#and the missing came out of nowhere suddenly few days ago

[a-wayofthinking]

i miss hooping

[lilisettean]

Glittering Scales | Rafayel/Reader

About: You didn't know what to expected when Rafayel texted you to get him bags of ice near midnight. You thought it was for some art piece he was working on and didn't question it. Turns out, it was for something you did not expect. At all.

Pairing: Rafayel/Reader

Notes: Based on that mermen having 2.... you know.... tweet.

AO3: Read here!

Warnings: Mating, Monster(?)fucking, Tentacle, No protection, Hints of breeding. Please tell me if I missed something! Also 18+ only please. Enjoy :)

“Rafayel?”

Your voice echoed throughout the empty studio. Normally Rafayel would be here to greet you, be it from the floor or on the ladder he sat on while painting. But today he was nowhere to be found.

A faint splash of water down the hallway alerted you to his presence. With a sigh, you followed the sound, your bare feet breaking the quiet that descended upon the studio. 

‘Is he painting while in the bathtub again?’ You thought as you carried bags of ice under your arms and in your hands. After going radio silent for a week, he texted you out of nowhere, asking you to get him enough ice to last him for a few days. And while you had half a mind to ask him why and where he had been, curiosity got the best of you and you agreed readily.

Another splash brought you out of your thoughts, and you sighed at what sounded to be impatient flicks of his tail against the water.

“Coming! Coming, jeez–”

The sight of Rafayel sitting in the bathtub, his tail hanging out the edge of it, greeted you. Small puddles of water dotted the tiled floor, his phone lay haphazardly on top of the pile of clothes next to the bathtub. Oddly enough, his painting equipment was nowhere to be found. 

Despite having seen his merman form– his original form, you should say, multiple times before, the shimmering blue scales that were on his tail and his skin always enthralled you. And under soft moonlight shining through the full length windows, it looked as though they glowed, drawing you in.

Before you could lift a hand to touch the scales on his tail however, he flicked it, smacking your thigh and dousing your pants with water.

“What took you so long? I am on the verge of death!”

“I had to go around and buy these for you! Why do you need them anyway?” You huffed as you set the bags of ice you bought down to the side. It was almost midnight when his text came and you had to scramble to get at least a few bags for him, lest it wasn’t enough for… whatever he’s doing. The nerve. Pinning him with a stern look, to which he innocently blinked in response, you continued.

“And you don’t get to talk! What took you so long to text me back? You were unreachable for the entire week!”

If it weren’t for the fact that you arrived back in Linkon city mere hours ago, you would’ve gone and visited him as soon as he dropped off the face of the Earth. Rafayel would never go a day without calling you at least once, so when he suddenly did not reply to any of your texts or answer any calls, you knew something was deeply wrong.

Noticing that you were eyeing him critically, he turned away from your gaze, hoping you wouldn’t pick up on anything irregular. But unfortunately for him, you did.

“Are you sick? Why does your face look so red?” Your eyebrows furrowed as you leaned closer to inspect him. You thought it would be impossible for the blush that stained his cheeks to intensify even further, but it did. If anything, it looked like it spread to his ears too.

“Yes– Well, not really but I…” He stuttered, his usual nonchalant demeanor nowhere to be found. To you, it seemed like he was avoiding any sort of eye and skin contact. Interesting.

With a long suffering sigh, he looked towards you again, his eyes pleading. “Please just give me the ice. It’s too hot.”

“Only if you tell me what’s wrong.” You countered, but still tore open the bags anyway. He sighed in contentment the moment the ice came contact with his higher than what should be normal skin temperature. The ice that settled on his skin and his scales would soon melt and you idly wondered if you had to buy more when morning came.

‘There’s a store about 15 minutes away, maybe I should–’ A soft mumble from him interrupted your train of thought. “What did you say?”

Despite you prompting him, it took him another minute before he repeated his words.

“It’s… mating season.”

It took a few more moments before his words registered in your mind. Mating season, he said. What does that have to do with– Oh.

“Oh. And you’re…” Your eyes darted down, not so subtly wondering where his cock would be when in his original form. Nothing out of the ordinary– and was that ironic, saying that there was a merman in front of you ordinary– caught your eye.

To you, anyway. To him, however… 

Rafayel drew in a stuttered breath, desperately grasping at the shards of sanity that were slipping away from him. You being unaware of the details pertaining to merman physiology and mating rituals was making him antsy. He should’ve explained the differences between his original form and his human form a long time ago, yet couldn’t as the otherworldliness of it might scare you off. He knew you wouldn’t run away so easily but that apprehensiveness stayed because what if…?

Despite all of this, he couldn’t help but preen under your appreciation for his scales. Merpeople took great care maintaining their scales, and mermen in particular would show off theirs during mating season to attract attention from their intended.

You, being his intended, who was now perched on the edge of the bathtub, touching and admiring his scales, would be interpreted as acceptance to the mating ritual. But there was no ritual, nor request from him, so it was all null and void. He pointedly ignored the disappointment that seeped into his gut. This was for the best and for your own good, he thought, and yet–

“Do you… want me to help you?” You asked as you traced the edges of his scales, not catching the hitch in his breath when your fingers trailed further and further up his tail.

“I’d rather not. My physiology is not what you’d expect.” 

“And let you sit here for days on end?” 

“...” Rafayel bit his lip. You had a point. The constant neediness brought by his biology made it difficult for him to focus on anything of note. But what if you rejected him once you saw what was in store for you? It would feel like that day all those years ago all over again, when you didn’t remember him despite him spending so much time looking for you.

He shook his head at that. No, he should have more faith in you. And so with much trepidation, he relented. “If you are that determined, I won’t stop you. But…” He trailed off, grabbing your arm and yanked you towards him, causing water to splash out of the bathtub and onto the floor. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“At least let me take my clothes off–”

“No need.” With a snap of his fingers, his flame Evol materialized and he brought the gentle flame to your clothes. And within seconds, every piece of clothing on you burned away, leaving you exposed to the warm summer’s night air. 

“Rafayel!” It always tickled whenever he did that, a fancy trick he liked to use whenever he felt particularly impatient. “How long were you…?”

“Long enough.” He replied, leaning back against the bathtub to let you get used to your new position. You were straddling him, your hips sat upon the upper half of his tail. While the water both of you were submerged in was cold, icy almost, the heat from his body warmed you.

A spot on Rafayel’s tail piqued your curiosity. It was warm and softer to the touch, unlike other places. You reached down to lightly poke at said spot, only for him to hiss in warning. 

Oh. Was that where– Then how–

You prodded that spot for a bit, carefully watching Rafayel’s face while figuring out how his merman form worked. He stared right back at you, his pupils dilated and his lips parted as he watched you with interest.

“Rafayel? Can you give me that ability to breathe underwater for a moment? I want to try something…”

He arched his eyebrow at your sudden request, but didn’t comment. Wordlessly, he pulled you closer and into a kiss, wrapping an arm around your torso while tucking a few stray strands of hair that fell on your face.

A simple, chaste kiss was more than enough to give you the ability needed to breath underwater for an hour. And yet he cannot bring himself to pull away from you. If anything, he cannot stop kissing you, cannot stop his tongue from prying your lips open and pushing against yours. 

It was only when you needed air that you parted from him, albeit reluctantly. Like his, your face was flushed from the heat and the intensity of the kiss, fueling the growing fire that was threatening to take over within him.

Now equipped with the ability you needed, you shuffled away from him and dived under the cold water both of you sat in. Faintly, you could hear him ask what your goal was, but you only grinned in response.

Over water, his scales looked as though they were shimmering, glinting softly under the lights. But seeing them underwater was another story. They looked iridescent, the water around them making them almost dreamlike in its shine. But as pretty as they were, you were on a mission. A mission to see what Rafayel was hiding from you.

You poked the same soft spot that was on the front of his tail, and with a bit of prodding, you found a well hidden slit between his scales.

‘This must be it then.’ You thought as you brushed over the slit, missing the shuddered breath Rafayel had let out. You dipped a finger into the slit, and found something round– the tip, perhaps– poking at your fingertip.

You circled your fingertip around the head, coaxing it to come forward. And slowly, you feel it inch closer and closer to the opening, with warm slick coating your fingertips before dissipating into the water.

Rafayel sighed as you teased the tip of his cock, if he was in his human form he would’ve been fully hard by now. But he was in his original form, his apprehension to your eventual surprise eating at him, causing him to be slower to react. That didn’t stop his neediness to take over though, as he could feel himself getting closer and closer to revealing himself by the minute.

He was about to ask if you were doing alright, until he felt your lips on his slit. He tossed his head back, groaning at your tongue teasing his opening and his tip. He could feel his cock pushing through his slit, widening it and protruding into your more than eager mouth.

You gasped when you tasted his salty, tangy tip in your mouth. While it tasted the same as his human form, the tip was smoother and coated with more precome than you expected.

The similarities between his human form’s cock and his original form ended there, you quickly realized. As soon as more of his cock emerged from his sheath and into your waiting mouth, you felt there were ridges on the side of it. Fleetingly, you wondered as you dragged your tongue across the ribbed sides, whether there were more surprises waiting for you. This cannot be it, right? There had to be more which would explain his visible apprehension.

As soon as that thought ended though, Rafayel suddenly cradled your chin, and coaxed you to resurface. 

Unlike earlier, when he still looked like he had some semblance of control, his stormy purple eyes were now focused, pinning you in place as though you were his prey. The nervousness that was evident before was now gone, replaced with a growing hunger. Hunger that could be only satisfied by having–

“You.” He panted, pulling you closer and closing the too wide gap between you and him. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Merpeople… My people mate for life. There will be no going back after this.” He stated, doing his best to ignore his growing cock poking at your inner thigh. He had to warn you before you walk into uncharted territory, clueless to the repercussions again. While this was not life threatening, like the things you usually run head into first, it was severe enough wherein if you had denied the bond that formed afterwards, it would tear him apart.

“I think we are past that point of no return, no? With all the vows I’ve made to you.” You replied as you tucked away the damp strands of hair that clung to his forehead, pressing a reassuring kiss on his temple. And that was true. The promise you made when you two were children, the vow you made next to the hospital fountain late at night. You promised you would never leave his side, so why would you leave now?

Rafayel laughed in relief, burying his face between your breasts as he clung to you. With the emotional hurdle out of the way, what was left was the more physical hurdle. Unlike before, however, he felt less worried about this one now.

“I hope you are prepared then.” He smiled as he littered quick kisses all over your decollete, inching closer to your neck and then your lips. “Because after this…”

“I will never let you go.”

Rafayel captured your lips with his once more, the kiss slow but all the more passionate. With his worries soothed, he slotted his emerging cock against your mound, wanting you to feel the effect you had on him as you kissed.

It wasn’t long before the kisses turned less than chaste. You gasped as he left open mouthed kisses down your neck, suckling on the skin beneath his lips as he thrusted his cock against you. The bumps on the underside of his shaft rubbed and teased your clit perfectly, and you couldn’t help but return the favor by shifting your hips to his rhythm, making him grow thicker and thicker by the moment.

You had a feeling that his cock wasn’t just ribbed while you grinded against him. You can’t exactly explain why, other than there were parts of his shaft that felt… softer to the touch, despite knowing that he’s turned on beyond relief.

“Rafayel–” 

“Mmh?” He hummed as his mouth left another love bite on your neck, pausing to admire his handiwork.

“Can I… Will you let me see it?” You asked, reaching down to drag a finger across his tip. He shuddered at your touch, and you felt his cock twitch in interest. It seemed that his drive to mate was slowly taking over, as all he could muster was a nod.

With his permission, you tore away from him, giggling when he whined at the loss of contact. You reassured him with a quick kiss to his cheek, and dodge his clingy hands when you retreated. Inhaling one deep, steadying breath, you steeled yourself, and looked down.

Oh. Oh. 

Was that a sight to behold.

Through the clear water, you saw his cock in its full glory. His tip was round, like humans, but that was where the similarities ended. It was flushed dark blue, his cock the same color as his scales. 

You dived underwater again to take a closer look, your curiosity getting the best of you. Immediately, you spot that there were bumps and ridges down the shaft and all the way to the base. His cock both intimidated you, and made your walls clench.

But that wasn’t all.

Curled around his cock was a tentacle shaped like a smaller shaft. Like what it was wrapped around, the tentacle flushed blue and had small lumps on the sides. It was slimmer in comparison, but still as thick as his finger. With avid interest, you reached out to touch it, and was surprised when it unfurled itself and curled around your finger, coaxing you to come closer.

Like a creature under a sea witch’s spell, you inched closer, fascinated by the cock in front you. And before you knew it, you curled your fingers around his base, testing how the bumps felt under your skin by stroking it.

Above the surface, Rafayel gasped as you touched both of his cocks, and groaned when you brought both of them to your lips. He was relieved you accepted the otherworldly nature of them without any hesitation, and were even eager to pleasure him.

With both of his cocks in your mouth, you quickly realized that they, especially the smaller one, leaked more precome than expected, perhaps to make up for the lack of lubrication underwater. The salty taste filled your mouth as you circled your tongue around the larger tip, the smaller one pushing against your tongue and stimulating itself. Its movements made your heat clench at nothing again, and you wondered. How would this feel like if he fucked you now?

Rafayel gathered all your hair that was floating underwater, and held it behind your head. He wanted a clear picture of you sucking on his cocks and by God did he want to thrust himself deep into your mouth at the sight. But he relented. You were still new to this and he rather not risk you choking while underwater.

Pulling away from his cocks, you resurfaced one more to admire them from afar, only to be assaulted by another kiss. 

Rafayel had enough of his mate being so far from his embrace, he needed you in his arms and on his cock, now. Tugging you towards him again, he maneuvered you so that you would be flush against his cocks, making sure you knew what was in store for you moments later.

Unlike last time where he would grind against you however, he reached down to prod your entrance, spreading your folds with his fingers. You expected him to slip his fingers in but instead, a familiar, yet not, sensation crept in, massaging your soft walls.

“You can control it.” You gasped once realization kicked in, staring at him in bewilderment. He merely blinked in response, and nuzzled the crook of your neck.  

“Does that disgust you?” He asked. While you couldn’t see his face, you could feel him tense up, his grip on you unrelenting.

“No! Nothing like that. I was just wondering… What else can it do?” 

At your reassurance, he relaxed and continued to nuzzle your neck, nipping at your skin. “You will have to find out.”

“What–”

He pulled the smaller cock away from your heat, and had it latch onto your clit. You whimpered as he teased your clit, its smooth tip and small bumps running along its side sending pleasurable shivers down your spine.

Rafayel ran a finger up your entrance while you were distracted, and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Right. He needed to drain the water around the both of you before he tried anything. The water would wash all of your juices away otherwise and make this experience entirely uncomfortable for you.

He tugged at the stopper and let the water drain away, leaving just enough water for part of his tail to be soaked in water. As the water level dropped, more and more of your skin was exposed to him; the water droplets that clung onto your skin and slid down your body taunted him. 

With the water gone and out of the way, you could finally see clearly what his cocks looked like above water. And they did not disappoint. 

The amount of precome that dripped out and down his smaller cock was staggering, coating and smearing your clit with every twitch of it. His larger cock was the same as well, precome beaded on the round tip of it before sliding down the ribbed sides, his shaft glistening under the low light. 

“Do you like them?” He asked, parting your dripping folds and slipping a finger inside as his smaller cock busied itself with your clit. Your sweet whimpers made both of his cocks throb, and he couldn’t wait to hear your moans when he pushed both of them inside you.

He added another finger, burying it deeper within you as you rode his fingers, your hips having a mind of its own. You were starting to get used to the two different cocks when suddenly, his smaller cock shifted, resting your clit against a dimpled surface and–

“Mmh–!” You whimpered, the realization of him not only having ridges along his cocks, but also having suckers of all things, hit you with full force. It felt similar to having his mouth sucking on your clit, and you fleetingly wondered what if his smaller cock slipped in and sucked on your walls as well.

As though reading your mind, he stopped teasing your clit with it, and slid it inside you, adding what effectively was another finger into the mix, stretching you and satiating that growing ache to have something inside you.

You moaned as his fingers slipped in and out of you, the juices from your heat and his precome mixing together and dripping out of your core. While his smaller cock wasn’t as sensitive as his bigger one, the sensations of your walls dragging against his bumpy shaft made his cocks twitch. 

The primal drive to mate, to fuck and to breed coursed through his veins. His instincts screamed at him, demanding him to push his neglected cock in you and breed you properly. It was tempting, too tempting, with you bouncing oh so wantonly on his fingers, your hands holding on to the edges of the bathtub to steady yourself. But he held back. 

As much as he wanted you to ride him while he thrusts his hips in sync to your pace– and God did that thought made another bout of precome drip from both of his cocks– he was afraid of what was in store for you. He knew once he was in, those instincts would take over and you would not be able to reason with him until it was over.

He could feel his control slipping with every heartbeat, the lustful haze that was clouding the edges of his mind seeping into the forefront. It was a challenge, a manageable one, until you curled your fingers around his larger cock.

“Nnh–” He groaned, his cock pulsing in your hand as you stroked the underside of it and traced all the bumps it had. It took him a few steadying breaths not to thrust up and rut against your palm. 

Through a clouded haze, you fixated upon the cock in your hands as you rode the other. It was bulging and pulsing at different places, with some parts flushed deeper blue than the others. You didn’t fully comprehend it yet, the question of whether you can take it all plagued your mind. All you knew that whatever this was, you wanted in you. Now.

“...Are you sure?” Rafayel asked breathlessly as you pulled his fingers and his smaller cock out of you and teased the larger cock with your heat. You drawing circles on his tip with your entrance made him pulsate, staining you with more precome. His hands were now on your hips and he had half a mind to just push you down his shaft in one go.

“I won’t stop until I’m done, you know.” He cautioned again, one final warning before those little slivers of sanity that he had disappeared like foam. His smaller cock caressed your dripping folds and held them to the side, allowing him better access when he inevitably sank you down his eager cock.

“I know.” You responded as you lowered yourself down, slowly taking his cock in inch by inch. It was hot and the throbbing ridges rubbed against your soft walls, forcing more juices to flow out of you. You paused midway to let yourself get used to the foreign feeling, and watched him as he tried to keep his face in check.

Your tight warm walls made it increasingly difficult for him to hold back, especially when you clenched tentatively around him. He understood why you stopped halfway, as his larger cock grew thicker at the lower half until flaring out at the base. But he felt like you were teasing him at this point, with you dragging the upper half of his cock out and pushing it back in over and over again.

“Darling…” He hissed as you rode him, his grip on your hips vice like. Following your lead, he shallowly pumped his larger cock in and out of you, in tune to the pace you’ve set.

The bumps on the side of his cock grazed your clit with every thrust, and before you knew it, you began to take more and more of him in, your folds spread further and further apart with the help of his smaller cock.

The urge to pull back and slam his hips into you the moment you finally, finally, took the entirety of his larger cock in was overwhelming. He buried his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling a sharp, stuttering breath.

He was fighting a losing battle against his primal instincts, but he had to hold back or–

“Do it.”

Your voice broke through the lust ridden fog that clouded his mind. Did you just give him permission–

“Don’t worry, I can handle it.” You said again, nuzzling the top of his head and patting it. He was tense against you this entire time, strained and a heartbeat away from snapping. You knew he had been waiting for you to be ready, and you couldn’t help but smile at that. 

Coaxing him to finally let go of whatever inhibitions he had, you clenched your walls around him once more, forcing a quiet moan out of him. “Please Rafayel… Please fuck me.”

And like a light switch flipping, he dragged his larger cock out without warning, only giving you a second to process before slamming back into you. Every thrust filled you to the brim, and you could feel his hot precome leaking and spreading all over your walls as he thrusted.

“Rafayel– Mmh–” You moaned between open mouthed kisses, his lips capturing yours every time you managed to slip away. One of his hands held you in place as he fucked upwards into you, while the other palmed at your breast, tweaking and brushing over your nipple as your breasts bounced to the pace he had set. You had to wrap your arms around his shoulders then, or else you would’ve toppled at the sheer intensity of his thrusts.

At some point, when you cannot pinpoint exactly anymore, his smaller cock pulled away from your folds and prodded your entrance, slipping inside and pushing against your tight heat. The sudden intrusion forced your half lidded eyes open, and before you could mention it, the suckers dotted on the underside of his smaller cock grazed your walls, gently sucking on you from the inside.

Rafayel listened attentively to your moans as he sucked on the skin of your neck, leaving numerous bites and markings on you. His rational mind was now gone, replaced by his need to pleasure and breed his beautiful mate. He nuzzled your neck once more, your lovely moans encouraging him to keep going, spurring him on.

The steady tension that was building within your abdomen threatened to snap with every heartbeat, and you could feel yourself being close, so close, to that high that Rafayel was pushing you towards. You couldn’t help but move your hips along to his erratic rhythm, anything to get yourself closer to that point.

As though sensing your desperation, which was not difficult considering your walls fluttered more and more around him, clenching and squeezing him oh so sinfully, he pulled his smaller cock out of your heat and grinded the underside of it against your clit.

“Rafayel–!” The sensation of his suckers pulling at your clit drove you over the edge. Like a coil snapping under pressure, your heat tightened around his cock as you reached that high, clenching and spasming around it.

“My mate…” He breathed out, not once stopping to give you a break as you navigated through the pleasure he brought to you. The way your walls clasped around him as you were pushed over the edge brought his own high forward, forcing a growl past his lips as he suddenly pushed both of his cocks as deep as he could within you before letting his come spill over, releasing as much as he could inside you. 

He didn’t stop there however, he continued to pump his cocks deep into you, hoping to push his essence deeper inside with a few more unsteady thrusts.

As you paused to regain your breath, he pulled away from your neck and brushed the hair that fell messily on your face away, and kissed you as tenderly as possible. 

He looked calmer now, content even, compared to how he was before. The tension that was present on his shoulders and eyebrows was gone, dissipated along with the apprehension that he had about showing you the entirety of his original form.

A sudden glint in the corner caught your eye. It was your phone, its screen turning on most likely because of someone texting you. Next to it was your belongings and–

Oh. You forgot about the ice.

“You should’ve told me this was going to happen instead of making me buy ice for you.” You laughed, seeing that the bags of ice had now turned into bags of water with ice chips in it. They weren’t that expensive so you didn’t really mind, but the time you spent scouring shops that were still open close to midnight was now rendered unnecessary.

Rafayel kissed your cheek and nuzzled you, still basking in the afterglow under the moonlight. “...I was scared you would reject me.” He confessed, still clinging onto you like a lifeline. “Will you let me make it up to you?”

You were about to ask how he would do that when you were acutely reminded of his cocks still being inside you, still stiff and ready for another round.

“How–”

“It is mating season after all.” He simply replied, and you noted that his eyes suddenly had a predatory glint to them, making your heat clench again and your heart race. 

“You, my darling mate… are going nowhere.”

[forbidden-sunlight]

yandere!Jax with gender-neutral!magician!reader headcanons

Warnings: obsessive behavior, implied bullying, spoilers for the pilot episode.

There may also be possible triggers in this story.

If you do not feel comfortable venturing any further, please hit the 'back' button on your mobile device or computer and read something much more pleasant than a possible series of unfortunate events.

You are responsible for your own Internet consumption!

Hey guys and welcome to my very first fic for the indie animation that has shaken up Youtube, The Amazing Digital Circus! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it! :) Special thanks to @ceoofdabicorpsensfw for helping me figure out characterization and with a few scenes I was struggling with in this new writing style I am trying out. If you would like me to write more TADC content on here or on my other blog @an-idyllic-novelist please let me know!

So with that being said, sit back, relax, and let's see what's going today in the digital plane! :)

Whenever someone new arrives at the Amazing Digital Circus, it would fall on either Ragatha or Alakazam to get them all sorted out before they start to lose their mind. Alakazam, of course, would be Caine’s reference to you. You couldn’t remember your name and the ringmaster needed a magician. Tit for tat as they say, right?

The daily adventures around the digital plane provide stimulation and prevent everyone from losing what remaining insanity you all had left, especially since you couldn’t eat or sleep. A routine is also very good too, as you have suggested to Pomni. But she still insists on finding an exit. Just like what you all have tried to do when you first came here.

If there is one person who is seemingly unaffected by the situation, you would have to say it would be Jax. Either that, or the purple-furred rabbit just didn’t give a shit so long as he got some fun out of it. The guy’s existence would have been obsolete ages ago if he didn’t insult Kingler or ‘accidentally’ broke Gangle’s comedy mask for the nth time, which would lead you or Ragatha to calm her down long enough for it to be properly fixed for the next adventure.

What you did not realize, however, was that the pranks Jax pulled on you were actually much tamer compared to what he did to everyone else. Especially when one of them was getting more attention from you than he was receiving.

After all, there’s nowhere else in this place who can keep up with his sass and jokes and not get so bent out of shape over something small like popping a balloon right next to your ear. Maybe Ragatha, but she’s so boring~.

Not only would Jax be a possessive yandere who can get jealous easily, he’s also curious. He wants to know everything about you, down to the smallest detail about what you did today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday. Don’t be surprised if one of your items goes missing, only to have it suddenly turn up the following day. Actually, you might not wanna know why Jax took it and what he even did with it. If he took your journal or your playing cards, the last remaining building blocks of your sanity in this place…well, you must have done something to really piss him off.

Who knows? Maybe if you gave him the attention he craved for and even participated in a well-meaning, harmless prank, Jax might leave a love letter on your bed, written with a [Favorite Color] crayon inside the shape of a purple heart.

If you had a really bad day that led to your abstraction, Jax would also go insane. Because losing his darling, the most important person in his life, would finally push this childish jackass to his breaking point and just…let it go.

Taglist

@angelltheninth

@nunezs-stuff

@dragonempress18

@thejester0897

[heeseung-min]

This is part two from [12:41]

[14:25]

You had requested two days off from work to your boss. Thankfully, he understood your reason and even gave you a week to rest and not thinking too much about it. You were starting to doubt yourself for suspecting Jongseong as the culprit.

On top of that, you had installed a new camera in your house so next time if there is someone break in, you could use the footage as evidence.

After few days, you went to work like usual. This time, your mood seems to be better than the days before. You smiled to your coworkers but you noticed their faces looked worried and sad. When you finally put your things on your desk, you went to them and asked about it.

"Yejin, what happened? Why did you guys looked so sad and worried?"

"Y/n, this morning Adam found Mr. Park unconscious in his room and the police suspected he got murdered."

You were speechless on what Yejin had said. You looked into his room and saw the forensics had covered Jongseong's body with cloth and did their job to collect and find any evidence that can be used.

Because of the event, everyone in the department got questioned about their relation with Jongseong. When it finally comes to your turn, you noticed the police's expression changed.

"Hello, Miss Y/n. We meet again."

"Yes, officer."

"I think you already know what are we going to ask you. So, do you mind telling us about Mr. Park Jongseong?"

"We don't have anything special. He's just my boss and I am his worker."

"Where were you yesterday?"

"I spent my day at home because I still felt unsafe about the stalker thing. In fact, I requested to him for two days off so I literally don't know what happened at work these days."

"You reported about him to us, right? So, it kinda makes sense if you are the one who killed him?"

Now, you went speechless and angry. You admitted about that but that doesn't mean the officer can conclude that easily.

"I'm sorry. What do you mean by makes sense? It's not. I knew I did that but you can't just accused me for killing him! In fact, I planned to apologized to him today because of that."

The police sighed at your outburst. He let you go after apologized to you for his mistake on accusing you murdering Jay. You went out from the room until you suddenly remembered about the guy who disturbed you few nights ago before Jay came to save you.

"Officer, I think you need to ask one more person."

"It's not him."

"What?", You asked not believing what the police said.

"The guy went missing two days ago and his parents were the one who reported about that. Until now, we don't have any info about him."

"Maybe he ran off cause he's the one who killed Jongseong!"

"No. If he did that, then he must bring cash and clothes. But, we found his belongings in his car."

At the end, the police asked you to go home safely and leave the job to the police to solve the case. He gave you his contact card so you can call him if you have new info.

When you reached your home, you were surprised to see Heeseung was was there standing by his car. He waved when he noticed you and waited for you to go to him.

"Hee, what are you doing here? I didn't see you at work."

"Are you okay?"

Heeseung went closer to stand in front of you. He looked so worried but at the same time looked guilty. You can't really understand his expression.

"I'm good. Just a bit sad about Jongseong. Someone found him dead this morning. Why are you here, Heeseung?"

"Y/n, we need to run away."

"What, why?"

"I can't explain to you right now but trust me we really need to run away now, we need to go far away from here."

Now, you saw Heeseung became panic. He keep forcing you to run away and even tried to pull you into his car.

"Heeseung! you can't just force me out of nowhere."

"I'm sorry but we don't really have much time, y/n."

"Okay, I will go with you but not now. Tomorrow, in the morning you pick me up here. Okay?"

That night, you packed your belongings into a bag. You started to tidy up your room until you met with a small figurine beside your books.

"Ahh, yes. I forgot I installed a cctv. I wonder if there is something happened while I was not at home."

You sat on your bed and opened the app that connects your phone with the camera. You watched every videos from the first day you installed it. It didn't have any thing except you spending your day until you clicked on the next video.

Your hands started shaking when you saw a man came into your room and looked at the surrounding and stop when he saw where the hidden camera is. He waved and went under your bed and not come out until now.

The fact that you were sitting on the bed with him under it made you feel all the goosebumps and panic started building up making your heartbeat increased at the same time.

You ran immediately from the bed but the man under your bed was faster to grab at your ankle making you fell hard on the floor.

"AHH!"

"Finally, we met darling."

The man turned your body so you can see his face and you were really confused to see unfamiliar but attractive face.

"My name is Sunghoon. I know you might not remember me but we met before."

"You are fucking crazy."

Sunghoon giggled and pulled your leg to shorten the distance between both of you. He was kneeling between your legs and before you could do anything, he started to lean on you and started to kiss your face and neck.

"Stop- ugh- STOP!!! LET ME GO!!!"

"Fuck, it's been a long time since I touched you like this."

"I don't want this!! Nghh- I- AHH!"

"Don't resist it Y/n. I will make it harder than this."

______________________________________

Sunghoon has yawned few times this morning. He didn't get enough sleep from yesterday because of his boss keep forcing him to clean the shop even he is not even the one who should do it and that made him came home very late. Not only that, his boss also keep forcing him to get more customers so they can increase their sales and even threaten to cut some of the pay if didn't meet with the target.

He became more annoyed when the customers mostly tried to get his number and even took his picture without his permission. He wished he can just scream and yell to them to fuck off.

He sighed again when he heard bell ringing from the front door. He got ready to take the order but instead he became captivated by your beauty.

You are different.

You are not like other customers who quickly tried to show their flirting when he wanted to take order.

"Can I get cookies and cream frappe? And I want the blueberry tart and a slice of red velvet cake."

You looked at him after saying your order but Sunghoon felt like he was stuck. His heartbeats started to become faster and he couldn't speak properly.

Perhaps, is he falling in love?

Maybe he did.

And that's when your nightmare begin.

Sunghoon thought it was wrong to follow wherever you go but he couldn't stop himself from doing it. He felt like it was important to know about you. Or what are you wearing and who are you going to meet.

At first, he just followed you when he saw you were out with friends or went to park but he started to follow you to your work and even walked behind you from few metres when you wanted to go home. He even installed a hidden camera inside the lamp that has been put at your apartment. That's how he knew the password. It's crazy how you didn't notice it all until he started to send you flowers at your work.

He loves seeing you become scared. It's so cute that he wished he can hug you.

When he saw you were getting harrased by the guy while you were waiting for your bus, he was really offended and really mad. After he saw the guy ran away from Jongseong and you, he immediately followed him.

"Yah."

The guy turned around and without wasting time, Sunghoon punched him hard on the face and landed a kick at the stomach.

"The fuck man! Why are you doing this?!"

"You disturbed what's mine. So, you deserve it."

No one knows what happened to the guy that night and Sunghoon really made sure to do his job properly without leaving any single evidence.

For Jongseong, Sunghoon killed him when he stayed late doing his work at the office. He was alone at that time so it is perfect time to do it. However, when he was doing some cleaning he noticed someone was in the office. When he wanted to see who was it, the person already ran away and that made Sunghoon became mad.

After he forced the security guard to show him cctv footage, he found out the person who was in the office just now was your friend, Heeseung. He smirked knowing Heeseung will be the next victim.

He watched every Heeseung's moves and he was glad that you didn't quickly choose to run away with Heeseung.

He is glad that you choose to stay in your house for a night not knowing the danger is just very near to you.

Now, with him between your legs you will not get away from him.

For Heeseung, he will do something to that guy later.

Now, he just wanted to enjoy what he's been craving for so long.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH SO WHO GUESS IT RIGHT?🤣🤣🤣🤣 I felt so excited writing this for yall🤣🤣

Taglist: @stacey-stonem @duolingofanaccount @huggyuvita @obsessed1with1straykids @wilson-emma @ghostiiess

[yoongiseesawmp3]

oh he’s good - san (m)

part of the church boy series.

summary: san, a non-believer, has one of the best voices in the church choir, and maybe one of the best voices in the world. fresh off a break up, you’re not looking for anything serious, and he isn’t either... but someone definitely falls faster and harder than they should.

word count: 11.4k (i am so sorry)

warnings: smut!!! some talk abt god n stuff. alcohol use. swearing? 

your relationship with church is...complicated, to say the least. you’re one of those kids that grew up going and never had the chance to make the decision yourself if you actually “believed” or not, so here you are as an adult, still going to church...just because? 

because it’s comfortable and familiar, maybe, and that might be why you find yourself at church this sunday after the worst breakup of your life. you weren’t ready for forever with your ex, but it wasn’t off the table on your end. they had other plans, though, and after a few rocky months you came home the other day to an empty apartment. great way to start the summer, huh? 

anyway, you came to church thinking you could surprise your family with the unannounced visit, but the one day you’re sitting in the usual pew is the one day your family decides to sleep in. at least you’ve got the whole pew to yourself, so you can doodle and no one will elbow you to stop or give you a side eye for not paying full attention to the service. 

the organ music starts and you’ve got your bulletin in your lap, skimming through to see what’s been happening since you’ve been gone. the choir starts to file in, and you watch the swoosh of purple robes as they make their way to the choir loft. there’s a lot more people in the choir than you remember, so many that they have to walk doubled up down the aisle instead of single file. that has the robes dangerously close to swiping the lip gloss right off your mouth, and one clumsy singer trips ever so slightly at the pew behind yours. they grab onto the back of your pew to balance themselves, pulling your hair in the process, and you yelp in surprise. a hushed “shit, sorry, so sorry!” meets your ears, and you look up to find the sharpest features staring back at you. the man above you has stilled slightly, holding up the line, but his eyes are reading concerned and he mouths “you ok?” to which you nod. he gives you a quick once over before he nods back and continues the procession down the aisle, but you don’t miss the way he turns to make sure you’re still watching him as he walks away. 

you try to make it less obvious that, yes, you are staring straight at him, but the way his eyes have been locked on yours since he sat down makes that difficult. you can’t even play it off like you’re looking at the pastor because the hair puller is over near the piano and nowhere near the pulpit. speaking of the pastor, as he greets everyone, your mystery man nods in his direction, as if to say “you should pay attention to this.” you just smile to yourself as you take another moment to stare into his shining eyes, and then your attention is where it needs to be.

except, you know that feeling of somebody definitely watching you? that lingers as you try to listen to the announcements the pastor is sharing, and you can’t help but feel the warmth of someone’s eyes committing your face to memory. your eyes flit back over to mr. sly smile, and he outright grins when you catch him locked in on you and you only. now it’s your turn to point your head in the direction of the big man (er, the big man’s mouthpiece, technically, sorry god) and your choir boy has the audacity to laugh! in church! at something other than a lame joke made by a parishioner! how dare he. 

you would keep this inner monologue going in your head but the pastor motioning for the choir snaps you out of it, mostly because your target suddenly isn’t where he was a second ago. instead he’s walking down to the lectern, music book in hand, and smiling a million dollar smile at the congregation. the music slowly begins as he settles at the lectern, and you watch intently as he places his book down and adjusts the mic for what must be his upcoming solo. the song starts with the makeshift orchestra tucked away in the choir loft, and choir boy takes a deep breath before he begins to sing in the most honey-coated voice you’ve ever heard. there are no words except beautiful, warm and welcoming for his voice, and you’re sad when his solo is over too soon for your liking. you snap out of the trance his voice put you in and notice he’s, yep, still staring right at you. 

the next part of the service goes about the same, cute church boy staring into your sinner’s soul as you doodle and try to ignore him until you can’t take it anymore and risk a glance up at his fierce gaze. you know this is some form of weird church flirting, but you have to remind yourself not to get too excited about it. you’re still healing from your breakup and don’t need a crush, so you do your best to snap out of it before the pastor prays you out and everyone leaves. hopefully you can slip out unnoticed by anybody and be on your merry little way to annoy your family for not coming to church today.

unfortunately for you, you forgot that in the last service the choir gets to either leave after the offering (since they’ve been there all morning) or they can join their loved ones in the pews. and guess who’s sitting in the only completely empty row in the entire sanctuary? you. and guess who decides that this is the perfect spot to spread out and glance your way from a way shorter distance? choir boy. so now you have to sit through an entire sermon with his eyes glancing dangerously up and down your body. you grip tighter on the nub of a pencil you found in the attendance pad, and continue sketching the best possible flower meadow you can muster.

as a kid, you would get these little activity books each sunday that tied into what the sermon was about so that your baby brain could comprehend what the adults were talking about while you sat there, and you think that’s what started your habit of doodling during the message. you’d always rush through the activities as a kid so you could spend the rest of your time coloring to your heart’s content, so now you use the limited skills and resources at your disposal to sketch out a flower meadow that the pastor is using as part of his big metaphor. you don’t notice choir boy beside you leaning over for a sneaky glance at the paper in your lap, and he smiles when he sees you so focused on your little doodles. it inspires him to grab a paper of his own and scratch out a note, which he passes to you. you look up at him and he smiles softly, a little spark of a joke that you’re not in on yet shining in his eyes. he looks down at the note, encouraging you to take it, and your fingertips brush as you pull the note from him. 

“whatcha doin?” it reads, and you scoff quietly. 

“drawing,” you whisper back. “it helps me focus.”

you’re met with silence in response, and a quick look at your new friend shows him stooped over another scrap, writing another note that he passes to you when he’s done. 

“no talking in church!!!!!!!” he warns, with about twenty messy exclamation points. you laugh quietly and see that he’s handing you another note, which reads “i’m san, btw :) what’s your name?”

you take the note from him once again, and write back “y/n” before you hold it up for san to see. he nods after reading it and leans in as he whispers “pretty name. nice to meet you, y/n.”

“no talking in church!!” you whisper back, and you add a harsh, quick “sh!” for good measure. san laughs at you and nods in understanding, pointing his attention back to the front of the sanctuary. but he doesn’t stop glancing your way, watching as you capture your tongue between your lips in concentration as you add a tree to your small meadow scene. san smiles and shakes his head, almost so he can shake away the same thoughts you were just having. he’s still in a weird situationship with his ex/sometimes gf, so he doesn’t need to flirt with you or string you along. something about you, though...he’s hooked, and he knows it. 

- 

the service lets out and you get a text from your mom that she is in fact at church, but she went to the early service and then joined her friend’s sunday school class since she thought no one else from the family was coming today. since you’ve been living on your own for a few months now, you decide to wait for your mom to finish her class so you can say hi before you leave. while you wait you exchange pleasantries with church members you haven’t seen in a while, and you quickly get tired of explaining that no, that nice boy who came to christmas eve services last year is not with you and no, he probably won’t be coming back again. 

after maybe the sixth person rubs salt in your wound, you feel a tap on your shoulder, which is strange considering your mom would most likely just pull you into a hug. you turn expecting to see someone else and you’re met with san, who smiles and waves like he didn’t just get your attention on purpose. he’s lost the purple choir robe and now you can see how buff he is, which is entirely too distracting. he’s wearing a nice white button up (lord help those buttons, they’re struggling) and some dark linen pants, and he looks delectable. you smile at him in return as you try to shut your mind off and keep your eyes from staring at his broad shoulders and tiny waist.

“so, y/n,” he begins. “do you have lunch plans?”

“i’m gonna stop you right there, buckaroo,” you say, placing a hand up for emphasis.

“buckaroo?” san scoffs with a grin. “didn’t know this was a wild west film.”

“i’m being serious,” you warn him. “as much fun as it was not paying attention to the sermon with you, i’m not looking for anything serious, so i’m afraid i can’t be your lunch date.”

“who said anything about being my date?” he asks incredulously. “i was just making small talk. i’m already spoken for, sweet cheeks.”

“how charming,” you say with a roll of your eyes. “does your sweetheart know you flirt with other people when they’re not around?”

“it’s complicated,” san says with a tense smile. “anyway. it was nice to formally meet you, y/n. can’t wait to annoy you another day.”

what did he mean by ‘it’s complicated’ and how complicated could it be if he felt comfortable enough flirting with someone else without a hint of remorse? san might not be the kind of guy you need to get mixed up with, especially not right now, but...it’s tempting. thankfully, you hear the sound of your mom’s laughter from down the hall and you know a welcome distraction is on the way. you can think more about san and his mischievous eyes later.

-

during the week, you have the luxury of picking when you want to go into the office. the other days, you can work from home, or more often than not, you go to the coffeeshop by your new house. it’s quick, it’s convenient, and it’s cheap. it’s also an easy way for you to focus and get a bunch of work done so you usually come here when you want to condense a long day’s work into just a couple hours. 

you’re about three hours deep into work mode when you realize you need another coffee, so you get up from your seat and take your empty mug back up to the front. it’s just about lunch time, so the afternoon rush is slowly starting, and you take a place a few people back in line. you notice what appears to be a couple arguing at the counter (over what, you don’t know) and that’s slowing the line down. they’re definitely fighting though, and you look down at your phone to make it less obvious you’re trying to eavesdrop. finally they get their drinks and the guy turns to leave in such a rush that he grazes your side, almost spilling coffee all over you. you look up, ready to cuss someone out, when you hear a familiar “shit, sorry, i’m sorry” and that’s when you notice it’s none other than san. he makes eye contact with you briefly as the girl next to him tugs on his arm and complains that he “always takes too long,” and you give him a shy wave before focusing back on the line ahead of you. 

-

the following monday, you find yourself back at your favorite table, working away. today should be a short day for you, so you’ve invited a friend to join you and you’re currently gossiping over his coworker that claims he went on vacation to greece but it was actually a lie to make him look cool.

“yeah, so when i went into his office, right,” your friend yeosang begins. “he told me he had gifts for everybody, so i went to look at what he brought, and first of all, he had a jar of olives on his desk that i KNOW is from whole foods, and THEN he tried to tell us that the ‘pita bread’ he brought back must have been smushed in his suitcase but actually i think they were just tortillas.”

“why would he do that?” you laugh, taking a sip of your quickly cooling coffee. the only bad thing about inviting yeosang is that you tend to get too wrapped up in the conversation and you always let your coffee go cold. as you take another sip you notice another couple talking animatedly about something, just a few tables behind you. yeosang hears it too and you both stop your conversation to listen in. 

“i don’t know why you keep trying to control me,” a woman’s voice begins. “it’s not like you’re fully committed to this relationship either.”

“yeah, but i don’t hang all over other girls and embarrass you in front of everyone you know,” the guy responds, and your ears perk up at the sound. “he’s one of my best friends and you almost ruined his relationship too!”

“oh so i ruin relationships now? that’s what this is?” she asks. “san, i never knew when this turned into a relationship. i thought this was something fun, something casual, but you’re the one making it into something it’s not.”

san. she said san, didn’t she? you try to peek around yeosang, but he just turns with you to glance at the poor couple fighting loud enough for the whole cafe to hear. 

“c’mon, don’t be like that,” he says, and now that you’re listening for his voice it definitely sounds like the san you met last weekend. you see the girl stand up, lean over the table, and tell him something you can’t hear, and then she storms away. poor san is left by himself for a moment before he jolts up and follows her, clumsily knocking into yeosang’s chair as he passes by. he starts to apologize when he catches your eye, and you just watch quietly as he leaves without a word. 

-

the week after you attended church alone, you purposefully made plans so you wouldn’t have to go that following sunday. but you slipped up talking to your mom and now she expects you to be there this coming weekend, and after what you saw at the coffeehouse you almost want to go just to see how san’s doing.

not in a check in on him type of way, though. you mostly wanna go to see what kind of train wreck has been left in the aftermath. i mean, if you got broken up with publicly? you’d probably crawl into a hole and start the hibernation process. but no, as you accompany your mom into church the next sunday, you see san’s shock of black hair towering above the old ladies of the choir and he seems just fine. you avert your eyes before he can turn and meet your gaze, and you follow your mom quickly to your seats. 

the service goes along as usual, only this time no cute choir boy accidentally pulls your hair or decides to sit right next to you in your still (surprisingly) empty pew. he does, however, stare at you every chance he gets. once he sits down, he stares. he stands up to sing (no solo this week) and instead of looking at his music book, he’s staring right at you. again, it’s the last service of the day so the choir gets to sit in the congregation or leave, and san holds eye contact with you the entire time he walks down the main aisle. you don’t turn to see where he goes though, because that would put your mom on your tail, so you just settle back into your seat and prepare for a long winded sermon. 

after the service, you think you’re in the clear because you didn’t spot san in the sanctuary, but as soon as you and your mom enter the narthex you feel a tap on your shoulder, eerily similar to the one you felt just a couple weeks ago. you turn, and sure enough, there’s san standing and smiling at you once again. 

“hi san,” you say with fake cheer. “choir sounded great today.”

“oh, yes, it did!” your mom coos, suddenly interested in this conversation rather than the one where she was gossiping with her friend about the pastor’s wife. “san, is it?”

“yes ma’am,” he nods politely. “and thank you, y/n. i appreciate that.”

“how do you two know each other?” your mom prys, and you open your mouth to speak but san beats you to it. 

“actually, i scouted y/n a couple weeks ago,” he begins. “we’ve been trying to start up a young adult ministry for a while now, but there’s never enough people interested.” then he turns fully to you. “so i was wondering if you’d be up for a bible study? with other people our age. we’d meet outside the church, at a restaurant or someone’s house, whatever we feel like that week. it should be fun.”

“a bible study?” you repeat, and he simply nods, blinking back at you as if to convey a message in morse code. 

“that would be wonderful!” your mom replies. “i’ve been trying to get y/n into a study for years, this would be perfect.”

“great!” san says happily, matching your mom’s energy. “what do you think, y/n? we meet on thursdays, i can send you the details and you can decide later on if you want to come.”

“that’s fine,” you agree, and your mom, proud, walks off to go tell her friend you’re finally coming back to jesus. now that you’re alone though, san continues. 

“so i’ll need your number to send you the details,” he says with a suggestive smirk, and you groan. 

“i knew you were up to something,” you sigh. “i don’t even wanna go, i hate bible studies.”

“trust me, you’ll like this one,” he says, holding his hand out. “now fork it over, sweetcheeks. let me put my number in.”

“fine,” you gripe. “don’t waste your time naming yourself something special, i’ll just change it to choi san when you’re done.” 

“what’s the fun in that?” he asks, passing your phone back to you. the contact card is still up, and he’s named himself “the golden voice of god.”

“humble, aren’t we?” you tease, and he smiles.

“i’ll see you on thursday,” he replies, but you protest weakly as he walks away. “i can even pick you up, if you want!” and then he’s gone. 

-

so. it’s thursday night. you weren’t planning on going to the bible study, but san has been bugging you all day with texts trying to convince you to come. and when his initial tactic of “well i’m gonna be there, why don’t you wanna be there?” didn’t work, then he started luring you with food. whoever is hosting tonight is apparently rich, and they got one of your favorite restaurants to cater the freaking bible study. who does that?? so that’s the only reason you’re considering it. seriously. no other reason. at all.

now, if you were to ask why is san picking you up, well, that answer is more simple. because you wanted him to. despite your desire to stay away from anyone who could further break your heart, you’re intrigued by this man. a small part of you wants to get to know him, and that part of you won tonight. 

so that’s how you ended up texting san at the last minute that you want to come, and he responds almost immediately with “great :) what’s ur address?”

a little while later, san pulls up in the most mom car you’ve ever seen. it’s better suited for a family of six, not a single dude in his 20s. you almost want to laugh when he gets out to open your door, and not just because the door sticks and he makes cute noises while he tries to yank it open. it makes you wanna laugh because this insight into his life is why you’re here. he doesn’t seem real to you, but this car and its ugliness is very real. his smile and the way it lights up for you seems real. whatever is pulling you toward him even though you should go the opposite direction, that’s also very real. so here you are, in his front seat, going to bible study for some good food and hopefully some answers. 

except, you pull up and it doesn’t look like bible study at all. there’s a shit ton of cars in the driveway and wrapped around the house, and as san parks you hear music coming out of the slightly open front door. 

“ok, a few questions,” you say after letting san get your door once again. “first of all, i thought we were going to bible study. second of all, i thought you said there weren’t enough young adults to start a ministry. this house has enough cars to pack the sanctuary on easter sunday.’

“neither of those were questions,” san astutely points out. “you wanna try again?”

“yeah, what the hell are we doing here?” 

“ooo, baby used the h word at bible study,” he gasps, and you whine “but this is obviously not bible study!” to which san responds, “you’re right, it’s not. well, not technically. see, the group of young ‘leaders’ they asked to coordinate this group is actually myself and a few other non-believers who just so happen to be the best actors of the century, so everyone falls for it when we act all holy, but in reality, me and the other ‘leaders’ couldn’t give a rat’s ass about bible study or hymns or all that.”

before san’s rant, he started walking you toward the party house in front of you. and the more he revealed, the slower your steps became. when he finished, you were completely stopped, mouth agape and eyes in disbelief. san turns to find out why you’ve stopped, and he lets out a full chested laugh when he sees you in such shock.

“what, did you fall for it too?”

“YES?” you reply. “oh my god? so you’re telling me you started a bible study as a front for throwing parties, and you’re also an atheist? why do you sing in the choir then?!”

“i need the practice,” he says with a shrug. “i still want to be a singer, deep down. and it makes me feel good to get my little choir bonus because it makes me feel like i’m getting paid to sing, which is what i’ve always wanted. church is just the only place i can do that with pretty low effort. plus it makes my parents happy.”

“i’m sorry, i’m still having a hard time processing all of this,” you say. “golden boy san isn’t as golden as he seems? who knew.”

“right?” he smiles. “i’m just full of surprises. now, shall we go in?”

-

yeah, this absolutely is not a bible study. but san wasn’t lying when he said the mysterious owner of this house was getting food catered. you walk inside and instantly you’re met with the smell of your favorite greek restaurant, noticing all of the food piled onto the dining room table, tucked away from all of the mischief happening in the rest of the house. you start picking at the pita and hummus when san appears next to you, honestly you forgot he was still nearby. 

“so obviously,” he begins, “food’s in here, drinks are in the kitchen, party is in the living room and upstairs-” this is said with a suggestive wink, “and then if it gets to be too much for you, there’s a bonfire going outside.”

“who said this would be too much for me?” you ask, sucking an olive into your mouth with a pop. san laughs and shakes his head. 

“i’m gonna go get a drink, what do you want?”

“i’ll come with you,” you reply, following him like a lost puppy. you’re now realizing you don’t know many people here, so whether you like it or not, you might be spending a lot of time with san tonight. 

he shows you all the alcohol options (this is still so shocking, these are all church kids?) and you ask him to make you something with vodka. he makes you some concoction that he swears is delicious, and when you take a sip it’s so strong it makes your nose hairs feel like they’re burning away.

“you trying to get me wasted, san?” you jokingly ask, and his eyes go wide.

“no, oh my god, sorry,” he replies, reaching for your drink but you swat him away. “what? i’ll make you a new one and take that one, i’m so sorry.”

“no, you still have to drive later, mr. mini van,” you tease. “i was just messing with you. i can handle this atomic sludge that you decided to serve me, but don’t judge if i make a face or two after each sip.”

“oh i will if they make you look funny,” he quips back and you can’t help but laugh at the glee in his voice. 

“noted,” you mumble as you take another sip, and you wince when the drink burns going down. you risk a glance back at san and he just smiles and mimics taking a photo, and you realize that being around him might make this a long night. 

after san makes himself a less toxic drink, you go back to the food and start to  make a plate, but trying to balance your drink and get food is a struggle. san notices and politely takes you drink so you can fix your plate, but he’s giving his commentary over your shoulder the whole time.

“i don’t like olives, why are you getting so many?” he whines. “and put more chicken, that’s not enough for both of us.”

“who said this was for us?” you ask incredulously. “get your own plate.”

“i’m a little busy babe,” he says, holding up both drinks. “so add more chicken for me?” he says with a pout. “pretty please?”

“ugh, fine,” you sigh. “tell me when to stop.” you add another scoop, and look to san but his eyes tell you to keep going. you go for another, and he continues watching expectantly. “do you want me to just make you a plate?”

“no, i want us to share,” he pouts again. “just a little more though.”

“did you not eat today or something,” you mumble as you add as much food as the plate will handle.

“no actually,” he replies. “it was a busy one so i didn’t really have time.”

“san, you can’t do that!” you scold him. “you need to take care of yourself.”

“what if i want you to do it for me?” he asks with a teasing lilt in his voice. you groan in response and confirm that you have enough food before you shoulder your way through some partygoers in search of a place to sit and eat. san follows behind you and looks around, noticing the same time as you that there’s no open space inside. so he leans down to whisper in your ear “maybe we could sit outside?” but his proximity and the way his lips so barely grazed your ear have your heart racing. you watch as san takes the lead now, looking over his shoulder to make sure you’re following, and you hope in the dim light he doesn’t notice your blush. but of course he does, because he turns back around with the smuggest smile on his face. 

you finally make it outside and find plenty of open space, but san insists on the swinging bench by the fire, so you carefully sit and balance the plate between the two of you. the light from the fire illuminates san’s sharp features, and you catch yourself staring as he offers your drink back to you. he quirks his head, almost wanting to ask if you were staring, but instead he just comments on how nice it feels outside, and you quietly agree.

“here,” you say, offering him the plate. “eat your chicken, protein monster.”

“you’re not gonna feed it to me?” he whines, and you have to audibly groan.

“you’re so..”

“what? charming, lovable?” he tries, and you shake your head.

“insufferable,” you finish, and he laughs before taking the plate from you and trying the food. “is it good?”

“yeah, here,” he says, holding a forkful of chicken out to you. now it’s your turn to laugh, because he’s making airplane noises trying to get you to take the food he’s offering. 

“stop it!” you finally manage to say. “nobody’s feeding anybody else! eat like a normal person or i’m taking the plate back. this is really my food, after all.”

“fine with me,” he says after scooping another bite of chicken. “eat your gross olives.” you sit in silence as you make a little pita, hummus, olive taco and san picks at the chicken a little more. after another quiet moment you start to speak.

“do you mind me asking why you didn’t eat today?” san just shrugs and reminds you he was busy. “but still. we got here almost at 8pm, that’s a long time to not eat. did you work today or something?”

“yeah,” san begins to explain. “i’ve been jumping around jobs lately, trying to make more time to take singing seriously, so i’m just in a funk right now i think. i don’t have a set schedule so it’s hard to keep up with everything. been a rough week.”

your mind flashes back to the blow up you watched in the cafe last week, and you wonder if san remembers seeing you there. you wonder if he knows you heard every word of his break up, and you also wonder if it would be wrong to let yourself feel something for him if you’re both so freshly out of relationships. but that’s a problem for another day.

“i know you saw me,” he continues, his eyes flicking up to meet yours. “at the cafe? sorry you had to hear that.”

“i’m sorry you had to go through that,” you counter. “break ups are never pretty, especially...like that.”

“yeah, that was a dick move on my part. i knew i wanted to break up with her so i shouldn’t have asked to meet there, but as her parting gift to me she had to do it first and make a scene,” he tries laughing it off. “but i’m fine, in that regard at least. i’m better off without her.”

“cheers to that,” you say, lifting your cup to tap san’s. you gag slightly at the sharp drop in taste from the delicious food to the shitty drink, and san chuckles.

“i didn’t realize i made it that bad.”

“yeah, maybe stick to singing, sweetcheeks.”

“what about you?” he asks, eyes still glued on you. “how’d yours happen?”

“it was easy,” you say with a shrug. “he didn’t love me anymore. years together just over in a couple minutes when i came home and saw him packing his things. not much you can say to stop that.”

“damn,” san whistles. “and i thought i was a dick.”

“you’re not a dick,” you assure him. “neither is my ex, and that’s the hard part. i want him to be a villain, but he’s just some dude trying to live his life now. nothing i can do about that.”

“you could start dating someone super cool and cute and hot and make him jealous though,” san offers, wiggling his eyebrows at you.

“nope, if i’m gonna come to bible study every week then you need to keep the flirting to a minimum. we’re both going through shit-”

“we could go through it together-”

“and i think, sweet sweet san, it would be good for us to be on our own for a little while,” you say, patting his shoulder. “just not the right time.”

“wait, go back,” he says, just processing. “you said you’ll come to bible study every week?”

“why not,” you shrug. “this is the first time i’ve enjoyed myself in the name of the lord. plus free food.”

“thanks be to god,” san says, tapping his cup with yours once more. 

-

the next few weeks you find yourself falling into a pattern with san. he picks you up for “bible study” in his mom-mobile, you grab as many snacks and drinks as you can carry, and you go sit outside by the fire. it’s nice, actually, spending time with him like this. he’s mellowed out, still flirting here and there, but you can tell you’re genuinely becoming friends as the weeks go on. you’re getting more comfortable with him, something you notice suddenly when you got a little too drunk too fast and started nodding off as san was explaining why his current part time job was busting his balls. it was also getting colder as the night went on, so you were slowly curling in on yourself to keep the cold out. san notices and grumbles something before he’s clearing the discarded food barrier between you two, and without giving you a chance to protest, he’s pulling you into his side. once he’s settled, you realize it’s not weird or awkward, it’s just...comfortable. and he’s so warm, which you didn’t realize you had mumbled that out to him.

“what’d you say?” he asks with a smile, looking down at your fluttering eyelashes as you nuzzle closer to him to fight the chill.

“said you’re really warm,” you repeat, your face smushed against his shoulder. your eyes are closed, so you don’t see the sweet look san gives you as he speaks next. 

“want me to take you home baby?”

“no,” you shake your head. “’m comfy. don’t move yet.”

“got it,” san laughs, twirling a piece of your hair as he waits for your current situation to click in your mind. it already has, because you stopped yourself from getting caught up in san’s scent a few minutes ago, but you decided to let yourself enjoy this moment. but san’s searing gaze is starting to get to you, and you crack an eye open to glare at him.

“stop looking at me like that,” you warn him.

“like what?” he counters. “your eyes were closed! how could you tell i was looking at you?”

“just knew,” you shrugged. “and you’re defensive, so i was right.”

“what, a friend can’t appreciate another friend’s beauty?” 

“no, we can’t,” you respond. “and stop playing with my hair, i’m really gonna fall asleep if you do that.”

“sorry,” he says, stopping immediately. “but can i still look at you?”

“depends on the look,” you say warily.

“alright, you tell me then,” he says quietly, glancing from your eyes down to your lips. “is this ok?” you nod, and he scoots closer, placing a hand on your thigh. “how about this?”

“that’s ok,” you agree, voice suddenly hiding from you. you clear your throat before you say again, “that’s fine, yeah.”

“but this would be too much, right?” san asks, cupping your cheek next. you shake your head no, and he quirks an eyebrow in questioning.

“it’s not too much,” you assure him, his thumb stroking your cheek as you speak. “feels nice cause i’m still cold.”

“maybe we should warm you up then?” he asks, another question in his eyes. you know what he wants to ask and you simply nod then lean in to meet his lips. 

let’s say you haven’t kissed a lot of people, but you’ve kissed enough to definitely know what it feels like. or so you thought. this kiss with san is like nothing else. when people say they feel a spark between them and someone else, this kiss is your proof that those sparks are real. suddenly the crisp fall air around you is forgotten, your body slowly warming from your head to your toes. the sparks collect and move from your lips to your waist where san has a steady grip on you. then the sparks move to your neck as san mumbles something about going home, and you quickly pull him back to your lips, wanting to stay in this moment longer. he tries pulling away once more and you finally let him go, whimpering when your lips disconnect. the sound just about breaks san’s heart, but his internal clock told him it was time to go. he needed to be up in a couple hours for work, and he’s afraid he wouldn’t sleep at all if he didn’t take you back to your apartment right now. he explains all this to you, and you just nod, cheeks still warm and getting ever warmer as he helps you up, arm wrapping around you as you walk together back to his car with san leaving a kiss on the top of your head before you separate. 

-

you know you shouldn’t be falling for choi san, but you sure as hell like being around him. you like kissing him too, which is something you both do frequently now without really discussing the consequences. that’s what you’re doing now, actually. san came by to take you to bible study like usual and instead of just texting that he was here, he came to your door and asked if he could come inside. he claims he needed to throw away some old coffee cups so you wouldn’t think he’s a gross pig, but in reality he just wanted to see your space. picture you in someplace other than the church or outside by the fire when his mind wanders and daydreams about you at work, or worse, when he’s singing. he’s caught himself humming love songs lately, and he’s scared and excited by the fact that each one reminds him of you.

you let him in warily, telling him you wanna get drunk tonight and he’s killing the vibe, but he just takes his time noticing all the little details of your home. noticing you. he notes the type of coffee on the counter and tucks that away for another time, and he notes that you have a bowl piled high with peaches and there’s about ten other peach scented things scattered around. that explains why you always smell so sweet. speaking of sweet, your voice as sweet as honey pulls him from his thoughts.

“san, cmon, let’s go,” you whine. “someone’s gonna take our spot.”

“oh baby,” he starts off, pulling his eyes away from the stack of books on your coffee table. “haven’t you been outside today? it’s freezing. party’s inside today.”

“ugh,” you groan. “that means more people. y’know, i think you’re the only person i like there.”

“then we’ll just have to find another way to end up by ourselves,” he says, suddenly very close to you. your back bumps into the kitchen counter and you brace yourself as san’s arms drape around you. “or maybe we could have a party of our own, here?” his thumb finds your chin, turning your face up to meet his eyes. he leans in to give you a tentative kiss. then you’re pulling him closer, making sure he can’t leave your grip. you stay like that, kissing slowly, and then san tugs your chin to get your attention. “what do you think, love? here, or bible study?” 

“b-bible study,” you stutter out, heart racing. you need a distraction from the man in front of you and his knowing smirks, his gleaming eyes that make you feel like the only person in the world. you need to get your mind off of him before you do something you shouldn’t. just kissing is fine, right? that’s not crossing too many lines. but what you wanted to do if you had continued making out definitely would’ve crossed a line. and you’re not ready to do that. or are you?

-

you’re not sure if it’s the fact that no one is sitting outside tonight, or maybe you’re just not used to being inside during these parties, but there’s a lot of people here. it’s crowded, it’s loud, and you can’t stop thinking about san, so these people are really just background noise to you. san is dragging you through the house, pointing out friends here and there. you meet his friend seonghwa and his girlfriend, who also go to your church. they seem nice, and you wished san would’ve just sat down with them, but he’s pulling you on to another part of the house in search of booze. your little rendezvous at your house made you late, and it looks like all the good stuff is gone. 

“damn,” san mumbles, looking over the sad collection of bottles. “all that’s left is everclear, some fireball, and tequila.”

“god, the tequila, please,” you urge. “if you make me drink fireball we’re never talking again.”

“bad experience with it or just don’t like the taste?” san questions, and you respond, “both.” he nods and laughs, grabbing the unopened bottle of tequila before an idea sparks in his eyes. “you know what we should do?”

“what?” you ask warily, not a fan of the excitement in his voice or the fire in his eyes.

“oh don’t sound so scared,” he teases, grabbing a few more things off the counter. he holds them up to you with a shit-eating grin. “we should take shots the right way.”

he’s showing off a salt shaker and a bowlful of lime wedges, and the joy on san’s face is telling you there’s no way out of this. 

“i wouldn’t say that’s the right way to take shots...”

“cmon y/n, it’ll be fun,” he says, and you listen only because he used your name. usually he calls you some kind of pet name, but this proves how badly he wants to do this. you follow him like a lost puppy as he goes back out to the party, and before you know it you’re following him upstairs. he checks that you’re still behind him, and you quirk your eyebrow at his choice of location.

“less people,” he shrugs. “want you to myself for a minute.”

having you to himself means occupying the only empty room, what looks like an office turned guest room based on the desk shoved in the corner and the small twin bed across from it. doesn’t leave many options for you to sit, so you take up the head of the bed while san situates himself at the foot. he balances everything for the shots carefully on the mattress before checking in with you.

“you good, babe?” 

“why wouldn’t i be?” you reply, and san shrugs. 

“you up for something interesting?” he asks, and suddenly you’re nervous. you’d been trying to repress whatever you’ve been feeling for san lately, but your game plan of going to bible study has led you into one of his easily laid traps. he wants to get you to crack tonight, you can tell. and you’re afraid you might let him, even if you shouldn’t.

“interesting how?” you counter, and san just holds the bottle up with a quirked eyebrow. 

“body shots?”

“you’re joking.”

“only a little.”

“san, no,” you say firmly. “i feel like that would require us taking clothes off, and that’s not very in the name of the holy ghost.”

“i pray to god the holy ghost isn’t in here right now,” san mumbles as he struggles to open the tequila. you grab the single cup he managed to grab and start rimming it with a slice of lime before dashing a bit of salt on top of that. you offer the cup to san so he can pour a shot, which he does with a very heavy hand. “yours or mine?”

“are you driving or am i?” 

“i have a feeling we’ll be here a while, so it may not matter,” he says as he takes the cup from you. he takes it like a champ, only wincing slightly at the end when you pass him a lime wedge. “bleh. still can’t decide if i like these or not.”

“well i do, so gimme the bottle,” you say, but san stops you.

“let me pour it,” he says, starting the shot the same way you did by salting the rim. he pours another heavy shot, passing the drink to you. in the time it takes you to tip your head back and swallow, san has hidden the bowl of limes and he’s very proud of himself for it. he’s got one of his signature smirks on his ridiculously handsome face, and you can tell the bowl of limes is precariously hidden behind his back. 

“c’mon san, lemme chase it,” you whine, and he shakes his head, mumbling something without opening his mouth. “what? use your words, big boy.”

san waits a moment, smile threatening to break across his face, while you’re peeved off sitting across from him. slowly he smiles, revealing the lime held firmly in his mouth. he wiggles his eyebrows at you, waiting for your response.

“you’re joking,” you laugh, leaning forward to grasp at the bowl. “gimme a clean lime!”

“mm-mm!” san grunts, nudging you back in your place. you lose your balance and fall back on the pillows, giving san a chance to box you in below him. he’s hovering over you, lime still taunting you from between his lips, and he tries again. “eh? donchawanit?”

there’s a nanosecond between his poorly enunciated question and the mini-monologue in your head. you try to talk yourself out of it, say this is just a rebound, you shouldn’t dive head first into this when you’re still healing from your breakup, but san keeps moving closer and your eyes flutter at the scent of him and your cheeks warm at the feeling of his hands on your hips. he’s got you wrapped around his finger, so you might as well take the dive. 

you let your lips meet his and your teeth sink into the lime just enough to rid your mouth of the cheap tequila taste. you swoop the lime from san’s mouth and spit it out, not sure where it’ll land, but you don’t care. san has reconnected your lips, ready to kiss you until you can’t feel them anymore. his hands slide under your shirt to caress your skin, and while this isn’t the first time you’ve found yourselves in a position like this (you might have spent too much time in his car last week before going into the party) this time is decidedly different for some reason. somehow, without speaking about it, you both know this is going somewhere tonight. you’ve fought it for so long, and san has held back for so long, that if you don’t stop soon the floodgates will open and there will be no going back. when san’s hands move from rubbing the bare skin around your hips to dipping below the waistband of your pants, you know those gates are going to come crashing down any second now. 

“tell me to stop,” san says breathlessly, barely pulling away from you. you muffle a “what?” into his mouth and he tries again. “if you don’t want this, say so right now. because i need you so bad, y/n. i’m ready if you are.” 

“i am, yeah,” you reply, just as breathless. you pull away so you can meet his gaze when you speak so san knows you mean it. “i want you, san. i’m scared to admit how badly i want you, but i do. i just want you to be careful with me.”

“oh baby, i’ll treat you better than anyone else ever has,” he says, his eyes glistening in the dim light. despite being fully indoors, his gaze reminds you of the way the bonfire would reflect in his eyes as you fell for him week after week. it took you long enough but you’re able to see things clearly now: you’re falling for san, and that might not be a bad thing. 

“then show me,” you challenge him, and he smirks before connecting your lips again. he carefully pulls your pants down and gives your hips a reassuring squeeze before he runs his fingertips ever so lightly over the outline of your panties. his touch moves back up your body, sliding your shirt up with his hands. he helps you take your shirt off, smiling brightly when you lay back down and your hair cascades around you in a halo. 

“i haven’t said this enough, but you are so beautiful,” he whispers, and suddenly you feel shy under his gaze. you try to turn away but he grips your chin lightly and gives you a quick kiss. “don’t try to hide from me, baby.”

“ok,” you whisper back, but the way he’s looking at you still is so..serious. like there’s more he wants to say but he’s not, so you tug on his shirt to keep going. he gets the hint and slides it over his head, and your hands fly to his chest and trace the muscles there. “hey, you’re not too bad yourself, choir boy.”

“oh come on, choir boy?” he laughs. 

“what? you don’t like it?” you pout, and he chuckles again.

“there’s just so many better things to call me, love.”

“hmm, like what, sir?” you tease, and san quirks an eyebrow at you. “oh you’re joking. eat shit, choi, i’m not calling you sir.”

“not tonight, but some other time maybe?” he asks, and he doesn’t give you time to reply before his hand dips back down to your panties. he starts tracing the fabric where it meets your skin again and asks politely, “can i?” before pulling them to the side to trace your folds instead. he groans at how wet you are, and your hips buck involuntarily at his touch. “you’re so wet, baby, you sure you didn’t like calling me sir?” 

“just touch me, please,” you beg, and he nods. 

“in a minute. trying to appreciate you first. never seen such a pretty pussy, baby.”

the way san focuses on your core, his fingers tracing up and down to spread your wetness around, it has you breathless and he’s barely done anything. you whine and lift your hips, signaling you want more, and san gets the hint. he slides your panties down your legs, and then lays down on his stomach, breath hitting your parted lips. you shiver, and he latches his thumb on your clit, sending a jolt from your core up your spine. he rubs slow circles there while his other hand spreads you open enough for him to dip his tongue in your entrance, and you let out your first moan. it’s louder than you meant to be, because you are still in a semi-public place, but san won’t have that.

“need you louder than that, y/n,” he warns. “want everyone to hear how good i make you feel.” and he dips back down, thumb still rubbing your clit, but the way san is teasing your cunt with his tongue has you needier than you’d like to be. the sight of him between your legs is enough to get you flustered, but the expert way he’s dipping his tongue in and then running it through your folds has your legs quivering already. when he brings a finger down to join his tongue at your entrance, you jolt and let out a little scream, which he shows his appreciation for with a groan. a certain flick of his finger inside you brings you closer to the edge, and you tug on his hair to get his attention.

“what’s wrong?” he asks, words slurred by your cunt that he hasn’t fully pulled away from yet.

“stop, san,” you beg, and he pauses immediately, head looking up to meet your eyes. “don’t wanna come yet. i wanna make you feel good.”

“jesus, baby, you scared me,” he said, crawling back over you. “thought i did something wrong.”

“well your technique could be improved,” you tease, and san slaps your pussy in response, pulling a mix between a moan and a yelp from your lips.

“hey, i was doing some of my best work down there,” he said. “guess you’ll just have to teach me how to get better, yeah?”

“stop talking,” you tell him, feeling your arousal dripping from you at the thought of doing this again with him. “want you on the bed.”

“anything for you,” he says with too much fondness in his voice, and you can’t meet his eyes as you switch places. you’re straddling his lap, hovering just above the tent in his jeans, hoping you don’t ruin his pants with how wet you are. your awkward pause has san nervous again, so he checks in. “what are you thinking about?”

“i wanna suck you off,” you reply, pouting. “can i take your pants off?”

“god, yes, please,” he replies, squeezing your hips for assurance again. “i’m all yours, baby.”

you shimmy down far enough to undo his jeans, and you look back up to san before you pull them down. he nods again, brushing hair out of your face as you place one gentle kiss to the bulge in front of you, and he whines. actually whines. 

“baby, please, i said you could take them off,” he says breathlessly, and you laugh at how easy it is to rile him up. you get a hold of his pants and boxers and pull them both down, his length bouncing up at its release. you hate to admit it, but you’ve never seen a more beautiful cock. it’s like everything about san was carefully crafted by a god, and you’re just lucky to be the one who gets to appreciate it. 

you pull his pants down a little more and then wrap your hand around his base, squeezing slightly to tease him, and he bucks into your fist with a groan. you kiss his tip next, giving it a few light touches before glancing up to san’s face, and you feel your pussy clench at the way he’s staring at you with his lip between his teeth and his hooded eyes. he’s trying his best to be quiet, which isn’t fair, because he wanted you to be loud, so why does he get to be quiet? you switch quickly from kissing his tip to swallowing as much as you can take, ripping a moan from deep within san’s chest. you swallow around him once, twice, before pulling all the way off with a deep breath. you suck on the tip, twisting your hand around the base, before you go down on him again, bobbing up and down quickly to keep san’s needy grunts coming. he pulls you from your focus though, grabbing you on both sides of your face to push you away gently. you start to protest, but he cuts you off quickly.

“i’m gonna come, wanna fuck you now,” he says in one breath. “can you pull my pants back up?”

“what?” you laugh. “how’s that gonna help us fuck?” 

“need a condom, babe,” he replies, and you fall silent.

“sorry for laughing.”

“it’s ok,” he says as you rummage around in his pockets for his wallet. you hand it to him and he finds a foil packet, which he passes back to you. “to make up for it you gotta put it on.”

“yes sir,” you grumble, and now it’s san’s turn to laugh. you tear the packet open and successfully roll it over his rock hard length, but you spit on it a few times to get it wet, and san swears he could bust at that alone, but what comes out of your mouth next has him at a loss for words. “can i ride you?”

“mhm,” san nods, and he looks fucked out already just at the thought. he watches, entranced, as you climb on top of his lap and line his cock up at your entrance. he keeps his eyes locked on your movements as you sink down, and you let out the most beautiful moan when he’s fully sheathed inside you. the way you’re clenching around him should be a sin, and the way he’s stretching you and making you feel so full is unfair because you know you’ll never find anyone else who fits you like he does. you sit still for another beat, and while you’re still, san reaches up to unclasp your bra, watching with stars in his eyes as it falls down your arms. you toss it aside and lean forward to place your hands on san’s chest, holding his gaze as you slide back up his cock and lower yourself down slowly. you do this a few times, taking the time to try to read the expression in san’s eyes. you’ve seen it once before, and you know that it’s love. it may be unspoken, but it’s there, and the realization has you clenching at the thought. 

“you feel so good san,” you tell him, reaching up to tweak one of your nipples as you start to bounce on his cock. he knocks your hand away and watches you for a moment before his hands are on your chest, massaging your tits in the most delicious way. you gasp when he pinches your nipples, and you buck against him in a way that grinds your clit against him, and the slight pressure brings you back to the edge. “i’m so close, love. just a little more.” san gets the hint and moves one hand down to rub your clit again, his mouth open in a silent moan as you tighten around him. you keep bouncing, trying to reach your high, and the gasp that san lets out tells you he’s just come, so he frantically rubs your clit to get you there too. 

“come on baby,” he says. “show me how pretty you are when you come. let me see you lose yourself in this, in us.” and you’re over the edge, moaning his name as he bucks into you to help ride your high. you slow down on top of him, and he pulls you down to lay on his chest, his cock softening inside you as he buries his head in your neck. “good girl, did so good for me. i lo-um, uh...you did good baby.” you take a few moments to catch your breath before you speak.

“san,” you say seriously, balancing your chin on his chest as you look up. “are we gonna unpack any of that?” 

“any of what?” he asks with a smile. “i had a great time.”

“i know you did,” you groan. 

“didn’t you?” he asks, a little disappointment evident in his voice. 

“yeah, i did-”

“then there’s nothing to unpack, baby,” he says, gently shoving your head back onto his chest. “just rest for a minute and then i’ll get us cleaned up.”

-

the following sunday, you find yourself at church, alone again. no family this week, but you’re in your usual pew and san is in the choir loft. he smiles at you when he sees you, and you tentatively smile back. you’ve come to church today to break things off with him, so you’re not exactly in a smiling mood. 

it’s nothing against him. he’s great. he’s too great, actually. you’re just too scared to get into something that will hurt you again, and after the way san looked at you and the way he treated you with so much care and love...you feel yourself going to a place you don’t need to be in. you try not to look at him much throughout the service, because you don’t want to play his little games. and you also know that he could give you a single look and break all your resolve in a second. 

immediately after the sermon, you sneak out to the lobby, hoping to find san before the next service starts. you see the purple robes coming out of the sanctuary and take a deep breath. but one of the sweet choir ladies interrupts your thoughts.

“oh, y/n, are you the young lady sannie has been talking about lately?” she asks. “he was telling us last week he started seeing one of the girls from the congregation, i just never thought it’d be you! oh dear i’m so thrilled. you make that boy very happy, you know?” 

“i know,” you smile with a nod. “thank you ma’am.” 

“what was that about?” san asks, walking up just as the lady leaves. 

“uh, she was just asking me how my mom is,” you lie, smiling to san. “good singing today, choir boy.”

“why’d you leave the service early?” he asks, looking at you like he knows there’s more you want to say but won’t. 

“i gotta leave soon, meeting friends for lunch?” you say, and he nods. “and i thought we’d get our weekly scheduled flirting out of the way before i go.”

“well i gotta say you’ve caught me on an off day, sweets,” he says. “don’t have much to say on my end. except thank you.”

“for what?”

“for the other night,” he smiles kindly. “it was nice.”

“yeah,” you nod, lips tight. “shame you don’t wanna flirt with me though.”

“maybe i’ll think of something good and call you later?” he offers, and you nod again.

“hm, yeah, maybe,” you say. then, awkwardly, you tell him you have to go, and he nods back. you walk away, leaving san...confused? that was weird, right? you were off somehow. san didn’t have much time to read into it though because the service finally let out, and the sound of church members drowns out his thoughts. he just goes back to the choir room, contemplating what might be wrong and worrying the whole time that he’s gonna lose you before you’re even fully his to lose. 

-

that week, you text san and tell him you can’t come to bible study on thursday. his response is normal enough, if not a little formal for him, but you don’t read much into it. you just go about your week, and when thursday night rolls around, you’ve completely forgotten about bible study. and then you hear a knock at your door. you check the time and immediately know it must be san, maybe he just forgot you said you weren’t coming? so you groan to yourself and crack the door open just slightly to see a tired san standing on the other side of the door. 

“hey, i’m not going tonight, remember? i’ve gotta clean before my family visits tomorrow,” you tell him, and he nods.

“yeah, i remember,” he replies simply. “i uh, i wanted to know if we could talk?”

“about?” you ask, and he smiles shyly at you.

“i think it’s time for us to unpack some things, baby.”

“san, please, not tonight,” you start, and he just shakes his head.

“no can do, sweets,” he says, holding something up. “i brought your favorite, so you at least have to let me in so we can share.”

“from that greek place?” you ask, and he nods with a smile. you step aside and let him in, and he heads to the kitchen.

“want me to make your plate?” he asks, setting everything on the counter.

“sure,” you nod. “use what’s in the dishwasher. should be clean.”

“ok,” he says simply, and he gets to work serving dinner. he eventually brings over two plates, joining you on the couch. “this one’s yours.”

you eat in silence for a few minutes, you making your little greek tacos like normal and san stealing your chicken every other bite. it’s comfortable even though the situation is awkward, and you don’t want to ruin the nice moment. but you owe it to san to at least explain why you’ve been acting off, so here goes nothing.

“so,” you begin.

“so.”

“i know i’ve kinda blown you off the past few days,” you say, and san hums in agreement. “i just...don’t think it was good for me, spending so much time with you, so soon. and i’m sorry i didn’t tell you that i needed space.”

“that’s alright,” san says, holding your gaze before he leans forward to take another bite from your plate. “and i should have told you sooner that you’ve got me wrapped around your finger.”

“oh i could tell.”

“really?” san laughs. “and i thought i was doing so well. guess i didn’t hide my feelings as much as i thought.”

“no you didn’t, sweetcheeks,” you say, and he smiles at the nickname. “flirting with me so much made it pretty clear. and you always get this sappy look in your eyes when you look at me, so. i knew it was coming. i just don’t think i’m ready for something like that right now.”

“and why is that?” san asks. he’s staring at you with that look you were just talking about, which is distracting, so it takes a second for you to reply. 

“i just...feel like you’re looking for something more than i can give,” you explain. “i don’t want anything permanent right now.”

“who said i wanted something permanent? i just want you.”

“and that’s the problem,” you whine. “i like you san, i really do. but i’m not. i don’t think i can get into something with you without one of us getting hurt. because you’re wonderful, really. i love spending time with you, and i’m attracted to you more than i can admit, so it’s hard for me to be around you and not want something more than flirty comments or a fuck here and there.”

“then let’s just take it slow,” he says, grabbing your hand. “like you always wanted from the beginning. let’s start dating, but super casual. no expectations, just whatever feels right. and whenever you need space, just tell me, ok?” he squeezes your hand and you mutter out a shy “ok” in response. “but i need to warn you about something, sweets.”

“and what is that?” you ask, stomach dropping at the thought of something bad.

“unfortunately,” he sighs, “i’m only going to get more wonderful.”

“oh shut up,” you laugh, nudging his shoulder. “be serious.”

“i am, baby!”

“well, baby, why don’t you start being wonderful and help me put away the clean dishes?” 

“only if you keep calling me that instead of choir boy.”

“we’ll see how it goes,” you tease, and he pecks your lips before he stands and takes your plates. 

“so are you gonna tell me where everything goes, or?”

[zhongrin]

unconvincing

◇ characters ◇ zhongli

◇ tags ◇ modern!au, formerdelinquent!zhongli, professor!zhongli

◇ a/n ◇ this au has me in a chokehold i swear

part 1 ⬙ part 2 ⬙ part 3

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

zhongli wore gloves now.

you presume he noticed that you saw his scars and how they aided you in connecting the dots regarding his identity, and so he chooses to cover them up.

well, that’s too bad. you think he has quite the pretty hands. you wonder, had you been brave enough back then, would you have been able to hold his younger self’s hand too? would his hands be smaller than they are now? would it have had the same deliciously protruding veins and the little scars, like that bump near one of his knuckles on his-

“is the tea not to your liking?”

you blink and freeze upon a familiar set of ambers staring you down. caught off guard, your cheeks heat up rapidly and you duck your head in favor of setting down the teacup a little too harshly against the plastic table of the staff’s break room. you feel guilty, like a child who just stole a forbidden candy, but you force your voice to sound normal as you settle your palms on your lap, gripping the material of your clothes tight.

“o-oh no, it’s great! uh- this is darjeeling, right?”

“ah, you recognize the taste? yes. these are the second flush leaves, and so if you noticed there’s a very distinct muscatel aroma-”

morax- no, zhongli launches into an explanation over the harvesting process of this specific darjeeling tea leaves, and you can’t help but drown yourself in the allure of his voice. you remember it being slightly a little more high-pitched than this, although it was rougher around its edges and delivered with a mostly stoic facade back then. in the present time, his voice is smooth and clear, like the undeterred trickle of a clear stream sourced from the tallest mountains.

at these moments, it feels as if morax and zhongli were two different people altogether.

you would have never thought you would be able to sit at the same table as morax like this; not even in your wildest dreams. and it all started with a simple invite for a “tea break”, one day. to return the favor for the chocolate, he had said. you brought a few tea biscuits along, and before you could dread the awkwardness that would result from your poor communication skill, zhongli had taken the mantle of the conversationalist. before you knew it, you were both so lost in sharing all the things you’ve done after high school with each other, you almost missed the recess-is-over bell.

despite almost being late to your classes, the next day, he told you he had procured new tea leaves for the both of you to enjoy. you could barely hold yourself back from jumping in excitement as you followed him to the same break room (huh, maybe that high school crush never really did left you completely). rinse and repeat, lo and behold, the “tea break” becomes a routine, and now both of your students know where to find you when they need to ask questions when the second recess comes by.

it’s not long before the young ones started using their young adult brains to concoct some theories about the two of you. you’re always together. you seem so close to each other in a way that other teachers can’t replicate. therefore, they’re quite sure there must be something going on between two of their favorite teachers.

“mx. [name], are you dating mr. zhongli?”

you cough and sputter at the sudden question that came out of nowhere. just five minutes ago, the girl had stopped you in the hallway to ask about the recent assignment you gave her class, so naturally, you indulged her questions and soothed her anxiety about not being able to complete it in time.

but to suddenly spring something like this on you??

“no, we are not. whatever makes you think so? now, if that's all-”

“but you’re always together! on recess and stuff… plus you walk home with each other too!” she looks up at you with innocent pair of doe eyes and gasps, “oh! is it because you're both already living together? that must be it!”

“no, no no no no! dear gods, you’ve got it all wrong!”

“then what is it?? mx! you’re hiding a secret from us!!”

well, yes, but no, you thought in frustration. you’re smart enough to know why zhongli does not want his past as morax revealed. and you’re now good enough friends-slash-coworkers that you want to prevent his career from being destroyed just because of the mistakes he made in his youth. so you choose to avoid answering the real question.

running away has always been one of your many talents, after all.

“our relationship is strictly professional.”

“but-”

“there is nothing else to be said.”

“aw, mx, come onnn-”

“is there an issue?”

your timing couldn’t be worse, you yell inwardly as a clueless zhongli enters the scene. with one sweeping look across the area, you can already tell the majority of the students are listening silently at the exchange. no doubt whatever transpires today will spread all over the student body by the end of the day.

you would know. you were just like them once upon a time.

“mr. zhongli!” the girl beams, eyes starry, as she glances at the two of you in interest, “i was just asking mx. [name] about your relationship!!”

“our… relationship?” the man repeats, blinking, a look of alarm crossing his face.

“yup! soooo…. are you dating or are you married? it’s got to be either one of the two, right?”

you resist the urge to hide your head in your hands or to fake a sudden dizzy spell right in the middle of the hallway. you expected zhongli to recoil in disgust. perhaps frown and sigh, before continuing to chide the student for her overly active imagination-

-but you never expected him to chuckle in amusement.

“my, what an honor. so, do you think we look good together?”

“not just me! everyone does!! we totally ship- i mean- we’re totally rooting for you!! wait… so is it really true?!”

“unfortunately, neither is the case,” zhongli says calmly, and he checks his wrists before giving the student a gentle smile, and an equally gentle nudge in the form of her name. “why don't you move along? i believe you have your drama club practice soon.”

“oh, shit! right! bye mx. [name], mr. zhongli-” she gives you both a devious grin, “mark my words, this isn’t over!”

“language!” he calls out as the young girl speeds away, before turning to you, “are you alright, [name]?”

“i- yes. just a little frazzled. that was… unexpected…,” you say as normally as possible when all you want to do is to grab his collar and shake him because what the hell was that response and what did he mean by ‘unfortunately’???

“i see. as luck would have it, i have some tea leaves with a calming effect on my personage. and there’s never a rule to never drink more than one type of tea in a day. how about partaking in an extra cup in my office?”

“…. only if i get to grade some assignments while we’re at it.”

“sounds like a plan.”

as zhongli leads you away from the scene with his hand on your back, with you musing about the preparation for the nearing school festival, a unanimous thought united the students who had been watching the scene.

they’re totally dating, at the very least.

literally how are they not married?

© zhongrin | 2023 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @thestarsofenkanomiya | @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies | @hamdehlesmis | @depressivecomforts | @sophiethewitch1 | @why-am-i-here-someone-save-me | @sunnshineflxwer | @heartonthemoon | @yuutasbabe | @percyval-archives | @carbs-need-more-love | @rebeccka | @queen-belial | @stygianoir | @silentmoths | @niktwazny303 | @dustofthedailylife | @herdrops | @diebischesther | @marina-and-the-memes | @angryhope | @mixed-kester | @shuangxo | @fiannee | @lordbugs | @anonymousficreader | @shizunxie | @ladylofspades | @sup-zfam | @ansy-tea | @irethepotato | @nachotrash | @algrimmammon

[suraemoon]

MOTA: Post-war

~ Easter Sunday Headcanons ~

🐣: Easter Sunday lends itself so easily to daydreaming about post-war suburban life. Here are some ideas I thought up yesterday of how some of the boys and their families celebrate Easter. I hope you like some fluff. (Bunnies, eggs, and happiness galore)

💛: @precious-little-scoundrel gave me the idea to post these after I was yelling them to her yesterday. I hope you all aren’t Eastered out just yet.

Being some of the earliest birds to the nationwide baby boom due to a four-week New York getaway, the Crosby’s quickly become professionals at the Easter Sunday routine

After an hour of hiding yawns and dozing off while standing in their pews at Easter Sunday Service, all the neighborhood kids show up at the Crosby house for their famous annual Easter Egg Hunt.

As soon as their car rolls into the driveway, Jean and Harry watch in wonder as their crew of excited kiddos doubles, triples, and soon quadruples in a matter of minutes

Hiding spots are determined days in advance and as the years go on, the amount of eggs that Jean has to buy grows exponentially to account for the adopted little bunnies that come strolling by with baskets the size of their whole torsos

Mrs. Jean Crosby puts out chairs and a group of adoring parents get to gradually watch their children grow up before their loving eyes every April

The same toddlers who first waddled around on the newly mowed grass trying to find their footing all those years ago soon become elementary school kids with minds enthralled by the competition

Soon these toothy grinned kids become teenagers who keep the magic alive for the newest toddlers while also taking the time to show the next-gen elementary kids who are the professional easter egg hunters

The Crosby’s haven’t always had the holiday nailed though

One year after much convincing from his wife throughout the whole month of March, Harry agreed to dress up as the easter bunny

When he suddenly stuck his costumed head out from the top of their white picket fence, a church choir of crying and screaming ensued

Instead of being faced with the excited wonder-filled faces that he expected, Harry was met with wide eyes full of terror and dropped jaws full of shock

Children flailed to the protection of their mamas instead of going to hug the famous mascot of the season

He spent an hour going around to every child with his furry head off and shamefully cradled in his hands

apologizing and ensuring that yes, it was just Mr. Crosby, not a giant rabbit who hopped out of nowhere and scared the communion wafers out of them

In his adult life, John Bucky Egan never really cared for Easter festivities up until his eldest daughter was born

When sunny April came around the year that Little Miss Egan turned two, Bucky was excited to take her to the Easter egg hunt ran by the local Church

While the older kids go haywire in their now dirtied church suits and fancy dresses trying to pick up as many eggs as people they counted in church pews just a half hour before, Baby Egan waddles around gently.

Every egg she picks up is taken slowly and carefully from the soft grass beneath her Mary Jane’s, looked at with soft eyes as if being examined and if found fit, is put into her pink basket

Bucky, being impatient and full of excitement for this newly unlocked family activity, sneaks a few extra eggs into her basket to make it look like she has more

His little princess shouldn’t have to hunt for all her own eggs and risk getting her white lace dress dirty anyways

Egan is the only adult collecting eggs with a bunch of random kids. His excuse is that he and his little one share a basket of course. She needs her daddy to teach her how egg hunts are done in order to be better prepped for next year.

The Egan’s aren’t the only ones with a knack for egg hunts.

The Rosenthal children do not celebrate Easter but it does not stop them from showing up to the park’s “Eggstravaganza Hunt” every year

Being the determined little Rosies that they are, they dominate the competition. These kids will have their baskets full to the brim with eggs in a matter of minutes.

You notice a child with a head full of bouncy brown curls, pink cheeks, and grass stained knees run by you? You better hope that your little Bobby can keep up.

Rosie watches on like a focused parent at their child’s soccer game

His children with their chocolate and sugar covered faces furrow their eyebrows and tilt their heads when a random woman with a crying child tells them “Do y’all really need all that candy? Jesus would want you to share, don’t you think?”

The Mini Rosenthals come back home with sugar rushes that can power the whole neighborhood for a week straight

An upside for Rosie and his wife who have to deal with these energized little roadrunners is that the kids crash an hour earlier than usual

leaving room for extra alone time on a cool Sunday night

One easter, Benny Demarco randomly walks through the foyer of his home with a white floppy eared bunny wearing a perfect little bow tie

Is that the one you wore to our date last weekend? His wife can’t help but shake her head at her husband’s audacity as the children gather around their newest sibling with eyes full of happiness

The kids are excited but Mrs. Demarco has to try to put on a smile because “Who the hell is going to take care of that thing?”

Soon enough, a hutch is built in the backyard and more bunnies are added to the family

Mrs. Demarco falls in love and calls them her “bunny babes”

She’s met with a “I knew it was a good idea” from her husband every time she is seen cradling and baby-talking to one of their beloved pets

I mean…they are both major pet lovers. It’s one of the reasons they work so well together. But is one more responsible of the two? Definitely.

The excited squeals of children and adorable nose twitches of cute little bunnies makes it all worth it

The Demarcos aren’t the only 100th household with their own personal Easter Bunny

When John Egan jokingly told his four year old that leaving a baby carrot under her pillow would lead to a special gift from Mr. Easter Bunny himself, he did not expect her to take it seriously.

At midnight, Bucky wakes up with eyes hardly open and gets out of bed with a mission

This annual mission is to tiptoe into his daughter’s bedroom and carefully exchange the aluminum foil wrapped baby carrot tucked carefully under her soft pillow for a few cents from his wallet

As more children are born, the tradition continues

Even future generations of Egans continue to buy bags of baby carrots as Easter Sunday approaches

Not only to snack on them all of Spring Break but also to place one in a sandwich bag or wrap one in saran wrap to hide underneath each child’s pillow

Not necessarily knowing why they’re the only house that participates in this unusual tradition

Not knowing that it started from the unbreaking belief of a wide-eyed four year old and her father who stopped laughing when he realized that he was stuck playing off-brand Tooth Fairy for the rest of his life

Gale Cleven’s household has a more relaxed Easter Sunday compared to the rest

After Church, some Easter themed activities, and a well-needed nap upon arriving home, the Cleven’s go to their garden to plant new flowers

Fresh tulips, chrysanthemums, and pansies are all beautiful, refreshing signs that spring is here

Why do the Cleven’s have such green thumbs you ask? Maybe their blonde hair resembles the comforting sun, the plants can’t help but feel warmth. Maybe their caring blue eyes are as nurturing as water, the plants can’t help but thrive.

They started growing flowers and vegetables in their garden when the first after they bought their house

It was the Clevens’ first step towards making it a home

The flowers represented new beginnings, fresh starts, and growth. Essentials after everything they have been through.

————————————————————————

Hope you enjoyed! Wishing everyone a happy, happy Spring🌸 My first time writing something and posting it in 4 months…ahhhh. There’s more where this came from, my mind just does not stop.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: '23 Bonnie & Clyde {One Shot}***

Title: 23 Bonnie & Clyde ***

Den Of Thieves Ray Merrimen x OFC Aria

Warnings: Action, Blood, Violence, Heavy Cursing, 18+ Mature Content, Gun Violence, Crime, Angst, Smut, Rough Sexual Activity, Glove Free Lovin, Plenty of Words

Words: 15,575k

Summary: Picks up with Ray being pinned down by Nick and his team after the heist. With his team dead and 2 bullets making it hard to go on, Ray believes his ticket’s been punched. Unexpectedly, an angel swoops in to save the day. However, is she an angel of mercy or heartbreak?

Note: @waterfallsandsunsets As my first accepted commissioned fic, I hope you enjoy this, and I hope it meets your expectations. I want to thank you for requesting this and even more for wanting to pay for a story from me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Note II: Ray Merrimen and Pablo girlies I hope you enjoy this.

***Very Loosely Edited***

~~~~~~~~~~

-Ray-

Around him, he could hear the echoing of the heavy gunfire he was currently in the middle of. It sounded like he was in a hollowed tunnel making it easy to hear every sound. The crunching of footsteps that were attempting to stealthily creep toward him, failing miserably by his military training standards, the zing, and whizz of every missed bullet, the painful beat of his heart that was slowing with every minute.

A strong pang of pain gripped him making him curse out. He clapped his hand over his chest and grimaced. He didn't know how he would make it out of this one. All his life he'd lived by the gun and knew he'd die by it too but somehow he didn't expect it now. He thought he'd be old and grey before that bullet with his name on it punched his ticket.

He slid his hand lower just underneath his heart and felt wetness there. When he raised his fingers to his face the crimson liquid that coated his fingers confirmed it. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he dropped his head back to look into the sky. It was yet another beautiful California day. He knew it was a hot one but couldn’t quite feel the warmth of the sun anymore. A shiver rushed through him then he heard his name.

“Merrimen, it doesn’t have to be like this. You’ve got nowhere to go. Come out with your hands up!”

He scoffed. That son of a bitch, he thought. If he really expected him to come out and surrender he hadn’t read his file properly.

“Never surrender,” he mumbled feeling the drowsiness trying to overtake him.

Shaking it off, he wiped his hands dry then gripped his weapon. Checking the chamber, he realized his clip was empty. With slow, painful movement he dug into his vest searching for his ammo but found none.

“Sh—shit!”

He was truly fucked. Either he was going to be cuffed and saved at the hospital then sent back or he would die a free man, right here, right now. It only took him a few moments to make his mind up. He meant every word he’d said a week ago. He was never going back to prison. He took several breaths trying to psych himself up for the next round of pain he would feel. No man wanted to face death but he’d long prepared for his death. He didn’t fear it.

Suddenly, her face popped into his mind making him freeze. He’d often thought of her. Every night her face somehow wandered in through the slips of his mental blocks, the ones he’d purposely put up in heavy efforts to not think about her. In those wee hours of the morning, while he laid in his bunk surrounded by other men in their 9 by 5 cells doing the same, he’d think about her. Since his release from prison, he’d thought of her more and more as people, places and things often brought back memories, good and bad.

He heard the thud of footsteps creeping up on his right and they brought him back to reality. Pretty soon he’d stop thinking about her completely. Maybe in death, he could finally get peace.

“Nut up!”

He rose to his feet then turned to where he knew that Detective Nick was waiting. He came face to face with the man aiming his weapon right at him.

“Don’t do it Merrimen!”

He waited.

“We can end this peacefully. It doesn’t have to end this way.”

His vision blurred and his heartbeat slowed. “I told you—I’m not going back.”

The man across the way clenched his jaw and he almost saw a look of disappointment across his features, but he didn’t wait. He raised his empty gun knowing he’d take the shot, truly ending this.

“Don’t!”

Suddenly, rapid gunfire rained around him sending the man jumping to seek cover while he dropped back. Chaos reigned around him in the form of three white vans rolling up creating a “U” shape shield around him. His mind recognized it as an operational defensive tactic, one he’d done in his years of service. Again, his eyes went blurry as his heart slowed. Gripping his chest, he focused on the sky trying to get himself in control so he could make sense of the situation and defend himself if needed.

“Secure the perimeter. We’re out of here in one minute!”

The voice was garbled like he was underwater, and they were above it. He grabbed his gun and pointed it forward making contact with a chest. The figure above him was masked with only their eyes revealed.

“I got you. ‘Till the end imma ride wit’ you.”

Recognition flamed in his head. He’d heard those words before. He’d said those words before. Only one other person in the world would ever utter them. He froze but before he could move again, he lost consciousness with those eyes being the last thing he saw.

~~~~~~~~

-Aria-

“What a fucking mess!”

Milla was pissed. One thing she hated was a sloppy op and what Ray had found himself in the middle of was a sloppy op.

“From the stories about this guy never thought he’d be part of something like this.”

“Shit went sideways,” Jada replied.

“Hey! Fucking focus on getting us the fuck out of LA and to the fucking jet!”

If Milla was pissed, you were downright seething. She was right, it was a sloppy op and shit had gone sideways. Fuck they went way past sideways. You made a mental note that you’d find Donnie’s ass and put two bullets through his skull for this bullshit.

“Apply more pressure!”

You, Uki, Keturah, and Lyn were each pressing on each bullet wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Your efforts seemed pointless as his blood poured out of him like a calcified showerhead.

It was a good thing you got there when you had. As you pushed harder on his chest, you stared into his face. You didn’t know how it was possible, but he looked the same given some wrinkles here and there. His face was the same but weathered, aged to that of a grown man. Your heart beat painfully thinking of how serious his condition currently was.

“Aria, I don’t know if he’ll make it,” Uki announced.

Your eyes snapped to her and in the same second that they made contact, she looked down.

“I’m just saying. His vitals are not good,” you mumbled not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.

“He’ll make it!”

The entire van went quiet. You hadn’t meant to scream at her, so you took a breath and looked back to Ray, and repeated your words in a calmer voice.

“He’ll make it. He’s lived through worse.”

The remainder of the drive passed in near silence. Except for updates from the other vans and checking in to confirm perfect execution of your plan and distraction no one else said anything that wasn’t mission specific. You split your focus between the next steps of the plan and keeping Ray alive. You’d estimated that the drive to the airfield would take 40 minutes and in those 40 minutes, he’d flatlined twice. You were glad that you were the type of person to bet on things going wrong. It was that foresight that found a mini hospital in every van.

With Uki’s help, you managed to bring Ray back every time he flat-lined with the aid of adrenaline and a defibrillator. Each time took longer but you refused to give up. It wasn’t his time; you’d make damn sure of it.

“Offload,” Keturah shouted as the van rolled to a stop.

Everyone sprang into action, tackling their tasks. Milla and Keturah handled stripping the van, and Lyn took care of erasing every bit of artillery so there would be not even a serial number left on anything left behind. You, Jada, and Uki lifted Ray to the waiting jet.

“Fuck he’s heavy!”

He sure was and from the looks of him, it was pure muscle. Prison had changed him. The two men in the jet hurried to help load him in.

“Let’s go. 40 seconds!”

Just then, the van went up in flames. As if that was the signal, all your femme fetales assembled and boarded the jet. Within a minute you were taking off. As the jet gained altitude the van on the ground exploded leaving flames, shards, and nothing else in your wake.

~~~~~~~

-That Night-

All was quiet, which was what you expected. This was your compound in Mexico, and it was heavily guarded. Only those who needed to know knew about it. You watched as the doctor finished his examination of your hurried work in the van and the jet. You’d had more than enough experience patching yourself and others up to know your work was sufficient, but you wanted to make sure you got all the shards out. You didn’t go through all this to have a bullet fragment sneak to his heart.

You sat on the window seat then continued tapping your combat boot-clad feet. The sound echoed in the room as dull thuds for several minutes before you sprang to your feet again to pace the room some more.

“You’ve never been anxious like this with anyone else,” Manolo said his voice filled with certainty. “Losing faith in my skill?”

“No. He’s just--not—anyone.”

He looked back at you and studied your face for a few moments then turned back to a still unconscious Ray. Manolo nodded then stood.

“Well, I think you turned a pretty horrible situation into a bad one, which is an improvement and impressive.”

“Will he make it?”

Manolo sighed and took his time before he spoke. The seconds that stretched only made you more anxious. You were milliseconds away from snapping at the man, but his voice stopped your outburst.

“It’s hard to say. His injuries are extensive. From what I can see you’ve got all the bullets and I don’t see any fragments so that’s good news, but I’ve seen men die from injuries less severe than these. It’s a miracle he is still alive.”

“What—what does that mean Manolo?!”

Your frustrations were getting the better of you now.

“I know you want a guarantee, but I can’t give one. If he—if he can make it the next 72 hours then I say his chances are very good but--.”

He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. His grey-speckled hair was coiffed in an effortless style that framed his face and showcased the wrinkles he'd acquired from years of work and little sleep. He and your father were good friends and one on the very short list of people he trusted, which meant you trusted him too.

“The next 72 hours I expect to be touch and go.”

You sighed and then looked at Ray. It wasn’t a death sentence, but it wasn’t a glowing bill of health. There was hope at least.

“Thank you, Manolo,”

He nodded then looked back to Ray. “I will stay close tonight in case you need me again.”

You nodded and watched him pack his things up to then exit the room. For the first time since you'd laid eyes on him, you were alone together. Half of you was relieved he was unconscious so you didn't have to talk but the other half wanted more than anything for him to wake up even if it spelled trouble for you.

You stood across the room for so long that the bottoms of your feet burned. It had been a long day and even longer 48 hours in prep for his extraction. Your body was exhausted, but sleep wasn’t an option. There was no way you could sleep now. Slowly you walked to his bedside never taking your eyes off of his face. you trailed over every detail of his face. Every wrinkle, every mole, every hair, everything that you’d missed out on. Your body buzzed to get closer, palms itched to touch him. The urges were so powerful that the exhaustion in your body was so strong that you gave in.

Sitting at the edge of the bed you slowly reached your hand to his full beard however when you were centimeters from touching him your hand stopped. Fear stilled your actions dousing whatever urges you had moments before. Looking lower at his torso, you decided to clean him instead of putting yourself in a position where things would quickly escalate.

As you wiped away the dried blood and sweat from his body your mind drifted to admiring what you now confirmed without a doubt was heaviness from muscle. For the love of everything holy, he was built like all he did in prison for those 10 years was pump iron. You tried not to think of the pictures you’d gotten over the last week of him disappearing into the blonde dancer’s house time and time again. You tried not to think of the things that happened behind that door that your cameras couldn’t get into.

Though you tried to keep the thoughts at bay, when you got to his “Peckerwood” tattoo you couldn’t help but drift to how she touched him, how he found solace after 10 years without in her body.

“Fuck!”

You threw the rag down into the water ignoring how it cascaded over the rim and onto the wooden floors. You stood, wiped your hands, and took a safer seat, across the room where your view of his body wasn’t clear.

Knock-knock

“Come.”

In walked a cleaned-up Uki with a tray. She placed it on the table near your chair then stood there watching Ray just as you were.

“Manolo told us.”

You nodded.

“I can take first watch so you can get cleaned up,” she offered.

You didn’t answer. In truth, you barely heard her.

Knock-knock.

“Come.”

Jada and Lyn came in next and stood to your left adding their two pairs of eyes to Ray.

“Found you some clothes,” Jada breached.

“Team 2 and 3 made it home without any problems after initiating endgame. Right about now they should have an ID on the body from the fire and that ID will be a one hundred percent match for 1 Mr. Ray Merrimen,” Lyn informed.

You released a slow breath as the final piece of your plan seamlessly synced with the others laid before it. That was it then.

“Come in Keturah,” you called before the knock you knew was coming sounded.

They all snorted as Keturah walked in and approached the bed getting a good look at Ray.

“Still can’t believe this famous Ray turned out to be a white man oh.”

That was just what everyone needed to hear before they busted out laughing. It went on for so long that you felt the stress that your body had harvested slowly leave you. You looked around at your girls. They’d been with you through thick and thin and you trusted them with your life. They were always there for you, and you were more than grateful.

“He might be a well-seasoned white man,” Lyn added which made them holler with laughter.

You’d expected their teasing once they saw him in person. You’d prepared yourself for all of this. In fact, you were enjoying their teasing. You’d been tense for so long it felt good to breathe for a change. You rotated your head trying to ease your sore muscles.

“You should eat, then shower. I know you’ll hate it if he sees you for the first time looking like you spent 3 nights in a hot hut.”

You pressed the back of your hand to your cheek. “I don’t look that bad.”

“Ya’ look worse,” they all collectively said.

Your jaw dropped but they only laughed more. The six of you sat around the room and chatted as you ate the meal Uki brought in. With each passing minute, you felt more and more like yourself. In the back of your mind, your fears and anxieties were still raging but they were quieted enough that you could celebrate small victories. After, Uki stayed by Ray’s side as you showered and made yourself less of a mess.

With your mind calm that Uki was around, and Manolo was in the house you took the time to pamper yourself a little. The hot water did the job of a pair of well-trained hands and melted away the knots in your shoulders and back while the scents from the diffuser worked on your mood and stress. You’d jumped over one hurdle and there were two more waiting for you, the final one was waiting for you at home.

When you went back into the room Ray was still unconscious and Uki was there on her phone.

“Ah, you look and smell a lot better.”

“Girl shut up!”

“Seriously, you look better.”

You nodded then sighed. “I’m holding up.”

“I just got word from Junu, and he is livid.”

You nodded. It was expected. You knew this whole operation would upset him especially since he’d vehemently forbade it.

“I’ll take the blame and whatever punishment he dishes out. You guys will be safe.”

“While your father terrifies me, I won’t let you be punished alone.”

“You all were just following my orders. I will take the heat.”

Uki studied you then looked back to Ray. “Is he worth it?”

She didn’t just mean the punishment you’d take but the risk and danger. You looked at Ray and slowly approached him. You knew the answer without a shadow of a doubt.

“Till the end!”

Seconds later you heard the click of the door as it closed. You were again alone with him. This time you dragged the chair closer and sat back down hunkering down for a sleepless night.

~~~~~~~~

You awoke to heavy shuddering and grunting. You’d only closed your eyes for a moment, or so you thought. However now, Ray was seizing in the bed, body riddled with violent thrashing.

“Shit, Ray!”

You moved to the edge of the bed and noted the way his body was drenched with sweat. Once you touched him you pulled back, he was burning up.

“Shit!”

You leaped up, grabbed the bowl beside the bed, and sprinted to the bathroom to fill it with cold water. When you returned you wasted no time applying the cold wet cloth to his forehead. When his seizing intensified you hollered for help as you turned him onto his side. With one hand you took up another cloth, dipped it into the water, and placed it in his mouth so he wouldn’t bite down on his tongue. It was then the girls ran into the room in a panic.

“Get Manolo. He’s seizing and has a fever.”

“On it,” Jada shouted before she disappeared.

The others approached the bed and tried to help you keep him on the bed and wipe him down. In what felt like a lifetime Jada returned with Manolo who sprang into action. He took your spot and administered an injection into the IV he’d placed when he first got here.

“This will help the seizure.”

Within minutes Ray’s convulsions slowed until they stopped altogether. Manolo then injected another needle into the IV.

“This will bring down the fever. He’s more than likely fighting off an infection. I already gave him something for that.”

“What do we do?”

“Nothing. We wait. I know you hate that answer, but I don’t have a better one. He has to do the work now.”

After thirty minutes of monitoring, Manolo left again satisfied that the seizure did not return. After that, you didn’t dare fall asleep again. Every thirty minutes you wiped his body with cold cloths and bundled him tighter, so he felt some warmth. By the time the sun rose the next day, he hadn’t gotten any better and your stress returned tenfold. He couldn’t be moved in this state, so your flight home was delayed until he made it through the other end of this.

The day passed with each of you sitting with him making sure his fever was kept in check and his seizures were managed. He fared well during the day but when the sun disappeared his seizures returned and persisted for much of the night. By the 2nd night there he’d begun spitting up blood. Manolo was hours away from making the choice to take him to a hospital when the sun rose on the third day and with that new day came calm.

“I think he’s passed the worst of it,” Manolo said as he took his glasses off after his very thorough examination.

“Are you sure?”

“His vitals are much better. Heartrate is not quite normal yet but considering he was close to losing a lung he is doing well.”

“Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

“Well, I induced a temporary coma to help him heal. I’ve started to wean him off so the medication I put him on should leave his system within the day. Perhaps tomorrow he’ll come to.”

“Will he live Manolo?”

“If this continues and he comes out of this tomorrow I feel good about his chances.”

You rubbed your face pressing just a bit so the tension would go.

“Thank goodness.”

“If all progresses, you should be good to fly the day after tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Manolo.”

“Aria, you’re like family. I’d do anything for you,” he said placing his hand on your shoulder. “You should rest.”

You nodded knowing those were doctor’s orders you wouldn’t be following. Not yet.

~~~~~~~

-The Next Day-

You were sitting by Ray's bedside once again after another sleepless night. Uki's question had been playing over and over in your mind like an annoying one-hit wonder that you couldn't forget. The longer you sat with the question the more it warped. No, your answer hadn't changed but you began to wonder if he would also say the same.

The last 10 years or so couldn't have been easy. No one thrived in prison. The environment wasn't conducive to that. The system needed a change if it was tasked with reforming wrongdoers. You knew being inside chipped away pieces of who you were before going in so you knew he was hardened. What you worried about was; how hardened was he. Was there any bit of the person you'd known? Or was this man laying at death's door a stranger with a monster lurking within

Knock-Knock

“Come.”

You tried to make yourself look like you hadn't been hyper-fixated on watching the man before you all night, tried to look detached and nonchalant.

“You look like shit.”

“For fuck's sake Uki!”

“What? If I looked as bad as you, one of you better keep it real and tell me the same,” she replied as she put down another tray.

“Guess you're expecting a thank you for telling me I look like shit?”

Uki shrugged and crossed her arms as she took her place beside you.

“Fuck thank you.  Just tell me you know and I'm right. That's my love language,” she joked.

However, it wasn't a joke. She did love being right. She got off on it. She constantly wore a smug look across her beautiful flawless features. It was as if she always walked with an air about her that she was higher than those around her. To tell the truth, it was one of the reasons you gravitated to one another and formed a quick friendship when you were children.

As The Viper's only daughter and heir, you knew you were above them in rank and status, and while most would relish the fact it always suffocated you. Being at the top of the food chain put you on a whole different playing field and on that field, you always had a target on your back.

“We may have trouble.”

Your head snapped to her waiting for her to continue. Of course you did, it had been way too calm and quiet.

“Razu,” Uki muttered.

Her one-word response didn't need to be followed up with anything else. You sighed so heavily that it almost sounded like the danger declaring hiss of the creature your father got his name from. Everyone knew you didn't disturb vipers; it was a “duh” rule in the animal kingdom. Do not disturb the vipers and never disturb the den. Razu was the one who never quite understood the unspoken rule.

“Where is he?”

“Downstairs with an entitled look on his face. He demands to see you.”

That almost hiss came out and filled the room this time.

“He heard whispers of you going to America and wants to talk about why.”

“Why? Ha, do I answer to him now oh?!”

Uki sighed and shrugged. “Seeing how he is…”

“Finish that sentence and we will have a serious discussion on how much of my coming punishment you will be taking.”

Uki zipped her lips with her fingers and allowed the silence to stretch.

“If he heard whispers then he probably suspects something. Our people in Los Angeles probably tipped him off.”

Your eyes slipped back to Ray. Shit, you thought.

Another near hiss escaped you.

“Yep. Either he is here to confirm his suspicions and try to use it as his proof you are not fit to take over on your own or--.”

“Ipenija is iku,”{challenge to the death},” you finished.

“Yep.”

“Fuck! There is no way Ray can do a challenge right now.”

“No. This white meat would be dead meat,” Uki teased.

“Really Uki? Right now?”

She smiled then shrugged again. She was right though. You had to make sure Razu found nothing. You reached into the bedside drawer and took out your 3 guns then checked the chambers. Locked, loaded, and ready for action. You tucked one in the front waistband of your jeans and the other in the back. You then took up your thigh holster from where it hung on one of the posts of the bed. Rather than bringing along the third gun you left it on the bedside table and patted your arsenal of knives loaded on the contraption. It was time to remind Razu who you were and who he was not.

Before you walked out of the room you looked back at Ray once more then hardened your features and resolve. Once you walked into the large living room of the opulent hacienda-style property you found Razu sitting in the largest seat in the room which was made from a slew of precious materials. One leg was crossed over the other with his ankle resting atop his knee and in his hands he played with a machete.

Your femme fetales assembled behind you in an arrowhead formation, the five of them flanking each other’s left and right. With his tamed beard, dark and smooth skin, and dangerous eyes Razu slowly broke out into a toothy smile.

“Come on Aria. I am not the enemy no need for the famous formation.”

His voice was smooth and silky like a goading predator slinking its way around to find an opening.

“I don't know Razu. You come unannounced--.”

“And unwelcomed,” Keturah added.

Razu's eyes turned to slits as he glared at Keturah.

“I suggest you keep your femmes in line or something fatal will happen to one of the pretty bitches,” Razu said.

You pulled your guns with quickness and closed the space between you to then press one gun to his temple and the other under his chin.

“Say one more fucking word about or to my femmes and the only fatal thing happening is your death by fatality. One hair on any of their heads is worth so much more than your entire existence. So, tread very, very carefully.”

The fire is Razu's eyes blazed uncontrollably. You saw how badly he wanted to speak again and retaliate but the facts were simple. You were your father's daughter. His empire would be yours soon and no matter how badly Razu wanted it he would never get it. Not by challenge, not by infiltration, and definitely not by arranged marriage.

The fire in his eyes faded and a smile spread across his face.

“Easy Aria, I simply came to make sure you were all right. The dens in LA heard you were in town. They said a lot was shaken up and the dens had to close up ranks to stay off the radar.”

You pulled back and walked back to your girls who hadn't moved an inch. They knew you were more than capable of taking care of Razu. Once in place, you spoke.

“Did your spies actually see me in LA or are they spreading false rumors?”

“Rumors? So, you weren't in LA?”

“Are you questioning me Razu? It sounds like you are but I am sure I am wrong because in order to be remotely qualified to do that, you have to be someone higher than me. Right girls?”

They each replied with confirmation. Razu's jaw clenched tightly and you knew just how badly he wanted to lash out. Smiling you watched him struggle. This was fun. It had been a while since you had fun and you realized how much you missed this.

“Why is it always rank with you?”

“Because you forget your fucking place! You are merely a sergeant in this den. One of many. You do not question me, you do not threaten me, and you definitely do not demand of me.”

“Your safety is important,” Razu carefully added.

“My safety? Do I look unsafe?”

You turned to your friends so they could inspect.

“You look safe to me,” Lyn said.

“Sure do,” Jada added

“Picture of health,” Milla chimed in.

You turned back to Razu. “I feel safe so I say you have nothing to worry about.”

Razu stared you down clearly upset this wasn't turning out the way he wanted. When you cocked your head to the side and then nudged it toward the exit Razu grumbled but stood.

“I'll head home and tell The Viper that baby Viper is doing well in Mexico.”

Your father didn't know where you were right now and you knew that Razu still suspected you had gone to the States which meant his reporting your current whereabouts would imply you had in fact been in the States. You kept your face unreadable.

“You do that. You'd just be giving him news he already knew, but whatever.”

You shrugged then examined your nails playing up how unbothered you were. As Razu walked toward the front door he chuckled.

“I'll see you at home, little Viper.”

No one moved until you heard the door close. Before they spoke you walked out of the room across the estate.

“Have them scour that room for bugs. I don't trust Razu.”

Milla nodded and walked off to get it done.

“He has definitely overstepped his bounds,” Lyn said.

“He sure has but he just revealed he has spies within our dens. I am sure my father would love to know that.”

The only great threat to queens were peasants thinking they were smarter. Your father ran a tight ship and usually got rid of those who had the balls to have big ideas. Razu's days were numbered.

“If he is going home now then he will be sure to paint a horrible picture before you arrive. We should leave tonight,” Uki proposed.

She made sense and it was probably the best move. Only 2 things were wrong. Ray was still not out of the woods yet and if you went back in a hurry Razu would know you were afraid of something. 

“Have someone watch Razu until he leaves. I want to know if he so much as pisses and it's not yellow.”

You walked away up the stairs while putting the safety back on your guns and repositioning them in the waistband of your jeans. Halfway back to the bedroom where Ray was—your bedroom you had a thought that if you took Razu out here and now When you walked inside he was still lying on the bed which was a relief and disappointment all at once. You were glad Razu hadn't tried to lure you downstairs to have his men search the house, but more worried Ray was still unconscious. You knew the longer he remained so the worse his prognosis.

You pressed your back to the door and took some deep breaths and tried to push the annoyance of Razu out of your head. Every day your list of problems increased. You felt the stinging prickle of tears behind your eyes. They were tears you’d held in for so long, tears you didn’t dare shed, tears you knew would find their way down your cheeks one way or another.

You walked across the room to the side of the bed and peered down at Ray. His bandaged wounds were speckled with bright red blood reminding you how close he’d come to dying. The even rise and fall of his chest said his breathing was evened out and he was probably not in too much danger. You sat at the edge of the bed as the urge to touch him became stronger than ever. You brought your hand closer and closer to the tattoo swooped across his chest. Your eyes locked on the ‘A’ within the ‘KingHarbor’ tattoo and within seconds you could make something else written there.

You leaned closer and closer bringing your face right over his chest and it was then you saw it. Hidden within the ‘A’ was your name. Aria.

“No fucking way,” you whispered.

You turned to the nightstand ready to switch on the lamp for more light but an empty tabletop caught your eye. The cock of the gun and the warm press to your forehead said you’d caught it too late.

“Back—the fuck—up!”

You huffed a breath out half relief half annoyance. Slowly you moved back.

“Who the fuck are you?”

You turned to face him and saw the moment recognition hit him. The stone-cold set of his face turned to wide-eyed disbelief.

“A—Aria?”

“It’s me, Ray.”

Your voice was small. You hadn’t meant for it to be at all, but it was, small and timid. Ray’s expression went from disbelief to blazing fury. You brought your eyes to the gun still pressed to your forehead.

“You’re gonna shoot me with my own gun huh.”

“I can think of a reason or two why I should,” Ray gritted out through clenched jaws.

You could hear the pain in his voice. Sighing, you shook your head. You weren’t afraid of him.

“Put the gun down, Ray.”

“Like hell I will.”

You glared at each other for long moments. You got lost in the amount of hatred you saw in his eyes. He’d never looked at you like this before, never pressed a gun to your head either. You sighed again then used the move he taught you to unarm him. However, he did not let you have your way instead, he grabbed your wrist pulled you to him, and attempted to swivel you so he could put you in a chokehold. Evading the move, you in turn swung your legs over him and sat on his thighs.

“Stop! You’re going to bust your stitches!”

Ray didn’t listen. He still fought you as if he didn’t have three bullet holes in his body.

“Ray!”

He reached for the knives in your thigh holster but you grabbed his arm instead. When he tried to use his other hand to reach for your gun you stopped him. That was when the door banged open and your Femmes rushed in guns and chosen weapons drawn to see you straddling him and holding his wrists. It looked kinky.

“Uh—didn’t waste any time huh,” Milla teased.

Ray yanked his arm away then rammed the heel of his palm into your gut. He hadn’t used all his force, but he’d used enough to send you to the foot of the bed. The action took you by surprise and stole the wind from your lungs. Your femmes cocked and raised their guns and weapons.

“Stand down,” you choked out.

Ray laid there looking at the six of you as if he didn’t trust any of you and was expecting one or all of you to make a move any second.

“Are you okay?”

You raised to your feet then rested your hands over your knee while you tried to catch your breath.

“Fine.”

“You let him catch you off guard?”

You glared at Uki.

“Didn’t expect him to—pull my own gun on me.”

“Where the fuck am I and what the fuck is going on?”

“Thu, what a way to speak to the people who you owe your life to,” Lyn spat.

“What’re you talking about?”

Your eyes fell to the bandages that were speckled red before. Now they were soaked with his blood.

“Shit, you busted the stitches,” you said making a move to him.

Ray lurched back. “Stay away from me!”

“If I do that you’ll bleed out and after everything we did to keep you alive, I’ll be pretty pissed about it.”

He surveilled you then the other five women in the room trying to gauge the level of trust he could muster in this moment.

“If we wanted to kill you, we would have stayed in our country while your so-called heist went all the way to shit,” Jada said.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

You looked at Jada slightly annoyed she brought it up already.

“Later.”

“No, now!”

“The heist went south. Enson, Bosco, they’re all dead,” you carefully broke.

“Wh—what!?”

“Donnie ran a play in your heist. He knew all the players set it up with them and used you guys as the muscle. He set you up to take the heat and fall so he could take the money. Nick knew everything from him. Your life is burned. They shot the others and Nick would have got you too if we hadn’t gotten there in time,” you explained ripping off the rest of the band-aide.

His face was blank as he processed your words then the rage returned.

“Donnie that motherfucker!”

“That he is.”

Silence filled the room and slowly you got closer and closer to him. Once close enough you sat on the edge of the bed.

“Your only option now is to disappear and by disappear I mean dead man disappear,” you finished.

“Why the fuck should I trust you?”

It was a fair question.

“She risked her fucking life to save yours. She did all this for you!”

You looked back to your girls and shook your head hoping to disengage the situation.

“It’s okay guys, wait outside.”

“So he can try something? Like hell,” Jada voiced.

“He has three bullet holes in him. I’m sure I can take him.”

They nodded knowing you could then one by one exit the room. When it was just the two of you, you opened your mouth to speak but Ray beat you to it.

“You should leave too.”

“You’re bleeding. Let me redress those then I’ll go.”

He took a few moments to contemplate your words then nodded. You kept your actions slow and careful as you got closer then took off the soaked bandages. When you wiped at the wounds he barely flinched or made a sound. You could feel his eyes boring into you keeping an eye on every move you made. You knew he didn’t trust you and you understood completely.

With needle and thread in hand, you began stitching him again. Still, Ray remained quiet the whole time he watched you. Whenever you reached for something you felt him tense underneath you even more than when you worked. Was he really that leery of you?

“Where am I?”

“Mexico.”

He scoffed. “Mexico. Is this where you’ve been living it up in a Mexican hacienda?”

“Living it--,” you began but trailed off. Before you spoke again, you scoffed. “No.”

“Right. Is this your place?”

“It—belongs to my father.”

You peeped up and met his eyes and instantly regretted it. His eyes were cold, dead, and filled with anger.

“And those women? Who are they?”

You tied off the thread then reached for the alcohol bottle on the side table.

“This is going to hurt.”

In your other hand, you took up the tequila there and held it out to him.

“No. Go ahead,” Ray said not even trying to hide the distrust in his eyes.

You shrugged and took a chug from the tequila bottle then poured the alcohol. You watched Ray stiffen as the burn rushed through him. The veins in his neck and forehead pulsated just beneath his skin, his face got redder and the muscles all across his torso flexed and bulged giving you a show for the first time how much he'd changed. Before you right now was a very grown man, a very gorgeous grown man, a man you probably didn't know anymore. His groan cane out agonized and tight. Wanting to help you leaned forward and blew onto the freshly stitched and taut skin hoping to provide some relief for him.

You kept your eyes level with his chest and focused on blowing in a way that kept the air coming from you cool. You took up the cloth and dabbed the excess antiseptic from his bruised flesh taking care to be gentle the closer you got to his wounds. You happened to glance up and found his eyes on you. The anger in his eyes was gone as was the right clench of his jaw. He looked as if he were in some sort of trance. You didn't stop blowing but moved for the wound salve waiting to be applied on the table. Slowly, you spread some across each bullet wound. With every touch, Ray sucked in a breath like a startled gasp. You didn't know if it was entirely from the pain he had to have been on or something else.

By the time you taped down a few thick squares of gauze, the door banged open.

“Ah, you're awake. Good,” Manolo exclaimed. “How is he, Aria?”

“He busted open his stitches so I did the whole song and dance and voila,” you explained.

“It looks good. How do you feel amigo?”

“Who are you?”

“The doctor who helped save your life,” Manolo dryly said.

“This is Manolo. I've known him most of my life. He's a good doctor and an even better man,” you informed as you moved from his side to rinse your hands in the bowl of water beside the bed.

“How do you feel?”

“Like I've been shot.”

“Oh, my friend you have been…3 times. One of them was centimeters from your lung, another a hair from puncturing your heart. Jeez, I don't know which angel you have looking out for you but I need her.”

Manolo approached him and began taking his vitals, you sifted to the back of the room to watch on. Ray's eyes slipped from you to Manolo then back to you as if he expected either of you to make a move against him. Was this because of you or had prison made him this way? Milla slipped inside and came to stand beside you. She now had Ray's full attention. With her voice low, she spoke.

“Razu has men watching the hacienda from all directions. If we plan on leaving without him knowing there is only one option.”

You nodded and locked eyes with Ray.

“Is he ready to move Manolo?”

“He’s a walking miracle. I think he's good to fly.”

“I'm not going anywhere with you people.”

All eyes moved to him each with different emotions radiating from them. You sighed.

“Do you think you have a choice?”

Ray narrowed his eyes at Milla's question.

“Yeah, I do. I don't know you from Adam.”

“What else do you need to know besides I--.”

The door opened and the rest of your Femmes walked in and flanked your side assuming formation without even realizing it.

“We saved your life,” Milla continued.

“Enough. This is Milla, Lyn, Jada, and Uki. These are my Femme Fetales, you explained.

“Femme Fetales? What's with the name?”

“Let's hope you never have to find out,” Keturah slid in.

“If you don't come with us, what's your plan? Go back to LA? Wander around alone? Get into some more shit with some more untrustworthy fucks?”

“Those were my brothers! And now they're fucking gone!”

“I know and I know what a deep cut that is. I know you're angry but being angry doesn't mean you have to be stupid. I don't think you get it. Right now your only option is to disappear. No, returning to LA, no lone wolf shit.”

He studied you and you could see the storm of emotions swirling inside of him. He was rightfully angry. His world shifted yet again. When he didn't speak for a few minutes you sighed again.

“Well stay one more night, give you some time to think it over. If tomorrow you decide you still don't want to go with us then fine. You be on your way and we'll be on ours no questions no debates.”

“Aria,” Uki began but you held your hand up to stop her.

“Everyone out.”

“Would you like something for the pain?”

Ray shook his head and watched everyone pour out of the room one by one. When it was just you, he raised a brow.

“You too.”

You scoffed having half expected it. As you walked to the door he watched you. Before leaving you looked back at him.

“The windows have sensory alarms so they’re sensitive to touch and movement, you’re also three stories up. Patrol outside might miss you if you jump but the perimeter patrol won’t. You’re free to leave but use the front door. It’s safest. Say goodbye first.”

“Like you did?”

For the second time, you felt as if you’d been kicked in the gut and gotten the wind knocked out of you. Low blow, you thought as you nodded and left him. Pressing your back to the door you took several calming breaths and then walked down the hall to the kitchen. You needed a drink—bad!

~~~~~~~

-The Next Day-

“Did you sleep at all?”

You scoffed as you filled your coffee cup with freshly brewed Pu-erh tea. With the sleep you hadn’t been getting and the day ahead that you foresaw, you desperately needed it.

“Sleep? Don’t know her.”

Keturah snorted and shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it.”

You took a lengthy sip from the cup and moaned. “God that’s good.”

“Morning workout?”

“Just a little meet-up with the punching bag.”

“Ah, is this aggression release or sexual tension release?”

You snorted and shook your head before you took another sip from your mug.

“He is ripped, Aria.”

“That he is.”

“He is also a distrustful ingrate,” she added.

You laughed.

“The only reason he is getting a pass is because his friends are gone and he almost died.”

“He doesn’t trust me,” you solemnly said.

You could wallow in it, matter of fact you had already. The entire night you wallowed and sulked because his distrust of you was so evident, so strong that it tore you apart. You’d wallowed until you were at dirt level. Now, in the light of morning, you couldn’t afford to anymore.

“You sure he’s still up there?”

“If he can plan to break into the reserve and steal millions of dollars I am sure he can manage to sneak out of somewhere without raising alarms,” you said.

“Legend,” Keturah muttered.

He sure was. If Donnie hadn’t been a little asshole this heist would have gone down as an incredible legend. It was practically flawless. As Keturah filled you in on any new developments you flitted around the kitchen to put together some breakfast for him. The others rolled into the kitchen and brought you up to date with the new developments but then the conversation shifted to plans and prep to leave. When you gave the go-ahead to get ready to take off in an hour, you walked out with a tray full of food on your way to Ray’s room.

As you stood outside you contemplated if you should just try the door or knock first. You reached for the handle, turned, and cocked your head to the side when you realized it was open. With caution, you walked inside and found Ray walking out of the bathroom, shirtless with a towel hung low around his waist. What was air? You no longer knew because it ceased to enter your lungs. Your jaw hung open and eyes roamed all the skin on display. You remembered Keturah’s words from minutes ago and though you’d agreed then, those words were now your gospel. He was ripped like no one’s business.

“Holy shit,” you mumbled.

“No knock?’

You met his eyes then realized what you were doing. “Ehm. Sorry. I uh—I honestly didn’t expect you to still be in here.”

“You and me both,” Ray answered.

“Well, I brought you poison-free breakfast. Freshly made and still hot.”

You placed the tray on the bed then backed up when you felt him walking toward the food. He looked over the tray then at you then back at the food. You watched him ease down onto the bed then dig into the double stacks of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and tater tots. When he dipped a matter tot into the grape jelly you smiled, comforted that at least that was the same. The man loved his sweets.

You didn't know how long you stood there watching him eat but in no time at all the plate was empty and he was gulping down the tea you'd given him.

“Tea is not my thing.”

“I know but you were just shot and still recovering caffeine is on the list of no foods for a while longer.”

Ray stared at you with squinted eyes and underneath the scrutiny of his eyes you has to look away but your eyes went back to his body. God he looked good, you thought. Again your eyes went to the “A” part of his chest tat and stared.  He'd tattooed your name on him. If he'd done that he couldn’t hate you could he?

“What game are you playing? Whatever it is I don't want any parts of it this time,” Ray said, draining the hot tea.

“I'm not playing any game, never have.”

“Right.”

You'd had enough. “Look say what you gotta say, I've had enough with the passive-aggressive you. Speak your heart, because we gotta move. I don't like being away from home after a job for too long.”

“Home? Funny I thought LA was your home, that I was…”

He trailed off leaving the words unspoken but still felt.

“Guess things change.  You had no problem leaving LA and staying gone for 10 years. Had no problem letting me take the fall, the time, and all that came with it! No problem using me!”

“Okay, you wanna do this now? Fine!”

You pulled up a chair and sat in front of him. “I never used you. I also never asked you to take the fall for me. That was you, Ray!”

“Bullshit! You made a fucking choice and it wasn't me.”

“You told me to run. I ran.”

“Without hesitation you sure did.”

“Oh come on Ray! You don't know how hard that was for me. You have no idea what the fuck I've been through because of that night,” you spat.

“You!? I went to fucking prison Aria. Me! You disappeared. You never visited, never wrote, never called. Nothing! It was me doing the time alone. Me dealing with all that shit for 10 years. You abandoned me!”

His words hurt like 10 thousand blades slicing at your heart. He really had no idea and was just fine looking to the worst as the explanation.  The fury rolling off of him doused your anger. In a way, you guessed it was true. You had disappeared. You didn't call, write or visit. You did run when he told you to. Everything he said was true at surface level.

“I didn't want to leave you, Ray. I wanted to stay and take my chances, serve the time with you.”

“Bullshit! Don't fucking lie to me Aria. I've had 10 years to sit with your lies. 10 years to comb through every lie you said, every lie you weaved into your movements, every lie spoken with your touch. The ledger is in the red, Aria. You can never pay it!”

He was right. You couldn't make up for what happened. It was too late too much had happened. You'd been stupid to think that if you just showed up again things would work themselves out. Even if he knew the whole story nothing would change. You clenched your jaw trying to stop yourself from crying.

“I'm sorry.”

Ray scoffed harshly.

“Fuck your sorries. They mean jack shit.”

This one wasn't a blade. It was a bullet and it made dead center impact. Unable to control yourself you stood and stalked to the door keeping your face turned from him. Before you walked out you stopped and took a breath.

“We're wheels up in an hour. The choice is yours on what to do.”

You grabbed the doorknob and half walked out but stopped again. “Every word I've ever said to you, every action, every touch, every single moment was never a lie. I got you. ‘Till the end imma ride wit’ you. I meant that on everything.”

You rushed from the room knowing you were seconds from exploding with every emotion you'd caged in the last 10 years. You zipped past your girls who'd no doubt heard the shouting and hightailed it to the shooting range under the house where you fired round after round at nearly every target there hitting dead center every time. As you released bullet after bullet tear after tear fell filling the endless well you now knew you'd carry the rest of your life.

An hour later you'd pulled yourself together and were clean, dressed, and strapped up ready to face your shit like the grown-ass woman you were and the queen you were set to become.

“Everything good?

“Yep. Is everyone here?”

No one answered which told me Ray wasn't here. You nodded and took a slow breath in.

“Did you give him the heist money and some gear?”

“An hour ago,” Uki replied.

“All right then. Let's go home.”

You pressed the elevator button and the doors opened.

“Where is home?”

Ray's deep baritone washed over you stunning you still.

“Why?”

“I would like to know where I'm going before I get there,” he answered.

Your head snapped back to him and your eyes locked. Hope swirled within you and it was stronger than any other emotion. It truly was dangerous.

“Nigeria.”

His brow crooked. “Hm, I've always liked the heat.”

“Let's see if you can take it, white boy,” Jada teased.

They all giggled and you caught a ghost of a smile on Ray's lips and your stomach flipped. Shit, you thought. You didn't need this right now.

“You have your money. Why not just take it and go?”

“I still might but right now I have nowhere I need to be.”

You nodded, hearing the words between his words.

“Let's move.”

You got in the elevator and everyone else piled in after you. Once under the compound you took to the escape tunnel and followed the 2 miles until you climbed back to ground level where the truck waited. After loading the bags, you sped away knowing Razu would have never seen this move coming.

It didn't take long to get to the jet and when you were securely in the air and exiting Mexican airspace you began to breathe more freely. For the first hour or so Ray kept to himself. He didn't speak or interact he just watched everything. It was a strength of his and soothing he'd honed in the services. By the time hour 4 came around Milla, Lyn, and Keturah had pulled him into a card game where they grossly took advantage until he got the hang of it. Then the tides turned in his favor.

Slowly he looked like he was beginning to fit in, and it made you relax a little more. Four and a half hours after takeoff, you were landing toward the coast where you would take a boat to the compound. Being the serviceman he was, Ray constantly checked the perimeter with one hand on his gun and the other hooked in the bulletproof vest he wore. He looked like a fish out of water amongst the backdrop of dessert colored dirt, rocky mountains, and free-roaming elephants, Zebras, and Antelope but at the same time, he looked like he belonged. Perhaps that was wishful thinking.

“Home, oh!”

You looked out to the palatial compound that rivaled the vastness of The Alamo and smiled. While you felt like a caged bird at times you loved being home.

“That is home?”

“Home sweet home,” Lyn added.

“Jesus, who are you people?”

They giggled while you focused on your return. You could already see movement and knew everyone around was gathering. Once the boat docked you unloaded and made your way to the walls. The men on patrol there were starting at Ray like he had three heads.

“Ehm!”

The guards shook out of their stupor and then opened the gate allowing you to enter. As you walked through, they saluted you with the respect you deserved. However, before you made it to the house you heard the murmurs of the arrival of the man you knew you'd have to answer to sooner or later. Everyone around except for you and Ray dropped to one knee while bending one arm at the elbow and clenching a tight fist. Your father's salute. You looked to Ray he was clearly confused but not intimidated.

The 6-and-a-half-foot man approached you with a stern look on his face and dressed like the world's best businessman. When he stood in front of you, Ray still didn't drop to his knee. You didn't know if it was ignorance of who was before him or indifference. If it was indifference, you were highly turned on. As your father eyed you trying to intimidate you into submitting you stood there head high, eyes locked on his not wavering. Your father's eyes shifted to Ray and you took a sidestep to stand in front of him.

“I'm home baba.”

Your father’s eyebrow crooked. “Baba? You still recognize me as your baba? You still recognize me as the leader of this organization?!”

Everyone continued to murmur as they felt the air shift from his anger.

“Of course.”

He scoffed. “I explicitly told you to stay out of the States. I told you that you can't break him out. I told you so many things and they were all ignored by you. All disobeyed!”

“Baba, I couldn't just sit here anymore. I had to.”

He stared at you, eyes still blazing with anger but slowly his features cooled. “You accomplished it too, I am impressed.”

You smiled.

“But what if I would have lost you? What then? Did you plan that far in your elaborate schemes?”

“You raised me and I had my Femme Fetales, how could you lose me?”

He sighed, shook his head then cupped your cheek. “You are of my blood, I don't know why I was surprised. I'm surprised it took you this long.”

You smirked.

“Fine.”

Your Father's eyes shifted back to Ray who was still standing.

“Still standing I see.”

“I bow to no one,” Ray defiantly exclaimed in that nonchalant voice of his.

Your father cocked his brow then laughed heartily. “Is that so?”

“Viper, it's been settled,” one of the men informed bowing his has to your father.

Ray's eyes went wide. “Viper? As in The Viper? The most feared and respected man in the game? The man who is at the top of everyone's wanted list and who has a hand and foot in every country and every market? That viper?”

Your father looked impressed. “And if I was that Viper?”

Ray looked at you then back to your father. “Then you'd have a lot more of my respect.”

He laughed again. “Interesting. Still standing?”

“I told you; I bow to no one.”

Your father smirked. “If you stay here when she takes over I can't wait to see you eat those words.”

He and Ray squared off both stating the other down as if sizing each other up. You knew your father was trying to gauge what kind of a man he was and get a feel of what value he posed. Usually, he was a great judge of character, but you wondered if he’d be biased because of the past, because of what Ray was to you.

“Everyone back to work.”

All the soldiers began walking away clearing the center but when you began to move he spoke again. “Everyone except Ray. We have plenty to talk about.”

You once again leaped in front of Ray shielding him. “No way.”

His eyes dipped down to yours and he mischievously smirked. “Why?”

“Because I know you. To punish me and prove a point you would kill him.”

Your father put his hand over his chest. “You wound me, princess. I promise I won’t kill him much less lay a hand on him. However, if he can’t so little as take a beating then maybe he’s not an asset here.”

“Baba he’s already taken 3 bullets, 2 came close to his heart and lung.”

“And I’ve taken a bullet right in the head and I lived to talk about it and run this empire. Near a lung and heart is child’s play.”

You opened your mouth to counter, but your father’s voice boomed over yours. “Either I talk to him alone now or I will see if he can take a bullet to the head and live. What’s 4 bullets?”

You knew better than to push him. He was your father, and he was soft on you, but he was still in charge. You hated it when he threw his weight around like this. Gritting your teeth, you sidestepped.

“Go and make sure everything is okay with the mission for tomorrow night.”

With one more glance at Ray, then your father you walked off. If Ray was going to survive here he had to learn how to fend for himself. What better opponent to start with than the king himself?

-Ray-

The fucking viper. He’d heard countless stories of this man’s empire. In LA there were plenty of his viper dens, plenty of his people dealing in so much shit. His gambling den was always packed and usually, the place everyone went for information, and that was just one of his businesses. He’d had no idea his reach came this far. Africa. Holy shit, he thought. They’d walked to a more secluded part of the compound, a part that looked like a luxury desert oasis.

He watched Viper sit, pull out something wrapped in brown paper then light it. With one puff came another and another until he was surrounded by white fragrant smoke. He took a deep breath in. It had been a long time since he’d had one of these. With parole checks and shit like that, he had to stay clean of everything.

“Here. Live a little.”

He held a similar one to him. He took it and mirrored his actions until he’d taken one long puff of his own. He groaned long and loud which brought a laugh from the giant’s mouth across from him.

“10 long years without one huh.”

He took in this man in a designer suit, diamonds, and gold. He had no idea you knew The Viper. It dawned on him then that he probably didn’t know anything about you anymore.

“I will give you one piece of advice and a warning all wrapped in one. Never have daughters because they will cripple you worse than any bullet ever could.”

Once he’d said the words it didn’t take him long to piece it together. Daughter.

“Aria is your daughter.”

He nodded. “She didn’t tell you.”

He sighed and took another lengthy puff. “One of many things I’m sure. I’m not surprised anymore.”

“Sounds a lot like animosity.”

He sighed but remained silent. He was bitter—very bitter.

“I’m sorry about your brothers. I know a loss like that—is a serious blow especially not being able to say goodbye.”

He balled his free hand. he’d hit the nail right on the head.

“If I know Aria and I do, she’s already found your snitch and he’ll be gift-wrapped to you by tonight.”

He snapped his eyes to the viper. “What’re you talking about?”

He sighed and blew out a puff of smoke. “I suppose it’s time to come clean.”

A few moments passed in silence, and he waited as patiently as he could.

“12 years ago I knew the moment you met, and I knew from that moment every move either of you made. I knew every secret rendezvous, every phone call, text message, every mini heist, every small job, every crazy scheme, and plan. Aria had no clue I knew and though I was leery about you, hell any man who wanted my daughter’s attention. She’s my only child and the future of this empire. But I like to give her small freedoms, so I let her live, I let her think she was living this secret life and I kept watch as the two of you fell in love—to my complete dislike. Of all people, a white boy oh.”

He kissed his teeth, then sighed. “I thought—hoped it would be young love, a fling, but I knew the night she shielded you from that vato, we’d move way past that.”

His interest was piqued but his gut rolled as if he knew he wouldn’t like what came next.

“The night of that lift off the PerriP crew I had my most trusted guys watching her. I knew the deeper in she got with you the more risk she would take. So when the shit hit the fan and you guys figured out there was a snitch you got cornered. They reported it to me, and I relayed my orders. Get her out at all costs.”

He paused again to take another drag from the substance lit between his fingers.

“When you told her to run, and you decided to burn yourself to save her I knew she would have stayed right there with you no matter what. You got separated it wasn’t because she actually ran. my men came in and sedated her to get her out.”

Everything felt like it collapsed then, his vision went tunnel, heart pounded painfully and loudly.

“What!?”

“My men followed my orders and when she came to, she killed several good men in an effort to get back to you. Of course, I couldn’t allow that. Within 2 hours, she was on the jet back here.”

As his heart thudded more painfully he pressed his hand over it. All this time, he thought.

“For the last 10 years, she’s been forbidden from making contact, forbidden from stepping foot in the States, forbidden from doing anything that he didn’t approve of. She hated my order and rebelled like hell. For years she hated me. I’m sure she still hates me for it, but I knew without a doubt that she would have served that stint with you. As her father, I couldn’t allow that.”

In the span of five minutes, his entire world had shifted. Everything he believed was flipped.

“You may resent me for it but, even knights are meant to be sacrificed for the queen.”

He met your father’s eyes and saw aloofness. He didn’t look remorseful, but he could see something that he thought was close. He wasn’t sorry nor did he regret his decisions, but he felt badly.

“Since the day she landed here, she’s been keeping tabs on you. She knew about your life on the inside and kept her ears to the ground so she knew when to step in if she had to. She was the reason you only served 10 instead of the 20 they wanted to give you. She wanted to break you out, but I wouldn’t allow it because that move would jeopardize my empire because of all the moving parts and people in law enforcement and government it would have taken. I don’t like to cash in debts.”

As your father spoke he sat there thinking about the last 10 to 12 years of his life. The happy years with you then the darkness of the last 10.

“She knew about your heist plan, knew about Donnie but she let it play out because she had a bigger plan. She managed to be one step ahead of everything and executed her plans seamlessly. She went against me and my orders and put the entire den in jeopardy just to step in and save you. She did all this for one man.”

He sounded as if he were in disbelief.

“Were you worth it?”

He scoffed. Was he?

“I see a lot of myself in you. Your ferocity, brains, drive, creativity, and foresight, I see so much potential for you here. I’m impressed with what you can offer the den. I always have been. Now that she’s gone through all this effort it is clear to me that how she felt then never died, it lives still. The proof has always been clear to me though I was reluctant to accept it. She is my princess, and no one is worthy of her. However, it’s become time for me to step aside and let her choose who stands beside her. I’ll offer you a spot in my empire, a place in the Den of Vipers, but the role is up Aria.”

He couldn’t believe his ears. All these years, all this time. Everything he’d thought was real wasn’t, everything was wrong. Your father stood then patted him on his shoulders.

“Take some time to think about it. Let me know when you’ve decided.”

With that, he walked off leaving him sitting there in this oasis with a head full of thoughts and a heart aching in more ways than one.

-Aria-

It had been nearly 2 hours now. What the fuck could they be talking about for so long? Being home you were supposed to be at ease but during your soak in the tub, you hadn't felt any ease. You were as tense and worried as ever. Not even half a bottle of rum had helped. You paced your room in your mid-thigh length robe as you thought about your options. Your father was pissed with you but you knew he wouldn't be too harsh. If you interrupted whatever they were doing he wouldn't punish you for it.

With your mind made up you flung your door open the gasped seeing Ray standing on the other side. Immediately he took your breath away. Mere hours ago, his eyes still held anger and mistrust in them. Now they were softer. What in the world had happened?

“Uh…what’re you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

You crooked your brow. Now he wanted to talk? Without waiting for your reply, Ray walked into your bedroom leaving you stunned. He couldn’t wait to get away from you before, now he was barging into the viper's den. After closing the door, you cautiously walked in. Ray was at the window scanning the perimeter. When he turned his eyes roamed over you taking in your attire. When he realized how little you had on, he turned his head then breathed out heavily.

“How did you find me?”

“I asked.”

“And everyone was so willing to give you, an outsider, the location of--.”

“The next Viper in line to rule?”

You took him in. Your father had told him.

“Your father must have given me the green light around here,” he said.

“What? After 1 conversation? What in the hell did you talk about? Did he pull a gun on you?”

“Nope. He gave me some weed.”

You gaped then shook your head because it sounded like something your father would do. “So, he gave you weed then approved your access, and bam here you are.”

“10 years of secrets. Don’t you think it’s time to come clean?”

You studied him for a few moments then sat at the foot of your bed.

“What’re you talking about?”

“I did 10 years for you. The least you could do is be honest.”

“You keep saying that like I made you take the fall, like--.”

“Like you didn’t leave me?”

“Ray you told me to run. I did!”

“Yeah, you did. You ran never looked back then disappeared.”

You pinched your nose bridge then pressed across your forehead. He had no idea.

“If I looked back I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave. I knew that we’d both get caught and then we’d both be fucked. I wanted to go back so bad Ray. I knew I could convince my father to plan a jailbreak for you before any sentencing even happened but then some of my father’s men grabbed me and the next thing I knew I was on a plane halfway across the ocean. I tried to get back. I swear I did but--.”

“Even knights are meant to be sacrificed for the queen,” Ray said in such a way that an eerie feeling washed over you.

He’d talked to your father. Those were his exact words to you when you tried to plead your case to go back for Ray or even plan a jailbreak. He’d told him everything.

“He told you.”

“Yeah, he told me.”

“And you’re still angry with me? Why?”

“There is nothing and no one that could keep me away from you. All it took was daddy’s words for you to give up on me.”

You sprang to your feet then, anger bubbling in your gut. “You don’t know my father. He would have killed you just so you weren’t a distraction for me anymore. I stayed away to keep you alive. I didn’t give up on shit. All these years I’ve been watching. All these years I’ve been trying to keep you safe. Do you have any fucking idea how exhausted I am?!”

“I don’t need your fucking protection Aria! I didn’t then and I don’t now! I—I fucking needed you!”

Your eyes were locked on his, jaw tight as a slew of emotions swirled within you. Ray was the kind of man who was quiet but expressive. When you were together those 2 years he wasn’t overtly expressive about his feelings. What he didn’t say in words, he said in plenty of other ways. However, when he used words he always took your breath away. Now, today was no different.

Slowly you watched his eyes fill with something else other than anger. Something—heart-wrenching.

“I needed you on visiting days. I needed you at nights. I needed you in the depressing darkness of the hole. I needed you in every fight, every attempt someone made to prove I was weak. I needed to know I still had you.”

Ray turned from you and looked out of the window again. Your tears fell from your eyes, and it hit you then. Yes, he was angry with you, but he was angrier at the situation you found yourselves in. Where you’d had 10 years to accept the shit, he’d just had it all flung at him. Ray’s shoulders were slouched, hanging low as if he now had all the world’s weight on them.

You wanted to touch him, but you were scared he’d shrug you off. So, you kept your distance but after a few minutes the urge became too strong, and you slowly crossed the room until you stood right behind him. Raising your hand, it took forever to close the space to his shoulder. When you laid your hand on his skin, he didn’t move or lash out.

“I felt like such a fucking fool to have burned myself for you. I took you disappearing as you proving how untrue you were that you didn’t mean anything you said. I hated you so much. I wished such horrible things on you but with every horrible wish, I felt worse and worse. I hated myself and--.”

You dipped under one of his arms that were pressed on the windowpane and came face to face with him. Holding his face in your hands you found the last of your courage.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered.

Ray raised his eyes and peered into your tear-filled ones. You repeated the words you’d wanted to say for years. You said them again and again and with each apology Ray melted. The tension in his shoulders crumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Ray croaked out.

It was your turn to melt. Within seconds of those words escaping his lips, you both crashed into one another, lips colliding for the first time in a decade. You’d often wondered if this was possible after everything, and if it were, how would it happen. Would it be slow and tender, teasing, and hesitant? It was neither. Ray kissed you with a hardness that wasn’t there 10 years ago. He kissed you as if he loved you and hated you all at once like he wanted to suck the very air from your lungs to have a piece of you with him always or to kill you so no one could ever have you. His kiss was delightful and torture, familiar but foreign.

Your lips and tongues wrestled never remaining still for long. He swirled his around yours, and you sucked his until he groaned. When Ray pressed your back against the window the hardness of his body made you whimper. This was the body of a fully grown man, not some young adult. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer. In response, Ray dipped down and lifted you into the air so you could wrap your legs around his waist.

All of this was muscle memory. Your body never forgot him. How could it? He’d been your first in so many things. You bit down on his bottom lip dragging a fierce groan from him. Ray pressed into you giving you the first feel of his hardness.

“Fuck!”

Like a command received, Ray quickly yanked open your robe then cupped your breasts. His hands were rough, calloused, and larger than you remember. Using his thumbs he flicked your hardened nipples sending jolts of pleasure through you that settled in your core and turned to molten lava.

“Now! I can’t wait anymore,” you rushed out in between kisses.

Ray must have felt the same urgency because he released your breasts then lowered his hands to fumble with his pants. As he freed himself then kicked the pants off they went across the room and banged into one of the lamps bringing it clattering to the floor. With the room in half darkness, Ray locked eyes with you and a second later he split you in half sending his large, thick cock to the hilt.

“Aah! Fuck!”

Ray shuddered as he pressed his forehead to your collar. When he pulled back he rammed himself inside of you again making you throw your head back into the window.

“Ugh!”

His thrusts started slow and punishing. Each quick flick of his hips sent a powerful message that both your brain and body received. You held on to him afraid he’d disappear and you’d realize this was yet another dream. His hands tightened around your hips then he moved you against him, so he was directing his hardness into you the way he wanted, the speed he wanted. Every time he sank into you, your body shook, and goosebumps peppered your skin.

Soon, you both were panting, grunting, and groaning as you fucked right in front of the window not caring who could see. He turned, leaning his back on the wall as he locked eyes with where your bodies were joined.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Uuuugh!”

“Fuck me, Ray. Fuck me!”

That was just what he did. His thrusts were unrelenting, his power all-encompassing and with every minute your pleasure became so intense you knew you would break in half once you came. Ray tightened his grip then moved you more forcefully against him losing all control. The veins in his neck protruded as he lost himself to the pleasure you were sure he could only find with you.

You felt him walking across the room then your positioning changed as he sat you on top of him.

“Take all this dick, Aria!”

He slapped your ass, and it was all the encouragement you needed. You planted your hands on his shoulder then slowly lifted your body up only to slide back down. He felt so good. Ray dropped his head back and closed his eyes. Every time he almost slipped from your heat he bit down on his bottom lip. Then when you sank down on him his nose scrunched. Soon you were bouncing on him using the power and skill of your hips and ass.

Ray gripped your derriere, spread your cheeks then thrust up.

“Mmm!”

That one thrust unlocked something inside of you, something rabid and primal. Raising onto your feet you bounced on him increasing your speed until sweat rolled down your bodies. You pressed your lips to his and kissed him with as much heat as you felt within. It was heat he returned.

“Mm, I’ve missed your tight little pussy.”

Locking eyes with him you bit his bottom lip. “Show me.”

Ray stood, pulled you off him then pushed you over the chair so your ass was propped up like a gift for him. Without warning he slammed into you making you fling your head back. Ray’s hand wrapped around your throat as he held you in the position you were in. With your back arched creating a ‘u’ shape along your spine he lowered his lips to your upside-down ones and kissed you senseless. When he pulled his lips from yours he fucked into you with reckless abandon. Every stroke make you shout his name and every time you did he only fucked you harder and harder.

In no time at all you were seeing stars and your body was begging for mercy. You didn’t dare listen though. When you felt his teeth sinking into your shoulder you screamed from the pain but your body convulsed from the pleasure.

“Still like a little pain with your pleasure huh.”

Ray pulled from your body. You turned to him on shaky legs and peered at him through lust-clouded eyes. He hoisted you into the air again then slid you down on his length. Again you kissed him as he began his torturous pleasure all over again. When you tasted copper, you pulled back to realize you’d bitten his lip and drawn blood. Ray smirked then slammed you into a wall and jackhammered into you.

“Yes!”

“Is this still my pussy, Aria?”

“Yes.”

“Do I still own it?”

“Yes!”

“Ah, ah, ah!”

With each thrust, you could feel his body shaking. He was close and you wanted everything from him. You were tired of the last 10 years of longing. You wanted everything now.

“I love you, Ray.”

His brow quirked then his face scrunched and that was when you felt him release deep inside of you. It was a release that triggered yet another orgasm from you and brought darkness with it as your body exploded.

When you opened your eyes you were in your bed naked and sore.

“What the--.”

“Welcome back.”

Beside the bed, Ray sat just as naked as you. It all came back then, and you couldn’t hide the smile that spread across your face.

“Was I too rough?”

You glanced at his chest and saw the blood soaking the bandages. You jerked up. “What happened?”

“I’m fine. Some of the stitches popped.”

You slowly looked around the room and saw everything was in disarray. Lamps were broken on the floor, sheets and clothes littered everywhere, broken glass and furniture were here and there, and blood was smeared on some of the walls and your body.

You snorted, “Just like old times I see.”

Ray smirked.

“I’m sorry,” Ray began.

“Don’t. Let’s stop with the apologies here and now. No more. We missed so much time, so much was missed out on. I don’t want to miss it anymore. I don’t want to keep going like this Ray. I can’t. I miss you so fucking much I can’t breathe. I’ve loved you for 12 years and I don’t see it ever changing.”

Ray walked over to you, his hard cock bobbing in the air. Once beside the bed, he took your hands and raised you to your knees so you were in front of him. When his hand cupped your cheek you melted.

“This is the second time I’ve lost everything. Now I have nothing else, and I don’t want to lose you again. I can’t.”

His hand slid to the back of your neck to cup your skull. “I have loved you since I was 20 years old. A decade later not a damn thing has changed. I will love you for the rest of my life.”

Your tear slipped from your eye and Ray’s thumb swiped it away.

“Do you mean that? Do you forgive me?”

“I mean it.”

Rau brought your face closer and gazed deeper into your eyes.

“‘Till the end Imma ride wit’ you. There’s nothing to forgive.”

You scrunched your face and tried to contain yourself. “Ray,” you whispered, voice full of emotion.

“Tell me again,” he pleased.

You pressed your forehead to his. “I love you Ray Merrimen. “I got you. ‘Till the end Imma ride wit’ you.”

He smiled and then pulled you into a searing kiss, a kiss that revived your very heart and set your soul on fire. This man was all you wanted and all you would ever need.

“Your father offered me a spot here. He said the role is up to you though.

You held your breath waiting for him to finish.

“I want it. So tell me what role you want me to have?”

“You cupped his bearded jaw.

“I want you next to me.”

He smiled then slowly nodded.

“As your knight?”

You pulled him closer.

“As the king in my den because every queen needs a king.”

Ray laid you down then climbed on top of you ready to make you blackout again but a knock on your door stopped him.

“What?”

“It’s here,” Uki’s voice sounded.

You smiled. “I got you a present.”

“What present?”

“Come.”

The two of you dressed, you in your robe and Ray only in his pants. He didn’t even bother cleaning up the blood off his skin. you like it, he looked fierce. Once you made it outside to the center of the compound, the men had gathered. You glanced at Uki who smirked and nodded at you clearly knowing what had gone down and that Ray would now be a permanent face around here.

“What’s going on?”

“Consider this your welcome present. A token of my undying love.”

The men parted to reveal someone kneeling in the center with a burlap bag over their head. Ray looked at you with confusion.

“Open your present, my king.”

Ray approached the body then yanked off the burlap and came face to face with Donnie. When Donnie looked up at him the terror in his eyes faded.

“Ray—Ray help me. What the fuck is going on?”

Ray looked back at you, and you smiled wider nodding at him. You approached and stood beside him.

“Who’s this?”

“The Viper.”

Donnie’s eyes widened. You loved when your family’s reputation preceded you.

“Fuck, wha—wha—.”

“Shh. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I have no quarrel with you. It’s him you have to worry about.”

Donnie looked at Ray again. You leaned forward to Donnie’s ear.

“He knows what you did. He knows everything you did,” you whispered.

Donnie now looked horrified. You smiled when you stood upright again then laughed.

“Ray look man don’t listen to her. She’s lying. I didn’t have anything to do with any of that. Shit just went south. I don’t know how Nick knew about the heist. I don’t know how the money went missing.”

“How did you know the money went missing if everyone who knew that is dead?”

Donnie stuttered at Ray’s question. He’d given himself away.

“Fuck. I’m sorry man. I just--.”

“Shhh,” you repeated. “What was it that you like to say—oh right. You’re in complete control of your environment?”

He looked like he was ready to piss himself. You smirked deviously. “Guess what. You’re in my environment. You always have been in my environment. My den sees and hears everything.”

Ray stared at Donnie with so much anger that you wondered how he’d handle this. Donnie was the reason his brothers were dead. He looked at you.

“Whatever you want,” you said.

Ray nodded then kissed you sloppily making you moan. He then pressed his forehead to yours.

“Gun.”

You repeated the order and took the gun that was given to you to hand to Ray. Donnie then began pleading using every slick word he could find to plead with Ray not to do it.

“I’ll get you the money back.”

“How can you give something you don’t have? I took the money back already.”

Donnie dropped to the ground realizing he had nothing left.

“You got my brothers killed. Do you know what happens to those dropped in a viper’s den?”

“Ray man please.”

“They get bit!”

You watched as Ray released bullet after bullet into Donnie. He didn’t stop until the bullets stopped and the gun clicked over and over and over, and Donnie lay dead on the ground. He dropped his head back and stared into the night sky.

“It’s done. Rest up brothers,” Ray said into the night.

You looked up and saw Razu standing across the way. his eyes wide and jaw clenched tight. You smiled then wrapped yourself around Ray who wrapped his arm possessively around you.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I mean it Aria. You’ve done so much. Thank you.”

You touched his cheek and then kissed him. “I told you. I got you. ‘Till the end Imma ride wit’ you.”

Ray pressed his lips to your forehead then the two of you turned to go back inside.

“Aria! I challenge you and that white abomination!”

You smirked and took the gun Uki handed to you, ever prepared for the shit that could rise. You turned, took aim, and shot quicker than he could realize what had happened. Your shot rang true sending the bullet dead center in Razu’s head.

“Spies and traitors don’t have the right to challenge. Uki will show you all the man Razu was.

She pressed a button on her wrist and the screens around played Razu’s dirty dealings within the den. Everyone whispered words of admonishment as they spat at and on Razu’s dead body.

“Let it be known that as of today I am his, and he is mine. If anyone objects speak now.”

Not a soul spoke and from the corner of your eye, you saw your father standing high above it all watching the events unfold. You held his gaze for a few moments and caught the smile on his lips. He nodded then pressed a kiss to his fingertips and sent it your way. His approval. It was 12 years later but better late than never.

Once you’d returned to your bedroom and ravaged each other thoroughly, you both laid there staring at each other both afraid to sleep for fear it was all a dream. Ray reached out and caressed your cheek.

“I promise to be loyal to you, to love you, and always come back for you.”

You smiled. “I promise to be loyal to you, love you and always come back for you.”

He rolled onto you and captured your lips.

“This is forever, Aria.”

“Forever.”

~End~

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

[doingitforbokuto]

The White Knight - Chapter Four

-> KNIGHT!KITA SHINSUKE X PRINCESS!READER

-> Previous Chapter

-> Series Masterlist

Summary: A relationship between a knight and a princess is impossible, so it is best to just keep the emotions hidden.. but what happens if you can't?

Words: 3,262

Warnings: none

Kita's Point Of View

His breathing was hard as he walked to the edge of the training area. Putting his practice sword down, he tried to catch his breath.

“That was really good, Sir Kita,” the knight he had been training with said. He was his second training partner that day, the first one had already exhausted himself more than an hour ago. He should be tired too, but Kita could not feel the exhaustion in his bones. All he could feel was his heart beating against his ribcage, where he could still feel your hands pushing his armor against him, making his heart beat even faster. Even after hours and hours of training, the only thing on his mind was you - the one thing he was trying to stop thinking about.

“I think that's enough for today,” the other knight said as he gathered his things.

“Really?” Kita looked up at him. He had hoped for another round or two of sparring.

The other knight laughed. “Everyone else has already left for dinner and I'm not gonna miss it.” He shouldered his bag as he left. “You should pack up, too!”

Sighing, Kita looked up at the sky. It was getting dark and if he didn't hurry up, there would probably not be any food left in the knights’ dining hall. Of course, he could go into town and buy some food by himself, but he really did not feel like having to deal with all of the lowlifes that came out at night, streaming into taverns all over town.

“So, what's going on with you, hm?”

Osric's figure appeared out of nowhere, his hand suddenly on Shinsuke's shoulder. The fact that he hadn't even noticed him coming along was a tell-tale sign that he was much more exhausted than he knew or wanted to admit to himself. He wanted to keep going. To try and distract himself, stop himself from going down the road he was currently on.

“Nothing's wrong.” He shrugged Osric's hand off and started to gather his things into his bag as well. They knew each other for long enough that Kita was certain that there was no way in hell his friend would leave him alone now. Better to pack up and leave then.

"Oh, really? Is that why I hear you've been training for four hours without a break?”

Kita huffed in response. He really was not in the mood to talk.

“Hey!” Osric's hand grabbed his arm with more force than Kita expected. “This isn't like you.” His eyes bore into Kita’s. “Remember when we first met and I was overworking myself? You almost locked me into my room to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid. And now you're doing it yourself! What the hell is going on with you? I've never seen you like this!”

Osric was right and Kita knew it. They had met years ago, when they had both just been knighted. Osric was working tirelessly to improve his skills and become a better knight. But as he was training and training, he was overworking himself. Kita was the one who had forced him to realize that there had to be a balance between working and relaxing, that breaks were just as important in becoming a better fighter as the training was. Ever since then, the two of them had gotten closer and every time they met, Osric was happy to catch up with his old friend, telling him all kinds of stories that made Kita laugh. So Osric knew what Kita was like. And that he would never behave like this if something wasn't seriously wrong.

“It's the princess, isn't it?” Osric's grip on his upper arm softened and so did his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Kita crossed his arms, forcing the other man to let go completely.

“Look, Shinsuke,” he started. There were few people who addressed him like this. Unlike Osric, Kita preferred to be referred to by his last name. The other knight wasn't so “uptight” (in his own words) and had soon after meeting Kita decided that addressing him so informally was appropriate, without even asking. Weirdly enough, Shinsuke could not find himself to care. He actually enjoyed it and found himself wanting to befriend the young knight.

Talking to Osric was refreshing. His other friends were scattered all over the country and none of them were knights, so having one who understood what he was going through was nice. Now it seemed that he understood what was happening in his life more than he would like.

Osric looked around the empty courtyard before he kept talking quietly. “Look, I know what it's like to have feelings for someone you shouldn't.. but there is nothing you can do about it. Trust me. It's not going anywhere, no matter how much you want it to, no matter how much you train and exhaust yourself. The only thing that you're going to do is hurt yourself and if you're not in good shape you won't be able to protect her the way that you're supposed to. Is that truly what you want?”

No. Actually, that was the last thing he wanted. But what other choice did he have? How else could he possibly live through his days, by your side, in agony because he could never truly be the man by your side? Soon, you would get married. Your husband was the man by your side, Kita was just your knight, someone who was supposed to stay in the background and support you silently.

“How do you do it?” Kita’s voice was just a whisper and he couldn't even bear to look Osric in the eyes. No one was supposed to know about this. But if Osric knew, did someone else? What was he supposed to do? How could he stop this dangerous behavior?

“I just.. think about her. And what is best for her. That's what loving someone is all about, isn't it? It gives me the strength to do what is right.” His friend paused for a moment. “It gets better.”

Kita raised his head to look at him. “So these feelings do go away?”

Osric shook his head. “No. But they get easier to hide. You'll get through this. I know you will. There is no one more loyal or disciplined than you.”

His words haunted Kita even as he laid his head to rest on his pillow that night. His discipline was in fact something that he had always prided himself on. Never had he been the best at swordsmanship, never been the one with the longest endurance or the fastest runner. But he had always been someone who pushed himself to never give up. Even if he failed, he kept working on his skills.

He got up every day and made his bed. He kept his body clean, polished his armor. He attended his regular training sessions and endured pain during battle without losing his head. Yes, he was a very disciplined young man. Or at least he had been up until very recently.

But how could he call himself disciplined when he couldn't stop staring at you when you weren't looking? Whenever he was around you these days, his eyes wandered on their own from your hair to your beautiful face, over the only pair of lips that could speak the words that would relieve him from his suffering. His eyes wandered down over your neck, your shoulders and arms to the hands whose touch felt almost healing when they had pushed against his chest. Hands that had ignited a deep, hidden desire inside of him.

He felt ashamed to even admit that he was having these feelings but he did, there was no way around it. Of course he had been interested in other women before he had met you but they hadn't been his princess. To him, you were larger than life, you were the person that he had pledged himself to and in turn, every action of his was supposed to benefit you. The thoughts in his head were anything but.

Now, he was laying in his bed, thinking back to your hands on his chest. In his head, he imagined them sliding over his shoulders and onto his back. Nuzzling his face into his pillow, he imagined how it would feel to be held by you, to lean his face onto your neck, your cheek, as your hands caress his back, fingers running through his hair. To be granted such a soft, tender touch by your hand must be what heaven feels like. Any touch that you were willing to grant him, he would take gratefully. You could slap him across the face and all that he would want to do would be to kiss the hand that touched him. Even if he could never be loved by you, he could be by your side. Every day, he had the opportunity to see your face, smell your scent, hear your voice. That was more than he had ever deserved and he would work hard to protect you, until the end of his days.

In the beginning, he wanted to serve you for a different reason. A heavy weight was on his shoulders and it hadn't lifted yet, a heavy guilt that he tried to erase by helping you. He still felt as guilty about his past as he did back then but now, that didn't matter anymore. He did not protect you for his own consciousness anymore, he did it because he wanted you to live on. Safe and happy. Even if he wasn't the one to make you happy he could be the one to make sure you would live to meet that person.

—

Your Point Of View

Another night was passing in which you were unable to find any sleep. For the past ten days, you had been nothing but exhausted. You barely left your room except for the occasional stroll through the gardens and the meals with your family. You barely spoke to anyone, didn't even meet up with Alysane like you used to.

After what had happened at the garden party, all you wanted to do was go to your room and rest. But when your back hit the mattress, peace was as far away from you as it ever had been. The thoughts running through your head were all over the place - from fear to bad memories of death to anger towards your father to confusion and hurt when it came to Kita's actions.

You could not comprehend what happened in the hallway that day, even after pondering it for hours and hours on end. Why did he leave you alone so suddenly? Well, he did not actually leave you alone but he did back off, stopped supporting you like you wanted, needed him to. His touch had been the one thing keeping you grounded and gave you a sense of security you had almost forgotten even existed. Why would he take that away from you? Had he not told you that it was his duty to take care of you, to protect you from whatever harm may come your way? Still, he left you! Could he not see how much this fear was crippling you? Perhaps he was afraid that you might think that he was feeling something for you that he wasn't. Or was he scared that you might reciprocate the feelings that he did have for you?

Well, that thought was ridiculous. Never would you think of him, your knight, like that. It wasn't appropriate of you to think of him romantically, so you didn't - and he should know that. He was simply a protector to you. You only thought of him as someone who was loyal. Strong. Kind. Caring.

You did not think of how his broad chest felt underneath your palms or how it moved with every breath that he took. You did not think of that one time you saw him train. How the very same chest that you touched heaved as he was catching his breath, his hair a gorgeous mess that was sticking to his sweaty forehead. You did not think about that, at all, no. Only sometimes did you think of how his golden eyes looked in the sunlight. Almost never did you think about his hands. How they had grabbed you when you were about to fall. How they supported your waist and held you upright with a strength unknown to you until then. It felt almost sinful to think of how rough his palm felt pressed against your cheek and how gentle his touch still was despite the callouses adorning his skin. How he cradled your head so carefully, like you were the most precious thing in the world. And you certainly never thought about how close his thumb had been to your mouth. How easy it would have been for you to turn your head.. just a little bit.. until his fingertip touched your lips..

You groaned into your pillow. Hopefully that would muffle it enough for no one else to hear it. What were you getting yourself into? Grabbing your pillow, you pressed it harder into your face. Just then, your hand brushed against something laying underneath your pillow: a handkerchief. The one Shinsuke - Kita - had given to you in the garden. The one that still smelled like him, even after you had cleaned it. You had wanted to give it back, you really did. But somehow, you found yourself holding it up to your nose when you could not find any rest. Late at night, when you were scared and tired, you just let yourself be surrounded by his smell as it lulled you into a few short hours of sleep.

Slowly, you pulled out the cloth and turned onto your side as you brought it up to your face. Tonight, it would not be helping to fall asleep, you could already tell. The thought of him only made your heart beat faster and your mind race. It only made you think more of his hand when it held out the handkerchief to you. And thinking of his hand made you think of his grip on your waist and your arm. It made you think of how it would feel to have his hands move across your skin, your body.. mapping out the curves of your figure.. cradling your face gently while he -

“Argh!” You crumpled up the handkerchief and threw it as far across the room as you could. This was bad. Very bad. You had to do something about this - before it got too bad.

—

The next day you felt the rare urge to leave your room. After a quick breakfast, you took the opportunity to leave with a knight other than Kita. Since it was still early in the morning, the night guard was still on duty and Kita wasn't supposed to be here for another hour, giving you enough time to enjoy a few breaths of fresh air without feeling his presence around you all the time. Especially after the road your thoughts had taken last night you did not feel like you could face him. Just the thought of his eyes looking at you made your cheeks heat up and the butterflies in your belly started stirring. It would be best to get out of here and distract yourself as quickly as possible. Hurriedly, you threw your coat on and left your room.

The crisp air felt refreshing as you stepped out into the sunlight and reveled in the peaceful atmosphere around you. Everyone else was either still asleep or getting ready for the day so you had the outside all to yourself. This really was a good idea, you thought to yourself as you let the few rays of sunshine that came through the trees warm your face. Though you were enjoying these few moments, you did not have a lot of time left. You wanted to avoid Kita, so you had to be back in your room before he came around.

When you reached your room a bit later, you told the other knight to go and find your maid for you. Later today, you wanted to take a bath and knew that it would take more than one maid to heat up the water and fill up the tub so it was best to let them know ahead of time so that they could prepare and gather everyone needed.

The knight did not want to leave you, even though you urged him that you would be safe and sound in your room. Thankfully, just a moment later he spotted your maid at the end of the hallway.

“I'll go tell her,” he finally agreed since he would just be down the hallway. No one could get into your room without him noticing.

Relieved, you reached for your pocket where you always kept the key to your room so you could unlock it. It was a motion you had made a million times already since you had made it a habit to lock your room after an incident a few years ago where a few men snuck into your room and stole your jewelry. But this time around, your pocket was empty. Did you lose the key? You patted down all of your pockets but could not feel it anywhere. Luckily, there was a backup key so it wasn't that much of an issue if you really had lost it. There was a different problem, though: This second key was safe and sound with the one person you did not wish to have to talk to today - Kita, of course. When you had decided that you could trust him, you had given him the spare key so that if he needed to, he could get into your room or if you locked yourself out, like now, the other key would be right by your side. But the embarrassment of having to not only face Kita right now but also have to tell him that you had done something so stupid.. it was too much to bear.

Today, you truly were all over the place. Losing your key, rushing out like that in the morning; you hadn't even put your hair up like you usually did.. then, a thought struck you: In your rush, did you even lock the door?

Hesitantly you reached out to the door handle, praying that it was unlocked and - Thank God! - it was. You let out a sigh of relief, throwing one last look down the hallway. The knight was still chatting with the maid, probably sharing some gossip, like you knew she loved to do, and Kita was nowhere to be seen. Thank God you made it back to your room before he came along!

You slipped into your room and threw the door close, not bothering to look at the door as you took your coat off. Instead, you were already eying the table. Was that where you had left your key? Just as you reached the table and put down your coat, you heard it - the unmistakable sound of a key turning in a lock.

With one motion, you turned around and stared at the familiar face of the man in front of your door as he slid the key into his pocket with one hand and pressed his pointer finger of his other hand to his lips, warning you to stay quiet.

-> Next Chapter

[minminho0]

✤------------------------------------------✤

◈Forgotten◈

✤------------------------------------------✤

<Kunikuzushi/Scaramocuhe x Reader>

-Angst ~ fluff?

Gender: Female

Summary: You were Kuni's childhood best friend but after the incident, he suddenly disappeared and you slowly forgot about him until you dont know what he looked and sound like.

Warnings: death, stalking, ghosted, fire, bad decision (thats all i think)

A/n: Feel free to correct my grammar!

Kunikuzushi>>>other versions of him

i hope you enjoy~!

--

"Oh! Im sorry!"

Someone said while lending me a hand.

"Huh?" I looked up and saw a cute little boy with a worried expression painted on his beautiful face. I held his hand and he helped me up. He was really adorable that you cant help but blush a little.

"Im really sorry!! I didn't know where i was going!"

"Oh no- dont apologize! I didn't look where i ws going to!" I said while scratching the back of my head.

"Oh! Let me help you pick that up" helping him pick up the boxes that fell down when you two bumped into eachother

When you two are done picking the box up and giving it to the customer, you asked him to be your friend.

You learned that he's name was Kunikuzushi

After that day you two became very close.

You two are practically attached to the hip!

He's really shy and kind of timid but its ok you can work with it! (>>>>>>>>>>>)

He's so amazing that you even formed a little crush on him.

"And they live happily ever after!"

"Kuni, when will we get our own happily ever after?"

"I dont know maybe when we grew old?"

"But what if we didn't"

"Then maybe in our next life?"

"Ehhhhh"

He helped you anyway he can and ofc you helped him too.

Your crush on him grew day by day that you feel like your heart is going to explode.

"Umm..Kuni i want to tell you something"

"Oh sure!"

You lead him somewhere noone can hear you two.

"Kuni..i really like you.."

"Me too! I really like you too! Youre a good friend!"

"Oh- no-"

Before i can correct him, someone called onto him and he suddenly left not before saying bye.

You felt your heart deflate.

You were so sad but you cant blame him since hes kind of dense.

.

.

.

One day you smell smoke coming from outside. You came out only to be greeted by Kuni's house burning.

You looked around and saw no signs of him.

You were about to go inside the burning house but your mother pulled you aside.

.

.

.

You really dont know what was going on but all you know is that Kuni is nowhere to be seen and Hes been gone for weeks now.

After the accident, you asked everyone in the village if they have seen Kuni around but no luck.

.

Its been a few months now and youre still searching for him.

Your heart yearned for him. You miss his voice, looks, and everything you miss him so much.

.

.

.

Years has passed since you last seen him.

You were slowly healing from his sudden lost of contact.

Its was a long journey, youve been trying to search for him for so long but all in vain.

You decided to just give up and move on with life.

Along the journey, you met someone Kazuha.

You learned that he likes to travel around and you decided to tag along since why not.

You slowly forget about Kuni along your journey and was slowly replaced by your new found crush, Kazuha.

.

.

.

You were walking around Inazuma when you suddenly felt like you were being watched, you turned around and saw people just minding their own business.

When you turned back around, you suddenly bumped into someone.

"Ah-! Im so sorry!!" You said while looking up

You saw that the young lad have a very familiar face, cute pair of eyes and beautiful indigo hair.

"Do i know you?" You mumbled.

"Tch. No and watch where your going next time."he said walking past me.

"Huh-" before you can say anything, he already dissapeard from your sight.

.

.

.

After that encounter you cant stop thinking about him, he just look so familiar.

"Y/N!"

"Huh-"

"Ah finally ive been calling you for the past minute. Is somethign bothering you?"

"Idk kazuha...I met someone a while ago that looks oddly familar.."

.

.

Ever since that day you feel like you were being watched. Every where you go, you cant get this feeling off. Even if you go to other lands you just keep feeling like you were being followed.

One night, you decided to go walk through the forest which is a very bad idea since you got attack by some treasure hoarders.

Before you could get hit, someone appeared Between you and the hoarder.

"Huh?" You looked up and saw that familar indigo hair facing his back at you.

He quickly deafeted all the treasure hoarders.

"H-hey! Thank you for saving me" you yelled.

"Tch." Then he dissapeard.

"Y/n! Where are you!?"

"Y/n! Are you ok!?"

"Huh kazuha? What are you doing here?"

"Thats not important right now are you ok!?"

"Ah ye.."

.

.

.

Years later

You and kazuha finally grew old.

Alot has happened since then.

You two sacrificed alot for the future that you two are experiencing now.

Kazuha finally retired fron travelling around.

You two got married after 5 years of dating.

The traveller have finally returned into their own world, it was sad but every journey has its end.

That feeling of being watched is still there tho youre finally used to it, so you dont really mind.

Even tho you grew old you were still protected by that same indigo hair guy.

You never saw his face nor did you hear him speak, you also dont know his name since he always dissapears when his job is done.

.

Here you are on your death bed.

You got a deadly disease that dosent have a cure.

Kazuha is holding your hand crying knowing that youll die any minute now.

You were tired.

You want to sleep.

Before you close your eyes forever, you told kazuha that youre thankful for him and wished that he wouldn't join you in the afterlife soon.

At the corner of your eye you saw him.

The same man who protected you all those years.

You finally saw his face.

His face is painted with sorrow and anger.

But not at you tho.

You looked at him and smiled and mouthed the word 'thank you'

As you took your last breath and closed your eyes, a single tear run down your face, smiling knowing that youve done everything you wanted to do.

Every journey has it end and you finally got yours.

.

.

.

When Kazuha finally left the room, Kuni approached you and gently kissed your forehead and mumbled

"Im sorry i left you that day maybe in another life we can have our own happily ever after." As he dissapeard.

.

.

.

--

*Masterlist*

Finally its done!😮‍💨

Took me a while since i didn't saved my work so i had to restart it over again.

I hope you enjoyed it~!

Happy valentines day every one!!

-February 14, 2023

[buttersmama]

TIME APART

Choi yeonjun x m!reader

Summary: m/n and yeonjun have an argument, they make up by talking and kissing.

Tw: mentions of abusive parents, yj raises his voice (like once?), Making out.

Wc: 5.4k+ (this shit is longg 🗿)

NOT PROOFREAD!

Also this was a request! Sorry anon but i made changes for some parts!!

"This is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard! are you even thinking or are you just spewing nonsense to my face?"

"You know what I'll leave. This is going nowhere." M/n said ending the argument right on the spot. This wasn't new to him, over the past few days they've been like...this! And m/n didn't even know where to begin.

At the start of their relationship yeonjun was never like this! now all he does is come home after his shoot, eat and argue with m/n for petty reasons and then he would storm off leaving m/n to think it was his fault.

But now when m/n recalled the past events that took place after taehyun's party. It all seemed clear now, this wasn't new, yeonjun had already started to avoid m/n. He had started being more secretive, hanging out less and less with each day that passed.

With this information at hand, m/n wanted to confront yeonjun. Ask him why he was being so fucking difficult. Yeonjun was in the living room on his phone, talking to someone. Wanting to give him privacy, m/n waited till he was done and stormed into the room.

"What is it?" Yeonjun asked quickly as he saw m/n.

"I think we need to talk, yes?"

"No we don't, you said all you had to just a while ago."

"Look there's clearly something wrong. I've noticed after tyun's party you have been ignoring me? I hope there is a plausible reason for that?"

"Do you seriously not know what you did?!" Yeonjun said, suddenly raising his voice. He came dangerously close to m/n, due to the sudden behavioral change, m/n's heart raced in fear.

Throughout their four years of relationship he had never raised his voice. His eyes swelled up looking at yeonjun in petrified. With a hand on his chest m/n tried to calm himself.

Even after seeing m/n in this state yeonjun didn't stop he kept on going with his words and actions he had truly lost m/n as he couldn't take it anymore he ran away.

He locked himself in his room and made his mind to move out, maybe this would be the best option. They both needed some space especially away from each other.

M/m wasted no time in packing his luggage and calling up a friend to stay over for the night. Luckily, Felix was a sweetheart and agreed. By the time m/n went out of the room, he saw yeonjun had already left the apartment.

Despite it being so late at night, felix came to pick up m/n. The ride was unusually long and silent. Felix never tried to pry much apart from what m/n told him and after all m/n didn't want to talk about their arguments in front of lix.

Though felix did try to maintain a conversation, he only received one word answers. He didn't expect anything else judging from the way m/n talked to him over the phone.

Once they reached, felix helped with the luggage and got the guest room ready for m/n. M/n falls asleep right as he lays on the bed. The tiredness and the events that happened throughout the day had drained him.

The next morning came by and when yeonjun came back home, expecting his boyfriend to be right there so maybe just maybe he could apologize for his actions, he found the home deserted. Too cold even.

Where was m/n? Why didn't he tell he was going somewhere? Yeonjun immediately called m/n. He couldn't reach m/n though. Then he realised m/n could have blocked him. With a deep sigh yeonjun sat down defeated.

To put it simply, the next week without m/n went worse and worse for jun. Words couldn't express how much he missed the latter. He had tried contacting several people to just to get in touch with m/n.

He didn't think the argument would stretch out this much, he didn't even think that m/n would ever leave him. Yeonjun sighed in defeat. Suddenly his phone went of with a notif.

'yeonjun you are expected to be at the. Hybe quaters in half an hour'

'something urgent came up. This is regarding your future collaborations with bubbery'

The manager had messaged him. Soon enough as instructed yeonjun got ready to move out. Taking his car keys and locking the door behind him.

Yeonjun started the car and headed to the hybe company, he stopped at the red signal waiting for it to turn green. While waiting though he heard m/n, his laugh precisely. The blond immediately parked the car temporarily and followed the source.

Just as he turned around the corner, he could see him.

M/n.

Laughing and smiling there without him. At that moment yeonjun sprung forward and took m/n by his arm pulling him away from the stranger, m/n on the other hand tried to pull away but he couldn't put up a fight against his junnie.

"Yeonjun what is going on! Stop?! Yah! you hear me!?" M/n irritated but yeonjun only stopped once they were near his car. Opening the passenger side, yeonjun made m/n sit.

When he was in the car too, he looked the latter. Hands folded with an angry face.

"Listen i know i shouldn't have done that but what was i supposed to do? You weren't answering my calls, there was absolutely no way I could have reached you!" Yeonjun started.

"a-and do you know how terrible these past few weeks have been without you? M/n i beg you please come home, I'll be better i promise!" Yeonjun stated with complete desperation.

M/n still remained silent though. In worry yeonjun continued again-

"i-im really sorry m/n, please.. the reason I was so closed of and rude was that i was being fucking jealous. At the party seeing you all dolled up and pretty i don't know what came over me, and now that i think about it, it was all so stupid! If i could go back in time I would definitely but for now can you forgive me?"

Yeonjun completed, eyes laced with fear of being rejected and of guilt. M/n looked at him. His eyes softened, he couldn't see his poor junnie in such a state.

M/n wiped the stray tears away from yeonjun's puffy eyesand held him close. "I'm sorry too, i shouldn't have left without any explanation. It's just that i have had abusive parents you know? Especially my father... So seeing you get all mad scared me to death and thus i left in a hurry."

At that yeonjun shook his head.

"You don't have to apologise it was me who was at fault." Yeonjun said.

M/n smiled taking the blond in another hug.

"Thank you for everything, my love"

"m/n, can i- can i kiss you!" Yeonjun asked in a hurry making both of them flush in embarrassment.

"What? Are you embarrassed? You are so cute juni" m/n teased, before yeonjun could reply, m/n placed his lips against yeonjun's.

Kissing yeonjun was soft. His lips fall open at brush of m/n's tounge. Welcomeing him, making him feel just right.

Kissing yeonjun was hot. The little noises he makes when m/n sucks on his bottom lip as he pulls on his hair.

Just when m/n pulled apart, he hears a whine and then is immediately pulled back in to the kiss. M/n hopes nothing ever comes in between them.

From a scale of 1 to 69 how bad did i shit?

[e-m-ma-lmfao]

Love these scars

Leon S. Kennedy x (fem) reader

summary: leon returns home feeling self conscious about his large collection of scars. you plan to make him realise how much you adore them.

warnings: swearing, smut, oral (m recieving), mention of scars

mdni, 18+

You sat comfortably curled up at the edge of the couch, soft blanket curled around your figure, head hanging sleepily. Leon was off on one of his missions leaving you to be on your own in your shared apartment, which was not a new experience, and yet you found yourself sleepless almost every time. Right now was one of those times.  You hadn't been able to sleep properly from the moment he left a week ago up until now. Your eyes were bloodshot and droopy as you stared at the quiet tv screen. It was always at low volume when Leon was away so you could listen for any sign of him coming home. 

You were silent, letting out a yawn, when your heart suddenly began to pick up speed. The door handle made a noise, then the hinges, and a person entered your apartment. From the couch you could see your blond haired boyfriend begin to untie his shoes and abandon his jacket, letting it fall right in front of the door. He was silent. You were frozen in place, debating whether the man you were seeing in front of you was real or if he had been gone so long that you were beginning to hallucinate his return. 

He moved his head up to look around, eyes landing on you. This was real. He was really here. A smile spread across your face, tired eyes now wide and alert. His boots were finally off and he began to move towards the couch. You moved the blanket off of your body, ready to stand up and meet him halfway. But before you could even move your feet onto the floor, Leon was on the couch and in your arms. His body was between your legs and his head rested on your chest, arms wrapped tightly around you.  You were stunned, he was always clingy when he came home from a long mission but never in this big of a rush to have his hands on you. He had your his shirt balled up in his hands, causing it to move up and uncover your bare thighs. You had only been wearing underwear underneath, not expecting anyone. 

“Leon..? Baby?” You ran your fingers through his hair, still unusually soft after days of being in the middle of nowhere. There were patches that were caked in dry blood but you avoided them so as to not hurt him. He was silent still, the feeling of his hot and slow breath on your skin being the only sign that he was even alive. This trip must have been worse than his usual missions . 

The two of you stayed linked together for a few minutes, legs tangled together, before you finally managed to pull his head out from your chest. You cupped his cheeks in your hands and looked into his gloomy eyes, he looked exhausted but he kept his eyes trained up at you. You ran your thumbs over the dirt on his face, sadness forming in your own expression. Leon was never a talker, in fact he would probably never tell you what really happened to him wherever he went, but you always knew how he was feeling by how he touched you. “My love, what happened?” 

You managed to lift him off of you enough so you could move but Leon made a noise of disapproval and pulled you along with him, forcing you to sit over his lap, straddling him. His arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you in closer, and he shoved his face back into your neck. Your arms wrapped around his neck instinctively, fingers playing with the hairs on the back of his neck absentmindedly. “Leon?” You tried once more. 

“Missed you baby..” His voice was muffled and it made you jump, not expecting him to speak. Your heart swelled. Your hands held his jaw so you could move his face away from your neck. His fingers dug into your hips as you started to trail soft kisses over his cheekbones and jaw. With a soft hum he pushed your hands away so he could reach your neck again. His teeth grazed your skin as he left rough kisses around your collarbone, up to your jaw, leaving pink marks in his path. Soft noises slipped through your lips, further encouraging him. 

Your hands ran down his arms, squeezing at his biceps, moving down to his abdomen and tugging at the bottom of his shirt. When he didn’t make any move to remove his shirt you let out a whine, too distracted by his kisses to say anything. “Words baby..ask nicely my love” Leon's mouth curved into a smirk against your skin, your face heating up. His voice was so soft, sending butterflies shooting from your chest down to your lower stomach. 

“Want this off…please baby..” He nodded against you, “That’s my girl,” removing his arms (with evident displeasure) from you for a second to remove his form-fitting top. It hadn’t even hit the floor before his arms were back on you, hands crawling underneath the fabric of your shirt to latch onto your bare hips. His fingers ran soft circles around your skin, leaving goosebumps behind and causing you to squirm. 

Your eyes fell from his face down to his chest, skin littered in scabbed cuts and large bruises. You noticed the scars from past missions as well as the ones that were now forming. “Leon..” Gloom replaced the earlier tingles and you found yourself pulling away from his hold, heart aching for him. Your eyes trailed along his torso, and you felt Leon shift in discomfort.

“I..uh..guess I’m not as pretty as I used to be huh..?” One of his hands fell from your hip and landed to cover his stomach. He sounded more awake now, uncomfortable and self conscious, voice soft in a different way. His insecurity grew every time a new scar appeared on his skin. You would never see why and you suddenly felt extreme sorrow for making him insecure in any way, hand retracting. “Leon…baby no..” You cupped his face again, making him look at you, “I love you..and I love every one of your scars..”

He smiled softly at you, planting a soft kiss to your lips. “S’okay baby..I know they're not my best feature..” His hand that was covering his stomach moved up to your cheek, rubbing his thumb across your cheek and jawline. A pang of sadness ran through your body at his words, you knew he hated how they looked, but you never truly realised how much he did.  

“Leon..I mean it baby..” He looked unconvinced still and another ache fled through your body. “Let me show you how much I love them..yeah?” He still looked unsure but he gave you a soft nod, suddenly looking tired again. 

You shook his arms off of your body, missing the warmth instantaneously, Leon showing a similar deprivation in the way he groaned. His finger dancing at your skin unknowingly. You sunk to your knees between his legs, glancing over his abdomen again. Even while he was dirty, covered in blood and bruises, he was a sight to behold. He stared down at you curiously, eyebrows curved upwards slightly. Slowly, you traced your fingers along a long scar on his chest, planting soft kisses. Leon let a soft laugh leave his lips, barely audible under his breath. “C’mon baby..this is silly..get offa your knees..” He stroked your head gently, noticing the way your face flushed at the simple sign of affection. 

“Nuh uh..gotta show you..” You paused to lick a line up his stomach, his abdominal muscles tensing under your tongue, “how much I love this body.. these scars.” He huffed, hand relaxing at his side as he stared down at you with uncertainty, pleasure hidden in the wrinkle of his eyebrow and the tense line his lips had made.

You planted gentle kisses over every bruise, over the outline of his abs, over the red irritation of every cut, scab, and scar. And when finally satisfied with his heavy breathing, and flustered state, you tugged at the belt securing his pants on his waist. Looking up through your lashes, you jutted out your lip to silently plead with him. “A..ah..baby you don't hafta do that..” He rubbed his thumb over your cheek lovingly, his body was less tense now and he seemed more laid back. And even though he was exhausted, he still managed to be a gentleman and tug at your heart strings. He was never a selfish lover, in fact he loved to give, but right now you wanted nothing more than to give him the satisfaction he clearly needed. 

“I wanna Leon..please baby..wanna touch you..” He looked at you with an amused smile, eyes full of pride at the idea of you wanting him so badly. You let out a whine once more and he gripped at your chin gently, “Stop whining princess..go ahead..take what you want.” You nodded and hastily began pulling at his belt, undoing the buckled and pulling it through the belt loops. He lifted his hips, helping to remove his bottoms. The tent in his underwear had your hands twitching with anticipation, him lifting his hips once more to pull them down and reveal himself to you, his cock springing out and hitting his abs. 

You two had been in this position more times then you could count but you were still shocked by his size every time. You stared in awe, mouth watering, causing Leon to shift impatiently. Slowly, you moved your face closer, rubbing the thumb over the tip. Teasingly you ran your fingers up and down his length, seeing just how impatient he was. “Darling..” He ran his hand across your cheek softly, palms warm. You nodded, in a silent understanding, wrapping your lips around him. 

You started slow, knowing if you were patient he would be proud of you, bobbing your head and finding a rhythm. You wrapped your hand around what you couldn’t fit inside your mouth, stroking him as you swirled your tongue around his tip. “A..ahh..baby...” Leon breathed out, burying his hand within your hair. You moved your head, taking him all in making your eyes water, nose brushing against his pelvis. To stable yourself, your hands landed on the middle of his thighs. You continued to bob your head, more pressure from his palm now. “So pretty f’me..my pretty girl..look so pretty like this..” 

When he felt you start to ease up and slow you down, his mind clouded and without a moment to think, he pushed you head back down eliciting a gag from the back of your throat. He was using you, selfishly, like never before. You had no complaints though as he fucked himself with your mouth, eyes rolling back into your head everytime his tip hit the back of your throat. 

Every muscle he had was tensing, he would’ve been in pain from cramping if it wasn’t for the immense amount of pleasure he was receiving. The tingle from earlier returned, pooling in your stomach as Leon used you to get himself off. Strings of curse words were being thrown out from under his heavy breathing, along with muffled grunts and soft groans of pleasure. You swivelled your tongue as much as you could, causing his pace to falter then return, finger tugging at your hair needily. “Baby..fuck..ahh..gonna..” His voice was raspy, breathy, moans frequenting between his words. He was breathing heavily. “Gonna cum..pretty girl..fuck…your gonna....make me cum.” His grip tightened on your hair, causing you to let out a moan and his hips thrusted up as he felt the vibration. 

His hips stuttered once more, and he pulled your nose flush against his pelvis. As Leon let out a breathless groan, you felt hot liquid shoot against the back of your throat. You swallowed it all as best you could with his cock shoved all the way down your throat, as he pulled out you whimpered at the sudden emptiness. His hand found its way to your cheek again, and he pulled your face up to look at him. “So beautiful..my pretty girl..” Your face was red, eyes puffy and teary. 

Leon placed his arms under your shoulders, pulling you back onto the couch to lay you on the armrest, arms hooking under your legs. He laid on his stomach, head between your thighs, licking his lips as he stared at the liquid soaking through your panties. He hooked his fingers under the sides and slid them down, and off. You whimpered in protest, voice scratchy as you said, “No..Leon..wanna make you feel good.”

“Shh..baby..you made me feel good..lemme return the favour and make you feel good too..yeah?”

[dmwrites]

(Cousin fic to this)

Pearl missed Tilly.

That was something concrete to grab a hold of. Everything else was chunks of memory, chunks of confusion, a feeling of being here and there and nowhere at all.

This wasn’t how a victor was supposed to act.

That’s what she kept telling herself. Victors walked around with their chest puffed out and smiled at all the clapping and cheering. But most victors usually got a moment of stunned silence, that trickling sensation of “holy shit I won”. All Pearl got was an explosion ripping through the bindings of two souls.

She kept to herself when she got back, but still had a few visitors.

——

Grian came by with her prize for winning- an everlasting chrysanthemum flower in a vase.

“Well, two, actually. I tried to give Scott one and he said you were the only winner, so…”

Pearl nodded, taking both delicate flowers and putting them in a nearby windowsill before returning to her armchair by the fire. Grian sat across from her, frowning.

“Pearl, are you okay?”

“I miss Tilly.”

Grian sighed. “I’m sorry.” He looked at her closer. “That’s not all that’s going on though, is it.”

Pearl shook her head no but stayed silent for a moment, playing with the gold and red blanket around her, one Grian had made for her ages ago after the first life game. The one he won.

“Does it ever really feel like winning?” Pearl asked suddenly.

Grian hesitated, and there was a sadness in his eyes that felt too personal to see. “Not really, no. I’m so sorry Pearl.”

——

Gem came by every single day, without fail. She just sat by Pearl’s side the first few days, chatting away about a build or in silence. Then it was little things to do, like making flower crowns or insisting Pearl brain her hair.

“It’s so weird, living with you two right now is like I walked into a funeral and tried to order an iced coffee or something.”

“‘You two’? Who, me and Impulse?” Pearl hasn’t seen Impulse since she’d killed him and his soulmate in the forest. She had laughed and stepped in his blood, she remembered that.

“Yeah, I just talked to Impulse before coming over here, actually. He’s been awake for a week, digging and working and stuff. If I see him awake still tonight I’m going to literally hit him over the head until he passes out.” Gem sighed, handing Pearl some soup she’d been cooking up. “Both of you seem to be in a bad funk.”

“What about Scott?” Pearl asked, holding the soup bowl in her hands and holding it up to her face for warmth.

Gem sighed. “Honestly, haven’t heard or seen him since he got back. But he’s pretty far away, even if he’s my closest neighboring empire. But I’ve heard rumors he isn’t doing well either.”

“Good.” Pearl muttered. She took a sip of soup and then sighed. “I don’t mean that. It’s just the games. Scott’s lovely.”

Gem hummed in agreement. Pearl knew Gem was at a bit of a loss- she was usually the little sister of the three of them, and now she was dealing with two shaken friends whose feelings she would probably never understand fully. Pearl stood up suddenly, and wrapped Gem in a hug, all blanket and hair. Gem hugged her right back, and Pearl wished she could tell her how much it meant for Gem to be here, to be her friend. Maybe one day she’d explain it to her. Maybe.

——

Pearl sat under one of the big mushrooms by her base, wrapped in a blanket and watching the sun set. A small figure came out onto the bridge below and took off towards spawn- it was Impulse, she saw him look at her as he passed by. She wondered where he was going- maybe to Bdubs? She couldn’t imagine what a weird situation that was. Hadn't they gotten married early on in double life? Pearl entertained herself for a moment imagining them trying to convince Xisuma to divorce them.

Pearl sighed, hand reaching out to scratch Nugget the cat’s head. It was odd, being alone like this. It wasn’t double life alone. Double life alone was cold, cruel, tears drying in a dog’s fur. Alone here was soft lights and purring cats and leftover soup in her fridge with a little note from Gem telling her how to best heat it again.

Pearl was a victor. Her victory was two-fold: one was being the last one standing in a bitter battle field, and the other was realizing just how loved she was. It was a bittersweet knowledge.

[imaginesfordifferentfandoms]

Safe Place

Click here for my masterlist.

Click here to add yourself to my taglist.

Prompts -  'The safe place you created for me, all those years ago, that's where I call home.'

If you were to ask anyone in the galaxy who would be the least likely person to become a dad many people would have said Han Solo, especially if you asked who would be a dad to a baby girl. Han himself would have told anyone who asked that he was in no way equipped to raise a daughter, the idea alone was enough to terrify him, how could he ever raise a girl?

And yet somehow here he was, standing in the medcenter staring down at this beautiful, small baby girl that somehow fit in the palms of his hands. His eyes were watery as he stared down at you, almost like you weren’t real, and he could feel the fear that seemed to run through his whole body but somehow the fear was being drowned out slightly by the absolute and unyielding love he felt for you. 

It was an overwhelming experience, feeling so much love for somebody who had only been alive for a few minutes. To know that he would do anything you wanted, anything you asked without a second thought, to know that he would burn the galaxy down just to keep you safe and you couldn’t even do anything yet, he hated to think just how much you’d get away with once you could speak, once you knew just how much power you held over him, once you knew that you had him wrapped so tightly around your tiny little finger.

How did somebody like him make something as amazing as you?

Of course just because he felt this much love for you, just because he knew he would pull the stars from the sky for you it didn’t mean he was suddenly confident in his ability to raise a daughter, if anything feeling this love for you only made him infinitely more terrified because you deserved the whole galaxy and he didn’t want to mess that up, he didn’t want to ruin you. 

He was out of his depth, give him a blaster and a dangerous situation where the odds of surviving were slim to none and he was fine, he excelled in that. Give him the most precious baby girl in the whole galaxy and see how quickly he would crumble.

The first time he remembered being terrified when it came to you was when you were five years old. An absolute angel who was too curious for her own good, always getting into things you shouldn’t if left unattended for more than ten seconds.

One day Han had left the room to grab you some juice, he had been out of the room for less than fifteen seconds when he came back to see you with his blaster that he knew damn well he had placed out of your reach, how you had managed to get it Han didn’t know and didn’t even stop to question it.

All he felt was fear unlike any he had felt before and his blood turned cold as he ran over to you and snatched the blaster away from you, hating how you looked up at him with wide, watery eyes and a quivering lip. He couldn’t do anything, he felt frozen in fear and just about managed to grit out an order for you to go to your room.

He watched you leave the room with tears sliding down your face but he didn’t move to follow you. Han reached up and rubbed his forehead with his fingers, staring down at the blaster and mentally telling himself to hide the weapons away safely, apparently it wasn’t good enough for them to just be out of your reach now.

He waited five minutes before he left the living room and made his way over to your bedroom. The door was open halfway but he couldn’t hear you in there and felt a pit of guilt in his stomach, hoping he hadn’t scared you when he had snatched the blaster from you but he had been terrified, needing it out of your hands immediately.

If he thought he felt fear when he saw you with a blaster it was nothing compared to the fear that spread through him when he saw your bedroom was empty and that you were nowhere to be found in the house, despite him and Chewie searching the whole place and the grounds. 

Of course the one time you go missing Leia has to be off planet with the damn droid.

It wasn’t until he was doing another sweep of the house, passing by the hangar bay that he had already checked that he heard a noise that caused him to pause. He took a few steps back and stood in the doorway before his eyes landed on the Falcon, the door was closed but that noise had definitely come from inside it.

Dammit, he thought to himself. 

You knew you weren’t allowed on the Falcon by yourself, only if he or Chewie were there to supervise you and you had always followed the rule. No matter how desperate you were to board the Falcon you always waited until either of them could take you or just dragged one of them along with you so you could sit up front in the cockpit and pretend to pilot the ship.

Feeling some of his fear slip away he took a deep breath and made his way over to the Falcon and down towards the cockpit. His heart ached as he saw you in the pilot’s seat, his seat, curled up with tears still running down your face.

“C’mere,” He murmured softly, walking over to you and picking you up just enough for him to slide onto his seat and settle you down on his lap, smiling down at you as you curled into him and gripped his shirt whilst wiping your face into it. 

“What are we doing on here, huh?” He asked you, keeping his voice soft and low as he tilted your face up towards him and wiped your tears away. 

“Mad.” Was all you mumbled before hiding away against his chest and he felt himself completely soften, torn between cursing himself for acting so rashly he had scared you but also not regretting his actions because seeing you with that damn blaster had terrified him more than anything he had faced before.

“I’m not mad at you, sweetheart.” He told you, chuckling as you shook your head, “I’m not, really, just seeing you with that blaster scared me, you know it’s not a toy.” 

The two of you stayed there on the Falcon for longer than Han could recall, curled up together in the pilot’s seat long enough for you to fall asleep in his lap and Han to carry you back to your bedroom, tucking you in securely and pressing a kiss to your forehead before leaving to safely lock up the weapons.

That day seemed to have created a tradition of sorts somehow. Whenever you were sad, whenever you were scared or overwhelmed or just needed a safe place to calm down you always made your way over to the Falcon. Han never panicked anymore when he couldn’t find you, he knew all he had to do was go to the hangar and he’d find you curled up in his seat.

He remembered the fight you had with Leia, you must have only been around nine or ten. He remembered looking away from her down at you and just wondering how someone so little could hold so much anger and it wasn’t the typical anger you’d expect from a kid, nothing like temper tantrums you’d thrown before when you couldn’t make sense of your feelings. It was genuine anger, you had started showing signs of being able to use the force and Leia had wanted you to go to Luke, wanted you to be trained under her brother so you could control it.

Han hadn’t given an opinion, he’d been asked but he refrained from telling Leia how much he hated that idea, how much the thought of his little girl being sent away felt like his heart was being torn out of his chest.

Luckily for him, your distaste for the idea was loud enough to speak for Han too.

Han had known for a long time you could use the force, once the fear had left him over seeing you with a blaster and you were fast asleep he had time to think about it. He knew he hadn’t left the blaster within your reach and that there shouldn’t have been any way for you to reach it…not unless the force was involved. From then he had seen different instances of you using the force, a toy just out of reach, a cookie on the counter, a piece of meat on his plate after yours was long gone and your plate held only vegetables, no problem you’d just float whatever you wanted over to yourself.

“I don’t wanna go!” You yelled, angry tears making their way down your face and it took everything for Han not to intervene, to put his foot down on this topic and tuck you away but he knew Leia only wanted what was best for you.

“Y/N,” Leia started, her voice firm but soft but you didn’t give her the chance to speak, you let out an angry huff, already knowing exactly what she was going to say considering the conversation was just going around in circles. 

Instead of staying to listen to it you stormed out of the living room, shoving past Han who turned to watch you stomp down the hallway and made your way down to the Falcon, knowing full well your dad wouldn’t let you be alone for long but he’d give you long enough to yourself that you could calm down a bit.

“All that anger isn’t good.” Leia said softly, causing Han to finally look away from the empty hallway and back at her, a frown on his face as he shook his head.

“She’s a kid who doesn’t want to leave home. Just because she’s frustrated now doesn’t automatically mean she’s going dark side.” Han told her, tone almost dismissive in the way Leia hated when she tried to talk about something serious and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“There’s always a chance.” She told him, looking away from Han and off into the distance.

“No there’s not,” Han replied, tone hard and leaving no room for Leia to disagree with him, no room for Leia to doubt you. “She’s a good kid.”

And with that he too turned to leave the living room, leaving Leia sat alone to ponder the best course of action though it seemed to be two against one. Han made his way down the hallway, down towards the hangar, something he was sure he could do in his sleep with how often he followed you down here. 

It wasn’t long before he made his way through the Falcon and stopped to knock on the frame of the entrance to the cockpit, smiling sympathetically at you, the familiar sight of you curled in his seat still managed to warm his heart no matter the situation or how many times he had seen it.

You didn’t say anything, didn’t look up, just continued to stare out of the window at the closed door but Han didn’t let it deter him. Instead he walked in and picked you up, just as he always did and settled you on his lap, his arms wrapping around your waist as you tucked yourself under his chin.

“I don’t wanna leave.” You mumbled brokenly causing him to frown. 

“Then you’re not going to.” He told you like it was that simple and it really was, if you didn’t want to leave Han wasn’t going to force you. He was going to keep you around for as long as he could until you got too old to be spending time with your dad or hiding away on the Falcon.

“But mom said-” You began, tilting your head to look up at him but he cut you off with a smile and shake of his head.

“Don’t you worry about your mom, just leave her to me.” He said, giving you a wink that caused you to giggle and it was like the mood instantly shifted and felt a little lighter. 

Maker, he’d do anything to hear that sound instead of listening to your cries.

Han’s heart hadn’t stopped beating wildly in his chest, so loud he could hear it in his ears, almost deafening and yet you stood there rolling your eyes at him and in that moment he had never felt so unequipped to be a dad. 

“I don’t even know why you’re making such a big deal out of this, I didn’t even go that far and I’m fine.” You told him, gesturing down to yourself as if to prove your point.

“You stole the Falcon, Y/N!” Han snapped back at you, fury taking the place of the fear that had coursed through his veins at seeing both you and his ship missing. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that you and mom never let me leave and I am so tired of this place! You go on adventures all the time and you never let me go with you, forgive me for wanting to see more of the galaxy!” You snarked, rolling your eyes again in a way that made him want to grab your shoulders and shake you until you realised just how reckless you had been, just how terrified you had made him.

“You can’t even fly the damn thing yet, could’ve gotten yourself killed.” And that was the thought that played on a loop the entire time it had taken him to track you down, his blood running cold as the thought refused to leave. 

Sure he’d given you plenty of flying lessons but not enough for you to take the damn ship out yourself.

“I can fly it better than you.” You shot back, knowing damn well it wasn’t true but wanting to say anything to annoy him even more at this point, unwilling to see it from his point of view, unwilling to apologise when you’d had such an amazing afternoon in a faraway village, surrounded by all different types of people.

“Kid, we both know that’s bantha fodder. There’s a reason you don’t go off on your own, you’re damn lucky to be standing there right now.” The words had you rolling your eyes again at him, and Han clenching his jaw, a disbelieving scoff leaving your lips and you shoved past him, leaving the room, and heading down to where Han had landed the ship not long ago.

Han let you go, the two of you both needing time to calm down.

It was times like this he felt so unequipped to be a dad, so completely out of his depth because on the one hand he knew you had always longed for more, longed to jump in the Falcon and search the whole galaxy. Despite your words Han had actually taken you on more than your fair share of adventures, nothing too dangerous but he couldn’t resist seeing the look of joy on your face as the Falcon made her way across the galaxy, watching the wonder on your face as you saw all kinds of species and the pride he felt when he watched you interact with them, always so polite and friendly.

On the other hand though, they’d witnessed so much, they knew there were still people out there that would love the chance to hurt them and you out alone in the galaxy was the perfect way for someone to get back at them.

He knew you understood that but he also knew you were a kid who took after the rest of her family, knew there was something more for you out there. He hoped you’d never be forced to be something more than you were, hoped that everything they’d done would be enough for you to live your life freely but the fear of something bad, something dark was always lurking in their thoughts.

Enough time passed to the point where his heart was no longer in his throat and he couldn’t hear each thump in his ears. For the first time in years, for the first time since you were a five year old little girl, he hesitated on his journey down to the Falcon, doubting for the first time that that was the place you would choose to hide away in. 

He’d always figured that eventually you would stop using the ship as your safe place, always tried to ignore the thought and the ache in his heart but couldn’t now that he thought it was actually happening. He couldn’t help but remember the last time the two of you took refuge there, couldn’t help but regret the fact he hadn’t held you tighter, hadn’t held you longer.

Still he made his way down the familiar path and felt a weight fall from his shoulders as he saw the door to the ship wide open, couldn’t help but smile despite the fight as he made his way to the cockpit to see you curled up on the seat, taking a second just take in the familiar scene just in case the day was drawing nearer that you didn’t hide away here anymore.

He made his way into the room, taking a seat on the arm of the chair and looked down at you, hating how you hesitated before meeting his eyes.

“I know you’re a tough kid and I know you can handle yourself,” Han said, tone showing how much he believed his words causing you to relax slightly, no matter how bad the fight was between you and your dad it was like being in the Falcon raised a white flag and you both agreed not to bring it onto the ship. “but you know why the thought of you out there scares the hell out of me. I can’t lose you, kiddo.”

If your eyes were a little watery, well it’s not like your dad hadn’t seen you in worse states but you still leaned forward, burying your head against his stomach as he wrapped an arm around you, leaning down to press a kiss to your hair and if he held you a bit tighter, well who could blame him?

The two of you stayed on the ship for the rest of the day after that, neither one of you wanted to leave the safety she offered and when it came time for bed you ended up in Han’s cabin, you tucked under his chin and Han was more than happy to hold you.

When the Falcon disappeared it felt like a large part of you had gone missing too, after the dark side had gotten a new leader, after Uncle Luke disappeared, blaming himself for letting one of his student’s turn to the dark side of the force, after your mom and dad went their separate ways, after the First Order had begun their attacks…all you wanted to do was hide away on the Falcon, hating that you had ever wished for something more, for an adventure. 

Now you were by your mother’s side, commanding armies and watching people you had come to care so deeply for die on a regular basis. There was nowhere that had ever felt more like home than the Falcon did and not having her around anymore saw you pushing your emotions further and further down and bottling them up tightly.

Today felt particularly bad even though nothing major had actually happened. Some days the weight of everything that was happening just felt like too much. You heard that your mom was back on base and headed outside to greet her, needing a distraction from the thoughts running wild in your mind. 

You didn’t pay much attention to your surroundings, only enough so that you could avoid X-wing pilots who ran back and forth across the base, barely avoiding getting your feet crushed by the BB unit you knew to be Poe’s causing you to tilt your head, laughing fondly as the droid knocked into people before crashing into the man he was looking for, Poe just as excited to greet the droid.

“Hey kiddo.” A voice said to the side of you, a voice that caused your head to snap around, gaze locking onto your dad before looking past him, feeling your eyes widened at the ship that stood behind him. “I brought her home.” Han said softly, watching your frozen frame and seeing the exact moment your brain started working again. 

Tears filled your eyes as you let out a slightly manic laugh of disbelief, head shaking as if you couldn’t believe your eyes before you ran to meet your dad who easily caught you in his arms, winding them around you and holding you tight against his chest, one hand coming up to cup the back of your head.

“You got her back?” You mumbled into his chest but he heard you clearly anyway.

“Sure did, kid.” He smiled, a weight falling from his shoulders as he had you in his arms again. 

You don’t know how long you stood wrapped in Han’s arms for but eventually you pulled away and smiled up at him, his hand moving to cup your cheek and bring your foreheads together. With everything going on lately it felt like heaven to not only see your dad again but for him to have brought back the place you truly thought of as home with him.

You moved away from him and took a cautious step over towards the Falcon, almost as if you expected it to disappear, causing Han to smile fondly at you. It only took a few steps, Han following behind you, until you were in the Falcon and the feeling of home overwhelmed you, memories assaulting your mind as you looked around, letting your fingers drag against the walls as you made your way further into the ship, stopping when you stood in the doorway of the cockpit.

If you thought stepping into the Falcon itself was overwhelming it was nothing compared to stepping into the cockpit. You never thought you’d be standing in here again, never thought you’d be able to find a moment's peace like the ones you had come to love in here. Somehow even despite everything going on outside, being in this room made it easier to breathe.

You didn’t realise the tears were pouring down your face until Han pressed a hand to your shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze pulling you out of your frozen state and giving you the push you needed to step foot into the room, instantly feeling better. 

Your fingers danced along the back of the pilot’s seat as you made your way around it, sitting down in the seat with a soft sigh. Han smiled over at you as he made his way into the room, taking his place on the arm of the chair, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you close, you cuddling into him without a second thought, feeling like no time had passed between now and the last time you were in here.

Of course time had passed and you had somehow found yourself fighting against the dark side, found yourself giving orders out despite being completely unequipped to handle the job and yet it was easy to block out all of that when it was just the two of you in here, easy to forget how messed up things had truly gotten. Han, like you, never thought he’d have this moment again, never thought it’d just be the two of you curled up together on your seat in the Falcon but here you were. 

There was an exhaustion that ran deep in his bones at the thought of another war. He had no idea what was going to come in the next few days, next few weeks and months. He had no idea when the next time he’d be able to sit in here with you again would be, hell he didn’t even know if there would be a next time and that thought sent an ache through his chest and caused him to pull you closer to him, his grip tightening on you like he was afraid to lose you.

“I love you, kiddo, you know that right?” He asked you, he needed to say it all of a sudden, looking down at you and smiling shakily as you looked up at him, eyes still filled with tears but you looked less tired, like this was exactly what you needed and he was glad he could give it to you.

“I know,” you murmured softly, smiling up at him and nodding, watching as his own smile widened and he let out a small huff of laughter, “I love you too.”

Yeah, Han didn’t know what was coming next. He didn’t know who was going to live to tell the stories of this war and who was going to die fighting.

Whatever happened next he’d do it for you, he’d do it for Leia. He’d given you your home back, brought her back to you and knew that if nothing else, if anything were to happen to him, he knew you’d at least have a safe place to deal with it.

[rpgsandbox]

25 Enchanted Forest Adventure Seeds

by Robb at readytorole.com

Reports of children being lured into the forest by short, goat-legged men have grown rampant. Any satyr questioned about this claims to not know about it and divination magic confirms they are telling the truth.

Many creatures of the forest are being found petrified in stone. While mostly small animals like squirrels and beavers have been found, some elk have been found petrified, broken apart, and missing pieces.

A long-dormant treant of the forest has finally woken, speaking in an archaic language and heading out of the forest toward the nearest town. The other inhabitants of the forest have no idea where it is going or why.

A man is seen gracefully dancing on water as though it were land. Suddenly, a clawed hand reaches up out of the water and grabs him down by the leg and he screams out in horror.

People traveling near the forest claim to see a unicorn galloping out near the tree line. However according to legends, unicorns died out centuries ago and these sightings are dismissed as wild horses.

People trying to travel through the forest keep winding up turned around and back out where they started within minutes of entering. Their compasses and other navigation gear all spin around or otherwise go crazy inside.

Oversized insects are running amok, leaving the forest and then returning to it after they wreak havoc all over. A fairy was seen riding an oversized wasp among the swarm of bugs.

The underbrush grows around travelers, making travel difficult in the forest. Just last week someone was found dead, cocooned in flora, likely suffocated and crushed.

An ancient elf welcomes all who make it to his shanty in the forest, happily selling and exchanging magic items with them. Part of the deal always includes the customer giving up something they love or there is no deal.

Lizardfolk have started to invade the forest and their shamans have begun corrupting the land. Wherever the lizardfolk go the ground becomes swampy and marshlike and the flora warps to match the landscape.

An ornate archway was found seemingly out of place in the middle of a clearing. Getting close to it makes images of a ruined city flicker inside, giving just enough of a glimpse to make out some details of the ruins.

Legend says a hag lives deep in forest and will tell you your future in exchange for part of your soul. She apparently came to collect part of the local king’s son’s soul, leaving him in a coma and the king outraged.

It was discovered taking a dip into a specific part of a river in the forest turns you into an animal temporarily causing people to flock and try it. The last few have yet to change back even days after they turned and people are beginning to panic.

Elves in the forest say they noticed a change in their archfey’s demeanor and they are concerned. Their previously benevolent patron has been commanding them to prepare for war and slaughter and intruders, though not many have complied with her wishes.

Occasionally fey versions of different creatures make their way out of the forest, and the latest to be spotted are fey goblins. They have wings made of spider silk, large sharp teeth, and the same anger that fuels their normal kin.

The Earthstone, a magic artifact that provides magic to the forest, was stolen in the dead of night. Now the forest begins to wane in power and the need to recover the Earthstone is of dire importance to the forest’s inhabitants.

Lycanthropes reside deep in the forest, protecting themselves and others with their seclusion. Recently a werewolf was accused of murder in a nearby town and the militia has begun invading the forest to find the lycanthrope village.

The dryads of the forest are nowhere to be seen and the druids who visit them are losing power. The dryads were the source of the druids’ power and without them, the forest loses those who defend it.

The land throughout the forest rips and tears, revealing a river of lava that now flows through. Fire elementals make their way out attacking the forest and its inhabitant, but water, wind, and earth elementals fight back against their fiery kin.

Crystalline fungus has started growing, releasing tiny crystals instead of spores. When these crystals attach to living creatures they sap the energy from and cover people all over until they fall into a coma.

A second moon is visible only to those standing in the forest. When the moons align, a large magic circle is visible in the main clearing, but no one know what it is for or how to activate it.

As a defensive measure, the pixies have caused their villages to go invisible to protect them against the invading orcs. However, they now ambush any who come near, friend or foe in fear of being discovered and attacked.

All the lakes in the forest have frozen over despite the heat, and a mysterious cave has appeared in the center of the largest lake. Whispers of the “Frost Queen” echo throughout the forest, and slowly the rest of the forest begins to show signs of frost and the effects of cold weather.

Harpies have recently moved into the forest and are killing too many local fauna to sustain themselves. This is disrupting the ecology of the forest and many other creatures are beginning to go hungry or leave the forest.

After centuries of staying in and protecting the forest, the centaur tribes have finally resumed their nomadic patterns and are beginning to leave, leaving the other inhabitants of the forest susceptible to attack from hated foes.

[houseofbrat]

Well, well, well...

"Nobody actually knows Kate's time of birth."

Oh, really?

Are you sure?

How could you be so sure that "nobody actually knows Kate's time of birth"?

Because I know for a fact that isn't true.

Natalie Delahaye was asked to do a compatibility chart as a wedding present for Will & Kate back in 2011.

In April 2011 I was commissioned by a friend of Prince William and Catherine Middleton to produce a compatibility chart as a wedding gift to the couple who were married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey, London. Because Catherine’s time of birth has never been officially released, and there is no record of the clock-time on her birth certificate, I was very privileged to be given this information in circumstances that involved no intrusion, or any breach of privacy or trust. Despite being under no contract of confidentiality, I made the decision to wait a few years before sharing it with the astrological world.

I thought you Wales stans were experts or something? Shouldn't you know this basic fact?

Looks like to me you guys are in for a rude awakening next week. In fact, it'll be so shocking to the Wales fandom that the best equivalent I can think of is watching the Cylons show up on New Caprica at the end of season 2 of Battlestar Galactica. (One of the best season finales in television. Ever.)

It seemingly came out of nowhere, yet if you watch the episode, it was very simple in terms of how the Cylons got there.

Pretty similar when it comes to the Wales baby being born this month. (Again, 22 August 2023)

It's been pretty obvious that Kate is pregnant this year, even though plenty of her die-hard stans cannot admit it. The weight gain, the constant blazers, suddenly missing the Commonwealth Day reception, the Singaporean designer dress at Trooping the Colour, etc.

You guys are in for a rude awakening next week. Because while die-hard royal & Wales fans might excuse Will & Kate for not announcing until the last minute, everyone else--the press included--will not.

And royals should never ever give the UK tabs the opportunity to make drama. Because the UK tabs will take that opportunity and not look back. (Ask any of the Charles haters who bring up events from thirty years ago on the regular.)

After next week, the perspective of the general public regarding Kate is going to change for the rest of the decade.

Better get ready for it.

(Why yes, I did check Will & Kate's charts for a loss of respect this year [2023].)