#cassio talks

[syringa]

this has to be one of the funniest lyrics claudio has ever written.. like 🤷🏻everything sucks but i DID do it to myself so🤷🏻

[mercless]

🗡 so was talon not invited to the black rose masque or

[ivanttakethis]

Height difference between my Alien Stage OC Tov and her guardian Cassio

[sanguineposhrat]

The feeling of getting to the end of paying off a really big debt OMG. We finished months ago but the fear of getting hit with something else huge is crazy.

Just clearing through everything else that's fallen away this year is like watching the last manky bathwater go down the drain. Smells like the sludge at the bottom of a water-butt.

Lots of people's names to forget out here.

[jbaileyfansite]

Interview with The Guardian (2025)

The actor Jonathan Bailey sits at a large table in an otherwise empty room: charcoal cable knit sweater, loose pinstripe trousers, hair neatly coiffed. He is chewing gum, sipping coffee, talking through his recent career, and a certain serendipity that has rendered him reflective. At 36, he’s fresh from his turn as likely-lad love interest Fiyero in Hollywood’s blockbuster adaptation of Wicked; as a child, seeing the stage show was a milestone for him. “I remember thinking Fiyero was such a good part.” Later this year he will star in Jurassic World Rebirth alongside Mahershala Ali and Scarlett Johansson. “I saw the original Jurassic Park with my family, aged six, at the cinema,” he says. “It was the first time we all went together to something like that. It was seminal, but so rare for us.”

And this month, Bailey will star in Richard II at the Bridge Theatre, directed by Nicholas Hytner. Bailey is its protagonist. It is another example of full-circle career moment. In 2013, he appeared on stage in Hytner’s Othello. Same playwright, same director, same city – Bailey can’t help but consider all that’s changed in the intervening years. “Back then I was too young,” he says. “I came into the rehearsal process not mature or confident enough.”

Landing the role of Cassio, one of Othello’s lieutenants, had been so important to him then. “I didn’t go to drama school,” he says, “and there was a common belief that if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be able to do classical texts, or perform in the big theatres. There are all these stories we are born into that we have to unpick. For me, one of those was how limited I felt.”

Bailey remembers the day that changed. “It was late December,” he says, “and I was walking along London’s South Bank.” He was on his way to the National Theatre to meet Hytner for a callback. “I’d worked so hard and for so many reasons it felt…” He cuts himself off, then goes on, “Working at the National was beyond my wildest dreams.”

Bailey performed the two scenes he’d prepared. Then, Hytner unexpectedly suggested a third, which Bailey hadn’t rehearsed. “I’m not very good at just reading and going,” he says. “I can’t really come up with… Anyway, I went with instincts. He offered me the job in the room. It was a defining moment in my career.”

All sorts of opportunities followed for Bailey: American Psycho at the Almeida; Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s TV debut Crashing; King Lear opposite Ian McKellen; BBC satirical sitcom W1A. He was made very famous for playing a leading Lothario in Bridgerton, the Netflix behemoth. “Now being back with Nick,” he says. “I have a much fuller and more cherished understanding of him as a human as well as a director. Getting back into a room with him now, with all that’s happening, just felt obvious.” Hytner’s praise for Bailey is just as high: “He can speak Shakespeare like it’s his first language… The stage is his element.”

It’s Wednesday lunchtime, early January, in a central London studio space. We’re meeting halfway through five weeks of Richard II rehearsals in full swing a few floors below us. He’s sitting at a large table. In front of him is a bulky script covered in yellow highlights. “It’s only half,” he says, flicking through, playful panic in his voice. “Not only that, I’ve thinned it, and taken out the scenes I’m not in, which feels very Richard II.”

It’s Bailey’s first stage production since 2022. Through Bridgerton, he has been exposed to a global audience. But theatre is where it all began. “So returning to the stage, now, just felt so right. And I don’t think I’ve changed at all, even if certain things around me have.” It has taken some adjustment, this new level of “Black Mirror-esque” notoriety that he’s experiencing. It’s why he likes the intimacy of these rehearsals, after months spent on sprawling film sets. And he’s enjoying being based in London for an extended period, close to friends and family.

Bailey is charming, handsome and self-effacing as we talk, but doesn’t seem entirely at ease. That gum chewing is fervent now; he’s fiddling with what’s in front of him. He habitually self-edits as he speaks. There’s a vagueness that, at times, feels purposeful. At regular intervals, he simply stops mid-sentence.

Take the play itself. “It’s such an incredible, searing interrogation of power, government and monarchy…” he says. “You have someone with the cast-iron right to rule, who is absolutely unfit to lead, emotionally underdeveloped… And Shakespeare wrote to be played, not published. There are so many references and nuances to what an Elizabethan audience would have understood… It’s about translating it from that, and delivering it to a modern audience, so the effect hopefully has the same vivid fervency and front-footedness especially politically and especially in this instance with monarchy and leadership.”

It sounds interesting. So where is he turning to for inspiration for his tyrannical overlord? I ask. Trump? King Charles? The Saudis?

“That’s for the viewer to see. I have very clear ideas and I hope the audience will, too…”

He won’t be drawn. I’m curious as to why. He shakes his head.

“You’ll have to come and see it.”

Later, over email, Hytner is more forthright: “The play wonders what happens when an entirely legitimate leader is set on ruining the country he leads. No good options. Submit or resist – either way you end up with chaos.”

Ahead of Wicked’s late-November release, there was a preview screening in Sydney. “It was part of this massive press tour, but for me it only lasted two weeks. The girls are incredible,” Bailey says of his co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, plugging the project for months on end. “And they’re still at it, still shining.”

In Oz, Bailey went along with one of his sisters and her two daughters in tow. It was the first time he’d sat back and watched the film properly. “I was so overwhelmed,” he says. “Even now, it makes me quite emotional. If there was the purest form of joy I had as a kid, it was singing and dancing.”

His family was based between Reading and Oxford. Bailey has three older sisters. As a child, he’d be dropped at basketball club at the local village hall. “From outside, I could see my sister’s ballet lessons through the window. I wanted to be in there with them. I’d go and wait at the back of their class in my Velcro trainers.” He enrolled. “I was obsessed and loved it. Dancing and singing felt like a vocation.”

Music also filled the family home. By the time Bailey was 10, his sisters would go out clubbing. “The next morning, they’d come back, and I’d get them, hungover, to do impressions of their different friends dancing.” It was a family affair. “We loved 90s club classics. Me, Mum, Dad and my sisters went through a phase of going into the new room – we had an extension, then called it that for 20 years – and we’d put on vinyls and dance, all of us.”

One day, he stopped. “I don’t know what happened,” he says, “for whatever reason, I didn’t confidently carry through the dancing. I got self-conscious in my teens that it was signalling something else. It just didn’t feel… I probably just knew it was better to be playing rugby than dancing. I became really self-conscious. There weren’t other dudes dancing.” One teacher called Bailey a “fairy” in front of his entire class. “In your teenage years it’s so raw. You lose your skin. And there are certain things in life,” he says, “that allow people to think they know something about you, and those assumptions mean you stop doing something you love. You curb or you police yourself. You don’t make the joke, or say the quip. You don’t stand up and advocate for yourself or your friends. And you start to slowly crumple. That’s purely on the basis of this idea of signalling. These stereotypes.”

One becomes fearful, he continues, of the immense hurt that others can cause. “Even more pain than binding yourself up slowly and creating a space of safety and refuge in your own mind or heart. That’s where it gets dangerous and people stop doing the things they’re supposed to. And how brilliant that we…” He pauses, surprised, concerned even – it seems – by how much he’s sharing. “It’s a scary time, isn’t it. On the one hand, I do think there’s such a… People are so much more open-minded about what defines masculinity now. What defines heterosexuality. What defines gender. But on the other hand, there’s a swing, obviously, towards… Anyway, that one will have to be a dot-dot-dot for you.”

It’s not that Bailey dropped performing as a child, only that things took off in a different direction. Back in ballet class, there’d been a callout from the Royal Shakespeare Company. “They needed young boys to play Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.” He was seven years old. “My parents weren’t sure. It was so outside their world.” His mum worked in the NHS. “And Dad was a DJ, basically, in Piccadilly Circus at [70s nightclub] Snoopys.” But a child actor? “It’s a big ask, from a kid. I was really protected by them, but they gave me this opportunity.” He was cast, and continued to be through school. “It was extraordinary, really. I didn’t miss any lessons. By 13, I’d done three productions for the RSC, and a stint in the West End. All before I hit puberty.” Then came his first Shakespeare production: Prince Arthur in King John at the Barbican with the RSC. “I was 12 or 13, and that set me on another course. ‘Fuck, OK, you can also do this.’” The memories are visceral, even now: “The sickly, sweet smell of fake blood. Dry ice. All those senses. I was taken. That’s maybe where my creative juices were channelled more, over singing and dancing.”

He has worked solidly since his teenage years. Bridgerton, though, catapulted him to stardom. Afterwards, says Bailey, “I was contending with how things would change in my life.” The press introduction, a growing, global fandom, interest in his personal life and sexuality… “On one hand,” he says, “the success of Bridgerton, being able to play that role, and for who I am not to affect people’s perceptions; the love story between a man and a woman.” He pauses, again. Oh, actually.” Some nervous laughter. “It’s just, I’m cautious. I’m who I am and always will be. It’s an extraordinary thing to see and hear the word ‘gay’ next to your name all the time. It’s something I’m incredibly proud of, but it’s also not something anyone else would be defined by. So to go straight from Bridgerton, where inevitably that was talked about, to do a series like Fellow Travellers? It came along like some sort of beacon.”

Fellow Travellers, a Showtime series in which Bailey and Matt Bomer star, follows the romance between two American politicos, from the 1950s to 1980s. Production started as series one of Bridgerton started streaming. Among a predominantly queer central cast, cocooned on set, Bailey’s sexuality was entirely un-noteworthy. “All with our own experiences,” he says, “coming together. And learning about the history… The men who endured and experienced such horrendous and extraordinary things.”

Simultaneously, he was inundated with requests from charities following Bridgerton’s success. “I felt frozen by wanting to help.” The sheer scale of what was being asked and what he might do with his platform, connections and cash felt overwhelming. So, he founded the Shameless Fund. “Raising cash and erasing shame to support the global LGBTQ+ community. We’re giving grants this year. I’m so proud of it. It was all in theory. It seems so obvious and clear. We’ve raised a lot of money for initiatives that need cash and a platform. “And the thing is,” he says, “I can’t be a mouthpiece. I’m an actor.” As is clear through our conversation so far, he’s impassioned and engaged, but being outspoken doesn’t always feel comfortable. It must be challenging, I say. So many eyes and ears pointed in his direction. “The noise is turned up,” he says. “And when it’s about your family, or your identity… And nobody is going to question that headline, in a different outlet with their own agenda. That’s what’s left and it isn’t true. That’s why I’m really protective. I’ve seen something so specific about my identity be twisted. Ultimately you want peace within yourself, because the world is wild enough as it is. It’s too important now, with rights being stripped away. What’s so obviously looming…” Back to Wicked, I suggest.

“OK,” he says, relieved, “so I was doing Cock [his West End stint in Mike Bartlett’s comedy about sexual identity] and I knew a film of Wicked was happening.” In the dressing room before curtain up one night, Bailey recorded a self-tape. “As I was singing, doing a karaoke version of [Fiyero’s big number] Dancing Through Life, I got called to stage on the Tannoy. Fuck it, I just sent it.” There were some positive noises. “Then the dates didn’t look to be working out. Wicked said they couldn’t be sure about what they wanted…” Bailey made other plans. Then, out the blue, dates shifted: the part was his. The months that followed were hectic: during one stretch, while juggling Fellow Travellers, Bridgerton and Wicked, he was filming for 34 days straight.

“I’d come from set, sleep on a flight, go straight to a Bridgerton ball, then the next day be dancing with Ari and Cynthia. Everyone else for Wicked had three months of rehearsal. I had three days.” There’s a knock at the door: Bailey is being summoned back down to rehearsals. “The conclusion to that,” he says, “is Wicked happened and I’m so proud. Before I knew it I was Dancing Through Life…” Suffice to say, he’s thrilled to be.

Richard II is at the Bridge Theatre until 10 May, bridgetheatre.co.uk

Source

[attila-werther]

brutus is also at the wake, btw. he's just avoiding pompeyo and being a terrible husband to two people (his first wife, and also to cassio lmao)

this is a normal thing to do at a wake

[wisteria-lodge]

salty about samuel taylor coleridge describing Iago as "motiveless Malignity" and orson welles as "evil for it's own sake"

Like... what Iago does is extreme, but his motive isn't confusing. Iago was Othello's long-time #2, and was passed over for promotion by someone younger, prettier, posher, better educated (but less qualified.) Then Othello, who is Iago's world gets - completely wrapped up in his new wife, and suddenly Iago's not important anymore. Like... at this point it honestly doesn't matter if Iago hates Othello, wants to be Othello, just straight up wants Othello... (I see you Iago. I see you talking about relative thigh placement. when you're telling Othello about the time Cassio made out with you...)

My point is that Iago feels completely devalued, angry and cut out of Othello's story, and he's willing to throw a grenade into everyone else's happiness to get some of that back. Negative attention is better than no attention at all. That's why at the end of the play it's so brilliant that Othello doesn't kill him. If Iago dies by Othello's hand then he wins, because he's recaptured Othello's attention, written himself back into the story.

Iago's motives are petty, and sticky, and small. And Othello is a tragedy, so things spiral out of control. But I don't know. I don't think what Iago is feeling is mysterious at all. I think it's very, very human.

[thisismeracing]

Literature lovers | CS55 (patreon exclusive)

read the full piece here

― Pairing: Professor!Sainz x TA!reader (she/her) ― Warning: implied age gap (reader is in her mid-twenties, Carlos in his mid-thirties); mentions of food and alcohol; graphic description of sex (p in v, oral –fem receiving, dirty talk); Use of Cassio Sanchez instead of Carlos Sainz for known reasons. (5.1k words) ― Summary: One of your favorite writers once said that “destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected”, deep down you knew he was right, but you had never given it too much thought. Well, at least not until you heard the Spanish Literature professor say those words looking at you. Of course, it was dangerous grounds, but things clicked, and as he said so himself, destiny guided you together.

▸ my masterlist | my taglist | patreon guide ▸ support my writing by reblogging, leaving a comment (don’t forget to follow me if you like the piece), or buying me a coffee

Growing up, you always heard about how you had to be the best, had to run twice as fast as others, train more, and still hear how lucky you were. It was something that tired you once college came around. Yet,  it was almost like second nature to you, doing things as close to perfection as possible. That’s how you ended up getting into your master's right after graduating, that’s how you turned out being a teacher’s assistant to one of the most famous professors on campus, and coming to think about it, you guess that’s how he ended up recommending you to everyone.

That’s the reason he recommended you to Carlos Sainz, the Spanish Literature professor.

Your professor, English literature specialist, George Russell, was a posh Englishman who would occasionally forget some of his materials and schedules, always having a book on his nose and talking about it. You and he hit it off quickly. You were his favorite student, and when you became his assistant, he was even happier because you were just so organized, and punctual.

When George told you he was “lending” your teacher’s assistant’s services to another professor, because he was off, and his colleague had a few conferences that month, besides taking over his classes, you accepted. George knew you loved Spanish language literature, and he knew you and Carlos would work well together. At least that’s what he told you before sending you Carlos' work e-mail and handing you a copy of the uncensored version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, a book you had been trying to get for months but hadn’t been able to find that particular edition.

While setting some of your things for the first day with Carlos, you stared at his e-mail for the hundredth time. You didn’t know him. Your Spanish Literature classes were all completed during an exchange in Colombia, and the University was big enough for you not to know every professor by name or face.

Still, you took a deep breath and wrote an e-mail to Professor Sainz about some of your ideas for the upcoming semester, well aware that you had accepted the role and you would make it work. You liked to think that you could have denied George's request and could have told him about a personal project you’ve been working on, but you said yes.

One of your favorite writers once said that “destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected”. Deep down you knew he was right, but you had never given it too much thought. Well, at least not until you heard the Spanish Literature professor say those words looking at you.

***

He keeps his eyes on your face, and you smile after swallowing a bite and finally opening yours.

“I take it, you liked the dish?” His amused, yet provocative tone made you shiver the slightest.

“It’s perfect, Carlos. Now I’m feeling bad I bought a cake from a bakery, instead of making our dessert myself,” you complained, taking another bite. Carlos caught the joke in your tone and smirked, eyes finally wandering down your body, or what the table lets his big brown orbs see.

The V-neck dress was not scandalous per se, it has sleeves that go to your wrists, and it’s not form-fitting, but rather loose around your body. It showed the right amount of skin. And Carlos couldn’t have loved your choice more.

His eyes found yours after a few seconds, it’s almost like he’s making sure you’re comfortable with his gaze, and the way you lean slightly on the table giving him the perfect view is answer enough.

“Don’t worry about dessert, you know we have it covered.”

“Do we?” You add to the tension, and Carlos chuckles.

“Oh, we sure do,” he nods, taking a sip of his wine. “In fact, how do you feel about skipping the whole meal and going straight to dessert?”

“It sure sounds tempting.”

“Do you want it?”

He was still sitting and hadn’t made any move indicating he was about to go your way. You knew this game you were playing and knew that the way he was throwing the questions your way was Carlos studying you, making sure you were comfortable with the outcome. He wanted you to be comfortable. He always wants it, and you can tell from the small details.

No pressure.

Never pressure.

He wanted you to want him.

And oh, how you do!

“I want it.”

He smirked. You heard the scrape of the chair against the wooden floor and watched as he walked barefoot to you. The first few buttons of his white button-up were undone showing you his tan skin where a few dark strands of hair peek out on what you can tell was a remarkably toned body.

Carlos pushed your chair back, turning it to him. He parted your thighs the best he could with your dress and kneeled between your legs. From this angle, he looked even hotter.

────── ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: Hi, honeybees! I hope you guys liked this sneak peek! This piece has been on Patreon since last month, but I forgot to add the sneak peek here hihi <3 I wanted to write for Professor!Sainz for a while now, and finally found the inspo to finish this piece, and the time to finish editing the last details. A huge shout-out to C (my coffee emoji anon) and Dee (@struggling-with-delia) for proofreading this, and to K (@dancininseptember) for suggesting the TA!reader when I posted about writing this (Ily, guys!).

If you liked this sneak peek and want access to the exclusive content, subscribe to my patreon!💘

▸ check my main masterlist | patreon guide and my taglist.

taglist: @sachaa-ff @mickslover @mishaandthebrits @fdl305 @iloveyou3000morgan @crimeshowjunkie @saintslewis @carojasmin2204 @chaoticevilbakugo @wondergirl101ks @smiithys @shhhchriss @f1kota @lunnnix @karmabyfernando @crashingwavesofeuphoria @schumacheer @callsign-scully @dearxcherry @elliegrey2803 @peachiicherries @he6rtshaker @therealcap @mehrmonga @the-depressed-fellow @cixrosie @darleneslane @buckybarnessweetheart @nichmeddar @fastcarsandshit @goldenalbon @balekanemohafe @jamie2305 @nzygftoji @leclercsluv @bbreezybitch @graciewrote @alessioayla @littlesatanicassholebitch @barcelonaloverf1life @noncannonships @fanboyluvr @is-just-a @love4lando @woozarts @namgification @formulaal @benstormy

©thisismeracing ― do not copy, steal, or translate my work; do not repost on a different media platform.

[vieramars]

I still can't stop thinking about the well. It's like. You think another episode about Midnight would be derivative but oh my god it was amazing. A new, terrifying horror mechanic. A whole different source of paranoia coming from both ends due to the communication barrier between Aliss and the rest. I feel like this episode got me deep into the doctor's head. I was right there with him seeing that familiar paranoia talking root and Ncuti Gatwa perfectly played the stress and tension of trying to avoid repeating the same mistakes as last time. And turning the thing against Cassio after he got half the team killed in a panic was beautifully cathartic.

[syringa]

i just woke up to new coheed??? beautiful world

[ivanttakethis]

Guardian Cassio (Tov’s guardian)

I used this sci-fi/fantasy picrew to create a portrait of my alnst oc Tov’s guardian, Cassio (they/them)!

Cassio is short for Cassiopeia (like the constellation).

They come from an alien race called the Auru, known for their distinct shade of blue skin/scales.

Aurusians can take on different physical forms, similar to shape shifting.

Cassio shifted into a humanoid form when they bought Tov, hoping that it would be easier for the young human to become comfortable with them.

Their form isn’t a perfect replica of a human, though (see: horns, scales, and lack of pupils).

They stand about 7ft (~213cm) tall, but often wear heels or platforms that make them even taller. By comparison, Tov is 4���11 (150cm).

Tov doesn’t know what Cassio’s original form looks like, but they’ve told her that she wouldn’t be able to recognize/comprehend them.

Cassio speaks to Tov in human language.

Cassio's native language sounds a little like a human language if you hear it in the background. But the more you focus on it, the more un-Earthly it becomes.

They’re a very creative alien with lofty ambitions and a unique style. Some describe their personality as “whimsical” or “spiritual”.

Tov thinks Cassio is a bit flighty and kind of naive, but ultimately harmless. She doesn’t really have any complaints.

Like Tov, they love space and constellations. They have a tattoo of a crescent moon and a star beneath their right eye.

They own a fashion house called Cassiopeia and work on the outfit design team for Alien Stage.

Tov is their first and only pet. They don’t have any plans to buy another.

[rapha-reads]

The Well - Doctor Who series 15 episode 3

The Doctor making promises, ooooh. That always goes well, isn't it.

Britney feat! Yey. Was it Toxic already with Nine and Rose or was it Baby one more time? But anyway. Britney is eternal.

I already know this is related to Midnight (creepiest DW ep ever) but this planet also looks a lot like the planet in Utopia where Ten, Martha and Jack meet Simm!Master. Creepy dark rocky planets where danger can hide behind any cliff face.

Hope is irrelevant versus the Doctor working solely on hope to get Belinda home. Something something rebellions are built on hope something something RTD is still talking directly to us. Also I should catch up on Andor before I get spoiled too.

Because I got spoiled, I already know that Aliss being deaf/hoh is super important to the plot. But meanwhile can we take a moment to cheer for not only the Doctor knowing sign language (everybody should learn sign language), but also the troopers having devices in their suit that allow them to speak to Aliss? Hell yeah.

The way Aliss's face just changed after she said that's so kind. What is that. Fear? Relief ? Nerves ? Or something more sinister and the Doctor and Cassio are right to be wary?

Yeah, I would NOT have restarted the machines, Shaya. Edit: okay, it didn't have any incidence because the creature was already out, but still.

Alrightyyyy, Earth has been obliterated from all of time and space then. Alongside humans. Even though all these people from different planets are all human-like in appearance. Huh. That's going to be fun. Timey wimey, etc.

And Belinda is seeing things... Great. I'm starting to get freaked out now.

Very freaked out. First it mimicked and that was scary as hell. I'm still not over Sky. Now it's hiding and not leaving your back. My anxiety is sky-rocketing.

Cassio is going to get everyone kiiiiiilled. Boyo. You're making things worse...

Yep. He's getting all his troopers annihilated. Fun times.

Well that was great. I'm shaking.

THE SHADOW ON ALISS' SHOULDER AND THE DOCTOR'S ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED AND SHOCKED FACE, HI, I'M TERRIFIED. And those whisperings!!!! Absolutely scary. Don't like that, nuh-uh.

But that whole scene with the Doctor addressing the thing behind was magnificent. Ncuti's acting as always is sublime. With Murray Gold's gorgeous soundtrack and the seriously beautiful images... (yes, the image is a bit too smooth and that's due to D*sney's budget, it's very different from good ol' kitsch and grainy Doctor Who, but that's something that's not just inherently annoying to the show, but to the entire tv/movie industry of the moment - that's an entire other commentary to make and it's not the point right now)

There's 10 minutes left. It can't end just like that. Something is coming. Yep, there it is. For a moment I thought all the people in the airlock had been killed, I'm super glad that's not the case and the only (ha) thing is that the creature is with them.

Shaya is going to sacrfice herself, I'm calling it. Yep. There it is.

OH, COME THE FUCK ON, what the hell is Mrs Flood doing here now???? Is she helping or is she hindering? What's her purpose? Her story? Her real identity?

Someone gives Mo a big hug. Oh for fuck's sake please tell me the thing didn't make it on-board their ship. This would be extremely bad news. Welp. Guess we won't know and that makes this episode join the list of other episodes with a worryingly open ending like that Twelfth/Clara episode The Sandman. Yey. So many storylines ending with a galactic threat that are never revisited.

Shaya enters directly in the top 10 of amazing one-time characters who deserved better. Love her.

[goldenboywrites]

where do we go from here?

Apollo sat in his study, reading over the latest contracts. The requests for Cassio’s potions far exceeded what the two could handle, but they didn’t have a choice. It was either to fulfill the orders or suffer the consequences. The consequence had been the same over the years since graduation; Oliver and Isaac’s safety. It was something the two could not risk. So they worked overtime to make the potions and send them out, and they both ignored the lingering question regarding what these people were doing with them. It was better not to know, or it would drive them insane. He signed the latest contracts. As soon as the ink dried, the contracts glowed a dull red before disappearing from his grasp. “That takes care of that,” He muttered, pushing a hand through his hair. 

Apollo pushed himself to his feet, stretched, and ignored the popping of his bones, which confirmed that he had been sitting there for far too long. He ventured out of the study, waving his hand over the door to place an illusion over his work in case Isaac entered. Even after years of secrecy, it never got easier. Doing all of this behind Isaac’s back had never gotten easier. It would never get easier. But it was to protect him. To protect them and the life they had built together. 

He only made it so far from his study when his phone rang. The sound nearly gave him a heart attack because he never expected the damn thing to be on. “Yeah?” He answered it without checking the name. There were only three people who ever called him. 

“Mr. Maddox?” an unfamiliar voice asked. Apollo pulled the phone away from his ear to see who it was, but it was an unknown number. Dread filled his bones. His immediate thought went to it being his employer, but they never called him before. “ My name is Healer Emerson. I am a medwizard at St. Mungos. I need you to come down here as soon as possible.” 

The phone almost slipped from his grasp. “What?” 

“It is best if you come here so we can talk.” 

Isaac. 

He trembled his way over to their fireplace, and before he knew it, Apollo was standing in the St. Mungo’s waiting room. On shaky feet, he made his way over to the desk, gave his name, and waited impatiently. His fingers drummed against his legs; his feet tapped incessantly against the ground. Please don’t be Isaac. Please don’t be Isaac. 

“Mr. Maddox?” Apollo glanced up and saw an older man standing in front of him. His badge confirmed this was the healer that called him. 

“Is he okay?” He asked desperately. 

“He is doing just fine. Would you like to see him?” 

Entering the room, Apollo was taken aback. “I think you have me confused with someone else. I’m here for my boyfriend.” He glanced around the room, taking in the colors and cartoon animal wallpaper. “This is…” 

The healer’s brow furrowed, and he pulled back a curtain to reveal a smaller toddler curled up in a hospital bed. “Your boyfriend? No, you are the emergency contact for Theodore Whitlock…” Apollo tilted his head, looking at the child. He could have been two or three years old. So, this little guy belonged to Alexandria. The woman Apollo had almost been forced to marry to continue their pureblood line. They hadn’t spoken since he was in uni. Why would she have made Apollo the emergency contact for her son? 

“I don’t understand,” He said softly, finally pulling his gaze away from the child and over to the healer. 

The doctor looked one step away from admitting Apollo to the hospital. “Sir…” he said uneasily, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "This is your son. We have been unable to locate Alexandria. A neighbor brought Theodore in yesterday when she did not return home to pick him up, and she could not reach her. We have been unable to contact her as well. We pulled his records, and you are listed as the father on his birth certificate. You are also his emergency contact. Hence, we are contacting you to pick him up."

This wasn’t his son. Not biologically, that was for sure. But why would she have listed him without forewarning him? “I didn’t know..” He said as he mulled the pieces together in his head. He did not want to give too much away to the healer. There must be some reason she would go to the lengths she had to forge his signature on her son’s birth certificate. “Of course, I will take him, and I’ll handle reaching out to the authorities to track her down, too. But can I…I'm sorry. Can I have a moment?” 

The healer was barely out of the room before Apollo had his phone out again and prayed that Isaac wouldn’t leave him over this. Isaac answered on the first ring. There were a handful of moments when Apollo tried to speak but couldn’t. It wasn’t until he heard the alarm in his boyfriend’s voice that he forced himself to say, “It’s me. I’m at St. Mungos. Can you come?”

@magiclwritings

[countrymusiclover]

2 - Prisoners of Sky People

Part 3

Star Crossed Enemies

Tag list ( send ask to be added ) @severa-kane @100foreverfiles @ocappreciation @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @lover-of-books-and-tea @kmc1989 @caprisunzz

The moment I began to regain consciousness I felt a lot of pain. Blinking my eyes open I instantly shut them seeing bright lights shining above my head. Finally peeking one eye open I got adjusted to the brightness enough where I attempted to move forward seeing I was inside a large metal dropship compared to the one I came down in two years ago.

Unfortunately the second I went to take a step forward my body was yanked backwards rather harshly making me nearly scream till I bit my lip. “Agh! - smart play using zip ties.” Eyeing my wrists and ankles were held down on metal poles.

Shifting my gaze around the room I didn’t see many shortcuts to escape. The hatch in the floor was shut and there were zero sharp objects I could use to snap my restraints so I was a sitting duck. My pack and weapons were laying on the opposite side of the room beside a makeshift chair. “We’re smarter than you people think we are, grounder girl.”

“Bellamy.” I muttered barely above a whisper not hearing the metal hatch open and close before I noticed the boy with curly hair sitting a few feet away from me on the makeshift chair.

He pushed himself up to stand , coming to stand directly in front of me. “You’re friend downstairs isn’t much for talking. So I’m hoping you will be up to having a conversation with me. What’s your name?”

“Cassio.” I simply replied preferring to be called by a nickname Glass gave me then my full birth name the Ark had given me. “Yours is Bellamy, right?”

He sent me a slight glare. “You were listening in on our conversations weren’t you. What did you find out about us hmm?”

“That they sent you down here like lab rats to die. You may look at us like we’re the enemy who wants to kill you but you should consider the ones who put you all on this ship and dumped you down here just to save the place you came from. Doesn’t sound like you’re leaders care too much about anyone but themselves.”

Bellamy lifted his head silently biting his lips as he took in the girls words before himself. In the few weeks they had been there he had declared the same philosophy to get the majority to remove their wristbands.

There was something about the way she said the words with such anger that he began contemplating if she was from the Ark or not, but he instantly pushed the crazy thought to the back of his mind.

“How many of you are there?” Bellamy asked me.

“12 different clans with over thousands upon thousands of grounders and only about 80 of you now. Is my math right?” I tilted my head to the side smirking until I heard a girls voice shouting from downstairs even though the metal hatch was shut.

“This is Raven Reyes. I- I'm from Mecha Station. I'm transmitting from the ground. The hundred are alive. Please, you need to get Doctor Abby Griffin. Doctor Abby Griffin. Now!”

My whole body stiffened up when I heard someone say her name. It had been a long time since I’d heard my mothers name. It sickened me to my stomach.

All that hate and pain coming back to the surface.

Bellamy saw my facial expression completely change. From where he was standing I appeared very pale and like I had seen or rather heard the name of a ghost. “You know someone down there don’t you, grounder girl?”

“N - no I don’t.” I did the best lie I could.

Yet it was like he could see right through my facade now where he stomped over yanking me up from the ground. He firmly held me by my forearm with my hands still tied behind my back by zip ties. “You’re lying and I’m going to find out why soon enough. Come on, let’s get your ass down there.” He pushed me down the ladder where I landed harshly on the harsh metal floor with half the group's attention on the radio and some of the others looking at me.

My mothers voice brought tears to my eyes that I couldn’t hide. “Raven? Are you there?”

Shifting my gaze over to the girl that was standing next to the one manning the radio it wasn’t difficult at all for me to recognize who it was. “Mom? Mom it's me.” The familiar figure of long blonde hair that belongs to my sister spoke towards our mother, even though she didn’t know I was her sister.

“Clarke?” Our mother asked with such relief in her tone over the radio static.

Our mother made sure of that with all the lies she spewed out over the years.

“Bellamy! What the hell are you doing to her? She could’ve been severely injured.” Clarke, my sister whipped her head around dropping down on her knees searching me over for any injuries.

He jumped down the last two ladder steps coming over to the two of us. He lifted me up from the floor dragging me by my blonde hair making me wince. “Gah! Bellam - no, no, no. I don’t want to!” He pushed my head down on the table beside the radio.

“Clarke, what was that commotion?” My mother questioned through the device causing me to whimper, clutching my eyes tightly shut, hating that I am showing emotions around members of the people I hate.

Clarke came up behind Bellamy who was holding me down with all eyes focused on the three of us. “Bellamy, this is not who we are. This grounder didn’t kidnap Octavia or kill any of our people.”

“That isn’t what this is about. She knows you’re mothers voice and I want to know why.” He barked back at her.

My sister made a confused face. “You think she’s originally from the Ark. How is that even possible?”

“Yo curly haired dude.” I finally spoke, raising my voice to get his attention.

He lowered his head down where our noses could almost touch if either of us moved forward towards the other. “You wanna tell us who you really are now?”

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know just not how I know the doctor on the radio.”

Bellamy yanked me upward and pushed me up the ladder then he pushed me down in the corner beside my friend who was beaten badly. “Lincoln…”

“Which one? Which one is it? If you tell us, they'll stop.” My sister begged my friend who was tied to the wall with chains. Bellamy had been repeatedly beating him with a seatbelt strap until she got down on her knees and begged my friend. “Please tell us which is the antidote and they'll stop this.”

Bellamy tossed the strap on the floor turning on his heels grabbing me up to stand. “If that doesn't work, maybe this will.”

“Bellamy, don’t hurt her.” Octavia his sister begged him before he picked up the poisoned knife in his freehand, dragging me directly to stand in front of my friend.

He suddenly made me cut whatever I was about to say short once I felt the cold blade pressed against my neck drawing some blood. “Bellamy, he won’t-“

“You’re friend won’t let you die. He’ll have no choice but to tell us the antidote to save your life and Finn’s.” Bellamy growled in my ear speaking towards my sister in a softer voice. “Clarke, you don't have to be here for this.”

Unfortunately I knew my sister wouldn’t back down from saving someone. She was exactly like our mother. “I'm not leaving until I get that antidote.”

“No more!” Octavia shouted, pushing me out of her brother’s tight grasp before he could cut my throat.

I collapsed against the nearest wall behind me. Pressing my body against it as much as I could not expect her to react in that way for someone she didn’t even know. Holding a hand to the small wound on my neck as best I could manage I didn’t utter another word.

Bellamy raised his voice. “Octavia what the hell are you doing?”

“He won’t let me die.” She muttered looking at Lincoln who nodded his head at the last vial that she had shown him.

Clarke takes the vial from the girl rushing down the ladder. “Thank you.”

Bellamy tried to help his sister up from the floor but she smacked his hand away. He slowly shifted his dark brown eyes over in my direction where I sucked in a breath unsure of what he would attempt to do to me next. He bent himself down on one knee brushing some of my messy hair out of my face. “What are you going to do with me now, sky boy?”

“We’re keeping you both here in our camp. Your friend will be here as leverage and we’ll use you to gather as much information as we can. And I know you’ll do it because if you don’t I’ll start hurting your friend. Do you understand that?”

I gulped nervously before he climbed down the ladder and shut it leaving me upstairs with Lincoln chained to the wall. “I understand, sir.”

[mariacallous]

There’s a sense of occasion to the new “Othello” now at the Barrymore, on Broadway—Denzel Washington, one of our last true movie legends, is playing the titular role, and Jake Gyllenhaal, no slouch in the stardom department himself, appears as his evil saboteur, Iago. Producers are charging north of nine hundred dollars for orchestra seats, the kind of ludicrous, norm-busting event pricing that somehow drives demand; the sidewalk outside buzzes with excitement. Inside the theatre, though, it’s another story.

In Shakespeare’s oddly comic tragedy, jealousy is the prime mover. As the Venetians and the Ottoman Turks squabble over Cyprus in the background, the men before us quarrel over everything—a woman, a job, a handkerchief. Iago, a veteran soldier, hates Othello, his general, a Moor who fights for Venice: Iago’s missed out on a promotion, and he also half believes a rumor that Othello has seduced his wife, Emilia (Kimber Elayne Sprawl). His hatred devours all but his capacity to lie and plot; “I am not what I am,” he says. Iago turns his sights to ruining Othello’s new wife, Desdemona (Molly Osborne), with false clues and poisonous innuendo. Envious of what Othello has, he takes it.

You need energy and clarity to make “Othello” work—to make the language sing and to propel the deceptions forward—especially because the vicious Iago hasn’t got an actual goal, just an appetite for chaos and a ready little knife. The director, Kenny Leon, is uninterested in clarity, though, and the vibe is mild depression: a pre-show projection reading “The Near Future” doesn’t turn out to be particularly useful, and the dreary, gray-columned set, designed by Derek McLane, looks like a parking garage. (Dede Ayite dresses the soldiers in de-rigueur fatigues, the Venetian senators in suits.) Famously, Iago hurls racist abuse behind Othello’s back, calling him, for example, an “old black ram,” and that poison, too, worms its way into Othello’s mind. “I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation that chamberers have,” he says to himself, alone. In this production, Emilia is Black, as are some soldiers in Iago’s platoon. The casting choices might raise a whole host of interesting questions about how this Venice reflects our own time, but Leon doesn’t foreground, or even really acknowledge, them.

Leon and Washington have had triumphs together, namely the Broadway productions of August Wilson’s “Fences,” in 2010, and Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” in 2014. In those shows, Leon turned his eye for behavior to prop-heavy naturalism, where he seems most graceful and at ease. Here, there’s very little reality in his direction—Emilia switches randomly among the jobs of lady’s maid, glamorous chief of staff, and camo-wearing lieutenant, for instance—and too few people look at one another when they talk. At least Gyllenhaal, crazy as a scorpion, makes a point of facing the people he’s bamboozling, jabbing his hand at them as if he could drive his lies in by force. He and Andrew Burnap, playing Cassio, one of Iago’s many persuadable fools, find nice moments together, largely because they seem like they’re in conversation. The rest of the time, if there are more than a handful of actors onstage they drift into a half circle, the hallmark of amateur staging.

When Washington enters, we sense, for one bright moment, the Othello that might have been: he charges in, tucking his white shirt into his blue trousers, and here is his Don Pedro from “Much Ado About Nothing” (the Kenneth Branagh film from 1993), still forceful and on the go. As long as he’s joshing with other soldiers, or glad-handing senators, he moves comfortably. And, early in the first act, Washington’s touch with the verse is casual, knowing, deft. The trouble hits when he greets his “soul’s joy,” Desdemona—who is dressed in a series of Political Wife pants suits—and exhibits only a faint, avuncular enthusiasm. As Leon’s production toils blandly along, Washington employs a light, high delivery, lapsing into vagueness and singsong. Nothing commands his full attention. Othello is supposed to be “declined into the vale of years,” but Washington moves past what might be a portrait of an overtaxed old general into apathy.

Sinking onto Desdemona’s bed, reciting his lines without notable crescendo or feeling, Washington puts Osborne into a weary headlock, and then kind of leans on her to death. As Act V plays out, Othello is often found sitting on this bed, staring out into space. Watching Washington’s gotta-take-a-load-off finish reminded me of his most recent Broadway performance, in 2018—as Hickey in Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh,” another presumed cuckold who, it turns out, has murdered his wife. In that production, the director George C. Wolfe had Washington conclude the play sitting in a chair at center stage. As in “Othello,” he stopped engaging with the cast around him, delivering his monologue like an aria, straight out to the audience.

Maybe Washington just doesn’t like blocking? My suspicion is that a director in a rehearsal room, looking at the megastar as he runs his lines, thinks, If only people could experience what we see here, without necessarily calculating the difference between that small room and a Broadway house. But these ill-spent moments do, I think, matter. Ticket prices aside, the theatre really cannot afford to waste a chance with Washington like this. He values the stage, and returns to it often, but, at seventy years old, he’s started hinting in interviews about retirement. It’s heartening, therefore, that he has been talking about a film of “Othello.” I can see it in my mind’s eye already—his magnificently tired face filling a screen, where we can finally see the flickers of waning nobility and waxing madness. Also, it’ll cost maybe twenty-five bucks.

There are still bargains to be had this week in live theatre, however. On Twenty-third Street, at a long, narrow, no-frills space called Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre, you can pay fifty dollars and get a “Friday Night Lights”-inflected synthwave-musical retelling of Homer’s Iliad, performed by a joyfully committed ensemble. “The Trojans,” written and composed by the hugely gifted Leegrid Stevens and directed by Eric Paul Vitale, is that rara avis: a gorgeously produced downtown epic, somehow both trash-based (the costume designer, Ashley Soliman, has made football armor out of knee-pad inserts, for example) and luxurious, rich in the way that theatre is meant to be rich—with imagination, intelligence, and potential.

On entry, the room looks like an Amazon warehouse, with boxes piled to the ceiling. If you take a minute to read the labels, though, something seems odd: the addresses all list places like Parthenon, Arkansas, and Athens, Georgia. The glum workers pushing their hydraulic carts and listening to a tinny boom box perk up the moment someone mentions the “old days,” when their town resounded with the rivalry between two high-school football teams, the Trojans and the Highland Kings. Soon, the workers are reënacting the run-up to a long-ago homecoming game—way back in the nineteen-eighties, I’m guessing, based on the occasional Walkman. Back then, the prom queen, Heather (Deshja Driggs), left her boyfriend, Johnny (Roger Casey), for the allure of Highland’s arts program, and everyone freaked out.

Is Heather Helen of Troy? She certainly causes mayhem, as the teen-agers drive their cars—those same hydraulic carts, weaving only inches from the audience—toward disaster. Paris is the coy Daris (Arya Grace Gaston), and the doomed hero Achilles has become the grim-faced Trojan running back Keeley (Erin Treadway, in boxer braids and golden work boots), who refuses to take the field after Johnny utters a fatal insult. Stevens has slyly flipped the sides in Homer’s poem, but we’re not here for a one-to-one narrative mapping of a Bronze Age tragedy. Instead, we’ve come for the same reason that scouts go to high-school football finals: to see stunning talents like Casey and Treadway before everyone else hears about them, and to get back in touch with our love of the game. 

[m-jelly]

Ulterior Motive - Ending

Levi x reader

Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, mafia, Gangs, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Gangsters, Yakuza, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Romance, Love, Love Confessions, True Love, First Love, Yandere aspects, Protective Levi Ackerman, Possessive Levi Ackerman, Tattooed Levi Ackerman, Blood and Violence, Eventual Smut, Childhood Friends

In this chapter: You and Levi share a romantic moment together while you're healing up. Levi leaves you to wait in his office as he works, but your leg is healed and you want to show it to him so you tell him off. Far in the future your daughter is 5 and in trouble at school.

Ao3

Your nails dragged across Levi’s back as he kept moving deep within you. Since your show of power against Stacy and ruining her, the friends that stood by her and those who associated with her Levi had been on you like a bee to the most delicious pollen. Today you had lost count of how many times you had come and he’d filled you with his seed. It was hard to do some positions with your leg in a cast still, but Levi found a way.

You threw your head back as Levi’s deep and hungry pants tickled your neck. “Ah!”

Levi licked and sucked at your neck adding another lovebite to the many that covered your body. His dominating and slender hands gripped and squeezed your body so tightly. Levi was acting like he was desperate to have you like he needed you more than life itself. To live he needed to be one with you. He was possessed with his desire for you and it seemed like nothing would stop him.

Your body shook under Levi as your orgasm ravaged you. “Le-Levi.”

Levi bucked wildly against you before pressing deep inside you and cumming again. “Mm. Ngh, ha, ha. Mm. I love you.”

You panted a little. “I love you too.” You gasped when Levi moved his hips a little. You grabbed his biteable hips and hummed. “Rest, please.”

Levi lifted his head with a wide-eyed sad look. “I went too hard for too long. I’m sorry.”

You giggled at how cute he looked. “I wanted it and enjoyed it, but I need a rest now. I’m very sensitive.”

He dragged himself out of you. “I was too horny, forgive me.”

You closed your eyes for a moment. “You were perfect.” You napped a little before flinching when you felt something wet. “Ah.”

Levi smiled at you with a rag in hand. “Sorry, I was cleaning you up. Were you sleeping?”

“I must have been.” You leaned up and looked between your legs. “Oh, wow.”

Levi blushed. “I know, I know, I came a lot.”

You flopped back and giggled. “I enjoyed it.” You opened your arms. “Cuddle?”

He smiled sweetly. “I want them. I’ll clean more and be right back.”

“Okay. Could I get a shirt too? My tits are hanging out.”

Levi growled. “Yes, they are.”

You pointed at him. “No.”

He whined and huffed before going to the bathroom. “Banning me from titties.” He pouted as you laughed at him. “So mean.” He walked out and grabbed a shirt for you. “You know how much I love your titties.” He helped you pull your shirt on. “Bye, beautiful things.”

You wiggled a bit to help Levi. “Thank you.” You wrapped your arms around him and pulled him down onto you. “Mm, mine.”

Levi snuggled your breasts. “Yours.”

You hummed a bit. “So, we haven’t really talked much about what I did.” You smiled when Levi lifted his head. “You’ve kind of just ravaged me.”

Levi blushed. “Sorry.”

You played with his hair. “It’s okay. You were passionate.”

He nodded as he chuckled. “Yeah.” He kissed you and smiled. “I was just so impressed by your skills. You were so smart and you found out who was behind everything. I just thought it was Cassio.”

You cupped his face. “It was him. Stacy just gave him a push.” You wiggled his face. “You did amazing.”

He pouted a bit. “Thanks.”

“You really did.” You kissed him. “My handsome man.”

Levi smiled. “You know, I was incredibly impressed. You did a fantastic job.” He sat up and smiled more. “Was incredibly attractive. You know, we’re going to be an unstoppable powerhouse together.”

“The deadliest couple there is.” You sat up and stretched your joints. “I can’t wait to get my damn cast off.”

“Does it itch?”

You nodded and pouted a bit. “It’s also because I want to go out and do things with you. I want to go on exciting dates. I want to have a lot of fun together. I want to ride you so hard that you forget your name.”

Levi’s eyes widened. “I like all of that.”

“Good.” You slipped out of bed and grabbed your crutches. “Before you tell me off, I’m using them to go to the toilet.”

He smirked as he watched you go. “Your ass is incredible.”

You pouted. “Thank you.”

He got out of bed and changed. “I was thinking. After all this, we should go on a holiday. You’ve been through a lot and you need to rest.”

“You’ve been through a lot too.” You moved back into the room. “Mental health wise.”

He smiled at you. “You’re so caring.”

“I just worry about you. I mean, I talked to your parents and mine a lot. They all told me that they had never seen you react like this before.”

“I only beat a man.”

You folded your arms. “Only beat a man? Levi, you set fire to multiple warehouses in your war path to get to me.”

He stared at you for a while. “Well…”

You moved over to him and kissed him. “Admit it. You went crazy.”

He gulped hard when you gripped his shirt. “What happens if I do?”

You smirked a bit. “Only one way to find out.”

He licked his lips as he eyed you. “Yes. I burned down a lot and blew up a lot of places too in order to find you.”

“Fuck, that is hot.” You eyed Levi. “This fucking cast! I want it off so I can do things to you.”

“Th-things.”

You shoved him down on the bed. “I want to dominate you. I want to please you. I want to ravage you. I want to show you just how much of a bad girl I can be.” You dragged your eyes down his body. “Oh, you’re hard.” You dropped your crutches and ran your hand down his body. “I didn’t know you found me being in control arousing.”

Levi chuckled. “Darling bun drop, anything you do is arousing. I find it cute that you want to take control. Go ahead, do what you want to me. I can guide you through it all.”

You crawled onto the bed and sat on him. “That so?” You bounced on his clothed erection. “Do you really think I need help?”

“Just want to be a good boy for you.” He bucked up against you making you squeak and fall against him. “What do you think?” He spanked you hard making you moan. “Am I a good boy?”

You mewled. “Y-Yes.”

He rolled over onto you and smiled. “You’re so cute trying to act all tough.” He leaned on his forearms and began rubbing his erection against you. “Such a sweet little bunny wanting to bounce with a poorly paw.”

You reached up and cupped Levi’s face. “Such a wonderful dom.”

“Pleasure dom, my darling bunny.” He massaged your bum. “I live for your happiness and pleasure.”

You ran your hands down his body. “I love you.”

“I love you so much.” He looked down when your tummy rumbled. “My Queen needs her food.”

You giggled. “I do. I haven’t eaten in a while because someone was very horny.”

Levi pouted. “I can’t help it. I love you so much that I want to show you over and over again.” He climbed off you before scooping you up into his arms. “Let’s get you fed.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck. “A fed bunny is a happy bunny.”

“Indeed it is, my darling.” He carried you into the living room and sat you on the sofa. “Be a good girl and stay.”

You leaned on the back of the sofa. “I’ll be good because I like being called a good girl.”

He leaned over and kissed you. “You’re my good girl.”

You shivered. “Mm.”

He played with your hair. “You really do like it, don’t you?”

“Y-Yes.”

“You’re adorable.” He hummed a laugh. “I just want to eat you.”

You mewled in delight. “I want to be eaten by you.”

Levi chuckled. “Dirty girl.” He brought you a drink. “I thought you said no more sex.”

You let out a long sigh. “I know, I know, but you’re so sexy.”

“So are you.”

You admired your legs and hummed in delight, you really had missed your leg and now the cast was gone you were overjoyed. You were so happy your leg was free that you chose to wear a tight short dress with tights because it was winter. You admired your legs while sitting in Levi’s office at his base. You huffed a sigh, slipped on your short heels and walked to the door to see Mike.

Mike tapped away on his phone. “Before you ask, he’s still in his meeting.”

You pouted. “Mike.”

He looked over at you and couldn’t believe his eyes. You’d come in wearing a coat and now you were showing what was under. He whistled at you. “Damn, Mrs Ackerman.”

“I’m not Mrs Ackerman yet.”

“You practically are. Your wedding is in a few days, right?”

You winked at him. “It is.” You stood in the hall and sighed. “So, what meeting room is he in?”

Mike smirked at you. “He won’t be happy with me letting you see him.”

You grabbed Mike’s face in one hand and squeezed hard. “Tell me.”

He confessed everything. “Just, don’t go kicking the door down.”

You walked down the hall. “Oh, I will!”

Mike groaned. “I’m gonna get my ass kicked.”

You trotted down the hall before making your way downstairs to the basement area, which everyone knew was used for special ‘interviews’. One of these rooms did have Mr Frank Cassio in for a while. The screams and pleas of someone echoed down the hall, you were getting closer to the room your closer was in and you were excited to see him. You’d come to visit him and he knew you were here, but he had told you to wait in his office. You were done waiting.

You knocked on the door and heard Levi call back not to come in. You pouted hard before shoving the door open. Before you in the room was a man with his wrists chained to the floor. A table stood next to him covered in weapons and tools soaking in blood. Shino had on an apron, black gloves and held a tool in his hand. Erwin was also wearing something similar but had no tool.

Levi was in a smart shirt, sleeves rolled up and hair pushed back. The black gloves on his hands protected his knuckles as he worked. He snarled and turned harshly to the door. “I said DON’T COME.” He gasped when he saw you, his anger washed away and a sweet smile spread on his lips. “Hello, bunny!” He yanked his gloves off. “You came to see me.” He stopped and eyed your body. “Fuck me bunny.” He smirked. “Look at you. That dress, those legs…”

You giggled. “I wanted to show off to you, seeing as my leg is all better but you banished me to your office.”

He pulled you closer and massaged your bum. “Forgive me, bunny. I just had some work to finish up.”

You leaned around him. “Work, hmm?”

“Yes.”

You pushed Levi back. “Looks like you’re playing.”

Levi blushed a little. “Playing?”

You walked over to the broken man as he whimpered. “Well, looking at the state he’s in this is beyond torture for information. If he’s not given up what you need looking like this, then you might as well give up.” You turned to Levi. “He’s too far gone and I know you lot do this often. So, you have to have been playing.”

Shino cleared his throat. “I can sort this out.”

Erwin nodded. “We’ll finish up, you go with your Mrs,” Erwin called your name and smiled. “Great to see out of the cast.”

You grinned. “Thank you.” You walked over to Levi, grabbed his shirt and dragged him along behind you. “Come on.”

Levi grabbed your hand. “Darling bunny.”

You stopped in the hallway and turned to face him. “Yes?”

He pulled you against him. “I love you.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck. “I love you too.”

“Are you mad at me?”

You shook your head and grinned. “Why would I be? I was just jealous.”

He chuckled. “Jealous? What were you jealous about?”

“That you were spending more time with a bad man than me.” You pouted a little. “Is that man more fun than I am?”

He walked closer to you. “Oh, darling little bun bun cakes. You are the most fun delicious bun tot I have ever met. Why would I waste my time with anyone else?”

You ran your hands up his chest. “That’s the thing, Levi, you did waste your time with him and I was left all alone in this amazing outfit.” You tapped your hand against his cheek. “Naughty Levi.”

Levi smirked. “You want to punish me?”

You pocket his chest. “I’m thinking about it.” You walked down the hall. “You haven’t said much about my outfit and legs, only fuck.” You looked back at him. “I’m sad.” You slapped your bum. “And I thought I was incredibly sexy! Oh well, guess I should take my sexy ass to a nice bar and talk to a handsome man.”

Levi growled and charged down the hall after you. “Bunny!”

You squealed and kicked your heels off before racing away from Levi. “Mercy!”

“You were naughty! You teased me!”

You skidded down the hall. “You deserved it!”

Levi raced up behind you and grabbed you. “Got you!”

You kicked your legs as he picked you up and carried you. “I should be the one punishing you!”

Levi bit your shoulder. “No, you were the naughty one.”

“I wasn’t!”

He walked past Mike near his office and paused. “I thought I told you to keep an eye on her?”

Mike hummed as he tapped on his phone. “You know very well it’s impossible to keep your wife still.”

Levi’s eyes lit up. “Wife…”

You kissed Levi’s cheek. “Wife in a few days.”

He looked down at you and purred. “Wife.”

You grinned at Mike. “Go relax somewhere.”

Mike started walking away. “Don’t have to ask me twice.”

Levi spun around with you into his office. “My lovely bunny.” He sat you on his desk and stepped back. “You are sexy.”

You smiled. “Yeah?”

He knelt before you. “Look at those legs.” He ran his hands up them and started kissing. “I’m so happy to see your leg again.”

You slipped your fixed leg over Levi’s shoulder. “It’s happy to see you.”

Levi turned his head to the side and bit. “I love you so much.” He shifted your leg off him and began massaging. “How does it feel? Are you better? Any aches?”

You shook your head. “Nope. It feels really good. It’s not stiff either because you helped me with exercise.”

Levi blushed. “Oh, I did. We exercised a lot.”

You giggled. “Yes.”

He stood up and placed his hands on your desk on either side of your hips. “So, wedding day.”

You felt your heart race. “It’s so soon.”

“It is.”

You lowered your head as you felt flustered. “I can’t believe that this all started with a chance meeting.”

“You were mouthing off to your shit ex.”

You hummed a laugh. “Yes. It really must have been fate with us. We grew up together and were separated so you could be this amazing leader.” You caressed his cheek. “So sexy, strong, smart and handsome.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. “Part of me wished that I could have been there all this time, but then I wouldn’t have turned into this strong man who could protect you.”

You wrapped your legs around him and yanked him close. “You were always this wonderful man.” You smiled as you slipped your arms over his shoulders. “I’m so proud of you.”

Levi welled up a little. “You know, I’ve heard that from my parents a lot but there is something so special about you saying it.”

You leaned closer and kissed him. “I have always felt this way. I should say it more often.” You massaged your fingers in his hair. “I love you, Levi Ackerman and I think you’re the most handsome and amazing man in the world.” You tapped your forehead against Levi’s. “I’m so proud of you.”

Levi kissed you over and over again. “I’m proud of you. You’re incredible, my love. You’re sweet, kind, caring, smart and so fucking sexy.”

You hummed a laugh. “Thank you. I feel all of that with you. I’ve never felt his amazing before in my life.” You cupped Levi’s face. “I can be the best me when I’m with you.”

“You were always the best.”

You giggled. “I guess you helped me to see, huh?”

He nodded. “I guess we both helped each other see.”

“So, I have an important question to ask you.”

Levi picked you up and moved you over to the sofa. “Let’s get comfy and take.” He sighed after he sat you on his lap. “Talk to me.”

“Well, we went through a lot and I was hurt big time.”

“Mm.”

You fiddled with his shirt. “Well, I’m wondering…before I got hurt we wanted kids, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

You whined. “Well, how do you feel now after I got hurt?”

He squeezed you tightly and bit your neck. “I want kids.”

You gasped in delight. “Really!?”

“Yes.” He hummed a laugh. “I want beautiful little babies with you. I’ll shower them with so much love.” He covered your face with kisses. “I’ll care for you and all our sweet children. I’ll protect you all. I’ll love you all. I’ll never let any of you go.” He rubbed your belly. “We’ll be unstoppable as a family.”

You threw yourself at Levi and mewled. “I think so too. I’m so happy you feel the same way still.”

“How can I not want precious little ones with you?” He caressed your cheek. “I want a mini you.”

You giggled. “I want a mini you.”

Levi hummed a laugh. “Well, that settles it. We’ll have to have multiple little ones so we can have mini versions of each other.”

You covered Levi’s face with kisses. “I love you so much.”

“I love you more.”

Children rushed around the playground as they screamed and shouted with pure delight. One cute little five-year-old was not on the playground, mainly because she was sitting in the headmaster’s office with the cutest little pout on her face. The dungarees she wore were sweetly chosen by her mummy and the shirt under was picked out by her daddy. Daisy might have looked like the perfect stunning and beautiful combination of her parents, but she was a little rough and tumble firecracker.

The headteacher glared at Daisy. “I’m very disappointed in you. I expected a lot from you, but you keep acting up. What’s your answer?”

Daisy smiled. “Bobby was bullying Kelly, so I put him in his place.”

“You can’t just do that.”

“My mummy and daddy do.” She giggled. “Mummy is very good with telling people off.”

The headteacher pursed her lips. “Well, your mother is a bad woman. She doesn't deserve your incredible and handsome father.”

Daisy got off her seat and stomped her foot. “My mummy is the most beautiful, pretty and smartest lady in the whole world! You’re just a doo doo head!”

“Daisy! How dare you! I can tell you get your bad manners from your mother!”

“Does she now?” Both looked at you as you smiled brightly with small baby bump. “I must watch what I say.”

Daisy ran right over to you. “Mummy!”

You picked her up and hugged her tightly. “Hello, my little flower. Have you been telling bullies off again?”

“Yes, but the doo doo headteacher told me off.”

You hummed. “Did she now?” You looked up at the woman to see she was rather scared. “Why don’t you tell me what you were saying to my daughter?”

The headteacher laughed nervously. “W-Well.”

“Well? Why are you so nervous? You were telling my daughter so proudly how I don’t deserve my husband.” You gazed at Daisy and wiggled her making her laugh. “And I’m a bad woman.”

Daisy giggled. “Bad mummy.”

“I’m terrible.” You shot the headteacher a glare. “You know what Daisy? I think we should find you a new school. I’ll tell your daddy about this and maybe we’ll remove our funding. We’ll move all the lovely children here to another school so you can keep your friends.”

“Fun!”

The headteacher hurried over. “Please, please Mrs Ackerman. Don’t walk away.”

You stared at her. “Why should I keep my daughter in a place that talks down to her, teaches her not to stand up to bullies and insults me?” You let out a long sigh. “Levi? What do you think?”

Levi walked in just as he put his phone in his pocket. “Well, my darling bunny and flower.” He looked up and glared at the headteacher. “I think you’re right. We’ll move the children to a better school, you too and I’ll remove funding.”

The headteacher panicked. “Mr Ackerman!”

He leaned over and kissed you and then his daughter’s head. “I heard everything too. I don’t like working in front of my daughter. I’m reducing my time when I’m with them, so I was in the hall on my phone.” He rubbed your back. “Let’s go school hunting.” Levi reached over and took Daisy. “I will take this one, you’re already carrying a sweet baby.”

You rubbed your bump. “True. Shall we go terrorise your uncles?”

Daisy giggled. “Yay, Shino and Lucas!”

Levi carried Daisy to the car and put her in her seat. “You need your bunny?”

“Please, Daddy.”

He reached into the front and got the bunny toy from his seat before handing it over. “Here you are. Now, let’s see those uncles of yours.” He winked at her before helping you into the car. “Are you safe and secure?”

You hummed a laugh. “Of course. Thank you, my love.”

He rubbed your bump. “Evan okay?”

“Brewing nicely.”

He chuckled before driving off. “Good.” He glanced in the mirror to check on Daisy. “Daisy? Sweetheart? About today.”

Daisy looked up. “Sorry I got into trouble Daddy, but Booby was bullying Kelly and I told him off like you and Mummy do with bad people. He was a bad kid. Bad kids get punished.”

“I was just going to say, my sweetpea, I am so damn proud of you.”

Daisy’s beautiful eyes widened. “Really?”

Levi smiled. “Yes, my beautiful little flower. I’m proud of you. You’re so smart, brave, strong and pretty. I’m always proud of you and I love you so much.”

Daisy giggled and hid behind her bunny. “Daddyyyy.” She peeked at him as he chuckled. “Love you too, Daddy.”

You looked back at Daisy. “You did amazing today. You’re wonderful, okay? Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. I love you and I’m so damn proud of you. You shine so brightly, my little flower.”

Daisy hid again. “Love you, Mummy.”

Levi hummed a laugh as he drove through the city until he got to the base. “Alright, here we are. I will help you ladies out of the car.” He hurried around to Daisy and let her out first. “Wait there, I have to get our Queen Mummy out of the car.”

Daisy grinned. “Queen Mummy!”

Levi opened the car and offered his hand to you. “My Queen bunny.”

You took his hand and climbed out. “You’ll never change, will you?”

“Nope.” He yanked you against him. “I’ll forever love and adore you.” He kissed you and hummed in delight. “My love.”

“My love.” You hummed a laugh. “Alright, let's go see the lads.”

Levi held you close as he walked with you and Daisy ran ahead. “She’s so precious.”

You kissed his neck. “She really is.”

Daisy threw her arms open. “UNCLES!”

Lucas threw the door open and ginned. “Daisy!” He picked her up and spun around with her. “My little angel. Did you kick butt at school?”

She giggled. “Yes!”

“That’s my girl.” He carried her into the room. “Shino! Shuji! I have a beautiful little lady who needs attention and two uncles to play with.”

Shino hurried over. “Daisy!”

Shuji pushed past Shino. “Little flower.”

Daisy grinned. “I had to leave school today.”

Shuji frowned. “Really?”

Shino fixed his glasses. “Did you copy your father?”

Daisy shook her head. “No, I copied mummy.”

Lucas laughed. “That’s more dangerous.”

You walked in and huffed. “Excuse you.” You let Levi help you sit down. “You’re so rude. I’m a lovely polite lady. Right, Levi?”

Levi played with your hair. “Right…but you are a little bit deadly. You’ve ruined people’s businesses and reputations.” He leaned down and kissed you. “It’s hot.”

You giggled. “Okay, I admit then that I’m deadly.”

Daisy threw her arms out. “Mummy is the best!”

Levi sat next to you and pulled you close as everyone praised you. “My wonderful wife.”

You cuddled up to Levi. “You’re all so sweet.” You looked up and smiled as Daisy ran around with three of her Uncles, you knew that later on Erwin and Mike would be running around with her too. “We have a great family.”

Levi kissed the side of your head. “All brought together because of you. You’re incredible.”

You rubbed Levi’s chest. “You started this all.”

Levi tapped his forehead against yours. “Mine.”

You hummed a laugh. “Yep, that’s pretty much what happened. You declared me as yours.”

“I’ll keep on saying it. You are mine.”