership).

[ambiguouslady42]

Pairing: Emo! Nanami Kento x You

Content: Fluff, Angst, Smut MDNI

Summary: Your first time with Emo! Nanami.

Word count: 3.2K

Note: This was inspired by one of my fav Pulp songs, Do You Remember the First Time?

Tags: @hayatoseyepatch, @awkwardchick87, @peachsukii, @jellyfishart

Thank you, Sam and Salem for the help!

You have fallen for Nanami Kento. Every time you were paired on a mission, he’d do everything he could to make sure that you would walk out of there unscathed. You watched as he stepped in front of you to make the first move. You thought he was being a gentleman, but he was just making sure to assess the situation so that no lives would be lost. He was carrying the guilt of dealing with the loss of his friend. You made an effort at times to protect him when you could; it would frustrate him because at times he thought you were reckless to get in his way, but you wanted to show him that you were just as capable of protecting him. 

One particular mission was a close call. You watched Nanami struggling to be able to deal with this particular curse. Initially, you thought this would be simple, but the curse wasn’t classified correctly. There was no mistake that this was a grade 1 level curse. You were struggling to stand after being hit constantly. Nanami was injured and could barely hold his blade, as he was about to attack the curse, it decided to try to attack you instead. You were on the floor unable to move; you thought this would be a moment to accept your fate. You lived your life trying to protect those you cared about. Just as you believe this was your moment to pass, the curse chose to go to attack Nanami. 

You didn’t want to lose him; your heart felt like it was going to break into pieces. The adrenaline in your body aids you in getting up. Watching the one you love about to be attacked was all you needed to make your ambush. Within seconds, the curse was obliterated. As you stand in front of Nanami, you collapse. 

“Talk to me! Hey! Wake up!” he begins to blur as you fall. 

As you open your eyes, he holds you in his arms. The relief you felt on his face made you sob into his chest. You would do anything for him, even give your life away if it meant he got to live for another day. He held you and told you it was all okay. 

“No, it’s not. I know you think I'm stupid for trying to take on this curse on my own.” you continued to cry.

“It was, but…thank you. You didn't need to do that, so why did you?” he answered gently. 

“Because…” you said quietly, “you wouldn’t understand.”

Nanami did feel something towards you, he noticed the way you looked at him. He observed the way that you listened to him or the way you remembered his favourite sandwich order. In return, he got you your favourite soda from the machine. He constantly waited for you outside of your dorm to walk you to class or as you head out on your missions together. You just thought he was being nice, but you’d take it all because you were in love. However, risking your life was the ultimate form of love.

“Try me”, he continued to be gentle with you. This time, he began to rub his hand on your back. 

You pulled away from his hold. Your eyes were red, but you felt this was now or never. “I have to tell you something…I think I’m in love with you. You’ll think I’m stupid, but I don’t care. Even if we just remain friends, I’ll eventually move on and I won’t be a forethought in your mind.”

His face turned red. You were eager to brush his bangs to the side so you could fully see his face. Even if he didn’t return your affection, it would be okay. Now you put it out there and you could move forward if he didn’t return your affections.

“I think…I may feel the same way about you” he respondd. “I wish you wouldn’t have jumped in front of the curse for me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t successful. I just couldn't…”

The guilt started to build up now, and you began to cry again. You didn’t mean to worry him, but you did this because you couldn’t bear the pain. You would protect anyone who you held closest to your heart. 

“Shh…Thank you. I won’t forget about this.” he proceeded to kiss the top of your head. 

“What do we do now?” you spoke as you looked up at him.

“We do our best and spend time together. Graduation is coming up, so let’s make the best of it.”

He realized that you can’t quite get up, so he carried you, bridal style. You felt the heat in your face, but Nanami just looked at you and confirmed with a small smile that this is more than okay for him. You kissed his cheek and continued back towards campus. 

At first, each small, gentle kiss would just be enough to tide you over before class. Over time, you two would sneak off to share the kind of kisses that nobody else should have to witness. Each time you made out, he would hold you closely; you would run your hands through his blonde hair. You saw it as the perfect excuse to play with his bangs as you would grab his face to continue kissing him. The way he held you was very chaste, at first. Eventually, his hands shifted lower to your hips. You allow him to explore at times; you permitted him to grab your ass at times. The kisses eventually weren’t enough. 

After a short period, you began to have sleepovers. You weren’t ready to give yourself fully to him. He respected your choices and he would follow your lead when it came to knowing how far you could go. It was so difficult to share a bed sometimes. Each time you touched, you felt hungrier for him. You allow him to go under your shirt. As he was lying next to you, you felt him get hard. You blush and begin to embrace him and bury yourself on his shoulder. What are you supposed to do? He kisses your forehead and tells you that you don’t have to do anything. You allowed him to explore your breasts with his hands. You were feeling adventurous this evening, so you let his mouth feel each breast; he kisses your nipples so gently. This sensation that you feel is new to you. You see that his hard-on getting tighter on his skinny jeans, so you nudge him to stop. He immediately does so. You share soft, tender kisses and rub your noses together. You held each other to sleep and felt excited about the possibilities of you and him.

Then the dreaded day came. Yaga informs you that Nanami would be leaving Jujutsu High after graduation. You felt angry. You stormed out of his office and went to your dorm. You slam the door and just sob into your pillow. You could still smell traces of him on your bed. 

“Why didn’t he talk to me about this?”, you thought. 

You hear a knock on your door. “It’s me. Can we talk about this?”

“No, go away,” you shout back.

“Please, darling. You have to understand.” he pleads through the door.

“Why should I listen to you? You already made up your mind. Just go away.”

“It’s not just about you…please, hear me out.”

You get up and open the door. “Talk” you command him. You’re standing now with arms crossed and glaring at him.

“There’s simply no point in staying here and waiting for the day when we’ll die on a mission. I’m tired of constantly worrying if you’ll be back or if I'll be back. I’m still grateful to you for saving my life, but…I can’t keep doing this. Sorcery is dangerous. I want a chance of a normal life and live. You could come with me…we wouldn’t have to lay out our lives every day.”

You were fuming at this point. “I can’t. I can’t turn my back away from those that are helpless. We have been granted a gift, and while I’m able, I will not stand down and give up. I can’t do that. I thought you and I would be together, no matter what. We know the risks, but we have each other. We’re a team.”

“I…can’t do this anymore. Haibara was already too much of a loss and I can’t bear to lose…”

“Just stop right there. I’m the one who risked my life for you. I’d do it over again. I’d do it 100 times over again. I don’t regret it once.” you shout back. “If this is how you see it, then we have nothing more to talk about.”

“Please…just listen…” he pleads

“Stop. We’re done. Just get out. I don’t want to see you. Jujutsu society still needs us. If you want to quit, I’m not going to hold you back. Do what you have to do.” You turn around and wait for him to leave.”

“If that’s really want you want” he expresses somberly. You hear the door close gently behind you. You jump back into your bed and curl into a ball. You sob as you realize what you have done. 

It was graduation day; You were ready to be a full-on Jujutsu sorcerer in society. Nanami stood next to you. Stoic and expressionless. You gave him a warm smile, acknowledging the decision he made. Leaving Jujutsu Society would allow Nanami a chance at living a normal life, but that also meant that you’d likely not see him again. You accept the terms that come with this, but you wish you could apologize for the way you treated him, or even share one final kiss? 

After the ceremony, you walk back to your room. You sit on your bed and contemplate what the future holds now that Nanami won’t be in the picture anymore. Just as you were about to get up, you saw Nanami standing outside of your door. “I figured you would be here,” he says gently.

“Just saying goodbye before I move away from here. My parents would help me find an apartment in the city,” you tell him. 

“That’s good…listen, I know that our last conversation was unpleasant, but I just want you to know that you can still come with me if you want.”

“I’m sorry, Ken…my place is here in Jujutsu Society. I stand by everything I said to you. As long as I'm able, I swear to protect others. With that said, I don’t hold any grudges towards you. The only thing is, I’m sad I likely won’t see you again.” you tell him solemnly. You reach out to grab his hand. He returns the gesture.

“I understand. Just do everything you can to stay safe. If we ever run into each other, promise me we won’t be strangers.”

“I promise, Ken”.

Both of you look at each other and embrace. You hold each other tight. You don’t know if this will be the last time you see each other. You stare at each other with longing. Without forethought, you kiss. Just as you pull away, you nod to him. You go back to kissing him, but this time, one of longing and one filled with desperation. You start to run your hands through his hair as he begins to gently bite your lower lip. You begin biting his upper lip and you share a laugh. As he lowers you to the bed, you begin rushing to take off his jacket. He slowly runs his hand on your thigh. As he does so, he begins to move his hand to feel your ass. As the jacket comes off,  you begin to slowly unbutton his shirt. You stop kissing for a moment.

You look at him with reassurance,  “I’m…ready.”

“Okay, darling. If you ever want to stop, just say the word.” he coos.

“Yes, Ken. You bring him back towards you to continue kissing. He sits you up to take off your jacket and to begin unbuttoning your shirt. He hasn’t had to take off your bra in a while, but you help him. You both giggle as you begin to explore each other. You kiss his shoulders and make your way to his neck. You place small gentle kisses and he moans. You take this as a good sign and you continue to trace kisses around his neck. He pins you down to the bed and decides to kiss your neck. He is curious to know if you’ll react the same way he did. As he’s kissing you, your breathing becomes heavier. He decides to kiss his way to your exposed breasts. His hot tongue finds your left nipple. This is the moment you release a loud moan. You become embarrassed, but your Ken doesn’t stop. He begins to suck on your nipple and your moans just signal him to continue. You feel like you are at his mercy. You begin to gently pull his hair as your moans get louder. He traces kisses towards your breast. “Do…you want me to…stop?” he asks teasingly. 

“No, fuck…no.” as you’re struggling to make out words. He kisses you and begins to nibble on your right breast. You don’t feel afraid to give yourself away to him. “I need…more,” you whisper to him. 

At this point, you're both still wearing the lower halves of your uniforms. You slowly begin to unbutton his pants. He picks you to take your skirt off. You’re wearing your tights, and he gently removes them. All that’s left now is both of you in your underwear. You continue to kiss and you allow his hands to explore your body. He’s touching every place that would have always been fun to touch. He grazes your belly with his fingers. You begin to laugh in between the kisses, so he knows this place tickles. He loves hearing your laugh. His hands trace back to your outer thighs, moving closer to your inner thigh. You moan in between his kisses. You look up at him and nod. This nod expresses your permission that you’re okay with what he wants to do. He slowly works his way inside of your underwear and feels your pussy with his hand. You feel nervous at this point and just grab onto his arms. “Are you okay?” he whispers

“Yeah, this is..just a little scary…it’s new,” you respond.

You nod for him to continue. He proceeds to slide his finger in you. He doesn’t know what to do, but he feels the warmth between your legs. He notices that it’s also very wet. As he continues to explore his fingers in you, you begin to moan. He takes note of how this is making you feel. As he explores further, he finds a particular spot that makes you grab onto him even harder. “Mmmm…Ken, right there!.” This further encourages him to make you do that again. His finger proceeds to do a come hither motion. “Oh…My.”, are the only words you can say as you feel you’re about to scream. “Ken…I…need..y….” He proceeds to steal a kiss from you and you melt into him. Your hand traces his shoulders and you make little hearts on his back. You move your way down to play with the elastic of his underwear. You gently play with it to lower it just slightly. He stops kissing you. “Are you ready?” 

“Yeah, I’m ready. I trust you.” you gently kiss him.

As he slowly removes your underwear, you proceed to remove his. You decide to just gently feel his ass. He blushes slightly and you kiss his nose. “I love you. I always will.”

“I love you too.”

You lay on top of each other. His cock has girth and you’re nervous. You grab it and gently guide it inside you. As he gently shoves it inside you, you wince a bit in pain. “Are you…okay?” he asks you, worriedly.

“It’s okay…sweetheart. Don’t stop.” your grabbing onto his arms as he fully shoves his cock inside of you. As it’s inside, he sees a tear run down your face. “Do you want me to stop?” he asks you again.

“I’ll be…okay.” as another tear comes down. He kisses your face where the tears are streaming. “Just remember, say the word and we’ll stop.” You nod. He proceeds to slowly thrust into you. Your arms intertwine around his. As he’s thrusting, you think about how all of this feels perfect, despite the pain you feel temporarily. You feel like something is building up inside of you. “K..en…don’t stop.” You grab his face and you kiss him hungrily. As you feel every inch inside of you, you begin to moan as your tongues touch. “Mmm…darling…” you continue to moan. Nanami decides to see what would happen if he kisses your neck as you feel his balls deep inside of you. “Ahhhhhh…sweetheart…I…lo…” you’re struggling to say words at this point. “Shh…I know.” as he proceeds to trace you with kisses. Your moans are further indication that you’re enjoying this. You’re enjoying him.

“Oh my g…darling”, his voice goes up an octave. “I’m cum…” he releases his orgasm into you. You soon follow as you feel him finishing inside of you. You stare at each other and giggle before sharing one final kiss. He proceeds to get off you and lays next to you. You embrace him. You know this would be the only time this will happen. You won’t see him again after today. All you know is that you belong to each other, just for today. 

The years go by. You still thought about him. You miss him, but your duties as a Jujutsu Sorcerer kept you busy. You knew you had to focus on the missions at hand. Whenever you successfully exorcise a curse, you wonder if hethink about you from time to time. The feeling never waned, even with all the exhaustion and paperwork you had to do.

He spent his time in an office environment. The work is shit, but he kept living his life day by day. He wondered if you thought about him; were you alive and well? He longed to see you just one more time. One day, he stopped by a bakery to grab lunch. He noticed that the girl working there had a pestering curse on her shoulder. The moment he chose to exorcise the curse on her shoulder, it all just clicked. He finally understood the sense of duty you had. After hearing the girl’s “thank you” countless times, he knew he had to make a phone call. 

On this day, you are walking on campus and suddenly you notice a tall figure. He sees you and makes eye contact with you. Your smile never changed. His smile is just the way you remember it. Although, he traded his skinny jeans for a khaki suit, blue shirt, and the odd tie. You both stand in front of each other. He still feels a longing for you. 

You both share a common thought, “do you remember the first time?”

All he hopes for after all these years, with whatever number of lovers you took on, did you save a piece just for him?

[ugly-pickle]

Good morning, Pickle.

Please kindly consider this Ayato request: Your spoilt and pampered sister who has always destroyed every marriage prospect you have isn't happy that Ayato chose to marry you instead of her. So, on your wedding day, she has her servants destroy your wedding kimono as a fit of petty jealousy.

Please also kindly take as long as you need with this request; I have no qualms in waiting. Furthermore, by no means feel obligated to prioritize this request over your other requests.

lovely ☆ ayato

CHARACTERS: ayato x f!reader

SYNOPSIS: your sister seems to be upset when she finds out that you and ayato are engaged, so she casually ruins your wedding

GENRE: fluff 💿

W/C: 1.4k

C/W: cussing, betrayal, scissors, and physical touch (let me know if ive missed anything!)

A/N: OMG MY FIRST REQUEST AHRGHDSHH im currently working on your other request @sailorstar9 so just hold on tight! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

your sister is your everything, from the moment of her birth, when you held her in your arms you just knew you had to protect her until the sun and the moon collided, no, even after that you have to protect her. you thought all of the compassion youve shown your sister would help her bloom to be an elegant young lady, but has instead grown into a carrion flower.

your sister is certainly a bitch from time to time, but maybe it's because she doesnt have any suitors that truly love her, on the other hand you do. only an imbecile wouldnt want to be your lover, youre charming, funny, loving, intelligent, and beautiful. it could be out of jealousy that your sister had ruined your relationships with men who want your hand in marrige.

one day, you were having a fancy dinner with ayato, his family (plus thoma), you, and your family, when he suddenly got down on one knee and held out a ring with a fat diamond to you. you obviously accepted his proposal, and everyone in the room applauded for the two of you, except your sister.

for the next couple of months of your engagement with ayato, youve noticed that your little sister has become, well, bitter. her state worsens more and more the closer that the date of your wedding day approaches.

the week of your wedding day has finally arrived. the first gift youve received is from ayaka; you open the gift, you laid your eyes on the most beautiful kimono that has ever been made. the embroidery is truly one of a kind, the floral patterns was simply gorgeous, and the hair ornament looks so delicate that even the softest gush of wind could shatter it into pieces.

“oh my— ayaka this is beautiful…” youre at a loss of words, “im glad it’s to your liking,” ayaka responds with a sweet smile gracing her lips. “i will make sure that this kimono will never know what a blemish is,” you tell her solemnly, she giggles, “i wish i could talk to you longer, but im afraid that i have unavoidable duties to attend too,”

you bid ayaka farewell. you close the door behind you, you place the kimono back into its box and store it safely away. oh how you cannot wait to tells your friends and family about this gift, especially your sister.

when she heard about the news of your kimono that descended from celestia she threw an entire fit, one more immature than a toddler’s, but she does have her manners and did it once you had left the estate. her servants were comforting by her and calming her down, until one suggested to, perhaps, ruin the kimono?…

now that this idea has been implemented into your sister’s brain, nothing could lure it out. during the days leading up to your big day your sister has been ordering scissors so sharp that it could leave a scratch on the geo archon’s shield. your sister had selected her most loyal servants fit for the task to to shred your beloved wedding kimono to pieces.

your big wedding day is finally here! your bridesmaids are helping you get ready, they took you to the bath first, leaving your bedroom unattended.

the servants took this opportunity to sneak into your sleeping chambers and rummage through your things, looking for your kimono. after some time, one had found it; calling the others over, they started to get to work.

the embroidery now looks like the handwriting that belongs to a toddler, the floral designs had certainly seen better days, and the ornament is now smashed into pieces. the kimono now looks like the ghost from the ring would wear. your sister’s servants, pleased with their artwork, placed the kimono back into the box and storing it where they first found it.

you hear something scurry away, you open the door to see nothing. you shrug it off, “ladies, would you please bring my kimono? it’s in that box over there,” your bridesmaids nod there head, one of them grabs the box and places it on your bed. you open the box to find your kimono in a strange state.

your eyes widened in horror, you wanted to cry but you were in too much shock to do so. your bridesmaids were just as terrified as you are. the maid of honor instantly sent out two ladies, trying to order another kimono in such short notice. the ceremony is soon, you want someone to comfort you, but not the ladies with you. your sister? not a good idea, ayato? yes. but, hes busy.

you tell everyone to get out of the room, not wanting to shed tears infront of them, "but y/n, the wedding is soon, we cant afford to waste time, especially now." you acknowledge this for a moment, but with no dress you cant have the perfect wedding youve always dreamt of; besides the ladies cant get another kimono in time. "out. i already told you, get out," they cant do anything but put their heads down and listen to you, they exit the room one by one.

after the last one shuts the door, the tears fall down your face, you cant help it, you really cant. who did this? who would be so cruel, so jealous, so petty to do this? not even the tsaritsa would be this evil. the only person you know of who would do this is,

your sister?

how can she be so cruel?… but, jumping to conclusions is never good for anyone, and even if she did do this, it couldve been out of jealously.

.....

oh FUCK THAT SHIT, she just ruined your wedding for archons sake. you look at the clock. oh archons. the ceremony had started, but who cares, even a trash bag looks better than your wedding kimono.

tears are continuously rolling down your face, like a river that will never stop flowing. your sniffles are quiet, but it is the only rolling that can be heard in this room.

…

ayato is standing there at the alter, waiting for the love of his life, but she never shows up. worry suddenly floods his mind, what if something happened? he excuses himself and rushes to find you.

your sister sees him dashing towards her. have the archons finally answered her prayers? “oh ayato! i knew you would come to your senses sooner or later!” she exclaims. ayato, a bit disgusted, brushes her off and says politely, “i love y/n dearly and im currently searching for her, do you have any idea where she might be?”

one of your bridesmaids is running towards ayato, “over there ayato! quickly!” she shouts and points from across the room, unable to catch her breath. ayato nods, running towards where you are.

he slams the door open, “y/n—“ he cuts himself off when he sees your glossy eyes, tears falling down your face, your sniffles and breath trembling. “oh ayato,” you walk to your not-so-soon-to-be-husband and embrace him. the wet stain on his shoulder slowly growing.

for the first time in a while, ayato is genuinely shocked, hes seeing his lover upset, crying, and he cant do anything about it. “my love, whats wrong? what happened?”

you point to your bed, ayato takes a look and sees why— he and ayaka spent hours searching for a dress thats one of a kind and meant for you. his eyes widen a bit then relax again. he places his hand on the small on your back and rubs it in small circles.

he comforts you by saying, “i am beyond lucky to have you as my bride, even the most expensive jewels cannot be compared to your beauty because you outshine all, so please dont be too upset about this matter. i will find a dress made in celestia just to please my wonderful my darling.” he kisses your temple and pulls say, his face looks a bit more eerie now.

“your sister, right?” ayato asks you. “i think so—” ayato cuts you off, “i’ll cut off that bitches head as soon as possible, dont worry y/n.”

:)

A/N: this was VERY rushed but i hope you still enjoyed it ૮ ⸝⸝o̴̶̷᷄ ·̭ o̴̶̷̥᷅⸝⸝ ྀིა

imagine a plot twist where the sister is in love with you lol (i dont write incest)

TAGLIST: @sailorstar9 @gummy-dummy @hopefulceladon @username-try-3

[aliciavance4228]

Unpopular Opinion: Demeter Did Nothing Wrong

Alright, maybe the title isn't 100% accurate since she almost wiped the entire human race from earth, but you got the idea.

The thing with Demeter is that nowdays she is demonized/villainized all the time. And the most ironic part is that she is demonized by feminists, which leaves me quite confused, considering the fact that she would technically be a great example of female strength, especially when raporting to "Homeric Hymns to Demeter". But before discussing the myth of seasons, let's talk about her background story:

One thing that is certain about Demeter is that she had horrible experiences with almost all men from her life. Her father ate her. Poseidon raped her disguised as a horse. Zeus raped her as well (which led to the birth of Persephone). Iasion was one of the few men from her life who loved and respected her, and whom she lived with for a while before Zeus became jealous and killed him; yes, he is THAT much of a d-

The only one of her brothers who didn’t hurt her in any way at that time was Hades. And if you take into account the versions of the myths in which Hades was born before her that means that he was the one who took care of her as well during the time when they were trapped in their father's stomach. So it is pretty much implied that he was the only one of The Big Three whom she trusted the most, which makes the discovery that he was the one who kidnapped her daughter even more tragic.

Now, about "Homeric Hymns to Demeter": first of all I want to point out the fact that this myth isn't about Hades and Persephone. They are mostly mentioned in this story rather than actually playing an active role in it, because they have more of a symbolic value above it all. Wheter Persephone came to love Hades in time or despised him for the rest of her eternity is irrelevant, because this myth is not about her but Demeter.

Demeter had already faced some disturbing experiences even before Persephone was kidnapped. And considering the fact that her own daughter was a result of SA, it makes perfect sense why she would be protective towards her and raise her outside of Mount Olympus; every woman that was raped would fear that her daughter would face the same cruel fate.

About the abduction part: it is revealed to us at the beginning that Hades asked Zeus if he can marry his daughter, and he agreed. Hades only needed the approval of the father in order to wed her. Back in the Ancient Greece, especially in the Athens, people had a very patriarchal view on marriage. On short: the marriage would be usually planned between the groom and the father of the bride, her mother not knowing anything about what was going on until her daughter was already taken away from her. This myth is a representation of how the Patriarchy was a dominant system even among deities, with Zeus as its supreme figure.

At this point, the myth of seasons can be already considered a comfort story for mothers who had to endure the loss of their daughters either through death or marriage. This myth, however, has a lighter note as well, and that because Demeter, instead of accepting the fate of her daughter, left her anger free and did anything she could so that she would ultimately convince Zeus to give her daughter back, the last solution being leaving hundreds of humans dying of cold and hunger. This part basically shows how even a patriarchal figure like Zeus can be defeated by a mother's rage (or pure female rage, take it as you wish). Even though this myth is supposed to tell us just how seasons appeared, it can also be used as a moral lesson for men: it is better to consult with your wife and daughter before making a decision, or else there will be GREAT CONSEQUENCES.

And finally, one moment that is indeed very touching yet most people are ignoring for some reason is when her mother Rhea appears in front of her and starts to comfort her after she found out that Persephone ate the promeganate seeds, showing how a mother's mouring over her daughter was a common feeling among most female deities from Greek Mythology.

Now, is Demeter perfect? Absolutely not. And that is okay, because instead of that she is supposed to show in this myth a lot of humane and realistic nuances about what being a woman is like. She is a complex character, and completely demonizing her just because you ship Hades and Persephone is quite disturbing in my honest opinion. Wheter or not you like this couple (I won't condemn you because they are still one of the most stable relationships from Greek Mythology, but that basically shows just how f*cked up myths are in general lmao but anyway....), you have to understand the fact that the "Beauty and Beast" and "A mother's love will always conquer" are two tropes that can co-exist, and that things aren’t just black-and-white.

[sapphire-writes]

Hey, if your requests are still open and you accept... How about Aemond being inevitably soft towards jace's twin (who he claims to hate)? Maybe they were close as children but they drifted apart due to family division. During her family stay at kings landing, not a day goes by without them engaging in some good old fashioned arguing/battle of wits. One day he finds her all alone and in distress and before he can say something mean, she bursts out crying and hugs him tightly (almost like he's the only solid thing around her). Cue Aemond being out of sorts and unable to get out a scathing remark out while innerly: "No, stop! I'm supposed to be mean and scary. I'm not soft 🥺🥺"

A/N: Oooo nonnie I loved this request. I love some banter, I definitely ran with them really taunting one another. I hope you like this! I made them pretty feisty towards one another 😂💚

Dragon's Bane ~ Aemond x Velaryon(Strong)!reader

word count: 1.8k

warning: reader is Jace's twin, some violence

masterlist

EDIT: PART 2 is live 💚

Your stomach twisted with nerves as you arrived at the Red Keep. Your mother squeezed your hand, to comfort you and you offered her a small smile. You glanced at your twin Jacaerys who stood tall, looking towards the red towers. Luke, however, paled at the sight before him. You placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“It shall be alright,” you told him, causing him to smile weakly. Driftmark’s succession had been challenged, the reason for your return to the capital. You pushed your fear down, deep inside of you. You needed to be there for your brother, focused on nothing else. 

As your mother and Daemon made their way into the castle, you followed your brothers towards the training yard. The sound of clashing steel in the early morning rang out across the yard as a crowd gathered to watch. Jace nudged your elbow, beckoning you.

Finding a window between several heads you saw your uncle, Aemond Targaryen, was the source of all the clamor. He twirled expertly away from Ser Criston’s attack, silver hair fanning out behind him. He looked rather graceful, as though he was engaged in a dance rather than a fight. 

Aemond and you had been close as children, friends even. The two of you bonded over not having dragons of your own. Aemond was not awarded a dragon in cradle, and yours had failed to hatch. It wasn’t until later in your adolescent you had claimed a dragon of your own. 

With the loss of his eye came the end of your friendship. Luke was your brother after all, it was your duty to protect him from the Queen’s justice. Though you empathized with Aemond, for the wrong done against him. 

“Nephews,” Aemond called, “niece.” His sword was pointed, his violet eye locked onto you. He was handsome, you had to admit, even with the scar and the eyepatch that hid half his face. 

“Come to train?” he asked, a challenge more than a question. Your twin stood eerily still next to you. You snort out a laugh as his remark. Aemond’s eye narrowed.

“Something funny, niece?” he asked, as you crossed your arms in front of you. 

“I just found it rather unappealing, tis all. Need your ego fluffed up a bit more, uncle?” you told him, raising your brows. Aemond’s mouth formed a tight line. Jace’s head snapped towards you. 

“Sister,” he warned. Aemond’s lip curled. 

“Careful, niece,” he says, voice smooth, “you begin to tug free from your brother’s leash.” Aemond makes a tsk sound with his tongue. Your cheeks fill with fire. You open your mouth to say something else when Jace wraps his hand around your arm. 

“Come on,” he orders, pulling you from the scene, “he’s not worth it.”

The incident in the training yard was hardly the last quarrel you got into with your uncle during your time at King’s Landing. It was as though your mere existences annoyed one another and yet you could not see to stay away from each other. 

Everywhere you went, he appeared. The library, the gardens, the sept. There was no escaping his torment.  

“I didn’t know you could read, niece,” Aemond had said, snatching a book you tried to reach, walking past you. You huff in frustration, trailing after him, deeper into the library. 

“Give it back.”

“Ivestragon issa isse valyrīha,” he says (Tell me in Valyrian). 

Your face scrunches. Your mother tongue has been difficult for you and your twin to learn. You and Jace spent ages in the halls of Dragonstone practicing the language of Old Valyria. 

“What?” you ask, causing Aemond to smile at your defeat. 

“Nykeā zaldrīzes qilōni daor ȳzaldrīzes,” he says chuckling (A dragon who cannot speak).

You curl your hands into fists. You can feel the humiliation in your bones.

“Say it in the common tongue, if you’re so brave,” you taunt him, reaching for the book. He moves out of the way effortlessly. 

“Kostilus tolī.” (Perhaps later)

“It must be exhausting, being this insufferable all the time,” you tell him.

“You’re very cruel when you are feeling inferior,” Aemond tells you, a smirk on his face. 

“Inferior? To you?” you bark out a laugh, “you wish.”

“I already know it to be true,” he says, leaning against a desk, “in knowledge, in name.”

You sigh dramatically, tipping your head back to expose the skin of your neck. Your dark curls fall down your back, bouncing at the action, nearly mesmerizing your uncle. 

“You speak so poetically uncle, it almost feels like you’re trying to make a point.”

Aemond merely hums in response. He eyes your neck as though he wishes to sink his teeth into your flesh and tear out your jugular. 

“You always were a spiteful little creature,” he murmurs, eye narrowing. 

You hold his gaze for a moment. 

“Give me my book.”

“No, it is mine.” 

Your mouth forms a smirk then, eyes gleaming with mischief. 

“Cannot part with it for an afternoon?” you tease, pouting, “very sweet uncle, like a child with a toy.”

This causes him to throw the book across the room. 

Dinner is a nightmarish event. A fight is likely to start once your grandsire is removed from the room. Aemond stands to make a final toast. 

“Final tribute, to my nephews, and niece,” he drolls, holding his cup out. Your ears ring as he continues, you watch his smug mouth move the words lost to you. All you see is red. 

“I dare you say that again,” Jace says, from his spot with Helaena. You stand from your chair and move away from the table. 

“Twas only a compliment,” Aemond insists, “do you not think yourself strong?” 

Jace is on him, punching him in the jaw. Aemond barely moves, pushing Jace to the floor. You walk over to him, slapping his cup from his hand. It clatters to the floor, the wine pooling like blood. Aemond’s smirk only grows.

“Do you not tire of being your brother’s lapdog?” he says. You slap him before thinking of the consequences. He turns back to you, cheek an angry red. He twists his hand in your curls, pulling you close to him. You can feel his breath on your face. There is only Aemond in the room, the noises around drown out. You hold his gaze, both of your faces masked in rage. 

“I hate you,” you hiss. A growl rumbles low in his chest. 

“I hate you right back.” 

Daemon has to drag you from the room, at the instruction of your mother. You sit within their chambers trying to cool your head. 

“You are too quick to anger,” Daemon scolds, as you fix your hair. The roots sit painfully from being manhandled by your uncle. 

“He vexes me,” you snarl and Daemon chuckles. 

“He will not bother you long.”

You look towards your mother who rests her hand on her stomach. Her lilac eyes are sad. You wish you looked like her, especially when you were young. You often dreamt of waking with lavender eyes and silver hair. 

“What do you mean?”

Daemon glances at Rhaenyra for permission. Though Daemon has been your father figure for most of your life, he still looks to Rhaenyra for guidance when it comes to you. She nods.

“When we return to Dragonstone, you shall journey to Winterfell,” he begins, “to wed Lord Cregan Stark.”

Your blood turns to ice in your veins. It was only a matter of time, you supposed, but you had hoped your mother would delay it. 

“What?” you say through your teeth. 

“My love,” Rhaenyra says beckoning you to come sit with her, but you back away. 

“No, no! Mother please,” you beg, tears filling your eyes. Your voice is strained and panicked. 

You have sat in your mother’s lap and listened to her cry over being forced to marry. You have seen her tears and listened to her sobs in the night when she believed you to be sleeping. You have seen her unhappy, heard her thoughts on the matter. And yet she puts you in the same position. 

“I will not go!” you insist, though you are afraid you sound like a petulant child with your demands. 

“You shall do your duty,” Daemon says, a warning look in his eye. You do not meet your mother’s gaze as you flee from the room. 

Aemond finds you in the gardens. He had come to get some air after the event of dinner. When he spots you sitting on a bench his whole body tenses. He feels a throbbing where his sapphire eye sits as though your very presence is enough to bring on one of his painful fits. 

Aemond struts towards you, tongue ready to release a cruel remark. A twig snaps beneath his foot in his haste and you turn towards him, tears streaming down your face. Aemond feels as though he has been kicked in the gut as all the air in his lungs leaves him. 

Your face is red, dark eyes glassy with fresh tears as you stand. Your lower lip wobbles as the streams on your cheeks glisten in the moonlight as fresh tears wet your face. Aemond’s lips part as he readies to speak, to throw an insult your way. 

A sob slips through your lips and suddenly your arms are around him, and her nearly topples over as you throw your weight onto him. His chest muffles your sobs as you hide your face from him. Aemond froze, his hands held out to his side, as you anchored yourself to him. It is as though you cannot leave King’s Landing as long as you are tethered to him. 

Your hands claw his back, holding on as though someone intends to tear you from him. You are in the palm of his hand, how easily he could humiliate you now. But he does not. Aemond’s arms relax against you as he holds you to him. He brings a hand to stroke your dark hair from your face. 

He finds himself unable to speak, the words fizzling from his mind as he feels the heat from your body melt into him. All he can do is stroke your hair, rub soothing circles in your arm as his tongue fails him.

It unsettles something within him and disturbs him. His bastard niece, this is wrong, he thinks to himself. Aemond does not believe himself to be a comforting man. The kindness he displays to his niece is foreign to him. 

You hate her. 

You despise her. 

She is everything you loathe in this world. 

You look up at him with those big brown eyes, and Aemond believes you must think the same about him. Neither of you speaks. This is not a language either of you knows. But as your cries lull, you stay in his arms in the gardens bathed in moonlight, exploring this unknown territory together.  

[missscarletrosesett]

Can I ask for Yandere Tokito twins hc? If not just Yandere Muichiro! Thanks if you do

Summary: Yandere Tokito twins and Yandere Muichiro Hcs.

Warnings: Mentions of blood, death, emotional abuse, obsessive and possessive behaviour, and forms of manipulation.

Note: Here’s another overdue one. I'm sorry it took so long. I hope you don't mind if I did both.

Tokito twins

(In this they both live and Muichiro keeps his memories)

You three are childhood friends and have a very close bond. You were the glue that held them together.

Your guys’ parents think you three were so cute together. I mean who wouldn't?

Whenever they would squabble, it would always somehow end up with you getting in the middle of them while trying to calm them down.

Mainly Yuichiro.

Time skip to when the demon finds the cabin and attacks you and the twins.

Yuichiro jumped in front of Muichiro in order to protect him, but that resulted him in the loss of his arm.

While you? You just sat that petrified of the scene in front of you.

After help arrived things seemed to get better.

With the help of your care and the Ubuyashiki’s, Yuichiro was going to live.

After Yuichiro made a full and healthy recovery, he decided it was best to stay on the sidelines. (As much as he hated it) and watched as Muichiro trained his hardest to become a Demon Slayer.

You and Yuichiro cheered him on from the sidelines.

Not long after that Muichiro became a Hashira.

Speaking of Yuichiro and Muichiro. You've noticed that they've become more possessive over you, and never let you stray far from their sight.

At first, you thought it seemed from the worry of losing you because you three thought of each other as family.

Oh how wrong you were.

At first, it started out as wholesome worry.

Then it turned into guilt-tripping, restriction to the outside world, and more.

They would try and coax you with small little acts of affection and gifts, trying to make you see there was no reason to go outside.

Simple but sweet things.

Do not get me started if they catch you trying to escape.

If Yuichiro catches you trying to escape, he will drag you back with him and start emotionally abusing you.

He would call you unflattering names, calling you ungrateful and so on.

He would leave you alone for days without the proper care and nutrients you needed to live.

Then he would come back and start acting all sweet with you.

If Muichiro found you trying to escape, at first he’ll gently try to coax you into no trying to escape, but if that doesn't work, it'll get harder than it already needs to be.

He’ll threaten you and yell at you much like Yuichiro, even giving you the silent treatment.

But he won't even last a few hours before begging for your forgiveness.

Poor baby

He can't stand the thought of you being scared or angry with him.

If you do somehow manage to escape, it won't be very far

The farthest you'll get is maybe close to a small town, before being dragged back by most likely Muichiro.

That's when you realized you were never going to leave their line of sight.

“Come on, let's get you home, where it's safe.”

Muichiro

We all love him, but he is ruthless as a yandere.

RUTHLESS.

Same scenario as for the twins, you were childhood friends with the twins.

After the Demon attacked you guys, you and Muichiro were the only survivors, having Yuichiro sacrifice his life in order to protect you two.

Muichiro experienced Memory loss but for some strange reason he remembered you

You were happy that your best friend remembered you, of course, but you couldn't shake the feeling that he changed somehow.

He felt different, and not the good kind.

After he became a Hashira, he invited you to his estate, which you happily accepted.

As time went on, you noticed that your visits became longer and longer, sometimes even you having to stay the night, until you couldn't even step foot outside his estate.

You couldn't even remember what the outside world looked like.

He would act like his old-normal self around you, but if you ever did something he didn't like or approve of, he would revert to his cold-hearted, ruthless self.

And if you try escaping, good luck, getting caught will be your worst nightmare

He couldn't care how much begging and pleasing you were doing. He would drill it into your head.

You would stay by his side, like old times.

He would achieve his goal no matter what, even if he has to spill your own blood.

“Why do you insist on escaping? How troublesome. Seems like you still haven't learned.”

[fire-lizard-ro]

SO UHHHHH- Beware the darker themes ahead. I know people were probably expecting more smut from me, but I find it hard to write smut for the Aeons??? Who even knows how that would actually work-

Anyways sorry for the lack of smut. OTL

I will feed y’all some good Geppie smut later!

GN reader

CW: mentions of death, permanent maiming, breaking bones, sadistic and obsessive tendencies, loss of self

Lemme know if I missed anything. T-T

I didn’t really get into it as much as I could have, so I don’t think it’s too bad. But still read that CW, please-

When it comes to the Aeons, I refuse to believe that they understand human conventions, morals, or ways of love. I think that with them, it's very easy for them to be a yandere??? Sorta?

Once they are interested in you, they won't immediately take you. They'll likely observe you, being interested in figuring out what it is that had them interested in you in the first place.

But slowly they become more convinced that you are someone they want to keep by their side.

Once they've decided that you should stay by their side, they'd likely kidnap you???

And I feel like as an Aeon who doesn't empathize with human emotions just has to keep you because you make them feel something truly novel- Is this that "love" that they always heard those humans talk about? That thing that they strive for yet the Aeons couldn't possibly hope to understand? So no matter how far you try to run, they'll find you.

Yaoshi

With this particular Aeon, I can see their love being one that is harmful for humans no matter how sweetly they put it.

They don't understand why you don't want the protection of their path and the blessing of everlasting life they can give you. :((

At some point, they'll likely give you the curse of mara, turning you into something you aren't. It's all because they love you and can't bear to see your mortal form crumble to nothing over the years and your life come to an end. They just couldn't accept that. So one day they tell you sweetly to close your eyes because they have a gift for you. One that you can keep... forever.

They understands that it will hurt. Yes. They understand that you'll lose your humanity and really your sense of being- But that's okay! They can take care of you. They'll never let you feel pain or suffering after this moment. You'll just have to take this moment of pain to have an eternity with them. Okay? :))

Honestly I can't really see why any of the Aeons would keep a human or other mortal around when what they pursue is something that mortal minds cannot truly fathom. Like with Nanook....

Nanook

(Disclaimer: what I said with Yaoshi? Y e a h - THIS ONE IS DEFINITELY HARMFUL TO HUMANS AND IT’S NOT EVEN PUT IN A SWEET WAY LIKE WITH YAOSHI.)

They are literally seeking the destruction of all things. Those who follow the Path of Destruction even sacrifice their own health and bodies in order to gain power in battle. The Path of the Destruction is one that seeks the end of all things. But maybe there's a slim chance that despite seeking to destroy all creation, they would find you oddly charming. A cute little thing that they cannot seem to take their eyes away from. Somehow, to them, you are just as beautiful as the fiery destruction they seek to bring to the universe.

Obsessively watching you and doing whatever they please to you. Keeping you close at all times, trapped in their embrace as though their hands were a living cage. Again- No matter where you run, no matter where you hide… they’ll find you. Their love is also Very Harmful to Humans TM. Holds you far too tight without really realizing it. But if you try to pry their large fingers off or you squirm too much… they only squeeze harder. To the point that you feel your skin bruising, flesh becoming sore and your very bones creaking. If you actually manage to get away from them somehow, I’m not sure what will happen to you. Not to mention the fact that it will be very VERY hard to run once you’ve escaped. Aeons can probably traverse the universe at speeds unfathomable. And their piercing gazes leave no stone unturned. How could you hope to hide from such all-seeing eyes? How can you hide from an Aeon? Once they’ve caught you again… you probably aren’t getting away. They may break you a bit. Juuust a but. Enough to discourage a second escape attempt- And maybe even enough to make that second attempt impossible. You don’t really need to walk if they’re always holding you, right? Maybe if they… break your legs? Careful you don’t anger them any more than that- Paralysis from the waist down is also a dangerous, but possible option. You may be broken after that, but they’re the Aeon of Destruction. You’ll be beautiful to them even broken. :))

At some point, if this was you second attempt and you’re somehow able to get away without them breaking your legs- Or hell maybe they did but you are just stubborn enough to devise a way to run away again (though likely not on those twisted legs of yours). Point is- If this is not your first attempt at escape, it’s likely that word of what happened the first time has spread. I doubt there’d be a planet in the galaxy willing to harbor you when Nanook could easily raze their cities to the ground and destroy the very planet they live on.

Nanook is the Most Dangerous of the Aeons to catch the attention of. Because I think with them, the most realistic thing would be that you are always one wrong step away from becoming a beautifully broken thing. The grand and beautiful destruction this Aeon sought. For what greater love is there than making you an example of their reason for being, right? Right? :)))

Or maybe it’s because they cannot be bothered with you if you become too much of a hassle even if they fancy you. I’m not really sure how Aeons really work, soooo…. I’d honestly be careful around this one… Even though I’m sure most would be considering their intimidating stature and nature.

Lan

I wonder if Lan would find it fun to let you think you’d escaped them only to hunt you down. I mean. They are the Aeon of the Hunt. Yes that means more than just that, but. I can see it. Some sort of sadistic glee they have in the fear in your eyes, the pounding in your heart, and the panicked breaths you take when realizing they’ve found you again. But they’d never hurt you! No, no, no- They certainly wouldn’t… Right?

IX

I don’t think there’d be any getting away from the Aeon of Nihility. 💀

I mean- Considering what happened in the Simulated Universe when meeting IX, I think you know why. I don’t know too much about them and no longer have many spoons for this so ye.

Maybe will write more about the Aeons later.

Sorry for any wack writing and typos it’s ass o’clock and it’s time for my eepy ass to go mimimimimimi- Might fix it eventually if I catch it.

[princess-ibri]

King Magnifico Backstory : Part One

Ok! Here goes part one for my ideas for Magnifico’s backstory with the DisneyVerse! I based it on the fairytale “The Carnation/ The Pink” as recorded by the Brothers Grimm, the tale of a young man who’s every wish comes true…

Link to the fairytale I’ve based this on here

Once upon a time, a lonely, childless queen wished upon a star, and the star answered. The Fairy of the star said that for the Queen’s great kindness and pure heart, the child would be blessed with beauty, charm and that he would have the power to grant the wishes of his people, in order to bless the kingdom he would one day inherit.

(This is me justifying that “Mirrors love my face/got these genes from outer space” line xD)

The queen was overjoyed with her son, and marveled at the magic he already displayed. She intended to keep his gift secret from the kingdom until he was older, in order to protect him, but it was too late. Word of his gift had leaked out, and one day the child was kidnapped.

He grew up under the watchful eye of his “parents”, granting them whatever they desired, wish after wish, day after day. Gowns and jewels, a manor house on the kingdom’s border, a fleet of fine hunting hounds to tear up the countryside. A covering of protection from any who might try and discover their whereabouts.

The child gave it all to them, for he felt the power of Love inside him when he used the gift that was meant to bless, and thought the love came from them.

They told him to never be selfish and wish for himself, though this was only to keep him from one day wishing in anyway that might undermine them. They lived in luxury and he in loneliness, for they of course allowed none to get to close to their prize lest another steal their good fortune.

Finally though, when the boy had become a youth, his loneliness became too great, and he wished deep in his heart for companionship. And the wish was granted. A beautiful young woman stood before him, shocked to be suddenly in a strange place before a strange man. But the youth was so comely, and spoke to her kindly and with assurances she would be safe with him, that soon she lost her fear. She still wished to return home, but the youth persuaded her to remain with him a while longer.

(He’s not evil yet obviously, but he’s always been a smooth guy and now he’s got a taste of having something he wants he’s loath to let it go. Which is understandable but can and will of course turn darker…)

For a time the youth hide the girl within the hallow of the pink rose bush in the center of the garden, and their loved bloomed with the roses they both found sanctuary in.

But eventually they were discovered by the youth’s “Father”. The boy confessed he had wished for a companion, and the man feigned acceptance. He asked the girl her name and origin, and she told him she was called Amaya, and that she hailed from the Kingdom of Córdoba. Upon further questioning, the man realized his stolen ‘son’s wish had pulled a woman to him from a completely different world.

Realizing the youth’s power would soon grow out of any control they could exact over him, the man and his wife determined to cut their losses and finally do away with him, lest their treachery be uncovered. Unbeknownst to them, the youth had overheard their plot, and began to plot his vengeance against the people he had believed to have been his parents.

Meanwhile, the leacherous man had taken a fancy to the girl, Amaya. He told her that if she aided him in getting rid of the youth he would aide her in returning back to her own world. Amaya had no interest in either the foul man nor in betraying the youth she had come to love, but she knew if she did not do as the man asked both she and her lover would be killed. So she took the heart of one of the man’s beloved hounds and brought it to him, claiming it to be the heart of the youth.

She rejected the man’s advances though, refusing him vehemently and reminding him their bargain was for him to help her to return home. Pretending to accept her rejection, the man waited until night to steal into her rooms within the manor, with a dagger drawn to plunge into the sleeping girl.

But he was met with the livid face of his erstwhile ‘son’ instead.

“So, ‘Father’, at last you show your true face. Your heart is a coal of envy, your wishes are cruel and selfish, you would take and kill with no more thought then your beloved hunting dogs do. So I wish that your outward self might reflect the beast within you!”

And with those words, the man’s bones shook and snapped, his hair darkened and spread, and soon enough a great beast spawns tearing around the manner, fire pouring from its insides as it burned all the ill gotten gains in the manor, and itself along with it.

The youth attempted to return to his true mother, but tragedy has struck while he grew up ignorant of his heritage. The King, furious that the son he had waited so long for had been stolen, blamed the Queen for the tragedy, and locked her within a doorless tower. A bird came twice a day to bring her food, but her heart was broken, and she eventually wasted away. The people, who had loved the kind queen, rose up against the cruel king, and the kingdom was left broken and destroyed.

The youth had no wish to stay in this place, full of the memories of all the good that had been destroyed by two greedy thieves. The youth, a man now, innocence scorched from him, kept a part of the banner that once hung in the grand hall to remind himself the folly of granting the wishes of the undeserving

He was ready however to grant the wish of the one who had not betrayed him, his beloved Amaya. Her wish brought them a ship that would carry them across the waves of sea and space, and together they sailed off into another world…

Edit: Part 2

[lets-try-some-writing]

She Called His Name Moon

Earth spent many long ages alone with her maker. She never expected or hoped for a friend, much less an equal to come into her life.

Her Moon was not anticipated, but with time, he was gleefully accepted.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

From the moment of her creation, she was both alone and forever connected. 

She sensed her maker and fed from his slumbering form, but he was unaware. He slept. He dreamed. Never did he stir. Although sometimes she was able to peer into his wandering visions and distant memories. 

She saw a being of light and majesty. She could not understand his name when her maker uttered it in those echoes of experience that she absorbed during her feedings. The Bright One was kind to her maker. He always murmured soft things, creating sounds that echoed like the beginning of the universe. He was golden and shining blue all at once. Silver and green, red and violet. He was color, he was life, and his presence illuminated all around him. She sensed her maker’s love for the Bright One. She felt sorrow when she learned that her maker and the Bright One had been torn apart.

So many memories of her maker and the Bright One, both traversing the stars. They sought great wonders. She only saw faint flashes of the glories of the elder days. She did not understand when their love turned to anger, but as she grew, so too did the memories turn violent. The Bright One was upset, his radiant form blazing with the white-hot fire of a being so tied to the beginning that an end was almost impossible to imagine.

She saw visions of thirteen beings, creations of the Bright One. Children, he called them. She had never seen such lovely beings. Each of them shone like stars, gorgeous even as they attacked her maker with weapons made of molten supernovas. She cried out as she felt her maker’s pain, his rage, his loss.

He was alone when he was cut away from the Bright One whose face was stained with streaks of liquid sunbeams. 

He was alone when his cries went unanswered and his frame succumbed to the injuries it sustained.

He was alone when the cold crept into his fuel lines, forcing him into an uneasy slumber filled with memories of better times.

He was alone until the moment she was born.

“Father, do you hear me?”

She called out to him as he slumbered through thought and bond. He did not heed her, but for a moment, his conscience stirred. She could feel his rumbling thoughts and his fear of being discovered. As she grew and her frame continued to wrap around his, he became content, his slumber less pained and more at ease.

She could have torn away from him in those early ages. But she could not abandon her maker. She could not leave him alone when all they had was each other. And so she grew. She shielded him from reality and hid him from all that sought to do him harm. She relished in her maker’s memory, and each time she called out, he grew more and more gentle in his responses. He was not awake, but he was registering her presence. 

That was enough for her. She did not need anyone else. She did not need to know the Bright One or his children, no matter how much a part of her longed to see the places that her maker’s memory allowed her visions of.

“I will protect you. I will guard you from the light of the Bright One. You shall not be found.”

She murmured her promises as her frame grew and thickened. She was her maker’s shield. She was his guardian. She took pride in her work. 

But she was not enough.

She could not move. She could not attack. She was merely a wall between the Bright One and her maker. She needed children of her own. Those who would go forth and move in her stead in order to protect her maker. The memories she received from her maker told her that the Bright One and his young were angry beings that were neither tired nor withered in their wrath. They would not stop until her maker was destroyed, and that was something she could not allow, regardless of their familial ties to her.

“The Bright One made thirteen. He made children to strike you down. But do not fear father. I will make children of my own who shall fight in your name.” 

The Bright One molded light and god-forged metal into great glittering embers that gave life. She did not have such power and instead took from the dust and the blood of her maker to craft her creatures. Many perished on her surface, and so she changed to accommodate. Using the visions of mountains and seas from her maker, she shifted to give her creations room to grow. She could not make them timeless like the Bright One or his ilk. She was unable to reach out and forge from stars souls that would not extinguish. 

But she began her work all the same, inferior as it was.

Life grew upon her surface. And to each of her children, she sang the stories of her maker’s memory. They did not understand her, just as she did not understand the mighty speech of her maker and the Bright One. However, they heard her intent. They grew, they changed, and they brought with them the timeless memory encoded in their very DNA. Their strength was not in their frames, it was in their combined glory.

They sought the stars. They chased victory above all else. Each of them, so carefully molded, changed to become their own beings. They thought, they planned, and with every passing age, she watched in joy as they grew in strength. One day, they would go forth and see the stars in her stead. When the time was right, she would have an army more than capable of warding off the Bright One until her maker was strong enough to resist him again.

She was pleased, and while her maker did grumble and shift in his slumber in response to the new life being housed upon him, all was well. Her maker was a being of death and new beginnings. He would never be happy about lifeforms making his frame their home. But for now, they were safe, and with time, nothing would dare harm her maker. When the Bright One was no longer a threat and her maker awoke, maybe then she could see the places beyond the confines of her cradle. Until then, she could be patient. She would wait.

Ages passed her by. Her creations grew and started to emerge from their pools to walk on land. And not too long later, her long watch was broken by the tears of a being she did not know.

Bright as opal, stunning as the birth of a new galaxy, the being who came near was drenched in tears. He was of the Bright One, that much she could tell. But he was not one of the thirteen. He did not glow as they did, nor was his frame basked in the touch of beginnings. He was a younger child of the Bright One, and that set fear alight in her very spark. 

Her children were too weak to fight against such a being. He was too large, too powerful. And while she would gladly give her life in defense of her maker, she feared what might befall her father if she did perish. She couldn’t leave him alone in his anger. She felt his sorrows and sadness. She had no wish to see his memories repeated.

W̴̢̍͑̚͜͠h̴̨̝̋͒a̵̛͙̰̠̱̓t̸̹̄͗ ̵͈͈̓̍͋ͅa̶̻̠͖̒͆r̸̦̩͋̓̉͝ȩ̸̠̖̫͠ ̴̖̝̓̉y̵̼̝̘̯̐̿͘o̸̺̺̾͊͝u̷̲͙̐͠?̴͈̇͗̄̄

She did not understand him as he drew near. His speech was strange and yet lovely all at once. He sounded like the Bright One and his thirteen, although his words did not ring out like a song as theirs did. His voice was commanding, cautious perhaps, and laced with a rumble that spoke of long cycles spent weeping. A part of her pitied him, and the closer he came, the more clearly she could see his face. He was scared, and his optics were scoured. Sharp jagged burns ran along his face. He looked to be hardly able to see as he tried to assess her and her maker. His frame was dirtied and damaged, covered in scuffs and cuts she had been unable to see from far away. 

He still shone, but his light was dimmer now. 

"Leave us child of the Bright One. I will not allow you to harm my father." 

She hissed a warning through field and thought. She could not trust him, not when a memory from her maker showed her just how deadly the Bright One's children could be. Thankfully the being before her paused in his approach. He tilted his helm, his tears crystallizing as they ceased falling from his damaged optics. He drew no closer, and while she would have loved to flare her plating or attempt to flee, there was little she could do without harming her children, her maker, or herself.

She watched. She waited. The being did nothing for an agonizingly long time.

Then, he reached out.

"̸Y̸o̸u̴ ̴a̸r̸e̴ ̸o̵n̸e̴,̴ ̶a̴n̸d̴ ̸y̸e̷t̶ ̷n̷o̶t̴ ̵t̶h̶e̵ ̷s̵a̴m̴e̶.̷ ̷I̸ ̷s̴e̶n̷s̶e̴ ̴a̶ ̵s̸p̴a̴r̴k̷ ̶a̵n̵d̶ ̵m̷a̸n̶y̸ ̵y̵o̶u̷n̶g̶ ̸l̷i̸f̶e̵f̸o̶r̴m̵s̶ ̶s̶e̷p̶a̸r̷a̴t̷e̸ ̵f̶r̷o̵m̴ ̶t̷h̶e̴ ̵c̶o̶r̸e̵ ̸o̷f̴ ̵t̸h̶e̷ ̶U̴n̷m̷a̸k̸e̵r̶.̶"̵ She did not know his words as he gently drew close enough to touch her surface. He was delicate and took care not to damage places where her children flourished. She rattled in fear, but the touch was not painful, merely probing. 

"̸I̶ ̵d̸o̸ ̷n̵o̷t̶ ̷k̵n̸o̸w̶ ̵w̶h̴o̷ ̵y̴o̶u̵ ̷a̶r̶e̸,̷ ̶b̵u̶t̷ ̴p̴l̴e̷a̶s̴e̴,̵ ̶b̶e̵ ̷a̶t̸ ̷e̸a̷s̵e̴.̷"̵ He spoke softly now. His field pressed against hers incessantly but not dangerously. He was trying to understand how much she could glean from his actions.

She returned his gesture and tentatively enveloped him in her presence. It was startling for her to feel another being so very powerful aside from her maker. However, it seemed to shock the being too. He paused in his study, his damaged optics wide and almost frightened as he grit his denta.

She sensed conflict in him. He was at war with himself, that much was clear through the fire that ran hot in his field. Hatred, loss, sorrow, pain, longing, and so much more. He was aching, and despite her better judgment, she offered sympathy in swift warm flares of her field. 

He stilled once more and remained unmoving for a time, seemingly lost in thought. She worried for a moment, terrified that he might lash out after having concluded that destroying her maker was the best course of action. Thankfully, after her surface finished a full rotation, the entity smiled and called out in the rumbling voice she now found herself taking a degree of comfort in.

"̷I̵ ̴h̴a̶v̵e̵ ̸l̸o̶s̵t̴ ̵m̸u̶c̷h̷.̷ ̴T̵h̸e̵r̶e̷ ̴w̸i̴l̵l̷ ̴b̷e̷ ̴n̶o̴ ̵m̷o̴r̸e̵ ̷d̷e̸a̵t̷h̸ ̸t̵h̶i̴s̷ ̷c̷y̷c̵l̴e̴. His smile was sad and his battered frame heaved as his wrath seemed to seep out of his spark. She watched him as he pulled away from her surface and settled into her gravity, floating alongside her in the void of space. His optics, which had likely once been blue, were now scorched white. She found herself wrapped up in them as the child of the Bright One remained by her side.

He did not attack, he merely lingered. His presence swiftly became a constant, and with time, she began to learn his words. She gleaned pieces of his tongue, and he in turn learned how to communicate with field as she did. Their first interactions were crude and filled with raw emotion over anything else, but she took joy in them.

She could feel he held no love for her maker, but his care for her kept him by her side. He called her many things, the meaning of which she struggled to comprehend. Terra, Guardian-of-that-which-Grows, Gaea, Evergreen, Origin, and many other names. She loved each of them, but she had one name for the Titan who came to become more than a mere watcher as stars aligned and her maker continued to grow more and more aware beneath her surface.

"Dear one?"

"Yes?"

"No matter what happens, even if the Unmaker wakes, I will stay with you."

"I thought you hated my maker."

"I do hate him... but my love for you comes before all else. Nothing shall keep me from you, not even a god of death." 

"Why go so far for me? You are of the Bright One, a descendant of the thirteen."

"Because my spark sings for you and you alone." 

He smiled at her as he spoke his oath. She had not even been given the chance to process his words before he made a decision that shocked her.

He gave up his wings and thrusters to take on a form that would allow him to better remain by her side. Where once a mighty Titan stood, now a simple spherical body orbited her own. Bright as a star, optics glittering white like the firstborn of the thirteen, a strong frame forged from living metal. He was strength, he was loyalty, and he was eternal. Within the memory of her maker, few things matched those traits, and only one represented the simple bond of creation that was shared between her maker and the Bright One at the dawn of time.

Companions to stars and planets alike, she knew exactly what her dear Titan was to be titled after.

“Thank you for remaining by my side.”

“Always and forever. Never shall we be parted, not until the universe unravels.”

She called his name Moon.

[blueraineshadows]

Part Eleven

Sebastian Sallow 🔺️ F!MC 🔺️Leander Prewett

MC turns to Sebastian in search of answers, but can she trust him? He might ask the same of her. Their relationship turns a full circle as they try to figure out the path they are on, whilst Leander meets a new face.

13.4 k words. Tags: NSFW / angst / trauma / sexual tension / jealousy / possessiveness / love triangle / death reference / hints about murder and torture

Chapter master list and Ao3

Eleven: Loving You Is A Blood Sport

MC

In the deepest well of her memories lingered hazy flashbacks of hard, uncomfortable beds, cold feet, and the echoing loneliness of being one amongst many in the cramped rooms of the orphanage. Other children would come and go, either by death or taken in by some kind soul. Some would just disappear never to be seen again, but not MC. She remained. A constant in a world where you learned fast, eating what you were given as quickly as possible before it could be taken by another, sleeping with one ear and eye open lest a chancer came to steal your socks in the dead of night. It was an unforgiving upbringing, ruled over by a matron who used a cane to keep the children in line.

Always different, always an outsider, MC kept her silence and observed. There was no point making friends when that child could be gone the next day, and even if she did dare to befriend someone, her unusual gifts would chase them off eventually, the quirks of her magic sometimes appearing when her desperate attempts at control would slip.

As she grew older, boys began to take an interest, and she was grateful for the segregation fences that gave her space to remain hidden from their attention. Her unusual abilities were hard enough to keep a secret without all the extra focus, and so she remained distant, building the barriers that would help protect her in later life when she found herself behind bars.

Discovering that her magic was not a flaw, but in fact, a very vital and powerful part of herself, had felt like a homecoming of sorts when she entered the wizarding world. There had been no need for fences anymore, and she had allowed daylight through the cracks of her barriers, opening herself up enough to let a few people come close. Whilst easing the longing for intimacy that consumed her, it was also painful when you allowed people in. Caring for another opened you up to both the warmth of acceptance and the crushing pain of loss, and sorting through that tangle of emotions was hard. The temptation to immediately seal up the cracks was strong, and hiding would be all too easy, but the glow that came from being close to someone was very powerful and addictive. It surprised her how much she longed for even more of it, to be held and told that everything would be alright. It eased some of the heavy weight she carried when she could lay her head somewhere warm and safe, hear another's heartbeat thudding a comforting rhythm, and feel hands smoothing over her skin, evoking fire and abandon that distracted and sated.  

Once you let the first person in, it became a landslide as others joined the circle, and now she was spinning in bewildered shock as that circle now enlarged to include blood relatives. She had a family in the world. Real people. They had names, faces, lives…and what was even more shocking. She knew who they were.

Did they know who she was?

She suspected they did not, and her heart thudded painfully as she thought of the hours spent in the company of one who was blood, someone she had allowed to become close. All that time they had shared together, and they had been family all along. The need to see his face was overwhelming, and yet, she feared he would reject her, unable to accept that she was a relative. In order to get answers, though, she would need to confront that fear. In order to find her true self, she needed to step out beyond the barriers she still held tightly around herself.

Twilight shadows lengthened as the sky morphed into darkness, her boots stepping lightly across the cobbled street as she made for the door of the Black Rose pub. There was no point in hesitating outside and chewing her lip, worrying about the consequences of entering the establishment this time. Tired of lurking and waiting on the sidelines, MC pushed the door open and crossed the threshold, her hood pushed back to reveal her face. Holding her head high she scanned the room, her face carefully blank as her gaze landed on the small group of familiar Ashwinders seated in a far corner. The bar room was busy, the hum of chattering customers adding to the feeling of the walls pressing inwards, but she fought to ignore the imposing sensation of eyes on her as she crossed the space.

Rosier noticed her first, recognition dawning on his handsome face as she strode towards their table, swallowing down the gentle nervous flutters behind her ribs. He nudged Sebastian with his elbow, garnering his attention away from Luella, who was seated beside him. Ignoring the clench of envy in her stomach, MC remained determined as Sebastian’s eyes lifted towards her, a flash of delight appearing in the chocolate depths before he masked it with a similar cool indifference to her own stony facade. Despite her efforts to remain focused on her task, clearly there was a game to play here in front of everyone. Steeling herself, she kept her chin tilted upwards as she glanced around the table. 

She had turned down Leander’s offer of help earlier today, concerned that he was risking himself enough by digging up buried information for her. Rather than let him get into trouble, she had come here to seek out someone who could easily point her in the right direction without the added risk. Gazing upon Sebastian’s freckled face, she wondered if he knew the truth. Did he know what his uncle had done when she was a baby? Did he know the blood he had bonded with ran strong with a power other than her ancient magic? Could it be his reason for wanting her in the first place, and not because of deeper feelings brought on by their time together?

“We meet again, sweetheart,” Rosier said, that disarming smile of his drawing her attention away from Sebastian. “Are you planning on sticking around a bit longer this time? You seemed in rather a hurry to get away at our previous meeting, and just when I was starting to get to know you.” 

“Good evening, Mr Rosier,” MC said coolly, trying to ignore the way his smile widened at her formality. There was something in his eyes that told her he liked a challenge as he lazily surveyed her. “I'm actually here to speak with Mr Sallow, if he wouldn't mind.” 

“He wouldn't mind at all,” Sebastian said, placing down his whiskey. Luella was watching with narrowed eyes, her shoulders tense as Sebastian looked expectant. “What can I do for you?”

“I believe we can help each other,” she said, playing the game. “I hear you have been looking for me, and I find myself in need of some information. Perhaps we could strike up a deal.”

The slow smirk that spread across Sebastian’s face made the flutters behind her ribs twirl downwards, pooling dangerously in her lower stomach. She could feel the heat spreading, making the back of her neck warm up as she forced herself to appear calm and in control. 

“I’m all ears, sweetheart,” he purred, lounging casually back in his seat, a dangerous and knowing glint in his eyes as he repeated words he had spoken to her on a hillside in Scotland mere hours ago. A shiver whispered down her spine, the memory of his arms holding her still fresh, the soft tendrils of flame at the feel of his mouth on her throat invoking anything but calm control over her senses.

Bastard.

Clenching her hands into fists as she maintained her tenuous grip on her control, MC glanced from Rosier to Luella and let her lips twist into a slight smirk. “A private word, if you would be so kind.” 

Rosier threw a grin Sebastian’s way. “Look lively, Sallow,” he said, nudging him again. “Don't keep the lady waiting.” 

Sebastian threw Rosier a warning look before standing, Luella reaching out to place a rather possessive hand on his forearm. MC felt herself stiffen at the touch, and noticed Sebastian did the same, although he looked down at Luella with surprising patience. 

“A private word?” Luella asked, one eyebrow arching upwards in a perfect curve. “Is that wise?” 

Sebastian shrugged, subtly slipping his arm free of her touch. “I'm sure I can handle it.”

Luella’s cheeks darkened with a flush, her eyes flashing as she glared at MC. It was all too clear that MC had stepped into this witch’s territory and was luring Sebastian away, Luella’s envy creeping over her face as Sebastian stepped out from the table to join MC. It was interesting to note that Sebastian barely gave Luella a second glance, turning to Rosier rather than the beautiful witch as he took his leave from their group.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” he nodded, and then turned his gaze onto MC. While his face portrayed his typical casual confidence, there was a hint of something darker and far more dangerous in the depths of his eyes. “I’m ready when you are.”

MC chanced one more glance towards Luella, the fury in the depths of her blue eyes hinting that Rookwood was likely to hear about this. Good. MC dared to smirk, her lips curving upwards in a cold, but pleased expression as she stepped aside to let Sebastian lead.

Feeling Luella’s gaze like daggers into her back, MC followed Sebastian through the bar, not failing to notice the broad expanse of his shoulders and the steady way he held himself. Tearing her eyes away from him, she let her gaze wander around the busy bar, but soon enough, she was drawn back to him as he held the door open for her.

“After you,” he said, gesturing towards the street outside. So much weight carried in two little words when you combined them with the way he looked at her, but MC fought against the urge to smile, remembering the possessive way Luella had touched him.

“Such a gent,” she quipped, tilting her chin upwards as she strode past, the chill evening air kissing her cheeks.

“How private does this need to be?” He asked quietly, appearing close to her shoulder. 

She gave him a sideways look, her pulse flickering into a faster beat at his proximity. “Very,” she murmured, the weight of her truth bearing down on her.

He nodded and she felt his hands slip about her waist from behind, her lungs drawing air in sharply as he held her tight against his chest, his breath hot on her neck. “Hold on, sweetheart.” 

As her hands clasped over his, Knockturn Alley swirled out of view. They landed on grass, his hands still holding her about the waist as they steadied their footing, her eyes darting about at their surroundings and realising they were in some kind of park.

“You need to stop doing that,” she said breathlessly, turning her head to look up at him.

“Spoil sport,” he smirked, his touch lingering at her waist. “We are still in London. Crystal Palace Park, to be exact. We should be able to enjoy some privacy here.”

His hand sought hers and he grasped it firmly, leading her across well kept grass towards a tall hedge, the breeze sighing softly through some nearby trees. Looking down at their clasped hands, she couldn’t help but be taken back five years, gallivanting across the Highland landscape with him and beginning to believe she had found her forever. The pinch in her chest was sharp as the shadows loomed over her head, the idea that nothing good would ever find roots in her soul making her eyes sting with lonely tears. What if she couldn't trust Sebastian again? It would cut out the closest thing she'd ever had with anyone.

They rounded the hedge only to be confronted by more of them, the night sky above sprinkled with early stars as Sebastian led her into the foliage tunnel, her head swivelling as she realised what it was.

“We’re in a maze,” she said, her brow furrowing as he continued to lead her deeper.

“That we are,” he said, throwing a smirk over his shoulder as he made a turn, and then another.

“Do you even know the way?” 

He turned, stepping backwards as he smiled down at her. Damn him, and his charming smile. “Isn’t not knowing all part of the fun?”

“That all depends on the details,” she said, irritation sparking along her veins. She tugged her hand from his grip making him stumble slightly as they came to a stop. “I haven’t got time for your games, Sebastian. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to talk.”

“Alright,” he said carefully, pushing his fingers through his mop of hair. Shadows cloaked them, and his eyes glittered in the darkness. “What did you want to talk about?”

Where did she start? How to find the words and begin? Now that they were here, her mind was spinning from the last 24 hours. Tracking Sebastian into the tunnels, McKinnon’s death, her conflicting emotions after being reunited with Sebastian, and the revelation of her birth mother. It all spun in circles, suspended in her thoughts and making her chest tighten as she stared at him.

“When you first met me, did you know who I really was?” She asked, her voice trembling slightly, her fingers grazing softly against the scar on her palm. “I told you about growing up in an orphanage, but did you have any idea of how I got there in the first place?”

He stepped closer, and she could make out the confused frown on his brow through the darkness. “How could I possibly know that? The first time I saw you was in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. I had no idea who you were then.”

She nodded, dipping her gaze as she took a steadying breath. “What about after you took me to meet your family? What did they say about me?”

“MC, what is this?” He asked, stepping even closer, his hands reaching to take hold of her elbows, drawing her into his space. She met his gaze and saw the worry there, the confusion. “Where is this going?”

“Tell me the truth,” she whispered, her lower lip wobbling as she rested her closed fists against the expanse of his chest, his hands cupping her elbows. She wanted to believe in him so much it made her ache deep inside. “Do you know who my mother is?”

He stared at her, his eyes shifting as he studied her carefully, and his grip on her tightened. “I have no idea who your mother is, MC. I promise,” he said, shaking his head. “But I get the impression you do. What happened? What makes you think I would know? Tell me.”

“I…,” she faltered, her throat closing as she teetered on the edge of her trust. She wanted to believe him, but Solomon’s name on that paperwork was as clear as day. The link of her childhood to the Sallow name was shocking. Her feet had taken her straight back to the man who had placed her into care, meeting Sebastian had put her right in front of Solomon without even realising his connection to her. Doubt tugged at her, and as much as she could feel the longing to be held by Sebastian, she stepped back, removing her arms from his grasp. The walls around her heart closed in, shutting down the gaping maw in her chest that screamed to be made whole.

“You can trust me, MC,” he said desperately, reaching forward as though to touch her, but he hesitated. “Whatever this is, whatever you need, I’m here. I promise. No matter what.”

“Leander found my birth records,” she began, her hands unfurling and clenching tightly, over and over. “He gave them to me earlier today. I know who my mother is.”

Her chest tightened, and the very air she breathed felt too thin and full of his scent, distracting her. Taking another step back from him, she considered running and not telling him anymore. Knowledge was power, after all, and how much did she want to give him?

“Who is she?” He asked, his voice strained. “Why would you think I know her? You’re worrying me, MC.”

She could hear it in his voice, see it in the way he was looking at her. In all honesty, it worried her, too. The weight that came with her birth name hung over her head, another shadow to carry along with all the others. Sebastian shared so many of her secrets already, and she knew most of his up until the point they had been forced apart. Maybe it wasn’t so wrong to share more. After all, he was the first one she had come to after declining Leander’s help. She was beginning to wonder if everything would always come back to Sebastian in the end. It was almost as though fate had cast her onto his path, a pre-written clause that she would enter the house of Slytherin and find exactly who she needed to all those years ago. Sebastian and his best friend. Their trio of darkness sealed by those who came before.

Like his uncle. Like her mother. 

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, shaking her head, still maintaining a distance. “I will be fine. I just need to find... I need…”

“Anything, MC,” he promised. “I’ll do anything.”

Staring into those molten chocolate eyes, it was so easy to believe that he would. Every cell in her body seemed to tremble with the need to feel him, the desire to press so close until their bodies blended as one seemed to almost obliterate everything else, but she couldn’t let herself get distracted in such a way. Closing her eyes, she took a steadying breath, her fingers stroking against the scar on her palm.

Not two hours ago she had been held by Leander, her face buried against the warmth of his chest, his graceful fingers soothing against her hair and back. He never asked anything of her, merely gave all that he could to ensure that she was okay. That kind of safety was foreign and felt completely undeserved, and she felt guilt tear and slide through her stomach. Her fondness for the tall Auror had grown, and she did not want to hurt him. The confusion of her feelings choked up the truth that she had come here to speak. 

Looking at Sebastian in the dark of the maze, feeling the pull that he had on her body, the magnetism that seemed to keep them locked in each other's orbit, she battled with the guilt of giving herself to another man. A man who was the light to Sebastian’s shadow. 

“Why do I always end up alone with you in the dark, Sebastian?”

The pain she tried so hard to bury echoed through the whisper of her voice. Would she regret coming back to him? Would he take what he needed and then leave her to face the dark alone?

“I'll always find you in the dark, MC,” he promised. “And you will always find me there waiting for you. It's just what we do, you and I.”

“What if that isn't enough?” 

“What more do you want?” He frowned, capturing her hand in his and holding it, his thumb grazing against her skin in a caress she could feel all the way to her bones. His gaze was intense, a muscle working in his jaw as he stepped closer. “Whatever it is you want to tell me, it won't change how I feel about you. Nothing will. I will always choose you above all others.”

Staring back at him, she wondered if he was referring to Luella, the question burning her tongue. If she asked him outright, she might not like the answers he would give. His words seeped through her thoughts, the years of solitude still making her cling to her barriers, her trust wobbling back and forth regarding him. They could love each other as deeply, and for as long as there was time on earth, but to make it work she had to choose this. She had to fight for it. Did she want that? How deeply was his family involved in her shadowed past? What secrets hung over them, and would they rip whatever remained of them apart?

Leander was the light to Sebastian’s darkness. She knew she would cast shadows over that light and smother it out eventually, and she couldn’t bear to do it to him. Sebastian had his own darkness, and together they would be reckless and dangerous. Maybe neither of these men were right for her, and the path she must walk could prove to be a lonely one after all. The ache of that possibility swelled behind her ribs, and it was crippling.

Squeezing his hand she took a breath and looked up through the gap in the maze walls to the sky above. So many questions, so many secrets and truths, and they all clogged up in her throat. She couldn't tell him. She wasn't ready. The fragility she shielded from him was held back by a cracking wall, and she needed a stronger foundation before she began to build back what they had. 

If there was anything left to build with, of course. She wasn't the only one who had taken comfort in the arms of another. Bringing her gaze back to him, she felt herself hardening as she thought of who they had left behind at the pub.

“I want to trust you, but I'm not sure I can,” she said, shaking her head. “Luella. How long has it been going on?”

She tried to pull her hand free, but this time he didn’t let her go, his grip tightening into a vice grip. Any softness she had been feeling evaporated, and a slithering, dark part of her began to creep out to play.

“I don’t know what it is you think you know, but Luella and I are not courting,” he said firmly. “She is a gang member that I must appear loyal to, that is all.”

MC felt every muscle tighten with envy, her words bitter sounding as they slid from her tongue. She was done being trodden on by anyone. “But you have fucked her, haven’t you?” 

Unable to forget the expression on his face when she had thrown Luella’s name at him on that hillside in Scotland, she let her envy get the better of her, watching him carefully in the dark of the maze as she awaited his answer. He looked down at the ground, her stomach sinking as he gripped her hand, stopping her from being able to run or Apparate without him. He nodded, and she felt her stomach cave with a sickening lurch.

“I did,” he confessed, lifting those big, brown eyes her way again. “MC, I’m sorry…”

“Let me go,” she demanded, her voice cracking. Eyes burning, she yanked her hand, but he stubbornly refused to release her, taking hold of her other arm to keep her trapped in his space. She twisted in his grip, but he held firm. She glared at him, forcing the softness from her eyes. “My memories of you kept me sane in that place, and you were out here bedding the daughter of my enemy…”

Her words choked out of her throat at the end, her chest squeezing as she bent over, gasping for breath. Her head swam with the thought of them together, his confession compounding her fears and turning them into a reality. Daring to trust him again made her a fool. Doubt clouding her thoughts, she pulled against his firm grip as he tried to stutter out an excuse.

“I don’t want to hear your apologies, Sebastian!” She snapped, her body going rigid as rage swept through her. The burn in her eyes manifested tears that began to scald her cheeks, but the rage woke the ancient magic that always lurked beneath the surface, flickering dangerously in the depths of her eyes. “And to think I felt guilty about where I lay my head at night. Well, no more.”

The remorseful expression on his face morphed swiftly into one of stony suspicion, his mouth forming a tight line as he spoke with a cold fury. “Please, don’t tell me you’re sleeping in Prewett’s bed.”

The telling blistering crackle of a bond being tested began to seeth in her blood, but she laughed, the need to bite back so strong she could almost taste it. A heady and reckless daring flooded through her with the scalding burn. She could see the rage building in his eyes, feel the tense way his body was responding to her taunt. The need to lash out and sting him the way he had ripped through her was very real, her own guilt conveniently forgotten as she let her temper get the better of her. 

“Oh, trust me, there hasn’t been much sleeping going on if you catch my drift,” she chuckled darkly. “You're not the only one who knows how to play, Sebastian, and Leander proved a most willing and satisfying accomplice.” 

“I will end him,” he hissed, his face dark and tight with fury as he gripped her harder.

Something hot and fierce bloomed behind her ribs, her cheeks flushing as she pushed back against Sebastian, her own anger ablaze in the depths of her eyes.

“You dare do anything to hurt Leander, and you will never see me again,” she warned, her words deathly cold despite the burn of her temper. Surprised at the wave of protectiveness that had flooded through her, she saw the dismay dawn on Sebastian’s face, her guilt seeping back to curl around her anger.

“You…you would do that,” he said, his brows drawing together. “You would abandon me for him?”

“You don’t understand what he did for me,” she said, her voice hushed. “What he still does…”

“He touches you,” he said, his voice hoarse, his eyes scanning her body as he tried to process her words. “You let him touch you.”

“And you let Luella touch you,” she said, some of the hardness in her voice cracking to reveal a slither of her pain. “What does that say about us?”

His hand gripped her jaw, tilting her face up to his as he fought against the fury flaring in his eyes. “She is nothing to me. Nothing!” He hissed, those dark eyes burning into hers. “What about him? You feel something for him, don’t you? I saw the way you looked at him in those tunnels. You were muttering his name in your sleep, and now you dare to threaten me to protect him. Look me in the eye and tell me you feel nothing for him. Go on!”

Coming here for his help had turned into this. Instead of keeping a grip on her control, she was lashing out and trying to hurt him. Maybe she was trying to push him away deliberately. It sounded like something stupid she would do, slam those barriers up and kick down anyone who dared to try and breach them. Just as she had warned Leander not to get too attached to her, she was striking out at Sebastian, too.

She felt heat burn in her cheeks upon discovering she spoke Leander’s name in her sleep, that he had noticed the softness she harboured for the Auror in her eyes. Despite her fury that Sebastian had taken Luella to bed, she felt guilt curl tightly in her stomach, and she let her gaze dip away from the intensity of his eyes. Her blood crackled and burned at the thought of denying her feelings, the very notion of trying to lie to Sebastian searing her heart through a promise given.

“You can’t, can you?” His voice dripped with disbelief. He let her go, his hand sliding from her jaw as he stepped back. “You have feelings for him.”

She shook her head, but the truth couldn’t be denied. “I can’t explain it…”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Sebastian roared, the tendons in his neck standing rigid as he clenched his fists. The rage on his face was absolute. “Leander Prewett will regret the day he dared lay a finger on what belongs to me!”

Sebastian

The burning in his blood was spreading like wildfire, out of control and consuming him faster than his rage, and he could physically feel the tremble all the way to his fingertips. The rage he could understand, his mind screamed with the knowledge that MC felt something for that damned Gryffindor.

His girl, his precious, precious girl. 

He blinked slowly, gritting his teeth against the crackling fire that lit his blood and scorched his heart, the sensation new and shocking. Pressing a hand to his chest, he wondered if this was heartbreak, could this be how he would die. His whole body erupting into nothing but ashes and fires of fury because she was slipping out from his reach.

The first time he had kissed those lips, the first time she had touched her fingers to his skin in a way that meant more than friendship, the breath-stealing whirlwind of falling for her…it all seemed to flash behind his eyes, like those stories you heard about facing your death. His thoughts flickered and danced like a picture book of memories, all of her, and a fog darker than death himself was striving to steal them away. He could only shake his head in denial of the fact, his own misdemeanour forgotten as he stared at her beautiful face. A face that Prewett had now touched, kissed, that prick had seen her laying against his pillow when she should only be with him.

That coiling, dark snake of his evil began to slither around his insides, seductive and alluring. The darkness lingered at his shoulder, whispering its taunts and urging him to answer. He could see the tall, redheaded figure of Prewett in his mind. The smart suit and fine robe, the healthy glow of his skin, the unwavering loyalty and truth of his eyes. A proper gentleman and an Auror, fucking perfect Prewett, always showing up and spoiling the fun. 

Why did it have to be Prewett that got her out of Azkaban first? How was it fair that he got to play the fucking hero when Sebastian had been waiting years to see her face?

He would start slowly, cracking the bones in his legs so he couldn’t run, snapping his wand so he couldn’t cast. Ropes to bind his hands, a gag to silence him, but his eyes he would leave free. He wanted to see the pain in that bastard’s eyes as he was punished. He wanted Prewett to see the face of the one he owed, and his debt of pain was a colossal one.

The thought of Prewett’s hands on her skin, his lips tasting what Sebastian hungered for…

Her laughter snapped his train of thought and he stared at her, the bitterness in that chuckle threw ice over the burn. How could this possibly be funny?

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” She said, nodding. “I know what you’re doing, Seb. You want to destroy Leander, don’t you? Perhaps you have failed to realise that by hurting him, you will also hurt me, and you can’t do that. You can’t betray me like that, because you made a promise. Trapped by your own pact, Sebastian.”

She held up her left palm, waving it in his face, her blood scar vivid against her pale flesh. “It makes your blood boil, doesn’t it? Does your heart feel like it’s going to burst in your chest?”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, love?” He said, his voice low and dangerous as he spoke through gritted teeth.

“You do have a habit of giving me reasons to be mad,” she huffed. “You, and that bitch of a sister of yours. I won’t deny that I have considered my revenge, no matter who she is.”

She winced, sucking in a breath and pressing a hand to her own chest. Interesting…

Looking at his own scar on his palm, he pondered the burn, the wicked pulse of his heart as he seethed. The blood magic was strong, their connection absolute. He couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride at the success of it. He tilted his head, his body slipping into that sleek and alert mode he so enjoyed when faced with a challenge. Blood thrumming with anger and a promise made, he realised his wand was already in his grip. He couldn’t recall slipping it from his holster. So intent was he on his rage, his blinkers over her betrayal cancelling out everything else, he even allowed the slur against his twin.

“Hurting Prewett might just be worth the pain,” he said, the coiling darkness so seductive and alluring. Dare he add another dark mark on his arm, another soul for his little collection. He licked his lips as he fought back the idea of the auror’s hands at her waist, her thigh, her pretty little neck. He would snap every bone in Prewett’s hand for daring to touch her.

He watched her eyes flare, her soft lips parting slightly as she stared. “You would die,” she rasped.

“Would you even care?” He asked, his feet shifting position, his fingers flexing around his wand handle. His eyes narrowed, envious and raw. “Does he please you, MC? Does he give you what you need?”

Her throat worked as she counter stepped, her own wand in her hand now, but it was aimed towards the ground and not him. His lips almost twitched into a smirk of satisfaction, the hours spent sparring with her when they were young still so ingrained into her body that she moved without thinking. Their steps like a dance, he raised his wand arm, and she mirrored his move.

“Do you really want to know the details, Sebastian?”

The hedges rose up in the dark around them, shielding them from the London park. The night sky stretched above them, the smog thin this evening, allowing the stars to peek down upon their heads with the gentle glow of a half moon. The air was chilled, but his blood was enough to keep him warm as he faced MC down on the maze path. His hand shook with the effort of holding his wand pointed in her direction, his veins pulsing and burning as a sweat began to break out across his forehead. He didn’t want to know the details, and yet his head was taking him there, imagining her moaning Prewett’s name while her cheeks flushed pink with her pleasure. It was a torment, a nightmare sent to rip his rational mind into tatters.

The darkness offered to swallow his pain, a tempting cloak as he stared at her, shaking as he fought the rage that boiled in his chest. How easy it would be to let the dark curl around it all, envelope him completely and leave him a shadow of himself. Cast off the pain and rage, and succumb to the icy depths of the bleak and empty landscape of cold terror. He could become a weapon, unfeeling and uncaring, carving through this life intent on nothing but destruction. What point was there to anything without her?

The loneliness of it all yawned like a maw before his feet, just an easy reach to cast himself into the dark and leave behind everything else. Maybe it would be easier. He was just so tired of fighting, so tired of cradling the pain. Succumb and be done with it.

Other memories began to seep through the shadow, dragging him back away from the drop, flickers of candlelight and her soft smile. Her fingers swiping the tears from his cheeks as he sobbed in the cold of the Undercroft, the tremble of their bodies after they had given themselves to each other for the first time, the familiar and safe glances over their textbooks in the library… her laughter as he chased her across the beach near Feldcroft under a summer sun.

The roaring throb of his pulse in his ears mingled with the rapid fire of his heaving lungs. His feet were backing up, the scratch of the hedge branches caught against his jacket and hair as he all but sagged against the foliage. Hand shaking so hard, he had to grip his wand tightly to avoid dropping it, he felt as well as heard the harsh sob that left his mouth.

“You can’t love him,” he croaked, shaking his head.

“You can’t control everything, Sebastian,” she said, lowering her wand. “We are already bound by blood magic, you cannot seek to control how I feel towards others. I am not an object to master. I have a mind of my own.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to deny what lay hidden in her words. She did love Prewett. He was losing her. He could feel her slipping through his fingers, and she was right. He couldn’t control it. The fate of continuous failure seemed to truly be embedded into his soul, and this, this would be his ultimate loss. His very reason for everything was scooped up and carried away in the arms of a white knight in Auror robes.

The old crone in the prison cell had choked on her own blood and spit, cackling at the notion of him losing her to another, the pain he had inflicted on her neither easing his agony or changing the fact. How many times would he lash out and try to smash something in his attempts to fix what was broken?

It was him. He was the broken one.

Aiming with wild abandon, he cast Confringo, the blast of fire erupting from his wand and scorching the hedge to the side of him as he cried out in a sound that was more agony than rage. The blaze caught, devouring the branches and leaves in a crackle of flame that seared his eyes against the darkness of the maze. The heat of it against his cheeks had him scrambling backwards, tipping sideways onto the dirt path.

“Sebastian!”

The fire began to spread, the pungent scent of scorched fir trees filling his nose as he leapt to his feet. He felt a hand grip his arm, pulling him backwards away from the chaos of his reckless fury, just as a blast of cool blue shot past him, banking the flames back with the power of her magic.

“You’re an idiot, Sebastian,” she muttered near his ear. “Get us the fuck out of here.”

Turning to meet her gaze, his eyes stinging from the fire and tears, the streaks of which coursed through the ash on his cheeks, he almost choked on his breath. “Us?”

Her hand gripped his arm tighter as she nodded. Just like that, a flicker, a glow like the light of gods ignited in his chest. Us. She wasn’t going to leave here without him. Clamping his hand firmly over hers where she held him, he focused his thoughts and felt the pull of Apparation take them away from the flames.

…*...

The opposite of heat and flame was cold and water. The expanse and depth of the limitless ocean. They hit the sand with a thump, their booted feet sliding on the softness and making them tumble over. He immediately braced himself, trying to avoid crushing her as they rolled on the sand, but he didn’t let her go. Her grunt of pain made him fight her flailing arms, pinning her to the beach as the cool freshness of salty air filled his lungs and the roar of the waves reached his ears.

She glared up at him, resisting his grip. “Get off,” she snapped.

“Are you hurt?” His eyes scanned over her, ignoring her command.

Her mouth tightened. “Only where it counts.”

It was like a knife of ice slicing through him, his eyes turning bleak as he looked down at her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I never want to hurt you.”

She blinked rapidly, turning her head to the side as she glanced around them, taking in the wild and abandoned landscape that was the Scottish coastline. Her brow furrowed slightly. “Is this…this is Feldcroft.”

He sighed, head dipping as he fought down the anxiety that only this place could pull out of him. Of all the places in the world, he had brought her home, if that’s what he could still call this place.

“Why here?”

He met her gaze in the moonlight, the ebb and flow of the waves, the only sound in the vicinity. “I feel like we need to go back to the start,” he said, his voice tight and pained. “This place doesn’t just hold dark memories. It also gives me some of the best memories I own. Our memories. We can make amends, MC. Despite everything. I am yours in the end, so we need to find that path we once walked. Together.”

The silence stretched as he tried to calm the burning anger, steadying his breathing as he prepared to fight for her rather than against.

“Why her?” Lips trembling, MC sank back into the sand, her hair pooled around her head like a dark halo. “Why did you do it?”

Wincing at the question, he pushed up to his knees, one each side of her hips. He released her arms and put his hands to his face, scrubbing at his cheeks with his palms as he tried to find an answer for her. Luring Luella into his bed had been a means to an end, a devious way to keep her sweet and gain access to what he wanted. So very Slytherin of him, but at what expense? 

Looking down at MC he realised just how much he stood to lose for his selfishness and it twisted his heart painfully. All those nights he had tried to find sleep alone, clutching the amulet in his hands and desperately clinging to the memory of her face. Luella had eased that ache, she had made him forget, even if it had only been for a brief time.

“I was lonely,” he sighed, turning to look out at the heaving mass of the ocean, dark and restless and stretching out towards nothing. “All I cared about was getting my revenge, finding a way to stop Anne’s curse, and perhaps seek out some way of getting you out. The nights were the worst. I missed you so much it was like a physical ache. Luella was there. She was a key to getting in closer to Rookwood’s nest, and I…I was weak.”

The sting of tears returned and he wiped his sleeve across his eyes, shaking his head at the pathetic sound of his words.

“I want to fix it,” he said, his voice beginning to shake as he looked back down at her. She was utterly still, her eyes locked on him as she listened. “I want to be forgiven, but I know that’s not something I can force or control. But, I promise you, I only want you. You are all I have ever wanted. When I arrived at your cell door and you were gone, I felt like you had been ripped away from me like that night when Harrington came for you. I can’t do that…I can’t lose you again. I will do anything to put this right.”

“Oh, fuck,” she sighed, her eyes closing as she brought her hands together as if in prayer. She held them against her mouth, her breathing shaky. “You can’t look at me like that, Sebastian, not with those big, bloody, brown eyes of yours.”

“That depends. Is it working?”

She sighed harshly and frowned, covering her face with her hands. He was pushing his luck and he knew it. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, that flicker of hope in his chest striving to remain alight.

When she opened her eyes and looked up at him, her gaze still had the power to rob him of breath, his lungs tightening as she sat up, her face tilting towards his.

“I’m sorry, too,” she said softly, her fingers reaching up to brush back the wild tumble of his hair. Such a gentle touch, yet it made him shiver, goosebumps spreading along his arms.

It felt like a tightrope that they were balanced on, alone here on the beach with only themselves to contend with. Laid bare, vulnerable. He wondered what she was sorry for, perhaps laying in Prewett’s bed or for loving him. Sebastian felt cold fear seep through his bones as the possibility emerged that she could be sorry about having to leave him, despite his plea to try and fix this mess. 

Unable to stop himself, his hands cupped her face, his fingertips seeking out the delicate bones of cheek and jaw. “I love you,” he whispered, the words a ghostly plea in the dark.

Her hand slid deeper into his hair, pulling him down towards her, and then her mouth collided with his, making him breath in sharply through his nose as her softness enveloped him. Grunting at the urgent pull of his hair, his arms encircled her immediately, crushing her against his chest as he kissed her back with a fierceness that made his blood hotter than any urge to betray his bond. 

The taste of her obliterated all else as he took advantage of her parted lips, kissing her so deeply as though starved, and maybe he was. The scales of rage and passion swung wildly, one flame consuming the other until it flared with white heat. His hands roamed down her back, seeking the curve of waist and hip, relearning the shape of her under his palms. That ache that lived in his chest sharpened, chasing back the shadows and dragging him screaming into the light of the moon, into the light only she could give him. It felt like belonging, so perfect, so right. 

When she pulled back from him, he moaned in protest, urging her closer as they both breathed harshly. She whispered his name, her hands still on him as she studied his face with heavily lidded eyes. He still had a hold on her. It was in her flushed cheeks and blown out gaze, the seeking caress of her hand through his hair.

“This is so confusing,” she said, her brows drawing together as if pained. “I don’t know what to do.”

His fingers ghosted against her cheek, his thumb lovingly stroking the damp fullness of her lower lip. “Stay,” he begged. “Stay till the morning.”

“I can’t,” she breathed, closing her eyes, leaning in to his touch. 

He pressed gentle kisses around the edge of her mouth, watching her through his lashes as she shivered, her lips parting with ragged breaths. He sucked gently on her lower lip, trailing his tongue with aching slowness, watching her reactions all the while, stroking her back with long, easing caresses.

“Stay with me,” he repeated, his words breathed into her mouth before he claimed another long kiss. He could feel her melting, sense the pull of longing that might just keep her here with him. So strong was his desire to keep her right here, he felt all his willpower flow out of him, resorting to begging to keep that warmth in his arms. “I just want you close, that’s all. I need to feel you there. I have longed for this…please.”

“Yes,” she whispered, nodding as he pressed his forehead to hers. Elation swelled in his chest as he held her close, his eyes closing in utter relief. “I’ll stay with you.”

MC

Standing side by side, hands clasped, MC and Sebastian stared at the headstone, the weeds of the garden beginning to stake their claim over Solomon’s resting place. It felt surreal to stand here before it after everything that had passed, reading the name of the man who sent her behind bars with his death and Anne’s cunning, a man who had signed her over to a children’s home when she had been a toddler. Seeing Solomon’s grave was a reminder of why she had sought Sebastian out in the first place and her anxiety swelled.

“I’ve not been back here in years,” Sebastian said tightly, his thumb tracing circles against her hand. “It’s just too hard.”

“Why now?” She turned her head to look at him, watching the way the breeze tugged at his mop of hair, locks of it tumbling forward over his forehead.

He squeezed her hand. “You,” he said, turning dark eyes her way, eyes that were always her undoing. “I can do it with you beside me.”

Heart twisting, she couldn’t deny the doubt that lingered as they entered the cottage that had been Sebastian’s home. The blend of emotions she carried left her feeling drained and exhausted, her limbs heavy as they removed the dust sheets from the furniture and lit the fire. A search of the cupboards turned up a bottle of spiced rum and some old potions that looked past their prime. Dusting of the bottle of rum, Sebastian opened it and took a swig, wincing and coughing as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He held the bottle out to her. “Here, it’s strong and will take the edge off.” 

The air was loaded with tension, her doubt making her eye the door and consider leaving. There was a Floo in the hamlet. She could go back to London and Leander. Swallowing the rum down, she winced at the burn, remembering the feel of Sebastian’s kiss, his hands on her body. The craving had overcome all else, her resolve weakening under that irresistible pull that only he had. Despite the fury and the envy, she had pressed her mouth to his as though staking her claim. 

It was all too easy to succumb to her desire for him, with that she had always been weak, but the matter of trust was another beast entirely. As much as she longed to believe in him again, she held back behind her barriers and kept her heart in a jar of glass with the lid tightened. She may have agreed to stay with him until the morning, but this was by no means fixed.

With no food, they sipped from the rum bottle and made up the bed. Her eyes meeting with him as memories flooded her thoughts, summer nights spent entangled with each other, naked and lost in their own little world. It made her chest hurt to remember how she had been torn from him, the agony of that night returning as he put out the lamp and removed his jacket. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t have come here,” she said, hesitating about removing her own clothing. Her throat felt thick, restricted, and she tucked her hair behind her ears as she fought against the anxiety.

His hands smoothed down her arms, his eyes dark and soft as he looked at her. “Believe me, I can’t believe I’m here either, but as I said on the beach, I want to remember the good things we found here. I want you to remember what it felt like for us here before…”

She closed her eyes, fighting back the shadows of the past. She felt his lips on her nose, pressing soft kisses on her cheek before holding her close. His scent filled her up, the thick press of his arms enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth that she couldn’t help but lean into. 

Guilt twisted her stomach and she tensed, Leander on her mind, easing out of his embrace as she dipped her gaze towards the bed. “We should try and get some sleep. I don’t know about you, but I’m shattered.”

Removing her boots and jacket, MC kept her clothes on as she lay down on the bed, Sebastian removing everything but his shirt and undershorts, opening his collar before laying beside her. Turning to face her, he gathered her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her head before smiling softly.

“Finally,” he murmured. 

The reflection of the crackling fire danced in his eyes, his unruly hair dark against the white pillow. The sheets were a bit musty from being in storage, but the intoxicating scent that was Sebastian held her attention more than anything else. 

“Won’t you be missed?” She asked, trying not to think about the press of his thick thighs against hers. 

“No,” he said, stroking her hair. “Rosier will cover me, and besides, this is where I want to be. I don’t care what they say.” 

“And Luella? She clearly didn’t want you to leave with me.”

He shook his head, his fingers curling through her hair. “Then she is going to be disappointed. I made no promises to her, and I have no desire to be with her. She needs to accept that.”

Lowering her gaze, MC bit her lip, knowing that in London, Leander would be likely thinking of her. He wouldn't want her to be here with Sebastian either. Lying here beside him, letting him hold her, it made the guilt tear through her. How tangled their paths had become, swiftly moving streams that linked and flowed around each other, and it was hard to choose the right course. MC felt caught in the tide, her arms seemingly reaching out to grasp at something to keep her steady, but which bough would be the best choice? 

As Sebastian sought her lips, kissing her softly, she felt her barriers weakening, and she couldn’t let that happen. She knew how dangerously slippery this slope could be, her body so in tune with his that it was already calling for him. Bringing her hand up between them, she pressed her fingertips to his mouth to halt him, their eyes so close she could almost feel the burn of his gaze. 

“I’m here, and I will stay, but this doesn’t mean that everything is fixed,” she said softly, focusing on the steady intake of her breaths. “It will take time, Sebastian. I hope you understand that.”

“Is this because of Prewett?”

She winced slightly, his grip tightening subtly in her hair. “No. This is about learning to trust you again.”

“Can I trust you?” He asked, his eyes dark and brooding. “You are here with me now, but how do I know that you won’t crawl back into his bed once you leave here?”

She met his gaze, the pointed question slamming into her like a rock, because the thought of making a clean cut from Leander actually made her pause and think. The slow patching up of her wounded soul had been rooted in the gentle affection Leander had bestowed upon her, and to rip away from that would likely tear at the fragile healing she was still going through.

“I guess we both need to take a chance if we are ever going to work,” she said carefully. “Like I said, this is going to take some time.”

“That wasn’t a no,” he said, his mouth tightening. 

Swallowing down her apprehension, she leaned to press a kiss to his cheek, unable to summon the will to fight this out right now. “Goodnight, Sebastian.” 

….*….

It wasn’t quite dawn, the fire long since burned low, and a chill had settled over the cottage. Sitting empty for so long, the damp had encroached, and the house no longer held any of that cosy charm it once had. Sebastian was asleep, his lashes dark and thick against his freckled cheekbones, his hair a riot of tumbled locks. It needed cutting, and there was enough growth on his jaw to almost be a beard. He was a man now, no longer the damaged boy she had first fallen for.

Taking a moment in the dead of night to study him while he slept felt like a luxury after the years spent yearning for him in the thick dark of Azkaban. She still felt like a pinch on her arm would wake her up, and all of this would turn out to be a fever dream, and she would still be in that cell, cold and alone.

Tears stained her cheeks, her eyes tight and aching from the silent crying she had been unable to stop as she lay staring up at the thatched worked ceiling. Sitting up with her arms wrapped around her knees, MC tried to process through the tangled mess of her feelings. It was impossible, none of it made sense, and it made her chest ache to think of losing either of these men who had snuck into her heart. For her own selfishness, she knew to stand without them would take a summoning of immense courage, and she feared she had lost some of that whilst drowning in the dark sorrow of Azkaban.

How to be whole again? 

Slipping quietly from the bed, she took out the secret message parchment and wrote to Leander, hoping he hadn’t lain awake all night waiting for her to come back. The tether of their bond was stronger than she would ever likely admit to anyone, and she hated the thought that she would be worrying him. Tapping her wand to her message, she watched the ink fade to nothing before she returned to the bed, taking a steadying breath before gently climbing back onto it.

Perhaps finding her mother would shine a light on things. Taking a look at her past, unravelling some truths and hoping they showed some clues for her future. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she looked down at Sebastian, her hand drifting to gently stroke back a lock of hair from his forehead. He was so very beautiful. Beautiful and fractured, stumbling around in the dark like she was. 

Sliding down onto the mattress beside him, she dipped her hand beneath the blanket and found his, clasping it gently. He shifted in his sleep, eyelids fluttering, but he didn’t fully wake. Snuggling closer, MC closed her eyes as she leant her head against his chest to feel his heartbeat, her lips almost curving into a sad smile as his arm circled around her and pulled her closer. Lips pressed against her hair, his fingers squeezing her hand as though in reassurance. For her, or for himself, she wasn’t sure. 

Leander

The sun’s morning rays had crept across towards the bed, the glow of the golden haze that came from autumn filtered through the smog of London’s bustle and warmed the bed through the glass window. Leander had blinked his tired eyes and tried not to feel the vacant spot beside him in the bed. Waking up alone felt so hollow now. It was cold and quiet, the bed felt so big and empty without her warmth there beside him.

Dressed and drinking his morning tea, Leander unfolded his secret parchment and tapped his wand to it, putting down his tea cup as MC’s script appeared. 

I’m alright. Luella Rookwood clearly doesn’t like me, and I hope this doesn’t pose a problem. I am in Scotland, but I will be back in London soon. I will be in touch once I have faced Rookwood.

Stay safe, Lee, please. Sebastian knows. I’m sorry.

MC xx

Sebastian knows.

She was with him. There wasn’t even a glimmer of smug satisfaction to be found knowing that Sebastian was aware that he took MC to bed. If anything, it merely highlighted the point that she was in deep with the Slytherin, deeper than she probably even realised. He could imagine the way that conversation had gone down, but the lack of her return proved that in choice, she had stayed with Sallow. Clearly, those bridges were still fit for mending.

The office was busy, Aurors and researchers alike working to file reports on some raids that had taken place over night. Leander arrived at his desk and paused, staring in surprise at the blonde girl unpacking a box of personal items onto Odessa’s desk. Her sleek hair was twisted up into a neat knot, exposing the slender column of her neck, skin like porcelain, her movements suggesting grace and confidence as she placed a framed photograph before adjusting its position slightly.

On turning her attention back to her box, she glanced up at him, pausing as a smile spread across her face. Leander could only stand and stare, her smile lighting up her eyes and making them sparkle. “Oh, hello!” She said, brightly, her eyes shifting towards his desk as she stepped closer. “Tall, red hair, and impeccably dressed. You must be Auror Prewett.”

Apparently, he could neither confirm nor deny her observation, his lips parting as though to speak but no words actually forming. He felt the slow burn of his cheeks flushing pink, his hand nervously smoothing his tie as he couldn’t help but admire the slope of her nose. It was a very cute and pretty nose, rather fitting for her lovely face. As for her eyes, well, it was very difficult not to stare at them. Framed with dark lashes, they were a soft brown, large and captivating. There was something rather intriguing about them, in a fiesty and fun way.

“I’m Auror Montgomery,” she said, holding out a slender hand towards him. She grinned. “Gosh, that still sounds so formal and strange to say. Seeing as we are to be colleagues, perhaps it might be alright for you to call me Ivy. I certainly wouldn’t mind, but I suppose that all depends on how much of a stickler you are for the rules.”

Leander looked down at her hand, her cheerful words filtering through the haze of shy insecurity he suddenly felt himself under. “Ivy,” he said, slowly, his gaze returning to her face. 

Her smile seemed to lose some of its shine as she studied him, a crease of worry appearing on her brow, her arm going a little slack. “Oh no, have I been too informal already?” She cringed, moving to tuck hair behind her ear despite it being so effortlessly neat already. “I have been known to be a little too forward sometimes. Do forgive me. I was hoping to make a good first impression on my first day, especially to you.”

“Really? Why me?” Genuinely baffled, Leander tilted his head as he considered her more closely. She seemed to be not much younger than himself, bright eyed and keen. A new graduate by the sounds of it, a new Auror in their ranks, and taking the seat of one so recently deceased. 

“Am I not to be mentored by you, Auror Prewett?” She asked, turning to ruffle through her box of possessions and pulling out a rolled parchment. Unrolling it, she scanned the note and held it up. “I was told to report to Auror Harrington, which I have done, and then seek out my mentor for further instruction. Auror Harrington confirmed it would be you. You are Auror Prewett, aren’t you?”

His blush darkening even further, Leander looked to his intray on his desk, spying a similar roll of parchment issued by the Head Auror’s office and he winced. It wasn’t like him to slip up on his paperwork, and he cursed himself for allowing a certain ex-convict to distract him so thoroughly. 

“Forgive me, Auror Montgomery,” he said, finding his manners. He straightened his perfect tie and held out his hand. “Let’s start this again, shall we? I am, indeed, Auror Prewett. It’s lovely to meet you. Welcome to the office.”

Her smile of delight was so very warm, and she slipped her hand into his, shaking firmly despite her slender fingers being completely dwarfed by his grip. “A pleasure,” she said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

….*….

Sweating and out of breath, Leander pressed a towel to his face and glanced into the locker room mirror, noting the darker shadows under his eyes from too many late nights. Whilst he couldn’t regret his reasons, he felt the drain of tiredness pulling at him after that workout. He couldn’t afford to slack off. 

Gathering his things for a shower, he paused as Harrington entered the locker room, robe billowing as he strode towards him.

“There you are, Prewett,” he greeted, nodding once as he came to a pause. “I was hoping to catch you. Have you met our new recruit?”

“Auror Montgomery? Yes, I have. She introduced herself this morning.”

Harrington nodded, pleased. “Excellent. She is a promising young thing, excellent grades, and plenty of ambition. She comes from a good family, too. I think she will be an asset to the team, and that’s why I thought she could shadow you for a while.”

“It would be an honour,” Leander said. “I take it she will be on the Ashwinder case with us?” 

Harrington nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Yes, I thought it would be best to place a fresh face in McKinnon’s seat. A new start, so to speak.”

Harrington hesitated, giving Leander a careful look. “A snitch on the team is always bad for morale, and I know you were disappointed, to say the least. I also warned you about the emotional downfalls of this case, and I couldn’t help but notice how familiar our little prisoner had become with you. I hope you are being careful, Prewett.”

Leander felt his cheeks warm and he shifted position, clutching his towel and shower things a little tighter. “I’m just trying to do the right thing,” he said, lifting his chin in an attempt at confidence. “I won’t deny it can be difficult, but I understand the job.”

“Just so long as you do,” Harrington warned, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder. “You’re a fine Auror, Prewett. Don’t let one girl mess that up for you. Taking young Montgomery on field work with you will hopefully remind you about your responsibilities, and being her role model will pay off handsomely in the end.”

Leander wondered how transparent his emotions really were on his face for Harrington to have noticed how much MC had gotten under his skin. So, the new recruit had been placed to distract him, to give him a focus other than their ex convict turned spy. With Montgomery hanging around all the time, there would be less opportunity for him and MC to be alone. Especially if she ceased coming to the flat at night. 

“Message received,” he said carefully, his pulse firing rapidly as he thought of all the rule breaking he had been indulging in of late. “I shall aim to be the best of role models.”

“Good man,” Harrington smiled, clapping his shoulder firmly before turning for the door. “Oh, and some of us are heading to the Cauldron for a few beers this evening. You should come along. Perhaps invite your new partner?”

Harrington’s eyebrows twitched suggestively and he grinned before exiting the changing rooms. Leander watched him leave, sighing as the door closed and pressing a hand to his forehead, fingers pinching slightly in pained anxiety.

Auror Montgomery was a very pretty young lady, of course, but his whole body and soul burned for MC. The suggestion that he could turn his affections towards another seemed impossible. He didn’t think he could handle the trappings of it all, his emotions stretched to the limit already. Perhaps he would merely suggest the drinks meet up to Montgomery as a group activity rather than cordially invite her as his guest. It wouldn’t do to start off on the wrong foot, after all. 

Sebastian

The return to London had been a dismal one, the skies overcast and the breeze carrying a damp drizzle that seemed to seep into one’s bones. Despite the weather, he felt surprisingly rested considering he had slept in that cold cottage last night. Perhaps the word ‘slept’ was the key factor in things, for he had indeed slept rather well. Glancing beside him at MC, smirking at the way her nose was slightly wrinkled against the tickle of the rain, he knew she was the reason for his deeper rest. Despite the lingering tension over Prewett and Luella, she was still with him, and he almost dared to believe that he could glimpse a hint of something promising in her eyes when they lingered on him. Even if she did skip her gaze hastily away when she caught him staring back.

“Does he always keep you waiting like this?” She grumbled, her head glancing up and down the lake’s edge as she rubbed her hands together. She seemed tense, on edge, but had refused to give a solid reason to explain her request for this meeting. He had the distinct feeling that it was a lot more than just missing an old friend that had made her ask for the owl to be sent first thing this morning.

“You know Ominis,” he smirked. “He is a law unto himself.”

She scoffed, eyeing him in disbelief. “That is rich, coming from you.”

His smirk widened and he pulled the collar up a bit higher on his jacket against the damp. “He will be along, don’t worry. He is a busy man you know, and we did send the owl rather short notice.”

She began to pace again, twisting her hands, her eyes dark and wary as she scanned the London park for any sign of their fellow Slytherin. “I just need to see him.”

“You never really said what it was about,” he probed, head tilting curiously.

Her eyes flicked his way and she seemed to curl in on herself, her teeth pulling at her lip. His eyes narrowed, his brow creasing in thought as he watched her. Something was afoot here, something was bothering her, and he had the strange feeling that it was something about these birth records Prewett had given her. Last night in the maze she had started to talk about it before closing up, the conversation turning to subjects much more volatile, their attention focused on the chaos of their relationship.

“It’s complicated,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I need to ask him a favour.”

“Complicated, you say? Hmm, I do like a challenge,” he said, stepping towards her.

She looked up as he approached, her throat working nervously as he gently cupped her face. He’d always loved intense eye contact with her, he sought it as much as possible, yearned for it even. Even now under the miserable clouds of London, her eyes darkened, the depths expanding to let him in and he savoured the sight, his thumb teasing at her chilled cheek.

“Perhaps I can help,” he whispered. Her soft lips parted and he lowered his face, hungry to taste what he craved, but the distinct tap of a cane and the clearing of a throat interrupted their moment.

“Ominis,” she said, turning from him, stepping out from his touch and heading towards their old friend.

Impeccably presented in expensive black robes, his blonde hair swept fashionably back, Ominis stood proudly under a black umbrella. The epitome of an English gentleman. His head bowed slightly, his lips curving with a hint of pleasure as MC stepped up before him, his eyes shifting from side to side as he subtly aimed his cane in order to seek her out.

“We meet again, my dear,” he greeted. “When Sebastian said you wished to meet with me, I couldn’t help but be curious. The last we spoke, you seemed rather set on your goal. I trust things are running smoothly, despite your obvious proximity to the lord of chaos over here.”

Sebastian frowned as he joined them, hands flexing. “You’re not funny.”

Ominis twisted his mouth in amusement. “Oh, I don’t know. If the cap fits, and all that.”

“I’m still set on my goal, Ominis, and I heeded your words,” MC said, her face rather earnest as she stared at him. “However, this meeting is for another matter entirely. You see, I need your help with something. Something…personal.”

Sebastian stilled, noticing how intently MC was staring at Ominis, free to study him without worry of being caught. Her eyes held a fascination that burned vividly, and if he hadn’t known her better, he might have thought to be envious of the rapt attention she had focused on him.

“Oh? This sounds interesting. How may I be of service, my dear? It must be quite something to haul me out into this awful weather.”

“I’m looking for someone,” she said, her hands twisting together again, a flush staining her cheeks. “You are the only person I can ask this of, Ominis, and I am placing all of my hope onto the possibility that you can help me.”

Something icy began to trickle down Sebastian’s spine, a thick and choking realisation of where this could be headed. He looked at Ominis, saw the curious tilt of his head, and then turned to the anxious plea on MC’s face.

“I see. Well, who are you looking for?”

MC took a steadying breath, and to Sebastian’s surprise, her shaking hand reached out for him, her fingers like ice as she grasped hold of his hand. He wrapped his hand firmly around hers, waiting for the next words out of her mouth.

“I’m looking for Elizabeth Gaunt,” she said, her voice so strained it was breathless.

Sebastian felt the quickening of his pulse, his ears roaring in the silence that followed that name. Ominis went rigid, whatever colour he had in his porcelain complexion faded to a waxy white, his mouth parting in stunned disbelief. 

Looking at MC, Sebastian could see the tears welling in her eyes, the savage grip she held on his hand conveying the stress she must have been feeling in that moment. The shocking realisation swept through him and he stared at her with new eyes. She couldn’t be…

Ominis made a choking sound, clearing his throat as his hand gripped his cane with tight control. “And why would you be looking for her?”

“You do know her, then?” MC asked, hope flaring in her eyes. “She is a close relative of yours?”

“She is my aunt,” Ominis said tightly, his face ashen, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “My estranged aunt, I might add. None of us have seen her for many years. What do you want with her?”

A tear escaped and rolled down MC’s cheek, her lips trembling as she stared at Ominis. “Elizabeth Gaunt is my birth mother,” she said, her voice wobbling dangerously. Sebastian gave her hand a squeeze, his other arm swiftly wrapping around her waist as she swayed. “If she is your aunt, then…then that means we are cousins.”

Ominis staggered slightly, his head shaking in denial, a shocked gasp escaping his lips as he began to back up away from them. MC was shaking in Sebastian’s arms, and he held her up, her knees caving as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks, shuddering at the look on Ominis’ face.

“No…that’s impossible…” Ominis muttered, a gloved hand pressing to his mouth. “The only child Aunt Elizabeth ever had died. The child died when she was a baby…”

MC sobbed and Sebastian held her against him, trying to grasp this information himself as he turned a pleading look towards his shaken friend. “Ominis, please,” he said.

“Don’t plead with me,” Ominis snapped, his mouth tightening. “Did you know about this? Where in Merlin’s name did you get this information?”

MC dug into her pocket and retrieved a file, holding it up with a shaking hand. Sebastian took it from her, trying to look reassuring as he pressed a kiss to her head, whilst his mind and heart raced with a million thoughts and feelings. Opening the file, he needed to see this with his own eyes, the inked words confirming the birth record for MC.

“MC has a document from Ministry archives recording her birth,” Sebastian said, maintaining control over his voice as he tried to make sense of it all. “Here, you can check for yourself. It says she was born to Elizabeth Gaunt and a man named William.”

“William Brierley,” Ominis choked, shaking his head. He took the parchment file, daring to slip his wand free in order to read it. “Gods…”

“You know of him? So, it’s true,” MC sobbed, staring at Ominis. “You’re really my family.”

Ominis turned away from them, pacing on the path as he gathered himself, rechecking the evidence he held in his hand. The rain fell softly around them, but none of them paid much heed to it any more, their minds too full of what was unfolding between them. Sebastian held MC in his embrace, soothing a hand against her head as she trembled, crying freely now. When she looked up at him, the fear in her eyes staggered him. 

“He hates the very idea of it,” she rasped painfully, wincing.

“Give him a moment, MC,” he urged, his chest tight with worry. “Let him process it. I’m in need of a moment myself.”

“Do you hate the thought of me being a Gaunt, too?” 

He stared at her, tears and raindrops dripping from her pale face, her dark hair hanging limply in the cold breeze. He couldn’t help scanning her features, searching for any resemblances he may have missed before, but all he could see was the face of the girl he loved. It mattered not what blood flowed through her veins, a daughter of Slytherin, a witch most powerful and utterly beautiful.

“I could never hate you,” he promised, shaking his head. “So, you’re a Gaunt. I already love one member of that gods forsaken family, perhaps I was destined to love another.”

Sagging against him in relief, she buried her face into him, his arms holding her tight as he glanced across towards Ominis. He seemed to have gathered himself, and he turned, cane angled so he could move towards them. Slowly, he reached out, his fingers gently seeking out MC. Touching her shoulder, he grasped it, and she looked up at him.

“So, cousin,” he said, his pale ethereal eyes shining with unshed tears. “May I call you that?”

As she whimpered, Ominis appeared to reach for her, and Sebastian manoeuvred her into his embrace. Ominis usually wasn’t one for too much physical interaction, so to see him like this pulled at heartstrings in Sebastian’s chest. At Ominis’ gesture, he moved closer to them, joining the embrace so that the three of them stood together, wrapped in each other’s arms. It reminded him of that terrible day when they had discovered Slytherin’s Scriptorium, the dark terror of having to inflict pain in order to survive had bonded the three of them in ways that nobody else would ever understand. They had held each other like this that night, bound by the horror, the secrecy, the shared pain of their memories.

Now, they were bound by something even deeper. They were family, and once again, he felt certain that nobody else would understand it.

Ominis held the birth record, and Sebastian took it, looking down to read the truth of MC’s bloodline again. Realising there was another parchment tucked behind it, he turned the paper over, a curious frown dipping over his brow as he read the details of the orphanage she had grown up in. 

As his eyes read the details quickly, Sebastian felt his blood freeze in his veins when they landed on a name that was all too familiar to him. His lungs screamed for air, but it was as though his mind had forgotten how to control his basic bodily needs. He stared and stared until the name and signature blurred out of reality. No wonder she had asked him if he knew about her mother, if he had known who she was all along.

“What is it?” Ominis asked, frowning in his direction. “I felt you tense.”

Blinking through his shock, Sebastian stared at MC, barely managing to draw the breath required to speak. “MC, why is Uncle Solomon’s name on your orphan paperwork?”

Turning her head slowly to look at him, her eyes dark and pained, she fixed him with a look that made him shiver. “I was hoping you would be able to tell me,” she said.

Fate, it seemed, enjoyed kicking the shit out of him far too much.

To be continued...

Ivy Montgomery is an OC character created and owned by @eternalremorse Used with her kind permission 💜

Taglist: @eternalremorse @slytherin-paramour @evaslytherpuff @marketfreshfics @writing-intheundercroft @sevprince-91 @loving-him-was-red13

[shelby-fangirl00]

Good for you-part 3

previous part

So I’ve been avoiding tumblr lately. Sometimes I get into these stupid funks after I write something I’m really proud of. It’s like I can’t do another good piece of writing after. I don’t know, I’m just scared of not being good. I honestly don’t know how well this one’s even written, but it was still fun to write.

So I took sometime to just fall into dark romance novels in order to help me feel inspired/grow as a writer. I know I don’t really have many people waiting on me to write or anything but I just have this guilt about not posting. BLEHHH ANYWAYZZZ…

🎵I can heaaaar the belllls🎵 it’s wedding day y’all! Enjoy:)

Warnings: (18+ MINORS DNI) strong language, smut, loss of virginity, dark!Tommy, dark!Tommy being soft, angst, fluff, jealousy and a bit of cheating

You hadn’t spoken to him in days, not since you woke up alone in his bed. he had left your ass bruised to hell. You weren’t sure why he had been avoiding you. It all seemed like one big mind game of his. Punishing you, soothing you, then disappearing. What was his angle?

Now, you were about to manually put one pearly white heel in front of the other as you walked down the church aisle, only moments away from signing over your life to him.

You looked at your father before he opened the doors of the church to expose you to a room full of people you didn’t know. He went to reach for the door handle, but you stopped him, pulling his arm back. He looked at you, confused at first. He could see the tears pricking at your eyes and the scrunching of your brow. Your chin began to quiver as you saw your fathers eyes soften with empathy and maybe a bit of guilt.

“I’m so scared, dad.’ You whispered to him, the tears finally falling down your cheeks.

“Oh sweetheart…” he pulled you into a bear hug, the kind that made you cry ever harder. You felt the child inside of you dying as his familiar arms wrapped around you, the arms that always protected you. It was a dark and empty feeling, knowing that you’d never have that gleaming light in your eyes that children have. That you always had. You’d never have the same rosiness to your cheeks anymore. You’d never experience real love, never experience traveling, never have your own life. You would always have that depressing mansion. Forever hiding behind the shadow of the man you’re marrying. Reality sank in and you tried to accept the hand that life had dealt you.

“Be strong, y/n. He may seem like a cold man but he will take care of you. You will never have to struggle again. We will never struggle again. And it’s all because of the sacrifices you’re making today. They don’t go unnoticed, love.”

You shook your head, wiping the tears away and composing yourself. You always understood your role in your family. It was all just happening so quickly at once.

You heard the church’s organ hymn to life, knowing that this was really it.

The doors opened, revealing nearly a hundred people or more standing and watching you, examining your body. At the end of the green aisle stood Tommy, hands crossed in front of him, watching you, with no expression at all. Everyone was dressed eloquently, but so we’re you. You’re dress was light but fitting, accentuating your best features with rhinestones and lace.

Tommy watched you walk slowly down the aisle, hips swaying back and forth. He always thought you were a pretty girl, but you looked beautiful tonight. He especially liked the way you chose to wear your hair in a low loose bun, strands falling down your neck. The way he favored it.

He coughed a bit as his mouth went dry the closer you got to him.

“Don’t get cold-feet now, Tommy.” John giggled from behind him. Tommy rolled his eyes, unmoving from his position.

As your father handed you off to Tommy who took your hand, walking you to stand in front of the aisle with the priest.

As the priest went on with the service, you felt yourself looking for comfort in Tommy’s eyes, your new protector. He gave you an amused smile, winking down at you playfully, like this wasn’t a big deal at all. His ability to not take it all so seriously (or at least not show you his fear) calmed down the rambunctious beating of your heart.

“I do” Tommy said, his voice booming through the church. You almost forgot how intimidating his voice was after not hearing it for days.

“I do” you said quickly, not daring to hesitate and risk embarrassing him. He smiled at your eagerness.

“In the sight of these witnesses and God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride!”

The drop in your stomach was quickly replaced with butterflies as Tommy cupped your face sweetly and kissed you for the very first time. His lips were soft and supple, pressing lightly against your own. Being kissed by him was better than you imagined.

You both started to laugh into the kiss as the roar of people (mostly Tommy’s family and men) whistled and clapped for you both. Feeling the tension break away from the situation, you pulled away, smiling so widely at Tommy. His heart skipped a beat as he had never seen such a beautiful and authentic smile.

For a few moments, it felt like it was just the two of you in that church. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

…………………………………………………………………………….

You had ditched the champagne halfway through the night and snuck a few swigs of whiskey from Tommy’s office. All you could think about was what would happen after all of his fancy guests left. Would you still have a separate bedroom from him? Hell, you didn’t even know if he’d touch you. You never talked about anything. But you wanted him to. Deep down, there was a need to be consumed by only him.

The booze helped with your worries. You figured it would help with the pain you might be experiencing after tonight. You were a virgin. You never told him, but he never asked. You assumed he already knew. You had no clue where you stood with him, but the liquor told you to go find out.

You fought to find Tommy in the crowded hallways, trying your hardest not to get lost in the “congratulations” people threw your way.

Suddenly, you felt his presence nearby. Like you could sense where he was, you turned around to peer through the crowd. He was sitting alone in an empty room to your right, down the hallway. The door of the room was only cracked open and the lights were dim around him. Your body froze as your eyes followed his line of sight from above him in the dimly lit room.

A tall woman came into view, with fiery red hair and a slim figure. She leaned over Tommy, whispering something in his ear, her diamond encrusted necklace dangling in his face. It sparkled off his deep blue eyes.

You could almost make out the growl he let out in response as he pulled her forcefully onto his lap. She wrapped her delicate fingers around his neck as he shoved his face in between her chest, kissing her skin so softly. His hands, the hands that you so desperately wanted all over your skin, we’re gripping this beautiful woman’s instead.

The entire room and people around you faded into the background. Your ears rang out and you couldn’t look away from them. The more you gawked, the harder it was to pull yourself away. On your fucking wedding night of all days. Sure, you didn’t think that you’d be his last fuck, but surely not tonight. Maybe this was just the way of his world. This is what you signed on for.

Your vision blurred as tears flooded out. Your body suddenly felt 1000 pounds heavier as the blood pulsed through your ears.

“Darling, is everything alright?” Polly’s soft voice purred behind you, not noticing the scene Tommy was so obviously making down the hall.

Blinking once to free your eyes, you wiped them away just as quickly. Forcing yourself back to reality. In that very moment, something inside of you awakened, something devious, but also something very fucking angry. Deciding to shut your emotions off, you turned to her kind eyes.

“Oh just lovely Polly. But it is my wedding night and now that I’m officially a Shelby, I intend to drink like one. Join me?” You said so effortlessly, shocking yourself with the confidence you oozed out instantly.

Polly’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, giving you a questioning look. She’d never heard you stutter out more than a few words to her or anyone in the family, really. She took you for the shy and submissive type, which to be fair, you were. But not right now, not tonight. He wouldn’t take this night from you.

After a few seconds of silence, her mouth slid up into a devilish grin.

————————————————————————

It didn’t take long before all of the worries and pain dripped off your shoulders, evaporating into the air around you. At some point, Polly and her strange friends that surrounded her had disappeared into the crowds, chatting away with people you didn’t know.

The jazz music blared from the small band Tommy had hired for the night. Your body moved and swayed to it as you stood lazily at the bar. You hadn’t seen Tommy since he was eye-fucking whoever the hell that woman was. You told yourself that he was the last person you wanted to see. But it was a lie. You’d always want to fight for his attention or even his devotion.

But suddenly, like a fucking ghost, you felt the back of your neck prickle and your palms sweat. You knew he was close by, you could feel it in the way the air thinned and the way people’s back straightened.

You decided to not look around for him. If he needed you, he’d find you, but you were sure he didn’t give single fuck what you were up to.

Your eyes scanned the ridiculous bar and landed on the tall man to your left. He was sitting opposite, staring up at you as he brought his glass to his pink lips. You stared, a bit taken aback by his boldness. He lowered his glass, never looking away. You threw him a playful smile, never looking away.

His skin was tan, opposite of Tommy’s. His eyes were almond shaped and honey coated. His aggressively large shoulders and slim torso enticed you as his body seemed to lean forward, preying on you.

Without your mind fully catching up, your body moved slowly towards him, but not before you shot back another glass of champagne.

“I have a feeling you’re the designated wedding crasher?” You almost whispered as you sat down on the stool beside him.

His eyes softened, and his grin turned even wider at your examination of him.

“What makes you so sure?” He sipped on his glass, his loosely slicked back hair tumbling into his face as he moved.

“Because only an enemy would try provoking Mr.Shelby by making eyes at his new wife…especially on her wedding night.” You giggled, lazily crossing your thighs together.

He didn’t miss the movement. His eyes traced over your body, stopping at your exposed thighs before meeting your face again.

“Well you don’t seem to mind, do ya love?” His voice turned husky as he leaned in closer, making you do the same.

You looked past the man’s shoulder, zeroing in on those deadly blue eyes, watching you from the corner of the room.

Bingo.

Now you had his attention. You didn’t even give a shit how much trouble you and this mystery man would be getting into. He clearly wasn’t welcome here anyways, whoever he is.

You smirked at Tommy, never taking your eyes off of him as you leaned even closer, pulling the man’s neck closer to you, putting your lips to his ears.

Before you could even get a word out, Tommy was stomping towards you both. You slowly let the man go and watched in awe as Tommy grabbed the man by the back of his collar, pulling him off the chair. His back slammed onto the floor, making the entire room fall silent.

Unfazed, you sipped on a glass of champagne in your hand, watching Tommy’s anger boil over, ready and waiting for your own punishment.

He placed both feet on each side of the man, whipping out his pistol effortlessly from under his coat and pointing it in his face.

“Fuck off.” Is the only words he spoke to the man, but they were deadly enough to make any person run away in fear.

The man didn’t need to be asked twice before he pushed himself up and stomped to the front door. Well that was easy enough.

As Tommy holstered his gun and brushed his pants off, the band began to play again as everyone slowly continued on with the party. As the noise picked up, he finally turned to me, eyes on fire.

He yanked me from the stool by the arm, dragging me down the hall and up the stairs. You giggled your way up, too drunk to even care how mad he was.

He threw you into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Stumbling back, you cocked an eyebrow up at him, challenging him.

“Are you that fucking dense? Are you trying to embarrass me or do you just not give a fuck?” He voice was filled with disgust. While his tone was vile, his composure was also slipping.

You tapped your pouty lips with your finger like you were thinking hard.

“I was so lonely, husband. I just needed some attention.” You giggled, skipping towards him lightly, your chest bouncing out of your low cut dress. Ignoring his insult completely, you batted your thick lashed at him.

His eyes shot down to your chest but they were still full of fury.

“Oh I see! Only you are allowed to play tonight.” You said in an annoyed tone.

His shoulders rolled back and he tilted his head in suspicion. He knew you knew.

Seeing the realization in his eyes, you rolled your own, turning your back on him. Before you could take another step, he yanked your arm back, pushing you into his chest. You yelped, attempting to push him off of you, but his grip on you was too tight.

“Fuck off, Tommy. Let me go.” You said, finally dropping the whole “I don’t care” act. His fingers dug into your sides so hard you knew they would bruise.

His eyebrows shot up to his fucking hairline, letting out a laugh that was deadly.

He pinched your cheeks with one hand, forcing you to look at him.

“You’re hurting me! Let go!” You whimpered out. He used his other hand to pin your hands behind your back. He rotated both of your bodies, pushing you again the wall with a loud thud. You winced in pain.

He pressed your face into the thick walls, shoving his nose into yours.

“This is my house. I can do whatever or whoever the fuck I want, ya hear me? You may not act like a whore.”

You didn’t feel scared or threatened. You felt fucking rage. It was bubbling up inside of you, clawing at your throat.

“I wouldn’t have to act like a whore if my husband could do the fucking job himself.” You said at an angry whisper.

His eyes darkened and his lips curved up into a smirk.

“You’re awfully cheeky tonight, love. What happened to my submissive little pet?” He cocked his head to the side, making you shudder.

His hand curled it’s way around your throat, squeezing a bit too tight.

You preferred being good for him. But you were still too angry for that.

“Fucking other women on your wedding night…that’s gotta be a bad omen or something, no?” You squeaked.

“What makes you think I fucked her?” He chuckled, examining the way your body was pushing into him.

“Because you have quite the reputation for acting like a whore yourself.”

You yelped as his palm smacked the side of your cheek, not hard enough to hurt you, but enough to get your attention.

Without another word, he let you go, but not before forcing you to your knees as he pushed your shoulders down. Finally.

Quickly, he freed his cock from under his dress pants.

“That naughty mouth of yours needs to be taught a lesson.” He growled before forcing your jaw open with his hands. Before you could process what was happening next, he was shoving his cock down your throat.

You moaned at the sensation, greedily trying to take back control. You bobbed your head back and forth, using your tongue to swirl around the tip of his cock. You were a virgin, yes. But you’d had a few dicks down your throat before. Maybe none as big as his though.

His hand fisted into your hair, taking control of the rhythm. As he forced himself farther and farther down your throat, you gagged, drool dripping out onto your chin.

Both of your eyes were locked onto each other as you let him fuck your mouth relentlessly. You folded your hands behind your back, letting him have the control he desperately seeks.

He smiled sweetly at you.

“There she is. My good girl.” He said huskily, not stopping his relentless movements.

Your pussy clenched around nothing at his words, making you moan around his cock again, sending vibrations up his body.

Your thighs opened up and you attempted to rub small circles into your clit, trying to relieve the built up tension between your legs.

As he watched you, he pulled out of your mouth and smacked your hand away from yourself.

“You ask for permission to touch that needy pussy. It’s mine now.”

You whimpered, wishing he would stuff your mouth full of him again. Noticing your expression, he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth.

“Get on the bed. I need to be inside you.”

Your body froze for a second, preparing yourself for your innocence to be taken away.

“Tommy…I’ve never-

“I know. You think I would have waited to fill that pussy with my cock until tonight if you weren’t?” He stalked over to you, placing his open hand out for you to take. You do, standing to your feet and allowing him to lead you to the bed.

He stalked behind you and you felt his fingers zip down your dress and push it off your body slowly, finally exposing you naked body to him for the first time. Goosebumps covered your skin as you could feel his eyes all over you.

His hands snaked around your stomach from behind, slowly reaching down and stopping above your pelvic bone.

You were desperate for his touch.

He leaned over from behind you, forcing your head back to kiss your lips softly as his hands crept up and down your thighs. Every one of your nerve endings were set on fire as his unfamiliar hands touched your skin.

“I don’t know if you’ll fit inside me..” you whispered, resting your head on his chest.

He smiled knowingly, kissing your nose. His changing moods were giving you whiplash.

“It will, love. It’ll hurt at first…” he kissed down your neck, sending goosebumps down you again.

“But I promise I’ll make it feel so good.” He whispered in your ear, biting at your lobe.

He pushed you towards the bed and you laid flat on your back, almost shaking with anticipation.

The only exposed part of his body was his throbbing cock standing center.

His eyes devoured every inch of your body before he hovered over you, kissing your cheeks softly.

“Tommy.” You whispered, your hands wrapping around the back of his neck.

His eyes lifted to find yours.

“Please be gentle with me?” You watched as his eyes softened for only a second and quickly changing to mischief.

“Relax, love. Do you want this?”

“Of course I do.”

He smiled down again, giving you one last kiss before he lined himself up with your pussy. Your body stiffened as you felt him tease you, rubbing the head of his cock against your slick slit.

“Beg for it.”

You did as you were told.

“Please, Tommy…I cant wait anymore.”

“Good girl…you feel how wet you are? You’re ready for me.” He moaned out as suddenly the head of his cock popped through your entrance making you gasp.

Your hands shot to his shoulders, trying to find comfort in him.

He brushed his nose against your neck, making you shiver. He inched in further before stopping to let you adjust to his size.

He groaned, his eyes rolling back in his head.

“I’m going to push all the way in now, ok?“

You shook your head, ready to get the pain over with.

“Fuck!” You yelled as he plunged into you, breaking through the thin wall inside of you so easily.

“Shhhhh…I’ll make it feel better.” he cooed, taking his hand to wrap your leg around his waist. He froze again, letting you adjust.

“Tommy, please fucking move!” You wined as the pain was too much to bear.

He chuckled, moving all the way out just to thrust back in again.

“Christ, this pussy was made for me, y/n. It’s all mine…you’re all mine.” The use of your name made your head reel.

After moving in and out of you a few more times, your body relaxed. You pushed him into you with you legs, reveling in the pain mixed with the pleasure.

“How does it feel?” He moaned out, pinching your nipples between his fingers.

Your back arched up off the mattress, chasing his touch.

“So fucking full…” you barely mumbled out as his pounding never relented.

Thrusting inside of you once more, he flipped you with ease so you were on top of him.

You froze for a second, feeling intimidated by this position. But you couldn’t deny it. You liked the way he looked under you, eyes glazed over and mouth popped open in ecstasy.

Noticing your timidness, he squeezed you hips, signaling for you to move up and down.

“Fuuuck..” you panted out, tilting you head back and planting your hands on his chest. Like your body knew exactly what to do, you slowly found a pace, moving up and down on his dick.

“Good job, love. Just like this.” He led your hips up and down, meeting your hips with his own.

You pulled the buttons of his vest apart, exposing more of his broad figure, but still fully clothed. For some reason, you liked how exposed you were and how covered up he was.

His encouraging words boosted your ego, making you bounce faster and faster on him. You felt him pulsing inside of you. The sounds of your skin slapping together and the shared panting and moans drowned out the music from behind the door.

He used his palm to push you back down, forcing you to lay flat on his chest. He took the opportunity to lift your ass and fuck up into you. Shots of pleasure were

You let out a guttural scream that you were sure someone would have heard. Riding him felt good, but this felt intoxicating. Your body was at the complete mercy of his movements. A knot started to form in the pit of your stomach, pulling tighter and tighter around you.

“I think I’m-

“Yeah, I can feel you squeezing around me. Come for me, please.” He panted out. Did Thomas Shelby just say ‘please’?!

He pushed his hand in between your bodies, letting his thumb draw circles along your protruding clit with one hand while the other lifted your ass up and down onto him. This can’t be what sex feels like for every man. This is what sex feels like with Tommy. You felt like he was finally seeing you and you were finally seeing him for the very first time. He smiled up at you, watching you find yourself through him. A sense of belonging and power washed over you and you let all of your fears of Tommy go…in that moment at least.

Seeing flashes of a vulnerable Tommy was fascinating. He never let his guard down around you, except for right now. He had completely fell into this moment, your bodies moving as one, like you’d done this 100 times before.

You sunk your claws into his thinly covered chest, leaning your head into his neck as he fucked you through your orgasm. Thousands of tiny sparks ignited inside of you. Your body tightened as you silently screamed in pleasure.

He didn’t stop even after you came down. He flipped you over to your back again, chasing his own release now.

You both groaned out as your back hit the mattress and he pounded into you with such force. His hand lifted your leg up to rest on his shoulder, pulling at your tight walls.

“I’m gonna put a babe in here…plant my fucking seed in you.” He growled. Normally, you’d reject this. But fuck, you didn’t care right now. You wanted to know what it felt like when his cum shot up into you.

His thrusts became sloppy and his free hand held your chin in place, not allowing you to look away as he finally came inside of you.

The whimpers that left his mouth as he stared down into your soul. You smile deviously, now addicted to this vulnerable expression. You wanted to see that drunken-on-lust look over and over again.

Both of you panted over each other, not moving from inside of you. You could see in his eyes that something had changed between the two of you. He had finally made his mark on you and you were now a brand new woman. A woman with power and needs, that he would happily fulfill for you whenever you wanted.

He giggled cheekily, letting his head fall to his shoulder.

You chuckled, sitting up on your elbows.

“Come here.” He said softly, reaching his hands out for you to take.

Finally, he pulled out with a gasp, watching your pussy as the cum dripped out of you. He used his two rough fingers to collect the excess and brought it to your mouth. You eagerly sucked off the juices on his fingers, greedy to know what it tasted like when you were mixed together.

He slowly led you up and towards the connecting bathroom, starting a hot bath. It was sweet, the way he was trying to take care of you now. You would’ve never expected this type of treatment from him before. You had broken down his wall, at least a small bit.

You watched as he finally removed the clothes from his back. You were gawking at the way his tight muscles moved when he did.

Normally, you’d be shy about standing there naked in front of someone, especially him. But not anymore. He’d taken away the awkwardness and the fear you usually had around him, and you were thankful for that.

With the bath filled almost to the brim, he undressed completely, exposing all of him to me now. He sunk down into the water with a groan and held out his hand for you to join him.

You smiled, stepping and sinking in too. You hissed as the water hit your hips, feeling the sting between your legs. You rested your back against his chest. You hummed in satisfaction as you let you head rest against his hard body.

His hands snaked around your stomach in the water and he leaned his chin against your neck. You loved the way his skin felt on yours. This is the longest you’d ever been around Tommy without feeling on edge.

“Shouldn’t we be out there entertaining all of your fancy friends?” You giggled, feeling him smile against your skin.

“That’s the last thing on my mind right now. Polly and Ada can handle it. Im right where I need to be.”

You craned your head to press your lips on his. The both of you seemed different now. The softness he showed was only reserved for you.

You didn’t feel pain or regret. You felt calm and happy to be wrapped in his strong arms.

“Y/n?” He whispered, making you look up at him.

“If you ever pull something like that again, I won’t be as forgiving. You’re all mine from now on, understand?” He brushed the water up and down your arms soothingly.

You shuddered into the hot water, squeezing his arm as a sign of affection and remorse, for some reason. But you couldn’t even be mad at him anymore. He fucked all of the anger and jealousy out of you.

“And you’re mine, too.” You stated without questioning yourself and letting you eyes fall shut.

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