#Oc tag: Reincarnated!Note

[whereiswere]

Note Nutcracker,,,

[aylaaescar]

Stone Ocean ending for SHOH. MC is Jolyne, giving Caine (Emporio) their last bit of strength to stop the big bad. timeline is reset once more and the cast is living happier lives after the big bad's been wiped from existence, though they don't remember their last lives. Caine remembers, though, and meets them again shortly after that last battle. they don't remember him and they're not really the same people, but he sure remembers #traumatizea12yearold

[valiwrites]

reincarnation ✧.* formula 1

part 1 part 3

: ̗̀➛ pairing: formula 1 x senna!reincarnation!male!oc (nico santos) : ̗̀➛ warnings: strong language, people shipping drivers but nothing serious, bromance, hate comments : ̗̀➛ author’s note: i wrote this before and got a lot of hate for it. if it’s not your thing, just scroll past—no need to spread negativity. i didn’t write this just to read mean comments.

: ̗̀➛ smau

masterlist

maxverstappen1 ✔︎

liked by redbullracing, oscarpiastri, sebastianvettel and 1.3m others

maxverstappen another october gone with those idiots

tagged: lando, oscarpiastri & nicosantos

view all 786k comments

user1 keep nico away from alc he's still banging on my door to let him in

user2 bro for a second i thought u were one of the drivers being serious 😭

user3 lando in the first slide is so cute

user4 max in his influencer era will forvever be my favorite

user5 nico in his influencer era tho >>>

user6 it was the best i miss the dumb 0.5 pictures of daniel

nicosantos next time pick a more blurry photo of me i can still see its me 😐

maxverstappen1 ❤��❤️

nicosantos 🫸

nicosantos ✔︎

liked by maxverstappen1, mickschumacher, danielricciardo and 2.1m others

nicosantos meh

view all 454k comments

user1 most relatable caption yet

user2 oml max's face 😭😭

user3 it was the truth or dare video with nico 😭😭 and nico was doing handstands

user4 i claim you as my favorite driver

nicosantos ☺️

mickschumacher ist das mein hund, du kleiner scheißer 😤 (is this my dog you little shit)

nicosantos nein, mein kleiner kürbis 🥰 (no, my little pumpkin)

user5 help? you definetly used google translator for this

f1 ✔︎

liked by nicosantos, charles_leclerc, mclaren and 5.3m others

f1 we found some hilarious ancient videos of nico and honestly, we couldn’t keep these gems to ourselves.

view all 3.2m comments

nicosantos no no no delete delete!!!

user1 lmaoo nico fighting with f1 rn

user2 who's in charge of this account?? this is so funny we need more

user3 where did that penguin come from what 😭

user4 you wouldn't guess... from water 🤯

user5 that penguin straight up went karate on nico

user6 aww little nico is so cutee tyy admin we are so grateful for those

user7 how did he just casually fall like that

user8 he accepted his fate half way 😭

lando send me the last video i need it for blackmail

nicosantos just try...

user9 we need more baby nico content

[caer-gai]

Alright it's that time of year again...

Arthuriana August

An art, writing, playlist making, gif-ing, edit creating and anything else challenge based on Arthuriana!

The challenge officially runs from August 1st to the 31st, put things in the tag #arthuriana august and/or @caer-gai and I'll reblog it! Now, for what you're really here for: the prompts!

OC Week (1-5) : This week we celebrate the time honored tradition of adding your own little guy to the legend! Create something to do with your Arthurian OC, or a character original to another work (ie Brian from The Adventures of Sir Lancelot)

Child's Play (6-10): Kids! They're cute, they're lovable, and in Arthuriana they're often traumatized! Create something about your favorite arthuriana character as a child and/or your favorite "next generation" Arthuriana character!(i.e Gingulain, Kelemon)

Variety Pack (11-15): Look I get it, swords are cool as fuck, and if you're like me they might be the safest bet for a weapon you can draw. But there are soooo many cool weapons out there, so this week I challenge you to create something that contains at least one weapon that is not a sword. (Bonus points for each additional weapon /j)

Ye Olde Arthurian Tale (16-20): Time to go back to the classics! Create something directly inspired by a medieval Arthuriana piece! (I'll count anything before 1600 here yes I know that's not all the medieval period don't come for me)

Arthuriana.com (21-25): It's the far flung future year 2025, and we are still obsessed with our silly little knight stories! Create something inspired by a retelling (1600-present, for the purposes of this) OR create something for a modern/reincarnation/futuristic AU.

I Can't Believe It's Not Arthuriana! (26-31): This week we dive into the wonderful world of arthuriana adjacent stories, anything from contemporary (Biscarvet, The Song of Roland) to modern (Knights Tale(2001)) and even parody and satire (Don Quixote, Monte Python and the Holy Grail).

Rules:

You can create anything you want! (Please no AI)

NSFW and gore are allowed, just tag appropriately! I will use discretion while reblogging

I will be checking the tag and reblogging between August 1st and August 31st 2025! Feel free to post before or after that time frame if you need to, but I might not see it if you don't tag me

MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF THE WHOLE CHALLANGE: have fun! Don't push yourself too hard this is a silly and fun thing! Take the time you need, just tag me when you're done. I run these because I like seeing what you make

As always send me asks/notes/DMs/page boys with any and all questions! I'm happy to help=)

See y'all in August!!!

[oh-no-its-bird]

Welcome to my silly Naruto side blog! I write fics on ao3 (mostly about Kakashi and Tobirama) and also like to rant about naruto au ideas and hc's on here! Sometimes I also post (usually stupid) art!

#birds fic talk <- Headcannons, fic ideas, all that stuff. Mostly Naruto but there's some Starwars buried in there

#birds rambles <- general chitter from me, might occasionally include fic related stuff anyways

#birds fanart <- fan art (it's literally all Naruto)

#birds ocs <- art and ocs by me that aren't actually fandom related

Specific fic and AU tags;

#chasing shadows <- stuff for my fic, 'Chasing Shadows', the one where kid Kakashi learns he's related to Tobirama a week after his father's death and projects to cope

#one step three steps <- stuff for my fic, 'One Step Forward, Three Steps Back', my really self-indulgent fic where an early Konoha Hatake brat time travels to modern Konoha and fucks stuff up with the power of decades old rumors, breaking and entering, and being a public safety hazard

#magical girl izuna <- for my magical girl Izuna AU, ft. tobiizu vibes, toxic yuri Kaguya and Amaterasu, and like 4 "seasons" of plot twists and lore

#Twins Itama and Tobirama <- My tag for Itama things and the secret Senju weed empire AU

#Tora Haruno AU <- Tobirama reincarnates as Sakura's big brother

#Uchiha Houhua <- Shang Qinghua reincarnates as Uchiha Izumi, the system breathing down his neck with expectations of him to die during the Uchiha massacre— Something he's going to try his very best to avoid

#Wolves of the Woods <- Hatake clan things, including lots of headcanons, timelines + traditions, and also ocs to fill the gaps in the warring states era. All canon compliant, with Kakashi having never been taught anything by Sakumo, who was similarly taught very little since the clan died when he was small

You can find a collection of literally every single one of my aus carefully sorted and put into order [HERE]

Note: pretty much any and all of my fic idea posts are free to use, just @ me if you do end up writing something based off it bc I'd love to see it

We have a discord server now! Oooo you wanna join sooo baddd

I also have a straw page where you can send me silly doodles and anonymous questions !!

Strawpage Collection [1]

[ART COMMISSION INFO - currently CLOSED]

I recently changed my main Hatake oc's name from ICHIGO to KURUMI!

[miharuki]

Miharuki Masterlist 2.0

hi, I'm Miharuki or just Haru and I make fanfic requests, my English isn't the best but I try my best :D Here is an updated list of ALL the fandoms I write about, a masterlist 2.0, plus rules of course

★Rules★

Hey everyone! Before making any requests, please read these rules and the masterlist carefully to avoid misunderstandings. Here are the most important points:

★What I DO NOT do:

✘ Character x Character or Character x OC – I don’t write about relationships between canon characters or with OCs.

✘ Smut with underage characters – Unless they’re aged up (e.g., Damian Wayne from 10 to 19 years old).

✘ Very young characters – The youngest I’ll write is teenagers (12+), but no sexual content.

✘ Fem x Fem – I don’t have much experience with this, so I can write fluff but no smut.

✘ Fics about idols/actors – I refuse to write about real people. I only write about the characters they portray.

★About Readers:

📖 All my readers are open to interpretation – skin color, hair color, etc. I leave it open so everyone can imagine themselves freely.

📖 I write Fem!Reader and Gender Neutral!Reader. I can try Male!Reader, but most will be gender-neutral.

★How to Request:

✉️ Requests only in private (ASK) – Don’t flood my DMs or asks with repeated requests.

🔖 Want to be tagged in a series? Ask in the post, not in private.

★About Smut:

 17 years old – Light content (making out, kisses, mild sensuality, nothing explicit).

18 years old – Normal smut (explicit, no kinks).

 19+ – Heavy smut (anything goes, including kinks).

Important:Read the rules and masterlist before requesting. I won’t accept requests that violate these conditions.

★Fandoms★

★ 14 Days with You

★ Adventure Time / Hora de Aventura

★ Amor Doce / My Candy Love

★ Big Mouth

★ Blue Exorcism

★ Creepypasta

★ Crush Boyfriend

★ Date with a Dead

★ DC Cartoon

★ DC Comic

★ Death Note

★ Diabolik Lovers

★ Dr. Stone

★ Dungeon Meshi

★ Epic the Musical

★ Error143

★ Free!

★ Gachiakuta

★ Genshin Impact

★ Happypasta

★ Hunter x Hunter

★ Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle

★ Jujutsu Kaisen

★ Kaiju no 8

★ Kimetsu no Yaiba / Demon Slayer

★ Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler

★ Marginal #4

★ Mashle: Magic and Muscle

★ Miraculous

★ Mushroom Oasis

★ OC Boy (Emo Boy, Goth Boy, etc.)

★ Omori

★ Percy Jackson and the Olympians

★ Peter Pan

★ Sakamoto Days

★ Sally Face

★ Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan / The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kusuo

★ South Park

★ Stardew Valley

★ Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari / The Rising of the Shield Hero

★ Teen Titans

★ Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken / That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

★ The Coffin of Andy and Leyley

★ The Kid in the Back

★ The Legend of Zelda (Linked Universe)

★ The Owl House / A Casa Coruja

★ Tokyo Revengers

★ Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi Online

★ Undertale

★ Vocaloid

★ Yandere OC (Villain, BBF, BF)

★ Yandere Simulator

★ Yanderes

★ Yanderes Games

★ Young Justice

★Series Masterlist★

★LOOP 195:

𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 . 𝐀𝐓𝐎 𝐈

EPISODIOS. SEASON 1

★𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 - EP.01

★𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 - EP.02

★𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 - EP.03

★𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 - EP.04

★𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 - EP.05

★𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏 195 - EP.06

★The Three Promises of a Hero(ine)

✩prototype:

✩Ep 01

✩Ep 02

✩Ep 03

[classygreydove]

5 Naruto Fic Recs - ♀ character POV

Here are five of my favorite fics written from the POV of a female character (90% Sakura), that just give feminism

to love what is mortal by 100demons - COMPLETE, 8K

T, No Archive Warnings Apply, Multi, Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto, Kakashi/Obito, Team 7, Post-Canon, Road Trip, Team as Family, POV Sakura

Team 7 takes the long way home after the war.

“Change of plans!” Sakura cries out. “We’re going to get lost on the road of life, sensei!”

[dove's notes: this was so, so good characterization. The writing was incredible, as were the messy learning-how-to-be-together-again team dynamics. Sakura and all her teammates are Feeling Many Things and working them out. And it starts with a Mary Oliver poem! I love Mary Oliver.]

2. Fireworks by hes5thlazarus - COMPLETE, 8K

M, Chose Not to Use Warnings, No Warnings Apply. F/F, F/M, M/M, Sakura/Hanabi, Sakura & Sarada, Sakura & Naruto, Sakura & Sasuke, Hinata/Naruto, Sasuke/Naruto; Romance, Feminist Themes, Motherhood, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Boruto Fix-It, Family, Deconstruction, Divorce & Post-Divorce, Bisexuality, Infidelity, No Bashing, Canon-div, PTSD, POV Sakura, BAMF Sakura

Sarada takes one look at the Uchiha legacy and decides she wants no part of it. Sakura, who has built herself a life independent of the husband who abandoned them, tries to reckon with how her daughter cannot actually decide the path her life takes. And Hanabi is happy to offer advice and consolation, as Sakura tries to talk her best friends into letting Sarada be a civilian.

A feminist deconstruction of Naruto, where everyone is taken seriously and treated with the same love Sakura offers to all her friends. No character-bashing, just contemplating what could have happened if, when Sasuke left Sakura and their baby the second time, Sakura decided to file for divorce rather than wait for him to come back. Of course they still love each other. Of course it's not simple.

[dove's notes: This fic is so underrated, and I highly recommend it. It's exactly what the summary/tags say. Beautifully written, and an honest look at the flaws these characters bring with them into adulthood. Not really for HinaNaru or SasuSaku fans, as the relationships are portrayed in a dysfunctional manner (Which is pretty Boruto canon tbh) I really like that Sakura was able to find happiness with Hanabi, and Sakura's evolving and loving relationship with her daughter. The feminist deconstruction and themes were amazingly well done.]

3. before you by theformerone - COMPLETE, 149K

M, Graphic Depictions of Violence, MCD, F/F, F/M, M/M, Sakura/Mito, Hashirama/Mito, Sakura & Sasuke, Hashirama & Mito, minor TobiMada; Time Traveling Lesbians, Warring States Period, Fix-It, Canon-div, Grief, Angst, Survivor's Guilt, Arranged Marriages, Ninja Politics, Slow Burn, BAMF Sakura, Slow Burn, Suicide, Assisted Suicide, Suicidal Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Reincarnation, POV Sakura

When she is somersaulted back in time to Uzushio before it was Uzushio, with Kurama's yin chakra folded into the seal on her forehead, heart bursting with loss and the weight of her burden, she tells them her name is Tsubaki. Uzumaki Mito looks at her like she is an enemy.

[dove's notes: If you have ever looked for a long naruto fic with a main sapphic pairing, you have probably found this fic. I must include it in this list (despite its popularity) because it is my Favorite. Mito and Sakura have so much chemistry, and the time travel aspect is a really fun and well-executed trope here.]

4. The Remaking of Things series by Jemsquash -ONGOING, 295K

T, M, E (Work rated E can be skipped); No Warnings Apply, MCD; F/M, Gen, F/F; Kakashi/Obito, Minato, Kushina, Mikoto, Jiraiya, Uchiha Clan, so many naruto ocs, POW recovery, Grief, Worldbuilding, Always a Different Sex AU, fem!Obito, disabled character POV, POV Obito, Trans themes, Feminist Themes, Gender Issues, Ableism, Slow Burn, Unreliable Narrator, Canon-div, Canon-Typical Violence, Politics

In which Obito does not get found and brainwashed by some really old also-brainwashed dead guy, but gets grabbed by other Iwa shinobi and spends a year in a Prisoner of War camp until after the war. Then limps her sorry self home to Konoha, about 3 months after the Nine-tails attack.

Kakashi deals with it about as well as can be expected…

The Uchiha however, while still being their usual stoic, antisocial, really-messed-up selves; do manage to somehow get their kid back into one piece mentally and physically.

At which point Obito takes a long hard look at Konoha, it’s dubious goings on with sanctimonious Sarutobi and backstabbing Danzo and decides to not put up with this shit.

[dove's notes: I haven't finished this series yet as it is very long, but I have had a great time reading fem!Obito's POV. She's well-written, as is the rest of the cast, with comple emotions and motivations as the storyline develops. She's very Obito. As dark as ninja verse is, these characters manage to find what happiness they can and support each other.]

5. most girls, or, the one where sakura grows up and gets a fangirl along the way by theformerone - COMPLETE, 6K

G, No Warnings Apply, Gen. Sakura, Inner Sakura, Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune, Rookie 9, Moegi, Konohamaru, Udon; Sakura-centric, girls solidarity, Sakura/Character Development, Canon Compliant

In the years between Naruto’s departure and return, Sakura develops. Aggressively. She also gains a second shadow.

[dove's notes: this is actually on my TBR list but I've skimmed over it and it looks so good.]

[marinsawakening]

LOZ Fic Recs

Deciding to use my hobby of autistically crawling through AO3 tags for good. I'm prioritizing fics with less than 50 kudos. None of these are ship fics, most don't have any romance. All of these are completed one shots, most under 10k words.

Skies, Surfaces, and the Hero Chef That Can't Actually Cook by greatduwangs

Summary: Link's cooking sidequest in Skyward Sword, which goes about as well as you'd expect. Or, the missing ingredient was a home all along, or whatever.

Why I recommend it: 4.5k of Link eating things he shouldn't. Very funny and very cute!

Big Dark by phlyarologist

Summary: Character study of Mido as the events of Ocarina of Time change him, worldbuilding the Kokiri and examining what it means to grow up.

Why I recommend it: Contender for the best LOZ fic I've ever read. Brilliant worldbuilding and characterization, and a fantastic understanding of childhood and its nuances that you rarely see outside of fiction aimed at children.

loop - synonyms: coil, noose, ring, circle by MidnightBunnyy

Summary: Fi gets stuck in a timeloop and is very... well, Fi about it.

Why I recommend it: Excellent Fi characterization that leads to a very funny take on a time loop scenario while still being a serious story.

Notes: Restricted work, only available to AO3 users.

A Legacy Cast in Stone by sagittamoth

Summary: Pre-Skyward Sword Sheikah worldbuilding following an OC who works with the robots and timeshift stones in the last days before the war.

Why I recommend it: Does a great job with worldbuilding, creating a vibrant world that slots neatly into the greater Skyward Sword canon.

missing by fandomsandshit

Summary: Drabble exploring Zelda's time in the dungeon.

Why I recommend it: Does a brilliant job painting fear and an oppressive atmosphere, with stellar Zelda characterization.

Growth by herohelio

Summary: Two connected snippets of Malon in the adult timeline, meeting Link again.

Why I recommend it: Adorable Link and Malon friendship and great Malon characterization, with very effective hints at what living under Ingo had been like.

Because each time we live by grainjew

Summary: Follows Link through ALTTP, written through the lens of the reincarnation theory with a focus on connection to the wider LOZ series.

Why I recommend it: Author described it as a 'mood piece', which it absolutely is and is very good at. I like the surreal and blurry way reincarnation is portrayed in this fic, and it has a great take on the maidens.

Blind and the Bunny by justAPassingThought

Summary: A character study of Blind the Thief through his defeat in the Thieves’ Hideout Dungeon.

Why I recommend it: Excellent exploration of the Dark World and the way its transformations work, and I really like Blind's view on Link's Dark World form.

Litany of Betrayal by RawLiverAndCigarettes

Summary: A foreign warlord swears fielty to the king of Hyrule. Impa knows what the stranger truly wants. She has seen it before. She can still taste the ash.

Why I recommend it: Fantastic character study of Ganondorf and Impa in Ocarina of Time. Everyone is horrible and I'm thriving. Incorporates Hylia into the OOT canon in a way I find actually interesting. Fascinating worldbuilding in general.

Notes: Prequel to a novel-length fic I have not read (I'm terrible at reading long fics rip).

that gentle hubris by cassiopeian

Summary: Zelda bares her soul at the Spring of Wisdom, but the answers she seeks do not come from a goddess.

Why I recommend it: Mipha and Zelda friendship, a fun take on Zora mythology and I always love mortals forging their own paths in worlds where gods are objectively real.

Hunger by Anonymous

Summary: Sequel to Grace, where Zelda struggles to reckon with perceptions out of her control. Link is there to help point out what she's missed. Can be read as standalone.

Why I recommend it: Autistic Zelda, queerplatonic zelink, and a great portrayal of the hunger that comes with trauma.

Notes: Sequel to a fic that is also very good.

As Above, So Below by Mothlight_Witch

Summary: An exploration of the Depths and Hyrule's cosmology.

Why I recommend it: The other contender for 'best LOZ fic I've read'. Astounding atmosphere and worldbuilding, incredibly unique and all-around breathtaking. Lives in my head rent free.

What is your wish? by AdeptArcanist

Summary: Character study of Vaati connecting him to Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask.

Why I recommend it: Very weird and unique take on LOZ lore and I'm so incredibly here for that.

Linner (Link Dinner) by waterglider

Summary: An adaptation of one of Zelda's diary entries set after the "Blades of the Yiga" memory. After a very irritating person saves her life, Zelda has developed a theory-- one she plans to test.

Why I recommend it: Zelda is kinda mean and Link is a monarchist bootlicker. I adore this take on pre-Calamity Link, he's genuinely insufferable and I love that. If I ever end up writing pre-Calamity Link I'm so stealing this characterization.

Notes: Sequel to another stellar fic, prequel to an in progress novel-length fanfic that I have not read (again, terrible at reading longer fic).

[elgar-nyan]

OC Tag Game

Tagged by @vitaeplaysda !!! :Vc I'm cheesed I get to yapp about my OC djsslkajsdlk x3c

Tagging anyone who wants to do this - I'm actually unsure who all has done it or not already but *boop* @crystalizedbloodd @soeasilyswayed @crowofstarlight @kezzdaddy

Note: Da'mithra is the core character, but Rook is her reincarnation. They are the same spirit/being, but different lives and experiences for the most part. I have separated them where applicable as the following format: Da'mithra <- // -> Rook

GENERAL

Name: Da'mithra // Valkryie Ingellvar

Alias(es): Little Fox // Rook, Val

Gender: Female (she/her) // Non-Binary (she/they)

Age: ∞ // 20 years-old

Place of birth: D: Somewhere in the Mountains // V: Tevinter Imperium (Minrathous?) Was moved to Nevarra City as a foundling

Spoken languages: Ancient Elven, Trade // Trade, Nevarran

Sexual orientation: Panromantic Demi-Asexual

Occupation: Evanuris, Elgar'nan's Shadow // Mourn Watch Necromancer

FAVOURITE

Colour: Gold // Green (like her magic)

Entertainment: People watching, being a general nuisance, stealing Elgar'nan's Crown off the top of his head when the opportunity strikes and playing hard to get, testing Elgar'nan's patience in general, bullying the Dread Wolf

Pastime: Working out, sparring, getting drunk, swimming in shallow water

Food: Cheese, meat, stew, anything Lucanis or Bellara cooks, those weird breaded cheesesticks Taash has

Drink: Honeyed mead, fruity wine, otherwise just water

Books: Anything about the Fade, Spirits, and Magic. Spends a lot of time around Emmrich to study his collection and Bellara for Ancient Elvhen studies. Rook is mostly unable to read due to visual impairments and needs someone to read to her. (At least until after DATV events happen.)

HAVE THEY

Passed university: Rook passed the Mourn Watcher Academy, although she never took the advanced classes.

Had sex: As Da'mithra; whenever it struck the fancy of her partner. She never initiated. // As Rook, however, never before the events of DA: Veilguard.

Had sex in public: Depends on your definition of "public." If in a spot accessible to the public, yes, but never in front of or at risk of being seen.

Gotten tattoos: Rook got a dwarven tattoo around her neck as her first tattoo because it "looked cool." Then she got a sleeve tattoo on her left arm to signify her journey becoming a Mourn Watcher

Gotten piercings: Da'mithra gets ear piercings and wears moon-looking discs only when in "uniform." // Rook never before DATV. She was raised by humans and tried to avoid things that drew attention to her pointed ears.

Had a broken heart: Maybe a few close calls, but never truthfully got her heart wholly broken

Been in love: Da'mithra was in love her whole physical existence, as well as a great majority of her time as a spirit (although it was a bit different then. More so just the nature of being connected.) // As Rook, never until she met Elgar'nan. She thought she was in love with Emmrich but one awkward kiss later proved otherwise (oopsie).

ARE THEY

A cuddler: Very much so. Likes touch and to be touched. Hugs and snuggles are their love language much more than anything else.

Scared easily: Nothing scares them. They are 5'0" and are so used to "punching up" that they don't scare easily at all. // With exception to Claustrophobia and Thalassophobia which is exclusive to Rook.

Jealous easily: Not at all. Not as Da'mithra and not as Rook. Never felt the need to feel jealous, or feel as though she isn't getting enough attention either, so there never is a reason to feel jealous.

Trustworthy: Depends on to whom. Da'mithra is eternally trustworthy to Elgar'nan and would drop anyone and everything at his command. // Rook, however, is less inclined to blindly follow the word or desires of Elgar'nan. Her end goal remains the same no matter what; stopping the sixth blight and preventing the apocalypse.

FAMILY

Sibling(s): not technically, though it depends. The Evanuris acted like siblings and a dedicated family structure in front of the public, but in actuality none of them are related // Rook doesn't know if they have any siblings as they do not know who their blood parents are. The closest she has is Bellara and Harding who both treat Rook as their little sister.

Parents: None, unless you count whatever created the Primordial Spirits to start with // Unknown Tevinter slaves. Later adopted by a Lich Lord named Victor Ingellvar who died under mysterious circumstances and then she was raised by Vorgoth and Myrna until she was of age and a full Mourn watcher.

Children: None - Can't have any // Can have kids as Rook but her partner can't

Pets: Does Elgar'nan's dragon form (Lusacan) count? Does a massive great dragon even like chin skritches or belly rubs??

[teamchasezwrites]

A Slice Of Life

Word Count: 6,449

Characters: Damian Priest/OC

Genre: Fluff

Tags: Fluff, Romance, Love, Snuggling, Minor Hurt/Comfort, Gynecology Appointments, Married Couple, Domesticated Bliss, Some Sexual Innuendos, Feelings About Not Having Anymore Babies, Reproductive Talk, Domesticated Damian

Summary: A trip to the gynecologist’s office leads to some snuggling and comfort on the couch.

Author’s Note: Inspired by my own gynecologist appointment this week. It hurt a little more this time around than usually and had the idea for a little hurt/comfort from Damian but it ended up turning into this little snapshot of their life.

While the OC is named Ali, it has no connection to my story “Breed You”.

Ali’s phone whistled deep inside her purse where she tossed it where she entered the exam room. Her cheeks heated in a flush embarrassed for her phone going off but not bothered by the fact she lay on her back with her feet in stirrups, legs spread and her nether regions on display for the doctor in front of her.

‘I should have asked for some ID.’ Then she probably would have been depressed finding out he was born closer to the new millennia than she pegged. Of course he had to be born before the year she graduated high school unless he was a reincarnation of Doogie Howser. She highly doubted it though.

She also doubted he even knew who Doogie Howser was.

It’s usually why she always made sure to have female doctors for this type of visit. Not that she particularly cared if the doctor scoping out her nether regions was a male or female. It was more for the fact that the male doctors she ended up with were either as old as her grandpa or looked barely able to order a beer.

Ali could go for one right now.

A beer.

Not a barely legal boy.

She wasn’t a cougar.

Besides, she didn’t need a man -or a boy.

Her phone whistled again with a reminder she received a text.

The reason she didn’t need a man no doubt.

Either that or her oldest daughter was texting about the woes of middle school.

‘If that child gets detention again for texting during school…’ A broken line of Spanish entered her head and Ali felt a snort build up she had to choke back because how embarrassing to be snorting when a speculum was currently invading her body.

“Doing okay?” The doctor, who definitely grew up with CDs and not cassettes, asked.

“Yup.” Ali chirped.

She didn’t even speak Spanish. Not beyond a few words and a few naughty lines she learned to whisper in Damian’s ear when they were alone. Ever since their oldest daughter, Gabriela, hit thirteen, Damian muttered Spanish under his breath more frequently. Thirteen came with an attitude that had her husband missing his little girl. The little girl with her brown hair in pig tails. Crooked smile showing off a small gap between her teeth. Disney princess dress wearing, Disney movie lovin’, snuggle up next to you, I love you Papi whispering little girl somehow managed to turn into an eye rollin’, lip curlin’, snarky little thing who hid in her bedroom most of the time.

Ali wouldn’t admit to having a favorite child but there was one whom she tried not to piss off.

“Alright you’re gonna feel a little cramp as I pull the old IUD out…”

Ali winced as a cramp rippled deep in her pelvic region. Not too bad though. She kept her eyes trained to the ceiling. Last thing she wanted to do was make eye contact.

“Okay the old one is out…” The doctor spoke. “Would you like to see it?”

“Ah no?” Her voice came out pitchy at the confusion of the question. Why would she want to see something that was in her body for almost nine years?

Didn’t that make her sad to think about. Her last baby was already nine. It felt just last week she was scooping her giggling wiggling body up as she chased her through the living room into the kitchen after she swiped the TV remote and ran off. Wasn’t she just bringing her home from the hospital? Tiny and precious with tuffs of brown curls hidden beneath a soft cap and inquisitive big brown eyes always looking around even at one day old.

She sighed.

“Doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Ali answered. Maybe the removal of her IUD sent her hormones in a frenzy. Her uterus was probably wiping down the walls, getting refreshments ready, spritzing some air freshener, straightening the throw pillows thinking there was gonna be a guest soon. After all she had the door barricaded for almost a decade.

‘Jokes on you,’ she thought listening to the rip of plastic as the nurse got the new IUD ready for the doctor. They talked quietly but she paid them no mind.

Maybe she shouldn’t be pulling jokes on her uterus. After all, her uterus had the ability to hold her hostage for seven days out of the month. More if she was feeling extra cynical. She was probably down there getting herself ready only for the shackles to appear once more. Ali figured she probably needed to brace herself for her next period. It was bound to be huge as a payback.

Probably why she hadn’t looked forward to this appointment. After getting the IUD six weeks after Sofia was born, she enjoyed the comfort of no periods. Sure she cramped every so often for a day or so, but no bleeding, no soiled bed sheets and underwear. No pads or tampons. No ruined sexy time. It was glorious.

‘I am so getting a period next month.’

“Alright you’re gonna feel a little cramp…”

Ali stayed relaxed on the exam table. She’d taken the recommended Motrin before the visit to help alleviate the cramps and discomfort the visit would bring. She had an IUD inserted since she turned eighteen and didn’t want to deal with remember to take a pill every day. Eight years later she was getting it exchanged when she let herself be talked into going through a cycle. Even now she didn’t know the reason but she ended up pregnant with Gabriela before she could get the new one in.

Her breath caught as another cramp made itself known.

“We just gotta get the other side and it will fall into place…”

Her body started at the wave of pain and she rocked back away from the doctor. Her eyes screwed shut and her hands clenched. Her body tensed from the pain; her breath stuttering to a stop.

Then it was gone almost as quick as it came. Ali blew out the breath she’d been holding and opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling once more as she breathed slowly. Her hands still clenched over her stomach. Even her legs were tense in the stirrups. She waited for the speculum to be removed and the doctor to declare it all done but that didn’t happen. There was more low rumbling as he spoke with the nurse.

“Sometimes when you don’t have your period for an extended period of time, your cervix will tighten and become firmer,” the doctor started explaining. She heard the ruffling of sounds as items were passed back and forth. A cupboard opened and closed. “Which is the case here. The IUD is not sliding in as it should.”

Ali’s heart fell. She thought the IUD was inserted with the last round of pain but it wasn’t. That meant more cramps. Her belly clenched. This time she wished she did have Damian come along. Squeezing his hand was a whole lot better then clutching the front of her hoodie.

“I’m going to dilate your cervix a little and that should allow the IUD to slide home.”

There were a couple weird moments where she felt her insides being messed with and she wondered if this was how some people viewed an out of body experience. Or how those people felt during surgery who weren’t quite knocked all the way out and they could feel their insides being moved and manipulated. It sort of felt this way after the c-section she had with their twins – Ian and Isaac. Awake the whole time, could only feel pressure and tugging but in a muted tone.

Ali gasped as painful cramping shot through her. If she could have one of those out of body experiences right now she was certain she would look to see the doctor’s entire hand inside of her with his fist clenched around her uterus squeezing it like it was a stress ball. Her eyes twisted shut again and her body tensed up. Her breath caught in her throat refusing to escape. Her fingers pressed down on the vinyl cover; the crinkling of the tissue paper she lay on mixing with the soft murmurs of the doctor and nurse.

“All done.”

Ali blinked her eyes open. Tears were gathered in the corners but she refused to let them fall. Her fingers relaxed but her body was still frozen. She blew out a breath, slowly breathing through the cramping still happening. There was a clicking sound and then the sensation of the speculum sliding free.

It took her a moment to realize they were waiting on her.

“Oh man that hurt…” there was a jovial lilt in her voice she didn’t feel. The one usually saved for when she was pretending to have a good time but she actually just wanted to go home.

“I’m sorry about that; I hear a wide expansion from patients in the amount of pain, but since I’m a guy…”

“Yeah,” Ali braced herself on the stirrups and pushed her butt back from the edge of the table before she sat up, dropping her legs and fixing the sheet draped across her lower half. Her insides still cramped and quivered like she was on the second day of her period.

“I left the strings comparable to the one I took out,” the doctor explained. “It’s better to leave them a little long because they will curl out of the way much like your old one. I didn’t want to go too short because then…”

Ali watched a blush creep across his cheeks not hidden by the scruffy beard.

“If they are too short then they will poke and you don’t want that.”

Ali snorted at the implication. No. She didn’t want that. Damian didn’t either.

“If everything is good… this should be your last one.”

Well damn…

Now she was cramping and depressed. By the time the IUD needed to be taken out, she would no longer need birth control. Her uterus would have hung up a ‘permanently closed’ sign. Not that she was looking to add to her brood. The thought was still a little heartbreaking knowing the last years of being able to reproduce were upon her. As if coming up on 40 didn’t suck enough.

“Thank you.”

“Here is your card,” the nurse stated, holding up a wallet sized card stock card. It had the date of insertion. Ali wasn’t sure why she needed it. It was in her medical records, but she’d toss it in her purse anyway. “Do you need a pad?”

Ali shook her head. “I’m okay. I’m heading straight home.” Pads were hidden under the cabinet in the kids’ bathroom because Gabriela was still too embarrassed about having a period. She hated pads and preferred tampons. There weren’t any of those in the house since she didn’t have a period for eight years and Gabriela was too psyched out by them yet.

“I’ll leave you to change.”

“Thanks.”

Ali waited for the nurse to take her leave before she climbed from the table. The cramping in her pelvis a contrasting sharp and dull. She balled the sheet used to cover her and put it on the table. With a hand on the table she leaned down and breathed slowly, pressing a hand on her hip. Her fingers hitting the flesh portion and digging in.

When the pain dulled she stood and pulled her underwear from where she’d hidden it beneath her jeans. The doctor just had his fingers inside of her but she drew the line at him catching a glimpse of her underwear. With her jeans on, she sank to the chair and pulled her phone from her purse.

‘Wanna grab lunch after? I don’t know why you didn’t let me come with you.’

Ali smiled at the text from Damian and send a reply.

‘Because all the women in the waiting room would have ended up pregnant the moment you walked in.’

She finished pulling on her shoes when her phone whistled again.

‘Come home right now and we’ll put that IUD to the test. Got the house all to ourselves.’

The devil emoji was attached to Damian’s latest message and she snickered rolling her eyes.

‘I thought you wanted to grab lunch?’

Ali tucked the card in her purse and shouldered it. She gave a quick look around the room before she left. At the front window she checked out before heading back into the lobby where a handful of women were waiting for their appointments. Her phone whistled again.

‘I was gonna have desert first.’

Ali’s face warmed and she ducked her head as she walked the hallway of the medical center to the front doors. They slid open as she neared and she exited the building into the beautiful Florida sunshine. The seventy five degree weather was perfect.

Once inside her vehicle, she started the engine and sat in the driver’s seat with her head leaning back against the head rest. Post Malone came through the speakers singing about how he couldn’t give away what didn’t belong to him. The pain in her lower belly wasn’t unbearable, but the cramping made her want to curl up into a ball.

The Motrin hadn’t done shit.

She laid an arm across her abdomen and pressed gently. Then she just breathed; willing the painful cramps to go away. By the time she was putting the vehicle in gear Post Malone was over and it was well into the next song.

It took twenty minutes before she was pulling into the driveway. Seemed like she got stopped at every red light between their house and the doctor’s. It didn’t help that it was the beginning of the lunch rush hour. Parking next to Damian’s vehicle in the drive, she grabbed her purse and climbed out. Once upon a time they could park in the garage, but Damian turned it into a home gym. She teased him often that she had a dream to one day she’d be able to park in her garage again.

Entering through the front door, Ali could see Damian pop up from the couch in the open style layout. They purchased the single story house a little over three years ago. Their previous house was lovely and in a good neighborhood. They had simply outgrown it as the kids got older. Located a little bit outside the Orlando area, the house offered them a room for each child if Ian and Isaac decided they wanted to stop sharing, a lovely screened in outside patio with plenty of room for entertaining, a pool to combat the hot Florida summers, and a decent sized fenced in yard they were still trying to fix. She was honestly ready to rip it all up and just lay down turf.

“Ah,” Ali held up a hand. “Don’t move.” She dropped her purse and car keys on the table to the right just inside the door. She made a face seeing random papers and items that seems to accumulate from school days, book bags, and any trip back in from outside. She was constantly telling the kids it wasn’t their desk.

“You okay Corazòn?” Damian asked dropping his foot from the coffee table as he sat up. The first Iron Man movie played on the TV mounted above the fire place. He more or less spent more time scrolling his phone than actually watching the movie he’d seen at least a dozen times especially now that his sons were big into the Marvel Superhero movies.

He watched, concerned, as Ali made her way to him. She skirted the sectional and in three steps had her shoes kicked off and was collapsing into his side. He pulled his arm from where she trapped it between them and wrapped it around her. “Ali? Corazòn?” He asked, worry creeping into his voice. “Are you okay?” Her head shook back and forth against his chest. “What happened? Did the doctor do something?”

Again her head shook. “No he was fine.” Ali shifted on the couch to tuck her legs. Her inside arm bent across her belly in an effort to soothe the cramps. Her other arm laid across his abdomen, elbow bent so her hand laid over his chest. She pressed her face into his neck breathing in his comforting scent.

“He?” Damian repeated feeling his body tense. “I thought your doctor was a woman?”

“It is.” Ali’s words were muffled and she shifted closer. His arm tightened around her. “But then I had to reschedule because school let out early that day. Only ones with availability then were men. Then I had to reschedule again because Sofia was sick. Then reschedule another time because she still wasn’t over her fever and I had a boy today that just learned how to drive last week and he’s talking about how this is the last one I need because by the time it needs to be changed out all my parts will be shriveled up and old and I just realized my last baby is nine already and it hurts.” The long rambling of words just continued to pick up steam until she finally hit a wall as she burst in to tears.

Damian was dumbfounded. There were no other words to describe it. He couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up breaking free in a low laugh as he tightened the hold he held on his wife and pressed a kiss onto the top of her hair. “Ah Corazòn…”

“Are you laughing at me?”

The tone caused Damian’s laughter to cease with a cough. “Definitely not.” The lie came out through twitching lips as he struggled to keep a straight face. He brought his arm across his body to wrap around her back. His hand moving up and down in comforting strokes. He could feel the shuddering of her chest and he held her tighter. “Ali, Corazòn, it’s okay. Don’t cry.”

“It hurts.” Ali’s fingers clutched the plain white t-shirt her husband wore.

“I know,” Damian murmured softly. “Sometimes I get a little sad too about our baby life being over. Usually when I see an old photo of how tiny Ian and Isaac used to be or when Becky and Seth would have Roux with them. I realize how I missed being able to hold them in my arms. Have them fall asleep on my chest. Their tiny snuffles and the baby smell. For a quick second I almost ask you to have another.”

She stayed quiet in his arms. Her shoulders stopped shaking but he could feel a hitch every now and then as she calmed down.

“But then I think about how awesome this phase is. How each of them are constantly changing and morphing into their own person. All so smart and inquisitive and funny. I can’t wait to see what will fall out of Isaac’s mouth when he comes home from school. I love watching them in all the sports and activities they are involved in. Being able to take them to a Knicks game or Yankees game. The excitement they bring to it makes me appreciate it even more seeing it through their eyes. Gabriela, she’s so beautiful and smart just like her mama. I can’t wait to see where she takes her life.”

“Then I think about our life in ten years when they’ll be out in the world and I’ll finally have you to myself. And Lady I have been waiting for years to get you to myself. Dinners that don’t involve chicken tenders. Conversations that don’t involve Fortnight. Moments that aren’t interrupted because the kids are trying to kill each other. Vacations that are just you and me enjoying the beach, a hot tub in the mountains, or walking the streets in Italy. More than just stolen moments over the years.”

Ali lifted her head from Damian’s chest and caught his eyes; blurry with the new tears at his words. She palmed his cheek with the hand that had been resting on his chest and kissed him softly. Their lips moved together gently; warm and familiar from so many years together. But no less potent as warmth spread through her body. The kiss ended just as slowly as it began. Her thumb caressed his lips, moving back and forth in a gentle manner causing his lips to place a kiss on its pad. “I actually meant I’m in pain. That shit hurt today.”

Embarrassment swept through him. He thought Ali was talking about how it hurt knowing they were done having kids. Now that he looked at her, he could see the signs he originally missed. Her arm over her belly. The tense way she holding herself even snuggled against him. The green eyes tinged with a trace of pain. “I’m sorry Ali, shit,” he pulled her back to him, tucking her head back on his shoulder and pressing his hand gently on her belly. “You should have let me come with you.”

“Then you would have punched the doctor for being all up in my lady bits even though it’s his job.” Ali relaxed against him. Her eyes closed feeling the gentle soothing movements of his fingers on her body.

“Being all up in your lady bits is my job.”

Ali hummed in agreement. She wished she was feeling up to a job evaluation of Damian right now. The thought of it made her belly cramp and she tried to bring her knees closer to her chest in an attempt to alleviate it. She blew a breath from her mouth. Her fingers once again tightening in his shirt.

“It’s okay Corazòn,” Damian murmured softly as his hand started its movement again on her back. “Do you want me to get the heating pad?”

Ali shook her head. “Just need this.”

“Always available for this.” Damian shifted to slouch further down on the couch. He lifted both his legs up on the table and crossed them at the ankle. “Do you wanna go lay down?”

Ali shook her head. “Wanna stay right here with you.” She made a noise of protest when Damian moved and turned his body but calmed when she realized what he was doing. A minute later he was stretched out on the couch with her laying on her side between him and the back of the couch. Their legs entwined and she snuggled further into his side.

They laid quietly enjoying being wrapped up in each others arms. She finally relaxed in a way she hadn’t from the moment the first cramp rippled through her earlier at the doctor’s. His fingers moved lazily on her hip. The material moved against his ministrations and it didn’t take long before warm fingers met warm skin. She nuzzled her cheek against his chest.

The quiet was broken by an explosion on TV and Damian reached out to grab the remote from the coffee table. A press of a button had the screen going black. Sliding the remote back onto the coffee table, he shifted to angle his body more toward her. His fingers moved from her hip to tangle in her hair. While his other hand grasped hers on his chest. His fingers curled around her palm and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I hate that you’re in pain Corazòn.”

“It had to be done.”

“No it didn’t. I could get a vasectomy instead. Then you wouldn’t have to go through this.”

“No.” Ali’s voice was firm. She tilted her head up and met his eyes. “Then the possibility of having babies is gone.”

Damian’s brows furrowed in confusion. “I thought we were done having kids?”

“We are.” The conviction in her tone wasn’t as convincing. It came out almost questioning. “We are,” she repeated; this time her voice a little more steady. “I just… that makes it so final. The door is completely shut and right now… Right now the door is… resting against the jam. I’m not saying I want to push it open but at least it still opens.”

He kissed her forehead. He understood the logic about having the possibility still available even if one didn’t want to actually do it. “I can start wearing condoms.”

“No,” Ali’s face warmed with a blush and she kept her head down on Damian’s chest; her eyes averted. “I like it when you come inside me and…” her face on fire. Irony wasn’t lost on her. She begged him numerous times to ‘come inside me’ and ‘fill me up’ in the throes of passion.

“And what Corazòn?” Damian’s voice came out in a low growl. The sound of his inhale caused goosebumps to break out all over her skin. She shivered.

“And I like it when you mark me.” The words were rushed as her face flamed hotter.

Damian smirked and brought their joined hands up to tilt her chin so their eyes could meet. He enjoyed seeing the red hue on her cheeks. “And I like slipping inside of you with nothing between us. Feeling that wet heat all around me.”

Their lips met again in a kiss with a little more heat than the last time.

“I can pull out,” Damian suggested when the kiss broke and she snuggled back down on his chest.

“Now you’re just talking crazy.” Ali’s voice was full of amusement. “That’s a dangerous game. Need I remind you that we have twins without it being in either of our families? Your swimmers are potent.”

“Now that’s something to put on my resume when I hang up my wrestling boots,” Damian said dryly. “And why is it my potent swimmers? Maybe it’s your overzealous eggs.”

Their laughter slowly died down and they fell silent again. Damian’s fingers working magic on her scalp as he massaged the area. She caught herself nudging her head back in his hand like a cat.

“We could always just have another baby…”

Want jolted through her body. Having her belly grow round as she grew another piece of her and Damian. Feeling the fluttering of movements and little tiny kicks. Holding that life to her breast as tiny fingers grasped her finger while they feed from her body. The quiet nights spend rocking staring into deep brown eyes so much like Damian’s. The soft little sleepers. The sweet smells of after bath time. The wide toothless smiles and giggles…

“We can’t.” Ali finally spoke as the image she painted in her head faded. Damian’s earlier words were correct. As much as she missed those days when her babies were babies, she enjoyed this phase of their life and seeing how they were growing and changing into tiny adults. Yet there were still moments where she’d see them make a face that would take her back. “We don’t have any more room.”

“We’ll have room when we send Gabriela off to boarding school. She got detention again.”

Ali groaned at Damian’s words. She hadn’t checked her email since earlier that morning before the kids left for school. “Texting?”

“Yup.”

Ali broke the hold Damian had on her hand and reached back behind her to the throw blanket on the back of the couch. Living in Florida didn’t matter. She was always getting cold; loved curling up on the couch beneath a blanket. She worked to maneuver the blanket over her body with Damian’s helping hand. Soon it covered most of her body and his. When the blanket was situated, she took his hand again.

“Detention again. I swear… that child. You know I thought it was her texting me during my appointment and all I could think about was her getting caught again… and I swear I heard a line of Spanish in my head.”

“Was it a naughty one?”

Ali snorted. “Maybe I should practice more for when you get back.”

“I hope you’re not asking my mom to help you with this.”

Ali laughed, “Definitely not.”

“Thank God.”

“When do you leave for Europe?”

“Wednesday night.” Damian shifted as they settled closer together. He had a love-hate relationship with the overseas dates. He enjoyed performing in front of the European fans. They were always charged and ready to go. It was so easy to feed off them. However, it pulled him away from his family for weeks and he hated that. Missed them like crazy. The phone calls and FaceTime calls were never enough.

“Think your mom would come and babysit her grandchildren?” Ali was only half teasing. It was kind of too late to be trying to tag along on the three week trip.

“She would but she’s already coming for WrestleMania week.”

“I can’t wait for that trip.” Just her and Damian and a week in Vegas. Granted Damian’s commitments would take up most of the time, but there was definitely downtime for just the two of them. “I’m feeling pretty lucky.”

“How would you like to get lucky?” Damian murmured unable to let the opening go.

Ali hummed. “The kids go to bed at nine… How about you pencil me in for nine oh one…Hopefully by then I won’t be so crampy.”

“Ah mi amore, I’m sorry.” Damian kissed the top of her head. He allowed himself just to float in the moment forgetting why they were cuddled up on the couch in the first place. “Here I am hitting on you and I’m supposed to be comforting you.”

“I like it when you hit on me besides I was thinking about you being all up in my lady bits earlier.”

“Tonight Corazòn.” He kissed her forehead right at her hairline and rested his head on hers. “Do you wanna go get lunch?”

“Eating might help,” Ali mused as this time it was her belly showing its displeasure instead of those lady bits. “Feeling a little empty.”

“I got something to fill you up.” Damian burst out laughing when a sharp slap connected with his chest. He jumped, his body tensing at the assault while trying to catch her hand from hitting him again. All while laughing.

“Christ man, you couldn’t resist.” Ali shifted and rolled until she came up on her elbow. Half her body laid on his. Her elbow and forearm rested on his breastbone high enough so her fingers could lightly caress his jaw and chin. With a barely seen movement, her index finger could run over his lips. She tilted her head down; her forehead resting on his brow. His arm came up around her waist. His own fingers pressing lightly against her back.

“Lunch, then come back and do this some more before the chaos of after school begins?” Damian trailed his hand up Ali’s back to tangle in her hair. When she lifted her head he didn’t have to move far to kiss her lips.

When the kiss ended, they climbed from the couch. Ali went to the bathroom to clean up and change when she noticed she did in fact need a pad. Thankfully it was just light spotting that she hoped would be finished by bedtime. As well as the cramps with seemed to be letting up.

“What were you feeling like?” Damian asked as she was slipping on the shoes she kicked off earlier.

“Mexican.” Ali nearly moaned at the thought. Unlimited chips and salsa. A margarita…

“Real Mexican or American Mexican?” Damian slipped his wallet into his back pocket and grabbed his sunglasses. He had to move random crumbled math worksheets that Sofia emptied from her folder to find his keys.

“It’s all the same to me.”

Damian groaned and met his wife’s smiling face as she walked toward him. “Corazòn I swear…” It was an argument they had numerous of times about how most Mexican restaurants in the United States were knock off Ameri-fied versions. How if she wanted real Mexican cuisine they needed to stay away from chain restaurants and go for the hole in the wall places. After dragging her to a couple, she swore it all tasted the same. The twinkle in her eye at the time told him she was needling him. “I’m gonna tell Dom you said that.”

Ali scoffed and rolled her eyes as they walked from the house. “Please. Sofia has a better pallet than he does.” She slipped her sunglasses on against the bright Florida sun and climbed into Damian’s car

“Where are we going?” Damian started the car and reached out to lower the volume of the radio to a more respectable level than when he was last in it.

“Julio’s.”

“American Mexican it is.”

“Shut up,” Ali gave him a little shove on his shoulder.

As Damian backed out of the driveway and headed toward one of her favorite places to eat, Ali couldn’t help but look around his vehicle. It was cleaner than hers because anytime they went somewhere as a family, they had to take her vehicle. Damian’s didn’t have the space they needed. Sofia’s booster sat in the seat behind the driver because even at nine she still wasn’t quite able to go without it yet. More than likely there was a stray fry or two underneath. The remnants of a melted crayon still in the cup holder. Rocks from somewhere in the cup holders in the 3rd row of seats because for some reason Ian and Isaac needed to collect them wherever they went. There were random clothes from quick changes after sporting events or for whatever reason. A forgotten toy beach shovel from a trip to the ocean months ago. One shoe she had no idea where its mate was. She was certain it wasn’t even in the house.

There were still water beads on the floor from a fight over a toy that no matter how many times she took her car to the car wash and used the vacuums, they still randomly popped up. Not to mention the little bits of trash that accumulated from shopping trips where tags were ripped off and tossed away or the paper from plastic straws.

Damian’s car had none of that. As she looked around though she could see little imprints left behind. A couple of her hair ties hung from the blinker arm. One of Sofia’s beaded friendship bracelets circled the gearshift. A ring belonging to Gabriela lay on the floor mat. No doubt fallen unnoticed from her hand. The baseball glove Isaac said he couldn’t find two days ago, laid on the backseat right in the open after he swore he checked the cars. A Pokemon card sticking up out of a tiny little compartment near the door handle.

Her eyes drifted back to Damian. Plain white t-shirt. Medium wash jeans. Hair pulled back and twisted into a bun. Ray Ban aviators. His ever present silver cross necklace around his neck. Silver skull bracelet on his right wrist. Silver Versace watch on his left. His fingers were free of rings except one. She stared at the black band on the ring finger of his left hand. A permanent fixture since she slid it on over a decade ago. He never took it off even when he was wrestling.

“What?” Damian could feel her stares. He glanced at her quickly before his eyes darted back to the road. “You feeling okay? We can go back home. Just swing through a drive thru…”

“You are,” Ali started. “My favorite person.”

Damian broke out into a grin. In a fluid motion, his left hand took over the wheel and his right reached out across the center console. When she placed her hand in his, he threaded their fingers and brought their hands to his lips. He kissed her knuckles before resting their joined hands on the console. “Eres mi cielo en la tierra Corazon.”

“I don’t know what that means but it sounded beautiful.”

“I said you’re my heaven on earth.” He squeezed her hand as he expertly flipped his blinker on and changed lanes with one hand.

“Maybe I should get a tattoo.”

“Cómo?” Damian was thankful they were stopped at a red light when Ali spoke. “What did you just say?”

Ali rolled her eyes. “I said maybe I should get a tattoo. You got one for me and the kids.”

“Well tattoos are kind of my thing.” He lifted his arm to draw attention to the tattoos covering it. The tattoo she was referring to was covered beneath his shirt in the space connecting the fiery cross with with the sleeve of tattoos he had from his wrist to his shoulder. A lily flower bursting from a skull. So intricately done certain petals on the lily doubled as sections of the skull bones. He had the kids’ names written in Ali’s handwriting on each petal. The lily was also Ali’s favorite flower.

“Maybe I’ll get your name right here.” She dropped his hand and held hers up to the left side of her chest above her breast. Her fingers curled making a c with each hand. “Big. Right over my heart because you have my heart.”

Damian guffawed. “Estás loco Corazon. You’re crazy.” His laughter died but it was still heavy in his words as he continued speaking. “I love you Ali; I do. There is not a thing I don’t think you can’t do. I would never bet against your strength or your heart, but there’s no way I see you ever being able to get a tattoo.”

Ali wanted to be affronted, but she figured her husband was probably right. Needles didn’t bother her but she couldn’t imagine the hundreds of tiny little pricks on her skin. The ability to even make a decision of what she wanted on her body permanently was paralyzing in and of itself. “You’re probably right. They’d get the ‘D’ and I’d quit.”

“I got a ‘d’ for you.”

Ali rolled her eyes as she groaned. “Only ‘d’ that’s gonna be happening around here is the dee-vorce I’m gonna serve you with.”

Damian chuckled and reached for her hand again as he made the left hand turn into the strip mall entrance where the restaurant was located tucked up against the road he’d just driven and not back toward the shopping center. “Sorry Corazòn. This permanent. You’re stuck with me forever.”

That was the caption she used later when she posted the photo she took of them side by side in the booth at the restaurant to her Instagram.

‘Stuck with each other forever. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I am completely and irrevocably in love with you.’

[whereiswere]

I’m so sane <3

[euphoriajunkie000]

honeysuckle. character chart

Name: Absolute Zero

Alias: (Y/N) Hanahaki – given by Gojo, Honey – given by Shoko

Lore Notes (I will expand on this later, but I just want to braindump):

Your canonical age is seriously unknown

You have been around since the dawn of time so you are ancient

In a vicious cycle of reincarnation, you are technically immortal

As for what species you are, you don’t know

You can’t be killed unless you are shot in your “achilles’ heel” which is a weak spot located at the bottom of your brainstem, the medulla which is arguably the most important component of the brain

Once this happens, you can’t regenerate and you die; game over, try again

You get reborn again in the same body

Some memories are intact, others not so much

These forgotten moments can be reawakened by certain things that cause deja vu

Every time you die, you wake up

Same body, same face

You are aware when you die, and aware when you wake up, and aware if the current situation you are somehow in

You have been beat down by so many of the people around you throughout the ages that you very much don’t like humans

There are no medical records and traces of you

When people look at you it’s the kind of feeling in which they feel like they have seen you which draws them into you

You smell like honeysuckle and act just as sweet as them

Abilities:

You have angelic like wings

They can help you fly around in the air

Similar to Hawks from My Hero Academia, you can control each individual feather

You wings can change colors under certain circumstances

Regeneration

It is exactly what it sounds like

You can regenerate body parts instantly if they get damaged

If you have you hand severed, for example, you can stick your hand back on and it will heal

Regeneration will not heal you once your achilles’ heel has been shot

Molecular Manipulation

You can manipulate certain molecules within certain materials

Basically controlling the elements like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra

So far you only know how to control the main four, and subsets like blood bending or metal bending have not been touched on but they will later

As for cursed technique

Idk!

Please give me ideas!

I was thinking maybe the feathers in your wings contain cursed energy or smth like that

Appearance:

This is somewhat canon?

I won’t say appearances or specify (H/C) or (E/C) and things of that nature, because I think that defeats the whole purpose of the x reader tag I used

But if you like some of the ideas described, pick and choose and give me feedback if you do want me to implement these characteristics!

This is just for the people who wants someone to imagine in the story

Here is how I imagine this character!

Note! Absolute Zero was my reader/oc for my other fanfiction Underdog, a various bnha x reader/oc

Honestly, if you are really curious, the fanfic is still up, so go wild! It is posted on Quotev and Wattpad

Not sure if it is good but it has a lot of words, so if you are waiting on this series next chapter, I would recommend you take a look at it if you like my writing

I’m still continuing that fanfic, but the character I made was just too good to go to waste so I recycled

I imagine her to have varying hair lengths, but long of some sort

As for hair color, I imagine a light, sakura, pastel pink or a jet black.

Or maybe the hair is jet black but the underside is bleached/dyed a color of your choosing; let me know if you like that option!

Curtain bangs, slightly wavy-straight hair

As for skin tone, I’m thinking like a slight tan? As if you have been sunbathing and have a healthy glow idk

As for eye color I was thinking of a dark sea foam green (that matches with pink hair) or a burgundy color (that matches with the jet black hair)

If you couldn’t tell, this character was heavily inspired by Zero Two from Darling and the Franxx with both appearances and personality (shoutout!)

As for voice, I’m imagining the same voice as the character above and Panty from Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (both dub)

I love their voices!!

I feel like this character would have piercings, maybe a couple on the earlobes!!

Here is a visual representation, let me know what you guys think!

-calypso :

[fanficsfreeideas]

I wanted to dedicate a month to Alastor ships, but it's more of just being petty and saying "fuck you" to those who tell us we not allowed to ship Alastor with anyone. anyone can participate in this it is open to all mediums so it's not just for fanfics. Think of this as one big Christmas gift or Alastormas gift.

Work Text:

there is only 1 rule

Respect each other's ships for Alastor. 

Things I had been asked 

can they do crossover ship with Alastor- yes 

can they do dead dove- dead dove is welcome but be sure to tag it

can they do reader/Alastor- yes 

can they do oc/Alastor- yes 

can they do QPR Ships with Alastor- yes 

day 1 Forced marriage  day 2 Karma/Revenge  day 3 sickness/disability  day 4 one-night-stand pregnancy  day 5 Time Travel | Time Loop  day 6 Monster fucking day 7 amnesia  day 8 kissing under the mistletoe day 9 Nobody picks on them but me| Protective girlfriend/boyfriend day 10 gender bent   day 11 Don't threaten me with a good time/ Too Kinky to torture  day 12 Innocence Lost / Fall from grace  day 13 non-sexual classification au | Omega verse| cake verse (note Omega verse is fine to make Sexual)  day 14 Be careful what you wish for  day 15 dystopian world  day 16 Vampire and prey  day 17 unwanted harem  day 18 sacrifice / devotion day 19 Disney  day 20 detective and killer day 21 Late Pregnancy realization  day 22 myths/Legends/folktales day 23 single parent | Nanny day 24 coffee shop owner/ Mafia boss day 25 Gift mix-ups | gift of the Magi  day 26 Unexpected Encounters / Reincarnated  day 27 Gods/Goddesses day 28 Repressed Desires  day 29 Pervert Alliance  day 30 Dancing/Music day 31 Mate or Die

extra  Pick any seven to replace for any seven day of your choosing 1 cursed/ hexed 2 baking together 3 hot springs/ hiking  4 stalker/kidnapping 5 virgin sacrifice  6 playing in the snow/ drinking hot chocolate 7 Human au 

[sanguinaryviper]

ACCOUNT CHANGE!!

Gosh it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Not only here but everywhere I basically stopped rp for four months or so. I am looking to change that though and have a burst of writing spirit (I’m sure Penny will spam ping me if I don’t for too long) to get me through the Spring.

A few things are different this time. While I’m still happy to use the characters, I am slowly leaning away from Danganronpa and going into more multi-fandom stuff. Please don’t shy away from asking for the characters and random pairings. Cross-Fandom pairings like Nagisa x Maki are great! The biggest change though, the new muse is an oc/self insert!

I would show the NSFW version but I don’t exactly feel like having Tumblr strike me down. This cute little Pokemon self insert/oc is called Karma! Super bratty, unintentionally charming… and a fucking idiot. Feel free to ask for him or refer to him if you wanna ask about me!

Let’s get into the muses (NOTE!! All muses are depicted as of age unless specified!) I’m feeling for now! A character and verse that’s highlighted is one I’m particularly feeling right now! It will be updated:

Anime: Nagisa Shiota (Assassination Classroom), Lloyd De Saloum (7th Prince Reincarnation), Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler), Alois Trancy (Black Butler), Kyotaro Ichikawa (The Dangers in my Heart), Shigeo Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)

Games: Kieran (Pokemon), Aventurine (Honkai: Star Rail), Goro Akechi (Persona 5), Kokichi Oma (Danganronpa V3), Basil (Omori)

Extra Fandoms: Persona 3, RWBY, Black Butler, Danganronpa, Pokemon, Honkai: Star Rail, Persona 5, Omori, Assassination Classroom, Black Clover, Solo Leveling

Most girls from the Extra Fandoms are allowed to be asked for in the plots! Just don’t expect perfect canon representation :3

Special Asks!!

— Unjust Karma: To give the self insert/oc some love, he gets a whole special ask around him! Put this at the start of an ask along with a character and Karma will get his way with them however he must.. you can also just put a verse and I can choose!

— Father’s day: While it wasnt Father’s Day here, it was for some other places a few days ago. With that in mind, just send in the prompt Father’s Day along with two characters. Character A (or multiple) who plan to turn Character B into a father!

Whew, that was a lot! Was gonna do a special ask on Easter… bunny outfits… stuffing oneself with chocolate cause tummies are cute… but lets save that for next month! See yall in the asks!

My Tags

— #Vipers Writings for all of my writings!

— #Vipers Ramblings for all my out of character talk!

— #Vipers NSFW for all my NSFW writings

— #Vipers SFW for all my SFW writings

[hyunbunlix]

Rejuvenation [resurrectionist!Felix]

Characters: Felix, fem!OC Rating: A/O for Adults Only Content Warnings/Tags: mentions/depictions of war/battle, death in battle, depictions of grief, pain as fuel for magic, resurrection/reincarnation, anthro/bestial characters, explicit sexual content, dirty talk, hickeys, switch Felix, blowjob, fingering (f. receiving), p in v, multiple female orgasms, raw male orgasm, cockwarming Word Count: 11,688 Summary: When Felix’s beloved is killed in the war between chimaera and seraphim, he gleans her soul and swears to build her a new body as close to her old one as possible. As the years pass and Felix is tasked with creating hulking, fearsome chimaera for the war effort, the materials to bring his beloved back are scarce. Finally, he manages to work himself to the bone and bring her back to life . . . only to be barely recognizable himself when she returns. Note: Based on the world of Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor.

Once upon a time, a sphinx lost his wings, but those wings were not the ones he wept for.

Felix always felt a sense of dread when the chimaera went into battle with the angels. Whether the chimaera won or lost the day, there would always be warriors among them—friends, neighbors, loved ones—who were slain.

            As the resurrectionist, it was Felix’s job to stay in reserve and glean the souls of the slain. He wasn’t the only one able to glean, of course—anyone with the right materials could—but their losses had been so heavy recently that they couldn’t currently spare a soldier to lay in wait for the fighting to be done. Ergo, here he was, tucked back in the trees and wishing he could cover his feline ears, which were presently picking up the battle in sickening detail.

            If Felix died, so too would the chimaera. He was the last line keeping his kind from being wiped off the face of the planet by the seraphim, who sought to rule it all. He was a capable fighter, of course—most of them were; they had to be—but his task was more important than that, and so he had to remain safe at any cost.

            His ears swiveled, alerting him to the angel sneaking up on him. Felix whirled around, shouldering his way past the soldier’s guard, past his sword, cutting him down swiftly with his deer horn knives. He moved on quickly after that, finding a new place to hide, and bide, and wait for the fighting to end.

            After years of listening to his friends fight and die, one might think Felix would be used to this by now. But oh, how he wasn’t. Never could he be. He was the sort that could never harden his heart to suffering no matter how many times he had to witness it.

            So he waited, and he prayed, and he hoped that when his friends died, it would be swift so they would not suffer.

            When the hours of fighting were over, Felix could not tell if they had won or lost. If they had won, it had been at a terrible cost, because, alongside him, only three chimaera were left standing.

            Felix’s blood turned to ice.

            “No,” he whispered. One of his comrades, a massive goat-serpent, pointed toward the hill from which he’d just come. It was Felix’s job to glean them all, but his comrades knew him well, and knew who he would need to glean first.

            “She’s there,” the ram said. “They ambushed her.”

            Felix took off, leaving the ground in wingless flight, the result of magic he’d stolen long ago. He shot up and over the hill, and sure enough, amongst a platoon of fallen angels with extinguished wings lay his love, pooled in blood, both hers and others.

            It was a blur after that. Habit took over as he lit the incense that would guide her soul, and opened the thurible that would hold it tight. He could feel her in the air, the shape of her soul as it left her body, as it twisted through the ether and finally curled up inside the thurible. He twisted the metal sphere shut, put it in his bag, and went to do the same for the rest of his fallen comrades. He couldn’t mourn here, not when each and every fallen soul was on a timer, and he was the only thing that would save them from evanescence.

            He couldn’t mourn here, but when he gleaned the others, it was with silent tears streaming down his face.

            Only when he and his few remaining living comrades, laden with thuribles, flew back to the relative safety of their citadel, only when Felix was alone in his workshop with nothing for company but a pile of thuribles, did he break. He held her thurible to his chest and sobbed bitterly, because he was the resurrectionist, and he knew how long it would be before he saw her again.

Felix was in charge of keeping the tide of the war from drowning the chimaera. He had a list of priority resurrections in accordance with the request of the generals, knew who he had to bring back first and in what form to keep them all fighting. Because the chimaera’s numbers were reduced with each conflict, every resurrection had to count for two or three angels. As a result, he had no choice but to build behemoth bodies that were all wings, claws, and goring horns rather than the beautiful, graceful, natural bodies of born chimaera, which ordinarily came in all shapes and sizes.

            It was a fate they had all accepted, a fate necessary to avoid their own extinction. Through the materials of magic and metal and gemstones and teeth, they could be reborn through strange alchemy. Felix, too, had been reborn this way once, though it was before things had grown so dire, before the previous resurrectionist had died and evanesced. In his first life, Felix had been a sphinx, but when he’d come back, the only parts of his original self that remained were his feline ears, retractable claws, and sharp teeth. His predecessor told him this was because their circumstances were grave, and they needed someone able to go into the neighboring world, among humans, and buy, barter, or steal the materials they needed for the war. All Felix needed was a hat or a hood, and humans didn’t so much as glance his way.

            Felix remembered how disorienting it had been to wake up without his wings, without his feline legs and tail. Learning to balance again had been no small task, and he hated that he had to put such strain on his comrades now. Though, they’d been doing this long enough now that most of them were growing accustomed to being hulking creatures of nightmare.

            Most, but not all.

            Felix’s love had still been in her original body, lithe and elegant and strong, the most beautiful creature Felix had ever seen. He’d met her after his resurrection, after his natural body had been lost, and despite his relative lack of animal features, she had taken an interest in him. Where others whispered or mocked, saying his body looked naked and alien and unadorned, she told him how beautiful she thought he was, and how taken with him. After such a hard life, Felix’s heart had had no resistance to her, and he’d fallen quickly.

            He would not be able to bring her back for quite some time. Officially, this was because she was not very high on the list of priority, but frankly, had Felix had all the right materials on hand, he would have forsaken that rule. What could the war counsel do? Fire him? He was the only creature still alive who knew the delicate alchemy of resurrection.

            But he didn’t have all the right materials. This was to be her first time coming back to life, and Felix wanted to make the process as easy on her as possible. Not just any vessel, any body, would do. He needed her to come back as close to the way she had been as possible.

            And he couldn’t do that when his priority was monsters, nightmares, the huge bodies that depleted his stores and sent him scouring the human world for new materials. He couldn’t put her back together when his first priority was keeping them all alive, when he needed to make sure she even had a home to come back to.

            So he brought the others back, a little at a time, but as the weeks passed, his beloved’s thurible remained untouched on his bedside table. Weeks turned to months, and his heartsickness grew. Every time he was close, every time he had set aside nearly enough of the right materials to build her new body, they would take losses again, and he would be forced to raid that secret store.

            For the greater good. For the war. For the chimaera. For all of them.

            All of them, it seemed, except him, and except her.

            Every so often, when he felt so low that surely there could be no further down to fall, he would open her thurible just a tiny bit, just enough for the impression of her soul to rub up against his in the ether for the barest moment. He couldn’t leave it open for long, or her soul would escape and dissipate, but these small moments, these little reprieves, were some of the only instances that kept him going.

            Though, if one were to judge only by the way he cried after, one might think the ritual did more harm than good.

It had been more than a year.

            Felix worked himself to the bone to keep them afloat. His time was evenly split between his world, Eretz, and the world of humans, Earth. On Eretz, all his time was spent in gleanings and resurrections. On Earth, all his time was spent scouring the globe for teeth, both animal and human, and metallic ores and gemstones to infuse the bodies with, giving them strength, durability, and dexterity.

            Every day, the chimaera became more and more the monsters the angels claimed they were, and it was Felix’s fault. But what else could he do? What else could he fucking do? Let them all go extinct? Let the angels wipe them off the face of the planet?

            Several times, he got low enough to consider bringing his beloved back in one of those monstrous bodies. It didn’t matter to him; he would love her in any form, no matter how frightful. But then the selfishness of that plan caught up with him; dropping her into a random, unfamiliar body with extremities she wasn’t used to, dimensions she couldn’t control. At that rate, she’d probably just get killed again. The chimaera had come so far from what they’d once been, and unlike the other soldiers and assassins, she had not experienced the series of gradual resurrections that, in a way, eased the process, becoming more bestial with each evolution.

            No. He couldn’t do that to her. He wouldn’t.

            So he kept stashing away her materials, the reptile fangs that would replicate her lovely, durable scales, the tiny bat’s teeth that would give her new wings, the spiral-horned antelope’s incisors that would twin her old horns, and human teeth for everything else. He even planned to use diamonds, ensuring she would be as strong and beautiful as he remembered.

            And yet, again and again, he was forced to borrow from her unmade body to fuel their fucking war.

Felix had been happy once. Even as the resurrectionist, he’d had no shortage of smiles, sunny even when they were tinged with melancholy. But under the strain of endless death, under the toll of endless pain to fuel his magic, and without her presence by his side to make it all bearable, his spirit withered.

            He kept doing what needed to be done, but it was by rote. He did what he was told because thinking itself was taxing now. He kept the chimaera alive and felt very little in the way of pride or even relief at doing so.

            They were losing, and part of him wished it would just end already, no matter how badly.

            It had been two years without her.

            Finally, after his most recent excursion to the human world, he’d been able to snap up the last teeth he needed. Upon his return to the citadel, he promptly shut himself in his workshop and barred the door. He often worked with urgency, but this time especially he was not to be disturbed.

            Mostly because this was not at all what he was supposed to be doing with his time and resources, and he was terrified that someone might burst in and force him to stop.

            Meticulously, he threaded the necklace that represented her body in perfect configuration. If he didn’t take care, her animal aspects might manifest in the wrong places and render the whole process moot. He knew exactly what to do, he’d done it countless times, and yet, in his nervous fervor, he checked the string of teeth and gems and metal beads multiple times to make sure it was perfect.

            After that, it was time for the conjuring.

            The conjuring was always by far the worst part. The price for magic was pain, and bringing a body from concept into existence required a steady stream. Sometimes soldiers, especially injured ones, would contribute their pain to the cause, a terrible tithe to help keep them all going. Today, in order to keep this a secret until it had already been done and could not be taken back, he could be afforded no such assistance.

            Felix stripped off his shirt and affixed four sets of screw clamps to his arms, two for each. On his upper arms, they viced painfully around his triceps; on his forearms, they ground between his radius and ulna bones. The pain was, as always, a hum in his body, impossible to ignore. He would bruise heavily from this.

            He didn’t care.

            He directed his pain through the necklace in his hands, his own pain forming a harmony with that of the creatures whose bodies these teeth had once come from. Death was its own kind of resonant pain, so even teeth taken from bodies already expired held magic within. It was a careful calculus, to take pain and death and turn it into a new vessel for life.

            When the necklace was gone from his hands, he knew it was done. He turned around and saw the body, bereft of cloth or covering, lying on his secondary work table. Felix heaved a sigh as he beheld it, and then moved to loosen the clamps from his arms and put them away. Sure enough, his new bruises were already blooming.

            He got up to examine the body. It was as close to her original one as it could possibly be without being wholly exact. After all, the animal aspects of natural-born chimaera on Eretz were not exactly alike to the animals on Earth. Felix’s love had been a dragon woman in her natural life, and this new body was as close a match as he could possibly make.

            Even now, changed though she was, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever beheld.

            Now that he’d confirmed the body an acceptable vessel, he went to retrieve her thurible and a cone of incense. The scent was thick and earthy, a combination of her favorite herbs and flowers, concentrated. There was no scientific need for the particular scent, as just about anything that left a strong trail on the air would do the job; he simply wanted to welcome her back to the world as thoughtfully as possible.

            He placed the incense on the body’s forehead and lit it, and once the smoke had curled upward and begun to hang in the air, he opened the thurible.

            As before, he could feel her soul—her gentle, remarkable soul—but unlike before, there was no danger in it escaping the thurible and vanishing. Now, it would simply follow the trail left by the incense smoke down and into the body, becoming whole.

            He almost held his breath while he waited, but he already felt so close to passing out that he had to force himself to breathe. When her eyes fluttered open, his breath did catch, tears welling in his eyes. She sat up slowly, glancing around the room.

            “Where . . . ?” she murmured, and her voice was so nearly a perfect replica of what he remembered that the tears did fall then. Slowly, she brought her eyes to him, and for a moment, there was nothing like recognition in her eyes.

            “Love . . . ?” he asked softly, willing his voice not to shake yet feeling not an ounce of embarrassment when it did not obey. Her eyes sparked then and went over his form again, and her mouth parted with a surprised little gasp.

            “Felix?” she whispered, and Felix couldn’t choke back the sob that came in response. She swung her legs over the side of the table and opened her arms for him; he pressed close to her and bawled.

Felix was not as she remembered him. His features were sharper, gaunter. He looked exhausted. His hair hung lank in its ponytail and desperately needed a trim; there were deep, dark circles under his reddened eyes. Worst of all, perhaps, was how skinny he’d gotten, little more than bones and the flesh stretched across them, on full display thanks to his lack of shirt. And the bruises. So dark and awful that they would no doubt turn into welts.

            He was still her Felix, and yet, he was changed, too.

            She held him close while he cried, pulling the tie out of his ponytail and running her fingers through his hair. She was still completely naked from her resurrection, but she felt no embarrassment in it. This man had seen her natural flesh naked countless times, and he had built this new body from scratch; there was not a person alive that she felt had more right to behold her like this.

            When he’d finally managed to calm himself, he pulled back to just stare at her. “I was so scared,” he said. “I thought I’d fucked something up, that you didn’t remember me, that maybe I’d opened your thurible one too many times and lost part of your soul somehow . . .”

            She smiled gently, touching his cheek. “Thank you,” she said. He looked immediately confused.

            “Did you think I would let you just stay dead?” he asked, sounding mortified. She shook her head quickly.

            “No, that’s not it. I mean, I’m thankful for new life, yes, but that’s not what I was referring to. Thank you for visiting me in my thurible,” she clarified.

            For whatever reason, that pulled another soft sob from him.

            “I couldn’t help myself,” he said miserably. “I just missed you so much.”

            “How long has it been?” she asked. There was no way to gauge time in the stasis of a thurible, and while the changes in Felix attested that time certainly had passed, she had no concept of how much.

            “Two years and eleven days,” he said. She looked at him, wide-eyed.

            “You counted?” she asked, incredulous. He nodded.

            “How could I not?” he said in return. She shrugged helplessly. He took a step back from her and offered his hands to help her down from the table. She held to him for a moment while she found her footing, careful to mind his bruises.

            “How do you feel?” he asked, taking on a professional cant despite the tear tracks still on his face. “Any disorientation? Anything that feels wrong?”

            She took a step back from him. She tested her arms and legs with some basic motions, then swung her tail back and forth. She rolled her neck, her head appropriately weighted by horns. Finally, she fanned her wings wide, careful not to knock anything over.

            “It all seems to be in working order,” she said, taking a deep breath in and out. “Truly, thank you.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” he said, then, after a beat, he seemed to realize she was still naked and he himself half-naked. “Oh, gods.”

            He went quickly to the other side of the room and brought her some basic tail-friendly breeches and a halter-style tunic to put on. Then, flushing, he hurried to put his own shirt back on.

            “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “After the conjuring, I was so focused on getting this done that I completely forgot. I didn’t mean to . . . I mean, it wasn’t supposed to feel like an ambush or something. I don’t . . . I mean . . . Fuck.”

            She had known Felix long enough, had witnessed the battle between his brain and his mouth enough times to understand what he was trying to get at but couldn’t quite bring himself to say. After he’d pulled his shirt back on, she stepped close to him and tipped his head just right to kiss him.

            “I will never complain about seeing your body, or about you seeing mine,” she said, and his face burned a shade hotter. She stepped back from him then and set about getting dressed. As she was tying the strings to her breeches, pounding started at the door.

            “What are you doing in there, resurrectionist?” bellowed a commanding voice. Felix’s eyes narrowed, feline and hateful, his posture ramrod straight. “You were supposed to be working on Qworom today, yet I have his thurible right here!”

            “You should know,” Felix muttered quietly to her, “that I wasn’t supposed to do this.”

            She cocked her head in question, her expression creased into suspicion and discontent, but she didn’t have time to ask what, exactly, he meant by that before he’d already gone and removed the crossbar from the door, allowing it to burst open.

            A hulking chimaera bulled through, and she had the immediate impression that he would have simply broken the door down had it remained obstructed. He was certainly large enough to make it happen. He was a harsh-looking creature, part bear, part bull, part lion, if lions had manes made out of reptilian points. He was terrible, but beautiful in a certain way, too, and she recognized the body immediately as Felix’s work.

            “General Torza,” Felix acknowledged, his voice carefully neutral. She regarded the general with surprise; she remembered what he’d looked like two years ago, and he bore only the faintest resemblance to that form now. She saw Felix’s feline ears twitch backward toward flattening; was he ashamed to let her see what the chimaera had become, what he had made them? Was he eaten alive with guilt over his inability to find a more elegant solution to their extinction?

            She ached to reach for his hand, to make him know that none of that was true, but refrained. General Torza was looking at her with something like astonished disgust, and she knew she would have to play the next few minutes very carefully.

            “What is that?” Torza demanded of Felix, gesturing at her like she was the most offensive piece of furniture to ever exist. She resisted the urge to bristle.

            “A revenant,” Felix answered blandly. Revenant was the general term for a chimaera soldier who had come back from the dead at least once.

            “And why does it look like that? You know what we do here, boy, and that does not fit the strategy,” the general snarled.

            “She,” Felix snapped, all his sharpest teeth on display as he furiously hissed the word, showing his first inflection of true emotion during the encounter. Torza snorted in indignation.

            “She,” he replied mockingly. “This is not the time to be crafting your own personal plaything. I need soldiers, boy. Monsters that will strike terror into our enemies and rend them in two with their bare hands. Not this.”

            Felix’s face was flushed with rage now, his ears pinned back. It was an emotion he so rarely displayed, and she laid a hand on his shoulder. Instantly he fizzled out, turning his head to look at her like he was lost and she was true north.

            “Actually, sir,” she said to the general, picking her words carefully, “Felix didn’t bring me here to fight.”

            “So you’re useless,” Torza growled.

            “No, sir,” she answered. “I’m here to help him. This work takes its toll and goes much faster with assistance. I’m sure you’ll recall that his predecessor had three helpers, four if you count Felix during his apprenticeship. If we’re to turn the tide of this war, you can’t rely on one soul to rescue all others.”

            Torza regarded her for a time, then turned his eyes back on Felix. “Is this true?”

            “It is,” Felix answered, regaining himself. “I needed help. Things will be easier now, and if something were to happen to me, well . . . All wouldn’t be lost.”

            Torza gave a sharp exhale that put his bovine side fully on display, part snort and part grunt. He held out Qworom’s thurible. “Then I expect this one done by the end of the day,” he said. It was a minor concession, but it would do.

            “Of course,” Felix answered, accepting the silver vessel. The general turned and stormed his way out the door, which Felix promptly closed and barred again. He leaned back against it, his posture sagging. “Thank you. For thinking so quickly. You shouldn’t have needed to deal with a confrontation so soon after waking up. I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t mention it,” she said, shaking her head to wave it away. Then she gestured to the thurible in his hand. “I suppose we had better get to work, or else I’ll be a liar.”

            He gave a soft huff that was almost a chuckle. “I suppose so,” he said, and went back over to his work table.

Felix moved through the steps of the resurrection process, offering a truncated explanation as he went along. There would be more time later to instruct her in detail, but right then, with such a tight deadline, there wasn’t enough.

            He explained the teeth, the way you had to listen to each one to understand its essence, understand whether it was the correct part for the whole they were trying to assemble. He explained the configuration as he strung it, why which parts went where and what they corresponded to.

            Finally, with the necklace completed, it was time for the conjuring. He blanched when she held out her arms to him. This part, she was already familiar with. Every chimaera close to the war effort was.

            “What are you doing?” he asked as though he didn’t already know. He knew, of course, but his mind refused the possibility outright.

            “I want to tithe,” she said. He shook his head immediately.

            “No,” he answered. Her expression creased into a frown, and his heart constricted.

            “But I saw your arms earlier. It would be easier on you if I just—”

            “No,” he repeated. How could he make her understand? “I can’t . . . I can’t be the reason you get hurt. I can’t. You might spare me some physical pain, but my heart can’t take it.”

            Her expression softened, sadness and love on her face. He wanted to curl up against her, but the work wasn’t finished yet.

            “All right,” she relented.

            He did allow her to help him set the clamps, which would at the very least speed up the process a bit, especially once the conjuring was complete. Pain was required, they both understood that, but she made it clear that she didn’t want him in it any longer than necessary. After the conjuring was finished, she swiftly loosened the clamps from his arms, and though she did her best not to, Felix caught her frowning. He’d instructed her to tighten the clamps directly onto the bruises that had already been there—the quickest and easiest source of pain.

            Felix put his shirt back on while she fetched the incense and thurible, carefully setting them up just the way he instructed. Then she lit the incense and opened the thurible, funneling Qworom into his ugliest body yet.

            Guilt, yes. Shame, yes. Felix prayed they would all live long enough for him to put them back into the bodies that matched their souls.

            After walking Qworom through a quick set of physical litmus tests—which, all throughout, the soldier kept tossing confused and almost suspicious looks at the dragon woman—Felix sent the soldier on his way. He couldn’t shake the sudden uneasy feeling in his stomach.

            “When was the last time you ate, Felix?” she asked once it was just the two of them again.

            “I don’t know, last night, maybe,” he answered. Her eyebrows drew together in concern.

            “You don’t even know for sure?”

            He shrugged.

            “Well, I’m hungry, and you should eat, too. Is the mess hall still where I remember?” she said, and he could tell she was fighting very hard to downplay her worry for him.

            “Yes,” he answered.

            “Great. Let’s go.”

            Going to the mess hall didn’t make Felix feel any better. The second they entered, chimaera started whispering. Most of those eating in the hall currently were hulking revenants, but there were also cooks and caretakers, chimaera of standard proportion, some of them even in their original flesh. It took a lot more than soldiers to keep the citadel running, after all.

            For a moment, Felix hoped that perhaps his beloved would blend in with the others whose trade wasn’t war. If that was his goal, though, he probably shouldn’t have walked in with her. Then again, any such illusion would have been pretty much shattered once anyone witnessed the dark eye-shaped brands in each of her palms—the mark of a revenant.

            Worse, perhaps, were the individuals who had a long memory, and who paid enough attention to remember who this dragon woman was, and, more critically, who she had been to Felix before her death.

            With his feline ears, very little escaped his notice, and so he heard all the little comments and jabs. “I suppose one would get lonely up in that tower.” “I wonder if he changed anything, brought her back exactly to his taste.” Those sorts of things were bad enough, but there were worse ones. “Why would he waste resources on her?” “She wasn’t on the list. Has he stopped believing in the cause? Are we losing that badly?”

            Felix half wished he could cover his ears, but that would be far too obvious a concession. Now of all times, he could not afford to look weak-willed in front of his comrades.

            They retrieved their rations and went to sit and eat. Her expression was unreadable; her hearing wasn’t quite as good as Felix’s, but she had clearly picked up on enough of the talk to be at least somewhat on her guard. They ate in silence, and just when Felix thought they might get through this unharassed, a passerby dumped their cup of grasswine down the back of her body.

            She didn’t react beyond the instant flaring of her wings. Another person might have taken it for an instinctual reaction, but Felix knew her and saw her face when she did it, and understood that she had opened her wings to block off the walkway between their table and the one behind her, forcing the culprit to either stay put or try to bull their way past.

            To Felix's surprise, they didn't move while she shook out her wings and slowly got to her feet.

            "I haven't heard an apology yet," she sighed. "I can only take that to mean you aren't sorry."

            As she folded her wings enough to turn around and face the careless aggressor, Felix recognized him as Narium, a horse-aspect chimaera with the proportions and affect of a minotaur. He was based on a Percheron, and at least twice as wide as the dragon woman. Under the table, Felix's hands inched toward the deer horn knives that he never left his workshop without.

            He was tired of living in a world where everyone, whether enemy or ally, felt like a threat.

            “My deepest apologies,” Narium said in a mocking tone. “I must have tripped on that lizard tail of yours.”

            The end of said tail flicked in irritation.

            Narium, for all his equine features, had reptilian eyes, and he was carefully sizing up the dragon woman now. He was likely weighing his chances against her, thinking he would come out on top since she was unarmed. As far as Felix knew, the two of them had never served together, so Narium would have no reason to know that so long as she had her horns and tail, she was not without a weapon.

            Felix had just moved to get up, to intervene, to make himself a target instead if he had to, when Narium swung his massive fist. From the angle of the strike, he didn’t look to be aiming for her body at all; he wanted to break her left wing, to leave her shattered on the ground.

            She was faster, as expected of her smaller size, and she leapt into the air, out of reach, before the strike could connect. Her wings beat powerfully, sending silverware skidding and stray vegetables rolling off of plates.

            “There’s no reason for this,” she called down. Narium, too, had wings, but due to his hulking size and the limitations of mechanical leverage, they were huge and therefore ineffectual in the mess hall.

            “Your cowardice is reason enough,” he snorted, stomping one large hoof. “Running away where I can’t pursue you. Come outside where the fight will be fair.”

            “Contrary to popular belief,” she said tersely, “the point of a solider is not to die needlessly. I would hate to make more work for Felix.”

            Narium turned his gaze on the resurrectionist then, and he looked furious. “Did you really make your pet strong enough to kill me?”

            The insult rattled through Felix. As though she would ever consent to being anyone’s pet. He itched to draw his blades, which was unusual for him; his first instinct had ever been to defuse rather than escalate. As always, though, the rules were different when it came to protecting those he loved.

            Before he could act on either impulse, however, General Torza plowed his way through the mess hall and banded his powerful hand around the horse-chimaera’s arm, yanking him in close so that he had the soldier’s full attention.

            “That,” Torza said lowly, nodding his horned head up at the dragon woman, “is our new resurrectionist in training. Pray your soul never passes through her hands, or you might wind up a toad next time.”

            Narium snorted again, seemingly more frustrated now, but lumbered away after one final glower in Felix’s direction.

            “I understand any jealousy you might feel,” Torza said, raising his voice to address the whole hall. “We all miss the forms we were born with, and the vessels that replicated them most closely. But we exist in our current forms to best serve one goal: Our survival. For some of us, that means monstrous bodies to strike fear into the hearts of our foes as we overcome them. For others, it means a quick, dexterous form to better glean our souls and synthesize our new bodies. If you harm those responsible for your resurrection, you will be dooming your own future at best, and our entire race at worst.”

            He paused for a long moment, letting his words sink in. There were no objections.

            “As you were,” he said finally, and the majority of the gathered chimaera went back to their meals. Felix, still frozen where he stood in front of his table, met eyes with the general and hoped his expression conveyed his gratitude. Torza inclined his head slightly, then turned away to fetch his own food.

            Rather than come back down to the floor as Felix expected, his love glided over to the nearest window and let herself outside. Felix had the fleeting impression of a butterfly once trapped.

            He did the only thing he could think to do, the only thing he had any desire to do. He followed her.

            When he caught up, she was sitting atop one of the citadel’s turrets. In the past, it had been used to hold prisoners. Now, though, it was basically empty. Taking prisoners hadn’t been part of their strategy for some time. The sun was rapidly setting around it, making her a shadow limned in orange.

            He touched down beside her but hesitated to sit. “May I join you?” he asked first. She nodded, and he sat, his feet dangling over the side with hers.

            It was quiet for a few beats until he broke it again. “I’m sorry,” he said. She glanced at him.

            “You didn’t start that fight,” she replied. “The one who owes me an apology is Narium, but that’s never going to happen.”

            “Not for that,” he said softly. “I mean for bringing you back at the wrong time. For provoking whispers and stares and even violence. They’re going to treat you differently because I brought you back differently, and I wasn’t supposed to. It couldn’t be more obvious that you’re my favorite, and it’s not fair to them, or to you.”

            “To me?” she asked. “How do you figure?”

            “Because I brought you back in this form during a time when I knew they wouldn’t accept you,” he said, his voice growing a bit louder, frustrated by his own lack of foresight. “I had some idea what the consequences would be, but I didn’t let myself dwell on it. It seemed so small a thing next to the weight of continuing to live in a world without you. Now you’re stuck with me, doing my terrible work with me, when I don’t even know if that’s a burden you want to bear, or if you even want to be near me at all anymore, let alone in the same way you were before your death. It’s been less than a day, and nothing has gone the way it should.”

            She surprised him by reaching for his hand.

            “I think one thing has,” she said. He dared to meet her eyes.

            “What?”

            “I’m with you,” she said simply. “That’s the way it always should be.”

            His eyes widened a bit, and he found himself searching for any indication that she was lying, that she was only saying so to spare his feelings.

            “You know you don’t have to say that,” he deferred softly. “It’s enough for me that you’re alive and in the world again. It’s enough for me that I get to see you, and know that you’re all right. You don’t . . . Things don’t have to be the way they were between us before. I won’t hold you to it.”

            “The only thing that could make me go,” she said softly, “is if you can look me in my eyes and tell me honestly that you don’t love me anymore.”

            He exhaled, long and slow, and shook his head. “That will never happen,” he said, his heart so full he thought it might burst.

            “Then I will never leave you for any reason besides death,” she said. “Simple.”

            Gently, like he feared she might vanish as though a figment, he laid his hand on her neck, turning her face just the slightest bit more with his thumb against her jaw. He searched her eyes again for doubts, for regrets, and found none. After that, he kissed her. She squeezed the hand in hers as she kissed him back, and though it had been two agonizing years, her mouth felt just as familiar as he remembered; when she parted her lips for him, she tasted the same.

            He moved closer to her on the ledge, draping his thigh over hers to erase as much negative space as possible, his hand shifting to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss, to make his hunger known. Her tongue grazed his; his teeth brushed her lip; her free hand moved to his thigh. He moaned, a sound he hadn’t made since she’d been killed.

            She pulled back just a little, just enough to look at him while he flushed, panting to get his breath back.

            “I missed you,” he said meekly, as though it wasn’t brutally obvious. It made her smile, though, and that was what mattered.

            When she leaned to press her lips to his again, her stomach protested, causing her to break away with a laugh. Felix echoed the sound, low and a little raw from disuse.

            “How about this,” he said, toying with the end of a lock of her hair, “you head back to my workshop, and I’ll bring up a plate to replace the one you were forced to abandon?”

            “Only if you bring one for yourself, as well,” she said, giving him a knowing look. He sighed and rolled his eyes, but couldn’t smother his smile.

            “Deal.”

That night, Felix had his best sleep in years. Not only did his love all but force him to retire at a reasonable hour, but he refused to let her bunk in the barracks after what had happened in the mess.

            Instead, she piled into his bed with him, her new body remembering all the old postures they used to use to accommodate her wings. Pressed against her warm body, his back to her front, Felix’s thoughts tended not to race quite so badly. It was an effect she still had.

            The end result was that he fell asleep more quickly, lulled into unconsciousness by the sound of her breath, and stayed asleep longer, his body perfectly at peace beside hers.

She woke before him. Not by choice, but because someone at the main door to his workshop seemed very keen about getting inside.

            Loathe to wake him at all, she shook his shoulder as gently as she could, softly calling his name. He groaned, pressing nearer to her, his face against her skin.

            “I’m sorry, love,” she murmured, gently running her fingers along one of his softly-furred feline ears. “Someone’s at your door, and they sound rather insistent.”

            He stilled, one ear swiveling as he listened for a moment, and upon confirming the validity of her statement he sighed, uncurling his body from hers and stretching. He’d deemed his shirt unnecessary to sleep in, and though he was still both far too thin and far too bruised for her taste, she couldn’t help admiring him.

            They both got up and dressed appropriately before going to the door.

            Predictably, General Torza was on the other side, dropping off the thuribles of his top-priority soldiers. Felix accepted them, each one labeled by a piece of parchment affixed to the thurible by a bit of wire, and they got to work.

            Such were their days for the foreseeable future. She learned better each day how to be the most help to Felix. There were still things only he could do, such as the delicate magic of conjuring, but she was able to help with every menial step along the way. Molding incense, setting teeth and gemstones into metal anchors so they could be more easily strung, fetching him things as he needed them including food and water. She was pleased to see that over the weeks, he gained a little weight back, and General Torza too was happy that the pace of resurrections had increased.

            But the one thing Felix still refused to let her do was tithe. Occasionally, other chimaera, especially those who had been wounded in combat, came to offer their pain to the process. All other times, though, the burden fell to Felix.

            Once, when she felt she couldn’t bear the sight of him affixing a clamp to his already bruised arm, she reached reflexively for him, and he jerked away.

            “If you would just let me—” she tried to say.

            “No,” he said, raising his voice the slightest bit, something he rarely did, especially towards her. “Don’t ask me again. Ever. All right?”

            She’d nodded stiffly, and, unable to watch him do it that time, flown out the window to wait perched on the roof until it was done.

            She had not brought it up again since. Now, she simply tried not to look while he conjured, to busy herself with other things in an attempt not to notice. She could always hear the way his breathing changed in relief when it was over, though, and always she was there to hand him a cool compress or two to help soothe the pain.

            They’d been working side by side for about a month, a well-oiled mechanical rhythm to their process. The other chimaera seemed far less angry about her existence now that they were being reunited with friends and loved ones more often. Since Felix had been able to exceed what had previously been his maximum pace, he’d been allowed to bring individuals back who weren’t strictly soldiers, creating reunions for others much like he had for the two of them. This had the added benefit of encouraging more individuals to tithe. It was a lot easier to accept what Felix had done once others got to experience that same joy.

            And yet, things weren’t exactly the same between the two of them, either. The stress of catching up with the resurrections had left him little time for anything other than work and taking care of his physical form as best he could. They’d been companionable, of course, but outside of sharing the occasional kiss and sleeping in the same bed, the affection between them wasn’t what it had once been.

            She supposed that’s what she got for being dead for two years.

            One evening, though, after an exceptionally productive day, they went to eat dinner in the mess, and Felix kept tossing her weird looks across the table for nearly the whole meal. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and asked, “What is it?”

            He hesitated for a moment, looking abruptly shy, then said, “I’m tired of being cooped up in the citadel. I’m thinking about flying to the lake tonight.”

            “Moonwing Lake?” she asked. She assumed, since it was the largest lake within easy travel distance of the citadel, especially if one flew there, something they both knew from experience. Felix nodded.

            “I’m not supposed to go anywhere without an escort—I’m ‘too valuable’—so I wanted to ask if you’d like to come with me,” he said. He was entirely nonchalant about it, except for the way his eyes left hers for a moment—skating down her neck and then darting away entirely.

            She felt she grasped the meaning of the invitation without him expressly needing to say it.

            “That sounds nice,” she answered. “As long as we’re back by morning, of course.”

            “Of course,” he echoed. “Always more work to be done.”

            “Always,” she repeated back to him. “All the more reason to let off a little steam every once in a while.”

            He gave her a pointed look, a look she remembered well from before her death, and knew for certain she had not misread the situation. “My thoughts exactly,” he said, and the tone of his voice, a purr so low in his vocal register that she would not have caught it if she weren’t so close to him, kicked off butterflies in her stomach.

            “Glad that’s settled,” she answered, unable to help the airy, breathless quality in her voice. Felix smiled, an edge to the expression that put all his sharpest teeth on display.

            She knew she’d feel those teeth before the day was out, and the butterfly feeling spread to places other than her stomach.

Though only one of them had wings, they were both swift fliers. They took off for the lake after dinner, Felix’s silent, wingless flight alongside her strong wingbeats. They couldn’t fly too close together thanks to her wingspan, but it would be clear to anyone who looked up that they were indeed flying together.

            It was a temperate summer’s eve, the perfect time to go swimming in a lake that had been warmed by the sun all day. When they landed on solid ground again, she folded her wings, her tail flicking eagerly. The two moons were rising—one full and one a sliver—their reflections playing on the water.

            Felix dropped the pack he’d been carrying—containing towels and snacks—and then tugged his shirt up and over his head. She watched him closely, marveling at every bit of his lean, strong form. It wasn’t unusual even now for her to see his bare torso at least once a day, but every time she saw him gave her pause like it was the very first. It was as though he’d been perfectly molded to attract her. She supposed she had the previous resurrectionist to thank for that.

            In kind, she loosened the ties at her neck and hips that kept her shirt on, letting the article fall away, leaving her top half as bare as his. Like her, he couldn’t keep from staring, his lips parting slightly as he drank her in, his eyes widened like he couldn’t quite believe what he was being shown. Just as easily, she slipped out of her pants and walked into the water, leaving him to gape after her on the shore.

            “Oh, come on,” she teased. “This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”

            “It isn’t,” he agreed, his voice sounding the slightest bit strained, “but it has been a long time.”

            She turned back in time to see him strip, too, and despite his previous surprise, there was nothing stilted or nervous in his motions. He met eyes with her a few times, as though to make sure he still had her attention, then waded into the water after her. Despite most of his body being widely considered plain, she thought he was the most beautiful being to ever walk their world. The last month had been kind to him, and as he approached her, he looked every bit as lithe and strong as she remembered.

            When he stood face to face with her, the water up to their hips, he raised his hands, trailing them up the line of her body, her waist, the sides of her chest, then further, his left hand tracing the line of her right horn while his right hand moved from her left shoulder to her wing-arm. Her wings stirred, an involuntary reaction to his touch not just there but everywhere, and she watched his eyes, his wide, dark pupils, the way he watched every move of hers as though in rapture.

            “I missed you,” he said, his voice so low it invited a shiver in her. He’d said those words dozens of times since her resurrection, but she was well aware that they meant something different this time. It was not her presence as a whole he spoke of now; his words implied her carnality and his yearning for it to match with his.

            In answer, she pressed her hungry mouth to his. His hands went back to her waist, perching as perfectly as they ever had, drawing her bare body flush with his. He kissed her like he was starved, like he might devour her, and she welcomed it. Their tongues skimmed, and he moaned into her mouth. She grazed his lower lip with her teeth—a taunt, a plea—and he nipped hers in return, pulling a breathless sound from her.

            Once her lips felt sufficiently marked by his, she pulled back and moved to his jaw, his neck. She kept drawing those throaty moans from him, and when she dragged her tongue up the column of his neck, he made his most ragged sound yet, his hips flinching into hers. She clamped her mouth to his right trapezius muscle, sucking a mark into his skin, and the flinching turned into bucking, an intentioned effort at chasing any friction he could get.

            “This is why we came here, isn’t it?” she asked, needing to be sure beyond a shadow of a doubt before she actually touched him. He nodded, his ponytail coming loose, making him look all the more disheveled, all the more in need.

            “Yes,” he gasped out. “Needed you. Needed to be with you away from prying ears.”

            She kissed him again, one of her hands feeling for him in the water, finding him already mostly hard. He made a deep, strangled sound against her mouth while she explored the shape of him, wrapped her hand around him, her grip fitting him exactly the way she remembered.

            “Are we going to have to come all the way out here whenever we want to do this?” she asked, a teasing note in her voice. He flushed but shook his head.

            “No, I just . . . I wanted our new first time to be special,” he said. She smiled, all hints of jest melting away. “I missed you,” he said again, and it was like he’d put his entire soul into the words, so bared was his longing.

           She put her hands on his hips, gently guiding him back a few steps into shallower water. Then she settled onto her knees, trailing kisses on his body all the way down.

            Until she was at eye level with his hardness.

            She looked up at him for permission; he was still pink in the face, but he swallowed hard and nodded. She put her tongue out, licked along the underside of his shaft, and he shuddered. His fingers wrapped around one of her horns, and she knew instantly that it was for the sake of his own stability rather than any kind of bid for control.

            Determined to savor, she took him slowly into her mouth, a little at a time. He tasted of lake water and salt, and every sound he made, deep in his throat and escaping as though unbidden, let her enjoy her work even more. Stasis had been kind to her; with the exception of those little moments of awareness—awareness of him—time hadn’t touched her mind or her heart. Not as it had touched Felix. The way she took him now—softly, ardently, wholly—was her apology for the loneliness he had endured.

            Finally, when he could take no more, he did use the hand on her horn for control, holding her back and keeping her from sinking his cock back into her mouth. She looked up at him, saw the fight for self-control on his face, the edge of delirium in his eyes, and hummed in question. He groaned again and pulled her all the way back by her horn, forcing her to release his length, sloppy with spit and pre-cum, from her mouth.

            “We didn’t come here just for me,” he said, his voice scraped raw, low, near the bottom of his vocal register. She shivered to hear it.

            “You know I wouldn’t put your cock in my mouth if I didn’t like it,” she answered, but stood up out of the water all the same. He watched the rivulets drip down her form with more attention than strictly necessary.

           “I know,” he said, “but I want so much more than that.” He swallowed hard, vulnerable, and added, “It’s been so long. This body has only ever known you.”

            Her eyes widened a little, staring. He held her gaze so earnestly, so honestly, that she couldn’t question him further.

            She knew, of course, that in his sphinx body he’d had other lovers. But after his resurrection into his current body, she had been the first one to lie with him. Up until her death, she had been the only one. Now here he was, telling her he’d waited, denied himself physical comfort for two long years waiting for her?

            “Felix,” she breathed, bewildered. “You didn’t have to do that. I wouldn’t have held you to that. I wouldn’t have asked that of you.”

            “I couldn’t imagine being with someone else,” he said. “So I just didn’t.”

            She kissed him again, and when they broke apart, he took her hand and led her back to the shore. He spread one of their towels on the bank, and laid her on her back. She let him guide her body, let him look, let herself be plied when he spread her legs open and settled between them. He didn’t enter her, not yet, but pressed his hardened length against her abdomen. She shuddered.

            She could wait. Her waiting was nothing compared to his.

            He lowered his face to her neck, his lips eager on her skin, kissing over and over. He trailed up her sensitive flesh, making her squirm under him, until he came to her ear, his teeth skimming the lobe, which made her whimper.

            “I want to see if you’re still sensitive in all the spots I remember,” he said, voice scraped low, making her shudder again, and her next sound was a moan while she nodded her agreement, her eager permission. He moved his mouth back to her neck, a soft scrape of his teeth against it before he clamped his mouth to her skin and sucked in a mark to match the one she’d given him. Then his mouth traveled lower, dragging over her collarbones. He licked and kissed his way down, and just when she thought he was going to put his mouth on one of her breasts, he pulled back.

            She groaned and fidgeted in frustration. There was faint amusement on his face when she met his eyes.

            “Open,” he instructed, and she did as requested, opening her mouth and putting her tongue out just enough to shield her bottom row of teeth. He put his right middle and ring fingers in her mouth, and she closed her lips around them. She held his eyes while she began giving his fingers the same treatment she’d given his cock just minutes ago, and reveled in the way he moaned, his hardness twitching in either remembrance or need. She hummed, pleased with herself, the sound muffled thanks to her full mouth.

            He sighed as he lowered his mouth again, picking up where he’d left off and going right for her breast this time, lapping his tongue repeatedly over her nipple before sucking it into his mouth. She whined around his fingers but didn’t let them go. He kept up his ministrations until she felt she couldn’t take it anymore, and then he moved to the other breast. Her whining was all but incessant now, and he pulled his fingers out of her mouth, letting her be as loud as he wished.

            Which, once she found out why he’d taken his fingers back, was pretty damn loud.

            He sheathed his damp fingers inside her, and she was already wet enough that he met no resistance. She moaned, arching as he immediately curled his fingers forward, pumping them just right to hit the spot inside her that made her writhe. He was watching her so closely that she flushed. She knew him well, had been with him so many times, but she’d never received a look quite like that one before. He looked like he wanted to pounce on her, and it was taking every bit of his self-control to draw this out instead.

            So, naturally, she decided to make that ten times harder for him to do.

            It was the dab of stickiness on her stomach that gave her the idea, which meant it was actually his fault. But feeling his tip leaking on her like that, looking down and seeing it, too, she couldn’t help reaching for him again, jerking him quickly. The sound he made then was almost a growl, his eyes going unfocused for a moment before he gritted his teeth.

            “You want me to last, don’t you?” he chided. She smiled innocently, and he sighed raggedly.

            “Maybe,” she said sweetly.

            “Then don’t do that,” he said.

            “Maybe I have an agenda.”

            “Which is?”

            “Making this unbearable so you hurry up and put your cock inside me already.”

            “Fuck,” he snarled under his breath, and then, to her shock, pulled his fingers out of her and lay down next to her. “Well, come on, then.”

            “You’re going to make me do the work?” she asked, pretending to complain, though she was already in motion, lining herself up above him while he held his cock in perfect position for her.

            “I already told you,” he ground out while she slid down onto his length, unable to tear his eyes away from the point of contact, “I want to see if you’re still sensitive to the same things. I seem to recall that this is one of the best ways to get you to orgasm on me.”

            She shuddered, both because of his words and because of the way he fit as perfectly inside her as she remembered. As far as she understood, the art of resurrection was just that—an art, and therefore inexact. Rarely did chimaera end up with an exact replica of their old bodies. Though, she supposed, few people knew the resurrectionist as intimately as she did, and vice versa.

            “You have a good memory,” she sighed, both in response to his words and her own thought. Then she leaned down to kiss him, all the while working her cunt slowly up and down his cock.

            He moaned into her mouth, unable to keep silent for more than a second. She hummed in response, but unlike him, she wasn’t purposely holding herself back. She wanted to savor, to draw him out as long as she could.

            “You can hold out for me, can’t you?” she murmured. “You aren’t going to finish too quickly, are you?”

            “I’ll do whatever you want,” he answered. “I don’t care. I just need you. I don’t care how.”

            She bit his lip lightly. Felix had always been a generous and thorough lover, and she was happy to find the last two years hadn’t changed that.

            “Good,” she breathed, sitting back up and rocking on his cock more soundly, “because I want to come all over that cock, and then I want you to wring every last drop out of me until you can’t take it anymore and make the biggest mess of all.”

            He nodded eagerly, gripping her hips hard while he stared up at her. Every time she dropped down on him, he pulled, too, making sure every thrust was felt acutely by both of them.

            “I can do that,” he groaned. “I want to do that. I want you to get so fucking slick that I don’t even have to think about restraint while I fuck you.”

            She nodded too, picking up her page. “Want that. Want you to take out all your pent-up feelings on me.”

            “I will,” he moaned, moving his hands to squeeze her chest now, making her whimper, her hips stuttering for a moment. “I’ll show you just how badly I missed you,” he promised.

            She put her elbows down by his head, rutting back hard on him, shallow whines accompanying every motion. His moans were deep, so close to her ears.

            “Please, please, Felix, I’m so close,” she whimpered. His hands clamped back down on her hips, keeping up the punishing rhythm she’d set even when she faltered.

            “That’s it, that’s it, love,” he said, his voice so low, every syllable an aid to her. “Let me feel that sweet cunt coming all over my cock.”

            She broke. For a moment, her body locked up, her eyes squeezing shut, and then she was shuddering on top of him, moaning his name and a hearty combination of swears. His hands kept guiding her hips, less brutally now, ensuring they both got every bit of possible pleasure from her orgasm, prolonging on her end and teasing on his.

            “That’s it,” he praised, “gods, I’ve missed you so much.”

            She nodded deliriously, panting while she came down from her high. She met his eyes again, saw the perfect combination of adoration and lust in them, and ground herself down on his cock again. He groaned, and she clamped her lips down around another whine.

            “More,” she said, and he nodded. He coaxed her hips up off of him and guided her onto her back again. She opened her wings wide, laying all of her body—his work—out beneath him. His eyes roved over her every feature, and the sigh it prompted was long, like she hollowed him out entirely.

            “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said, positioning himself between her legs and tapping her entrance with his cockhead several times in quick succession, a sticky slap accompanying each one. She moaned and squirmed, hating and loving the teasing all at once. “Good thing you’re all mine, hm?”

            She nodded eagerly. “All yours. Forever.”

            “Good girl,” he praised, then entered her again. She fisted her hands into the towel under her, her hips shifting up to get as close to his as possible while she whined. She was already so sensitive that his every motion in her was acutely felt. His moans were deep and ragged as he picked a rhythm, and he wasn’t slow or gentle about it. Just like he’d said before, she was plenty slick, letting him abandon any semblance of self-control. He fucked her like mating with her was his only directive on this planet.

            He pinned one of her thighs back with his hand, using the other for balance above her, pounding into her hard and fast. She didn’t know where to look. There was his face, a frown of concentration and need, his lips parted while he moaned again and again. There was his musculature, pronounced all along his chest and abdomen while he put all his physicality into fucking her rough, chasing that high. And then, of course, there was his cock, glistening and sticky where it sank into her again and again. He was entirely mesmerizing.

            She put her hands out, trailing his body, feeling every dip and ridge of muscle at work. That drew a different sound from him, sighing deeply like he was the most blessed creature alive to have her attention.

            “More,” she urged again, her greed plain in her voice. The challenge flashed dark in his eyes, and he pinned both her knees back, shifting himself further over her in the process so that his hips thrust down instead of forward, hitting her deep and hard with the force of gravity on his side.

            “Yes, yes, that’s it, don’t you dare stop,” she said, her words tripping over themselves with little thought behind them.

            “Yeah?” he said, his turn to goad now. “That greedy cunt gonna come for me again?”

            “Yes,” she whined. “So close, please, Felix, please.”

            “That’s right, love,” he purred. “Show me what that pretty cunt can do.”

            Her moans were high and loud when her second orgasm tore through her, unable to make herself shut up. He moaned, too, the sound filled with both pleasure and pride.

            “That’s my girl,” he praised. “So good for me. And so fucking sexy, too.”

            She couldn’t answer him intelligibly, whining wordlessly instead. He let one of her legs go, but hooked the other one over his shoulder, straightening up on his knees and resuming his hard, fast rhythm. She knew him well, knew that when he fucked like that he was close to meeting his end. His hair was in his eyes, and he ran a rough hand through it to push it back.

            “I’m not the only sexy one here,” she whined. “You’ve always been so fucking beautiful.”

            Her words seemed to shatter his fervor for a moment, and his eyes snapped wide, sweet and full of love, as he met her gaze. His thrusts didn’t slow, but he leaned over her to kiss her, pressing her thigh into her body in the process. She moaned into his mouth. He broke their kiss with a surprised noise.

            “Fuck, I’m gonna—”

            It was so like him for kissing to be his last straw. His lips parted as he came hard inside her, every pump of warmth from his cock punctuated by a thrust of his hips. His moans were deep and throaty, his eyes shut tight against the sensation as he spread hotly inside her. He was so fucking gorgeous that it made her dizzy.

            After he’d finished, he stayed propped over her, breathing hard while his senses came back to him. She rubbed his back, feeling his heart hammering from his efforts. He put her leg back down, then pulled back enough to just look at her, and she looked back.

            “I love you so much, Felix,” she said softly, pushing his hair out of his face and tucking as much as she could behind his soft ears. “Don’t you ever forget it.”

            “I could never,” he said, his voice gentle but a little hoarse from how noisy he’d been before, “because I love you just as much.”

            They lay tangled together while he softened, and only after that did he remove his length from her. He helped her up, and they went back into the lake to gulp mouthfuls of water and let their bodies rinse naturally. After swimming leisurely for a bit, they got out and Felix produced the snacks he’d brought. They lounged about on the towels together, neither of them bothering to put their clothes back on.

            “Do you want to head back after this?” she asked him, licking a trail of fruit juice from her finger. She caught the way Felix watched her tongue work with singular attention.

            “What’s your hurry?” he asked softly, dragging his gaze back to her face. “We won’t be missed till morning.”

            She gave him a sly, lazy smile. “And how are you going to entertain me until morning, hm? What if I fall asleep on you?”

            “By all means,” he answered, his mouth pulling into a matching smile, “fall asleep on me as much as you’d like.”

            At that, she climbed back over him, slipping his soft length inside her. He flushed; he clearly hadn’t expected her to call his bluff so soon. As she stared down at him with a satisfied expression, she felt his cock twitch inside her, the beginnings of a new erection.

            “Ah,” she said, poorly feigning surprise, “I see.”

            It was a very long night for them, indeed.

[nekoprankster218]

WIP Ask Game

got tagged by @holyshonks

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have wips. people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

here's the problem... I got a crapton, scattered across a few different programs. So to make this a little easier, I'll only be doing files that are on my 4thewords. Biggest titles are project names, bullet points under them are notable files (if they are series, challenges, or dumping grounds). Bonus self-shaming: when you send an ask, I'll share how long ago I first started the WIP (some are these are from my Microsoft Word era, barely lived but I'm not pulling the plug on them yet).

seeing how many titles there ended up being, and how few people interact with me, you can do multiple in an ask / send multiple asks.

Puppet of Intent (Halo x RWBY crossover)

Eternity With You, And You (Fairy Tail rarepair AU)

"The Many Stories" Verse (Halo fic)

The Many Origin Stories of Ripa 'Moramee

The Many Endings of Jul 'Mdama

Skyrim: They Came From Beyond (Halo x Skyrim crossover)

Age of Dragons & Related (Fairy Tail OC, AU fic)

Fandomronpa 1: Despair Academy (multifandom; fandoms included, besides the obvious: Halo, Touhou, Fairy Tail, RWBY, Rango, Corpse Party, SCP Foundation, Lucius, Ib, Undertale, AtLA, The Hobbit, Wolf Among Us, Steven Universe, DDLC)

Popular Fanfic Tropes the series (multifandom)

L & Light Angel/Demon AU (Death Note AU oneshot)

YouTuber AU (MonsterVerse) (MonsterVerse oneshot)

Touhou Kaiju oneshot (Touhou x MonsterVerse oneshot)

TV Halo Enemies to Lovers AU (what it says on the tin)

Untitled Wendy-Only Papalogia AU (Fairy Tail AU)

Strangers in Strange Lands (Genshin crossover anthology; Minecraft, Fairy Tail, Halo, Corpse Party, Touhou, RWBY)

5 Times Others Reincarnated Into The Slime Isekai (and one time Rimuru reincarnated elsewhere) (Tensura crossover anthology; OMORI, Counter:Side, Genshin, RWBY, KonoSuba, tentatively MonsterVerse but might be swapping that out)

The Text/Group Chat AU (Halo fic)

The Mystery/Crime AU (Halo fic)

Contact: Velzard (Tensura fic; technically all the file stuff is still on Google Docs and the 4thewords copy is empty but shhhh I'm counting it)

Popular Ship Dynamics the series (multifandom)

Thel/'Ayomuu Opposites Attract multi-chapter (Halo... and I gotta do a lot of yapping because the title is a bit misleading to what the file is rn)

She's Kinda Pretty in Her Button-Up Shirt (Counter:Side)

B&B in Central World (Tensura OC stuff)

Random Fanfic Collection (multifandom)

king of the monsters, god of the humans (MonsterVerse oneshot)

The Strange Case of the Arbiter (Halo AU)

Nothing Bad Happens in Halo Ever (Halo AU anthology)

Unholy Trinity (Tensura Oneshot anthology)

God's Additional Blessings on This Slime's World! (Tensura x KonoSuba crossover, based on a mobile game collab)

Trailblazers of Heaven, Halos on Head (Halo x Honkai: Star Rail crossover)

Genshin Modern AU: The Anemo Circus (Genshin AU)

dovakiin but tinier (Skyrim AU)

TWST x Touhou: Guardians of Underworlds (TWST x Touhou crossover)

25j get a pet demon (ProSeka x Ghost Stories crossover)

OKAY now that that's done... there is no way I'm following that "tag someone for every file" rule. I don't even KNOW that many writers on tumblr, much less anyone I am both comfortable w tagging + I know hasn't done this before.

but I will tag @bloodgulchblog. as long as Tumblr search has not betrayed me, I didn't see this ask game there yet.

a few of these fics (Puppet of Intent, Eternity With You, And You, The Strange Case of the Arbiter, and Unholy Trinity) already have stuff posted on my AO3