#Never get tired of writing or reading play reflections and thoughts!!

[likeumeanit9497]

watch | m.s. |

matt sturniolo x fem!reader

summary: after hearing you confess all of your insecurities to him, matt makes it his mission to have you see yourself the way that he sees you.

warnings: established relationship smut; fluff; mentions of body insecurities; hint of disordered eating; fingering (f receiving); dirty talk; choking; 18+

notes: i dreamt up this smut last night and immediately got to writing because it felt a little too real. i also knew it was gonna be a shorter one shot (compared to all of my others) so decided to try out second person narration rather than first person. i still can't decide which is better, so pls let me know which u all prefer to read. i hope ya'll enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed dreaming ab it ;)))

─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─

With Mac Miller playing softly from Matt’s tv, you sighed to yourself as you applied the finishing touches to your makeup. You took a moment to inspect your appearance in the full length mirror that you had been getting ready in front of, and felt like you didn’t recognize the girl in the reflection. For some reason, you were having a bad everything day. You had started getting ready by doing your hair, and it just wouldn’t fall right once you had finished styling it. Moving on to makeup, you had struggled with making your eyeliner match and all of your base makeup looked splotchy; it was like nothing was sitting the way it should on your skin.

Filled with frustration, you were tempted to tell Matt to cancel the dinner reservation, scrub everything off your face, and tuck yourself in his bed for the rest of the night. But you wouldn’t do that, because he had been so excited about planning your date night all by himself.

You and Matt had been dating for a few months, and had built a relationship filled with the perfect combination of comfort and excitement. Even though you both lived apart, there was rarely a day when you and him were not doing something together — whether that be just laying in his bed watching movies all day, or going on a random adventure in the middle of nowhere. You could never grow tired of being around him, but for some reason your insecurities in your appearance were so severe today that you almost felt like you wanted to hide yourself from him.

As you leaned closer to the mirror to inspect your creasing concealer under your eyes, Matt walked into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist. “You look pretty,” He started, heading towards his closet to pick out an outfit. “You about ready?” You watched him through the mirror as he put on a pair of boxers, feeling a lump form in your throat at how undeniably beautiful he looked. You were hit with the realization that his looks so clearly outshined your own, and hated the idea of other people recognizing that whenever you two went out together.

Trying to get the negative thoughts out of your mind so that he wouldn’t have reason to worry, you cleared your throat. “Uh, yeah I am. I just have to get dressed.” After buttoning his jeans, he looked at you through the mirror and smiled warmly. “Everything okay baby?” He must have noticed the tension in your brow, or the slight downturn of your lips, but you nodded reassuringly. “Yeah of course, I’m just not really feeling my makeup.” You added a chuckle to the end of your sentence, hoping to make him believe that it was just a light hearted confession. He walked over to you and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I think it looks perfect.” He said softly into your hair, and you forced a smile onto your lips.

You walked over to the clothing rack that Matt had put in his room for you so that you could leave a variety of your clothes at his place for when you stayed over. Scanning your options, you skipped over all of your more bold pieces — knowing your head space was far too vulnerable tonight to mess around with any of them — and decided on your favourite black Skims dress. It had never failed you in the past, and you tried to reassure yourself with this fact as you removed your oversized t-shirt and replaced it with the soft dress.

Your positive attitude was gone just as quickly as it arrived once you began to examine yourself in the mirror. From the front your body looked okay, but as soon as you turned to the side you grimaced at the sight of your bloated stomach from the massive deli sandwich Matt had bought you for lunch earlier. The thin, tight material of the dress did nothing but accentuate the swell in your lower stomach, and you wanted to scream out in frustration. Maybe if your hair and makeup had worked in your favour the bloating wouldn’t have bothered you so much, but because everything that could have possibly gone wrong had gone wrong, it was enough to cause tears to well in your eyes.

As you stood in front of the mirror fighting the tears from spilling over, Matt noticed the sheen in your eyes and your wobbly chin and raced over to you. “Hey hey hey! What’s wrong baby?” He asked, his voice laced with a hint of panic. You shook your head rapidly. “Nothing, it’s nothing. I’m just being stupid.” Your voice was thick with emotion, and it made you even more angry with yourself as you knew this whole thing was stupid. “It’s clearly not nothing if you’re crying, Y/n.” He turned you around so that you were face to face with him; concern evident in his furrowed brow and racing eyes. “Tell me what’s going on sweetheart.” His voice was soft, and he rubbed his hands along your bare arms reassuringly.

You sighed and brought a shaky hand to your eye; trying to dab away any fallen tears in a weak attempt to not ruin your shitty makeup. “It’s stupid Matt.” You wined, not wanting to tell him your insecurities out of fear that speaking of them might make him suddenly see them just as clearly as you did. “Y/n, please.” He begged, desperate to try and help you. Groaning, you finally obliged; your voice barely above a whisper as you confessed. “I just hate everything about the way I look today, that’s all.” Matt stared at you with a blank expression as he took in your words, and you waited in silence — nervous to hear his response.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Y/n.” He sounded almost angry in his response, and it caused you to bite your lip nervously as you shrugged. “Nothing turned out the way I wanted it to when I got ready today, plus you���ve been feeding me too much lately and it’s been making me bloated.” You explained further, and watched as his eyes travelled from your face down to your body. “Baby, you look absolutely beautiful.” He said, and you rolled your eyes. “You have to say that, it’s one of the unwritten rules of being someone’s boyfriend.” A dry laugh escaped your lips, and Matt moved his hand to the back of your head.

“You think I’m lying?” He asked, his tone of voice mildly threatening and absolutely serious. So serious in fact, that the weak smile left your lips and you could do nothing but stare blankly at his face; unsure of how you should answer. He tilted his head quizzically, clearly still waiting for a response. Tentatively, you nodded your head yes as a singular tear fell down your cheek. Matt’s eyes softened. “Oh baby.” He breathed before pressing his lips softly against yours. He wrapped his arms around your waist as he began deepening the kiss — turning it into one filled with passion without losing its gentle nature. Delicately, his tongue skated across your lips; requesting access to your mouth without demanding it. You released a soft whimper from his tender movements as his hands travelled down to your ass; massaging it gently through the thin material of your dress.

“Turn around.” He ordered against your mouth, and you immediately obliged. Now facing the mirror, he stood behind you with his hands planted firmly on your shoulders. Into your ear, he spoke. “You are the most beautiful person that I have ever laid my eyes on, and I need you to know that.” His words — overflowing with emotion — caused goosebumps to cover your skin. Using both of his hands, he grabbed each thin strap of your dress and slowly peeled them off your shoulders. Not stopping there, he used his grip on the straps to pull the dress completely off your body — creating a puddle of dark material at your feet.

“Look at you, Y/n.” His hands moved across your upper body; exploring every square inch of your skin as he held you in front of the mirror. You shuddered from his touch; his hands lighting your body on fire as they glided across it. He grabbed your breasts in both hands, massaging them slowly as he planted a kiss to the top of your shoulder. “You might see flaws when you look at yourself in the mirror, but I don’t. And I never have.” His hands moved down to your hips, squeezing them slightly. “I think I just have to show you what I see, and then maybe you’ll change your mind.”

Dropping one more kiss to your flushed skin, he walked you forward a few steps towards the mirror, before using his hands to guide you to the floor. Knees tucked into your chest, he sat behind you and pulled all of your hair over to one side before leaning in to whisper into your ear. “Open your legs baby.” You gulped before obliging, sliding your legs apart but keeping your knees bent. Your bare chest rose and fell rapidly, beginning to feel overwhelmed by the intensity of the situation. You titled your head to the side out of embarrassment of having your legs spread in front of the mirror — with only your small pink thong covering you. Noticing this, Matt brought a hand to your jaw, grabbing it firmly and straightening your head back in the direction of the mirror. “You are breathtaking, Y/n. I don’t want you to look away.” As he spoke, he moved his hand from your jaw down to your breast, holding it firmly as his thumb swirled around your sensitive nipple. “Keep your eyes on the mirror.” He whispered before taking his free hand and sliding your panties to the side.

Your eyes planted firmly on your glistening core as he used two fingers to spread it open. You watched as your arousal began leaking from your slit, and your jaw dropped in ecstasy as he collected the fluid on his fingers. His eyes connected to yours in the mirror as he brought his wet fingers up to your lips. Confused, you furrowed your brow. “Even your insides are beautiful. Taste yourself.” He urged, and his words stirred up something within you. Slowly, you opened your mouth and immediately felt his fingers press against your tongue. You wrapped your lips around his middle and ring fingers; sucking your own sweet juices off of them and moaning at the heat of the scenario as his eyes burned into yours through the reflection in the mirror.

“Good girl.” He praised once you released his fingers, before moving them back down to your throbbing core. As soon as his fingers connected with your clit, you released a breathy moan and screwed your eyes shut in relief. “Open your eyes sweetheart, and look at how fucking beautiful you look.” He demanded sweetly into your ear, making it impossible for you to even consider disobeying him. Through your droopy eyelids you watched, mouth agape, as his ringed fingers massaged your bundle of nerves; their circular motions hypnotizing you. You also took a moment to admire your body as it writhed in anticipatory pleasure — your sweat-coated breasts heaving as you gasped for breath. Matt rested his chin on your shoulder — his left hand still caressing your tits — as he watched in awe at your various expressions of pleasure.

“Look at your pretty pink pussy, baby. And look how unbelievably beautiful you look when you bite your lip. God, I could cum in my pants just from watching you feel good.” His words were equal parts sweet and filthy in your ears, and they added to the pleasure you felt building up within you. Suddenly, his left hand moved from your tits down your stomach and towards your core. You watched in awe as he swirled two fingers around your opening teasingly, and practically screamed out once he slammed them into you. Wasting no time, his curled fingers pumped in and out of you rapidly, hitting your spongey g-spot each time.

“F-fuck Matty, feels so good.” You managed to get out through breathless moans. “Mmm.” He purred, “Looks so good too, doesn’t it? Your pretty juices like honey dripping from my fingers. Tell me how pretty it looks.” You whined before obliging. “I-it’s so pretty.” You watched his reflection as he shook his head and smirked. “Good baby, but it’s not just your juices. It’s you that’s so pretty. Say it.” As he waited for your response, he nipped delicately at your neck. “I-I’m s-so pretty.” Your voice was shaky as your mind was overtaken by your impending orgasm that was very quickly approaching. You felt Matt’s lips turn up in a smile against your neck. “That’s right. And just wait till you cum princess, there’s nothing more beautiful than that.” His words caused your walls to flex around his pumping fingers and your stomach tensed from the familiar feeling.

“G-gonna cum baby.” You cried out, tucking your chin into your shoulder and arching your back off of his chest as your orgasm began to roll through your body. Suddenly, Matt pulled his fingers out of your core and grabbed onto your throat, gently straightening your head up once again. “Watch yourself cum, Y/n.” He rasped into your ear and you watched through blurred vision as your fucked out face contorted into one filled with pleasure as your orgasm tore through your body. Still rubbing your clit at full tilt, Matt filled the space between you both with muttered praises; his eyes firmly planted to your face as he almost fell apart himself from the view in front of him.

Once you came down from your high, Matt wrapped both of his arms tightly around you; leaving small kisses on your skin as he waited for you to catch your breath. “I don’t ever want you to have negative thoughts about yourself like that ever again.” He stated as he rubbed your soft skin gently. Still waiting for the fog around your fucked out brain to clear, you could do nothing more than hum in acknowledgment. “I mean it, Y/n. I get that having insecurities is normal, but, when I look at you, I swear to god I can’t see a single flaw.” Your eyes fluttered open and connected with his in the mirror. “You are perfect, Y/n. And I’m not just saying that.” Giving him a small smile, your heart did leaps in your chest at his heartfelt testament. The sincerity in his voice was undeniable, and when you took a moment to look at yourself again in the mirror, you realized that maybe he did have a point.

Even through your makeup, your cheeks were filled with a lively glow that wasn’t there before. Your eyes seemed to glisten in the light, and your lips were swollen and pink. You would have expected your hair to be messed up, but Matt’s hands running through it had actually made it fall exactly they way you had hoped it would when you were styling it. You still struggled with your bloating, but flashbacks of your body squirming sensually under Matt’s touch — and the residual satisfaction of your orgasm a reminder of just how good your body could feel — allowed you to find a new appreciation for it. Feeling a lump form in your throat just as it had when you tried on your black dress — this time for an entirely different reason — you gazed adoringly at Matt. “Thank you baby.” You whispered before turning around and planting a deep kiss to his lips.

“It was my pleasure, sweetheart.” He responded, both of his hands on either side of your face so he could stare at it up close. “You think you’re up for dinner still? Because let me tell you, you’re on a whole other level of sexy when you’re shovelling steak into your mouth.” You erupted into giggles at this, and wrapped your arms around his neck. “I’m serious.” He continued, his voice filled with laughter. “You think I have blue balls now, just wait until after dinner. They might explode.” You shoved his shoulders playfully at this, and hoisted yourself up to your feet to find your discarded dress. “You add a lobster to my dinner plate, and I might just be able to help you out with that on our way back.”

─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─

[thatsoanjie]

When the wind settles

Sebastian Sallow x reader

Summary : After Ranrok was ended, a Goblin rebellion happened. This is 5 months after the rebellion, and everyone thought you were gone for good. Sebastian revisits Feldcroft in an attempt to find traces of you again, not knowing what's to come.

Word count : 1.5k

Notes : This one was a little heavier to write! Just had to get this one out of my mind.

TW : Mentions of su!c!dal ideation... read at your own discretion.

Read my disclaimer and fair use notice here

The ruins of Feldcroft lay still, a silent testament to the war that had ravaged the land. The village, once vibrant with life, was now a graveyard of memories, its cottages reduced to charred skeletons, its streets choked with debris. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and ashes, a grim reminder of all that had been lost. Snow had begun to fall again, soft and steady, as if the sky itself was mourning.

Sebastian Sallow stood in the center of what had once been his home, his heart as cold and lifeless as the stones scattered around him. It had been five months since the final battle of the Goblin Rebellion, five months since he had lost almost everything that mattered. Ominis and Anne were safe, and for that, he was grateful, but the knowledge did nothing to fill the void inside him.

Because you were gone.

The thought was a knife in his chest, a pain that had become as familiar as his own heartbeat. You had been his anchor, his hope, his everything. And now you were nothing more than a memory—a ghost that haunted his every waking moment. They had told him you were dead, that you had been lost in the chaos of the battle, your body never found. He had refused to believe it at first, had scoured the wreckage for any sign of you, but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, the terrible truth had settled in.

You were gone. And there was nothing he could do to change that.

The guilt was a constant companion, a weight he could never shake. You had been the best of them, the light that had kept him going through the darkest times. And now that light was extinguished, leaving him to stumble through the shadows alone.

He had come back to Feldcroft because there was nowhere else to go. The world outside was trying to rebuild, to move on, but Sebastian was stuck in the past, trapped in a moment that he couldn’t escape. The ruins of Feldcroft were all that was left of his old life, a desolate reflection of the emptiness he carried inside him. 

He wandered through the village, his steps slow and heavy, his mind lost in the memories of what had once been. He could still see it, as if the echoes of the past were imprinted on the air—the laughter of children playing in the streets, the warm glow of lanterns in the windows, the scent of freshly baked bread wafting from the cottages. But those memories were like ghosts, insubstantial and fleeting, impossible to hold on to.

Just like you.

Sebastian’s breath hitched as he reached the edge of the village, where the land sloped down toward the river. This had been your favorite spot, the place where you had always come to find peace, to escape from the burdens of the world. He could almost see you there, standing by the water, your hair catching the light as you turned to smile at him.

But it was just a memory. Just another ghost.

He closed his eyes, the ache in his chest unbearable. He didn’t know how to keep going without you, didn’t want to keep going. The world was a darker place without you in it, and he was so tired of stumbling through the shadows, of trying to find his way in a world that no longer made sense.

But then, through the silence, he heard it—a sound so soft, so faint, that at first, he thought it was just the wind. But it came again, more distinct this time, a footstep crunching in the snow behind him.

His heart stopped, his breath catching in his throat. He turned slowly, afraid to look, afraid to hope. And then he saw you.

You were standing just a few feet away, your figure half-hidden by the falling snow, your eyes wide with shock and something else—something that mirrored the grief and yearning that had been eating away at him for so long.

For a moment, he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His mind struggled to process what he was seeing, to reconcile the image of you standing before him with the brutal reality he had been living in. It couldn’t be real. You were gone. You were a ghost.

“Sebastian,” you whispered, your voice trembling as if you, too, were afraid that this was just a dream, that you might wake up at any moment and find yourself alone again.

He shook his head, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re not real,” he said, his voice breaking as he took a step back, his hands trembling at his sides. “You can’t be real.”

“Sebastian, it’s me,” you insisted, your voice thick with emotion as you took a step toward him, your hand reaching out as if to reassure him, to prove that you were real, that you were here.

He flinched, his heart pounding in his chest as he stared at you, his mind screaming that this couldn’t be happening, that you were just a figment of his imagination, conjured by his grief and longing. “You’re dead,” he whispered, his voice raw with the pain that had been festering inside him for months. “They told me you were dead.”

“I almost was,” you admitted, your voice barely more than a breath. “I was hurt, Sebastian—badly. But I survived. I made it to one of the camps, and they healed me. After that, I helped wherever I could—healing, rebuilding, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. But my work there was done, I had nothing keeping me there. I had to find you.”

He stared at you, his heart breaking all over again at the sight of the tears in your eyes, the grief and love that shone in them. “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered, his voice trembling with the weight of his emotions. “I thought you were gone, and I didn’t know how to keep going without you.”

You took another step closer, your hand brushing against his arm, warm and solid and so achingly real. “I’m here now,” you whispered, your voice filled with a quiet, unshakable determination. “We’re both here, Sebastian. We survived.”

He swallowed hard, his throat tight with the tears he had been holding back for so long. “It should’ve been me,” he choked out, the words slipping out before he could stop them. “You didn’t deserve this. You didn’t deserve to suffer like that. I should’ve been the one to die, not you.”

“No,” you said firmly, your voice laced with a fierce, desperate kind of love. “Don’t you ever say that, Sebastian. We both fought, we both survived. And now we’re here. Alive.”

He hesitated, his heart warring with his mind, his grief and guilt battling against the overwhelming relief of having you in his arms again. “I thought I’d lost you,” he repeated, his voice breaking as he finally let himself believe what he was seeing, let himself believe that you were really here, that this wasn’t just a cruel trick of his imagination.

You reached up, your hand cupping his cheek, your touch grounding him, anchoring him in the reality of the moment. “I’m right here,” you whispered, your voice trembling with the depth of your emotions. “And I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you, Sebastian. Not now. Not ever.”

He couldn’t hold back any longer. With a broken sob, he pulled you into his arms, holding you as tightly as he could, as if he could somehow make up for all the lost time, for all the moments he had thought he would never have with you again. You clung to him just as fiercely, your tears soaking into his shirt as you buried your face in his chest, your breath coming in ragged gasps as you tried to steady yourself.

“I love you,” he whispered, the words spilling out of him in a rush, as if he had been holding them back for too long. “I love you. I should have told you before, but I was too scared, too afraid of what might happen. But I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

“I love you too,” you whispered, your voice trembling with the weight of the words. “I always have, Sebastian. And I’m not going to let you go. Not now. Not ever.”

He kissed you then, slow and deep, pouring all of his love, all of his grief, all of his yearning into that one kiss. It was a kiss filled with the promise of tomorrow, with the hope of a future that he had thought was lost. And as he held you in his arms, surrounded by the ruins of Feldcroft, the wind swirling around you like a shroud, he knew that he had found you again.

And that was enough.

***

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Requests are open.

[yourlocaltreesimp]

All Chained Up

ACU masterlist

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Chapter 1: Days drift past

At the beginning of every good story, there’s two key things. The first being nothing, the way of simplistic sleepy life that days drift past in a haze. Small things like running around with your friends as children, staining your pants with grass as you tumble through weedy fields or stacks of work and the cramp in your wrist as you write… minute things that fill up time. But then comes something that disrupts the simplicity. Something that holds your comfort captive. It hangs over the characters in whatever book read or game played until the issue is resolved with a fitting amount of fighting. You supposed your life was much the same, at least half of it. Days slipped past your fingers in paperwork and assignments, unable to break from the chains you found yourself wrapped in. Bills needed to be paid and there were fewer ways to do that. At some point, you stopped waiting for something to change. You stopped waiting for some villain to make themselves known. You stopped waiting for your story to begin. The tired sigh that racked your body was one you were well acquainted with. The cycle of burnout and exhaustion never truly left- if there was anything hanging over your head, it’d be that, not some petty villain. The thought almost made you laugh, the exhale you let out amused. You got into bed, knowing that the next day you’d be met with the same things and the same people. The same lines and patterns of your days. You always felt out of place, like some bird trapped in a cage, that you were one of a kind. But surely if you had that thought, you couldn’t be that different… but that nagging feeling gnawed at your ribs like carnal fear. Something you’d forgotten- something you yourself couldn’t rectify.

You were not met with your bedroom when you woke up. In fact, you weren’t sure if you were met with much of anything. The world before you was blank and cool. An endless expanse of darkness that nothing could cut through. Your joints were stiff as you moved them, grasping at the empty space in front of you.

“What?” Your voice was quiet, as if the sound did not reflect. It felt like you were moving through water to look around you, resistance meeting your movements. You searched for anything aside from yourself, but when you turned, you weren’t met with much. More darkness and a small ball of light, no larger than a marble, dimly glowing. It hummed quietly when you held it in your hands, something familiar that you couldn’t quite recall. But you weren’t given the time to consider it. Instead, you heard voices. Small whispering chitters- overlapping one another in a wave of sound you couldn’t decipher.

“They’re here! I cant bel- We’ve missed you. W- You won’t leave again wil- The King. Get the King.” The voices cut after the final utter, and you were left with far more questions than ideal. They hissed and whispered, so close to being legible and yet so muffled. The whispers only increased in frequency and volume until one cold voice cut across them all.

“Quiet.” His voice was that of such authority that you yourself felt small in comparison. It pierced through you, cracking your ribs and heading straight to where you were most vulnerable. His voice crackled like static, something so unnatural. The symphony of little voices fell quiet as asked. You turned to face this man, the one who they called ‘the King’. His hair was a snow white fluffy as tufts of it brushed past his cheekbones, skin that of a pale grey. His face was sharp, as if carved from marble, perfect and smooth. His eyes were what caught you. For they held no sclera and were instead glowing vats of red. The kind that put roses to shame for their redness, and yet were just as captivating. He examined you as you did him, though his expression was that of utter reverence, as though he was looking at god themself. The sharpness you saw softened, his lips parting and angular eyebrows furrowing in something of concern. He stepped forward but you stepped back.

“It really is you.” His voice no longer hissed, instead it was clear and quiet- a secret shared between the two of you. You and this man you did not know. You and this man who has chosen to show himself as a threat.

This man who called out to you so wholly that it was terrifying. They say animals will most often not understand nor recognize themselves when met with a reflection, so perhaps this was the inverse.

“You’ve returned to me” He sounds relieved, albeit crazed. The glint in his eyes the same as an addict awaiting their next hit, and you fear he’s found it in you.

“What do you…” Your voice fails you and you trail off, caught off guard as he takes another step forward.

“Oh my dearest… You can’t have forgotten me, can you?” He smirks, his voice curling in a way that has you questioning if he was taunting you. But the amusement fades when his examination sees that you do not look upon him with the same familiarity. You’re scared. A deer caught in a trap with no way to escape, only to await the inevitable. “No matter. You will remember soon.” He returns to half talking to himself and you, nodding to comfort himself. He fiddles with something in his hands, marbles, you think. They faintly glow as he rolls them from palm to palm with a stretching smile, baring his teeth. They vary in colour slightly, from magenta, to lime, to cerulean, each humming a slightly different tune, winding to make a harmony. You count 9 marbles, each clearly meant to mean more than what they currently are… but the number holds no significance.

“I kept them safe for you my dear… But I will admit I've had my fun. Don’t fret, I haven't caused too much harm… yet.” He smiles, a sly grin as he holds them out to you, along with your own small one you disregarded until now. And as they pile into your hand, you feel you slip past yourself, and away from your own body.

[drdemonprince]

Any chance you'd expand on the hank hill trans guy post? (Sorry, best indicator I could come up with.) The concept interests me as I decidedly know my maleness, yet don't feel impeded by for the most part, any male gendered norms/boxes. I am fairly masculine, though I rarely use those kinds terms to describe myself. I have found I often do stray outside of what society pushed for me when I transitioned, yet I again do not feel it has taken from my right to maleness whatsoever. I am just me, who happens to be male. I have had friends try and suggest I am NB adjacent but I do not feel this way whatsoever. I feel more people are outliers to gender expectation than we care to admit and it's disappointing the way cis-people deny that. Hope this wasn't too long winded, I value your writing and perspective, and wanted to hear more of your thoughts on this.

Yeah, well so many things all get conflated by gender labels, and it's all so personal, you know? Masculinity does not have to mean maleness, and a person's gender identity might be a reflection of some innate quality they experience themselves as having, or a general summary of their tendencies, or their desired presentation, or their sense of affinity with other people, or an interpersonal tool, or something they just go along with because it was given to them by society, or any other number of things.

I think my recent substack piece on detransition goes into this pretty well, and I have an upcoming piece of what @pastimperfection calls "bilateral dysphoria" that comes out next week that delves into it too.

I think I mostly saw taking on a male identity as a means to an end more than any kind of innate reflection of who I was, though I did feel an affinity with effeminate men for a lot of reasons. I think I also discounted how much I have in common with my fellow nonbinary people of all stripes, because that identity became so strongly associated with being an annoying type of queer person that everybody else just wrote off as ultimately being their assigned gender at birth anyway no matter how much they protested. it doesn't help that 'nonbinary' is a catchall term for literally thousands if not millions of very distinct experiences and desires.

transitioning gave me control over how i was perceived, finally, but hormones are a throttle that only go in one very specific direction, and you don't really have all that much control over which changes kick in at which times and what people will make of you once you do start registering to them as some identity other than what you were first saddled with. it's an incredible gift to be able to toggle that throttle. but it's limited, not because medical transition isn't incredible and needed for so many, but because there is no escaping the goddamned binary cissexist logic that influences everything about how people treat you, how you navigate institutions, who finds you desirable and what they want out of you, and so much else.

if you're able to cast a lot of the external societal bullshit aside and feel strong in your maleness, maybe you're stronger than me or maybe our orientation to these things is just different, i don't know. i was never all that sensitive to feedback that i was doing the whole being-a-woman-thing all that wrong. i reveled in violating those rules to an extent. succeeding at being a woman despite my best attempts was what felt super dysphoric. and now i guess im succeeding at being a man, insofar as im always read as one, and it feels just as uncomfortable and objectifying and false. i thought that with manhood i could probably just grit my teeth and deal with it, but i'm finding that i can't.

ive always been very open that for me, gender is a thing I Do, and i guess to those who know me well it wouldnt be surprising to hear that i have gotten tired of Doing Being a Man and dont feel like playing that particular gendered game anymore. I tend to get bored of things! and find the flaws in things. and find my comfort in being fault-finding and contrarian and not being a joiner. and thats okay. i learned a lot along the way. not having to try any more is a huge relief. i can just do whatever. and know actively that people will more often than not be wrong in what they make of me.

maybe it was natural feeling for you to decidely 'know' your maleness without a care for masculine standards because that is the right identity for you! and maybe i only feel secure in the "not knowing" realm and in letting go of what people think of me or finding any kind of tidy categorization for it because that's the right spot for me. for now. until i find a new interesting way to be unhappy and striving for more and different again. :) that's just part of being alive, for me.

[teriri-sayes]

TCF Author Q&A (Quick Summary)

Ridi, one of the Korean publishers of TCF/LCF, released an exclusive Q&A with Yoo Ryeo Han, the author of TCF, as a special feature for the release of the Korean ebook version of TCF.

The ebook has 5 volumes, spanning chapters 1-117 of Part 1. It costs around 12,960 won. The Q&A can only be viewed if you buy the ebooks.

Since the Q&A isn't publicly available for free, I won't post a full translation of it. Just a quick summary of it.

***

Q: How do you write the entire story? A: Set the overall flow, and write the details as I write. Ending has already been decided.

Q: Easiest or most difficult character to create a setting? A: Easiest - none. Most difficult - Choi Han.

Q: Character that changed the most from the initial setting? A: Alberu. Supposed to be an insignificant villain, but changed to someone who talks well with Cale when I came up with the glib tongue trait.

Q: Writer's block solution? A: Just write. Eventually, I become immersed and get ideas.

Q: Most important focus when planning the story? A: The characters. I like them to feel alive.

Q: Cat owner? A: Sadly, I'm not a cat mom.

Q: Writing routines? A: I write in the morning.

Open previous chapter

Play a puzzle game while listening to fave entertainment program

Choose music that suits the mood

Start writing

Q: Stress relievers? A: Before, eating. Now, weight lifting in the gym.

Q: Main characters's MBTI? A: Cale is an "I." I never thought about the others.

Q: Author's MBTI? A: Between INFJ and ISFJ. A relaxed J.

Q: Character you want to be a friend? A: Beacrox - he cooks delicious food Cale - he buys good meat Not CH because I hate strenuous exercise

Q: Modern AU of characters? A:

Raon: Kindergarten student On, Hong: Elementary school students Cale: Workaholic dreaming of a slacker life Choi Han: Fencer Alberu Crossman: Young CEO of the company Cale works in Rosalyn: Youngest professor Lock: High school student Ron: Doctor Beacrox: Chef Eruhaben: Building owner who runs a convenience store in his building and buys snacks for Raon, On, and Hong every day

Q: Character that makes you feel bad and care about because they're in pain? A: Lock. Lock-centric arc soon.

Q: Similarities with Cale? A: Doing nothing while resting and lying down.

Q: Best character line? A: Not a character line, but a sentence - "But it's worth a try." (Teriri: This sentence can be found on the first chapters of both Parts 1 and 2.)

Q: Fave scene? A: Raon Miru naming scene.

Q: Happiest scene? A: Cale coughing blood... When Cale and his friends are eating and resting.

Q: Most difficult to write scene? A: The past of the characters.

Q: How many chapters from start to end? A: No comment because I always get it wrong...

Q: Work environment? A: Write alone with background music. But no public places.

Q: What songs do you listen to? A: Pop songs.

Ed Sheeran – I See Fire

Sia – Alive

Sia – Floating Through Space

Keala Settle – This Is Me

Naomi Scott – Speechless

AKMU – Chantey

Ahn Ye Eun – Sailing

Younha – Oort Cloud

Q: Most important character setting? A: Disposition, way of life, goals, and atmosphere they exude.

Q: Setting that reflects author's preference? A: The Indestructible Shield.

Q: Scene you want to write the most? A: Has not come out yet.

Q: Do you like dumplings? A: I love them to the point my family is amazed that I'm not tired of it.

Q: You like misunderstandings, so are you a misunderstood person? A: No. I'm far from it.

Q: Snacks you eat when writing? A: Lots of water. I eat food during breaks.

***

And that's all. If you want to read the full Q&A and legally support the author, you can buy the ebooks on Ridi. It's only around 10 USD if you convert Korean won. Link here: https://ridibooks.com/books/111048924

However, you can't use Google Translate or screenshot it, so your solution is to have two devices. One has the ebook (either in PC view or in Ridi app), and the other device has the Google Translate app installed so you can use the camera to translate the text... Yeah, that's what happened to me. 🥲

[bitttertrees]

“Dungeons and Dragons is for kids! Castles and Creepy Creatures is the true peak roleplaying experience.” “You realize adding ‘creepy’ to it actually makes it sound more childish, right?” “...Do you want to play or not?” Join the Sonic gang on an EPIC tabletop roleplaying adventure! Filled with tears, laughter, loss and a hint of bardic flirting on the side. Dungeon Master Tails sets the scene to introduce the squad to one of his favorite tabletop games of all time while they take a break from Eggman’s usual schemes. Sonic the Bard. Knuckles the Barbarian*. Amy the Paladin. And Sticks the Warlock! Ready to embark on a journey to defeat the evil creepy creatures that plague the magical land. *Knuckles’ role subject to constant change since the rules of each class are confusing him. What do you mean he can’t throw fire as a barbarian?

I got to participate as a writer in the @sthbigbang Big Bang Event! I had a blast being able to write this story that got way more ahead of me then I thought it would!

I also was happy to work with awesome artists @wereh0gz , @dragonofthedepths , @hel-helly , and @madcatscookiejar !! They really helped bring this fic to life! Give them and their awesome art a look when you have the chance!

Fic also under the cut since I have Ao3 locked down to registered users only.

They both stared at the note left on their door. A note that was multiple paragraphs long when, in Sonic’s opinion, it could have just been summed up in a ‘Hey! I’ll come by to try and kill you guys in a few days!’ He honestly ended up drifting off by the start of the second paragraph in the note. Meanwhile Tails, who stood beside him, read it in full. At least one of them cared enough to get through all of Eggman’s dribble and drabble, he supposed.

“It’s a lie.” Sonic finally just rolled his eyes. Letting Tails pull the note off the door. Well at least there wasn’t a random razor blade on the other side of the paper that time “Give it a few hours and egghead will be causing some sort of trouble with his, I dunno, robo-chicken 5000.”

Tails remained silent for a few moments as his eyes continued to scan over the note “He added some ‘reallys’.” 

“Some what?”

Tails moved closer to Sonic’s side and showed him the bottom of the note. Passing all of the fluffy words of Eggman going on about needing a few ‘me days’ and stating he would not be attacking them for about a week as he reflected on his life and the meaning of it, there was a ‘P.S.’ note on the bottom.

“I really, really, really, really mean it.” Sonic read the last bit out loud before he rolled his eyes once more. Clearly not buying it.

“Usually when someone uses a lot of reallys. They really mean it.” Tails nodded as if it truly was some unknown fact. Well Sonic had never heard of it so he was calling bull shit.

“Give it a day. Just one.” The hedgehog shook his head before he opened the door to their humble abode. “By tomorrow he’ll be tired of his vacation and come running into town. He at least better wait until AFTER chilidog o’ clock.”

“About that,” Tails flipped the paper over where somehow there was even MORE writing. Was that part of the plan? To bore them with excessive amounts of writing? Because it was working on Sonic. He already wanted to lay down for a nap with what little he’d read over “On the back there is a P.S.S. Yes, that’s a thing.”

Tails held a hand up to stop Sonic from asking his question. The hedgehog left with an open mouth before he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

“It says ‘No I won’t be tired of my vacation by tomorrow. I really, really, really-”

“I get it!” Sonic nearly shouted and rubbed at his eyes “Four more reallys! I still don’t buy it. I’m telling you, he’ll be back to his usual tricks by the afternoon.”

Come the next day, the afternoon came and went. Chilidog o’ clock uninterrupted, which on one hand meant he could eat in peace. But on the other hand it left him questioning if he’d actually been wrong and Eggman really WAS taking a week to himself.

“I think those reallys were serious.” Tails had mumbled with a slight smirk on his face when they’d returned home and there was nary a peep from the old egghead. No random threat. No robot attack. No trash can left turned over and litter strewn about. 

“He’ll attack tomorrow.” Sonic nodded with an air of confidence.

There was no attack the next day either. Amy had been brought over to read the note when she questioned why things had been so quiet. Reading it over carefully while Sonic tapped his foot with impatience.

“I mean,” She finally spoke and flipped the paper back and forth “There are no less than eight reallys. That is pretty serious.” She nodded and Tails joined her. Sonic was very close to banning that word from the house “I think he is taking a vacation. I hope not on some beach where the public can see him.” Amy grimaced at the thought and was probably mentally scolding herself for putting such an image in all of their heads.

“So say he is, which I’m not saying he is,” Sonic quickly interjected “What are we supposed to do until he decides he’s done sipping martinis on top of a killer robot on the beach?”

“Do you have a single hobby besides running and beating up Eggman?” Amy looked at him with a grimace and maybe a bit of pity. Sonic was about ready to talk back in offense when Tails jumped in first.

“What if we take the time to do something for ourselves then? Maaaaybe,” He looked a bit sheepish. A shy smile on his face “Play a game?”

Sonic immediately narrowed his eyes “What game?”

“Oh you know. Just…a game. A board game sorta. One with a lot of adventure. Decisions to make. Characters to build. Dice rolling-”

Sonic let out a loud and over exaggerated groan. He flopped down onto the couch and shook his head in clear disapproval. “You’re talking about that Clowns and Crickets game again aren’t you?”

Now it was Tails turn to look offended “FIRST off, it’s called Castles and Creepy Creatures. SECONDLY don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It got the highest rating of any board game for three years in a row!” He sounded like a kid in a candy store as he bounced around in excitement. Amy looked endeared, Sonic looked just about done with everything.

“Emphasis on bored.” The hedgehog mumbled, letting out a small ow when Amy elbowed his side.

“Well I think it sounds interesting, Tails. When would we start?”

“Now hold on I never agreed-”

“We could start tomorrow!” Tails practically shouted, bouncing around so much it was a miracle he hadn’t accidentally knocked anything over. Sonic’s pleas had gone unheard as the little fox and Amy discussed details.

“I’ll tell Knuckles and Sticks the plan.” Amy sounded just as excited now “And we’ll be by tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be sure to bring the snacks too!”

“Great!” Tails continued to bounce around from foot to foot. It was probably the most excited Sonic had seen him since he’d built that giant slingshot that caused them to lose Sticks for a whole day. It sort of made him feel bad for not really wanting to play some chronics and canaries, or whatever it was Tails had called it.

But he didn’t really have anything on his schedule now that egghead was taking a vacation. Another five days left before the old man would return and Sonic could go back to his true hobby and-

Oh…maybe Amy was right. His lack of hobbies was a little sad.

Sonic shook his head and rejoined the conversation a little late. Tails rushing off to his workshop to start his planning phase, he had announced. Amy still looked endeared and once Tails was gone, she slowly turned towards the blue hedgehog. He was a fool to not use his speed at that moment and take off. Letting out a yelp when Amy latched onto an ear and pulled him back before he could so much as take a step!

“We are going to have FUN tomorrow. Aren’t we?” She gave him that tight smile that he knew meant he better damn well agree otherwise he’d be having a meeting between a pink hammer and his face.

“Why am I being scolded right now? I haven’t done anything!” He crossed his arms and started to pout. Looking nothing short of like a child about to be sent to the corner. “Because I know that uninterested face of yours.” Her grip on his ear disappeared and instead she switched it to pinching his cheek - which honestly might have been worse “I know you don’t like to sit around and listen for long. But we have nothing else to do and it’s something Tails has wanted to try for some time. So,” She pinched down harder on his cheek and gave it a little shake “We are going to sit there, listen to Tails, and play along with his game and have F-U-N.” She spelt out the word as if it would make it easier for Sonic to understand.

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and finally got himself free of Amy’s grip. That bit of guilt from before coming back as he processed Amy’s words and remembered Tails’ excitement. Okay, for just a few days. A few days he could sit around and play a game that his little brother seemed over the moon about. It might feel like torture - but he could do it. For Tails. 

“All right, all right. I get it. No need to threaten me further.” He put his hands up in defense to emphasize his point “Who knows, maybe it will stave off the boredom.” He could hope anyway.

“Good!” Amy’s tight smile became a genuine one. She proceeded to hold out three papers towards him. Sonic quirked a questioning brow at her “Had you been listening and not off in la la land you would have heard Tails talk about this.”

She first handed him a sheet with the word ‘Classes’ at the top. Wait, was learning involved? Did he have to watch a seminar to play a game? He glanced down at the other words to find where Tails had hastily written out things like warlock, fighter, artificer, etc. Okay, he had a vague idea of what the first two might be but what in all the rings was an ARTIFICER? Next to the words were equally hastily written summaries. 

“Use this to pick what you want to be.”

“I want to be me.” He looked back up from the paper, already feeling like playing the game was too much.

“Well you don’t get to be you, well not completely you. Just read through this and pick a class.” She then handed him a second paper “This will be for your stats and spells, if you have any, at least that’s what Tails said.”

“And I have to fill this whole thing out??” Sonic looked exasperated at that point, and they hadn’t even started! Looking down at the multiple blank spots on the sheet. Armor Class? Skill modifiers? Health points?? Why was there so much??

“I can come by in the morning and help you figure it out,” Amy sighed, looking as if she knew she’d have to help them ALL figure out what to put on the sheet to make sure it was correct. Lastly, she gave him the third paper, which was completely blank.

“Uh-”

“For your backstory. Tails said it adds to the roleplay experience. Just make something up after you pick your class.”

Sonic shook his head in disbelief “This seems like a lot of prep work for a game. Can’t we just play uno instead?”

“After what happened last time with Sticks - no. Never again.” They both shuddered at the memory. Uno was banned for a reason.

Sonic relented, for now, and took the papers into his hands. He frowned down at them as Amy headed towards the door to no doubt go spread the news of their latest activity to the others.

“Remember,” She stopped at the door and looked over her shoulder at him. That tight smile back on her face “This is going to be fun!”

x-x-x-x

Come morning he had an…inkling of an idea of what he wanted to be for the game. Sure, he could have spent the latter half of the previous day putting it together. But chili dog o’clock reared its head and then he needed a quick run to burn off all the calories he just ate. Another chili dog for the road. And before he knew it, it was getting dark! Can’t think when the sun is down!

When the sun did rise he grabbed the papers and tried to put something together. To at least put a little effort into it when that morning he passed by Tails setting a table up. A giant map spread across it with little figurines of not only people but landscapes too. In Chaos name, there really was more to it then he thought wasn’t there?

“There uh…is a lot of setup to this dragon and dungeon thing isn’t there?” He recalled saying as he stuffed a breakfast burrito into his mouth.

Tails rolled his eyes and GUFFAWED at him! “That’s a separate game. Besides! Dungeons and Dragons is for kids!” Tails announced, seeming to forget that he himself was still a kid “Castles and Creepy Creatures is the true peak roleplaying experience!”

“You realize adding creepy to it actually makes it sound more childish, right?” Sonic quirked an amused brow at him.

“...Do you want to play or not?”

The look of building disappointment on Tails face was enough to break the blue hedgehog. He had let out a sigh and gave the other a small smile “Yeah. I do. Can’t wait, little buddy.” With that he ruffled the top of the fox’s head, drawing a laugh from Tails before the two parted ways. Sonic quickly rushed to grab the papers left behind on his hammock and come up with something.

A class. Class, class, class. Why were there so many?? He only made it to the B Section before he just decided on what sounded the most entertaining. Bards were music sort of folk, right? And he was a music sort of guy! He hadn’t picked up the guitar in a year but details, details. He glossed over the brief description left on the paper and looked at the list of instruments to choose from. He wasn’t a drummer. Or ew…violin. A lute was like a guitar, wasn’t it? 

Eh, close enough.

He tossed the character stats page to the side. He’d need Amy for that one. He COULD ask Tails, but after peeking into the living room and watching his little brother frantically go around trying to set everything up, he decided it was best to leave him be for now. Onto the blank sheet!

He’d spent all of ten minutes trying to come up with something and writing bits of information down before a knock was heard on the door. Said door slammed open and hit the wall - yep, Knuckles had arrived.

Sonic sauntered into the room just as the big red oaf was distracting Tails with questions that clearly were bringing slight irritation to the little fox. Knuckles didn’t seem to take notice that Tails was still trying to set up and had no time for questions or for papers to be shoved into his face. “Hey, big red.” Sonic quickly came to the rescue and he could see the utter relief on his brother’s face “We’ll tick off Tails later while we play,” Ah, there went the relief. Sonic couldn’t help but give Tails a wink, to which the other just rolled his eyes “What are you bothering him for anyway?” “This thing.” Knuckles held up the blank character stat sheet, a hint of worry on his face “Too much math was involved. I couldn’t get it done!”

The hedgehog let out a snort and waved his hand as if to wave off all of Knuckles’ worries “Amy said she’d help with that once she got here. But in the mean time-” He lets out an audible YOINK as he takes the papers from Knuckles’ hands. Zipping around to different parts of the living room as he read over the papers that Knuckles so desperately tried to get back. 

Oof. Knuckles may have written his backstory in crayon but at least he had more lore than Sonic did. It even looked like some thought had been put into it too. Damn. Shown up by the guy that still read picture books. The shame.

“Barbarian huh? See you only made it to the B’s too.” He couldn’t help but yelp when Knuckles finally got ahold of his leg while Sonic was distracted with reading. The echidna let out a huff as he held Sonic upside down and snatched the papers back.

“I tried reading ahead. But everything else was so confusing. These guys just smash, I know how to do that.” He declared proudly before dropping Sonic on his head. Ignoring the indignant sound the other let out as he held his papers proudly in his hands.

“Wow, Tails. Nice setup.” Amy entered the little abode next with Sticks following shortly behind. A ton of papers in Amy’s hands and a load of snacks taking up real estate in Sticks’ arms. The badger tried to put the bags and drinks on the game table only for Tails to immediately stop her.

“Not there! I don’t want you guys getting anything on the board. This one is a limited edition!” His voice raised a couple octaves as the concern was clear in his tone. Ignoring the huff that Sticks’ let out as Tails guided her towards a smaller, separate table that was shoved into a corner of the room.

“How am I supposed to enjoy a game of death and destruction if I can’t eat during it??” Sticks argued but reluctantly put the snacks on the assigned table. Already opening up a bag of chips and stuffing some into her mouth.

Tails grimaced in response “We can…take breaks so you can eat. Please wash your hands before touching anything.”

Amy made her way to Sonic’s side and gave him an expectant look “I hope you did your homework.”

Sonic couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Did she really think he wouldn’t do it? Well…he almost didn’t. But in his defense he’d been in a chili dog induced coma and forgot! He’d at least come up with something that morning! And it was in PENCIL! Which in his opinion made his sheets better than Knuckles, even if the echidna had more substance to his.

“I did,” He quickly ran to his room and scooped up the two necessary papers before coming back to Amy’s side and presenting them to her “Picked my class. Made up my harrowing backstory. Just need that brain of yours to help with some numbers.” He couldn’t help but to tap the top of Amy’s head, shooting his fellow hedgehog a smirk in the process. It was Amy’s turn to roll her eyes now. But the little smile that came with it let Sonic know she was just the slightest bit amused.

Not a moment later he was shoved aside by Knuckles, who presented his papers to Amy with a smile of his own “I need that brain too! This math stuff made my brain hurt.”

“I’ll get it figured out before we start, don’t worry.” She took both their small piles of paper after putting down her own. Sonic grimaced at how meager theirs looked compared to Amy’s.

“You and Sticks really put a lot of thought into this, huh?” He reached over to grab one of the papers until Amy smacked his hand. The blue hedgehog let out a yelp before giving Amy a mockingly hurt look. Cue another eye roll. RUDE!

“None of those are Sticks’. It’s all mine.” She declared proudly. Sonic counted no less than thirteen or fourteen pages when he took a quick glance at the table again “Eleven pages of backstory that I think will help give Tails a perfect picture of the character I tried to create.”

“And everything else in this pile of dead trees?”

Amy huffed and shuffled through some of her papers, pulling out a few with some drawings on them “And these are for reference! How I envisioned my strong yet alluring paladin to look!”

All right, Sonic couldn’t lie, Amy’s drawings weren’t half bad. He was more impressed that she’d had the time to write everything up and even DRAW after their hang out session last night. She’d even had time to make up a drawing for Sticks!

“I’ll whip up something for you and Knuckles too.” She put her drawings down and put her full attention on what the two boys had given her. Sonic just letting her go about it since interrupting Amy when she had her game face on was just asking for a smack with a hammer.

Thus, he took a back seat for once and watched everything and everyone around him. And truthfully, despite not being all that gungho to play, Sonic was happy to see the excitement on the others faces. Even if the excitement was for varying different reasons. Amy was just happy to be able to pull some micromanaging and put everyone’s ideas together with some flare of her own. The mixture of pens and colored pencils already lining the kitchen counter as she worked with a speed that could have rivaled Sonic’s running (Okay, not really but Sonic would give her the compliment even if he wasn’t saying it out loud).

Knuckles seemed excited to be trying something new. Plopping down next to Sonic on the couch and droning on about being able to play a guy that could just smash and punch his way out of any situation. Seeming to forget he was already that sort of guy in real life. It was sort of endearing, if Sonic was being honest.

Sticks looked content with just eating the snacks. Already through one bag of chips and looking to be eyeing up another along with a giant bottle of soda. Once that inevitable stomach ache kicked in, she’d probably say it was caused by the government sending vibrations to their stomachs to make them sick. That had actually been a fun wack-a-doodle conspiracy theory to listen to.

And finally, Tails. He looked like a kid in a candy store as he went about setting up the game table. Moving things around every so often to no doubt make it PERFECT. Or at least what he envisioned to be perfect. Frankly, it looked fine to Sonic. But if adjusting some rock looking thing on the board slightly to the left made Tails happy, then it was best to let him be.

Another half hour later and they all surrounded the board. But not before Tails made Sticks wash her hands of all the food residue she had on them. 

“Are we ready?” The two tailed fox practically beamed. Smile so bright it was probably on par with the sun.

“Yes we are!” Amy declared, almost equally as excited as she gave Sonic and Knuckles back their character sheets before pulling some more papers out to put in front of Sticks. Sonic couldn’t help but raise a brow.

“She wrote all that?” 

“Of course not,” Amy waved him off before putting an arm around Sticks “She told me the basics of what she wanted and I expanded it for her!”

“I said I wanted to be able to shoot fire from my hands so that I can cause enough anarchy to throw the government off of my trail!” Sticks proudly declared before holding her stomach which made sounds akin to a whale “That way they stop sending signals to my stomach!!”

There it was. Sonic totally called it.

“And you got…” He counted the papers “Five pages worth of material out of that?”

“It was just enough to inspire me.” Amy looked just as proud, if not more so, than Sticks. All of them turned their attention back to Tails as he coughed into his hand. Wait…had he always had the hooded cloak on?

“Well, I think it’s time we get started. Welcome to the epic game of - CASTLES AND CREEPY CREATURES!” Tails used a small device to amplify his voice. Sonic shook his head. Amy looked amused. Knuckles bounced in his seat. And Sticks still held her stomach.

“Now,” The fox continued without interruption “Since we only have a few more days until Eggman returns from his vacation, I made sure to make this a quick campaign. Instead of months this will only last us the rest of the week-

“Hang on, hang on,” Sonic of course had to be the first one to draw them to a pause “MONTHS? These games can go for months? Wait…we are playing this for more than a day?” He saw Tails start to deflate slightly and just out of the corner of his eye he caught the unimpressed look Amy gave him. Quickly backtracking to save face “Uh…because that’s fine. Totally fine. Looking forward to it!”

He quickly plastered on a smile and that was enough for Tails. The blue hedgehog let out a sigh of relief before his two tailed brother continued with his spiel.

“Like I said, it’ll just take up the rest of the week. It was a little hard to come up with something on the fly, especially since I didn’t know what classes you all would be picking. But I think I got everything covered just enough where we can improvise the rest.” Tails stood there behind an upright board thingy - a DM Shield, Sonic was later corrected, the fox looking proud of himself. That changed instantly and he flipped the hood of his cloak off before hitting a button and the lights in the room went out momentarily. A sole light above the board turned on to give focus to both it and the little pieces on it. When the hell had he installed that?

“Welcome to the land of Cardovina! A usually peaceful country that has been plagued by monsters, bandits and extra creepy shadows in the past few years. You and your party already know each other. Having traveled to Cardovina in search of adventure. And to try and figure out why the land has been flooded by such evils. But are you also here for your own personal goal? To seek glory in slaying beasts? To be a helpful hero to the country folk? Or perhaps just here to collect the reward.”

Tails reached over his DM Shield and placed four wooden pieces on the board. Each one had a name on it. One for each of them. Tails opened his mouth to explain further but Sticks quickly snatched her piece off the board.

“They say wood is good for stomach cramps in some regions. Can I just-?” She was about to take a bite before Tails quickly took the piece back and placed it on the table.

“That is meant to represent you! It isn’t for eating.”

“I’ll get you some wood later, Sticks.” Amy gave their tummy aching friend a pat on the shoulder before motioning for Tails to keep going. Another huff left the fox but nonetheless, he continued on.

“As I was saying, you guys will already know each other. Amy is a paladin of Pelor. They are usually sworn by certain oaths and face consequences if they are broken. I also made her the leader-”

BOTH Sonic and Knuckles let out indignant sounds at that.

“But I’M the leader!” Knuckles complained, only to let out an oof when Sonic elbowed him in the stomach.

“Says you, knucklebrain. I’M the leader!”

Tails leaned forward and gave them both a look “Do either of you know the complexities of this game? Enough to make informed decisions that won’t get everyone killed immediately?”

“Well no…” Both got sheepish at that but Sonic trudged on “But Amy doesn’t-”

“Actually I read the rulebook last night.” The smug look on the pink hedgehog’s face almost made Sonic jump across the table “It was a light read. Besides, you two can relinquish leadership for a game.”

Knuckles grumbled in his seat. Sonic joined him with the added bonus of crossing his arms and looking like a pouting child.

“Sticks is your warlock,” Tails cleared his throat as he read off some papers of his own, holding one close to his face just to make sure he was reading it right “That was granted her powers from a patron that can’t be named in case the government is listening in and tries to take out said patron.” He gave both Amy and Sticks a look.

Amy shrugged in response, “I can only use what I was given to work with.”

“The Mobius Bureau of Sketchy Affairs will NEVER know who grants me the power of fire!” Sticks practically shouted before she let out a maniacal laugh.

“Right…then Knuckles is your barbarian. They can typically enter a rage which makes them stronger than they already are. So Knuckles-”

“I can smash EVERYTHING!” He shouted and was almost on par with Sticks. Both of them happily high fiving each other from across the table.

“These next few days are going to be long.” Sonic sighed deeply, not that anyone paid him any mind.

“And Sonic is your bard. Musical geniuses who can use spells-”

“I have SPELLS??”

After going into more depth on everyone’s classes and giving them a better picture, the game was set to begin. Tails offered his four players dice before he began his next round of narration and let the immersive experience begin.

x-x-x-x

The group set off into the first town that rested along the borders of Cardovina. A bustling average sized town where upon arrival they were immediately bombarded with requests to help slay some goblins. Help capture a thief. Get that RAT Prudence to stop flirting with Gary’s husband. Typical things requested of adventures such as themselves.

“Not even five minutes here and they’re already lining up for help!” Amy declared with surprise. Though in hindsight, the four stood out like sore thumbs amongst all the civilians. Her in full armor, Knuckles in a small amount of his own. Sticks carrying around a staff and Sonic…well he didn’t think he looked out of place. The only requests he had gotten were to play some songs. The respect for him was LACKING!

The group were given options by the narration in the sky. Pick up some odd jobs around the village and see if it leads to something grander. Or go to the well populated and most popular inn in town to see if there were bigger fish to fry. To see if grander information could be gathered there as to why Cardovina had become so plagued with problems as of late.

“Why would people at a motel-” (“Inn, Sonic. Motels don’t exist yet.”) “At an inn know more than anyone else on the street?”

“If it’s so popular, it’s probably the place where other travelers go to converse too.” Amy declared, already having made up her mind for the group and heading in the direction of the inn. The others were given the option by the narration in the sky to go and speak to other civilians if they didn’t want to go with Amy, but one look from their paladin and the remaining three thought it best to follow their ‘leader’.

Upon arrival at the inn, it was definitely a given that it was a popular meeting point. A bustling tavern greeting them as the entrance to the inn. Not only were civilians walking between tables and trying to serve drinks, but there were many more folks at tables that could easily be clocked as other adventurers. Dressed in armor, carrying weapons, sitting in loud, drunken groups. They hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to anyone before Knuckles found the biggest guy in the inn and challenged them to an arm wrestling contest.

“Gotta show them who the strongest guy here is.” Knuckles smirked and gave his friends a confident look.

“Go ahead and roll for athletics.” Tails couldn’t help but to smirk, everyone else able to tell that he was waiting for Knuckles to fail. Knuckles on the other hand remained oblivious and happily rolled his dice. Tails smirk fell after both dice finished rolling on the table and BOTH displayed the number twenty.

“How…you got a nat twenty?? Twice??” The fox looked down in astonishment. Amy looked just as surprised while the rest of them seemed confused. “You just beat a barbarian with a paladin multiclass…they have the highest strength…”

“That a good thing? Did I send the guy flying through the table?” Knuckles beamed.

The barbarian did indeed send his fellow barbarian through the table they arm wrestled on. The losing barbarian’s companions laughing at his misfortune while serving maids just rolled their eyes and continued to serve drinks. One of them shouting that the loser on the floor better pay for the repairs! Before Knuckles could challenge anyone else, Amy latched onto his arm and dragged him towards a table.

“We’re here for information. Not fighting.” She scolded her fellow party member.

“But how will they know who is in charge if I don’t wrestle them all??” Knuckles complained, but his complaints were promptly ignored.

“What do we do now? Just go up to people and ask about their shady business?” Sonic let out a snort, glancing around the inn. (“Bard classes have high charisma. Remember that. It’ll make talking easier!”)

“We can also listen in and see if we hear anything of value. Just get a drink and walk around.” Amy paid for the whole table. Giving the other three their mugs before urging them to walk around the inn. 

“Everyone roll a perception check.” Tails looked down at his papers before looking back up at all of them. Dice hit the table moments later. Amy let out a huff at the measly five she had gotten. Sticks somehow rolling even lower and letting out a huff just to copy Amy. Sonic rolled a sixteen which he figured was good since Tails nodded in approval. And Knuckles-

“You got ANOTHER round of twenties??” The fox looked absolutely baffled as he stared down at Knuckles’ dice. Two twenties staring back at him. 

“That’s still a good thing right? Did I find someone else to arm wrestle?”

No. Knuckles did not in fact find someone else to arm wrestle and smash through a table. (“Aw…”) But while their lady companions were having trouble tuning into conversations above all the talking in the inn, Sonic and Knuckles had no such issues. Stumbling upon a group where they caught a bit of JUICY information that might be of use.

“I heard some weird beast might have cast a spell onto the land. Nothing like that Tiamat thing that cult tried to summon in Baldur’s Gate last spring. It’s a minor beast but still enough to apparently cause a fair bit of trouble.” They heard one of their fellow inn-goers say.

“A beast summoning other beasts I understand. But bandits? What creature would summon bandits?”

That was all the two could hear before the hustle and bustle of everyone else in the inn covered up anything else the group was saying.

“That’s enough, right?” Sonic looked to the others “Got what we needed now we can just go beat up…I don’t know? Some robot?”

“There aren’t any robots in Castles and Creepy Creatures.” Tails quickly interrupted “At least not in this edition OR this campaign. They are only included in the sixteenth-”

“Right, right, right. Whatever it is,” He quickly waved off Tails words before the other went off on an unrelated tangent “Still got what we needed.”

“But we don’t know where the beast is. You need to find out more.” Amy argued.

“Why can’t you talk to them and find out?” Sonic complained. Feeling as if he’d already done enough for the group by getting even that tiny hint of intel. Now he just wanted ACTION!

“I didn’t roll high enough in perception. So I’m technically not over there and technically have no idea what they are talking about. Tails already told you bards have high charisma so you can-”

“What if I just keep listening in?” Sonic didn’t want to roleplay out any sort of conversation. Looking to Tails for confirmation.

“In that case you could roll stealth. But you should probably-”

Sonic quickly picked up his dice “I roll stealth!”

The blue bard tried to sneak between a few people and get closer to the table of other adventurers. But unfortunately he caught the leg of a serving maid with his foot. Sending them both crashing to the ground. Drinks flying with one managing to land in the lap of a fellow bard at the table he’d been trying to eavesdrop on.

“What in the realms?! How dare you!” The bard shouted, directing his anger at Sonic “Watch where you are going!”

(“...You can’t roll to get out of this right now, Sonic. You have to respond.”)

Sonic groaned as he peeled himself off the floor. Looking at the other bard with nothing short of an unimpressed look “It was an accident. Besides, you looked thirsty.”

The other bard scoffed in offense, slowly unstrapping his lute from his back and holding it in his hands “Do you mock me, sir?”

“Wait, is this a fight?” Sonic perked up with a smirk. Looking to Tails for confirmation again.

“If you don’t talk him down, it could become one. And I’m really not supposed to but since it’s your first game, I suggest maybe-”

Sonic pulled off his own instrument from his back. His own lute that he plucked a few strings on momentarily before looking back to the other bard. Holding his lute out in front of him like it was some sort of sword.

“This is more like it! If I win, you tell me everything you know about that beast you guys were talking about earlier!” Sonic declared, he wanted action but he also wanted the plot to keep moving! A fight for information? Right up his alley!

The other bard stuttered over their words, holding their instrument close to their chest “D-deal! And what song are you challenging me to?”

Sonic didn’t even give a response before he swung his lute towards the other bard’s head and-

Tails let out a long sigh, Amy joined him as she buried her face in her hands. Knuckles and Sticks seemed to be the only two amused with Sonic’s antics. Even egging him on!

“I want to hit someone with my staff! Is anyone looking a bit TOO suspicious? Anyone drinking juice instead of mead?” Sticks looked from Tails to the board on the table, as if it would answer her question for her.

“Oh! I want to hit someone with her staff too!” Knuckles declared next.

“No one is hitting anyone with a staff!” Amy interrupted, causing the enablers to whine in response.

“You’re really going to hit him with your lute?” Tails grimaced at his older brother “Rather than use a spell or even play a song?”

“Why do any of that when I’ve caught him by surprise? He wants to play a song to beat me and instead I just…you know…beat him over the head.” Sonic shrugged as if his logic made perfect sense. He’d probably do that in real life too. Maybe not with one of his nicer guitars. He could use that old one he’d gotten from a flea market to bludgeon someone with. But in a kid friendly, made for television sort of way.

Tails gave a look of exasperation, pulling out a book that Sonic hadn’t been aware he’d been hiding behind his DM Shield. Flipping through it like he’d never faced this dilemma before. And maybe he hadn’t. Sonic didn’t know any of the other times his little brother had played his Chromes and Chips game.

“Uh…I guess…roll for unarmed strike?” Tails sounded unsure of himself as he closed the book and put it down. Sonic took his dice back from Amy, who’d stolen them to make sure he’d actually roleplay out his talk with the other bard rather than keep rolling his dice to get out of it.

“Show him a cracked open skull!” Knuckles shouted as he leaned closer to Sonic, the hedgehog let out a snort.

“Maybe not that far. But enough to daze him.”

The lute met the side of the other bard’s head, sending him crashing against another table and onto the ground. Hit hard enough that it had knocked him completely out! His companions sat there in shock. But their friend was not the only casualty. Sonic left holding up a lute that had broken in half after having made impact.

“What?? How??” Sonic shouted “Skull doesn’t beat wood! Or whatever it is a lute is made from!”

“It does when you roll well for an unarmed strike but also all high on strength.” Tails smirked. Oh, he was so getting the little brother swirly special later “You were too strong. The lute didn’t stand a chance.”

“I think you killed him.” Knuckles looked over Sonic’s shoulder in wonder.

“What did you do?!” Amy strode over with Sticks. Their paladin looked nothing short of furious while their warlock poked at the unconscious man with her staff.

“Have to make sure he’s actually dead. Did you double tap? You always hit twice.” Sticks raised her staff to deliver another blow only for Amy to quickly grab her.

“We didn’t kill anyone!”

“Right?” Amy looked desperately at Tails. Sighing in relief when he nodded.

“And we aren’t about to kill anyone. Why did you hit him?” The pink paladin turned her attention to her blue companion. A look that could match that of a furious mother on her face. If Sonic had a mother, he might have been scared. 

Okay, he was a little scared.

“He and these other chumps know about some freaky beast that is causing all the problems! He started the fight! I only said if I won that they had to tell me what else they know!” 

“And to win, instead of playing a song like you are MEANT to do, you hit him?”

“It worked!” Sonic argued, throwing his hands up in the air and causing his broken lute to dangle on the still intact strings.

“Okay, tough guy, if it worked out so well for you, what are you going to use now to play songs and cast spells?” Amy quirked a brow at him as she gestured to his damaged instrument.

Sonic held the lute out in front of him and grimaced slightly “Maybe I can still salvage this. Does medieval duct tape exist?”

Before any response could be uttered, one of the bard’s friends stood up and shouted “GUARDS!”

“Then-”

“Break time!” Knuckles declared and stood up, eyes already falling across the snack table left in the corner “All this beating up imaginary people has left me hungry!”

“Those are MY snacks!” Sticks growled as she jumped up from her seat.

Knuckles tilted his head to the side “I thought your stomach hurt?”

“The government stopped it’s mind control on my stomach.” Sticks crossed her arms with a huff. Knuckles only response was to push against her face and send the badger stumbling to the ground before he darted towards the snack table. Sticks had let out an offended shout before she raced after him.

“Uh…so break?” Sonic gave his little brother a small smirk. Tails stood there in stunned silence before he shook his head and let out a soft sigh.

“Yeah. Break.”

The break was longer than perceived and ended with them calling it a night for now. Amy lamented that they hadn’t gotten much done with Tails telling her some campaigns spend two whole sessions in a single inn! This game made zero sense to Sonic! Who spent that long just talking in a game? He liked to think he jazzed it up a bit by taking a guy out with a lute alone! Even if it apparently was going to cause them future problems.

“We’ll see you tomorrow!” Amy hefted a food coma stricken Sticks over her shoulder. Smiling at Tails before her eyes drifted to Sonic. Ah, that tight smile was back “And once we get you a new lute - no more hitting with it. Read over those spells I wrote down on your character sheet.”

“You know it’s kind of late. And that looked like a lot of reading for one night. Why don’t I-” Amy’s smile grew tighter, a fist was clenched. Sonic quickly held up his hands in defense “All right, all right! I’ll read it!”

“Good boy.” Amy nodded in approval before she carried Sticks out. Slamming the door shut behind her. Sonic couldn’t help but to sigh in relief once she was gone. Turning around only to walk into Knuckles chest.

“What are you still doing here?”

“Spending the night! Don’t wanna lose all of the notes Amy made for me!” Knuckles gestured towards his character papers that had been left on their game table. Sonic quirked a brow up at him.

“You could just leave them here for the night.”

Knuckles sheepishly pushed two fingers together, avoiding making eye contact with Sonic “Well, you know, it might rain tonight. Don’t want to get sick. Might not be able to beat up anyone in our game then! Tails would do something like that! I get sick and then my little barbarian guy gets sick!”

“You want to come and share my hammock again don’t you?” Sonic had let out a soft snort as Knuckles gave a nod. How was a blue hedgehog to refuse? Knuckles had even gone through the trouble of trying to come up with an excuse to stay. He’d probably been thinking up that excuse all game!

“All right, all right. Come on.” Sonic waved the red echidna along. Knuckles bounced momentarily in excitement before he scooped Sonic up and rushed towards the hedgehog’s room “You aren’t hogging my good pillows this time though!”

He just barely managed to catch a glimpse of Tails sitting on the couch and reading through his Cackles and Cacophony nerd book. A determined look on his face as he flipped through the pages. Sonic couldn’t help but to call out before he was forced into a cuddle session.

“Don’t stay up too late, little buddy! Need you paying attention in case I wanna hit someone else over the head with a drum!” He laughed just as he caught Tails rolling his eyes.

x-x-x-x

 Breakfast? Eaten. Beating Knuckles with the pillow he drooled on? Done. Watching Tails mutter to himself and go back and forth from reading his book to writing down notes in a furious fashion? Eh, Sonic would have liked to be doing anything else.

“You’re uh…taking this game a little seriously, aren’t you?” Sonic took a step back as Tails slowly raised his head. A sort of manic look on the fox’s face.

“I don’t understand how Knuckles rolled perfectly - TWICE! Or how you managed to do something I’ve never seen before!” He proceeded to flip through his book again. Looking to be reading the pages but Sonic wasn’t entirely sure what with how fast his little brother was flipping “I’ve played eight different campaigns and no bard ever used their instrument as a weapon before.”

Sonic pulled smugly on his neckerchief “Just consider me the first. And clearly the best bard there is.” 

Tails didn’t seem to think the same as he shot the hedgehog an unimpressed look before returning to his book. Writing down a few more notes that he hid from Sonic’s view.

“No spoilers! You’ll see what happens when we play!”

Sonic simply shrugged and walked away. Despite leaving Tails to his ramblings, that didn’t mean he escaped the dreaded roleplaying world. Knuckles flopping down on the couch next to him once Sonic had returned from his run. Going over how his barbarian could beat up everyone in that inn and probably beat up the dragon they were going to face at the end!

“How do you know it’s a dragon? Did you peek at Tails notes?” Sonic pretended to be ashamed of his friend. Even putting a hand to his chest to give his act more flare.

“No! I can’t even read all those big words he’s writing down!” Knuckles pouted, arms crossed over his chest “But isn’t that how all these things end? With a dragon?”

Sonic shrugged in response. He wasn’t that big on fantasy. And he definitely wasn’t big on Checkers and Chestnuts! Sure, being able to win what seemed like a bar fight was pretty fun. But he’d rather have been fighting ACTUAL baddies. Something about piledriving a robot into the ground by just jumping on them was more satisfying than pretending to hit a belligerent guy over the head with an instrument. 

But he was writing that tactic down for future reference. Just in case. Maybe he should start carrying that old guitar around with him.

Amy and Sticks arrived with a plethora of new snacks. Sonic took note that the variety of foods were healthier and no soda was in sight. Sticks grumbled as she dropped all the new bags of food onto the table. Arms soon crossed and looking like a child who just lost their favorite toy as she pouted. Sonic looked to Amy for an answer. 

“She threw up on my rug last night after gorging on snacks here,” Amy sighed, clearly not having been happy to have cleaned up vomit. “She’s less likely to eat all of this in under five minutes.”

“Right, might have lengthened it to ten minutes.” Sonic smirked as he teased. Despite Sticks’ grumbling, she still eyed the snack table. Knuckles alongside her. The two only looked away when Amy grabbed them both and dragged them to the game table. Tails was already waiting as he finally closed that giant rulebook of his and put it off to the side. Donning his cloak once more.

“Okay,” He let out a sigh like he was a tired old man that was at his limits dealing with his unruly children. And judging how yesterday’s session had gone, Tails couldn’t be blamed for his reaction. Sonic swore he saw a few extra papers filled with notes behind Tails’ DM Shield before he’d sat down “Had a little blip yesterday. But now we can get back on track.”

“First order of business, get Sonic a new lute. Otherwise he won’t be able to do anything for the rest of the game.” Amy quickly declared. Making their plans for them before anyone else could suggest anything. Again, fair to do.

“What do I need a new lute for? Can’t I just…I don’t know…use a dagger or something?” He turned to Tails “Bards can use daggers, right?”

Amy’s eye twitched slightly “Didn’t I tell you to-”

“READ! Yes! You did. Buuuut you only told me to read the spells. Which I did. Mostly.” Sonic smirked at Amy, trying his best not to be intimidated by the look she gave him. He at least managed to stare her down for five seconds before turning away. That’s three more seconds than normal!

Take THAT Miss Rose!

“Bards can use daggers,” Tails gave a nod “But, it shouldn’t be the only weapon you have at your disposal. Bards have spells for a reason and you need an instrument to cast them. So Amy’s right. You need a new lute otherwise you’ll be pretty USELESS the rest of the game.”

Sonic caught the emphasizing of that word! And he knew Tails used it to try and goad him. The smirk that his little brother shot him was just as telling! Fine, fine. He’d get a new lute and bust out some of those spells he’d read about. Ideas already bouncing off the walls of his mind. The rest of the table wouldn’t know what hit them. And neither would the fake-not-robot enemies in the game!

“Can’t we just get him some spoons and he can use them as drumsticks?” Knuckles suggested with his usual dopey smile, putting an arm around Sonic “Then he’d have a drum anywhere he goes! You could use my skull for one.”

Sonic couldn’t help but to let out a snort and use two fingers to drum on the stop of the echidna’s head. Knuckles letting out a loud laugh in response.

“Doesn’t work that way.” Tails shook his own head but actually looked amused with the antics “Or at least I’m not going to try and figure out IF it could work that way.”

x-x-x-x

The group had previously set out to try and find information in regards to the weird coming and goings of the land of Cardovina. And information they had found! But at a price. An unintentional bar fight had ensued thanks to their bard. ( “Worth it. Ow! Amy!” ) And while their bard came out of the fight victorious, it had cost him his lute. The very thing needed for a bard to be USEFUL to his fellow adventurers. 

The other, defeated bard lay on the ground unconscious. His friends yelled out to the guards for assistance. Pointing at the party of four that had just dared to bring harm to their friend.

“HE came at ME first!” Sonic argued, but the other bard’s friends were hearing none of it. Still yelling for guards until the hedgehog raised his already broken lute to take them out too. Amy quickly intervened and grabbed hold of Sonic’s arm to pull him away.

“No! Not again!”

“Why not?? The thing is already broken!” He gestured to his broken lute. Grumbling when Amy managed to pry the instrument out from his hand, leaving him weaponless. Well, save for the dagger, which he coooould-

Before more bloodshed and broken glasses could occur, Amy was dragging the party out through a doorway opposite of the one they’d entered through. Happy to get away from the guards that had finally answered the call but were stuck trying to get through the unruly crowd in the inn. It seemed as if that one little fight had started a massive one throughout the entire place! ( “Uh, you’re welcome.” )

“Where do we go now for a new string thingy?” Sticks asked once they were outside. Looking around their immediate area, they only took notice of various fruit and vegetable vendors as well as stands selling a few bits and bobbles. But no instruments.

“We’d need to look around town to see if anyone even sells lutes.” Amy let out an exasperated sigh.

“The drummer with spoons idea is still on the table.” Knuckles piped up, his idea once again going ignored.

“We also need to figure out how we can afford it-”

“Wait, what is this, Mobius-Opoly? We actually have to pay attention to money?” Sonic looked over his character sheet, skimming through it to see where it even mentioned them having a spot for their money.

“Next time you are coming over and reading the rulebook with me before we play any games.” Amy rubbed at her eyes, Sonic knowing it was a PROMISE and not just a threat. He’d have to make sure his running shoes were primed and ready whenever that day came about “Yes! Money is involved. And since I helped put together everyone’s sheets, we all have only ten gold coins each.”

Amy rubbed at her chin in thought “Depending on how much a new lute costs, we could pull all our coins together to afford it. But then there is the possibility we won’t be able to afford anything else.”

Sonic watched as the pink hedgehog wracked her brain. The other so lost in thought she didn’t realize when Knuckles pulled two spoons out of nowhere and tried to hand them to Sonic. The hedgehog responded by slowly lowering Knuckles’ hand back down.

“Wait!” Amy snapped her fingers “It’s a starter town!”

“And when we came into town, people were already asking us for help! We help a few people out and get a few extra coins and hopefully won’t have to use all of our funds just for one thing! Plus! We can find out more information!” Amy looked rather proud of herself as she laid out her plan.

After coming to an agreement to stay together (And a perception check to take in more of the town as they walked - yes, Knuckles rolled another twenty. Much to Tails’ absolute confusion.) the group found a ‘quest’ that paid both a decent amount and was in their skill level. Sure, it wasn’t the most HEROIC of quests. A little old granny wanted lunch delivered to her grandson that worked at the town bank. A reverse fetch quest, one could say.

And was probably only given to them so they could move the story along quickly and efficiently. Since it was clear by Tails’ face he hadn’t expected them to spend so much time in the FIRST town.

“And here we are!” Amy held her arms out once they stood in front of the bank. The group walked inside to find only a few tellers and customers. Some doing their daily banking. Some arguing. Nothing out of the ordinary for a bank “Let's find the grandson, get a new lute, and then find this big bad evil that is harming these poor country folk!”

“And then smash them?” Knuckles added on with a smile.

“And then smash them - yes.” Amy nodded in agreement. Turning to Sticks and losing her confident smile almost immediately when she finds their warlock digging through the basket of food and eating the contents.

“You ATE our quest item??” Amy groaned and buried her face in her hands. Tails looked like he wanted to do the same thing but settled on just grimacing. Sonic couldn’t help but to laugh.

“My warlock was hungry and had to feed the fire demon inside that grants her the POWER!” Sticks shouted proudly, standing up and putting her foot on the table. Tails let out a concerned shout of his own when Sticks’ dirty foot was placed on his board “TAKE THAT STOMACH UPSETTING GOVERNMENT!”

“Can you sit down??”

With no food left in the basket - the quest was a bust. Such an easy task…failed. The group prepared to turn around and find something else to earn some coins before Sticks stopped them.

“What if we just take money from the bank?” She looked at Tails with a serious expression.

The fox’s grimace only grew. Amy now matched his expression “I don’t think that’d be the best idea. I mean there are other quests you can do that-”

Sticks quickly shook her head. “Banks, even spooky big medieval ones with no metal detectors, are scams made by the shadow government.” 

Sonic leaned forward with a smirk, chin resting on his hands “Is that the same as the stomach upsetting government?”

Once again, she shook her head rapidly “No. Two different branches. Though the shadow government pays the stomach upsetting government to send signals-”

“Are we really about to rob a bank??” Amy intervened before Sticks could go into an all out conspiracy driven rant. Shame. Sonic almost wanted to hear all about that one.

“I say we go for it.” Sonic gave an approving nod as Sticks beamed at the thought of her idea being acknowledged “What are they going to do? Arrest us?”

“That is EXACTLY what they could do!” Amy argued. But even with being the leader, at a three to one vote, she was forced to go along with it. Both her and Tails looked nothing short of exasperated. But really, what did they expect from a group of non-planners?

Their barbarian had the LUCK of spotting an unoccupied bag of coins nearby. A bank teller had been counting some at his station and putting some into a small bag up until he was momentarily called away. Knuckles giving his companions a nudge and gestured towards the bag.

“Perfect! I’ll just go on over and-” Sonic let out an undignified yelp as Sticks pushed by him and went towards the abandoned station.

“I got it!” She called back, the others trying to SHUSH her as a few eyes curiously glanced over before returning to their business. Once in front of the station, the badger glanced around. To the left. To the right. No one seemed to be looking. She raised a hand and-

“You rolled a nat one.” Tails looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed that Sticks’ failure would make this whole scenario go on longer, or to be amused that she failed THAT badly.

“No! That's two! I think that makes a two.” The badger narrowed her eyes at the dice before looking to Amy for confirmation. The other gave a tired nod in response before Sticks looked back to Tails and gestured to her dice “Two!”

“Two ones don’t equal a two. Well…I mean they do. But not in this case. But even if they did, you still failed. Doesn’t matter what your sleight of hand modifier was either.”

“I could have got it for us!” Now it was Sonic’s turn to groan. A hand ran down his face before he looked across the table to Sticks “I have a high hand sleight thing! Right?” 

All eyes once again fell onto Amy - the one who’d put together their sheets to begin with. The pink hedgehog let out an exhausted sigh and for the umpteenth time, she gave a nod.

Sticks’ hand merely hovered over the bag before the group heard someone shout. The bank teller in charge of those very coins pointed over to the warlock.

“You there! Those aren’t yours! Stop!”

And like that, guards were upon them. Surrounding them faster than they had at the inn, seeing as there was no crowd at the bank to slow them down. Three of the four of them getting captured ( “How did you roll ANOTHER twenty??” ). Knuckles was able to get away at the last second while the rest of his group was dragged off towards the town’s jail. The townsfolk, including the granny who’d sent them to the bank, looked on in disappointment and shame.

“Rub it in a little more, Tails.”

“Well…now what?” Sonic sighed as they sat in their too cramped jail cell. All of their gear save for the clothes on their backs taken from them. Not that they really had much to begin with. 

“Maybe I could talk to the guards? Tell them this is just a big misunderstanding. Maybe say Sticks is just from a country where banks are self-service!” The paladin wracked her brain for ideas. Surely such a ridiculous lie could be believed if she was convincing enough!

“Why don’t you let me save you guys?” Knuckles bounced in his seat, an odd look of excitement on his face “I got away! I could SMASH the wall to your cell down and bust you guys out!”

“That would just bring more attention and they’d still be after us.” Amy sighed and leaned back “Just let me take care of it. I think I can-”

“I want to get them out!” Knuckles proceeded to ignore Amy, much to the other’s offense. He turned to Tails with a huge smirk on his face. Amy became even more offended when Tails looked to be considering it.

“Didn’t you make me the leader to make decisions like this for us??” She quickly complained.

“Well…yeah…” For a moment the fox looked guilty before he shook his head “But I also…sorta…kind of…want to see how this plays out?” Tails’ gave Amy a shaky smile and a shrug to go along with it. Amy’s only response was to groan and rest her head on top of the table.

“Make me the lawyer class!” Knuckles was ready to throw out his current character sheet and to start anew until Tails stopped him.

“First off, there is no lawyer class. At least none in this edition of the game. Maybe in the fourth.” He spent a moment thinking on it before he moved on. “Second, you can’t just switch classes like that. You need a special NPC to do that for you or an item. And with where you are right now-”

“So I can’t be a smart guy person to get them out?” Knuckles’ smile changed instantly to a frown “Guess I can still do the smash method. It works in real life!”

“Like…forty percent of the time.” Sonic sighed and crossed his arms. He made a mental note to never let Knuckles be his only phone call if he were ever stuck in prison.

Tails seemed deep in thought when the others looked back at him. A sigh escaped him before he gave a nod “You know what? Okay. I’ll allow it.”

“You’ll allow it?” Knuckles arched a questioning brow.

“You’ll ALLOW it??” Amy on the other hand shouted and looked indignant.

Tails ignored her, as did the rest of the table, as he pulled out another character sheet and started writing things down on it “You can be a temporary wizard. We’ll say you took a potion to do so, or something.” Tails cringed a bit, looking as if even he was upset with his own decision. But he seemed to quickly get over it before he held out the new character sheet to Knuckles “Only two spells available since this is temporary. But wizards come with high wisdom. You get to be-” He sighed “A smart guy person.”

“A lawyer!” Knuckles shouted, his smile returned tenfold as he looked down at his character sheet as if he could understand it.

“WHY??” Amy let out a shout of her own.

Tails turned to her and huffed “I just want him to stop getting twenties!”

“Ugh!” Amy shouted once more before getting up “I’m calling for a break. I have a headache starting.”

“You and me both…” The fox rubbed at his eyes but nodded in agreement for the break. The break once again went longer than expected before they called it a night.

“You have a home right?” Sonic questioned his red echidna friend when the other hadn’t left with the others.

“Your hammock is comfier than the trees.” Was the only response he got. Fair enough. His hammock was pretty damn comfortable.

It wasn’t until the afternoon before they got started again. Amy had stated she needed a morning to sleep in after the previous day. Tails had also needed the extra time. Stating it was their last day to be able to do anything before Eggman reared his ugly mustached face again. They’d have to speed run through their current situation and he had to figure out how to get them to the final boss without making it seem TOO rushed

Speed was Sonic’s middle name. So he was fine with that.

“I thought your middle name was ‘the’.” Knuckles frowned and earned himself a look from Sonic.

“We are not having this talk again.”

Once Tails felt fairly confident he could get them to the big baddie in a natural way, and once Amy pulled Sticks away from the snacks again, they were ready for their third and final day of Combs and Companies. Or whatever it was called.

Knuckles practically kicked open the doors to the prison. Striding in as if he owned the place and giving his comrades a wink as he spotted them in one of the first round of cells. Managing to reach through the bars and pluck the hat right off Sticks’ head before putting it on himself.

“Hey!” The warlock gave a shout, trying to reach through the bars herself to get it back. Knuckles simply took a step back out of her reach.

“I need it! Got to complete the whole wizard look.”

“Me and the fire monster inside of me will COME FOR YOUR TOES!”

“Maybe later,” Knuckles waved her off before approaching the jailers. Still ever confident as he looked them over “I am here to get my buddies out of jail! They were thrown in there by mistake! Clearly someone else tried to steal those coins and framed my associates!”

“Watch a lot of Mobius Legal lately?” Sonic smirked at him.

“Maybe a little.” Knuckles looked a bit sheepish before he put his attention back on Tails “So does it work?” 

“Uuuh.” Tails flipped through his notes “Roll me charisma.”

Knuckles’ expression dropped “Charisma?? But I became a super smart guy with the smart gene!” He proceeded to whine “Shouldn’t I roll…I don’t know. Smart guy things??”

It was Tails turn to smirk now. Ah, cocky little guy planned for this. Those twenties really were driving him up a wall “You said you wanted to be a smart person class. So I made you a wizard. But being smart isn’t enough to convince these guys to let everyone out of prison. Roll charisma.” 

At that, Knuckles started to pout and crossed his arms “And ruin my streak? No way!” Even Knuckles knew that the rolls may not be in his favor. Especially with the nice ZERO modifier next to his charisma on his sheet.

“How about I talk to the guards?” Amy spoke up quickly before anyone else could. Trying to rein back in control. Sonic could tell by the twitch of her eye that another headache could be imminent. And Amy with a huge headache and minor inconvenience was enough to throw her over the edge and end up in a flipped table. She might be able to control it enough to at least flip over the snack table rather than the game one though. Just as a favor to Tails. But Sonic wouldn’t risk it and end up with an upset little brother. Even if he did want the game to end.

“Amy and I could both talk to them. We both have the rizz factor going for us.” The blue hedgehog smirked and winked at his friend across the table. Amy rolled her eyes but he could see the faintest hint of a smirk on her face!

“Don’t ever use that word again. But yes. Sonic and I both have high enough charisma.-”

“Rizz.”

“To maybe convince the guards that Knuckles is telling the truth.”

“He’s telling the truth! My friend here,” Amy gestured to Sticks, who was still fuming that her hat had been taken - and it was taken for NOTHING! “Tried to stop the original thieves. But those guys had used some um…uh…”

“Some weird thing to make themselves invisible.” Sonic quickly tacked on.

“Yes! Exactly! Some potion or cloak to make themselves invisible!”

“Roll charisma. Both of you.”

Tails let a smile slip when both Amy and Sonic managed to roll high numbers. Both hedgehogs let out a cheer and high fived each other from across the table. All right, even Sonic could admit he’d been excited about that little win.

Both guards narrowed their eyes at the rag tag group. Clearly debating if what they could be saying was true.

“There has been reports of illegal invisibility potion use, you know.” One guard nudged the other. And that was enough to get them released. Sticks nearly took out Knuckles to get her hat back as soon as the cell door was open.

“Now about our things-” Amy turned to the guards. Both of them gestured towards an unlocked chest off in the corner.

“Over there. Only grab your things and go.”

With that, the group collected their items, Sonic stopped though when a perfectly intact lute was found next to his broken one in the chest. He glanced over his shoulder to look at the preoccupied guards before looking back down at the lute. Surely they wouldn’t take notice if he just took it, right? He was an innocent little hedgehog after all and whoever was the original owner was CLEARLY an actual criminal since they were still locked in a cell and he was walking free.

After another quick glance at the guards (And a decent enough sleight of hand roll) he took the undamaged lute and left his broken one behind. It had served him well and managed to damage at least one skull. He’d remember it in his final days.

They quickly scurried out of the cell area, upon getting outside, Sonic saw the bard he’d knocked out earlier complaining to some other guard about the attack. He narrowed his eyes at the undamage lute on the other’s back and another BRILLIANT idea popped into his mind.

“I put a lute in the chest so you wouldn’t have to waste more time trying to get one. Do you want to get thrown back in jail??” Tails groaned right after Sonic asked to steal that other bard’s lute.

“What would you need two for anyway?” Amy sighed.

“Backup lute. In case I need to hit somebody with the other one again.”

The guard seemed VERY uninterested in the complaining bard before him. The bard doing more yelling than actually explaining. Easy target for Sonic to just cut the straps to his lute and yoink it off his back. (Thank you high sleight of hand and low DC. Whatever the DC stood for.)

Another task taken care of. With that, the group made their way away from the prison before anything else could happen that could end up with them back in the cells. Journeying down the brick road of town and-

The door to their home was kicked open, the familiar voices of two robots arguing to get in first echoed throughout. Both falling to the floor before quickly standing up and straightening out. Orbot coughing into his hand to get their attention - as if he didn’t have it already.

“We have come to announce-”

“I knew it!” Sonic stood up and almost placed his foot on the table until he caught Tails giving him something akin to a DEATH GLARE out of the corner of his eye. Message received and foot placed right back on the ground. But he still made the effort to point and smile in victory “I knew it was a lie! There is no vacation!”

“Actually there was.” Eggman stepped in a moment later. Martini glass in hand with a drink he quickly finished off before tossing it behind him. “But! The length of my vacation was indeed a lie! A clever trap setup while I prepared my latest hedgehog crushing bot! The robo-chick-”

“My guy…you ruined the sanctity of the really’s.” Knuckles interrupted and shook his head in disappointment. Eggman almost looked taken off guard for a moment before he quickly regained his momentum.

“Forget about the really’s.” He waved off their words and took in the scene before him “I have come to…are you playing Castles and Creepy Creatures?” 

“Oh my Chaos.” Sonic mumbled under his breath as he slumped back down and buried his face in his hands.

“You…you know about it?” Tails blinked in surprise. Though his tone was almost giddy. Little buddy, no. Don’t have something in common with someone like egghead.

Eggman coughed into his hand and straightened himself out. As if looking more dignified made it seem less awkward that he knew about some roleplaying game “Erm, yes. I was there when the first edition was released. And-” All of them were surprised when Tails slammed his hands on the table and practically zoomed to be in front of Eggman.

“The FIRST EDITION?? Do you know how rare those are? Do you still have it??”

“Pah! Of course I do! Why would I get rid of something like that? It’s the best version of the game there is. Now there are just too many rules. Back in my day a dungeon master had more control.”

Sonic groaned and leaned against Knuckles “This is like the third most nerdiest thing I have ever witnessed.” Next thing they knew, Eggman was practically being strongarmed by Tails to come sit at their game table “Really? We’re just inviting anyone to play now?”

“You don’t understand!” Tails turned to all of them “He’s been playing since the first edition! He remembers back when the game was at its peak!”

Eggman looked far too proud of himself for that fact. As if it were some sort of badge of honor to be that big of a nerd. Sonic almost wanted to comment on it but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to accidentally insult Tails at the same time. Even if he and Eggman were at the same level of nerdom right now. Oh where had he gone wrong with his little brother?

“This was just a quick one shot campaign while you were on vacation. I had to change some things for the end since we were running out of time. But this is what I have so far!” Tails held his papers up to Eggman. The scientist taking them and looking them over like a teacher grading an assignment. Tails staring at him with bated breath.

“We’re really okay with this?” Sonic looked to the others at the table. His response was resounding shrugs.

“It makes Tails happy. And it’ll just be for today. Would you rather be fighting the robo thingy outside?” Amy questioned.

“Yes!” Sonic huffed and crossed his arms. He was absolutely ready to throw down with the metal chicken outside. He could hear the robotic clucking!

“You’ve got a good story here for something that is so short and stuck following the guidelines of the tenth edition.” Eggman spoke up and scowled “I swear, they add more rules every year to this thing.”

“I know! They really nerfed the draaaag-” Tails quickly cut himself off. Sparing the others a glance before he looked back to Eggman “They uh…nerfed the bad guy I have planned for the end!”

Knuckles smirked and nudged Sonic’s side as he stage whispered “Told you it was a dragon!”

Their DM chose to ignore that with a twitch of his eye. Looking still at Eggman for suggestions. The scientist smirked and Sonic almost expected him to pull out a mini robot to destroy the table with and crush all of Tails’ dreams. But alas, he did not. The only thing the egghead pulled out was a pen and started writing things down.

“If we make a few minor changes, still in line with the tenth edition, we could make this harder. Give a real challenge.” Eggman gave an evil laugh. Sonic narrowed his eyes. Amy looked on the defensive. Knuckles bounced in his seat - elated he guessed the end game boss correctly. Sticks started to eye the snack table again.

Eggman slid the paper back towards Tails, who gave it all of his attention. A wide growing smirk spread across the fox’s face and he gave an approving nod “This is perfect! Even better than what I came up with! I never would have thought of that! Did you borrow this from the third edition?” He pointed to something on the paper that the others obviously couldn’t see. Eggman gave an affirmative nod.

“Sometimes you need to mix and match from other editions just to add more flair to the campaign. When they brought out the second edition I-”

“Can we get on with this??” Sonic nearly brought himself to shout but managed to control his volume. Rather offended when BOTH Tails and Eggman gave him an unimpressed look. Excuse him for not wanting to experience another nerd event in the same week!

So they indeed did get on with it.

After leaving the prison ( “You bumbling animals got yourself put in prison?” ) the group continued on. Able to gather more information as they made their way out of town as to what great power had quite possibly brought a plague onto Cardovina. Trekking up hills and snowy mountains where the rumored beast was said to go when it needed to rest. If it even really needed to rest.

“That’s it? We just found it?” Sonic quirked a brow “No other fanfare you want to add?”

“We have limited time and I didn’t want our last session to be you guys just searching for information. So, I gave you a shortcut to the final battle. As much as it kills me inside as a dungeon master to let you guys off that easy.” Tails sighed.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say it’s that easy. Not with the monster they have yet to face.” Eggman smirked.

The four adventurers stood at the entrance to a large cave. Hearing the faint sounds of heavy breathing from within. Clearly belonging to a creature of great size. Readying their weapons, they stepped forward and ventured in. As they progressed they soon came upon a wide alcove where in the center sat the sort of monster that typically only plagues people’s nightmares - Craigoth the Undead Dragon!

“I knew it was a dragon!” Knuckles shouted, as if he hadn’t already declared that earlier.

“The dragon’s name is Craig?” Sticks spoke up next before letting out an ugly sounding laugh.

“CRAIGOTH!” Eggman corrected her, looking insulted. It didn’t make it any less funny to Sticks. 

“Little typical to be fighting a dragon isn’t it?” Sonic rested his elbow on the table and leaned against his hand. 

“I was going to do the Mind Snooper but that is a lot for one campaign. And Craigoth is a dragon meant for one shots. He’s sort of uh…beginner’s guide to dragons?” Tails explained, letting out a huff when Sticks laughed again.

“CRAIG!”

They really were about to fight something named Craig. He couldn’t imagine it would be that hard.

It was that hard.

Initiative activated. Weapons drawn and spells cast. Health low. A few hits were dealt to the mighty undead beast - but not enough to make much of a dent. Sticks on the verge of going down with Sonic following a close second. Knuckles and Amy still held strong with at least half of their health. But the two of them against one dragon wouldn’t be enough. They needed a plan!

“We’re losing to a Craig.” Amy sighed and ran a hand down her face.

“Ah, not as easy as you thought, is it?” Eggman taunted and leaned back. His smirk ever growing.

“You shush it before my in game hammer becomes a real one.” Amy glared at him, Orbot and Cubot letting out an oooo from the spot they made for themselves on the couch.

“Quiet, you idiots!”

“You two keep trying to hit the dragon with your lute and staff and aren’t using effective spells,” She looked pointedly at Sonic and Sticks “How many spell slots do you have left?” Amy ignored Eggman scolding his lackeys and looked to Sonic. The blue hedgehog grimaced and looked down at his character sheet thing. Ah beans on a chilidog, he was supposed to be keeping track of that?

“Uh, I think three?”

“Sticks, what about you?”

“I was supposed to be counting??” Okay, so it wasn’t just him. Good to know.

Tails glanced over his DM shield and looked down at his paper “You have two left.”

“I can work with that.” Amy took both Sonic and Sticks’ character sheets and looked them over.

“Hey, hey. You aren’t supposed to be making the decisions for another player.”

It was now Amy’s turn to look unimpressed, an expression she wore well when it came to Eggman and anything to do with him “Ah, ah. If you bothered to read anything passed the editions of old-”

“I HAVE read the other editions, you little-”

“You’d know that the tenth edition states beginners can help receive help from more seasoned players, and not JUST the dungeon master, when it comes to explaining the intricacies that come with their classes and spells.” Her unimpressed expression turned to a smug one and Eggman looked as if steam could come out of his ears any moment. Hilarious.

Egghead turned to Tails - who nodded the affirmative “She’s right. I mean she’s the most seasoned one here since she read the book sooo-”

“Pah!” Eggman leaned back again and crossed his arms “Rose giving you tips won’t help you defeat Craig, AH! I meant Craigoth!”

“We’ll see about that.” Amy huffed and pursued the character sheets once more “I already have a plan.”

It was Sonic’s turn next, using his lute to cast Healing Word on Sticks. It wasn’t a lot of extra hit points he could give her. But it was enough where she hopefully wouldn’t go down in the next hit if she was targeted. Popping a potion open for himself and restoring a few of his own hit points as well.

“That’s two actions! He can’t do that!” Eggman argued.

Tails tapped his chin in thought before shrugging “Some DMs allow it. So I will too.”

“Are you actively undermining me??”

Knuckles’ turn was next. He swung his mighty battle axe with his rage activated. Managing to make contact and land a critical hit to the dragon’s defenses! ( “How does he keep doing that?” “Don’t ask.” ) The beast roared in rage but it could not yet attack. 

With some pep back in her step thanks to Healing Word, Sticks casted Mage Hand. Summoning a mystical, transparent hand that she directed behind the dragon. Using a bonus action to tug at the dragon’s tail and cause it to become momentarily distracted.

With the distraction in place, the paladin of the group sprung into action. She raised her warhammer and brought it down upon the undead creature. Once again it roared furiously and tried to regain the sort of composure only a dragon could have.

“Divine Smite be upon thee!” ( “Thee? Seriously?” “You be quiet.” ) Another blow delivered upon the dragon. It almost looked taken aback that it was dealt so much injury after such a previously poor performance.

But ah, now it was the undead dragon’s turn. Using its time to bring fright upon the party to try and discourage any future attacks so that it would not face retaliation for its own. But sadly for it, only the paladin was struck. Falling to her knees and left stunned and frightened. The rest of the group stood, ready to continue to fight in her place and defeat the dragon before any harm could come to their heaviest hitter.

“Try dealing with two of these guys!” Sonic laughed and summoned a mystical hand of his own. Two hands were better than one - as they say ( “Boooo! Stick to your day job, fox.” ) and with one pulling on the dragon’s tail and the recently summoned one going back and forth in trying to poke the creature’s eyes, it was thoroughly distracted. 

“Eat FIRE, you agent of the zombie high order!” Sticks shouted and pointed to the dragon. The ring of tall bright flames circling Craigoth. No time for the creature to think as a beam of what seemed like pure radiant energy brought the undead more damage. Causing it to stumble and almost walk into the surrounding circle of flames.

“Since when can she cast TWO spells?” Eggman turned to Tails with a pout.

“Hellish-”

“Kids show, little buddy.”

“Heckish Rebuke has always been a cantrip. So she gets that for free.”

“And Eldritch Blast?? Back in my day that was a cantrip too!” Eggman argued. Back in his day? Seriously?

“In the eighth edition they made it a bonus action first level spell.” Tails explained, seeming to grow a bit smug as he had to explain something to EGGMAN “And even if Sticks’ cast it at a higher level for more damage, it’s still a bonus action. Damage was taken.”

Steam was DEFINITELY going to start coming out of Eggman’s ears. 

Another perfect hit delivered by Knuckles’ battle axe ( “Seriously?? Are your dice rigged?” ) Amy unfortunately left stunned on the ground and unable to render an attack of her own. And though Craigoth stumbled and looked nearly on the verge of defeat, it delivered one sweeping blow at the adventurers. Bringing its sharp claws down upon them. The party’s warlock and paladin hit while the barbarian and bard managed to dodge. Sticks was once again hanging onto life by a thread and Amy still unable to move and would no doubt go down as well if she took any more similar hits. 

“It’s almost defeated!” Amy shouted in a shaky tone of voice. She looked at Sonic and gave a firm nod “You know what you have to do! Hit it with the Thunderclap!”

The blue hedgehog slowly looked down at his lute. One more hit and surely the beast would be defeated and all of Cardovina would be safe again. One hit with a strong burst of thunder and the beast would go down.

…But what was the fun in that?

“I cast Vicious Mockery!” 

“You WHAT!” Amy shouted in despair “Sonic!”

The bard found his way atop a jagged rock. Lute in hand as he started to strum the chords. 

“I stand up. Confident.” He sang with all the flare and charm a bard can have “Atop the rockery. Blasted on this dragon is VICIOUS MOCKERY!”

With a final sweeping strum of his lute, magic crackled in the air. A bright blue rippling mouth was summoned and started to laugh. Insults thrown left and right at the once fearsome creature. The undead monster roared in pain and agony as the laughing and harsh words rang loudly in its ear slits. It could take no more, and with one final taunt, it fell to the ground.

Congratulations. The dragon has been defeated. Cardovina is safe once again.

“What a way to go,” Sonic let out a snort as he leaned against the game table. Tails knocked down the giant dragon figurine he’d put on the table earlier - signaling its defeat “Beaten by deez.”

“Deez?” Eggman questioned, looking to be both highly irritating and pouting like a child would.

“Deez nu-”

“Sonic!” Amy quickly cut in with a scolding tone yet again “Kids show! Remember?”

“Right, right.” Sonic waved her off “Either way, imagine dying to some mean words. Can’t relate.” He tugged on his neckerchief, the smug look would not be coming off his face for a long while.

“You just…why would you…Knuckles did most of the damage!” Eggman argued and pointed to the red echidna.

“As the leader, that was my job.” Knuckles stated proudly, the indignant sound and shouting of Amy going “I was the leader!” completely ignored “Smash as much as possible and then let my teammates take some of the spotlight and earn their place by beating the dragon. It builds morale!”

“Sure, big guy.” Sonic gave the other a pat on the shoulder before turning back to Eggman “So about that robo hen or rooster or whatever kind it is.”

“You don’t get the honor of fighting Henrietta until tomorrow! I need an aspirin…” Eggman groaned as he got up from his spot at the table. Giving Tails one last look as he motioned for his bots to follow him “I can’t believe you allowed half of that. Back in my day-”

“As rare and cool as the first edition was, a lot of the rules were restrictive and lacking. No one had fun, that's why they came out with the second edition.” Tails took off his cloak and tossed it onto the couch. Officially out of dungeon master mode “Buuuut, I can still come see the book some time in person? Right?”

Not even Eggman could be immune to the little brother big eyed stare. He at least pretended to be at first by rolling his eyes “Fine. Whatever. Maybe. Get out of my way.” He grumbled all the way to the door. Orbot and Cubot carrying some bags of snacks in their arms for the road. Sticks almost went after them with a shout until Amy pulled her back down.

“You went off plan.” Amy huffed before she began to help Tails clean up the game table. Knuckles and Sticks made sure to get away as soon as they could to avoid offering such help. What was left of the snack table reclaimed by them.

“Eh, sometimes you need some spontaneous action,” Sonic shrugged. “Still won, didn't we? And it was kind of fun to see egghead’s head spin from being corrected the whole time.” He looked to Tails, still maintaining a bit of a cocky smirk “When are we playing again? Next time bring old Eggman over from the start. See if we can’t make his whole bald head turn red by not doing it by his old man version of the book.”

Tails eyes lit up in surprise “You’d…you’d want to play again?”

The blue hedgehog’s smirk softened into a fond smile before he put an arm around his little brother “Sure. Why not? Besides, you really seemed to be getting into it at the end there.”

Tails gave a nervous chuckle “I like playing the dragons. And I’ve never had someone play a bard that actually sang a part of their spell outloud before!”

“Consider me the first. And the best.” He tugged at his neckerchief again, that time a bit more haughtily. Soon being dragged into clean up duty by Amy before he could ever hope to escape. 

And with that, Cardovina fell into relative peace once again. How an undead dragon could cause such an uproar and increase in chaos, no one was sure. But what they did know is that they had four saviors to thank. The townsfolk cheered as the adventurers entered the town that had once looked at them in shame and disappointment. Treating them like the heroes they now were. 

And with that, their tale was drawn to a close. At least until the next vacation.

[taylortruther]

The way almost EVERY single line in YLM can be related to a previous like she wrote about Joe is INSANE. Like YLM is basically the song that would most fit the theme of Midnights (reflecting on the past and integrating it into the present) and guess what? She left it out (for reasons that I understand).

Here we go;

You say I don't understand and I say I know you don't// Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other

We thought a cure would come through in time now I fear it won't// I thought the plane was goimg down, how'd you turn it right around?

Remember looking at this room, we loved it 'cause of the light...now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time// The entirety of Daylight duh

Remember looking at this room, we loved it 'cause of the light...now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time// The entirety of Daylight duh

Do I throw out everything we built or keep it //I am an architect I'm drawing up the plans (I'm reaching here I know)

I'm getting tired even for a phoenix always rising from the ashes // I am ash from your fire

Mending all her gashes // is this the end of all the endings, my broke bones are mending

You might just have dealt the final blow // Darling this was just as hard as when they pulled me apart (these two lines feel so similar to me)

Stop you're losing me (I hope I never lose you) I can't find a pulse my heart won't start anymore// he got my heartbeat skipping down 16th avenue

Every morning I glared at you with storms in my eyes// after the storm something was born on the 4th of July

How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dying// There's many different ways that you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough

I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick // I gave SO MANY SIGNS

My face was GREY but you wouldn't admit that we were sick // I don't like anticipating my face in a RED flush (I could write an essay about just this grey/red parallel but nvm)

And the air is thick with loss and indecision//clearing the air I breathed in the smoke

I know my pain is such an imposition // You don't really read into my melancholia // Always taking up too much space or time // I'm not your problem anymore

Now you're running down the hallway // I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway // You were standing hollow eyed in the hallway

And you know what they all say "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" // he better lock it down or I won't stick around 'cause good ones never wait

How long could we be a sad song // each bar plays our song

Till we were too far gone to bring back to life // Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

I gave you all my best mes, my endless empathy // I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best// After giving you the best I had, tell me what to give after that?

And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier // All the bloodshed, crimson clover // And if I bleed you'll be the last to know // soldier down on that icy ground

Fighting in only your army // I'd sit with you in the trenches

Frontlines don't you ignore me // I'm still trying everything to keep you looking at me

I'm the best thing at this party // best believe I'm still bejeweled when I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer

And I wouldn't marry me either // She would've made a lovely bride // I'd marry you with paper rings // all they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride // the entire bridge of Lover

A pathological people pleaser // what a shame she's fucked in the head // mirrorball tm // my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism

Who only wanted you to see her // Walking with his head down, I'm the one he's walking to

And I'm fading thinking DO SOMETHING BABE // Some boys are trying too hard he don't try at all though

SAY SOMETHING // You don't ever say too much

LOSE SOMETHING BABE RISK SOMETHING // this ain't for the best

CHOOSE SOMETHING BABE I'VE GOT NOTHING TO BELIEVE // stood on the cliffside screaming "give me a reason"

i have nothing intelligent to say but I LOVE THIS, let's discuss

[idyllic-affections]

i know my kingdom awaits, and they've forgiven my mistakes.

summary. "Baizhu reached out to their shoulder, giving it a tender squeeze. "I just want to know why you left so abruptly. We were so close. There is nothing you could say or do that would make me resent you."" trigger & content warnings for self-hatred, severe blood, major traumatic life events, depictions of trauma, panic attacks & a fuck ton of crying, implications of suicidal ideation but it is never explicitly stated in an obvious way, overall heavy on the themes of mental health, heavy spoilers for baizhu's story quest and childe's character stories, [name] is called pretty once. tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. friends to strangers to friends, hurt/comfort. baizhu & childhood friend!reader, brief hints of childe & reader. 10k words. they/them pronouns for reader. author's thoughts. it is here. the fabled "friends to something significantly worse to friends again" fic is finally here (june if you're reading this, thank you for the idea lmaoo <33). btw! this post runs on the theory that skirk is associated with khaenri'ah. no idea what her personality is like so.... bear with me pls. she gives off "tired, bitter big sister" vibes in this fic. at one point, nightmare by set it off started playing while i was writing this and i think thats so fucking funny, that is so childhood friend![name]core. a LOT of ironic songs played while i was writing this actually! maybe ill make a post about it?

       "What's the last thing on our list?"

       Surely the sky had been painted by the Celestial Gods above—how else could one even hope to explain the otherworldly beauty it held? Pinks blended smoothly in with hues of golden orange and baby blue as the sun crept lower and lower towards the horizon. A few stars already dotted the evening sky, twinkling and sparkling against their background.

       In the reflection of their eyes, the light danced.

       Their friend hummed thoughtfully, brushing some of his hair away from his face, before scanning the words written in practically illegible handwriting inside the little journal the two's shared master had given them. "Violetgrass... I think."

       "You think?" they echoed, amused, peering over his shoulder into the notebook. He shrugged.

       "Master's handwriting isn't exactly... er, legible."

       They giggled at that. "No doctor's is. I think it has something to do with how many prescriptions they have to write on a daily basis. Like... they have to write fast, so they have some kind of language of their own to be as efficient as possible."

       "Is that so?"

       "...Honestly, I don't know. Something like that, I guess."

       He smiled at them, teasing, "Shouldn't you know better than anyone, [Name]?"

       "Shut up, Baizhu, I'm still learning!" they huffed with faux annoyance, snatching the book from his hands. "Yeah, that says Violetgrass. Hm... you should probably go back, then. It's getting kind of late," they mused, meeting the boy's gentle burgundy gaze. "I've got it from here."

       "Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't mind going with you."

       "I'm sure. I get Violetgrass on my own all the time. It gets cold at night, and with everything going on, it's probably better that only one of us goes out. Less of a chance of the sickness spreading further, you know?"

       "I can't really argue with that," he admitted. "Alright, but don't stay out too late."

       "Don't worry," they reassured, "I don't intend to."

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       Darkness had fallen by the time they reached their normal spot for gathering Violetgrass. Specks of glittery stars dotted the night sky; it took all of their mental strength to not sit and admire it. They would never get their task done if they did.

       'The last time I did this with my bag on, I fell.'

       With that thought in mind, they hummed and carefully took the cross-body bag filled to the brim with medicinal herbs off. They set it neatly to the side. Before beginning, they stretched, hoping to somehow make themselves more flexible and limber by doing so. A series of satisfying pops were released from their bones.

       It was then that they began gingerly scaling the cliffside—it wasn't impossibly steep, and they'd done it an abundance of times in the past, so it didn't present too big of a challenge. It wasn't anything they weren't used to.

       The ground then unexpectedly trembled beneath their feet. They huffed as their foot slipped, sending them sliding down a few feet and back onto solid ground. The single piece of Violetgrass that they needed seemed to mock their failure from its place several feet above them.

       "Aw, come on..." they murmured, slightly frustrated. "Maybe I should have had Baizhu stay and help..."

       Then, again without warning, just as they were about to make another attempt, the ground split open.

       A scream was torn from their throat as they fell. It was as if Teyvat itself had swallowed them into its core. They made a a desperate attempt to reach for the surface, but as soon as they were in, the crack snapped shut once again. No matter how fast they fell, no kind of ground ever seemed to get any closer. Briefly through their terror, they wondered if this was how they'd die—falling into nothingness for eternity until they starved, mortal body eventually decaying into nothing and becoming one with the never-ending emptiness.

       This was never meant to be how they'd die. Their death was supposed to be fated through Changsheng's contract, not through... this.

       A sob ripped through their throat as their body unexpectedly slammed into the ground. Upon impact, they knew at least a handful of bones in their wrists had broken. Perhaps it was unwise to brace their fall with their wrists, but then again... it would have been far worse if they landed on their back. Breaking their back may very well have been a death sentence in the scenario they were in. Honestly, they were just thankful that their shoulders and forearms seemed to be okay, aside from a rhythmic throbbing coursing through both arms. Their body trembled pathetically like a leaf in the wind, ready to be blown away at any second. At least a leaf would see daylight or even moonlight.

       It was pitch black for them, as if the darkness actively sought out and destroyed any source of light it was capable of finding. It seemed to sap any will they might've had to resist, to find a way out. Their will was gone. It was like it was never there in the first place. The ominous dark took all that determination, all that light, and consumed it like a starved beast until there was nothing but a shell left behind.

       A deep pit settled in their gut as they whimpered, curling up into a ball. Surely, this was just a dream. An awful, terrible dream. They'd wake up and everything would be normal—they'd still be on the surface, gathering the last of their master's requested herbs before heading back and resuming their life as normal.

       Regardless of whether or not this was a horrifying nightmare, sleeping was far more appealing than staying awake.

       It was with tears rolling down their cheeks that they tucked their head into their arms, wincing at the shooting pain that ascended the length of their arms when too much pressure was applied to their wrists, and succumbed to the boundless darkness.

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       Time was an illusion.

       That's how they felt, at least, because they had no idea how long they had been underneath Teyvat for. It could've been hours or it could've been days—they wouldn't know the difference either way. Everything was fuzzy. Their sleep was restless and interrupted; no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't truly sleep. Even if they managed to fall asleep, they'd wake up again after a few minutes with a jolt and a wave of paranoia. What frustrated them so deeply about it was that they knew very well that their body would never heal if they didn't sleep well. They'd never have the strength to escape if that were the case. It was infuriating.

       The distant echo of footsteps made their muscles tense. The sound ceased a few feet away from where they laid.

       "You'll never survive down here like this."

       A nervous whine threatened to leave their throat. They swallowed it down, hands trembling slightly.

       "Get up. I can tell that you're awake."

       Fuck.

       With what minimal strength they did still have, they pushed themselves up using their elbows. Using their hands would only hurt them more. It was difficult to see, but nonetheless, they could see her eyes clearly. Empty, star-shaped irises stared down at them, piercing the very depths of their soul, picking them apart like some kind of subject of a dissection. The utter bite of her gaze caused them to suck in a sharp breath, posture straightening slightly.

       "I've no idea why the Abyss would want someone so... pathetic," she scoffed. "Look at you, resigning to your fate like some kind of lost puppy with its tail between its legs."

       "No, I... That's not..." they stammered, trailing off, hoarse voice quick to die out in the face of her frigid sternness. "I'm not..."

       "Oh? Am I wrong?"

       "No— Yes, I mean, yes, I was... My wrists, they broke when I fell, so... They broke and I don't have anything to fix them with, so I thought resting would be a better idea than running or fighting, and—"

       "Alright, alright, stop. Get up. Follow me."

       She began to walk away.

       "H— huh?"

       "You want to survive, don't you?"

       They scurried after her before they could have any kind of second doubts.

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       The woman introduced herself as Skirk, a seasoned swodswoman with extensive knowledge about the Abyss and how to survive in it. She had been kind enough (well... it was debatable whether her gesture was out of kindness or due to ulterior motives, but they had no other choice but to trust her) to treat their injuries, stiffly wrapping their wrists so that they could heal properly.

       It took about six weeks for them to heal adequately. Within that time, they were surprised to find that they had begun to be able to see through the darkness, as though their eyes had finally adjusted.

       They had hoped she would help them get out when they were fully healed, but...

       No.

       When she asked if they wanted to survive, she sure as hell intended to teach them how to do just that.

       "Slow, uncoordinated, weak," she criticized venomously, swinging her blade down at them with great force. She would undoubtedly kill them if they gave her any chance to. If they made one mistake... "Just how do you think you'll get by in this realm when you can hardly defend yourself?"

       "I— I didn't have to in Teyvat!" they sobbed, tears streaking down their cheeks from both the pain of the several open cuts and bruises blooming on their skin and the pain of being away from home for so long. How long had it been? They had no clue. Their wrists throbbed as they parried her blade with one of their own. "I was the apprentice of a doctor! I was safe there!"

       "Well, you're not safe here. Get used to it," she sneered. "It's kill or be killed down here."

       "I don't want to kill!"

       "Then you'll be killed."

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       "Stop hesitating. Kill it."

       The Abyssal creature at their feet seemed to whimper, trying its best to crawl away from them. It's body was already terribly mangled, limbs broken and twisted in ways they never should have been. Archons know what the eldritch creature even was—they sure as hell had no clue. All they knew was that they felt sorry for it. It looked so small and weak beneath them. 'Pathetic,' a malevolent whisper drifted through their mind, 'it looks pathetic.' With a shake of their head, perhaps in an attempt to rid their mind of such cruel thoughts, cries escaped their throat. Their chest rose and fell in sobbing, labored breaths. All they could hear in their ears was the distinct sound of blood rushing. Their chest ached. Their body ached.

       They wanted to go home.

       "I can't, Skirk, I can't..."

       "You can," she hissed, "and you will."

       "No," they cried harder, "look at it! I can't..."

       "You can," she repeated, though this time with strange serenity, as she stepped behind them; with her hands, she forced their dagger down into the creature's chest, "and you will."

       Blood splattered across their figure as they let out an utterly visceral wail.

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       Soft sobs wracked their figure. The more they tried to suppress their cries, the worse they got.

       Many nights were spent in this manner. It wouldn't be the first night they spent crying themselves to sleep, and it was unlikely to be the last. Was it from the pain? The stress, perhaps? They truly didn't know. The only thing they knew was that they could only fall asleep if they exhausted themselves by crying first.

       They just wanted to go home.

       Then again...

       Would they be accepted back? There was blood on their hands now. Fresh blood of a life that had value just like any other before they so cruelly took it away because in Skirk's words, it was 'kill or be killed.'

       Would they still be viable for Changsheng's contract?

       What if their master was dead by the time they returned?

       What if they never returned?

       Maybe that would be for the better.

       But they wanted to go home regardless.

       Then, the first light they saw in what seemed to be ages graced their empty irises. The light was treasured. Without thinking, they trapped it between their palms like one would to a firefly in the night so that it could not escape them.

       A cool, smooth stone that most definitely wasn't there before now sat between their cupped hands. The rush of cold against their feverish skin prompted them to peer inside the little cage created by their rough hands.

       Inside sat a Cryo vision, still-wet blood smearing over its chilling surface.

       That night, they cried harder than they ever had before, clutching the Cryo Archon's blessing like it was some kind of lifeline.

       Contrary to what they may have believed at the time, the night they got their vision marked the final night they would ever spend crying themselves to sleep in the Abyss.

       That "morning," Skirk would note an evident change in their demeanor.

       That "morning" would mark the point at which the Abyss officially reached the depths of their soul, sucking the last of the light from them and changing them fundamentally.

       That "morning" would mark the point at which they were no longer Changsheng's next contractee.

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       Skirk taught them much in the first seven months of their time in the Abyss.

       The longer they stayed, the warmer she became in her behavior towards them. She vaguely reminded them of their medicinal Master, though she was certainly much tougher than he was. She was not unkind, they had concluded. She was simply hardened. Archons know what she must have been through to be so cold.

       Despite all that, she even did them the kindness of celebrating their birthday.

       "When you do finally get out," she had said to them that day, "you will find that very little time has passed in Teyvat. Don't be surprised. You'll be a year older mentally, but your bodily age will be about the same as it was when you fell."

       "How long has it been since I fell, then?"

       Her reply sent chills up their spine, stomach twisting in sheer disbelief:

       "Seven days."

       Of course, "celebrating" just meant that they got to sleep the day off rather than be relentlessly beat up by the swordswoman. Nonetheless, they appreciated the break.

       Ultimately, they had come to the conclusion that she was much different than what they'd initially assumed.

       They'd taken it upon themselves to patrol around what Skirk considered to be her "territory." They'd chuckled a bit to themselves when she described it in such a way, but said nothing, only offering to patrol in her place for the day as a favor. Allegedly, that was how she encountered them all those months ago.

       They were surprised to find that they, too, encountered a poor victim of the Abyss. It was a boy; if they had to guess, they would say he was somewhere around their age, maybe slightly younger.

       'Is this what Skirk saw when she looked at me? Archons, no wonder she looked like she was going to tear my throat out,' they mused absently, unblinking void eyes staring down at the ginger boy on the floor in front of them. He looked like he wanted to say something but simply couldn't force the words out. 'He really does look like a lost puppy... is that what I looked like?'

       His blue eyes were wide with shock and terror, glossed over with unshed tears. The Abyss was slowly beginning to dim the light in those eyes of his, but hadn't gotten very far yet—they still shone with an innocence they hadn't seen in quite a while, an innocence that didn't belong in a place such as the Abyss. His shaking hands clasped weakly at his foot; that's when they noticed that it was broken.

       Some kind of forgotten instinct suddenly sparked again in their chest at the sight of his wounded ankle. Life... it was a thing they were supposed to protect. That was something they had been taught for as long as they could recall. It was only after falling into the Abyss that they began to stray from those teachings.

       They needed to protect him. He was so fragile, the poor thing.

       Briefly, they wondered what Baizhu, Jiangli, and their Master were doing right about now. Were they worried? They had no way of knowing. They did their best to brush those thoughts off before the homesickness could set in.

       "You're hurt..." they observed, breaking the uneasy silence. "Broke it when you fell, huh? Can you walk, or will I have to carry you?"

       "H— huh? Um..."

       "Right. Got it. Hurry up and get on my back," they instructed, kneeling down with their back facing him so he could climb on with ease.

       "How—" he gasped, withdrawing from them. "How can I trust you?"

       "You'll die if you don't," they stated plainly, glaring back at him. Their gaze sent chills up his spine. It was so... empty. He was sure that not even the most seasoned warrior in his home nation looked so blank. It seemed as if all the light had been sucked from their soul, leaving a hardened shell of what they once were. Even Fatui officials had some kind of light in their face, but they simply did not. It unsettled him. "Get on. Now. You wouldn't last a day out here."

       Though hesitant and utterly terrified, he yielded, reaching up to wrap his arms securely around their neck. They hooked their arms under his thighs and hoisted him up. Then, with a huff, they stood up.

       The silence weighed a little too heavy for the boy's liking. Once the initial terror had worn off, he felt something much warmer bloom in his chest—awe. Absolute, unfettered awe.

       Surely someone as tough as them could help him become more courageous.

       "What's your name?"

       "What, you trying to make conversation? Build rapport? I'm not planning on killing you. Relax," they scoffed. Then, after a brief, awkward silence, they went on, "...It's [Name]."

       "I'm Ajax," he greeted with surprising grit for someone who just fell into the Abyss. "Hey, you're brave, right?"

       "I... I guess?"

       They dared to peek back at him. His eyes shone with light and determination foreign to anything or anyone in the Abyss. It did not belong here. He did not belong here.

       "Teach me how to be brave like that."

       Little did he know that light would disappear soon enough. They simply chose to look away, rather than mourn the loss that was inevitably going to occur.

       "...You'll want to meet my teacher, then. She'll toughen you up."

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       "What is that?"

       Ajax squeaked slightly, to which their lips twitched upwards into the ghost of a vaguely amused smile. Skirk must have unsettled him even more than they did.

       "A boy."

       Skirk's cold eyes narrowed at them. "No shit, [Name]."

       "He fell and broke his ankle, so I brought him here," they elaborated, kneeling down again so he could easily get off their back without hurting himself even more. He gingerly slid off of them. Once he was off, they stood back up, walking over to her. "Anyway, I see why you wanted to rip my head off when you met me. You're totally right. He looked fucking pathetic."

       "Oh, you get it now, hm?" She smirked, placing a firm hand on their shoulder. "Never thought I'd see the day you called someone pathetic."

       They shrugged. "This place changes you, but I suppose I don't have to tell you of all people that." Then, they beckoned her to lean down slightly. When she obliged them, they whispered something inaudible into her ear, occasionally glancing over at Ajax. They eventually withdrew, turning to face him.

       "If it's courage you seek," Skirk said, scrutinizing the boy; he seemed to shrink under her gaze, "you'll indeed find it down here."

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       Ajax’s time in the Abyss was short. They had briefly wondered if they would ever one day run into him on the surface when they did eventually get out. The thought was oddly nice.

       He changed very fast, they recalled. What was once a timid and easily frightened boy had become a hardened weapon of war that sought out bloodshed just for the thrill of it. It fascinated them, really. Why weren’t they like that? They were but a fraction of the beast that he had become. The sensation of being alive certainly gave them a rush, but they hardly reveled in it the way he did.

       Then again, maybe that’s why they could at least hold their own against Skirk.

       That was something he could never truly manage to achieve. Once in a blue moon, the Snezhnayan boy could hold his own against them, but never Skirk. She was on a different level entirely. Now that they really thought about it, however, it seemed very likely that it was because he just wasn’t level-headed in the way they were.

       That brought another question to mind, however: why wasn’t he level-headed like them? Why did he relish in the bloodshed more than they did?

       The only possible explanation was their origins. Being from Chenyu Vale, it was hardly any surprise that one particular ideology was stamped irremovably into their brain.

       Even so…

       It would be unrealistic to expect that they wouldn’t change during their stay in the Abyss. Their exposure to Abyssal energy was insanely long—the fact that they still cared at all about saving lives was shocking.

       Fourteen months into their time in the Abyss, something in their mind snapped.

       They could recall nothing about their episode. All they remembered was that Skirk had them training, as usual, against hordes of Abyssal monsters. It wasn’t something all too challenging for them; they were quite used to her highly demanding training sessions. Just when they started getting slightly overwhelmed, an unfamiliar rage boiled in their chest, and they blacked out.

       When they came to, all they could see was death.

       Blood soaked their clothes and fingertips. They were quick to come to the horrifying realization that it was not theirs. None of the blood was theirs. Not a single drop was theirs. The shallow scratch on their cheek wasn't even deep enough to bleed. They dared not turn around. Their gaze remained locked into the darkness ahead of them, hands trembling and eyes watering.

       Before they could say or do anything, before Skirk could say or do anything, the Abyss spit them out. It simply... decided it was done. As if it had grown bored, or as if it were finally satisfied with the level of corruption in their mind and soul. They lost consciousness briefly, only to awaken exactly where they had gone missing over a year ago.

       …

       Well, over two weeks ago, they guessed. Time dilation was a difficult thing to get used to.

        “Bright… Archons above…” they groaned, pressing their hands over their eyes in an attempt to gradually adjust to the sheer brightness of the surface. It made them a little sick, if they were to be quite honest; they had grown used to the pitch blackness of the other realm. “Gods, it’s bright…”

        “…[Name]?”

       They peeked through their fingers, squinting in the hopes of being able to make out the figure standing a few feet from them. When it finally hit them just who it was, their heart throbbed. The soft green hair they had grown so accustomed to braiding throughout their childhood, now wild and untamed as a terrible consequence of stress and panic, the tender eyes filled with perhaps a little too much wisdom for a child that age…

       They were really back on the surface. It wasn’t just some sick trick of the mind, no.

       They were home.

        “Bai— Baizhu?”

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       He was quick to call for help, leading them back to their shared Master. Jiangli seemed to almost cry when she saw them again—tears of relief or tears of worry, they didn't know. She reminded them of a concerned mother.

       However, something they dreaded terribly had come to pass.

       Their Master discovered that they were in no need of his healing. They were uninjured. All that blood was not theirs. It was never theirs. They were completely unharmed.

       "There isn't a single scratch on you."

       They intentionally avoided his gaze, instead focusing on their hands rested in their lap. Absentmindedly, they noted how calloused and scarred their hands were compared to how soft they had once been. The hands of a healer had become something far more sinister. Changsheng was eerily quiet.

       "...[Name]?"

       "No"—they sniffled, finally meeting their Master’s golden irises filled with tender concern, concern they did not deserve after what they had done—"there isn't."

       The conversation died right then and there.

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       Their departure from Chenyu Vale was sudden and unexpected. Many did not know why they left. All they left behind that could explain why they left was a small envelope for Baizhu, but they honestly didn't know if he would even open it. Leaving him without a single word... it made them want to cry every time they thought about it.

       The goodbyes they said to Jiangli and their Master were tearful, but neither of the two could stop them from leaving after learning that they had suffered so much. After all, what place did a killer have in Chenyu Vale?

        ‘You’re not a killer,’ Jiangli had insisted. ‘You’re not. You belong here, with us.’

       They disagreed with her sentiment. How could she still look at them with such kindness, even after knowing what awful things they had done? Maybe that’s why they left without speaking to Baizhu. Maybe they knew he would have pleaded with them to stay. Maybe they knew they would have stayed if it were he who asked.

       Many of their years were spent wandering Teyvat, but every now and then...

       They'd settle in Snezhnaya to catch up with an old acquaintance of theirs after tracking down his whereabouts.

       "The Fatui, hm? Looks like you really aren't some scared little kid anymore. Shame. You were quite a cute scared little kid."

       They hopped from nation to nation on a whim, picking up knowledge and still studying medicine on the side, though they wouldn't dare call themselves a doctor of any kind. It was Liyue that they often avoided, and if they really couldn't help it, they'd sneak along the border like some kind of internationally wanted criminal. The idea of running into Baizhu would always send their stomach into knots. What would they even say to him? He owed them nothing. He owed them no kind of forgiveness.

       'And yet, despite all that...' they mused, staring vacantly at the sleeping Jiangli at their side, 'here I am. I won't let anything hurt you, even if it means putting myself at risk.'

       Their fingers gently ran through her tangled locks.

       The constant pulsating glow of their Cryo vision was indication enough that, through their own means, they were keeping those terrible god remains at bay. Between the gorgeous icy energy that generated from them, a magenta glow was woven in like some kind of skilled artist's tapestry. It was as beautiful as it was unsettling.

       The Abyss would always be a part of them. They might as well put Skirk's teachings to use.

       "Why do you do such insane things?" they wondered aloud, head tilting back to shift their empty gaze towards the roof of the cavern. "You know that if I destroy those remains, your husband will die, and yet... I followed you nonetheless, knowing I would be at an impasse until someone came to rescue us, knowing I would inevitably cross paths with the one I have fought so hard to avoid. Why are you like this? So irresponsible, but then again... I am no better. I wouldn't be here if I was."

       "Jiangli!"

       "Well... it doesn't matter now," they murmured quietly, gently shaking her shoulder. "Jiangli, wake up. Baizhu and your husband are here. Some others too… I don’t know them though."

       "We found her!... but who's that beside her?"

       Baizhu was oddly silent, watching how they treated her with such tenderness, helping her sit up when she groggily rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Jialiang did not so much as flinch, however—he rushed up to them.

       "[Name]! How is she?! Is she okay?!"

       "Gods, Jialiang—" they hissed, pinching his arm in a soft attempt at scolding him. They vaguely resembled a parent chiding their child, despite the fact that he was older than them. "Don't run like that. You'll keel over dead if you keep that up. She's fine. She was just sleeping, I promise. I ensured her safety."

       "Your ability to stave off the effects of the god remains is rather impressive, [Name]."

       "...It's really not, Baizhu," they opposed quietly, rising to their feet. They dared not meet his eyes, looking anywhere but at him—they would feel an overwhelming sense of guilt if they were to see the evidence of his and Changsheng's contract, the contract that was always meant to be theirs. On top of that… they were certain he could see right through them, see the way they huffed out their breaths in a labored attempt at getting enough oxygen. "Don't try to make conversation. I'm not planning on running away this time. Jiangli probably did this on purpose... she forced my hand. It— look, it doesn’t matter. We'll talk about this, about everything, later."

       He seemed content with that answer—for the time being, at least.

       "Well, that's a first," Changsheng hissed from around the doctor's neck, "now isn't it?"

       "You're getting sassy in your old age, Changsheng," they commented. "Haven't changed a single bit since the last time I saw you, hmm? Sassy old lady~"

       "Hey!"

       "Sorry, wait— Paimon's confused," the floating fairy interrupted. ‘Oh,’ they thought, ‘so that’s who Ajax was talking about.’ "Knowing Baizhu is one thing, but knowing Changsheng is waaaay different! Who are you?"

       "My name is [Name]," they introduced with deceptive calmness that masked the pure, unadulterated panic they were experiencing on the inside. "You may have heard of me through a certain Fatui Harbinger. ‘Codename Childe, but I also go by Tartaglia,’ you know. The ginger with a bunch of cute siblings. Have you met them? They’re the cutest. Anyway, the harbinger has quite the collection of good things to say about you, traveler."

       Aether tensed slightly, shooting Baizhu an odd look, almost as if to ask who he was associating with in his spare time.

       "Relax. I'm not a part of the Fatui," they dismissed with a wave of their hand. "Those people are a bit insane, if you ask me, supporting a deity who hardly seems to care for them or the general population of her nation... Erm. Anyway. I only happen to know Ajax because we were both victims of the same circumstance a while back."

       "What..." Aether trailed off, blinking. Something in the way he looked at them, looked at the blankness in their eyes, said that he already understood. "...What does that mean?"

       "Ask him yourself. Do me a favor, though, and tell me what he says. I'm genuinely curious."

       "Hey!" Paimon cut in with an annoyed huff, stomping her foot like an aggravated toddler. The thought made them smile slightly. "Stop ignoring Paimon! You still didn't answer her question!"

       "[Name] was another one of my Master's disciples, like Jiangli," Baizhu explained on their behalf, briefly glancing in their direction. "Although... I haven't seen them in several years. Like Jiangli, they too ran away."

       "Oh, Gods, Baizhu," they groaned, turning to face him properly for the first time in years. Their breath almost dared to hitch at the golden irises that stared back at them. "Don't be dramatic. Are you telling people I ran away? I didn't run away. I told our Master why I was leaving and when I planned on doing so. It's Jiangli who really didn't tell anyone why she left. I wasn't that secretive about why I left, you know."

       "Nuance."

       They then softened up slightly, running their hand through their hair. A deep sigh left through their nose. "...You really haven't changed at all."

       He seemed to smile a bit at their exasperation. It was only fair, they supposed. They had left him in the dark for years. He deserved to find some amusement in the uncomfortable situation they were both forced into.

       "Well... whatever. We have bigger issues than my past friendships right now," they said, crossing their arms over their chest. "What are we doing about these remains? I have protected Jiangli's body and mind, but only to an extent. She is infected and it will continue to worsen if we do nothing. However, if we destroy these remains..."

       "Indeed..." Baizhu murmured, turning to the man in question. "If we destroy these remains, your life will come to an end."

       "If you knew what she was doing," Aether cut in, "why didn't you stop her?"

       "You cannot stop a woman like that once she has her heart set on something. All I could do was watch from the background until she put herself in too much danger, to the point where I'd have to defend her," they sighed, "such as what she did here."

       Jialiang looked between them and Baizhu. "...I had wondered when this day might come."

       Jiangli was silent.

       "We've been working our butts off to save Jialiang's life!" Paimon shouted. "We can't just give up on him now! Baizhu, you're a great doctor. Surely you've gotta know of some other way we can save him, right? Or— [Name]! If you studied with Baizhu, you should know a few things too, right?"

       "Sure. I still remember some things from that time," they replied, tilting their head back a bit so they could gaze at Jiangli's husband. "Jialiang could continue taking the poison. Jiangli is... in decent condition overall, so it wouldn't be the end of the world to delay the destruction of the remains, but she will fall more ill as time goes on. Either way, someone will die if we don't do something."

       "[Name], you've been watching Jiangli," Jialiang stated, standing up to meet their eyes. "How long does she have?"

       "If she completely stopped coming here..." they mused thoughtfully, "a few weeks at most would be my guess. You'd probably get a more precise answer from Baizhu, though."

       "I would say that is accurate," Baizhu agreed, nodding. "I could... extend that time, however, if I were to treat her using a secret art."

       "You..." They wanted to scold him, chide him for even suggesting such a thing, but in the end, they did not. It would make them a hypocrite. They simply bit their tongue. Jiangli watched closely with a gentle gaze comparable to that of an aunt or a mother as the various emotions flickered across their expression.

       "...But what would be the point of that?" Jialiang lamented. "Dr. Baizhu, I am all too aware of the dangers of god remains. You are not the first to mention it to me. [Name] often warned me, but... I did not listen. If I continue to sustain my own life using this wretched substance, then not only would Jiangli have to keep risking her life to make my medicine for me, but I would have to live with the looming threat of these remains breaking out and wreaking havoc not just upon me, but my entire family. I know for a fact that I should have died over a decade ago. The fact that I've been around to see Ayu grow up is already a great blessing from Rex Lapis. If my choice can keep Jiangli alive, then... even if I die..."

       "Jialiang..." Paimon trailed off.

       The man chuckled sadly. "After cheating death for so long, it seems I've grown somewhat addicted to life."

       "Life is a terrible drug for those of us who often come face-to-face with death," they admitted, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Take a minute to talk with Jiangli. We'll wait."

       "Thank you..." he said, kneeling down at his tired wife's side, "I'm sorry that I won't be able to repay your kindness in this life."

       "Jialiang...” Paimon cried, wiping her face with her little balled up hands. “Baizhu, Changsheng, [Name], is there really nothing else any of you can do?"

       "Cheating death is beyond my ability," they answered apologetically. "I know much of arts that are... beyond this world, but they are not used for preserving nor extending life. I wish I could do more, but I can’t. My apologies."

       "I am sure that over the years, Jiangli will have tried all the conventional methods known to humankind. As for the less conventional methods, I have little expertise besides Changsheng's secret art..."

       Aether's gaze flickered between them and Baizhu as he said that, before settling back on the Liyuean doctor. "...They're aware of it?"

       "Try to avoid treating me like an outsider," they half-scolded. "Believe it or not, I was meant to be bound to Changsheng. Fate had different plans, however, so yes. I am very much aware. Even through the medium, that being Changsheng, none of Baizhu's predecessors could manage to cheat death."

       "Mortals are fated to grow old and pass on when their natural lifespan runs out," the snake mused. "If it were so easy to combat the natural processes of aging and death, Jiangli would not have had to resort to unnatural methods."

       Paimon sniffled. "What a crazy situation... Jiangli risked it all to save Jialiang's life, and now, Jialiang has to sacrifice himself to save Jiangli. What's the point of it all..?"

       "Love, I have heard, tends to make people do insane things," they stated. "It's quite tragic, really."

       The traveler nodded. "All we can do now is honor Jialiang's decision and bear witness."

       "...I've seen many final farewells in my time," Baizhu commented softly, quietly, "but I can never get used to it."

       "In the human realm, all things must come to an end. Is it not a fitting end to die for a worthy cause? At least... that's what generations of Masters before you always believed."

       They wondered if Changsheng was somehow trying to be reassuring.

       "The path they chose was indeed a heroic one," Baizhu agreed, "but when I think of those who would willingly sacrifice themselves for others... I cannot help but think that theirs are the lives least deserving of death."

       The quiet whispers shared between the couple gradually died down. It was then that Jialiang stood up.

       "I've said my goodbyes. My time has come. Do what you must."

       "As you wish."

       "We have not been in contact for years," they spoke up, stepping forward and raising their hand, "but I know you well enough to know that a man dying indirectly by your own hand will weigh on your mind. I will take care of this. Stand down, Baizhu."

       The doctor seemed momentarily stunned, but he nodded nonetheless, backing off. "...Very well, [Name]."

       With a chilling wind and a flick of their wrist, the god remains dissipated with a hiss.

       It wasn't very long until Jialiang collapsed.

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       "Jialiang..! Jialiang!"

       The man shot up with a gasp, instinctively clutching at his chest.

       "Dad! Are you awake?!"

       "Jiangli..? Ayu? Didn't I..." Jialiang trailed off, gaze drifting to the seals stuck on his skin. "Huh? What are these?"

       Changsheng’s voice drew his attention. "How does it feel to come back to life?"

       "Do you feel strange or different in any way?" Baizhu questioned, walking to his bediside. "If so, could you describe it to me in detail?"

       "Dr. Baizhu! I thought I was going to..."

       "Die? You did, actually," they stated, gently holding his arm, carefully inspecting the sigils as to not disrupt the delicate imitation of immortality that the doctor had created. "To think this is what Baizhu's been doing in my absence... absolutely fascinating. Sorry, Jialiang, do you mind? I'll back off if it's uncomfortable. Don’t be afraid to tell me.”

       Jiangli giggled at her husband's look of sheer confusion.

       "Uh... no, you're— you're okay..? Go ahead."

       Baizhu's lips quirked up at the sight of their enthusiasm. He said nothing of it, though. "As things stand now, you're more akin to a zombie than a human."

       "...I'm a zombie?!"

       "That's right. Before we set off, I asked Qiqi to prepare and Elixir of Immortality. With its help, you have been suspended in the space between life and death. Of course, this is but a crude imitation of an adeptus art. I don't expect it to extend your life indefinitely. Whether it will keep you alive for a few days, a few months, or a few years...” Baizhu mused, “I am as interested as you to find out, but however long you have left, I believe it should be more than sufficient time for you to say your final goodbyes before departing the world in peace. ...I hope Director Hu finds this arrangement to be a satisfactory one?"

       "An Elixir of Immortality? How'd you cook that up? Ugh," the girl in question groaned, "leave it to you to work on something like that behind my back..."

       "It's a work in progress that hardly lives up to its name, and it would've had no effect if not for Jialiang's iron will." Baizhu shifted, crossing his arms over his chest. "In the end, I am merely a doctor. I understand very little about the great principles governing life and death, and the perpetual cycle of yin and yang. All I know is that if I am presented with a life that deserves to be saved, I will do everything within my power to save it. Even this would have counted for nothing if not for Director Hu's assistance... after all, did you not tell Jialiang to show us the way before we set off for Qingce Village?"

       "Oops! Aaaand, I'm busted..."

       "Without Director Hu nudging things in the right direction, we may not have found Jiangli and [Name] in time. They could only hold those remains off for so long."

       "It wouldn't have meant anything if not for your friend over there," she pointed out. "They nudged me first."

       "I did," they conceded, finally backing away from Jialiang after finishing their investigation of his sigils. "What of it? I was worried about Jialiang and Jiangli. I told Director Hu who I was and where I was headed after eavesdropping, and then she nudged Jialiang in that direction. It's not that serious."

       "Eavesdropping is kind of serious!" Paimon exclaimed, shooting them an odd look.

       "Fair point, but it's not like I was eavesdropping on someone I've never met. What could Baizhu have said to you that I wouldn't have already known? Absolutely nothing.”

       "I knew there were people listening in on our conversation back then," Aether murmured. "To think it was you two..."

       "No wonder he didn't mention the Elixir back then," Director Hu muttered to herself. "I thought he was being frank and transparent with me for once, but apparently not."

       Jialiang cleared his throat, laughing a bit. "Director Hu told me to keep her suggestion a secret, and [Name] had told Jiangli and I a while ago to keep it a secret that they were in Liyue, but it seems nothing escapes Dr. Baizhu's attention..."

       "Never underestimate a serpent's sense of smell!" Changsheng hissed, almost seeming to be proud.

       "All I wanted was to help Jialiang find his missing wife as soon as possible, so that he could be on his way to the afterlife without any unfulfilled wishes making the journey more difficult than it needs to be..." Hu Tao sighed. "Leave it to Bubu Pharmacy to snatch the perfect opportunity right outta my hands at the last hurdle! Never mind, I'll just have to put it down in the books as a deferred consideration... one Qiqi was enough of a conundrum; the last thing I need's another one. If I'd known this was coming, I would have whisked him off to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor the moment I found him."

       "Y— you stay away from my dad! When I grow up, I'm gonna become a better doctor than Mom and Baizhu, and cure Dad for good!" Ayu declared, making them chuckle into their hand. They ruffled his brown hair fondly. "A— and [Name]! Better than [Name] too!"

       "I don't really practice medicine anymore, honey. I definitely don't count as a doctor. You'd outdo me within a week."

       Jiangli grinned at them, teasing, "I don't know, [Name]. For someone who 'doesn't practice medicine anymore,' you still act as if you do. You seem very fascinated with Baizhu's imitation of immortality on a very deep level.”

       "Old habits die hard," they simply answered. "What can I say?”

       "Oh? Is that so?" Hu Tao chimed, turning to Ayu. "Well, you wouldn't be the first person who's tried to put Wangsheng Funeral Parlor out of business. If you're serious about it, you'll have your work cut out for you."

       Just like that, she turned on her heel and left.

       "Phew... is she finally gone?" Qiqi peeked out from her hiding spot. Upon seeing them, and noting that Hu Tao was gone, she ran over to them, presenting them with a silk flower. "I meant to give it to you earlier... because it's pretty, like you... but I forgot..."

       Their face turned serious as they faced the Liyuean doctor. "Baizhu."

       "Hm?"

       "I'm keeping her. She's mine now. This is my child now."

       Both Baizhu and Jiangli chuckled at how purely enamored they were with her, kneeling down so Qiqi could tuck the flower behind their ear. They cooed over her sweetness, patting her head lovingly. Ayu almost seemed a little jealous of the attention they showered her in.

       "All's well that ends well!" Paimon chimed, turning to Aether. "If you ask Paimon, we should probably go do something to celebrate this heard-earned family reunion..."

       "Paimon's idea of a celebration can only mean one thing..."

       "Hehe! At times like this, a grand celebratory feast is in order!"

       Jialiang chuckled, "It feels like it was a whole lifetime ago when I last talked with Jiangli and Ayu around the dinner table."

       "Rightfully so," they said, "you've been through a lot."

       Aether nodded. "This was a hard-earned meal."

       "Yaaay~! Paimon can't wait! Alright, first thing's first—off to the market for some fresh ingredients! Let's go~!"

       "Wait up!" Ayu shouted, running after them. "I'll come too!"

       "Baizhu, thank you so, so much for everything you've done for us..." Jiangli thanked, then turning to place a hand on their shoulder as many had done before her. "And [Name], I would not be as well as I am now if not for you. You've been standoffish for the past decade, but I know you still care. For all of us."

       "Ah... I wasn't trying to come off as cold. Things just got tough for me after that incident. I never want you guys to feel like I don't care, you know..."

       "Don't mention it, Jiangli," Baizhu reassured. "I was just doing my duty."

       "Just your duty, huh..." she mused wistfully. "Baizhu, Changsheng, [Name], would you mind if we took this conversation outside?"

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       "Time flies. It's been so long since we've been together like this... Changsheng, you're the same as ever," Jiangli laughed. "You haven't changed one bit!"

       "That's literally what I said to her, too," they exclaimed. "See, I knew I was right! Some things just don't change, hm?"

       "...You two, on the other hand, have changed a lot," Changsheng replied, a thoughtful lilt to her tone. She certainly knew more than what she was letting on.

       "You're right," Jiangli admitted. "My younger self would have never imagined that things would one day turn out this way."

       "I doubt that any of us imagined our lives would turn out this way," they added. "I mean, really... our time in Chenyu Vale seems so far gone now, doesn’t it?”

       “It really does,” the woman agreed.

       The evening light bathed their face in yellow-orange light; it wasn't quite late enough yet for the light to take on a more golden hue, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Even after all the horrors they had witnessed, they still had the capacity to recognize beauty.

       "Liyue's so pretty at this time, isn't it?" they wondered aloud.

       "You always did think so," Baizhu replied. "That much hasn't changed."

       An oddly comfortable silence settled for but a few short moments as the small group descended the last of the stairs that led to Bubu Pharmacy. Jiangli was the first to break it:

        “I’ve taken a look at your Elixir of Immortality, Baizhu, as has [Name]. It isn’t altogether dissimilar from the poison I concocted in terms of the way it functions.”

        “I have to say, Jiangli, it was a stroke of genius to use poison to maintain life. I hope you’re not too upset at me for… copying your methods?”

        “No, not at all. With your intellect, even if you’d never seen my poison, I believe you would have eventually arrived at the same approach, but I’m still impressed by how quickly you gained such a thorough understanding of it. Jialiang’s still only been in your care for a few days. Not just that—you even managed to improve upon the original formula. That cannot be explained by intellect alone…”

        “Ten mora says he tried it out on himself.”

        “Ha!” Changsheng laughed. “Told you the truth would come out sooner or later.”

        “Knew it,” they hummed. “Life force has never been the only thing Changsheng’s contract allows her contractees to transfer. I know simply because I used to catch our master doing things like that all the time.”

        “Baizhu…” Jiangli trailed off.

        “…Nothing gets past you two. Yes, Changsheng’s secret art also allows for the transfer of toxins and diseases. When I treated Jialiang for the second time, I transferred some of the poison from his body onto my own. Not only did this allow me to alleviate the burden on him, but it also gave me an opportunity to study its properties. There is no need to worry about any long-term consequences to my health, however. Now that the source has been destroyed, any remaining poison in me will have already dissipated.”

        “But you took such a huge risk,” Jiangli opposed. “If we hadn’t destroyed the gods’ remains back there, then even you might have…” She then sighed. “What am I saying? I’m in no position to criticize you for this, and if [Name] knew… it’s no wonder why they were adamant on destroying the remains themselves.”

       They nodded. “I had to be sure they would be gone. Believe me, whatever was there before… it is not there now and will never be there again.”

        “Leave it to you to see through us all, even from such a distance,” she said with a fond, wistful smile. She turned back to Baizhu. “The reason I left our Master and went into hiding all those years ago was that he was getting old, and I didn’t want him using up any more of his own life force to treat my husband, but in the end… how were my methods any different than his? I risked one life to save another, and then you tried the poison on yourself, too… It looks like both of us have ended up going the same way as out master before us. As for [Name]… heh, they’re hardly any better.”

       Baizhu seemed intrigued by her statement. “How so?”

        “[Name], why don’t you tell Baizhu how you absorbed the majority of that gods’ remains to keep them from getting to me?”

        “It’s different,” they insisted, gaze shifting towards the golden sky. "I mean, I did do that, yes—that’s not what I’m denying. You two do it because if there is a life in front of you deserving of being saved, you save it, and… ten years ago, I would have done it solely for the same reasons. Now, though… It’s different. That incident changed me, Jiangli. I do it because I get a rush from surviving things like that.”

        “Nonetheless, your intentions towards others are still good,” Jiangli said, gently squeezing their upper arm. “Would you have done it if you didn’t care? If you weren’t scared for my life? You said it yourself. You were worried about my husband and I. You put yourself in a situation you knew would inevitably lead to you and Baizhu meeting again. You put yourself at risk, and that is what really makes me wonder: are all disciples of Chenyu Vale destined to turn out this way? To live a short life, having given away our own for the sake of others? To fight relentlessly against the natural course of life and death, whatever the cost? …Maybe our fate is sealed the moment we decide to study medicine.”

        “We are doctors, Jiangli. We ought never say that anyone’s fate is sealed.”

        “Baizhu, I can tell that over the years, you’ve used the contract with Changsheng to transfer many diseases and toxins onto yourself. There are so many, that some of them I don’t even recognize… can you still stop it before it’s too late?”

        “Don’t fool yourself. We all know the answer to that question, Jiangli,” they interrupted, “and we all know it’s a very honest no. All disciples of Chneyu Vale believe in the same core principle. Don’t be a hypocrite.”

        “Heey~!” Paimon shouted, waving the group over. “Food’s ready!”

        “Mom!” Ayu exclaimed excitedly, running up to the woman. “Come and join us! Aether taught me a load of new recipes and said even Dad’ll be able to taste them! Come and try them out!”

        “Yes, darling, mom’ll be there in just a minute… Hey, slow down!” she exclaimed, chasing after her child. She stopped briefly, turning back to face them and Baizhu. “Baizhu, I know I won’t be able to convince you, but… please don’t forget that, if one day, you’re not around anymore… Qiqi, Gui, and all the friends that have grown fond of you, they will all miss you dearly.”

        “There’s no need to worry, Jiangli. I know what I’m doing.”

        “…I can only hope so,” she sighed, “and [Name]? I believe you know where this conversation needs to go. I was honest about why I left. It’s your turn now.”

       She walked off after her son.

       A silence settled in her absence. This time, however, it was tense.

       Then, Baizhu seemed to search his pockets for something. His face brightened slightly when he found it: a small envelope yellowed with age. He handed it over to them.

       "You... never opened it?" they wondered softly, holding the letter they'd written all those years ago with such delicacy that they weren't even aware they were capable of anymore.

       "I wanted to hear the explanation from you."

       "This was from me," they tried to counter.

       "[Name]."

       "Yeah, yeah... I get it. You wanted to hear it from me directly. I know," they sighed, leaning back against the railing, fidgeting with the paper envelope help in their hands. "It really isn't a pretty story, but if anyone deserves to know... I suppose it's you. I’m surprised Changsheng didn’t tell you already, given how inclined she is to gossiping—”

        “Hey!”

        “—Just... please. Do me a favor and try not to look at me too differently after you hear it."

       Baizhu reached out to their shoulder, giving it a tender squeeze. "I just want to know why you left so abruptly. We were so close. There is nothing you could say or do that would make me resent you."

       They smiled bitterly. "We'll see about that."

                         — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       For the first time in a very long time, they spoke to Baizhu.

       Not superficially, not as distant professionals, but as friends. It was a moment of honest vulnerability that truly frightened them. They hadn't been that vulnerable since before their fall.

       The silence weighed heavily on their chest as they gazed anywhere but at their former friend. Somehow, the anticipation for his response was far more suffocating than any other in the past—even the anticipation for their Master's response was never this heavy.

       Then, the Liyuean doctor reached out, gingerly tugging them towards his figure. His arms settled comfortably around their waist.

       The weak beating of his heart and the wheezing breaths he took prompted them to sob. The sound they let out was overwhelmingly heartbreaking; it was somehow even worse than the cry they had let out upon taking that first life all those years ago in the Abyss. All the pain they suppressed for all the years they hid from their home, their friends... it all came flooding out at once.

       "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

       "You went through all of that," Baizhu whispered, his voice meant only for them (and Changsheng by default…) to hear as a hand ran soothingly through their hair, "and you truly believed we would hold that against you?"

       "Yes!" they wept. Archons... they hadn't felt this pathetic since their initial descent into the Abyss. "Gods, Baizhu, of course I thought you all would hold it against me! I was supposed to be Changsheng's next contractee! It was never supposed to be you! I didn't want it to be you!"

       "I know."

       "It's not fair! You— you're here giving away your life force, and you're going to die young, and it's going to be my fault! I should have done something differently! Maybe then we wouldn't be in this situation!"

       "It's not your fault."

       "It is!"

       "It's not."

       "You're suffering because of me!"

       "[Name]."

       "I only ever do bad things to you," they sobbed. "Why do you still want to forgive me? Why are you wasting your time comforting me? You should just move on. You're better off without me."

       "Stay in Liyue."

       "H— huh?" they sniffled. "What? No, I... No!”

        “Stay, [Name]. Please.”

        “No! Why do you even want me to stay here?! You should hate me! You should—”

        “You’re reckless with your own life. Do you really think I don’t see it? You claim to get a rush from being alive, but… I do not believe that is the only thing you seek out by putting yourself at risk. Mentally well people don’t behave this way. Let me help you. Please."

        ‘No shit,’ they wanted to say, ‘I haven’t been well since that day.’

        “Are you saying you don’t trust me to be on my own?”

        “I am.”

       Their throat closed. They squeezed their eyes shut.

       He was right, much as they hated it.

        “…Fucking hypocrite.”

       "That may be so.” He smiled ruefully. “If that isn’t good enough of a reason, then… I’m asking you to stay because I want you to stay, [Name]. Stay with me for a little while." His eyes were filled with a gentleness that they wholeheartedly believed should not have been directed at them. "We still get along, don't we? Though you may have changed, I genuinely find it hard to believe anything about us has changed, so stay. Let's get to know each other again, hm?"

       They blinked. Once, twice. Tears pricked at their eyelashes.

       "...Okay."

       They still failed to part from Baizhu, but he didn't seem to mind, only resuming his motions of brushing his fingers through their hair.

       "Qiqi quite likes your company, too."

       "Yes..." they murmured. "Um, a lot of kids seem to, you know... Ayu, my other friend's siblings... I don't really get it, but they, um, they all seem to like me."

       For what was the first time in decades, they felt truly at peace. They'd often engage in meaningless conversation under the sunset's light with Baizhu in their youth, gathering herbs and the like for their shared Master. To do something so similar once again...

       It soothed the beast their soul had become. 

       The sunset's light, however, did not dance in their eyes as it once had.

please consider reblogging, it helps me out quite a lot! taglist: @zeldadou, @ophelium-flowers, @aikitsuki.

[lanaxoxoxoxoxox]

No no no you’re getting a FUCKING REQUEST TODAY BABY

Ok so maybe someone of your choice with a really bubbly talkative reader and someone called reader annoying and then they like- stick up for reader

Does that make sense-

Like-

Reader: *talking*

Bitch: “ur annoying”

Person of choice: “not on my watch”

yes yes yes !! im in love with this ask frog oml

angel watch

wilbur soot x loud!reader

warnings: angst?? idk but theres DEF some fluff sprinkled in here

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

reader pov

I never really thought about my actions often, but in a good way. Obviously I would know if I accidentally hurt someone, like any other average human being would do. But I never ever thought about my personality and it's own actions.

Ever since I was in first grade, my parents, friends and even teachers would describe me as someone with a "flirtatious, bubbly" personality. That never really got to me, and I found it funny. I mean, it does make sense, as I literally used "bubbly" in my Twitch username for when I stream. I do have to say, it's quite useful when streaming, as it keeps me engaged with my chat. That's what I enjoyed about myself. But I guess my chat didn't that day.

"Hello bubblies! How are we doing today my loves?" I said, smiling into the webcam.

user657: great!!

user342: meh, but ur stream is the best !! :D

userfroggie8: live laugh love y/n

message was deleted by a moderator

"Nice, nice! If your day is going pretty shit, I hope I can cheer you guys up!" I said, making a heart sign into the webcam. "Today is going to mainly just be a silly lil' rant stream. Maybe perhaps some storytimes? Maybe some clip reactions? We'll see, loves. But first, I need to remind everyone that you can subscribe to my channel for free with Twitch Prime if you have it and would like to support me."

I continued the stream with talking about random stuff that popped into my head. I was in my little streaming room, in my little shared apartment. What I didn't know is what my boyfriend was watching in the living room.

wilbur pov

Whoever said that cleaning pots and pans from the night before is a "relaxing" thing to do, needs to wake the fuck up. I mean, it's not like I'm going to make y/n do it, especially since they're going to be really tired after their stream. Especially with their cute, bubbly personality, when they get tired, they get tired. They have full on "sugar crashes".

I felt my phone vibrate from my back pocket. I placed the last pan down on the drying towel and slid my phone into my hands. I unlocked it.

"y/n_bubbles is live! "LETS CHAT!!" I smiled into the reflection of my phone. I plopped down onto the living room sofa and opened up the Twitch app, playing y/n's stream. I watched for a while, before grabbing my phone to send a message back to Tommy and catching up with my twitter page. I focused my ears back onto y/n's stream.

reader pov

"Alright, lets take a break from the rants for now. I bet y'all are tired of hearing my crazy rant voice!" I laughed to myself.

Suddenly, my donation sound popped up. "I should probably change my sound from the duck noises. That's, um, real immature from me..." I laughed again.

user10 donated $2.00

i dont watch ur streams often but can you like stop talking once in a while ur rly annoying. stop thinking you're different from other streamers and that ur "quirky". stfu. /srs

"Thanks user10 for the $2! Guys, I seriously can't read, I need to take a second to actually read the donations out loud for you guys, seriously." I inspected the donation closer. "Alright user10, what did you write... 'i don't watch ur streams often but can you like stop talking once in a while ur rly annoying-'" My heart stopped.

Don't let them notice Y/n.

Don't let them fucking notice.

I continued reading. "'stop thinking you're different from other streamers and that you're.." I paused. "that you're quirky. Shut the fuck up.' Um, I'm gonna take a little pause break guys." I said quietly, quickly turning off my webcam and switching to the "BRB" screen. I kicked my legs up to the chair and sat there for a minute, ignoring the rest of the world around me. Is that what they really thought of me..?

wilbur pov

I looked back up at the TV. I thought y/n was just talking about her random new games she enjoyed or about her friends, but instead was met with utter silence. When you hear your bubbly significant other who is the biggest extrovert stop talking, in the middle of a chatting stream, you know something's up. I looked over to the corner and saw a donation from some "user10". "i dont watch ur streams often but can you like stop talking once in a while ur rly annoying. stop thinking you're different from other streamers and that ur "quirky". stfu. /srs"

What. The. Fuck.

Not even bothering to shut the TV off or grab my phone, I ran upstairs to Y/n's streaming room and looked over at Y/n, sitting dead silent in her chair. I ran over to them and spun their chair around, accidentally hitting the keyboard and hurting my arm. "Fuck-".

Shut up Wilbur! Focus on your partner.

I spun their chair around and raised up their head. "Hey, hey, it's okay! That person is being a total dick, and what they said was utter lies." They raised their head up and looked at me in the eyes. "Don't listen to them. You're an incredible person." I stood up and looked down at them. Their legs were still bouncing. I kneeled back down again and placed my hand on their thigh to help them stop shaking.

"I love you." I said, before softly kissing them. I felt y/n stop shaking and smiled into the kiss. They turned back to their monitor and their jaw- dropped...?

"Uh, Will?" they said softly.

"Yes, love?" I replied.

"You accidentally turned the webcam back on when you hit the keyboard. The microphone was also on still. Chat's going fucking bananas." they laughed, placing their head in their hands.

user7798: FUCK USER10

user455: they're dating???? OMG

y/nstan4life: omg there so cute why cant i have that [happy-cry]

mcyt7447: Y/NBUR!!

I looked over to the chat and chuckled. "Oh shit."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

[darkstar225]

Twice's 10th member is Stray Kids's Bang Chan bestie

A/N: Heyyy, I'm trying to make up for the time I'm gone lol! Sry for taking so long to post :D I hope that my friend ChloDavids who gave me this idea on Wattpad likes it!

The request: Can I request for the 10th member of twice being the only one that can tell Bang Chan (skz) to go to sleep and he can only do it if she cuddles him

PS: Tysm for everyone who reads what I write, I hope I can bring a smile to your faces every time I post! I'd like to thank whoever sent me this idea 'cause I loved to write it <3

__________________________________________________________

The soft hum of the city outside filtered through the curtains, casting a gentle glow in the room where Y/N sat, engrossed in her book. It was one of those rare nights when everyone else in the dorm was out, leaving her alone in the tranquillity of her thoughts. As the tenth and youngest member of TWICE, the girl had learned to appreciate moments of solitude amidst the chaos of their bustling lives.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Bang Chan of Stray Kids stepped inside, his tall figure silhouetted against the hallway lights. Y/N looked up from her book, her eyes widening in surprise.

Bang Chan - Hey, Y/N... Everyone's still out, huh? *tired smile on his lips* 

Y/N nodded, marking her page and closing the book. 

Y/N - Yeah, seems like it. What about you? Where's the rest of Stray Kids?

Bang Chan sighed, running a hand through his dishevelled hair. 

Bang Chan - They went out for a late-night snack, but I decided to stay back. I'm beat.

Y/N chuckled, patting the empty spot on the couch next to her. 

Y/N - Come, sit. You look like you could use a break.

He gratefully sank into the couch, his eyes reflecting a mixture of exhaustion and gratitude. TWICE's angel studied him for a moment, her heart warming at the sight of her best friend. They had become inseparable since their early trainee days, forming a bond that transcended the typical idol friendships. Bang Chan was like the older brother she never had, and she was the sister he always wanted.

Y/N - Rough day? *voice laced with concern while frowning*

He nodded, letting out a long exhale. 

Bang Chan - Yeah, we had a hectic schedule. And with all the comebacks and variety shows, it's been non-stop.

Y/N could relate. The life of an idol was demanding, and the constant pressure could be overwhelming. She reached for a blanket, draping it over Chan's shoulders.

Y/N - Maybe you just need a good night's sleep. And lucky for you, I'm the sleep expert around here. *mischievous glint in her eyes* 

Chan arched an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his tired eyes. 

Bang Chan - Sleep expert, huh? What does that entail?

Y/N grinned, leaning closer. 

Y/N - It means you listen to me, and I tell you exactly what you need to do to get a perfect night's sleep.

He chuckled, playing along. 

Bang Chan - Alright, hit me with your expert advice.

She pointed to the blanket. 

Y/N - Step one, get comfortable. You look like you've been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Let it go for now.

Chan followed her advice, sinking deeper into the couch and allowing the fatigue to settle in. Y/N moved to step two.

Y/N - Step two, close your eyes. I mean, they're practically half-closed already. *teasing smile*

He obliged, shutting his eyes with a contented sigh. Y/N observed him for a moment, her heart softening at the sight of her friend finding solace in the quiet of the room.

Y/N - Step three, imagine the most peaceful place you can think of. Somewhere serene, away from the chaos of the world. *dropping her voice to a hushed tone*

Chan's lips curved into a faint smile as he envisioned a tranquil scene in his mind. TWICE's lovebug could almost see the tension leaving his body, the weariness replaced by a semblance of peace.

Y/N - Alright, last step... This is the secret ingredient, so pay attention. *whispering while leaning even closer*

Chan cracked one eye open, a playful glint in his gaze. 

Bang Chan - I'm all ears.

The younger girl's lips curled into a mischievous smile. 

Y/N - You need a cuddle buddy.

His eyebrow shot up in surprise. 

Bang Chan - A cuddle buddy?

Y/N - Yes, and lucky for you, I happen to be an expert cuddler. It's scientifically proven to enhance the quality of sleep. Trust me, I read it in a magazine once. *nodding solemnly*

Chan burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the quiet room. 

Bang Chan - You're unbelievable, sis. But I guess I could use some expert cuddling right now.

TWICE's youngest grinned, moving closer and enveloping him in a warm embrace. They settled into a comfortable position on the couch, the blanket providing an extra layer of cosiness. As she held him, Y/N could feel the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, a sign that the sleep expert's methods were working.

Bang Chan - You're not so bad at this. *mumbling with his eyes still closed*

Y/N - Hey, I'm the best. Now, close your eyes and let the magic happen. *playfully winks*

They sat in comfortable silence, the room bathed in the soft glow of the city lights outside. Y/N couldn't help but marvel at the unique bond they shared, transcending the boundaries of fame and success. At that moment, she was simply Y/N, the girl with the uncanny ability to make even the most exhausted idol find peace in the simplicity of a quiet night.

As Chan's breathing deepened and his grip on reality loosened, TWICE's snowflake couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment. She had the power to bring solace to those she cared about, a gift she cherished in the whirlwind of their idol lives.

The room remained serene for some hours, a sanctuary against the relentless pace of the idol life outside. However, just as the peace settled, the dorm door swung open, revealing the returning members of TWICE. Sana, Momo, and Dahyun entered first, their laughter echoing through the hallway. However, their joy dissolved into surprise as they spotted Y/N and Bang Chan on the couch.

Sana gasped dramatically, clasping her hands together. 

Sana - Oh my God! What is this, a scandal?

Momo grinned, nudging Dahyun. 

Momo - Looks like our kiddo has a secret admirer.

Dahyun - And a famous one, at that. *waggling her eyebrows*

The duo stirred at the commotion, their eyes fluttering open. Chan yawned, blinking away the remnants of sleep, while Y/N shot the incoming storm of teasing looks from her fellow TWICE unnies.

Bang Chan - What's all this noise about? *voice husky with sleep*

Jihyo playfully gasped, placing a hand on her chest. 

Jihyo - Our dear baby here has been caught red-handed, cuddling with none other than Bang Chan! I demand an explanation.

Nayeon joined in the theatrics. 

Nayeon - Is this a new couple alert? Should we prepare for a scandal?

TWICE's sweetheart rolled her eyes, nudging Chan as she freed herself from the embrace. 

Y/N - It's not what it looks like. He's just tired, and I was helping him relax. Right, Chan?

Chan nodded, rubbing his eyes. 

Bang Chan - Yeah, Y/N/N here is the sleep expert, apparently.

Jeongyeon feigned shock. 

Jeongyeon - A sleep expert? Do share your wisdom with us, honey. We could use some beauty sleep too.

Mina - Yeah, darling. I need some tips too! *giggles*

The maknae sighed, standing up and stretching. 

Y/N - You guys are impossible. I was just trying to help a friend.

Chaeyoung winked at Bang Chan. 

Tzuyu - A friend, huh? We'll leave you two alone then. Don't let us interrupt your beauty sleep.

As the members of TWICE retreated, leaving Y/N and Chan to their own devices, the youngest couldn't help but shake her head in amusement. The dorm was always filled with laughter and playful banter, creating a family-like atmosphere among the members.

Bang Chan yawned again, his exhaustion evident in the lines of his face. 

Bang Chan - Thanks for that, Y/N. I really needed it.

Y/N - Anytime, Chan. You're like a big brother to me, you know that? *smiles while ruffling his hair affectionately*

Bang Chan - And you're like the annoying little sister I never asked for. *grinning with his tired eyes lighting up*

The young girl chuckled, playfully pushing him. 

Y/N - Love you too, bro.

The two friends shared a comfortable moment, the teasing banter of TWICE fading into the background. As Y/N settled back into the couch, Bang Chan joined her, and they found themselves immersed in a quiet conversation. The room, once again, embraced the calm of the night, the city outside humming a lullaby to its tired inhabitants.

And so, in the quiet hours of the night, the brother and sister duo found comfort in each other's presence. As Y/N watched over her slumbering best friend and slowly fell asleep, the girl couldn't help but think that sometimes, the best remedy for an exhausted soul was a good friend and a little bit of expert cuddling.

And this made her have one thought:

I'll love my dear chosen family forever.

A/N: I'm sorry for any errors. English is not my first language. Pls, let me know if there is something wrong, ty for reading <3

[mondaychildsworld]

One Night Only - Din Djarin x Reader (ONESHOT)

Oneshot

Rating: E

Word Count: 4.4k

Summary: You and Din get down and dirty in a fancy hotel room in Coruscant. That's literally it. Just pure smut.

Warnings: Fingering, oral (M receiving), unprotected P in V, light spanking, ass play, ejaculation inside of reader, smut and fluff, the helmet stays on

A/N: I don’t know Star Wars well enough to write a whole fic (yet, my bf has agreed to watch through all the movies with me). So until then, here’s a Din Djarin oneshot. Because he’s hot. I’m already blushing OK BYE. 

Also, I know I promised the next chapter of I Know The End to be up soon, but my brain is just fucking fried and I spent all weekend writing this instead. I need to catch up on life a bit because I've been writing like a mad woman these last couple of weeks so I'll have to give myself some grace and focus on me right now. I'll be back to I Know The End soon! ily 🧡

cute divider by @saradika 🤍

The night sky looked like deep blue velvet, scattered with small stars dancing above your heads. Even though it had been night for quite a while, the city wasn’t sleeping. There were lights everywhere you looked, bright neon colors flashing by, streets and buildings filled with life wherever your eyes landed. 

You glanced up to the man standing beside you. The colors and lights of Coruscant's night life reflected in his beskar armor. The thought of him made you shiver, you were equally shy around him as you were fascinated by him. Which made you nervous. 

As you walked the streets towards your destination you could see how his eyes roamed the streets, scanning your surroundings. Of course, you couldn’t really see his eyes. His face was always covered by the helmet, which he never took off. As much as you were curious of what he looked like under there, you were just as understanding with the fact that you’d never know. And you were okay with that. 

The way of the Mandalore went before anything else. So, the helmet stayed on. But it hadn’t stopped him from removing other pieces of his uniform before. You remember when you had lifted your dress up and graciously lowered yourself onto his beskar covered lap. He froze in his movements and asked you what you were doing. It didn’t take long for him to get the hint, turn the crest into autopilot and then let you bring him pleasure in the cockpit. You had to brush away the thought, for now, you were outside, with other people around. So you had to keep it all together. 

You knew he was on a mission. He had to hunt for his next bounty. But you had never visited Coruscant. When you asked to come with him, he immediately said no. When you said you didn’t want to join him on his hunt, just see the city, he hesitated. When you asked him to just spend a night with you outside of the ship, he agreed eventually. 

So you had spent the evening in this huge, gleaming city. You had seen the Skydome Botanical Gardens and walked by the incredibly tall 500 Republica building, with the mandalorian just a step or two behind you at all times. The things you’ve only read about in books or heard distant stories about became true when you explored the city. You grew up far, far away from here. So naturally Coruscant had felt like a fairytale in real life. 

But now, it was getting way too late. You were tired after the evening outside of the ship, and the mandalorian was guiding you to the inn where you had planned to sleep. That’s what you had said, that you would sleep there. None of you had spoken a word about the tension in the air between the two of you. The way you had tried to lock your eyes with his under the beskar helmet, and the way he held a hand at your lower back when guiding you through the city. You just acted as if it was just normal between the two of you. But the gloved hand on your thigh under the table while you were ordering something to drink in a too crowded bar told you otherwise. He tried to hide his small actions of affection towards you in public, but you knew. This wasn’t normal. The two of you weren’t used to this kind of relationship outside of the crest.

His ship had been a safe space. Where it didn’t matter what time or day of the week it was. You could be yourself, slowly but surely reveal more about you. He wasn’t the talkative type. You didn’t know much about each other, but you knew how to make each other feel good.

But this was different. You had roamed the streets of the city, and actually held a conversation beyond the usual talk, about whether or not the child had eaten, or where he’s heading for his next bounty. He had asked about the place where you grew up, and you told him your favorite color was orange, since you were a little child and watched the incredible sunsets on the planet you called home. You asked if his family also were Mandalorians. He explained to you about how the Mandalorians rescued him when he was orphaned, so he was raised with the Creed and didn’t remember much from before.

It was nice, sharing small bits and pieces about yourselves. Slowly unraveling each other's stories. It was clear he was not the nostalgic type, and you didn’t want to intrude, so you took it slow. 

But now you’re peeking through the curtains of the window in your room and can’t help yourself to wonder how you ended up like this, in a hotel room with him. If someone told you a year ago that this would happen, you’d just laugh in their faces. You glance down. Everyone down on the street looks so small. Like tiny ants making their way through the maze of Coruscant. 

The room was nice. Almost a little too nice. You had tried to protest when he handed the woman in the reception around 400 credits. But he had just squeezed your waist tightly against his beskar side, nodded to the woman over the desk when she wished you a lovely evening and guided you away towards the elevator. 

”You shouldn’t put that amount of money on a room.” You say, still watching the people on the ground. 

“It’s too…” You trail off as you feel gloved hands softly placed on your hips. You didn’t realize he was right behind you. “It’s too fancy for us.”

“You shouldn’t worry about that.” The modulated voice says. “It’s only for tonight.”

You close your eyes and lean back as his hands slowly explore your body. He starts to hitch your dress up slowly, over your knees, over your thighs, over your…

You quickly turn around to face him. He drops the dress and if you could see him now, he’d probably raise his eyebrows. Looking at you with an expression that said should I stop? but all you see is a dark visor. 

“No?” He asks after a couple of seconds of silence, his grip on your hips loosened. 

“Din.” You say, looking straight into the visor. You’re alone now, so you can say his name. He asked you to only call you Mando out there. It was too dangerous, he said, too many eyes and ears. It was bad enough a fully armored Mandalorian was walking down the streets. You could never know who was listening. He only told you his real name back in the crest. When the two of you were safely wrapped around sheets and darkness, after he’d made you climax twice in a row. No man had ever done that before.

You were so incredibly turned on by now, but you felt a bit ashamed about it. You felt just a tiny bit disgusted at the money he spent, which made it possible for him to have you gently pressed up against the window right now. 

“Yes.” You say. “Of course I want to, but you just put an insane amount of money on this room...”

He stays quiet, waiting for you to explain. All you hear is his low modulated breathing through the helmet. 

“...and on me.” You confess quietly.

He sighs and takes a step closer.

“You’re telling me I can’t spend my money on things I enjoy?”

“That’s not what I mea…” A whimper escapes from your lips and cuts you off. He squeezed your hip.

“That I can’t spend money on you?”

You just nod.

“Such a shame.” He says and his hand goes up to cup your cheek.

“I’m sorry.” You breathe. He’s so close, and you feel so stupid. So fucking dumb to bring this up. Who are you to complain? You asked to come here. He didn’t want to at first. But he agreed because you asked him to. You should be grateful. 

“Don’t.” He lifts your chin up a bit. “Don’t apologize.”

His thumb slowly caresses your lower lip. You shiver. You want to say you’re sorry for apologizing, but that would just be stupid, and maybe annoy him to the point that he would let go of you and leave the room. So you just nod. Silently agreeing.

You can feel your skin prickle when he pushes his thumb into your mouth. You gasp and part your lips for him.

“Good girl.”

Your knees go weak and you blush. There’s a warmth growing in between your legs. You’re in a really fancy room, standing incredibly close to Din, with his gloved thumb in your mouth. The feeling of guilt and shame is washed away by the fire burning inside of you. 

You slowly bite down on his glove, and he slides his hand out. You open your mouth a bit and let the glove drop to the floor.

You take a shaky, heavy breath as Din once again starts to hitch your dress up. His ungloved hand strokes your leg up, up, up until his fingers reach your hip. He follows the seam of your underwear down to your middle. He hovers just above your core for a few seconds. Teasing you.

A dissatisfied moan escapes from your lips when he doesn’t give you the friction you crave. You close your eyes when the teasing gets too much. 

“Look at me, pretty girl.” He whispers.

You open your eyes and stare straight into the visor. He rewards you by pushing your underwear aside. You feel him drag his fingers through your wet folds. 

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispers, so silently this time that you almost didn’t hear it. Like it was meant to only be a thought, but somehow the words escaped from his lips. So you try to ignore the compliment, even though it makes you shiver. 

He starts rubbing your clit in slow circles. You have to grab him by the shoulders when your knees go weak, you need something to hold on to. 

He’s in no rush. He’s taking his time with your sensitive bud, adjusting his movements by the expressions on your face. But you crave more. Your hands travel down his body and reach for the zipper of his flight suit.

He’s quick to notice, because his other hand suddenly and firmly grabs yours as they’re about to start working on the zipper. 

“You want more?” He asks you. You nod, not breaking the eye contact you just know you have, but can’t see. You wonder what the color of his eyes would be, that you could see, if he wasn’t sworn to the Creed. You respected it, but it did drive you mad in times like this. 

“I’ll give you more.”

He pushes a finger up inside you and sets a slow pace. You moan. His gloved hand still holds your wrists together and you have no way to keep yourself up other than to lean your back onto the window. 

He adds another finger and increases the rhythm. The stretch is bittersweet. It’s not painful, you’ve been too turned on for too long for it to hurt, but you’re never ready for the way he fills you up. 

You moan and the back of your head bumps into the window when you throw it back in pleasure. The nightlife of the city is still very active, and you hope that no one outside notices you squirming against a window with a Mandalorians hand between your thighs. 

Ironic, since he didn’t want to draw more attention to him than necessary. A Mandalorian fucking a girl against a window will most definitely create some interesting headlines. 

The build up of your climax increases at the same rate as his modulated breathing. You think he can sense it too, because when you’re close he pulls his fingers out, to your disappointment. 

“Not yet.” He says when you look at him with pleading eyes. 

“Alright.” You say with a heavy breath, drunk on pleasure. “Let go of me then.”

He lets go of your wrists. You immediately place them on his chest, slightly pushing him backwards towards the bed. The back of his knees hits the bed frame. He sits down and watches you as you start to undo his armor. 

You work your way downwards, starting with his shoulder plates. You fumble with the straps but once they’re off you start with the chest plate. Din just patiently sits there watching you work. When you had removed the chest plate you sank down to your knees and put it on the floor next to you. 

Now you’re sitting right in between his legs, nervously glancing up to the visor quickly before you start undoing the armor on his thighs. 

He grabs your arm with his ungloved hand before you can start. 

“You don’t have to.” He tells you, calmly. The hold he has on your arm tells you otherwise. He’s everything but calm. His grip is slightly shaking, and you can feel his pulse beating fast. 

“I want to.” You give him a reassuring smile and he lets you go. Once all of his armor is gone, you lean onto his lap and slowly drag the zipper of his flight suit all the way down. 

The exposed skin beneath the black fabric is smooth and tanned. Shining like gold in your eyes. Your hands travel down and reach into his pants. 

You hear him grunt as you pull his cock out. He’s already hard. You give him a few pumps up and down, and you expose his swollen tip. You lick your lips and slowly drag your mouth up against his length. He tries to still another grunt, but it’s clear he’s far beyond the point where he can keep it all together.

When you’re just about to put the tip of his length in your mouth you look up and fix your eyes to his. You know you do, because his breath hitch from the look of you on your knees, face just inches away from his erection, looking straight at him. 

His whole body jerks a bit when you slowly slide your mouth down his cock and you start sucking. You bob your head up and down and hear him pant above you.

“Maker.” He mumbles, his voice is strained.

“Mmhm.” You mumble in response while you keep bringing him pleasure with your mouth. 

His hands reach for the back of your head. His hand rests on your neck and he grabs your hair. He pulls it all together so it keeps strands from falling over your face. After a few minutes of you setting the pace he jerks his hips up just a tiny bit, as he pushes you down further with the help of his hands around your head. His length glides right down your throat, and your eyes water a bit. 

He mumbles something you don’t understand, probably in Mando’a. Even if you could understand, he’s too far down your throat for you to be able to answer. So you just moan in response when he thrusts into your mouth. 

He gives your mouth a few last thrusts before he lets you go and you pull back for air. He takes a few heavy breaths. 

“You’ ready?” He asks and you nod, still trying to catch your breath.

He leans forward just a bit, grabs you under your arms and drags you up to your feet. His movement is quick and simple. You see his exposed muscles flex when he lifts you up. 

“Take them off.” He commands and you know exactly what he’s talking about. You’ve been in this situation before, so there’s no question about what he wants. You grab the hem of your dress, lift it up, grab your underwear and slide them down. 

You climb onto his lap, where he sits on the edge of the mattress. He then snakes both of his arms around your back and you straddle him. He removes his other glove and finds his way under and up your dress. He places his palms on your buttcheeks and gently squeezes. You bite your lip and align your hips with his. 

With one arm wrapped around his neck you use your free hand to guide his cock to your entrance. He squeezes your ass harder and you slowly sink down. 

You both moan when you finally get what you crave. Instinctively, you want to kiss him. The realization that you can’t taste his lips makes you a bit sad. You gently place your lips on the cold beskar and start to move yourself up and down. 

The rhythm is yours to set, when you’re on top. It’s like a silent agreement between the two of you. It’s always clear who's in charge. And when you’re the one straddling him, you’re the one to set the rules. And he’s never been one to complain. 

After you’ve adjusted to having him inside you, filling you up all the way when you grind down on him you decide you need to feel him more. So you grab the collar of his flight suit and slide it off his back and down his arms. He lets go of you and helps you free him from his clothes. 

“Mesh’la, I’ve been waiting to remove the dress from you all day.” He says and pulls one of the straps down. “Yo-you’re beautiful like this.” 

He plays with the hem of the fabric. You blush. You’re not used to getting compliments from him. He’s called you sweet and pretty before. But never beautiful. That one is new. 

“What does that mean?” You ask and place your hands over his exposed chest. 

“What? You’re obviously wearing a special dress tonight, aren’t you?” He asks and pulls the other strap down. You shiver. If he continues like that he’ll soon expose your whole chest. And he was right about the dress. You had never worn it before around him. It was too nice to be worn on a regular day in the crest. But tonight was special. So of course you put on your best dress, and he noticed. But that’s not what you meant.

“No. You said something in Mando’a.”

“Ah, yeah.” He breathes and his hands travel to your back. He fiddles with the zipper. “Mesh’la.”

He slowly drags the zipper down in silence and the light blue fabric pools around your hips. Your breasts are exposed to the air and his gaze. Your nipples immediately turn hard. One of his hands briefly brushes over your breasts, gently cupping one of them and squeezes until you let a moan slip. 

“Mesh’la means beautiful.” He lets go of your breast and lifts you up from his lap. You stand in front of him as your dress falls to the floor. “It means that you’re beautiful.”

He grabs your hand and your heart beats fast. You don’t know what to say. You think he can sense that this conversation is a little too much for you right now, and not what you were expecting for tonight, so he just guides you onto the bed. 

“But you’re even more beautiful on all four.” He says and you can hear the change in his voice. When he explained to you the meaning behind the Mando’a word and when he slipped the dress off of your body his voice was tender, sweet, caring. Now, he speaks with the dark, lust filled tone you’re used to.

So you do as he says and climb onto all four. He gets up on his knees and shuffles closer to you. A second later you feel the tip of his cock pushing at your entrance and you let out a shaky breath.

You arch your back and wait for him to push his cock all the way inside of you. But when it doesn’t happen you’re wondering what he’s waiting for, but before you can turn your head around to look why he doesn’t move there’s a sudden, smacking sound. A second later there’s a bittersweet sting to the cheek of your ass. He spanked you, and you feel how instantly wet you get from it. 

The tension in the air vanishes, and is replaced by filthy lust. You’re so incredibly turned on by now that it’s almost painful when he doesn’t fuck you straight away, he literally has you on all fours, ready for him. 

“Please.” You beg. 

Smack. You gasp loudly. He hit your asscheek again, harder this time. 

“P-please.” You’re desperate. You like it, but you’re desperate for more. 

So you slowly lean back, pushing yourself towards him. You feel the head of his cock entering your core, and you hear a loud modulated sigh as you do. 

He grabs your hips and shoves you back, filling you up more than before. This time he’s the one to set the pace. And it’s not the same steady rhythm you went for before. This is persistent, rough and just… wonderful. This is what you were craving. 

“Oh stars!” You moan out loud. He fucks you relentlessly, just like he does when he has to blow off some steam after a particularly difficult hunt and you join him in his personal quarters. 

In there, you fumble in the dark and claw at metal walls. Here, the light is comfortably dim, warm and you clench your hands around soft, expensive sheets. 

His hands on your hips are warm. The skin to skin contact makes you tingle, everywhere he touches you. Maybe that’s how it is when you spend your time around someone who’s always covered up. So when you do feel him, it’s like your nerves are extra sensitive. 

His pace falters a bit and he gives you a few extra hard thrusts, grunting as he drills extra deep inside of you. 

“Mesh’la.” He says again. Your whole body shivers by his words, now that you understand them. “Will you let me?”

He stands still behind you, the only thing moving is one of his hands that travels from your hip down to your asscheek once again. But he doesn’t spank you, or stop there. His fingers trace your curves down to your middle and stop right above the hole he’s already filled up. His thumb caresses the tight ring of muscle, where no one’s ever been. 

You freeze for a couple of seconds while you consider it. No one’s ever fucked you there, and he knows that. He’s never been pushy about it, but the subject has been brought up before and you’ve always told him that you don’t do that. But now you’re intrigued and so horny at the same time. 

“I m-mean…” You stutter out. He’s waiting for your answer. “Only you… only your hands.”

“We don’t need to.” He reassures you. “I’m just asking.”

“It’s okay.” You breathe. You’re turned on by the situation, him touching and exploring you where no one else has ever been. 

“Let me know if it gets too much.” He says and adds some pressure with his thumb. 

A moan escapes your lips and you nod eagerly. He picks up the pace from before and pushes his thumb just a little harder when you relax a bit more. You feel him entering your other hole with his thumb while he keeps fucking the first one. 

It doesn’t hurt, but it burns. It’s a sweet burn, the satisfaction shoots up your spine and you groan. This new sensation drives you mad. It’s so incredibly filthy, the things that you’re doing right now. You’re glad you’re not standing by the window anymore. 

He keeps his thumb just like that, and doesn't push you too far. He doesn’t move it, just let it sit right there as you adjust to him. You feel your climax closing up on you as he grinds his cock into you with a perfect pace. 

”Din.” You moan and let a hand snake its way down to your slit. Your fingers reach your clit and you start pleasing yourself. 

Din moans under his helmet, the view of you touching yourself is almost too much. His hips stutter a bit and you know he’s insanely close too. 

“I’m gonna come, Din.” You moan his name. 

He grunts and removes his thumb from your ass and grabs both of your hips again. 

“Come for me, pretty girl.” His voice is shaky, barely holding it together. 

You clench around him and come undone, your whole body trembling like a leaf under him. He gives you a few last thrusts and you feel the soft warmth of his cum covering your insides. 

He collapses over you and you both crash into the mattress and fluffy pillows. He rolls off of you and lays on his back. You both breathe heavily as you come down from your climax high. 

After a minute or two he zips his flight suit back up and you scooch closer to him. You nuzzle your head into the crevice right below his helmet and sigh into his neck. 

You’re slowly brought back to reality when you remember that you have to go back to the crest when you wake up, and he has to start his next bounty hunt. The thought makes you heavy-hearted. You wish you could stay like this forever. 

Din rests one hand at the curve of your hip and waist. He turns his head to you. 

“What are you thinking about?” He asks.

“Nothing.” You quickly answer. You glance up towards the ceiling and around the room. 

“I’m just happy I’ll get to spend the night here, with you.”

“Don’t get used to it.” He chuckles. “It’s only for tonight.”

“Yeah, only for tonight.” You say sleepily. He turns you over, pull the sheets over the two of you and put his arm safely around your waist. 

You lay like that for a while, Din keeping you close to him. You feel his cum slowly seep out from your core. You don’t even bother to get up to the equally fancy bathroom connected to your room to get you cleaned up. You want him close. You’ll deal with the mess tomorrow. Your eyelids get heavier by each minute and you’re soon drifting off to sleep. 

The last thing you hear is a mumble, so silent it’s almost a whisper. 

“Mesh’la.” He says, and pulls you even closer just as you fall asleep.

Here's a bonus for you if you've read this far:

[btsgotjams27]

this is us ~ jjk | 16

six months later and you're still not over jungkook, and when you finally hit rock bottom, you realize you have to pick yourself up because no one else can do it for you.

✨ title: this is us | (sequel to all grown up) ✨ pairing: jungkook x f!reader | ✨ rating: m/18+ | minors dni ✨ genre/au: drama, romance, angst, fluff, smut | est!relationship, age gap, bff's younger brother ✨ playlist | AO3 & Wattpad ✨ a/n: if you haven’t read the prequel to this, please do so here! :) ✨ a/n 2: hello, hello! can you believe we're almost done with this series? it's been a crazy journey for these two, hasn't it? lol. well, i'll just say the angst is strong in this chapter but! this is the last angsty chapter, which i'm kind of happy for myself, my readers, and the characters lmaooooo. i hope y'all enjoy it and now it's only going up from this point out!

[ SERIES MASTERLIST ] | next ✨ 17 ~ one year later

chapter 16 ~ so maybe you're not okay | wc: 5.4k warnings: time skip (6 months later), angst, reader is reflecting on her past actions, language, alcohol consumption, *some* tough love, self-deprecation, depressing thoughts, mentions of throwing up smut warnings: kissing, touching, groping, breast play

~ six months since the breakup ~

Six months have passed since you and Jungkook split up. Sometimes, your heart ached continually, and you wondered when it would stop or ever cease. You almost gave in and called to check how he was doing or what he was up to, but you didn't. It was foolish to believe he'd want to talk to you since he, too, was hurt. You had shattered his heart for the second time, and you shouldn't be surprised if he never wanted to hear from you again.

Your heart skipped a beat anytime his name was uttered, whether it was Jin or Yuna. A part of you wanted to know if he was doing well or if he was as unhappy as you, but you were hoping for the latter. He deserved happiness, and you wanted him to find it even if you weren’t a part of it.

As much as you wanted to run away from responsibilities, you couldn’t. Your show was the only thing that kept you going—for now, at least. Critics and audiences alike praised the first half of the season, but as the season proceeded, numbers began to fall, making you doubt your talent and career. Could your writing be suffering as a result of your breakup? It did take up a lot of your mental space these days.

You wanted to hide under a rock and never come out again, it was virtually impossible because your phone rang nonstop day and night, attempting to put out fires—executives, producers, and writers breathing down your neck, never letting you take a breath. You just wanted everything to halt, and you just wanted no one to need you. But you were reminded of that whenever you stepped into your apartment. You didn’t know which was worse anymore.

The show's last day couldn’t have come any faster, and Kenji wanted to go big and celebrate the filming wrapping. You arrived at the beautiful modern building, which hardly looked like a restaurant.

“Hello, darling.”

You turned to your ex-boyfriend, his arm snaking around your waist. He could never help himself, but you smacked his arm away. “Kenji,” you said with a scowl.

“I’m sorry, love—habit.” You rolled your eyes. “Come on, let’s celebrate,” he said, holding his arm for you to take, though you didn’t amuse him by doing so. You were tired of his antics.

Because it was a party and you were practically the face of the project, you had to put on your best smile and pretend everything was fine—better than okay, perfect because you had gotten what you wanted out of your career, you had worked your ass off to get where you are. Still, none of this mattered if you didn't have the most important person by your side, but you didn’t dare utter his name.

If there was one thing you hated about being in this industry, it was the mingling aspect. Of course, you cared for your crew but showed it differently than how Kenji wanted to. You preferred intimate gatherings, taking a few groups to talk and catch up.

Though, at this point, you didn’t want to be around anyone anymore and just wanted to eliminate the noise clouding up your mind and space.

“Hey, babe. Are you doing okay?” Hyunie asked, pulling you in for a hug.

You loved your friend, but you swear to God if she asked you one more time if you were okay, you’d explode. “I’m fine,” you snapped, closing your eyes.

Having Hyunie by your side throughout this project was a godsend, and you couldn’t have done it without her. As Yuna was busy with baby Indie, Hyunie became your right-hand gal, almost waiting on you hand and foot.

She cleared her throat. “I just wanted to make sure,” she muttered, ready to walk away.

“Wait, Hyunie—” You turned, grasping her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re stressed. I’ll leave you alone.”

God—were you always this bitchy and cranky? Or had you unlocked a new part of yourself that you’d only discovered after breaking up with Jungkook? Either way, you’d lose your friend if you didn’t stop.

You had stopped counting how many glasses of wine you had accepted from the server as he passed by with his tray, but it had to have been more than enough for you to want to kiss the next person you saw.

Aimlessly, you stared at your wine glass. Are you the only one like this? What the fuck are you doing with your life? Pretending to be okay when you weren’t. Shit—you were so fucking pathetic.

Every day, the same thing, over and over again. Mindlessly, alone. You were gradually losing yourself in your innermost thoughts.

Tomorrow may be better. Maybe it’ll be alright. But who were you kidding? They were nothing but lies. You were too far gone, too broken. And it didn’t look like it could ever be reversed.

“So, you’re the big boss, hmm?”

You looked up to see a handsome man donned in an all-black outfit, his honey-skin chest practically on display, the deep V of his silk shirt leading your eyes down to his lower half. “That’s me,” you muttered, swirling the last of what was left in your wine glass.

“Can I get you a refill?”

“Yes, please.”

The man flashed a beautiful smile before going behind the counter, reaching underneath to pull up a bottle of wine.

“Are you supposed to be back there?” you asked, raising a brow because he wasn’t a crew member from your show. Actually, you had never seen him before.

He chuckled. “I’m Jung Hoseok, co-owner of Onjium.” You held your glass out for him to refill.

“It’s a beautiful restaurant, and the food is immaculate.”

“Ah, why, thank you,” he remarked. “Should I return the favor and praise your show?”

You tried to suppress your smirk by sipping the red wine. “I’d rather you praise me instead."

Hoseok's tongue darts to wet his lips, biting the bottom. "I can do that."

It had been too long since you had kissed anyone, alone let anyone even touch you. But Hoseok’s kisses from the column of your neck trailing towards your collarbone made you realize how horny you were—and your vibrator wasn’t cutting it anymore. You weren’t sure why you hadn’t sought out a fuck buddy in the first place. It would’ve easily taken your mind off everything and relieved some stress.

His hardened length brushed against your clothed heat, his soft lips continuing to mark your body, his hand on the small of your back, eliminating the distance between you. “Fuck—you’re so sexy,” he kissed your lips. “Why isn’t every man dropping to their knees for you?”

You throw your head back, a chuckle leaving your lips. “Do you always flatter every woman who walks through your restaurant’s doors?” you ask, tugging at his belt, unfastening it with his pants.

He grins and shakes his head. “I never do things like this,” he lies through his teeth.

“Uh-huh, sure,” you quip back. “So you’ve never fucked anyone on this couch before?” You found it hard to believe—a good-looking man like him, not fucking every beautiful that walked into his restaurant?

“Nope, never,” he laughs, coming in for another kiss, his hard length pressing into your lower abdomen, making you ache and crave what’s hidden beneath those briefs. “Can I?” he asks, toying with the thin straps of your dress.

“Please do. I’m at your service to be praised and adored.” You were hardly ever this bold or confident. Maybe it was the alcohol coursing through your veins, coinciding with how shitty you’ve been feeling these past several months.

Hoseok’s slender fingers drew imaginary circles into your skin. He studied your face—eyes closed, mouth agape, and head lolled back. Savoring every moment as you bite your bottom lip, just waiting for him to continue as he pleased. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

Honestly, at this moment? Anything—anything to relieve the ache that was building inside your body.

He hums, waiting for your answer.

You opened your eyes and straightened your posture. He still hadn’t removed your straps, so you did it for him, agonizingly slow, of course—just as he teased you, you did the same to him. But your stupid bra stood in the way until you unfastened the hooks, freeing your breasts one at a time. His attention is now diverted from your eyes to your chest, taking in the perfect view.

Wrapping your arms around his shoulders, you leaned in, whispering, “I want you to fuck me so hard that you have to take me home and then fuck me all over again.”

He shifted in his seat, adjusting himself, then gripped the soft flesh of your ass through your black slip dress. His hands roamed the sides of your body. His eyes fixated on your breasts before palming them in his hands. “Fuck–yes. You don’t have to tell me twice.”

His hand reached the back of your neck, pulling you in for a kiss. You spread your legs wider, rolling your hips against his erection. Faint whimpers leave your lips when his fingers pinch your stiff peaks.

“Fuck–Kook. I need you inside me.”

“Name’s Hoseok,” he says between kisses.

“Don’t–don’t talk.”

“Anything you want, princess.”

You pulled away with a deadpan expression, breathing a loud sigh.

“You just ruined it.” Of course, he couldn’t have known that you hated that pet name, but that pet name also brought you back to reality.

You drew the strings of your dress back over your shoulders, proceeding to grab the rest of your things. “I’m sorry, Hoseok. I shouldn’t have done this,” you say, looking around for your bra.

“Was it something I said?”

Technically, yes, but also, you were stupid for trying to sleep with a man you had just met. This wasn’t you. You didn’t go around fucking random strangers–you much preferred being in a loving relationship, not one-night stands with men you’d never see again.

“No–it’s me. I’m sorry.”

Quickly, you left the crime scene, slipping into a taxi, still holding your bra because you couldn't put it back on without someone stopping to talk to you. With eyes closed and a loud sigh, your head lolled back on the car’s headrest. The angel on your shoulder was berating you for making bad decisions. The devil told you to return to the man who wanted to sleep with you and show you a good time. Right now, you didn’t want to listen to either of them.

You open your eyes and straighten your posture, catching a glimpse of yourself in the rearview. The person staring back was unrecognizable—having sunk to the lowest of the lows, unsure if you could pick yourself back up. At this point, you wondered how your friends could even put up with you. You didn’t even want to be around yourself—a pitiful mess you were.

Sundays were brunch days at Yuna and Namjoon’s. It was a tradition the group had organized since the new parents had their hands full.

But you lay in bed, thinking of the many excuses you could give to your best friend to get out of this brunch you had started to loathe. It reminded you of your mother’s family reunion dinners.

You 9:27 AM *cough*cough* I’m not feeling well. I think I drank too much.

Yuna 9:29 AM 😒 Get your ass over here. I don’t care if you’re on your deathbed.

Tae 9:30 AM Dang—mama don’t play. You tell her, Noona!

Hyunie 9:30 AM Seriously, taetae? Why??? Why are you like this? 😑

Joon 9:31 AM I’m making my infamous avocado toast.

Jin 9:32 AM Namjoon cooking? *cough*cough* I’m sick too.

Yuna 9:33 AM Oh! Don’t make me slap all of you through this phone. Everyone be here at 10:30! OR ELSE.

You 9:33 AM Fine…

Jin 9:34 AM Okay—MOM.

Tae 9:34 AM Or else, what? You’ll spank me?

Hyunie 9:35 AM Someone come strangle my husband before I do!!

Even if you were on your deathbed, huh? Apparently, you still had to attend this infamous Sunday brunch.

A notification bell came through your phone, illuminating your screen.

Jin 9:37 AM I can come pick you up.

You 9:38 AM Why? You don’t trust that I’ll go there?

Jin 9:38 AM Nope 🙃 See you soon friend.

The car ride to Yuna’s consisted of nothing but radio silence. Jin looked over, watching you mindlessly observe pedestrians, deep in thought about who knows what. He wanted to interrupt many times but didn’t want to appear insensitive.

“You look like shit,” Taehyung remarked, sitting at the table.

“Thanks, Taehyung. I really appreciate your honesty,” you faked a smile before letting it falter. “FYI—this is what I look like, hungover.”

“You seem to be drinking a lot these days,” Yuna couldn’t help but comment.

“There’s nothing wrong with drinking,” Namjoon responded as he was focused on smashing the avocados in the bowl. He looked up to see his wife glaring at him. “What?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, as long as it’s done in moderation. We don’t want anything bad to happen to our bodies.” He looked over at Yuna again, who was pleased with his answer.

“Maybe just slow down on the mimosas today, babe,” Hyunie interjected when you picked up the tall, slim glass and sipped. Whoever made it went a bit overboard on the champagne. It wouldn’t be your fault, it was whoever made this.

“I’m fine,” you noted. “I’m a big girl, and I can care for myself.”

With her tongue in cheek, Yuna tuts as she spreads the butter on the piece of bread, preparing the pan for the avocado toast.

You wanted to let that slide because she had been like this for the past few months, making snide, snarky comments or saying things under her breath. Maybe motherhood was taking a toll. Maybe she hadn’t had enough sleep. Maybe she, too, was pissed off at the world.

“Do you have something you want to say to me?” You set your glass down, folding your arms across your chest. Maybe you were feeling confident after the sip of orange juice and champagne.

Everyone quieted down, pretending not to let this conversation become awkward, trying to do other things to distract themselves.

Yuna placed the bread into the warm pan, letting it sizzle, but she didn’t answer you. She had wanted to talk to you privately for a while now, but everything was bubbling up to the surface, and she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Namjoon clenched his jaw and lightly elbowed her, giving her the staredown of the century, mouthing, “Not now.”

“Why not? Hmm?” she answers aloud to her husband. “She needs to hear what I have to say.”

He looks at everyone whose eyes are now on the couple in the kitchen. “There’s a time and place if you want to talk, but not in front of everyone,” he said in a hushed tone, quickly glancing at you, then back to his smashed avocados.

“Yuna, if you have something to say, just fucking say it.” You were tired of all these side eyes and unspoken words.

She sighs and then turns off the stovetop, removing the pan from the heat. “It’s been six months, Y/n. Six months since Jungkook left.”

“Yeah, you don’t think I fucking know that? I have to live with that knowledge every day. Why can’t you just leave me the fuck alone and let me drink in peace?” Picking up the glass, you took another sip; the bubbly drink fizzled down your throat. “I’m fine,” you lied. “Sometimes I just want to wallow in all the shit I’m feeling, okay? And be fucking depressed, sad, and hurt. Am I not allowed to do that?”

Hyunie steps closer, grasping your arm. “Of course, you can, but we’re just worried about you and want you to talk to us.”

“What do you want me to say?” You look around the room, trying your best to hold it together. Your tongue darted to lick your lips, teeth nibbling your bottom lip, but the yearning in your heart welled to the surface, just waiting to erupt. “You want me to say that I fucked up? Instead of pushing Jungkook away, I should’ve tried to work through it. That I should've gone to LA to get him back? Well, it's too fucking late. I can't do shit now. He's probably moved on with his life and is doing ten times better than I am."

You let go of Hyunie and sat in the dining chair. "God–I'm so pathetic." You wiped the tears streaming down your face. "I feel so numb, so broken," you said with a shaky voice. "I just want to wake up from this stupid nightmare, but I can't because this is my fucking reality. I know I have no one to blame but myself for this mess."

Everyone looked at you with pity and remorse. Practically watching you fall apart. You didn't want this to happen but knew it eventually would.

Yuna sympathized with her best friend, and she did. But she also had her baby brother to worry about as well. She knew how he was doing–which was much better than you right now, and you were right. He had moved on and was in a better spot, mentally and emotionally.

She walked over to you, placing her hand on yours, gently rubbing the top of your hand. Yuna softly sighed, “I love you, I do. But sometimes I just wanna give you a good smack.”

“Jagi!” Namjoon quips, setting down his fork.

“In a loving way, of course,” she pauses, “I'm sorry things turned out the way they did with you and Jungkook. It hurts me to see you like this–living life so aimlessly. If you want him, go get him. If you don't, then move on.”

“It's not that simple,” you said, turning to her.

“I know—but you have to try. Take it one day at a time. Do something fun. Try something you’ve never done before. Get your mind off everything,” Yuna suggests.

She was right. Since your show had wrapped up and nothing else lined up, you could do as you, please. Maybe you could find a new hobby or travel—it’s been a minute since you had a proper vacation. Honestly, traveling to a secluded place seemed like a dream. But would it be a ruse to run away from your problems, or would it help you move on? Could it be a bit of both?

“I’m sorry, guys. I am.” You look up to your friends who have been supportive these past few months while you were at rock bottom.

Jin, Namjoon, and Taehyung grunted or hummed, acknowledging your apology before distracting themselves with something else.

Hyunie comes in for an embrace. “You’re gonna be okay. I know it.” She pulls away, the corners of her lips curving into a reassuring smile.

“I don’t deserve you guys.”

“You don’t,” Jin jokes, in which Namjoon glares at him. “What?” He stuffs a blueberry in his mouth. “Just saying.”

You were conscious of your choices and actions and aware of the consequences; nevertheless, accepting and coming to terms with them was another matter.

Regardless, if you wanted to get out of this deep, dark hole you’ve dug, no one could help you unless you helped yourself.

With nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no one to see—your life felt like it had no meaning, no purpose.

Do something fun.

Yuna’s voice echoed from the day before. Fun? You didn’t even know what you considered fun anymore. What did you even like besides writing and working? No new films were interesting, at least not enough to make you want to pay to sit in front of the big screen. And you just knew you’d be scrolling through Netflix for hours trying to find something to watch before ultimately giving up. There was no point, you thought.

And since none of those things were riveting, you again found yourself at the bar. At least, it was the first time you’d gone this week. Well—to be honest, the week had just begun.

“Another Moscow mule, please,” you inquired, waving down the bartender. It was only your third one of the night, but given that your speech was becoming unintelligible—you’d be cut off soon.

The bartender nodded, acknowledged your request, and began working on your drink.

You held onto the black straw, mindlessly stirring the ice in the copper mug. Your eyes laser-focused on the bottle sitting behind the bar back—Highland Park, single malt whiskey. You preferred cocktails over straight liquor. You didn’t think you could handle all the alcohol content; hell, you could hardly hold the ones in cocktails.

Next to the shelf of liquor stood a mirror, but you couldn’t recognize the person in the reflection. Who was she? Six months had passed since the breakup, and the person in the mirror looked grim and unhappy. You couldn’t remember the last time you genuinely smiled or even laughed, and you had forgotten what true joy felt like.

This past year drained you emotionally and physically. You weren’t sure you had even gotten through all of it, and storing these traumatic, unpleasant memories in your amygdala only to resurface when you drank, forced you to deal with your emotions and feelings—things you didn’t want to touch. They were too painful and tortuous. It was easier to leave them be, brush them off, pretend that life could go on—but you had to face these memories and feelings sooner rather than later, or you’d never be able to pull yourself out of the hole you had dug.

The soft murmur of your name broke your focus on yourself in the mirror. You turned to see Min Yoongi beside you in a black button-down with a turtleneck underneath.

“Why do you look like you just sat down to be interviewed for a documentary?” You ask without regard to how he is doing or what he was doing at the bar.

Yoongi laughed at your abruptness. “I just came from a meeting with a colleague and came here for drinks, but he had to head out; then I saw you sitting here, so here I am.”

“Mmhm, here you are.” Your eyes lit up when the bartender handed you your drink.

“Can I get a single malt whiskey? Neat.”

You chuckled because you were looking at the bottle the bartender picked up.

“You okay?” Yoongi asked, sitting beside you, his knee slightly brushing against yours before swiveling away in his stool.

It would be easy to say, ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ and go on the rest of the night indulging in small talk, but did you want to open a can of worms?

You gave your attention to the new Moscow mule sitting before you, stabbing the lime with the black straw and pushing it down to the bottom. You turn to him, “I feel like I’m gonna break down and cry at a moment’s notice.”

For some reason, it felt easier to bare your soul to someone who knew nothing about your life because all your friends quickly judged you and your decisions. But not with Yoongi. He knew the bare minimum about you.

“It’s okay to cry. Just don’t cry alone,” he simply said before thanking the bartender and sipping his whiskey.

Honestly, you hadn’t cried in the past few months. You felt more numb than anything, but the accumulation of your relationship with your mom, infertility, and Jungkook was enough to make you want to break down and give up on everything in life. The weight of it all was coming to a peak, ready to erupt.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” he teased, to which you rolled your eyes. He took another sip, waving for you to continue.

“Do you ever ask yourself what the fuck you’re doing with your life?”

“All the time,” he chuckled. “It’s normal to ask that question. Think about it—we’re living, breathing humans that live on a rock floating through time and space.”

“Yes! Oh my god! I think about that all the time. Why do all of my problems seem so big in my little world? But compared to how big the world is, it seems silly, minuscule, and unimportant. I mean, the person walking down the street probably has bigger problems than me.”

“Mm, that could be true, but don’t minimize your hurt and feelings. It’s important to recognize and learn from those things and let them shape a better you.”

“Why get a shrink when all you need is ‘Min Yoongi’ in your life?” You finally take a sip of your drink, the ice already melting in place, the condensation pooling a rim on the napkin.

He chuckled at your joke. “I’m hardly a therapist. I’ve just—I’ve been where you are, and I’m sorry it sucks, but give it time. You’ll be okay.”

“But, like, how do you know that?”

“Well, I don’t,” he took a swig of his whiskey. “I mean, there aren’t many things in our control, but for the things that are, it’s important to do what we can. We can only manage what’s right in front of us. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, next week, or three months from now. Just worry about what’s happening right here, right now. That’s all you can do, you know?”

You recognized the truth behind Yoongi’s words and wanted to believe it. You did. But it was always easier said than done. Maybe you just needed more time, time to find yourself again. Maybe find joy in the little things, in yourself, and become comfortable in your skin without the dissonance of your friends. This time in your life would be as good as any since you had nothing lined up for you, work-wise. There was no one to keep you here in Seoul. You could go anywhere if you wanted to. Would now be the right time to uproot your life and go wherever your heart desired?

Yoongi could see you pondering his words, maybe letting the reality of it all soak in. He chugged the last of his whiskey, setting the glass down. “Come on, let me take you home.”

You lifted your finger, ready to key in your apartment's code, before returning to Yoongi. “Do you wanna come in?”

He hesitated before answering, “I shouldn’t.”

“You’re not going to tuck me in; make sure I don’t drown in my vomit?” Yoongi snickers. “Sorry, I’m not in my right mind right now. You don’t have to come in.”

“You’re not gonna make this easy, are you?”

“I just gave you an out. You can leave if you want, but if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, will you be ready to live with that guilt if something happened to me?” You could’ve easily eliminated the last line but couldn’t help yourself. Let’s blame it on the alcohol for the sudden confidence.

Yoongi’s tongue darted out, licking his lips, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile. He nodded toward your door. “Come on. Let’s get you tucked in.”

“I just want to lay on a nice, warm beach. Or I guess I’ll try to dream of it tonight.”

Yoongi followed you into the bedroom and lunged forward to keep you standing straight before you plopped onto the bed. “I have a vacation home in Phuket if you ever need to get away from here.”

“You do?” Your eyes widen in delight, almost wanting to take up his offer.

“Yeah, Tae and Hyunie went there recently, and I’m only ever there occasionally. Feel free to use it if you’d like.”

“Is this the part where you plan to murder me, and no one will ever find my body?” you joke, referring to when he said he’d take you home the first night you met, even though you hardly knew him then.

“I think you’ve been watching one too many Law and Order episodes, huh?”

You shrug. “You can never be too careful, you know!”

Yoongi laughs. “If I wanted to murder you, I’d have done it already.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re waiting for the perfect moment. Like when I’m all vulnerable in my bed.” He shows off his gummy smile, a feature you’ve come to appreciate. “You should smile more often. You have a really pretty smile.”

He shook his head, letting out a soft chuckle as he turned away from you. Through the short time, he’s known you, you were never this honest with him.

You sigh. "Can I skip to the part where everything will be okay again?"

Yoongi kneeled by your bedside and flashed a closed-lipped smile before scanning over your features. Apparently, you were just full of questions tonight, but he didn’t mind. "Where you are now is not where you'll always be."

He seemed so positive and empathetic toward your situation, which you were grateful for. It's possible he was just being kind, but he had plenty more to say. He was almost like your personal fortune cookie, always ready with an answer.

"That's easy for you to say." You snuggled deeper into your fluffy pillow, pulling the duvet under your chin.

"Mm–yeah, it is," he chuckled. "Well, there's a high chance that the future you want never happens, and if you put too much meaning into it, it'll torment you."

“Gee, thanks,” you said dryly. 

“You know what I mean.”

You stick out your tongue in protest, pulling the duvet over your head. “Just say I’m being pathetic. I can handle it,” you lie, muffled through the sheets. You were one step away from losing your shit.

Yoongi cleared his throat, lifting the duvet so he could say goodbye. He could see the sadness in your eyes when you looked back at him, and he only knew what you were going through because Kim Taehyung had a big mouth and shared whatever details he knew about you and your ex-boyfriend. But he never wanted to press you further unless you wanted to share.

“Well, I’m gonna head out. It looks like you’re tucked in safely and not dying, so...”

He proceeded to stand, but you sat up, grabbing his hand, your hand lingering longer than usual. Your eyes focused on his plush lips, then you moved in, closing your eyes for a kiss, but he pulled away.

“I’m sorry.” He stood, taking another step toward the door. “You’re cool, but I don’t kiss people when they’re not sober.”

Your cheeks become warm, your gaze avoiding his. “I’m sorry. As you can probably tell, I’m not in the right mind frame, and I’m very susceptible to handsome men when they’re sweet.”

Yoongi flashed a thin smile. “It’s okay. I’ll pretend nothing happened,” he remarked, waving his hand again before leaving you alone in your bedroom.

When you heard the front door closed, you grabbed your pillow and screamed into it. Why was kissing someone always your answer when feeling shitty about yourself? At this point, Yoongi probably found you as foolish as one could be. He probably wondered how and why Hyunie and Taehyung continued to be friends with someone like you.

You set the pillow aside, sliding under your covers, thinking about the question you asked Yoongi earlier at the bar.

What the fuck are you doing with your life?

So much of your adulthood was spent trying to survive your childhood and the trauma that came with it, and as you became an adult, you hoped the person you had become would be the person you needed when you were a child. But in reality, you felt like an imposter. The adult version of you was trying her best to be what that little girl needed, though ultimately, you failed her.

You knew deep down inside that you needed to stop whatever this path of destruction was, stop blaming others, not wait to be rescued, and most of all, stop refusing to participate fully in life. You had friends who became like family to you, who loved you no matter what you did. Was that not enough?

Inevitably, you were aware that no one could save you but yourself. You’d spent your life stuck in this endless cycle that no one had created but yourself.

You stopped before you started. You gave up before you even attempted. You talked yourself out of it before you got into it.

In retrospect, you knew you were also at fault regarding Jungkook. You sabotaged your relationship because you couldn’t bear the pain. But what if you had tried and given everything, and it worked out?

But as Yoongi said, it’s better not to dwell on a future that may not happen. Otherwise, you’d continue this endless cycle of torment.

✨ a/n 3: so, how are we doing? how are we feeling? do we have any theories on what'll happen next? what do we think about yoongi? let me know (:

also! i still plan on doing the podcast episode, so start thinking of questions, comments, rambles/rants (:

✨ next ~ 17 ~ one year later

[marilynthornhilllover]

Hey!! just started following you and I would absolutely love if you wrote some "what we do in the shadows" Nadja x reader, vampire smut :') Also if you haven't watched the show Oh My God, its my current obsession. gay vampires what more could you want.

The Halloween Snack

Vampire Nadja x humanfem!reader

Warning: smut, praise kink, slight degradation, choking kink, biting kink, slight draw of blood, cunniligus, fingering, slight overstiumlation, pet names, nipple play, feral play, not much dialog etc.

A/n: I've never really watched the show actually but I've definitely seen her in edits and I can remember watching season 1 I think, it was a pleasure to write this! Hope you enjoyed darling, also sorry this took so long.

You groaned in frustration as you looked at your reflection through the mirror. This was the fifth dress that you tried on that you didn't like or you thought didn't suit your personality very much. It was a skin tight black dress that stopped right above your knees with strip back openings.

Nadja had asked you to be her plus one for a Halloween party last minute - well two weeks ago to be exact. You just didn't know what to wear. Not that Nadja would judge you but, you wanted to atleast impress her but luck just wasn't on your side tonight.

Nadja and you had been friends for quite some time. She was funny, kind..... sometimes, sassy, fashionable and excruciatingly evil. But to be fair she was the most kindness towards you. That might be hard for some people to believe because when you first became her roommate other students had told you that she hated the presence of humans, every semester they would place her in a dorm by herself.

They said, One slip up and she just might rip you to shreds making a fine dress for herself out of your flesh.

Or that you'd constantly be walking on egg shells, one day she'd like you being around then quickly get tired of you, and possibly rip your throat out. Everyone on campus had their fair share of horrific experience with the vampire. But on the first day of moving in, as dark as everyone claimed her to be she was actually your light, a sunshine. Now as cliché or ironic as that might sound it was the God given truth. You saw the way nadja talked to people, treated them, looked at them. Never once was she ever the same with you.

When it came to you she was like a puppy lover, soft and compassionate. Thoughtful even. For your birthday once she gaved you a gold bat pendant necklace with her initial on it. You started developing feelings for her, I mean everyone had feelings for nadja. She was insufferable, hot and a total vibe. She would call you specific pet names that she specially came up with such as, darling, babes, and love.

Whenever she called you by one of theses names you had to try your best not to fall falt on your face. Being with her made you weak to your knees. Her accent was so dreamy, the way your name rolled off her tongue had you squirming or blushing like a silly school girl in love, you especially loved the way she would read out loud her romance book that she writes at night whenever she thinks that you'd already fallen asleep.

Her eyes were also another factor that had you Turing as red as a tomato. Every time she glanced at you or gazed at you with her sultry eyes , you had to try your best not to scream your voice out. Soon Nadja would noticed the way you could clench your thighs whenever she spoke in a raspy voice towards you whenever she got upset with you at something. Or how you would whisper a little " oh god" whenever she winked at you or called you a" good little pet".

She used this to her advantage and teased you constantly non - stop , it's safe to say she knew what to do to have you on your knees in no time..... and we're not talking about vampire powers here.

You sighed once again in frustration as you sat on your bed with tears in your eyes. It's not like you didn't have enough time to plan for this party, you just didn't know what to wear. And everything you had looked either too girly or just not Halloween themed. You heard a soft knock before the door to your room opened as nadja peeked her head in.

" you ready or what babes?" she asked approaching you. When your didn't respond to her, she entered the room taking slow but carful strides towards you, tilting her head slightly to get a good look at your face, she noticed that you were crying. Upon seeing this she quickly knelt infront of you and gently grabbed hold of your chin to get you to look at you.

" aw darling what's wrong?" You sniffed and rolled your eyes as you moved to stand, nadja standing quickly with you. You felt small. You didn't want her to see you cry, she'd probably think your weak or cast you away for being a cry baby, but not answering her won't help the situation. It will only make it worse.

" Well, are you gonna fucking answer me or do I need to stand here all night and act as your therapist that you pay for extra tissues?" it was a rhetorical question but you heard the frustration in her voice. You sighed as you turned to look at her. God her eyes.... they would deadly poisoning when she was upset. her eyebrows were quirked in a worried expression and her lips stayed pinched as she studied your every move.

" i don't know what to wear" you spoke in annoyance as you turned to look into the mirror once more. Nadja bit her lip as her expression dropped. What started questioning if maybe what she was thinking was harsh or maybe what she was seeing was wrong. On your body was a perfectly well fitted dress, that matched the occasion you were going to attend and one that she didn't see a problem with.

" forgive me if I'm blind sweetheart but I really don't see anything wrong with this outfit, my love". you huffed, walking into your closet you began to toss out numerous pairs of clothes onto the floor. Nadja watched in awe as you looked through your closet, she smirked tilting her head to the side, admiring the way the dress was hooked on your body.

Your curves, the way your hips swayed. The thoughts got the best of her, she watched as you bent down to pick up a shirt and got back up. The dress you were wearing now showed off your curves plainly.

You turned to glance at her before continuing your hunt.

" and what are you supposed to be dresses as?" You heard as she sat on your bed and sighed, groaning as she cracked her back before proceeding to respond.

" myself duh" she spoke watching as you fought to unzip your zipper on the side of your dress. She got up and walked back over to help you. She gently gripped your hips and pulled the zipper down, you were too busy looking for a skirt to notice that she got lost in a trance as she stared at your red lace underwear like a pyscopath or perhaps - a total vampire pervert. She reached out her hand too touch your skin but pulled back. She was utterly desperate......

Your skin looked smooth, the density of the flesh twinkled in her eyes. Just one touch.... one bite.... even the smallest nibble will suit her well....

Her eyes flicked up towards your neck, the delicate flesh with a irritable beating pluse. When she bit into the sweet flesh, to hear your moan, taste your blood, Oh what she would give to taste you. Both your blood and your -

" nadja?" She flinched as her body forced her snapped out her corrupted trance. She realized that she was now face to face with your lips as you looked at her confused. Temptation was running high for nadja, her pupils delayed, her eyes darkening as she looked up at you.

" may I kiss your neck, darling please" you were a bit taken back by the suddeness and randomness that the question held but who were you to deny 'the nadja ' a taste of your skin, after all you'd be lying to yourself if you said you hadn't dreama about this moment. You gulped as nodded slowly, titling your neck to provide her with the required access. She smirked as her eyes beamed at your approval. Her super speed allowed her to push you up against the wall. Both her hands grapped your hips firmly as her body laid flush against yours. Before she could lean down to began what ever mission she had intended to do, you gently pushed against her biceps.

" please don't bite me nadja" she chuckled softly but nodded her head, silently agreeing. Her lips hovered over your skin debating whether or not to truly bite or to just enjoy the moment, who knows it might just be the last time she even gets to touch you. As soon as her lips made contact with your neck, it was a if a light switch went off for her. She immediately started nipping and sucking at the tender flesh.

You whimpered when you felt her finger tips grazing across your scalp, carefully pulling on your hair. you exclaimed when nadja's fangs scrape across your flesh.

" f- fuck nads no hickeys either" you manged to crack out slightly pulling away to look at her. She looked straight back at you with predatory eyes. It was evident that she was absolutely blood thirsty. But you couldn't let her bite you - you just couldn't..... fuck it, who cares about rules and morals.

Your lips met nadjas lips in a hasty passionate kiss as you used your body to push her back against your bed. She fell onto the soft mattress with a gentle thud and a small gasp. Biting her lips with lidded eyes she used her body strength to turn you over beneath her, straddling you instead.

" looks like someone's a little eager" she teased, her voice dripping with honey. You moaned as you felt her thigh slip in between your legs, parting them away from eachother. Nadja smirked she then moved to attacked your neck once more.

" oh God nadja p-please" you moaned as you titled your head providing her with more access to your neck. You could hear her chuckle softly before feeling a dull but sharp pain in your neck. You winced as your back arched as you felt her fangs dig into the skin of you flesh, drawing a slight blood flow.

You feel nadja body relax above you, as she whimpered quietly. She then slowly removed her fangs from the wound before placing a chaste kiss there. She removed the straps of your dress exposing your breasts to her. Her eyes lingered on them before they flicked up to yours.

You granted her the permission her eyes searched for. She took it upon herself to latch her mouth onto one of the already erected bud. Your eyes rolled back as your hands flew to her hair. A moan escaped from you causing nadja to look up at the sinful sight about her. As You arched your chest into her mouth your grip in her hair tightened even more.

Your body temperature began to increase and so did the heat in your core. Your breathing picked up when nadja slide her hand down your stomach, she toyed with the hemming of the dress before pushing it up around your hips then proceeding to pull your underwear to the side.

She realesed your nipple with a pop before moving to the other one. You whimpered as your eyes rolled back, pleasure started taking over your mind leaving you fuzzy and completely under nadja mercy.

She wasted no time bringing her fingers back to her mouth where she then spat on them before quickly sliding them in and out of you without warning. You gasped as you spread your thighs even wider hoping that she was go deeper.

She slowly sinks two fingers back into your cunt, curling them slowly, before pulling out completely, spreading your wetness to your clit. you let out quiet whimpers at the stimulation as your eyes flicked back, her fingers gently teased your pulsing clit. you call her name in a quiet whisper, in attempt for her to give you what you wanted.... what you needed most. its a plead you can’t help but let out. her actions send waves of heat surging throughout your body.

She then shoved her two digits back into your dripping cunt. You let out a silent sob at the sudden intrusion. Nadja curled her fingers at the right spot where she felt you clench down tightly. She grunted as she started sucking brutally on your nipple as if she's getting milk from doing so.

Your gummy walls hugged her two digits so good that she picked up the pace. You were a hot mess beneath her, gasping and moaning ever so slightly. Nadjas fingers curled deep within you which caused you to erupt in pleasure.

" That's it darling, God I wish I had taken it upon myself to fuck you sooner" she muttered while looking down at you. Your hair was completely ruined and sprawled out on the pillows, tears were evident in your eyes as your mascara started running down your cheek. You looked gorgeous.

You couldn't even think straight, you began muttering incorhent sentences. She could feel your walls already spasming around her fingers indicating your close to your first orgasm.

Nadja pulled her fingers from your cunt at the right moment just before you reached your high. Seeing the confusion mixed with frustration in your eyes boosted her ego to destroy you even more.

She crawled down to the end of the bed coming face to face with your aroused pussy. She smirked before putting both of your legs on her shoulder, kissing your ankle while doing so.

Again like some sort of feral animal that hadn't eaten for days she wasted no time, she enveloped her mouth around your clit, her tongue flicking and sucking on the tiny bud furiously in a attempt to make you cum quickly. After all you both had places to be right after this.... well... let's just say inconvenient...

You grabbed the bed sheets tightly, if you were hulk your sure that they sheets would be torn by now. You let out a pornographic moan as you felt nadja fingers slip into you once more, this time her pace was absolutely brutal and quick, making squelching noises as she hit your g- spot over and over again.

You felt coils after coils snap in you before feeling as a big one was building. You prompted yourself up on your elbows to look at nadja. Her eyes flicked up to yours for a split second before she started slurping your cunt eagerly and rapidly eating you out.

You fell back in a silent scream, feeling your legs as they began shaking dramatically. You felt as she realesed your clit with a pop but her fingers were absolutely driving you insane.

It felt so fucking good you started hyperventilating. Nadja then pushed her fingers knuckles deep into you before curling her finger and doing the barel movement.

" such a good fucking slut for mommy mhm" she cooed as her other hand wrapped around your neck tightly. its not long before you’re teetering on the edge of your orgasm, nadjas thumb rubbing tight circles around your clit, finger’s pumping in and out of your dripping cunt so deliciously.

You began seeing stars as the raven hair vampire pushed you further and further into oblivion. You shook your everything inside you as your orgasm hit you like a passing train going at a high speed.

You felt a completely drenched feeling of liquid slowly make its away from your throbbing hole to your thighs and further down. You knew exactly what just happened..... you squirted.

You blinked rapidly until you could no longer see the tiny white flying balls in your vision before sitting up straight and looking down at nadja.

She smiled softly at you before she kissed your forehead while caressing your arm.

" now that you feel like the princess that you are, you have five minutes to refreshing up so that we can hit the road my love" nadja winked before playfully smacking your biceps.

Before she left she brought her fingers to her mouth and gaved them kitten licks before smirking sheepishly at you.

She opened the door and left, leaving you in complete awe and limited time to get re- dressed. You knew that this was not the end of tonight and that after you both came back home, she's going to make you do that all over again until your screaming her name for the entire campus to hear...... and you honestly could not wait......

[weirdkpopgirl]

Our Kisses | Chenle Imagine #4

Title: Our Kisses

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 745

Warnings: mentions of a heated make-out session (I tried not to make it too much though), and my personal opinions about American movies lol.

Author's Note: Just another Chenle imagine that came to mind. I kind of wanted to write something that was a little out of my comfort zone. My inspiration for this short story reflected my own personal thoughts about kissing (even though I have not had my first kiss yet). I know everyone has different opinions, and I respect that. Thank you for reading ^ - ^

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

The glowing white numbers on the clock showed 11:46 pm. But being awake at this hour wasn’t unusual for you-- or your boyfriend. Currently, you were snuggled up on the couch together, watching the third movie of the night. The current one playing was some American film that Johnny had recommended. 

Twenty minutes into the movie, a kissing scene came on the screen. Seeing the male protagonist practically swallow the female character, made both of you feel uncomfortable. Your nose scrunched up in disgust when you heard a moan.

“I don’t understand why they have to show that,” you commented, cuddling closer to Chenle. The scene continued to escalate hungrily among the lovers on the television in front of you.

Chenle made a face and agreed, “I know, right? But honestly, I don’t think all kisses are gross like that.”

“Isn’t all kissing the same?” You raised an eyebrow, having difficulty registering what he meant. 

He shook his head, glancing down at you. “Not necessarily. I mean, you and I kiss much differently than Western actors in movies do.”

Your stomach fluttered at his words, almost certain that a faint shade of blush had appeared on your cheeks as well. 

“You think? How so?” You kind of already knew the answer. But you still wanted to hear his point of view.

A small smile played on the boy’s lips. Just thinking of the idea made him feel funny.

“Well, when we kiss, it’s more gentle and sweet. We don’t need to use our tongues to show affection,” He explained nonchalantly. But his eyes softened, as he looked at you.

Your cheeks flushed even more but with warmth. Listening to his reasoning allowed your heart to weigh on the special connection Chenle and you shared. 

“Huh, I never thought about it that way before,” You admitted. “I do love the way we kiss. It feels intimate and more... real?”

Chenle slipped his hand into yours and intertwined your fingers in reassurance.

“Me too. I feel like our kisses are a reflection of how much we care about each other.”

As the movie continued, you and Chenle began to get bored with the plot. But neither of you felt tired enough to fall asleep.

Suddenly, Chenle turned to you with a mischievous grin. “Do you wanna have some fun?” 

His eyes sparkle with amusement, while yours narrow with suspicion. 

“What are you implying, Chenle-ssi?”

You held back a gasp when he leaned in closer. His lips hovering just inches from yours. “Let’s try kissing like they do in the movies.”

His suggestion set off an internal conflict in your brain. You recalled a previous scene from the movie shown not too long ago. Even though Chenle was your boyfriend, you couldn’t imagine copying something so…scandalous.

Chenle noticed your hesitation and pulled back a little. “Just this once?”

He gave you those pleading eyes. So after some brief contemplation, you exhaled a deep breath before nodding.

With your permission, Chenle leaned in again and you felt his lips press against yours with a fervent passion. His right hand rested on the back of your head, getting tangled in your hair. This kiss was definitely much hungrier than the ones Chenle usually gave you, and you shut your eyes tighter when he slipped his tongue.

Unexpectedly, you found yourself getting lost in the moment. Your mouths moved together in a sensual dance, allowing him to explore your lips in a way that felt strangely exhilarating. At some point, you felt Chenle’s arms wrap around your waist, pulling you even closer to him as the kiss deepened.

Finally, the both of you pulled away. Although you were practically gasping for air, you surprisingly didn’t feel too grossed out about it. But then again, Chenle had the ability to change your perspective on things.

“That was…amazing,” He breathed.

You shrugged, with a small smile. “Yeah, not as bad as I thought. But I still prefer our kisses. They’re more…”

“Us?” Chenle finished your sentence. 

A sense of relief washed over you. Truthfully, it was nice to be with someone who shared your views of intimacy. But trying something new, confirmed that you guys didn’t need to rely on exaggerated displays of affection. The kisses you shared with Chenle were special no matter how gentle or light. 

At the end of the day, each one of your kisses exchanged represented the meaningful love that no movie could ever replicate.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

[pavardscherie]

Hiii lovely 💓

Could you write something for Jules kounde? I love your writing sooo much tyy

dusk till dawn, jules kounde

pairing jules kounde & female summary: moving to barcelona with her boyfriend was easy. leaving the world she had in france behind, was the hardest part. and she truly feels alone more than just a couple of days.

izzy talks: love love love bringing in new football players! don't get me wrong benji pavard is high class, he can have me anywhere and anytime. just like goretzka & kimmich, or a couple of others. but i love a challenge. and a big thank you for reading! <3 for this one, just imagine, fc sevilla wasn't a spot where he played between the french team and the moving to barca, please!

staring in the floor length mirror, she did not recognize the reflection anymore. dark bags underneath the eyes, eyebrows almost invisible from the light colour her hair usually has. strands thrown into a messy bun on top of her head, falling out in each direction and resembling a bird nest more than an actual hairstyle.

almost three months ago, she decided to move with jules to barcelona, instead of seeing him only once a month. leaving seemed easy, but the marks were clearly visible on her after time passed. she missed bringing a friend home, having late night talks with her mother about how great jules has been to her, and the evenings at the pubs with her girlfriend group.

yet, she left it all behind to be with the love of her life. it was beautiful in spain, she adored the sunny weather, and the warm breeze of the wind. she wanted to visit the beach, but over the past seven weeks, she never found a friend fitting to her personality. a new town, new neighbours, no connections.

shaking the head to get the negative thoughts out of her head, she made her way out of the bedroom, towards the staircase and straight into the open kitchen area. it was almost evening, jules should be home any minute from another training session. almost every day of the week, he had to leave for hours, which made it a lot harder to settle in. yet, she understood how important this chance was for him.

she has never interfered in his dreams, and it definitely would not start today. brushing a fallen out strand out of the face, she placed the cup of cold coffee on the counter and turned on the stove. as soon as the clock on the dinner started to blink, the front door to the small house opened and revealed a heavy-breathing football player.

letting the bag fall to the floor, jules walked around the corner and through the living room to reach the kitchen area. the place, where she spent most of the time. a wide smile spread across the face, he was relieved to see her again. yet, the tired expression changed the mood immediately. "are you alright, babe?" jules stepped further towards her, the hand placed on the upperarm of the female.

"sure, why wouldn't i be?" she chuckled quietly, shrugging the shoulders in an attempt to lose the subject. "how was your training?"

"don't change the topic." he immediately spoke, "did anything happen back in france?"

alredy the mention of the country, where she was surrounded by love and attention caused a stinging pain in her chest. a tightened feeling, like she forgot how to breathe. corners of her mouth dropped into a frown, the eyebrows furrowed and followed the same direction. sadness clouded the mind, reminiscing in the memories of france.

"alright," jules raised the hands in defence, completely baffled by the mood swings. "are you pregnant, is that what's bothering you?"

mouth falling open, the eyebrows furrowed further together but this time in utter confusion about his question. "what?" she shook the head slightly from left to right, attempting to understand his trail of thoughts but losing in the very beginning.

eyebrows raised himself, jules ran a sweaty hand over the braids on the top of his hand until the fingers caressed over the neck. "shit, you're not. i'm sorry, it just blurted out."

"it's fine," she reassured the worried male, glancing anywhere but at the mixture of emotions on her face. "i just miss home." she shrugged, muttering the words out with the hope, he wouldn't hear any syllabel. pupils dilated, the surprise overtaking the concern, jules stepped closer to the female again and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"don't feel bad about it. you gave up everything for me, and i'm so grateful to call you my girl, my love." jules confessed like the words were prepared for the past weeks until the moment arrived. "i know i can't be around all the time, and you might feel alone. but i'm coming home every day, coming home to be with you, see you and kiss you. i'm never far gone, and you can always join me for the training session. for each game, you can always be with me."

the gaze was empty before, yet the love confession blew away the concern of always being alone in barcelona. eyelids fluttered close, the tears gathered on the waterline. one single drop rolled down her right cheek, but it never reached her jaw. jules reacted quickly, brushing the water away with his thumb. "don't cry, beautiful. i'm with you from the beginning of the morning till the end of the night. always right here by your side."

tilting the head forward, he placed his forehead against hers, quietly enjoying the view of seeing her without the slightest bit of make up on the face. natural beauty fit her the most, jules told her about his thoughts multiple times. yet, she still felt insecure.

"i love you, alright? with all my heart." taking her hand in his, he placed the palm over his chest. exactly the spot where the heart hammered against the chest, and she could feel each beat. "all for you, baby."

nodding the head repeatedly, she stood on her tip-toes to place a quick, but very gentle kiss to his lips. " i love you too, a lot."

[faela404]

☆ The Library ☆

kazuha x gn! reader

prompt: - you and kazuha attend the same university, him being a english lit major and you being a person in stem😎 your paths never crossed until that day in the library…

*this is an smau so please do expect a lot of twitter posts and messages to read, there will be proper writing too but, it will mostly be that!!*

warning! mentions of alcohol consumption, pictures including cigarettes and alcohol, weird xiao stans, swearing, mentions of a fear of loneliness,

masterlist - prev | next

☆ unexpected ☆

12:17am

kazuha sighed as he decided it was finally time to head towards the library. he couldn’t just sit there looking through his friends tweets and listening to that awful music his roommates were playing.

quickly, he gathered his belongings into his bag and hauled it off towards his bedroom door. he was surprised none of the partygoers outside had tried to barge into his room yet, perhaps his roommates were being more respectful of his space today.

quietly, he slipped out from behind his door and began weaving between all the drunk students. god the smell of all that alcohol on their breath was revolting.

sure, there’s nothing wrong with drinking but the thought of gathering over 100 people into one room to just drink was disgusting to him.

he managed to get through the open door without anyone trying to grab or talk to him and swiftly he made his way towards the stairs.

this was gonna be a long night for him.

3:04am

shit. shit. shit.

professor ningguang is going to kill me if she goes in that stupid library in the morning and none of it has been cleaned.

i’m gonna be so tired in the morning, i already know it.

nevertheless, i quickly slip my shoes on and run out of my dorms. i know for a fact if anyone was to see me right now, running in my pajamas, my hair an absolute mess and cherry vans on my feet, they’d think i was insane, but i don’t have time for notions like that.

i finally managed to make it outside of the library without tripping over, but just as i opened the door and walked in.

i crashed.

we crashed.

into eachother.

his books scattered across the floor, making a very loud BANG! as they hit the wooden flooring.

what the hell is someone else doing here right now-

“im so sorry” he mutters out. despite sounding tired and a bit groggy, his voice is so calming, so sweet.

the library is dark, i can barely make out his features, but his hair. his hair is beautiful. the shine from the few lanterns decorated across the library reflect against his pearl white locks. i can make out what appears to be a thick strip of red pulled back into a short ponytail at the back of his head.

im staring.

oh god im staring.

“don’t apologise, it was my fault” i sound out of breath, i mean i am but he doesn’t need to know that. carefully, i begin gathering his books with his help and handing them back to him.

he mutters a small “thanks” as gratitude as he moves past me to leave.

im alone again now.

the guy is gone, probably to sleep.

yet im stuck here cleaning.

great.

i might as well start, i suppose.

this is gonna be a long few weeks.

a/n - thank you all so much for the support on chapter one! i appreciate you all so much! i hope you enjoyed this chapter! if you want to be added to the taglist please feel free to ask either in the comments or in my asks! either is fine! take care of yourselves <3

taglist - open! @kazuhaprnt @ryhie @scaraapologist