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jals-stuff · 1 year ago

Note

hello my love! If you don't mind I would like to request something for Orter. He and reader are still students in Easton and absolutely despise each other (something like academic rivals) and they ended up having to take care for a magical creature together for a class project during a few weeks! sorry if its a bit confusing, english is not my first language 🥹

good evening darling~

First of all, I would like to apologise because I originally wanted to make something short but it ended up being just a little longer than what I expected...

edit: part 2 ← right here

also i am receiving a lot of requests recently for some reason. thank you for your patience.

word count: 5.7k

warnings: f!reader, i hope you aren't scared of snakes (this one is cute tho), bit of swearing, not proofread

Taking care of it!

Group assignments are, and always have been the worst. The extroverts usually left you with the heaviest workload and you'd just end up doing everything by yourself while they took credit for it. However this time, the assignment wasn't like anything you would've expected.

The teacher was going to pick random students and put them into pairs, and each duo would be given a small wooden box with an egg inside of it.

“These boxes contain mandragora snake eggs. This species hatches into different colours depending on how you take care of them and help them grow.”

The teacher explained and brought two different creatures to her desk. The left one had beautiful and healthy dark green, glossy scales and stunning purple flower patterns with big eyes and seemed extremely docile; it was a rather medium-sized specimen and it looked kind of cute.

But the other one was a completely different creature; an aggressive beast with long, hooked fangs, completely hollow eyes and its scales were an alarmingly fluorescent shade of green with almost no patterns at all. Its scales were in a pitiful state and seemed uncomfortably stony. It kept trying to bite the teacher.

“The left egg has been taken care of perfectly, and is now a healthy, beautiful mandragora snake. The right one however, has absorbed too many negative energies from the ones taking care of it, resulting in… this.”

And just as you started wondering how it was possible to mess a beast up that badly with only negative energy, the teacher called out your name.

“(L/N) (Y/N) and Orter Mádl, come and get your egg as well.”

That couldn't be good, this snake was probably never going to hatch at all. The two of you exchanged an uncomfortable yet similar side eye. Existing in the same classroom as him was already enough of a pain in the neck, and now you had to raise a magical creature together?

Oh boy.

…

You were both sitting in front of this egg now, in absolute silence as none of you knew what to say or do. You had never taken care of a mandragora snake— or any type of pet other than a cat in the past, and surely anyone could guess Orter was not the nurturing type.

“This snake is going to have horrible parents.” You thought out loud, and for the first time, you saw the cold, distant jerk nod. He crossed his arms and looked at it for a while without saying a single word. Just… what was he trying to achieve? Did he think he was going to turn into a mandragora snake expert just by looking at an egg?

The teacher cleared her throat to grab everyone’s attention again and pointed at the blackboard.

“These creatures usually hatch after approximately one week, and they will gain their patterns after one more week, but an unhealthy egg will take longer than that. You must take good care of them until their colours are completely visible. Your schedules have been cleared accordingly so taking care of the little ones should not be an issue for the next month.”

Orter didn’t quite appreciate the idea of spending a month with the likes of you, nurturing and hatching a pet together as if you were some kind of happy little family. He raised his hand.

“Is joint custody allowed?”

“Absolutely not.” The teacher deadpanned at his question and you almost slammed your own face against the desk at how dumb of him that was. After a while, everyone left except the two of you, still staring at the egg.

“That was dumb of you. I’ll be the one to hatch it since you can’t bear to have responsibilities.” You gently pet the egg with one of your fingers. “Isn’t that right, Rivers?” That last part was mumbled as if you were talking to an actual baby, and Orter rolled his eyes.

“Dumb? Should I remind you that your last two brain cells are fighting for third spot?” He mocked, giving you a condescending side eye. “And why are you giving it a name already? It hasn’t even hatched yet.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes and look at him as if he had just asked the most obvious question in existence. He made no commentary about the way you looked at him.

“Since you don't even care enough to give it a name, Rivers will stay in my room. I’ll take good care of it.” You shrugged and very carefully picked the box up, holding it against your chest like an actual child.

“Isn't it supposed to be a two person assignment? How am I supposed to participate if it stays in your room?” He sighed, visibly growing more and more annoyed at your behaviour.

“You can visit if you want, it's not like I do anything other than going to class. Neither do you, I’m assuming.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and stood up from his chair to follow you as you walked to your dorm room. “You’re really going to ignore what the teacher said about joint custody? The snake-”

“Rivers. Its name is Rivers, don't call it ‘the snake’, Orter.” You shot an angry glare at him and he had to physically hold himself back from punching a wall.

“Rivers can't only stay with you.” He sighed as he finally used the name you had given it; a small victory but a victory nonetheless, even though he seemed a little angry at you for being so damn annoying.

“Neither can it keep moving between your room and mine, and I’m pretty sure that's what the teacher meant when she said no joint custody, besides...” You trailed off, looking down at the egg. “I doubt you're the nurturing type, I wouldn't even trust you with watering a plant.”

You giggled mockingly and he clicked his tongue in annoyance, but you were also right, as much as he hated to admit it. He muttered something and walked away in the opposite direction, leaving you alone with the mandragora snake egg in your hands.

You were determined to hatch it, with or without this jerk. Carefully, you placed it upon a cushion on the unoccupied bed in your room that was supposed to belong to your roommate, but she hadn't showed up in literal months, so Rivers was now your priority.

You enveloped the egg in fluffy, soft cloth and looked at it for a bit. Sure, you were the nurturing type… in spirit. How were you supposed to take care of a magical beast you had never even seen before?

None of your books had ever mentioned anything about it and you weren't really studious either unless Orter was about to get better grades, in which case you absolutely had to surpass yourself and crush him completely.

A few hours had passed and you were almost falling asleep, studying how the egg was reacting to sounds and touch. You could feel something move underneath the shell but you couldn't exactly tell what was happening.

It seemed stable, at the very least, but focusing so much and taking notes was draining. However, a knock on your door took you out of your drowsiness. “Come in?”

As you wondered who it could be, you were surprised to see that dear Mr. Mádl had stopped sulking and actually showed up, much to your annoyance. He closed the door and stepped closer to the egg, not even paying attention to you at all, which irritated you slightly.

“What's all this?” You asked as you noticed him holding an uncomfortable amount of handwritten notes. He pushed his glasses back up and finally looked at you.

“I went to the library to research a bit on mandragora snakes.” He stated with his usual emotionless expression. “Unlike you, I can put in some effort.”

Oh, he was getting on your nerves so much after only two minutes spent in your room. It took all of your remaining energy not to kick him out immediately. But for Rivers’ sake, you decided to keep calm.

“Look. I get that you despise me, because in case it wasn't clear, I despise you too. But for the sake of this assignment, can we please quit being passive aggressive?” You sighed softly, trying to calm your bad mood down.

“I’m not the one to blame here.” He shrugged, crossing his arms as he gave you his signature condescending look. “You didn't even research anything about this species, you're not even doing anything right now, and I bet you've been doing nothing for the past hours as well.”

You exhaled softly, feeling the small creature in the egg get a little agitated and trying to stay calm. “I took some notes on its reactions to sounds and such. I believe it can actually sense negative energy.” You handed him your notes and he raised an eyebrow.

“Sounds like bullcrap. It didn't say any of this in the books I read.”

You held your snarky remarks for yourself and shrugged your shoulders. “Maybe the authors didn't think it was necessary. But it's clearly reacting. It also reacted when I sang to it.”

He chuckled, his expression unchanged, and you just knew he was about to say something rude, so you decided to talk before he did. “Anyway, it's good that you did some research.”

Orter raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Surely there had to be something snarky at the end of this sentence and that wasn't all.

“Because..?”

“Because I couldn't have done it while checking its reactions, so it's good.”

The room grew silent quickly and the snake within the egg started to calm down a little. Though Orter didn't seem convinced at all, and still thought you were bullshitting him with this whole reaction thing.

“I still don't see it. Why would you sense reactions and not me? Are you just special that way?” He asked in a mocking tone, and you were getting more frustrated by the second.

“Just touch the egg right now.”

He did. Even without touching it, you could feel the magical beast getting agitated, but it seemed like he didn't. Not one bit.

“There's nothing. You're full of crap, (Y/N). Just say you haven't done anything the whole time, I won't be surprised.” He mocked, but you decided not to bite back. You knew what you had felt earlier and you wouldn't take his criticism for that.

“Whatever you say, Orter. But you'll have to stop acting like that because whether you want to believe me or not, it is reacting.” You sighed softly, wanting to change topics. “So anyway, was there any advice on how to help it hatch correctly?”

He flipped through his notes with his eyebrows raised in contempt, as if you just couldn't do that without him (you couldn't, let's be realistic here) and he stopped on one of the pages.

“They need company, warmth and lightning. I suppose even you can provide that, correct?” He looked up from his notes and you didn't have to look back at him, you knew exactly what kind of expression he had right now.

“I suppose I could.” You sigh softly, already fed up with his behaviour, and you felt the snake get agitated again. As if instinctively, you ran your hand against the shell. “It really doesn't like negative energy…” You muttered, not really towards anyone.

“I really think you're making things up here, otherwise it would've been mentioned in those books.” Orter said, putting his notes back against the bed where the egg was resting. You shrugged again, looking at it pensively, and for once, the snarky sandman didn't say anything.

“It's late… I’ll sleep for now.” You rub your face with your hands and sigh softly once more, then stand up and make your way to your bed. He, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be moving an inch. It's almost like he's trying to catch up with the egg for some reason…

“You could directly tell me to leave, you know?” He adjusts his neck tie as he stands up and turns towards you. You wanted to shoo him, send him flying or something, but you needed this mandragora snake to be healthy and you couldn't afford to do such a thing.

“I’m… tired, is all. Really tired. I wasn't kicking you out.” You muttered, sitting on your bed and looking up at him. Even when he isn't insulting you, he still finds ways to be insufferable.

“..right. I will be here tomorrow morning to ensure you won't be doing anything… dumb with this egg.” He cleared his throat and left without another word. What kind of jerk was he anyway? He'd been especially awful today and you had no idea why.

Maybe tomorrow is going to be better?

You spent most of the night tossing and turning, occasionally glancing at the egg, and it felt like the beast inside of it was mimicking you. Since sleep was evading you, you made your way to the other bed and sat next to the egg, looking at it in exhaustion.

“What's going on in there..?”

As if it was going to reply, yeah. You rubbed your hands against your face and sighed, lazily grabbing Orter’s notes on mandragora snakes and flipping the pages until you found the hatching section.

As insufferable as he was, his notes were flawless and easy to understand. What a pleasant handwriting… you shook your head and kept reading through it until sunrise.

He kept his word and showed up early with a bag full of… something ? He sat on the extra bed close to the egg, and pulled some more cloth out of the bag, as well as cotton and other fluffy materials he placed around it.

“I went and got some more.. warmth for it, since you couldn't do it correctly on your own.” He scoffed, and you just chuckled, not even looking back at it.

“Ahah, thank you, that's really helpful.” You were way too tired to bite back and honestly, he was putting in effort when all you were doing was go with the flow and panic when something happens.

The sn- Rivers seemed pretty stable at the moment, which was surprising considering how agitated it gets whenever… oh.

“I think it likes you,” you looked at Orter, a little amused. “It's been agitated all night and now that you're here, it's just… calm.”

He pushes his glasses back with a neutral expression and looks at it for a bit. “Perhaps it likes me better.”

You groaned slightly at the idea. Even though Orter was the one bringing supplies for it, you were obviously the one caring for it! Making sure it's stable and safe! You stood up and stretched your arms.

“Maybe… since it likes you so much, I’m going to go and get coffee or something, I’m exhausted.” And as soon as you took a step out the door, he called for you.

“Wait, (Y/N), something is wrong, come back.”

You raised an eyebrow and when you stepped back in, you could feel the beast’s agitation, like it was panicking or something. You just sat back and touched it.

“What's happening?”

Nothing. Well, nothing anymore. It just calmed down immediately and went back to being stable. You looked at Orter in confusion and he returned that same look. What was going on with this beast?

“It’s merely a hypothesis, but…” Orter trailed off as he stepped outside of the room and… the beast was still pretty much stable. Sure, it was moving around a little but nothing too critical.

“I think it likes me more.” You muttered, and heard him chuckle dryly and walk away. Did you upset him? That wasn't your intention at all, for once. Laying down and facing the beast, you wondered what was up with it. Why would anyone get such an assignment anyway? It was so much work!

The door opened again around twenty minutes later when Orter came back with a small bag. More supplies? Again?

He reached for the inside and then handed you a cardboard cup. “Umm.. what's that?” You asked in a confused tone and he raised an eyebrow at you like you were the stupidest, silliest little thing he'd ever met.

“What do you think it is? It's coffee, you idiot.” Oh. Oh. Ohh. You grabbed the cup and looked up at him, a bit puzzled. This man really was unpredictable.

“You… got me coffee? But… why ?”

“You said you were exhausted, and apparently you can't leave Rivers for too long, so…” He crossed his arms, and you suddenly felt really weird. Was he being nice to you? It was so odd. Right now, you didn't want to rip his head off or throw him out the window.

“That's… thank you.”

You couldn't say anything else, looking at him with the most disoriented look he'd ever seen before; there was no malice and no anger or frustration in your eyes, just… questions.

“Don't get me wrong,” he sighed softly, “I’m only doing this because I don't want anything weird to happen to it.” He specified, looking straight at you. Could he just not ruin a moment like this?

“It wasn't completely stable when you were gone.” You said, looking at the egg and taking a sip of your coffee. “It's only stable when both of us are here.” You muttered while adding this to your notes, and he made no commentary.

“It gets really agitated at night, even when I’m here.”

Orter cups his chin with his fingers and looks at the egg pensively. “Then I suppose you weren't lying when you said you could… feel it.” He reluctantly admits. “Should I keep it at night and see how it goes?”

You know for sure it's going to be a problem if you try to move the egg, so what to do..?

“I think so… but we can't possibly move it so, I would suggest…” You trailed off, visibly looking for something to say afterwards as you really didn't have a clue what to do, but Orter finished your sentence.

“...for me to sleep in this bed, is that your idea? Really?”

You blinked once. Then twice. Was that your idea? Not really, but after thinking for a while, you would've eventually brought this possibility up.

“Yes, I mean- no. Or, ahh… I guess..? I don't know. I didn't really…”

He sighed loudly and looked down at you with something of a mocking glare, and it suddenly felt really embarrassing. What was embarrassing? The idea of having him sleep in the same room as you, or the fact that he was being so condescending about it and had you stuttering?

“So, you just gave me every possible answer in one sentence…” He mused and crouched to take a closer look at Rivers. “Well, I suppose I can do that. But don't expect me to be nice to you.”

“You don't have to tell me, you ass.” You muttered and his eyes narrowed as he turned towards you.

“It's merely in case you forgot, since your brain looks a little… dysfunctional.” He taunted.

“Oh, you're taking care of my memory now? That's awfully nice of you, Orter.”

“Don't get too used to it, (Y/N).”

You chuckled as an answer and sighed softly, looking at the egg. “Can you hear that, Rivers? The audacity of that man.” You muttered, making sure he could hear you, and he gently pushed you aside to look at the egg.

“Don't listen to her, Rivers. Even you know I’m right.”

Did he just.. talk directly to it for the first time? And to say such a thing, too? You couldn't hold it in anymore and just burst out laughing, pointing your finger towards him, uncontrollably wheezing and giggling.

He looked very startled at first but then a little embarrassed. He slapped your hand away, pretending to be angry but he was just really flustered and had a very faint blush on his face. “Shut up… Hey, hey! Shut it now… Jeez.”

But you weren't exactly laughing at him. It was just very cute that he suddenly decided that it was fine to talk to this egg as long as it was to discredit you, and honestly, how could you not laugh?

Everytime he slapped your hand away, your finger came back to point at him, as if you were accusing him of something. It was really hard to stop laughing and it took you a good while to calm down, only to be greeted by Orter’s pouty expression, something you never thought you'd see.

“Ahh, I’m sorry Orter, I wasn't making fun of you. It was just really cute.” You said before realising what it implied, and it was your turn to be embarrassed. “I mean- cute as in, you know, you're talking to it now… and it's… you know.”

OHHH MY GOD STOP TALKING, SHUT UP! You internally yelled at yourself, and the way he sighed made it seem like he wasn't mad at you. Or was he? At least his flushed expression was gone, much to your disarray.

“Right…” He cleared his throat and crossed his arms as he sighs once more. “I mean… I suppose you are right and Rivers can feel our emotions..”

“..’so let's try to be good parents’ is what you're about to say, isn't it?” You muse, slightly teasing him. “C’mon, say iiiiit.”

“So let's try to… to…” He sighs and turns around, his hand on against his hip as he adjusts his glasses again. “...I’ll get some food, since you can't.” And with that, he immediately steps outside of your room, feeling like… like something. He doesn't know, and he hopes you don't either.

You chuckle to yourself, somehow thinking he's cute when he gets embarrassed. But you remind yourself that he despises you, and that you also despise him… or, well, not that much. Maybe despise wasn't the right word. You just weren't so sure anymore.

Orter, on the other hand, was trying to get this awfully embarrassing moment out of his mind as he walked to the Academy's shop to get some things. However… He didn't know what to buy. He then walked to the counter and looked into the store employee’s eyes very seriously.

“What kind of stuff do girls like to eat?”

He should thank the gods that you weren't there because the way he asked this with a completely straight face and flat voice would've put you to your grave.

While he was at the shop, you were reading his notes and humming slightly to try and soothe the mandragora snake inside the egg. It was working, but it definitely wanted both of you to be here.

You stopped on one of the pages as something caught your attention: “...mandragora snake eggs will drain a parent’s energy to grow, which is why the other parent usually hunts for the family and is in charge of making the nest more comfortable.”

With this, you almost spit out your coffee. Was this the reason why you were so tired yet restless? And also why it was panicking every time you weren't close to it? Putting more thought into it, you also realised something else.

Orter was the one who brought most of the cloth to keep it warm and he had also brought you sustenance so far. The two of you had taken these roles in very seriously without even knowing it. But since you were the one giving energy to it, perhaps…

You sat up and tried concentrating your mana into your hands before touching the soft shell, as if giving it a part of it… And much to your surprise, it seemed like something happened but you couldn't tell what exactly.

After an hour or so, Orter came back to your room only to find you laying down in exhaustion next to the egg, completely drained for some reason. You eyed the bag he was carrying and he just put it next to you.

“I didn't know what you wanted.”

What you wanted? Does that mean..? You sat up and looked inside of it; tons of snacks, candy, pastries and whatnot. You did need sugar right now, and so you immediately grabbed a pack of sweets and opened it.

“You are a lifesaver, Orter.” You sighed as you ate a few sweets, regaining your energy bit by bit. Pointing at the specific paragraph on his notes, you slightly tapped your finger against it.

“That's why I’m so tired, this little rascal has been taking all of my energy.” You muttered, sighing softly as you kept eating more and more sweets. He read the passage, holding his chin.

“And have you tried sending mana directly into the egg?” With your nod, he hummed. “I could try it too.” And so, he put both of his hands against it and tried sending some of his mana into the shell. Neither of you could tell if it worked.

You decided that you needed to take a shower and go to sleep, and as soon as you tried to stand up, your legs gave up from fatigue and you started collapsing, but Orter was quick enough to catch you. “Oh, crap. Are you alright?”

You groaned in frustration and nodded, even though you were completely incapable of standing up again; the sweets were apparently not enough to let you use your legs.

“You've really outdone yourself, haven't you?” He chuckled, and you looked away. He was being awfully nice and you just didn't know how to respond to that type of behaviour, especially coming from him.

He gently lifted you up and put you down on your bed. As embarrassing as it was, you couldn't really have managed otherwise. You were thanking him when your brain just shut down and you fell asleep quickly. He made sure to pull the covers up against you and he sat there for a bit, looking at you.

It was clear he hadn't been very nice at the beginning, and he was now trying his best to atone for that fact. While you rested peacefully, he couldn't help but move some of your hair away from your face and place it gently behind your ear.

From that moment, this is how most of your days went. You'd spend your day giving mana and energy to the egg and Orter would bring you some coffee, water and food, and whenever he was about to sleep, he'd give Rivers some mana as well.

After six days, the egg had grown quite a lot and you weren't sure what size the “little one” was going to be anymore. All you knew was that it was getting more and more tiring to keep feeding it with your energy.

You were laying down, exhausted even though it wasn't that late, and Orter was reading a book on the chair next to your bed. No insults, no snarky remarks had been exchanged since last time, and he was rather helpful to you.

After all, you were the one spending all of your energy on helping Rivers hatch correctly. Most of the time, he had to move you back to your bed because you'd fall asleep while giving it your mana. You could've sworn you felt him touch your face but you could've very well been dreaming… or were you?

The embarrassing question was stuck in your mind now and you couldn't stop thinking about it as you kept giving your mana to the egg. “Should be the last day, right?” You asked quietly, visibly really tired.

Orter closed his book and adjusted his glasses as he looked at you. “Yes. If it's healthy, then it should hatch tomorrow.” His eyes softened just a bit as he looked at you. “Why don't you call it a day? You sound exhausted.”

You sighed softly and moved to the edge of the bed to stand, and he immediately stood up to come and help you. It was… unexpected. You held onto him as if the two of you had never despised each other, ever, and he helped you get to your bed.

As much as you didn't want to admit it, he was really helpful. And since he had stopped being so condescending, it felt quite comforting to have someone sleep in the same room as you, not that you’d ever let him know about this detail. He was also really thoughtful and good at taking care of Rivers, so that was a plus…

In fact, he was rather nice overall. He seemed to remember what your favourite snacks were, and also what kind of coffee you liked, all of this just from studying your expressions carefully as you consumed what he had brought. He really was thoughtful, and since you had started taking care of this mandragora snake egg together, he hadn’t been snarky or mean even once.

“Are you alright?” He asked, looking at you with a hint of worry in his eyes. When you started wondering why he was concerned with you when you felt his hand slightly squeeze yours. Oh. Ah. Ah. You had unwillingly grabbed his hand when you tried to stand up, and hadn’t let go since then. While you were overthinking, he was just looking at you in confusion because you just… wouldn’t let go of his hand.

“O-oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- uh… I was just-...” Ah, it was no use. Your face was slightly flushed with embarrassment and you were trying to stutter your way out of this situation, but no words seemed to come out. You looked up at him and noticed that he was ignoring you. He had grabbed his book again and crossed his legs, reading it while flipping the pages with his free hand.

When he noticed you were talking to him, he just raised both eyebrows, but the gesture did not change his neutral expression. “I don’t need it right now, I don’t mind you keeping it.” And with this, he immediately went back to his book, as if he really didn’t care. The truth was that he just could not look into your eyes right now.

Orter was trying his absolute hardest to conceal the very faint blush on his face while you actually didn’t let go of his hand. Was it because you just wanted to hold it? Or were you just too embarrassed to do anything about it? Or was it both?

Even if you weren’t near it, you could feel some kind of weird vibration— or maybe just an emotion coming from the mandragora snake egg. You couldn’t tell what it was exactly, but it had started as soon as you had grabbed Orter’s hand. Was Rivers absorbing whatever emotion that was too?

That was just too much thinking for you and you decided that the only reasonable course of action was to collapse in bed and stare at the ceiling. That being said, you still hadn’t let go of his hand, and it didn’t seem like you planned on doing it anytime soon because as soon as you closed your eyes, you fell asleep.

He didn’t notice until he closed his book and saw you resting peacefully against the pillow while still holding it. He was about to pull his hand back and let you sleep, but it didn’t look like it was keeping you awake or anything, so he just decided to look at you for a bit, his thumb unconsciously rubbing your palm soothingly.

Sitting on that chair was rather uncomfortable, but he didn’t feel like letting go of your hand, so he was going to bear it anyway until you’d let go by yourself.

…which you didn’t do. You were just resting and holding his hand hostage the whole time.

Approximately two hours after you had fallen asleep, Orter heard a weird noise, something indescribable. As his eyes searched the room for its source, his eyes widened slightly. He turned to you and squeezed your hand. “(Y/N), wake up, hey.” His free hand reached for your shoulder, slightly shaking it.

Your eyes fluttered open slowly and you groaned in frustration. But Orter’s expression looked amused and a little excited, which woke you up immediately. “What’s the matter?” you asked as he chuckled and pointed at the egg.

“It’s hatching!”

Holy shit. You immediately sat up and made your way to the opposite bed as you watched the small snake slowly get out through a hole it had pierced. It then slithered away from the shell and looked at you and Orter, as if it was confused. You couldn’t help but squeal at how cute it looked. It was just a little baby!

You extended a hand and it instinctively moved towards you, then rested in your hand. It was such a precious little creature, you were holding back your tears. “Oh my gods, oh my gods… What are we supposed to do now?” You asked frantically as if in a panic.

Orter immediately flipped through his notes and then reached for a small bag of supplies, taking out a small piece of mandragora root and feeding it to the small snake, watching it greedily bite against it like “chomp!” and swallowing the whole piece.

“So, according to the notes I’ve taken, we can move him now and it doesn’t have to stay warm anymore. I’m assuming it’ll need to stay with us until its patterns start appearing. It also says it might sleep a lot.” He flips through the pages again to see if he hasn’t missed anything.

You thought for a bit. Maybe you could grab one of your scarves and put some cotton and such into it to make a… snake holder? This way you could walk around the academy with Rivers in your scarf and without worrying about it too much.

You had literal stars in your eyes and Orter looked completely lost as soon as he laid eyes upon this beautiful expression of yours while you were holding the small snake.

There was still a whole week left to the assignment, and it felt to him that time was flying awfully fast.

#mashle x reader #orter madl #orter mádl #mashle #orter mádl x reader #orter x reader #orter madl x reader #orter madl x you #mashle magic and muscles

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cokou · 11 months ago

Text

𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒 𝙽𝚂𝙵𝚆 𝙰𝚕𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚝

tw. uh, smut?. MDNI. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ a/n. SO IF I'M GONNA WRITE FOR PENG, I GOTTA WRITE FOR HIM TOO. // Don't translate or transfer my works, will not be cross posted anywhere! This is my only account. Masterlist

A = Aftercare (What they're like after sex)

—decided that wiping you down is a great idea after sex, wiping off the dripping cum and your sweat off of you would definitely be his aftercare.

B = Body Part (Their favorite part of theirs and also their partner's)

—His favorite part of his s/o's body would be their tits, simply because he could spend eternity of his time buried in them or squeezing them as much like stress balls. It doesn't matter how big or small it is, he'll praise you no matter what.

—His favorite part of his body would be his arms and fingers, absolutely loves fingering you to get your reaction as he watches you contain yourself. Takes pride of the tattoos on his arm as well, love it when you trail your lips all over it.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum, basically)

—His cum would be shaded as #EADEDE, it's thick and salty due to his unusual diet. A fan of finishing inside you, loves seeing his cum drip out of your entrance.

D = Dirty Secret (self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

—He steals your panties and masturbates with it on his mouth or dragging it with his dick, cumming on the fabric and tossing it on his laundry to wash it and quietly put it back in your closet in the middle of the night.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? do they know what they're doing?)

—A shit ton of experience, you had no idea how he knew all the things that needed to be done to pleasure a woman, he'd have you orgasm just by using his fingers.

F = Favorite Position (This goes without saying)

—Missionary, absolutely loves seeing all your fucked out reactions on your face.

—Mating Press, to reach deeper inside you and make you squirm even more.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment? Are they humourous etc.?)

—He smiles and grins at you a lot and doesn't really talk, all conversations shared in bed are either reassuring if everything is okay with whatever he was doing. Overall, he only grins at whatever is happening, he clearly enjoys it.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes?)

—It's messy down there with clear sights of razor cuts, it's slightly darker than his hair being #91563A, trims it once a month.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment? The romantic aspect)

—Absolutely fucking wild as hell, he'd hammer you on the bed frame until the bed breaks and he won't even care if it does, he's rough as well but on the romantic aspect, he slows down once in a while do let you breath properly.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcannon)

—Yes, he jerks of almost everywhere, on a mission? hell yes. Brings his horniness everywhere even during duties or meetings with Law, he can't stop pumping his dick out of his pants.

K = Kinks (one or more of there kinks)

—Rough Sex, totally dominates you in bed with your legs thrown over his shoulders.

—Cum inflation, loves filling all your holes if he could, he doesn't mind having to cum anywhere as long as it's inside you. A yes when it comes to inside your cunt.

—Threesome, a threesome with Penguin would always be a go for him, however he'd ask you first if it was totally fine for you to bring him into the bedroom with you two.

L = Location (Favorite places to do the do)

—Dare I say on the meeting room, sitting besides each other will never be a crime, except he snakes his hands on your thighs and eventually leads into him fingering you on your chair while Law discusses what to do for the next mission he assigns everyone, completely dumbfounded, you even attracted some crewmates with the faces you were doing and asking if you were okay.

—The classical bedroom of course, above all places it's where sex should take over.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, keeps them going)

—If you think about it on a much Modern Setting, watching porn would boost his sex drive so much, practically watching whenever you're out of reach motivates him so, so much.

—Using toys on you, he regularly thinks of which or what toys you would enjoy in bed.

N = No (something they wouldn't do, turn off's)

—anything that involves bodily fluids such as piss or shit.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill)

—In between, but prefers giving oral to you. Is in the idea of cunnilingus and loves eating you out. It mostly happens as a foreplay to make you're all ready for when the main action begins. Hell his experience makes it unbelievable.

—Although if you utterly insist of giving him a blow job he'd never say no, he grabs a handful of your hair and sees how much of him you can take, would push you deeper to make you gag on him.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? Or slow and sensual?)

—Fast and rough almost all the time, he doesn't have a particular reason on why he enjoys it. But seeing as you enjoyed it as much as he did, then he had no problem having it that way. But occasionally, whenever you two catch up on an argument he slows down and beats you through it making you beg for him to go faster and it boosts his ego.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies, how often)

—While it does happen, it's only rare. Being it whenever you two are extremely busy or going on a mission that serves days, but it does happen, not all the time but still does.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? Do they take risks)

—Yes, yes, yes. The amount of times you two were almost caught by EVERYONE is unimaginable, having you fucked on the meeting room or the engine room, it never ever went straight to the bedroom. Going inside of his best friend, Penguins bed room and fucking you there while he was out of his room.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?)

—He can keep his Stamina long enough for 4 rounds, but likes the idea of overstimulation, so if his s/o reluctantly agrees, they'll continue jerking him off or riding him till he basically cums nothing. About 7 rounds if you ask me.

T = Toys (do they own toys? Do they use them? On their partner or theirself?)

—He owns a lot of varieties, a dildo, paddles, vibrators, and even those remote controlled vibrators. Uses them 100% on their partners when they agree, sticks the remote controlled ones on your clit while on public and seeing how much you can handle.

U = Unfair (How much they like to tease)

—Teasing isn't really his forte, it rarely ever happens, usually you're the one to initiate teasing on him but however it doesn't really happen, he's game to flirting though.

V = Volume (how loud are they, what sounds they make)

—He moans lowly and pants, he isn't that loud but it can be heard half way through the room. He tries his best to conceal it but terribly fails and it shows.

W = Wildcard (A random headcannon for the character)

—Shares everything you guys do to Penguin, he brags about the tiniest thing you both shared to his best friend, mostly to make him jealous that he got you first than him. He doesn't stop within detailed in bed, he details it so well that (maybe) it started feeling like Penguin knows just as much as Shachi does.

X = X-ray (Let's see what's going on under those clothes)

—It's messy with razor cuts down near to his abdomen, it curves downwards, slightly darker than his skin tone #D3BDA3, tip is #D29A89, trimmed once a month, 7.54 in and girth is 3.76, fluid #EADEDE flavor is salty and it takes over your tongue.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

—Extremely high, is always on the go. He is always the first one to initiate having to do it with you.

Z = Zzz (How quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

—Always the first one to be knocked out asleep, he's tired after all. He snores lightly with his arm on his face covering his eyes when he drifts off to sleep.

©Cokou 2024, all works belong to me.

#one piece #op #shachi #shachi x reader #shachi one piece #heart pirates #one piece smut #one piece x reader #I LOVE HIM SM #penguin and shachi

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eternallyfrustratedwriter · 4 months ago

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The Curious Case of Reluctant Immortals

So this is a fic idea I have. It would be primarily centered on Hal Jordan x Reader. Reader is a scientist who, while on a research trip, stumbles through a tear in space and time to the DC Universe where a mirror tear has appeared. They gain strange powers after stumbling into that universe, trying their best to understand how to go on in a place they shouldn't exist.

The prologue is under the cut.

Should I continue this?

“Remind me why I agreed to do this again?”

Darkness stretched before you in a seemingly endless abyss, only broken up slightly by the headlamp strapped to your head. The material of the hardhat had been digging heavily into your head for the past hour as you trekked through the cave system. The only guidance given to you was a satellite powered GPS with coordinates locked in. Your friend, a fellow scientist named Garrett who you’d met in your Astonomy 101 class 10 years ago, was rambling a whole lot of nothing in your ear with the occasional bit of actually useful information.

“Because if a groundbreaking discovery was going to be made from your research trip you’d be damned if the credit would go to Dobbs?”

“Damn, I did say that didn’t I…”

“You know what they say about pride and falling.”

“Zip it.”

The magnetic field measuring instruments clinked dully inside of your backpack, a constant reminder of just why you had agreed to trek into a previously unexplored path in the Mammoth Cave system in southern Kentuckey. There’d been reports off odd and unexplained things happening there over the past few months that managed to stick out even amongst all the other things that came from the Appelachian Mountains. You didn’t even believe most of the stories but it also made sense that things would be a little odd in a place that predated the rings of Saturn.

So, armed with a backpack full of supplies, possibly bad judgement, and a man yapping in your ear about how videogames are “a vastly superior form of storytelling” you marched towards what you hoped would be scientific discovery and a Nobel Prize.

After turning yet another corner you paused as the sound of a distant hum caught your attention with how out of place it was. The journey so far had been almost completely devoid of noise apart from the dripping of water and the constant stream of chatter in your ear. It was a low humming that seemed to burrow into your brain, like an ear worm without even the payoff of catchy lyrics. Your footsteps slowed before stopping entirely.

The next thing you noticed was there was a second source of light now. It was an almost amber shade, swelling out before shrinking in on itself like a steady heartbeat.

Shining and dimming.

Swelling and receding.

Over and over.

There, in the middle of the cavern you’d spent the last 90 minutes walking towards, was that gash of light. The edges cracked as you approached, mesmerized as it yawned open before you.

Like Aurora reaching towards the spinning wheel, you too reached out to the hypnotic object before you.

Just as the tip of your finger grazed the edge of the crack a shockwave reverberated from it. What had once been a thin slit at about face level was now open enough to step into if you so chose. Cracks could be heard further back as they quickly snaked across the ceiling and down the walls.

Then, before a decision could be made about what to do next, the place she’d entered was now walled off. The comms filled with more and more static, Garretts voice growing panicked as he tried to get through to you before all you could hear was white noise. That also happened to be when the headlamp flickered out, leaving you with just the strange amber glow of the tear before you.

Voices could now be heard from the tear. No words could be understood but the voices themselves were distinct and almost seemed familiar in a way.

Again, your hand pressed against the tear and this time it sank into it. There was no pain, just a subtle warmth and an urge to get closer.

More and more of you went through the tear until you were fully submerged.

And for one distinct moment you felt whole.

Then you fell.

#Hal Jordan x Reader #dc comics x reader #dc universe #meta reader #female reader #Justice League x reader

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thegoldendoorknob · 2 months ago

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I decided to compile a list of art prompts for my friends based on my past history of drawing and working with classes.

Feel free to use any ideas you like for yourself!

Have you drawn:

[Original Characters: OCs] [Canon is also fine] -oc crack -Date Start! (Any fanfic tag applicable) -oc family eating together or other any homely activity -ocs fighting -oc sharing their craft -ocs interacting with animal -oc trusting someone with a secret -ocs swimming (beach day/lake day/tubing/diving) -oc preening/with eachother -oc 'final boss' doing cool or evil stuff -ocs performing a feat of strength magic or agility -ocs hiking or traveling any landscape -oc sick day -Species swap/Outfit swap -ocs in clothes they would NEVER wear -If their outfit is inspired from a specific culture, depict with an outfit from a different one (The more details you research, the better) -The Flashback Episode | The Tragic Backstory -The Montage -ocs but child/adult -ocs but animal -ocs but furry/furry but oc -ocs but they're in the wrong genre -oc or your own dream -Young oc participating in an activity you once had and miss -Draw how your parents/extended family/guardian would perceive your oc -Draw how your oc perceives themself -ocs expressing with Animal Crossing emotions [X] -Your friends ocs/interacting with yours -ocs interacting with canon characters [Perhaps who inspired them?] -ocs in a style of your choosing -In silhouette

[Visualization] -Your inner/sleep paralysis demon personified -Your art block personified out of spite -The Hyperfixation -The game you last played -The media you last laughed or cried at -The last book, fic, podcast, or audio skit you liked drawn with characters -Draw a frame of your own music video of a song you've never seen one for -Depict your likes/dislikes -'Mary Sue' yourself -Caricature of what you hate about your art -Doodle what you like about other people's art that you want to learn -Chibify/Cartoonify your favorite foods -Give an inanimate object of your choice googly eyes -Draw yourself as a… -Combine two or three animals you like [Actual art advice I got from elementary]

[Analyzation]

Draw Any: -A Flower, Vine, Tree, Stump, Moss, Fern, Vegetable, Fruit, Mushroom, Rock, Shell, Cloud, Slime -A Cat, Dog, Bird, Bunny, Mouse, Horse, Deer, Goat, Giraffe, Cow, Yak, Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Tiger, Fox, Bat, Snake, Gecko, Monitor, Eel, Seal, Swordfish, Ray, Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Shark, Sunfish, Manta, Flounder, Whale, Cephalopod, Frog, Butterfly/Moth, Beetle, Stickbug, Mantis, Bagworm, Millipede, Anteater, Coral, East style Dragon, West style Dragon, Hydra, Phoenix, Unicorn, Jackalope, Griffon, Manticore, Hippocampus [add 'myth' before searching], Kirin, Tanuki, Nekomata, Tengu, Kitsune -3 Different subspecies of any of these animals or plants -Depict them overweight or underweight -Turn them into an animal sidekick -Take a small piece of one of these and try to texture it -Shrink or Enlarge -Emphasize what you like most about the animal to a ridiculous degree. If you like whiskers, draw them extremely long. If you like tails, draw a super floppy tail. If the wings, draw them huge or add multiple. If you like a dragon's fire breath, draw Trogdor The Burninator -Depict how you think the previous prompt's animals would survive or struggle with these new traits

[Technique] -Shade with only dots -Shade with only hatched lines -Digitally shade with only 3 different colors -Color using one of the random pallets online [X] -Draw swirlies, rainbows, and zigzags with different colored crayons -If digital, Hue-slide [Hue and Saturation] an existing landscape or character and doodle them in the changed colors -Paint/Digitally on top of a real-life picture using it's own colors below -Draw or paint in a medium you are unfamiliar with -Mix paints until they match the colors in a reference (Basics|Sheet) -Draw in mspaint/crayon (badly or not is your choice) -Draw without lifting the pencil or erasing -Draw with your eyes closed -Draw with your nondominant hand -Draw basic 3d shapes -Draw 3d shapes connecting with one another -Draw basic 3d shapes aligned on a 1, 2, 3 point perspective -Draw an organism from memory, trace it 3-10 times, then try to draw it again -Draw any skeleton -Draw The Meatman (Muscular System) -Draw skelly muscled or visible version of hands, feet, elbows, legs -Noses, eyes, ears, lips, eyebrows -Booty, Genitals -The back -Draw Gestures with a time limit of your choosing [X] -Coat an entire sheet in charcoal, then erase a picture into it. For digital, use the eraser to draw a picture into a fill-tooled canvas -Draw a character without using a solid outline -Acquire a bunch of stickers or some stamps, then try to cover up an entire piece of paper or object in them with as little empty space left as possible without overlapping -Take a piece of paper and create as many differently drawn lines or shapes as you can manage. Make sure to fill the page with them.

Ummmm I guess feel free to tag me if you really liked drawing one of these?

#art help stuff #amateur stuff #prompts #Obviously more can be added however anyone sees fit for themselves or their friend group #I'm not really good at these but it's been a long while since I've seen one so I figured I should cover the basics #I would have liked to add more varied mythical animals but the internet does not easily come up with results for them <_<#Nimue #Sage #oc #I'm also obviously cartoonish-inclined so these may not help as much for draftsmanship and realism #Huh the colors messed up at points. Ah well

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wedreamedlove · 2 years ago

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To Live In A World - Light & Night Group Essay

Light and Night has an 18+ rating in China but, in my opinion, it's not for sexually suggestive scenes, it's for the topics they bring up that only individuals with solid worldviews can appreciate and discuss. One topic that comes up again and again is how an individual lives in the world: what makes someone choose to leave and what makes someone keep going?

Out of the 5 male leads in Light and Night, Sariel, Evan, and Osborn have tried to kill themselves. Charlie cannot even conceive of the idea of suicide, but he also discusses this topic and has his own coping methods to deal with suffering. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Jesse has the standard response that he can't give up on everything because of his responsibilities, his attachments, and his loved ones [SSR Prairie Fire DATE].

Trigger warning for discussions about suicide. Spoilers up to Chapter 19 and Charlie's 2023 birthday.

[SSR Escaping Into Dusk DATE]

Evan: "Do you know how to meet a mermaid?" His tone sounded like he was asking someone a question, but also like he was simply telling the opening of a story. Evan: "You have to swim to the bottom of the ocean—there it will turn pitch-black and blue skies will become a memory." Evan: "When you lie down in that silence and decide to become a part of it, mermaids will appear." Evan: "If your love is sincere and pure enough, they will accept you and take you away forever."

This story comes from The Big Blue and, in the context of Evan's date, refers to committing suicide. I think it's only fitting to start this essay with this haunting metaphor, and this also happens to be one of the times Evan tried to commit suicide during the period of his life when he enjoyed freediving.

TO LIVE IS TO SUFFER—

Since Evan opened this essay, we'll continue to talk about him. First, to understand what could drive someone to commit suicide, I will summarize Evan's background. He was born into a caring nuclear family that quickly disintegrated and so, at the tender age of 5, he lost the love and protection of both parents. Right after that, he was forced to go through the brutal training all Blood Clan members go through, such as survival training in the woods and the indoctrination of their superiority.

[SSR Secrets in the Shade DATE]

Evan: Yes, it was when I was a child and driven into the woods for the first time. Evan: I witnessed wild beasts hunting and escaped from the mouth of a snake. I felt that the forest was full of dangers and only wished to get out of there quickly. Evan: And, just when I was hungry and exhausted, I saw a bamboo mushroom. Evan: At the time, I didn't know what it was and whether or not it was poisonous. I looked at it and thought hopelessly that I might as well pluck it and eat it, and resign myself to my fate.

[SSR Illusionary Light - 14 Years Ago Fall TRAJECTORY]

I felt my pulse beating, ba-dump, ba-dump—and so I aimed the screwdriver at it and stabbed down hard. The second the blood spurted out I heard the sound of my soul drilling out too. It cheered and sang for the freedom and sunlight it waited for so long. I was a bit happy, because I discovered that my heavy body was gradually turning light. That feeling of being able to fly even without wings was addictive. The smell of blood was a strong fragrance and when it dripped onto the mud it even blossomed as a vivid flower. [...] This time no one would be able to stop my footsteps. When the blood ran out, I would be free.

[SSR Against One's Heart - 11 Years Ago Spring TRAJECTORY]

Whenever my body was spread open to be seasoned, I always prayed in my heart for rot to come. I think I would greet it with extraordinary calm and even a small smile. Of course, I would allow myself to retain a bit of sadness and this would be my last reverence and friendliness to life. I held this thought until the first spot of mold appeared on my body—I meant the fresh and still bleeding bowl-sized wound in my chest, large enough that my heart could almost fall out. There was no moment closer to death than now, however a long-lost fear suddenly grew crazily in my body until, in the end, I was defeated. I watched myself stuff cotton balls into my body, along with all my obsessions and wickedness, and the blood stuck them together, forming a new piece of flesh of its own. If death happened to arrive at this moment, he would surely laugh at my hypocrisy and cowardice. Fortunately, the dense night outside the window stretched in front of me like train tracks and I could even hear his departing footsteps that were too lazy to step over those tracks.

The Blood Clan ground away his individuality, his sentimentality, and his attachments. In his 1st birthday [SSR Enticing Feast DATE], Evan explains that all members of the Blood Clan are brought up to have no affections for anything but family. He couldn't be picky about his food, he could only read books that were approved, and his pet rabbit was killed. To make matters worse, Evan is also the black sheep of the Blood Clan. He cannot bring himself to be like them with their cruelty, arrogance, and depravity. He shares their instincts but he instinctively rebels against it and questions all of the Blood Clan values.

Can someone even be considered to be "living" in this existence? It's no wonder Evan doesn't think there's anything to keep him in this world, because he grew up without even knowing who "he" is as a person.

Despite all this though, Evan did manage to find a way to reconcile his self-destructive impulses. However, this answer is going to be left for the next section and, instead, we are going to move onto our next male lead who suffered, Osborn.

Much like Evan, Osborn was also born to a loving family that disintegrated, starting with his father leaving and ending with his mother's multiple attempts to abandon him before she finally succeeded. Once that happened, Osborn had no more attachments to this world and thought about how easy it would be for him to disappear without anyone noticing or caring. He grew up with this fear of being abandoned again and so was afraid to get close to anyone. This self-isolation was only exacerbated by the prejudice of people around him, who saw him as a juvenile offender, and made no attempts to understand him.

[SSR The 400 Blows TRAJECTORY - 14 Years Ago Early Spring]

I look forward, beyond anything else, to the moment I kill myself. At least this proves that, at the very end, before the world abandons me, I severed my relationship with it first.

[SSR The 400 Blows TRAJECTORY - 8 Years Ago Early Summer]

After waking up, he climbed to the edge of the rooftop and looked at the rusty red marks on the concrete floor that couldn't be washed away, like they were a silent accusation. So long as he jumped, he could escape everything. Will anyone grieve for me? Will anyone care about my death? Osborn blankly thought.

[SSR Free Fall TRAJECTORY - 6 Years Ago Early Winter]

He suddenly raised his hand and slashed at his own neck hard. However, the biting pain didn't bring a sense of relief. Instead, it hurt more.

[SSR Free Fall TRAJECTORY - 4 Years Ago Early Winter]

All my classmates had jumped and kept hurrying me. The waves grew larger and larger and I realized I really would die if I didn't jump. But there was an instant where I seriously had the idea of giving up. I thought about leaving things like this, because to me this had never been an act to survive but instead a punishment.

Freedom is a double-edged sword. In protecting himself by keeping others at a distance and not getting attached, Osborn had also walled himself off from the world. It was all too easy for him to be indifferent and flippant with his own life because he cherished nothing and believed that no one cherished him.

However, as we all know, people (and animals) did get under Osborn's defenses and became family members he took under his wing and who ended up binding him to this world. He also discovered his own way of reconciling with the world, which we will talk about in the next section.

The last suicidal man was Sariel. Unlike the others (except for Jesse), Sariel was born to a loving family and there were no tragedies in his childhood. Instead, it was the trauma of war in his early adulthood that brought him to despair. On the battlefield, he saw the cycle of hatred and revenge, what humans do at the extremes of desperation (cannibalism), massacred a village, and ultimately ended the life of someone he loved with his own hands. Everyone he knew and loved passed away, either due to circumstances or the long passage of time, and after fulfilling all of their leftover wishes he himself was left with nothing of his own but crushing survivor's guilt.

[SSR Meeting Spring FILM REEL - Undead Nightmare]

Sariel lay on the shore of the lake and it was unclear whether it was lake water or tears on his face. Sariel: Yet another failure. After that, Sariel tried countless times more. Since his talent would save him, then he would try even more drastic methods. However, his talent followed him relentlessly like a curse. Cut veins would heal, torn off limbs would be restored, and even his heart could recover its function after being pierced by a long blade.

Not mentioned above is how, for his first attempt, Sariel jumped off a cliff and his body was practically pulverized or how, in the scene prior to the translation, he tied himself to a rock and sank into the bottom of a lake to drown. Unlike the other men, Sariel would have truly ended his life on multiple occasions if it weren't for his talent, but since he couldn't die he became an empty husk that wandered the world instead, attempting to drown out his pain in vices like gambling and wine.

So now, after seeing how some of the men in Light and Night hit absolute rock bottom in their lives, how did they pick themselves up and walk all the way to the present to stand before us?

—TO SURVIVE IS TO FIND MEANING IN THE SUFFERING (GORDON W. ALLPORT)

As I have been mentioning, all the men in Light and Night were able to come to terms with living in this world, although it's arguable how "healthy" their coping methods are. In this section, I will not be listing the men in the order I introduced them, but rather by my opinion on the worst-to-best coping methods the men demonstrate. Naturally, this is an incredibly personal opinion and you do not have to agree with me at all. In fact, discussion would be happily welcomed!

First, we have Evan.

[SSR Escaping Into Dusk DATE]

Evan: Actually, it can't be called liking it. It's just that I was once a little addicted to the feeling of freediving. Evan: In a turbid world without sound, color, or light. Evan: You toss aside every tool and means and rely only on the limits of what the human body can do... Evan: It's true the pain brought on by this method is inevitable, but the freedom of the soul gained from this is very captivating. Evan: You will genuinely experience and truly reach your inherent limitations as a human being. Evan: And, in this process, you can also expand the limit of your boundaries bit by bit as much as possible. MC: It sounds like it's nearly walking on the edge of death. Evan: More or less. But it's certainly attractive, isn't it?

[SSR Secrets in the Shade DATE]

MC: When you're feeling down or that things are difficult, just fantasize about the wonderful life you'll have after achieving your goals. [...] Evan: After I achieve my goals? Evan: At that time, perhaps nothing will be important anymore.

There are two parts to Evan's reconciliation with the world. First, as I brought up in my essay "The Depth of his Feelings", I believe the way Evan flirts with death is a homage to traditional vampire literature and their attraction to their own death, but I also think this is a natural act of those who are suicidal and lost as a person. Owing to the Blood Clan, Evan questioned himself and his perception of the world, but nothing is quicker at grounding someone to this world than the undeniable physical sensation of their body's primal instinct to survive.

Second, Evan ended up becoming indifferent to death. Even though I'm mentioning Evan first for "unhealthy" coping methods, it's mostly directed at his near-death outlets, and I actually appreciate his acceptance of death. On that note, there isn't a contradiction here because, even if his body emotionally wants to survive, he has intellectually made peace with death.

Evan's view on death reminds me a lot of the Stoic ideal of the good death. The Stoics do not believe that death is anything to fear because everything comes to an end and, in fact, they believe that suicide is a choice and amoral. The door is always open to you if you choose to leave; the only caveat is that you must consider your circumstances seriously and make your decision logically and not on a rash and impulsive decision. For Evan, he calmly accepts death after he achieves his goal (of wiping out the Blood Clan) because, to him, his life would be complete and there would be nothing more for him in this world. It would be a good death. Evan's acceptance of his own death can also be seen in his 2nd anniversary card [SSR Yesterday's Elegy TRAJECTORY].

Alright, we've seen how Evan reconciled with the world, so now we're going to move onto Charlie.

[SSR To the Oracle DATE]

Charlie: Fiancée, freedom exists. Charlie: It's pain and sacrifice that let him feel the value of existence. [...] Because that person who treats pain as feeling the world and touches the weight of freedom is Charlie too. [...] Charlie: But they can't stop themselves from interacting with others. MC: Why do they have to be so persistent... Charlie: Because they still have hope for this world.

[SSR Solar Flare DATE]

Charlie: I cried terribly when I learned that he would never come back. Charlie: But when I grew up I gradually understood that maybe he had already decided to say goodbye to this world. Charlie: So long as people live they will get hurt. No one knows how much pain the seemingly optimistic and cheery people around them have endured alone. Charlie: Time couldn't heal his wounds and so he gave up on saving himself. I could hear the conflict in his heart. He was someone who clearly valued life a lot and always spared no effort in saving every single person. How many similar things had he gone through, how many helpless moments had he experienced, and how had he carried all of this to this day to stand in front of me... I had no way of imagining it. I could only hold his hand tightly to let him know that I was trying to understand how he felt. Charlie: The look in Myron's eyes before he was lifted into the ambulance made me feel that everything I had done just now might have been meaningless. Charlie: But I will still choose to save them. I can't explain why, maybe it's an instinct.

Like I mentioned, Charlie cannot even conceive of the idea of committing suicide but, ironically, he experiences the world through suffering. As a phoenix, he innately loves the world and its people, and that's why the injustices and despair in the world hurt him so much. So, how does he find an outlet for this pain?

[SSR Perpetual Journey Home TRAJECTORY - New Era 44 Late Autumn]

Charlie clenched his fist, making the tense veins in his arms and wrists bulge out before they submerged into his palm. His flat nails nearly dug hard enough into his skin to bleed. Only then did I suddenly notice that his broad palm was covered with crescent-shaped scars that curved in the same direction. The protruding white marks were old, but it was obvious they were quickly covered with new purple marks before they faded. MC: ... Don't hurt yourself. I placed my fingers on the tips of his fingers and tried to pry them away. But Charlie didn't loosen his hand. He bent his knuckles so hard that it seemed as if he was biting the skin of his palm painfully. And that pain actually entered my body through this touch. MC: Charlie, let go! I heard my own urgent voice, as well as the imaginary quiet sound of flesh being separated. His fingernails dug into his palm, which slowly began to turn red. MC: Charlie, I don't understand... I shook my head, tears staining my cheeks. I didn't understand why he had to torture himself like this. Or— I did understand, but I could only use this common logic to persuade him to stop harming himself. The glaring redness of his palm filled my mind like the shallows of a sea. I smiled bitterly. Wasn't pain just another way of breathing?

[SSR Under the Stigmata DATE]

He walked to my side and sat down, watching quietly as the boy turned back to plucking his black feathers, as if he had seen this done countless times. In a daze, I saw Charlie sitting there in a firefighter's uniform, his face covered with smoke and dust. And every time the boy plucked a feather, his expression that was on the verge of a breakdown softened a little, as if that action could relieve his pain. I also saw Charlie, wearing a white coat and looking exhausted. He sat there blankly, his hands still shaking slightly. I recognized this action, it meant that he had just completed a long operation. They all had the same contentment of pain on their faces. It dawned on me that this place, this house, might have been built by his father originally, and Charlie had also once destroyed it. But in the present, Charlie had built all of this by himself, brick by brick. Here, he overlooked the pain of his past, again and again, gaining the power to rebuild himself from it. I thought about how he found a way to use this pain, but this didn't mean that this pain no longer existed and I didn't want to see any Charlie trapped in it.

This is how Charlie reconciles with the world and his powerlessness. It reminds me of these tweets about trashed bathrooms and how, when people have no control over their life or environment, they will want to assert control over the small part of their environment that they still have the power to affect. In this case, what can you always affect? Yourself. In a way, this is somewhat similar to how Evan paces on the border of life and death, because not only does it make him feel alive but it also gives him control.

For Charlie, there are so many things that he cannot control in the world, especially other people's decision to take their own lives. He also lives under the extraordinary pressure and control of his father, who has been trying to mould Charlie into his perfect heir (and a god to rule this world?). By hurting himself, Charlie can be assured that he is still in control of his own life and his own decisions and this gives him the strength to pick himself up again and again, among all this suffering, to try and help more people.

You can probably see why I don't rate Charlie's method that highly either, because I don't advocate self-harm, haha. Next, after having seen Charlie's method, we move onto Sariel.

[SSR Seeing the Spring FILM REEL - The Mayfly]

Sariel (Phantom): Everything has a conclusion that you have no choice but to accept, regardless of whether it goes against your heart or not, or whether it hurts you or not. Sariel (Phantom): When this pain is too heavy, it's better to forget it than to confront it bruised and bloody. Sariel (Phantom): Living on relies not on redemption or reconciliation, but on forgetting. Sariel: Did you survive to that time just by forgetting? Sariel (Phantom): Yes. Sariel (Phantom): Rather than letting regret and pain erode your heart into an empty husk, it's better to forget everything. Sariel (Phantom): Live on, Sariel. Someone is waiting for you in the future.

As we saw earlier, Sariel would have succeeded in committing suicide if it weren't for his talent. This is why his coping method is to forget the weight of his pain before it drives him mad and turns him into something else. In this dialogue between himself, Sariel does question whether forgetting is just another way of escaping his pain, much like drinking; but, in my opinion, it's a valid choice to set aside the pain when you cannot handle it in the moment. Sariel sealed his power and memories away but, now that he has you to support him, he's unsealed his power and memories and has the strength to look back on his past and come to terms with everything with a less despairing outlook.

Lastly, we come to Osborn who, in my personal opinion, has the healthiest mindset.

[SSR Free Fall TRAJECTORY - 1 Year Ago Midsummer]

To be honest, I was disappointed in that moment. It was no different from any other rainbow that appeared somewhere after the rain. It was very beautiful, and very ordinary. The end of the rainbow was in fact just the end of the rainbow, and it was only my imagination of it that idealized it. But I still stared at it for a long time, until I found that the disappointment wasn't that terrible either. Because the world didn't care at all whether or not I was disappointed. Even if I never set foot on the road again because of this, the world wouldn't use anything I longed for to urge me to stay. After understanding this, I suddenly no longer gritted my teeth and fumed about disappointment. Because I discovered I had other things that could transcend disappointment: people who were willing to take risks with me when I took risks, and people who could understand my emotions that weren't understood.

The world being indifferent is supposed to be comforting, because it means that setbacks and disappointments aren't targeting you in particular. Successes are because of your own efforts and failures are because there were more uncontrollable elements than there were things you could affect.

Osborn internalizes this message and I believe it explains why he's such an active person. He has no expectations for the world and thus cannot be harmed by it any longer. He no longer needs to feel like he did in his childhood, about abandoning the world before it abandons him first. He managed to turn his independence from the world, which used to make him feel isolated, into one of his greatest strengths and it's also because he now has personal connections that bind him to the world by choice.

For my headings, I used a quote by Gordon Allport but, to be honest, I prefer the old Buddhist saying that "pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional" and, in my opinion, it reflects Osborn's perspective and why I, personally, think he has the healthiest relationship with the world. It's inevitable that there will be times when things don't go smoothly in your life and that you'll experience (physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual) pain, but it's your choice on whether to suffer during this period or not. Suffering is optional means you should realize the impermanence of this pain and if you can accept when things are out of your control, manage your expectations, and understand that whatever the world does externally to you does not affect your core as a person, then you will realize there are actually a lot of things you can overcome and that you need not dwell on them.

In the end, Light and Night is a game about hope and all the characters are growing, hopefully including the players who are following all of these characters in their journey. I also really like how the game doesn't affix one theme to one character, but instead approaches a theme from multiple angles through all the characters because, in this case, there is no right or wrong answer on how to live a life in this world. But, hopefully, seeing how hard these characters struggle to keep living can also provide some courage to those who are struggling and searching for their own path.

#light and night #光与夜之恋 #ln osborn #ln evan #ln charlie #ln sariel #ln xiao yi #ln lu chen #ln qi sili #ln zha lisu #meta of light and night

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halothenthehorns · 8 months ago

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Chapter 23: WE WIN FABULOUS PRIZES

Will read out the new title, "We Win Fabulous Prizes," but there was something lacking in his usual chipper voice, though no one was really surprised. They were all just tired of this. Tired of the old feelings being ripped open, of second guessing and wondering what if's.

The absolute cynicism in Will's voice for the word prizes after all that was said and done was more than enough to set the tone for how all this was going to wind down.

So Alex piped up with, "so when you say fabulous, you mean, fabulous," and she did the gayest twirl with her wrist.

"I, kind of doubt it Alex," Percy laughed for her anyways.

The Three Fates themselves took Luke's body.

That felt like an honor, Magnus frowned as he hugged his jacket closer to himself. He hadn't sat around and thought about what he'd like included in his funeral, though he'd had ample opportunity in the past few days in particular. The same old bags who had once stopped a bus to get Percy's attention while they cut a string in his favorite color that could represent his dad.

It all felt very neat and laid out hearing of it in past tense, but he still had a bad feeling that it was still a bit of a show with these gods. Nobody could really know every twist and turn along the way.

I hadn't seen the old ladies in years, since I'd witnessed them snip a life thread at a roadside fruit stand when I was twelve. They'd scared me then, and they scared me now

Magnus couldn't help but sigh for the time when Percy's biggest problem was feeling like a singled out freak for normal human reasons while he was laughing with Hearth at this strange world. Now Hearth was off to lands unknown and he was still here, left wondering why those socks had been the size of a small boat apparently. Had they been metaphorical for Kronos? Were they planning to stuff Luke's body in that old blue yarn?

—three ghoulish grandmothers with bags of knitting needles and yarn.

One of them looked at me, and even though she didn't say anything, my life literally flashed before my eyes. Suddenly I was twenty. Then I was a middle-aged man. Then I turned old and withered. All the strength left my body, and I saw my own tombstone and an open grave, a coffin being lowered into the ground. All this happened in less than a second.

It is done, she said.

Percy wanted to believe that as he threaded his fingers through Annabeth's. The drain he felt, down to the bone, that had nothing to do with that curse or any plug he could use. That his life was already used up and toyed with enough, and it was all just done to have the rest to himself in peace.

The Fate held up the snippet of blue yarn—and I knew it was the same one I'd seen four years ago, the lifeline I'd watched them snip. I had thought it was my life. Now I realized it was Luke's. They'd been showing me the life that would have to be sacrificed to set things right.

Annabeth was looking restlessly from the books she'd missed to Percy and back without a word. It wasn't hard to catch up, but she was still aggravated she'd apparently missed something of such importance as Percy once meeting the fates. Which he never bothered to tell her about at some fruit stand?!

They gathered up Luke's body, now wrapped in a white-and-green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

Alex narrowed her eyes with interest for that color choice, wondering who had picked it. The Gods seemed to have some strange attachment to one of her favorite colors. They claimed their kid in that glow, the Oracle's smoke came out green. There was an elusive idea spinning in her mind she couldn't quite nail down what it all meant yet in comparison to the gold and blue also permeating the shades of this world.

"Wait," Hermes said.

The messenger god was dressed in his classic outfit of white Greek robes, sandals, and helmet. The wings of his helm fluttered as he walked. The snakes George and Martha curled around his caduceus, murmuring, Luke, poor Luke.

I thought about May Castellan, alone in her kitchen, baking cookies and making sandwiches for a son who would never come home.

That had been true for a long time before this, but Magnus still felt his hand close into a fist with no specific person in mind, just the feeling of miserable hate for that. If Luke had ever been free to choose another path in life, would he go back to her?

Hermes unwrapped Luke's face and kissed his forehead. He murmured some words in Ancient Greek—a final blessing.

"Farewell," he whispered. Then he nodded and allowed the Fates to carry away his son's body.

As they left, I thought about the Great Prophecy. The lines now made sense to me.

Jason rubbed the back of his head in agitation at his own thoughts. That his first instinct was to roll his eyes and grumble and wish those stupid things came with an instruction manual or at least a postscript for some kind of understanding before flailing through the mess.

But he also knew the truth. That if told from the beginning what choice Percy had to make, he wouldn't have done it. They all would have scoffed. He could tell from the look on Thalia's face not everybody still got it after all was said and done. Having twenty-twenty hindsight or foresight did not fix all of the problems.

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. The hero was Luke. The cursed blade was the knife he'd given Annabeth long ago—cursed because Luke had broken his promise and betrayed his friends. A single choice shall end his days. My choice, to give him the knife, and to believe, as Annabeth had, that he was still capable of setting things right. Olympus to preserve or raze. By sacrificing himself, he had saved Olympus. Rachel was right. In the end, I wasn't really the hero. Luke was.

A hero who still got a lot of kids killed to get to this point, Nico tried hard to keep the scowl off his face. A large part of him still felt like if he'd ever had a direct hand in helping Luke, Percy would have thrown it in his face at any given time he slipped up after.

By the tone of Will's voice, he could tell he didn't have an infinite bout of love for that way of phrasing, but neither of them called Percy out on it. This was from his eyes to theirs. If he wanted to go around the room and demand they do the same, it would be rude, but like, fair?

And I understood something else: When Luke had descended into the River Styx, he would've had to focus on something important that would hold him to his mortal life. Otherwise he would've dissolved. I had seen Annabeth, and I had a feeling he had too. He had pictured that scene Hestia showed me—of himself in the good old days with Thalia and Annabeth, when he promised they would be a family.

The smile on Annabeth's face was one that would have confused Percy once upon a time before he grinned back now. Family meant everything to him too, even the ones that put the strain there first.

Hurting Annabeth in battle had shocked him into remembering that promise. It had allowed his mortal conscience to take over again, and defeat Kronos. His weak spot—his Achilles heel—had saved us all.

A weakness saved the world. It was a nice sentiment. Thalia felt a little to personal about that. Having considered love a weakness for quite some time in her life before she met Luke, and then having an ongoing war with the concept ever since when she looked from him to Annabeth. To hear it and know it both ways, she really felt like a daughter of the ruling god for the first time.

Next to me, Annabeth's knees buckled. I caught her, but she cried out in pain, and I realized I'd grabbed her broken arm.

"If that doesn't describe your entire relationship up to this point, I don't know what does," Alex snorted. Percy tried to help. Percy broke things. But he meant well.

"She's not screaming in pain now," Percy said triumphantly as he waved their hands around, causing her pulse to thump as she chuckled.

"Congratulations, it only took you like, five years," Alex smirked.

"Oh gods," I said. "Annabeth, I'm sorry."

"It's all right," she said as she passed out in my arms.

Magnus did not want to laugh, but he really couldn't help himself. "Famous last words cuz?" She had the track record of forgiving everyone for everything and it was too sweet not to tease.

"I'm not striving for it, and yet," she giggled along it wouldn't surprise her.

"She needs help!" I yelled.

"I've got this." Apollo stepped forward. His fiery armor was so bright it was hard to look at, and his matching Ray-Bans and perfect smile made him look like a male model for battle gear.

Will groaned and tried hard not to roll his eyes, but man was he sick of Percy pointing out how hot his dad was. The first time was more than enough.

"God of medicine, at your service."

The fact that this was his immediate response though finally gave Will's voice that lilt they'd all been hearing him lack. He sounded so happy, so proud his dad didn't make a flirty remark. Just stepped in to help without hesitation.

He passed his hand over Annabeth's face and spoke an incantation. Immediately the bruises faded.

Her cuts and scars disappeared. Her arm straightened, and she sighed in her sleep.

Apollo grinned. "She'll be fine in a few minutes. Just enough time for me to compose a poem about our victory: 'Apollo and his friends save Olympus.' Good, eh?"

"Sounds like a great story," Magnus rolled his eyes in exhaustion at the idea.

"Can you imagine a whole book with him blabbing on about being hot and his poetry every other word," Percy looked at his own books in betrayal for the mere concept as if they'd provoked this.

"Pass," Annabeth agreed without interest as she waved Will on pleadingly.

He frowned, it might have been pretty interesting to finally get some real insights into a god...but maybe not his dad in particular. He was happier pretending half the shit he'd heard was exaggerated myth. Maybe Artemis would be a cooler fit to follow along for just a bit.

Then they'd all be smited for prying into her head.

So really there was no win here.

"Thanks, Apollo," I said. "I'll, um, let you handle the poetry."

"Top ten smartest things Percy's said in his entire life," Jason snorted.

"Pfft, top five," Percy agreed.

The next few hours were a blur. I remembered my promise to my mother. Zeus didn't even blink an eye when I told him my strange request. He snapped his fingers and informed me that the top of the Empire State Building was now lit up blue. Most mortals would just have to wonder what it meant, but my mom would know: I had survived, Olympus was saved.

"I have never heard anything so sweet in my life," Alex was looking at him like a strange creature from the most demon of dimensions.

Percy just gave a shrug and a smile, like yeah, surprised?

"But, like," Alex couldn't seem to stop herself. "Monsters, battle, mayhem, and you-" She stopped again with the strange look at him.

"Yeah," Percy agreed one last time. "Priorities."

"Huh," she grunted before turning away.

The gods set about repairing the throne room, which went surprisingly fast with twelve superpowerful beings at work. Grover and I cared for the wounded, and once the sky bridge re-formed, we greeted our friends who had survived.

Will's voice still hitched hard upon reading that. Once again, Percy hadn't gone home to any empty beds in his cabin. It had worked out relatively well for him. And Percy knew it. Will couldn't even make himself miffed at the guy because the soft smile he gave Annabeth and the fact that the first thing he did was flummox Alex's mind because he'd given the all clear signal to his mom left no one in doubt Percy knew every moment of his good fortune and what it meant.

The Cyclopes had saved Thalia from the fallen statue. She was on crutches, but otherwise she was okay.

"Because apparently Apollo's magic was a one and done thing on this glass flower," Thalia smacked Annabeth's once broken arm with a lot of force.

She barely winced as she rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault I had his attention for point five seconds and that's what he did with it. We're all lucky he didn't decide to give me some horrible gift like talking to animals instead."

"Hey, it's not that bad," but Percy's was a look of defeat as he knew that might have happened and would have driven her as crazy as Blackjack drove him at times.

Connor and Travis Stoll had made it through with only minor injuries. They promised me they hadn't even looted the city much.

"Empty promises," Jason rolled his eyes, entirely confident he was mock quoting Chiron and never even needing to hear him say it. Then his mind hard tracked back to realizing they didn't even know if he was alive and watching the book anxiously.

They told me my parents were fine, though they weren't allowed into Mount Olympus. Mrs. O'Leary had dug Chiron out of the rubble and rushed him off to camp. The Stolls looked kind of worried about the old centaur, but at least he was alive.

Jason sighed in relief, and saw even Magnus and Alex trying to pretend they hadn't.

Katie Gardner reported that she'd seen Rachel Elizabeth Dare run out of the Empire State Building at the end of the battle. Rachel had looked unharmed, but nobody knew where she'd gone, which also troubled me.

Percy looked wildly from the book to Annabeth before he realized that might be a bad idea and let his troubled eyes rest on Thalia before reminding himself that had rarely done him any good before settling back on the book. Will watched the entire progression with the need to get him a cone in case of whiplash.

Nico di Angelo came into Olympus to a hero's welcome, his father right behind him, despite the fact that Hades was only supposed to visit Olympus on winter solstice. The god of the dead looked stunned when his relatives clapped him on the back. I doubt he'd ever gotten such an enthusiastic welcome before.

Will's voice was such an entire puddle of mush as he read that Nico finally put his face in his hands in embarrassment that smothered his relief he hadn't been lucid dreaming that.

Clarisse marched in, still shivering from her time in the ice block, and Ares bellowed, "There's my girl!"

The god of war ruffled her hair and pounded her on the back, calling her the best warrior he'd ever seen. "That drakon-slaying? THAT'S what I'm talking about!"

She looked pretty overwhelmed. All she could do was nod and blink, like she was afraid he'd start hitting her, but eventually she began to smile.

That, was entirely not okay. Percy winced along with everyone else for having caught her doing that and imagining himself with a wire in his jaw even his curse wouldn't fix if Clarisse found out he'd witnessed that, the good and the bad.

Hera and Hephaestus passed me, and while Hephaestus was a little grumpy about my jumping on his throne, he thought I'd done "a pretty bang-up job, mostly."

"Which is honestly more compliments than anyone expected you to get," Magnus admitted with an awkward laugh. Alex was already nodding in pure agreement.

Hera sniffed in disdain. "I suppose I won't destroy you and that little girl now."

"Annabeth saved Olympus," I told her. "She convinced Luke to stop Kronos."

"Hmm," Hera whirled away in a huff, but I figured our lives would be safe, at least for a little while.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a very 'walk over the grave' kind of feeling now though. Because they were at the bottom of the ocean. Hiding from gods. Yeah...what had that little hmmm really meant...

Dionysus's head was still wrapped in a bandage. He looked me up and down and said, "Well, Percy Jackson.

"It's no fun anymore if you expect him to say your real name when you did a good job," Thalia huffed.

"So, so sorry for your loss of entertainment," Percy rolled his eyes.

"You should be," she agreed with one of those smiles that made Percy realize he wasn't going to forget what a hunting horn sounded like any time soon.

I see Pollux made it through, so I suppose you aren't completely inept. It's all thanks to my training, I suppose."

"Training, how, not to be a jackass. Important life lessons," Magnus agreed.

"I like to think some of that comes naturally, but, you know, good for him," Alex chuckled.

"Urn, yes, sir," I said.

Mr. D nodded. "As thanks for my bravery, Zeus has cut my probation at that miserable camp in half. I now have only fifty years left instead of one hundred."

"He'll be gone in your lifetime. Supposedly," Jason balked before he reeled himself back in and gave Percy a contemplative look as if wondering what his midlife crisis should sit at.

"I'll, take what I can get there," Percy sighed. It was of some mild comfort at minimum, which even that he wasn't used to getting.

"Fifty years, huh?" I tried to imagine putting up with Dionysus until I was an old man, assuming I lived that long.

"Don't get so excited, Jackson," he said, and I realized he was saying my name correctly.

Percy braced himself for the snickers, and the 'on the second try?!' gasps, but then smiled as his friends gave tired smiles of surprise of their own. His friends just heard Percy have the longest day of his life, which was really saying something. The teasing was at a pretty bare minimum right now.

"I still plan on making your life miserable."

I couldn't help smiling. "Naturally."

"Miserable," Annabeth sadly let go of his hands, but in the name of using air quotes, so it was bearable. "How many times has he actually done that exactly?"

Percy scratched at his ear with an absent smile of agreement. Aside from being a general ponce when in his vicinity, it was agreeably rare.

"Just so we understand each other." He turned and began repairing his grapevine throne, which had been singed by fire.

Grover stayed at my side. From time to time he would break down in tears. "So many nature spirits dead, Percy. So many."

Magnus winced hard at that. He'd watched a kid swallow a key while chaining himself to a tree once and choking to death on it. He'd watched some girl get chased around and sprayed with pesticide because she'd been caught stealing from a garden. He'd seen a lot of messed up shit. Putting faces on those plants, realizing that the crazy lady who cooed to her hydrangea while watering them wasn't so nuts, still gave him a sickening worldview that bottomed out pretty easily and made him feel a little more comfortable after the ride was over. It was another reason to care, not a different one.

I put my arm around his shoulders and gave him a rag to blow his nose. "You did a great job, G-man. We will come back from this. We'll plant new trees. We'll clean up the parks. Your friends will be reincarnated into a better world."

He sniffled dejectedly. "I . . . I suppose. But it was hard enough to rally them before. I'm still an outcast.

"Isn't he one of the oldest Satyrs alive right now though?" Alex asked in surprise. "The other's all vanishing off the face of the earth to monsters unknown the moment they got their license too. I mean, age isn't everything, but it's not a terrible place to start rallying around for guidance when their last overlord just died."

"I, didn't think of telling him that," Percy agreed, only making Alex roll her eyes harder. The guys and gals and nonbinary pals Percy led into battle followed him instead of Chiron! And they were all his age if not older, the dork.

I could barely get anyone to listen to me about Pan. Now will they ever listen to me again? I led them into a slaughter."

Percy had been drawn up by that part. He'd felt a lot the same way and tried to help Grover move past it like he was dealing with.

"They will listen," I promised. "Because you care about them. You care about the Wild more than anyone."

He tried for a smile. "Thanks, Percy. I hope . . . I hope you know I'm really proud to be your friend."

Percy wished that he had some way to tell Grover that he felt the same. That his time at Nancy had pretty much been his rock bottom and yet the turning point in his life all because of his best friend. He'd made pathetically few in years past because of all the fights he caused, all his skipped lunches in the cafeteria, all his idiotic inabilities to keep up in class. Grover had stuck around through every manner of the laughing and trouble he'd been through.

I patted his arm. "Luke was right about one thing, G-man. You're the bravest satyr I ever met."

He blushed, but before he could say anything, conch horns blew. The army of Poseidon marched into the throne room.

"I can tell you what he was going to though," Annabeth promised.

"Yeah, I got that feeling too," Percy chuckled.

"Percy!" Tyson yelled. He charged toward me with his arms open. Fortunately he'd shrunk back to normal size, so his hug was like getting hit by a tractor, not the entire farm.

Percy laughed and stretched as he flopped around in his seat, over playing up the impact it had caused. He missed his little brother.

"You are not dead!" he said.

"Yeah!" I agreed. "Amazing, huh?"

He clapped his hands and laughed happily. "I am not dead either. Yay! We chained Typhon. It was fun!"

Behind him, fifty other armored Cyclopes laughed and nodded and gave each other high fives.

"Tyson led us," one rumbled. "He is brave!"

"Bravest of the Cyclopes!" another bellowed.

Tyson blushed. "Was nothing."

"I saw you!" I said. "You were incredible!"

I thought poor Grover would pass out. He's deathly afraid of Cyclopes. But he steeled his nerves and said, "Yes. Um . . . three cheers for Tyson!"

"YAAARRRRR!" the Cyclopes roared.

"Please don't eat me," Grover muttered, but I don't think anyone heard him.

"Yeah, that's not going away any time soon," Will said with a sad smile. Between Grover, Annabeth, and Thalia all having plenty of reason to draw weapons or run out of the room screaming at this though, and none of them doing it, he still smiled at the hint of peace in the world of everyone coming together for this triumphant moment.

The conch horns blasted again. The Cyclopes parted, and my father strode into the throne room in his battle armor, his trident glowing in his hands.

"So, when you said all the gods barged in before," Jason began in confusion.

"My dad saw I was alive and waved himself back out," Percy shrugged, he'd been a little lost watching Luke's body be carried away and the knitting ladies. "Guess he went to check on, I don't know, how much his palace was destroyed or whatever and grab the real heroes before coming back."

"Stop that," Annabeth lightly smacked his shoulder. "He just wanted to make an entrance."

It was a less sound answer Percy didn't automatically agree with, but he also didn't care enough to argue the point.

"Tyson!" he roared. "Well done, my son. And Percy—" His face turned stern. He wagged his finger at me, and for a second I was afraid he was going to zap me. "I even forgive you for sitting on my throne. You have saved Olympus!"

"And if, I hadn't?" Percy asked with only mild concern, all things considered.

"He would have resurrected you to kill you I'm sure," Thalia shrugged without much concern herself.

He held out his arms and gave me a hug. I realized, a little embarrassed, that I'd never actually hugged my dad before. He was warm—like a regular human—and he smelled of a salty beach and fresh sea air.

Percy had received a hug from his mom often enough that this new level just felt like that to him. A surprising development. But one he'd had enough that this was just, pleasantly new.

Will, was a bit gobsmacked. He didn't know anyone in camp who'd actually been hugged by their godly parent. They were lucky to have had a face to face conversation! He stuttered over the next few lines, making Percy blush harder than the god of the sea hugging him had done as his eyes darted around and he wished to dissipate in the water right about now.

When he pulled away, he smiled kindly at me. I felt so good, I'll admit I teared up a little. I guess until that moment I hadn't allowed myself to realize just how terrified I had been the last few days.

"Living in a state of hell makes you pretty numb to it," Magnus agreed.

"I would not like a repeat event, ever," Percy sighed, stretching in his seat again.

"Dad—"

"Shhh," he said. "No hero is above fear, Percy. And you have risen above every hero. Not even Hercules—"

"POSEIDON!" a voice roared.

"I'll give you three guesses who got pissy for dissing," Alex rolled her eyes.

"Nobody's been paying that little attention Alex," Nico scoffed.

Zeus had taken his throne. He glared across the room at my dad while all the other gods filed in and took their seats. Even Hades was present, sitting on a simple stone guest chair at the foot of the hearth.

"They couldn't let him conjure up his own chair?" Will looked so annoyed, which was just hysterical to imagine him telling this to the other gods. "Like was it that big a deal he have a thrown there he wanted to sit in for even a day?"

"I don't think Zeus will ever be in that good a mood," Nico said in appreciation all the same.

Nico sat cross-legged on the ground at his dad's feet.

"Well, Poseidon?" Zeus grumped. "Are you too proud to join us in council, my brother?"

I thought Poseidon was going to get mad, but he just looked at me and winked. "I would be honored, Lord Zeus."

"If any idiot ever questioned which god was your parent, I'm shoving this passage up their nose," Annabeth chuckled.

"I'm sure my dad would love that," Percy grinned.

I guess miracles do happen. Poseidon strode over to his fishing seat, and the Olympian Council convened.

While Zeus was talking—some long speech about the bravery of the gods, etc.—Annabeth walked in and stood next to me. She looked good for someone who'd recently passed out.

"Miss much?" she whispered.

"Nobody's planning to kill us, so far," I whispered back.

"First time today."

The kind of laughter that went around the room was one that should have worried them about being to loud again but they enjoyed this just a little to much to care about the consequences. It was true, it was sad, it was hilarious, and it should not be ignored.

I cracked up, but Grover nudged me because Hera was giving us a dirty look.

"She can suck the dirt out from under my nails," Alex sneered, holding up a finger for which one she could get started on.

"We're all going to die," Magnus sighed.

"As for my brothers," Zeus said, "we are thankful"—he cleared his throat like the words were hard to get out—"erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."

The lord of the dead nodded. He had a smug look on his face, but I figure he'd earned the right. He patted his son Nico on the shoulders, and Nico looked happier than I'd ever seen him.

"And, of course," Zeus continued, though he looked like his pants were smoldering, "we must . . . um . . . thank Poseidon."

"I'm sorry, brother," Poseidon said. "What was that?"

"We must thank Poseidon," Zeus growled. "Without whom . . . it would've been difficult—"

"Difficult?" Poseidon asked innocently.

"Impossible," Zeus said. "Impossible to defeat Typhon."

The gods murmured agreement and pounded their weapons in approval.

Watching that had really put a thorn in Thalia's side and made her feel all the more grateful she wouldn't be in the spotlight long. She hadn't been right for where Percy stood. She'd have made Zeus promise to say nice things about his brothers for all eternity or something if she'd been granted some unlimited wish.

"Which leaves us," Zeus said, "only the matter of thanking our young demigod heroes, who defended Olympus so well—even if there are a few dents in my throne."

"Can this guy not go one second without complaining about having to acknowledge someone else exists!" Jason couldn't help the outburst even as he instantly slapped a hand over his mouth in regret. It was just infuriating to hear 'his dad' acting like a child, forcing himself to praise the good his brothers did where he couldn't, complaining that he even had a throne to sit on!

"I doubt it," Percy agreed with a smile. Jason didn't lower his hand until he was sure all attention was back on the book, and even then he was clearly swallowing something else he wanted to say. Percy hoped he wasn't beating himself up to much for his outburst, they all had some mixed feelings at this point.

He called Thalia forward first, since she was his daughter, and promised her help in filling the Hunters' ranks.

"How?" Magnus couldn't help but narrow his eyes distrustfully. "Is that agreement they can't have kids still binding now that this is over?"

Thalia, Nico, and Percy choked on air and looked at Magnus in concern for his mind just going there..and they couldn't even argue the point it probably was his idea of helping.

Artemis smiled. "You have done well, my lieutenant. You have made me proud, and all those Hunters who perished in my service will never be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium, I am sure."

She glared pointedly at Hades.

He shrugged. "Probably."

Artemis glared at him some more.

"Okay," Hades grumbled. "I'll streamline their application process."

"I would love to see that," Jason said brightly. Percy was pretty sure he could wave a legal document under his nose like a treat and get him to sit right now. At least he wasn't still stewing on his outburst.

Thalia beamed with pride. "Thank you, my lady." She bowed to the gods, even Hades, and then limped over to stand by Artemis's side.

"Tyson, son of Poseidon!" Zeus called. Tyson looked nervous, but he went to stand in the middle of the Council, and Zeus grunted.

"Doesn't miss many meals, does he?" Zeus muttered.

Percy hoped Zeus saw him scowl. Saw his fist and instant anger. He'd been instantly transported back to Camp and everyone muttering similar shit all summer before Tyson had helped save all their lives. Zeus really was, the worst.

"Tyson, for your bravery in the war, and for leading the Cyclopes, you are appointed a general in the armies of Olympus. You shall henceforth lead your brethren into war whenever required by the gods. And you shall have a new . . . um . . . what kind of weapon would you like? A sword? An axe?"

"So his reward is being conscripted into future fights?" Magnus looked entirely insulted he was just 'granted' that without having been asked.

Percy responded with a sad smile. "Trust me, if you saw that smile on his face, he was proud. Dad holding him back for so long only to be told he'd get to do it all again. Yeah, he was good with this day."

"Stick!" Tyson said, showing his broken club.

"Very well," Zeus said. "We will grant you a new, er, stick. The best stick that may be found."

"Hooray!" Tyson cried, and all the Cyclopes cheered and pounded him on the back as he rejoined them.

"Grover Underwood of the satyrs!" Dionysus called.

Grover came forward nervously.

"Oh, stop chewing your shirt," Dionysus chided. "Honestly, I'm not going to blast you. For your bravery and sacrifice, blah, blah, blah, and since we have an unfortunate vacancy, the gods have seen fit to name you a member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Grover collapsed on the spot.

"Oh, wonderful," Dionysus sighed, as several naiads came forward to help Grover. "Well, when he wakes up, someone tell him that he will no longer be an outcast, and that all satyrs, naiads, and other spirits of nature will henceforth treat him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges, and honors, blah, blah, blah. Now please, drag him off before he wakes up and starts groveling."

"FOOOOOD," Grover moaned, as the nature spirits carried him away.

"Yeah, all that tracks awesome, actually," Alex's little devil may care laugh had a sweet edge.

"So, between Pan and this, is he like a minor god officially?" Jason asked, his voice constricted like someone dreaming of meeting their celebrity crush.

"I'm not sure how we'd test that," Annabeth sighed, "and I'm kind of afraid with what he'd do if we did."

"Probably put more recycle-vegetarian food options on every menu or something, I'm not worried about it," Percy shrugged.

I figured he'd be okay. He would wake up as a lord of the Wild with a bunch of beautiful naiads taking care of him. Life could be worse.

"Being fed grapes, someone fanning him, oh that poor tortured soul we should have rescued," Thalia chuckled in agreement.

"I bet he would have started passing out on purpose just to spite us next time we talked to him," Percy grinned.

Athena called, "Annabeth Chase, my own daughter."

Annabeth squeezed my arm, then walked forward and knelt at her mother's feet.

Athena smiled. "You, my daughter, have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is . . . well, trashed.

"Gotta love Athena just a little for coming outright with that," Will laughed.

The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements."

"Damn cuz," Magnus said before letting out a long whistle of surprise. "How big is that place again?"

"Let's just say I'm not even halfway done," she said, the smugness in her voice not even masked, the pride shining like her own light that her ideas were being built around her.

Magnus smiled as she kissed the back of Percy's hand and promised him he'd love such and such she did with a fountain and how she could improve on some sketches she'd discarded for Oceanus's palace and Percy just nodded without a clue what she was saying but so obviously taking in every word about tile patterns. At least her vision of the sirens had finally come true.

Annabeth looked up, stunned. "My . . . my lady?"

Athena smiled wryly. "You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?"

"You mean . . . I can design whatever I want?"

"As your heart desires," the goddess said. "Make us a city for the ages."

"As long as you have plenty of statues of me," Apollo added.

Will face palmed and muttered something about apologizing for his dad being an idiot.

"He's the least worrisome," Annabeth assured. "Between my mom silently judging everything that gets completed and not telling me her thoughts, and Zeus sending me messages once a week asking when his next temple is going to be complete, Apollo wanting a specific number of statues all in different pozes is practically simple."

"And me," Aphrodite agreed.

"Hey, and me!" Ares said. "Big statues with huge wicked swords and—"

"All right!" Athena interrupted. "She gets the point. Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus."

Annabeth rose in a trance and walked back toward me.

"Way to go," I told her, grinning.

For once she was at a loss for words. "I'll . . . I'll have to start planning . . . Drafting paper, and, um, pencils—"

"Lots and lots of pencils, Grover might hunt you down in revenge if you don't plant more trees up there to compensate," Nico grinned.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed in the kind of way that made them all chuckle that might have actually been a problem at one point.

"PERCY JACKSON!" Poseidon announced. My name echoed around the chamber.

All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire. Everyone's eyes were on me—all the gods, the demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits. I walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at me reassuringly. She was in the form of a girl now, and she seemed happy and content to be sitting by her fire again. Her smile gave me courage to keep walking.

First I bowed to Zeus.

"How do you bow exactly," Alex eyed him critically. "I need to know if you just bend your waist a bit, do you throw one arm out and bend it behind your back as extravagantly as you can, curtsey-"

"All of the above," Magnus offered with a snicker.

"I just," Percy bowed his head for a moment and kind of hunched his shoulders before straightening up, "hey! I am not bowing to your ass Alex!"

"So close," she giggled before snapping her fingers in disappointment.

Then I knelt at my father's feet.

"Rise, my son," Poseidon said.

I stood uneasily.

"A great hero must be rewarded," Poseidon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

I waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn't like me, but not a single one protested.

"I guess it's a little to soon to be bragging about world war three, give it a few years," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

I hesitated. "Any gift?"

"What was on your mind?" Jason instantly demanded in excitement, before he realed himself back. "Urm, if you want to share."

"I actually kind of went mind blank," Percy admitted with no hesitation. "I'd, never sat around and thought, huh, what would I wish for from the gods." He only considered for a moment before adding, "I'd always wanted to gift my mom something, but you know, after her whole I can save myself thing, and the not so great results that I know damn well comes from a god's gift, I wouldn't put that on her, so, I was more surprised I was just given an unlimited ticket and went mind blank."

"Fair," Jason grinned. "Don't let anyone tell you your an impulsive twat Percy, not after that."

"You hear that Alex?" Percy smirked.

"No," she shrugged, picking at her ears, "I tuned out after you killed that math teacher, that was my highlight and all of this has just been a vivid hallucination."

"Sounds like a personal problem," Will chuckled before moving on.

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson—if you wish it—you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

I stared at him, stunned. "Um . . . a god?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever."

"Hmm," Ares mused. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea."

"I approve as well," Athena said, though she was looking at Annabeth.

Annabeth couldn't help but crack up laughing hard at that. She hadn't even noticed, but it was hilarious to her that her mom apparently only agreed because she still didn't want her dating Percy. Oh well, guess not everyone got their wish that day.

I glanced back. Annabeth was trying not to meet my eyes. Her face was pale. I flashed back to two years ago, when I'd thought she was going to take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. I'd been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that I'd lose her. Now, she looked pretty much the same way.

I thought about the Three Fates, and the way I'd seen my life flash by. I could avoid all that. No aging, no death, no body in the grave. I could be a teenager forever, in top condition, powerful, and immortal, serving my father. I could have power and eternal life.

Who could refuse that?

Annabeth was still shaking with a bit of silent laughter from her mom's reaction and so glanced from the book to Percy in a jittery, odd way. She'd seen him pause. She knew what he'd said to Zeus. She'd always thought he'd been trying to come up with the words in his head. Now she was stunned to realize it sounded like he'd even been considering it for a moment. It stunned her to realize that she really didn't know every thought and idea he'd ever had in his head.

And she just grinned at him with excitement for what else they were going to find out growing up.

Then I looked at Annabeth again. I thought about my friends from camp: Charles Beckendorf, Michael Yew, Silena Beauregard, so many others who were now dead. I thought about Ethan Nakamura and Luke.

And I knew what to do.

"No," I said.

The Council was silent. The gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard.

"No?" Zeus said. "You are . . . turning down our generous gift?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice, like a thunderstorm about to erupt.

"Pfft, which Percy can make on command too if he wants apparently, that's not that threatening," Nico rolled his eyes.

"You guys are going to be the reason I meet that grave," Percy sighed, knowing he couldn't even be mad. He pissed off Zeus well enough on his own, he could hardly do more than be at their side when his friends did it too.

"I'm honored and everything," I said. "Don't get me wrong. It's just . . . I've got a lot of life left to live. I'd hate to peak in my sophomore year."

"Darn, sorry to break it to you Perce," Thalia smirked.

Percy rolled his eyes at her, just like always. "I hope you run out of fart arrows!"

"I hope they forget cheese on your burger!"

Percy gasped, a truly wounded expression blossoming, letting Thalia know instantly she'd gone to far and offered a sheepish grin in apology. She knew he'd steal her cheese in retribution if such a future ever came to pass anyways.

Jason smiled at the interaction, but couldn't help privately wondering if Thalia wasn't actually masking a bit of disappointment there. She'd already lost Luke and Annabeth to time long ago. Maybe the smallest part of her had hoped for a moment Percy would accept the gift so she wouldn't be alone in her immortality with a friend who knew her before being Arteims's Lieutenant.

The gods were glaring at me, but Annabeth had her hands over her mouth. Her eyes were shining.

And that kind of made up for it.

"I accept kind of," she smiled.

"Well thank gods for that, I'm only kind of at everything," Percy nodded.

"Kind of saved the world," Nico began ticking off on his fingers, "kind of annoying, kind of obnoxious, yeah, all checks out."

"I'm going to kind of kill you," Percy sighed, "see if that's what gets you to heal as fast as I do in water."

"Nah try something at least vaguely simpler first," Alex offered oh so helpfully. "Like get him to hug a skeleton."

That at least made Percy trip over himself laughing, while only Magnus looked around at Alex in vague concern how often she went around killing people to know how much effort it might be to put into, to Will kissing Nico's cheek and muttering something about all of them being idiots.

"I do want a gift, though," I said. "Do you promise to grant my wish?"

Zeus thought about this. "If it is within our power."

"It is," I said. "And it's not even difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx."

"What?" Dionysus cried. "You don't trust us?"

"Him? Him! I barely trust any of them not to kill us, and he's the one who pipped up on this," Percy looked around at them to make sure he hadn't been hitting the special grapes.

"Don't look at us, he likes you best," Annabeth snorted.

"Someone once told me," I said, looking at Hades, "you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades shrugged. "Guilty."

"Adoring over here he just owns up to that," Will cackled.

"Why deny good advice," Nico rolled his eyes as he and Percy exchanged grins.

"Very well!" Zeus growled. "In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request as long as it is within our power."

The other gods muttered assent. Thunder boomed, shaking the throne room. The deal was made.

"From now on, I want you to properly recognize the children of the gods," I said. "All the children . . . of all the gods."

Jason felt a tick in his brain. Like something sliding into place he didn't know he was missing. Not something he'd ever said out loud or pursued from his past, just something he knew he'd wanted to hear.

It was probably disturbing how often he felt that more than an actual glimmer of memories, but he'd deal with that later.

The Olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"Percy," my father said, "what exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," I said. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's royal nostrils flared. "You dare accuse—"

"Accuse implies there's room for argument in that statement," Alex said with a vicious smile. This. This is why she'd decided she enjoyed Percy, idiot parts of him and all. She didn't know a lot of people, and she didn't trust the rest, but if she'd had to pick someone in that room to be making this wish, it would have been Percy. And it felt good to be right.

"No more undetermined children," I said. "I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

"Now, wait just a moment," Apollo said, but I was on a roll.

Will couldn't help but wince at his dad of all of them trying to interrupt this. He'd just lost a lot of siblings, and he wasn't even sure his dad knew entirly how many. His first thought was hoping his dad didn't want to put himself through this, didn't want to claim any more kids just to have them lost in the woods or go out on quests to not return and get attached enough to know their names.

But his dad was also pretty notorious for going the longest gaps in bothering to claim his kids. There had been a lot that came through who moved themselves into his cabin when they'd been there for weeks without the glowing arrow agreeing because it had just been, that obvious. Will had been one of them and nobody from Hermes or his brothers protested.

It would have hurt more if he'd been wrong, if Ares had just had some strange day and produced him as a kid and he'd had to move again, but that so rarely happened it was more of a running gag around camp than actual claimings as well.

Hearing the exact words Percy had used felt good. It was a cathartic balm down his throat his powers couldn't replicate.

"And the minor gods," I said. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe-—they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades—"

"Are you calling me a minor god?" Hades bellowed.

"No, my lord," I said quickly.

"Could have backtracked that a little better, but as said, he's on a ball," Alex rolled her eyes.

"On a roll," Percy happily corrected.

"On a log on a ball on a roll on a nutcase of a life," Alex clearly thought she was agreeing.

"But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that.

That was the moment Nico had fallen in love. No flighty fancies about this guy, though he'd still have those, no more wondering why he never thought any of the pretty girls he randomly saw he never looked twice at and wondered at himself for later. This, was the exact moment, he'd fallen for Percy harder than a plummet to Tartarus could ever cause him. Percy had forgiven him. Percy had said his name, still declared him a place at camp. Percy hadn't called out anyone else's name in that speech, not even Annabeth. Just him. Percy was the only one who existed in that room for just that moment, surrounded in golden halo light.

Yeah, he was feeling less guilty about that crush by the day as he shook his head at himself. The pain of following him back to that camp finally, only for him to be tossed in a lake and make out with his official girlfriend had also been a really good kick in his ass of what a freak he'd still felt like among all the cheering kids.

He gave Will's hand a squeeze and swallowed a sigh. It felt kind of good and kind of like he was still being kicked in the teeth to keep reliving all this in a more abstract way out of his own head, but he was getting there.

No unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. And no more pact of the Big Three. That didn't work anyway. You've got to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. That is my wish."

Zeus snorted. "Is that all?"

"Dammit, he beat me by one second," Thalia chuckled.

"That really might have been the longest speech you've ever said before," Annabeth teasingly agreed.

"And I didn't even call anyone an old sot," Percy smirked.

They were all still giggly and acting a little high from their victory. From the worst of it being over. To the backlash of emotions they still hadn't quite sorted through after all this time that was dumped on them fresh.

"Percy," Poseidon said, "you ask much. You presume much."

"I hold you to your oath," I said. "All of you."

I got a lot of steely looks. Strangely, it was Athena who spoke up: "The boy is correct. We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. Percy Jackson, I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps"—she glanced at Annabeth, and then spoke as if the words had a sour taste—"perhaps I was mistaken. I move that we accept the boy's plan."

"Wow," Magnus grinned in surprise. It sounded like Athena wasn't even trying to pin this idea on Annabeth so much as admitting she was a good influence on him. That was a nice upgrade.

"Humph," Zeus said. "Being told what to do by a mere child. But I suppose . . ."

"All in favor," Hermes said.

All the gods raised their hands.

"Um, thanks," I said.

I turned, but before I could leave, Poseidon called, "Honor guard!"

Immediately the Cyclopes came forward and made two lines from the thrones to the door—an aisle for me to walk through. They came to attention.

"All hail, Perseus Jackson," Tyson said. "Hero of Olympus . . . and my big brother!"

"Ending on the important things," Will's voice sounded a little too watery to pass off that chuckle as genuine as he handed the book to Jason, who eagerly snatched it away and studied the past few passages like Tyson had just found the coolest freaking stick.

They realized when he didn't flip to keep reading he was actually studying it, rereading it to himself with a kind of hunger Annabeth smiled to recognize.

None of them were quite sure where he'd come from specifically, what his past had truly been, or what he'd done up to this moment of being in here, but they all saw how important Percy's wish was to him.

Which was strange. But hey, that was nothing new for any of them.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Please do share your thoughts on Wrath of the Triple Goddess. I've seen so many mixed reviews of the good and the bad and I'm fascinated, haha.

I personally liked it medium. I was never bored, though I thought the plot beats dragged just a bit, but I genuinely enjoyed the interactions and all the animal love and Hecuba and Gale being such a focus with Percy being an emotional anchor as he phases from 'teen who mouthes off to gods saving the world by the seat of his pants,' to 'budding adult who reflects he's kind of an idiot for mouthing off to gods and still trying to help everyone by the seat of his pants.'

#pjo #hoo #Percy Jackson #Jason Grace #nico di angelo #Annabeth Chase #percabeth #Thalia Grace #alex fierro #fierrochase #Magnus Chase #will solace #solangelo

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shoreskept · 6 months ago

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𓂃 ଓ ; @briory wrote ;

[ 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 ] ― sender and receiver are in bed together while rain lashes against the windows / tent / etc

"Do you remember, all that time ago?" It felt like it happened in another lifetime. The rooftops stretched into the skyline, craning their necks as high as they could go--higher than the oncoming flood, high enough to keep themselves alive. They were blocky, and brutal, and long-abandoned. Where they cracked, life was teeming through: blades of grass racing against brother or sister to be the first to touch the sun's rays. But the sun had not shone that day. A shadow swept over the ruins and over Mei's heart. It took the form of a snake, and that snake held her in its jaws. She was a villain. A sinner. She willingly cast herself as an antagonist and exited STAGE RIGHT, because the world's scorn didn't mean as much to her as one, upset, little Kiana. Today is a long day from that day. They huddle in Finality's quarters and are kept safe by the walls that surround them. Her bedsheets stink just a little bit. Mei would have to remind her to add them to her next laundry load, though she knows she'll most likely end up washing them herself. "It was raining then, too. We were both weak in our own ways, and the droplets felt like they added weight to our shoulders." Perhaps it was just the Honkai energy they housed, but maybe they also felt like the tears Mei couldn't shed. Sparks would have danced from hers to the Kaslana's, and she knew--had she shown the smallest sign of weakness--that it would have reflected in her mirror. Their souls are just like that: one's natural component of the other, a domain & a range, pitch black & pale white. Her grip on Kiana tightens. They had been side-by-side, cuddled together and just barely spreading one another's warm--but now Kiana's body rests fully atop Mei's. She can feel her breaths against her neck. She can feel her own breathing slow to match, too. But the way her fingers curl round the girl's sides tell her that this isn't close enough; even a millimeter apart, the chance of losing her is nonzero. "Look at how far we've come, though. I would say I have my regrets, but to have you here in this moment... Every effort has been worthwhile, my light."

she remembers, of course she does. the worst day of her life, maybe. there have been a few of those, but none ever rival the frigid cold of that nagazora sky. when kiana thinks about her life― really thinks, about all that she loves and all that is not around for her to love any longer― she thinks that nothing has ever rivaled the pain of watching mei go.

of being uncertain that she would return, that they would live to see one another again.

as if it is even possible, kiana burrows closer to the other's warmth. she's the warm one, technically speaking, but it's not a physical feeling with mei. it's an idea, the comfort of a soul so near to her own, one that she does not have to speak to in order to understand. they're just like that, each other's halves, a feeling kiana has never found in her absence.

" yeah, " kiana's eyes are shut, but she can imagine mei's face without opening them. how the light from the window, gray and watery with the storm outside, turn her features impossibly more beautiful. how her eyes reflect the lightning that rolls in the clouds, how they become a shade of violet so enrapturing that they're impossible to look away from. she's traced the lines of that face a million times, burned its every detail into her mind. " i remember. "

like it was yesterday. like it was last night, a dream, a nightmare. but mei is right, those were steps that had to be taken. the road before them had been long― is long still, impossibly so― but they have travelled it alongside one another, even when it was not so obvious. every mile another towards this moment, this warmth.

" you know, sometimes i wonder what would be different... " it's a thought that's hard to entertain, the notion that things even could be. that there is a world where their ending might have been something other than this. " but i can never figure it out, what might have changed. i guess it's silly, but i think it was always supposed to be this way. "

with a huff of effort, kiana moves to untangle herself from the mess of limbs that they've made of each other. she pushes herself upright just so, a hand on either side of mei, holding her upright just enough so that she might peer down at those violet eyes a moment.

were she an artist, this image would be hung in every museum hall. raiden mei, lightning caught just beneath her, beautiful and impossible to recreate. a single moment in time, stolen forever in kiana's calloused hands.

" can i tell you a secret? " her voice is hushed, her lips curled in a smile. a schoolgirl to her crush, the moon to her sea. " i wouldn't change it all, not a single thing. because here, with you... "

kiana's nose brushes mei's, pale lashes flutter shut.

" this is where i've always wanted to be. "

#briory #𓂃 ଓ ; prodigal girl / kiana kaslana #𓂃 ଓ ; inbox #okay yuri oclock over hAPPY BIRTHDAY KIANA #when i find you btw #you will realize

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beeseverywhen · 10 months ago

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Ideas for staying cool!!! 💙💙💙

[Hotter] summers have totally changed when I can grow certain crops,and things that I used to grow in the summer I’m now growing over the winter – onions, peas, various greens.

I’m lucky to have a lot of trees and shade on my property. It’s usually cool in the early morning, so in the summer I live on farmers’ hours – in bed at 8pm and up before 5am. That way I can do the heavy physical labor before it gets too warm out. After 10 or 11am I’m indoors for the rest of the day.

I have an absorbent neck band that holds water – I put it in the fridge and put them on when I’m too hot to keep working.Those of us in the south-west have a head start on the rest of the country, because we are used to this kind of heat. We’re used to getting it in August rather than in June, but at least we have tools and routines already developed.

Many of Baltimore’s old homes are equipped with wooden shutters. I keep them closed during the day against the sun, close rooms that we don’t actively use, and create good airflow through the rooms that we do.

I take cold showers, I run the air conditioners on high at night, so that I can run them less during the heat of the day. I avoid using the oven, the dishwasher and the washing machine during heat spells. I use my car as little as possible, and utilize a reflective windshield and sunscreen to block the sun’s heat.

I spend a few hours a day in a large public air-conditioned space, such as a museum, to avoid going stir-crazy. I try to spend as much time outdoors when the weather is not overly hot, so that I can tolerate being indoors when it is.

Many years ago, when I was in India and did not have air conditioning, I would soak heavy towels in cold water, wring them out, hang them over a chair and blow a fan on them. This would cool the room.

At night, I would spray my top sheet with cold water and then blow a fan on it. Soon it was so cool I had to turn the fan off. When driving without air conditioning, all occupants of the car had wet towels spread over their laps and chest. With all the windows open and the air blowing in and hitting the wet towels, it felt like air conditioning.

I, and other mail carriers, carry a small insulated cooler [that] I stock with frozen bottles of water along with packets of Gatorade powder to replenish electrolytes. I also keep both a frozen therapeutic cold pack and a damp bandanna in the cooler, in case the ice-melt bottles aren’t quite cutting it.

Staying indoors in a cool environment is key. Even being in a shady area in a splash pool outside was detrimental for my child. If your home doesn’t have cooling, finding somewhere that does is important. We like to spend time at our local library when we need to get out of the house. Staying hydrated in extreme heat is not enough either. Electrolytes are important – either dissolving ones you add to your water, coconut water, or foods like bananas or pineapple can work.

And of course do not exercise after the sun comes up. I jog regularly and get up before it gets light in order to exercise. Once the sun comes into view over the horizon, back indoors we go.

I leave a little water in dishes outside for our local wildlife to make their experience in the heat a little easier too. Even the snakes take advantage of it in extreme conditions.

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shruiee · 3 years ago

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Unholy

Tears of gold Au

Inspired by the upcoming Sam Smith song. That song makes me feel things. And daddy does get hot in this one because daddy Tywin is back. Also I believe no matter how villainous Tywin is. He does aftercare for sure!

Trigger warnings: SMUT! Mentions of bruises and wounds. Tywin being a evil baddie. Lil bit of humiliation, mostly fluffy

Ps. The gif by no means describes the readers appearance. This is a non descriptive reader. Let’s give us coloured babies some lovin too.

You found yourself feeling exhausted after the lunch, though it was still pretty early in the evening; you’d hoped that maybe your husband would want to spend it with you. You’d never voice that want but doesn’t mean you didn’t want it. A small yawn slipped past your lips making your eyes water as you put away both the scarfs in your chest.

When you stood up you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. The bruise on your cheek had turned an ugly shade of purple making you frown, it was dark enough to peek through your rouge. You’d avoided looking at yourself all day but now that you had, you couldn’t fathom the damage done. Your eyes trailed to your neck, down to your arms, your eyes slowly glossing over with a small pout on your face as you took it all in.

Tywin knew of what you felt, the feeling of being deformed plagued him often after wars. It isn’t the superficial beauty but the brunt of the aggression one is subjected to that makes it so unbearable to look at. He walked up to stand behind you, his form quite literally engulfing yours. His eyes searched yours through the reflection of the mirror and while you looked at your arms, your eyes trailed to his hands. You have no idea how you didn’t notice it until now, probably because you spent most of the lunch with your eyes fixated on your plate.

His knuckles had reddened, it looked painful but he sported it like the pain meant nothing. Your eyes darted up to his, he’d never say it out loud but you know he wouldn’t risk his position hitting the king, he’d have someone else do that. Ser Meren on the other hand, you saw his nose on your way back to your chambers. You hate to admit but you did enjoy him looking like a pathetic fool with his tail between his legs.

“Meren?” You asked as you ghosted your hands over his knuckles.

He only hummed as a reply, something about Tywin punching Meren made you blush. Would have wanted to see him do it? Tywin’s hands were far too battered for it to have been just a punch. You knew Tywin was protective of his family, you just didn’t think he’d felt the same way in regards to you. Your brows furrowed more as you got lost deeper into your thoughts.

“Where is that head of yours off to.” Tywin pulled you out of your thoughts as you looked up to him.

His eyes still held a hint of hurt, every time he saw that bruise on your face. He had always been a man of few words, with the loss of his first wife he had hardened even more. However maybe that wasn’t true, for he was starting to feel things that he thought he’d shoved deep into the mines of his heart.

He turned you around to the mirror again, holding your chin and making you look into the mirror. His hands snaked forward to undo the ties on the front bodice of your dress. You looked at him confused as your body tensed up again. Sure he had seen you bare a few times but you still felt shy like a little cat compared to the domineering lion Tywin was.

He bowed his head, placing himself at the crook of your neck; placing soft kisses right under your ears as he pulled your dress off. Leaving you in your loosely done corset and chemise. The bruising on your chest making it impossible to lace the corset all the way through without hurting you.

“Do you know what I see?”

Your head nodded side to side into a no as you tried to figure out what he was attempting to do. You don’t want him to see the rest of your body, the bruising made it far uglier and insecurity shot how your spine.

“A woman who even manages to make bruises look beautiful. A strong, defiant and kind woman that just so happens to be my wife.” He mumbles against your hot skin while undoing the back of your corset. You have no idea how he knows to do so but that is the last thing on your mind

Overwhelmed by the emotions your were feeling your eyes tear up. Relishing on Tywin’s lips that went to your shoulders before he stood tall again.

“M-my lord, I wouldn’t be fit to your liking this very moment.” Your head hung in shame and he immediately tutted

“Why do you speak this way wife, you belong to me and do I look like a person to you who would keep anything that I didn’t like?” His eyes fixated on yours, his intimidating gaze making you want to be eaten alive by the ground you stood on.

“I am so sorry that they hurt you, my wife. They’ve already felt my wrath over it. I would do it a thousand times over to protect you.”

“The things I would do for you, my lady. Do you have any idea.” His deep voice moved around to stand in front of you, lifting your face up to look at him.

“All the terrible things I could concoct for people who even look at you the wrong way.” He lifted your chemise over your head, leaving your bare as the day you were born. You’d swear you were dreaming but Tywin began to lower down as your eyes widened.

Small kisses begin pressed down your neck, in between your breasts, to your tummy. The muscle in your abdomen contracts as the kisses get lower and sloppier. Your hand reached down to move him away but he merely looked up at you in a way. As if he was warning you to not stop him, most people would be dead if Tywin looked at them that way, but not you. You felt yourself getting wetter as his gaze was fixed upon you. The great old lion kneeled in between his wife’s thighs.

You were half sure, that this was a lucid dream from all the nightshade you’d been given; you felt his hand rub up and down the sides of your legs. His one leg bent and the other resting on the cushioned foot stool.

“The things I want to do to you, little girl.” He nearly growls as his hands reach up to caress your breasts, rolling each of the hardened pebbles in between his fingers

“Won’t you let me taste you, wife.” He asked ever so nonchalantly and your cheeks filled with heat making your eyes close in shame.

“It isn’t very ladylike to not answer back to a lord.” His hand smacked your thigh, not to hurt you but to leave an impact.

You nodded as your eyes widened at the smack. Immediately Tywin’s hands reach to lift one of your legs over his broad shoulders. Holding onto your hips to support your weight and to keep you from falling backwards. He wastes no time and digs right into the feast between his wife’s legs. His tongue flattened against your folds, licking a stripe right up to your clit making your shudder and close your eyes.

Which earned you another prompt smack to your thigh, your husband’s brow cocked up as warning to keep you eyes on him. One of your hands clutched onto his shoulder for support as your hips involuntarily began to rock against Tywin’s mouth. The most unladylike, wanton moan left your body as Tywin payed extra attention to your now swollen nub. You’ve had nights of passion with him before but nothing felt like this, he’s never taken you in his mouth before but god’s you’d die to feel this for the rest of your life.

He unlatched himself from your core as he felt your peak nearing. You whined as your lips pouted at the lack of stimulation.

“Greedy little thing, aren’t ya.” His thumb gentlly rubbed circle on your clit as he stood up, his lips connecting to your. Your taste on his mouth that you payed no mind to. You have no idea what prompted you start walking backwards with him and then pushing him to sit on couch, but you did.

Your legs straddling his lap, his brows cocked to figure out what you were trying to do. Sure, your inexperience is something he found amusing, but your chambermaids might have shown you a thing or two. Your hands reach further down, popping open button after button on his shirt, with your lips connected to his neck. Your hands trailed all the way down to his crotch as you undid his breeches. You eyes met his, asking for permission, Tywin pushed your hair out of your face and lifted his hips to help you take his pants down enough to spring him free.

You felt his warm length on your torso, you still couldn’t look at him without feeling shy. The old lion relished in the way you squirmed for him, his mouth reached lower down your neck. Leaving small marks, for everyone to see. Your handmaidens would often tease you after your nights of passion. He may not have been super affectionate at first but he marked you from the first night. You looked at him longingly, too shy and brain jumbled to ask it. But who were you kidding. This was Tywin Lannister, he knew what you needed before you knew what you needed

“Did you want to ride me, wife?” His hands shamelessly played with your hardened nipples making you gasp, you gave him a little nod

“Go on then, I’m right here.”

His hands found the flesh of your back, guiding your hips to lift up as you positioned is cock to your entrance, and then began to lower yourself. It was still a bit of a stretch but the slick your pussy created made it easier to lower down on him. This position was new, you felt things you couldn’t describe.

Once you got all of him in, your realized how much deeper he could fit in you making you pathetically whimper. He kept your hips still on his lap, letting your adjust to this new feeling. You soon began to rock your hips back and forth, the little hairs on him tickling at your swollen clit. He guided your hips to bounce on him. Your hands held onto his shoulder for support. You bit your lip to hid your moans, it was still late in the afternoon. Having sex right now wouldn’t exactly be appropriate.

“Don’t hide those moans from me.” Tywin looked at you like he could eat you as a guttural moan came from him

“Say my name, wife”

Your hips set a steady pace but it wasn’t enough, nothing felt enough, his rough hands on your soft body. His cock rubbing the most sensitive spots inside you. Tywin was drunk from lust too, watching your pretty tits bounce as your took all of him.

“Tywin, plea-please.” You whined as your head fell backwards in pleasure

“I -I need more.”

Tywin wanted you to say it, he wanted you to beg for it. His hands found your clit yet again, flicking it in quick strokes making your shudder and clench on him.

“You want to be fucked, don’t you little lady.” He emphasized on the word fucked making you hid your face on his shoulder in shame, you gave him a little nod.

“Fuck me, my lord.”

You felt him lift up and shimmy down a bit to the edge of the couch, pushing your body flush against his. Tywin’s hands took a harsh hold of your plump ass and pounded upwards making your cry out. He set a furious pace, working solely to make you peak and chase his own

“Oh gods.” Your moans muffled onto his shoulder, your nails dug into his chest.

“That isn’t my name.” His hand smacked your ass

��My lion, Tywin please.” You cried out with each thrust, mouth hung open in pleasure

“You are near, do not stop. Wet my cock my wife.” A few more thrusts and you came undone onto his cock, moaning out unladylike profanities as you did so. His thrusts didn’t stop there as he fucked you through your orgasm, his own peak coming up to him. Tywin’s thrusts began to falter making him groan. You felt his warm seed coat your insides as you laid completely limp against him. You weren’t sure your were alive.

Both your chests heaved as you rested against each other. His hands gentle rubbing your back as you tried to gather yourself. You have no idea how he looks so composed right now but you were too out of it to care. A small squeak left your lips as you felt him lift and lay you back on the couch, putting a cushion underneath you. He was trying to get his seed to catch. He pressed a kiss to your forehead before getting up to clean himself and grabbing a cloth to clean you up too. You watched him attentively as he cleaned the mess in between your legs and as he got dressed again. He’d called for your chambermaid to help you get dressed up.

You weren’t as formal with most your maids, which you were now regretting as your chambermaid began to make eyes at you and teasing you about the marks on your breasts and neck. Once you were dressed she took her leave and left you alone with your husband.

“Do you think that did it?” You asked your husband. You’d always wanted children, having your own little bundle of joy that you made yourself.

“I should hope so, the maester says your moon blood has a perfect cycle. You are fertile.” You blushed as he brought up your moon cycle.

You came to sit down next to him on the chaise but he quickly lifted you onto his lap.

“Have you thought of it? Children that is.” Your husband looked at your curious

“I have, I’ve always wanted four of them. Two boys and two girls, hopefully the girls are born after so that they’d have two big brothers to protect them.” You rambled on and Tywin had a small smile on his face, if you told anyone they’d laugh at your face but he was smiling.

After his first wife’s lose he couldn’t bring himself to love again, the only thing he loved close to how he loved his wife was little tommen. The little blond boy his daughter birthed. However seeing you with his grandchildren, his children, your patience with his daughter. It did things to him that even he couldn’t explain.

“I suppose I can make the happen.” He smirked at his suggestive remark making you giggle as your pressed a kiss to his head.

“I also suppose you deserve that cat after all you’ve dealt with.” That made you freeze.

“T-Tywin? Are you serious? Do not jest with me about this.” You wanted a cat so bad, so aggressively bad you were sure you’d do anything for it.

“I do not jest, wife.” He looked at as you nearly wriggled on the spot in excitement. You wanted to scream in joy but reigned it in. Having no idea how absorb all this happiness in your body. Tywin rarely found things adorable, but the conflicted joy on your face nearly made him laugh out loud. You reminded him of tommen when he got his cat for his name day.

“I’m gonna name him Lion.” You said as a matter of fact

“I hope you save some affection for me too, not just the cat.” Your husband teased you. He leant in for another kiss, which was meant to be chaste but this is how your excitement burst through you as you deepened the kiss further. Only to be cut off by knocks at your door.

You pulled away pouting like a child, still sat on Tywin’s lap.

“My lord, the king requires an audience.” you heard Lancel’s muffled voice out side the door making you groan and pout more.

Tywin moved you off his lap and while pressing another kiss to your lips. “Till later my wife.”

He pulled away. Straightened himself up and walked out. Leaving you with your maids as your happily prepared things for what was promised. A cat.

next chapter

#tywin lannister x reader #tywin lannister #got smut #got fanfiction #smut #desiblr #game of thrones #house lannister #Spotify

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sukirichi · 4 years ago

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the morning after – gojo satoru ver!

warnings: slight dirty talk and suggestive content, like the yuuji one, nothing too explicit! Oh and a teasing, cheeky gojo :>

masterlist ! (photo not mine)

It doesn’t hit you until you’re whacked by an arm in the face. Literally.

You whine and push the foreign weight away that smushed your nose at the impact, less than pleased because you’re having the best of your life, but someone had to ruin it. Nevertheless, you refuse to open your eyes and settle into the warmth that encases you in that moment. It reminds you of your precious unicorn plushie you left back at your apartment; cuddly, precious, keeps the nightmares away, but the best part about this human teddy bear is that he’s all firm muscles and body heat instead of fur cotton.

Wait, what? Human?

It’s when you hear the man stirring above you with a husky groan that you freeze in your spot, eyes snapping wide open your vision blurs for a split second. The first thing you see is smooth skin and firm pecs, followed by a slender, strong neck and a sharp jawline – oh god.

So last night wasn’t a dream.

Clenching your teeth and even biting the inside of your cheeks to stop squealing – more out of embarrassment and shame than happiness, really – you slowly reach up between your squished bodies to pinch your cheeks, bringing blood and feeling back into them. No wonder you’ve slept so well last night, and as someone who prefers pulling an all-nighter until you pass out in the middle of an anime series, it’s quite rare to find a good eight hour sleep.

It’s not like you had much...activities performed that would take up too much energy. Until Gojo Satoru came, the teacher from the Tokyo school, and also the notoriously infamous “strongest jujutsu sorcerer.”

You’ve had a crush on him the moment you’ve started working as a teacher in the Kyoto school. Utahime, who was closer to him, was incredibly appalled when you told her one day about your raging crush on the white-haired man who looked absolutely breathtaking with his blindfold, but without them?

Just the thought of having seen them last night, when he was between your legs, no less, has you inwardly groaning and cringing so hard you feel so shameful that you can’t even look him in the eye. Satoru is fast asleep above you, one of his strong arms lazily draped over the curve of your waist and his fingers brushing against your bum. When you shift a little to give you both space, his fingers begin to hover dangerously close to a sensitive area and you let out a tiny squeak, muffling it with the back of your fist before he awakens.

This man had the Six Eyes – the last thing you wanted was for him to sense and notice the little things and wake up. No, you had to leave before he even gets the chance to move.

The chances of not waking him up was pretty slim, but you’ve always been proud of your sneaky movements that you try anyway. Fortunately, Satoru doesn’t seem to be a hardcore cuddler because he doesn’t pull you back when you finally slip past the sheets.

You freeze for a moment at the edge of the bed, still in disbelief that you actually slept with him. No, no, that’s wrong, you’d have slept with him anytime if he allowed it but – he actually slept with you. It’s not that you’re looking down on yourself because you’re also a special grade sorcerer and could stand your own ground confidently, but your powers when it comes to exorcising and your social skills are two different things that don’t even come close together.

You’re not worried that a special grade curse would kill you and take away your privilege of finishing that new manga you bought in your day off because you know you could handle it easily, but as a person, there’s a stark difference between you and Satoru.

True, he wasn’t exactly liked by everyone because he refused to be limited by rules and regulations, always claiming that one should not be hindered by the narrow-mindedness of the others, but it was something you really admired about him because you’re not like that. You’re old school, sticking by the book, much like his co-worker Nanami Kento who equally hates overtime, and while Gojo Satoru was loud and confident, you’re more of the person who stays by a corner during a party.

Which is exactly what happened last night at Utahime’s birthday party – aka the old wrinkly principal isn’t here so let’s get wasted type of party.

You’re not surprised that Gojo Satoru walked in, but when he did, you had to clutch your spirit water and drink it in haste because he’s got you feeling thirstier than you did last night – and you drink your water plenty. But how could you remain sane when he looked so gorgeous in just his uniform and his laughter has butterflies erupting in your stomach?

Truth was, you’re satisfied watching him from afar. It’s not like you ever plan on asking him out or being his friend because you’re sure Satoru has better things to do and prettier people to talk to, so when he sits next to you in the desolate leather couch, legs crossed over one another and his arm right behind you (although not touching, he respects your space) you nearly pass out.

One thing leads to another, and you find yourself writhing under his arms, shamelessly crying his name over and over again until the dead hours of the night that has his ego inflating.

You don’t remember how or exactly why it happened, but definitely, alcohol had to be involved. There’s no way Gojo Satoru would actually notice you, much less sleep with you, when he’s completely sober, which is why you scramble around the room with the blanket covering your bare body as you look for your discarded clothes.

If he wakes up and sees you, he’ll probably regret everything that happened last night, if he remembers any of it, anyway.

But you’re most definitely mostly sober through the whole thing, so you remember how good he was in making you feel like a goddess. The way he sucked on your neck, licking a stripe at your burning skin while his large hands groped your breasts possessively, all the while rutting in that perfect spot that has your eyes rolling at the back of your head with your nails running down his back – you shiver just thinking about it.

Gojo Satoru really has that effect on people.

You hide your flustered state and quickly pull on your undergarments, about to slip the sweater over your head, only to die on the inside because you realize you’re wearing those full cotton panties instead of sexy lingerie. With a groan, you fight back the urge to cry. But then again, who could blame yourself for not dressing sexily? It’s not like you had any idea that this would happen.

You’re halfway through your jeans when Gojo’s husky morning voice breaks through the silence. “Leaving already?” you hear him smile, although your back is turned to him, face completely morphed into terror. “Such a shame. I was actually thinking shower sex sounds nice – if you’re into that, of course.”

“Satoru,” you greet lamely with a bow, avoiding the way his stunning eyes raked over your form with an unreadable dark expression. “Uh, you’re awake, and...good morning, I guess.”

Gojo smirks at your flushed cheeks, and it takes everything not to stare at the way his biceps strain from the way he supports his head, hair sticking in every direction and looking absolutely sexy in the morning light. “Good morning to you too, Y/N,” your breath stifles, because he knows your name? “Although it would be an ever better morning if you weren’t such in a rush to leave,” he chuckles, “It makes me feel like maybe you regret what happened last night.”

Your head snaps up at his words as you shakily wiggle your arms, “No, that’s not true, I loved every second of it! It was...it was the best night of my life,” your cheeks tinge a shade darker when Gojo beams at your words, chest almost puffing out proudly. Shyly, you turn away from him and fiddle with the hem of your sweatshirt. “I just...I didn’t think you’d still want me here around, because you were drunk last night and all and I thought maybe you’ll regret it, which I don’t want to happen so yeah, I just thought I’d leave before I get to...” you clear your throat awkwardly, “...be rejected like that.”

“Y/N,” his voice falls an octave lower, the thoughts in your head growing so loud you don’t even hear that he’s already left the bed, and now he’s cradling your chin until you’re forced to witness the galaxies burning in his eyes. “You thought I was drunk last night and did it because I was just horny? That I would regret it and forget all about it?”

His proximity has your breath stuttering, your eyelashes slapping your cheeks as you blink rapidly. “Well, uhm, I’m not really your type, so I think it was safe to assume that.”

Gojo hums at your words, his calloused thumb running over your lips. A small smile flits across his face when he remembers how much of a good girl you were for him last night, obediently opening those lips up and letting him bask in the warmth of your wet cavern before swallowing all he has to give. Funnily enough, Gojo isn’t the best with his words, so he just tucks a strand of hair behind your ear before sighing.

“I wasn’t drunk,” he finally admits. The confession has you slipping from his grasp, but Gojo snakes his arm around the small of your back to pull you to him, the warmth of his bare skin seeping into your clothes. However, it’s nothing compared to the lust and adoration burning in his eyes – one you can’t properly fathom in this clouded state. “Tipsy, sure, but I assure you I was aware and sober for every little part,” his lips hover at your ear, one of his hands coming at the back of your neck to tilt your head to the side, granting him access to the hickeys he’d purposely left.

Just the sight of his markings on your perfect body has a tent growing in his pants. You feel his erection rub at the pad of your jeans, eliciting a small whine from you, and this makes Gojo resist the urge to bend you over right then and there. But he doesn’t do that, because he knows your body is too tired from his ministrations, and he’s nice enough to give you a break – even if that’s not exactly what your burning core wants at that moment.

“Like the way you clenched around my cock when I hit that sensitive spot of yours,” he laughs when you shiver at the way his breath tickles you, “Or how pretty you look when you cream around my cock, begging me to go harder because you can take it, and baby, I promise you, I loved it just as much as you did.”

Finally, Gojo pulls back, and he’s extremely satisfied when he sees how small and innocent you look just like that, as if he hadn’t just folded you in half to watch the way your pretty pussy welcome him and take him better than anyone else just hours ago.

“But,” he continues, “I think I enjoyed it a lot more, considering I’ve wanted to do that for such a long time now,” at his words, you furrow your brows, and that’s when he realizes his mistake. Gojo reverts back to his usual lighthearted self and fans his hand out almost comically with his hands on his hips. “I mean, not just the sex, though it is amazing, but having you close is what I meant. Like holding your hand or getting to kiss you,” he sighs dreamily as if you’re not in the same room as him.

“Uh,” you awkwardly begin, unsure of what to say. “Are you saying you like me?”

“Yeah,” he smirks, which shouldn’t have been such a sexy look on him, but because he’s Gojo, it was. “But Utahime said she’d cut my balls off if I even get near you. Thank goodness she was too drunk last night to ever see it, but I’m glad I talked to you. I’m just ashamed I’m only saying this after the sex but...would you like to go out with me?”

Thanks to his Six Eyes ability, Gojo is blessed with the privilege of seeing you malfunction before him as you try to find your words.

#gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru #gojo x reader fluff #gojo x reader imagines #gojo x reader smut #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jjk x reader smut #jjk x reader imagines #gojo satoru x reader imagines #gojo satoru imagines #jjk gojo satoru #gojo satoru fic #gojo x reader headcanon #jjk headcanons #jujutsu kaisen smut

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jungwonenthusiast · 4 years ago

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hii can i request bestfriends heeseung and y/n who have never done anything together but one night while having a sleepover things just go in that direction 👀👀👀 (using prompts 8 & 12 please🥺)

A/N: this is such a cute concept i love it (u didn’t specify who says what so i chose lol i hope thats okay, I also made hee a soft dom)

Warnings: oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), unprotected sex, cock warming

Word count: 3k

You tap lotion onto your face as Heeseung pulls his sheet mask off. He pats the remaining product into his skin.

“You don’t even need that,” you roll your eyes. “Your skin is already perfect.”

“Jealous?” he teases.

“Yes, I one hundred percent am.” you admit and he chuckles.

You finish up in the bathroom and then plop onto your bed. Heeseung leans over you and grabs the remote on your nightstand. He clicks to Bojack Horseman as always then lays down next to you, scrolling through his phone.

You kick him in the shin. “Gimme some space.”

He frowns and sprawls himself on top of you. “What, you don’t wanna love on me?”

You laugh and try to push him off. “I feel violated.”

He rolls away, chuckling.

You’re scrolling through tiktok together when a video of someone joking about porn comes up. You cackle and Heeseung looks at you.

“How do you know about that?” he asks, wide eyed.

“What do you mean?” you ask awkwardly.

“Do you watch porn?” he asks and you turn away from him, giggling.

“That’s a very private question.” you say, covering your face with your hands.

“So you do!” he exclaims and he’s blushing too.

You guys talked about sex occassionaly, only when you were sharing stories about hook ups though.

“What kind do you watch?” he says, only half joking and you punch him in the shoulder.

“That’s an extremely private question.” you say.

“I thought we were for lifers.” he replies and you laugh.

If he were a female friend you wouldn’t hesitate to tell her all of this, but for some reason he made you shy. You still remember when you became aware that he was a guy. It was the summer before tenth grade when he grew three inches, his voice dropped, and his shoulders began to broaden. It was the summer you became more aware of his masculinity and ever since then, things kind of changed. Not for the worse, things are just different now.

You continue to scroll when another scandalous tiktok comes up. It said something about wanting to be dominated and taken control of.

You groan. “Why do I keep getting these things?”

“The for you page gives you things that it knows you’d like.” he remarks and you scrunch your nose at him. “What? I think it was pretty hot.”

You choke. “You’re a bottom?”

“No!” he guffaws. “I meant to be the giver in that situation.”

“Ohhh,” you say, trying not to get too embarrassed. The thought of him doing that to someone drove you a little insane.

“Are you?” he asks and you shove him.

“You weirdo.” you accuse and he holds his hands up.

“I just think best friends should know these things about each other.”

You shrug him off and turn your phone off. “I don’t trust my phone anymore, let’s watch yours.”

You scoot over to him and rest your head on his shoulder.

He scoffs. “I thought you wanted space?”

“Are you complaining?” you tease.

“Of course not.” He fake yawns to get his arm around you and you cackle.

He taps a gentle beat onto your shoulder while scrolling through instagram. You can’t help but tense up in his embrace. He had been a bit more touchy than usual lately; random hugs, playing with your fingers, adjusting your clothes, and tying up your shoelaces whenever he could.

“Wow I do not like this.” he says at someone’s prom outfit.

“Me neither,” you frown. “It’s kind of outdated.”

“When’s our prom?” he asks.

“I think in a month.”

“We’re going together right?” he asks and your heart skips a beat. You figured that you’d go together but him asking you made you anxious.

“Yeah,” you try to sound confident.

“Are we gonna coordinate our outfits?” he lightly squeezes your side and you squeal.

“But we’re not going as a couple.” you say and he rolls his eyes.

“So? It’d be weird to show up together with mismatched outfits.” he says and you nod in agreement. “Do you have an idea of what you wanna wear?” he asks.

“I think I wanna go more simple and do black.” you say and he groans.

“You always wear black dresses.”

“And? I look hot in them.” you defend.

“You’re right you’re right.” he accepts defeat and you giggle.

As the night goes on you slowly slump further into Heeseung’s side. At one point his arm goes numb so you scooch in front of him and rest your back against his chest. You’ve gotten used to being so close to him, and at this point you just wanted more.

His arms are wrapped loosely around you as you watch Coraline on the tv. He reaches up to run his hand through his hair but instead punches you decently hard in the boob. You yelp and hold your chest.

“Ahh! Sorry sorry!” he holds your shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

You can’t help but laugh through your pain. “Trying to make me lose a boob or something?”

“Noo, no I’m sorry, forgive me.” he asks, sounding genuinely worried.

Sure you were exaggerating your reaction, but what’s wrong with having a little fun with him.

You elbow him in the side and he cries out.

“Revenge.” you say with a smug smile.

He waits a moment before grabbing your waist and flipping you onto your back. He’s always stronger than you would’ve guessed. You yell as he climbs on top of you and begins to tickle your sides.

You kick around and try to push him off but he won’t budge.

“Get off, I’m dying!” you cackle from his relentless tickling.

“You asked for it.” he says.

“I thought we promised no tickle fights?” you grab a pillow to protect yourself but he’s quick to chuck it away.

“I had my fingers crossed.” he jokes.

You muster all of your strength and hook your leg around him to get him onto his back, a trick Jungwon taught you.

Without thought, you climb on top of him and pin his hands down. It take you a moment to realize what position you’re in. You both freeze for a second before bursting out laughing.

You fall onto your back, holding your chest.

“What the hell was that?” he asks, laughing. “Some fifty shades of gray type of shit.”

You kick him in the shoulder. “I’m sorry!” you say through a fit of giggles. You try to push yourself up but your legs are bent in a way that makes it a little tough. Heeseung assists you and pulls you up into a sitting position by your waist.

You’re still giggling a bit when you feel his nose brush against yours.

“Hi.” you whisper and he waits a moment before gently pushing his lips against yours. Your heart leaps into your throat but you try to stay calm as possible.

He pulls away (to your disappointment) and looks at you with wide eyes.

“Fuck, I’m sorry-” he says and before he can finish your hold his face and kiss him back. His arms snake around your waist and he pulls you flush against him.

You can’t believe that this is happening. You wonder if all the things you’ve fantasized about would happen tonight. Of course not, you’re crazy, you think. But you could already imagine with hands adventuring your body, touching you just how you like it.

Your fingers dip into the back of his shirt collar. You’re barely touching his skin, but it still feels so special.

His lips move to your cheek, then your jaw, then your neck. Your breath becomes increasingly ragged as his kisses become more open mouthed and messy.

He looks up at you. “Is this okay? Like do you want this?”

You nod eagerly and he smiles. “Cute.” he says to himself.

He gently rests you onto your back and traces your waist before pushing your top up. He peppers kisses all over your stomach and ribs before getting to the band of your bralette.

You blush. “I would’ve worn something nicer if I knew this was gonna happen.”

He shakes his head. “I like it, it’s pretty.”

You tug your shirt over your head along with your bra. He lets out a small gasp and you rush to cover yourself.

“Wait, no no.” he pulls your hands away.

“You’re making me shy.” you turn your head away and he chuckles.

“So perfect.” he says before softly kissing your chest.

You let out a small moan while running your fingers through his hair.

He slowly runs his tongue over your nipples while rubbing your sides. You can feel wetness starting to pool in your underwear.

You instinctively swivel your hips, looking for some kind of stimulation and he smiles.

“Do you need something?” he asks teasingly and you feel your cheeks heat up.

“Yeah,” you answer.

“What is it?”

You shake your head out of embarrassment.

“Well you’re gonna have to tell me or I’m just gonna leave you like this.” he says nonchalantly and you sigh.

You swallow your pride. “Touch me, please?”

“Attagirl.” he says and tugs your shorts off. “Show me how you like it.”

Your eyes widen. “Huh?”

“You heard me,” he says. “Show me first.”

You breathe in nervously before sliding your hand into your underwear. You circle your clit once and do your best to hold in a moan. He pulls your underwear to the side to watch you.

“Do you think about me when you touch yourself?” he asks. “When you’re home alone and it’s late at night?”

You nod sheepishly and he smiles. “What do you imagine?”

“I’m not telling you,” you blush. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. If you tell me, I'll tell you what I think about too.” he suggests and you accept the deal.

“I-I imagine my fingers being yours,” you swallow thickly.

“Mhm,” he encourages you while gingerly kissing your thighs.

“And,” you hesitate for a moment. “I imagine your tongue on me, and you filling me up. What about you?”

He smiles. “I imagine touching you like this,” he rubs his hands down your thighs and reaches up to pinch your nipples. “I imagine kissing you here,” he kisses your inner thigh, “and here,” he kisses you so close to where you need him the most and you quiver. He grabs your hand and pushes your fingers into his mouth. Your eyes widen and he smirks. “You taste good.”

You nearly cum just from seeing and hearing that.

“I imagine doing this.” He lowers his head and licks a gentle stripe up your pussy. Your thighs snap around his head and he pushes them back open.

“Relax sweetheart, let me make you feel good.” he says before delving into you. Your back arches off the bed right away and your fingers find his hair. Goddamn he’s good.

He circles his tongue on your clit, hungrily but still gently.

“Fuck,” you exhale and he smiles.

He pushes a finger into you with ease and soon adds another. You roll your hips against his tongue as his fingers pump in and out of you. You whimper as the overwhelming pleasure runs through your body.

“Oh my god,” you squeak as your legs begin to shake. Already? You think.

His fingers stay at a steady pace as he messily sucks on your clit. You tug at his hair and he moans into you.

“Please don’t stop.” you beg and he obeys.

Your hips begin to lift off the mattress and he pins you down, keeping you in place. Your orgasm pours through you like sweet syrup, leaving you trembling under him.

He comes up to kiss you, letting you taste yourself. You wipe your juices off his chin with your thumb then lick it off.

He watches you in awe. “God you’re hot.”

You pull his hoodie over his head and push him onto his back. Your fingers trace his shoulders, then his waist, and every muscle on his torso. You kiss him down to the band of his sweats before pulling them down along with his Calvins.

His cock springs up and hits his lower stomach. You slowly kiss up his shaft then waste no time getting him in your mouth. He hisses and caresses your hair.

He hits the back of your throat every time you bob your head but you don’t care. His head drops back with a tempting moan.

“Fuck you’re good.” he says with a small smile.

You stroke the inches you can’t reach with your hand.

You wish you could imprint this image of him in your mind: his head lulling back, his adam's apple bobbing every time he swallows, his brows furrowing, his mouth parting open. You’re almost tempted to take a photo.

You take him all the way into your throat and swallow around him. The moan he lets out sounds better than a song.

You look up at him and watch him rake his hand through his hair. His abs contract every time you come down on him.

“Just like that,” he purrs, sending heat straight to your core.

You feel so dirty with your spit dripping down your chin but at the same time, it feels so good.

“Such a good girl,” he coos. “Sucking this cock so well.”

You nod at him and he smiles.

“Come here,” he pulls you into a position where he can reach you better and squeezes your ass. He tenderly traces his fingers down your spine before slowly pushing two fingers into you. You whine on his cock and he smirks.

“Still so wet.” he says while slightly curling his fingers, you jolt and he chuckles. “Feels good huh?”

You nod and he pets your hair. “Keep going, that’s it.”

His fingers pick up the pace as your sucking and licking becomes more sloppy.

His moans become more desperate and when he expects you to pull off you keep your head down, taking his cum down your throat.

“Did you just swallow?” he asks you, still breathing heavy.

You nod with a smile and he pulls you into a passionate kiss.

He flips you onto your back, eagerly kissing down your body before lining himself up with your entrance.

“Fuck me please,” you exhale and he smiles.

“Of course,” he pushes into you and you whine from the feeling. He stretches you out just right. “God you have good pussy.” he moans and you giggle.

He leans down to kiss you and you whimper into his mouth.

“Don’t stop,” you plead and he kisses your neck, sucking and nibbling to leave a hickey. “People are gonna see.” you say and he smiles.

“That’s the point.” he says. "Don’t you want people to know how good you are for me?”

You blush and nod.

“Give me one too sweetheart.” he says softly while leaning over you.

You rub up and down his sides while gently biting and licking at his neck, leaving a pretty red blush on his neck.

His fingers trail down to circle your clit while grinding his hips into yours. Your eyes roll back as he does so and he smiles. He can’t stop thinking about how captivating you are. He can’t take his eyes off you. Which gives him an idea.

He grabs your jaw and turns it to the mirror next to your bed. “Look at yourself.” he says.

Your heartbeat quickens, not used to seeing yourself in this state.

“Look how good you take it.” he says and you can’t deny it, you look hot as fuck.

He looks at you watching his cock disappear in and out of your cunt. You drag your hands over your waist and go to roll your nipples between your fingers.

His fingers are so slick on your clit from your juices and everything feels so good that you can’t really believe it.

He grabs onto the headboard for leverage and he looks so fucking good like this. Ever since he turned your head to the mirror, you can’t look away. You only turn to face him when your legs begin to shake and the fire in your stomach starts to dance.

“Please don’t stop,” you say with sparkling eyes. “I’m close.”

“Cum for me sweetheart,” he says right by your ear. “Be good.”

That alone sends you over the edge.

You’re back arches and your eyes roll back as your orgasm surges through you. He moans into your neck as he releases into you. You’re still pulsing around him when he finishes.

He kisses your cheeks as you come down for your high. “You did so well princess.”

You can’t help but cling to him and he chuckles. “I have to pull out of you eventually.”

“I like the way you feel.” you whine and he smiles.

You opt to cock warm him. He lays on his back and pulls you on top to straddle him. He gently pushes into you as you lay on his chest and enjoy the feeling.

He strokes your back and kisses your shoulder for a bit before he starts to subdtley thrust up into you.

You give him a look and he smiles at you sheepishly. “Wanna go again?”

#Heeseung smut #enhypen smut #Kpop smut

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