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mymainwastoocluttered · 2 years

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Malleus and his Divorce (Malleus)

Honestly, just some silly to cheer up this sick girl. I don't even know how to write a summary for this one. Literally just blurting out the first words that come to mind.

NOTE: I only write for female reader but everyone is welcome to read it!

— (⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠)

"Malleus, I want a divorce."

The feather pen almost drops from Malleus' hand.

He looks up from the paper he's been trying to read for the past ten minutes, not sure if the sudden dizziness comes from being snapped out of his thoughts of Yuu, or from hearing such outlandish words come from his wife's lips. He blinks a few times, questions stuck in his throat, while (Y/N) waits patiently for him to gather his wits, sipping her tea as if she just asked about the weather. Once he does, only one word leaves him.

“Why?”

“Because you are in love, and I have no interest in becoming your romance's villain.”

“... What?”

(Y/N) gives him a small, smug and playful smile, one very few have the privilege to see. (Y/N) Draconia, the Crown Princess of Briar Valley by marriage, is known for being the pinnacle of what Briar Valley nobility should be: A solemn, noble lady that remains calm and composed no matter the situation, like a beautiful and eternal statue. So very few people have ever seen her break the behavior and be playful or angry, with her husband of centuries being one of them.

That doesn't mean he's any good at reading her, though, as proven by the confusion that floods his mind right now.

“I was told by Lord Vanrouge and your attendants of the human you cherish, the human named Yuu.”

“Yuu is just a friend.”

“I am not accusing you of anything, Your Highness,” the sudden sharpness in her voice and the formal addressing makes him wince. “I am noting a fact. You are in love with that human, and I wish you were free to pursue them. After all… your time together is fleeting.”

Malleus feels like a searing needle just stabbed his heart. Right, who could ever forget the tragic romance between her father and his human lover? Who could forget Count (L/N)'s fall from grace as he cheated on his wife with a human that stole his heart? The Countess who then divorced him after finding out—the tale of their explosive fight is still brought up over tea—, only for him to come back one year later with a half-fae, half-human baby in arms, lover gone thanks to illness. (Y/N) had long forgiven her father, and her brother is a beloved young man, but that deeply ingrained in her two things: the terrible fear of being betrayed and sympathy for doomed romances between lovers with different lifespans.

And now Malleus is practically walking the same path as her father.

“I…” he's not sure what to say. That he is sorry for loving another? That he's sorry it is a human? Neither sounds good.

He might not love (Y/N) romantically, but he holds a considerable amount of affection for her, who grew up with him and went through thick and thin by his side, who accepted his selfish request and became the Crown Princess because he couldn't accept the idea of marrying some random noble. To say something like that, to put her through this heartbreak, it hurts tremendously.

“Can… Can this wait?”

“I have all the time in the world, Malleus, so don't think of me,” she warns, placing the cup down on the table and getting up. “Please give me an answer before you regret it.”

She offers him a last smile before leaving him alone in his office.

The rest of his winter break is spent in contemplation. Malleus doesn't tell anyone of her request, other than his mentor and his aides. Lilia's expression takes that melancholic hue; being the one who helped officiate the Countess' divorce and the best man of Malleus' wedding, it's understandable he's not happy with the situation. Silver looks conflicted, his loyalty to Malleus keeps him quiet, but his years of friendship with (Y/N), who never once treated him as nothing but an equal, make his unhappiness clear. And Sebek—Sebek for once is quiet, not one word comes from him as he thinks things through; he's yet another who (Y/N) had befriended to the point of openness, and he holds a special respect for her that goes beyond her married status.

Talking of her, (Y/N) acts like nothing happened, except she starts to distance herself more and more. Before, they'd sit almost glued together, but slowly she began sitting farther and farther away, and now they sit on opposing seats. Before, they'd walk arm in arm, her head many times finding his shoulder and his finding hers, but now there's enough space between them to fit about two of her maids. Before, she'd go spend time with him in his office while he did paperwork with a soft smile and a quip, but now he seldom sees her outside meals.

The bed feels incredibly empty once she gets her own room.

Malleus knew of the word “miserable” before, but now he knows it intimately, like a host knows a parasite eating away their life.

(Y/N) is not there to see them off when they return to Night Raven College after winter break. Despite Malleus being the one facing a possible divorce, all four of them look like they ate an entire lime, even Lilia who usually keeps his boyish smile.

The first night he visits Yuu in Ramshackle is cold and sharp like the blade of a sword.

Even the Prefect notices his gloom, placing that gentle hand of theirs on his arm and asking what's wrong with their soft voice. Before, it had felt exhilarating; someone who's not afraid of him, and a human at that! Someone who treats him like just another man, finally!

But he has always had that, didn't he?

“I have a wife,” he blurts out, not knowing how to start but not wanting to go all the way back to the very beginning.

He prepares himself for the reaction, not even knowing what exactly he's expecting, but all they do is laugh kindly and look at him with amused eyes.

“I know, you talk about her all the time.”

“I… do…?”

“Did you not notice?” they furrow their brows. “Almost every time you talk about your life in Briar Valley, you find a way to talk about your wife. It's pretty cute, actually. You're so loving despite the usually regal and distant air you have.”

“She wants a divorce.”

“What?”

Hard to tell whose eyes are wider as they look at each other. Yuu's face goes through a few changes, but the confusion remains the same, and if Malleus were a bit more expressive, he'd probably be mimicking them. A few seconds of that pass before the fae swallows the lump in his throat and tell his friend the conversation he had with his wife.

“So she's divorcing you… because you have feelings for me?"

“... Yes. Apologies that this is how you learn of said feelings, by the way.”

“No, no, it's fine, I'm just… me? You like me?” Malleus nods and Yuu frowns even harder. “But you're agonizing over losing your wife.”

And Yuu, brilliant, simple and lovely Yuu, brings clarity to his mind in one phrase. He says he's interested in Yuu, but his heart hurts at the idea of losing his wife. And when he thinks back at all the fleeting times he thought to himself he had an interest in Yuu, he sees they all happened whenever Yuu treated him as his wife does: as a friend, a companion, someone special not for his pedigree or his abilities, but for the relationship they share, the person he is.

“... I think I like what you share with my wife.”

“No Sense Thursday, huh? Ok, I can do that.”

“No, it does make sense, Child of Man. I miss my wife terribly and you treat me like her.”

“... Ok, now I'm offended, I'm not a replacement for your wife.”

“Of course, I'm not going to divorce my wife for you.”

Yuu blinks and it hits Malleus that he was terribly rude just now, but before he can apologize and correct himself, Yuu throws their head back and laughs. Laughs, laughs and laughs, until tears threaten to fall. The fae isn't sure what they're laughing about, but he's glad at least one of them is having a good time.

“Right, right, no divorces for you, mister.” Yuu sniffles, fanning their face with their hands, small giggles still bursting every now and then. “So, what are you gonna do about it?"

“I'll go talk to her!”

“Go get'em, tiger!”

Malleus pays no attention to the odd encouragement, probably another of those odd human sayings, storming away from Ramshackle. Convincing Crowley is easy, it's not everyday that the Briar Valley Crown Prince barges into his office in the middle of the night and demands he opens the portal. Malleus could just use his own magic to go there, but with Headmage Crowley as a witness and the Dark Mirror as a medium, any sort of bureaucracy trouble that otherwise could be born is annulled. Lilia will take care of it.

He finds her in her room, sitting by the window in her sleeping robes. Fae are naturally considered ethereal, but (Y/N) was made to represent the word.

And she is his wife.

And he almost lost her.

“My wife.”

“Malleus!”

Before she can ask him what he's doing in her room in the middle of the night, Malleus lunges at her, not caring about the closed window they bump on with the impact, or her startled shriek. No, all he cares about is pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss, a passionate kiss that he trills when he feels it being answered in the same intensity. Dragon fae vocalization is not something he indulges much, specially not when mingling with humans, but if there's ever a night for him to throw away everything but his truest, then it is tonight.

The kiss only ends when he feels his lungs burn, and he can tell she's the same by the greedy breaths she takes. He can tell she’s about to question him and following his unusual impulsiveness, he kisses her again before she can utter a word. The second kiss is shorter, but still just as passionate, and he trills again when he sees a rosy blush rise to her cheeks.

“You’re wrong, and so was I,” he blurts out—he’s been breaking all records tonight, huh?—, brushing a strand of her hair away from her face. “I do not love Yuu, I was taken by them because they reminded me of you.”

“... that’s so rude! You shouldn’t see them as a replacement for me!”

Malleus can’t help but laugh out loud, hugging her to his chest and telling her between his laughter that Yuu said the exact same thing. He’s not the only one acting uncharacteristically, for (Y/N) manages to show him a pout he hasn’t seen since they were much, much younger. A pout he kisses away.

“Come to school with me.”

“Malleus, there are so many reasons why I can’t–”

“I can change them, all of them.”

“What if one of them is my will?”

“... I can change that too, if you allow me, wife.”

She shivers in his embrace and he grins. To think he came so close to losing this forever. He’s determined to make up for that terrible slip up, by any means necessary. By all means necessary. Their honeymoon did happen quite a long time ago, it’d be a shame to miss a chance to relive it.

With luck, Lilia will actually knock on the door when he comes to fetch Malleus the next day.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst imagines #twst x reader #x fem reader #malleus draconia x reader #malleus draconia

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coimbrabertone · 29 days

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NASCAR Numerology: How NASCAR's Current Teams Got Their Numbers: Part Three.

Alright guys, we've done Trackhouse, Penske, Wood Brothers, RCR, and SHR, now we're gonna cover the numbers for Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, and Spire Motorsports. That's a grand total of nine cars to cover and some very historic numbers, so let's get on with the origins, the meaning, and some of the notable events in the history of some of the most significant numbers in modern day NASCAR.

We start with Hendrick Motorsports, which is a bit of a mess for two reasons:

The first is that Hendrick has like three different numbering schemes simultaneously: One built around the #5, one built around the #24, and a handful of car numbers that don't fit into either scheme.

The other is that Hendrick Motorsports has recently restructured, to the point where...the #5 is the #48, the #48 is the #88, the #9 is the #24, and the #24 is the #5.

Confused yet? Don't worry, I'll explain it all.

The Hendrick Motorsports story begins in 1984 with the All-Star Racing #5 of Geoff Bodine. This team initially had high aspirations, trying to sign the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Tim Richmond, but after sponsorship and co-ownership deals fell through, Rick Hendrick was left holding the bag alone, he and Geoff Bodine would need to make do with each other.

Well...they won Martinsville, Nashville Fairgrounds, and the season finale at Riverside.

This was enough to keep the #5 team alive, and for 1985, they returned, now properly under the Hendrick Motorsports banner. The #5 didn't win in 1985, but improved results throughout the season moved them up from 9th in the standings to 5th.

This was enough to finally win over Tim Richmond, who came over to start a second team with Folgers sponsorship - this was the #25, and Rick Hendrick's dad, Papa Joe, co-owning this entry.

Tim Richmond took seven wins in 1985 and finished 3rd in the standings, but unknown to everyone else...he was suffering from AIDS all this time. This would keep him out of the car for most of 1987 - with Benny Parsons running a Folgers #35 car in his place - but he would return midseason and immediately win two in a row at Pocono and Riverside.

Unfortunately, Richmond's return would only last eight races. Tim Richmond would attempt to return to NASCAR for 1988, but the medications he was taking to manage his illness conflicted with NASCAR's drug testing policy. Richmond would die from AIDS complications in August 1989.

Hendrick Motorsports at this point ran three numbers built around the #5 - the #5, the #25, and the #35.

They were also running the first non-scheme numbers in the form of the #17 with Darrell Waltrip, however, DW would take his team and his number in 1991 to start his own team, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. The split was amicable, and Rick Hendrick actually helped DW get the team setup.

The next team - and the next numbering scheme - came in 1993, when Hendrick Motorsports hired Jeff Gordon to drive the #24. Initially, the team had intended to run the #46 - because for the movie Days of Thunder, Hendrick Motorsports provided the car and had Greg Sacks race at Phoenix 1989, Atlanta 1990, and Darlington 1990 to acquire footage.

The City Chevrolet sponsorship on the $46 Days of Thunder car is actually modeled on a real Chevrolet dealership that Rick Hendrick owns in Charlotte.

Unfortunately, issues with Paramount - who distributed Days of Thunder - prevented Hendrick Motorsports from running the #46 for real. So instead, they picked the #24, because it had relatively little history in NASCAR prior to Gordon, it was available, and it came right before #25. Thus began the most dominant partnership of the 1990s.

Jeff Gordon would win 93 times and would win championships in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001.

Terry Labonte in the #5 would add to Hendrick's 1990s domination with a 1996 championship.

Such was Jeff Gordon's success that, in 2001, Rick Hendrick allowed Jeff to become the co-owner of a new entry - the #48 of Jimmie Johnson. #48 was double #24, beginning the new numbering scheme. This would also see a part-time #84 car for Kyle Busch in 2004.

Jimmie would win the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2016 championships in the #48, equaling the 7 titles of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Then we get the #88 car, which was set up in 2008 for Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports. Why #88? Well, his DEI number was #8, Dale Jr. had a rabid fanbase, and a lot of people already had #8 merch and #8 tattoos. How to keep those people invested in Dale Jr.? Simple, make his new number two 8s, hence #88.

Thus, come 2017, Hendrick Motorsports has the #5 of Kasey Kahne, the #24 of Chase Elliott, the #48 of Jimmie Johnson, and the #88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Then everything started to change.

For 2018, Chase Elliott moved to the #9, taking the number most associated with his famous father, Bill Elliott. Bill had run the #9 at his own team from 1975-1981, then continued running it at Melling from 1982 to 1991, and then ran the #9 again at Evernham Motorsports in 2001, 2002, and 2003 as he spearheaded Dodge's return to NASCAR.

Chase was in the #9, but he took his #24 team with him. Hence my joke about the #9 really being the #24.

Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne dropped out of Hendrick due to chronic dehydration issues impacting his ability to race. Kahne's #5 team became the #24 team for rookie William Byron.

Also in 2018, Alex Bowman took over the #88 for Dale Jr.

Fast forward to 2021, and Hendrick Motorsports shuffles things around again.

Kyle Larson started the 2020 season win Chip Ganassi Racing, however, during the COVID-19 hiatus, Kyle Larson used a racial slur on a hot mic during an iRacing event. McDonalds, Credit One Bank, and Chevrolet dropped him that day. This left Chip Ganassi no choice but to fire Larson the next day.

Kyle Larson was highly rumored to replace Jimmie Johnson in the #48 for 2021, but after the n-bomb incident, sponsor Ally didn't want to touch him.

Nevertheless, Larson dominated in dirt racing in 2020, completed a racial sensitivity course, and made outreaches to black communities to apologize for his actions, including a visit to the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis.

All of this convinced Rick Hendrick that he should hire Kyle Larson after all, but he needed to shuffle things around to make it happen.

The flagship #5, Hendrick's original number, would return for the first time since 2017, with Kyle Larson running it, primarily sponsored by Hendrick Cars, but also Valvoline, Cincinnati Inc., and Tarlton. The team, however, would be the same as Jimmie Johnson's 2020 #48 team.

Alex Bowman's #88 team, however, would switch to the #48 plate and take on Ally as their sponsor.

Thus the #24 became the #9, the #5 became the #24, the #48 became the #5, and the #88 became the #48.

An awful lot for one team, huh?

Roush is thankfully a bit simpler.

The #6 is Roush's flagship car and has been ever since they were founded in 1988. Why the #6? Then sponsor Stroh's Light wanted a one-digit number to be instantly recognizable. Thus, Mark Martin's time with the #6 began.

Initially, Roush built around the #6 brand, with their second car being the #16 Family Channel Ford and them running the #60 Winn-Dixie car for Martin's Busch Series starts.

Their third car in in 1996 was the #99, which didn't really fit - other than the coincidental of 9 being 6 upside-down so #99 is kinda like two sixes, but Jack Roush says that was a coincidence. But Roush Racing went back to the sixes scheme in 1998 with the #26 car. They also bought the #97 John Deere Pontiac in 1997 and changed it over to a Ford for 1998, bringing it into the team for a five-car effort.

Roush had a couple of six car races in 1999 because Jack grew interested in Busch series racer Matt Kenseth, who was running a Chevrolet for Robbie Reiser. Jack didn't seem to mind too much, and by the time 2000 rolled around, he took Reiser, Kenseth, and their #17 car into the Cup series, running the DeWalt Ford.

Matt Kenseth won Roush's first Cup championship in 2003 with the DeWalt #17, and so in 2024, RFK Racing's two cars are the #6 and the #17.

The original Roush number, and their first championship winning number.

Now for Spire Motorsports real quick.

The #7 car in NASCAR became famous due to owner-driver Alan Kulwicki, who in the late 80s and early 90s, insisted on doing things himself even as NASCAR was starting to move towards bigger, multi-car teams. Alan winning the championship himself in his own equipment in 1992 would inspire a slew of drivers to follow his lead in this era, but for Alan himself...well, he died in a plane crash on the way to Bristol in 1993.

He never got the chance to defend his title.

The #7 AK Racing team was taken over by Geoff Bodine in 1993 - 'member him from Hendrick? - and ran as Geoff Bodine Racing for awhile, before selling to Ultra Motorsports for 2000. Ultra Motorsports and the #7 car of Jimmy Spencer had precisely one notable moment to their name.

At the 2003 MBNA America 300 at Dover International Speedway, the #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge was a lap down when the caution came out, becoming the first car to benefit from NASCAR's new beneficiary rule - implemented to stop drivers from racing back to the line after the caution flag came out - which led to commentator Benny Parsons dubbing him the lucky dog.

Sirius' logo at this point included a little dog.

So yeah, that's where the term "Lucky Dog" in NASCAR comes from, the more you know.

The #7 then went through Robby Gordon Motorsports for awhile, followed by Tommy Baldwin Racing - in which Danica Patrick made her final NASCAR start in the 2018 Daytona 500 - before winding up at Spire Motorsports for the 2021 season.

Corey LaJoie has run the #7 from 2021 to 2024, accomplishing fuck all, and will be replaced for the 2025 season. It is currently unknown who will replace him. Justin Haley has been linked to the ride, and he actually won Spire's only Cup series victory in only his third start at a rain-shortened 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.

Spire then built out their numbering scheme off the #7, with Carson Hocevar running the #77 and Zane Smith running the #71 - though he is due to be replaced by Michael McDowell for 2025.

So yeah, that's Hendrick, Roush, and Spire down. We've done #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #10 already, so next time we'll pick up with Joe Gibbs Racing and their #11 Toyota.

#motorsports #racing #nascar cup #nascar #hendrick motorsports #rfk racing #roush #spire motorsports #kyle larson #chase elliott #william byron #alex bowman #brad keselowski #chris buescher #carson hocevar #Zane Smith

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mikuni14 · 2 months

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I Hear The Sunspot - Ep 5

I just want to say how special this series is to me. Normally the way this relationship is handled would probably make me drop this series (because I totally read them more like friends, than lovers yet, please don't be mad at me). But here comes something, I don't know how to call it, a simple sincerity? Which is something that happens not that often tbh and which proves how much properly done, honest emotion are needed in BL series not only in general, but which could aslo fill in all the gaps creating a complete whole that in the end makes me unable to tear myself away from the screen 😉

This series touches the heart and mind of the viewer. I really like the fact that the series shows Kohei and his hearing problems from a medical perspective, all this sitting and waiting in hospital waiting rooms, doctors and nurses who take care of him, making appointments, even something like replacing his hearing aid. They show him as a patient and as someone whose life largely revolves around his health problem, who must always take it into account when making every, often the most mundane decisions, as well as the stress and fear associated with the deterioration of his condition. This is not as common as it may seem, because very often illness or disability are treated only as a plot device, something that in romances usually only serves as something to connect lovers in some romantic setting, such as cute caregiving (like in the books that Miho reads), and not something that actively affects the everyday life of the characters. This really appealed to my mind, this respect for Kohei and the viewer's intelligence 🙂 (besides, it would be hypocrisy, calling out Miho for infantilizing and romanticizing Kohei and treating him the same by the plot)

I absolutely love our MLs, their interactions with each other, with their famiy - mom and grandpa, with their friends. How they receive verbal and non-verbal support. Their wide range of emotions, experiences, struggles, reflections, sacrifices. Giving in to emotions on the spur of the moment, but also thinking about them for a long time. Their kindness. And that's what really appealed to my heart 🥺

That's why, despite the fact that I missed a more clear transition from friendship to love with Kohei, I can't bring myself to criticize, because the series makes up for it in other areas.

Kohei is so wonderful, but Taichi steals the show, the actor who plays him is amazing, his appearance, behavior, body language, very pleasant voice. Taichi in his performance, demanding an explanation, crying on those stairs and then appearing as if nothing had happened on the roof to continue his relationship with Kohei and just.. stating the facts matter-of-factly, while Kohei is internally conducting an emotional Olympics… that's Taichi my best boy 🤩

Yep, a special series with a specialest boy who doesn't know his feelings yet, maybe doesn't know how to react to Kohei's kiss and confession, but KNOWS that not reacting at all, that moving away from Kohei even without bad intentions and respecting his wishes, will actually hurt Kohei. And that alone is enough for him to appear by his side, the rest will be figured out along the way. It's his kindness, sincerity and being uncompromising that doesn't allow him to leave Kohei to his despair and dark thoughts.

Kohei's mom remains one of the best in BL series, grandpa is still cool too, because he always gives Taichi space, his friends also show interest, ask questions, and they are completely cool and supportive of Taichi, just like his boss (who with that mustache looks like he's from some anime, I just don't know which one).

It's really nice that Taichi knows about the "Kohei's special burger made with love" (oh, Taichi's face in this scene 🥺), I'm glad it's not a secret anymore. Now I also ask for the "secret" of meeting with Miho to come to light.

Sooo, tbh, I'm a whore for big fan of things like "I can only hear you", or "only your touch can help me", you know the "only you and no one else" trope in love stories. That's why when Kohei said he can only hear Taichi, I was like: oooooh yeah, they're going straight for my throat. Gosh I LOVE IT. This is made just for me lol

🥺

#I won't comment on the angled kiss in 2024 now #because I'm counting on it being actually done like a shot from the manga #I'M COUNTING ON IT #i hear the sunspot #hidamari ga kikoeru #bl drama #japanese bl

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legendofmorons · 1 year

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Sick day (Twilight)

This is the second place prize of my 300 follower event for @mickleloaf

Pairing: Twilight x Reader, chain & reader

Rating: G

Summary: You've under the weather, so of clothes the boys take care of you as best they can.

Warnings: being ill,

Other: If I missed anything please let me know! And mickleloaf of this isn't what you envisioned please let me know.

-------

You leave the doctor's office with a packet that contains your diagnosis, symptoms, and how to care for yourself. Thankfully, your hyrule has free healthcare, so all you've got to do is go buy some over the counter meds and try to take it easy.

And also find a way to eat your food in a liquid form if possible. Maybe a blender or protein shakes?

Definitely soup.

Possibly smoothies?

You'll figure it out.

You find Twilight and Time waiting for you outside the building, both men having their arms crossed as they lean against it. Their conversation is quiet, but you can tell it's pleasant.

Twilight sees you first and flashes you a smile. "Hey, darlin'."

You wave, deciding it's not worse trying to use your voice again if you don't have to. It's so hoarse it's hard to hear anyway. Not to mention that it hurts.

"Are you feeling worse?" Time asks, pushing off the wall and closing the space between you.

He sets the back of his hand on your forehead. "You're warm.... You can have another dose of fever medicine in about an hour. We should get you back."

"He's right. Did the doctor give you anything to help?" Twilight asks, reaching out to take your hand gently.

You hold up the packet in answer.

"Oh- I can't read that. Does it have instructions?" Time asks, squinting at the words.

You nod, cracking a smile as you watch both him and your boyfriend try to read the words through sheer power of will alone.

It's sweet that they're ignoring the several severe changes to the language since their time.

Also, very silly.

But it's just very them. They are always taking care of people. Especially their loved ones.

"Can- well... Maybe Wild can help." Twilight suggests after a pause, "His time is the closest to yours in language and all."

You nod again. Hopefully, Wild can tell the others what to do. Even if it isn't perfect, he should at least get the jist.

"Let's head back. Wild's making your favorite soup." Time says, "We'll ride this 'bus' again."

"Time you sound so old." Twilight says with a grin, "Just say bus."

"I did."

"Okay. Let's just get (Y/n) to a bed. Poor thing could use some rest." Twilight says, squeezing your hand in affection.

You rest your head against his shoulder for a moment before straightening back up. Now, the task of getting two ancient heroes back to the hotel you're staying at by using modern transportation. This is fun.

You pass the packet to Time and grab your phone to pull up the bus app with the schedule, route plotting, and your digital prep-aid card.

They follow your lead and restrain themselves from outright gawking at all the things they're unused to.

Every few moments, one or both of them will look to the packet again, brows knitting.

-------

Once you've navigated through the trials that public transportation brought, you finally make it to the room you're sharing with Twilight, Wild, and Wind.

You collapse onto the bed you're sharing with Twilight, thankful that Time is handling, giving the packet to Wild. You just want a break.

"You want some water, love bug?" Twilight asks, watching you with sympathy as he shifts his weight.

You nod. Water is good. Even if swallowing hurts, it's better than being dehydrated on top of all of this.

Twilight goes and grabs your water bottle before filling it and bringing it back to you. "Here you go, darlin'. Careful now. I don't want you to spill it, I know you don't like wet clothes."

You nod, flashing him a thankful smile. You take the bottle and uncapped it before taking a swig.

You wince as you swallow, but it's over quickly. You know this is just how it is for right now.

You readjust to be sitting under the covers, eyes roving the pastel walls of the hotel.

"Alright. So this says (Y/n)'s got - two things real wrong with their throat. I think it says Tonsil-pain? Anyway, their voice might be hard to use. They might run hotter than usual, and their throat is going to hurt. A few other things I don't quite know... oh, and a list of medications that will help are on here." Wild explains, brows knitting as he puzzles out the words a little further.

The others all share a look, and then their gaze shift to you. The way they all seem worried is touching- but you know that with modern medicine, you'll be okay.

They don't seem to understand that, though.

"I'll see if I can't ease the pain, at least." Hyrule says, "They look ready to keel over if they weren't sitting."

"Good idea." Wild says with a nod.

"You need more blankets." Legend says firmly, pulling a comforter out of the room's closet. "Take this."

You blink at him. You're a little chilly, but this is not what you had expected. You'd expected playful teasing.

You do appreciate this, though. It's sweet and it's very nice to know he cares.

Legend and Twilight each take a side of the new blanket and spread it over you gently.

Twilight presses a kiss to your temple while he's bent down.

You smile at him as he straightens back up.

"I made tea." Hyrule says, bringing over a chamomile based tea.

Hyrule has fixed it, so you will at least drink it. If you like tea, he's made it how you like it. If you don't like tea, he's made it taste bearable.

"Thank you." You manage to croak, throat thoroughly protesting use.

"Save your voice." Time says gently.

Hyrule smiles at you as he hands you the tea. Knowing he's used Faerie magic to make it better for your throat. Short cuts to healing and all that.

"Anytime, (Y/n)." The traveler says, pressing a hand to your shoulder before falling back to sit on the other bed.

Twilight sits down on the empty side of the bed, paying special attention to make sure he dosen’t jostle you too much.

"Wild and I aren't going to find the medications your doctor recommended." Warriors says from where he's been watching over you.

"Be careful." Twilight calls as he watches both knights leave.

You just look around, taking another sip of the tea. It's- nice to be taken care of. The way the boys all come together to make sure you're okay is- well, you wouldn't call them anything but family now.

"Do you want anything else?" Wind asks, legs swinging from where he sits on the room's dresser.

You shake your head. You don't want anything else, really. Two of the boys are out to grab you some medicine. The others are all here watching over you. And Twilight is holding your had gently.

Of all the ways to be sick- there are certainly worse.

Time just starts cleaning up from tea and such, making quick work of any mess.

"Would you like to watch something?" Sky asks, sort of aware of television and how it works. But the concept still seems to confuse him.

You nod, giving a grateful smile. They're all so considerate.

Time brings you the remote and goes to start figuring out how the shower works here - this is the first shower tub combo he's seen in the modern world.

You pick your favorite channel and turn the volume to your preferred sound level.

After you set it up, you take another drink of tea before settling in for a more permanent position.

The boys settle around the room. Wind stays on the dresser while Time and sky take the couch. Four, Hyrule, and Legend take the other bed.

Twilight's just squeezing your hand in his gently.

When you look at him, he looks so soft- so genuinely in love. It's amazing.

You take a slow, deep breath and take this moment in. The whole thing.

And yeah, you still feel gross. Your throat still hurts. And the exhaustion still rests in your bones. But, you aren't alone.

And between the tea, the warmth in your heart, and the careful care of your friends- you know you'll get better.

-------

You are asleep when Warriors and Wild retrun with the medications that your doctor had suggested. Which leaves someone the task of waking you.

Which no one wants to do - you seem so peaceful as you sleep.

But Twilight takes the role, gently shaking your shoulder as he says, "(Y/n)? C'mon darlin'. You gotta get up."

You open your eyes, giving a soft rumble of displeasure. Which unfortunately does agitate your throat.

"We have your medicine." Warriors says, holding up a bag from the drugstore nearest to you guys.

You nod, pushing to sit up in bed.

Wild gives you the medicine, figuring you'll be able to give yourself the proper doses since he can't quite figure it out.

So you take your medicine before passing it back to Wild and taking the offered bowl of your favorite soup from Time.

Twilight presses a kiss to your cheek, "I hope you feel better soon, (Y/n)."

#lu #linkeduniverse #misty writes #linked universe x reader #lu time #lu legend #lu hyrule #lu warriors #lu wild #lu sky #lu twilight x reader #lu twilight #lu wind #lu four

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lucycola · 2 years

Note

I saw that you’ll answer headcanon questions! So, what are your cutest/sweetest TOS Spock headcanons?

I am so late answering this but I’ll list a few ideas that I’ve had.

Spock does not participate in PDA whatsoever. Even when his parents participate in the ozh'esta he inwardly cringes.

However in private moments he will be affectionate with you physically. Gentle brushes of the hand and finger strokes of the like. He will also participate in Terran kissing and prefers to do this along with Vulcan kissing.

In private he will refer to you with Vulcan pet names such as ashayam (darling), t’hy’la (friend, brother, lover), and occasionally, if you’re the Lone Survivor, aushfa (kitty).

In public spaces he will be more cryptic, quoting Shakespeare or Byron when no one is paying him much mind (save the captain and Bones). “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.”

Spock may as well be a prison warden when you become ill. You will be made to take your medicine on time on the hour. If you are too weak he will help you walk and dress “It would not aid in your condition to exhaust yourself physically, therefore it is not logical to let you do things alone”. He will wash and condition your hair and brush it before bed so you don’t get tangles. He will even prepare the traditional plomeek soup from his home planet.

He does not often say the phrase ‘I love you’ directly, but it shows in his behaviors. He is very loyal and protective, though does not outwardly show jealousy. His natural Vulcan snarkiness may show less with you. He will tell you you were the most logical choice for a mate (which is the highest honor a Vulcan can bestow).

That’s all I got for now!

#spock x reader #spock #startrek #tos #mister spock #s'chn t'gai spock #tos!spock

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accidentalmistress · 7 months

Text

New Fic - To Have a Voice

Alrighty, here's the new story that I've been working on for quite a while now. I hope y'all enjoy these new characters, because I sure as hell do. This story takes place in the same world as Accidental Mistress, Vibrahnem, but where Accidental Mistress takes place in the country of Schorseau, To Have a Voice takes place in the neighboring country of Merseheim. The events of To Have a Voice take place around the same time period as Accidental Mistress.

Title: To Have a Voice

Word Count: 9,772

Content and Warnings: snz - male, allergy

In which a young Archivist stumbles into a chance encounter that may well change the course of his life, though he certainly doesn't know it at the time.

--------------------

PART ONE: THE CAT

Jakob's mother had taught him from a young age that one must treat others as one wished to be treated. This, she advised, would ensure that one was well-liked by one's peers, which in turn would propel one into a successful and happy future. Jakob had now reached an age in his adult life where he suspected that his dear mother, though well-intentioned, was sadly misguided. For though he was nothing but kind to everyone he met, seldom raised his voice or lost his temper, and strove to always maintain a cheery disposition, these qualities had not brought him friendship and acclaim so much as they had relegated him to what felt like the background of his own life.

Which is all a very roundabout way of saying that, as his one and only close friend Vera liked frequently to remind him: Jakob Steiner was a people-pleasing doormat.

Still, the habits drilled into him by his moral upbringing could not easily be shaken. So when he saw the cat lying motionless along an exterior wall as he left the Archives of the Order, he felt compelled to do what he believed to be right and check on it.

His work in the Archives had kept Jakob late, as usual, while he fulfilled the various requests made of him that he could never quite bring himself to say “no” to. Night had fallen, and rain slicked the streets of Onteburgh with a glistening sheen. Thick cloud cover blocked any moonlight, and the city instead was awash in the soft golden glow of many arcane street lamps. The rain and quality of light made it difficult to tell if the animal was even alive, but if it was, then perhaps it needed help, and Jakob could no more turn a blind eye than he could call off the rain with his thoughts alone.

He approached the creature slowly, the rain whispering in a soft patter on the umbrella he held in a tightening grip.

“I hope I don't regret this…” he muttered with the tone of a man intimately familiar with regrets.

The cat looked like little more than a lump of soaked, black fur on the pavement, its tail encircling its legs as it lay there curled up on its side. Jakob crouched down next to it and took a long look at the animal. If it had died of an illness, he didn't want to touch it and risk contracting some sort of contagion. After a few moments, however, he observed the cat's chest rise and fall with a shallow breath.

“Oh dear. So you are alive, poor thing. Are you hurt?”

The chance of illness remained, but he could not very well aid the cat without touching it, so Jakob reached a hand towards the pitiable creature and brushed two fingers along its head, between its ears. One eye opened, a distinctive shade of violet that took Jakob by surprise. He’d never seen a cat with such unusual, haunting eyes. Though, to be fair, he didn't spend much time around cats. He didn't spend much time anywhere that wasn't the Order's Archives or his own quarters.

The animal lifted its head and looked at him, its strange eyes half-lidded, and opened its mouth. The meow that issued was so faint as to be nearly inaudible over the rain.

Well, I certainly can't leave it here now, can I?

With a sigh, Jakob set his umbrella aside and gently scooped the soaked creature into his arms, a few fat raindrops splattering across the round lenses of his glasses in the moments he was uncovered. The animal didn't protest or make any sort of indication that he was hurting it, but it seemed so weak Jakob couldn't be sure it could if it wanted to. After cradling the drenched little cat in the crook of an elbow, he took up his umbrella again and continued on to his quarters in the Order dormitories.

When he arrived, he placed the cat carefully on his bed and murmured the chant that would activate the lamps in the room. The soaked umbrella he left leaning against a wall by the stout wooden door. If there was one thing that Jakob was satisfied with in his life, it was his living quarters. To be sure, there were far more luxurious places to live, but Jakob was fortunate enough to enjoy one of the most spacious apartments in the entire building. The main room was large enough that, with the help of a pair of folding screens, he could divide it into separate living and sleeping areas. It was also equipped with a private bath, a privilege that was not even afforded to many Knights. His role as an Archivist provided him with a life that was, if not glamorous, more than comfortable enough for a solitary bachelor.

Carrying the cat had thoroughly wetted Jakob's robe, and so he shucked the garment, only to find his shirt also soaked through to the skin. He stripped this too, then caught sight of himself, naked to the waist, in a panel of mirrored glass hung on the wall. The corner of his mouth twitched into the hint of a frown as he studied his reflection. Straight brown hair that brushed his chin. Pale skin that spoke to time most spent indoors. Eyes that were an almost yellowish shade of green. He'd been slight of build for his entire life, which was perhaps appropriate for someone of a scholarly bent. All that echoed in his mind, however, was the jeering voice of one colleague to another, words scarcely whispered behind their hands. “Goddess, no. He's far too scrawny…”

Jakob quickly turned away from the mirror. He had the cat to attend to.

Said feline had not moved from where Jakob had deposited it upon his bed. He fetched a towel and brought it over to dry the cat's fur. He gave a sniff as his nose began to run a bit, then rubbed the appendage with his forearm. At first he thought nothing of it, but then he groaned as realization hit.

“Oh no. Already?”

He'd thought that with the cat being wet he might not have a reaction to it, or at least not much of one, but it seemed this was too much to hope for. Cats always got him allergic to one degree or another, and this one looked to be no exception. At this point, however, his conscience would not allow him to do anything but see this task through, allergies or no. So he wrapped the little cat up in the towel and set about carefully drying it, even as his eyes began to water and a spot of irritation flared in the back of his sinuses.

“Stars of the Sister, -snnf- the things I get myself into…”

The poor creature was worryingly cold. Jakob could feel that clearly as he gently wiped the towel across its fur. Afterwards, he set the dampened cloth aside and instead wrapped the cat in a soft blanket, which he cradled to his bare chest. At least the blanket would keep the cat from touching his skin. His nasal passages were not quite so lucky, that irritation soon building to an intensity he could no longer ignore as an unsteady hitch threaded into his breaths.

“O-oh dear… hh… hh'nxtch!”

Jakob managed to turn aside and stifle the sneeze that seized him.

“Sorry,” he muttered on reflex, quite forgetting that the only other being in the room was the cat. The animal was already feeling warmer and had opened its strange violet eyes to look up at him. Under that intense gaze, it almost felt like he was talking to a person.

“I'm afraid I'm, um… hehhih'nxgch! Sorry. I'm a bit a- aller- allergic… to… heh-CHT! Heh-ITCHU! ISSHIU! HISHIU! Nguh…”

This time his attempt to stifle the tickle failed spectacularly, resulting in a rapid fit of sharp sneezes that misted his shoulder and slid his glasses down his nose. To Jakob's great surprise, the cat wriggled out of his grasp and slunk to the foot of the bed in an instant, wide-eyed. He didn't think the cat could move at all, let alone so quickly.

“S-Sorry, I… I-I didn't mean to sca- scare you- hh'xtch! Oh, goodness…”

He managed to stifle again, but the cat seemed no more interested in coming closer.

“Well of course it won't if I'm sne- sneezing like a ma- a ma- hhp'cht! Nhuh… a maniac,” he muttered, stifling yet another itchy outburst.

Rising from the bed, Jakob fixed his glasses and rummaged about his bedroom until he found a clean handkerchief, and none too soon as he buried his twitching nose in the cloth.

“heh’ISSHIU! ISSHIU! ISSHIU! Oh gods… HETCHIU!!”

He smothered another fit before blowing his nose. At work he was a habitual stifler in the sepulchral quiet of the Archives. Though dust was blessedly not among Jakob's myriad allergies so far as he knew, the Archives were so thick with it, and it was so inescapable, that he would be more surprised if he didn't sneeze at some point during his work each day. That stifling habit bled into his time at home, but this allergic tickle was so intense that he knew continuing to stifle would only serve to make matters worse.

“Don't worry -snf-,” he assured the cat, still staring at him from the foot of the bed. “It'll pass soon… I think.”

Several sneezing fits later, however, it was clear that Jakob's allergy attack had no intention of releasing him from its itch-inducing grip.

“Of course this would happen when I haven't got any allergy medicine… hehhp'tchiuhh!”

The living area of Jakob's quarters was equipped with an economical kitchen, complete with a small cooler-box. The thick-walled metal cabinet bore an arcane gem with an affinity for ice affixed to the door, and any food stored within was kept perfectly chilled. From this Jakob withdrew some leftover chicken from his dinner the previous evening. If the cat wasn't as physically injured as he'd imagined, then perhaps it was weak from hunger combined with the damp chill. It was thin, though Jakob knew quite well that slim did not always mean starving. Perhaps it was not the same for cats, but he could not count how many times in his own life he'd needed to assure one well-intentioned person or another that, yes, he was, in fact, getting enough to eat.

He placed a small portion of chicken on a plate before returning to the bed, where the cat still huddled against the footboard. Jakob stifled another couple of sneezes into his arm as he offered the plate to the cat, setting it down near enough for the animal to reach. The cat stretched its neck out and sniffed at the meat before snatching a hunk of chicken off the plate and devouring it in a few bites. A smile played at Jakob's lips as he watched the little cat tear voraciously into its meal, until at last the plate was so clean that there was nothing left for the cat to lick but its whiskers.

“Well, someone was hungry. Speaking of, I ought to eat something myself.”

He heated the remaining chicken for himself, and spent the rest of the evening alternating between attempts to befriend the cat and retreating to another part of the room so as not to traumatize the animal with his nigh-constant sneezing.

PART TWO: THE CURSE

In the morning Jakob awoke with a start and the realization that he had fallen asleep on his sofa. Bright sunlight streamed through his windows; the rain, it seemed, had moved on. Moments later his eyes fluttered closed and his chest heaved as he was drawn helplessly into a prolonged sneezing fit, his sinuses once more protesting to the fact that he had deigned to spend time in the presence of a feline, and overnight at that.

Once able to catch his breath, he cast about the room for the cat in question but did not immediately see it. Had it somehow snuck out in the middle of the night as he slept? Were it not for his furiously tingling nose and streaming eyes, he might think the whole thing had been a dream.

“Erm, kitty? Here, kitty-kitty… -snf-”

After an anxious minute of searching, Jakob was relieved to see two violet eyes staring back at him when he checked under the bed.

“There you a-are- het'chh! Sorry! Sorry. I know you don't like that…”

He sat back and scrubbed his nose with his palm, trying to quell any further sneezes. For the most part, he only succeeded in eliciting an unpleasant squelching sound.

“Mmh… Well, I-I've got to get ready for work. I'll need to leave you alone for a while, I'm afraid. I might be able to pop back on my l-lunch- heh-heh! Oh, goodness…”

A fresh tickle fluttered through his sinuses like a feathery wave from his quivering nostrils to the bridge of his nose, teasing him with a false start.

“On second thought, perhaps I ought to use my lunch break to get more a-allergy medicine… eh-tchiuhh!”

Jakob dressed in a hurry, the night spent on the sofa and morning search for the cat having completely thrown him off of his normal routine. He left a bowl of water and a bit of cooked fish out for the cat before heading out the door and rushing to the Archives.

“Jakob? Are you actually running late? Perhaps I should play the lottery.”

The elderly voice that greeted him pronounced his name in the Old Merseheiman fashion, using a “y” sound for the “j”. Yakob.

“S-Sorry, Mrs. Neumann…”

With how congested he was, he could hardly say her name properly. It almost came out like “Doybin”.

The ancient woman in front of him stood all of four and a half feet, and that's if she wasn't perpetually hunched over. While not exactly tall, Jakob's respectably average height still meant he practically towered over her. He sometimes wondered if there were fey somewhere in her lineage. Her hair was mostly silver yet shot with black strands, even at her advanced age, and was pulled back into a severe bun. Her skin reminded Jakob of a walnut.

She tutted with her tongue as she shook her head. “Oh, and you sound awful to boot. You could have simply sent word that you had taken ill. I would have given you the day off, you know. Sister knows you do not take enough time off as it is. Which is probably why you are—”

“I-I’m not sick, Mrs. Neumann.” Jakob cut her off before she could launch into a full tirade. “It's my allergies, that's all. You know how bad they get. I'm f-fine, re- real- ah-heh!” He managed to turn aside and throw a sleeve over his nose. “Huh’tchiuh! … -snnf- Really.”

The look she gave him was so flat you could build a house of cards on it, but she merely sighed and dropped the issue, much to Jakob's relief.

“Very well. A shipment arrived early this morning. Three crates containing a mixture of artifacts and written materials donated from a museum that is, unfortunately, in the process of shutting down. I need the items to be sorted and cataloged.”

Jakob bobbed his head, sniffling and rubbing his nose with the back of a hand.

“Understood, Mrs. Neumann. I'll get started on it right away.”

Receiving and cataloging new acquisitions was an aspect of Jakob's work that the young man truly enjoyed. Even the most mundane objects contained the stories of the people who once owned them, and within every shipment the Archives received was the possibility of coming across something truly extraordinary. In only his first year as an Archivist Jakob had cataloged a rather peculiar artifact, which he discovered had been mislabeled and was, in fact, a relic of such importance that it was now used as a holy symbol by one of the Order's Knight Sisters.

Though he highly doubted that he would be uncovering any holy relics today, there was nearly always something of interest to be found among the pieces the Archive received. He located the three small, wooden crates stacked in one of the store rooms. It quickly became evident from the appearance of the wood, aged and discolored, that they had not been packed recently. Whatever was inside must have already spent quite some time in storage at their former home. Jakob hunted down a small pry bar and set about working the lid off the top crate, but after having remained sealed for so long it was proving a stubborn task. After a few minutes he managed to create a small gap around the perimeter of the lid, as well as work up a slight sweat.

“I hate to admit it,” he huffed, “but Vera is right: I need to exercise more…”

After wiping his sleeve across his brow, Jakob thrust the bar into the gap he’d created and wrenched it with all of his strength and bodyweight. The wooden crate creaked, then groaned, and finally the lid came popping off with a loud crack before it clattered to the floor.

Jakob heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness…”

Panting like he’d jogged up a short flight of steps, the young Archivist noticed the rising plume of dust, motes sparkling in the beam of sunshine coming through the window, a split second before his nose twitched.

“Oh no, n-hh-heh! Heh! hhHIT’SHHiuh!”

It hit him too fast and strong to stifle, and his face colored with a burning blush at the noise. He buried his nose in the fabric of one hanging sleeve in an attempt to stave off any further dust, but it did not change the fact that he’d already gotten a face full of it.

“hh’chgt! hah-esshht! hhh’CHXT!-CHXT!-CHXT! Nhuh… huh-kssht! hhshhgt! hh’nxssh!-chiew… Oh Goddess…”

“I thought you weren’t allergic to dust.”

The sudden voice made him jump so badly he nearly dropped the pry bar. He spun and found a young woman with warm brown skin and long, curling hair of raven black done up in a high ponytail standing behind him. Her dark eyes glittered as the corner of her full lips turned up in a slight smirk.

“V-Vera! hh-CHT! Good Gods, y-you could have said something be- before- HUH-cndsh! Before you were right behind me.”

She tipped her head and gave him a one-shouldered shrug, the picture of nonchalance. “I tried to, but you were too busy sneezing your head off to notice. Don’t tell me you’ve developed another new allergy?”

Jakob pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose, shaking his head.

“No… No, I don’t think so. -snnf- I was already having an allergy attack. Since last n-night, actually. Huh’chggh! And you know everything sets me off when I’m like this.”

“Right… I guess nothing spicy for lunch, then. So much for my idea. I was gonna take you to this new stall that opened up along Market Street. They make a wicked curry.”

“Oh, don’t tell me that,” Jakob moaned, “I love curry.”

Vera folded her arms in front of her chest. She almost seemed to be enjoying taunting him.

“Well, don’t forget to take your allergy meds next time.”

“I didn’t forget! I-I haven’t got any!”

“Then maybe don’t wait until you completely run out to get more!”

Unable to think of a valid argument against that, he stifled another round of sneezing into his handkerchief instead. Vera walked around him and peered into the now-open crate. Whatever was inside was still concealed by a layer of wood wool packing material, as yet a tantalizing mystery.

“What are you even working on?” she asked.

Jakob made a vague gesture towards the crate. “New acquisitions. -snf- From a defunct museum. Mrs. Neumann asked me to c-catalog them- hh’tsht!”

“Want some help?”

Jakob waved a hand. “Oh, don't trouble yourself. I can handle it.”

Vera raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “I’m not troubling myself; I'm doing my job. I'm an Archivist too, you know.”

Jakob closed his eyes so she wouldn't see him rolling them. “I'm not saying you're incapable, I'm saying you don't need to step away from your own work just because you find me especially pathetic today.”

The heat behind those last few words surprised even him, and the hurt that flickered behind Vera’s eyes hit him like a knife to the gut.

“Wait, Vera, I—”

“Is that really what you think of me? That I’m only here because I pity you?”

The tone she used was so low and insulted, he almost would have preferred she shouted at him.

“N-no! No. Vera, I'm sorry. I don't- I didn't mean for it to come out like that. That's not what I think at all. I know you're trying to help as a friend, I just…” He pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes with a sigh. “I'm all out of whack this morning, and I feel horrid on top of it. But… I still shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm really sorry.”

Hard eyes glared at him for a moment more before Vera sighed and some of the stiffness went out of her posture. Still, her arms remained crossed in front of her, like one last barrier he had not yet broken.

“Alright, fine. I accept your apology. This isn't like you, though. Did something happen?”

Immediately Jakob's thoughts went to the cat, with its curious eyes and the presence it had when he spoke to it, like it could somehow understand him. Was he imagining it? He had to be.

“N-no. Er, maybe? I don't know… I found this stray cat last night—”

“A cat? Aren't you super allergic to cats?”

He nodded, taking a moment to blow his nose again and give it a thorough rub in the process. While this did not satisfy the itchy burning in his sinuses—nothing short of a miracle would at this point—it did at least succeed in pushing it to a background annoyance rather than an immediate concern.

“Why do you think I'm currently a sniffling, sneezy mess and sound like my sinuses are stuffed with cotton? I was around it all night.”

“Hold on a moment. Are you saying you found a stray cat… and then you brought it home?”

“Well, yes. It needed my help.”

“Jake…” She drew his name out in exasperation.

Jakob spread his hands. “I couldn't leave it! It was just lying there on the ground getting soaked by the rain, a-and it was so weak it could hardly even meow at me. The poor thing was freezing. It might have died if I hadn't done something!”

“Alright, alright. I get it. You brought an injured cat home and were up all night sneezing. I suppose I can see why you’d be out of sorts.”

Jakob rubbed the back of his neck. “I-I did manage to fall asleep for a little while on the sofa…”

Vera sighed and finally dropped her arms to her sides. “You ought to go home, then. Get some rest. I'm sure you're worried about the cat, too. I can handle these crates.”

“I'm fine, Vera. It's not the first rough night I've had with my allergies. Besides…” He turned back to the open crate and its mysterious contents. “I have got to know what's in these.”

Another sigh from Vera, this one more resigned.

“Alright, but I’m staying and helping you. I won't take no for an answer. And put a mask on or something, for Sister's sake. These things look like they're full of dust, and I am not carrying you to the infirmary again.”

“I-It was one time!” Jakob stammered, his voice squeaking up an octave.

“Yeah, one time too many.”

Unpacking the crates and sorting the contents did go faster with Vera's help. The cloth Jakob tied around the lower half of his face at Vera's insistence served to keep the dust out well enough, but when the fibers brushed against his raw, chapped nostrils in just the right way…

“hh-hhih’chh! Nnggh… Sorry.”

Vera waved off his apology without a word or even looking up from the fragment of ancient text she was examining at a nearby table with practiced care. At this point in their friendship, she seemed to take little more notice of Jakob's sneezing than she did of him simply breathing. After a few moments, though, she turned her attention to him for another reason.

“Jake, what do you make of this?”

“Hm?”

He came to peer over her shoulder at the text, her finger extended to a particular section of the parchment, yellowed with the passing of untold years.

“I think these are Tulyranese runes, but you've always been better with them than me.”

Jakob adjusted his glasses and leaned closer, squinting at the text she’d indicated.

“Mmm, yes. Definitely Tulyranese. Third century, I should think. See the way this first character is drawn? With the sort of looping tail coming off of it? That's typical of the style used in official and religious texts of that era.”

“So, we're looking at this being, what, seven, eight hundred years old?”

“Thereabouts.”

Vera gave an appreciative nod. “Wow. It’s in pretty good condition, then, for its age. I mean, whatever binding this text had is long gone, unfortunately, but the pages themselves are in good shape. The ones that are here, anyway. I’m almost certain they’re part of a larger work.” She glanced up at him before carefully shifting the pages in front of her with gloved hands. “Did you find any more pages in the other crates?”

Jakob shook his head, the motion almost setting off another sneeze. “N-not individual pages, no. -snf- Some scrolls that I’ll have to examine later when I have the proper tools. I’m honestly not even certain any of these items are related. Most of them aren’t even from the same continent, let alone the same era. And I can't believe that nothing is labeled! What sort of ‘museum’ was this place, anyway? No wonder they shut down. I mean, they sent us a cheap replica of the Five Seals of the ruling houses of Schorseau, like the ones they sell to tourists— Wait!”

He placed an urgent hand on Vera’s arm as something on the page she was currently handling caught his eye. With his other hand he pointed to an illustration near the center of the page that depicted a spindle-shaped object with three bands around it.

“That. That object there. That was in one of these crates!”

He whirled around, eyes scanning over a handful of broken pottery, a collection of handheld farming tools, and a number of figures carved from soapstone before his gaze landed on the object in question: an obsidian spindle that was a little longer than his hand and had three metal bands wrapped around it: one around its center and two more on either side of the first, equidistant between the center band and the artifact’s pointed ends. Jakob rushed to retrieve it, so caught up in his excitement that he forgot he had taken his own gloves off a few minutes prior when his hands had begun to sweat inside them.

“Jake, your gloves!” Vera snapped, just as a shock pricked the middle finger of his right hand where it touched the center ring.

He jerked his hand back with a slight yelp as a tingle ran up his arm. “Ah! S-sorry! I- hh-hhih'chh! Hih’CHH! eh-TCHIU! Nnh… I-I wasn't thinking.”

Vera rolled her eyes. “If you develop an allergy to artifacts, I'm forcing you to resign.”

“Oh, hush,” Jakob grumbled as he tugged his gloves back on, “It was only a static shock. It surprised me, that's all.”

His annoyance was quickly forgotten as he took up the artifact and carried it carefully over to the table with the texts. He set it down next to the page with the illustration, a grin hidden by the cloth over his face but present nonetheless.

“Look at the similarities! It's the same shape, the same color, and it has those three bands around it.” He leaned in, examining the metal bands more closely. “Wait, there are carvings here.”

“Tulyranese?”

He slowly shook his head. “I'm not sure… They're very worn. Could be, though. I'll need to examine them with a magnifying glass to say what they are for sure, I think.”

“Still, you're right that this artifact is a very close match to the illustration,” Vera agreed, “It's almost certainly related, somehow. Even if it's not the exact same object, it's at least a similar one or a replica.”

Jakob took the artifact in his hands again, turning it in the light.

“It can't have been a common item. I've never seen anything like it.”

Vera was bent over the pages again.

“You know, Jake… I may not be the best with Tulyranese runes, but I think this says something about a curse.”

He looked at her sharply. “What? A… a curse? Um, l-let me see.”

“Let's hope you were right about that shock just being from static,” Vera said as she stepped aside for Jakob to move in, “Do you feel strange at all? Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Oh, of course not. I feel fine. Well, as fine as I can be on a bad allergy day,” he replied as he began examining the text in detail, “True curses are extremely rare, and I think we'd know by now if we'd set one off.”

“If you’d set one off. I didn't touch the damned thing.”

He shot her what he hoped was a withering glare, but which probably lost much of its effectiveness with the cloth mask on. Then he huffed out a breath and turned back to the text, trying to decipher the runes.

“Alright, let me see here… This first section refers to the First Sovereign Emperor, ‘the one of great wisdom’. It seems he… hid the artifact in, um… someplace underground. ‘The subterranean place, the hidden deeps below the earth, the domain of Death.’”

“So, like, the underworld?”

He held out a hand, palm down, and tipped it from side to side. “Ehhh… The literal translation of these characters for ‘Death’ is ‘That Which Follows’, and there's still some debate on whether they were an actual death deity or a type of… collector of souls.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Well, one causes you to die, the other just sort of waits around for it to happen. Most likely the place it's referring to is a tomb or burial site of some kind.”

“So, if your interpretation is correct, the First Sovereign Emperor of Tulyran hid this artifact in a tomb?”

“I think so, but I'm making a very rough translation here. This next part… seems to be a number of praises for the Emperor. This means ‘to raise one’s lips to the sky’, so they are, ah, shouting their praises. ‘The one of great wisdom’, ‘the ancient power’, ‘the one who… brings changes’? I think?”

He could hear Vera tapping her foot impatiently.

“Okaaay, but is there anything about a curse?”

“I'm checking. I'm checking. Uh… Oh, here's something about ‘trespassing’. Um, ‘those who trespass upon the domain below’, if they ‘violate the’… ‘seal’, I think. They ‘shall be—’” He paused and glanced over at Vera before speaking the next word. “‘—cursed… Banished into shadow for all eternity.’ You were right, it does mention a curse.”

“I knew it! Are you sure you're okay? What if there’s some kind of ancient magic still active on it?”

“I told you, I don't feel any different. The only thing I feel is my damned sinuses itching.” He reached up to rub his nose through the cloth, which was apparently a mistake as it ignited a fresh prickle that flared up from a sore spot at his septum. “Oh dammit, and I fe-feel like I'm gonna- gonna sn- snee-hheeze!”

“Oh, Hell no! Mask or no mask, you are not sneezing on the artifacts!” Vera snapped, shoving his shoulder.

Jakob managed to turn and put his back to the table just as his lungs pulled in a sharp breath.

“Hihh! hh’ishht! Heh-chght! HEH! HH-CHHT! Nnh… S-Sorry. Excuse me.”

As he lifted his glasses to wipe a few tears from his eyes, Jakob turned to find Vera with a hand on one hip and another of her trademarked smirks on her face.

“Maybe you've been inflicted with a sneezing curse.”

He rolled his eyes. “If that's true, then I've been suffering from it my entire life.”

He pulled the cloth mask away from his face so he could blow his nose into his handkerchief, wincing at both the tenderness of his abused nostrils and the sounds he was making. The congestion in his nasal passages was so thick that the air squeaked as he forced it through. His best friend’s expression softened.

“Jake. Go get some allergy meds from the infirmary, and then go home and get some rest. Please.”

“But—”

“No buts. You are a mess. You said you wanted to know what was in the crates. Now you know. I can handle it from here. And these artifacts aren't going anywhere; you'll have plenty of time to study them later.”

Jakob sighed. Vera was not one to back down, especially when she knew she was right. And she definitely was right, though he was loath to admit it.

“Alright, fine.” He allowed a smirk to creep across his own face. “Just don't go hogging all the interesting discoveries, okay?”

Vera put a hand to her chest in mock indignation. “You wound me, sir! Would I do something like that?”

His response was deadpan. “Yes. You have. Repeatedly.”

“Well, okay, but never anything important. Besides, is it so wrong to have a thirst for knowledge?”

Jakob snickered. “Better than some of your other thirsts.”

That earned him a scoff. “You're just jealous that I get all the cute boys. And some of the girls.”

He poked Vera with an accusing finger. “Then I suppose there's more than one area of your life in which you ought to learn how to share.”

Vera gave his arm another shove. “Oh! You are in such a mood today! Are you sure you're not cursed? Or is this still that cat’s fault?” She paused, narrowing her eyes. “What are you going to do with it, anyway? The cat, I mean.”

Jakob rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly abashed. “I don't know… I was thinking, um, maybe I could… keep it for a while.”

Vera looked at him like he'd just declared his intent to marry the animal. “You… want to keep… a cat?”

“Just for a while! Maybe I'll get used to it! And I'll take allergy medicine—”

“You know what? Fine. If it'll get you to actually take your meds, go right ahead. Now go to the infirmary!” Vera grumbled as she practically shoved him out the door of the Archives storage room.

PART THREE: THE MAN

By the time Jakob arrived back at his quarters, he was already feeling better from the dose of allergy medicine he had taken as soon as he'd acquired it at the infirmary. In his hands he carried a small wooden case that held more tiny vials of the pale green elixir, enough to hopefully get him through the next month or so.

He pushed the door to his quarters open carefully, hoping that a little black blur wouldn't dart out and vanish down the street. When nothing appeared in the crack of the doorway, he swung the door in fully and stepped inside.

“Um, kitty? I'm home…”

He checked the plate of fish he had left out and found it clean, which he took as a good sign. Soon after he located the cat itself, curled up asleep at the foot of Jakob’s bed. It raised its head and fixed him with that twilight-purple gaze that struck Jakob so. When it continued to do naught but stare, he felt a sort of weight pressing down on him, like he ought to say something, anything to break the sudden awkward tension. Going with what was literally at hand, he held up the little box.

“I-I got some allergy medicine! Now I won't be, um, sneezing quite so much. Although I suppose I should warn you that I tend to sneeze a fair amount anyway. Just the way that I am…” He trailed off with a self-conscious laugh that dissolved into a defeated groan as he closed his eyes and brought a palm to his face. “Am I seriously talking to a cat?”

Prrrp.

A little trilling sound, almost like a soft chirp. Jakob looked up, found the cat staring at him just as before, but he knew he had not imagined the sound. He was not so foolish as to believe that the cat had actually responded to him out of genuine understanding, but it was the only sound the animal had made since that first pitiful meow in the rain. And it even sounded friendly.

“Oh…”

Jakob deposited the box on an end table and approached the bed. Perhaps it was simple exhaustion, but his steps possessed an almost dreamlike quality, as though he were sleepwalking while awake. He slowly reached out a hand towards the cat, not to grab or even pet it, just close enough for it to smell him if it wanted to. The little black feline leaned in toward his hand, sniffed him once… twice… Then it pressed its small, wet nose against his fingers and rubbed him with its cheek. Jakob could not help the delighted gasp that escaped his lips, followed by a chuckle as the cat brought its face back around for a second rub.

“You like me, huh? Or is this your way of saying ‘thank you’ for bringing you in out of the cold and giving you something to eat?”

Shifting his hand to stroke the cat’s head and down its back, Jakob was pleasantly surprised by the silky softness of its fur. The last time he had touched it, the cat had still been damp with rain, its fur slick and matted to its body. Now that it was dry, he could scarcely believe that he had picked the animal up as a bedraggled stray. This was the sort of cat that Jakob imagined would warm the laps of wealthy ladies or appear in royal portraits.

Maybe the cat was an escaped pet, a fugitive from some noble household who slipped out on a lark that soon became a misadventure. Or perhaps the cat had been spirited away from its home by force, to be sold or held for ransom, and had managed to flee its captors only to be unable to find its way home again.

Jakob felt around the cat's neck, giving it a few chin scratches in the process, but did not feel any evidence of a collar. Not everyone collared their cats, though. The absence of one was no guarantee that the cat was feral. Still, even as he imagined an owner, fretting and distraught over the loss of their beloved pet, there was a part of him that hoped that there was none.

Jakob's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, familiar itch.

“Uh-oh- heh! Etchiu! Etchiu!”

A quick, sharp double sneeze hit him, and he barely had time to turn and bury his face in his elbow. The cat flattened its ears and took a few cautious steps back, though at least it did not outright flee this time.

“Sorry! Sorry. It's not you, it's just me being, um, me. Er, well, it might be you a tiny bit, but it’s not nearly so bad as before.”

As the cat moved across the bed, concern sprouted in Jakob’s chest as he thought he saw it favoring one of its back legs. It had squirmed from his arms so quickly the previous night, and then hadn’t moved much afterwards, so he hadn't noticed anything wrong with its gait then. He scrounged up a bit of string and took a few minutes to observe the cat, teasing it back and forth across the bed. There was indeed something odd about the way it moved its right hind leg: not the pronounced limp of a fresh hurt, but the slight, stiff unevenness of an old wound that never quite fully healed.

Jakob frowned. Perhaps the cat really was a stray. He couldn't imagine that the owner of such a beautiful animal would allow their pet to suffer an injury like that without treatment. At the very least, the animal must have been living on the streets for several months, if not longer. Jakob took a seat on the edge of the bed and tried to coax the little cat nearer again. When it settled within arm’s reach, he went back to stroking its back.

“I'm afraid I'm no healer,” he told it softly, “but I'll do what I can to help you get better.”

Perhaps he was anthropomorphizing the cat too much, but he couldn't help thinking of the purring that vibrated beneath his hand as an expression of gratitude.

For the next several days, Jakob spent his time at work studying the strange artifact and text that he and Vera had uncovered, while his time at home was largely spent bonding with and caring for the cat. Sadly there was not much in the text he could glean about the artifact beyond what he had already translated. Vera was right that the pages appeared to belong to a larger work, and upon closer inspection Jakob determined that they were not consecutive—they all came from different parts of the original book. The page with the illustration was the only one they had that referred to the artifact at all.

The artifact itself was no more forthcoming on the particulars of its purpose and history. The runes carved into the metal bands, when he examined them more closely, did not match any Tulyranese runes Jakob was familiar with, nor any other script he knew besides. It did not possess any moving parts, so far as Jakob could tell, and though he could detect a faint echo of potent magic upon it, whatever power it contained in the distant past was long spent. It would no longer be cursing anyone to the shadows, it seemed, if it ever truly did at all.

As for the cat, Jakob consulted with a veterinary physicker and came home with a healing salve to be rubbed on the cat’s injured leg. The feline in question was surprisingly tolerant of this treatment, much to Jakob's relief. He thought for certain that he would have to hold the cat still in a death grip while he massaged the medicine through its fur and into its skin. Instead the cat lay quietly while he worked on its leg, almost as though it knew that the treatment was intended to help. There was no guarantee that the old wound would ever be fully healed, but after a couple of days of application Jakob swore he saw improvement in the cat’s mobility.

One night after Jakob had come home from the Archives and had already eaten supper, bathed, and tended to the cat’s medication, he lay on his back in bed while the little black cat perched on his chest with all of its paws tucked beneath it, a content purr rumbling in its chest. Jakob stroked it absently with one hand as he mulled over the artifact and the warning of its curse.

“Those who trespass upon the domain below, should they violate the seal, shall be cursed: banished into shadow for all eternity…” he muttered. “I don't think I've been banished to the shadows.”

He looked down at the cat watching him with its violet eyes, and smiled.

“What do you think, hm? Do you think I've been cursed, little one?”

It trilled at him in response, and Jakob chuckled. He grabbed the cat under its front legs and held it up, much to the animal’s consternation judging by the grumpy meow it gave.

“Oh, don't be cross with me. You're so cute! How can I not want to pick you up?”

For a moment he thought the cat might try to scratch him, but it simply lashed its tail and hung there, its back paws resting on Jakob's chest while its forelegs dangled in the air.

“Hm. If you're going to stay with me, I think you'll need a proper name. I'm not sure if you're a boy or a girl, though… Well, perhaps it can just be something neutral. Let's see… Vesper? No… Maybe Noctis? Eh, no. How about… Onyx? Hm, no…”

The artifact text came to mind again, “banished into shadow for all eternity.” In the original Tulyranese, the word for shadow was ahkre. Jakob perked up, pulling the cat back in close so they were nearly nose to nose.

“Ahkre… How about it? Would you like to be Ahkre?”

The cat stared at him, wide-eyed, like he had just personally insulted every single one of its ancestors. Jakob laughed and, with a grin, leaned in to give the cat a little kiss.

Everything went dark.

Weight.

Warmth.

Pressure.

Something was pressed firmly against his mouth. Something warm and wet and delightfully soft. Complete disorientation gripped Jakob's mind like a spider wrapping its prey. What the hell had just happened? In the next moment, sharp clarity pierced the haze as he realized that the thing pressing against his lips was… someone else's.

He was being kissed.

“Mmph?!”

He jerked his head back as far as he could in the limited space. Wave after wave of heat washed across his face, radiated down his arms and legs, and coiled up in his core as he found that he was now being pinned to his bed. By a man.

The man pulled his own face back, his expression just as confused as Jakob felt. His skin was a rich brown that reminded Jakob of river clay, and his face was framed by waves of long, silver-white hair. Jakob flushed even hotter. Oh, stars above, this man looked like he'd been chiseled from stone in the image of a god. High cheekbones. A strong, angular jaw with a perfect dimple in the center of his chin. A long, sharp nose with a slight bump in the ridge of it. Those soft lips that had been on Jakob's own just moments before. The man blinked slowly, like someone just waking from deep slumber, and as they locked gazes Jakob's stomach did a flip.

The man’s eyes were violet, like a band of vivid color across the twilight sky.

“Y-You… you're…” Jakob's voice came out as little more than a squeak, and it was of course at that moment that his traitorous nose prickled with abrupt, urgent intensity. Maybe bringing the cat so close to his face had been a bad idea. Panic began to set in as he realized that his arms were pinned at his sides. He clamped his jaws shut, pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth—anything to hold back from sneezing with this gorgeous man on top of him.

“P-Please, I’m- I'm gonna- hehh!”

No good. His breath hitched in his chest as the tickle insisted—demanded to be satisfied. He screwed watering eyes shut and did the only thing he could: turn his face into his shoulder as far as possible and try his best to stifle.

“G-gonna- heh- heh! HH’ISHHT!”

The man jumped up and sat back on his haunches, still straddling Jakob’s hips on the bed and revealing that he was completely, maddeningly naked. He held up his hands in front of his face, turning them over and over and flexing his fingers with a look of slight terror on his handsome features.

“I-I am so sorry!” Jakob stammered, “I d-didn’t mean to, um… hh’tssh! Sorry! I-I-I just… I mean, you were a- ah! Hih’CHH! Nguh, -snf- Y-you know, a-a cat, and, um… W-weren't you?”

Instead of replying the man scuttled backwards, flailing, and fell against the footboard of the bed with a hoarse, wordless cry that was practically a whimper. Jakob pushed himself up on his elbows and rubbed his nose, forcing the itch into submission for the moment.

“Oh my, are you alright? Well, no, I suppose you're not. You were a cat just a minute ago. You… were the cat, right?”

Jakob rose until he was sitting upright, but still the man didn't answer. Another raspy moan passed his lips, then a cough. He looked on the verge of panic, and it was this, more than anything, that eased Jakob's own nerves a little as the familiar role of caring for the needs of another before his own settled over him like a well-worn pair of slippers.

“H-Hey, it's alright. Don't be afraid.”

No response. He couldn't seem to get through to the man at all, who was hugging his arms around himself as his breath came in quick, shallow pants. Jakob's heart wrenched when he saw tears standing in those beautiful violet eyes. What could he do? There was no handbook for this, no instructions for what to do when the cat you've been keeping for several days suddenly turns human.

“Um… I…” He cast around, as though the answer might be written on the walls, but he knew that nothing and no one was going to swoop in and rescue him. He returned his gaze to the man before him and was suddenly reminded of a lost child, confused and afraid. So Jakob did the only thing he could think of: throw a warm blanket around the man’s shoulders and pat him gently on the head.

“Shh… It’ll be alright. No one's going to hurt you.” He murmured, stroking his hand across the man’s silvery hair. It was soft. Softer than anything Jakob had ever felt, he thought, like strands of silken moonlight. “I won't let anything happen to you.”

The man’s breathing eased. He looked up at Jakob, really focusing on him for the first time.

“That's it. Deep breaths,” Jakob said, keeping his voice low, as though talking down a skittish horse. “I'm, um… Oh, I never told you my name, did I? Well, I-I don't think people usually introduce themselves to cats… Um… B-But anyway, I'm Jakob. Do you… have a name? Er… Can you talk?”

The man’s lips trembled.

“Bh… Buh…”

He gasped, as though the simple act of trying to speak cost him great effort. He swallowed and gazed at Jakob for several eternal moments, straining and clearing his throat, before at last forcing out a whisper:

“B-Balthasar.”

He let out a breath, like a sigh of relief, and sat up straighter, and Jakob's face flamed as he found he was now the one needing to look up. Balthasar had the kind of body that many people would kill for, and not a few would kill over. A man like this had wars fought in his name. And he was sitting naked in Jakob’s bed.

“Um, i-it's nice to meet you, Balthasar.”

Balthasar’s mouth opened and closed a few times, his jaw working with the stiffness of disuse.

“Hh… S-Sorry… I… Mm… This is… strange.” He spoke in a bare rasp, difficult to make out.

Jakob leaned closer to hear. “Strange?”

Balthasar nodded. “Strange,” he croaked. “Strange to… b-be in this… body. Strange to… h-have a voice.”

“Oh…” Jakob nodded slowly, feeling like his thoughts were running through mud. “Er, yes. I-I suppose it would be.”

“I…” Those violet eyes couldn’t quite look at him. “Sorry for… kissing you.”

Another wave of heat washed over Jakob as he waved both hands in front of him. “Oh! N-no, no, it’s fine! Really, I-I think it would be my fault, if anything. B-But I had no idea that, uh, kissing you… would… um…”

“How—” Balthasar broke off and coughed before trying again. “H-How did… you know?”

Jakob looked at him quizzically. “Er, how did I know what?”

“Ahkre. Tynn bat’tam ahkre.”

“Oh, um… Well, I'm an Archivist. A-A historian, I suppose. I’ve been studying this ancient Tulyranese text and artifact…”

Jakob trailed off and his frown deepened. ‘Tynn bat’tam ahkre’ was the original Tulyranese that translated to ‘banished into shadow for all eternity’. He’d only said “ahkre”, so how did this man know the rest of the line from the curse? Jakob's eyes widened.

“Wait, you don't mean— You were under the curse? It turned you into a cat?!”

Balthasar nodded. “Mm. For a long time. I did not… I thought no one could… um…”

He spent a few moments in thought, then made a motion with his hands like he was snapping something.

“Break the curse?” Jakob supplied.

“Yes! Break. I thought no one could break it. I am… I must…”

To Jakob's great surprise, Balthasar suddenly placed his hands in front of him on the bed. He then bowed low, the blanket slipping down from his broad shoulders, and he touched his forehead to the sheets. Jakob couldn't help but notice the way Balthasar's silver hair fanned across the dark skin of his back, his eyes then drawn to the lithe curve of his ass as he bent forward. Jakob's heart began crawling up his throat. When Balthasar spoke, his voice sounded the firmest it had ever been.

“I am in your debt. I pledge myself to you. My life is yours to do with as you see fit.”

Jakob threw a hand over his mouth, his blush volcanic. “P-Pledge yourself? To- to me?! Oh, no. No, no, no. Y-You don't need to do that!”

He reached out and took Balthasar’s shoulder, warm brown skin beneath pale fingers, and urged him to rise. “Please, this is all very strange, and- and honestly a little overwhelming, so c-can we not talk about pledging oneself to one another right now?”

Balthasar looked at him, silver brows drawn together in confusion.

“But… You took me in. Cared for me. Healed me. Broke my curse. I owe you a debt. My life. I have nothing else to give.”

“Th-that doesn't mean—”

Suddenly Balthasar took Jakob's hands in his, a note of desperation entering his voice.

“Please. I will earn my keep. I swear it. I admit, I have a… a reason that is… it is… selfish. I-I…” He looked at their clasped hands and suddenly released Jakob's as though stung, his own face flushing. Then he cast his eyes down into his lap, his shoulders dropping and his long bangs falling across one eye. “I have no home. Nowhere to go. I wish to stay here… with you. Please.”

Jakob took a breath and tried very hard not to consider the implications of the “with you” part.

“But… What about your family?” he insisted, “Friends? Surely they must be worried about you.”

Balthasar did not raise his gaze, only shook his head. “They are gone. All gone. There are none left who mourn my absence.”

Something caught in Jakob's mind, then, puzzle pieces falling into place. Balthasar spoke with an accent he could not place, and the way he had spoken Tulyranese was like that of a fluent speaker.

“Balthasar… How long were you cursed for, exactly?”

He glanced up at Jakob's question, but quickly looked away to the side. As the light from the bedside lamp shifted across Balthasar's striking features, Jakob noticed a smattering of freckles across his cheeks.

“I do not know. A very long time. I stopped… stopped counting the years when I left Tulyran.”

Jakob's jaw nearly dropped. Though he had the suspicion, it still beggared belief. “You… You're actually from Tulyran?”

Balthasar nodded.

“But— But Tulyran has been dead as a civilization for… for… for hundreds of years!”

Again, a silent nod from Balthasar, and Jakob could only continue to gape, leaning in closer.

“Are you telling me that you lived as a cat for centuries?”

Balthasar turned, a flicker of heat behind his violet eyes that made Jakob flinch backwards. In an instant, the air around Balthasar changed: one moment he was steeped in mournful uncertainty, and in the next he radiated quiet strength.

“You do not believe me? My years as a human are a- a fraction of my life. I may as well be more cat than man. I watched as the people around me— they were born, they grew old, and they died. Over and over and over. Undying. Alive within the- the sea of humanity, yet ever an outsider. Witness to life's richest fruits, yet unable to touch. That is the true curse. To do nothing but… watch as everyone and everything you hold close in your heart… leaves you behind.”

By the time he was done speaking, his voice had grown hoarse again. Balthasar's pain was laid bare within his words—words fueled by centuries of torment. Silence reigned in the apartment for a long moment. Jakob knew that nothing he could say could soothe so deep a wound, yet he had to offer what balm he could. He spoke softly, his words infused with a gentle tenderness as he reached out to place his hand on Balthasar's. The other man's hand was large and sinewy, the hand of a warrior, yet it trembled beneath Jakob's fingers.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to imply that I didn't believe you. I do. It's just a lot to take in, that's all. And my gosh, I have so many questions, but…” Jakob swallowed his nerves and took a deep breath. “You can stay with me. For a while, at least. B-But I don't want you pledging your life to me, or anything like that! Um, how about… starting as friends?”

He offered a shy smile, but the one that lit up Balthasar’s own face as he took up Jakob's hand in both of his made the Archivist’s heart skip a beat or three.

“Friends! It would be my honor. You have my deepest thanks, Jakob, my… my friend.”

As Jakob took in Balthasar's dazzling, beaming grin, his expression of pure joy, and the thundering of his own heartbeat like a herd of horses galloping through his veins, one thought suddenly rose above all else:

Stars above. How was he ever going to explain this to Vera?

---------------------

End: "To Have a Voice", the first tale of Cursebreaker.

#snzblr #snz #snz kink #sneeze kink #snzfic #snz fic #sneezefic #Jakob the Allergic Archivist #Balthasar of the Broken Curse #snzfucker

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daydreamer3469 · 4 months

Text

Sweetheart.

Levi x Fem!Reader

Summary - Levi is gone, what shall you do??

Content Warning! - Illness, Prostitution, Throwing up, Perverts, Blood,

Authors note! - I wanted to write a little story so my blog didn't look so empty, you know? Anyway, this is my first post, and this will NOT have a part two because it sucks! + Found the art on pinterest, I'm not sure who the artist is sadly. (I started writing this a whole year ago, I finally got back on Tumblr to finish it, but not really.)

You had no idea what to do, and you were doing worse than ever. You weren't physically fit, and you certainly weren't cut out for stealing. It's not like you knew how to do it in the first place. Levi never taught you anything.

You sat in an empty, but spotless, house. You were in the habit of cleaning; it was practically rent when you lived with Levi. So, at least you had the cleanest house in the underground!

Oh how you miss him...

You obviously missed Farlan and Isable, but Levi was special. You knew him for a longer time, and he saved you. He even kept saving you, providing you with food and care, but not for free. You knew a great deal about medications and illnesses.

Your mother was a doctor, a good one at that!

Though, she was at the brothel when she wasn't treating patients. She met Levi's mother there. They worked together and were good friends. Your mother took you to her work since she couldn't leave you at home all alone. Fortunately for you, you didn't have to witness any of the dirty work; you just had to hear it.

Levi was ill and pale at the time, while you just appeared only slightly better. When your mother worked, you were in a small practically empty room with one bed; you had always assumed it was an extra room they very rarely used.

But you and him always sat in that room, on that bed. In almost complete silence, just the occasional sounds of the ladies working.

You were both just too shy to start a conversation but the company was nice. Though to you, it felt like you silently knew each other.

So when Levi's mother became ill, your mother was quick to offer aid. She visited the Ackerman's house frequently, bringing medication and other supplies to try get rid of what was slowly killing her friend. She took you there with her, not that you mined. You enjoyed getting to see your mother at work. You wanted to be like her, so you observed and watched.

As a result, you got to see Levi more. He didn't go to the brothel every day as you did, only on occasion. So it was nice to see your silent companion more often. It was also adorable to witness him do his best to assist his mother.

He was definitely a mama's boy.

But sadly, your mothers care wasn't enough, Levis mother came to realize she was wasnt going to make it. She asked that your mom stop coming to her house and wasting her medication on a lost cause.

No one even knew what illness she had.

Your mother grieved for a short while, but she had to keep going.

You didn’t see Levi for a while, it made you sad but you had hoped he was doing alright.

After a while your mother was killed while in cross fire from a few gangs fighting. It devastated you. You were now all alone, in the poverty stricken streets of the underground. The only thing you had going for you was your knowledge on medicine.

One day you were in some alleyways looking for scraps of food, anything was everything to you at that moment. You were in your early teens and vulnerable.

“Hey pretty thing, what are you doing here digging through garbage, don’t you think you’re to cute for that?” Your eyes widened and you quickly turned your head to the sound. Unfortunately for you 2 older guys were standing in the alley way, looking at you like you were prey.

You gulped and stepped back, getting ready to run. Only for your back to hit a wall.

You were cornered.

“I-I… leave me alone!” Your eyes were wide with fear, you didn’t know what to do, or what to say.

“I like them scared!” One smirked evilly while walking towards you. As they got closer the more you lost hope. You could’ve done something, fight, or at the very least try to run. But you were too scared, every bone in your body was frozen, you couldn’t move. You couldn’t even fight, you were so sickly and malnourished, you were practically skin and bones.

You closed your eyes as they got closer, trembling. You waited for something to happen. Getting grabbed or even stabbed, you didn’t know. But you waited.

Though, it never came.

You heard a noise but didn’t dare open your eyes. Until it stopped, you were breathing heavy but you could still hear footsteps getting close you. You peeked a eye open and gasped slightly when you saw a familiar face.

“L-Levi?!” Your eyes widen in shock, you couldn’t believe it. You thought you would never see him again. “Are you okay?” He looked concerned while scanning your body, a faint look of relief washed over him.

He looked better than the last time you saw him. His face was healthy and his body too. Unlike you.

You blush from embarrassment, he’s doing so much better than you were. “Yah I’m okay…” you look up at him again, he was cleaning the blood off his knife. But the most noticeable thing was the cut on his arm. Your eyes widen again.

“Your arm!” You rushed over to him and looked at his arm closer. You didn’t care about the situation anymore, you just wanted to treat the wound. “Oh it’s fine, nothing deadly.” He spoke while eyeing the wound.

"Kenny will be pissed though…" He let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "It might get infected! Then you'll have to amputate it… or even... you'll get sick and die!" You rattle on about the various possibilities.

While you were talking, you missed the expression of fawness in his eyes, or was it familiarity? Whatever it is it helped him relax, now letting you hold his arm to examine it.

After a little pause, you elevate his arm above his heart and instruct him to keep it there. He looks at you puzzled, but he does what he is told. "We need to stop the bleeding, uhhhhh… um this could work!" You lean down and begin ripping the bottom of your tattered dress.

You begin wrapping it around the wound and tying it tightly. "That should be good until you get some water to clean it with.." You take a step back and sigh confidently at your work. He glances at you, baffled, then at the makeshift bandage.

"You didn't have to do that, it would have been fine…" he mumbles and lowers his arm. "Keep it up! It slows the bleeding!" You scold him but start coughing. You clear your throat and resume speaking more gently. "It's not that deep so no dangerous blood loss should happen." You smile gently and look him in the eyes. "Thank you for saving me Levi, I'm forever in your dept."

He looks at you for a moment; no one in the underground was this nice and kind. In his perspective, you were oddly nice to him.

"I-It was nothing… no need to praise me." He mumbled and glanced down to the ground. It felt awkward since you didn't know what to say. "Well, I'm glad to see you're all right. After… you know… I was always worried about how you were doing." You blushed because this was the most you'd ever said to him. You were quite shy.

He didn't say anything and just stared at you. You assumed that making small chat irritated him. "I'll stop bothering you now," you said as you began to move around him, smiling. He just stood there watching you walk out of the alleyway.

"Hey," he spoke suddenly, making you turn towards him. "I want you to meet Kenny..."

That's how you officially met; he practically took you under his wing, if that's how you want to put it. He looked after you, fed you, and even comforted you when you had nightmares. Even when Kenny left, he made sure you could eat.

Through the years Levi managed to start a gang. It was small but the people were trust worthy and good at what they did. You were only really close to Farlan and Isabel other than Levi though. All the other members treated you well and with respect they sometimes even saw you like a little sister.

Farlan was like a sweet big brother, Isabel was like a sister you could gossip to. You’d stay up at night just talking about things like what you’d do if you were above ground, or how the boys (Farlan and Levi) were so annoying sometimes, but most importantly you talked about boys~ she even knew about your little crush on Levi, she wouldn’t stop teasing you ever moment she got.

Which is why it was so devastating when they went missing. The remaining gang searched for them for a while, not allowing you to go with them though, no matter how much you protested.

After a month of looking, all hope was lost. Some of the gang stopped looking and tried to get back into the swing of things without their boss. Some even kept looking, for your sake.

But no matter how long it takes or how dark the path may become, you will never lose hope in finding Levi, Farlan, and Isabelle. You refuse to believe that they're truly gone, clinging to the memories of your nights spent whispering dreams and secrets. Every day you search for clues, driven by the love and camaraderie you shared. The streets you walk, the shadows you pass—they all hold the promise of reunion. One day, you will see their faces again, hear their laughter, and feel their presence beside you. Until then, hope will be your guiding light, unwavering and steadfast, leading you back to your family.

#fanfic #aot levi #leviackerman #attackontitan #captain levi #levi heichou #snk levi #levi x reader #attack on titan #x reader #fem reader #levi x y/n #levi x you

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savnofilter · 2 years

Text

Wisdom Teeth Aftercare

LoV + Giran x [GN]Reader

CONTENT WARNING(S): sav attempting fluff, mentions of wounds & medicine doses, def an insert, semi established-relationships.

WORD COUNT: 1.5k [5 mins].

READ MORE: masterlist + [students & adult masterlists]

A/N: im in so so so much pain. wrote this because im lonley and would kill to have one of these beautiful characters to aid me. these would be longer if i wasnt so delirious rn. (not proofread)

Dabi knows what to do but also does not.

hes been through a lot of painful situations wheres hes needed to take medication, and most times he isnt even able to take any.

hes trying his best to comfort for you in his own little warped way.

"Hey, sit back down" Dabi snaps at you in annoyance as you attempt to leave your bed, and rolls his eyes at your mumble-whining. "You're delirious right now, don't argue with me."

he makes sure that your night stand is always replenished. hes like a little nurse and even in your medicated haze, you find it super cute.

♱ you cant tell him that tho… he'll get pouty. not something you hate but its the bratty behavior that follows it.

gives you tons of forehead kisses because he cant give you cheek ones cuz of your swollen cheeks.

its practically killing him he cant just cup them while theyre big the way they are.

is definitely teasing you as he takes care of you. sometimes putting stuff out of your reach or eating a burger in front of you knowing you wont be able to do that for a couple of days.

"Fine fine, say ahh-- oh wait." Dabi snickers.

he really thought he ate, huh? i guess he did (literally).

Shigaraki does not know what hes doing.

"You want cuddles or sumthin'??" He tilts his head as you look at him with the most annoying puppy dog eyes you can muster up.

he unfortunately believes that you could suck it up but we all know its because deep down he enjoys pain a little too much.

is actually persistent on giving you your meds for you to heal with.

although dont expect it to be accurate all the time….

he isnt as attentive and usually drops by to spend some time with you since he doesnt want you to be alone too much.

even with how awkward it is, he'll give you the "normal'' amount of affection and give your head and cheekbone area light kisses for you to feel better.

"You know I can go steal a way stronger dose right?"

If you could frantically shake your head no you would.

he'll sometimes let you play video games with him so he can also keep himself entertained as well.

he doesnt assimilate into your schedule like Dabi does but he tries his best to still help you no matter what.

Toga in a very odd way is ecstatic that youre in pain.

♱ not like she isnt “odd” already,,

shes very excited to play nurse and help you heal. probably dresses for the part too.

"We'll get you back up on your feet in no time!"Toga declares happily, shoving a small spoon into your mouth with applesauce on it.

is whistling or humming as she helps you out and somehow acquired some non-prescriptive cute glasses. she'll tilt them up or press them closer as she checks the doses.

shes actually pretty on top of it (but you do have to double check if its correct because you know how careless she can be without ill intent).

she'll get you stuff animals and blankets for you to nap in.

has it so shes sleeping over (not that thats new anyways).

gives you lots of affections but makes sure to be soft so she doesnt hurt you by accident.

if youre in any kind of pain, you can always count Toga be there to aid you.

frantic.

youd think with Spinner's cool demeanor would make you think otherwise but nope.

hes clocking your schedule and making sure you got everything set.

"You have everything for 12 pm right?" He checks in and takes your small little nod as a yes. He releases a small sigh to himself and leaves to take a tinkle. He let's out one of the most loudest sighs of worry you've ever heard from him. It's pretty funny when you realize he's been trying to keep composed this whole time.

unlike Toga, he has actual glasses.

looks like such a grandpa taking care of you.

youre so entertained by him that honestly it distracts you a bit from the soreness and the pain.

he gets mopey when he cant cuddle you on days where youre in too much discomfort.

has you basically nesting as you recover.

a little all over the place? yes. would you still rate your experience with his 10/10?

of course.

literally do not expect too much from him.

with all Twice's sides it really differs on what youre getting that day (sometimes throughout if its a hectic 24 hours).

he is trying his best since he doesnt like seeing you in pain and gives you lots of kisses. 😭

idc what anyone says out of the whole league, hes the most caring.

when hes attentive, hes on it.

checking your temp, getting your foods, making sure you have your cool & hot pads. also has alarms so he can remind himself when to check up on you.

unfortunately he doesnt want to seem like a bother so he tries to not to be too much in your space </3

he knows you dont mind but he gets self conscience as he normally does.

even when hes not tending to you hes just chilling in your vicinity when you two arent interacting.

he thinks he couldve helped you more but you think he did great.

Mr Compress is all the extravaganza. you said calling in sick, bro heard "time to pamper and preform".

even if its the smallest things he'll give it to you in fun little ways so you arent bored out of your mind.

♱ and also so you dont feel skipping out on doses and actually take them.

you werent aware but this mf also has multiple costumes?? youre pleased to have learnt this.

he is a show man after all…

of course he doesnt over do it, he wants you rested not overstimulated.

is a very chill man to be around when hes not doing flip and tricks and you cant decide which of him you like more (you dont choose ultimately).

of course he has a little something up his sleeve to keep you on your toes but you cant complain with that.

did he essentially treat you like a kid? yes.

do you care tho? not at all.

Kurogiri is the most put together out of them.

(youre supposed to be surprised by this revelation.)

i mean, what do you expect from a man who has taken care of another man for years…?

makes sure youre doing everything so you can recover expeditiously.

isnt doing all that affection stuff honestly.

he drops in, replenishes everything you need and dips.

he kind of treats you like youre sick and it lowkey hurts your feelings with how much he avoids you.

in general hes give an average amount of affection so you sometimes have to speak up when he hasnt cuddled you for some time.

even with all your requests he never seems bothered how much you ask and what you ask for. :')

he is pretty good but sometimes you wish he could be a bit softer (sue me).

imagine Toga but 2.0.

Magne isnt as energetic and into the role of the 'nurse' but is very much still doting.

feeds you in the beginning stages before you gotta remine them that they definitely dont have to. 😭

when youre feeling extra cranky theyll try and coax you into it (consensually ofc who do you think youre with?!)

"I know you don't feel like it but you'll feel much better once you take it." Magne rubs your shoulder as you whimper in pain, and presses a gentle and chaste kiss to your temple.

even with how bubbly and outgoing they are, they are just as stern.

is one to make sure youre having a laid experience while making sure your lazy attitude will not interfere with your healing process.

makes sure to have a big celebration thing when you are fully healed and gives you all the cuddles that you may have missed out on when you were healing.

AHT AHT stfu hes on the list dont say anything.

Giran's methods may be ghetto but he gets the job DONE.

"Y'know I got my own knocked out by and old friend of mine"

"Mmphwha…?"

"Crazy shit, I know! But he's some psychiatrist or sumthin' so I trusted the bastard anyways!"

um… moving on…

is in and out of your place but makes sure that youre well taken of when hes there.

its like a roulette if when you wake up he'll be on your bed watching TV or if hes nowhere to be seen without a trace.

will give you the rare kiss but more of his gentle behaviors are like little pokes to your cheeks just because of how puffy they are.

♱ got you those get well presents and theyre so cute. </3

his treatment is nothing special but it definitely helped you feel better.

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #boku no hero academia x reader #my hero academia x reader #dabi x reader #touya todoroki x reader #tomura shigiraki x reader #toga himiko x reader #spinner x reader #twice x reader #mr compress x reader #kurogiri x reader #magne x reader #giran x reader #bnha headcannons #mha headcannons #sav's sfwin

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decodedlvr · 1 year

Text

the band-aid to my wounds

Older!Eddie Munson x naive!Fem!reader - eventual twins Steve Harrington x reader x Kurt Kunckle series| pt 1 | pt 2 | pt 3.. TBC

Summary: After stumbling into an old barn after being stranded by your freshly new ex boyfriend, you wake up strangely in a room..that isn't yours..

warnings: talks of cheating, abuse, angst, slight stockholm syndrome at a glance, anxiety, childhood trauma, parent problems; daddy issues, eventual smut, cursing, drinking, smoking, perviness, slight dub-con, miscommunications, blood mention

word count: idk? 1.5k?

previously: 'your stomach knots when he calls you sweetheart.

okay maybe he harmless, just very kindly harmless?

"Here" he throws his arm out, "I'm Eddie, Eddie Munson."

You look down at his hands

rings.

Looking back up at him with a tight lipped smile, taking his hand to shake it aggressively, "y/n."

"Wow y/n, gotta grip there, im assuming somebody properly taught you to shake hands with a someone?"

what?

how did he know that

its probably a common thing to be taught

"Uh yeah thanks.. my dad actually taught me, said it would make me look knowledgeable at job interviews"

He chuckles throwing his head back slightly, "well i dont know about that but definitely does look impressive to some"

I nod not knowing what to say

my stomach growls loudly

he looks down with wide eyes

"Sheesh, are ya in the mood for some breakfast? We actually made quite a lot of and have left overs i can rewarm for ya--

"whos we?"

He smiles softly "Here" -he walks to the door frame turning back to say," ill introduce you to my farm workin family"

family? ok.. that makes me feel a little better to know im not alone

"Sure" i say walking out of the bedroom door with him

getting to the bottom of the stairs--

damn i was carried up these things?

Spotting a blond and a read head; why are they dressed the same?

probably like close or something, ive done that with my best friend

Eddies voice breaking you from your thoughts

"So.. y/n this is Chrissy and Sarah.”

"Hi.." I say quietly but still politely

"Wow! the blonde says getting up to touch my hair; I flinch slightly but let her continue."Your hair looks so soft.. its full too, Sarah come feel-

Now watching the red head scoot on over to me, also having a feel of my hair "oh yeah, your hair reminds me of my mamas, it was also so healthy like this-

"Oh, where is she ? you ask

"She left me."

I swallow automatically feeling horrible "o-oh, im sorry about that

"Eh, that's okay Sarah says surprisingly not sad, " I found a better family being here on the farm"

"wait what do you--

I get interrupted.

At the corner of your eyes, hearing a new male voice, spotting him

damn whos that?

ive never seen such hair on a dude that looks so.. healthy?

"Steve!!" Chrissy yells making you jump ,"come feel y/ns hair its just bout as soft as yours, if not softer"

you look at her with wide eyes saying "Oh thats ok"-

by the time you’ve finished your sentence Steves making it all the way over to you

"Ooh this is soft, very very soft actually."

you look up to him immediately taking in his features

moles, pretty eyes…wow his hair does look good.. i kinda wanna touch it--

NO! dumbass

snapping out of it, you hear steves voice again but his mouths not moving

am i having a stroke?

“Kurt, Kurtie come meet y/n”

who the hell is kur—

I look over seeing the same face as Steve’s

oh fuck theres another one?

“Hi y/n im Kurt, Steves twin brother”, he grabs your hand to shake and you’re just standing there with amazement not replying

he looks.. the exact same as Steve but something is different..

his hair.. a bit more flat..unwashed maybe?

damn he looks good though

feeling a hand graze your back, forgetting to breathe

“Miss y/n ya feelin alright?”

It’s Eddies voice, and hand that clears your head

“ Oh..uh yeah, sorry guess I was a bit stunned to see that uh Kurt? and Steve look exactly alike” I say slightly chuckling and finally turning around to look at Eddie

shit

its much brighter in here

Eddie. so this is what he looks like

his hair in a low ponytail, tanktop covefred by a flannel..tattoos? dirty overalls and are those buny slippers?

he catches your gaze to the floor and the confusion on you face

he laughs. “Oh these are Chrissy’s bedroom shoes, havent put my boots on yet and our dog chewed mine all to hell” he smiles widely

looking back at him, “Oh no it looks fine to me..”

you melt at the warmth of his smile

are those dimples. damnit thats my weakness

“ I got your food warmed up for you”

“oh cool, t-thank you” i say following him to the kitchen table, i turn back to give a slight wave to rest of the house then back to following Eddie

——————

“She seems nice, dosent she? Sarah says outloud

“Yeah and so pretty too, kinda jelous of her hair” Chrissy states

“Now dear—, Kurt starts “you know jelously is never good for the heart”

“ I know” Chrissy says “i dont mean it as a bad thing..its like i want her hair type of thing i promise and besides, Steve you felt her hair, its soft like yours wouldnt ya say?”

“Yes, its real soft honey” he replies licking his lips as he looks in your direction from the livingroom. “..real soft he mumbles to himself heading to the sink

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After sitting down to with Eddie looking down at my plate theres a biscuit, eggs, bacon and fresh cut fruit

“Looks good” i say glacing at him with a small smile

“Thanks” he grins, watching you eat lookin around to see if anyones around

“Now i wont push, but do you wanna tell me why and how i found you in my barn asleep?”

I swallow hard on my strawbeery a bit too harshly coughing, grabbig the water that was also placed on the table, sipping it

clearing your throat looking nervously. he notices.

“Its okay, i wont tell the others if you would like this to be private.. but it is my farm and i just need to know whata young lady like you was cuddling up in my barn

nodding understaningly “yeah no, i totally understand, a few miles after walking”—

—“you walked here?” he asks worried

“Yeah, it was fine ive walked in the dark plenty of times. It doesn’t scare me” he nods for you to continue. “Me and my probably now ex boyfried got into a big fight, found out he cheated he called me crazy when the proof was physically all over his neck,—“ you dont notice you’re just rambiling now—

—and he wanted to be a dick and leave me on the street and just.. left! can you belive that shit..asshole”

—oh shit sorry” i cover my mouth

“Thats okat sweetheart i cuss all the time”

theres that gut wrenching twist from that name again.

“Uh, may i ask, you said "probably" broke up? are you not certain?”

“Oh no i am, i dont stay with cheaters no matter how long we’ve been together”

“ And how long is that?”

“6 years..”

his eyes widen and shakes his head dissaprovingly, “Thats alot time hun, I am sorry about that”

“Eh, his actions over the years start to make sense to me now.. its honestly not surprising he did cheat..makes me wonder how many times he truly has..” you say pushing your food around shrugging

“Eddie reaches over placing his hand over yours soothingly, catching your line

I get chills from the warmth and rough feeling of his hand, finally looking at his face in full—

how did i not see those before? asking myself

his..his eyes their so beauifu—

“Hey yn/!”

both Eddie and you separate hands, jumping back at Chrissy’s sudden surpise

“Y-yes?” you say slighlty annoyed

i kinda miss the warmth of his hand

bitch, calm down you have a boyfeind

no the fuck i dont

“What can i do for you Chrissy?”

“..well, i wanted to ask if you could braid?” she say sitting down at the table beside you

“Yeah, i can why do you ask?”

she sighs, “nobody in the house knows how to braid but Eddie, and his dry hands yank my baby hairs too much”—

“Hey! its not my fault” Eddie interjects

“ I gave you lotion for it ya know”

“Yeah you did, and i keep forgetting to use it” you chuckle causing them both to smile at each other and then at you

“was wondering when you’re done and if you wouldn’t mind..if you could braid my hair?”

i mean.. shes harmless its just hair

“Yes, I was just finsihing up anyways”

“Chris? what do we say when we ask for somethig?” Eddie arches his brow at her

“Sorry.. please?”

your eyes slighly scrunch, “thats okay I was going to anyways” i say back to Eddie

“ I know hun, just know its good to have manners is all” I nod at is reply turning to braid the back of her hair, seeing Eddie at the corner of your eye, to take your cleared plate. you stop him

“Oh i could have taken that for you “ saying looking up at him walk to the kicten

“Thats alright, i was headed this way anyway” he says winking at you before clearing the room

----------

Walking back to the sink Eddie spots the twins, emptying your plate turning to make conversation. “So what do you think Ed?” Steve asks “Yeah, whats your thoughs on y/n?” Kurt adds—“she looks nice,—and very sweet too” Steve says looking at Eddie, then all 3 of them look back at you, admirng you braid Chrissy’s hair

“Yeah, she is a sweet one isn’t she?” real..sweet thinks Eddie snapping out of stare

“Hey, aren’t yall suppsoed to be rollin them hay bells we got extra from Rick yesterday, its gonna storm I’m pretty sure, and i dont need them gettin all soggy”

Both Kurt and Steve groan, nodding heading out the door grabbing their hats on their way out.

After finishing Chrissy’s hair and her thankinng you with a hug, skipping out, I make my way over to the kitchen spotting a phone, then Eddie beside it,

“Can i use your phone?, I think it was about time i get out of your hair and find a way home”

“Sure darlin, but it may not work, the service out here is very poor”

you nod and he moves letting you continue with your task

dialing the only person you can think to call.

fuck.

Ashton.

1 dial, 2 dial, 3 times trying his phone you exhale agitated

maybe he can take me home?

“Mr. Eddie?”

going to find where he went seeing him standing and turning up the weather channel hearing:

Today the forcast shows severe thunderstorms and hail later today at 2pm–

I glance at the clock on the wall reading 1:55pm

shit

-and 2 tornado watches. There hasn’t been a tornado in Hawkins in 6 years, the dry weather must be causing this it. the woman jokes on the televishon, while you trun around to go look outside at the clouds.

Eddie watches and follows along, trying not to scare you, walking out of the backdoor also

“By the looks on your face im assuming nobody answered huh?”

“hm? looking back from the sky to him, —“oh no.. he didn’t of course he didn’t, prick i utter.

“ I’m assuming your ex boyfriend?”

“Ashton yeah, called 3 times probably out fucking another whore” you say spit vomiting cuss words

“Gosh, sorry! I know i have anasty mouth”

his cheeks flush at your statement, “no, its quite alright sweetheart , im not judging you”

you nod giving a tight lipped smile, looking at the ground not knowing what do now—

“ I can try and take ya home? you have anyone else who can”—

interrupting him, knowing hes probably talking about your parents

—“my parents? yeah no thats a joke..”

He comes up closer with a hand on your shoudler, which you eye subtlely “May i ask what happend with them? if you dont mind?”

“Its fine, my dads an abusive drunk and my step mom.. shes every bad word I could think of right now”—

“Wheres your real mom?”

damn so may questions

you shift your eyes uncomfortably he notices hes gone too far

“ I-im sorry, I keep just a nit picking arent i..?”

“No, its a funny story..shes actually married to my boyfriends father”

“Oh” he says in actual shock

“ I know right” reading his face. “ it’s a crazy story, maybe another time”—

so you want another time too? He thinks

—“and by looks at the sky”—

both jumping at the sound of rumbled thunder and instant rain and hail falling out if th sky

“Jesus Christ!”

I hear from afar turing to see both Steve and Kurt holing ass back to the house with soaked shirts

oh god

making way for them to get inside along with Eddie and you—

“Well.. sorry miss y/n i dont think its too safe to attempt to drive you home right now”

my heart pangs with a odd feeling. “Thats alright its safer to wait, right?”

“..Right, welp, just you make yourself at home until then and let me know if you need anything okay sweetheart?”

“Y-yes, I will thank you mr Eddie”

“Just Eddie” he smiles at the name walking off, leaving you here standing by yourself, taking in a real look at the house, spotting the girls, choosing to go take a seat with them on the couch

what the hell am i supposed to do!?

arguing with myself glancing to the right, spotting the twins with Eddie working on some door frame; catching him smile deeply at you

I gulp giving him a quick smile then turning my attention back to whatever’s on the tv screen, in silence.

Reblogs appreciated :>

#older!eddie x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader smut #steve harrington x reader #the band aid to my scars #kurt kunkle x reader #stockholm syndrome #daddy!eddie munson #daddy issues #naive reader #eddie munson x steve harrington #steddie x reader #kurtsworld96 #joseph quinn #joe keery #perv!eddie munson #dilf!eddie munson #perv!steve harrington #tw abandonment #chrissy cunningham

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little-emerald-snake · 11 months

Text

Kinktober Day 22

Knife Play - Sebastian Sallow X F!MC

🔥NSFW 🔞 MDNI

2.4k (Oops)

Sebastian sat in the wooden chair beside his desk. In one hand he held the schematics for the specific dig site he was on and in the other was a dagger with an ornate enchanted metal green snake for a handle.

The dagger had been a gift from someone very important to him long ago and he kept it close by as a reminder of the comfort she had provided him during their time at Hogwarts. As he sat there, dropping the schematics to the side he listened to the quiet clang of picks hard at work outside he imagined her trailing him and finding the hidden camps he’d set up in many different locations to dig for the traces of Ancient Magic she’d been so accustomed to finding spread across the highlands.

While he himself had never been able to see the traces of magic like she could he could definitely feel for it and with the aid of dark magic he found it very easy for himself to track down these lingering sources of magic hidden around the world.

He knew that she had gotten wind of him moving across the highlands searching for these traces to collect and use for his own purposes. When his sister had abandoned him shortly after he had rid the world of his uncle, she’d fallen even more ill without someone there to care for her during her time of illness. She’d eventually passed away and Sebastian had ever since held a grudge against every single Auror who didn’t catch Rookwood, every goblin who had aided Rookwood in his search for the magic, and every person who’d ever held him back from finding a cure for his twin.

He could imagine now that the sweet girl he’d attended Hogwarts all those years ago was hot on his trail and he didn’t know if he loved her for trailing him down or hated her for not stopping the even worse threats that were currently lurking about the wizarding world, ready to lay waste to another young boys family members.

Yes he’d gone around and killed many different beings who he’d felt personally wronged him in his past but certainly he wasn’t one of the bigger threats out in the wizarding world and they all knew it.

Shortly after graduating hogwarts she had become an Auror and while he was proud of her it left him a bit miffed that she would go into the ministry to hunt dark wizards instead of taking his hand and agreeing to move within the shadows, neutralizing threats his way, the way they’d done throughout their school years.

He’d since broken off to do his own thing and they’d lost contact not long after with how much moving around they both did. A few months later he’d gotten in over his head and gotten pretty battered during a dark wizard camp raid. He decided then that he needed to be stronger if he was working alone and from there his desire to take down those who’d wronged him had spiraled out of control.

He suddenly jumped up from his seat when he’d realized the clangs of metal were no longer audible and he drew his wand, listening to the too quiet exterior of his tent for any signs of movement.

After all this is exactly what he’d waited for, his chance alone with her where she’d think she’d have the upper hand when really he had lured her ever so specifically into his trap. He’d even made it easy for her, no grunts protecting or working with him, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs and clues to his next destinations and staying just long enough in one space that he knew she’d be able to gain on him.

His eyes zero’d in on a flap of his tent moving ever so slightly. To the untrained eye it could have looked like the wind but after all, he’d taught her the very same disillusionment spell she was using and could spot her a mile away. After all, in order to cause trouble he had to know how to spot it well.

He couldn’t hide the smirk as he quickly got into stance and casted a Glacius spell directly at her. Her disillusionment spell lifted and for a few moments the girl he’d come to adore in his school days, now a bit older, was frozen before him with a look of shock on her pretty face.

He grinned widely and made a move to get behind her before she unfroze. When she did he quickly grabbed both her wrists and held them firmly behind her back, sticking his knee into the blacks of hers till she landed on her knees, tumbling till her chest on the ground with a slight ‘oof’.

She grunted in frustration and fought against his hold just as he had predicted. He aimed his wand at her wrist and casted Incarcerous which quickly bound her wrists together. He smirked, moving his knee to her mid back and binding her ankles with the same binding spell.

She grunted again and thrashed below him but his knee kept her firmly in place. “Ah! You’re hurting me! Sebastian!”

He chuckled darkly, shaking his head and pulling the dagger from his desk. “Your a shit liar darling, you have to remember, I know you. I’ve fought alongside you and I know your weaknesses and your strengths. I lured you right into my arms after all. I know you’re not in pain, you’re trying to make me ease up on you so you can gain control again.”

She scoffed, finally giving up on thrashing, huffing in irritation as he pinned her down. “I should have known this was a trap…you just knew I’d come for you on my own didn’t you…”

He nodded in satisfaction, lifting his weight off her and moving to roll her onto her back, straddling her waist. He chucked as she gave him the most angry look she could muster. “You know the ministry will have my head for this…for chasing after you alone without a partner…and because of our history.”

He nodded again, bringing the knife to the bottom of her shirt and sliding the sharp side of the blade through the material with ease. “Oh darling, I of all people know what a risk it is to fraternize with me. Especially because of all the things you’ve told them about my past I’m sure.”

She thrashed again and spat with anger as she yelled. “Sebastian STOP. I haven’t told anyone about you. You fucking know that they would have come after you for your crimes had I said anything about you to anyone.”

He shushed her and pulled her now cut shirt out of the way so he could see her bare stomach and bra. He groaned, bringing the tip of the knife to the middle of her bra. “I’m sure there’s a way we can settle this. You know after all, I’m not hurting anyone in the wizarding world…you already took care of Rookwood for me.”

She shook her head and tried to slide her body out from under him to avoid him cutting her clothing away. She didn’t know what his angle was, but she didn’t like it. “Stop, please! I didn’t kill him for you! I…he was going to kill me if I didn’t take care of things. You know he was doing the same thing you are right now…trying to take the repository's magic and use them for his own sick personal gain.”

Sebastian held the dull side of his knife to her throat and barked out. “That’s not true! I just need a bit…so I can heal people who have suffered inexplicable amounts of pain. I can take that pain away! You know it! You saw Isadora's memory just like I did!”

She looked away, scared of the blade he held to her throat. The one she’d given him all those years ago. Frustrated that he was still on about this and still trying to use this magic the wrong way.

She knew his intentions were good but he was going to hurt someone. “Sebastian…Isadora couldn’t contain that dark energy once she drew it out…you and I both know thi-“

He’d pushed the blade deeper into her throat and yelled. “So?! She wasn’t strong enough but I AM. I can take those bits of pain. You and I both know I’ve already suffered so much. What’s a little more…if it means someone else won’t suffer then it’s worth it.”

She shook her head, minding his blade although she could feel the sharp edge wasn’t against her which meant he had no intention of actually hurting her. “Sebastian, listen to me…please. I don’t want you to get targeted by the ministry or worse, hurt. Why don’t you just come home with me and we can talk. I can talk about helping you get a job with the ministry…you can recover from your past. I believe in you, and I still love you.”

He growled but she could see that tears shone in his eyes. He slowly pulled back the blade, looking down at her partially covered chest. The skin he used to touch, the same body she used to coax him through a bad night, when the world felt like it would swallow him whole in a pit of sadness.

His heart lurched as he reached forward and used the blade to cut her bra open. She was even more of a woman than he remembered and it sent a shiver down his spine.

He watched as her breathing shifted from flighty and angry to shallow excited breaths and it spurred him on. He took the dull edge of his dagger and dragged it from the dip in her throat down between her breasts and ended at her belly button.

Her hips wiggled excitedly as she traced the movement down her body. “S-Sebastian…untie me and we can do this properly.”

In reality her stomach was flip flopping with excited nerves and anxiousness. She wanted to sooth him through his troubles but in honesty she knew he was a bit of a grenade right now and any wrong move could cause him to detonate.

He flipped, straddling her to face her legs now instead. She gasped when she felt him lift the fabric of her skirt. Another gasp when the cool edge of his blade placed against the soft skin of her inner thigh. “Seb…y-you wouldn’t cut me with the blade I got you would you?”

He ignored her, dragging the blade across her skin as if he was cutting her. As far as she could tell he was only using the dulled edge against her skin again but it made a rush of anxiety mixed with excitement rush through her nonetheless.

He pulled her skirt up higher and dragged the blade up her inner thigh till it reached the hem of her underwear. He quickly turned the blade and with his other hand pulled the fabric away from her skin, easily sliding the knife through her underwear.

A shiver went through her body as she laid on her aching bound hands. The angle was awful but honestly she had craved his touch since the last time she’d seen him and the adrenaline coursing through her only pushed her more towards oblivion.

They’d always felt this way together. Sexy, dangerous, high from the adrenaline and emotion that easily passed between them.

She gasped when the next thing she felt was skin warmed metal pressing into her center. She sat up on her elbows as best she could, trying to peer around him. “Sebastian! Are you trying to push the handle into me?!”

Sebastian chuckled darkly and pulled the handle of the blade away from her sex, looking back at her with a dark smirk painted across his features. “I’ll let you watch if you promise to stay still.”

He was offering her an olive branch and she knew she had to take it. She knew ultimately Sebastian would never hurt her and taking this chance could help him see that even at his darkest she could still manage him, help him come back.

She gave a shy nod and he carefully slid off of her body and moved between her legs. She could see the blade in his hand and she winced at the small drops of blood that left his hand. “Sebastian, you're bleeding!”

He shook his head and pressed it to her opening again. She tossed her head back, blushing at the thought of the ornate metal snake head entering her body.

He pressed on till the head was inside of her. She couldn’t help the moan that left her lips as he plunged it deeper into her to the hilt.

She lifted her head and his dark eyes were on hers in an instant. She glanced down only for a moment, her eyes flicking between the handle of his blade inside of her most intimate place and his tented pants.

He pulled the blade back out and she moaned. The scaled texture of the handle was more intense than she’d imagined. It felt incredible and she couldn’t help the sounds she made as he slowly began pumping in and out of her.

She couldn’t help the concern for his bleeding hand but if the blade biting into his palm hurt him his face didn’t let on.

He leaned down, still pumping the blade in and out of her, drawing pleasurable moans from her plump lips. His own lips landed on her soft belly, kissing her skin gently which had her brain bouncing around trying to figure out if his next move would be crude and rough or sweet and soft.

She laid back on her hands, back arching as he sped up, sensing her body’s need. She was soaking wet, allowing the handle of his blade to easily slide in and out of her with ease. “Pretty girl, look how well you're taking it. Such a dirty slut, letting me fuck you with my dagger like this.”

She moaned loud, back arching up higher, the head of the snake handle inside of her nudging directly against her g spot. “S-Sebastian, I’m gonna…ahh!”

Sebastian smirked as she fell apart around the handle of his knife. The blade bit into his hand but it was worth it to see her like this, back arched and eyes rolled back underneath him as they always should have been. “That’s it, pretty girl. That’s exactly how I remember you, always so eager to cum for me. No matter how I give you pleasure, my pretty girl. You know we aren’t done, we have all night left and I know how much you like to cum for me.”

Kinktober Prompt List

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