#but she's enthralled and she won't fucking turn it off.

[cesium-sheep]

they apparently agreed on watching some show on the tv I've never heard of and she put in a bunch of effort to get it to cooperate and they're both into it but they didn't like. ask me. and if it's mostly for arin's benefit because matt was working and he's gonna leave in a bit anyway, I don't get why she put all this effort into getting it on the tv in the first place, because it certainly fucking isn't for my benefit. but I'm not allowed to be a bitch about it even though they're both bitchy at even the slightest fucking inconvenience.

[peachesofteal]

İ love! Love! Love! Love! The omegaverse au?!?!? How do you think the guys would react to darling still trying to take care of herself because while she recognizes them as safe she still thinks she has to çare for herself...like trying to self-soothe and cook or whatnot for herself or the other parts of heat y'know y'know while the guys are there an it's just aughhh like they want to take care of her and this is the perfect oppurtinty but she's still shying away from them because that's all her hindbrain self knows?

I see this happening after everything that’s going on currently in the omegaverse au, possibly for darling’s next cycle, first cycle with her mates after she's come clean about everything.

18+ mdni/ dead disco omegaverse au / mature and explicit themes

You're restless.

Johnny can feel you, fidgeting, muscles tensing and relaxing in his hold, where you're snuggled up against his chest on the couch. He blinks, perplexed, because you should be fully enthralled in this movie at this point. It's one of your favorites. You insisted on watching it.

Casually, slowly, he leans forward to give you a sniff, the movement not as subtle as he would like, but goes unnoticed by you all the same. He gets a good draw from your gland, lungful of you, the scent that he knows and loves, the scent that feels like home, underneath it something else lingers.

Something fruited. Something ripe.

His eyes widen. His body responds, blood roaring in his ears, muscles seizing in response, nostrils flaring, trying to get more, and more. Fuck.

"Darling?" He coos, edging closer, wrapping an arm around you to tuck you into his body. "Everything alright?" You must be in pre-heat. You must. You're not nesting, or exhibiting any other symptoms, but you have to be close.

"Mmm? Yeah." you answer, sleepily, not even looking Simon's way when he rounds the couch.

"What's goin' on?"

"Nothing." you snatch a reply from Johnny's mouth, and he shakes his head. Later, the motion says.

They put you in bed sometime after that. You go easily, curling up in Johnny's arms until you're softly snoring, and he's able to slip away, tucking you in tight with a glass of water on the table. Just in case.

"She's in pre-heat." He says in whoosh as soon as he closes the door, and Simon nods, like he already knows. "Ye knew?"

"I suspected. Caught her stockpiling some of our dirty clothes in the closet yesterday. Said she was doing laundry but, it didn't make sense." Johnny pulls at the neck of his shirt, the clothes suddenly feeling too tight, too warm, too itchy, and Simon's gaze narrows.

"You can't." He tells him simply, and Johnny blanches. "This is her first real heat with us, I don't want you in a rut."

"Ah know."

"Tamp it down."

"Ah-" Simon grips him behind the neck, bringing their foreheads together before pressing a long, sweet kiss to his lips.

"I love you. But I will send you to Kyle's if I think you cannot handle this." He's stern, and Johnny gulps. He knows what's at stake. He knows what it means, that you're going to into heat again, so soon, after coming off the suppressants. He knows you're going to need an extra gentle hand, gentle touch, encouragement the whole way. If he's in a rut, he won't be able to give that to you. He'll be too busy fixated on fucking you full of his come and getting you pregnant.

"It doesn't feel like a rut, ah just feel, uncomfortable." he assures, and Simon nods, placing another quick kiss on his lips and pulling away.

"I've called Price. Told him not to expect us for another week and a half, at least." Simon pauses, turning back, looking him up and down. "Anything I can do for this discomfort?" His toes curl, delicious desire heating up his spine, and he's nodding the whole way to the couch.

You're starting to lose your grip.

You can feel it. You wake in the morning a little more miserable, body starting to cramp, and with the pain, comes confusion. Delusion. You have to actively stare at both of the guys for too long, blinking and committing them to memory before you can get out of bed, reminding yourself that you're at home, you're safe. You're with them, and they'd never hurt you. You're okay.

They start to wake up once they feel you shift, and you tell them you're going to the bathroom, where you end up staring at yourself in the mirror for far too long. Who are you? Are you in there? What were you doing in here?

You touch your gland, feeling it beneath your finger, muscle memory trying to force your wrist upwards to rub, and rub, and soothe yourself but you beat it back. You're safe. You're with them.

Instinct drives you to the kitchen. You think you might be hungry, and if not, you will be. You probably need to put some things together, prep all the stuff you bought at the grocery anyway. Like you already knew, your trip earlier this week resulted in extra vegetables and fruit, your heat necessities, and you wash them robotically in the sink as the kettle heats, moving them all to the cutting board for the next step.

Your mind wanders as you slice, and you try to keep yourself on track, thinking about your life now, versus your life then, trying to stay present, keep a grip on yourself. You cannot have a repeat of last time. Not now. Dangerous thoughts grow in your subconscious, fear and doubt filtering through to the forefront of your mind.

Are you sure they even want an omega? Are you sure they don't find heats disgusting? Are you sure this is what they want?

"Darling?"

Why do you think they always spent their ruts together? Why didn't you ever tell them about the suppressants or your past, until you absolutely had to?

"Darling."

They're going to think you're pathetic. A pathetic omega who cannot control herself. Desperate to be bred, to be fucked. Disgusting.

"Darling!" Simon's shout jolts you, and the knife clatters against the countertop, freed from your hand that is now being held in another one, much larger. "Hey, you with me?" He ducks down to look at your eyes, but you can't look up. The room smells, like you, like heat, like panic, and you whimper involuntarily, heart thundering beneath your rib cage. "Alright, you're alright." He starts a rumble, harmonics that vibrate deep from his chest, and then pulls you into his arms, where you bury your face in his chest immediately.

"I'm sss-orry."

"Shhh."

"I don't think I- I- can do this." You cry. You're sobbing, wetting his shirt, your skin, and he picks you up like a feather, carrying you to bed and laying you gracefully back in your spot, between him and Johnny.

You cover your face with your hands, and Johnny matches Simon's purr with his own, emitting a honey sweet calming scent.

"What can't you do, darling?"

"My heat. I can't- I don't want it." You hiccup, breathing shallow, and look at both of them with wide eyes. "Please, can we c-call my doctor and see if, there's something-"

"Darling, no." Johnny hums, pressing a kiss to your temple. "It's alright, we're with ye now." You shake your head in denial, and then before you can stop, your wrist comes to your gland... rubbing. It happens for a second, maybe two, before Simon plucks it free and replaces it with his own. You try to protest, but you cramp, body curling in on itself, the pain making everything worse, slick starting to leak down your thighs. You whimper, hand trying to snake down between your legs, desperate to tuck your fingers into your cunt for some form of relief, body and hindbrain screaming at you to find something, your mates, anything-

"We're here." Simon coos. "Right here. We've got you. We're going to take care of you, I promise."

[p3nislawd]

back at the base. | deidara

EXPLICIT NSFW CONTENT

contains : fem!reader, hookup/fwb almost? except not rlly friends jus. fuck buddies???, hidan cusses a lot, fingering fem!receiving, ig technically oral fem!receiving cuz of his weird hand thing, vaginal sex, umm high stakes ig? maybe a death threat

thinking abt deidara who takes you back and fucks you in the akatsuki base.

deidara first laid eyes on you on a mission with hidan --kakuzu and sasori were off on their own separate ones-- in a restaurant they had stopped in. you strode up to their table, small notebook and pen in hand and an easy smile upon your lips. your eyes met, and you offered deidara a smile through those long lashes and something deep in his stomach fluttered.

he caught you looking at their table more than once, biting your lip or toying with your lips with a finger in thought. every time it happened, deidara grinned.

you walked by and asked them if they needed anything many more times than you needed to.

at first, deidara thought you mightve been looking at them and passing by them in fear, or suspicion. they often did little to hide their cloaks and identities.

but as you stopped and refilled his cup with water, fingers brushing against his on the ceramic, your eyes told a different story.

hidan eyed him in silence as you left. "looks like that bitch has a thing for you," he snorted. "you're one fucking lucky guy, y'know that, shithead? she's hot."

deidara rolled his eyes. "whatever, yeah."

whatever my ass, he thought as you slipped him a note with the check, the yellow piece of sticky paper staring him dead in the face, like a traffic sign. hidan peered over his shoulder, grey hairs tickling his neck. deidara shuddered and yanked himself away. "dude! back up, yeah. weirdo.." he grumbled, looking away with a scowl.

"whatcha got there, shithead?" hidan laughed, eyes dropping down to the paper before deidara could stuff it in his pocket, or maybe even crumple it up. in truth, he hadn't read it yet himself. "i fucking knew it! i'm always fucking right. jashin may be favoring you today, but he sure as hell won't tomorrow!"

deidara ignored him and read the paper, heart pounding in his ears.

you look like you know how to give a girl a good time. i want to know if it's true. you can meet me out back at seven, if you want.

and at seven, he arrived. at eight, after the most enthralling makeout session of his life, he took you back to the base.

deidara shushed you with his hand on your mouth, the other firm on your ass as he led you through the dark.

"deidara, where are we-" you began, muffled, only to interrupt yourself with a yelp as the mouth on his hand began to move.

you had been surprised at first when his strange hand predicament had been revealed, but if anything, it was a secret, surprising turn on. the more mouths the better, i guess?

"shut up, yeah. you wanna get us caught, huh?" he hissed, hot breath on your ear as his other mouth parted your lips with it's tongue. you whined and shook your head, and he couldn't help but smirk as he took you through the entrance of the base.

you were practically blind in the dark as he opened his door and flung you into his room, where you went stumbling into furniture you couldn't see. you hissed, and tried to steady yourself as deidara closed the door and latched back onto you like before, now freed from his heavy robe.

he held your hips with a vice grip as he pressed his mouth desperately against yours, entangling his tongue within your mouth and groaning. he slipped a hand below your work uniform and his tongue slid around your thigh, leaving a cold trail of saliva across your skin.

"can't believe you really decided to fuck an akatsuki member," he gasped into your lips, pressing you against the edge of his bed until you fell onto the mattress with a yelp. "stupid, yeah. never seen someone so fucking dumb." his cock strained painfully against his pants and he groaned, guttural and genuine.

"i'm not dumb," you replied defensively. "i know what i'm getting into. i just want to-" you inhaled sharply as deidara slid off your bottoms and stuck his hand down your underwear. "fuck."

"sure you do," he huffed and fumbled with the bottons on your shirt until eventually, after watching his struggle with a smile, you slipped off your shirt for him. simultaneously, he slid a hand beneath your bra and prodded your clit with his fingers.

"deidara," you breathed, reaching up to tangle your fingers within his silky blonde hair, throwing your head back as he pressed two fingers inside and the mouth on his palm licked at your folds. "f-fuck! dei, wait.." you trailed off, but deidara silenced your moans with his tongue.

"you can take it, can't you, yeah?" he replied, almost cocky. suddenly, he pulled away.

as he slid down his pants and lined up his thick cock along your pussy, he smiled and licked lips at the sight. you laid on his bed on your back, hands clutching the sheets tight and your shirt and bottoms flung to the floor. a heavy flush laid over your face and your pussy glistened with your slick and his saliva.

his dick twitched in arousal as he looked up from your privates and back to your face, placing his hands tight on your hips and slowly sliding himself in. as you moaned and tried to thrash beneath him, he laughed.

"y'know, hidan kills every bitch he brings back and fucks," he hums, eyes glinting with a newfound excitement. your blood runs cold, and despite how much you shudder, you can't tell if it's from fear or arousal as he bottoms out.

"it'd be a shame if i had to do that to you too, yeah."

but as deidara pounded you into the sheets, rutting into your cervix like a dog, he knew your pussy was too good to go to waste.

[brain-bumbler]

hey. hey. you know that one au you did? where dion got a job in the mailroom? think about it again. think about its wonder and greatness. and gimme deets 🤲

oh that is my greatest work ever. i will forever have so much to say about it.

Dion starts out not enjoying the job or looking forward to it, just doing it since his mom won't stop talking about how proud she is of Raz and Frazie, and he needs something to do to fill the hours. Plus a paycheck is nice.

But despite his reservations, the minute Raz walks into the mailroom Dion has his feet up on the table smirking like his swivel chair is a throne. Big brother instinct to show no weakness.

Raz is torn because this is sort of his brother making an effort to ger more involved in psychic stuff. He genuinely wants Dion to do better and learn to cope with the changes in their family.

But also, he's ten. The Psychonauts is HIS thing in his head. He wants Frazie to join him because she was his secret psychic buddy that he probably trauma bonded with and he wants to heal the divide between them. I think it'd be normal for him to not be 100% stoked about it. Like oh great, maybe the mailroom is where evil villains are made and Dion's gonna decide to turn to the dark side.

At first Dion is jumpy and standoffish with people. But luckily he unlocks the pure dopamine of sorting objects for his repressed adhd-autism brain. He completely zones out during his shift and then snaps back an hour after closing time when the packages stop coming. Holy shit stacking boxes of different sizes into cubes like tetris and then sorting them based on color, he's not showing it but his brain is just enjoying it So Damn Much.

He gets so hyperfocused that he forgets to slack off and act superior and grumpy. He clears out the blacklog in 3 days and then designs a new sorting system. It needs revisions but that just means more stacking and sorting fuck yeah!

Gisu was expecting him to skip work to come see her but he's in the ZONE and its hard to break him away from it. But after awhile it is easier to leave because he needs variety in his day, which makes flipping across the Motherlobe and finding new ways to deliver mail great.

He makes up challenges for himself. Can he sneak packages to people from the vents like a spy, something he'd never admit to thinking was cool? Can he do deliveries while playing "the ground is lava" in his head?

Also he keeps writing letters to Gisu that have to be "hand delivered" so they can meet up. Hollis lets it slip since he solved their budget crisis by discovering Nick was stealing money, and Dion is insanely effective at his work. If only she could get him to wear anything business casual.

Dion's biggest bad habit is skipping meals. He doesn't like eating in the Noodle Bowl without someone he knows, it makes him nervous. So if he doesn't bring lunch he ends up skipping it, or even if he dues he just throws it away without telling anyone.

He makes the mailroom the most popular part of the Motherlobe tour by putting on an acrobatics performance that enthralls all the visitors. Maybe he slips out some pamphlets for the Aquato circus, it never hurts to advertise!

Having the alone time and investing in something not related to his family is really good for his personal mental health and boundaries.

[cha-melodius]

Since this is the place to go when one has whacky AU ideas, let me share mine: TMFU fantasy AU where Illya is a galant, brave knight working for evil king Oleg. Oleg sends him on a quest to capture and bring back a mythical creature (I'm imagining a phoenix, but a dragon could work too), beacuse he wants to keep the creature in a cage and show it off to other kings and nobles. Plot twist, this mythical creature is Napoleon (let's say that he can change into human form too because he's magical and powerful). Gaby is a peasant and a part-time inventor from a remote village who joins Illya on his quest.

Oh, I like this one a lot (and I don't think it's that wacky, honestly)! I love magical creature!Napoleon who can change from human to creature form and back again. A phoenix, I see him preening all the time, being pretty vain about his feathers (and hating it whenever he goes up in flames and he has to grown it all out again lollll). Obviously dragon!Napoleon fits super well since he's a great lover of shiny things. You know he has the most fabulous hoard.

Gaby obviously hears about the quest and invites herself along, much to Illya's chagrin. He doesn't have time to be looking after civilians. Gaby of course scoffs at this, because she doesn't need protection. Her story is that she wants in some of the glory, but really she's worried about the quest. Maybe her father (who disappeared when she was young) told her about this magical creature, and how the creature was special, so she's actually tagging along partly so she can see/meet him, but also so that she can try to disrupt Illya's quest. Illya is conflicted because he wants to be very chivalrous to this lady (Gaby laughs a long time at that), but also he has to put up with this troublesome peasant who's making his life difficult.

There's a little town not far from the creature's lair, and Illya and Gaby stop there to stay in an inn. There, they meet a gorgeous, enthralling man with a sharp jaw and a sharper smile: Napoleon. (More under the cut, because this turned into a whole fairy tale.)

Illya is immediately taken with him, but he can't allow himself to be distracted from his quest. Napoleon isn't easily put off, though. He finds out what Illya's aim is and tells him he can help, offers to go with him. The last thing Illya wants is another tag-along, but he also finds it quite difficult to say no to Napoleon, which is how they all end up traveling together. Napoleon tells them stories about the creature (about how wonderful it is, naturally), and as they get closer Illya's misgivings about his quest grow. He never liked it from the beginning, the idea of caging some wild creature, but he likes it even less after hearing everything from Gaby and Napoleon.

Meanwhile, in the days it takes them to reach the creature's layer, Illya falls steadily more and more in love with Napoleon. How can he resist? Napoleon is vibrant and smart and funny and fucking stunning, and Illya doesn't stand a chance. So when, the night before they're due to reach the creature's lair, Napoleon just disappears, Illya loses it. He's distraught, thinking something happened to Napoleon, and he spends the next day searching for him to no avail. He thinks maybe Napoleon went after the creature himself for some reason, maybe he got into trouble, so Gaby and Illya finally go to the creatures lair. Of course, they find the ring that Napoleon was wearing there, along with the creature, and Illya goes off in a blind rage, thinking Napoleon is dead. He captures the creature, and it's only through Gaby's intercession that he doesn't kill it. Instead, he binds it using the magical rope he'd brought along that will prevent it from escaping or wielding any magic of its own.

The trip back is somber. Gaby tries several times to convince him not to turn the creature over to Oleg, but he won't hear it. For all he knows, this creature killed Napoleon. When they get back, Oleg is naturally delighted. The creature is put in its magic cage, Illya is lauded as a hero, and Gaby goes back to her inventions. There's a problem, though. The creature is fading. Becoming dull and lifeless, a mere shadow of its former glory. Illya finds himself visiting the creature, though he doesn't really know why. To try to find out what's wrong with it, he says, though that's not it. He mostly talks to the creature, because the creature can't speak and just listens. It's safe to talk about all the things he can't normally tell anyone. He tells the creature about growing up, how his father was imprisoned and how he owes Oleg for picking him out of the gutter. That's why he couldn't say no. He also ends up talking about Napoleon (he doesn't notice the creature perk up at this), and even confesses that he thinks he was in love with him.

Despite the fact that he still thinks the creature is responsible for Napoleon's death, he worries about it. He goes to Gaby, because she seemed to know a lot about it before. She convinces him to sneak her into the palace to see it, and the creature perks up again at her presence. Clearly it's this cage, she tells Illya, a creature like this isn't meant to be confined. That's what's killing it. Illya doesn't know what to do. He can't betray the man who gave him everything (even if that man also always treated him like dirt), and anyway the creature killed his love. Why should he help it? But he knows in his heart what he must do. He's the galant knight, after all. So he opens the cage, but by this point the creature is too weak to move. Illya carefully gathers the creature into his arms to carry it out. Once free of the spells that dampened its magic, the creature transforms back into Napoleon, right in Illya's arms (naked, of course, lol—creatures don't wear clothes!).

Illya is stunned, and thinks its some kind of trick at first, but Napoleon convinces him. He's still super weak from the confinement and not being able to use his magic, and so Illya takes him to his house at first. As Illya is nursing him back to health, Napoleon asks if what he said when he was talking to the creature was true. Illya tries to pretend he doesn't know what Napoleon is talking about, because he assumes that there's no way Napoleon can love him back, but of course that turns out not to be true! Napoleon fell in love with him immediately, which was the only reason he allowed himself to be captured in the first place: he couldn't hurt Illya, even to save himself.

Napoleon improves, but before too long Oleg finds them. He's enraged by the fact his creature is gone and he's convinced that the newcomer (Napoleon) is behind its escape (well, he's not wrong). Illya of course refuses to kill him, which makes Oleg even angrier, and he threatens to arrest Illya just like his father. Our intrepid trio have to flee for their lives. Fortunately, between Illya's strength, Gaby's cleverness, and Napoleon's magic, they don't have much trouble. They go back to Napoleon's lair to pick up as much of his hoard as they can, though they can't stay there because Oleg's people will be looking for them. Instead they decide to set out on their own to see more of the world, traveling from town to town and picking up odd jobs. Eventually they find someplace far from Oleg's kingdom to settle down and spend the rest of their lives (this kingdom is ruled by a sarcastic but kind king named Waverly).

And they all lived happily ever after.

[rmhashauthor]

The Last Hour of Gann - the book that ruined me

If you have not read this BEHEMOTH of a novel, I strongly suggest you do. If you want something that will enthrall you, scare you, amuse you, ruin your life and obliterate your soul, I CANNOT in good conscience let you go another week without this beast of a story.

Summary (from Goodreads): "It was her last chance:

Amber Bierce had nothing left except her sister and two tickets on Earth’s first colony-ship. She entered her Sleeper with a five-year contract and the promise of a better life, but awakened in wreckage on an unknown world. For the survivors, there is no rescue, no way home and no hope until they are found by Meoraq—a holy warrior more deadly than any hungering beast on this hostile new world…but whose eyes show a different sort of hunger when he looks at her.

It was his last year of freedom:

Uyane Meoraq is a Sword of Sheul, God’s own instrument of judgment, victor of hundreds of trials, with a conqueror’s rights over all men. Or at least he was until his father’s death. Now, without divine intervention, he will be forced to assume stewardship over House Uyane and lose the life he has always known. At the legendary temple of Xi’Matezh, Meoraq hopes to find the deliverance he seeks, but the humans he encounters on his pilgrimage may prove too great a test even for him…especially the one called Amber, behind whose monstrous appearance burns a woman’s heart unlike any he has ever known."

Guys. Guys. This book ripped me apart. Amber is simultaneously the best and worst sci-fi heroine, her sister is pathetic and terrible, Meoraq is probably the least sexy but the most BADASS MMC EVER and the rest of the cast is every stripe of humanity you can imagine. There's a guy whom I wished from page one would shut up shut up JUST SHUT UP ALREADY and fall in a hole forever. R Lee Smith's characterization is on point and consistent throughout the book.

This is a BRUTAL story from beginning to end, even for someone like me who LOVES reading gnarly survival stories. Not gonna lie, there are several instances of sexual violence - I don't like it, I don't condone it and I won't write about it in any of my work, but in this case it was used to really drive home the brutality of life on Meoraq's world. There are animal attacks and vicious fighting and horrific injuries, but again this is not a happy story. This is a very messy, dangerous world and it takes a lot of grit and no tolerance for squeamishness to survive.

As unpleasant as Amber can be at times, I sincerely liked her as a character. She's unpleasant because she was brought up under pretty bleak circumstances and her life on Earth just didn't get better. And it got even worse once she signed her contract in more ways than just ending up on a planet where almost everything is trying to kill her. The thing about Amber that I really respected was her instant realization of just how fucked she and everyone else is and her first instinct is to start looking for water, food and shelter. She takes initiative while everyone else is sitting around waiting for help.

I appreciated how R Lee Smith took me inside Amber's head and showed me her memories to either confirm or contrast with how angry she is at the way her life has turned out. Her sister is basically the sad polar opposite - none of Amber's grit has rubbed off on her, and as awful as the story ended for her, she kind of deserved it for the choices she made (or refused to make). In the end I just felt sorry for Nicci for having such weak character.

Meoraq is NOT a sexy guy. I love sci-fi romances mainly because I want to see what weird, freaky things people are into (myself included, lol) and I want to see how the author turned something that SHOULD be bizarre into something that makes me think "...you know what? Maybe I COULD..." Not Meoraq. The only thing I found even moderately attractive about him was his incredible knowledge of and experience with living as he had for as long as he had. And he was funny sometimes. But he could be SUCH an ASS. And yet by the end of the book I had developed an IMMENSE respect for the guy - if I'd been in Amber's shoes, I would PRAY that I'd run into someone as competent and self-assured at Meoraq, otherwise I'd be dead within a week.

I am not a religious person. I tend to keep my distance from organized religion because I have seen the damage religious fanaticism can do. That being said, Meoraq's STRICT adherence to his beliefs make a weird kind of sense once you get to the part of the book that explains WHY the faith he follows has essentially taken over the world. I kind of admire the guy for his extensive knowledge of his faith and its teachings, which is to say he understands it more than I think some IRL groups understand their religion's intent. I sincerely appreciate R Lee Smith's deep dive into what life was like for Meoraq as a boy, how his experiences developed him, and how his relationship with his god evolves through the story. The guy has some truly incredible faith and his religious experiences gave me some perspective as to why some people continue to stick with their faith in the face of undeniable evidence to the contrary.

Here's the thing, though - from day one of their meeting I wanted Amber and Meoraq together RIGHT NOW. They both have this "fuck around and find out" vibe that WORKS. From the very beginning there is a sizzle in the air as they work out how to communicate, and while I was annoyed with the other survivors for inferring that the two be bangin', I knew EXACTLY where they were coming from because it was JUST SO DAMNED OBVIOUS. There were many times I had to put this book down and yell at it because, and I quote, "oh my GOD would you two just GET IT OVER WITH??" And when they do, it's not pretty but by the time that happened I understood that it wouldn't be because of the world they now occupy. Again, this is not a happy story. There IS some happiness, though, and it's made all the more precious for being so rare.

I will say that this is a LONG book, and it deals with some HEAVY ideas. Many of which I don't agree with, but I don't regret reading this monster and I sincerely appreciate R Lee Smith's willingness to really push the boundaries of what the average sci-fi romance reader is used to or may find in good taste for the genre. This is a HARD book to get through (~ 1,000 pages long) for many reasons, the subject matter alone will be part of the reason I think most people will either avoid it or put it down. It's really dark and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't ready for some of the nastier scenes (CW for sexual assault on men and women, animal violence, human-on-human violence, alien-on-alien violence, just a lot of violence in general, catastrophic events, and my personal non-favorite: BUGS) but if you're looking for something that will sink its claws into your mind and make you question everything about people, religion and humanity, then The Last Hour of Gann is my #1 pick for "you'll hate it but you'll love every second of it".

I saw another reader on Goodreads describe this as an "odyssey" and I 100% agree - this thing takes a week to read and it feels like a lifetime. Another called it "Epic Science Fiction" and I CANNOT agree more. It's epic, it's monstrous, it's graphic, it's downright horrible at times, but MY GOD I love this book for everything about it from the length to the characters (even the ones I hated) to the intense survival to the hilariously frustrating romance between two of the most stubborn, thickheaded people I have ever had the pleasure of being annoyed with. I stayed up late reading this damned thing TWICE and I'm going to do it again.

Disclaimer: I am strongly opposed to censorship in general. The world is a rough, difficult, dirty and dangerous place and it's just a fact that awful things happen and awful people exist. I don't condone rape or murder, but the unpleasant truth is that it happens on a daily basis. If that makes me a cynical old bat, then I guess I'm a cynical old bat. Anyway, the point here is if you pick up this book, do practice some self-censorship. You're the one who gets to decide if you like it enough to finish it. I don't know your story therefore I have no authority to determine what you can handle. But I do implore you to give this book a good old-fashioned try because I think it'll open some eyes and maybe give some perspective on the real world we live in. I got a lot out of this story and I think it's a damned shame that it's not more well-known. I believe that as sentient beings we have an obligation to push ourselves with respect to what we know and what we can learn, especially if we have to be made really uncomfortable to do so. I agree with a lot of the things people said about this book on Goodreads but I also disagree with much, but those are just my opinions. There's a reason I own two copies of this book, one physical and one digital, and if that's not a recommendation I don't know what is.

[glasyasbutch]

playlist: hyssop (B-side)

10 years gone, all that's left is the knowledge that he was something great and powerful wielded by the hand of a woman even greater and more powerful

link to playlist on spotify

link to A-side post

1. Real Love Song (Alternative Version) by Nothing But Thieves

This is a dark song, real dark / Feral tear off your skin to the bone dark / I'll drink myself to death dark / Do anything to feel your breath on my neck dark

I wanted this entire playlist to have a sort of otherworldly, not quite right vibe to it, which is why I picked out this alt version with the weird fading instrumentals instead of the original.

As for the song in particular, this was the first one for the Forgotten playlist and I picked out because it has such a sense of desperate devotion. While I don't think that he ever had romantic feelings for Springwane, I like to imagine there was a kind of obsessive fealty. Like he would have done Anything if she asked, he didn't know how to think of himself if it wasn't in relation to her and what she needed from him, and he only wanted for her to recognize how truly committed he was.

2. Carrion Comfort by aeseaes

Bleeding a blundering mess / Beetles and worms in his chest / Sorry seeder, bottom feeder / Nipping at what ankle's left / All you wanted was a little taste / Won't let a single sinew go to waste

I really wanted a song that would get across the violence and destruction of the forest, the way it tears itself apart endlessly even without the Hunt in it. Those qualities have always enthralled and perhaps even inspired Hyssop, and this is a tribute to how the ranger fed the barbarian if you will.

3. Protect and Defend by Stuart Roslyn, Matt Founding, and Audiomachine

Another instrumental piece as a fight scene soundtrack, complement to Nemesis from A-side. While the other one is more cinematic and bold, this one's a bit more creeping and sinister for those good Unseelie vibes. Also the title is a bit of icing on the cake given that it's for his time as a court warrior.

4. The Howling by Within Temptation

We've been searching all night long / But there's no trace to be found / It's like they all have vanished / But I know they're around / I feel they're getting closer / Their howls are sending chills down my spine

Within Temptation sister song for Faster from A-side.

I know y'all really cute-ified the dogs but have you thought about how fucking terrifying it would be to get attacked by a pack of ghost dogs. POV you're getting fucking murdered by the floating top half of a wolf.

5. Wild Hunt by Alexander James Adams

Come, join the hunt for the fox running fast / We will ride in the front, you will take up the last / Through the night and the cold, through the mist without rest / Cursed by magic of old, you will never be blessed / Come and ride!

DM's pick.

6. Midnight by Radical Face

And I sank my teeth into your ribs / And drew out the blood that had turned on you / And left you to find your way back home

The literal meaning of this song is about a forest witch who cures a kid with leukemia and then has to skip town so they don't hunt her down and kill her. But I think maybe it could also be about an Unseelie queen taking in a lost young man desperate to be something and making him anew in her perfect violent image and then abandoning him.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

Okay you said Pepa wanted Felix shirtless during her baby shower....now I NEED that story please!

You know, I should expect that you guys want EVERY detail in some of these asks. Don't get me wrong, i love that you guys want these, but this was such a throwaway line, i gotta fucking, make up how this happened-

"You must be SO proud, Pepa! Giving your husband a son! I WISH I could do that!"

Pepa wasn't gonna lie, she LOVED being pregnant, especially with the first Madrigal grandson. Not only was she treated like an absolute queen, not only was she A FINE pregnant woman, but she had a one up on Julieta, just for ONCE. Just for today, it was about HER. Sure, Julieta was going to have her shower next week, but that didn't matter. Today, it was rainbows and rain, nothing else. Pepa gave a dismissive wave of her hand at her friends, as if this wasn't a big deal.

"Not everyone can have sons, hell, I had a beautiful daughter beforehand. But here I am! Not that I'm bragging. Well. Maybe a little."

She earned bragging rights though. She, at least for today, deserved the whole world. Rosario chuckled, plopping one of the gift boxes on her lap.

"Come on, enough preening! Open my gift!"

She had someone grab her glass of wine (it was non alcoholic, she just liked to pretend she was off her ass) as she opened the gift. It looked like some bag of some kind. It was yellow/orange, like the parties theme.

"And this is?"

"It's a changing bag. In case you can't make it home and you have to change him right away. I made it kinda big for when it's Félix's turn."

Ah, Félix. The man that put the baby in her to begin with. She loved this fucking man, and hearing him being mentioned immediately made her wanna see him. Knowing Dolores was playing at her friend's house, she cupped her hands around her mouth, and called out to Félix.

"Félix!! Ven aquí por favor!"

Félix came in a moment later, trays of drinks and snacks in hand.

"Ladies. Pepa, everything okay?"

"Si- look at what Rosario got for us!"

"Oh a changing bag-did you make this? Gracias, it's beautiful. But not as beautiful as you, Pepita~"

Of COURSE her friends 'awwwed' when he leaned in to kiss her forehead. She had the BEST husband, she deserved to show him off. She really, really did. An evil idea popped in her head, and she put on just the sweetest face she could muster.

"Félix, you love me, right?"

"More than ANYTHING. Why, what does Papi have to do for you?"

"Take off your shirt."

Félix raised a brow, clearly confused.

"We have guests though?"

"Come on, I wanna see TITS."

Her other friend, Maria, who was just THRASHED at this point, chimed in. Of course, that set everyone off, making them bark and beg for him to take it off. Félix, ever the people pleaser, sighed as he nodded.

"Okay, okay. I'm never one to disappoint women."

Félix was such a good sport about this, she loved it to absolute tears. He took off his shirt, clearly getting a big head as her friends cheered him on (though Pepa had to swat at Maria as she threw a peso at him, yelling at him to 'keep going'. This slut, she loved her), absolutely enthralled by the sight of a shirtless man. He knelt down to Pepa for his long over due kiss, and she grinned as she snatched his shirt from him.

"Just so you won't try to cover up. I wanna make all my friends so goddamn jealous by the end of this."

It was all in good fun though, totally. Félix was trying not to laugh at this craziness, but it was very difficult. It got even worse when Agustín walked in, since he had agreed to help clean. Another one of her friends tugged at his shirt, cackling like mad.

"I want this one too! He's cute!"

"I'm sorry- Félix is way cuter!"

"Why are we pitting two bad bitches together?"

Her friends were a fucking mess when they were drunk. Agustín tried to ignore it as he tried to refill their drinks, only to drop like half the bottle of wine on one of her friends.

"Dios- I'm so sorry!"

Félix sighed as he handed her a towel.

"I told you to let ME handle the drinks, bro. So sorry, Sofia."

"No no, Agustín wanted to get me wet, it's working~"

"Oh you WHORE!"

Pepa laughed, trying but failing to lean over and shove her friend. She was pretty far along, movement was difficult. Even Félix had to laugh as he patted his back, trying to help the guy recover from his embarrassment.

"Sorry bro-you know what it's like with married guys."

"What does that mean?"

"Ladies see a ring on your finger- automatically you're a thousand times sexier. It's like, a law."

"You know what else should be a law, no shirtless guys at this fucking party!"

Pepa was trying not to laugh herself to tears. Oh poor Agustín, at the mercy of these drunk, crazy women, all because he married her sister. Pepa pouted as she took back her glass to have a sip.

"Come on Agustín, just this once, for my friends? Por favor?"

Félix nudged his friend's side.

"I'd do it for YOUR wife's babyshower."

"Please don't actually."

"Then help a guy out- happy wife happy life, man."

Agustín, always known for being roped into Félix's shenanigans, sighed.

"Fine, fine. That's MY shower gift then, I don't have to buy you anything. Which is great, because I did, but I accidentally broke it on the way here."

Her friends clapped and hollored as Agustín took off his shirt, folding them neatly as he stood there, shirtless.

"This is the best fucking baby shower I've ever been to!"

"Sus pezones son tan rosados! It's so cute!"

Agustín was trying not to be embarrassed at such comments, but honestly, the ones for Félix were MUCH worse (or better, since he loved knowing he was considered FINE to her friends). Pepa snorted as she lightly nudged Agustín.

"Sorry, my friends are crazy. Get me another gift though, please, it's hard to move."

Agustín was thankfully not too embarrassed to help her (he had his own pregnant wife to care for, but he treated her SO well during her own pregnancy, it was so sweet. Genuinely Julieta picked a good one) and hand her a gift. It was enough of a distraction for him, at least. The gifts were so lovely- toy chameleon, a few story books, a couple of outfits. Her friends were just so considerate, and Agustín and Félix were so sweet, patiently dealing with her frisky friends.

Then fate decided karma was due, and due immediately. Bruno walked in, carrying a large box in his hands. It seemed heavy, given how it damn near broke the table as he put it down.

"You got a gift for you outside, Pepa. Think it's from the friend that said she couldn't make it and...why are they shirtless?"

"Same reason YOU should be!"

Oh no. Félix was her idea, Agustín was a bit suspicious, but NOT her baby brother, that was the final straw.

"No no, not Bruno, we are NOT doing Bruno-"

"I wanna do Bruno!~"

Bruno yelped as one of her friends leaned over to pinch his ass, clearly loving his reaction. She thought Félix would get him out of here. But no. Her husband thought it was just hilarious to NOT follow common sense.

"Bruno, you gonna say no to all these ladies? Come on, don't be rude! Your body isn't as bad as you think man, and I've seen it."

"Félix please stop telling everyone you've seen my brother naked."

"No no, Pepa, I wanna hear about it!"

Pepa groaned into her hands, both incredibly amused, and in AGONY.

"Oh my god can someone please get Bruno out of here-"

"I want shirtless Bruno!"

"But he's creepy!"

"And? I wanna see some creepy fucking nips!"

Dear god someone help her, this had turned into just a mess. Bruno stood there, absolutely embarrassed and flustered from the sudden spotlight.

"Uh, that's. Uhm. Sweet? But I'd really rather not. Pepa can I uh, go?"

"Yes- someone please get my baby brother out of here."

Félix shrugged, clearly not getting the reserved nature of their friend here. Agustín, a bit eager to leave himself, helped get a VERY flustered Bruno out of there (poor thing had to lift the hood over his head to try to cover his face). All her friends groaned at not getting their wishes, and Félix whispered to Pepa.

"Your friends are fucking nuts, Pepa."

"No they want fucking, AND nuts, huge difference."

She was a little proud of the grin that brought to his face, honestly. Félix, ever wanting what was best for her, held onto her hand, and kissed it.

"Would me dancing shirtless in front of your friends save your party?"

"It's not too much?"

"To show off that I'm the sexiest man in this room? Not at all. ESPECIALLY if it makes mi mami happy."

He was even sweet enough to use his arm to shield her from the raindrops starting to fall from above.

"I love you so much. It's an honor to carry YOUR son, Félix. And it's an honor to suck your dick after this."

"God you're an incredible woman~"

He kissed her nose, then her bump, before getting up on the table, and posing.

"YOU LADIES WANT A SHOW OR WHAT?!"

THAT got these drunk bitches just FERAL, crying out and whooping and hollering. Pepa sat there, eating snacks off her bump, drinking her mock wine, and watching as her husband became the envy of her friends.

And Pepa couldn't have made more rain and rainbows for the life of her.

[cheekygreenty]

Little Witch - Part 21

The Darkling x Reader

The atmosphere in the Palace was welcoming and enjoyable yet you couldn't help but dampen the mood of those around you. Your smiles were visible fake, your laughs as forced as the diplomacy of the evening. It was hard to focus on anything but the Queen's request, you could still feel her cold touch on your hands, could still hear her voice as if she was standing next to you. Some would say being in the presence of the Royals was a blessing by the Saints, but to you it was a sudden blight; a curse.

The duties and obligations you had were out the window now as you looked for the particular head of red flame hair, completely ignoring the Kerch ambassador and his slurring words of trade agreements.

Did Genya tell her General that the charming Lantsov Prince was soon to be wed to the Deputy of the Second-army? Or did she keep that part to herself? You had a feeling it was the latter given Aleksander's behavior earlier but what if he knew- What if his obedient spy told him everything and he was looking at your predicament as an opportunity, even though it would hurt you to the core and shatter your moral values. There's nothing he wouldn't do for more power.

'Deputy Y/L/N, I presume?' A man in a military uniform adorned with colorful medals approached you from the side, silently shooeing the Kerch man away and taking his place despite your obvious air of hostility. You were in no mood for diplomacy.

'The one and only.'

'So I have heard.' You could make out the smallest tinge of an accent reminiscent of a Fjerdan rhythm through the spoken words. His blonde hair and long beard tell-tale signs of his druskelle service and enough for your anger to flare. 'Tell me, what kind of Grisha are you?' You didn't miss the disgust dripping from the word as he forced it through his teeth. No doubt he hated himself for being here.

'A powerful one.'

'More powerful than the Sun-Summoner?'

'Much.'

'I won't forget that.'

'I hope you don't. Tell your people too, it'll save me some time and perhaps some lives.'

'Is that a threat Deputy?'

'Yes' He snorted and looked around the lively room.

'Fjerda isn't here to fight tonight, we're here to party. I thought it would be the same for you, no?'

'I don't keep peace with people who wish my kind dead.'

'Neither does your General. But the West, I'm not too sure they're on the same page'

You bit back the urge to smack the tall man stone-cold. The West was a tricky situation that had been playing heavily on your mind for as long as you could remember. Although it was Ravka, Grisha were no longer safe there. Zlatan was coercing with the Fjerdans to capture Grisha in exchange for military backup and as much as it angered you to keep the First-Army General alive, it would create a whole other problem if he was found dead.

'West Ravka is Ravka. All Zlatan is is a mere General of the First-Army. He's no King.'

'You would be surprised. People would listen to a stableboy if he spoke of truth and justice.'

'And would Fjerda back him up too?'

He smirked and gave a nod of his head in amusement at your raging eyes. 'You drüsje get so worked up over words. It's actions that matter.'

'Not here in Ravka. Remember where and what you are. Then think of what half of this room can do to you' Without so much as a goodbye, you walked away from him with a huff and continued looking for Genya. You hadn't even seen Aleksander make an appearance yet but you didn't think you wanted to see him, not after your conversation with the Queen.

We wish for you to marry my son

Every time you thought you had shaken the haunting request, it came back with a shiver up your spine. It went against everything you ever believed in. You hated the crown, the Lantsov line, you hated the Ravka they created. But this didn't feel like something you could reject. It wasn't a proposal, it was an alliance.

You turned your head to the doors and watched as Zoya clambered up the stairs in her stunning blue silk kefta. Behind her, a Suli performer climbed up on her silks as if it were all she'd ever known. Her body swung gracefully and smoothly, not batting an eyelid at all her observers. It was memorizing and distracting, something for which you were thankful.

'Haven't you got some Dukes and Ministers to babysit?' Zoya appeared beside you, eyeing up the empty glass in your hand.

'Let them roam free for the night'

'As long as they're not groveling over me'

'Because your presence is so much more captivating than the Sun-Summoners' You rolled your eyes and made your way to get a new, full, glass.

'Thank you for finally admitting it'

'Where's Genya Saffin?'

She made a face and took a glass to, bringing it up to her lips and taking a small sip.

'With Alina. Why?'

'Oh nothing, just some details to hash out about Marie attending dinner' You covered up. 'I spoke with a Fjerdan dignitary. He had no problem hiding that West Ravka is coming to their aid.' Zoya was a good soldier and a great tactician, if you were to tell anyone such sensitive information, it would definitely be Zoya.

'I overheard a Zemeni ambassador say they were spotted at Zlatan's rallies. He's raising his ranks whilst our own coffers run out. We can't afford a war with each of our borders'

'Try telling the King that' The Lantsov King. Nikolai's father. Nikolai.

'Saints are you alright?' Zoya looked at you with wide eyes, then to the broken glass crumbling in your hand. You had been clutching it so hard you managed to smash it and slice the palm of your hand.

'Oh umm- I need a moment' You disposed of the glass on a nearby table and basically ran to the nearest washroom. Crimson red blood dripped slowly from your fingers as you tried to keep it from staining your kefta while you closed the door behind you.

This was the first moment since your talk with the Queen where you were alone. Truly alone, no ambassador looming over your shoulder or a Duke at your side. Alexander, Alina, and Genya were still nowhere to be seen and the demonstration would begin shortly but all you wanted to do was stay in this tiny and stuffy room, shut off from everything. You washed your hand down with water, hissing in pain as the water tinted red and carried away the signs of injury. The quarters were quiet and calm, a stark contrast to the liveliness in the hall not often seen in the Little Palace.

The Little Palace tended to be quiet, but the Grand Palace was different. The Grand Palace. The winter home of the Lantsovs. Nikolai. Marriage.

The gentle tears came like a surprise, rolling down your face with grace. 'Fuck me' was all you could say as your head rested on your uninjured hand. You still felt exhausted and overwhelmed now even more so but you liked to think you hid it well. What good was a Deputy in emotional turmoil at a party full of political vultures?

The door to the small space suddenly opened and none other than Genya Saffin walked in with ease only she possessed. She looked at you in shame then fixed her attention on her shoes, not meeting your broken gaze.

'I take it you spoke with Tatiana?'

'Why didn't you tell General Kirigan?' You sniffed and wrapped your hand in a handkerchief, not bothering to wipe away the tears that you continued to cry.

'I felt it wasn't my place'

'Why?' Your voice cracked, slightly distracting you but the meaning to your question was obvious. Why me?

'She wished to squelch his bastardry rumors with your standing reputation.'

'Does he know?'

'She wrote him, but he has yet to respond.'

'Why not Vasily? Is it to make sure a Grisha never sits on the throne?'

She stayed quiet, toying with her sleeve. 'She says you have the air of a false Queen but the mind of a demon'

'Nothing new there' You laughed and straightened up, using the handkerchief on your hand to pat your face dry, diminishing any last sign of your weak moment away. 'Is Alina ready?' She looked at you with pure pity on her face, the compassion bursting on her face busting at its seams.

'Yes. Last I saw she was with the General.'

'Thank you Ms.Saffin'

***

You didn't mean to miss the demonstrations, but you took your time walking back to the main hall anyway. It was only when you saw the darkened room and searing light did you stop dead in your tracks at the door. Alina stood there on the podium, the image of a Saint. Her black and gold kefta shimmered in her light beautifully, illuminating her face and smile. She was glowing. Her powers had brought her not only luxurious life but good health, something everyone prays for. The black looked well on her too. It set her apart from the sea of bright keftas and gowns. In a Palace full of Grisha and powerful members of society, only Alina and Aleksander wore the black keftas, not even you wore it tonight and it made you feel surprisingly insecure.

He stood to her side, enthralled by her show of strength and skill. He was fascinated with her, it showed in his eyes and on his face but it definitely wasn't a facade. Even watching them from afar you could see that he looked at her as if she was his Sun, the only thing capable of lighting up his night sky.

You didn't know how to look at her. Everyone around you was worshipping her, whispering silent prayers to Sankta Alina: the Sun Saint, but you stayed frozen and still. You were never faithful to the Saints, they never listened to you, so what good would pledging your allegiance to Alina be if you knew Aleksander planned to extort her?

The whole room was kneeling now, heads bent down in symbols of submission yet you stood. No doubt you stuck out like a sore thumb, but a leader does not bow to anybody, not even the Saints. He momentarily turned his head to look at you but his eyes were far from the softness he gave Alina. They spoke more than his smooth words ever could yet this time the silent exchange did nothing to soothe your muddled head.

A tap on your shoulder caused you to break your burning gaze away from the summoners and to a guard instead.

'Deputy, we have 2 First-Army soldiers who claim to have found Morozova's Stag' The Stag. Just my luck.

'Tell the General, I have no business with the stag' You waved him off and returned your stare back to the room, scanning the crowd like a hawk when her eyes caught yours. Queen Tatiana was looking through to your soul, demolishing any confidence you could muster at that moment.

Marry my son.

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

Part 22

Taglist (tell me if you want to be added to the Little Witch taglist!!) @theonelittleone @searching-for-gallifrey @0-artemis @lostysworld @xceafh @fire-in-her-veinz @patdsinner33 @cleverzonkwombatsludge @wizardwheezes @aleksanderwh0r3 @tomhollandisabae @hotleaf-juice @justmesadgirl @exo-1204 @houseofdupree @oberonpascal @eireduchess @lunas1x1 @adoringb @grisha-of-shadow-bone @rosiethefairy @carlywhomever @allisjustok @keepdaydreamingbb @luciadiosa

[huenjin]

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒/𝐎 (𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓)

genre | fluff, toothbiting fluff, and slightly suggestive

warnings | hints at nsfw in slight occasions, but it's still very sfw.

members | bang chan, minho, changbin, hyunjin, jisung, felix, seungmin, jeongin

note | tried at making it gender neutral. also, this is my first hc, if this is what it is, so please do tell me if it's any good.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍

downright going to be the most classic one. he'd bring you over for a christmas dinner, his mum and dad looking at you quizzically and you swear to god it was the most raveling moment ever in your whole life. the fear, the anxiety and the pain of being rejected by his parents weighs far too much in your head. however, chan would hold your hand, rub small circles at the junction between your thumb and your other fingers and tell his parents that you're his bestfriend, his lover, the one he loves in the present and hopefully for a long time. that he wants to spend his christmas with every single human being that he loves under the same roof. it is only after this that his parents calm down, cheer up and are overjoyed that their son has found someone to be with — to share his happiness and sadness with. will go down in your history as one of the best christsmases you have shared.

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐇𝐎

here to spread the college boyfriend!minho agenda. this was off this ad that i saw the other day and idek why i found it cute but it was dead cute and i knew that's definitely minho. 100%. so you're over at his lodging room in college in his shirt — minho swears to god he finds you the cutest in his shirts — watching this romcom on netflix on his laptop. you're cuddled up against him on his bed and minho's kissing your cheeks occasionally when you're too engrossed into the movie, making sure he gets the gasp and the chuckle exactly from you. and all was going well till he gets a video call notification from his mother and he's scrambling up from his bed, angling the mirror away from you as he answers, "hi, mom." his mother would ask of him to show his new room, something he was supposed to do earlier and he sighs, "can we do this tomorrow? it's late and i have this assignment to do?" but his mother wouldn't have it any other way and insists — determination running through their family veins evidently. and here you are, scrambling around his room everytime he moves to show his room to his mum, just to avoid the camera. until you can sit back on the bed and minho's rushing to end the conversation, "can i please go do my assignments now, mum?" you know you're royally fucked when minho's mother laughs, only to ask her son, "does your assignment wear your shirts now? you should introduce them to me."

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐁𝐈𝐍

changbin's whole family knows you already. in fact, if anything, it was his sister that forced him to finally ask you out because he has been crushing on you forever. the following events happen in this particular order: you're the cute cashier at his favorite drink place and if college has taught him one thing, it is never to miss out on an opportunity and he knows he must ask you out. his sister is with him and finds him all awe eyed at you and she knows. she also knows that her brother is a wimp and won't ask you out so she nags him over throwing litter all over in his room if he doesn't. changbin thinks it's the extra push he needed and he does ask you out while paying his bill — a mere, "uhm, i think you're cute. if you happen to have some, uh, free time this saturday evening, we could go watch a movie or something. oh, i mean, of course, if only you're free and if you haven't watched the movie and like everyone seems to be busy and you're just so so pretty i ha—" changbin still remembers the way you giggled, the way you held your chest and the way you smiled and nodded. changbin's family knows that very evening because siblings are snitches deep down and his sister yells as soon as she enters the home, even before she has taken her shoes off — "listen, listen! our changbinnie grew up. guess who has a lover, guess who, guess who!" all changbin could yell back was, "they are prettier than you and nicer than you!" and stick his tongue out. needless to say, changbin was found picking scrap paper off his room's floor at 2am.

𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐉𝐈𝐍

lowkey his parents are suspicious of you and think you're not a great person and this is another episode of hwang hyunjin getting overly attached and loving another human. you can't blame them. experiences make parents cautious and when all of hwang hyunjin's relationship has ended him with an aching heart, you know you'd be suspicious of the next person he brings home too. he brings you home for dinner and his parents were definitely not expecting another member. it starts with frigid stares and hard, short answers and hyunjin has to hold your hand to stop you from crying because you feel like you lost your chance even before you had it. that is till, hyunjin speaks up, "mum, dad. i love them. and i know you guys are doing this because you fear they're going to break my heart—" "i wouldn't," you mumble, "you're going to break mine if this ends." and hyunjin chuckles, kissing your cheek before his parents. he turns to them and repeats the same, "i love them. so much and i hope you can accept them and not pin all my bad experiences on them. please." it takes a few more meetings for his parents to warm up to you but it happens slowly over the time, till — you're now spending every other weekend with his mum to bake cakes.

𝐉𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆

so jisung, as much as he needs the caring and loving, is an eccentric man. he's so eccentric you're so sure you fell for him because of that, because of how he manages to make you always smile. so eccentric that he had a whole ppt presentation on why everyone should be like you. and this stupid boyfriend who is oh so in love shows this before his parents to announce how he's dating you. it's like a one slide presentation. he's planned it all out for days. he'll bring you over in the guise of being a friend and then surprise his parents after dinner by turning this great one slide presentation on. it'll have a picture of you on the side and points in bullets to the left — of how you're pretty, of how you're funny, how you make him want to be a better person, how he wants to continue going to the orphanage to help every sunday with you, how he wants to give you his world. how you're the nicest person he knows. your parents are smiling and they know. they know even before the announcement that you're his lover and better half and you make him happy and so does he. and courtesy of jisung's great brain, the animations rotate and land and the last two lines are so big that you blush and are embarrassed but god fucking help you, you're so in love with him that this makes your heart race. "be like y/n. be my lover," races into the screen and you think the animations makes it even more quirkier than it already is. until his mother makes everyone laugh even more by asking, "are you asking us all out, sungie? doubt they would like that."

𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗

another one of the classic introduction types. felix asks you if it's alright for him to finally introduce you to his family and you nod, heart fluttering because you know for sure this is a huge step. upon much consideration, you agree to go for dinner with his parents at his place the following weekend. you're asking him over the week if this dress was alright or if you should go for formals and as much as he reassures you that it's not a huge deal — it is a huge deal to you. you want his parents to know how serious you are of him. you even being a gift home that night and bake some muffins and his mother is just really impressed (if she wasn't already flustered by all the stuff you brought). and when you know you have warned up enough to them, you know his mother is going to show the embarassing pictures just to fluster her son and it works. you do spend some good hours with his parents — his dad giving you a thumbs up to be new fashioned as you leave and his mum waving you good bye — and it is only after this you sigh in relief, tension off your shoulders. you've left a good impression and felix knows this too as he kisses you in his car.

𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐌𝐈𝐍

seungmin is the softest boyfriend ever. i mean seriously, if the whole world already didn't know the two of you were dating would be a surprise — it's the pretty bracelets you wear, the matching hoodies found in your closets or how you're just always in his blue hoodie. always. and so when seungmin is rushing you, two weeks into official dating for you to meet his parents, you're wide eyed. all he has to say is, "i'll be going to marry you either way. why wait till the day before marriage to show you off to my parents also." and he'd be so thrilled. seungmin's mum is enthralled because he is enthralled. he is so excited to tell his parents about you and about how you're his lover. his to show off. his to love. for years to comes. and you're blushing in front of his parents, ears heated up at the term. seungmin's dad jokingly pats his son's back, laughing, "have you grown up already to bring someone home?" and he nods, smiling like the dork you fell in love with. his mother rushes to sit you down by the table, ready to take care of you and you realise — seungmin's family will always be as accepting as he is. the fruit doesn't fall that far away from the tree, after all.

𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍

trust me, he's the reckless kind. he'll care for you, love for you and be there for you but he's so bad with dates and timings and everything that mistakes like this were bound to happen at one point. he's shifted to his own place and jeongin is so excited that he calls you over — "y/n, you must come here. even the bed is warm." and you know what that meant. the bane of every mankind's downfall and every civilization's achilles' hill. that is exactly how you ended up next to jeongin, his hands cupping your face and him kissing you like he has all the time in the world now that he has his own place. until the two of you hear the door click and jeongin pulls back, swearing and in panic. you hold his shoulder in worry and he's telling you that his parents were supposed to come over, today. that he didn't know it would be this early, however. and the only thing his oh-so-bright brain could come up with in that moment is to shove you and himself into the small closet till his parents leave. and even if it meant a few sweaty minutes in the closets in each other's warmth, moans and giggles in the air albeit the warning of silence, and jeongin kissing you in places the heavens shouldn't know, you'll happily brace it all for him. the two of you come out of the closet only after you hear the door shut again. the two of you walk down carefully to see if his parents are away, only to find a small yellow post it note stuck on the fridge — you should have told us you had someone over. you bury your face into his shoulders in embarassment as you ask, "they heard, didn't they?" he chuckles, "probably. we'll get you to officially meet then soon. my mum loves pies and you bake the best ones. she'll fall for you like i did. instantly."

[athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit]

Feral Fatality

(Part 2)

I'm supposed to be working on the requests but here I am. Writing nonsense. But its my nonsense so *shrugs*

Pairing: Jason Voorhees x Fem!Reader

Word count: 2.4k

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence (or so I think), Blood (lots of blood), Murder (as usual), Feral side of the reader coming out for a brief moment, and cursing.

—

Three harsh knocks made you flinch and woke you up from your sleep.

"Hey, loser! It's dinner time. Eloiza wants you by the campfire. Now." Layla, one of Eloiza's side girls, stressed. You sat up, rubbing your eyes before you set your book on the bedside table.

"Did you hear me?! I said—"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you alright. I'll be out." You swear the whole camp could hear her with the way she's squawking.

She stomped off, huffing loud.

You chose to stay in your baggy clothes. A black hoodie with a small yin-yang symbol on your left breast with a matching pair of black and white sweatpants, half of your ebony hair tied up in a ponytail.

It was already dark when you walked out, the moon climbing bit by bit up to the sky and subtly lighting your path. You shivered as a chilled breeze went past.

In the distance, you could see a small fire, dancing, swaying its fiery arms. It would have been a nice sight if not for the people around it.

Even from afar, you could see them engaged in a heated session, the smell of cigarettes and pot reached your senses, making you grimace.

"Yo look, it's (Y/N)," one of them said once you were close to the campfire.

Few gave you glances, before going back to their business. You remained quiet, though you noticed five people were missing in the group.

Fucking in the cabins, no doubt.

Eloiza was in the middle, her ass planted on someone's lap while she held a cigarette, both of them sharing and blowing smoke at each other.

Different. Out of place. You regretted coming out here, but if you didn't they'd only harass you in your cabin. Break down your door, and drag you out just to humiliate you. Then it fully dawned on you; no adults or teachers to protect you here, they could kill you if they wish.

You cursed as worst-case scenarios ran wild in your mind.

Damn, I'm gonna die tonight.

"Layla, why don't give her some food already, she's obviously hungry," Eloiza ordered.

"Ugh! Me again? Why can't you let Betty do it?" She was straddling Jake, vice-captain of the rugby team in your school. Layla subtly ground down her ass unto his crotch. The act was uncomfortable and disgusting to you.

Eloiza shot a glare at her, expression grim.

"Fine!" she jumped off, "I'll be right back babe," she whispered not so quietly. It was clear that they weren't in a relationship, only looking for someone to fuck. Lacking the sense of intimacy that lovers have. The air was just full of sexual tension and lust, anyone who's good at reading people would know.

And right now, you wanna vomit.

"While we wait for that hoe to come back, why don't you sit down with us for a bit (Y/N)?"

"Thank you, but I'm fine standing. I'll just take the food and eat in my cabin," you replied. Your smile was fake and your voice, monotonous. You hid your hands in your pockets.

"I insist, let's chat for a bit," she said. The rest of the group ignored you still as they were busy with their...partners.

You blinked and looked at her right in the eyes.

"No."

You refuse to submit to her, you submit to no one. You came to camp to get away from the noise people like her make. Ironically, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her either.

"What did you just say to me?" Oh, right, Eloiza hates you as much as she hates being disobeyed. Her face turned red, and it wasn't from the fire.

"No," you repeated.

"No?" she scoffed, "I told you to sit the fuck down. I was being kind to you and you de—"

"No, I won't sit down. And no, you were not kind, you just gave me an order and I refused."

The group froze and looked at you, halting their activities. Eloiza shot up, making you raise your guard and take a step back.

Still, you did not expect her to grab a half-burning log and fling it at you.

You barely dodged, the hefty ember grazing the side of your face, burning your skin and some of your black strands. You took a sharp intake of air and staggered back, dizzy and groaning from the pain as you hover your hand on your cheek. Gasps and cheers sounded around you.

"Nobody. Disobeys. Me." she said, accentuating every word. "You're just a useless piece of shit. You think being a smartass will save you? You do realize that I can kill you right here and now, don't you?" Eloiza threatened as she approached you, her eyes burning holes into your head. A hand grabbed her arm, "Babe, you can't murder her! We'll go to jail if you—"

"Shut up, Evan. No one would know what happened here. It's so easy to say a bear attacked and ate her. And who would notice her gone anyway? Everyone knows her parents don't give a shit about her."

She's right, no one would care if I'm gone. Nobody would give two shits if I died.

"But—"

"I said shut up, didn't I?! Do you want to die too, huh?!"

"Let her have fun, Evan," Betty commented.

"What the fuck is going on here??" Layla was back, carrying a bowl of soup.

While they were preoccupied, you twisted on your heel and bolted, your vision spun but you didn't stop. While a handful of traitorous thoughts tells you to drop dead, that you should just die than prolong your suffering, your heart didn't. Yes, not a soul cares about you, but you have yourself, your books, and your art. There was no fucking chance in hell you'd let them have their way with you.

You raced to your cabin and slammed it open, closing it in the same fashion and locking it in place. Your face was throbbing, stray tears stained your cheeks as you searched for a handkerchief to wet and cool your burns.

You eventually managed to lessen the pain, thanking yourself for bringing skin ointment. Your hands were shaking as you applied it to your skin, whimpers escaped your lips as it stung a bit. You took deep breaths to calm your heart down...

In. One. Two. Three. Out. Repeat.

—

Jason Voorhees stood in the shadows as the scene took place.

A girl was telling you to sit, and you refused politely, yet she asserted.

The others ignored you until you outright said no.

Was it so surprising to hear one word from your mouth that the whole group turned to you?

The girl snapped, took a burning log by its safe edge, and threw it at you. It hit your cheek and you staggered backward.

His grip tightened around his weapon as alarms rang in his head, an overwhelming urge to protect you arose. You did nothing wrong and that woman harmed you.

She was shouting, threatening to end your life. A man stopped her but...

Jason heard what she said, the words only made his sight darken with rage. What did she mean by "your parents 'don't give a shit' about you"? Did they not love you as a parent should to their child?

He sees you dash back to the cabin in haste and silently praises you for taking the chance to escape, he wouldn't want you to see what he'd do to them. The killer watched for a little longer only to make sure they wouldn't follow and hurt you again.

With you out of the way and safe, he emerged out of hiding. He threw an ax with precision, splitting open one's head like a coconut, the blood spattering on the ones nearby. In an instant, they shrieked in terror, their faces turning pallid, terrified as they scattered in different directions.

The hunt begins.

—

You broke out of your trance when the screams reached your ears.

Oh.

You were no fool of course. You knew the legend about Jason Voorhees was true, just from looking into the cases of mass disappearances, bodies never seen again. With no evidence, no one believed it, thinking it was just an old story to scare people away, a silly myth.

Nobody, except for one little you.

Well, maybe there was somebody else but you know what I mean.

It wasn't hard to connect the dots. There were two conclusions you came up with;

Either the killer was real or the people found themselves in the stomach of a monster.

You preferred the former, honestly.

Somehow, you expected this to happen. It was part of the reason why you came with them even though you knew the possibility. Risking your life in the process just to see him with your own eyes.

Wow, what's happened to me...

You sat up on the floor and as if on cue someone pounded on your door.

"(Y/N)!! (Y/N) Let me in! Open the door and let me in!"

By the sound of it, it was Betty.

You ignored her pleas, she deserves to get torn in half for being the bitch she was...

Wait.

Why not do it yourself?

A glance at the toolbox was all it took for you to stand up and take out a screwdriver. You approached the door, Betty still pleading for her life behind it.

"Please, please! I don't wanna die yet! I'm too young to—"

She stumbled forward when the door opened. But instead of a thank you, she screeched as you tackled her to the ground and stabbed her in the eye.

Stab.

Stab.

Stab.

Her blood splattered on your clothes and skin as you drove the metal tool into her skull several times. The squelching sound of meat and bones surrounded you together with the deafening pounding of your heart.

Betty had long gone silent. Her face was unrecognizable once you stopped.

Oddly enough, you felt a familiar thrill with what you did. It was the same one when you won your first contest, received your first trophy, and made your first masterpiece. It was a first.

And it was...enthralling.

You sensed someone's eyes on you. You looked up and saw a tall and massive man with a hockey mask covering his face, standing a few meters away, his machete dripping with blood. A glint of blue flickered in his eye for a moment.

Jason Voorhees.

Not knowing what to do and still high in the moment, you waved the bloody screwdriver at him and smiled.

"H-Hey," you uttered out.

The murderer—well, you were a murderer now too— trudged towards you, stopping when a scream to your left cut through the air.

—

Jason honestly couldn't believe what he was seeing. Little you with a little tool, gouging the brains out of the one he was chasing down.

With a screwdriver.

Multiple emotions went through him that moment, he was shocked that you could kill someone with your tiny hands, proud that you just killed said someone that was his prey, and relieved that you were alright.

Wait, were you?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when you waved and greeted him. You just waved and greeted— what? Why weren't you running back inside your cabin? Why didn't you scream at the sight of him? Did you not know him? Was the blood on his clothes and the weapon he was carrying not ringing any bells?

Jason wanted answers and moved to close the distance between you, but then a shrill cry echoed.

Someone got snared in his traps.

He looked at you, your face was dirty with blood, but your eyes were wide open, not of fear, but happiness?

He'll have to finish his hunt first. He gave you one more look before he trudged to the origin of the sound. He'll visit you later, that is if you're still here. He wouldn't be surprised if you used this chance to get out of the place, and he'd let you. You were innocent...different, and the murder you just did was well-deserved, albeit shocking.

-

It was the one who injured you, the cause of your burn, miserably crawling on the ground as her foot bled through the jaws of a bear trap.

"Help! Please help me!! I'm dying! Somebody help—"

She howled as the killer gripped the source of her pain and dragged her back to the center of the camp, taking the long path on purpose.

Jason was always angry in one way or another every time people came to disturb the place, but this? Oh no, all he sees is red, not a word had been heard from his mother ever since.

He would usually kill them the instant he catches his prey, but he wants—needs— this one to suffer. He knows, more than anyone, how it feels to be an outcast, to be bullied for being different. This hideous woman is going to die slowly, the pain she gave you a hundred times more agonizing.

"Let go of me you fucking murderer!" She shouted, kicking and clawing on the dirt in hopes of stopping him. Jason paid her no mind, his eyes focused on the fire that glowed close.

This bitch will burn to ash.

He stood in front of the campfire and brought up her body over it, her long blonde tresses turned to nothing as she flailed and shrieked pathetically. The killer crushed her legs before he let go, the flames big enough to devour her entirely, scorching her alive.

A yell from behind drew his attention as another one ran towards him, an ax lifted and ready to attack.

"Die you monster!" They shouted, embedding the ax on his shoulder. Jason felt no pain from the shallow wound, only an itch.

What a lousy attack.

Jason pulled out the silly thing and bashed it on his assailant's skull with one heavy strike, crushing the bones beneath. Lifeless, he tossed the body into the fire, the cries died down moments ago, only the smell of burnt flesh filled his nose as the embers crackled remained.

The undead man stalked away, feeling better than before. There were still a few people waiting to be disposed of.

Jason Voorhees will not rest until every single one of them is dead.

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Ninety-Two

Words: 4.3K

Warning(s): explicit language, sexual situations, violence, drug abuse, domestic abuse

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Vivian strikes again. 

My leg shakes with each tap of my foot as I impatiently wait for her to come through that door. I've been waiting for nearly forty-five minutes. 

Maybe I scared her off with pitching a fit over her not telling me about her miscarriages. But I had a good reason to be upset. Addict or not, I fucking deserved to know what the hell was going on.

"Where's your wife?" Amber asks me, glancing at her watch. 

"Hiding more kids from me, probably." I mumble and she raises her brows, staring at me for a moment. 

"While we wait for her, can you do me a favor?" She asks and I shrug. "Take a few minutes to try to imagine what having kids during the last four years would have been like with your drug addiction. Because you would still have a drug addiction--babies wouldn't have changed that." She points out. "Honestly," she adds. "Close your eyes, and take some breaths, and just use your imagination as to what having children during these last few years would have done to you, and to your wife.

I take a breath and close my eyes, deciding it probably couldn't hurt to try to wrap my head around being a dad right now, especially with as many as she lost...

1984

...I feel Viv's weight shift from me, her eyes closed, a little hum comes from her when she turns her back to me but still keeps close, her feet tangled with mine, her lions mane of hair still spread out over my pillow as well as hers. Despite being half asleep, myself, I tighten my arms hold just under her ribs and pull her to me before my hand slides over her five-month pregnant stomach. 

I lull back to sleep, before I'm woken up merely minutes later by the sound of the baby crying and Vivian pulling herself away from me, putting her robe on to cover her naked body. 

She sighs under her breath, mumbling something, and I sit up. 

"I can go--"

"--No, I got it." She says, dismissively.

"Vivian, are you still pissed at me?" I ask. 

"You ditched me on our anniversary and stayed out all night smoking smack and partying with your moron friends."

"I offered for you to come out with us." I remind her.

"I'm pregnant and we have a daughter here, Nikki. One of us needs to remember that." She adds before stomping out. 

I roll my jaw and feel a spiteful twinge in my mind. 

Perhaps spiteful, perhaps wanting to chase away the guilt of ditching her last night…

I end up in the bathroom, chasing the dragon, curled under my high while hearing Vivian softly sing hymnals to the six-month old…

I assume she knows exactly where I'm at once she's done, because I hear her walk back to our bedroom and, when she usually comes to find me so she's not by herself, she doesn't come looking for me. 

1986

"...No, you idiot, not that…" I say to myself, rubbing my forehead, scribbling out the line of lyrics I've been fighting to get out. 

The door of mine and Viv's bedroom is soon bursting at the hinges, allowing me to fully hear Pierce crying while Frannie and Johnny come rushing into the room, squealing. 

"Hey, hey, hey!" I stop them before they can crawl under the bed. "What's goin' on?" I ask them, slowly hiding the Jack bottle in my bass case.

I spent last night freebasing and I'm still trying to coax myself down. 

Frannie looks at me with sharp green eyes, her brown hair knotty looking from wallowing on the living room carpet earlier...Johnny, brown eyes and red hair, just puts his attention on the pissed off Vivian that's stalking her way in here with the baby. 

"Um," Frannie starts, trying to think up her excuse. 

"Francesca and Johnathan tried to tote Pierce off again." Vivian states, eyeing the two toddlers with daggers, and they slowly sink down to try to use me as a human shield. 

"He's a new baby, Viv, they don't mean any harm. They just--"

"--Okay, well maybe if you put the bass down and actually come in here and help me out, you can supervise them while they 'hold' him, since I'm trying to start on dinner." She states. 

I glance at the kids and then at her…

"Or you can stare at me like an idiot, too." She mumbles, going to shut the door as she says, "You have no issue knocking me up but won't help me with them once they're out."

 I roll my jaw and grab my bottle of Jack, putting my bass back. 

What the fuck? 

If it wasn't for me writing songs, the band wouldn't have new material, which would mean no new album, which would mean no money--not enough to support her and three fuckings kids, anyway, so she should be thanking me for still wanting to provide for my fucking family. Because anybody else with three kids in two years would be putting a bullet through their skull. 

"C'mon, guys," I say to Frannie and Johnny, and they follow me out, Frannie reaching up to grab my hand. 

I put old cartoons on the TV while Viv puts Pierce down to sleep once he's drifted off. 

On her way out of the nursery, I'm stopping her in the hallway, my hand grasping her arm in a tight hold, roughly tugging her into the guest bathroom, cracking the door. 

I've got her against the counter, hand around her throat, gasping little breaths pushing past her lips for a moment as I say, "if you ever talk to me like that in front of my fucking kids again, I'll give you plenty to bitch about." I promise her, lowly, and she just looks up at me and nods. 

"Now turn around." I say next and she glances at the door. 

"Nikki, we don't have tim--"

"--They're watching TV. Turn around." I repeat and she grins a little, licking her lips and turns to face the mirror. 

I'm unzipping my pants, yanking her shorts down and pushing her panties to the side before grabbing a fist full of her hair and sliding it in, tilting my head back and grinning as she makes little whimpers in an attempt to keep from being loud. 

We've mastered the art of 'a good time in a short time,' and once we've both had our release, I'm zipping my pants back up, and she's still bent over the sink, hands white knuckling the edge of the counter, hair in her face, bite marks on her shoulders, cum down her shaking legs, trying to catch her breath.

I kiss the place between her shoulder blades, the back of her neck, her hair, my hand getting her hair from her face to look at her in the mirror.

She's looking at me with a little smile, right before, "I'm pregnant again," comes out and shatters my post-orgasm buzz. 

My knuckles sting as blood rolls down my fist, glass falling onto the counter, sink, and floor, when I drive my fist past her and into the mirror. 

She just hangs her head and I'm getting out, feeling the walls of the bathroom caving in on me. 

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Frannie asks as I grab my keys and my jacket. 

"Nothing, Frannie. Daddy's going out, alright?" I tell her. "When mommy gets in here give her a big hug." I add, seeing Johnny's too enthralled with Charlie Brown to notice I'm even leaving. 

I kiss her head and I'm out the door before Vivian gets out of the bathroom. 

I swear the only thing keeping us together is the fact that when divorce is an unspoken thought for either of us, she gets pregnant. 

I'm twenty-seven years old and I have a two year old, a one year old, a two month old, and now she's fucking knocked up again?!

How the hell is that even possible? Don't chicks need like six months for their bodies to reset after popping kids out or something? Jesus I married a PEZ dispenser with a never ending supply of eggs. 

By the time I get to where I'm going, I already regret it. 

Incense, crack fumes and perfume suffocate me as soon as she opens the door in her bra and panties. 

Not necessarily in a sexy way--more so in a higher than a kite and disheveled type of way. 

Which is perfectly fine with me because I don't need 'sexy' right now. I just need to get outta my head. 

Despite that, though, clothes come off, we end up on the living room floor, and instead of smoking a cigarette once we're finished, we opt for more erasure. 

"She's pregnant again." I confess to Tansy  out of nowhere after breathing out some smoke, my mind getting pushed aside, the crawling of my skin starting to settle. 

Blue eyes look at me as I hand it over before her greedy hands snatch it. 

"What?" She asks me. 

"Vivian's pregnant." I repeat. 

"I am, too." She says it so seriously that I look at her for a second, before seeing the very corner of her lips tug for a millisecond. 

"You're bullshitting me?" 

"I'm bullshitting you." She says, giggling, and 

I start ranting about it, my words getting more and more jumbled and lost the more hits of the pipe I take, until I'm not even worried about Vivian due to the paranoia that ensues. 

I get home at 5:00a.m….the day after the next. How low do I have to be to continuously go her best friend and my own moronic self pity? I don't know. 

I shut the door to the house and put my shit down, nearly tripping when I try to take my boots off. 

I'm on Halcions and Jack, and I think they're starting to kick in because I'm fucking exhausted. 

I glance at the living room scattered with toys and rub my face. 

I get it: "Mötley Crüe, don't give a fuck, fuck precautions, fuck all of it," but come on, man.

 How the hell could you be so fucking reckless?

I walk into our room, the lamp on Viv's night side table on while she's got one long leg out of the covers, laying on her stomach, arms under her pillow, the covers falling just enough to cover the tops of her thighs and her ass, her back and the side of her chest peeking out, exposed. 

She looks fucking beautiful.

Oh, yeah, that's how the hell I could be so reckless. 

I go rinse off in the shower for a second to try to wash away Tans and the drugs...maybe even guilt….

When I'm done, I peek out of the bathroom to see that she's still asleep, and I turn off her lamp and crawl into bed, closing my eyes for a moment. 

I feel her move closer to me before her lips are pressing to my cheek, hands running over my chest gently before she lays down, throws her leg over my stomach, and rests her cheek on my chest. 

"Are you still mad at me?" She questions softly, and I let out a breath.

"I'm mad at myself, Viv." I mumble. 

"Oh." She replies quietly. "I would get on birth control but it wouldn't react well with my Nardil."

"You mean the Nardil you aren't taking anyway?" 

She's silent. 

"Honestly at a point where I don't even want to have sex anymore because you're gonna end up getting pregnant." I add, gruffly. 

"Oh, come on, Nikki." She scoffs, not believing me. 

"I'm serious, Vivian. I'm tired of being a fucking baby mill." 

"Oh you're the baby mill? You just get your rocks off and I'm the one carrying the thing for nine months but you're the victim here?" 

She sits up and glares at me. 

"Yes! I am!" I argue. "You have this weird thing with cum that I've always thought was hot but now I'm starting to realize you're just trying to boulder me down." 

"Nikki, you've made it very clear that marriage and babies aren't bouldering you down. You still go out and party and do your drugs and your day drinking--you were just gone for over a day...so I don't want to hear, 'you're bouldering me down,' because I'm not. If you wanna leave, then leave." She snaps.

I roll my eyes and she goes back to her side of the bed and turns away from me, before she snatches all the covers away from me. 

I'm too tired for it so I just pass out. 

1987 

"Nikki!" Doc is banging away at my door, making me snarl to myself before capping my needle and hiding it under my pillow. 

"What?!" I bark out, going to the door. 

I swing it open, naked, aside from stained underwear, to see Vivian and my whole litter of kids.

"S-Surpise!" Viv tries to keep her tone light and cheery for the five kids around her, our brand new girls in her arms.  

I don't know how to react except to shut the door in their faces and angrily get my shit together. 

I'm out of the shower and dressed in the next hour, taking the smallest hit from the needle I hid, just as a maintenance dose, before I'm heading to Doc's room--where I'm assuming he took them when they realized I wasn't coming back out. 

I knock on the door and Viv opens it, looking up at me. 

"Suprise!" I mimic how she greeted me earlier, and she scowls at me and goes to slam the door in my face, but I'm stopping it with my hand and shoving it open. 

"Daddy!" Frannie, Johnny, and Pierce come running to me and I'm getting down and letting them attack me, wrapping my arms around them. Pierce is nearly two, now, and he's nearly as tall as Frannie. 

Dannie is walking cautiously to me, smiling at me and I meet him halfway and pick him up, kissing his cheek as I go over to the little babies Doc's supervising, one a replica of me, the other of Viv…

I lean down and kiss both of them, making them smile and kick their feet, excitedly. 

I wasn't there with them when they were born. 

I go over to Vivian, who's got her arms crossed, her jaw clenched.  

"Does Daddy get a kiss from Mommy, too?" I ask. 

"Daddy doesn't have to fuss at mommy for having more babies anytime soon because daddy isn't gonna get to be in the same bed as mommy for a long time." She replies. 

"Mommy seems to forget that the last three babies weren't even made in a bed." I reply. 

"Do you guys wanna few minutes alone? I can get Fred, Emi and Donna down here to help me." Doc offers and I look at him. 

"That's out of character and nice of you." I state suspiciously. 

"Despite you being an asshole, your kids aren't." He shrugs and I roll my eyes. 

I kiss all of them bye for a couple hours, and put Dannie down before tugging at Viv's hand once Fred and the girls get here...I see Donna and feel guilty…one of the chicks I cheated on my wife with is taking care of our kids…

When we get to a new room--mines so out of wack I don't want Viv to pass out--we do what we do best and in the aftermath, small talk in between breaks of making out, Vivian drops the ball. 

"I know you've been seeing her." She tells me out of nowhere when my lips press to her neck, quietly. 

My body tenses up. 

"What?" I sit up and she does, too. 

"There's no need to be shocked that I found out--we both know you wanted me to find out. Why the hell else would you leave letters you two write back and forth with each other, out in our closet where you know I'd find them?"

I just look at her. 

"You and Tansy, Nikki." She states, tears in her eyes. "Why the hell have you done this to me, Nikki? She's my best friend?" 

Is she serious? 

I get out of bed and pull my pants on, ignoring her. 

"I'm not shocked, you know, I always knew you'd be a deadbeat husband and a deadbeat dad, just like your father." 

I start clapping slowly, really appreciating her performance.

"Bravo, Vivian, really, you should get a fucking award for those tears." I state, fed up. "It's gotta be theatrics because what sense would it make for you to be genuinely upset I've been hooking up with Tansy, when you and Robbin have been seeing each other for two fucking years, now?!" 

Her eyes widen, she looks like a deer in headlights...which just confirms it all the more to me. 

"How fucked up do you have to be to cheat on your husband with his fucking brother, while pregnant with his fucking kid?" I ask and she takes heavy breaths, obviously trying to get her temper under control. "Not to mention that I'm starting to question if Dannie is even mine being as he looks nothing like me." 

She's slapping the piss out of me, tears streaming down her face. 

I rub at the stinging hot skin of my cheek and roll my jaw, staring at her a few seconds, before shoving her back to the bed, grabbing her shoulders, getting in her face while shouting, "you stupid fucking bitch, I fucking hate, you ruined my fucking life!" 

She's sobbing now, her head turned, mascara staining her cheeks as I push myself off of her and trudge to the door. 

"Cheating on me for two goddamn years, you fucking whore, who the hell do you think you are?! I can have kids with anybody, I can have anybody I want, but I fucking chose you and this is how you repay me?! Fuck you! There's a million fucking yous out there!" I throw a bottle at her and it misses by a couple inches and she sits up, trying to stand up as I open the door. 

"I'm getting my fucking kids away from you, you fucking crazy cunt!" I call and she's rushing out, wearing my t-shirt to cover herself up, grabbing my hand and yanking me to a halt before I can start to Doc's room. 

"You're not touching my kids, Nikki, I swear to God I'll fucking kill you, don't touch my fucking kids! You're fucking stoned!" She threatens me and I turn. 

"Oh, you'll kill me?!" I bow up at her and she punches me, her ring cutting my cheek, before she's hitting me again. 

She goes for a third time but I block her and shove her down, kicking her as hard as I can in the ribs, knocking the breath out of her. 

"Don't fucking touch me, you fucking slut." I smear the blood from my cheek, banging on Doc's door as she crawls a few feet before managing to pull herself up, resting against the wall, coming towards me. 

The door opens and I see Emi with Pierce in her arms. 

I don't say a word to her, I just grab him and smile at him, bouncing him a little, as I say, "Frannie, John, c'mon!" 

Of course they come, not realizing what's happening. 

Until Vivian's trying to pry Pierce from my hands. 

"Let go of my baby!" She screams at me, trying to bat me away from him while he starts whining. 

She hits me with her closed fist in my ear and I lose it, punching her so hard she hits the ground, Frannie and John immediately start crying upon seeing their mother bloody and dismayed.

The door opens more to reveal Doc as Emi looks at me, horrified, pulling John and Frannie back inside before Doc's snatching Pierce from me. 

"What the hell is going on?!" Doc shouts as guests peek their heads out of their doors. 

It's as if my demons give me the reins back and split, leaving me to look down at my beat up wife, crying, hearing my traumatized kids crying out behind the door. 

I just stumble back, my back hitting the wall before I'm sliding down it to the floor, staring off as Doc continues to yell at me...

...I blink, being pulled back to reality, staring down at the floor of Amber's office.

I'm not sure if we had kids by then, if Viv would have stayed or left. I'm not sure why I imagined I would've been with Tansy and not Vanity, why she would have had an affair with Robbin and not Duff...maybe I knew, subconsciously, that us having children at that time would have changed the way everything happened between us.

"I guess it was for the best." I reply to her, finally, looking at her. 

"Everything happens for a reason." She assures me. "There is a reason she didn't have any babies in the past four years." 

"Okay, wise one, is there any reason she isn't here today?" 

VIVIAN

"...Mom, and my brother Jon, my sister Carol, my brother Mark, my brother Bruce, my sister Joan, my other sister Claudia, and that's Matt--you know Matt," he glances at me and I nod, looking at the picture of the family, "And then there's me." He points to a toddler and I grin, looking at him. "My dad didn't wanna be in the picture, which I'm glad he wasn't because I would've cut him out if it, anyway when he left, so…" he shrugs, looking at it another moment. "Alright, let me show you to your room." He wiggles his brows and I giggle as he picks up my suitcase and leads me back down a hallway. 

"This is Joan's old room, obviously been redecorated because it's not covered in ABBA and Cher ." He mumbles. 

"I heard that!" Joan says from the living room. 

"No ya didn't!" He replies, smiling at me, putting my suitcase on the bed. "Everybody's coming over for dinner tonight so you have time to take a nap, get comfortable, whatever." He shrugs and I nod. 

"Okay." I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. 

"I'm gonna go help my mom and Joan start cooking." He adds. 

"I can hel--"

"--You didn't sleep at all on the way up here, Viv."

"Because I wasn't tired." I lie and he looks at me. 

"Take a nap." He tells me, moving the suitcase off of my bed. 

"Fine." I roll my eyes. 

"Love you." He leaves me, shutting the door and I get on the bed, getting comfortable, and wondering what Nikki's doing right now...he's probably shitting a brick. 

After an hour, the door is opening and Duff's squeezing my fuzzy sock covered feet, making me laughs and yank my legs away from him. 

I haven't slept, but I've rested enough that I don't feel as sluggish. 

"You stink." I wrinkle my nose when he lays beside me. 

"Onions." He replies. "Joan kicked me out for chasing her around with the raw chicken." He adds. 

"And now raw chicken juice is on my feet?" I ask. 

"No, I washed my hands." He assures me. 

"Okay." I chuckle, rubbing my lips together. 

"Who all's coming to dinner?" I ask, next. "Jon, Bruce, Claudia, and my buddy Andy." He informs me. "Matt's coming up to go out for breakfast with me, you, Andy, and Joan tomorrow morning, and later this week we're gonna have a barbecue and you'll get to meet everybody, including my nieces and nephews." He adds and I raise my brows. 

"That's a lot of people." I reply, raising my brows.

"Very big family." He agrees. 

"It's weird." I say next and he furrows his brows. "Not like that, just...I don't know I'm used to being the only child, no cousins, no aunts or uncles--well, aside from aunt Lily--Nikki's not real close to his family, so we just...we're not really big on family." I shrug. "Well, dad is, he's always wanted more kids and a big family, I think, but my mom didn't so he didn't press her about it since she was ultimately the one who'd be carrying them." I add. 

"Do you want anymore kids?" He asks me and I let out a breath. 

"I'm not sure…" I trail off. "...I'd like to, but I don't know. I haven't thought about it, much." I lie and he nods. 

"Do you want anymore kids?" I ask him. 

"I do at some point, I don't think Mandy wants to, though. She says being a step-mom at the age of twenty-five is enough." He tells me. 

"Maybe she'll change her mind." I say. 

"She didn't want any kids when we first dated, so I think the only reason she's even making leeway for a stepchild is because she loves me." 

"It says a lot about her if she's willing to do that, though. A lot of women would've left." 

"Yeah, she's cooler about it than I thought she'd be." He agrees. "What did Nikki do when you first told him?" 

"He cried." I admit. "Like, a lot." 

"That's understandable." He says lowly. 

"Yeah, it is." I nod. "He's okay with it, now, though. He's not mad at either of us. I think he's more upset with himself about the whole thing." 

It's quiet for a few minutes before I get up enough courage to ask him, "are you happy?" 

"What do you mean?"

"Like...you know...our break up, and then you and Mandy are engaged now and I'm pregnant…"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, no, I'm great, Viv." He assures me, sounding genuine. "I don't know, things are a mess and crazy right now but I feel like it's falling into place at the same time, you know?"

I nod, smiling softly…

…I bought it for that moment.

I realized he was lying to himself the next morning at breakfast when he told the waitress to bring him a screwdriver--a triple--and, "just keep 'em coming."

[anobscurename]

ocean eyes – chris evans

previous part: PART XIII — masterlist

concept: a celebratory trip to the hamptons results in an altercation the first night you're there. the slowest of slow burns. part fourteen of many.

pairing: chris evans x reader // chris evans x respect women juice

word count: 2,8k

warnings: tw:sexual harrassment (drunken creeps are creepy), homophobic slurs (they're also assholes), angst

author's note: this one goes out to @fangirlovestuff as promised :) the next part will be coming shortly! we on some double upload weirdness, to make up for my disappearance basically the whole of yesterday

"Um, no... Really, I couldn't."

Lily pouted. Even when she pouted, she was beautiful. "Why not?"

"I don't want to intrude, really, you guys go and have fun. It's the Hamptons after all."

"But everyone's coming! Please?"

"I don't know..."

"For Chris? Would you do it for Chris?"

You cast a tentative glance to the man in question, currently in the midst of a tug-of-war with Dodger, barely paying your conversation any attention. If only they knew you'd do anything for Chris. "He is the worst bargaining chip you could've ever even thought of using."

"How about for me?" She jokingly batted her long, long lashes, an enchanting smile gracing her lips. "I won't take no for an answer, and Sebastian will be there."

"Sebastian?" You rolled your eyes at the suggestive arch of her brows. They were under the impression you and Sebastian were involved, somehow. You picked subconsciously at the scars on the palm of your hand, entirely healed and almost faded into nothing now.

"It would mean so much to us. You're such a big part of Chris' life, one of his best friends, and–"

"Alright!" You snapped. Quickly masking your irritation with a laugh, you repeated yourself, softer this time. "Alright, I'll come."

She clapped happily, giving no indication of having been taken aback or even mildly offended at you having practically yelled at her. Guilt pitted yourself in your stomach. You wanted to dislike her, but not only was she exceptionally beautiful, she was also incredibly nice. Beyond nice. Serial killers weren't even that nice. And it wasn't her fault that she was basically Jesus trapped in the body of a supermodel, and it wasn't her fault for Chris loving her – because honestly, it wasn't hard loving her – it was just that it was so fucking difficult at times when people kept calling you his friend. Chris' friend.

It would be so much easier to hate someone deserving of it, but you just couldn't. Because both of them were so beautiful and... nice.

Perfectly matched in every way you and Chris were not.

So you decided to go to the Hamptons beach house because why not?

What's the worse that could happen?

———————

This was the worse that could happen.

You had arrived at beach house Anthony had rented a little later that day, when the sun was making it's slow decent to kiss the horizon.

And the frenzy to all get ready to go out was nothing short of chaotic.

You were tired from the plane, and irritated from having been sat – with little to no form of escape – in the same row as Chris and Lily. It wasn't necessarily a long flight, but a second felt like hours when you put yourself through that kind of agony.

But you'd made up your mind after the gala to get over this little crush on Chris. Nothing good was going to come of it, and you tried to spare yourself further heartache and broken glass.

Easier said than done.

Anthony and Sebastian did not mirror your mood. On the contrary, they were still riding the high of finally wrapping the filming on Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and this was their celebration weekend. And they were going all out for it.

The house was lavish, no expense spared. And when you'd arrived, Anthony had opened his suitcase right in the kitchen, and began stocking the fridge with the champagne he'd packed in there, cushioned by his clothes.

You had briefly wondered why he had brought such a large suitcase for such a short trip, but as you watched the fifth bottle disappear into the icebox, your questions were answered.

"Why the long face?"

Anthony didn't even have to look at you to know you were standing there, bags having been dropped off in your room before joining him.

"Do I really have to come out tonight?" You whined. You hated how bratty you sounded, but you would much rather stay in the house alone for the night than go out with Chrily. You knew Sebastian and Anthony would be there too – Scarlett was also supposed to come, but she had other duties to attend to, being a mother – but you knew no matter how great they were at making you feel better, you would spend most of the night moody and brooding. And you didn't want to ruin their night with your personal issues.

You were being selfless for selfish reasons.

"Is that even a question?" Anthony was mid-stock with the final bottle of champagne when he looked at you. The inside of the fridge looked like a Moët & Chandon ad, with Anthony Mackie as the ambassador. "You're coming out if it kills me."

"But why?" You groaned.

"Because everything is more fun with you there, and besides... It wouldn't feel like a celebration without our best girl."

"Fine. I'll come," you rolled your eyes, turning to head out. "Need to shower first."

And then you heard the champagne bottle shake, the cork popping and suddenly, you were drenched in a spray of Moët. Over the sound of frothing bubbles, Anthony called out to you. "No need!"

And that was why – despite scrubbing your skin almost raw and lathering your hair to the point of chemical burn – you sat there, on the barstool, smelling faintly like expensive alcohol.

"I hate you," you muttered under your breath to Anthony as you and him had taken it upon yourselves to get the next round of drinks for the table.

He chuckled, struggling to grab a bartender's attention. "No, you don't."

"You're right, I don't. I'll always love you. But that doesn't mean I have to like you right now."

"Love me, huh?" Anthony arched a brow. "Now, was that so hard to say?"

"What?"

"It's not me you should be saying that to. You know that."

You knew what he meant, and a heavy sigh vacated your lungs. "You know it's not the same. You're family. With him... It's different."

"I think this is the first time you've ever admitted it out loud."

And it dawned on you that he was right. You had never let yourself properly admit it, even inwardly. The words had maybe flowed from the tip of your pen onto the pale pages of your journal – the only catharsis you found lately – but you never read those entries back, abandoning them to be lost in a sea of random thoughts, forgotten.

It didn't give you a sense of relief, saying the words. Not even slightly. If anything, they filled you up with dread.

"Don't," you rolled your eyes. "I'm over it. Or at least I'm getting there."

"Hey," he shrugged in placation. "Relax. It's not my confession to make."

Being an ex-cocktail waitress had its perks as you made your way back to the table, slipping easily past people with the tray of shots you had retrieved. You were speedy and efficient, even in your heels.

Anthony, on the other hand...

Beer bottles slotted between each finger, he was having much more difficulty getting by. And once you'd set the shots down at the table, not a drop spilled, Anthony's shirt was spattered with beer, hands slick with it.

As you plopped into the seat beside Sebastian, making him shift over in the booth to make more room for Anthony, he gave you a strained smile.

"I don't know how the fuck you put up with them," Seb whispered to you. "They're so lovey-dovey, it's unbearable."

"Just grin and bear it," you whispered back.

"What are you two giggling about over there?" Chris grinned from across the booth. It wasn't a very convincing grin, but you didn't dwell on it. No more allowing Christopher Robert Evans to occupy your mind.

"Just how Mackie would make a terrible waiter," you shrugged, sending the man in question a quick cheeky smirk.

"Oh, haha, very funny," he flicked some beer at you from his soaked fingertips. "I'd make a fabulous waitress and you know that."

You shied away from the alcohol droplets, laughing. "No! Not again!"

Chris took in his appearance. "Jesus, Ant. Is there even any beer left for us? Or are you wearing it all?"

"Wow, you're all hilarious," he rolled his eyes, finally dropping into the booth. "I didn't know I was out with a bunch of comedians tonight. Did I walk onto a sitcom set? Is this a sketch? Whose turn is it next? Seb? Lily?"

You all took turns making jokes and taking jibes at Anthony's lacklustre bottle service, which was only put to rest once the Falcon actor huffed and proclaimed that "you could all go get your own damned drinks."

As the night wore on, you found yourself gravitating towards the dancefloor. Honestly, you just couldn't be in the booth anymore. You knew getting over him was going to be a slow process, but some part of you had hoped that it would be an immediate and simple thing: just falling out of your pathetic little crush.

But it really wasn't, and so you were on the dancefloor. Regrettably alone. Chris and Lily were still in the booth, and the other couple – Anthony and Seb – were absolutely enthralled by a vintage pinball machine lurking in the back of the bar.

Every now and then, you would hear one whoop for joy as they beat the other's high score, only for the competitive nature of their activity to take over for another redemption round.

As you lost yourself in the music, it wasn't long before you attracted the attention of a drunken creep. You didn't use that term lightly, but this one was truly deserving.

You had felt eyes on you, and immediately found who they belonged to. Just to be polite, you had smiled at him, before continuing your dancing.

And then, taking it as an invitation, he sidled up to you, and clammy hands slithered over your waist, pulling your back to him with a strong, commanding grip. Your stomach lurched, uncomfortable with the fast rising intensity of the situation.

"You look so fuckin' good tonight, baby," he slurred into your ear, swaying on his feet. Alcohol was thick on his breath, and it filled your head with nausea. "Just wanna take you home and fuck you better than anyone ever has..."

You turned around to tell him to fuck off, and that was when that strong slithering grip was in your hair, tugging you to slimy liquored lips in a teeth clashing kiss. Your stomach roiled at the taste, and while he was distracted, you shoved him away from you with as much strength as he could muster.

He stumbled back a few steps, but he had returned to his senses long enough to right himself and soon he was stalking towards you again.

You knew his type. If his clothes and accessories were any indication, he was an arrogant rich kid – the tan telling you he was a Hamptons regular. He was your age, and every bit as entitled as his wealth would suggest.

"Get away from me." It wasn't a request, it was a command.

And he didn't like it. His hand wrapped around your wrist, tugging you to him. You struggled against him, desperately clawing for your freedom. Panic was slowly rising.

"You little bitch," he spat.

"Is there a problem here?"

It was Chris. He had seen the unravelling altercation from the booth, and had promptly come to your aid.

You wondered how long he'd been there for, what he'd overheard. His next words gave you your answer.

"I think the lady said to leave her alone."

The guy didn't even look at him, instead keeping his slabbering gaze on you. "Stay out of this."

Chris wasn't having it. Having eyed up the situation – that whiteknuckled grip on you – Chris clapped a strong – if not a little threatening – hand on the stranger's shoulder. He ripped the guy off of you, and with his other hand, he pulled you behind him protectively.

Your relief, however, was shortlived at the bite of Chris' next suggestion. "Look, buddy, maybe you should take a hint."

"Don't touch me, faggot," he slapped Chris' arm away. "I took the hint. She looked at me, she smiled at me. Look at what she's wearing! She's practically begging to be fucked."

That was the last straw for Chris.

Not only had he made the unforgivable transgression of groping you – and not just you, specifically, but any woman – but this man had crossed the line with the homophobic slur. To do that in front of Chris, being who he was, was tantamount to a death sentence.

And you could feel it as he seethed, fury boiling in his blood.

"You're lookin' at me, now. I'm smilin'." And he was, but it wasn't one you'd ever seen before. It was tight, and it was malicious. "Oh, look at what you're wearin'. Gets me a bit hard, if I'm being honest. Do you like that? Do you like me telling you how hard I'm gonna fuck you with this big cock? No? Then keep your fuckin' hands to yourself and well away from her before I break them."

You knew Chris well enough to know the threat was empty. He was a pacifist – regularly attending lessons in Buddhist teachings when he could. But the other guy didn't know that, and the throb of the muscle in the grit of Chris' jaw was very convincing. So convincing, in fact, you were even a little scared of him in that moment.

The guy tilted his head to address you, trying to make himself seem bigger. "Who even is this joker, your boyfriend?"

"Don't speak to her," Chris snarled. "You're speaking to me now. And as a matter of fact, I am. So fuck off."

What the guy did next shouldn't have been surprising. He was clearly not thinking straight. And if he hadn't done it, Chris effectively calling you his girlfriend might've had more of an impact.

But he took a swing at Chris – and although Chris never started fights, he sure as fuck ended them.

Easily blocking the attack, and in three quick movements, Chris had the other guy's arms locked behind his back. You knew, if he wanted, Chris could pop both of this guy's arms out of their sockets. And if Chris was anyone else, he might have. He was angry enough to do it.

"Let it go," came his scathing whisper.

Of course the other guy struggled. He struggled and yelled out curses, slurs, anything his alcohol addled mind could come up with.

It was enough to draw the attention of the owner of the establishment.

"Oi," she yelled. A severe no-shit type woman had come out of the back room to brace her arms against the bar, fixing you all with a withering look. "The three of you. Out."

The commotion had also been enough to draw the attention of the others, and you were on your way out – still protectively clutched to Chris' side by his musclebound arm – when they'd made it to you.

"What happened?" Seb panted.

"Just some asshole picking a fight," Chris explained, rage still colouring his voice. "Could you guys do me a favour?"

"Sure, man," Anthony said. "Whatever you need."

"I'm going to take {your name} back. Could you tell Lily when she gets out of the bathroom that we got kicked out and I'll be waiting for her at home?"

"If you just wait for her, we can all go home together," Seb suggested, already backing up a little to get his jacket from the booth.

Chris shook his head. "I need time to cool off. I don't want her seeing me like this."

"I'm really sorry for ruining your night, guys," you said, your voice small.

They were quick to assure you you hadn't. It didn't lessen the guilt, though.

"You guys enjoy," Chris said as you both hovered by the door. "We'll make up for tonight at the beach tomorrow."

———————

"I can fight my own battles."

It was the first words either of you had spoken since you'd gotten back to the house. The drive was done in deafening silence, and you felt compelled to finally break it.

"I know you can," Chris sighed. He hadn't been expecting a thanks, but he'd at least been expecting something more than that admonishment. "Better than anyone. But you shouldn't have to."

"I had it handled."

"My point is, you shouldn't have to handle this shit. No one should."

He had come with you all the way to your bedroom door, and you both stood, divided by the frame.

His brow was furrowed, thinking. And then: "Are you angry with me?"

"No," you smiled sadly.

The double meaning laced with your next words would serve to haunt both of you the remainder of the night.

"I just want you to know that you don't have to fight for me. I'm fine on my own."

[sillyrabbit81]

Her Heavy Cross

Summary: Three years after tragedy hits, Lana she decides to start dating again. She meets Will through a dating app and they begin an online romance. After months of constant requests, Lana relents and agrees to meet and go on an irl date with Will. But is Will who he says he is? Lana is quickly pulled into an intense relationship forcing her to confront her tragic past. Will Lana face it or will she close her heart forever?

Pairing: OMC x OFC

Word Count: approx 3.7k

Warnings: swearing, smut

Authors Note: The story started as a Henry Cavill fanfiction but I changed it to be an original character, but shades of Henry are still there. Hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading.

Part 3 Part 5

Part 4

The lift ride was short, but long enough for me to get nervous. I think Liam sensed my mood and pulled me into a hug. His embrace was warm and gentle, so different from the way he held me a few moments ago.

I was surprised at how comforting his embrace was. It was the kind of hug that made the world slip away. He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head, and I sighed into his chest. I breathed deeply, and beneath his sharp, spicy cologne, I could smell him, his faint masculine scent, herbaceous and green.

The doors opened, and he led me to across a hallway into his room.

He turned the lights on briefly and then dimmed them. Liam shadowed me while I looked around. His room had dark grey carpeted floors and white walls. A king-sized bed with black bedsides and a large black leather winged back chair were the only furniture. Like the one downstairs, a sizeable abstract canvas hung over the bed.

Two doors led off his room, one was an en-suite, and the other looked like a walk-in robe and dressing room. I noticed some clothes thrown on a small sofa in the dressing room and a few pairs of shoes on the floor, the only things I had seen out of place in the house. I smiled, finally an indication Liam was indeed human.

"Sit," he said, pointing to the bed, somehow making it sound like both a request and command. His tone ripped right through me, and it almost shamed me at how quickly I obeyed.

I sat, and Liam knelt at my feet. He lifted one of my feet onto his lap and undid the strap of my heeled sandal, and removed it. He placed my barefoot back on the carpet and repeated the process on the other foot.

Liam gripped my ankles in his large hands and ran his fingers up my legs, sitting up as he went. His eyes were level with mine, and he smiled at me. I could not speak or move. My whole body was tingling with his touch, excited by the anticipation of what sensations he would give me next.

His hands reached my knees, and he gently pushed them apart and brought his body close to mine. Clasping my face, he brought it to his, kissing me with a tenderness that surprised me. His hands were under my skirt, moving up the outside of my thighs. His deliberate caress was driving me wild. I wanted to scream, don't be gentle, be rough, take me, make me yours.

My arms wrapped around his chest, pulling him closer to me. My kisses became more fervent, urging him on. His hands were on my hips now, his thumbs against my hip bones.

The heat in my centre was burning, and I arched my back, desperately wanting friction to ease the ache I felt. He must have felt my hips rocking, it wasn't subtle, but he pulled back and stood up. I couldn't help myself, and I looked straight at his pants. I could see the outline of his erection straining against the fabric. I licked my lips and quickly looked away, embarrassed at my blatant display of desire. I don't think he noticed.

"I meant what I said before, Sweetheart. I won't fuck you until you ask." He must have noticed. Fuck. "I want you, but I won't take from you what you are unwilling to give."

Liam seemed to be waiting for some sort of reply, so I nodded, indicating I understood. My eyes drifted back to his pants. Maybe I should ask now? Liam continued, "Have I been too rough with you?"

I swallowed hard and licked my lips. "I..." the words caught in my throat. I tried again, "I liked all of it."

"Good. Stand up." I did. Liam seemed to tower over me now my shoes were off. He took a few steps back.

"Watch me," Liam instructed. He caught my eyes and looked at me intensely as he removed his watch and placed it on his bedside table. Then he reached around to his back pocket and first removed his wallet, then his phone and put them beside his watch. His movements were so smooth and subtle, yet so meticulous. I was enthralled. How could watching a man do such an innocuous task make my core throb?

Liam pulled his jumper's sleeves down and, making eye contact, slowly reached over his shoulder, pulling his jumper off over his head. The action mussed his hair, and a few curls came free and sat on his forehead. I gasped as he held himself still a moment, and I was able to see his naked shoulders and chest. His dark chest hair covered his pec's, and I could see where his hair started to grow down to his abdomen and lower. I licked my lips.

Liam was smirking now. I realised he knew exactly what he was doing to me. Liam knew how attractive he was and knew how to take advantage of that, but I didn't care. Yes, he was showing off for me, tempting me, but fuck, it was worth it.

He pulled his jumper off his arms and tossed it over his shoulder into his dressing room. He cocked his head to the side and curled his finger at me. "Come here."

I jumped and went to him, cursing myself for being so quick. There was no need to let him know how hot his little show was making me. Although who was I kidding? I'm sure it was written all over my face.

I tentatively raised my hand to his chest and stopped centimetres short. I looked up at him, asking the silent question. He nodded, and I let my fingertips touch his chest, his hair curling around them as I slowly caressed him. I felt his groan beneath my fingers and watched as his chest expanded and contracted. Each time he breathed, the time between each breath got shorter and shorter until he was almost panting.

I let my fingers trail down his abdomen, riding over each curve of his muscle. Liam whispered a curse as my fingers reached his belt, and I slipped my fingers beneath his waistband for a moment before pulling them out again. "You're teasing me," Liam growled.

"Do you like it?" I asked coyly. Liam nodded, and I took a step back from him. "Do you want to watch me?" I asked, surprised at my boldness. Maybe the alcohol was still affecting me, or perhaps I was just so turned on at that moment that I didn't care. Liam looked almost like an animal, his chest heaving, nose flaring with each breath. His hands at his side clenched, and he looked ready to pounce. He nodded.

I took a few steps back to give him a good view. I pulled my shirt slowly out of my skirt, occasionally pulling high enough for him to get a glimpse of my stomach. Then I crossed my arms and gripped my shirt, pushing my breasts together. I wasn't some inexperienced teenager. I was a woman who knew her body too. I could play his game as well as he could.

Liam took a step towards me. I turned around and peeked at him from over my shoulder. I bit my lip and slowly lifted my arms, pulling my top up with it. I held it to my chest, covering myself before turning around again. Liam had taken another step closer while I was turned, and I could have reached out to touch him. I played demure, looked down and took a step back. I chewed my lip and took another step back, feeling the bed on the back of my legs. I slowly let my shirt fall to the floor.

Liam made a noise in his throat, a half chuckle, a half shout of triumph and crossed the space between us in one step. He scooped me up under the arms and threw me on the bed. I shrieked and giggled at his display, and then he was on me. My laughter died in my throat.

It seemed his hands and lips were everywhere, but at least one arm was wrapped around my waist, forcing me to arch my back, and my breasts strained against my bra. I felt his breath through the lace of my bra. He kissed and nibbled at my nipple through the fabric. I could feel them turn into tiny buds beneath the material as he traced them with his tongue. He was driving me wild.

I felt his legs push mine apart, and I could feel his hardness against my core. I moved against him, feeling my underwear's lace rub against me. Liam was moving against me too, grinding against me as if he were fucking me. I was moaning out loud now I couldn't help it. I wrapped my legs around his and gripped his arse with my hand urging him on.

Soon Liam's kisses slowed and became more tender. He pulled away, breathing hard like he was composing himself, forcing himself to stop before he went too far.

He slipped from my grasp as he kissed down my tummy to my waist, where my skirt stopped him. "Take this off?" This time he sounded like he was asking. I didn't say anything but reached to my side and undid the zip.

Liam pulled down my skirt and continued his kisses lower until he reached my underwear. He looked up at me. My god, I wanted it. He wanted it. But he was as good as his word, and he stopped. I let out a sigh of relief. I think if he had tried anything, I would have caved, but would I have regretted it? Would I trust him again? I didn't know.

He got off me and laid next to me, propping his head upon his hand. Liam caressed my body, running a hand down my chest, over my hips, along the outside of my thighs and back up. Whether it was Liam or the wine, his touch soothed me until I closed my eyes and I started to drift off to sleep.

A bright light woke me, and I sat up alone on the bed with half the covers pulled up, cocooning me. The light was coming from the dressing room, and Liam was sitting on the sofa pulling off his pants.

Liam didn't seem to be aware I had woken up. He probably didn't know how bright the light was. He put his pants on the lounge and stood up, pulling his trunks down. I hid my face, but not before I caught a glimpse of his sex, still half erect. Fucking hell! It was big. Not, 'oh my god, he's going to tear me apart' big, but big enough it would 'take a moment to get used to' big.

I slowly pulled the cover down to see better. Liam was facing away from me, and his gorgeous back and arse were on display. His body was so taut, and it seemed like his muscles rippled like waves beneath his skin as he moved.

He went to a draw and pulled out another pair of underwear. He reached into another draw where he got out a t-shirt. He put the trunks on and turned around, bringing the T-shirt with him as he made his way back to the bedroom. His hand went to turn the light off, but his eyes caught mine. I pulled the cover over my head, suddenly embarrassed.

"Too late, Sweetheart. I caught you." I groaned and pulled the blanket off my head, peeking out shyly. Liam was smiling and handed me his t-shirt. "Here, I thought you like to take your bra off before sleeping?"

"Thank you," I said, taking the shirt. I looked around, embarrassed again, thinking how I would do this without flashing Liam or looking like a 14-year-old in a change room. "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Of course." Liam pointed behind me to his en-suite. I got up, and Liam put his hand out to help me off the bed. He took the opportunity to pull me into a hug kissing me on the forehead. I hugged him back before making my way to the bathroom.

Liam chuckled as I walked away. "You have no idea how badly I want to smack your bum right now."

Momentarily shocked, I stopped dead. Then, gaging the distance between Liam and me and the distance to the bathroom, I thought, fuck it. I wriggled my bum at him, and he reacted just as I had hoped, growling and running towards me. I had less space to cover, and giggling, I ran into the bathroom, slamming the door just before he reached me. I heard him laughing on the other side of the door.

"You're a brat." I heard him say through the door.

"You love it," I shouted back.

"Hmm, you're lucky I gave you my word, or you'd be in trouble right now. Hurry up in there. I want to hold you again."

The admission made me shiver. I hurriedly went to the toilet and put the t-shirt on. It was far too big and covered me to mid-thigh. When I came out, Liam had put my clothes on the chair in the corner of the room, and I popped my bra on top. Liam was in bed under the covers, and when I came over, he pulled them back and patted the bed beside him.

I got in. Liam covered me and grabbed me to spoon me. He made a noise of contentment as he snuggled into me, one arm cradling my neck, the other curling around my body, cupping my breast over his shirt. He breathed deeply into my hair. "You smell so good." I wiggled in closer and felt his erection twitch against my bottom.

"Are you warm enough?" He asked. Was he just going to ignore the fact that he was poking me? Fine, two can play at that game.

"Yes, you're very hot." I stretched and wriggled some more against him and turned my head slightly to look at him while licking my lips.

Liam took my chin in his hand. "Be careful, Sweetheart. I'm only just controlling my urges here."

I did like teasing him, but it wasn't fair. I had said no to any more than this. Not that if I did tease him more he would have an excuse to do something I didn't want. But I wouldn't do that to him. Well, not on our first date anyway. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I just want you to know the effect you have on me. I very much like it."

I had no response to this. So I gave Liam a quick kiss and snuggled back into his arms.

"Goodnight, Sweetheart."

"Night." I drifted off to sleep listening to Liam's steady breathing.

When I woke up, it was barely dawn, and I was alone in bed. Outside, kookaburras were singing, and faint orange light peeked through gaps in the curtains.

I stretched in bed, feeling not too bad considering the amount I had to drink last night. My bladder called, so I went to the bathroom. When I came out, I pulled the covers up in a half-hearted attempt to make the bed. I considered getting dressed, but I liked being in Liam's shirt.

I went into the hall and listened to see if I could tell where Liam was. I didn't want to creep around someone's house without them, but it was awkward to sit in bed waiting.

I took a chance and went down one flight of stairs. The first floor seemed quiet, mostly closed doors, but I did hear music faintly and some clanging. I went down again, and a door that was closed off the dining room last night was open and what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks.

Liam stood in shorts and a singlet lifting weights. He had dumbbells in each hand, and he was extending his arms straight out, breathing roughly with the exertion. His singlet was wet with sweat, and his hair was clinging to his forehead. I blushed and went to move away. Cole blew my cover. He came over to me, nudging my legs and Liam's gaze followed.

"Lana," he breathed. "Good morning. I thought I would be done by the time you woke up." He came over to me, and I couldn't breathe. How did he look even sexier this morning than he did last night? A bead of sweat ran down his neck and disappeared in his chest hair. I wanted to tear my clothes off.

Calming myself, I reached up to his sweaty face and kissed him instead. "No worries. How much longer do you have?"

"Twenty minutes or so."

"Would you like me to make you a coffee for when you finish? I think I remember where everything is."

Liam agreed and said I could help myself with anything else in the kitchen if I were hungry. "There's not a lot, though," he warned. I went off to the kitchen to make coffee, Cole following behind me.

Cole watched as I put the ground coffee through the machine and then had a look in the fridge for milk. I noticed Liam had ready-made meals, mostly labelled for breakfast and lunch for the next few days. There were some lonely Granny Smith apples in the crisper, so I munched on one of those until the coffee was ready.

"C'mon Cole," I said and went back into Liam's gym. I sat on the floor with my back against a wall while Liam was on a treadmill cooling down. Franz Ferdinand was playing in the background.  I bopped along, half-singing to Cole while I sipped my coffee. A song later, Liam came and sat next to me, thanked me for the coffee, and all three of us sat in comfortable silence.

"What's your plans for today?" Liam asked as we finished our drinks.

"Well, I've got to get home to Perrin and give him a feed, but not much else after that. You?"

"Not much either. I've done my work for today." Liam said, indicating to his equipment. "What about tomorrow?"

"No plans," I admitted, kind of feeling like I should have made something up so I didn't appear as boring as I was. "You?"

"Nothing either, except another workout."

"Do you have to do it in the morning?"

"It's preferable, but no."

"When do you start filming?"

"Two weeks. Things will get very hectic then. It'll be long days for a while. Twelve or fourteen hours. Sometimes more."

"That must be difficult."

"It is, but I enjoy it, especially working on a show like this where I have stunts and sword fights and things to do other than just standing around and saying lines."

"And looking pretty," I added.

He laughed, "yeah, looking pretty comes with the territory." He admitted.

We were quiet then. I was thinking about the inevitable good-bye. I didn't want to leave, to go home to my house, alone again. A dog is only so much company.

Trying to sound casual, I said, "do you want to come with me to my place. Spend the day with me and stay over?" I held my breath.

"Yes." He said immediately. "I wanted to ask you to stay again tonight. But your place will be just as good." He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, and he helped me up. "I'll go shower and pack a bag."

"I'd better get dressed too," I said and followed Liam into the lift and to his room.

I got my clothes and headed into the dressing room while Liam headed into the bathroom. I heard the shower start, and I got dressed. I folded the t-shirt he gave me to wear and put it on the sofa. I went downstairs, grabbed my bag, sat on Liam's lounge, and waited.

I checked my phone—a message from my sister-in-law Lucy inviting me to dinner Sunday night. I replied yes since surely Liam would want to go home by then.

There was a message from Riza asking how my date went, followed by another saying that if she didn't get a reply soon, she would think I was a slut. Followed by another one saying, "Slut confirmed. Get some!" I laughed and replied that I only got some, but I'll call her tomorrow night with more details.

Liam came down a bit later with a small overnight bag and was quickly shovelling food into his mouth. He was wearing jeans, a plain black t-shirt and an unzipped hoodie. His hair was still wet from his shower, and it was all curled up and messy on his head. I wanted to feel his hair. It looked so soft.

He had another hoodie tucked under his arm and offered it to me. "It's a bit chilly outside. Do you want this?"

Yes, Sir, I want this.

What I actually said was thanks, and I put it on despite the fact it was so big it now looked like I wasn't wearing pants.

I ordered an Uber while Liam finished eating and called his assistant, asking him to organise a dog walker for Cole. I thought it was weird that he even had an assistant, let alone that they would have to be responsible for things like that.

I realised that being alone with Liam, it was very easy to forget that he was a celebrity, but then things like that would come up, and I'd realised how different his world was to mine.

My phone beeped at me, telling me the Uber was close. I called out to Liam. He said goodbye to Cole, and we headed out.

Part 5

[ketsuyuki-hibana-typed]

I get it, Anon, I get it. All of the Pillars are alive. But, I'll be lying if I said I'm not mad at Muzan, but he's hot. And Muzan you is still a dick.

HEEE HEEE *MJ voices*

Overall, this is really fun to write!

Kibutsuji Muzan x Friendly!Reader (Domestic Taisho EraAU)

Let's say. Muzan didn't really care about the Pillars. He actually sickened by "Killing Muzan by Ubuyashiki: A Whole Plan" scenarios, but keep searching for Blue Spider Lily.

He didn't order his Upper and Lower Moons to kill the Pillars. Whatever, they could slay his minions, yadda yadda but he will not lay up his hand on the Pillars nor the Ubuyashikis.

The reason was simple.

You.

"Muzan, it's me!" Your cheerful voice was heard from the front door, he stopped everything he do and quickly rushed to you

"Good morning, (y/n)."

"Morning, Muzan!" You put your shoes on the shoe rack. "I will make breakfast, like always! What do you want, Muzan?"

"Everything you cook will be fine by me."

"Okay!"

He actually didn't need to eat that, but seeing you with your Demon Slayer uniform covered with apron every morning was really pleasant. Also your food is somehow great on his taste bud.

"Oh, thank you for the antidote! Shinobu-chan said that she wanted to know you, but since you said to not tell anyone, I came up with a reason!" You put rice on his bowl and gave it to him.

"And what kind of reason you give to that Shinobu?" He took that bowl and started to eat. Who the fuck is Shinobu, he thought.

"I said that I picked it somewhere on the ground!"

"That's the stupidest reason you could come out with. And she believed that?"

"I don't know, she just sighed and continued her works." Muzan chuckled. He usually stared at you eating, almost forgot his own food.

He remembered the first time he met you. He was hiding after he lose on his fight with Tanjirou and the Pillars at Ubiyashiki residence.

Muzan recognized you as one of the new Pillars and about to change his appearance but he was caught by you. He really thought he will be killed

But instead, you said, "Are you lost? Can I help you? You look pale."

Instead killing you on the spot for saying him 'pale, he's playing along with the role, told you that his name is Toshikuni Muzan and he's a doctor who had special disease that couldn't stand under the sun.

When he knew that you are new Pillar, he thought about taking advantage from you to gather information about Demon Slayers. He thought about turning you into demon, or abducting you from there.

But none of it was done.

Now, the whole plan is a mess. His intelligence and tactical thoughts are useless. He was simply enthralled by your own charm. He could read your mind, clearer than the sky. He never sense any animosity thorough your head. It's just cloud of full happiness and full of kind thought.

He fell, really hard, for you.

And you didn't realize because thanks to you, the demon races including Upper and Lower Moons were about to extinct because he didn't create them anymore. He simply ordered his only trusted demon and Upper Moons now, Kokushibou and Akaza, to searched Blue Spider Lily. The rest could fuck off.

And now, you became his 'personal assistant' including his lover.

After cleaning the plates, you headed out to headquarters to give daily reports.

"Where's my daily kiss?"

"Hm, what kiss?" You stood in front of the shoe rack, looking confused.

"Here." He pointed his cheek.

"But aren't that supposed to do by married couple?" You tilted your head.

"Aren't we going to be a married couple soon?"

"We are going to be?" You became more confused, it made Muzan infuriated but he hid it well. "Just once won't hurt, I guess."

You tip-toed and hold his shoulder, did a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Have a good day."

"Bye, see you on night!"

You didn't live with him because you still have sick dad and little sister at your home. He has offered you to stay at his house, along with your family but you refused since you didn't want to disturb his research.

When you don't have something to do on the headquarters or currently not training your students, you visited him again in the afternoon.

You usually asked him what he wanted to do, helping him or sometimes just sitting on his lab and reading some journals he made.

"How is your father? Did the medicine I made worked?" He asked while shaking his test tube slowly.

"Yes!" You jumped from your seat and ran towards his desk. "He felt so much better! Thanks to you, Muzan! I probably never find a kind doctor like you!"

"Well, that compliment seems super honest to me."

"Of course, I'm honest! Right! How should I pay you back?"

"Date with me, tonight."

"Whaaat?? Aren't we always dating at night? Well, except the day when I have mission."

"That's fine."

"If you insist, we'll go!"

He smiled again. You always succeeded on attempt to make him pleased, more than anyone else. It's just a simpel thing though, but he appreciated it.

After eat lunch, you took a seat on his sofa, doze off and take a nap there. Muzan joined you, sometimes he slept on your thighs, sometimes you slept on his shoulder when he reading his book.

"Muzan-sama, I came to-"

"Ssh." Muzan put his finger in front of his lips when he saw Akaza from the window.

"Ah." Akaza lowered his voice when he peeked up on Muzan's shoulder. "Miss (y/n) is here, I see. Excuse me."

He didn't want anyone to disturb your nap. Not after he saw your eye bags, plus scars here and there.

Well, should I ordered my remained demons to escape or don't attack her, he thought. He looked at you again. Wow, what an idiot expression.

"Mu... Zan... How about... Scaly... Skin..."

He wiped your drool, and smiled with the same idiot expression with you.

It really hits different when people were in love, indeed.

When night comes, your 'date' with him is started.

You will hold his hand and pulled him around on the way. The reason, again, is simple.

"I'm not really familiar around this city."

"Huh? Even though you live near here? No worries! I'll be your guide!" You showed him smug smile, and grabbed his hand.

If Douma was around, he probably laughed at you because he knew that Muzan could remember roads and places in the blink of eye.

But, no, he won't tell you the truth.

When you walked around, you usually bumped on your fellow Pillars.

"Tanjirou!!"

"(y/n)! How are you doing?" Tanjirou approached you with bright smile.

"I'm great!"

"Did you just go alone? I just got news from Kasugaigarasu about this place. There are demons, it's dangerous to walk around alone in this city."

"Huh, but I walked with Mu- I mean, Toshikuni-san, my- eh? Where did he go."

"Hm?"

"It- It's my acquaintance." You looked around like a chick lose its mother.

"I see. Anyway, please be careful."

"I will! Thank you, Tanjirou!"

After Tanjirou waved his hand, you looked for him. "Muzan! Muzan, where are you- whoa!" You almost slipped and someone caught your back in time.

"Careful there, lady."

"Muzan! Where have you been? I just meet one of the strongest Pillar, I wanted to introduce you to him."

"I didn't want to meddle with Pillars except you."

"Why is that?"

"By the way-" He put a red hairpin on your hair. You tapped your head, feeling something. "Perfect."

"Muuuu, you always bought me things when we're dating! The only things I ever gave to you were handmade omamori and knitted scarf. It's so unfair!" You light-hitting his chest, he just laughed while playfully fend your hand.

"That's the essential of dating." He patted your hair. "Let's go."

You're still grumpy but soon forget about that. Both of you continued your walk, from the square to a little bit quiet place.

"Oh, hi, grandpa!! How is your udon selling today?"

"Auntie, let me help you!"

"Girl, you look cute on that dress!"

Muzan rubbed his forehead. Are you really not knowing the concept of 'Minding your own business'?

"You're really friendly."

"These are the people who helped me!"

"Just a little help."

"It means a lot for me!"

"Hah, read the situations will you." He mumbled. He didn't really like her being so friendly towards other. It really pissed him off.

"Oh? Oh? Muzan, are you jealous?" You elbowed his ribs.

"Yes, so kiss me." He moved his face towards you. You hold his face down.

"Why is everything had to be resolve by kiss?! Muzan you-"

You suddenly stopped. The sense of demons lingered around your body.

"Muzan, back off." You unsheathed your hidden sword. "The demons are here. Tanjirou was right about the rumour."

You didn't waste your time. Not wanting the demons attacking first, you went to the direction where the demons were ready to kill you.

He just stood there while crossing his arms, smile proudly of his little baby slashing down numerous demons in no time.

Oh, what a poor demons, they probably wanted to report something to Muzan. But nah, he will just ask Akaza what happened

"Done! I'll give the reports thorough my crows later."

"What a reckless move." He wiped the blood on your cheek. "I see you're not hurt anywhere. Thank you for protecting me."

"Of course!"

"Let us continue our walk."

It's just both of you now, heading back to home.

"You see, Muzan. I might kill demon and all but..." You looked down and smiled vaguely. "I wonder what kind of life they had before they become demon. Is she a daughter? Future bride? A samurai? I don't know. But I always pray they will get a good life in the next reincarnation after I ended their life as a demon."

"Really? How thoughtful of you." He stopped and stood in front of his house.

"Yeah. So-" You looked at his eyes, grabbing his hand and clasped it gently. "I hope you could heal, I hope you could see the sun, feeling the warm dissipate into your body on our next life. I hope we could meet on our next life."

Again, he read your mind. Nothing. just pure thought about him being a complete healthy... Human. It's weird because he saw the human value inside you.

He didn't just fell for you, he was demolished by you to the ground.

Your sister sometimes told you to stay him at night because he seems lonely.

"Nee-chan, I will take care of father."

"But-"

"I'm a Demon Slayer too, count on me!"

"Well..."

"Toshikuni-san looks lonely in that big house, as his lover shouldn't you accompany him?"

Since there's no problem with it, sometimes you went to his house an sleep with him. When you do, he's really happy and always promised he didn't do anything weird towards you without your consent.

His bed was so big, unlike the futon on your house. After change into your bed robe, you likes to roll around without worry.

"You really like my bed?"

"Uh-hum." You put your cheek on his pillows. "It smelled like you."

"That's why I told you to move here." He positioned himself besides you. He tugged you into the blanket, kissed you on the forehead and brought you closer to his chest. He caressed your back until you fell asleep.

"Good night, Muzan."

"Good night, (y/n). Sweet dreams."

He didn't need sleep, he only need you to stay by his side.

Oh how he wish he went back to human again.

[riseandshinelittleblossom]

The Hedge Maze

I have been debating over whether or not to post this, or hell even finish it, for the last couple of weeks, so before I talk myself out of it again...here it is. I apologize.

Warning: LEMONS...its just lemons.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maxwell Beaumont (PB does), he owns me.

Tagging some thirsties: @fullbeaumonty @speedyoperarascalparty @leelee10898 @emichelle @ao719

words: 1731

      Finley surveyed the bar from across the crowded ballroom. One or two nobles that she probably should, but did not recognize. The bartender polished glasses in a dreadful attempt to appear busy. With an audible sigh she made her way over. 

      "And for you, madam?" The bartender's heavy voice as he peered at her with intense green eyes.

     "Surprise me."

     Finley spun on her heels and leaned her elbows on the bar, observing the room. 

      In the far corner she could see a dark haired man in a blue sports coat. He seemed as out of place as he was uncomfortable, like one of those dogs that people put Halloween costumes on and then actually took them trick or treating.

       I feel you, buddy.

   Immediately to her right, but closer to the center of the room stood King Liam, his wife Riley on his arm as they chatted away with an older blonde woman. She held a champagne glass in each hand and she gestured widely as she spoke. Finley could tell that the king and queen were less than enthused about the conversation, however she noted that they still gave the impression of being enthralled by the woman's tale.

        The Lady Hana Lee was to their left, a stiff man in a tweed jacket beside her. Finley recognized Hana since her uncle and Hana's father were business associates. She made a mental note to make sure she said hello, lest her Uncle Brandon kill her slowly. 

     "Here you are, miss." 

     Finley turned to see the barkeep sliding a mojito across the bar towards her.

     "Thank you kindly." Finley tipped her head to the man as she collected the drink, swirling it once before taking a sip.

    She hated these sorts of events, but as her uncle had never taken a wife, she was often forced to accompany him.  

     Finley had been raised to fit into courtly life, but as her father was only the brother of an Earl it was never expected that she would live a courtly life, and that was fine by her. 

     From the corner of her eye she saw a man- about her age- wearing a simple black suit coat with a white shirt. She noticed right away that said shirt was unbuttoned far too low to be acceptable, but she ignored him otherwise and continued her ametur surveillance. 

      Still only viewing the man from her peripheral vision she watched as he smoothed his jacket and ran his hands over his chocolate hair before snapping his wrists and sliding up next to her.

     "Good evening, ma'am." he said.

    Without turning her gaze toward him she simply replied, "No."

    He fumbled over himself searching for what to say next.

    "You didn't even look at me. You could at least look a man in his eye when you reject him."

    A smirk formed across Finley's face as she cocked her head to the side ever so slightly.

    She had to admit she was a little intrigued by his persistence and even with only a sideways glance he was quite handsome. Maybe he could be just a bit of fun for the evening, if he played his cards right.

     Shuffling her stance so that she faced him, she peered into his azure eyes.

   "No thank you, m'lord." 

     She offered him a curtsey.

   "That was better, but I feel like that response just lacked the conviction necessary to convince me that you're not interested."

    Finley quirked an eyebrow at him, taking a long pull from her mojito. 

    "I'll take that look as a second chance," he grinned. "I'm Maxwell Beaumont."

    "I'm still unimpressed."

    The brunette man scoffed. "I am a Guardian of the Realm. Won't that at least get me a dance?" 

    Finley giggled, much to her surprise.

    "Fine. But only because you made me laugh."

     They found a spot near the edge of the dance floor, Maxwell immediately pulling her a little closer than the dance actually called for.

      "So, I've told you my name," he smiled down at her before dropping his lips to the shell of her ear. "What's yours?"

    An involuntary shudder shot through Finley's body as his words filled her ear. Her body felt like putty. 

      How did he do that?

      "I- uh- I'm...my name is..it's Finley. Finley Sawyer." she stammered.

     "What a pleasure, Finley Sawyer."

     Several mojitos and a few dances later, Finley found herself gleefully running through the palace's infamous hedge maze, with Maxwell in hot pursuit. Twisting and turning through the foliage, her strawberry blonde hair flying behind her she had never felt freer, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd smiled so much.

      They came to a clearing lined with old timey lanterns, a large round fountain laced with fairy lights in the center.

      "I...I can't...I can't...Maxwell I can't breathe!" She panted, falling immediately into a shrill burst of laughter as he accosted her, fingers wildly tickling her sides as she squirmed.

     They finally fell together on the edge of the fountain, still giggling and doubling over as they tried to catch their breath.

    "I haven't….whoo..I haven't laughed like that in….maybe ever." Finley told him, absentmindedly resting her hand on his thigh.

     Maxwell took a gulp of air and held it, calming his fit before covering her hand in his.

    "Thank you." She said, their eyes finally meeting. 

    "Finley, I," he began, but he paused to wet his lips. "I'm going to kiss you."

    "I would be disappointed if you didn't."

     His long slender fingers brushed her cheek as he tenderly cupped her face. Finley peeked up at him with darkened eyes, leaning closer and closer until at last his soft lips found hers. A bolt of electricity shot directly to her core as Maxwell deepened the kiss, slowly at first but rapidly becoming frantic. Finley splayed her hands against the surprisingly firm muscles of his chest, smoothing her palms under his jacket and over his shoulders.

   Maxwell shrugged the garment off, quickly returning his hands to either side of her face as Finley's fingers deftly worked at his dress shirt buttons.

     "Fin, I want you to know that...I mean I obviously hoped, but...we don't have to do this." Maxwell told her, breaking the kiss.

     A coy grin spread itself across the redhead's lips. "I already know you're a gentleman, no need to go and prove it."

    She slowly stood up, still facing him and she reached behind her to unzip her simple yet elegant black dress.

    Without any straps, it quickly pooled at her feet, her round perky breasts now fully exposed. 

     Maxwell's eyes roamed over the curves of her, his tongue involuntarily running along his bottom lip as he drank in the sight.

     Silently she stepped out of the fabric, throwing one leg over his lap and settling herself upon him. She chastely pressed her lips to his, slowly making her way up his jaw line until she stopped long enough to nibble at his earlobe.

    "Fuck," 

      It fell from his lips in a whisper, his hips bucking slightly as he shuddered.

    "You're a bit overdressed, Mr. Beaumont." She murmured before slowly tracing the shell of his ear with her tongue.

     Maxwell made short work of his dress shirt before fumbling with his belt. Finley dropped her hands between them to assist with the zipper before reaching past the fabric and gripping his hard length. She gently tugged it free of it's confines with a mischievous grin.

    "Big boy. I'll admit I wasn't expecting that." 

     Maxwell's cheeks burned with a twinge of embarrassment but he recovered quickly, his hands gripping her hips, lifting her as he wiggled his hips into position. 

     Finley took her time easing herself down onto him. She gently gyrated her hips in small circles down his length, hands digging into the tanned skin of his shoulders to keep balanced. 

     "Goddamnit, Finley. You're so fucking tight." He moaned, his head falling back. 

     She ran her tongue up his windpipe, nipping and suckling it. 

     When she had finally sheathed him fully inside of her, he gripped the gloves of her ass in two fistfuls and slowly stood up with her. Finley wrapped her legs around his waist instinctively, digging her heels into him. 

     "Do you trust me?" He asked.

     "I suppose I trust you enough."

      Maxwell briefly reached behind him and touched her ankles.

     "Don't let go." He instructed before grabbing her ass once more with white knuckles.

     He slammed his hips into hers, his knees bending slightly as he fucked up into her. 

     "Max... Maxwell, oooooh." She groaned.

     He quickened his pace, rocking gently on the balls of his feet, Finley bouncing wildly into him as she clung to his neck for dear life. 

   She could feel her thighs tighten around his trunk as the familiar warmth gathered in her core. She palmed his cheek, crashing her lips against his and swallowing whole the moans that escaped him. Her other hand slid between their bodies, expertly finding her clit to help herself along. 

      Maxwell's legs began to sputter, the sight of her strumming herself more than he could take and he slowed momentarily as he found his release. 

     Not to be deterred, he buried his face into the crook of her neck, still slamming her hips into his until a moment later Finley joined him, the rush of her arousal coating his cock and abdomen.

      Carefully he stepped back until his calves felt the smooth stone of the fountain and he sat back down. 

     She kissed his forehead, breathing still heavy as she stood from his lap to collect her dress.

   Maxwell licked his lips, enjoying the sight of her dressing in the lantern light. 

    "And to think, a couple of hours ago you wouldn't even let me ask you for a dance."

    He smirked at her, tucking himself away and zipping his pants.

    "Everybody makes mistakes." She answered matter-of-factly. "Will you zip me?"

    Maxwell stood up and grasped her zipper, working it easily up her back. He traced the backs of his fingers up her spine before softly kissing her shoulder.

    "So what do you think, Finley? Can I call you sometime?" 

     She flung her hair over her shoulder, smacking Maxwell in the face with it as she spun to face him.

     "No."

     Finley gathered up her skirt and made her way into the maze.