#The fact that you believe one conversation will fix both of their problems

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Astarion teaching Tav embroidery/sewing. Preferably with him dragging them onto his lap for a close-up demonstration.

Why do I make everything so long? Do I have a problem? There is always so much introspective nonsense idk man. Anyway adorable idea actualized below!

Also mentions of sex but this is totally sfw. I went with the timeline of when your sleeping together but he hasn't quite admitted his feelings to himself, as a side!

~

Astarion had no idea how he became your camp's designated seamstress. How was it possible that a team of eight adults were all incapable of knowing the basics of such a fundamental skill?

Then again, Karlach seemed to be perfectly fine with wearing her clothes to tatters. Wyll was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Lae'zel, for some gods forsaken reason, was only capable of fixing up heavy armor. Gale seemed to prefer eating magical clothing items versus being able to salvage them and the rest were mediocre at best.

The look of confusion on Shadowheart's, who was the second most skilled by far, face when Astarion tried to explain a ladder stitch was enough for him to give up entirely. It was quicker to fix the tears then to explain simple concepts to simpletons.

Brats. All of you. With one who was significantly more brazen than the rest when it came to using Astarion as their personal tailor.

Tav, the lovely thorn in his side. Who could handle wielding a glaive with startingly accuracy, but somehow managed to consistently stab themselves every time they picked up a sewing needle. It was impressive, how useless someone who was otherwise extremely competent could be.

Impressive as it was frustrating. Because somehow you managed to destroy your clothes more often than anyone else. Always bashfully handing him over torn trousers and ripped shirts every other night. Anyone else he would have told to fuck off by now. Even the rest of the camp knew better than to test their luck with anything more than once a fortnight. But you lacked the very basic level of self-control.

It was his own fault for giving you special treatment in the first place. But sleeping together did warrant a few extra benefits. He got your protection and you got to experience the pleasure of being with him. Simple. Or it would have been if you didn't insist on making things complicated.

Because Astarion was starting to feel things. Things that he hadn't anticipated. Because your company was... oddly pleasant. You were an interesting little thing, he had to give you that. Well-read and talkative, but not boringly so. No, Astarion sometimes found himself losing track of time when he was with you. A simple question could easily turn into a two-hour conversation about the silliest things. It was... nice. New. And oh so different from what he was used to.

Cazador didn't even allow him or his brethren to speak in his home, let alone speak to each other unless it was strictly necessary. But here he was free to do whatever he pleased. And he was finding that included being near you, despite how differently you both saw the world.

He couldn't quite blame you for your delusional optimistic views. As a Tymora worshipper you were basically doomed from the start to believe inane concepts like good fortune, luck, and gods, the good that could be found in "anyone".

You were as sweet as you were aggravating and Astarion truly, honestly, had no idea how your insane trusting nature hadn't managed to get you killed yet. But then again he... kind of liked that about you. He liked that you trusted him. It made his life more convienet and... it was nice to be seen as a person worth confiding in. Instead of the blood-sucking monster he really was.

He... liked that. He liked you. A fact that he didn't enjoy thinking about. He didn't really know what to do with it, and the implications of where his feelings could lead were starting to become unsettling. So he pushed it out of his mind. It was an easy thing to do when doom was always looming in the background. He had plenty of things to think about that didn't include his fondness for you.

Like the inner-rage you caused when you managed to somehow rip the same shirt twice in one day.

"That's it," Astarion announced when you bashfully asked for his help yet again, "Come here. I'm teaching you how to sew."

"But you always get mad when you try," You whined. But despite the hesitancy you still obediently sat next to him as he got out the sewing kit, "Do you promise not to snap this time?"

"That depends," Astarion said with a roll of the eyes, "Do you intend on not maiming yourself with a sewing needle?"

Astarion smirked at the way that made a blush crawl up your neck, "That was one time!"

"Actually darling it was closer to seven," Astarion corrected as he snatched the shirt from your hands, "Now pay attention. Look at where the tear starts. Notice how it's on the seam?"

You nodded along as Astarion explained the basics to you. He could tell that you were trying your damndest to pay attention, but when it was your turn to hold the needle your hands couldn't stop shaking. Astarion frowned as he tried to watch you work, his view obfuscated by the angle and the flow of your hair.

Well that wouldn't do.

Before he could think better of it he was hauling you into his lap, ignoring your surprised squeak as he situated you just right.

That was better. At least now he could see what you were doing. It was a sloppy stich, sloppy enough for him to undo it before putting the needle back in your hand.

"Now do it again," Astarion ordered, "Let me see what your doing wrong."

Astarion watched as you tried again, frowning when he realized your shaking was even worse than before. In fact, you seemed more nervous than ever, your face red as you kept your eyes down.

It made Astarion torn between watching your hands and looking at your face. You really were adorable, getting all worked up from simply being in his lap, all while trying to stay dutifully undistracted. He could almost hear your heart racing, obvious through the tension coursing through you.

Silly little thing, acting all shy like he hadn't already literally been inside of you. But at least you were doing better, your stitching straighter than Astarion had ever seen it. Maybe he'd have to make the lap-sitting mandatory from now on, for the good of your learning.

"See," Astarion said softly, his breath tickling your ear as he leaned in closer, "You're perfectly capable of learning this."

"So it looks good?" You asked, taking a chance to glance at him. Astarion hadn't realized just how close the two of you really were. He had never... seen you like this before. So closely. Even when you slept together, he had been a bit distracted by other parts of your body. He never noticed just how many light freckles were hiding across the bridge of your nose, how your eyes looked almost golden in candlelight. You smelled nice too, sweet. Like you had been rolling around in a field of lilies. Considering your personality, Astarion had to wonder if that's exactly what you did.

It would take almost nothing to press your lips together. Barely a turn on the head.

"Astarion, are you listening?"

The sound of his voice snapped him out of his revelry. He straightened, clearing his throat as he looked over your work again, embarrassed in a way that he couldn't quite describe.

Maybe you weren't the only one being affected after all.

"It looks better," Astarion said honestly, "But still needs work. You'll almost certainly be needing more lessons."

Preferably like this. Astarion wasn't quite ready to let you go yet, not when you felt so pleasantly warm in his lap. But luckily enough for him, you didn't seem quite so keen to leave.

Astarion tightened his hold on you laughing at the way it made you gasp, "But that's enough for today. I think you've earned a reward. Don't you?"

"I-yes?" You said back, your eyes flitting from Astarion's mouth and back, "Please?"

You really were too precious. How could he possibly say no to that?

Astarion grinned as he tilted your chin up, finally pressing your lips together. It was an odd feeling, kissing someone when he couldn't stop smiling, but he supposed you just had that effect on him.

Maybe being the camp seamstress wasn't so bad after all.

[samcvrpenters]

word count:  1.7k+

pairing:  joe goldberg x fem! reader x love quinn

summary:  ever since the married couple set eyes on you, they both knew that they wanted you for themselves. but, sharing is caring, right?

warnings:  obsession, mentions of sexual content, murder, gore, drugging

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

they first set eyes on you when you walked into sherry’s and cary’s. they had set a party up— mainly for themselves but also for love and joe, and it was more of a congratulations for the birth of henry. they were a little more self-absorbed than others, but joe and love pulled it together in order to stay. after all, this was for henry.

maybe it was something a little unexpected, the fact that there would be so many people there. but it gave them a chance to analyse. more for joe, anyway. he always believed love never truly took in the picture in front of her, which would eventually be the couple’s downfall.

love had actually seen you first. you were in the bathroom, touching up your makeup for the party. you had this beautiful dress on, and love almost couldn’t take her eyes off you. you were simply that stunning— and she almost felt guilty when having those feelings. but then she remembered the whole situation with natalie and she couldn’t find herself caring anymore about what joe thought.

you two got into a rather explicit conversation. you were mainly laughing about the relationship between sherry and cary and how sherry often did her own thing. but it didn’t really matter to you. the only thing that mattered was that you were having a good time. and so was love. 

shortly after the conversation, you excused yourself to go and meet your husband. what the hell were you doing married? you had no reason to be married. she had already declared to herself that you belonged to her. 

as your hand slid around his hip and grasped gently at his blazer with your left hand, joe had finally took sight of you. honestly, you must have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen before. and he was already flaming with jealousy by the time he watched your lips lock with the person that you were married to. 

he had no reason to be jealous. he shouldn’t even be thinking about you like that in the first place. he was happily married (well, that was up for discussion), and he knew that love would act up if he even locked eyes with you for more than a second. but once she had walked out of the bathroom with her eyes still fixed on your body, joe came to a realisation.

she was just like him.

which meant that whatever joe did, love was most likely to do too. they were both fixated on you already, their infatuation running like a train— directly to the destination which could only be you.

he took her to the side to talk to her. at first, he sounded confrontational and almost annoyed. but with each word that came out of his mouth, he sounded more and more peaceful as his eyes kept flickering towards you. towards the way you ran your hand delicately across your husband’s chest.

“she’s stunning, isn’t she?” love’s comment came almost as quickly as his argument came along, causing him to halt with the comments he was making. of course she had spotted his small glances at you. he was quite obvious. and she had experienced it firsthand before. 

joe wasn’t sure what to say. his hand was placed firmly on love’s side, veins so evident as he gently rubbed at it. of course he had to act like he actually cared about her— even though it was quite the opposite. he hated her for what she was, even if that was an exact replica of himself. but he had to at least act like it.

“get her away from her husband.” joe’s voice is raspy in the ear of his wife, his back turned towards you so that he would be able to whisper freely into her ear without anyone overhearing.

love immediately took to the role as the distraction. she approached you, greeting you with a smile on her face. she was always the extroverted one out of the pair of them, so she had no problem just approaching you like this. she gently took your hand and led you away from him, pulling you to where the drinks were.

she raises the glass to your lips and allows you to drink out of it, letting you sip gently at the liquid inside of it before pulling it away. “nice?” she questions with a hum, her hand still placed on your arm. the physical touch was so much to her. 

“so nice.” your voice is so perfect. so beautiful. you sound like an angel. cliche, she knows. but you’re exactly like that. an angel. you’ve been sent down from the heavens to satisfy her needs and to give her an actual opportunity with her husband to do something they both agree on. 

she can already imagine those nights with you.

your back would be pushed against the wall, her hands roaming up and down her body and her fingernails scratching gently at your skin. maybe she could make you bleed if she was lucky. her tongue would run down the flesh and gently lick up what she had caused, her tongue aching for more of that metallic taste since it was you.

she would hoist you up onto the counter of her kitchen, pushing that lovely little dress you were  wearing up to your hips and above your waist and allowing her lips to touch your inner thighs— those love bites making such a scene for her and joe whenever they would want more of you. they would treat you so well. so much better than that pathetic excuse of a husband.

talking about that husband, joe was certainly doing his job well. his charm was coming through unbelievably fast and was almost so convincing. he wanted him to leave the party so that he could deal with him properly.

he had never acted so fast with murder in his life. but he would be willing to do it for you. he would be willing to stab. to slash. to shoot.

he wanted, so badly, to pull the man to the side and instantly carve out his heart. maybe he would use the knife that he knew was right in the middle of that knife block in sherry and cary’s kitchen. maybe he would dig the blade into the flesh of his chest and push and push until he managed to gently prick the organ that could only feel.

he’d maybe take the liberty of carving out his skin first. he could already imagine it. the blood would be horrific. all over the place, and he would messily detach the heart from any of the veins and arteries and instantly burn it.

he would give anything for that.

but of course, the world didn’t work that way, as your husband just shrugged his comments off and told him that you would have to be off soon.

he didn’t want that to happen. no, he wanted him to be done with. he wanted to shatter that man’s stupid hopes and dreams by ending them and then just fuck you a minute later. maybe that was too much to ask for, but he wanted it.

he could only stand there as your husband dismissed him, before he ended up walking back over to you and love. he introduced himself and then told you that the man over there was looking for you. you nod and smile, and allow yourself to walk back over to him, but not before commenting that it was nice to meet them both.

joe and love would have to plan. 

planning was never a big deal to joe, but to love? it would be different. she never really planned anything out. she wasn’t really that careful with anything but she was willing to listen to her husband to get you. they agreed to share you. after all, it was bringing them closer together. 

she heard that you and… what even was his name? was it alex? she was sure that his name was alex. she heard that you and alex were going on vacation soon. 

so, joe was the one who went over there and mercilessly slashed the tires of the man’s car. he wouldn’t let you leave— there was no way. so much more could happen during that time you were away and he couldn’t let you slip away.

alex told you that he would go out and walk to get a courtesy car— after all, the town was quite small and you wouldn’t necessarily mind if that was the case. you hummed and kissed him on the cheek, waving sweetly at him as he left the house.

you heard a knock on the door almost a few minutes later, revealing love with a box of cupcakes and whatnot. you let her in with a small smile on your face, and she lets you lead her to the table to munch on those sweet desserts. food was definitely bringing the two of you closer together.

joe never had an issue with following people. so following the man that was so stuck to you? not a big deal in the slightest.

he lets himself walk faster as he passes one of the cameras in the town, before pulling alex into the next alley where he was sure there were absolutely no cameras in the slightest and letting himself stab the man in the chest. just like he imagined.

he knew he would have to deal with the body, so he pulls out a small can of gasoline and sprinkles it over the man, before pulling out the lighter and gently setting fire to the body. he makes sure to pull the knife away and keep it stashed in his pocket— all stained with blood. he couldn’t leave any evidence behind. it would just be a random mugging that would end with arson. 

and meanwhile?

that small poison that love had planted into the cake was beginning to make its way through into your body.

what did you expect?

they were so obsessed with you. 

[mrs-harrington-reid]

Begin Again

Snow on the beach

" I can’t speak, afraid to jinx it. I can’t even dare to wish it but your eyes are flying saucers from another planet. Now I’m all for you like Janet can this be a real thing, can it?” - Taylor Swift

Pairing: Post Prison Spencer x Single Mom Reader

Summary: Spencer's therapist had encouraged him to get back into the dating scene to improve his mental wellness but after multiple failed blind dates Spencer feels that it is doing the exact opposite. That is until JJ and Garcia set him up with you.

Warnings: talking about traumatic dates, fluffity fluffy fluff, post prison spencer just being a little lover boy cutie pahtootie, lmk if I missed anything else!

Begin Again (Masterlist)

It wasn't that the girls Spencer went on blind dates with were horrible, they just weren't exactly the best. His first date was with a nice women that was in the same book club as Garcia. The date had gone wonderful until she asked if he had a chip in his neck so that the government could track him, and he would've laughed if she wasn't being completely serious. The next one was a girl who used to nanny Henry, that was all fun and games until her ex boyfriend showed up at the restaurant and she left Spencer with nothing but the bill.

Then there was the one who had too much wine and threw up all over him, the one who believed that the earth was flat and that the holocaust never happened, the one who just wanted a signed book from Rossi, and so on. He had been on at least ten failed dates within the spand of three months and to say he was over it would be an understatement.

"Oh come on Spence just give this one a try." JJ pleaded as they walked into the elevator with Garcia.

"I just don't see how this girl could possibly be any better than the last ten that you and Garcia set me up with."

"But she is!" Garcia exclaimed. "You see me and the all so lovely JJ realized the problem was that we hadn't picked a girl for you together as a team so that's exactly what we did and she will blow your little genius mind."

"fine." He huffed in defeat "but if this date ends horribly you have to promise to never set me up again."

Both the girls agreed to the deal so Garcia sent him your number as fast as she possibly could've.

All he could do was pray that they were right and that this date would turn out to be better than the last ones.

_

You adjusted your knitted sweater while you intensely examined yourself in the mirror. You wondered if you had put on too much makeup or if your tan knitted sweater with jeans and converse was too lazy for a first date.

"Can you stop fixing something every five seconds your seriously stressing me out." Your best friend Liv pleaded behind you while her head hung off the edge of your bed.

"I'm scared liv this is the first date I've been on in a long time and I don't want it to turn into a dumpster fire of a night." You sighed and brushed out the curls in your hair one more time.

"I think its going to be just fine from what you told me this guy is just as awkward as you are so maybe it's like a match made in dork heaven." She laughed.

"He seems super sweet I'm just scared he's going to run for the hills as soon as I tell him about Autumn."

“If he has a problem with the fact that you have a daughter he clearly isn't mature enough to handle a real relationship and needs to start acting his age."

Most men you tried to date either immediately ran or told you that they "weren't looking for anything serious right now" after you told them a out Autumn. You just prayed that Spencer would be the exception considering he was six years older than you and had experienced a little more life than you had.

The ping of a text message distracted you from your previous thoughts. "Okay liv, Spencer is going to be here in five minutes to pick me up. Theo is dropping Autumn off at seven and remember please she needs to be in bed by eight or else she gets grumpy in the morning and I'll be home at least by eight thirty." You rambled.

"don't you worry about Autumn she's going to have a great time with the world's greatest god mother. Also I already took the day off so go clean out your cobwebs tonight, I got this." You both let out a laugh at her last comment.

"I just feel so guilty leaving Autumn the day she comes home from her dad's. I promise I will be home by at least nine so maybe I can call in too and we can go get brunch in the morning?" You suggested fixing your earrings; finally feeling less anxious about how this would all play out.

Before liv could answer you the doorbell rang signaling you that either Spencer was waiting or Theo had been there early to drop Autumn off. Your heart rate picked up as you grabbed your purse and walked to the front door and slowly turned the knob.

"Hi you must be Y/N" Spencer smiled when you opened the door. You hadn't expected him to walk all the way up to your door and knock. Most of the guys you'd gone out with were the drive by and honk type, especially Autumns father Theo when you were dating.

"Yes I am and you must be the famous Dr. Spencer Reid I've heard so much about." You beamed as you walked out and shut your door behind you as soon as you heard liv open her mouth.

"Only good things I hope?"

"I think we both know JJ and Penelope would never dare to say anything bad about you." You said as you both approached his car, blushing when he opened the car door for you.

You were sort of confused at the fact that he insisted on picking you up. You could’ve sworn that you remembered JJ saying something about how he hated driving.

The drive was mostly silent and sort of awkward on your way to the unknown restaurant that Penelope had insisted he take you to after you told her that you enjoyed pasta, she had made your guys' reservation and everything. And when you arrived he opened your door for you once again. Even after being told almost every detail about the man standing before you still felt extremely nervous to make conversation.

"So JJ tells me that your a teacher." He attempts to make small talk.

"I am. I teach kindergarten, honestly I wanted to be an English Lit professor but you kinda of have to wait for one of those guys to die before the position is opened." You winced at your own shitty joke. You and Liv had always joked about how college professors looked like they were decomposing but Spencer didn't know that. And now that you’re thinking about it you remember Penelope telling you that Spencer was a professor when he wasn't with the BAU.

He let out at small laugh and you were absolutely flabbergasted. He got your joke? And he laughed? You were starting to wonder if this was just a laugh at all her jokes type of flirt tactic. But then again JJ had told you that he was sort of oblivious and bad at flirting.

"That's so true. You know the average age of college professors in the United States is 42 but there are significantly more faculty that reported their age at 55 and above so technically there's a lot more old professors in the USA than young professors." He rambled.

"I didn't know that." You smiled. He did understand your joke.

When you arrived at the front door of the restaurant you were met with a sign that said "CLOSED" in bold letters. You swear you could've cried you were only twenty minutes into the date and it had been so wonderful until this.

"oh...well if you wanted we could find a food truck and eat in my car? But only if you want to." He suggested, anxiously waiting for your response. You noticed him fidgeting with his fingers and you immediately interpreted that he was outside his comfort zone asking you to stay but he was still trying nonetheless.

"This isn't your master plan to drive to some viewpoint and get me in your back seat is it?" you smiled trying to ease his anxiety.

"I promise" he held his hands up.

You both walked back to his car unable to stop smiling. He was glad that you already weren't like the other girls he had gone on dates with. And you were happy that he wasn't as douche like the other guys you had been on dates with but you also still needed to tell him about autumn before you fully came to any conclusion about his character.

"Spencer before we continue this date I have something I need to tell you." You stopped walking and looked at him and he had fully set into a panic. This is it. This is when you would turn out to be just as insane as the other ones. He braced himself for your next words. "I have a one year daughter. I needed to tell you before I got too attached and you decided to run. I told JJ and Penelope not to tell you so that I could see how you reacted."

He exhaled a breath he didn't even know he was holding in. "That's a relief."

You quirked your brow at him. "So you don't care that I have a daughter at home?"

"Not at all" he reassured you "I actually quite like kids. I've never had any of my own but I have my two godsons and they're wonderful." You smiled at him. How could he have been so damn perfect.

You continued walking and he opened the door for you once again when you reached his car. And once you were both in the small talk started up again. "So I assume you know how I know JJ and Garcia but how did you meet them." He was still astounded at the fact that they both knew someone this perfect and didn't set you up with him sooner.

"I used to be Henry's teacher and then when my I had my daughter me and JJ were in a mom group together and we became friends. And then I met Penelope when JJ invited me out one night and I've been friends with the both of them ever since." You responded. "And I'm guessing your Henry's godfather that he dressed up as for Halloween when I had him as a student?"

"How did you know? That was such a long time ago I'm surprised you even remember that." He smiled at the fond memory.

"Because it was probably the cutest little costume I had ever seen and extremely creative might I add. My daughter was a pumpkin for her first Halloween and Henry beat her in cuteness by a long shot." You gushed. "But don't ever tell her I said that."

"Can you tell me about her? Your daughter." Spencer asked. You felt like you needed to pinch your arm to see if this was real.

"Her name is Autumn. I named her that because she was born in October and my favorite poem is Autumn by Alice Clary. She has so much personality for a one year old and she’s just so beautiful and amazing. I never saw myself being a mom but now that I am I couldn’t imagine anything else." He admired the way your eyes sparkled and your voiced softened when you talked about her. It was so incredible how in love you were with being a mother. He parked the car and you both walked out and towards the first food truck that you had passed neither of you cared what kind of food it was considering you were absolutely starving.

Within the next couple of hours you had both ordered your food and we're currently eating it as you spoke on the hood of Spencer's car. He has his head thrown back laughing as you told a story about one of your lousy dates that you had been on in the past.

"So I really thought I got stood up and I was ready to leave until this guy shows up and explained to me that he had to have his mom drop him off because he missed the bus. And then he continues to tell me all about how he still lived in her basement and was unemployed." You laughed.

"What did you tell him."

"I pretended that Autumns dad called me and told me that she was sick and I had to leave immediately." You responded "and then he asked me if I could take him back to his mom's house on my way. I ended up taking him home and paying for my own dinner."

"I can do you one better." Spencer laughed "One time JJ set me up with this woman from your mom group named Amy and she seemed okay until she started drinking and in the middle of me telling her what I do for a living she threw up all over me in the middle of the restaurant. I had to carry her out because she could barely walk and I swear my car smelled like puke for a week."

"why would JJ even set you up with her" you wheezed "we literally call her alcoholic Amy. She always has a flask in her son’s diaper bag it’s absurd.” You giggled.

Spencer sat there admiring your beauty as you laughed. Something about you made him feel so comfortable. In the short time you'd known each other you made him feel so comfortable that he didn't need to hide behind all his knowledge. Comfortable enough that he could just be a carefree and casual version of himself that he barely even knew existed. He felt bold and confident in your presence and it made him so truly happy.

Your phone starting to ring. You picked it up extremely fast, scared that it was Liv wanting to face time to tell you that something was wrong with Autumn. But Penelope's name and face was the only thing that covered your screen.

"Oh look who it is." You giggled and flashed your phone at Spencer before you answered. "Hey pen, what's up?"

"So I was calling to ask how the date went but then I realized that I had gotten the confirmation for your guys' reservation at six this morning and I thought it was weird but sei la vie you know?" You and Spencer smiled at her rambling "But then I looked at the website and these people are open at six in the freaking morning! So turns out I made your reservation for seven thirty am not seven thirty pm cause they're closed at five which is completely bonkers if you ask me." She took a second to finally breathe "so I am so sorry if your date got ruined. Ugh and you were the first good one we set him up with too but I'll fix it no worries my love."

"Pen I'm gonna say your hours too late on this call but your all good we found something else to do so no worries." You laughed and turned your screen so that Penelope could see Spencer sitting next to you.

"Oh look at that you guys are still out. I would like to end this call with a quick" she cleared her throat preparing for her next words "I win Spencer, I told you she was a good one! ha!" After those last words she hung up.

"oh my goodness I didn't even realize what time it was" you gasped when you looked at the time on your phone and saw that It was almost midnight. "I'm so sorry I kept you out this late."

"No really your okay. I'd be lying if I didn't already see the time a while ago, I just didn't want this to end so fast." He admitted and it made you heart absolutely melt.

"If I didn't have autumn waiting at home for me I would totally stay for longer but I really should get going." You sighed.

He nodded and took your guys' garbage to throw away before he opened the passenger door for you to hop in. After he got back into the car and put his seat belt on he felt the need to ask you about your previous marriage. Something intrigued him about the fact that you had gotten divorced for what he considered to be at a young age.

“So I know this is sort of first date taboo but um, why did you get divorced? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to I was just kind of curious because I just feel like twenty eight is a young age to get divorced.”

“Oh no I really don’t mind talking about it.” You reassured him. “Me and Theo met in high school. Honestly it was one of those cliche high school sweethearts type of things. I was a cheerleader; he was the captain of the basketball team and our parents were friends so we just thought why not? It seemed right at the time but after I got pregnant with autumn everything changed so I filled for divorce before she was born.” “you know it’s actually proven that children who never experience their parents unhappy relationships actually live a much happier and healthier life than those who experience their parents divorce.” He tried to make you feel better about your failed marriage in his own special way.

“I hope that’s the case with Autumn” you sighed.

“I’m sure it will be. I know we haven’t known each other for very long but you seem like a really good mom.” He smiled as you pulled into your driveway. Neither of you were ready for the night to end but you knew it had to eventually.

“I’ll walk you to your door” he cleared his throat before exiting his car. He opened the door and you both silently walked to the front door but as you went to turn the knob Spencer stopped you. “I’m going to ask you a question and you can feel free to tell me no but it’s going to drive me crazy if I don’t ask. Can I kiss you?”

“yeah” you let out softly. He placed his hand on your cheek and slowly leaned down until your lips met. You moved your arms to rest on his shoulders while he moved his other hand to your waist. Something as simple as a kiss had never felt so perfect to you.

That was until Liv opened the door and cleared her throat in an incredibly overdramatic manner. “Hi I’m Olivia, Y/N’s roommate.” You and Spencer pulled away from each other, cheeks flushed and chests heaving.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Spencer” Olivia waited for a handshake that was never going to happen.

“He has a thing with germs”, “I have a thing with germs” you both stated at the exact same time.

“Anyway I should get inside now I had a fun night with you Spencer, feel free to text me anytime.” You smiled at each other with a silent understanding before he walked away.

you walked past liv to get inside. “So coming home after curfew young lady. Tsk. tsk. Did you get lucky?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“no he was a perfect gentleman and we just got lost in conversation.” You beamed.

“I imagine it was hard to have a conversation with his tongue down your throat!”

“that was the only time we kissed tonight! I really like him liv something about this guy just feels so different. It feels like I was meant to meet him you know.” Liv let out a small laugh but you were completely serious. You knew Spencer Reid was about to change your life you just didn’t know how yet.

“oh my goodness and what was that germ thing about. I mean the man wouldn’t shake my hand but he would swap saliva with you?”

“you know it’s actually more cleanly to kiss than shake hands.”

liv just shook her head “you two really were made for each other. I’m going to bed now but I will be ready for brunch in the morning.” She said before she walked to her room. You threw yourself on your couch and you couldn’t help but kick your feet at just how happy you were and little did you know Spencer was just as giddy as he walked into his apartment.

-

A/N: sorry this took my so long to get this out I’m revamping my fics rn so hopefully I’ll be posting more soon! I hope you enjoyed this and heads up I have not proofread so I’m sorry for any mistakes you come across. I appreciate feedback and I hope y’all have a wonderful day and lmk if you would like to be added in the taglist💕

also if any of y’all are into the Harry Potter universe please feel free to check out my other fic im working on called: The Alchemy

Taglist: @witchsbitchestime @sonicthehedgedoggo @feyresqueen @donttrustlove @alcoholandcakes @person-005 @ilwsma @mega-kittyglitter-1 @creative-heart @chicken-fifi

[izzabela]

Can you write about Kuei Liang x female reader about the reader believes Kuai Liang is cheating on her with Harumi since they are childhood friends and close because they've been spending so much time together and he even named the clan after her and starts to distance herself away from him?

Focus - Kuai Liang x fem!reader

in which Kuai Liang's priorities are not in line

a/n: sigh

ship[s]: kuai liang x fem!reader

warning(s): emotional cheating, gaslighting, harumi is not a girls girl guys

Honestly, the fact Japan was Kuai Liang's first idea should have waved some flags.

He said he has a familiar there, so why not trust him?

Coincidentally, it was a girl, but a familiar nonetheless. Besides, it had been years since contact, so of course nothing was suspicious.

Right?

"Her name is Harumi. We... grew up together," Kuai Liang had said once.

It's okay, you're cool.

Meeting her was an interesting... occurance. She liked you for sure, but she didn't like like you. Always eyeing you, sizing you up, but never too close to you.

She was a divider between you and Kuai Liang, but you were so sure that Kuai Liang would know better.

Right?

"It's been a while, we grew up together!" he had said once.

"She just wants to reminisce the past," he said another time.

It's okay, you're cool.

But reminiscing turned into longer talks. The longer talks turned into longer lunches. Longer lunches turned to dinners out.

And dinners out always led her to his bed.

"We took naps together once as children," Kuai Liang defended her once.

"She was hungover, and you were out that night," Kuai Liang said another time.

But it's okay, you're cool- though, you wish that it was you behind his metaphorical shield.

So you still try to get along with Harumi. You still try to talk to her. You still try to have breakfast, tea, train with her.

She rejects every advance. Whether with smart-ass comments, snarky replies- it's annoying.

But it's okay, you're cool.

After a couple months, you decide to talk to Kuai Liang about it. You explained how you felt: how you felt left out, how you felt forgotten- like a second place trophy.

"It's okay, dear," Kuai Liang said. "Nothing is wrong, and you are still my number one."

But the math doesn't line up. His numbers don't make sense, but you still make the calculations work.

Meet the problem half way, find the variables, anything to find the missing piece. But the problem is left unsolved.

But it's okay, you're cool- you'll fix it another time.

But the other time stretches into days. The days into weeks, and the weeks turn into months. And suddenly, the problem is forgotten.

Kuai Liang and Harumi are seen in your eyes They're happy, smiles all around as Kuai Liang brushes a hair out of her face.

It's okay, you're cool- although, you wonder the last time Kuai Liang held you with such tenderness.

You'll never see the tenderness though, as Kuai Liang finally sat down with you after a whole year at her compound.

He doesn't smile with you anymore. His eyes don't shine as they used to, not the way they do with Harumi. He takes your hand as you both sit on the edge of your shared bed.

Is it even your bed anymore, though?

"I have something to tell you," he begins. And it's a lot isn't it?

How Harumi and Kuai Liang stayed up drinking one night. In her room. With bottles of sake and other premium Japanese liquors. How Harumi hasn't felt this way with any suitors. How she's only thought of him after all these years.

"And so, I am leaving you. But you understand, do you not?"

His eyes look for a sure answer in yours. Because you always said yes, always said go ahead, always affirmed him.

"It's okay, I'm cool," you replied.

Even after Kuai Liang was happy around Harumi, now including you in conversations and hang outs, Harumi remained still and firm like stone.

You had overheard her once, talking to her servants about a single harlot hanging around a taken man.

Ironic, but it's okay. You're cool about it- especially with a woman as insecure as Harumi.

Even so, they worked. Kuai Liang and Harumi fit better than you and him ever did. He knew her inside and out, just as she did. And she knew him top to bottom, just as he did.

You wished they didn't. You wished their perfect home collapsed under them. That the roof would cave and fall and bury them alive. But you can't say that, not when you're cool with it.

And so, as Kuai Liang guided Harumi down the aisle on their wedding day, their red and gold clothes well-coordinated and perfectly fit, you wished them happiness.

Even if you imaged yourself in her place.

Even if you imagined her on the side.

Even if you imagined her somewhere else in the god damn realms.

But you don't' say anything, not on their special day.

Because it's okay, and you're cool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

guys i fear i'm in a mortal kombat burnout because i wanna write a cod fic so bad

but if i write a cod fic then the requests will eat me alive

idk what to do

see yall in the next fic!

[tollingreminiscentbells]

In the defense of bottom!Voldemort|Tom

I'm in a mood, so I've decided to break down my thoughts on this topic and I'm putting it in the tags for anyone who is interested. With a suitably melodramatic title.

The rules here are simple: if you know you won't like this, don't read it. If you read it anyway and don't like it, that is the definition of a you problem. Okay? Okay.

So let's talk about why I think it is incorrect and, frankly, offensive to claim that Voldemort|Tom bottoming is inherently out of character.

In order to have this conversation, we're actually having a bigger conversation about sex. Because that's really what this is about.

Something that has popped up in a handful of comments on my own fic is surprise that Voldemort wants to suck Harry's cock. Now, I'm going to be charitable and assume that the people who say things like this don't realize what they're implying. But the reality is that they are operating from the assumption that a man sucking another man's dick is, at least to some extent, weak and degrading. A subservient act.

This is both homophobic and factually untrue. A significant percentage of people who like dick also like giving blowjobs. It's an enjoyable, pleasurable thing to do. And even if the physical act of sucking cock doesn't turn someone on, there are so many other reasons to want to do it. Getting off on being the source of your partner's pleasure, for one example.

But let's move on to the elephant in the room: anal sex. Specifically, the act of being penetrated. The interesting thing about bottoming is that, contrary to what some people seem to believe, it's the more powerful position. Penetration is only happening because the person bottoming is granting permission. Even if that person has ceded total control of the encounter, the fact remains that they made that decision in the first place and could un-make it at any time.

If that agency does not exist, the sex is not truly consensual. Full stop.

Moreover, a strong, dominant personality =/= topping. There is no innate correlation. This is where misogyny really comes to the table. Bottoming seen as a feminine act, and femininity conflated with weakness and submission. Do I think (most) Tomarrymort readers are consciously thinking this way? No. But that doesn't mean the underlying bias isn't present.

There are so many ways penetrative sex can play out. Yes, you get the "classic" version of the person topping being dominant and the person bottoming being submissive. But you can also get topping from the bottom, where the dominant partner in every way is the person being fucked. Or maybe no one is taking a dominant role. Et cetera. This is a broad overview, not an exhaustive list.

Do you see what none of these things have? An assumption that topping=stereotypical masculinity and bottoming=stereotypical femininity. Even with a couple that likes playing with that flavor of gender roles, it's a choice they're making. And before someone willfully misunderstands me, there is nothing wrong with that choice. But don't mistake it for something it's not.

So now that we've clarified that being penetrated is not weak, degrading, or even inherently submissive, let's bring this back to Tomarrymort.

First of all, have you read the books? Voldemort is campy as shit. High drama and a surprisingly great sense of humor (his jokes are fucked up, but also pretty funny). He's not this hyper-masculine figure. On the flip side, Harry is not an effeminate man. He's a jock who will fight you.

So from whence comes this zealous dedication some people have to a fixed dynamic that puts Voldemort|Tom in the masculine role and Harry in the feminine role? Yes, we've established that sex positions are neither of those things, but we all know that's the assumption simmering toxically in the background.

I can't say for sure, but my instincts tell me that it comes from a shallow read of both characters. Voldemort is a powerful man who commands a terrorist organization. Harry is the good-hearted hero, defined by his capacity to love. And this can get twisted into Voldemort|Tom taking and Harry giving in a very reductive way. Even when the relationship is meant to be consensual.

Obviously, I don't think this is universal. I've read a lot of incredible takes on sex in this fandom, with different top/bottom/switching dynamics. And this is fanfiction, which means you can play with characterization to your heart's content. What I'm talking about is people insisting that Voldemort|Tom must top and Harry must bottom and anything else is wrong.

Why are you so adamant about that? Have you ever given it a moment's thought? If you prefer it, you prefer it, that's all fine. But when it morphs into claiming that bottom!Voldemort|Tom is out of character and bad, things have crossed over into the arena of the absurd. Like what you like, but be aware of what you're really saying when you talk about sex.

Not conflating bottoming with weakness and topping with strength would be a good starting point. Understand that there are myriad reasons a person might want to bottom. It can be a source of relief, allowing someone else to take control so you don't have to. It can be an act of manipulation. It can be a form of domination. And sometimes it's just because bottoming is what feels good and they have more fun that way. Or it's just the kind of pleasure they're in the mood for on a random Tuesday night.

No one is telling you to read things you don't enjoy. And no one is saying that fixed top/bottom dynamics don't exist in the real world. But it's ridiculous to apply a fixed dynamic to such a degree that you get upset when other people write something else and consider a fic "ruined" by it. You really should put some thought into your biases. It's good for you. But even if you don't, when you claim a sexual dynamic is inherently out of character, you're actually just wrong. So stop doing that. It will be a net gain for all of us, including you.

[h4arts]

How woulf the Wednesday chacters act if they were jealous?

jealousy with the wednesday characters

-wednesday: she won't outwardly show it and doesn't exactly know what she's feeling because she's never really had a reason to be jealous before. she'll ignore you afterwards, thinking the feeling will go away until you confront her about it. it'll probably take a long discussion to explain why wednesday felt like that but you'll both work it out. (she might also threaten the person that made her jealous. might)

-enid: she doesn't get jealous very easily, in fact, she hardly does. but, there's always a little insecurity in the back of her mind that you're losing interest in her. you can tell when she is jealous though because she'll wear the cutest little frown on her face as she pouts at you. the easiest way to make it up to her is cuddles and kisses.

-xavier: gets jealous so easily, not joking. he won't even wait for you to leave the other person, he'll go up to you and be 10x more affectionate than usual. depending who you're talking to, he might drag you away. after you're both alone again, he'll still be mad about it (not at you obviously) but hugs and reassurance will fix it no problem. but, he holds a grudge against the person for a week after.

-tyler: definitely possessive but like, in a low-key way. he'll get jealous but you won't be able to tell but the person that made him jealous definitely will be. he won't fight anyone physically but a few choice words and a glare usually does the trick. you catch him doing it once but he just smiles, gives you a sweet kiss and says he loves you. you definitely won't see that person for a long time after.

-yoko: i feel that she wouldn't get jealous because she puts every last ounce of trust she has into you. she knows you can handle yourself and that you love her, but if things go south, she has no problem stepping in. in fact, she counts on you going back to her after the interaction to tell her exactly what you and the other person were talking about.

-bianca: she doesn't get jealous right away but it will for sure settle in if the interaction lasts more than a few minutes. she has trust issues due to previous relationships but doesn't directly confront you about it. she would drop subtle hints that she didn't like the interaction you had with whoever it was but you know her well enough to know what she means. to make up for it, you promise to bring her with you if you have to interact with them again for a project or something.

-ajax: notices and gets jealous right away. unfortunately, he has no idea what to do. usually he'll settle for going to stand with you, maybe looping an arm around your shoulders (if you're okay with it) as he buts into the conversation. his jealousy doesn't go away easily but if you lean into him and acknowledge that he's there, he'll be fine. and maybe hold a grudge against that person for a couple days.

-divina: she loves you so much she literally never leaves your side so she always knows what's going on. she's also fairly good with reading how you feel so she doesn't always feel the need to be jealous. but, on that days she does have a harder time, she'll just hold onto you a little tighter until you understand what she's feeling and glare at the other person. usually it's dull enough of a conversation to let her lead you away from the other person and spend time on your own with her.

-kent: honestly, i don't think the poor boy knows what's going on. at first, i think he'd believe you were just having a conversation with a friend he hasn't met yet until he realizes he's met all your friends and never remembered meeting that one. after that realization, he'd be the kind of jealous that's noticeable to everyone but him. as long as you don't seem uncomfortable with the interaction with the other person, he'll leave you alone. however, that doesn't mean he likes it because he absolutely loves when you give him all of your attention. probably pouts for a little while after too.

[badasgirlfriend]

Love On The Down Low - Bada Lee Social Media AU - 031

pairings: bada lee x zhong lei

prev - masterlist - next

TW: grooming

a/n: would've could've should've is the song she wrote </3

taglist: { @1luvkarina , @hallotherenicetomeetyou @fillthwvoid , @kdacase @prilux @jjlovesbada @waveartistry , @dkluvs , @pinksults, @tikitsune , @b1ackbunny , @adaiasafira, @froufrousnowman , @99ycs, @badaslali , @italiekim , @saturnushasmyback , @heedoya @fairiechuu @itsbokutosjuicyass , @tnu-ree @jesuschrist2006 @asweetcollide , @ssivinee , @downbadforbada , @starryelling , @pupbistro , @dexthzone , @smoooore }

Numbness

That's what Bada had been feeling ever since she got that message. There were no tears or screams, just silent suffering. Her eyes were dry and she felt hollow inside. She was staring at her blue notebook she got with a pen in her hands

'Whatever you think, sorry but I don't give a fucking shit'

But mostly, she was mad.

She felt a burning anger within her. She was mad at the people who didn't believe her and continued to throw so many words at her without hearing her first

'Sorry, I don't give a fuck that your life is medicore'

She was angry at the company she basically brought back from failure.

'That you screwed up and are unable to leave the shithole'

She was mad at that girl who, for no reason, decided to destroy everything she has worked for. Playing the victim while Bada is the actual victim

'For you to think that my success is related to your failure"

Bada felt a growing sense of dread and anxiety. She had a feeling that this story would end badly for her, and she didn't like where it was headed.

Trapped in a nightmare with no way out

"Your delusion is top-notch fuck it"

Her eyes remained glued to paper that was filled with lyrics. Her attention was focused on the song she was working on, not even glancing at the girl who just entered the studio. She sighed and scribbled the mistake she had accidentally made, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Bada heard the chair next to her being pulled out, but she didn't look her way. Lei remained silent as well, not making a sound.

Lei stared at her, Bada's hood was up, hiding her face perfectly. She moved her eyes to read what she was writing. She cracked a smile, happy to see Bada get her motive back.

She wanted to say something, but everything that was on her mind felt embarrassing. Lei wasn't used to having this problem with anyone else. In fact, she was always the one striking up a conversation, you can never keep her mouth shut. But ever since she spent all those nights thinking about the butterflies she gets everytime she hangs out with Bada, something changed

Oh she's so fucked

"What's worse?" Bada spoke up, and Lei's eyes immediately darted towards her

"Being wanted but not loved, or loved but not wanted?"

"Uhm depends in what situation you put it" the shorter girl answered "But for me, I prefer a situation where both love and want are mutual"

Bada only nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Same" she muttered and closed the notebook. She then pulled her hood down, and tried to fix her messy hair

Lei felt sorry for the girl. Her eyes felt dead, and her eyebags were only getting worse day by day. Compared to when she first came and now, she lost so much weight too

"Let's celebrate" Bada bent down down and took out a small convenience store white cake from from the mini fridge.

Lei eyed her suspiciously taking a sip of water "What is this for?"

"For me getting kicked out of my group"

The chinese girl almost choked on her water "what- you got kicked?" she asked in disbelief, she didn't think it would come at this point

Bada's head whipped around in the blink of an eye "N- no oh my god, I said it wrong. Maybe I'll get kicked, I don't know they're thinking about it. If they can't win against the girl then yes"

"Well fuck your CEO and manager" Lei muttered, throwing her bottle on the floor in a fit of rage. "This whole situation should've ended months ago. That company is so greedy and corrupt, just hungry for more attention and money"

Bada couldn't help but grin as Lei continued to angrily ramble and curse everyone. It was oddly adorable how she would grab the hem of her shirt every time she was mad and play with it. Bada also noticed the way her heart began beating abnormally, and she couldn't help but feel a tug of affection for this girl. She'll ignore it for now

It will go away

"It's okay. We'll see how it goes" Bada replied "We'll see what happens" She passed a fork to Lei, and they began eating small bites of cake without even bothering to cut it.

"You didn't tell me you were a YG trainee."

Lei shivered at the mention of YG, her mind going back to those haunting memories of her time as a trainee. The voices of the other girls and stagf constantly putting her down, the pressure of being perfect, the abuse and neglect, most importantly him

"Yeah" Lei's mouth suddenly went dry at the thought. " How do you know?"

"I saw your 'YG songs' file" Bada said

"Oh, should've changed the name" she uttered "I was for five years then I left"

"I don't blame you" Bada sympathized. "It's a good thing that you left. They're known for keeping trainees forever without ever making their debut."

"It's not because of that" Lei sighed, avoiding eye contact and looking towards the computer. "I was forced to leave. They forced me to go, and there wasn't much I could do about it. It's a long story"

Lei's cheeks reddened when she felt Bada's hand grab hers.

"We have time" Bada said, reassuring her.

2016

Lei's whole body was shaking, and tears would run down her cheeks. She was trying to hard dance perfectly, but she simply couldn't anymore. The pressure was taking a toll on her, and she couldn't keep up no matter how hard she tried.

"Hey are you alright?" a voice said behind her. She wiped the tears from her face quickly, her eyes still red

She turned around to face the person, and her eyes widened as she saw who it was. It only took a split second for her to recognize him as her senior, she was too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Instead, she bowed and kept her head dangling low "Y-yes Im fine thank you"

He smiled softly at her and laughed. "It's obvious you're not, here take my water bottle."

"It's unnecessary really," she was about to deny his offer, but his playful glare won her over. "Thank you."

"If anyone's giving you a hard time, just tell me. I'll have a talk with them," he said with a lighthearted tone. He winked at her, and Lei blushed hard "How old are you anyway?"

Lei cleared her throat and replied "15"

He smiled at her amused "Really?" He eyed her up and down smirking "You look much older"

If only she knew..

~

"I was 15, and he was 26" Lei muttered, their chairs now touching. Lei rested her head on Bada's shoulder and closed her eyes, Bada caressing her hand

"I was young and dumb" she continued "and he was older and manipulative. He took advantage of my age and innocence to mold me into what he wanted me to be."

Bada's nails dug into the chair, and her grip tightened. She clenched her jaw so harshly that she could feel the tension in her jaw muscles "Who's that man"

Lei sighed "The famous Kim Jihoon, Korea's pride, funny title if they only knew"

This hit Bada like a brick. Suddenly, all the rumors she had heard among some trainees made more sense. Bada had met him many times, and he had always been nice, but there was always this weird feeling about him. It was like something was off and not quite right.

"At first, he started buying me drinks and snacks during practice. Then it turned more serious he began gifting me jewelry. Months went by and we started dating. I was on cloud 9 from happiness, everything felt perfect. I thought I was going to debut, and I was dating every girl's dream boy."

Bada bit her lip at Lei's confession, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness.

2017

Jihoon sat next her, smiling as he looked at her. "You look so cute like this. You should make your hair into little buns more often" he ran his thumb over her cheek gently, making her smile.

"It makes me look so childish though" Lei replied, feeling embarrassed.

"Nah, you look pretty, you're a big girl" he said, leaning in close and brushing her cheek with his lips. Jihoon pressed his body close to hers, but he immediately backed away when some of the other girls entered the hallway. They instantly began to giggle and greet him with playful flirtatious smiles, and he smiled back.

Lei felt a pang of jealousy and envy as she witnessed this, feeling completely insecure compared to these pretty girls. They were older than her, way prettier and about to debut soon. Everything Jihoon was looking in a girl

"Can't let them see us, right?" Jihoon laughed teasing her, and Lei's smile fell

She was his, but he was never hers

~

"We had been dating for a year, and I often felt uncomfortable with some things he wanted me to do. I just felt so confused because he was older and wiser, and he was an idol. He always used that as his excuse whenever I questioned him." Lei's hands began to shake as she tried to explain the emotions and situation she had been in.

Bada closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. She placed an arm around Lei's shoulder and reassured her "It's not your fault-"

"It is, it was always my fault"

2017

Jihoon slammed the practice door and shouted, "What the fuck Lei?"

Lei took a step back, her hands shaking behind her back, feeling nervous and scared. She tried to get her words out but her mouth was dry and she felt too overwhelmed to respond.

Jihoon cursed again and began to brush his hair with his hands. "I told you not to talk to me in front of the others. God you're so stupid and immature"

Lei said quietly and sniffled "Im sorry, please don't leave me"

Jihoon frowned and sighed, pulling her closer to him and wiping away her tears. "Im sorry for yelling but it was your fault baby, you made me really mad" he continued "But I'll forgive you"

Lei whispered "Why do you never talk to me when we're around other people?"

He placed his hand under her chin, gently lifting her face towards him. "They can't know about us because then they'll say that you debuted because of me"

Jihoon placed a sweet kiss to her forehead, and he looked at her with a playful grin. "We don't want that to happen, right? So let's keep it a secret."

'He's older Lei, he knows what he's doing'

He moved to kiss her lips, but she quickly turned her head away. She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable with making out with him, but she has to, other girls would let him do things like this "I'm sorry Jihoon I don't really want to-"

He looked at her with a smirk "Shh it's okay don't worry. I know you're inexperienced, but it's okay. We'll take things slowly and learn together."

~

"He used me in so many ways, and I just let him. Chenle was so against our relationship, and I told him I broke up with him just to get him off my back." Lei explained, feeling a mix of guilt and shame

Bada's mind was flooded with so many emotions. She wanted to hug Lei, kill that motherfucker and burn down YG Entertainment.

"I noticed that he would always ask for my lyrics journal and I gave it to him since I thought it wasn't a big deal. But he never gave it back to me. One day I was at the cafe when I heard his newest song playing. I recognized it instantly because it was my song that I've written."

Lei paused and took a deep breath, Bada squeezed her hand in comfort. "His whole album was filled with songs I wrote, he changed nothing. I was so angry that I texted him saying that I'll tell Yang HyunSuk about what he did."

"Three hours later, I got called to his office, where Jihoon was also present. Jihoon started accusing me of selling his songs and leaking information, and even stalking him. Everything he said to Yang HyunSuk, he believed it without a doubt. Yang HyunSuk offered me two options: they can sue for stalking and selling their songs, or I can leave the entertainment and the country for at least five years and the police won't get involved"

Bada sighed sadly and rubbed her face, feeling awful for the girl "So you chose to leave"

Bada felt sick, her girlhood, her dream everything was taken away from her. Lei didn't deserve what she went through, at such a young age

"I had no choice but to leave," Lei replied softly, smiling faintly at Bada "We weren't financially stable, and in this society, who do you think they would believe?"

She shook her head sadly. "A man who's admired by everyone or a young girl who no one knows? They would never choose the girl."

"I went back to my parents after everything and worked for a year before coming here to live alone. It wasn't easy, but I made it work because I had to. I wanted to continue pursuing my dream but I couldn't. I just had to move on and let it go"

She was so used to this pain that it became normal to her. But damn did she feel sorry for herself

She was young

Bada quickly wiped away the tear rolling down her cheek before Lei could see it. She then took her hand and gently held Lei’s face, making her look at her directly.

"You were just a kid, and you didn't deserve that. He was 26. And I don't want you to blame yourself, it was never your fault."

Lei gave a quick nod of her head, trying to fight back her tears.

Bada pulled her closer and hugged her tightly. She whispered in her ear "I'm so sorry you went through this alone. But you did it in the end, and I'm super proud of you."

Lei held her firmly as well, hugging her as close as their chairs would allow them to. Neither of them minded the uncomfortable seating position and just wanted to stay like that

"And when my hiatus is over, If you want, we can go together in Korea. I'll be by your side so you can finally speak up and tell your story. Everyone deserves to hear it from the heart."

Bada whispers this in Lei’s ear with a gentle voice "And you can't hide your talent" Bada said as she pulled away from the hug and logged in on the computer. "Why stop your dream for a fucked up man, his life is going to get destroyed either way? You can get your songs back and sing them like they're supposed to, and we'll make sure everyone knows the truth and knows that you deserve better."

Lei nodded softly and let out a small, broken chuckle. "I'm sorry this turned depressing so quickly"

Lei clicked on her YG files and pointed to one of the songs "I wrote this after I realized everything he did to me"

"Can I hear it?" Bada asked

Lei didn't reply, she just played the song, Bada listened carefully from the start to the end. Each word was like a knife in her gut

She felt sick

[caitchercatlady]

Not Having a Good Time

-Diasomnia Version

Malleus Draconia

Were you to ask your friends what or how it is to be lonely, Malleus would be the first to know the answer, but he'd be the last to respond. (No, that has nothing to do with the last arrival or no show trope.) Malleus is not one to express his negative emotions. Most times, they don't bother him so often. However, when he sees you down and out, he can't help but want to do something about it. He finds you coming home from the main campus as usual, and as you two meet for your daily meeting, he confronts you about your usual behavior. Hesitantly, you explain the week's stresses to him, and it's had you bothered for a while. You feel ashamed that Malleus had to see it, so you had hoped to stargaze to help releax.

"Quite frankly, Child of Man, it appears we are both bothered this evening. Shall we take a stroll together as we indulge in the night air? I know a place to get a better view of the stars."

You two stick together as you walk around Night Raven's campus. If it were a kinda chilly evening on the island, Malleus will remove his large uniform jacket and wrap it around you to keep you warm. Whatever is making you the most comfortable, Malleus keeps his attention on the little things to make the comfort happen.

Lilia Vanrouge

You were not in the mood for any out-of-nowhere surprises, but unfortunately for you, Lilia is all that. You were at dinner by yourself as all of your friends were elsewhere. You keep poking at your food with no motivation to eat any of it. Since he noticed you weren't exactly busy, Lilia thought it was the first time to say, "Hi." He classically upside-downs himself from the chandelier, which scares the living crud out of you, even more than usual. Lilia returns to ground and apologizes immediately. Since making you laugh or smile didn't work in that way, he questions what has gotten into you today. You weren't sure how to answer since he's the most senior of all of your classmates. Furthermore, after the scare you just had, you really didn't feel like talking about your problems. Lilia deeply sighs and says:

"Listen, Yuu, I don't know what's going on, and I believe it would help the both of us if you opened up a little. I won't tell anyone. This conversation is just between the two of us."

If Lilia says so, you let out your frustrations stronger than you usually would. It's a little frightening, even for you. However, this is Lilia you're talking to. A raise of voice is not going to scare this fae warrior. In fact, as you regain your breathing after ranting, Lila puts his hand on your head, ruffling your hair as he chuckles warmly. He reminds you that you don't need to keep your problems to yourself and that letting it out will set you the most free. He asks if you would like to talk about it some more while you eat, and you agree to the invitation. All this talking has made you more hungry, much to Lilia's delight.

Silver

Riddle's surprise tutoring session not only ruined Ace and Deuce's private time, it also ruined the hangout that you had been planning with them for days. To say that you're pissed is an understatement. You three have been looking forward to letting all the class work go after a long week, but then, there it goes. You get a text from Silver, reading that he had been hearing from Riddle during Equestrian Club that he's not too thrilled with his freshmen about flunking the latest test, so he decided to hold a tutoring session to fix that problem. He figured that Ace and Deuce were a part of that session, and he apologizes for your plans being interfered.

If it's any help to you at all, he invites you out on a horse riding trip around campus. Silver asks for you to come at 4:45pm since that's when both Riddle and Sebek would be gone from the stables. You meet him not a minute earlier than that with Silver and his horse ready for riding. He helps you up, and you're already on your way. You tell Silver that you're surprised that he hasn't returned to his dorm yet for a nap after a busy school week. Silver replies:

"Riding helps me stay awake for the evening. Furthermore, I missed having time to myself, especially during club. You are not interfering at all if that is what you're afraid of. Let me show you the trail."

Silver commands his horse to head into the forest. The run of the horse kicks up the dirt on the forest path, making the smell of nature more pungent. The late afternoon breeze hits your face like a pillow fight, which is strangely comforting. A few minutes of riding later and the horse takes you and Silver to the cliffside at the edge of the woods. The skies were shimmering on top of the ocean's surface. It was a beautiful, relaxing sight. Silver helps you down from the horse as you go relax under a tree to watch the approaching sunset.

Sebek Zigvolt

After the stressful school week you just beat, you wanted to just go home and relax, but you then remembered that you promised yourself to eat better. While at the same time, you really didn't have the energy to cook something time consuming. You're also late on receiving your allowance, so getting the expensive items is off the table. You decide to text your friends any ideas they had on cheap dinners to make. You hate to go into Sam's store without an idea in mind. However, you get a quick response from an unlikely source.

Sebek tells you to buy a bag of rice, a stalk of celery, and one chicken breast and immediately meet him back at Ramshackle. Sebek coming to you? That's a first, but you don't question it. You fetch the goods and you return to your dorm to see Sebek on the porch just as he said in the text. You don't have time to waste. He's got a recipe to teach you. You didn't even know Sebek knew how to cook, but he explains that if he, Silver, and Malleus wanted to eat good food for the rest of their lives, they had to teach themselves how to cook properly.

"You need to learn how to cook, right, human? Why are you standing so far? COME! You need teaching, so you can do this for yourself!"

Like a soldier in lineup, you come at Sebek's command as he instructs you verbally and physically how to make this rice, celery, and chicken dish. He also explains that it's easy to store for leftovers in the future, so if you don't feel like cooking, you have it right in your fridge to warm up and eat. It doesn't take long to cook either, so he helps prepare the plates and you two will enjoy the dish together. You promise that when you learn how to make this for yourself that you'll have Sebek come over to test it for you. He blushes and tries to brush it off as nothing, but he hasn't been invited much either, so maybe it wouldn't hurt as a compliment.

[obsessive-valentine]

I just adored your mad scientist hc post and was wondering what their life would be like. Like would y/n go to school? Would they be allowed friends? Would the scientist ever seek out a mother figure for his child? (Or make one himself???) I'm srry if this is a ramble I just love platonic yandere fics lmao.

Platonic!Mad-Scientist + Experiment!Reader (PT2)

We love rambling around these parts anon, the best ideas come from conversations ❤️

Some world building of life after escaping the lab with platonic mad-scientist. TW brief mention of murder

Life would be pretty simple in the little terrace house on the quiet part of town, the house is kept clean and homely a very harsh contrast to the office he lived in for most his life back at the lab. He still collects specimens, making his home office like a little museum - he also still fiddles with things making odd inventions from the locals scrap.

In fact that’s how you both have become beloved members of the community, he offered to fix something for a neighbour and did such a good job people sought him out. He also makes things for you, like how you loved music so he’d fix up music boxes or how you loved a certain animal or bug that he made a little mechanical figure of it that swam/flew/walked.

He wouldn’t see the point in letting you go to school though, despite how friendly the people are, mostly because he’s smarter than any teacher they have; he’s practically a genius when it comes to math, science and history. But it’s also because he doesn’t want you becoming to independent.

Despite not going to school you’re still seen by the towns people-very often- when you tag along with the scientist when he’s running errands or shopping. You’re always well dressed, good manners and happy so there aren’t any suspicions, if anything, admiration for such a dedicated father. Most of your ‘friends’ are the older people who run the shops, there’s not many opportunities for you to play with other kids your age and he makes sure of that.

Definitely takes you to the pictures and restaurants often, probably a weekly thing or more. I mean he’s basically retired due to being payed plenty during his days in the government labs, so aside from small favours for the towns people and personal hobbies (dissecting and mechanics probs) he really is just a house father; leaving ample amount of time to take you out on cute little evening dates.

Because he’s so dedicated to your upbringing it’s very unlikely he’ll become romantically involved with a woman and no chance he’d seek it out for himself. He might if it benefited you but truly doesn’t believe you need anyone but him, he’s incredibly smart and not just book smart but emotionally evolved with you, there’s nothing he can’t do that a mother would do for you. He himself isn’t interested in romance but I wouldn’t rule it out completely, just unlikely.

You both spend most mornings doing school work together then he lets you have free time as he cleans or cooks, then in the afternoons he’s usually in his study fixing, building or dissecting and recording in one of his thousands of accumulated note books. He doesn’t mind you sitting with him while he does this or even better helping. After this sometimes you both go into town or if it’s a quiet day you both stay home and cook dinner.

At some point you’re sent to bed, he sticks to a strict bedtime only to be broken on birthdays or holidays. He will tuck you in and read a chapter from the book he bought not so long ago. He doesn’t sleep as much as you, usually he returns to his study or sometimes he sneaks out and gets rid of a certain problem person that’s been a bit rude to you or him, he only tolerates stuff from his darling child who can do no wrong, other than that he does have a bit of a temper. No one will miss a ill-mannered person anyways.

[chaotic-starlight24]

Dallas Winston General Headcanons

This is the last part of the Dallas headcanons :) Please check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of his backstory!

Sorry if anything is ooc! Warnings: Mentions of trauma, death, description of grief

He brags about his many scars from dangerous games. For example, he prides himself in the game where you try to get the knife between all of your fingers.

He genuinely likes a lot of movies. He just doesn’t show it. Also, most of the new movies don’t have anything interesting to them so he just looks at girls or talks to Johnny/Pony. But he will shut up and be glued to the screen when the theater or drive-in is replaying James Dean movies. He will literally shush Ponyboy, he just really likes James Dean. (He probably had a Rebel Without a Cause jacket made for him by Mrs. Curtis)

His aforementioned Norwegian mother (part 1) taught him the Hardanger Fiddle (When he was like 7) It was one of the very few bonding activities he had with her. He still has his original fiddle and while traveling around, a mother in Memphis fixed it for him after he ran an errand for her. He doesn’t play it much but he does sometimes sit alone at Buck’s and play melodies he remembers. He doesn’t like playing it around many people because playing takes a lot of energetic movements. The gang has heard him before but only like once.

His father and him had one or two bonding activities like once a week or so, mainly knife throwing. So Dally has great aim with just about any object. He would also occasionally try to play poker with him. But this did not happen very often since both parents were alcoholics and everything and his father was an especially angry one.

He needs a lot of time to wrap his mind around a lot of concepts, but once he has it down he's amazing at it! (Hardanger fiddle, stealing, knife throwing)

At the Curtis parent funeral he held himself together pretty well. He pretended to not be quite as bothered and used the excuse that he had seen worse things and that he was mainly concerned for the brothers. But when he got to Buck's he sobbed quietly for hours and didn't come out for a while. That was when he really did become a very cold person. He never opened his heart to anyone new after that. He started to believe that he couldn’t care about anyone because he was the curse that caused them to die. If it wasn’t for the gang he probably would have left Tulsa.

His mom was one of nine siblings so Dally has a lot of cousins. He saw several of them frequently and was especially friends with one named Joel. They mainly conversed through letters as his cousin lived in Windrixville. They always had a plan to meet up together and maybe fix up the abandoned church and make it into a hangout. His mother wasn’t particularly focused on teaching him much about their culture so he learned some things from his cousins. He still remembers bits and pieces of the language and pronounces names with a Norwegian accent every so often.

He always keeps his jacket on in the summer unless going swimming. He says it’s to look tuff but it’s actually because he gets eaten alive by mosquitos or sunburned to the fact he’s neon red.

His oldest sister, Elizabeth in English spelling, would sing him Scandinavian lullabies to help him fall asleep at night and he still finds himself humming the tunes when doing busywork. (Examples if you want to listen: Vargsången, Trollsmor Vaggvisa, Klatremus’ Voggevisa)

He lost his New York accent but sometimes he pronounces words with a really thick one. He doesn’t really have a southern accent either but overall it’s kind of a mix between them. “C’mon upstays, Johnny.” “Huh?” “I mean upstairs.”

He really likes bread. Noone really knows why either. But his problem is he doesn’t really like the store bought bread. In his words, “It’s just unnatural how long it stays good, man.” So he swipes a lot from bakeries. Mrs. Curtis also taught him how to make it but he doesn’t often because he thinks it’s weird he knows how. Also no one should trust him with an oven. But sometimes Soda will come home to Dally just munching on a loaf fresh from their oven. 

But bouncing off that, he will eat just about any other food no matter how old it is. Maybe it’s because he’s always hungry. Maybe his immune system is that strong. No one really knows. Darry once found him munching on a block of cheese that had some mold and just threw it out the window. Dally was very upset because “He was really hungry!”. He also says that he doesn’t like things going to waste. 

It’s a surprise if he doesn’t end a sentence with man or kid. It’s just what everyone gets called. Except Mrs. Curtis. He called her man once and was promptly given the “glare of disapproval”. Safe to say he never did it again. (Everyone laughed afterward, don’t worry.)

The main reason he dated Sylvia so many times was because he wanted a relationship where he actually loved the person. He had so many meaningless ones that lasted a week at most. Both of them were not particularly healthy to each other since Dally was never in a proper relationship and Sylvia took advantage of him. But both of them had their flaws ofc.

I mentioned in Part 2 that Dallas went through a really big tornado while in Indiana, and you know he ended up in OKLAHOMA. Which is known for its large amounts of tornadoes. Because of this fear that he ended up having, he became really sensitive to thunderstorms. The rest of the gang is always relaxed when listening to the rain and thunder, but Dally will grip Johnny’s arm so hard he almost loses circulation. The gang caught on rather quickly and tried their best to calm him down. Mrs. Curtis and Two-Bit were the best at this and would just talk to him as if nothing was happening outside. Dally always tries to act super tough during storms and manages to keep his calm but there’s been several times where a crack of thunder will shake the house and he will legit scream. Whenever there is a tornado warning or anything he will sit in the closet and use the excuse that he’s just tired and it’s loud outside. 

His rings and necklace are his prized possessions. His necklace and 2 of his rings are from Snake Eyes (Part 1 goes more into detail) and the rest are ones he has collected throughout his travels.

Thank you guys for reading through my super large amount of headcanons :) Ponyboy and Darry are next but might not have as large of an amount of stuff!

[steeltwigz]

Ok I've been getting a lot more Taco II discourse on my timeline recently. NOW I see what you all mean.... I gotta be honest, a lot of the posts to me still read as fans making up things to be mad about fhdjf what do you MEAN "Taco is irredeemable and doesn't Want to be redeemed and forcing her down a traditional redemption arc is Impossible AND you're a misogynist for misinterpreting her character" OKAYYY. Sit down buddy, Cool IT. What in the WORLD are you talking about. Did you miss the last minute of the episode where she says "no more running" and decides to face her fears head on, with the support of MePad. Did you miss all those letters she sent to Pickle, or her reaching for the portal for "another chance" at season 1, so she could fix her mistakes and wouldn't have hurt her friend? "But she wanted to kill Balloon that one time!" ONE she wanted to taze him, relax. I mean like if he pops he pops, but that's pretty Par For The Course for an object show, ESPECIALLY when II2 was still developing its more serious, less hyper-violent slapstick tone. TWO part of her problem is that she doesn't change w the game, she's still running (at least partially) on season 1 rules and in season 1 killing people was pretty normal, sorryy. Like a HUUUUGE point of her narrative arc is how she's still making a lot of the same mistakes she made with Pickle, but she doesn't realize until it's too late bcuz she's still too focused on the game (until it all comes crashing down a second time and she hates herself about it, and tries to End The Whole Show (THROUGH NONVIOLENCE MIGHT I ADD)). The whole show, she's wanted nothing more than to be redeemed and to undo her mistakes becuz she REGRETS HURTING PEOPLE AND she doesn't fully believe she can or that she deserves to, until MePad begins to help her out. These two things can both be true!!

Also, come On man. Sooooo many characters in this show are "bad people" or can be mean or hurtful. (Honestly, Id argue that a huge theme of the show is realizing people are multi-faceted and that people aren't only their worst traits, or their stereotype personalities but are in fact just as complex and personable as anyone else. That the show and the game and the challenge bring out the worst in people for Drama or Views or Money, but that doesn't mean that's all there IS to the competitors, and even the hosts, and you can't judge them based solely on their worst traits, which are getting exacerbated and unnaturally worsened due to the harmful exploitative nature of reality TV). That doesn't make ANY of them "irredeemable". Taco can have a redemption arc just as much as MePhone or Knife or Nickel can, who IN MY OPINION have done similar, and also Way Worse Things than she did, that no one ever brings up in these conversations. And NO that doesn't make you a misogynist for misinterpreting Taco or for thinking Knife is fine and she isn't, it just makes you have poor plot comprehension skills and you're predisposed to hold bias against the antagonist character becuz she's the antagonist. It's Whatever.

[ysmtttty]

Red Ferrari

Chapter 8

Summary: Azris AU, where Azriel is a mechanic and has his own service station. One day, Eris comes there because something is wrong with his car

AO3 link Chapter 7 Chapter 9

a/n: this chapter has dual POV, both Eris's and Azriel's perspectives start at +- same time, so I hope I won't confuse you with the chronology of this chapter

“You fucked up,” Lucien told him bluntly when Eris recounted what had happened the morning after the incident. “You really fucked up.”

Eris rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, “As if I didn’t realize it myself,” while continuing to listen to his younger brother criticize his decisions. Perhaps hiding his marriage from Azriel wasn’t the best decision. He acknowledged that. But looking back, Eris couldn’t imagine a context where he suddenly announced that he was still married and asked Azriel to believe that it wasn’t such a big problem. Because he was forced into marriage. Because he was already getting a divorce. If it weren’t for Morrigan being such a bitch about the division of property, they would have divorced long ago, and he wouldn’t be here. But the fact that he didn’t tell Azriel about the marriage, much to his regret, was his fault. Not Mor’s.

“I don’t think he would’ve been that upset if you had told him right away,” Lucien continued, pacing around his living room. Eris’s head was starting to ache from his circling. “It would have saved you a lot of problems, you know.”

“I get it,” Eris repeated once again.

“You’re an idiot,” his younger brother told him once again.

“I got that too. I asked for advice on how to fix it.”

“Well, I think you were born that way…” Lucien started before a cushion hit him in the head. “Alright! I don’t know how to help you.”

“Then what’s the point of you?”

“Moral support? But seriously, I have no idea what to do in these situations. The only time Elain was seriously mad at me was when I came to take care of her flowers while she was out of town, mixed up the pots, and for a week watered her plants incorrectly, killing one of them.”

“How did you apologize?” Eris asked, not believing that he was getting involved in a conflict about a dead plant. For a moment, he thought that no flower would have survived with him.

“With all due respect but killing an unfortunate orchid and hiding the existence of a wife are slightly different levels, Eris,” Lucien told him, but continued when his older brother glared at him. “I bought a new orchid, learned how to take care of every plant in her room, and recited it to her from memory. And a date at a pottery workshop where we made and painted new pots for her flowers together.”

“I doubt clay pots will help me,” Eris sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Maybe he's a fan of such things,” Lucien shrugged.

“He's more likely to want to throw it at me.”

“That’s useful too.”

Eris rolled his eyes, understanding that he wouldn’t get more out of this conversation. And it’s not like he expected to get any real advice from his younger brother, who had a perfect personal life. But Lucien was the only option he had to talk to about this.

“Apologize,” was all Lucien said.

“I’d love to if he picked up the phone and agreed to talk,” Eris replied bitterly.

“When has it ever stopped you that someone didn’t pick up the phone?” his younger brother snorted.

Eris went to the workshop right after that conversation, hoping to see Azriel there and talk. He didn’t know yet what exactly he should say because, in his experience, there was never a moment when he needed to apologize in a relationship. He generally wasn’t in relationships, at least not serious ones. The marriage didn’t count since more than half the time he and Mor were at each other’s throats and wanted to kill each other after conflicts, not apologize.

So, Eris was hoping for his speech skills, honed over years in court sessions. And he hoped that his mistake wasn’t fatal in his relationship with Azriel because… well, he didn’t want to lose Azriel.

Parking and getting out of the car, Eris frowned immediately upon seeing his Porsche in an open garage, being worked on by some mechanic. A mechanic who wasn’t Azriel. He made a mental note to kill Lucien and never lend him a car again.

Approaching the Porsche, Eris politely cleared his throat, causing the mechanic to notice him. The mechanic turned around and looked him over, obviously recognizing him, as Eris had seen him a couple of times before when he had visited this place.

“Is Azriel here?” Eris asked directly. The mechanic frowned.

“No,” he shook his head. “Do you need something?”

“Not from you. When is his shift?”

“Today,” he answered simply. “Don’t you guys talk? Why don’t you ask him directly?”

Eris frowned, not wanting to explain the details of his personal life to some random guy at the service station. He mentally understood that he was in the wrong now and snapping at the poor guy was completely wrong. However, in the last twelve hours, his stress levels had risen to record levels, and Eris wasn’t sure he wouldn’t snap at any moment.

Exhaling loudly, he forced himself to calm down. “If I could ask him directly, I would have done it. Don’t you think? Just tell me when he’s on his next shift.”

“Alright, I’ll call you when I find out myself,” the mechanic shrugged. “By the way, isn’t that your car?” he nodded towards the Porsche. Eris glanced at the license plate, although he already knew without it that the car was his.

“It’s mine,” he nodded, handing his business card to the mechanic. “Call me when you’re done.”

After that, Eris turned and walked back to his car, thinking about what to do next. He remembered Azriel’s address and could, in theory, go there, but before that, he called him several times, hoping that Azriel would still pick up the phone. However, after the third call went to voicemail, Eris finally decided to give it a try.

He arrived at Azriel’s address closer to the evening, hoping they could talk. However, the problems began at the stage of finding his apartment since Eris knew the building but not the floor or apartment number. Well, he had to rely on luck. Unfortunately, luck hadn’t been on his side lately, but Eris had no other ideas.

Looking around and studying the building, he finally managed to spot Azriel, who was watching him through a window. But as soon as their eyes met, he closed the curtains. Well, now he at least knew the right floor.

Eris dialed his number, not really hoping for anything, and as he expected, Azriel didn’t answer. And instead of leaving him alone like any normal person would and giving him time to think, Eris couldn’t think of anything better than to stay there and hope that Azriel would change his mind.

He had to wait a long time for that. Good thing he had iron patience and the ability to postpone work indefinitely to hang around here all day.

Alright, maybe it hadn’t been his best idea, as it clearly wasn’t working. Azriel refused to talk to him, and Eris honestly had no idea what he needed to do to even get a chance to apologize. Not to fix everything, but just to say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

He spent almost the entire weekend outside Azriel’s house, feeling like a damn stalker.

By Monday evening, he had to leave because Mor had called him to talk properly. Eris told her straight that he would only speak to her lawyer because right now, he hated her twice as much. How the hell was he supposed to guess that she had been seeing Azriel when she herself told him that men didn’t attract her?

Well, if that was her plan to make him open up and trust her more, it worked. Because Eris was still in a vulnerable position due to her blackmail and his own stubbornness, which prevented him from blackmailing her back. He wasn’t going to stoop to her level. But the folder with the information in his bottom desk drawer was still there, waiting for a worst-case scenario.

And yet, here he was, talking to her lawyer and her cousin, who was trying to burn him with his gaze. Well, good luck with that because Eris couldn’t give less of a damn about this jerk. If he wanted to blame him for the fact that Azriel wasn’t talking to either of them now—and judging by the look on that jerk’s face, he did—Eris didn’t feel guilty about it. His problems. Eris had screwed up on his side too and was now dealing with all this shit, but he wasn’t trying to blame anyone.

"It would be easier for me to just go to court and split the property fifty-fifty," Eris grumbled, glancing at what this pseudo-lawyer was shoving in front of him. Even his toilet paper looked better than this document.

"My client insists on exactly this arrangement," the bastard said. Mor’s cousin also nodded, about to say something, but Eris cut him off.

"Well, to hell with that client," he snapped. "If she wants to take this to court again and waste more of her money on lawyers, more power to her. I’m not signing this."

With those words, he grabbed his briefcase and left the building. He didn’t have the patience to deal with these idiots. This divorce was slowly draining all his energy, and honestly? He was fed up. Fed up with being cautious around Mor, fearing she’d carry out her threat. Fed up with participating in these negotiations that led nowhere. Fed up with thinking about what to do with both his father and Mor’s father, who were both trying to threaten him.

Eris thought about how much he would have liked to spend time with Azriel right now. But that was impossible because Azriel was ignoring him. A few days ago, he made another stupid decision, thinking that since Azriel wasn’t responding to his calls or messages, he could try a different approach. So Eris simply transferred a small amount of money, just within a hundred dollars, with the note, "Ready to talk?"

Was it worth it? Maybe. Did Azriel block transfers from him afterward? Yes.

So now all he could do was sit in his car under Azriel’s window and pray that they could have a proper conversation. Which was basically what Eris had been doing all week.

He postponed their second hearing with Mor. Or rather, he forced Mor to postpone the hearing because the poor thing’s lawyer had quit. Eris thought about how useful it was to have so many connections. A few hints, one veiled threat to ruin the client base and career, and this jerk was already running with his tail between his legs.

Eris wondered why he hadn’t thought of this sooner. Just out of spite, he could drive all of Mor’s lawyers to quit so she’d have to spend more money and time finding new ones. He could definitely make that his hobby.

On Wednesday, someone almost stole his wheels.

Eris had only stepped away for a few minutes to go to the store, to buy water and stretch his legs—sitting in the car for several hours wasn’t exactly comfortable—and when he returned, he saw a bunch of guys in hoodies with tools running away from his car. He looked around and saw Azriel watching him through the window. He clearly either shouted at those bastards or threw something at them.

"I warned you," Azriel shouted from the window, and it was the first thing he’d said in days. The last time they’d spoken was when Eris had asked him to talk on the third day of waiting in the parking lot. Azriel had told him to shut up and leave.

"Thanks," Eris replied.

Azriel stared down at him for a few seconds and then closed the curtains. Classic.

He didn’t make any progress throughout the entire week.

Eris thought about alternative options while sitting in his apartment with the curtains tightly closed—there was something uncomfortable about panoramic windows lately. Maybe it was just his paranoia reaching new heights because the feeling that someone was following him kept getting stronger. At some point, he started memorizing the license plates of nearby parked or passing cars, just to make sure they weren’t the same cars every time. In general, he had one more reason to visit a therapist.

Late in the evening, when he was sitting with a glass of whiskey and his laptop, trying to sort out a client’s case that he had foolishly put off until the last minute, a message came to his phone. Some might call it an obsession; Eris would call it rationality, but Azriel’s number had its own ringtones—it saved him from unnecessary anticipation every time notifications or calls came to his phone. And this time, it really was Azriel.

Surprised, Eris reached for his phone and opened their chat, seeing a very long voice message. Realizing what time it was, he understood that it was probably recorded in a less-than-sober state, and he could have been respectful and not listened to it, so as not to put Azriel in an awkward position later. But honestly, Eris couldn’t contain his curiosity. And he had to admit, he missed hearing his voice.

In the voice message, Azriel talked several times about what an idiot Eris was, how it was such a bastard move to hide his marriage to Mor, how he hated Mor, how he hated Eris for not getting out of his head, and a lot more along those lines. And there were a few phrases that Eris couldn’t make out, no matter how hard he tried, because of the background noise.

However, he was at least grateful to Azriel for mentioning the name of the bar where he and some girl, judging by the sounds in the background and her supportive comments, were sitting.

Eris spent a few minutes debating whether it was worth going there himself, considering that Azriel had said in the voice message that he didn’t want to see him, and the fact that Eris had already had a fair amount to drink himself, which meant he couldn’t drive—technically couldn’t, not that it would necessarily stop him.

In the end, he dialed the number of the mechanic who had repaired his Porsche, knowing that he was a friend of Azriel’s and was likely to either help himself or know other people who could help.

The next day, he spent in court, defending a client and winning another case. Eris wanted to go to Azriel today, but something held him back. Maybe it was Azriel's harsh words yesterday about still not wanting to see Eris. Or perhaps he was just tired after a day spent in a seven-hour hearing, and it was already late in the evening.

In any case, after court, Eris went home. Parking and getting out of the car, he was walking toward the elevator when he noticed a familiar car. License plates he had already seen. Fuck.

Just as he was about to turn around and go back to his car, someone punched him right in the spleen, causing him to choke on his breath and double over.

"Eris, Eris…" a familiar voice said his name mockingly.

"Is that how you greet your beloved son-in-law?" Eris rasped with a laugh as he was grabbed by the elbows from both sides. He didn’t resist – even if he wanted to, his chances in a fight against several people were somewhere between zero and negative. Knowing Keir's people, he would have preferred not to end up in this situation at all. "What happened to simpler methods of greeting?"

"You wouldn’t be here if you’d meet me halfway," Keir said coldly.

Good news? His paranoia wasn’t just paranoia. Bad news? He was still here and very much at risk of being beaten.

And it would be good if it were just a beating because Eris froze as soon as Keir pulled out a gun, striking him hard with the butt of it. He hissed at the blow, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth from a split lip.

"I’ve known you since you were a child," Keir told him, and Eris looked up at him with pure hatred. "And in my mind, you’re still the boy running in your father’s shadow."

At these words, Eris jerked hard in the grip, but the hands holding him only tightened their hold. Keir hummed quietly, apparently not surprised but amused.

"Maybe that’s why I never thought you’d pull such a stupid stunt," he continued, spinning the gun in his hand. Eris wondered if the bullets were rubber and whether the gun was loaded at all. If Keir was against the divorce, obviously, he needed him alive.

"The intimidation worked," Eris told him, unable to tear his eyes away from the gun in his hand. "I’m trembling with fear; please forgive me, I solemnly swear not to offend your bitch of a daughter and live with her happily ever after, although I doubt you care more about her happiness than the number of zeros in my father’s bank."

Well, if he got killed, at least he would know he deserved it. Keir laughed coldly before punching him again, this time with a fist to the cheekbone. Groaning quietly, Eris breathed deeply, trying to ignore the throbbing pain and the sharp wave of childhood memories with a similar outcome.

He managed to smirk when Keir lifted his head by his hair, forcing him to look at him. Because, fortunately, or unfortunately, Keir wasn’t his father and didn’t instill the same fear, even if he had a group of men with machine guns here.

"I don’t care whether you stay married to Morrigan or not," Keir said, surprising him. "All I need is for your father to keep his part of our deal."

"And what deal is worth your daughter’s life?" Eris asked.

"Your father knows, and that’s enough."

"Great, so disabling the parking cameras—because I know you’re not a complete idiot and did that—involving people to hack the building’s security system, stalking me for the past few weeks, and the other organizational aspects of this intimidation were for what?" Eris looked him in the eye, understanding that it was better not to anger a man with a gun, but he had just finished a damn tough shift, and they literally beat him up in his own home’s parking lot. The adrenaline of the last few minutes fully allowed him not to fear for his life. Or maybe he just didn’t care.

"To say, ‘tell your father this…’, although you could’ve just contacted Beron directly, who’s also not thrilled about the divorce and who will likely agree to keep whatever deal you made without involving me and Mor."

The safety clicked. Double fuck.

"If I ask you to do something, be so kind as not to ask questions," Keir hissed, grabbing Eris tightly by the jaw. "Your father may be against the divorce, but I want to ensure that he fulfills his part of the deal. And if I need all these ‘organizational aspects’ for that, so be it."

"Irrational waste of resources, now I at least know that Mor takes after her father," Eris scoffed, and that seemed to be the last straw because Keir pressed the barrel of the gun to his cheek, making him involuntarily swallow nervously.

"Go on," Keir said with a sick grin. "No, really, I’m curious how much more you want to tell me."

"I doubt my father will keep his part of the deal if you shoot me."

"Didn’t know Beron was famous as father of the year."

"We both know it’s a matter of honor, not love for children. He probably won’t like you maiming his heir."

For a few seconds, Keir stared into his eyes before lowering the trigger. Click. Eris exhaled quietly, realizing the gun wasn’t loaded. Keir's men released him, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"You have a week, after which I expect a call from your father saying he intends to keep his promises," Keir said sternly, beginning to walk toward his car. "And, Eris, next time the gun will be loaded," he threw back as a final warning.

Eris watched him go, spending a few minutes, maybe hours, maybe seconds, in a trance until one of the other residents asked if he was okay. Lying about a boxing club, Eris waved off the concerned neighbor, who was worried by the "technical issues" that had apparently kept him from entering the parking lot for the last thirty minutes.

As he rode the elevator to his apartment, Eris realized his hands were trembling uncontrollably. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets, trying not to think about the possibility that his whole body was shaking. He became acutely aware of it when he tried to insert the key and unlock the door.

He wasn’t sure he could close the door when he walked inside. He did close it. At least he thought he did. Feeling his strength leave him entirely, Eris slid down the wall, closing his eyes and urging himself to calm down. In vain. His chest throbbed irregularly, blood pounded in his temples, and breathing came in gasps. Panic. Damn panic.

He didn’t remember how he pulled out his phone. Didn’t remember how he dialed the number and put the phone to his ear, didn’t remember how many rings he listened to before someone answered, hundreds, thousands, or maybe just two.

"Fuck, if you think you can just…" came the irritated but so familiar and needed voice.

"Azriel," Eris forced himself to say hoarsely. On the other end, there was silence, the unspoken grievances halted.

"Eris?" this time he asked with concern.

"Azriel," Eris swallowed and knocked his head against the wall. "I need you."

***

When the emotions cooled down, all that remained was a huge exhaustion.

Azriel stood by the road, trying to catch any car, but after five minutes, his patience ran out, and he started walking home on foot. Walking through the night streets felt therapeutic, much calmer than he thought he should be. Because Azriel was not calm, but with each step, the anger gradually faded, leaving only a dull ache in his chest.

His thoughts were spinning wildly in his head until he reached home about an hour later. And there, Azriel was too tired to think about anything other than how badly he needed to sleep.

The next day, he wasn't at the workshop, just as he had told Rhysand. Ignoring numerous missed calls from people he currently wanted nothing to do with, Azriel texted Amren, asking her to arrange some time off for him—paid or unpaid, he didn’t care. Any leave would do.

He could have not texted at all, because what could Rhysand do? Fire him? Azriel just scoffed at the thought and opened a chat with Cassian, asking him to finish the repairs on the Porsche and a few other cars that were in Azriel’s garage, so they could be completed today. Cassian asked why he wasn’t at work, but Azriel didn’t reply, having no desire to explain.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that he was here, feeling like a complete idiot, when all he wanted was just a bit of honesty from the people around him. It wasn’t such a difficult or impossible task—not to hide things from him. Azriel found himself feeling exactly as he had four years ago when he learned about Mor’s betrayal.

But back then, despite the pain and anger, he had felt a certain relief that the confusing nightmare he somehow considered a relationship was over. Now, he didn’t feel that relief. Instead, there was an unpleasant ache somewhere inside, refusing to go away. There was also an unpleasant ache at the thought that he wasn’t going to let Eris back into his life. Yet Azriel thought it was the right decision.

He spent the rest of the day on the couch, not knowing how else to occupy himself other than mindlessly flipping through TV channels and eating reheated frozen pizza, which only God knows how long had been in his freezer. Somewhere between a melodrama about a farm girl and a rich businessman from the city and a documentary about sharks, Azriel got up from his place and went back to the kitchen for a third bottle of beer.

Something made him look out the window, and he noticed the familiar red Ferrari parked outside his house. Oh, for fuck's sake.

He watched through the window as Eris got out of the car, looking around, then scanning the building, not knowing which floor Azriel lived on. And when Eris finally saw him, Azriel closed the curtains. His phone immediately started ringing from the next room, and he didn’t need to be a psychic to understand who exactly was on the other end. However, he had no desire to talk to him.

Azriel couldn’t say exactly how long Eris stayed under his window after that because he kept telling himself that he didn’t care at all how Eris spent his time. If he wanted to continue waiting in the parking lot, hoping Azriel would change his mind and come out to talk to him, then let him do so. But hours later, when Azriel glanced out the window out of curiosity, Eris's car was still there.

It was still there in the morning when Azriel woke up and made coffee. It was there in the afternoon when he cooked lunch from the remaining groceries in the fridge, hoping he wouldn’t have to leave the apartment to go to the store. In the evening, when Azriel checked the stock of frozen pizza, the car was still there. Each time he looked out the window, Eris's car was in the parking lot.

It was the same the next day. Azriel continued to ignore calls, responding only to Cassian and warning him that if he was currently with Rhysand or planned to pass on his messages, he would also be added to the list of people Azriel was currently cutting out of his life. Cassian didn’t ask questions about what had happened, only asked if he was okay and if he needed him to come over. Azriel said he’d answer that later, to both questions. Because for now, he had no idea.

And yet, his fridge was slowly running out of food, and he wasn’t in a financial position to rely solely on delivery services, the fees for which were absurdly and unfairly high, so with a heavy sigh, Azriel decided to step outside to the nearest store.

When he stepped out of his building, the red Ferrari was still parked almost at the entrance. Its owner was sitting inside and quickly noticed Azriel, getting out of the car.

“Don’t,” Azriel said strictly, extending his hand forward. Eris stopped, swallowing whatever he was about to say, waiting for further instructions. “Just shut up. And be careful with the car, in this neighborhood, the wheels can be stolen,” Azriel remarked with a cold smirk before continuing on his way to the nearest supermarket. Despite his warning, Eris followed him. Well, it’s not like he would be worried about the wheels.

Azriel successfully ignored his presence, and Eris remained strangely silent as he followed him. Well, technically, he had told him to shut up, and it’s not like he was complaining now that Eris was just doing what he asked. However, the fact that Eris was following him closely was getting on his nerves. Really getting on his nerves.

Nevertheless, being the stubborn idiot that he was, Azriel continued to pay no attention to him, throwing the necessary groceries into the basket. He also ignored him when the cashier gave Eris a strange look and then whispered, asking if everything was okay with Azriel. He just shrugged, muttering that it was doubtful, and took the bags of groceries.

They walked back to the apartment in the same manner, and Azriel didn’t look back, already about to open the door when Eris finally broke the silence.

“Can we talk?” he asked. “Please?”

Azriel turned around, looking at him with indifference. “Later.” And left.

Back in the apartment, he wanted to hit himself harder just for the thought that crossed his mind about actually talking to Eris. Calmly and like an adult. But the more petty and wounded part of him kept repeating that Eris lied to him. And didn’t even intend to tell the truth, which made it all much worse.

In the evening, the Ferrari wasn’t there, and Azriel didn’t understand if he felt relieved or disappointed because of this fact.

The next day, however, the Ferrari returned. It stood in its rightful place while local boys ran around with admiring eyes, approaching closer to take photos. Azriel just snorted, watching this. He stood on the porch of the house, waiting for Cassian with his car, which had been sitting in the workshop all this time.

Eris stood by his car, paying no attention to the kids and teenagers gawking at the Ferrari. Azriel just frowned every time he couldn’t help but look in his direction, meeting his gaze.

When Cassian arrived, parking the car, he glanced oddly at Eris and Azriel, still not knowing what had happened but sensing nothing good. He handed Azriel the keys, asking if he wanted to have a drink together. Azriel just replied that not today, but he was seriously considering the offer.

And then he watched in surprise as Nesta's familiar car drove into the parking lot, toward which Cassian headed. It seemed he had missed a lot.

Giving Eris one last look, Azriel went back home.

“How long are you going to ignore him?” Cassian asked, lying on the couch and eating his chips. Azriel threw a pillow at him, but the bastard dodged it. “What? Poor guy comes here every day, you could’ve talked by now.”

It was true. Eris had been coming here every day for the past week, but Azriel refused to talk to him. Not because he liked making him drive across the city and torturing him with waiting. Because… Azriel didn’t know why. He just didn’t feel ready to talk about all of this.

Just like he refused to go to work at the workshop, blocking Rhysand and asking Cassian to tell him not to even think about showing up at his house. Azriel would definitely get a headache if Rhysand joined Eris under his windows.

“He sits in his car, in a luxurious car, I must note,” Azriel shrugged, grabbing a handful of Cassian’s chips. “It’s not that much of a torture.”

“And you’re sitting here like a hermit, growing a beard,” Cassian replied, and Azriel ran a hand over his grown stubble. Now that he had reduced his outings to a minimum, exploiting Cassian as a grocery deliverer, shaving every two days seemed pointless. “Soon you’ll run off into the forest and chase after dwarves.”

“Or hunt witches, if I’m lucky,” Azriel grumbled.

“There are no cars to fix in the forest,” Cassian noted.

“And far fewer idiots.”

“There’s no me in the forest.”

“That’s exactly what I said,” after these words, the pillow he had thrown at Cassian earlier hit his head. Azriel didn’t have time to dodge.

“You’re being ungrateful to the only person talking to you right now,” Cassian shook his head. Azriel didn’t remind him that he was choosing not to talk to the two idiots who were still leaving messages and calls on his phone.

Cassian stayed with him until the evening, trying to entertain and keep Azriel from feeling like he was going through a depressive episode. Why the hell was he even letting this whole situation affect him so much? But the truth was, he felt terrible. And in the loneliness of the apartment, his thoughts consumed him with double the force. But with Cassian, they quieted down, at least for a while.

The next evening, tired of loneliness, Azriel spent at a bar with Gwyn, finally having time to meet her after a long period.

“So, what happened?” she asked right after the first shots.

“Why do you think something happened?” Azriel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Come on, how many times have you invited me out for a drink just because you missed me?” she chuckled, shaking her head.

“I missed you,” Azriel said. “I’m fine. I can have a drink with my friend once a month without any reason.”

“And without your new red-haired friend,” Gwyn noted. Damn perceptive people.

Azriel ordered another round of shots, Gwyn still looking at him expectantly. And despite the fact that Azriel knew she would figure it out eventually, he wasn’t too eager to go into details. However, those very details came out on their own as he got more intoxicated.

“What an asshole,” Gwyn muttered, wrinkling her nose. “Did he apologize?”

“I’ve been ignoring him for more than a week now,” Azriel said, and Gwyn frowned even more. “What?”

“You’re an idiot,” she said bluntly.

“I’m an idiot?”

“You’re an idiot,” Gwyn nodded, repeating it again. “You always do this when you’re upset. You ignore people, not giving them a chance to speak.”

“We’re here because someone didn’t speak up in time,” Azriel noted. “It’s not my fault I don’t want to deal with Eris now.”

“Well… you’re drinking, you’re talking about him with me, and you’re obviously upset. I think you want to deal with him, it’s just your stupid head that’s not letting you realize it.”

“Gwyn, he’s literally married!”

“Azriel, he’s literally getting a divorce! How often do rich lawyers ready to apologize to you for days on end fall into your lap? Probably not that often,” she snorted. “I’m not saying you should forgive him or anything like that. No, I wouldn’t be thrilled either if I found out something like that about someone I date. But I would at least give him a chance to apologize and explain before cutting all ties.”

Azriel remained silent, downing another shot instead of answering. Gwyn didn’t lag behind, downing her glass as well. Maybe she was right. Maybe he should have listened to Eris before deciding that it was over. Because at the end of the day, Azriel might have missed him. Just a little. And maybe, just maybe, he was hoping that Eris would keep coming back.

About an hour later, this all escalated to the stage of recording voice messages he would regret the next morning. Unfortunately, Gwyn didn’t stop him. Instead, she actually encouraged the idea.

Another half hour later, they apparently accidentally called someone else, because Cassian and Nesta showed up at the bar, grabbing them by the elbows and leading them to the car. Gwyn protested that there were still uneaten fruits in her cocktail, which forced Nesta to promise to buy her pineapple in the morning—a promise she clearly had no intention of keeping. And Azriel grumbled that Cassian was whipped, earning an icy glare from Nesta, but he was too drunk to care.

Despite his intoxication, Nesta's threat to kill him and dump his body in the woods if he dared to puke in her car felt very real and registered in his mind quite clearly.

Azriel didn't remember exactly how he got to his apartment. Regardless, he woke up with a hangover, completely alone.

He didn't have the courage to listen to the voice message he sent Eris last night, but the message has been read and listened to, so he was definitely fucked.

Knowing that Eris most likely listened to a voice message full of drunken rambling, careless confessions, and rude insults—Azriel knew himself well enough to be almost certain that this disastrous trio was in that damn message—he felt a serious wave of shame.

He wasn't sure yet whether he needed to clarify that everything said in the message was just drunken nonsense, following way too many shots of whatever cocktails Gwyn had chosen for them. Considering that back in college, the two of them could down a bottle of tequila and still stay conscious, Gwyn's taste in drinks should have been approached with caution. But last night, Azriel was too upset to care about what he was drinking. And now he was dealing with the consequences.

On the other hand, Eris wasn't an idiot and probably realized that a voice message with slurred words and the sounds of a bar in the background wasn't exactly recorded sober. Maybe he didn't listen to it all the way through. Azriel desperately hoped that was the case.

Azriel found himself staring out the window, hoping against hope to see Eris's car parked outside again. This time, he was ready to go out and talk, despite the headache and the feeling that he'd been run over by a bus multiple times. He couldn't pinpoint when the sight of Eris's car and the man himself on the street had become such a familiar occurrence. But today, the usual parking spot was empty, and the silence in his apartment felt suffocating.

His phone rang, and Azriel genuinely thought it might be Eris, but it turned out to be Cassian. Well, he should probably apologize for dragging Cassian and Nesta out to pick them up last night.

"Still alive?" Cassian asked, his voice laced with a teasing tone.

"Just barely," Azriel grumbled, still feeling the throbbing in his temples. "Sorry for bothering you last night. I don't even remember calling you."

"You didn’t," Cassian replied simply. Azriel frowned, not understanding.

"Did Gwyn call Nesta?" he asked, trying to clarify.

"As far as I know, no. Eris called me. He still had my number from when I fixed his Porsche. Said you even gave him your address and asked me to pick you up because you told him you didn't want to see him."

Azriel didn't know whether he wanted to die from embarrassment or the hangover. The preferred scenario was for the ground to open up and swallow him whole because he hadn't expected this turn of events.

"And what the hell?" Azriel asked, not even sure what exactly he was questioning. What the hell was Eris thinking, calling Cassian? What the hell was Cassian thinking, giving him his number? What the hell was Cassian thinking, not mentioning this earlier? Or maybe he had, but Azriel was too drunk to understand it last night. And seriously, what the hell was going on with his life?

"Well, it was late, and Eris sounded really convincing," Cassian explained. "I don't envy you, though."

"Just kill me, seriously," Azriel groaned.

"Take some painkillers, get some sleep, and when you wake up, finally talk to him," Cassian advised. "Call if you need anything. Nesta is making some recovery soup for Gwyn. I can bring some over if you're completely unable to function today."

Azriel didn't ask whose apartment they were all in together and since when Nesta and Cassian were even staying in the same place. Instead, he thanked him for the offer and ended the call.

He really should sort out the hangover first and then, with a clear head, deal with the consequences of his questionable decisions. That's why, like a responsible adult with many problems to solve, he went back to bed, praying that either a meteorite would strike the Earth, rendering everyone's problems irrelevant, or that the gods would take pity on him and magically resolve all his issues.

Unfortunately, upon waking, neither of those things had happened, but he did feel ready to finally talk like a grown-up. Azriel looked around, trying to find his phone while also trying to figure out whether the clock showing six meant it was morning or evening, given that it was hard to tell from the darkness outside.

He found his phone and pondered whether to text or call or wait for Eris to call next so that the apology initiative would still seem to come from Eris. As he mulled this over, he looked for something edible in the fridge.

But in the end, he called, dialing Eris's number, only to reach voicemail. Either this was a sick relay race of "ignore each other", which they had been passing back and forth for the past two weeks, or something else was going on because what the actual hell? Azriel frowned and called again, getting the same result. Not that anything could have changed in those few minutes, but he still hoped.

Deciding to screw it, pride be damned, Azriel texted him, briefly saying they could talk. But over the next three hours, the message remained unread and unanswered, sitting there lonely in the chat, right after that idiotic voice message.

Logically, Azriel knew that Eris had a life—he still had work and, as much as it pained Azriel to admit, some semblance of a family with Mor. But the irrational part of him was angry that just when he wanted to patch things up and give Eris a chance to apologize, Eris suddenly stopped responding.

Or maybe Azriel had made it all too clear that he didn't want to continue anything. After all, even he wouldn't chase after someone for this long, so maybe Eris had grown tired of chasing him, realizing Azriel wouldn't give him a chance.

As Azriel resigned himself to just going back to bed and dealing with things with a fresh mind in the morning, he finally got a call from Eris. It brought both relief and irritation in equal measure.

“Fuck, if you think you can just…” he started, not giving Eris time for a greeting.

“Azriel,” Eris’s voice came through, surprisingly hoarse and quiet. Azriel immediately stopped, frowning—something in Eris's voice made him instantly alert.

“Eris?” Azriel asked, his concern growing as he listened to the uneven breathing on the other end, already preparing to ask what had happened.

“Azriel. I need you,” Eris said—softly, hoarsely, and brokenly, and those words clenched something tight in Azriel’s chest, a lump rising in his throat.

“What happened? Are you home?” he asked, standing up and frantically looking for his jacket and car keys. The silence on the other end only made him more anxious with each passing second. “Eris?”

“Yeah. Home.”

“I’m coming, okay? Just wait for me.”

Eris mumbled something unintelligible and hung up, leaving Azriel in even greater panic and even more frustrated that Eris was making him worry.

Grabbing his keys and unable to find his jacket, Azriel rushed out into the cold night in just a T-shirt. He quickly drove off, using all his knowledge of the back roads to get to Eris's place as fast as possible. Something was unsettling in Eris’s voice that made him rush.

Despite the distance, Azriel made it to Eris’s place in a record fifteen minutes, probably breaking more than a few traffic laws. The security guard at the entrance gave him a long look, but Azriel flashed him a smile and a look that said if he wasn’t let through, he’d either punch the guard or drive straight through the barrier.

Luckily, neither option was necessary. He was allowed through. Azriel quickly parked his car next to the familiar red Ferrari, briefly noting a strange red stain on the asphalt.

He was lucky that some man was also entering the elevator, using his keys, and Azriel shamelessly followed him, ignoring the skeptical glance. Fuck it, right now his thoughts were occupied with only one person.

As soon as the elevator doors opened on the right floor, Azriel shot out and immediately headed for the door, tensing up at the fact that it was not just unlocked but slightly ajar.

“Your door’s practically wide open,” Azriel grumbled, closing it behind him.

Entering, he immediately spotted Eris. And holy shit, he looked awful.

“Hey,” Eris said, still not opening his eyes when Azriel crouched down in front of him.

“What happened?” Azriel didn’t hold back, gently touching Eris’s jaw and lifting his head to get a better look at the bruises and split lip. “Who did this?”

“I’m afraid life did,” Eris chuckled hoarsely, but Azriel didn’t find anything funny about it.

“Who did this, Eris?” he repeated, even more seriously.

“Powerful people,” Eris smiled bitterly. “The kind who always get away with it.”

“Point them out to me, and they won’t get away with anything ever again,” Azriel growled.

Eris was silent, opening his eyes and looking at him as if he couldn’t believe Azriel was really there.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Because you called?” Azriel replied, not understanding the question. “If you say right now that I didn’t have to come, I’m going to kill you.”

Eris huffed quietly, leaning more into his touch, reaching out for the contact. Azriel noticed his trembling hands and grabbed them with his free hand, squeezing lightly.

"Experience shows that I can't be killed," Eris snorted. "So, I'll still say, you didn't have to come."

Azriel squeezed his hands tighter as if grounding him. "I doubt you could kick me out right now."

"I can't do much of anything right now, Azriel."

Azriel’s heart clenched at Eris’s words. There was something deeply unsettling about seeing someone so strong and self-assured looking so broken. He’d seen Eris being an arrogant prick or indifferent bastard — but this was something else entirely. This was raw, unfiltered vulnerability, and it terrified him more than he wanted to admit.

"You are so dramatic, and I'm the one who should be dramatic right now," Azriel grumbled, trying to sound casual as he helped Eris to his feet. "Let's go wash your wounds."

Eris silently followed him to the bathroom, obediently sitting on the edge of the tub. Azriel grabbed a clean towel, wetting it with warm water before carefully dabbing at the dried blood on Eris's face. The silence between them was heavy, filled with the unspoken tension of everything that had led to this moment.

Eris flinched slightly as the towel brushed against a particularly tender spot, and Azriel paused. "Sorry," he murmured.

Eris shook his head. "It's fine."

Azriel's jaw tightened, but he nodded, focusing on his task. As he cleaned the wounds, he couldn't help but notice the bruises on Eris's arms, the marks of a struggle. Whoever had done this hadn't held back. And damn it, this brought a huge wave of anger.

"I am sorry," Eris said quietly while Azriel rummaged through his first aid kit. "For... well, everything."

"For now, shut the fuck up. We'll talk about it later," Azriel snapped, realizing that right now, talking about Mor, marriage, divorce, all of that was the last thing he wanted to do. His thoughts were more occupied with where the hell the hydrogen peroxide was. "First, I'll wash and treat your wounds, make you some tea, you'll tell me what the hell happened to you, and then I'll give you a good yelling for everything you've done wrong. And after that, maybe, just maybe, I'll let you apologize and admit what an idiot you are."

"Good plan," Eris smirked, leaning against the tile. He hissed softly when Azriel began treating his wounds with antiseptic.

"You need ice," Azriel said grimly, examining the bruises. "And let me examine you completely."

"It's not that bad. Just admit you missed me and want to see me shirtless," Eris laughed weakly while Azriel rolled his eyes. He would have slapped him, but Eris's beaten appearance was enough to dismiss the idea.

"You were jumped and beaten, and judging by your untouched knuckles, the fight wasn't damn fair, and you didn't exactly fight back, and you're telling me it's not that bad?" Azriel looked at him in disbelief, getting riled up by those words.

"Family quarrels happen to everyone," Eris said, shrugging. His hands were no longer trembling, which was possibly a good sign.

"I'm going to kill you one day. But for now, I'm adding this to the mental list of things I'll yell at you about later."

Azriel helped him up and led him to the living room. Eris collapsed onto the couch, grimacing in pain. After going to the kitchen for some ice and wrapping it in a towel, Azriel applied it to Eris's cheek.

"Idiot," Azriel grumbled, not even knowing why he grabbed his hand again and didn't loosen his grip. Eris didn't resist.

"Why did you come, then?" Eris asked.

Azriel's grip on Eris's hand tightened slightly, his eyes darting away as if avoiding the weight of the question. He didn't have a good answer, not one that made sense, at least. His chest felt tight, a mix of frustration, anger, and something else he didn't want to name.

"Because I'm an idiot too."

tag list: @sizzlingstarlightsky @isnotwhatyourethinking @molcat07 @chairofchaos @lilah-asteria

[truebluewhocanoe]

Dot & Bubble, RTD, and race (a ramble)

Maybe I'm just imagining it but I feel like this episode was VERY much being done in response to/in conversation with RTD's first era, especially Season 1. "Lindy" as a name, and as a character (for some of the run time, at least) feels reminiscent of "Lynda with a y" ("Lindy" is literally "Linda" but with a "y" at the end), they're both from societies inundated with screen media, but are shaped VERY differently by it (I think I'm overdue for a Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways rewatch to dig more deeply into it). Lindy's dynamic with Ricky felt very Companion&Doctor but we all saw how that went.

Speaking of which, I don't know if Ricky's name is a deliberate echo of Mickey's alternate counterpart Ricky- probably not, but it's interesting nonetheless. As a reminder: the Doctor spent the first season and a half not bothering to remember Mickey's name and repeatedly calling him "Ricky", only to find out that in an alternate universe, Mickey is a badass revolutionary with a gun... who is, in fact, named Ricky. Kind of fucked up for the setting itself to undercut this version of Mickey by reaffirming the Doctor's "joking" mistreatment of Mickey. In fact, Mickey takes Ricky's place when the latter dies- as if they're interchangeable!

Meanwhile in Dot and Bubble, Ricky September is the one character who, despite also being rich & white, manages to break somewhat free of the society of ignorant racists, although it's left up in the air if Ricky had actually seen past that part of Finetime or not- I want to believe he did, but we don't get the chance to find out. But for the brief time we know him, he does get to, briefly, play a Doctor-ish role- until he got fucked over by an ignorant bastard that he was trying to save. Once again, I don't think a Ricky Smith/Ricky September comparison was intentional, and it's kind of hard to work a direct parallel out of those tangles, but it feels like there's something there- maybe someone smarter than me can untangle it.

Ultimately, the most important part of this is... I think most of us have realized, or have been taught, by now that the original RTD era had problems with race. (You can watch this video for a primer- if you have other recommendations, whether they be video, post, whatever, please drop them!) So RTD coming back and writing an episode dealing directly with it, how if you're in a bubble of whiteness then you can miss microaggressions and racism right in front of your face, feels like a step towards fixing that. He can't go back and re-write those episodes, but he gave us Dot and Bubble, which, from what I've seen, has been received very positively for how it pointed out the kind of racism that you can miss even when it flies right in front of your face- maybe even the racism of this very show. Here's hoping the show only gets better and better in this regard.

Although the best way they could achieve that would be to... you know... hire more people of color. Cough cough all of the episodes for Ncuti Gatwa's first season were written by white people cough cough. Kind of undercuts the message of the episode, huh?

[loriane-elmuerto]

—WIP THURSDAY

got tagged by @lilywatt (iconic handle btw Macy, feels right feels organic) to share a WIP I'm working on and surprise! it's not bath bonding this time. it's something worse bc the brain worms possessed me.

gonna tag (taglist to opt in/out for future content if you want!):

@shellibisshe, @jamessunderlandgf, @ghostfvcker, @roofgeese, @queennymeria, @florbelles, @jackiesarch, @risingsh0t, @countessrooster, @lucky-107, @cryptcombat, @cptcassian, @thedeadthree, @carrionsflower, @a-treides, @imogenkol, and @auricfog

It had become a small habit of theirs at some point. If sleep decides to elude them, both figures somehow end up on the opposite sides of the same room. So far, their encounters have occurred in the kitchen and the common room. They were a pair of people who didn't believe in such coincidences, and yet they didn't want to voice the question that was lingering in the air. At least not right now.

The latest disturbance happened in the library, where Isadora spent the better part of the night reading the latest notes Bellara and Emmrich had put together during their travels through the Arlathan Forest. Leonie was the first one to visit the place with a small group, so Isadora was left with catching up and preparing for her own excursion into the wilderness.

At some point, her small study corner, only visible thanks to a singular brightly burning candle on the table, was discovered by Lucanis, who was unable to get a good night's rest for reasons known only to him. It was not the first time he was trying to retreat to a hidden corner to gather his thoughts and reflect on the current events that the party was involved in, and yet, most of those times, he found himself trying to seek the company of a certain death mage, who was currently enraptured with the tome in her hands.

Though their initial conversations outside of the field bordered on near antagonistic, time and the constant brushes with death had dulled the edges. Now they would crack jokes and trade quips, to the surprise of their companions. The occasional lingering touches and looks were also not missed by some.

Which is how they found themselves in the current situation. Such nights would usually be passed in pure silence, with a lone question passed here and there, making sure the other person was still with them, and not stuck somewhere deep in their own minds. Tonight, however, Lucanis found himself observing his companion, who was too busy to acknowledge his presence. Isadora's face remained a mask of neutrality, with only her eyes betraying her curiosity, judging by the way they were chasing every word. For a scholar like her, this information must've been like honeypot.

Another thing that didn't escape his attention, was the fact that the woman had exposed her slender forearms and palms. Usually, Isadora would choose to wear long-sleeved tunics or robes, or opt for gloves, or those posh bangles (inspired by none other than Emmrich), which had him wondering whether she was hiding a secret from them. Lucanis wouldn't be lying if he had said he would be disappointed that their leader is a secret blood mage, adding on top of their problems. Now, he noticed only smooth, slightly tanned skin with barely any scarring. At least that crosses off the blood mage theory. What he did see, however, was the slight bumps and ridges, peeking from the inside of—

"You're staring." Without moving her eyes away from the paper, Isadora had caught him in the act.

"Your arms are exposed." Lucanis felt like going straight to the point tonight. "Why?"

The mage rewarded him with a snort. "Ever heard of changing outfits? Fashion?"

"What happened to your skin there?"

The reading stopped. Lucanis could see how Isadora's eyes remained fixed on a single word, her mind grinding to a halt. Generally, it was common courtesy not to ask someone about their scars, lest you wished to get the lights knocked out of you, but some demon decided to pull his tongue tonight. It wasn't the first time he and Rook traded small, innocent bits of their past, and yet, he found himself craving for more, like a puzzle to be solved.

Isadora gently closed the book and put it away on the table. Without meeting his gaze, she gently rested both arms on the wooden surface, revealing the scarred tissue. The skin had long returned to its natural colour and the surface was almost even, but at some spots, especially by her elbows, which appeared to be—

"Chemical burns. From when I was writing my thesis." Right, something about embalming and the latest advances in the chemistry required for it. Nevarrans and their obsession with death.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lucanis finally decided to reach out and gently run his fingers through the wounded tissue. The feeling of warm and soft skin was not lost to him.

"Why didn't you have the other mages heal them?"

Isadora did not answer right away.

"Growing up in the vicinity of the royal family had its... Effect on me. For as long as I remember, my family had subtly pushed me to be the ideal member of a noble house. Naturally, people began looking at me as if I was some sort of icon." The young mage's look was focused on her companion's hands, who were in no rush to move away from her own. "I hated it. I felt like a doll, paraded around like some trophy. These scars... They serve as a reminder that I'm not a deity for others to worship. I'm still me, who can get injured, who bleeds, and who scars."

[starfirewildheart]

The Wolf and the Flame

Summary:

sex, first time, tender, loving, hot, sex, be warned.

Chapter 10

Geralt and Naurel made their way back to the keep stopping along the way to kiss and tease each other. Once inside he took her hand and was about to start up the stairs when Vesemir put his hand on his chest stopping him. “You need to talk to Eskel, wolf, and work out the problem. I don’t know why the tension is there but it will only fester if it’s not addressed.”

Geralt did not want to have this conversation right now but respected Vesemir enough to listen. “I will try again but he…” Vesemir cut him off, holding a finger up in warning.

“I will tell you just like I told him. I am giving you one more chance to fix this yourselves but one more fight and I will bend you over the table in the dining hall and tan your hides just like when you were kids.”

Geralt could feel the heat in his face as a stunned embarrassment washed over him momentarily but he quickly composed himself. “I will try, I promise.”

Vesemir put a hand on Geralt’s should and smiled as he glanced at Naurel, whose hand was still clasped in Geralt’s then looked back at his charge. “You can do it later. Go,” he nodded his head to the stairs laughing when the two took off like teenagers.

Naurel was laughing by the time Geralt pulled her into his room only stopping when he kissed her. He pulled her cloak off and tossed it aside and did the same with his own without breaking the kiss. They swayed together like they were dancing until his hips came to rest against his small dresser. He sat back against the top of it and pulled her between his thighs as he reached for the buttons on her shirt. Her heartbeat was faster than a hummingbird and he could feel her trembling so he pulled back to look down at her. “Are you ok? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

She shook her head but couldn’t look him in the eye. She was scared and didn’t know if she could tell him because she felt so stupid. “I want to, believe me. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”

He pondered her words and how they didn’t mesh with her actions and came to a conclusion. “You’re afraid I will hurt you. Of course, it makes sense because I’m a witcher and I’m strong but I promise I will be easy with you. I will watch my strength when I hold you and..”

“Geralt, no.” She stepped back between his thighs and cupped his face in her hands. “I’m not afraid of you. I know that you would never hurt me and I trust you completely.”

The fact that she said those words with such surety made his heart quiver. “Then what's wrong?”

“I.. you…” she really wanted the floor to open up and swallow her right now.

“You can tell me anything, my love.”

“You’ve been with Yennefer and Triss and I’m sure a lot of others.”

“That was in the past. I love you and only you,” he reassured her.

She reached out and gripped in carefully, looking up at him through her lashes when he gasped. His eyes were lidded and glazed with desire and it spurred her on. Her experimental stroke was gentle and guarded not wanting to hurt him but he had other ideas. His large hand closed over hers adjusting the grip of her hand to a much firmer hold than she thought he’d like then he guided both their hands up and down the hard shaft. The veins below the skin felt like small ridges to her palm and on each downstroke, the wet, pink tip peeked out of the top. Something in her just had to know how it tasted so she gave the tip a small kitten lick. The moan he let out sounded heavenly and she wanted to hear it more.

Geralt forced himself to stay as still as a statue while she explored his body. He didn’t want to scare her and was trying to be patient and give her time to learn him. That was a task that was getting harder and harder by the second, literally. When he felt her tongue against his head he couldn’t hold back the moan and he nearly lost it when she looked up at him from between his legs. It was a sight he’d never get enough of. He had to grip the edge of the dresser when her mouth closed over him and she started sucking. Her tongue curled around his girth and sent a chill up his spine and a flame in his belly as she started moving her head. When she gently cupped his balls and rolled them in her hand he heard the wood of the dresser creek from his grip. “Fuck!”

Naurel continued sucking him getting brave enough to go deeper and deeper until she gagged herself. Making yourself puke on your lover was not in her planes so she adjust her depth and was quite enjoying her task. It wasn’t until she heard the wood of the dresser almost splinter that she paused and looked up at him, cock still in her mouth, in question.

“Fuck,” he moaned again at the sight and grabbed a handful of her hair in his right hand to anchor himself. “Don’t stop,” he urged. He was so worked up from all the sexual tension all this time that he was so close that he knew it would be better to go ahead and cum than he could take his time with her. His witcher libido never failed him. He’d be hard again in no time. It took all his strength not to give in and just fuck her mouth but it wasn’t long until he felt the coil in his belly and his balls start to tighten. Giving a gentle tug on her hair he panted, “going to cum” in warning. She didn’t stop and that was somehow even hotter. One last suck and he was shooting his seed in her mouth was a loud moan.

Naurel swallowed the bitter seed and continued sucking spurred on by the sounds he was making but they suddenly started to sound more pained than pleasurable so she let him slip from her mouth. The sight she was greeted with was the hottest thing she’d ever seen in her life and made her moan. Geralt, panting and boneless looking more relaxed than she’d ever seen anyone was a Geralt she needed more of. Getting to her feet she pulled him into a hug kissing his neck lazily while he recovered. It only took a few minutes before his grip on her tightened and he stood, spinning them so that she was now sitting on the dresser.

“You are amazing.” He grinned as he pressed his forehead to hers before kissing down her cheek and whispering, “My turn.” He kissed every inch of her skin as he bared it before standing back and admiring her for a moment. He held his hand out to her helping her down and then carrying her over to the bed. Once he laid her on the soft blanket he lowered himself over her. Kissing down her body he laved each breast sucking and teasing her nipples until she was breathless. He loved the way her body arched as he continued moving lower pressing kisses everywhere. Taking his hand he repositioned her legs so that they were spread and kissed the inside of each thigh,

Naurel had a sudden realization of what he was about to do and she quickly snapped her knees together causing him to move his head out of the way. “Umm, what are you doing?”

He grinned, “experiencing. Relax love,” he soothed and pushed at her legs again,

“Umm experiencing with your mouth,,,there?”

“Yes, if you will relax long enough. You’ll love it, I promise.”

“But umm…” she blushed wildly and gestured with her hands. “It’s umm all…”

“Wet?” He laughed when she blushed even redder. “I intend to keep it that way from now on. Wet and slick with your desire for me, ready to take me whenever the mood strikes,” he rumbled before delving between her legs and lapping at her folds.

She wanted to argue, to push his head away but his tongue was doing things that made her buck up against his face instead. His low humm of approval vibrated against that same spot and she couldn’t stop the moan that slipped out. Her legs seemed to have spread wider and lifted up of their own accord and Geralt took it as a good sign because soon she felt his blunt fingers joining his tongue. When the first finger slid into her it set off a sensation she’d never felt before. Everything seemed to drive her need to be filled, to get more touch, pressure, anything! She was a writhing mess by the time he had worked her up to three fingers and that burning coil of pleasure low in her body was taking on an entirely new feeling. It was like waves against the beach sending shock aftershock of pleasure through her as her body spasmed. “Geralt!”

By the time she clenched around him and coated his fingers in her release he was hard and dripping again as he pressed himself against the blanket for some friction. Once he’d coaxed her through her first orgasm he climbed back up her body. “I love it when you say my name like that.”

“That was…” she was breathless.

“Nothing yet,” he smirked and rubbed his hard cock between her wet pussy. “You ready love?”

“Please,” she rasped.

The slide in was wonderful. Sensations were on overdrive and she was so tight against him that he had to stop a few times so he wouldn’t cum. He kept kissing her and using his other hand to tease her nipples as he pressed forward but by the time he was fully seated the moaned gasps had turned into whimpers. “Shh love, that’s it. You’re taking it so good for me, So fucking tight around me,” he moaned as he reached between them and thumbed her clit.

It was a painful sting deep inside her as Geralt continued to fill her beyond capacity. She could feel him touching things deep inside her that nothing or no one had ever explored before and she wanted more but it hurt enough that she didn’t know if she could. By the time she felt his balls touch below where he filled her she was softly punching at his shoulder almost ready to tell him to stop but then he touched her clit again and it caused her hips to buck. The sensation was one she needed more of so she bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Geralt, please.”

“Please what, love?”

Her eyes flew open and the raw, powerful look in his eyes told her he was barely hanging on as well. “Please, fuck me.”

He growled and pulled her right leg over his hip so that she opened up more then pulled his hips back slowly before pushing forward again. Her moans urged him on but when her hips started raising to meet his Geralt knew he was about to cum. Wanting to be sure she came with him he reached between them and started rubbing circles over that bundle of nerves. She was so far gone that it only took a few times before she was cumming again soaking his cock with her release. Her body squeezed him impossibly tight and shuddered around him and with a few stuttered thrusts he came deep inside her as he bit the junction between her neck and shoulder with a growl. They stayed wrapped up together, kissing as they came down from their highs before he carefully pulled out and laid down next to her. He pulled her so that she was pressed to his side with her head resting on his chest. “Did I hurt you?”

“Never,” she panted as she looked up at him. “I love you Geralt.”

“I love you too, kitten,” he beamed.

“We are going to do this lots,” she informed him.

“Humm,” he smiled as his eyes got heavy.

Wolf and flame tag list

@kneelforloki

@shellyshellshell

@warriormirkwood

@mollymal

@secretdreamlandmentality

@salvawhxres

@dizzybee03

[akutasoda]

Hello <33 would it be alright to request Kurapika and a reader who is understanding, independent, smart, but also relatively quiet/analytical? I can see them quietly leaving him as he focuses on his goals (like the end of the anime) so they don’t distract him because I love angst :3 I think his s/o would love him deeply but refuse to keep him from revenge yknow? :3

up to you how you’d like to do it or if you do it at all! Wishing you a lovely night or day <3 C:

to let you free

synopsis - you didn't want to distract him from the one thing that was so important to him, but you didn't know how much he cared for you

includes - kurapika

warnings - gn!reader, angst no comfort, fluff, strangers-friends-strangers?, wc - 605

a/n: hello! wishing you a lovely day or night too <3

↪you had met kurapika during the hunter exams, a very short, brief encounter which only lasted long enough to weasel out each others names. you both were more concerned for passing the actual exam than making acquaintances right now - they could always be made later.

↪you met him a second time after you both passed the hunter exams. this time, having recognised one another from the exam, you both had the time to be more friendly and have conversation, despite your quite nature. then you parted ways again.

↪the third time you met him he was accompanied by his companions. three coincidental meetings had led you both to believe that you would always cross paths like this and so kurapika offered you to join him and his friends as they may be able to help you in whatever your journey was for.

↪you would then come to learn of all the goals for his friends, each individual having a completely different reason. your interest piqued when kurapika finally told you his intentions for his journey - his motivation for revenge was rather admirable.

↪your understanding nature made kurapika subconsciously open up more to you in particular, he felt as if you actually listened and cared for his story and the tasks he set out for.

↪your analytical and intelligent side only attracted him more, you offered him opions and facts that made him think. made him evaluate his options more to receive the best outcome.

↪it would be no surprise that these opinions are what lead to his developing crush on you. however his dedication to seeking revenge put a halt to his attempts at getting closer to you - he wanted to achieve this first as then nothing would be able to stop him from pursuing a future as he would no longer dwell on the past.

↪no words were exchanged for this issue but you felt the same. you too had developed a crush but you didn't feel it was the right time for either of you. his revenge would keep him glued to the past, not yet ready to see out his future, and you had your own issues to fix.

↪this would be were you quietness and independence would come in handy. you were both young with goals on mind and the last thing you would want to do is stop him from his and so you made a conscious decision to leave undetected - his friends too busy with their problems to notice.

↪while you would deeply miss his companionship, you felt this was for the best. the day you decided to slip away you left his friend a note to relay to him as he was too busy with revenge to care what anyone else was doing and then you left to pursue your life.

↪kurapika would admit that his revenge became selfish toward the end. he was so dead set on doing it by himself and avenging his clan that he would realise how much that affected his friends and himself afterwards.

↪it took him a painfully long time to even realise you disappeared - it pained him that he didn't notice sooner. it was a short enough time that his friend remembered the note but long enough that they didn't even remember where the note was and your last message to kurapika was gone.

↪he knows the long lasting affects that hos abilities have placed on his body and he'd do anything to see you again. now, his only mission is to find you and confess.