#clustering techniques
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quickinsights · 1 year ago
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bornfreediedcaged · 1 month ago
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love it when neurotypicals/non-narcissists very clearly get all their information from social media like hah yeah i’m just pretending to be tough it’s not like all of these behaviours are symptoms of a personality disorder that disorders my personality. sorry didn’t know mental health mattered until any disorder you have is undesirable and instead of the magical disorder that makes you some malleable shaking little lamb but normal and non aggressive enough for neurotypicals. (hint hint that disorder doesn’t exist and all disorders have an ugly and destructive side, love it when social media romanticises mental disorders to the point that people get made fun of for having the disorders they don’t like.)
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surinderbhalla · 2 years ago
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Fibromyalgia: Latest Findings and prevention tips!
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, tenderness, and other symptoms. Despite its prevalence, fibromyalgia has long been shrouded in mystery due to its complex and often elusive nature. However, recent research has shed new light on the condition. In this blog, we will be discussing fibromyalgia, Its latest findings, and prevention tips. We will also…
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druid-for-hire · 3 months ago
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There's this sort of anthropomorphizing that inherently happens in language that really gets me sometimes. I'm still not over the terminology of "gravity assist," the technique where we launch satellites into the orbit of other planets so that we can build momentum via the astounding and literally astronomical strength of their gravitational forces, to "slingshot" them into the direction we need with a speed that we could never, ever, ever create ourselves. I mean, some of these slingshots easily get probes hurtling through space at tens of thousands of miles per hour. Wikipedia has a handy diagram of the Voyager 1 satellite doing such a thing.
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"Gravity assist." "Slingshot." Of course, on a very basic and objective level, yes, we are taking advantage of forces generated by outside objects to specifically help in our goals. We're getting help from objects in the same way a river can power a mill. And of course we call it a "slingshot," because the motion is very similar (mentally at least; I can't be sure about the exact physics).
Plus, especially compared to the other sciences, the terminology for astrophysics is like, really straightforward. "Black hole?" Damn yeah it sure is. "Big bang?" It sure was. "Galactic cluster?" Buddy you're never gonna guess what this is. I think it's an effect of the fact that language is generally developed for life on earth and all the strange variances that happen on its surface, that applying it to something as alien and vast as space, general terms tend to suffice very well in a lot more places than, like... idk, botany.
But, like. "Gravity assist." I still can't get the notion out of my head that such language implies us receiving active help from our celestial neighbors. They come to our aid. We are working together. We are assisted. Jupiter and the other planets saw our little messengers coming from its pale blue molecular cousin, and we set up the physics just right, so that they could help us send them out to far stranger places than this, to tell us all about what they find out there.
We are assisted.
And there is no better way to illustrate my feelings on the matter than to just show you guys one of my favorite paintings, this 1973 NASA art by Rick Guidice to show the Pioneer probe doing this exact thing:
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"... You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me. ..."
Gravity assist.
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theeverdream · 6 months ago
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Hey maybe nobody needs to be held like that when they're already in cuffs, asshole.
(video)
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marketxcel · 1 year ago
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Cluster Sampling: Types, Advantages, Limitations, and Examples
Explore the various types, advantages, limitations, and real-world examples of cluster sampling in our informative blog. Learn how this sampling method can help researchers gather data efficiently and effectively for insightful analysis.
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contemptible-scoundrel · 1 year ago
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I've developed a new martial arts technique where I strike a nerve cluster that causes your body to instantly undergo the changes of roughly four years of feminizing hormone therapy
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rocket-candy-heart · 2 years ago
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Finished knitting a project that has been vexing me (beads for the first time) and I am...somewhat satisfied
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web99official · 2 years ago
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Boost Your Website’s Seo with Advanced Keyword Clustering Techniques
Advanced Keyword Clustering Techniques for Improved SEO with Web99
Do you need help improving your website’s search engine ranking despite optimising your content with relevant keywords? One of the reasons could be the need for proper keyword clustering.
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This article will discuss the importance of advanced keyword clustering techniques. We will also discuss advanced keyword clustering techniques that can help improve your SEO and boost your website’s search engine ranking. We will also explore how Web99 can help you achieve this.
Importance of Advanced keyword clustering techniques
Advanced keyword clustering techniques are essential for SEO because they help you create more targeted and relevant content that aligns with the user’s search intent. By grouping similar keywords together, you can create content clusters that cover a range of related topics, allowing you to target a broader range of keywords while also providing your audience a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.
Moreover, advanced keyword clustering techniques can help you identify and target long-tail keywords with low competition but high search volume. You can improve your website’s relevance and visibility in search results by targeting these keywords. Web99 also provide best Dental SEO Service for Dentists Specially.
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Advanced keyword clustering techniques
Keyword clustering involves grouping similar keywords to create content that aligns with the user’s search intent. Doing so can create a more targeted and focused content strategy that resonates with your audience. Here are some advanced keyword clustering techniques you can use:
Topical Clustering involves grouping keywords based on their relevance to a specific topic. This can help you create content clusters that cover a range of related topics, allowing you to target a broader range of keywords while also providing your audience a more comprehensive understanding of the topic. This technique can help create pillar pages and topic clusters.
Intent-Based Clustering Intent-based clustering involves grouping keywords based on the user’s search intent. For example, keywords such as “how to” and “best ways to” indicate an informational search intent, while keywords such as “buy” and “order” indicate a transactional search intent. By clustering keywords based on purpose, you can create content that matches the user’s search intent and improve your website’s relevance.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) Clustering LSI clustering involves grouping keywords that are semantically related to each other. LSI keywords are related terms and phrases that help search engines understand the context of your content. By clustering LSI keywords, you can create more relevant content to the user’s search query and improve your website’s ranking.
Web99 can help you optimise your website for advanced keyword clustering techniques by providing various SEO tools and features.
Here are some actionable steps that businesses can take for improved SEO:
Conduct thorough keyword research and identify relevant keywords for your content.
Group similar keywords based on topical relevance, user intent, and LSI.
Create content clusters that cover a range of related topics.
Optimise your website’s server response time with Web99’s SEO tools and features.
Monitor your website’s search engine ranking and adjust as necessary.
Conclusion
In conclusion, advanced keyword clustering techniques are crucial for improving your website’s SEO and search engine ranking. By grouping similar keywords, you can create content that aligns with the user’s search intent and provides them with relevant and comprehensive information.
With Web99, you can improve your website SEO and Web99 with advanced keyword clustering techniques will help you to get better search engine ranking. Also, it will help you to optimise your website’s server response time and improve your loading speed, significantly impacting the user experience. So, use these techniques and watch your website increase search engine rankings!
Make the right choice and upgrade your website SEO with Web99!
For a free consultation with our team of Search engine ranking specialists, get in touch with us right away. We are available to you every day of the year. Take advantage of the top running deals.
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anakinstwinklebunny · 5 months ago
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ANAKIN SKYWALKER HEADCANONS
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Author's note: this may be.. different
Anakin Skywalker who has an incredible long-term memory but an awful short-term memory. He is the type to remember something from years ago in painstaking detail—like the exact color of your dress the first time he saw you or a specific phrase you once said that made him laugh—but completely forget why he walked into a room five seconds ago.
He’d be so frustrated with himself, too:
«I can rebuild an entire podracer from memory, but I can’t remember where I put my damn lightsaber five minutes ago!»
If you would just tease him about it, his lips would twist into a pout;
“Well, at least I remembered the anniversary of our first kiss.” (Cue him smugly crossing his arms while you roll your eyes.)
Anakin Skywalker who has a diary that he writes in with a glittery gel pen;
He’d sit cross-legged on his bed in the quarters, hunched over the journal with the sparkly pen in hand, writing furiously:
«Mission Log: Obi-Wan still doesn’t get it. He says I’m reckless, but who saved his ass again today? Oh, right, me. Also, y/n smiled at me when I said goodbye, and I’m not saying it means anything, but maybe it does. Anyway, I need a new purple pen—this one’s running out of glitter ink.»
Anakin Skywalker's diary would be filled with doodles of podracers, little hearts around your name, and the occasional rant about sand;
Humming softly, he bent over the page, scrawling your name in his bold, messy handwriting. He frowned, mumbling under his breath about his uneven letters before shrugging it off. Next to your name, he started to doodle little hearts, as if each colorful heart was the show of his affection. Pink, silver, gold—he used every glittery color he had, filling the margin with love-struck decorations.
He paused, tapping the pen against his lips thoughtfully before scribbling, «You’re my favorite everything», right under your name. The ink shimmered in the dim light, catching his eye in a way that made him grin.
He felt ridiculous, like some love-struck teenager, but he didn’t care. This was for you, even if you’d never see it. A quiet, glittery tribute to the person who made the galaxy feel a little less dark.
A soft knock startled him, and his head snapped up, his heart skipping when your voice came through the door.
“Anakin? You still awake?”
Scrambling, he slapped the diary shut and stuffed it under his pillow, cheeks burning as he tried to change his expression into something casual. “Uh, yeah! Just… meditating!”
When the door slid open and you stepped in, his breath hitched. You were in your sleepwear, hair slightly tousled, and that soft smile on your face made him melt. You tilted your head, eyes narrowing playfully.
“Meditating, huh? With glitter on your fingers?”
He looked down, cursing under his breath at the sparkling pink smudge across his thumb. “Uh… yeah, it’s a new technique.”
Anakin Skywalker who has a sketchbook, where he draws A LOT of things. Podraces, you, ships, speeders, random people on the street
Anakin Skywalker who once brought you flowers after a mission;
He trudged through the Jedi Temple’s halls, boots barely making a sound on the polished floor as he fidgets with the bouquet in his hands. Well, bouquet was a generous term. It was more of a sorry-looking cluster of flowers, their once-vibrant petals now limp and pale, some barely clinging to their stems. A petal fluttered to the ground just as he took another step, and he stopped mid-step to glare at it, like he could will it back into place.
He groaned softly, running a hand through his messy curls, smearing a streak of dirt across his cheek. This had seemed like a good idea earlier. Why does everything he does fall apart before it even gets to you? His pout deepened as he plucked out the most shriveled flower, tossing it to the side with a defeated sigh.
Finally, he reached your chambers. Standing outside the door, he took a deep breath, smoothing down his tunic with his free hand and rearranging the flowers one last time. Maybe if he held them at just the right angle, you wouldn’t notice the sorry state they were in.
The door slid open, and there you were, rubbing sleep from your eyes, your expression softening the second you saw him.
“Ani?” you murmured, stepping aside to let him in.
His voice was unusually sheepish as he held out the flowers, eyes darting everywhere but your face.
“I, uh… I picked these for you. On my mission. But, um… they didn’t exactly survive the wait.”
You looked down at the wilted bouquet in his calloused hands, a few petals already scattered on the floor at his boots.
“They’re perfect,” you said softly, reaching for the flowers.
He blinked, pout fading into something almost hopeful. “You don’t have to say that. They look terrible—”
You cut him off with a kiss, lips pressing to his tenderly, hands resting on his chest. He stiffened for half a second before melting into you, his arms wrapping around your waist, the bouquet forgotten as it dangled by his side.
“You’re such a sweetheart,” you whispered against his lips, kissing him again for good measure.
He huffed, but his cheeks were pink, his free hand gently stroking your back. “I just… wanted you to know I was thinking about you. Even while I was out there. I saw them and thought you’d like them.”
“I love them,” you assured him, cradling his face in your hands, thumbs brushing over the dirt smudges on his cheek. “And I love you for bringing them to me, even if it meant walking through the Temple like this in the middle of the night.”
Anakin Skywalker who sneaked out with you to lower levels of coruscant;
As you passed by a flower stall, the vibrant colors caught his attention. He paused, eyes scanning the rows of flowers, before reaching out and plucking two purple blooms—one light lavender, the other a deep, rich violet.
“Perfect,” he murmured to himself, flashing you a smile as he walked back to you, holding the flowers gently.
“Here,” he tucked the lighter lavender flower behind your ear. Fingers lingered on your skin just for a moment, a little touch, a little enough to make your heart skip a beat. You giggled softly, cheeks flushing.
He grinned mischievously, then slid the darker flower into the breast pocket of his jacket. "For me," voice low, teasing.
You stared at him, smile widening as the warmth spread through you. “Now, that’s a perfect match,” you whispered, giggling.
“Mm-hmm,” the grin on his face stretched even wider. You could see the mischief dancing in his eyes, the way his lips curved up as if to say, «this is my favorite moment ever»
“Got it,” you said with a laugh, pressing your hands together like you were taking a picture in the air.
Anakin's face softened for a moment, and then a gleam sparkled in his eyes. “Wait, wait,” he said, holding his hands in front of him like he was about to snap a photo, just like you did. He mimicked your pose, grinning widely “Got it,” he repeated with a smirk.
Anakin Skywalker who as a young baby used to give you flowers from Jedi temple garden;
“This is for you!” he’d chirp, holding the flower up as if it were the most precious gift in the galaxy.
You’d kneel down to his level, heart melting into a puddle at how shyly he’d avert his gaze, cheeks tinged pink. “For me? It’s beautiful, Ani.”
His smile widened, bright enough to rival with the Coruscant sun. “I thought it’d look pretty on you,” he’d mumble before stepping closer, his small fingers fumbling to tuck it behind your ear.
Affection swelled in your chest as his fingers brushed against your skin, before he’d pull back to inspect his handiwork with thoughtful expression. “There,” he’d declare softly, looking utterly pleased with himself.
Your little arms would wrap tightly around his neck, voice muffled against his shoulder. “Thank you, Ani. You’re my favorite Jedi, you know that?”
“You’re my favorite everything.”
Anakin Skywalker who would eat most of your food he'd find in your chambers
Anakin Skywalker who smells like vanilla
Anakin Skywalker who loves when you stroke his back in the morning while he's still sleepy and just nuzzling to his pillow;
Soft, golden glow of the sunrise gently filtered through the curtains in your chambers , casting a gentle illumination across the side of the room. Anakin laid sprawled across the bed, body entangled in sheets. His breathing was slow and steady, tousled curls sticking to his forehead in a mix of shadows cast by the night and the faint morning light. You, propped up on one arm, tenderly stroked his back, fingertips gliding over his skin while time to time pressing gentle kisses to his bare shoulder. The sensation stirred his body slightly, and he shifted beneath your touch, acting like a contented puppy who curled up to enjoy the affection.
his words laced with a lazy, sleepy drawl. "Don’t stop," he murmured, a soft groan escaping his lips with his eyes remaining closed. With a gentle smile, you continued your gentle caresses, tracing small circles across his back, watching him shift and sigh while his muscles relaxed under your touch.
But as you took your hand away to change your position, he stirred once more, rolling onto his side to face you. His eyes were half-lidded and clouded with the remnants of sleep, a soft, pleading expression in his tone. "C'mon... more... please," his hand reaching out towards you, pulling you closer, fingers grazing along the sheets. You let out a soft chuckle, but without hesitation, drew closer to him and your hand shot out to find itself in his curls. With delicate fingers, you ran them through the soft strands, lightly massaging his scalp, causing a small hitch in his breath.
Anakin Skywalker who read tons of books, watched a lot of videos about gardening all to make you proud that he could seed tulips and make them grow
Anakin Skywalker who secretly sips on your coffee, always muttering that «sharing is caring»
Anakin Skywalker who makes «your mom» jokes
Anakin Skywalker who constantly hacks their stats in every video game he plays
Anakin Skywalker who uses the word «fuck» like a comma.
Anakin Skywalker who definitely has a roblox account and even though he's a softie, he bullies some kids there;
He logs in with the most ridiculous username, something like DarthSlayer69, and his avatar is over-the-top—dark cape, glowing red eyes, and a lightsaber accessory. He’s spent way too much time customizing it because, of course, he has to look intimidating.
And then? He enters some innocent game like Adopt Me! or Brookhaven and immediately starts causing mayhem.
"Get off my property, kid," he types in the chat, standing in front of a house he didn’t even buy.
In Tower of Hell, he’d purposely push people off platforms, then type: "Too slow. Guess you weren’t strong enough."
If anyone dared to clap back, he’d go full into fighting back; "Do you know who I am? I’ve fought in wars. You’re just a noob with bad Wi-Fi."
When you walk into the room while he’s cackling at his antics, you took one look at the screen, and roll your eyes.
"Anakin, are you bullying children again?"
"No, angel, I’m teaching them a valuable lesson." He'd say too smugly
Anakin Skywalker who uses two-in-one shampoo and conditioner yet still has the softest hair ever, which obviously makes you mad because you have to use tons of products to make your hair look decent.
Anakin Skywalker who fixes your lightsaber too often;
Anakin leaned back against the workbench, arms crossed over his chest, as he watched you sheepishly place your lightsaber in front of him. His expression was equal parts of amused and exasperated
"Again?" he drawled, raising an eyebrow.
You shrugged, avoiding his gaze as you fiddled with the hem of your tunic. "It... broke."
"It broke," he repeated, tone dripping with mock disbelief. He picked up the hilt, turning it over in his hands like inspecting some troublesome droid. "No, sweetheart, you broke it. What did you do this time? Smash it against a rock? Use it to pry open a door?"
"I didn’t!" you protested, immediately crossing your arms in self-defense. "I was fighting, and—"
"And you lost control," he finished for you, shaking his head with a chuckle. "You know, lightsabers are meant for precision. Not..." He gestured vaguely, as if mimicking you wildly flailing the weapon around.
Your face flushed at that, and you jabbed a finger at him. "Are you going to fix it or just stand there and tease me all day, Master Skywalker?"
At the sound of his full title, he grinned, as if it alone was enough to satisfy his ego. Setting the hilt down on the bench, he reached for his tools. "Oh, I’ll fix it. Like I always do. But you know..." He shot you a sly glance. Uh, oh.."If you keep this up, I’m going to start charging you."
"Charging me?" You blinked, incredulous. "With what? We don’t even use credits in the Order!"
He leaned in closer, smirk deepening. "Not credits, sweetheart. Favors." his eyes roamed down and up your body
Your stomach did a little flip "Favors?"
He nodded, picking up a small tool and starting to carefully disassemble the damaged saber. "Mm-hmm. Maybe you take over my chores for a week. Or you could cook dinner for once instead of ordering ration packs. Or..." He set the tool down and leaned in again, voice dropping to a near-whisper, eyes darting down to your lips. "You could just kiss me every time you break it."
you scoffed "That’s a ridiculous system," you muttered, but you didn’t pull away when he leaned even closer
"Is it?" he murmured, breath warm against your skin. "Seems fair to me. I put in the work, and I get a little reward."
You rolled your eyes but couldn’t stop the grin that spread across your face. "Fine," you relented, leaning in to close the distance between you. Your lips brushed against his in a soft, quick peck, and you felt him smile against you.
When you finally pulled back, he looked far too pleased with himself.
"See?" tone smug. "Much better payment than credits."
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maya1525 · 1 year ago
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Kissing Practice 🍃💨
18+ MDNI
Pairing✩࿐Fem!Reader X Satoru Gojo & Suguru Geto
WARNINGS✩࿐Fem!Reader giving & receiving oral, cream pie, rough fucking, fingering, choking, group sex, cursed technique usage during sex. Substance use, language, smoking, shotgunning.
Word count✩࿐11.3K
BONUS✩࿐Everyone is high out of their minds
Summary✩࿐Young Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto are friends with the other female Jujitsu Sorcerer in their class. The innocent Fem!Reader gets high with both men and accidentally asks if one of them could teach her how to kiss. She ends up getting more than she bargained for.
A/N✩࿐ Here’s my playlist of inspiration✨(sorry Spotifers, I’m a YouTube Premium Girl) This was an idea I had on my mind shortly after watching the first few episodes of season 2. I didn’t plan on it being this long! I hope you enjoy it!
Sex is like a sinful pool of honey, tonight you dipped your toe in to test the waters, but you weren’t able to take your toe out. Instead, the pool of pleasure had a mind of its own and pulled you under. You couldn’t breathe, regardless you didn’t care. You were drowning in it, and your whole body was lost in pure ecstasy. You felt like you hit a revelation within yourself, who knew that sinful acts could be so exhilarating? You felt hyper-aware of your body and you felt even more in tune with yourself. Tonight you will share your soul with Suguru and Satoru, and the three of you will be forever intertwined.
“What’s up Y/n? The za too good for you?” Satoru teased with an annoying smirk, as he playfully poked your cheek. He had caught you midway through spacing out. Your mind whirled trying to muster up a good comeback, but you couldn’t respond quickly enough. “Suguru look at her, she’s completely out of it,” Gojo said to his friend humorously. Now Geto was eyeing you with amusement.
“Roll us another hun, this one’s almost done.” The black-haired man instructed as he handed you a brown paper wrap.
A few previous smoke sessions ago, Suguru admitted that he likes it when you wrap the blunts. So now it’s your job whenever you smoke with them. You don’t mind it though, you like the praise he gives you whenever you wrap a good-looking dart.
You obediently leaned forward on the edge of the couch to reach the coffee table. You began to break the large green clusters down into fine pieces. Pulling the weed nuggets apart with your sharp fingernails. You set the stems off to the side as you added small sage green crumbs to the wrap. You made sure all the little clusters were consistent in size and spaced out evenly on the paper. Even though you guys were almost done smoking the first dart, you felt incredibly buzzed.
“Cat got your tongue, Y/n?” Suguru said as the corner of his mouth tilted upward. “You’ve been quiet for a while.” His voice rang out like smooth honey.
“Mmh, nothing. I’m just high.” You mumbled to yourself without thinking, earning a chuckle from both men.
“Damn, you’re such lightweight Y/n! That’s a knee-slapper.” Satoru wheezed as he leaned over and slapped Geto’s knee aggressively. The two jostled you a bit when they hit each other. Furthermore, their rough horseplay didn’t deter you from finishing up the wrap. You carefully brought the brown rolled-up paper to your mouth and began to lick its edge from left to right. Once it was damp with your saliva you closed the blunt. Holding it delicately in place to keep its shape, it was perfectly symmetrical.
“How’d I do?” You directed your attention to Geto handing him your accomplishment. After breaking the clusters down, your fingers became a sticky crumbly mess - it would feel wasteful to wash it off. You began to lick your weed-covered fingers clean. Out of the corner of your eye, you could feel Gojo watching you intently as you brought your dainty fingers to your lips.
Geto eyed you briefly and then to the blunt with approval, “It looks great Y/n, you did an amazing job.”
“Yeah? You think so?” You beamed up at him; feeling warmth well up in your chest at his praise. Out of everyone you met, his words always seemed to have a great effect on you.
“Of course! You always do it perfectly. Wanna do the honors?” He gave you a sly smile as he handed it back to you. “I’ll light it, hun.” He whispered lowly.
You blushed slightly and nodded, you brought the blunt up to your lips and leaned in close to Suguru. His long slender fingers clasped the lighter and his thumb rolled over the dial, sparking a flame. As he brought the flame close to your face, you felt his left elbow lean against the couch next to your soldier. He was so close to you, that you could feel his warmth coming off of his body. You couldn’t help but notice how amazing he smelt. His scent reminded you of the warmth of fall, with a hint of something mysterious.
Once the end of the dart caught fire you inhaled and sucked on the blunt greedily as the tangy smoke filled your mouth. You swallowed the smoke down into your lungs and handed the wrap to Suguru.
Immediately, you began to cough from the rip you just took, your whole body shook as you felt your lungs twitch with irritation. You heard both men laugh at your feeble attempts to stop, but you had no luck. You felt your cheeks warm up with embarrassment as you covered your face shyly. Your whole body shuttered with each feeble cough that escaped from your lips. “S-stop *cough* laughing at me!” You croaked meekly.
“You’re such a pouty little child. How cute.” Geto chuckled, his attractive laugh echoed in your mind.
“I’m not…” you coughed once more, peaking at him through your hands and throwing your head back against the couch cushions impulsively. The music that played on the TV felt as if it was hitting you in waves. You feel high out of your mind and when you get like this, you notice words are hard to muster up.
“Not cute? Pshh, don’t be such a liar.” Satoru’s voice rang out, you felt his smooth fingers gently pry your hands away from your face to peek at you.
You shifted your attention to Gojo so your body was facing his. You felt your knees touching the side of his thigh. “Aww. So you think I’m cute?”
“Oh come on, don’t give me that shit. You’re hot and you know it. A girl with your type of looks has me confused though,” he paused taking a hit from the blunt, blowing its strong-smelling smoke in your face as you batted your pretty eyelashes up at him. “How do you not have a boyfriend yet? Is there anyone you like?” He coughed after taking that rip, it was a bit too pungent.
You felt your cheeks flush at his words. “Umm, well I can’t tell you that! If I do, it might not come true!” You giggled playfully, poking Satoru’s cheek the same way he poked yours earlier.
The icy-haired man arched a brow at you with amusement, “Not come true? Isn’t that the rule for wishing on stars?”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.” Suguru retorted while he French inhaled; the cloudy smoke rose from his mouth and into his nose in the most captivating manner. “So you going to tell us who this mystery guy is or what?” He teased as a strand of his inky black hair fell to the side of his face.
“I do like someone.” You admitted, now getting both men’s attention. “But I feel too embarrassed to do anything about it.”
“Oh come on, why do you have to be shy? Grow a pair and make a move! It’s easy, I’ll show you!” Satoru chuckled while bringing his face closer to yours, forcing you to look into his hazy ocean-blue eyes. You noticed how easy it was for Satoru to corner you and get you all hot and bothered by his actions. In response, you swatted him away playfully and leaned over to Suguru to take the blunt. You inhaled it, letting the smoke stay in your mouth for a brief moment before letting it exhale through your nose.
Gojo snatched the blunt from you. He inhaled from the dart and blew out three impressive smoke rings. With his cursed technique, he made the rings transform into a three-dimensional sphere. The large smoke bubble floated into the TV and popped, causing the room to get even more foggy.
“Don’t tell me it’s Nanami.” Geto croaked out mid-cough and laugh.
Satoru chuckled, “Man, can you imagine if Y/n and that strait-laced Kento got together?” Gojo addressed Suguru while stealing a glance at you.
“Yeah, she’d have to say goodbye to smoking with us, that’s for sure.” The Suguru responded, but then he shifted his attention back your way. “Why would you feel embarrassed to admit your feelings to him? What type of a guy is he?”
“Well, I’ve never been in a relationship before… and I feel like my lack of experience would be embarrassing.” You muttered bashfully while stealing the blunt back from Gojo. You wanted to avoid their eyes and look busy.
Overanalyzing yourself when you’re high is one of your weaknesses. You felt clouded out of your mind at this point, if only you were sober enough to come up with a good response. It mildly frustrated you, that the feelings you felt were too hard to verbalize. All while it felt like your body was vibing to the beat of the music, as if you were melting into the couch. It began to get hard to focus like an anchor was resting on your soul. Yet at the same time, you also felt like your state of consciousness was elevated to a higher plane of reality.
“That’s such a lame excuse.” Gojo blurted out, snapping you out of your thoughts.
“Hmm, maybe it’s different for girls.” Suguru backed you up. “Some guys find innocent girls hot, I think you’ll be fine.” He winked at you when you glanced over at him. Geto lounged on the couch with his legs spread out and his palm resting on the back of his neck coolly, his warm faded gaze glued on you. The way he presented himself, spurred a random desire within yourself. The irrational thought of you climbing on top of his lap just to see his reaction, crossed your mind.
“So… how innocent are you Y/n?” Satoru eyed you with a cocky grin.
“I’ve um-“ you cut yourself off trying to focus on the correct words to use, “only ever hugged and held hands before. And that’s it.” You muttered, feeling a hot wave of mortification overcome you. You couldn’t believe you just admitted that to them!
“Oh? So you haven’t even kissed anyone?” Suguru asked nonchalantly while his narrowed gaze was fixated on you.
“No, would one of you like to teach me?” You blurted out jokingly, then immediately regretted it. You panicked in your clouded state, normal people don’t joke like that with their friends! How embarrassing, they’re going to turn you down and how will you ever recover? You practically just dug yourself your own grave.
“Yes.”
Both of the men say in union and for a split second, they exchange an irritated glare towards each other.
To your bewilderment, you couldn’t believe that both would like to kiss you. The alarm you felt earlier was immediately replaced with the thrilling feeling of fireworks going off in your brain.
“So which one of us would you want to teach you? I could give you a personal lesson right now Y/n.” Gojo’s seductive voice drew you in as you felt his hot fingertips lightly graze over your left arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
“I-I can’t choose between you two.” You stammered nervously, “Do you think you both could teach me?” You asked, not wanting to hurt either of their feelings.
“At the same time?” Gojo inquired curiously.
“Right now?” Getou asked with a hint of excitement.
You could feel both of the men’s eyes burning holes in you. You noticed they were both sandwiching you on the couch, when did they close in on you? “I’m down to learn right now.” Your mousy voice broke the thick silence in the smoke-filled room.
In a frantic whirl, both men had you situated above one of their thighs. Suguru and Satoru sat side by side so their shoulders touched. You straddled Getou’s left leg and Gojo’s right. The look of anticipation on your face did little to hide your excitement yet overwhelming nervousness.
“Let’s start with something easy hun.” Suguru stated as he eyed you with desire, “I’m going to shotgun smoke into your mouth. You don’t have to worry about kissing yet. Just get used to the feeling of my lips.”
“Aww no fun, I just wanted to dive right in and make out with her,” Satoru whined playfully while turning the volume up on the TV. His blatant interest in you caused you to look down with an adorable blush on your face. “Damn, no need to be so bashful Y/n, you have nothing to worry about,” Gojo responded, reaching up to rest his left hand on your hip. His thumb rubbed comforting circles on you. The bold action stirred up an unfamiliar sensation in your stomach.
“When I press my lips against yours, inhale. Geto instructed while bringing the dart up to his lips. You naturally held your breath with the fluttering sensation of butterflies clouding your emotions.
Suguru’s hooded dark amber eyes glinted toward yours as he gingerly brought your chin closer to his. This was your first kiss and you wanted to memorize everything about it. In your smokey state of consciousness, you felt as if this moment was going in slow motion. As his face got closer to yours he closed his eyes, and you instinctively did the same. His smooth lips ghosted over yours which caused sparks to fly inside of your mind. You parted your lips while he opened his mouth to blow the harsh smoke into yours. You naturally inhaled just like you were supposed to. His lips softly brushed against yours, he delicately kissed your plump lower lip and pulled away. A subtle smile danced across his handsome features, as thin wisps of smoke slithered upward between your faces.
You felt as if your heart was beating a million miles per minute, Suguru handed you the blunt; purposely grazing his fingers against yours in the process. “Now do what I just did to Satoru.”
You brought the blunt up to your lips, inhaled, and held the smoke in your mouth as you shifted your weight onto Gojo’s lap. You gripped his broad shoulders for balance. In return, his hand that was on your hip snaked its way to your lower back, pulling you into him possessively. A surprised gasp came out of you as a sliver of smoke escaped from your lips. Satoru gave a hazed smirk at how easily he could fluster you. He leaned forward and pressed his soft lips against yours. You parted your lips to blow the foggy smoke into his awaiting mouth. You felt him suck the air out of your lungs, causing you to battle him for oxygen. You mustered up the courage to kiss him the way Suguru kissed you. Timidly, you kissed his upper lip as he greedily sucked your lower. You felt his molten tongue barge into your mouth and glide across your tongue. Feeling his tongue for the first time spurred a primal arousal deep inside of you. Not only was your head buzzing, but your lower region buzzed with excitement as well.
Gojo pulled away from your mouth as a small strand of saliva broke that connected your lips. With his free hand, he brought his thumb up to your lower lip to wipe off the little bit of drool. He kept his hot gaze on your lips for a brief moment before you felt Geto’s comforting hand guide your slim waist over to him.
“You’ll kiss her again Satoru. But right now it’s my turn.” Suguru spoke out huskily. He took the blunt from you to take a quick puff before handing it over to Satoru. With his tender grip on your waist, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours. The strong-smelling smoke entered your mouth once more. Your mouth watered at its taste as you sucked it in. This time you made sure to kiss Suguru back while he moved his lips against yours expertly. You hesitantly brought one of your hands to the back of his head and gently tangled your slim fingers in his black cascading locks. As soon as you did that, you felt his hand on your hip glide down to your thigh. He squeezed your plump skin lightly, causing a muffled mewl of surprise to get swallowed by his lips.
The way he kissed you was a little different compared to Gojo’s style. Suguru seemed to focus on sucking and biting. While Satoru was playful and liked to utilize his tongue. You copied the way Geto moved his lips against yours; you alternated between nibbling and sucking his lips gently. You felt a rhythm form between you two the longer you kissed him. You memorized the feeling of his smooth lips and sharp teeth against your lips. You felt a bit more confident in the way you kissed Suguru, so you pulled away with a mischievous smile. You leaned over to kiss Satoru, who was watching you two intensely.
He immediately darted his tongue into your mouth and you greeted it with your own. His tongue wrestled yours for dominance and he easily overpowered you. You mirrored the way Gojo kissed you by using his style against him, which fired him up even more. He felt a bit more desperate with his kisses, while Suguru seemed to be slightly possessive. Being this close to Satoru made you realize how much you desired his scent, he smelt fresh and clean like a summer’s breeze next to a waterfall. You felt Geto lean in close to the two of you and latched his hot mouth onto your exposed neck. A muffled gasp of pleasure escaped from your lips and into Gojo’s mouth.
“Got tired of watching?” Mumbled Satoru cockily as his lips danced across yours for another hot kiss. No one has ever done that to your neck before. Suguru gently smooched your tender skin which caused chills of excitement to run across your body. His molten mouth felt so sensual on your sensitive neck. You suddenly felt so needy, and in your buzzed state, you decided to follow your instincts. You reached up to grab a hold of Getou’s broad shoulder, pulling him closer to you. All while you kissed Gojo, you made sure to tangle your free hand in his white hair. It felt like your body and your energy were colliding and entangling itself with theirs. You were able to sense their intense desire and excitement towards you, which felt like overpowering waves.
Your thoughts were interrupted when Suguru pulled away from your neck. He gently guided your face away from Satoru’s so he could steal some kisses from you. His mouth gently nibbled yours as he moved his lips against yours passionately. Gojo didn’t take it lightly when his dark-haired friend stole you from his grasp. So in return, he leaned forward and began to roughly kiss and suck on your neck. Knowing that he’d leave a few angry red marks. The hand Satoru had on your lower back, snaked its way to the inside part of your upper thigh. The feeling of his hand between your legs activated a wanton desire inside of you. Gojo delicately traced his fingers along your thigh, all the way down to your knee and then up, dangerously close to your center. He tested the waters and snuck his fingers underneath your skirt this time. His hand slid upward to the hem of your underwear but then darted lower to grip your leg firmly. This bold gesture caused your center to fire up with excitement. Suguru picked up on what his friend was doing to you so he brought his hand underneath your skirt too, but higher up of course. He rubbed his thumb in soft circles on your squishy thigh.
Gojo then pulled away from your neck to steal you back from Suguru. In return, Geto gently kissed your neck while he stroked the inside part of your thigh. You moved your mouth against Gojo’s with a sense of urgency now, you wanted them to touch you more. With two mouths working on you, you felt overwhelmed with sensations. Everything felt amplified, because of how high you were. It felt as if you were hyper-aware of every little touch and caress each man did to you. You didn’t want to ask them to take it further, so in your blurred state of consciousness, you felt bold enough to make a move. You hesitantly brought your hand down to Suguru’s firm thigh as you feverishly made out with Gojo. You slowly traced your fingers higher up his leg until you felt a firm bulge in his pants. A sudden wave of nervousness washed over you causing you to freeze.
“Tch, no need to be so nervous Y/n…” Geto purred, he kissed a trail up your neck and whispered in your ear, “I can show you how to touch it if you want.”
“Show me.” You whimpered into Satoru’s mouth as you felt Suguru’s hand caress the top of yours. He guided your hand along his clothed shaft, he felt so hard and girthy. He controlled your hand with a bit more pressure. You heard him inhale sharply as your dainty hand rubbed his length. While you persistently stroked Geto’s growing dick, your mouth battled for dominance against Gojo’s. He wiggled his tongue into your mouth with immeasurable desire. It felt as if the room was on fire with passion, your clothes suddenly felt so restricting. Suguru’s pants seemed to get tighter the more you rubbed on him.
Geto greedily stole your mouth off of Satoru’s to kiss you excitedly. Gojo placed feather-like kisses on your neck and exposed collarbone, and you felt his hand inch it's way higher up your skirt. You sensed Satoru’s hot fingers lightly prodding your pussy lips from the outside of your underwear. The pleasurable sensations drove you wild, you could feel your panties dampen tremendously.
Your curious fingers traced the outline of Suguru’s cock and you were able to feel his bulge twitch when you neared his tip. “Fuck.” Geto hissed out in satisfaction.
“I want to do so much more to her Suguru…” Gojo groaned while giving your neck a heated and sloppy kiss.
“Y/n’s pretty innocent. We don’t want to spoil her if she has her heart set on another guy,” Geto mumbled against your lips.
Gojo hooked his finger into your panties, his finger glided over your slick folds in the process. “Mmh, Satoru!” You moaned quietly as he dipped the tip of his finger into your tight wet hole.
“You’d rather have the guy you like do these things to you, hun, wouldn’t you?” You felt him tug at your lace underwear with his reddish lust-filled eyes. “I don’t think I could hold myself back if we continue. Do you want us to take things further?”
You studied the flirtatious look on Satoru’s face for a brief moment, as you gathered your thoughts. You weren’t sober enough to think this over the way you would’ve liked, but the thought of experiencing more intimate pleasure with these two excited you. Without meaning to; you lightly squeezed Geto’s penis, causing his alluring dark eyes to light up as he flashed you a killer smirk. You felt Satoru’s fingertips sweetly stroke your pussy lips and a small needy whimper escaped your lips. “I-mmh.” Another sweet moan interrupted your sentence when you felt his finger gently rub over your clit.
You looked over at Geto whose dark eyes had a mischievous glint in them. “What is it dear?” Suguru teased with a sly smile on his handsome face.
“I want- ahh.” This time Satoru pressed on your clit with a bit more pressure, causing sparks of ecstasy to bubble up inside of you for a split second. Both Geto and Gojo were extremely turned on by your sexy little sighs and gasps of delight. They both wanted to make you feel good. Yet, the greedier side of their personalities wanted to claim you as theirs and deflower you, before you ended up with the guy you liked.
You removed your hand from Suguru’s bulge and ghosted your fingers over the button on his pants, you looked up at him for permission. “Teach me how to be a good girlfriend-“ You got cut off with a feverish kiss from Suguru, and you felt his hand grip your ass firmly. You pulled away to finish your sentence, but when you did Gojo sneakily pressed his lips onto yours, as his fingers teased your dampening pussy lips. “Don’t hold back.” You said almost innocently with a sweet smile on your pretty face.
“If that’s what you want, then unbutton our pants dear,” Suguru instructed, while bringing the blunt up to his lips.
“Fuck.” Satoru growled as he leaned forward to give you a heated kiss, he deliberately grabbed your hands and led them down to the tent in his pants. “Unbutton mine first.” He murmured urgently into your mouth. Excitement rose inside of you. You obediently did what he ordered and your nimble fingers worked at freeing his dick from its confines. Once his zipper went down, the bulge in his boxers seemed to grow even more. Like a delightful present just for you. You felt the heat coming off of his hidden shaft. You looked up to see Gojo giving you a buzzed smile with the blunt in between his lips. “Go on, take it out to play.” His blue eyes looked at you with a burning passion in the dark hotboxed room.
Without thinking you lowered his gray boxers down to see his large and lengthy dick spring free. Your mouth instinctively watered at the sight of his delicious-looking cock. Even though it looked heavy, it surprised you with how it stood up on its own. Before you could reach out and touch it, Geto guided your hands over to his crotch. You knew what he wanted and undid his restraints as well. Within seconds his elongated dick stood up proudly like Gojo’s. Both men’s cocks were quite similar in length, but Suguru’s leaned a little to the left and Satoru’s to the right.
It looked like both of their horny rods were pointed toward you. They wanted you just as bad as you wanted them. You softly placed your left hand on Geto’s dick and your right hand on Gojo’s. Their smooth girths felt hot to the touch, both men naturally bucked their hips into your soft hands. This entire situation felt completely taboo and that turned you on tremendously. Your curious hands examined each man's shaft. Your fingertips felt every vein on their velvety dicks. It intrigued you when they would occasionally twitch in your hands.
Satoru put his hand over yours and pumped your smaller hand at a quick pace. “Can you keep this up, babe?” You got the idea and nodded when he removed his hand from yours. You jerked off each man in union. You loved how they would quietly groan to themselves in pleasure while you jacked them. Both men watched you with delight, and out of the corner of your eye, you could see Gojo handing the blunt over to Geto.
You suddenly felt a small amount of hot slick wetness drip down onto your right hand. Satoru’s tip had leaked a bit of precum. You wiped your thumb over the head of his dick to watch more clear liquid ooze out. You looked over to Suguru’s tip, to see that he had a small droplet of milky white cum rolling down the side of his penis too.
“Get on your knees.” Geto’s smooth voice interrupted your ogling, so you did what you were told. Now that you were at eye level with both men’s rods, it made you realize how much larger they actually were. “Lick my tip, sweetheart,” Suguru instructed while inhaling on the blunt. He blew the delicious-smelling smoke down onto you, as you brought your face closer to his upright cock.
His dick practically loomed over your face with its impressive length. You made sure to keep pumping Gojo’s length as you brought your pert lips to Suguru’s clean-scented shaft. Your mouth water with anticipation. You brought your heated gaze to Geto’s, while your molten tongue gingerly licked his tip.
Geto hissed out in pleasure when he felt your slick tongue glide across the head of his cock. Pride welled up in his chest knowing that his dick is the first one you put your mouth on.
Once your tongue came in contact with his precum the taste reminded you of tears. You licked his entire tip and worked your way lower down, so he was coated in your drool. His shiny penis reflected the light that came off of the tv in the dark smoke-filled room. You were about to put him inside of your mouth when Satoru guided your head over to his needy dick.
“Suck me.” Satoru hummed softly while affectionately tangling his fingers in your hair. You lowered your mouth down to the tip of his hot cock. You made sure to pump Geto in your left hand, he was so slippery from your saliva. Jerking him off was effortless and you were able to glide your hand along his shaft quickly. You gently beckoned Satoru into your mouth with your sultry tongue. You were able to feel his dick throb against the roof of your mouth. You naturally wanted to make Satoru feel good, and you forced yourself to take him towards the back of your throat. Panic set in quickly when it became hard to breathe. Your throat instinctively squeezed the head of Gojo’s cock as you gagged on him.
“Easy babe…” Satoru groaned out sexily, vigorously enjoying your enthusiasm, “You don’t have to choke yourself. Take your time getting used to having a dick in your mouth.” He purred, just his voice alone made you dampen in your underwear.
You moved your mouth higher up his dick to focus on sucking his tip. You swirled your tongue around him curiously, he let out a pleasured exhale. “Mmh… yeah. Do that again.” He muttered as his brilliant blue eyes looked down at you with heated ratification. Suguru handed him the blunt and Satoru drew a greedy breath from the slowly shrinking dart. You swiveled your tongue around his sensitive tip while maintaining eye contact with him. Smoke flared from his nose as the tip of his tongue grazed over his top row of teeth with satisfaction.
You mustered up a bit more courage to take more of him into your mouth. This time you tried to calm your breathing as you alternated between sucking and moving your tongue along his shaft. He was much too big to fit in your mouth entirely, so you placed your right hand on the base of his shaft. “Can you move your head up and down Y/n?” Satoru instructed. You obliged, as you bobbed your head on his girthy cock. You found it easier to get used to having him deep in your throat with your quick movements.
With more confidence in having a dick in your mouth, you switched over to Geto’s erect cock. You licked his tip lovingly before engulfing him in your wet mouth. Suguru relished in the slick warmth your mouth provided. You sucked his tip and slowly worked your way down to his base. Feeling him that deep in your throat caused you to gag slightly, this was a tough feeling that you would have to get used to. You pushed the choking feeling aside, you wanted to make Geto feel good too. You held him there for a brief moment while he sweetly tangled his fingers in your hair.
“You’re doing so good, keep it up.” He cooed huskily; you felt your eyes well up with tears from the mild suffocation. Suguru couldn’t help but admire the way you looked as you struggled to have him in your throat. You felt his penis pulse inside of you, causing you to make a small muffled cough. Your time on his dick was cut short, “I think it’s time we advance this lesson a bit further.” He groaned out in pleasure as you sucked him like a straw. He reluctantly moved you off of his dick.
“Get undressed for us?” Satoru purred, his statement was more of an order than a suggestion.
You stood in front of both men as you unbuttoned your blouse. You could feel their eyes watching you intensely. Once you slipped your shirt off, you let your skirt pool down to your feet. There you were; standing before Gojo and Geto partially naked, yet entirely aroused. They admired your sexy bra and skimpy underwear. Your body looked so appetizing for the men, you felt like a rabbit on display for a pair of starved wolves.
With Gojo’s six eyes, he could sense how wet you already were. Suddenly, you became weightless and floated in the air. A surprised squeak escaped your lips, as you tried to comprehend what was happening. You felt your body direct itself without command and positioned above Gojo’s lap. A dashing smirk flashed across his face and within seconds he expertly pushed your panties to the side and placed his slippery dick against your entrance.
“Is this what you want?” He teased with a cocky laugh.
Feeling his dick against your needy opening sent waves of excitement rushing through your veins. You felt Gojo’s technique release and gravity pulled you down further onto his hot and ready dick. The tip had barely inserted itself into you causing discomfort at the stretch. Your knees dug into the couch on either side of him, and you hovered above him to prevent more of his meaty cock to penetrate you.
Geto picked up on your displeasure, “Slow down Satoru, she’s a virgin. Perhaps we should prepare her a bit more thoroughly.”
“Mmh, don’t be such a wet blanket Suguru. I was only teasing her.” Gojo chimed as he pushed his pelvis upwards, forcing about an inch of his dick to invade you.
“Ahh!” You whined at the stinging ache between your legs. Even though the pain was prominent, you couldn’t help but get aroused at such a close feeling with Satoru.
Gojo’s blue eyes began to glow, indicating his technique was at play. Your body floated off of his lap and upward. Your legs spread apart without your control, your left leg rested on Geto’s right shoulder and your right leg went over Gojo’s left. You felt your cheeks heat up in this vulnerable position.
Now both men were between your legs with a lustful look in their faded eyes. You could feel your pussy buzz with excitement. Suguru took the initiative and slid your panties to the side; exposing your pretty pink pussy. Your lips are slick with arousal, causing both men’s mouths to water. They couldn’t wait to try a taste. “Is it ok if we touch you down here?” Suguru hummed as he ghosted his index finger across your folds. Earning a needy sound to come from the back of your throat.
You nodded desperately, “please.”
Geto maintained his focused gaze on your red-hot cunt. He faintly traced the folds of your slippery lips with his pointer and index fingers. Gojo brought his hand to the inside of your thigh and lightly massaged the sensitive crook between your legs. His skilled fingers rubbing your crease, made you realize how sensitive you were there. You unintentionally squirmed underneath his hand. Small whimpers of delight escaped your lips when he massaged a bit deeper into your thigh. All while Suguru’s ghostly touches drove you up a wall, you wanted him to touch you so much more.
The burning passion these two men made you feel, felt incredibly intense. In your buzzed state, every touch they did to you felt amazing. Even though the teasing only just began you couldn’t stand it. Your entire body craved for more. As if Geto could hear your thoughts he lowered his mouth down onto your pussy. Before he came in contact with you, his dark eyes met yours, “You want me to eat you?” You felt his hot breath waft over your sensitive core.
“Mmh-hmm.” You mewed with excitement, the anticipation burned you up.
With his warm gaze fixated on yours, you saw the corner of his mouth tilt upward, “I’ll eat you only with one condition.” Suguru paused, almost drooling over your appetizing snack. “Who’s this guy you like?”
You felt your face heat up, “why do you wanna know-ahh!” Suguru slid his hot tongue up your pussy causing a delectable sensation to overcome your train of thought.
“Sorry couldn’t help myself,” Geto gave a mischievous smirk as he pulled a couple of inches away from your desperate cunt. “I only ask, because what Satoru and I are about to do to you… will cause you to lose interest in any other man you thought you liked.” Suguru stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Do you think you’ll still like him, after this?” Gojo asked while snaking his hand to your ass, gently squeezing your squishy flesh.
Their words slightly confused you. The way Geto phrased his statement and how Gojo asked that question; you couldn’t help but think that they might have deeper feelings for you. Otherwise, why worry about what you feel and who you like? You suddenly realized what tremendous power you had over them. “Mmh, I’ll tell you later.” You looked down at the men between your legs with a newfound confidence you didn’t know you had. “Also can you pass the blunt?” You flashed them a heart-stopping smile, rendering both Satoru and Suguru speechless.
“Here babe,” Satoru floated the blunt up to your lips with a tempting look in his hooded eyes. You inhaled as the smoke-filled your senses. Once you exhaled, the blunt sailed back down to Satoru’s lips. It was all so clear now, you felt like a queen atop her throne, looking down at her peasants. You felt it in your soul that both Gojo and Geto had deeper intentions for you, and the thought of that made your ego skyrocket.
With that being said, Suguru leaned forward and plunged his sneaky tongue inside of you. Pleasure shook you to your core and you instinctively clenched around him. He twirled his tongue around inside of you as his nose brushed against your clit deliciously. He retracted his tongue and smooched your clit hungrily, gently sucking and swiveling around your delicate bud in the process. His hot mouth drove you wild and amazing pleasure clouded your senses.
Satoru grew impatient even though Suguru had just started to devour you. Therefore, he leaned forward and began to kiss and suck on the inside parts of your thighs. While his kisses trailed up and down your leg, you felt his hand roughly fondle your ass.
Suguru focused on pleasuring your clit, he sweetly sucked on your sensitive bundle of nerves, which made you writhe around in delight. Small cute gasps escaped your lips while he snacked on you. You felt one of his long fingers gently prod your damp opening. Geto felt his dick rage upwards upon feeling your wet readiness.
“Can I finger you?” Suguru asked you sweetly. You looked down to see his handsome face at your core. The way his dark narrowed eyes locked with yours, and how his long hair messily fell in front of his face. Made you feel incredibly needy between your legs. It’s as if he had some sort of enchantment over you.
“Yes, but be gentle.” You blushed shyly while enjoying the way Gojo was massaging your plump ass cheeks. Satoru gave you a devilish sneer while he snaked the hand that was on your ass to your upper back. He expertly undid your bra with one hand, and your tits bounced free. Both Gojo and Geto eyed your breasts as if they were the most wondrous things they’d ever laid their eyes on.
Suguru then rested his mouth back onto your clit as he gingerly inserted the tip of his index finger inside of you. He went in ever so slowly until he was knuckles deep. Despite trying to relax, you couldn’t help but tense up at the stretch inside of you.
“It’s ok baby…” Suguru mumbled onto your clit, the vibrations from his voice felt scrumptious on your cunt. “Just relax. It’ll feel better soon.” He cooed as he gradually slid his finger out of you and it felt you could breathe again. But the time of having his finger out of you was short-lived when he stuck it back in lazily. This time the pain wasn’t as prominent, it helped that Geto was softly sucking your clit in the process.
Suguru knew that he’d have to prepare you thoroughly until the time came for you to take his and Satoru’s dick. The way your walls clenched around his finger, made his cock leak more precum down his shaft. He made sure to be extra careful with your virgin pussy when he started to pump his index finger into you at a quicker pace. As his plunging finger increased in speed you couldn’t help but feel excited. The ache of pain was still there, but you were able to move past that point. Now the natural sensation of pleasure was becoming more prominent.
“How does it feel?” Geto asked while giving your pussy sloppy kisses.
“It feels better.” You sighed, now being able to relax onto his mouth and hand a bit more easily.
“Good. Satoru, care to join me?” Suguru asked while taking his mouth off of your core, his lips were shiny from the mixture of your arousal and his saliva. Gojo perked his head up from off your thighs, you glanced down to see the masterpiece of hickeys he left on your thigh.
Satoru brought his right hand up to your face, “Suck ‘em.” He ordered and you obediently obliged. His pointer and index fingers invaded your mouth. You greeted his digits with your tongue as you sucked them off graciously. He playfully lodged his fingers down your throat, and to your surprise, you took them without a problem. Earning a pleased smile from the white-haired man. Once his fingers were well coated with your saliva, he removed them from your mouth. He placed his index finger at your entrance, right next to Geto’s.
“Ready?” Suguru asked you with a genuine smile.
You nodded anxiously, and with that, both men simultaneously inserted their pointer fingers inside of you. The stretch was more noticeable than Suguru’s single finger, which caused slight unpleasantness. However, the pain vanished once you started to focus on the erotic feeling have having both men finger you. You leaned back in the air to get more comfortable. You felt yourself saturate onto their pumping fingers, the extra lubricant helped them set into a faster rhythm. Small sighs of satisfaction escaped from your mouth once they sped up.
“Shit, she’s so wet.” Groaned Satoru as he shoved his finger into you extra deep, earning a sultry whine to come from you.
“Mmm, you like it when it goes deep?” Gojo muttered while deliberately pumping his finger into you while Geto pulled his finger out. This new sensation of their fingers repeatedly plowing into you, made you clench around them needily.
Geto’s finger in. Gojo’s finger out. Gojo’s finger in. Geto’s finger out. This rhythmic pattern collided into your core forcefully. You felt entirely euphoric at the overwhelming pleasure.
You felt Suguru’s free hand reach up to lightly caress your breasts. His fingers focused on your erect nipples as he teased and played with them. Satoru brought up his other hand to stroke your clit. He rubbed it around in little circles, causing you to become an overstimulated mewling mess. Having both men worship you felt incredibly sensual. Even though experiencing pleasure with more than one person is considered taboo, this entire situation felt entirely perfect.
“I need to taste her,” Gojo grunted as he removed his hands from your privates. Suguru leaned over to kiss your thigh, giving his friend a chance to eat you. Gojo didn’t pass up on the opportunity and dove right into you. He hungrily snacked on your dripping cunt, you felt his tongue slither along your lips. You tasted heavenly to him, he slurped up your wet arousal. He had a wicked tongue and plunged it into you at an incredibly fast speed. He flicked his tongue up inside of you, which caused more sparks of electricity to run through your veins. “Oh! Satoru!” You whimpered out. What had he just done?
You felt him smile cockily against your privates, “you like that?” He mumbled while keeping his blue glowing eyes locked with yours.
“Mhh-hmm.” You affirmed nodding your head. He zapped his tongue over that spot inside of you briefly, but then he teasingly pulled away. Earning an annoyed glare from you. “Keep going.” You whined, giving him your best pleading look.
“Oh?” Gojo hummed, as he gave your slippery cunt a ravishing kiss. “I think I want to hear you moan my name a couple more times before I do.”
“You’re arrogant Satoru.” Geto chided while leaving loving hickeys on your left thigh, mirroring Gojo’s.
“Shut the fuck up, and don’t be jealous when Y/n cums on my face instead of yours.” Satoru snarked as he plunged his tongue back into your pussy. He scooped his tongue inside of you, loving the way you’d squirm under his mouth.
“Mmh-Satoru…” You moaned when you felt him reach that delectable spot inside of you. He used a bit more force, which roused more pleasure within your core. “Gojo, please-“ he pounded his tongue against your G-spot relentlessly. You instinctively tried to close your thighs together, but both men between your legs prevented that. You had no idea that having Gojo eat you would feel so… incredible. Like a flash of lightning, you felt yourself release onto Satoru’s greedy tongue. He drank you enthusiastically while stroking his lengthy rod.
Suguru forcefully moved Satoru away from your core so he could steal a taste of your delicious nectar. His hot and skilled tongue easily slipped into your cunt. He slurped what was left of you and then he grabbed your waist and pulled you down into his lap.
“I can’t take it anymore, I need to be in her now.” Growled Suguru, as he positioned your petite body down to his raging dick.
Your body rejected his actions and hovered over to Satoru’s lap, “Who decided that you’d take her virginity? I want to.” Gojo retorted with an arched brow, as his iridescent eyes glowed blue. He possessively wrapped his arms around you.
Geto directed his attention towards you and gave you a heated kiss. “You want me to do it? Or him?” You could taste yourself on his lips.
Due to how buzzed and turned on you were, it honestly didn’t matter who did the deed at this point. “Someone just fuck me now. Flip a damn coin if you guys want.” Your soft voice spoke out in the steamy hotboxed room.
“Good idea.” Satoru purred, as he dug in his pocket to pull out a shiny silver coin. “If it’s heads I get to take her virginity, but you get to finish in her. If it’s tails you take her virginity and I get to cum in her.” Gojo exclaimed, then handing the coin over to you. “Care to do the honors babe?” He gently nibbled on the crook of your neck, earning delightful shivers to crawl up your spine.
You took the coin from Satoru’s large palm and flicked it with your thumb. It shot into the air vertically and you caught it with your right hand. You opened your palm to reveal, heads.
Satoru gave your waist a celebratory squeeze, “That’s what I thought.”
“Don’t get carried away Satoru,” Geto advised, rolling his eyes with a wry smile. He decided to prepare himself another blunt since he wouldn’t be enjoying you at the moment.
Gojo knew exactly what position he wanted you to be in when you took his dick for the first time. He shimmied his pants and boxers off, while simultaneously taking his shirt off. You felt his skilled hands then pull your wet underwear off and down your legs. He turned you around in his lap so you straddled him, like the way he had you before. You couldn’t help but admire his lean and toned body. You felt him rub the head of his cock against your slick entrance. However, instead of shoving it in like you were anticipating, he crashed his lips against yours feverishly. You kissed him back eagerly and held onto his broad shoulders for balance. His tongue tangled with yours passionately, all while you felt him slowly inch the head of his dick inside of you. This time it wasn’t as painful, probably because you got fingered thoroughly.
Excitement overcame your senses while the two of you made out, your needy little pussy wanted to feel more of Gojo’s long rod. Therefore, you lowered yourself a bit further down onto his sprung dick. Satoru gasped with surprise when you took the initiative, he was exceptionally pleased, to say the least. You felt his infamous smile against your lips as his left hand gripped your plump ass firmly. He was about two inches inside of you. Now you were able to feel the slight sting of being stretched. You pushed the feeling aside and felt confident enough to take more. Your breath hitched, and it felt like the room was getting hotter. You glanced over at Geto who eyed you seductively with the blunt between his lips. He was watching you two with a lustful expression as he lazily jacked himself.
“Anxious aren’t we?” Gojo hummed, enjoying the snug squeeze that surrounded the upper part of his cock. With his other hand, he gripped your waist a bit more securely and forcefully brought the rest of his length inside of you. Pain struck you like a slap to the face, he was much too big for you. You tried to cry out in discomfort but no sound came out. As a reaction to the strain, you dug your nails into his shoulders. Knowing you’ll leave little crescent marks behind.
“She’s so fucking tight.” Satoru hissed out in pleasure, fully relishing in your comforting tightness. His lips collided with yours, he made sure to not move in you just yet. He brought his face over to your ear and whispered, “How are you holding up? Does it hurt?” He said almost tauntingly, his shimmering blue eyes looked at you friskily.
“You’re too big.” You mewled pathetically; as soon as those words left your mouth you felt his dick twitch up inside you. Earning a small whimper to come from your throat.
“Oh, dear. Regretting the consequences of your actions? Want me to stop?” He cooed with fake sympathy while giving your neck some love bites.
Your cheeks blushed, “N-no…” You murmured, “I want to go through with this.”
“Good girl.” Satoru hummed in the crook of your neck. He then pulled away to study the desperate look on your face. “No need to be insecure, you just need a little time to… adjust.” He lifted your waist so his cock exited your body. The second his shaft was out of you, you felt so empty. He then brought you back down onto his dick swiftly, filling you up completely.
This time you let out a pain and pleasure mixed moan. Gojo repeated the action to you again, you noticed he entered your pussy much easier this time. He set into a rhythm of pulling out entirely, and then sliding back into you. Each thrust was more pleasurable than the last, you felt yourself instinctually moisten around his intruding cock.
“Mmh, you’re getting so wet for me.” Satoru groaned softly, “I bet you couldn’t get this wet for the guy you like.” Gojo sneered while bullying his rod inside of you with a bit more force. This time you both moaned out in delight.
“Why should it matter if I like another guy? I’m having sex with you aren’t I?” You retorted breathlessly with slight annoyance.
“Oh, so should I feel honored that you’re letting me dick you down? Must mean you like me or something.” Satoru grinned at you cockily with a playful glint in his eyes.
You blushed, “What, no...” You gasped and tried to look away shyly. In response, Satoru gripped your throat roughly and angled your jaw so you looked at him. When he wrapped his hand around your neck, you couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling. Your pussy subconsciously squeezed his dick inside of you.
Satoru felt that and smirked at you knowingly through his clouded gaze, “What’s his name?” Without warning, picked up the pace and began to rapidly bounce you onto his elongated dick. He watched the look on your face change into one of pure bliss as he fucked you ruthlessly. “Is it me?” His cock ramming into you persistently made it hard for you to focus. “Or Suguru?”
“N-no. I don’t want to tell you. Mmh… Satoru!” Having him fuck you so vigorously made you go dumb with pleasure.
“Tell me.” Gojo eyed you, while he shoved his length into your wet heat. Loud moans escaped your lips as his heavenly dick claimed your pussy.
“Mmh! So good….” Was all you could muster up, while he pounded you with ease.
“Tell me,” Satoru repeated himself with a hint of strain in his voice. The grip he had on your throat tightened as he bounced you on his shaft with impressive speed.
“Yes! Keep… going.” You whined out wantonly, you could feel your walls clench around his rod with appreciation.
“Only if you tell me,” Gojo grunted, his pumping dick became erratic as he chased after his sick pleasure. The thought of fucking you in front of his friend boosted his ego tenfold. He was in love with your sexy moans. Especially the way your slick and tight pussy felt, you took his dick so perfectly. He didn’t care if he made it obvious that he had deeper feelings for you. He knew if he fucked you good enough, you’d have no choice but fall for him. He’ll make you forget that other guy you liked.
The incredible ecstasy Satoru made you feel caused uncontrollable tears of desire to spill from your eyes. Never in your life have you felt such amazing euphoria. You could feel your release boiling to the surface.
“You cryin’?” Satoru mocked, while he relentlessly hammered his elongated dick up inside of you. “So it must be me then, huh?” He grunted with a smug look on his face. His white hair fell messily in his reddened eyes. Knowing that he had you crying because of his cock made pride well up in his chest.
All you could do in response was shake your head ‘no’. You didn’t want Satoru to know the truth, especially if he got it out of you in such a lewd manner. When you planned on confronting your feelings, you didn’t expect the truth to come out through a brutal fucking.
“Perhaps let me have a try? I think I can get the truth out of her.” Suguru spoke out, reminding you that he was still watching the both of you.
“Go ahead. I’m about to cum anyways.” Gojo traded you for the blunt that was in Geto’s fingers. He floated you off of his glorious dick without hesitation and directed your body over to Geto. You immediately missed the way Satoru was fucking you, but you were also looking forward to having Suguru inside of you.
Suguru reached up to embrace you on his lap sweetly. You noticed that he was still fully clothed. You hastily tugged at the hem of his shirt. He got the idea and popped his top off with a dashing smirk. You couldn’t help but blatantly admire his muscular physique.
Speaking your thoughts a quiet “fuck me.” Came from under your breath.
Geto was also cherishing your small naked body hovering over his, “You’re so impatient.” He eyed you while the corner of his mouth tilted upward. “If that’s what you want-” Suguru then lunged forward with you scooped up in his arms. He swiftly laid you down on the couch and situated himself between your thighs. “Then that’s what you’ll get.” Without warning he shoved his long and eager cock inside of your hot cunt.
The overwhelming feeling of being filled up made you arch your back in delight. “Oh! Yes!” You cried out in satisfaction.
Suguru groaned softly in your ear, you felt so slick and inviting for him. “You feel amazing.” He then gave the shell of your ear a tantalizing kiss.
Due to how saturated and horny you were, Geto didn’t have to hold back or wait for you to get used to his dick. He gently guided your legs over his shoulders and plowed into you furiously. His toned hips slapped against your smooth thighs, causing clapping sounds to fill the room. You two fit so well together, it’s as if your body was made for his.
“Shit, Satoru got you so fucking wet.” He hissed under his breath. Suguru never looked so handsome; the way his sultry narrowed eyes looked down at you with approval made you wetter if that was even possible. His long hair fell in front of his face to form a cascading curtain that shielded you from Satoru’s hungry gaze. Suguru surrounded you, his entire being dominated your senses, and you felt high off his glorious presence.
“It’s me isn’t it?” Geto muttered while bringing his hand down to your clit. He rubbed fast circles over your sensitive bud, making you writhe underneath him in delight.
“Oh! Suguru!” You whimpered out, the combination of his pumping rod inside of you and his teasing fingers made your pussy squelch him deliciously. Geto couldn’t help but let out a small groan of pleasure in return.
“I’m the guy you like, aren’t I?” He murmured while increasing his speed. You weren’t able to look away or avoid his gaze, so you closed your eyes and focused on his perfect dick. “Look at me,” Geto commanded as he slowed his thrusts down into sloppy ones. "Tell me you're mine."
With his speed dying down, it brought you back to reality. “I'm yours! Now, fuck me Suguru!” You whined, desperately moving your hips against his, yearning for more friction.
“I am.” He winked down at you with a devilish grin. He set into a steady rhythm of shoving his lengthy cock inside of you nice and deep. Even though his thrusts were prolonged, he still had so much power behind each one. Your whole body shook every time he came back into you.
You were able to hear the gushy slick sound of his dick entering and exiting from your cunt. If someone were to walk by the dorm’s door, they would know what exactly was going on. Those lewd noises filled the room along with the smoke from Satoru’s blunt.
“Satoru, her mouth looks like empty. Better come fill it.” Geto stated in a matter-of-fact tone, as he leaned back onto his knees. You immediately missed the closeness of having Suguru on top of you. But having Suguru pump into you at this angle was quite enjoyable. He kept your legs resting on his shoulders as he pounded into you vigorously.
Satoru got to his knees next to your head and brought his girth to your lips. “Open up dear,” Gojo asked almost sweetly, he gently placed his hands on your head and guided the head of his cock to your mouth. You opened for him and sucked his tip, you felt him push more of his length into your mouth. Soon enough he was down your throat while you choked on him. You did your best to calm your breath, but it seemed difficult. Especially when Suguru would ram into you forcefully, causing your whole body to move. Each thrust from Getou would make Gojo’s dick jostle in your throat roughly. It felt too suffocating, yet so arousing at the same time.
Gojo was much too big for you, and it didn’t help when you would feel his tip twitch down your throat with delight. “Keep it there. Just like that.” He groaned softly while eyeing you with ratification.
Geto’s thrusts began to get more erotic. He pumped his hips against the back of your thighs, causing loud slaps to echo through the room. His lengthy cock rammed into you persistently, you soon realized that you liked getting fucked rough. It felt extremely heavenly each time he slid back into you. You became breathless as he plowed into you rabidly.
You looked so ravishing in Suguru’s eyes, you took his dick excellently, all while deep-throating Gojo. He knew that you were on the verge of release, and wanted to make sure you came together. Yet, another side of him wanted to make things a little more interesting.
“If you cum within ten thrusts you gotta tell us who you like.“ Suguru instructed while admiring the way your breasts would bounce each time he plowed into you.
“Anh-m. I dnh-“ you tried to say through Gojo’s meaty dick. Satoru pulled his cock out of your comfortable throat, so the tip of his penis rested against your lips. His rod was slick with your saliva. “And if I don’t?” You flashed Geto a playful smile.
“Daring aren’t you? Trust me, you will.” Suguru chuckled, “But if you happen not to, then we can drop the question. And you can pick our punishment. Deal?”
“D-“ Satoru cut you off while he impatiently shoved his dick back in your throat. He loved the way he could see the outline of his penis in your neck.
“Sorry hun, but if you don’t swallow all my cum, then you’ll owe me another round at my place.” Satoru winked down at you flirtatiously.
“Mmh-hmm.” You hummed with agreement. Gojo then leaned forward to grab a hold of one of your nipples to tease.
“Okay let’s start the countdown.” Suguru stated with a hazed look in his eyes, “Ten…” He slammed his cock into your dripping cunt deliciously, causing you to moan onto Gojo’s dick shamelessly.
“Nine…” Suguru’s long fingers swiveled over your clit briskly, while he kissed your right ankle that was resting on his broad shoulder.
“Eight…” Geto’s thrusts were quick and decisive, making your pussy squelch him with an intense neediness.
“Seven…” He grunted out, Suguru was on the verge of release but he knew he could wait it out until you came first.
“Six…” Satoru’s left hand gripped your hair tightly, while his other hand was big enough to fondle both of your nipples at once; sending waves of delight to your core.
“Five…” Gojo fucked your throat with a sense of urgency now, he was getting close and couldn’t wait to feed you.
“Four…” Geto’s dick hit your G-spot with intense precision and your walls fluttered around him with ecstasy.
“Three…” So close, you were so close you were able to see stars. The stimulation from Suguru’s plunging dick and Gojo’s teasing fingers, made mewls of pleasure come from your throat and around Satoru’s girth.
“Two��” You couldn’t take it anymore, the way Suguru pounded against your sensitive spot relentlessly sent you over the edge and you drenched his cock in your release. You held nothing back and unleashed the waterfall that you held within you.
“One…” Geto groaned out, as he filled you to the brim with his seed. You were able to feel him shoot his massive load up against your cervix, knowing that it would reach your womb in no time.
“Shit… get ready to drink it all babe,” Satoru growled out while plunging his shaft down your throat one last time. His thrusting hips came to a stop as a copious amount of his juice filled your mouth. You felt his hot liquid squirt down your throat sporadically. You did your best to swallow it all, but his seed filled your mouth faster than you could drink. Small strands of his milky white cum slid out from the corners of your lips and down your chin quickly.
“Aww too bad, you were so close,” Geto uttered breathlessly, as he slowly pulled his length from your drenched cunt. He couldn’t help but watch in pride as his cum mixed with your release flooded out of your pussy like a burst dam. You felt it run down your bubbly ass cheeks and onto the couch cushions below you.
Satoru gingerly removed his softening cock from your mouth, his time well spent. “It looks like you owe me a round two back at my place.” He smirked down at you as he wiped some of his cum off of your chin with his thumb. He brought his finger to your mouth and you obediently licked it clean. His gaze was full of pride and approval. The redness in his eyes was less prominent, meaning he must be sobering up already.
“I look forward to it.” You eyed him briefly while hunching up on your elbows. Even though you lost both bets you felt as if you were on cloud nine.
“So do you still have feelings for that guy?” Suguru asked inquisitively, as he helped you sit up on the couch.
You couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, “Yeah, I do.”
A flash of disappointment flickered in Satoru’s eyes, “even after that?” His voice sounded slightly insecure.
“As you said, I’ve lost interest in other men.” You glanced toward Getou’s warm gaze, then you shifted your sight over to Satoru, whose blue eyes glinted towards yours.
“So you like Suguru and I?” Gojo eyed you curiously.
You nodded hesitantly, “Yeah, the ‘guy’ I like is you two.” You nervously glanced between them both. “You’re not planning on using me, right?” You asked trying to hide the wavering in your voice.
“Of course not,” Satoru was quick to answer, “the truth is, shortly after getting to know you I admitted to Suguru that I wanted to be more than just friends with you. And he thought the same.”
Your heartbeat increased, “really?” Your mousy voice was barely audible.
“So I proposed an ultimatum,” Suguru replied, “because we both had deeper intentions with you… I felt like it would be fair if you decided which one of us you wanted to pursue. And we weren’t allowed to straight up ask you out or make a move on you, unless you did first.”
You let out a small laugh, “wow you two might’ve had to wait forever because of how timid I can be.”
Suguru chuckled and gripped your thigh softly, “Yeah, good thing we got you high enough to ask us how to kiss.”
“That’s right! All of this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t ask.” Satoru smirked while draping his arm over your shoulders comfortably.
You gave both men your gorgeous smile, “So as long as I can say I belong to you both, do what you want with me.”
Surugu leaned down to press his lips against yours, “You should’ve asked us how to kiss sooner.”
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fayes-fics · 6 months ago
Text
To All, A Good Night
Parings: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader, Anthony Bridgerton x fem!reader (threesome), modern AU
Summary: 'Twas the night before Christmas at Bridgerton House, and many things are stirring...
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Warnings: 18+ smut, minors DNI, MMF threesome, no incest. Dom/sub dynamics, brat taming, spanking, mild restraint, dirty talk, voyeurism/exhibitionism, vaginal fingering, masturbation, edging, vaginal sex, handjob, hair pulling, verbal degradation, orgasms, creampie, aftercare.
Word Count: 3.5k
Author's Note: Happy Holidays, everyone! Have a filthy Christmas threesome. This is a sequel to Driven To Distraction, which I've been meaning to write for over a year. Best to read that first if you haven't already. This immediately follows that eventful car ride. Thanks to @colettebronte for being an awesome beta. Enjoy! <3
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As Benedict pulls the car up outside their impressive London family home, all you can think is that it looks beautiful, the foliage clinging to its handsome facade bedecked with lights. 
It’s also the last place you expected to be tonight: a spirited spat with Anthony turning into something else entirely on your journey to London, with Benedict as an eager voyeur. Now, here you are with both Bridgerton boys—a flutter behind your ribs as to what awaits you behind those imposing doors.
Anthony rounds to your side of the car and chivalrously opens the door, offering a hand to help you out as Benedict retrieves the night bag you stopped at your place to grab from the boot of the car. Anthony doesn't let go as you walk up the steps to the front door.
“Welcome to Bridgerton House, y/n,” he smiles, entering a code onto a glowing keypad as the door silently pops open, revealing a grand hallway decorated so festively. 
“This is beautiful,” you gasp, the hallways almost fully lit just by the huge twinkling tree and lighted garlands hanging from every rail.
“I think we should all have a nightcap, don't you?” Benedict offers smoothly, a warm hand landing on your lower back.
“Excellent idea, brother,” Anthony concurs, offering an elbow for you to take and leading you down a corridor from the grand hallway.
You are swept into a wood-panelled games room, a large billiards table taking centre stage, a bar across one side of the room and collections of wingback leather chairs arranged in clusters. Another Christmas tree makes the room glow. You wonder idly if they have a tree in every room.
“Your very own private club,” you jest lightly, impressed.
“Indeed,” Anthony chirps, releasing your hand to round behind the bar and grab an expensive whiskey bottle from one of the glass shelves. Benedict slides closer behind you as you watch Anthony pour out three generous helpings.
“No one really comes in here except the two of us and Colin,” Benedict assures. “And Colin is off in South America on his travels.”
“So this is a private space. Devoid of interruptions?” you smirk, leaning backwards into his warm body, unmistakable in your intentions, his hand curling possessively around your hip. You doubt anyone else is awake in the house anyway, seeing as it’s almost 2am on Christmas Day.
“Very much so,” Benedict rumbles, lips ghosting the shell of your ear.
You all grab a glass each and raise them in a silent toast. The caramel smoke of the drink is exceptional as it slides over your tongue.
“A game?” Anthony suggests, gesturing to the table.
“I'm terrible at it, but sure,” you shrug, thinking it an excellent excuse to have both teach you the correct technique, ideally close up.
“We will help,” Benedict chuckles as if he knows where your thoughts have slid before releasing his hold on you and moving to set up the table.
Within a few minutes, you have had both men instructing you. But you are not paying a jot of attention to their guidance, just enjoying the warm, solid press of their bodies as you line up each shot. It's Benedict’s second turn assisting you when Anthony throws out a statement that kicks things up a notch:
“I meant what I said in the car...” his words echoing into the crystal glass he sips from.
Anthony’s offer for you to fuck his brother while he watches rings in your mind as Benedict's hand slides over yours, guiding your placement. 
“I just have one other condition,” Anthony appends, his stare intensifying.
“What’s that brother?” Benedict queries, his breath warm on your shoulder as you retract the cue from the ball, aiming as best you can.
“You fuck her right here, over this table,” Anthony breezes, making you miss the shot entirely, the ball spiralling way off to the left.
“That was sabotage,” you decry, even as molten heat settles low in your stomach at the very thought. 
“Think of it as a Christmas gift for me,” Anthony quips, ignoring your indignation.
Benedict is still leaning over you, even though there is no reason for him still to be there, the warmth of his torso seeping through his shirt. You watch as Anthony stands, picks up his cue and bends over the billiards table directly opposite you to assess his shot. 
“I warn you though, brother, this one is a handful,” he advises coolly, looking at Benedict over your shoulder as you stare at Anthony’s mouth, wanting to kiss him so bad your lips tingle. “You saw how she was in the car. She is a brat who needs to be brought into line. Isn't that right?” he taunts, snapping his gaze to you.
“Only to you, Bridgerton,” you challenge, your heart quickening as he raises an eyebrow. “If your brother is nice to me, I’ll be a good girl. Just for him,” you goad, a craving to push both of their buttons, tilting your pelvis a fraction into Benedict’s, an insistent swelling brushing your bum.
“But what if I'm not inclined to be nice either?” Benedict queries dangerously, his teeth grazing your earlobe. A depth charge of lust as you realise they are cut from a similar cloth.
“Then I’ll rebel against you too,” you murmur, stuttering as the hand on your hip suddenly slides over the round of your buttock and yanks up your dress, exposing your flesh and scrap of underwear to the air of the room.
“Will you now?” he dares, fingers swirling promisingly on your bare bottom.
Anthony chuckles again, seemingly uncaring he cannot take his shot with you still bent over the table, Benedict bearing you down onto the slightly ticklish green felt.
“Most certainly,” you vow, twisting to look coquettish over your shoulder, your core burning hot already.
He grabs your jaw so your mouths almost touch, and there is a sharp, stinging slap to your bottom cheek. It makes you moan over his lips, adding to the inferno between your legs.
“Behave,” Benedict warns in a tone that makes you want to slide to your knees before him.
“Never,” you challenge, your lips hovering on his, as out of the corner of your eye, you see Anthony withdraw, abandoning his cue, the game apparently over. He rearranges a chair to face you directly. 
Well, he did say he wanted to watch…
“Her safeword is pineapple,” Anthony calls out nonchalantly as he settles into the wingback. “But she never uses it,” he smirks, the leather creaking slightly as he shifts his hips.
Benedict huffs a bemused noise over your lips; you taste the warmth of the whiskey on his breath.
“Kiss me,” you murmur.
There is another stinging slap to your bare bum, and again you groan.
“Only good girls get kisses,” Benedict teases, his chest rumbling against you. “Earn it.”
“How?”
He slides the billiards cue from your grip, standing upright.
“Hands behind your back.”
You follow the clipped order immediately, your chin resting on the felt. The cool, polished wood of the cue is fed between the crook of your elbows and your ribs, essentially pinning you down.
“If this moves, I stop,” his warning portentously, your stomach suddenly roaring with butterflies, on tenterhooks about what he might do.
He kneels behind you, large hands rounding your hips, tugging at your underwear, easing it over the globes of your bottom until it pooled around your heels. His breath is warm on your thighs as he taps your ankle to make you widen your stance, and then large hands pull your cheeks apart. You clench with excitement. To have one Bridgerton brother eat you out in an evening was wonderful; to have two seems miraculous. But instead, two long fingers trail down your slit and, with a force that robs your breath, hook into your leaking pussy. He groans as your walls cling hot and wet around his knuckles as he pumps in a rocking motion, his teeth grazing your bum.
“Come silently, then you earn a kiss,” he commands, and his fingers graze a spot inside that makes you want to scream, dragging harshly, making every hair on the nape of your neck stand on end.
Fuck, he knows precisely what he is doing too.
Your eyes lock with Anthony’s, who smirks at you across the room—making a show of toying with his straining fly. You want to kneel between his splayed legs and pull the metal tab open with your damn teeth. 
Benedict’s fingers are merciless inside you, the air filling with wet, cloying suction sounds. Your hands flex, pinned in place, needing something to grasp onto, toes scrunching into the satin footbed of your strappy heels. Wanting to call out, moan, or make any kind of noise but knowing it’s forbidden. Instead, you curl your lips under your teeth and whimper as silently as you can to the onslaught.
‘Say my name,’ Anthony mouths exaggeratedly, as his zip relents and his cock springs forth. Your eyes ping greedily between his fist, which starts to pump his cock lazily, and his face.
You know what this is. Even as his younger brother is taking you apart, he wants you to call out his name—a fraternal competition that just adds a delicious thread of tension. You shake your head, not wanting to break Benedict’s silence rule, needing to come.
‘Who is the best you’ve had?’ Anthony pushes the topic, mouthing slowly, overenunciating even though no sound comes out, his face arrogantly handsome, a bead of precum glistening on his knuckles.
‘Bridgerton,’ you mouth in return, just as Benedict twists his fingers, and your eyes roll, face planting into the felt, uncaring of the drool escaping the corner of your mouth as you fight the urge to scream. His thumb swipes between your cheeks and begins to massage your other hole. Not pushing in, just a circular surface motion that makes you shiver; it feels so good.
Benedict laughs richly as his little finger spears forward and catches your clit. You can't help it; you scream into your mouth, so much overlapping sensation at once, your thighs shaking, your body tensing, so close to breaking.
“You’re close now, aren’t you?” Benedict smugly assesses, his fingers moving so fast inside you, and you nod enthusiastically, your forehead rubbing harshly over the baize.
As you begin to circle that blissful edge, lungs and clit burning, he withdraws and stands up behind you. You can sense his victorious, lopsided smile as he looks down on you, writhing and squealing behind your teeth, the frustration of being denied at the last minute too much.
“Oh, you’re right, brother,” he sounds winded, “she’s glorious.”
You know your face is flushed and your eyes wild as you try to twist and look pleadingly at him to do something, anything, to nudge you over the edge.
“Shh shhh,” he hushes your quaking, moving to one side of the table but placing a firm hand on your lumbar, your skin dewy under the sequin dress gathered there. You stop moving but twist your neck to pout up at him, a trickle running down your inner thigh as you do.
A long, elegant pointer finger, scented heavily with your arousal, traces your chin and then lips.
“Don't pretend this isn’t exactly what you want,” Benedict withers, dripping with conceit.
“Please,” you mewl.
“Oh dear, you spoke before you came,” Benedict gloats. “No kiss for you, my girl.”
“I don’t care, just please let me come,” you plead, the cue a solid yoke across your back as you note Anthony, still idly pumping himself, in the periphery of your vision.
“How have you not married this one?” Benedict calls casually to Anthony, but he doesn’t turn to look at his older brother, his gaze holding yours blisteringly. “I would have her tied willingly to my bed all day.”
Your insides flip at the very thought. 
“She’s too wild to be a Viscountess,” Anthony responds laconically, cock still in hand.
Benedict’s thumb rubs around your ear, almost petting you like a cat. And you lean into his touch, desperate to do anything that will compel him between your thighs again.
“Hmmm, true,” Benedict hums, and you cry out as his other hand slaps your bottom. “Luckily for me,” he crows victorious and rounds out of sight again. 
You writhe in excitement as you hear the sound of a zipper being pulled down behind you, a thronging need to be thoroughly fucked.
Your eyes meet Anthony’s, and he twists his mouth into a bemused pout as you cry out with the force Benedict ploughs into you with one forceful thrust. He’s just as sizeable as you recall Anthony being: split open in just the same way, your channel clinging to him. 
Benedict curses and holds still. “Exquisite…” he groans, then his hands roughly grasp the cue looped into the crook of your arms, and he immediately withdraws and snaps back in. Your whole body rolling with the force of it, your hips slamming into the wood edge of the table. 
“Fuck her so hard she can’t walk,” Anthony growls through gritted teeth, making you tilt your head up to see him roughly tugging on his cock now.
“It’ll be my pleasure,” Benedict grunts, spearing into you again, the smooth wood cue rolling over your skin as he uses it as leverage.
You cannot look away from the sight of Anthony’s cock, red and angry, leaking over his knuckles as he tugs himself almost violently. A vein in his neck pulsing in sync with his motions.
Benedict bears his weight onto you and changes angle, glancing that place deep inside that few are able to reach, but when they do, it has you babbling nonsense. Panting ragged, begging words you’d never admit to, if not strung out on a vicious tide of hormones
“What was that?” Benedict menaces, looming close to hear your hoarse, desperate words.
“Please make my pussy yours…” You repeat in a whisper, throwing your head back to look up at the underside of his string jaw, eyes rolling, tongue feeling thick in your mouth. 
Benedict curses, and his hands grab the dip of your waist, clutching so strong you squeak, your forehead lolling back down onto the felt.
“I fucking will,” he growls, his chin pressing into a notch high on your spine. “Look at him while I destroy you…” he gruffs hotly into your skin. You do as commanded: tilting up to stare at Anthony as your body is slammed over and over, silently telegraphing that he now has to raise the bar next time he fucks you. 
As if he picks up on your provocation, Anthony rapidly jumps to his feet, stalking up to you, his rigid cock bobbing out of his fly as he does, still otherwise fully clothed in shirt and trousers. He pulls up beside you, the hand that was wrapped around himself sliding into your hair and grasping, a touch rough. 
“Release one of her hands,” Anthony barks. “One cock isn’t enough for this greedy slut…”
As with earlier in the car, that derogatory term - something you’d slap anyone for calling you usually - just rockets you higher in this context. Aglow with the idea you have both of them utterly feral for you now.
Benedict manhandles your arm that’s nearest his brother out from under the cue, and instantly Anthony grabs your wrist, guiding your hand to his cock, his other hand still holding your hair, your cheekbone pressed into the green felt.
“We will all come together, do you hear me?” Anthony instructs in a non-negotiable tone.
“Yes sir…” you demure, loving the feel of his heated, girth pulse in your palm as you say it.
“Lord,” he clips, “you can call him Sir…” he nods towards Benedict, not looking away from you for a second.
“Yes, Lord,” you correct, tongue sliding into your cheek and defiantly cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Fucking brat,” Anthony scolds, but it's breathy and commendatory; a little groan as you squeeze him, a bead of precum wetting your thumb as you swipe his head.
One of Benedict’s hands releases its vice grip on your waist and slaps your buttcheek so acutely you stutter an involuntary moan, the wind knocked out of your lungs temporarily.
“I want to tame this one in a hundred ways…” he grits out.
“And she’d love every single one, wouldn’t you?” Anthony prompts, his eyes wordlessly ordering you to respond.
“I’d like that, sir,” you enthuse, craning to look back at Benedict even with Anthony’s grip on your scalp.
“Fucking hell…” Benedict gusts, his cock rippling in response to your words, and you can tell he is getting close, his punishing pace wavering a touch as he closes his eyes and tilts to look up at the ceiling, needing to look away to last a little longer, his strong neck bulging as he swallows heavily.
“Come inside me,” you incite, needing him in your thrall. For him to paw at your skin, leave finger marks on your hips, handprints on your bum.
He tilts to look down at you, eyes ablaze. “I will. And you will take it all,” he warns, low and savage.
You nod, and your hand squeezes around Anthony’s cock, jerking him roughly towards his peak too.
“Please give it to me,” you entreat to both of them, burying your face into the table, pushing your hips as much as you can into Benedict’s pelvis, a febrile quake in your entire being, so strung out and close to ecstasy for the second time tonight. 
He is ruthless, almost brutal now, his steely tip glancing at your hilt with every deep thrust he takes, your toes lifting off the ground. Anthony’s hands slide to your shoulder blades and press your breast into the table harshly, nipples abraded by the sequins of your dress. Your mind supplies images of how things could be: you naked for days as they make you orgasm so often you feel detached from reality. Countless hours of visceral bliss, one debauched moment bleeding into another.
“Whatever you are thinking about, we need to hear it,” Benedict stutters out. “Your pussy is a fucking vice of fire right now… fuck!!” He exclaims, and you sense he is at the point of no return. 
His thrusts become erratic, and he unhooks the billiards cue from around your remaining arm, tossing it aside and grabbing your hand, lacing your fingers with his and hovering over your back, hot mouth open on your neck as he almost howls. He suddenly stills, then pulses deep within you. A warmth coating your walls that sends you over the edge, following him, your hand spasming around Anthony’s cock in time with the ripples of your pussy, floating away blissfully just as Anthony yells out, an arc of cum shooting across the table, landing in a glistening steak across the green felt.
For a few beats, there is nothing but heavy breaths; Benedict slumped over you. Anthony bent forward over the table, grasping the edge.
“Fucking hell…” he stumbles out, both you and Benedict puffing in agreement. 
You whimper as Benedict slides out of you, a slick of juices down your legs, your folds puffy and tender from his thorough treatment. A delicious ache you know you will still carry tomorrow.
“I guess you’ll need this rebaized…” Benedict remarks drolly, nodding to the table, and you all share a giggle. 
Tenderly, they both help you back up to standing, rearranging your dress and righting their own clothing, then pulling you into a sandwiched embrace. Soothing hands run over your form, one brother kissing your cheek, the other your shoulder. The room bathed in the soft, warm glow of the Christmas tree, the scent of the spruce pine needles and smokey whiskey competing with the smell of sex lingering around you.
“Thank you for our most wondrous gift,” Benedict plaudits sweetly. 
“I can’t think of a better present that simultaneously orgasms,” you admit wryly, snuggling into them, enjoying the way their chests vibrate against yours as they both laugh.
Anthony cups your face, drawing your attention to him wholly. “You will stay, won’t you? For Christmas Day?” His tone is so hopeful it melts something behind your ribs.
“Yes,” you confirm quietly. 
“I know you and I may play-act as if we are foes, but you are quite the most captivating, singular woman I have met.” His sincere tone is laden with respect and admiration. “And I do believe my brother now feels the same.”
Benedict turns you around so you face him in the joint hug, “Like you wouldn’t believe...” he murmurs fervently, his hazy eyes shining.
“So I hope you don’t mind having two Bridgertons devoted to your pleasure,” Anthony breathes, nuzzling your hair as you finally kiss Benedict for the first time—a sweet denouement to this thrilling evening.
What a Merry Christmas indeed. 
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masterlist • wips • taglist (follow this blog to be tagged)
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Benedict and Anthony taglist pt 1 : @makaylan @longingintheuniverse @iboopedyournose @colettebronte @aintnuthinbutahounddog @severewobblerlightdragon @writergirl-2001 @heeyyyou @enichole445 @enchantedbytomandhenry @ambitionspassionscoffee @chaoticcalzoneranchsports @nikaprincessofkattegat @baebee35 @crowleysqueenofhell @queenofmean14 @fiction-is-life @lilacbeesworld @broooookiecrisp @queen-of-the-misfit-toys @eleanor-bradstreet @divaanya @musicismyoxygen84 @miindfucked @sorryallonsy @cayt0123 @hottytoddyhistory @elizah99 @fictionalmenloversblog @debheart @zinzysstuff @malpalgalz @amanda08319 @panhoeofmanyfandoms @kinokomoonshine @causeimissu @delehosies @m-rae23 @last-sheep @kmc1989 @ferns-fics @corpseoftrees-queen @magical-spit @bunnyweasley23 @vane28282 @how-many-stars-in-the-sky @kisskissshutmydoor @hanji-emo-blog @y0ur-favgerman @sya-skies
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Lights divider by @/saradika [x]
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teshadraws · 2 months ago
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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul
[Chapter 70]
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AO3 Link
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Nia, Tobias, Samir and Junie meet a few new faces--and one old acquaintance--in the village atop the mountains, and focus on recuperating before their search for Yveltal continues.
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Nia feels dizzy with relief as they’re taken to the village. She tightens her arms around the neck of the lucario who’s carrying her, grateful that they’re doing most of the work of holding her and Junie up.
Junie is quiet where she’s nestled in the crook of Nia’s neck, surely just as exhausted as the rest of them, so Nia closes her eyes as the moonlit snow of the mountainside rushes by at an incredible speed, wind whistling against her ears with each impressive leap through the air. The lucario are beyond agile.
Lucario—Nia’s evolved form. She’s sure she’ll have a million questions for them once she doesn’t feel like a lump of a person anymore.
Could Nia make leaps like this one day, if she stayed in this world long enough to evolve? She’s pretty sure she could already manage the snowshoe technique they’re using with a little practice, and she’s weirdly proud that she thought of something similar during the avalanche, spiking her aura through her snowshoes to cling to the ice like cleats.
The lucario leap and bound silently, though, gracefully navigating the mountainside in a way that Nia knows she would struggle with. They move as a seamless group, like a school of fish, and Nia wonders if they’re using aura to communicate rather than words, or if they’re just that well-trained. She could probably use her own aura to find out, but she can tell her energy is low after holding back the avalanche.
Plus, some part of her suspects that would be rude. Like eavesdropping.
So Nia stays quiet and keeps her aura to herself, despite the way she can feel other auras brushing by hers on occasion, gone too fast for her to decipher what they’re feeling.
Time passes in a surreal blur, both endless and instant. Finally, Nia notices the lucario beneath her slowing down, and she lifts her head to see that they’re cresting a snowy ridge, light glowing from beyond its lip. And when they reach the top, Nia can see its source.
The village. It’s tucked away inside the shallow bowl of a valley, the slopes surrounding it too gentle for an avalanche to form. The buildings themselves are made from stone and wood, low to the ground with steeply pointed, snow-covered roofs. Thick ice crawls up the foundations of the buildings and hang as icicles from the edges of their roofs like delicate adornments, glistening with firelight from the torches outside nearly every home. Through the cracks in windows and doors, Nia can see more firelight beckoning with its golden glow.
Nia doesn’t think she’s ever seen a more inviting sight in her life. She’s so ready to be warm.
The lucario who rescued them cluster together as they enter the village proper, the leader striding forward with purpose and a destination clearly in mind.
Since night has already fallen, it seems like most of the villagers are already tucked away inside their homes, but there are still a couple of Pokemon out and about, nearly all of them species Nia hasn’t seen before. Ice types, most likely.
There’s a giant polar bear with icicles growing on his face like a beard, a basket full of some kind of vegetable or root sitting on his hip. A tiny blue and white bear cub with a dripping nose toddles after him.
A large white yeti Pokemon with an afro-like snowball atop his head pushes a sleigh of crates across the snow with his powerful arms. He passes by them with a quiet word of greeting to the lucario and a wary glance at Nia and the others.
A pale blue dinosaur Pokemon with a build similar to Maggie and a lovely sunset-toned frill atop her head watches them curiously from her house’s window.
Nia can’t manage more than a tired smile when she meets each of their gazes, but they don’t seem all that excited to see strangers. Fidel did say they’d be seen as outsiders, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t have a warm reception, even if some part of Nia can’t help feeling a bit hurt when they don’t return her friendliness. She tries not to take it personally.
“The Matriarch will want to speak with you right away,” the lead lucario says, catching Nia’s attention. It’s clear from how he says it that it’s an order, and not an offer.
“What about Fidel and Samir?” Nia asks, looking back at the zoroark’s limp form being carried between two of the lucario. “They’re both hurt.”
The lead lucario glances over his shoulder at Fidel, then looks forward again. Wordlessly, the two lucario carrying Fidel peel off to take the zoroark elsewhere.
“Hey!” Tobias barks. “Where are they—"
“The healer. Is your injury urgent, Skiddo?”
Nia glances back again to see Samir shake their head no, which Nia knows better than to fight against even if they really should get their leg looked at sooner rather than later.
Nia wishes they could rest before having to explain everything, but the lucario ahead of them is all business and strides through the small village at a quick pace, his tall ears pricked. She doesn’t think he’d agree to dropping them off somewhere for food and sleep before accomplishing what he has set out to do.
Luckily, it’s only a couple of minutes before Nia sees their destination. It’s a building larger than the others, and the ice at its base is much taller than the other clusters in the village, surrounding the structure like a fancy crystalline frame. A small set of stairs leads up to thick wooden doors, and the lead lucario opens them without hesitation, the others following him inside.
The lead lucario guides them down a surprisingly ornate front hall decorated with rugs on the floor, tapestries along the walls, and shelves and side tables displaying beautiful stones and gems. It’s dim, the wooden interior warm but not well-lit, and Nia barely has a chance to look around before they’re reaching the end of the hall and turning to enter a smaller room.
The new space is surprisingly cozy, almost like a den. It’s dim, lit by the flicker of a fireplace, but it’s just as well decorated as the front hall. Tapestries cover the walls in geometric patterns and abstract depictions of Pokemon, mountains, and plants. More stones and gems sit atop shelves and bookcases, glinting in the firelight. And in front of the fireplace, sitting atop a plush rug, are two tall chairs.
The lead lucario guides their group around the chairs, the pack gently setting them down onto their own shaky feet. Nia shudders as the heat of the fire hits her back; the warmth is both incredibly welcome and somehow too hot after being exposed to the frigid air outside. She watches over Samir’s head as most of the lucario exit the room, save for the leader who guided them here.
A new Pokemon catches Nia’s attention next, sitting in front of them in one of the high-backed chairs. She’s sipping from a stone mug with her eyes closed, but Nia’s gut swoops with surprise and lingering guilt as she realizes the Pokemon looks like Ezra. She has a similar shade of sleek, dark blue fur and a gleam of gold at her forehead. And around her mug, the impressive claws of Ezra’s evolutionary line are curled. The only differences are that she’s larger than Nia’s friend, and her striking red ears are held much lower beneath a tall, proud crown of feathers. Maybe she’s the sneasel line’s evolution?
The second thing Nia notices are the barely visible streaks of gray around her face, marking her age. A thin, patterned shawl also rests around her shoulders. She must be on the older side, but there’s something about the confident, leisurely way she holds herself that makes Nia feel like she’s still a force to be reckoned with.
“Matriarch,” the lead lucario says, bowing respectfully.
Nia hurries to bow as well, clamping a hand over Junie when the bird nearly falls off her shoulder.
“Soren,” the Matriarch says in return, voice wry. She opens sharp, cat-like eyes to look over Nia and the others. “So you’re the mites that set off the avalanche? You and that zoroark.”
The lucario, Soren, answers for them with a nod. He must’ve used his aura to let her know that ahead of time.
“Interesting that there’s a riolu among you,” the Matriarch comments, looking at Nia with idle curiosity. “It’s rare for riolu to separate from the packs, isn’t it?”
Nia exchanges an uncertain look with Tobias and Samir. What does she say to that?
“She’s human,” Soren answers, his tone unreadable.
Nia’s head whips over to stare at him. Soren stares back with piercing blue eyes.
There’s no way he should know that, so…he must’ve picked that up from her aura, even if Nia’s never noticed much of a difference between a Pokemon’s aura and a human’s aura. But she knows he’s been paying careful attention to hers ever since they met. Even now, she can feel his energy—a deep, almost royal blue color—brushing near hers, not quite looking at her feelings or thoughts but almost…encircling her. Guarding her aura and preparing to counter if she uses it in some way.
She doesn’t like the claustrophobic feeling.
Nia swallows down a note of fear. Okay, so they know she’s human. They still rescued them and brought them to the village, so even if Soren’s guarded stare isn’t her favorite thing in the world, they aren’t immediately freaking out about her humanity.
The Matriarch sips at her drink, watching. Waiting.
“I-I am human,” Nia admits. “My name is Nia. These are my friends—my teammates. Tobias, Samir, and Junie.” She gestures to each of them in turn. “The zoroark is our friend Fidel.”
The Matriarch glances at Soren, then back to them. “You four seem relatively unscathed for how injured the zoroark is.”
Nia winces, fresh guilt clogging her throat. “I used my aura to protect us, but Fidel was scouting ahead. I…I couldn’t reach him in time.”
The aura surrounding Nia’s tightens for a moment. Nia feels a flicker of Soren’s emotions.
Suspicion. Unease.
Just as quickly as they arrived, the emotions distance themselves.
“You held back the avalanche by yourself?” The Matriarch asks, tone neutral.
Nia nods.
Soren continues to stare at Nia, frowning. “You also knew that we were approaching you on the mountainside. And what our intentions were.”
Nia frowns back at him. Should…she not have been able to do that? “Yes..? I felt your aura searching for ours. That you were looking for survivors to bring back to the village.”
The lucario doesn’t respond, though the furrow in his brow deepens slightly.
“I suppose the next question is why you were trying to climb the mountain in the first place,” the Matriarch says, finishing her drink and setting it onto the side table with a quiet clunk of stone on wood. “Not many venture this way, and for good reason. You would’ve been dead by morning without the pack’s goodwill.”
Nia swallows, nodding. “W-We know.” She glances at Soren. “Thank you again.”
Soren doesn’t respond.
Beside her, Tobias steps forward. “We were sent here on a mission by Augustus, the Lexym guildmaster.”
The Matriarch straightens in her seat, clearly recognizing the name of the rillaboom.
“We’re looking into the world’s instability and suspect we might know the cause of it,” Tobias continues. “And we’re trying to figure out how to fix it before it’s too late.”
The Matriarch hums. “Is that so? A noble aim. And what could the mountain offer you in such an endeavor?”
Tobias glances at Nia and Samir. Nia nods.
“We want to explore the mountains to see if we can find evidence of Yveltal sleeping nearby.”
Though the Matriarch and lucario don’t visibly react, something in the air—in their aura—grows heavy. Cautious.
“We’re actually trying to find Xerneas,” Nia clarifies, a little frantic. “But we thought since they usually sleep so close to each other, we could narrow down the search if we could confirm Yveltal’s resting place first.”
“Yveltal’s location has been lost to time,” the Matriarch says. The light of the fire flickers across her face, giving her an eerie look. “What leads your search here?”
“The barren landscape, for one,” Tobias says.
“A-And the crystals,” Nia adds. Soren and the Matriarch lock their gazes onto her. “We ran into a researcher on a mission a couple weeks back, and he said he was coming here to investigate some strange crystal formations. Carnelian the sableye?”
The Matriarch sits back, her eyes narrowing. Quietly, almost too low to hear, she says something to Soren. For a moment, Nia thinks she’s just too tired to understand the jumble of words, until Soren answers back with something equally incomprehensible.
Oh. That’s…a different language. It’s a consonant-heavy tongue, and some of the sounds are entirely unfamiliar to Nia, throaty as they are. Nia thought that whatever allowed her to understand and speak Ordirune—the most common language in this world—just translated all languages, but apparently not. Nia glances at Junie, still perched on her shoulder, but the rookidee looks just as lost as Nia feels. Tobias and Samir seem equally out of the loop, their shoulders tense and brows furrowed.
Huh. She’d put the whole language translation thing on the backburner, but this makes her curious again. If there are multiple languages in this world, then doesn’t that mean Nia should still be able to speak plain English? Or…will her tongue always twist it into Ordirune?
She hopes not. Something about losing her native language entirely makes her feel…sad.
Finally, the Matriarch turns back to them. “If Augustus sent you, then he surely sent a letter to vouch for you, yes?”
“He did,” Tobias confirms, grimacing. “But we lost our pack in the avalanche. Our items were wiped.”
The Matriarch sighs, rubbing at her forehead with her knuckles. “Of course. In that case, I will need to have Soren check your aura.”
Tobias and Samir both lean away, visibly uncomfortable.
“Why?” Junie asks, suspicious.
“To verify that you’re honest about your intentions,” the Matriarch explains. “If we have any knowledge regarding Yveltal, I will not risk that kind of power falling into the wrong hands.”
Nia supposes that makes sense, but…
She glances again at Tobias and Samir and their tense postures. They clearly hate the idea of a stranger they don’t trust reading their aura.
“Could you just check mine?” Nia asks, taking a step closer to Soren. “Tobias and Samir are private people.”
“You can check mine too!” Junie chirps.
Tobias starts to protest behind them, but apparently thinks better of it as he falls silent.
“Will that work?” Nia asks.
Soren seems unhappy with the compromise, but maybe that’s just how his face always looks because he only hesitates for a moment before nodding. Then, he closes his eyes and holds out a paw in front of Nia and Junie.
And then, all at once, the aura that had been skimming around Nia's engulfs her. It's heavy, and it doesn’t hesitate before carding through her aura with purpose, digging between her ribs and pulling at her soul like taffy as it searches for something in particular.
It feels so…intrusive. Nia desperately hopes this isn’t what it’s like when she reads someone’s aura. She always tries to be gentle when she does it, turning their soul over in her hands like a delicate turtleshell to read the patterns and scars on its surface.
Soren’s aura feels like a pat down, like someone physically digging their fingers through her brain, clinically pulling away her thoughts layer by layer without care. It doesn’t hurt, per se, but it does feel deeply uncomfortable.
“Stop!”
Soren homes in on a particular chain of emotions, pulling at them to read the train of thought attached. A moment later, she realizes it’s about their mission. She glimpses the vague storm of feelings attached to the memories: the desperation, hope, and fear of learning about this world’s destruction and all that would come with it. And following that, their desperate plan to fix it and Nia’s burning desire to succeed. Her hope to save everyone in this world and her own.
“I said stop!”
Tobias?
Suddenly, blessedly, Soren’s aura retreats. It feels like fighting her way out of twisted, too-hot blankets. Like a gasp of fresh, cool air.
Nia’s legs nearly give out as she comes back to herself. Tobias’ arm is looped around her back as a steadying heat, though, and Samir is pressed close on her other side, the two of them the only things keeping her from collapsing into a heap of shaky limbs. Junie trembles against Nia’s neck.
“What were you doing to them?” Tobias snarls. “I’ve seen Nia do that with a hundred ‘mon and they’ve never looked like that!”
Soren’s blue eyes focus on Nia, narrowing. “You have read others’ aura?”
Nia nods, rubbing her hands over her arms and giving herself a shake.
“She’s done it with me and it never felt like that,” Junie snaps, making them all look at her. She’s glaring up at Soren despite the way she shakes. “Dude, I-I don’t even understand what you just did, but even I can tell it was super rude!”
The Matriarch snorts. “Soren, it seems your bedside manner continues to lack.”
“It was the most efficient method of verifying their claims,” Soren protests.
“Well maybe don’t pick the most efficient method if it’s going to suck!” Junie yells.
“Did you at least find an answer?” the Matriarch asks.
“I did,” Soren confirms. “They’re telling the truth.”
The Matriarch nods, satisfied. Then she looks back to them. “In that case, I apologize for the cold welcome you’ve received so far. We’re always wary of outsiders, but particularly when they come asking after such dangerous information.”
Tobias doesn’t respond, looking too riled up to answer politely. Nia doesn’t either, still trying to steady her own voice.
“In all truth,” the Matriarch continues, crossing her legs and folding her clawed hands atop her lap. “We summoned Carnelian here to research the crystals for a similar reason. While we weren’t hoping to find Xerneas, we have been concerned by the Silen mountains’ increasing instability. Although we’re aware that the issue is much more widespread than our little corner of the sky, I wanted to be sure that Yveltal’s presence wasn’t contributing in some way.”
“T-The mountains’ instability?” Nia echoes. “Like…the avalanches?”
The Matriarch nods. “The weather has been slowly growing more and more unpredictable each year, changing centuries-old patterns and creating volatile conditions. Storms and deadly winds are more common than ever, and our winters are harsher. And while the village itself has not been claimed by any, thankfully, a mystery dungeon formed on the next mountain over just last month.”
“And you already knew that Yveltal slept here, in the mountains,” Tobias guesses, brow furrowed and voice suspicious.
“We have records stating as much,” the Matriarch admits. “But we never sought him out. Intruding on a legend’s domain without reason is just asking for trouble. But when we noticed strange, unknown crystals growing on the mountainside…”
“You thought it best to look into them, just in case,” Nia finishes.
The Matriarch nods. “I wanted to know where exactly Yveltal slept, and if his proximity has been harming the village. Expediting the disasters. Carnelian was called in to verify that the crystals are indeed connected to Yveltal, and to track them to their source.”
“So have you already confirmed that they’re from Yveltal’s cocoon?” Tobias asks.
The Matriarch shakes her head. “Not yet. Carnelian believes we’re close, and has good reason to believe they are indeed from Yveltal, but we haven’t found his resting place.”
“Still, it sounds like we’re after the same thing, right?” Nia says. “If Carnelian can lead us to the crystals and we can confirm that Yveltal is actually here, that narrows down the locations where Xerneas could be sleeping.”
“And you believe Xerneas will be able to fix the world’s disruption,” the Matriarch says.
Nia winces. “W-Well…it’s more a hope than anything certain, but...”
“The dimensional border around our world is weakening,” Tobias says. “And soon it’s going to break entirely. We’re hoping that if we can find Xerneas, she can use her life energy to fill the gap and keep the barrier intact.”
There’s a long moment of silence where both Soren and the Matriarch take that in, looking thoughtful but not particularly surprised.
Finally, Soren speaks up. “Our pack has known for years that this was an issue involving the world’s aura, but where did you get such information?”
“Giratina,” Nia admits, cringing when both Soren and the Matriarch look at her in surprise. “It’s…sort of a long story.”
Soren huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. The spikes on the back of his paws catch Nia’s eye. “And even Giratina believes Xerneas will fix this?”
“You don’t think she can?” Tobias challenges.
“You should be more preoccupied with whether or not Xerneas will want to.”
A tense moment of quiet follows, the crackle of the fire the only sound in the room.
“What do you mean?” Nia asks.
“Xerneas and Yveltal are the gods of creation and destruction,” Soren says. “The cycle of life and death. If this is meant to be how the world ends, then Xerneas will likely not stop it from happening.”
Nia’s stomach churns. “W-What? But…if she can fix it, why wouldn’t she?”
“It’s not her role,” Soren says simply. “Her duty is to rebuild once the destruction has already passed. Not to prevent it from occurring at all. If there were no winter, there would be no spring, after all.”
Nia shakes her head. No, that can’t be true. Right now, Xerneas is their only hope. If fixing the border is impossible, then…then this whole world and everyone in it will die. And so will the human world.
“And how do you know that for sure?” Tobias growls.
“Because Xerneas is the god of creation,” Soren says. “The guardian of life energy—of aura. We lucario are her most devout followers. We follow her guidance our entire lives.”
Another long pause. Nia feels panic slowly rising in her chest.
“S-So what does that mean for us?” Junie asks. “This was the only idea we had, right?”
Soren doesn’t answer, looking calmly resigned to such a fate.
The Matriarch, however, scoffs. “For such a stubborn bunch, you lucario are so weak-willed. I, for one, am not letting my village die without a fight.”
Nia looks at the older Pokemon in surprise.
Soren sighs. “Matriarch, you know as well as I do that finding and waking Xerneas is a long shot on its own, but convincing her to stop the cycle of life and death is simply a fool’s errand.”
“Ha!” The Matriarch bares her sharp teeth at Soren, the expression feeling more like a challenge than a smile. “Then consider me a fool, pup. You and your father might believe in following the will of the world, but I do not.”
“Then…you’re on our side?” Nia asks, quiet.
The Matriarch looks at Nia with a gleam in her eyes. “Thankfully, while the pack is not under my control, neither am I under theirs. So consider my village an ally in this wild legend hunt of yours. August always was one for crazy ideas.”
Hope lifts once more in Nia’s chest. “So you think we can do it? Fix the barrier?”
“Won’t know until we try,” the Matriarch says with a shrug. “And it’s better to die fighting than to roll over and guide death’s foot right to your throat.”
Soren makes a derisive sound from his spot off to the side, clearly disagreeing with the sentiment.
Nia is sticking firmly with the Matriarch on this one. Nia doesn’t care if Xerneas thinks this is the natural order of things, or if a new world would be born from the ashes of this one’s destruction. This is her world. Her people. This world and the human one both. She won’t let them go without a fight.
“So the plan remains unchanged, then,” Tobias says, glancing between Nia, Samir, and Junie.
Nia takes a breath and nods. “We find Yveltal to confirm his presence, then use his location to find Xerneas and ask her to reinforce the barrier.”
“And if she refuses?” Soren asks. His tone is neutral, but only just.
“Then we cross that bridge when we get to it,” Nia says, voice a bit sharper than necessary.
“Three cheers for winging it!” Junie says, pumping a wing from her spot on Nia’s shoulder.
Tobias snorts.
Samir looks just as solemn as they usually do when the topic of their mission comes up, but thankfully the skiddo doesn’t seem to have been shaken from their resolve at all. Their front leg, however, is still being held delicately above the rug.
Right. Samir’s injured, Fidel is unconscious somewhere, and between exhaustion, stress, and hunger, Nia feels moments away from withering away into a pile of dust. Right on cue, her stomach growls, loudly. She groans and covers her face with her hands, embarrassed.
“Sounds like you’re more than ready for food and rest,” the Matriarch says, clearly amused. “We can move forward with the search tomorrow morning. Have Eira take a look at your injuries, and then rest up. You should all be able to fit comfortably in the guest lodgings with your old acquaintance.”
Old acquaintance?
A timid knock comes from the doorway, and Nia turns to the newcomer. She perks up when she sees a familiar little ghost Pokemon, his translucent purple body nearly lost to the darkness if not for his diamond eyes glinting in the firelight.
“Carnelian!”
The sableye looks shy but pleased by Nia’s excited greeting, returning her wave across the room.
“Enter, Carnelian,” the Matriarch says.
The sableye skitters over to join them, smiling with sharp teeth. If Nia had seen such a face in the human world she probably would’ve had nightmares about it, but here and now she finds it strangely endearing.
“It’s so good to see you!” Nia says, feeling her tail wagging behind her. She has to fight off the urge to hug the nervous little ghost.
“I-It’s good to see you too,” Carnelian says. He looks between Nia and Tobias, then quickly averts his eyes from Samir and Junie’s curious gazes. “I-I was shocked when Cobalt sent word that you were here!”
Cobalt? Maybe one of the other lucario.
“Are you all right sharing the guest house with me during your stay?” Carnelian asks. “I-It’s the only one in the village since they usually never have visitors, but I-I wasn’t expecting anyone so I did have quite a few of my books shipped over, which in hindsight feels rude but—”
“Books?!” Nia interrupts, ears pricking.
“Oh, now you’ve done it,” Tobias says.
Junie laughs. “Just try keeping this nerd out of your place now!”
Carnelian lights up. “Oh! Well, I-I’m happy to share!”
That is music to Nia’s ears. While they’re sure to be busy while they’re here and Nia still has plenty of books to read at the guild, she’s excited to see what the sableye has on hand.
“Go on, then,” the Matriarch says, catching their attention. She waves them out with a clawed hand. “Tomorrow morning, you’ll join Carnelian, Nouf, and Soren bright and early in the search for Yveltal.”
Soren is helping? Nia looks at the lucario, surprised.
In turn, the lucario scowls at the Matriarch with more expression than Nia has seen from him all night. “With all due respect, Matriarch, I never agreed to help.”
“Ah, but I have ways of getting your father on my side,” the Matriarch says, winking at Nia and the others. “Preparing the young leader-in-training to socialize properly with outsiders is a valuable skill, wouldn’t you say?”
Leader in training? So Soren isn’t the leader of the lucario pack, but the son of the leader? Nia supposes that does explain his stoic but deferring demeanor in the Matriarch’s presence. Even now, the lucario is visibly reigning in his irritation, jaw clenching and eyes closing for a moment before he regains his calm countenance.
“We shall see.”
“That we shall. Carnelian, if you would?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
The sableye leads Nia and the others out of the room and down the hall, back outside and into the frigid bite of mountain air. Nia shivers and steps closer to Tobias to leech some of his meager warmth, keeping an eye on Samir on her other side. The skiddo is still limping, carefully navigating the icy ground so they don’t slip and fall.
Carnelian is surprisingly chatty as he leads them across town, clearly familiar with the place after a couple weeks of living here. He points out the purpose of each building they pass, from the market to the town storage to the homes of individual civilians.
Nia feels a little bad interrupting him, but she can’t help asking, “Carnelian, you don’t happen to know how Fidel is doing, do you? The zoroark that showed up with us?”
“O-Oh! Yes, Eira was checking him over when I left,” Carnelian says. “I don’t think she was too worried about him. She starts frosting over her workspace when she’s really stressed, and when I left, everything was still ice-free! In fact, I-I think she wanted to move him into the guest quarters to have somewhere warm to recover, so he might even be there already when we arrive.”
Oh, that would be lovely. While Nia’s just relieved to hear that Fidel is in good hands, she’ll feel much better once she sees him again for herself.
Thankfully, they reach Carnelian’s house—or, more accurately, the guest lodgings—soon thereafter. It’s a cozy triangle of a building, similar to the other houses they’ve passed, with warmth spilling through shuttered windows and painting the snow around its base with golden light and blue shadows.
Carnelian pulls open the front door and leads them inside, and Nia’s eyes immediately find Fidel’s bright red mane of hair. The zoroark is curled up beneath a pile of thick blankets, bandages peeking out from under his fur. The quilted lump of his body rises and falls with steady breaths.
Thank goodness.
At his side, an unfamiliar Pokemon is placing medical supplies back into a sturdy woven bag, though she pauses to look up as they enter. She’s very clearly an ice type, mostly white with light blue accents and two shards of ice atop her head. However, she also comes across as very feminine—almost like she’s wearing a kimono. Her arms flare out around her wrists like long sleeves, and a red sash-like piece circles her middle before arcing out behind her like a bow. She floats a few inches off the ground, no legs beneath her, and her face almost reminds Nia of a skull, the skin beneath her eyeholes and jaw a frostbitten purple. Her eyes are just as blue as Soren’s, striking a balance between beautiful and haunting.
Her expression warms as she sees them, though. “Welcome back. These are the rest of our guests, I assume?”
“Yes!” Carnelian moves to stand at the healer’s side, presenting the much larger Pokemon in an unusually confident gesture. “This is Eira! The best healer in the mountains.”
Eira gives him a playful nudge. “I’m the only healer in these mountains, you sly spirit.” Then she floats forward and bows to them. “It’s nice to meet you all. I assume the Matriarch let you know that I would be attending to your medical needs?”
“Yes!” Nia bows in return. “Thank you so much for taking care of Fidel.”
“Of course! Go ahead and take a seat, and I’ll check on the rest of you one by one.”
Nia takes a look around as they step inside the building, amused by what she finds. While the walls are a warm wooden brown, and a patterned rug spreads over most of the floor, any décor, is hidden behind towers of books and loose-leaf paper. Tabletops are similarly covered by piles of stones and gems.
Carnelian has certainly made himself at home here, huh?
Their spare bed, luckily, is already set up on the floor next to Fidel, close to the fireplace set into the wall. Nia groans with relief as she flops into it, spreading out and stretching her sore, cold muscles in the warmth of the fire. Junie does the same with a happy sigh, and Tobias and Samir follow shortly after, the four of them piling together on the makeshift cot like puzzle pieces as their bodies are finally allowed to rest.
This is heaven.
“Carnelian, why don’t you grab them some food?” Eira says, more of an order than a suggestion even with her light, almost tinkling voice.
“O-Oh! Of course, you all must be starving!” Carnelian hurries out of the house, and Nia blinks after him, surprised yet again by his eagerness.
“Excuse my cousin’s excitement,” Eira says, floating over to them with her medical supplies in tow. “He doesn’t often feel comfortable with strangers, but he told me all about Team Scarlet when he first arrived the other week. He’s thrilled to see you again.”
Nia flushes beneath her fur as she sits up. “We didn’t do that much for him, really! We were just doing our job.”
“Mm.” Eira looks at Nia fondly. “Yes, I imagined you’d say something like that. Well, just know that you have my thanks, regardless.”
“You’re his cousin?” Junie interrupts, looking curiously between Eira and the door where Carnelian had disappeared.
“I am!” Eira says, looking proud as she starts pulling out medical supplies. Bandages, herbs and little jars of ointment become organized piles on the floor. “When the Matriarch mentioned the crystals and their possible importance, I knew Carnelian would be up for the task. He’s very sharp, you know.”
“I can’t wait to see him in action!” Nia says.
Eira hums her agreement, glancing over their group with an expert eye before settling next to Samir and gesturing for them to extend their injured leg. The skiddo looks annoyed, but silently does as asked. Eira hums and feels around their leg, all the way from the lump of their knee down to their hoof, noting when they tense up and asking where it hurts most.
Nia looks away since Samir seems strangely embarrassed about the injury. As she soaks up the heat of the fire and pets Junie’s soft feathers, her eyes catch instead on Tobias. The charmander is scratching at his neck with an irritable expression.
“You okay?” she asks.
Tobias jumps, his face flushing. “Yeah. Yeah, just, uh. An itch.”
Nia frowns, tilting her head. “You sure? I thought I saw you scratching at your neck when we were climbing, too.”
Tobias averts his eyes, looking disgruntled. “’S fine. Just some old injuries acting up in the cold.”
“Oh. Maybe Eira has something for that?”
Tobias shrugs. Then, he looks back at Nia. “Are you okay? After whatever that lucario jerk did earlier?”
Nia blinks. She recognizes the deflection for what it is, but she’s also surprised Tobias is still thinking about that. “O-Oh. Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t great, but it’s not like it hurt or anything?”
“It was super creepy is what it was!” Junie says, sitting up from where she’d been sprawled across the blankets like a bird splatted against a window. Her feathers puff out as her anger reignites. “I thought it’d feel like when Nia reads my aura but it felt like the dude was rifling through my pockets or something! Except it was my head or my soul or whatever, which made it ten times worse! Talk about an invasion of privacy.”
Tobias’ eyes darken and he glances at the door, as if debating whether or not to march back outside and find the lucario to chew him out properly.
Nia lays a hand on his arm to keep him in place. “Yeah, it, um…felt a lot more intrusive than I would’ve liked. Junie, you said it doesn’t feel like that when I read your aura, right?”
Junie looks up at Nia, surprised. “What? No, definitely not! When you do it it’s all warm and stuff! Like…I’m your little guinea pig and you’re giving me a nice bath or something.”
Nia snorts a laugh, caught off-guard by the comparison. “Like what?”
“You know what I mean! It's like...how little animals get nervous about people handling ‘em, and you need to reassure them and be gentle and stuff so you don’t stress ‘em out, right? When he was doing the aura stuff, it was kind of…scary? I could feel how easily he pried my thoughts open, and he didn’t really care that I was nervous. But with you, you’re always super soft and stuff and you don’t pry like that, so I always feel safe!”
Oh. Nia doesn’t think she realized she was actually worried about this until Junie immediately laid her fears to rest. Hot tears prick at her eyes.
“Aww, c’mon, don’t get all weepy on me! Your little guinea pig doesn’t know how to deal with that!”
Nia barks another laugh. “Stop saying that!”
“She’s right,” Tobias says, catching Nia’s attention. His eyes are low, something in his posture a little upset. “I was nervous when you read my aura, but it wasn’t bad at all with you. I’m sorry he didn’t treat you two the same way.”
Fresh tears spring to Nia’s eyes. “Tobias!”
“Stop, you’re making her cry more! One guinea pig can only handle so many tears!”
Their delirious conversation continues until Eira gives Samir the all-clear. The skiddo’s leg is bandaged from the top of their hoof up to their knee, a chunk of ice tied to both joints. Their entire leg is also elevated on a pillow, and they look down at the setup with a disgruntled expression.
Nia’s happy mood dampens.
“All right,” Eira says with a little clap. “Other than that sprain, you should be good to go, Skiddo. No walking for you tomorrow, but you should be clear for the day after.”
Samir looks away with their ears low, not answering.
“Hey, that’s not too bad!” Junie calls, trying to cheer Samir up. “C’mon, we’re weak to ice types, dude. We’re lucky we even made it up here at all!”
Samir huffs, still not looking at any of them. Nia’s brow furrows.
Eira floats over to Tobias next. “Tobias, right? Let’s give you a look next.”
Tobias sighs but doesn’t argue, removing his winter gear and letting the ice type look him over. He is pretty beat up, bloody scratches and blossoming bruises littering his skin. Luckily, they all seem pretty minor, at least to Nia’s untrained eye.
Junie flutters around the charmander, chirping about how he’s going to look like a chameleon with all those colorful bruises, and Nia takes the opportunity to scoot over to Samir, who’s still glaring down at their bandaged leg.
“Hey,” Nia murmurs. “You okay?”
Samir doesn’t meet her eye, but they do nod.
Nia doesn’t believe them.
For a long moment, Nia worries at her lip, working up her courage. “Hey, Samir? I wanted to apologize.”
Samir finally looks up, visibly confused.
“About what I said on the mountain, after the avalanche,” Nia explains, shame squirming in her gut. She looks down, picking at the melting snow encrusted onto the bottom of her coat. “And during the avalanche too, I guess.”
Samir stares, still not getting it.
“I didn’t listen to you. Or, well, I almost didn’t. About letting Fidel go. I knew it was too dangerous to let my shield drop, but I just thought if I could grab him, I could—” Nia cuts herself off, taking a breath. “You were right. And I’m sorry that I argued with you. And then yelled at you afterwards. I was really worried about Fidel, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you when you were just trying to keep us safe.”
Samir doesn’t respond. After a few beats of silence, Nia peeks up at them.
The skiddo seems flabbergasted, blinking at her and her hunched, contrite posture. Finally, shakily, they whistle a quiet low-to-high response: Okay. It’s okay. They still seem like they’re trying to wrap their head around her apology.
Nia breathes a sigh of relief as one of the many, many weights on her shoulders melts away.
“Thank you. I just wanted to say that right away, especially since we’ll be separated most of the day tomorrow,” Nia says.
The skiddo’s glare returns as they focus back on their injured leg. They narrow their eyes, then glance at Eira, who is smearing some kind of salve on Tobias’ cuts and bruises and bandaging up the worst of them. Then Samir’s eyes flick to the door.
Oh no. Nia recognizes that look.
“Samir,” Nia warns in a low voice, leaning closer. “I saw that. You are not sneaking out to join us tomorrow.”
Samir huffs and shakes their head, stamping their other foreleg ineffectually against the blankets as they meet Nia’s gaze. No, they whistle.
“Samir, you have to rest! What if you hurt your leg more by walking on it too soon?”
Samir is shaking their head fervently before she’s even done talking. They meet her eyes, whistling again. No.
Nia stares at them, trying to understand why they’re suddenly so stubborn about this. They did this on the mountainside too, when they were freshly injured and trying to hobble down to help unbury Fidel despite Nia and Tobias telling the skiddo to stay put.
For someone so serious about Nia and Tobias playing it safe, they aren’t very safe with themself, are they? It’s like Samir thinks they’re playing by different rules, like they don’t get to rest just because they’re hurt. Like something terrible will happen if they do.
And then it clicks.
Nia feels her heart drop. She stares at the desperate shine in Samir’s eyes, at the way their mouth trembles the slightest bit.
Samir’s old partner abandoned them when they got hurt, right? So who’s to say that Nia and Tobias won’t do the same?
Nia hesitates, but then reaches out to cup Samir’s face in her hands. The skiddo jolts a bit, surprised, but doesn’t pull away. “Samir, you know you’re allowed to rest when you’re hurt, right?”
Samir’s eyes widen, something like fear crossing their face. They tug weakly against her hold.
Nia tightens her grip. “Samir, we want you to rest. It’s fine if you sit out tomorrow.”
Samir shakes their head, closing their eyes tight.
Nia tries to put all the conviction she can into her voice. “We aren’t going to leave you behind or think you’re a bad partner or something just because you got hurt, all right?”
Samir slowly stops fighting, cracking their eyes open again to search Nia’s face.
“We’re not your old teammate, Samir. When you’re ready to go again, we’ll still be here, okay? But until you’re better, just…please rest. We don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Samir’s expression crumbles. They yank their head free of her hold and dip their head to hide their face.
Nia silently panics, hands reaching. Was that the right thing to say? Did she make it better or worse? What does she do now? Scoot closer or leave them be?
Before she can decide, Samir gently buries their face in her lap, careful not to prod her with their horns. They’re shaking.
Oh.
Nia quietly turns her body to hide the skiddo from the others’ view, stroking a hand down the back of their head and through the surprisingly soft mane of their leaves as Samir shudders.
“You’re our teammate, Samir,” Nia murmurs. “And more importantly, our friend. You don’t have to prove yourself every moment of every day, okay? Especially if it’s going to hurt you. We don’t want that. Okay?”
Samir sniffles, but finally nods against Nia’s stomach. She smiles, relieved.
By the time Eira deems Tobias’ inspection finished, Samir has pulled themself together again, wiping at their face with their good foreleg. They look mortified by their little breakdown, avoiding Nia’s gaze, so she just gives them one more gentle smile before shuffling back to Tobias and Junie.
Tobias is covered in small bandages and shiny poultices, his expression resigned. Junie is making fun of the charmander even as Eira checks her over, gently extending her small wings and feeling for any breaks or strains.
Luckily, Junie is cleared with no injuries, and then it’s Nia’s turn. She dutifully takes off her own winter gear and follows Eira’s instructions as the ice type looks her over, gently squeezing and feeling along her limbs and shoulders.
As Nia answers Eira’s questions, she spots Tobias once more scratching at his neck, annoyed expression twitching into something painful before he pulls his claws away.
Nia frowns. She doesn’t know why Tobias doesn’t want Eira to see whatever scars he has perpetually hidden beneath his scarf, but…
She looks over her shoulder, to where Eira is finishing up. “Hey, Eira?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you have anything for…old wounds? Uh, like when they act up in the cold?”
“For scars, you mean?” Eira asks, coming back around to face Nia with a curious expression.
“Um,” Nia looks over Eira’s shoulder, at her partner, and back. “I think so.”
Eira follows her gaze, making a quiet “Ah” of realization. Then she nods and digs into her bag, handing a jar of salve over to Nia. “Here—advise him to put it on once in the morning, any time during the day when the itching is bothering him, and once at night before bed, all right? Don’t be afraid to really pile it on. It should help moisturize and soothe the irritation, and it has a nip of a numbing agent, too.”
Nia takes the jar gratefully, cradling it in her hands. “Thank you so much.”
“Just doing my job,” Eira says, echoing Nia’s earlier words with a smile.
Just as they’re finishing their last checkup, Carnelian finally returns with food in tow.
“S-Sorry for the wait!” the sableye says, gently kicking the door open and shuffling inside with two bowls in hand. Soup? Whatever it is, it’s steaming hot, and Nia’s stomach rumbles as she takes a deep sniff of the air. “I had to get an extra pair of wings to help me bring them over.”
Behind Carnelian, a fluffy, red and white penguin-like Pokemon waddles in. He’s holding two more bowls of soup, one notably smaller than the rest for Junie’s tiny stomach. “Hey, Eira! Got some hungry bellies in here?”
Eira smiles at the newcomer. “That we do. Thank you for your help, Nico.”
Nico smiles back, and he and Carnelian quickly pass out the four bowls of soup. The food smells wonderful, hearty and well-spiced and loaded with some kind of vegetables. Or maybe roots?
Whatever the ingredients are, the dish has Nia drooling.
They quickly tuck in with a word of thanks, and Nia practically inhales her food, savoring the hot, salty broth, the soft potato-like vegetables and withered greens, and the slice of bread that Nico pulled out—from his tail?—and handed to them once they were settled.
If Nia weren’t so focused on devouring her meal, she’d be curious about all the ingredients they used for it. Vegetation doesn’t seem like it would do well in this climate, considering the lack of trees and grasses they’d seen on the way up. Maybe some kind of cold-resistant berries or crops grow up here? Or maybe they use roots or pine needles or tree bark or something. She thinks she remembers something like that back in the human world.
Whatever the answer is, Nia doesn’t think she’s ever tasted anything better.
Nico chats idly with Carnelian and Eira as Team Scarlet eats, the bird looking proud of how quickly they drain their bowls. When they’re done, satiated and warm and ready to pass out, they give the bird another round of thanks that he accepts with a bashful “Shucks!” before taking their bowls and spoons and heading out for the night. Eira follows him out, wishing everyone a good sleep and letting them know she’ll be back before they set out in the morning, and to send Carnelian for her if Fidel showed any worrying symptoms overnight.
Carnelian tries to start up a new conversation with them after that, but they don’t last long before they’re slurring their words through big yawns. Nia’s eyes feel heavier and heavier with each passing blink, and Junie has already slumped over into a lump of snoring feathers.
“You’d better get some rest before tomorrow,” Carnelian says with a smile. He slides a few more logs into the fire and peeks at Fidel’s sleeping face before retreating to his own nest in the back of the lodge with one of his books. Huh. It’s pretty dark over there, but maybe ghost types have good night vision? That would make sense.
They’re all too exhausted to go far, so they lie down to sleep right where they’d been sitting.  It’s not until Nia almost flops right on top of something hard that she remembers the jar she’d been keeping tucked away in her lap.
Oh, right!
Nia holds back another yawn and pushes herself back up. She squints over at Tobias, grateful that Junie is already out cold and Samir is quickly nodding off themself, their head dipping. “Hey, Tobias?”
Tobias was just about to lie down, too. Instead, his jaw cracks with a yawn as he looks back at her, matching her low tone. “Yeah?”
Nia holds the jar out to him. “Here.”
Tobias blinks sluggishly at the jar, then back at her, a furrow in his brow. “What’s this?”
“You said you had old injuries acting up, right? Like scars? I asked Eira if she had medicine for something like that and she said to use this when you wake up and go to sleep. Oh, and also if it itches during the day.”
Some alertness returns to Tobias’ expression as he realizes what Nia’s saying. He stares at her, face flushing, before he finally takes the jar and holds it close to his chest. “Oh. Um. Thanks, Nia. I’ll give it a try.”
Nia hums and flops back down in her spot on the bed, sighing happily at the softness and warmth. Just before she drifts off to sleep, Nia’s sharp ears hear the quiet spin of the lid being opened.
She hopes it helps.
159 notes · View notes
sizzlingstarlightsky · 26 days ago
Text
Anchor In The Storm
Bucky x Reader
Summary: You felt it in your bones, a deep, bone-tired ache. You're used to migraines, but Bucky isn't one to let you suffer alone. [hurt/comfort]
Word count: 1127
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Warnings: migraine induced nausea/ vomiting
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As you closed the door to your room, the soft click echoing down the hallway, you felt a heaviness settle over you. Leaning back against the wood, you craved the sweet oblivion of sleep, but you knew it would be a while before your mind would let you go.
Thump
Thump
Thump
Your skull was a grenade, pin lost in the oblivion. Awaiting the inevitable.
The door creaked open. "You okay?" Bucky's voice was a gentle rumble. You forced a smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "Yeah, just a bit... off."
He stepped inside, eyes searching your face. "Looks like more than 'a bit'. What's going on?"
You sighed, admitting defeat. "Cluster migraine. I can feel it coming in like a storm."
Bucky's gaze softened. He'd seen you in pain before, but this was different. The understanding in his eyes told you he knew the monster you were about to face all too well. "Let me help," he offered, and there was no hesitation in your nod.
He moved closer, his steps careful not to disturb the precarious balance of light and sound in the room. You watched as he pulled the shades, plunging the space into a soothing darkness. A sudden relief washed over you like a cool breeze.
"I've got a few tricks," he said, his voice low and comforting. "Things I've learned in my time. Techniques that helped me when my head fells like it was being crushed."
You nodded, willing to try anything to escape the pain's relentless grip. Bucky disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a damp washcloth. He approached the bed and gently placed it over your eyes, the cold fabric sending a shiver down your spine. The pressure was just enough to ease the tension without being overwhelming.
"It's going to get worse before it gets better," he warned, his voice a gentle caress in the quiet room. You felt his hand brush against your forehead, checking for fever. "But I'll be here. We'll get through it."
The mattress dipped slightly as Bucky sat beside you, his presence a comfort you hadn't realized you needed. He began to gently massage the base of your neck, his hands tender. You couldn't help the small sigh of relief that slipped through your clenched teeth.
"This isn’t the first storm I've weathered," you managed to say, attempting to inject some humor, but the words came out choked, your voice a whisper of its usual self. The migraine was already tightening its grip, turning your words into a battle against the pain.
"I know," Bucky replied, his voice steady and calm. "But you don't have to do it alone."
Thump
Thump
The pressure in your head grew into a constant drumbeat. Buikding itself into the background music of your life. Each pulse sent a fresh wave of nausea rolling through your stomach. You reached out, blindly finding Bucky's hand, and squeezed it tightly. His fingers wrapped around yours.
"Hold on," he murmured. His other hand slid down to your wrist, feeling for your pulse. His touch was grounding. "Breathe with me." His voice rhythmic.
Matching the beat of your heart. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. The pain didn't recede, but it felt slightly more manageable with his guidance.
He continued to massage your neck, his thumbs pressing into the tight knots of muscle. It hurt, but it was a good kind of hurt, the kind that promised relief. The migraine was raging in full force now, the thunder so loud you could feel the bed vibrate with each pulse. You gripped his arm harder, focusing on his steady breaths.
The nausea grew, climbing from your stomach to your throat. You swallowed it back, not wanting to break the fragile peace Bucky had managed to create. But it was a losing battle. You rolled over, your hand still in his, and barely made it to the trash can before everything came up. It burned your throat, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth.
Bucky didn't flinch. He gently wiped your mouth with a tissue and held your hair back. "It's okay," he soothed, his voice steady; a lullaby against the storm. "Try and drink some water."
You took small sips from the bottle he handed you, the cold liquid a soothing balm against the fire in your throat. He waited until you nodded, indicating you could handle more of his ministrations. His hands returned to your neck, working in slow circles, applying just enough pressure to ease the knots without exacerbating the pain.
"Can you gently press my right temple? The pressure builds there."
Bucky nodded, his touch as light as a feather. His fingertips rested on the spot you indicated, applying a slight pressure. You took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the tension in your body loosening a fraction.
"It just bubbles and builds," you continued, "like a balloon being filled with air. And sometimes, it just gets too much." You paused, the metaphor painfully apt. "And when it does..."
Bucky nodded solemnly, his thumbs moving in slow, soothing circles on your skull. "I know," he murmured. "It's like your body's trying to escape the pain."
You felt a single tear escape the confines of the washcloth, tracing a warm line down your cheek.
"You're doing so well doll," Bucky whispered, his thumbs now moving in smaller, more precise circles. The pain didn't dissipate, but it retreated slightly, giving you room to breathe.
You felt the mattress shift again as Bucky leaned over, placing a soft kiss to your forehead. "Let's try to get some rest," he suggested. You nodded, the movement sending a fresh wave of pain through your skull, but you managed to ignore it.
Bucky moved behind you, his body curving around yours like a protective shield. He pulled you into his embrace, the chill of his metal arm enveloping you in a surprising comfort. His steady heartbeat thumped against your back, syncing with the rhythm of your breathing. It was as if Bucky's presence had turned down the volume just a notch.
The migraine didn't leave, but it retreated enough for you to find a semblance of peace.
For a few blessed hours, the thumping in your skull faded to a dull ache. You weren't asleep—not really—but you were in that in-between state where pain and consciousness danced in a delicate balance.
Bucky's arms around you were a lifeline in the dark, the anchor holding you together while you're lost at a sea of pain. He would be there the next time high tide rolled in.
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It's been a bit since I posted something. I have a couple of short things stuck in the final check stage, I just can't find the motivation to complete them.
So why not write something completely different, right?
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literaryvein-reblogs · 10 months ago
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Writing Notes: Personality Traits
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Raymond Cattell's Trait Theory
Warmth
LOW level of warmth: More likely to be Reserved – detached, critical, aloof, stiff
HIGH level of warmth: More likely to be Outgoing – warmhearted, easy-going, participating
Intellect
LOW: Less Intelligent – concrete-thinking
HIGH: More Intelligent – abstract-thinking, bright
Emotional Stability
LOW: Affected By Feelings – emotionally less stable, easily upset, changeable
HIGH: Emotionally Stable – mature, faces reality, calm
Aggressiveness
LOW: Humble – mild, easily led, docile, accommodating
HIGH: Assertive – aggressive, stubborn, competitive
Liveliness
LOW: Sober – taciturn, serious
HIGH: Happy-Go-Lucky – enthusiastic
Dutifulness
LOW: Expedient – disregards rules
HIGH: Conscientious – persistent, moralistic, staid
Social Assertiveness
LOW: Shy – timid, threat-sensitive
HIGH: Venturesome – uninhibited, socially bold
Sensitivity
LOW: Tough-Minded – self-reliant, realistic
HIGH: Tender-Minded – sensitive, clinging, overprotected
Paranoia
LOW: Trusting – accepting conditions
HIGH: Suspicious – hard to fool
Abstractness
LOW: Practical – “down-to-earth” concerns
HIGH: Imaginative – bohemian, absent-minded
Introversion
LOW: Forthright – unpretentious, genuine but socially clumsy
HIGH: Astute – polished, socially aware
Anxiety
LOW: Self-Assured – placid, secure, complacent, serene
HIGH: Apprehensive – self-reproaching, insecure, worrying, troubled
Open Mindedness
LOW: Conservative – respecting traditional ideas
HIGH: Experimenting – liberal, free-thinking
Independence
LOW: Group-Dependent – a “joiner” and sound follower
HIGH: Self-Sufficient – resourceful, prefers own decisions
Perfectionism
LOW: Undisciplined Self-Conflict – lax, follows own urges, careless of social rules
HIGH: Controlled – exacting will power, socially precise, compulsive
Tension
LOW: Relaxed – tranquil, unfrustrated, composed
HIGH: Tense – frustrated, driven, overwrought
Boiling Down the Traits
In order to scientifically establish a formal framework for understanding personality, Cattell used a statistical technique known as factor analysis.
He started out with a list of 4,500 adjectives that could describe people (taken from the English dictionary).
He then completed a laborious process of grouping these adjectives into 171 ‘clusters’, which were used in a series of studies where people rated others on the traits.
Over a period of several years, Cattell and his team of psychologists then used this data to boil down the set of traits to just 16.
These 16 traits were the smallest number of factors believed to meaningfully describe observable behaviour.
Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: On Psychology ⚜ Writing Notes & References
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azuraaass · 25 days ago
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"The Knight's Dance"
Content: Lewis Hamilton x reader in a Bridgerton way - fluff
Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V / Part VI
The ballroom glittered like a jewel box, all crystal chandeliers and framed mirrors reflecting the cream of London society in their finest silks and satins. She pressed herself against the marble pillar, trying to make herself invisible among the elaborate arrangements of hothouse roses and peonies that perfumed the air with their heady sweetness.
Another season. Another ball. Another evening of being paraded before eligible gentlemen like a prize.
Her mother had outdone herself with tonight's gown—Emerald silk that brought out her eyes, with tiny golden filaments sewed along the bodice that caught the candlelight with every breath. Beautiful, certainly, but it felt like armor. Pretty armor designed to catch a husband before she became a burden on the family.
She was contemplating a potential espace from the garden when she saw him.
Sir Lewis Hamilton stood near the French doors leading to the terrace, and every eye in the ballroom seemed drawn to him like iron filings to a magnet. He cut a striking figure in his perfectly tailored evening suits, his dark skin uncommon among the pale English nobility but commanding attention in a way that spoke of confidence rather than novelty.
The whispered conversations around her painted him in broad strokes: youngest son of a shipping fortune who'd made his own name in the military, decorated for valor in the Peninsula, recently returned to London society with more invitations than he could possibly accept. The sort of man mothers schemed to place in front of their daughters, if only he seemed inclined to marry.
But it wasn't his reputation that held her attention. It was the way he stood slightly apart from the clusters of gentlemen, watching the dancing with an expression she recognized—polite interest masking barely concealed boredom.
As if sensing her study, his gaze found hers across the crowded ballroom. For a moment that seemed to stretch like taffy between them, they simply looked at each other. Then Lady Danbury's laugh boomed nearby, startling her back to awareness, and she quickly looked away, her cheeks warming.
"Miss."
The voice was warm, cultured, closer than she'd expected. She turned to find Sir Lewis standing beside her, having navigated the crowd with the same quiet grace she'd noticed earlier. Up close, he was even more striking—tall and broad-shouldered, with intelligent dark eyes that seemed to see more than most.
"Sir Hamilton," she managed, sinking into what she hoped was an acceptable curtsy.
"You appear to be studying the proceedings with the eye of a military strategist," he observed, and there was gentle humor in his voice that made her forget to be nervous.
"Is my tactical assessment so obvious?"
"Only to a fellow observer of battlefield dynamics." His mouth quirked upward. "I confess, I was attempting to devise my own escape route when I noticed your... reconnaissance."
"And what conclusions did your reconnaissance yield, sir?"
"That we are both fish out of water in a sea of sharks."
The unexpected frankness startled a laugh from her. "That's a rather dramatic assessment of a ball, sir."
"Is it? Tell me, have you managed a single genuine conversation this evening, or has it all been variations on the weather and commentary on Lady Whistledown's latest scandal sheet?"
She blinked. No gentleman had ever asked her such a direct question at a social gathering. They discussed her accomplishments, her father's estate, occasionally her opinions on utterly safe topics. Never her actual thoughts.
"The latter, I'm afraid," she admitted. "Though I did have a spirited discussion about the merits of various watercolor techniques with Miss Featherington."
"Ah, a fellow artist. And what is your preferred subject?"
"Landscapes, mostly. Also recently I’ve been finding people too..." she searched for the right word, "changeable."
"Changeable how?"
"They rarely are what they appear to be in public." She glanced around the ballroom, at the elaborate costumes and careful smiles. "It's difficult to capture truth when everyone is performing a role."
Something shifted in his expression—surprise, perhaps, or recognition.
"And what role are you performing tonight?" he asked quietly.
The question caught her off-guard with its gentle perceptiveness. "The dutiful daughter. The accomplished young lady. The..." she hesitated.
"The matrimonial prospect?"
"Precisely." She met his eyes, surprised by her own boldness. "And you, Sir Lewis? What role brings you to Lady Danbury's ballroom?"
"The reluctant bachelor. The decorated war hero who should be grateful for society's attention." His voice carried a note of irony that made her chest tighten with understanding.
"Should be?"
"One grows weary of being valued primarily for one's eligibility rather than one's conversation."
Before she could respond, the orchestra struck up a waltz. Around them, couples began moving toward the dance floor with the precision of a well-rehearsed ballet.
"Miss," Sir Lewis said, offering his gloved hand with a bow that was perfectly proper and somehow intimate at the same time, "would you do me the honor?"
Her heart performed a complicated series of leaps. "I... yes."
His hand was warm and sure as he led her onto the floor, and when he placed his other hand at her waist—properly, respectably, but close enough that she could smell his cologne, something clean and masculine that made her slightly dizzy—she forgot to breathe.
"Eyes on me," he murmured as they began to move. "Not on them."
But she was already looking at him, had been since the moment he'd approached. Up close, she could see the small scar above his left eyebrow, the way his eyes crinkled slightly when he concentrated, the elegant line of his jaw.
They moved together as if they'd been dancing partners for years, his lead confident but never overwhelming, guiding her through the steps with an ease that made her feel graceful instead of merely competent. The ballroom spun around them in a blur of color and light, but she was only aware of him—the solid warmth of his hand, the way he looked at her like she was the only person in the room worth seeing.
"You dance beautifully," he said, his voice low enough that only she could hear.
"You sound surprised, sir."
"Not surprised. Enchanted."
The word hung between them, improper and perfect and absolutely devastating to her composure. She felt heat bloom in her cheeks, spreading down her neck to disappear beneath her neckline.
"Sir Hamilton..."
"Lewis," he corrected softly with a light smile. "When we're dancing, just Lewis."
"That's hardly proper."
"No," he agreed, spinning her with expert precision, "it isn't."
When the waltz ended, they stood frozen for a moment longer than propriety allowed, his hand still at her waist, hers still curved around his shoulder. The ballroom seemed to hold its breath around them.
"Thank you," she whispered, though for what exactly, she couldn't say.
"The pleasure was entirely mine." But he didn't release her immediately, and she didn't step away. "Perhaps... would you take some air? The terrace is quite lovely in the moonlight."
It was scandalous. Unchaperoned walks in moonlit gardens were the stuff of ruined reputations and hastily arranged marriages. Her mother would have an apoplectic reaction .
"Yes," she heard herself say.
As he offered his arm and led her toward the French doors, she caught sight of her reflection in one of the gilt mirrors lining the wall. For the first time all season, she looked alive. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, her smile genuine rather than practiced.
"Second thoughts?" Lewis asked, noticing her pause.
"No," she said, surprising herself with her certainty. "No second thoughts at all."
Because sometimes the most dangerous thing you can do at a ball is dance with someone who makes you forget you're performing.
And sometimes, if you're very lucky, they forget they're performing too.
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