#currently i'm almost at the orb

[enbyboiwonder]

Actually I don't remember if I ever beat Dark Alliance or not. I know I didn't playing on my own, and definitely not with my sister. I got at least as far as the displacer beasts, but no idea if that was solo, with my sister, or both. But my dad and my sister got to the final boss once, and I know I took a stab at it when they were having trouble, but I don't remember who ended up beating them. In fact, all I actually remember of it is that we used that save file to start the next game with the endgame sword…

[bobacupcake]

ask from over on cohost that i wanted to crosspost over here!!

hi!!! i'm assuuuuming you're talking about the effect in this one?

i'm using something called parallax mapping!! i know most people know what parallax is and how it works in the realworld but im just gonna demonstrate it real quick just so i dont have to keep going "ok now imagine how parallax works"

so imagine you have two windows. in the middle of the window on the left, there is an Orb. it is directly in the middle of the window. the window on the right also has an Orb, but this one is pushed backwards outside the window quite a bit. now if you look at the two windows, and turn them, you get this:

for the first window, the Orb stays basically in the center of the window. but in the second window, if you turn the window right, the Orb "looks like" it's moving left

parallax mapping is essentially taking this assumption, that if you change the angle you are looking at an object, the further away an object is, the more it will move in the opposite direction. i will spare you on the matrix math involved but you can get the exact relation you need by getting the Tangent Space View Direction. you dont need to understand the math behind this to use it

so, lets go back to the window example, how would you make the same effect, but with just this 2d texture of the Orb?

what if, whenever the object it was attached to turned right, you just moved the texture to the left, by X amount, where X is how far into the window the orb is. you would essentially be cheating god and "faking" the parallax. it would look like it's moving like it's far out of the window, but really, it's still a 2d texture. it would look like this:

i was too lazy to make the shader and record another gif but i dont need to because functionally it would look almost identical because when you turn it right the Orb moves left

again, you can just Know the right direction to push the texture in based on the current angle by getting the Tangent Space View Direction. ok another example. what if you had a black and white noise texture, like this

now what would happen if, instead of moving the whole texture X amount. you moved each pixel a proportional amount based on how bright it is. a 100% black pixel would not get moved at all, and a 100% white pixel would get moved the furthest along the Tangent Space View Direction. a pixel thats right down the middle would move half that distance etc etc. well it would look something like this!!!

thaaat's the basics behind it!!! it's also used for effects like faking room interiors through windows with just a 2d texture in biig cityskapes and the like

you can see how the cube example looks kind of like an ice cube with the distortion, that's Not intentional and how parallax mapping artifacts. i do not care about it, because i make crystals. but some people do care about it, so you can use parallax occlusion mapping, which is like parallax mapping but a step up

here's some more reads on it if you are interested!!! https://simonschreibt.de/gat/windows-ac-row-ininite/ https://www.patreon.com/posts/playing-with-29753575 https://catlikecoding.com/unity/tutorials/rendering/part-20/ https://halisavakis.com/my-take-on-shaders-parallax-effect-part-i/

[sassycheesecake]

The stadium is bursting with life and energy, people are ready to watch the long awaited game between Argentine and Japan‘s national volleyball team.

You came over to watch your husband play against his high school rivals, it’s been a dream of his ever since he left Japan.

Currently, you’re having a big heart attack, since you only turned around for a second to buy some onigiri snacks for you and your son, to find out said four-year old was just gone.

Panic flows through your veins along with adrenaline, you’re looking for that little brunette boy everywhere, when you remember that Mathéo has probably gone to look for his father.

Luckily at that time, Hajime Iwaizumi, 27-year old Athletic Trainer is currently helping Team Japan stretch for warm up when a heard a familiar voice of a child calling his name.

When the former Ace turns around in confusion, he sees Oikawa’s son, running towards him with big excitement in his dark brown orbs.

'Mathéo surely is a solid copy of his father.' Iwaizumi thinks as he greets his godchild.

"Mathéo, why are you by yourself? Where is your mum or your father?" The brunette crouches down as he looks around in concern to look for you or his best friend.

When you spot your son with Iwaizumi, you breathe out a big sigh of relief but you have to scold your son for pulling a stunt like that.

When the Athletic Trainer hears you, he is relieved that you found him and your son. But he is also happy to see you again, last time he visited you and Oikawa was almost over a year ago.

"Mathéo! Don’t do that again, I was looking everywhere for you! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" You scold the young boy and he looks incredibly guilty, almost ready to cry when he hears that you were so worried.

"I am sorry, mama. I just saw uncle Hajime and I wanted to say hello."

You sigh, feeling bad but also relieved that he is okay.

"I know but don’t run away from me again. Be glad it’s me scolding you and not your father."

"Yes, mama. I'm very sorry." Mathéo looks to the floor for a second, before looking at the Japanese players again, watching them with amazement and a big gleam in his eyes.

When you get up again from your crouched position, Iwaizumi notices something about you.

Your belly is having a small bump again.

"Has Shittykawa really knocked you up again?" He snickers a bit and raises a brow at you in amusement.

"Please don’t remind me, I had a moment of weakness with those eyes of his. Besides, Mathéo really wished for a sibling. He is already four years old. Can you believe that?" You look at your son in amazement and love, he looks exactly like his father, except that he has a very quiet personality, more like yours.

"How far along are you?" Iwaizumi interrupts your thoughts, looking at you with a smile, folding his arms.

"13 weeks now, Tōru really hopes for a girl this time." You grin at the brunette rubbing your stomach a bit.

"You shouldn’t run though, it’s not good for you during your early pregnancy." Still ever the concerned mother duck, Iwaizumi scolds you a bit.

"I know, I know, I was just in a huge panic mode, because I couldn’t find him." You sigh with a smile.

Iwaizumi smiles at you yet again and unbeknownst to you, a few players stopped their warm up, watching the interaction between you and their Athletic Trainer.

"I didn’t know Iwaizumi had a family." Hakuba states.

"Damn, she’s super hot. Too bad she is married ta our Athletic Trainer." Atsumu wiped a towel across his face, his brown eyes still captivated by the woman.

Hinata hears his teammates talking and looks over and sees Iwaizumi and a beautiful, breathtaking woman standing next to him, talking and laughing. For some reason you look very familiar but he can’t remember exactly where he has seen your face before.

All of sudden, you depart from Iwaizumi and the young boy who was watching the Japanese team, comes up to you to hold your hand.

When you turn a bit to see the players, you spot Hinata, giving him a bashful smile and a small wave at him, walking to the sides to look for your husband and his team.

Hinata can’t help but feel like you look extremely familiar, that young boy really reminds him of a certain brown-haired Setter that was once and honestly still is Kageyama‘s archenemy.

Iwaizumi turns back to the group and sees that some of the players are giving him weird looks.

"What?" He asks harshly into the round.

"Since when do you have a wife and a kid??" Suna frowns.

"What are you talking about?" Iwaizumi frowns back in confusion.

"The goddess of beauty itself that was just standin' next ta ya a minute ago." Atsumu clarifies.

"Also, I don’t know if you noticed but the kid looks nothing like you." Kageyama adds as well.

Iwaizumi finally understands but can’t help himself to be ticked off by Kageyama‘s last comment.

"Because she’s not? You have known me for what?Almost four months? You ever seen a ring on me or that woman visiting me at work? She is only a very good friend of mine. She used to be Aoba Johsai’s manager." The Athletic Trainer explains.

"That’s why she looked familiar! Her name is (Y/L/N) (Y/F/N) isn’t it?" Hinata is very excited and hopes to talk to you again, after meeting you in Brazil with Oikawa together almost 6 years ago.

"Well, believe it or not, it’s actually Oikawa (Y/N) now."

Another voice chimes in, the sentence carried with pride and smugness.

Some of the players tense up and almost growl at the sight of Argentine‘s official Setter walking up with an agonizing smirk.

"Nice to see you again Shōyō. Hope you and the suckers behind you are ready to lose." Oikawa just loves to rile people up, seeing the reactions of them are always a blast for him.

"The fuck did ya just say-" Atsumu growls and is ready to physically fight the opponent Setter when they hear that exciting voice again.

"Papa!" At the sound of his son‘s voice, Oikawa immediately turns around with a big smile.

Little steps run towards the brunette and Oikawa bends down to his son‘s height to catch him.

Standing up again to his full height, Mathéo smiles widely with closed eyes as he hugs his father‘s neck.

"Mathéo, this is Shōyō Hinata, your pa played with him in Rio when he visited the city. Can you say 'hi'?"

Mathéo turns to the orange-haired Wing Spiker for a second and immediately hides his face in his father‘s neck.

"Sorry about that, got my dashing looks but his mother‘s shy personality." Oikawa chuckles a bit, patting his son lightly on the back.

Hinata walks a bit closer to Oikawa‘s son, being extremely good with kids.

"Mathéo, do you also want to play volleyball when you grow up like your papa?"

Mathéo turns again to look at the orange-haired Opposite Hitter and hides his face partly to look at Hinata while being attached to his father.

"I do." Mathéo whispers out, still wary of the stranger.

"Maybe later on, you can show Shōyō how good you can receive already." Oikawa suggests to his son and he slowly comes out of his shy shell and nods enthusiastically at his father’s words.

"After of course, your amazingly talented dad has beat every single player. Especially Kageyama or the blonde idiot that only ranked second place in Japan‘s best Setter." Oikawa‘s pointy finger booped the tip of Mathéo‘s nose and the little boy squeals in delight.

"Mama said you shouldn’t say those words. They’re mean." Mathéo's face changes immediately again and he scolds his father, who in return just scoffs lightly at the words.

"Mijo, I am just telling you the truth, watch the game and you‘ll see what I mean."

"Okay papa!"

Oikawa farewells Hinata and wishes him good luck.

When the Setter seeks out his wife, he sees her standing by the sides, talking to some of his teammates.

Making his way towards her, he feels a great amount of pride flowing through his system. He’s got a family now and he is ready to show the world what he’s got.

Unbeknownst to Oikawa, lots of looks of glowering eyes follow the Argentinian Setter‘s movements, getting riled up by his words, they are ready to fight.

Let the battle begin.

[emmaxdelicate]

Karma is my girlfriend

Summary: Taylor Swift x famous!reader ; Taylor changes the lyrics to her song on tour and everyone freaks out.

Warnings: I am NOT a gaylor! I just write for fem readers. Use of y/n (only 1 time). She/her pronouns. Nothing, just kissing and two idiots in love :)

A/N: Okay so this is really rushed and short and it's my first story on here so it's probably bad so PLEASE don't mind. Okay? Okay.

wc: 565 masterlist

The loud music made your ears tremble in a somewhat pleasant way. The blinding strobes coming from the centre of the pit danced throught the stadium walls and the sky. The people around you had no idea of what was going on between you and the woman on stage.

You and Taylor met 5 months ago at friend's birthday party, and since then you haven't been able to keep your eyes off of her. You exchanged phone numbers and started talking almost everyday, that becoming long phone calls, to actual meetups, wich became dates.

On your second one, you kissed. It was brief, a small peck on the lips just before you both pulled away to contemplate eachother's gazes, trying to decode your own rumbling thoughts.

A week later you started dating. No one really knows about it, and you both want to keep it that way.

Taylor's currently performing Karma, her last song on the setlist, everybody's dancing and singing in the VIP tent.

Step by step from town to town

Sweet like justice, karma is a queen

Karma takes all my friends to the summit

Karma is the girl on the screen, coming straight home to me

The crowd cheers loudly, everyone freaking out about the small but so significant lyric change.

You know it's about you. The smirk she's got on her mouth is the exact same she has whenever she's kissing you.

A sudden thought struck your mind: all of the people recording, the cameras, and you were still smiling and blushing like an idiot. You rapidly put on your acting skills, faking an amused face and blending in with everyone else's.

All good things come to an end, and so does the song. Taylor gives her last goodbye to the shaking crowd and disappears under the stage.

As fast as a racing cheetah, you get out the VIP tent following the mass of people who are waiting for Taylor to exit the stadium. But you pass right by them, headed to her dressing room.

After showing your badge to security and being stopped by some fans, you finally reach your destination. Eager knocks resound throught the stadium's inner walls as Taylor opens up the door. Her blue orbs immediately dilatate as she sees you.

"Hey," she says.

"Hi," you breathily reply, stunned at the sight of how the blue sparkly bodysuit she has on hugged her curves.

"Come in," she steps aside closing the door behind her.

You step closer to her and quickly find yourself placing a gentle kiss on her lips with you arms wrapped around her neck.

"So," Taylor kindly breaks the kiss "what'd you think about that?"

"About what?"

She jokingly rolls her eyes, "About the lyrics, silly"

You can feel the blood rapidly rush to your cheeks, "Oh, I loved it"

"Really?"

"Obviously!" you loosen the grip around her neck "Everyone loved it! You were so good"

"Thank you, y/n" she hugs you and rests her cheek on your shoulder, "you mean so much to me"

Taylor raises her head up, waiting for a response.

"I love you, Taylor"

When you hear nothing back, you start panicking. "I-I'm sorry Tay, if you still don't feel it you can just- just forget I said that"

But then, that smirk plasters her face, and you already know what she's gonna say.

"I love you too".

[illubean]

Hi can I get a nsfw scenario where Chrollo gently seduces the reader during her first time and discovers she has a praise kink? I feel like this man would be literal god tier to have

Gentle Praise

Characters: Chrollo Lucilfer Type: NSFW, Oneshot, Fem!Reader, College!au because I'm a sucker for scholar Chrollo

mueheheh >:) reader is a lil shy and awko taco in this but not like cringe stereotypcial "omg im so shyy >.<" type also this ended up being super long thus turning a scenario into a full fic oopsies

Warnings: maybe ooc Chrollo idk, mentions of alcohol, he calls y/n princess a few times, praise (fem receiving), oral (fem receiving) unprotected p in v sex (wrap it before you tap it kids), reader discretion is advised

Chrollo isn't quite sure how you ended up in a setting like this. You were a pretty little thing with a look so elegant you look almost out of place at one of Uvo's rowdy house parties.

The bright LEDs, loud music and cheap beers didn't seem like your kind of scene. But there was no way for Chrollo to know that for sure.

You stood off to the side near the snack table, slowly nursing your cup of jungle juice that you didn't care much for. You had only taken it from your friend since you felt rude to turn it down. Said friend of yours was currently having the time of their life. They were plastered, dancing through the crowd of bodies and mingling with other drunk partygoers.

You're not too sure why you even came to this party. You much preferred small gatherings, and you don't even like alcohol all that much. You sighed, awkwardly scanning the room until your eyes met a pair of onyx orbs. They belonged to a face you knew all too well.

Chrollo Lucilfer.

He was a year or so older than you, a psychology major. You've seen him around campus and even though he was well known for mostly good reasons, your friends still teased you for finding him attractive. Perhaps you had stared at him for a bit too long though, seeing as a smirk made its way onto his face as he got up to approach you.

You panicked a little, looking around awkwardly seeking a quick escape. You placed your cup down but before you could flee, a voice came from in front of you.

"Hey Y/n."

Oh my god he knows my name.

You managed to spit out a response, feeling your hands get clammy as you looked into his eyes. You were completely and utterly helpless. This man managed to reduce you to nothing but a nervous, sweaty mess simply by just existing. It was kind of pathetic.

But the man responsible didn't think so. Chrollo thought it was cute how awkward you got, not being able to hold eye contact and wiping your hands on your clothes. He was no fool, and he knew exactly what effect he had on you. As a matter of fact he had this effect on quite a few people, though none of them stood out to him like you did.

He would be lying if he said he'd never thought of you in a romantic setting before. You were a cute (your choice) major who he often seen walking around with Machi. From what he's seen, you're not so much of a partier and prefer to focus on your actual studies than crazy frat gatherings. Maybe your more mellow and reserved nature is what drew him towards you.

"I didn't peg you as the party type," he says, breaking you from your previous daze.

"Oh, I'm not. My friend over there dragged me here."

You pointed into the crowd towards said friend, who was currently standing on top of a coffee table, a bottle of some sort of strong liquor in hand as the people around them cheered them on.

Note to self: make sure they get home safe

Chrollo chuckled at the deadpan look on your face after you saw how drunk your friend really was.

"Seems like they're having fun. Why don't we sneak off somewhere more quiet?"

You felt the tip of your ears burn at his offer before quickly nodding as he led the way.

Leaving the loud, hot and crowded living room AND spending time alone with Chrollo? Score!

He took one of your hands into his own, placing the other on the small off your back, leading you past all of the other partygoers and up a flight of stairs. He led you into a rather plain room, shutting the door before letting go of your hand and flopping down to lay on the bed.

"Is it ok that we're in here?" you ask, not wanting to disrespect someone else's house.

"This is my friend Shalnark's room but he's rarely ever home. I crash here sometimes so I don't think he minds."

At his words you hesitantly and awkwardly sit on the corner of the bed, facing away from Chrollo. You had no clue what to do now. The both of you were silent for a while, the light thump of the distant music being the only thing disturbing the atmosphere.

After a few moments pass, Chrollo sits up and moves closer to you, leaning in order to make eye contact.

"You don't have to be so awkward around me, y'know? I don't bite. Unless you want me to."

You look away in an attempt to hide your embarrassment from the man before you, who only chuckles and grabs both of your hands.

"You get flustered so easily, how adorable."

One of his hands reaches up to the side of your face to turn you towards him. His beautiful onyx orbs were glazed over in what you could only describe as a mix of admiration and lust.

Oh.

Chrollo began leaning closer, you doing the same. Naturally, your eyes started to close as the two of you got closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Then he stopped.

You sat there in anticipation for a moment but nothing came. You opened your eyes and furrowed your brows in confusion, only to find Chrollo already staring back at you with a small smile on his face.

"Is this okay?"

You gave him a frantic nod, a quiet yet rushed 'yes' leaving your mouth. At the confirmation the man pressed a searing kiss into your lips, gently caressing the apple of your cheek as you reached your arms out to embrace him.

His touch was gentle, yet burning with the passion of a thousand suns as he led you to lay across the bed. His large hands slipped underneath your shirt, softly caressing your lower back and waist as he continued his assault on your mouth.

You whimper softly into the heated kiss, feeling your skin practically burn where his body came in contact with yours. He pulled away from your lips, leaving you breathless as he carefully removes both your shirt and bra.

Chrollo takes a moment to take in the sight of you, panting and topless beneath him. He swore he would brand this image into the back of his mind for the rest of his days, never wanting to forget how beautiful you were in this very moment.

"God, you're gorgeous."

His hands begin roaming your body once again as he planted searing, open mouth kisses along your neck and collarbone. You couldn't help but writhe under his touch, soft but needy noises leaving your lips. His words had an affect so strong on you that was unexpected.

Chrollo's hand trailed down the front of your body, slipping underneath the waistband of your panties. Two off his fingers gently prodded at your entrance, before trailing back up to swirl around your clit. You clenched your thighs with a gasp, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck to pull him closer.

"Who knew my pretty girl would be so sensitive," he coos. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you."

A violent shiver shot down your spine and into your core. God, if he kept talking like this you might just be able to cum from his words alone. You whimpered, arms tightening around him to pull him impossibly close. He chuckled sofly, planting a few kisses across your face before pulling away completely.

Before you could whine in protest, Chrollo pulled off the clothing left on your bottom half. He settled himself between your legs, wrapping his arms around your thighs as he faced your glistening heat. He looked up at your through his eyelashes before speaking again.

"You doing alright, princess?"

You nodded, face flushed at the nickname. But this didn't seem to be enough of a response for Chrollo.

"You're going to have to use your words, beautiful."

"Yes! God, yes just please...continue."

He chuckles at your desperation before licking a long, slow stripe up your pussy. This draws a trembled moan out of you, which only egged him on further. He buried his face impossibly deep into your cunt, going down on you like a man starved while you reached down to grip his hair. He eased two of his fingers into you as your body writhed with pleasure.

He pulls away from you momentarily, eyes flicking between the sight of his lithe fingers plunging into you and the flushed expression across your face. He felt your walls flutter around him which caused him to smirk up at you.

"You're getting close, aren't you? Go ahead, make a mess for me."

He dove back into your core, determined to make you cum. His lewd words sent you over the edge, having brought you to your first climax of the night. He sits up, making eye contact with you as he licks your juices off of his two digits.

He crawled back up the mattress so now you were both face to face, arms bracing himself on either side of your head to keep himself above you. You wrap your arms around the back of his neck and pull him down to meet you in a heated kiss. You could care less that the taste of yourself lingered on his lips. All you could think about is how Chrollo is all yours right now.

After kissing you for a few moments longer, he pulls away from you to hastily remove his clothes. Your eyes followed his movements, starting at his toned chest and moving down his abs. There was a light happy trail that peeked out above the waist band of his boxers. Finally, he hooks his fingers beneath it and drags them down his hips and oh.

He was huge.

Your eyes widened as you took in all of Chrollo's naked glory, his pretty cock standing thick and girthy. His balls sat below it, heavy and full.

How the hell would that ever fit?

The man you had been gawking at chuckles before gently prodding your entrance with his fat tip.

"Don't worry, you can take it. I know you can."

Your heart pulsed at this, heat rising to your cheeks as you look away from him, embarassed.

"Nervous, sweetheart?"

He leaned down closer to you to plant a reassuring kiss on your cheek, trailing them down your neck and along your collarbone.

"...this is my first time," you admit bashfully, moaning at the feeling of his lips on your skin.

"I'll just have to take extra care of you then."

He pushes himself into you, the plush walls of your heat stretching to wrap around him. He continues to kiss you through it as you pull your bodies impossibly close to each other. After sheathing himself completely into your pussy he begins to trust into you, slow and sensual.

He only picks up the pace after feeling your body relax, his thick shaft stretching you deliciously well and hitting all the right spots deep within you.

"God, you're perfect. It's like this pussy was made for me," he grunts, fucking himself into you deeper and deeper with each thrust.

It didn't take long for Chrollo to reduce you to nothing but a moaning, babbling mess. Not only could he lay pipe like no one's business, but his praising words sent you to heights you didn't know you could ever possibly reach. You felt your eyes well up with tears as you felt your climax approach for the second time that night.

"Chrollo, 'm gonna-"

Your words were cut off with the sound of your own moan, feeling Chrollo's dick brush against your g-spot. Your pussy quivers and clenches around him, sucking him back in every time he pulls away.

"Wait for me, sweetheart. Just a little longer, okay?"

You whine, digging your nails into his shoulder blades as he speeds up and fucks you with newfound vigor. You couldn't hold back any longer, a white hot flash hitting you like an ocean wave as you cried out Chrollo's name. The man cursed, feeling you clamp around him impossibly tight, bringing him to his climax as well.

You wrapped your legs around his hips, prompting him to burry himself deep in your womb. His cum floods your pussy, making you feel impossibly fullwhile you pant, coming down from your previous high. You let go of him, body going limp against the mattress, absolutely fucked out.

Chrollo pulls out slowly, watching his seed drip from your weeping cunt, breathing heavily at the sight of you. You press your hand against your bloated tummy, causing more of his cum to spill out of you. His cock twitches as this, and he wastes no time in mounting you again.

"I'm not done with you yet, gorgeous."

may or may not have gotten carried away with this OOPSIESSSS ;p

[eldritch-spouse]

Kalymir and tactition reader? Sort of a brains and brawn situation?

[I enjoy this. "Big dumb villain and their smart assistant that's not paid enough"-core.]

He starts pacing around the table, always does, when something you say isn't to his liking.

" DON'T FUCK ME! "

Fortunately, you were hired to be the brains to his muscle, not to glaze his metaphorical balls.

" M'lord I'm fairly certain I couldn't even if I tired. " You eye him up and down, silently asking if he's done with his bitchfit. " Nonetheless, I believe this is no time to be aggressive. You'd do well to send scouts- "

" SCOUTS?! " He snarls at the top of his rather annoyingly large lungs. Some kind of battle axe flies over your head, decapitating baby hairs. You barely blink as it embeds itself into the wall behind you. " THIS IS BARELY A PROPER SETTLEMENT! I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS PIECE OF SHIT RESISTANCE POCKET- "

The King stomps forward on mighty talons, nearly swiping your pondering orb away as he gestures toward it with a fury of such might that it makes the muscles in his arms swell.

" LOOK AT THESE INSECTS! "

" Precisely. "

The demonlord looks as if his honest desire is to cut your back open and slurp the spinal cord out. Yet, in the midst of the anger constantly frying his nerve endings, is a tungsten carbide core of minimal intelligence that reminds him eviscerating you is a most terrible idea.

" EXPLAIN THEN, YOU MOUTHY CUNT. "

" I've been trying to do so this entire time. "

" THE FUCKING NERVE Y- "

" This resistance pocket- " You start, snapping your fingers repeatedly as if trying to garner a large dog's attention. " Is mixed and dangerous, m'lord. "

Although Kalymir is visibly fuming, he does listen.

You scroll through the field of view offered by the hidden summoned aid currently hiding in tall trees. It provides a top-down map feed of the location Kalymir's latest headache has been operating from. Currently, at least. People buzz from one side to another, not many in numbers but extremely well-organized and efficient, almost as if controlled by something.

" Notice there are more than just wrathful demons in the midst, this group employs humans and monsters, especially the less social of the bunch. The kind of monster you'd find hiding in darkened places, isolated but by no means uneducated. To gain the alliance of these monsters, one would need a surprising sense of- "

" I'M FUCKING SNOOZING HERE... "

Sometimes, you're the one that wants to maul him.

There's a tired sigh.

" Harmonious diversity equals no-no. "

Pause.

" I'M NOT A BABY, YOU SURFACE WHORE. "

" Putting that aside, I'm sure you've noticed by now, that they brandish weapons of ancient times. The very things that allowed the initial group to leave the Rings unscathed despite being hunted, not just in Wrath but in the territory of all the Lords you've made agreements with. "

" CELESTIAL WEAPONRY. " The warlord sneers, thoughtful.

" Yes. "

Kalymir shakes his head.

" YOU CAN'T TELL ME THEY'RE ALLIED TO ANGELS! MOST ARE DEMONS, YOU CAN'T BRIBE ANGELS INTO HANDING THEIR TOOLS OVER- " He slams both fists onto the worn and dented table, making your chair jump. " THEY'RE HARDLY EVEN SEEN. AND LIKE FUCKING HELL THESE PARASITES CAN KILL ONE! "

A smug smile tugs your lips. " But, my King, they don't need to be allied to angels to have those. "

Kalymir makes a rare effort to calm down, sharpened claws tapping at the same table. You can hear a heavy-tipped tail swing, the woosh mildly distracting.

" SPEAK! "

" The archives. "

You can hear the gears melting in his cranium.

" THE ARCHIVES... " He stands, mighty body straight as he beings putting two and two together. " THE ARCHIVES! "

You nod, arms crossing.

Not just any archives, the Royal Archives of Wrath, containing a litany of detailed instructions in old Infernal about how to dispatch different types of celestials. The same archives that guarded weapons of Eden stolen from perished angels, weapons that destroyed the limbs of the brave demons who managed to retrieve them, whose core names and sigils have been carved into the cases holding these artifacts. Those are the only celestial weapons left behind, as far as anyone knows. The type of material prize a lord of Wrath would die protecting.

" NO! " He barks once he realizes the first possibility that statement implies.

" Yes, my King. "

" NO ONE COULD HAVE BROKEN IN, YOU SNOT-BRAINED ANKLE BITER! "

Hm, that one's new.

He's right, no one could have broken in, he knows you know this, and the fact that you always seem one little step ahead of him is both infuriating to the King but also exciting.

" Correct. "

" THEN- "

" Who has access to the Royal Archives of Wrath? "

" I DO! I'M THE KING- "

" And who had access? "

As soon as you ask that, he falls eerily silent, pacing again, this time to the opposite display of weapons, subconsciously studying them as he thinks.

" IMPOSSIBLE. "

You recline on the chair, eyes closing. " Is it? "

" I BUTCHERED HIM! I HUMILIATED HIM. HIS VERY SKULL SITS ABOVE MY THRONE OF VICTORIES! "

" His offspring, my King. His descendants. " As far as you know, they were only juveniles when Kalymir murdered their father.

" ONE DIED IN THE CRUCIBLE... "

" The other...? "

Kalymir doesn't answer, he doesn't know. And neither did you, not until very recently.

You don't need to spell the implications out this time, he gets there on his own two synapses.

" YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS. " The demonlord bristles, not because he finds the suggestion ridiculous, but likely because it's going to make things a lot more interesting.

" But I am. He can't show his face, it'd be too risky, but some dissenting demons still recognize and have followed him to the surface. He then seeks the help of monsters living in the margins of societies or straight up outside of them, safer options to utilize holy weapons. And not just that, these monsters muddle our understanding of the resistance's origins and goals, adding humans to the mix just makes it all more confusing. Many of the non-demonic members are likely under contractual obligation to do this too, I'd reckon. "

The King is silent.

" Think about it. You lost track of them a long time ago. This prince-to-be witnessed the death of his father, his brother, his mother has likely died of old age. He has nothing. Nothing but a sweltering desire to dethrone you. This is his doing. "

A cruel glint settles in your eyes, belying that there is room for your frigid coldness in the boiling Ring.

" Unfortunately, he must have been too young to properly absorb his father's teachings, because this is amateurish at best. A little bit of care and thought is all you need to nip his budding plans, m'lord. "

The King smiles, drags a hand down his face, chest heaving faster as a very thunderous bark of raucous laughter shakes the entire fortress. The clapping of meaty red hands accentuates how wolfishly delighted he is.

" YOU GLORIOUS, ROTTEN WENCH! HOW COULD I NOT HAVE SEEN THIS?! "

Yes, really, how did he not see this a mile away? He should have figured it out before you, you actually had to do research concerning the past ruler of Wrath.

Kalymir damn near sprints towards you, reaching over the table to grab you up by the collar of your outfit.

" LEAD ME TO HIM, STRATEGIST. TELL ME HOW TO GET MY HANDS ON THE WORTHLES TWERP. I WILL WEAR HIS BROTHER'S SKIN. "

" Of course, my King. I will lead you to victory as always. "

" GOOD. GOOD LITTLE HUMAN. "

You're dropped back down unceremoniously, feeling a creak in your hip but remaining composed. Kalymir is clearly getting overly excited over the whole deal, you can tell he'll be obsessing over it from now on.

" WE WILL MAKE A NEW CHANDELIER OF HIS BONES. "

Satisfied, there's a pep to the demonlord's step as he makes to leave, opening the great doors to his hall.

" AND ONCE THIS IS OVER, YOU- "

" YOU WILL SIT BESIDE ME AS QUEEN. "

[iloveoldermen-posts]

Idk if you do these kinds of things but I kinda wanna get this off my chest. 141 or whoever you chose with an actual ghost reader? Like they kinda haunt the base and leave little trinkets and notes. Uh little ghostie has taken a liking to them and vice versa. The boys like to sometimes leave little things they find for her to eventually move somewhere else either for a prank or a pick me up to show she’s there. This is my first time ever doing a request so feel free to ignore if it’s too much

- ♠️ s

My Little Note I'M SORRY BUT THE CREATIVITY. My god this ask ateeee. I will try my hardest to bring the vision to life, thank youuu for suggesting it!!

Warnings: open ending, slight swearing, unsure about continuation of the one-shot, gender neutral however i have not proof read ୨୧

Everybody knew the base was haunted, I mean with how many people had died, with how many souls that were lost - it was bound to happen. The ghosts pretty much kept to themselves, wanting to finally be at peace. So unless you were a real pain in the as, they left you alone.

The 141 thought it was all a myth, something to make soldier's feel better about being afraid of their past haunting them. That was until 'little ghostie' took a liking to them. At first it was just the taunting of the man who dared call himslef 'Ghost', he hadn't reached that stage yet and Ghostie thought he shouldn't foreshadow the loneliest part of the cycle of life.

Ghostie thought it was funny seeing these big, wise men pracically shit themselves at the creak of floorboard, especially since everybody else knew about the base and accepted the idea of it being haunted.

When the 141 finally accepted Ghostie was there to stay, they started noticing things, trinkets of sorts. For example, leaving a bar of soap on Johnny's pillow, him replying 'real funny Ghostie.' Eliciting a gentle giggle to be heard and echoed through Johnny's mind for the rest of the week.

Or when Ghostie left a little ghost plush for Simon in his regular seat in the meeting room. He smiled under his mask and stuffed it in his pocket. Later that night when Ghostie was doing rounds of the base, they noticed Simon fast asleep with the small teddy almost engulfed by his arm muscle.

Gaz was given a drawing of himself sitting next to an empty chair filled with small orbs. Gaz classed it as a masterpiece and not only did he hang it up but he had it framed and placed on a wall in their common room, not even caring about the design rules.

Price was the last to recieve any gift at all, some of the boys even had multiple before he recieved his first. He didn't care about all of that when he recieved his gift - a beautifully written cursive letter explaing to him who Ghostie really was and how happy they are now they have all met.

The letter included the fact that when a ghost finally reaches full contentness, they either pass over or come back from the land of the dead.

That was the last time they heard from 'little ghostie' for the past week, unsure of what they finally chose..

My asks are currently open so get the requests in, and check out my masterlist.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! -> ALL REBLOGS, LIKES AND COMMENTS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

[utterlyotterlyx]

A Fate Inked In Starlight

Part Two

Eris x Fem!Reader x Azriel

Summary - After crashing into the Autumn Court with no idea who you are, where you are, or how you got there, Eris takes it upon himself to hide you and care for you with the help of the Night Court. That is until souls from other walks of life infiltrate Prythian searching for you.

Warnings - slight angst, some Eris fluff, Rhys changing his aggy tune, Az being intrigued.

Part One Part Three Part Four Part Five

"Your note said that you found a woman here?" Rhys asked as he stepped through the threshold of Fir Manor, his violet eyes prickling with intrigue as he glanced about the heirs personal home.

It was different to how they had expected it to be.

Artwork by various talents hung on the walls which were covered in a dark red, almost brown, wallpaper. Furniture was arranged neatly, a fire crackled against the wall, and an array of books lay splayed open on differing pages, none knowing which would be picked up and resumed next.

Rhys and Azriel found themselves surrounded by warmth, it radiated through the home, harmonised by the sound of angelic humming that the flames appeared to sway to.

The three males sat at the seating area before the fire, Eris on one of the plush armchairs easily big enough for two, the arm of it was slightly dented from where he constantly propped his feet atop it, usually when he was reading or being tormented by his hounds.

"I did. I sent her to bathe, and the healer left just before you both arrived," he watched them warily as they looked around the room.

Eris could hardly blame them for their intrigue, he had never welcomed anyone into Fir Manor, it was meant to be his refuge away from life. A personal haven of sorts. But he knew there was no other place he could take you where you'd be safe.

The air was tight with tension, Eris' relationship with the two males in the room with him had improved greatly as time had progressed and they saw him as more than just Beron's heir, but, it was still difficult at times.

Azriel didn't trust him at all. He knew why they had to support Eris, Beron was a cruel thing, an accumulation of all things foul in Prythian. With what had happened to Mor, Azriel didn't care for any cry that came from Autumn, only responding when Rhys commanded it.

"I call her Flora. It feels wrong for her to not have a name," the angelic hum continued to flow from a slightly ajar door upstairs, a wordless melody that had stuck to your lips and begged to be sang, even softly.

"She truly has no idea how she got here?" Azriel didn't look to the heir as he asked, his hazel eyes trained on the staircase to his right where the sweet song drifted, making his shadows dance around his forearms in ethereal delight.

"None. Though, I was hoping we could confirm that with your ability, Rhysand." It wasn't a question, more of a certainty, it was imperative that they knew the truth about you, if there was truly nothing in your mind.

Rhys hummed, his feet mindlessly tapping along to the melody that seemed to grow closer and increase in volume, "Only if she agrees. I'm not here to force her to do anything she doesn't wish to."

"Good," Eris leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, "I wouldn't let you if you even tried."

"Why?" Azriel tore his gaze away from the stairs, needing to know why Eris wouldn't let them do what was necessary to decipher your intentions.

Eris' amber orbs glowed in the firelight, dangerous and unyielding, "You'll see."

As if on cue, you appeared at the bottom of the stairs, your hair and skin now free from dirt and dried blood, the cuts on your neck healed and vanished, and a healthy rosed pink tinge to your cheeks. Azriel saw you faintly, the ocean blue pools with currents of molten gold running through them shining through the shadows, and damp pearlescent blonde hair that easily reached the bottom of your spine.

"Hello," you spoke, your voice was so gentle, so innocent as you examined the two new males in the manor. Both winged things, dark hair, black swirling tattoos across their shoulders, chests, and arms. A blue light pulsated, it thrummed with power, much like your own did.

As if sensing your fear, Eris rose to his feet, "It's alright," he coaxed into the shadows, the fire cascading its glow over his figure. Eris looked different, you knew he was muscular but you didn't realise just how sculpted he was as he stood there ridded of his jacket and stood only in his brown briefs and open collared cream shirt. "They're friends. I asked them to come and help."

That being all the security you needed, you stepped out from the shadow, allowing the warmth of the firelight to wrap around you whilst you fiddled with your fingernails.

All of their eyes went wide as they took you in, then the sets belonging to Eris' companions flew to him, the look on his own face confirming that he didn't already know of the thing that had concerned them.

You stood before them, a sheer deep red dress pooling at your feet, they could make out the peaks of your nipples, not like they were searching for them. They were too focused on a much more pressing matter.

Azriel couldn't blame Eris for not noticing, it's not like the heir had watched you undress with his own eyes. But as you stood before them, Azriel truly didn't know what to do next, and that had never been a problem he'd faced before. Your skin was covered in marks, tiny little archaic sketches that started at your shoulders and ended at your feet, no patch of skin was left bare apart from your face and the palms of your hands.

None of them had ever seen anything like it.

They weren't a million of miniscule interlinked tattoos, they were scars, thousands of them stacked upon one another, all healed over to mere bumps of flesh.

"I'm Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court, and Azriel is my spymaster," Eris and Azriel were thankful that Rhys was the first to break the heavy silence, neither of them knew what to say, "I have a power that allows me to look into minds. I was wondering if you'd allow me into yours, that we may somehow figure out where you came from?"

You looked to Eris, the one that you trusted the most in the room, "It won't hurt, will it?"

Azriel watched your lips move as you spoke, he allowed his gaze to travel down your frame, around the curves of your hips, until he found the marred rings of flesh around your wrists. It was a stare that you caught, and he felt that familiar pang of sadness when you hid them behind your back.

"No," Eris told you, he was sure, he was certain, "Rhys has done it to me many times before. It's just to give us some clarity, that's all. Then we can figure out how to best help you," you took his outstretched hand, allowing him to lead you to the armchair where he once sat, the warmth of his body heat cushioning your nerves.

Duke nestled himself at your feet, dragging his head so that is rested on top of your bare toes. The room shifted, and you found Rhys kneeling in front of you, vibrant violet burrowing into your face, he was tight lipped and raised a slow hand to grasp the back of your neck, the sensation of his touch made you gasp.

Then the violet glazed over, you felt the claws asking for permission at the forefront of your consciousness and you let them in without a fight. It was odd, to have someone scouring through your brain, to feel them slip in and out of every crevasse and chamber.

Azriel watched you with a fierce intensity, your gaze hadn't left Rhys' face for even a moment, though your eyebrows did occasionally twitch close together in discomfort. Then blood, fresh, bright red blood began to seep from your nose, a sign that Rhys was pushing too deeply in the wrong direction.

"Rhys," Azriel called over, Eris had perched on the arm of the chair, his hands curled around your shoulders gently. His High Lord froze, as if awaiting the rest of the call, "You're hurting her."

Immediately, Rhys' talons retracted from your mind and his eyes returned to their vibrant hue, "Fascinating," he mumbled to no one in particular as his thumb reached to wipe away the single thread of blood that had escaped your nose, "There was nothing in there," he turned to Azriel and told him, more freaked out than threatened, then he turned back to you, "You have a shield in your mind, protecting a certain chamber of it. It was like an ocean reflecting the night sky, rippling with motion and littered with stars. It did not want to let me in."

Azriel could picture it. A canvas rippling with life that embodied the calmness that only the Summer waters possessed, flecked with bright stars in a kaleidoscope of hues. He imagined it was a peaceful shield to come into contact with, perhaps even the most peaceful shield Rhys had ever seen.

A defeated look took over your face, those doe eyes creasing downward as you turned into Eris.

"We'll help you, Flora." Eris told you, forcing you to look into him, to see that he wasn't lying.

"Flora?"

Eris winced, nervously scratching the back of his neck, "Yes. You don't have a name and I didn't want to call you nothing," he rambled in a way you found rather sweet, "Flora suits you, but obviously you can choose whatever name you'd like-"

Your hand moving to his thigh was enough to stop more words from tumbling from his mouth, "Flora," you repeated the name, humming in agreement, "I like it."

Rhys stood from his place in front of you, and you realised then just how big he was as the shadows of his wings cast down on you. There was a fondness laced in his expression, "We'll do all that we can to help you. In the meantime, we should discuss living arrangements?"

"Living arrangements?" The question seemed silly to Rhys, but of course, you had no idea of the danger you were in whilst in the Autumn Court. You knew nothing of its High Lord and the brimming hatred he held toward anyone and anything.

Doe eyed and beautiful or not, Beron would hurt you if he found you in his lands.

"She's staying with me, Rhys," Eris told him curtly, making a point that it was not up for discussion.

Eris was by no means holding a claim over you, he just wished for you to be as comfortable as possible, and given the melodic humming floating through his home a short while ago, he was confident in thinking that Fir Manor was the best place to house you.

You sat still as the pair stared intently at one another whilst Azriel kept his gaze on you. Tilting your head to the side, like Eris had done when he found you, you smiled, the act growing on your lips as his shadows slithered across the floor and curled around your ankles and hiked up your calves. They were in awe of you. Complete and total adoration.

Once they had returned to him, they only whispered of your beauty and kind soul, of their need to hear your song once more.

"You will keep in touch then," Rhys bit, clearly not happy at the arrangements made between himself and Eris, "And if Flora ever needs another place to go, you will write to me and either myself or Azriel will come."

You and Eris sat on opposite ends of the sofa, twin blankets draped over your legs with a bundle of Eris' hounds in the space between all laying in different directions and positions.

Eris' head kept on lifting toward you, the poor book in his hands getting little to no attention as he examined your face. Your hair had been dried by the fire, it held a shine to it that he'd never seen before, strands kept on falling over your cheeks, and you continued to push them behind your ears with a slight frown, doing your best to concentrate on your own book that Eris had given to you.

The silence was comfortable, crickets creaked from beyond the window and the fireflies drifted around the edges of the estate. A gentle breeze wafted through your hair, filling the room with your scent, and Eris didn't mind it one bit.

"You're staring," you noted aloud before meeting his eye, "Is something on my face?"

The innocence of you made him smile, a genuine one, one of pure wonderment and curiosity, "No," he mused, "I'm just trying to figure you out."

Amusement huffed through you, "Let me know what you find?"

"Always," you mirrored his smile, your eyes sparkling in the golden orange hue from the dimly lit fire as the day caught up with you, a yawn pulling at your mouth and limbs, causing you to stretch and emit some sleep deprived whines, "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Let me take you to your room," Eris stood quickly, ignoring the grumbles of his hounds at the shifting of weight which had interrupted their naps. Eris was sincere, cradling your hand into the indent of his elbow as he led you from the room.

Fir Manor was a spectacle you had to see to truly experience it. Warmth trickled through every part of the home, rich red brown walls, oak tables and furnishings, plush beds and bay windows, a library so full that books lay stacked in piles around the room. Various artworks were carefully placed about the halls and bedrooms, some more grand than others, but each told its own story, and you felt yourself delving into each one that Eris led you past.

Light chatter had enveloped you and you had learned that Eris was the eldest son of the Autumn High Lord, that he was next to ascend to the title, and that Fir Manor was his and his alone.

"Does it ever get lonely? Having all of this incredible space but no one to share it with?"

Eris contemplated your question, and you wanted to retract it entirely when you saw that glimmer of tainted hope in him, "I hope that one day I will have someone to share this all with. All of this grandeur and power means nothing if you're alone." Eris paused before asking, "Do you want a family?"

You slowed to a stop before a pair of large oak doors, kissed with intricate carvings and swirls; you faced Eris, letting his whisky amber stare pour into you, "I think I would like one, yes. Maybe one day."

A breath lodged itself in his throat, he surveyed you, truly surveyed you, he noticed the faint freckles pecking your nose, how long your eyelashes were as they fluttered at him, he etched the peak of your cupid's bow to his memory.

"This will be yours for however long you wish to stay," he opened the door to the room and you stepped inside with mouth agape and words failing to rise from your heart.

The room was magnificent.

A large four-poster bed pleaded for your attention, adorned with a textured orange comforter and white pillows, thin white curtains danced in the gentle breeze from the open window, and candles lit the room in a dull light. Beneath your feet lay a fluffy brown rug, a small seating area rested to the left of the room, an oak coffee table with a matching dresser and dressing table. To the right of the room, peering out at you from the open door lay the most opulent bathroom you had ever seen, a tub deep enough to fit all of Eris' hounds sat before a floor to ceiling window that gave the owner a spectacular view of the gardens and forest beyond the estate. Everything gleamed in the soft light, every ripple of gold in the white marble glittering against the ceiling.

"What if I never wish to leave?" Eris stood just in the threshold of the room, not wanting to impose on your privacy despite the fact that he owned the place.

"I'd be okay with that," he watched you turn in your place, he watched you twirl with your arms outstretched, peaceful joy clear on your relaxed face, "My room is at the end of the hall, on the right, if you need anything."

"Thank you, Eris. You didn't have to do all of this," you were genuine, perhaps the most genuine creature he'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. "I'm very glad that it was you who found me today."

Eris was already closing the door to the room when you had spoke, he turned his head, smirking at you over his shoulder, "So am I, Little Flower."

That night, Eris lay awake staring at his cream ceiling, a hand on his chest rubbing gentle circles into the skin over his rapidly thundering heart. Eris lay there, lay there clueless to the beings who were pounding against the windows of Prythian, around his home, desperate to break through and take back what was theirs.

Authors Note

Luckily, part two was already started in my drafts and I've been in a great mood today so decided to finish it. I'm thinking about posting once or twice a week for this series, fully just depends on what else I add to my fanfic list.

I love a fluffy Eris too much btw 🥹

Series Taglist

@acourtofbatboydreams @glitterypirateduck2

[scuttlingcrab]

Assuming cambions can get drunk, one way or another, how about a thingy following Raphael's perspective as he wakes up after being drunk only to find himself wrapped in the arms of his little mouse (whom he is definitely not pining for even a little bit /s), even though he knows for a fact he hadn't brought her here? They are both clothed and Tav is still asleep. As Raphael tries to recall what happened the night before, he faintly remembers that Haarlep or Korrilla brought Tav to him then left... and after Tav helped/convinced him to go to bed, she turned to leave and- Oh... He grabbed for her wrist and begged asked for her not to leave, for her to please stay with him. What would he do next?

I'm slowly making my way through all the brilliant prompts folks are sending and having a blast. Thank you so much for this one, really hope you enjoy! x

Summary: Raphael wakes up with a hangover, only to find Tav sleeping on his chest. He desperately tries to make sense of the entire situation.

Hangover from Hell

Raphael floated in darkness, completely void of any sound or sensation. In a flash, a red glowing orb appeared before him, leagues away, floating patiently. A light buzzing accompanied it, echoing around him. Raphael tried to move his head, a hand, something, but he remained stagnant.

The glowing orb increased in brightness, growing bigger as it approached Raphael. He tried to shout, to scream, for anyone, anything, but no words, no whimpers, escaped his mouth. His body pulsed and throbbed the more the orb got closer, a sharp heat radiated from where his chest would've been. The buzzing intensified as the orb’s shape grew more distinct, pointier, growing horns. 1, 2… 5 horns, each with their own red glowing sphere, almost as if it resembled… 

The void vanished, yet his head still throbbed, matching the irregular rhythm of his heart. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. It felt like an orthon, or another savage infernal beast, was attempting to rip his head in two. He clenched a fist, his fingers touching a smooth, cold surface. He opened his eyes, but was immediately blinded by bright lights, stinging deep within his retinas.

He could feel himself spinning, losing control, no matter how hard he grabbed on to the ground for stability. Was he bested in battle? Poisoned? Did Raphael’s dear father finally catch a whiff of his meddlings? He had been careful, calculating, operating from the shadows, never revealing too much, never saying too little to even Harleep during their intimacy. What went wrong? This is not the end, he will make it to the finale. He will not be made a fool! 

He opened his eyes again, the light less piercing as he began to make sense of his current surroundings. Familiar objects populated his vision; wooden wardrobes, ornate windows, sparkling marble floors… the Devil’s Den. He was lying on the floor, his body inches from the bed. His clothes were damp from sweat, yet his skin was burning.

Raphael grumbled as he attempted to roll over on his side but his movement was restricted. Something was latched onto him, sinking into his chest. He looked down, only to find a fully clothed mortal woman… no, not any woman, Tav, snuggled into his chest, her dainty little fingers held him close. She slept soundly, as if he was a sorry substitute for a pillow. 

Raphael’s eyes narrowed, he hastily dug through the recesses of his memory, trying to cling on to anything from the night before to make sense of this bizarre predicament but could find nothing, only fuzziness. 

He sprang up in exasperation, desperately trying to slither out of Tav’s embrace. The broiling rage that had been growing in his chest was instantly extinguished by the onslaught of vertigo. The room whirled faster and faster, chaos encircling him. Raphael gritted his teeth to keep himself from tipping over. Enough! Foul creatures and their disreputable games! 

Raphael viciously snapped his fingers and the ailments faded, his mind slowly became clearer, the ground beneath him stilling. Tav was seemingly unaffected by Raphael’s movements, continuing with her slumber. His body began to tremble as he watched her.

He would prefer to have been bested by Mephistopheles, chained and tortured repeatedly in the confines of his icy prison in Cania, than find himself in this demeaning state. How far he had fallen, so disgustingly low, sharing the same ground with these mortals. 

Raphael snapped his fingers again and Tav teleported to the bed, her posture unchanged. Free of that creature. He rose to his feet, steadying his balance. In doing so, he caught sight of himself in the mirror across the room and growled. He was barely identifiable. His usual pristine hair, ever so slightly slicked back, was tangled and matted against the back of his head. His clothes were bedraggled, as if he had pulled them from an unholy wreckage. 

“Bah!” He screamed, clapping his hands together as if to destroy an insect. The action restored his appearance but his pride was still damaged, so badly chipped he wasn’t sure if he would ever recover; no spell could make him forget this.

His eyes fell on a large circular table nestled in the corner of the room. One chair had fallen over and the other was pushed aside, left askew, as if done in haste. Empty shot glasses littered the top of the table, too many to tally without immediately losing count. Two empty bottles of whiskey lay discarded on the floor.

Raphael leapt towards the table, picking up a bottle, a few drops of bright yellow liquid sloshed about at the bottom. Raphael brought it to his nose and shivered as the scent elicited a memory: Korrilla handing him the bottles with a wink as she left his chambers. Red Whiskey. He should have known. One of the finest and deadliest spirits to be exported from the Hells. A single shot of this could leave even the most powerful infernal creatures on their backs and without their wits.

He glanced at Tav on the bed. And it would surely prove deadly to any mortal. But Tav wasn’t just any creature, she was chosen. Yes in truth by Raphael for his own nefarious purposes… but as he stood there gaping at the creature, there was an impatient little tadpole swimming around her brain; waiting for metamorphosis. Perhaps that is why she was not currently lying dead on his marble floors? How she didn't choke on her own vomit in her sleep? That would have been a far more preferable sight than finding her head resting on his chest. Another thanks owed to the Elder Brain.

He pounded across the room like a caged animal as he began piecing together the events. No matter how hard he focused, he could only fish out fragments, mere images.

Tav meekly knocking on his door. Raphael leaning back in his chair, nursing a shot of whiskey in his hands, grinning. What should have been an easy win. Tav, sitting opposite Raphael, her face flushed, eyes glazed over as she rested her elbows on the table. Tav attempting a game of five-finger-fillet, nearly chopping off a thumb. Raphael’s vision cloudy, watching as Tav stumbled towards the door, a searing pain in his chest as he reached out to her...

Raphael dug his nails into his palms, drawing blood. He grimaced as he held his arms by his side. These memories, they were all false, soured by the infernal whiskey. Merely exaggerations. His neverending chase for the Crown had caused his imagination to run wild, too wild. He needed to tame his thoughts, that was the only explanation. Raphael would see it no other way. 

Last night’s antics were merely strategic.

[enthuoverfanfics]

heartfelt losses

*credits to owner of gif- u be amazing

-d.m x gryffindor!reader (tho not much mention is made)

a/n: hey guys! don't even think we are a guys yet but still, hey other draco obsessed people! legit the first time i'm writing like a note note so pls just bear with my rambling. also the first time i've written full fledged dialogues- also hardcore struggled getting past two paras- so yea. okie then. bye.

summary: draco loses a quidditch game and is comforted by his girlfriend.

it was the last game of the term. gryffindor and slytherin would face off to end a rivalry which would continue to flourish long after the current batch passed out and the next was enrolled.

all eyes were on the two teams' seekers, harry potter and draco malfoy, all intrigued to see who would triumph. just as the last fifteen seconds remained, harry clutched the golden orb between his glove donned hands, the gryffindors bursting with cheer to bask in their victory.

draco rushed past the crowd of rowdy students in the stadium stands, all decked out in red coloured robes as they celebrated gryffindor's glorious victory over slytherin.

many shooted him menacing smiles and hurled a few choice words at him, earning a withering scowl and a restrained, "fuck you very much too, you dipshits." in response.

but draco for one was only focussed on finding a certain brunette who had the tiniest little slytherin flag clutched between her fingers, probably hiding it beneath the sleeves of her jacket in an attempt to fend off the never ending taunts from her beloved friends.

at last his eyes met her green orbs, ones he usually adored, but right now they only seemed to elevate his humiliation, his failure staring back at him. nonetheless he pushed aside a few pesky gryffindors shouting their lungs out in excitement.

for he could only focus on her comforting smile, a sight that truly almost made him break down. he head towards her like a man starved, his body yearning to be enveloped by hers.

at last he reached.

"hi.", she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"hey baby." he replied, with a reluctant one of his own, arms finally taking their rightful place around her waist, face burying into the crook of her neck as he let out a shaky exhale. the whole world seemed to fade away in that very moment.

the disgruntled looks on his teammate's faces and the burden that crushed his heart seemed to recede as he felt y/n's hands soothing over his back, her whispers of

"it's okay draco. it's okay. you did so well. i-i'm so so proud of you."

he only crushed her more tightly.

"let's go. please- please y/n. let's get away from here. I can't stay here anymore.", he begged in anguish.

she immediately nodded in agreement. hand delicately slipping down to intertwine with his. they remained tightly interlocked till they at last reached his prefect's dorm. he fastened the lock in haste and let out a deep sigh as he leaned against it, turning to see her switching on the bedside lamp, casting a warm glow over the whole room. she immediately opened her arms and he eagerly walked into them, a watery smile on his face.

he hugged her with such force that she was forced to step back till she reached the foot of his bed, clearing a few potions books out of the way. immediately being tackled by draco, a small giggle exiting her mouth at his playful antics.

he crawled to the headboard as he situated her head on top of one of the satin covered pillows, practically laying on top of her as he set his head on her chest, her hands coming to sift through his silver streaks.

an amused grin on her face, surprised to see him being clingy, an attribute of his he very rarely displayed, always reserving such unbridled affection for special occasions.

"so", he started, lightly clearing his throat. y/n's eyes glinted with sympathy. "we lost. i- i still can't believe it y/n . i swear i tried so hard. we all did. getting up at five every morning, practicing hours after the sun had already set. i-i know it isn't that big of a deal. but still. it was our last game. us losing just- just feels like they beat us once and for all you know?"

gently lifting up his head, she forced him to meet her unwavering gaze. "i know baby-i know, but still, you did so well. now that you have lost, don't you dare let your whole experience with quidditch be defined by it.

for the past seven years, the whole time we've been together, i've never seen you as happy as you are after returning from practice.

except every moment spent with me of course", she added. "of course," he agreed with exaggerated vigour, head flailing.

"anyway, even if you come back drenched with sweat, limbs aching, and body battered and bruised, i see the blinding grin on your face, how it makes it all worth it. don't let this stupid as fuck rivalry ruin quidditch for you. because it's more than just a game, the field is, your teammates are, your home."

a single tear managed to escape his eye, before he harshly hurried to wipe them. "i love you. so much.", he murmured, just as his head was buried in the skin of her stomach.

"i love you too dray." she whispered back. "now, please sleep. god knows you need it after the blow you got from oliver."

she received a tight pinch to her forearm in return. but soon she felt his heartbeat calm, and soft snores emerge from his pliant stature, as he drifted to slumber.

her own little quidditch champion.

remarks:

to those who reached the end: a heartfelt thank u for supporting this random af endeavour of mine and bearing with this painfully amateur writing for my fav slytherin boy!!!

[wonder-kid-pugh]

Falling for me... literally? - Alessia Russo x reader

It wasn't a secret that off the football pitch Alessia wasn't the most graceful person. Hell even on the pitch Alessia struggled to stay on her feet the entire time.

It was a running joke with the team that Alessia was quite possibly the clumsiest person alive. So the blonde did her best to prove her teammates wrong.

Although it didn't quite work out most of the time.

But overtime Alessia had made peace with it. As embarrassing as it was it was true. That despite her profession she wasn't the best on her feet. Even if she had accepted it, it didn't mean that she sometimes hated that fact.

Especially now.

"Ella shut up!" Alessia groans as Ella continues to cackle beside her as they enter the hospital.

Ella tries to stop but it only turns to giggles instead. "I'm sorry" she says not really sounding sorry at all. But another grin over takes her face as she falls into laughter again. "I just can't wait for you to explain what happened".

Alessia blushes crimson as Ella bursts out laughing again gaining the attention of other people. Alessia ducked her head down not wanting to drag anymore attention to herself.

Alessia instead busiest herself with admitting her details all while trying to ignore Ella who continuously teased her.

Surprisingly they weren't waiting all that long before someone came and saw her.

Alessia was in the middle of rolling her eyes at her best friend as she poked more fun at her when someone flew into the room.

"Sorry about that" you apologize when you see how the blonde jumped at the sudden entry. Sending her a quick smile hoping it would help her calm down. "I'm still new here. Still trying to find my bearings".

But Alessia couldn't answer. She was too busy staring at how beautiful you looked.

She was jolted out of it by a swift elbow to her side from her teammate. Her face pinkened as she gave you a sheepish smile. "It's...It's fine".

You return it and Alessia swears that if she was hooked up to one of those heart monitors she would have been screwed. "Well what brings you here today?"

Alessia rolls her eyes contemplating hitting her friend when she hears her failing to hide her chuckles but instead settles for focusing on the pretty nurse in front of her.

But it seems she's saved from explaining when your eyes flicker up to her eyebrow.

"Mind if I take a look?" You ask as you get gloves on. Alessia nods quietly as you walk closer to her. Even with the blonde sitting down you were just barely at her height standing up. But you were thankfully able to get a clear look at her eyebrow coming level with her eyes.

Which you struggled to not pay attention when her blue orbs were fixed on you.

You kiss your teeth as you look at the small split right off her eyebrow. "Ouch what happened here?"

Alessia blushes furiously which she blames on the fact that Ella once again bursts our laughing instead of how gently your touching her face. "Um".

"She has an ongoing fued with gravity" Ella teases thinking that her best friend is currently flustered due to her teasing not the pretty girl checking out her split head. "Less can't seem to stay on her feet for long periods of time".

Alessia glares at the brunette hoping that it would shut her up.  But she doesn't get the hint. She opens her mouth to tease the blonde some more but she's cut off by her phone ringing.

Ella takes out her phone and sends the striker a small smile. "Sorry it's Joe".

But Alessia waves her off almost as if relived for the reprieve. "It's okay go take it".

Ella looks over her almost as if to make sure it's okay before she ducks out of the room to answer the call.

"Sorry about her" Alessia sighs softly.

But you just chuckle as you shake her head. "Don't be" you reassure her as your raise an eyebrow at her, "we all have that one friend".

Alessia laughs and nods but immediately stops when pain shoots through her head and she winces.

You frown at the girl's visible pain. "So what really happened?" You ask as you focus back on the wound. Careful not to cause her anymore pain.

Alessia pursues her lips before sighing rubbing her hands on her thighs nervously.

"I..." Alessia starts but relents when you smile softly at her. "I tripped" she admits with a small shrug, "I tripped and I hit my head off the corner of the couch".

You raise an eyebrow at her, "So there's some truth behind what your friend was saying?"

Alessia blushes and lets out a small cough trying to deflect. But you just give her arm a gentle squeeze. "It's okay. It's cute" you wink and giggle when you see how red the blonde gets.

You give her a grin before going back to her wound. You were so focused on her wound that you didn't see how she looked at you. How it gave Alessia the perfect opportunity to check you out while you were so close and so focused on something else.

If you had been paying attention you would have noticed all of that. Especially how big her grin was when she saw how you had to go on your tippy toes at times.

"So how are you feeling?" You ask as your eyes flicker down to hers.

Alessia's eyes widened thinking she was caught but eventually stumbled back an answer. "oh uh...fine just a headache really". Almost as if to prove a point she winces once more as you gently prod a tender area.

You raise another eyebrow at her as she smiles sheepishly at being caught. "Okay and maybe a bit sore".

You hum as you look her over putting your hand to her forehead to check her temp as she was incredibly flush. "Any dizziness? Nausea?" But that just earned you a small head shake from the girl.

"How long ago was this?" You ask as you take off your gloves.

Alessia shrugs, "Not long. We came straight here cause Ella was worried about a concussion. And we weren't waiting long. So I'd say a little over an hour ago?"

You grin at her as you cross your arms and you lean back against the wall. "Yeah that was me. I saw you in the waiting room and said we better get you out of there before people realized who you were".

Alessia nearly chokes on air. "You know who I am?" Already blushing at the fact that the pretty girl knows who she is.

"Yeah my niece adores you guys". You give her a sly grin. "I brought her to some of the Euro games. We were there when you scored you backheel". You rolled your eyes lightly but judging by your smile it was playful, "After that my niece wouldn't shut up about you after that. So thanks for that".

Alessia bites the inside of her cheek but that doesn't nothing to stop the smile blooming on her face. "Sorry about that".

You shrug, "It's fine. I guess there's worst things to talk about than a pretty girl".

Alessia can't do anything but blush unable to say anything in fear of coming off like an idiot. But she's saved when Ella barges into the room again.

"So what's the verdict Doc?" She asks oblivious to the conversation she interrupted.

You give her an amused look before focusing back on the blonde. "Well it looks like you are very lucky Miss Russo". Your arms cross and Alessia has to force herself to focus on what your saying rather than how look they look in your scrub top. "You have no signs of concussion. And the wound isn't deep so that's good which means we could probably do strips rather than stitches".

Alessia nods along but it's Ella who answers. "That's great news Less". Alessia nods along thankful that it's not serious enough for her to miss the end of the season.

"Perfect. I'll get you sorted out and then you'll be good to go" you nod as you move around collecting what you need.

Ella throws her thumb over her shoulder, "I'll give Mark a call and update him".

Alessia nods and waves her off as the midfielder once again leaves.

Alessia once again fixates on you as you put back on gloves and begin to work on her wound. "So you came to the Euro's games?"

You smile your eyes flickering down to hers briefly before focusing back on the task at hand. "Yeah my niece it seems inherited my love for football and her mother doesn't see the appeal so I took her to the games".

"Unfortunately I was working for the final though so her mom had to take her" you sighed as you gently put on the first steri strip to hold the wound closed and allow it to heal. "But I got a blow by blow from my niece about how amazing the Lionesses were".

Alessia smiles seeing how you talk about your niece. "How old is she?"

You smile grows thinking of your niece, "Lucy is eight and in love with anything Football and will probably combust when she hears I met you today".

Alessia goes to nod but immediately stops when you tisk her and hold her head in place as to not disrupt her work. What you didn't notice was how you stopped her by cupping her face which immediately stopped Alessia in her tracks.

Alessia clears her throat as she tries to deflect from her definitely reddening face. "Who does she support? The blonde asks with a grin.

You pause briefly to grin amusedly at her, "Why are you going to ask for someone else to treat you if I say I'm a city fan?"

Alessia despite knowing (and also hoping) that you were joking can't help but play along. "Maybe" she says cheekily as she smiles at you.

You scoff but can't help but let the smile slip through as you pull off your gloves. "Well then. Too bad cause I'm already done".

You hold up a small mirror, "If you look closely I spelt out City in the strips".

Alessia rolls her eyes. "Haha very funny".

"I know I am" you quip back with a wink and a grin.

Before either one of you can continue your banter Ella enters the room again. "Well that's you all sorted out". You look at Alessia, "Someone will be by to tell you anything you need to know about looking after them for the next day or so. And they'll also get you sorted with all the discharge work".

Alessia nods and smiles at you losing all her words at that moment.

"Well I hope you have a nice evening and don't have anymore fights with a couch" you tease with earns a snort from Ella.

"No promises" Alessia quips back which shocks her friend but ignores it for the moment.

You smirk as you head to leave the room, "Good luck with the rest of your season".

Alessia bites her lip seeing your about to leave. But she needs to know. "Wait!" She starts which honestly scares her best friend not expecting it. She takes a breath as you stop and turn around in the doorway. "What club do you support?"

You shrug playfully crossing your arms once more as Alessia forces herself to keep focused on your eyes. "I am a fan of the Gunners" you say as Ella lets out a loud groan. But right before you leave you wink at her. "But I don't know. United have been looking pretty good recently".

And with that she leaves not notice the love sick look Alessia is left with as you walk away to carry on with your day.

Alessia can't help but stare after you hoping to catch another glimpse but it seems her best friend is focused on other things. 

"What does she mean recently? We're always good!"

***

Two days.

It had been two days and you still consumed Alessia's mind. So much so that when she went back to the hospital under the guise that she just wanted to be sure she was fully fit to play again she couldn't help but ask for you.

Which she was only disappointed to hear that you weren't working today.

And thus her plan failed.

So for the past 2 days she has had to suffer Ella telling the entire team how she slipped and ended up going to the hospital and got flustered when she had to explain everything to you.

Thankfully she didn't know that the real reason she was so flustered was because of you, so she was saved from the constant teasing from her teammates.

A small mercy she supposed.

So when she told the team that she couldn't go to practice because she had to get checked up at the hospital it was really a plan to hopefully see you.

And if she could manage it maybe ask you out.

Only she didn't consider that it would be your day off when she thought of it. Which meant she was now alone with the day to herself.

So she went for a run.

She hadn't been training since she had split her head. And she was starting to get restless from not doing anything and decided a small run wouldn't hurt anyone.

She was only gone an hour before she was coming back up to her house. But as she was coming up to her house she started to slow down as her attention is on the massive moving truck.

Curious as always Alessia alows down to try and get a peak and what kind of stuff her new neighbors has.

But of course as if the universe was punishing her for being nosey. Her foot catches on the curb sending her tumbling. Alessia staggers forward her hand held out to try and catch herself. And right as she's sure she's about to eat the pavement, someone catches her.

"I'm starting to think you're doing this on purpose..."

Alessia immediately perked up as her head snapped towards the voice.

"Like I mean there's no possible way someone could be this clumsy without it being on purpose" you tease as you grin down at her.

Alessia was too in shock to even respond as she just dumbly stared at you.

But it seems that you catch her stare as you raise an eyebrow at her with a teasing smirk. "Or maybe you just wanted another excuse to come see me at the hospital?"

Alessia was sure that her face was as red as the jersey she wore. "I uh I don't..."

But you just shook your head as your crossed your arms as Alessia busied herself with straightening herself up. "I'm new but I'm already the talk of the nurses station apparently". You tilt your head at her, "I suppose that what happens when one of the Lionesses comes in and asks for you by name".

Alessia bites her lip knowing that she's been caught. "Uh...". But when she sees the smile your trying to contain she relaxes even the tiniest bit. "Okay yeah. I did".

You hold you hand to your chest as your face morphs in mock shock. "God I'm honored. Truly!"

Alessia scoffs lightly but smiles in good humor. "Well maybe I should be the one that's worried" Alessia teases trying to turn it back on you. "I mean your the one that's following me".

But it just earns a smirk from you as you lean up against the moving truck. "Actually no I'm not". You jut a thumb at the truck, "I'm using my day off to move into my new place".

Alessia's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Her mouth dropped as you giggled at her.

"You...your going to be living....here?" Alessia says as she points to the apartment building right beside of them. When you nodded, her smile seemed to widen.

"Judging by your reaction, I guess I'm talking to my new neighbor?" You ask.

Alessia just smiles widely at you, "Hi".

You chuckle but can't help but notice how cute the forward is.

This seems to enbolden her as her chest puffs out a bit in confidence. "Do you need a hand with all your stuff? She asks as she leans over to look into the truck.

You lick your lips as you bite your lip before shaking your head. "No...I couldn't ask you to do that. I'm sure that's not how you would want to spend your day off".

But Alessia is quick to wave you off as she moves to grab one of the boxes by the edge of the truck. "Not at all! Seriously it's fine. Beside it looks like you already have most of it done. I'll just help you with the last of it". She flashes you a smile which makes your heart soar. "Consider it a thank you for helping me out the other day".

Now it's your turn to blush at the praise while Alessia internally cheers at the achievement.

"Well it's nice to know it's healing up nicely" you say as you brush some of the loose hairs out of her face to have a look at the old wound.

And if Alessia wasn't scared of dropping your stuff, she definitely would have dropped the box.

It seems like you catch yourself in the moment as you blush again before backing up thinking you were making the blonde uncomfortable.

You clear your throat as you grab another box and nod in thanks. "Thank you".

Alessia smiles back at you as she nods her head towards the building, "Lead the way".

You lead the way up to your apartment but of course the lift isn't working meaning the two of you have to trudge up and down the stairs with the last remaining boxes. It took about another 5 trips but the two of you got the job done.

"Thank you so much for all your help" you thank her as you flop back down to the couch.

Thankfully that came with the apartment so it was one of the few things you didn't need to carry up the stairs.

She takes a deep breath as she puts down the box on the ground with the others. "It's no problem" she says as she drops down onto the couch with you.

You give her a look, "Really it was". You playfully groan as your head drops onto the back of the couch. "I don't think I would have managed another trip up and down those stairs".

"The benefit of having a professional athlete as a neighbor?" She offers with a smile.

The two of you fall into laughter before you check the time. "Well the least I could do for taking up your evening is offer you dinner". You see her open her mouth most likely to argue but you just take her hand which was in-between you on the couch.

"It will be no hassle at all and I was planning on getting a takeout anyways. I have nothing in the fridge and even if I did I don't think I have the energy to make anything" you add. It seems that Alessia contemplate for a second before sighing and nodding.

"Great!" You smile as you squeeze her hand before getting up from the couch. "Pizza okay with you?"

Alessia nods also standing up. "Yeah that's perfect". She points her thumb over her shoulder at the door. "I'm just going to go freshen up is that alright?"

You nod before realizing you probably need to do the same. "Yeah that's fine. I probably need to do the same". You peel your shirt off you only realizing now how it was slicked with sweat.

Alessia laugh at the disgusted look on your face to which you roll your eyes. "What apartment are you? Will I come up to you when it's here or...."

Alessia nearly winces thinking how messy her apartment is right now. "No. Uh I'm right about you. And I won't take long so I'll come back down".

You grin as you nod, "Alright but if your not down in time I'll just bang the brush on the roof".

Alessia laughs as she walks out of the apartment. The moment she hit the stairs and knew you couldn't see she bolted up the stairs. Knowing how long it took her to get ready, she had the quickest shower of her life before rushing around to get ready to meet you back downstairs.

But she made sure to grab something before heading back down again.

She knocked on the door as she rocked on the balls of her feet waiting. You opened the door with a smile as you nodded you head in, "Perfect timing it was just delivered there".

She smiled as she followed you in as she hid the bag she brought drop beside the couch as the two of you tucked into the pizza.

There never seemed to be a lull between you. The conversation just flowed effortlessly. As much as you tried to turn the conversation to Alessia, she made it clear that she was interesting in your life as she asked about being a doctor. She was also surprised to find out you were a former field medic.

Although that did explain your physique.

But you remained adamant that you wanted to learn more about her as well. But not the superstar Alessia Russo. The questions were aimed more towards how she go into soccer as well as her family. Not wanting to pry into her professional life in fear of overstepping.

It was so easy to talk to her. So easy that you didn't realize how late it was getting.

"God I can't believe it's 10:30" you say shocked when you see the time. Due to it being the summer, the sun always set late which always gave off the false illusion of time to you.

"Yeah it's crazy" Alessia nods as she puts the wine glasses over in the sink.

It was only as you were cleaning up did you realize the bag that Alessia had hid when she came back. "What's this?"

Alessia blushes as she scratched the back of her head. "Uh well it's kinda the real reason I came to the hospital to see you?" She motions for you to open the bag only to find a Manchester United jersey with her name and number on the back signed.

"I thought that you could give it to your niece?" She said slowly before adding, "And I was thinking that whenever your free I could get you tickets to a game?" Her eyes widen, "Only if you would want to now! I wouldn't want to force you to!"

You shake your head as your heart once again soars at the sweet gesture. "This is amazing Alessia. Your too kind. Thank you".

But you smirk as you couldn't help but tease her. "What about me though?"

She tilts her head at you and you have to hold yourself back from audibly awing at how cute she is. It almost resembles a puppy to you.

"What? No jersey for me?" You ask wiggling your eyebrows at her letting you know your teasing.

But she seemingly plays along with you. "I didn't know if I would be able to convince you to wear it. Seeing as your a Gunners Girl".

You let out a little laugh as you moves towards her. Most people would be intimidated by the height difference. But you were used to it in your years with the army and had grown used to tougher situations. "Well I mean it would take some convincing I mean..."

By the way your eyes had flickered down from her eyes to her lips and back up again, Alessia took that as her sign.

"Maybe a date?" Alessia chances as she hopes she didn't read the situation wrong. "Would convince you I mean?"

You bite your lip but it does nothing to hide the smile on your face. "I mean" you start with a grin. "It would have to be a pretty amazing date with someone pretty special". You wink at her, "I mean I don't wear just anyone's jersey you know?"

Alessia smiled at your banter. "Well I hear that number 23 for United is pretty good".

You nod with a smile, "Hmm I heard that too". You tilt your head up at her. "How about we settle this with a little wager then?"

"I'm listening" Alessia agrees.

"Well if that number 23 can score again in their upcoming game against Arsenal...then I guess I'll agree to going on a date with you".

Alessia couldn't help but feel both competitive and giddy. "You should know that she has a good track record for scoring against Arsenal" she challenges raising an eye at you.

But you just nod subtly licking your lips as you look at her before looking back up at those gorgeous sky blue eyes and breath out.

"That's what I'm counting on".

[jeonjungkookenthusiast1997]

The Price of Love and Loyalty - Lee Minho x Reader

Summary: Y/N is sent deep into enemy territory, by her older brother, to try and mend an age old feud between two Mafia organisations. Can she gain the trust of the Stray Kids? Can a hatred that long standing be fixed by a simple truce? All Y/N knows for sure is it's going to take a lot of patience to make this messy situation work out for the best.

Do not repost or translate my work! My blog is 18+ so minors do not interact!

TW: gangs, mafia families, weapons and mentions of violence, some major hostility between everyone involved, mean Minho, mentions of BTS as a rival gang.

Word Count: 3K

"This is a bad idea Namjoon. A really fucking bad idea"

Y/N's words echo through her thoughts as she walks the streets of Seoul. 

Slender fingers pull at the sleeves of rather thin coat attempting to pull it closer to her shivering body as she roams the abandoned streets looking for a very particular building, it's been a long time since she'd been allowed to this part of town so she endeavours to soak it all in before she's no doubt banished back to her own territory… or worse. 

Her older brother Namjoon was the imposing, usually smart, leader of the Mafia she belonged to but she truly feared her beloved brother may have finally lost his mind if he thought sending his little sister into enemy territory is a good idea. 

Bangtan had lost a lot of good and loyal members recently in fights with their rivals Stray kids, so determined not to lose anyone else Namjoon decided a truce was the best course of action. 

That is why Y/N is currently trudging towards Stray Kids headquarters, her nervous eyes flitting between buildings that tower above her.

"Almost there" she whispers to herself in a bid to settle her nerves. 

She rounds the last corner to her destination with a weary smile and is about to walk the last stretch of pavement when a blow to the back of her head sends her body hurtling to the rocky floor, dark bleeds into her vision as she moans in pain before losing consciousness.

When Y/N finally wakes up her eyes are watering, barely adjusting to the harsh light when a dark chuckle sounds in her throbbing ears. She looks down as her head swirls with confusion and notices that she's tied to a chair with thick black ropes.

Groaning, she tries to lift her head to look at her assailant. A disparaging ‘tsk’ is sent her way as her eyes finally focus on the man in front of her.

“I would advise you not to move too much YN, you'll only make things worse for yourself” she recognises the voice as a pair of cruel brown eyes reveal themselves.

"Lee Minho" she grits her teeth as the words drip from her throat like venom.

A sinister smile stretches over his lips and reaches his cheeks as he glares at the woman left helpless before him looking her up and down before whispering in a dark tone ”you're in my territory now little one”

Y/N glares at Minho as she watches his movements carefully "you've got a shitty way of greeting people, you didn't need to knock me out. I would have come peacefully"

Minho scoffs as he moves closer to her "yeah yeah and I'm the king of England, why are you in my territory anyway?”

He's so close to her now that she can feel his warm breath fan over her face as he speaks. She hums to herself as she acknowledges his words.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" A smirk graces her features as she tugs on the ropes binding her hands behind her back "maybe I'm just here to get a glimpse at the great and powerful Lee Minho, is that a crime?"

The man's distaste for Y/N is palpable as his nose scrunches in disgust “Oh, not at all YN…” he coos sweetly at her, his words dripping with sarcasm “but your appearance here is still a little suspicious don't you think…”. Minho tilts his head to the side as he looks at her.

Y/N notes that, with his face so close, his eyes are a warmer shade of brown than she remembered with almost golden flecks scattered around the orbs making them shine beautifully and yet at the same time they appear so cold and cruel. She doesn't dwell on those distracting thoughts for long though as she tugs on the ropes again to no avail.

With an overly dramatic sigh her head tips backwards in an attempt to get away from his fiercely perceptive gaze.

"Fine, fine I'm here on behalf of my brother. He wants to talk to Chan. Figured he'd be shot on sight if he came here himself so here I am…yay" her eyes roll as she feigns enthusiasm.

Minho’s eyes glow darkly but surprisingly he does chuckle at her “ah, so you’re just Namjoon's little messenger? But why does he want to talk to Chan?”

Y/N’s eyes shift to look away from the man to a dark corner of the bleak room "I guess you could say that. Is that really any of your concern? I'm here to talk to Bang Chan, not you"

A low, almost animalistic, growl leaves his throat almost shocking her “anything involving Chan's safety is of concern to me, little girl”

Minho’s gruff voice echoes loudly in the small room “so, I advise you not to hide anything from me, otherwise you won’t be getting what you came for. Haven't you learnt not to mess with me Y/N?”

Minho moves his head away from her face as his fingers trace over a small wound, coated in dry blood.

Wanting to be as far away from Minho as she possibly can given her circumstances she tries to shift her body but can only pull so far away with her hands bound making her huff in annoyance.

"My brother wants to call a truce between our organisations" the room is silent for a moment before Minho finally speaks up.

“A truce?” he's clearly not very happy about the offer judging by the frown on his face “and why do you want a truce?” he smiles crookedly as he adds “our families work very differently. You, above anyone should know that for a fact”

Her ability to remain calm is slipping as she grits her teeth to stop the insults that threaten to leave her lips.

"Oh come on Minho we both know a truce would be beneficial to us all. We've both lost good people in the last few months, Jungkook has a hole in his leg currently because of a gun fight with your men!"

The brooding man smiles fondly at this fact "ah yes…poor pathetic Jungkook"

Something inside of her snaps at that "well I happen to know that your precious little Hannie is bundled up in bandages right now after a run in with Jimin" she smirks at the probing words knowing it's bound to get a reaction.

A fire blazes in Minho's eyes as he reaches out to grip her hair harshly between his fingers "the fuck did you just say?"

Y/N simply smiles at him as she remains silent, wide doe eyes blinking at him in fake innocence.

"Why would we want a truce after everything Namjoon has allowed his men to do?" Minho drops her hair from his hold as he turns his back on her, ready to leave her to rot in that disgusting room.

"I understand you don't trust us and I don't blame you. Hell if you came knocking on my door I'd have Yoongi knocking you on your ass in seconds"

She lets out a laugh as Minho's retreating form stiffens "that's another reason why I'm the one that's here"

At that Minho turns to face her with a look of actual interest in what she had to say "I need to see Bang Chan before I continue speaking, I don't want the message to be misinterpreted"

His eyes roll but he gives her his full attention again “you're right, I don’t trust you”

Minho’s body seems to tense but he isn't outright rejecting her words “but since you are here in the flesh clearly as a sign of goodwill, I will let you talk to Chan”

Minho steps away but she feels a chill run down her spine as he turns towards her “but I’ll be staying right here with you”

It's an understandable response really and she had been waiting for it, Minho is part of Bang Chan's inner circle and the head of his security detail so she doesn't fight him on this front.

"I expected that so please untie me so we can get this over and done with" she wiggles her arms to get his attention on her bound limbs.

Minho seems to think for a moment, weighing up his options before he mutters a gruff “No. You stay bound”

Minho uses one of his hands to grip her arm, lifting her body up into a standing position making her whine out in frustration.

He keeps his hold on her arm firm as he stands beside her “for our safety and yours…let’s go" without any more warning he begins pulling her out of the room and down a long corridor.

They pass a few locked doors and armed guards before stopping at a large and intricately decorated door.

"Are you ready?" Minho smirks as his hands come to knock on the door.

He gives the door a few sharp taps before opening the door to reveal the Bang Chan himself staring at them intently.

There's a few men huddled around him as they point to some papers that are scattered across the leaders desk, the hurried whispers stopping abruptly as Minho steps into the room stopping as the pair reach Chan.

“Hyung I have a surprise for you” Chan's eyes almost bulge out of his head as he clearly recognises Y/N.

Chan's eyes stay trained on Y/N for a few moments before they slide to her side to look at Minho "what the fuck is she doing here? Should I be expecting Namjoon to burst through my window any second now?"

He's clearly very annoyed and at that moment Y/N is glad it isn't being directed at her.

"Apparently she was sent here by Namjoon actually" Minho shrugs his shoulders dismissively.

"Oh really? What happened to her head then? And why is she tied up?"

At this Minho finally looks somewhat sheepish "okay that was me but she was intruding on our turf!"

"I didn't know she was here to deliver a message and I sure as shit didn't wait around to ask! I haven't untied her in case tries something" Minho turns his head pointedly to look in her direction as he finishes speaking.

Chan sighs deeply as he rubs his eyes "a message? What message?" Chan's eyes are planted firmly on Y/N again, much to her displeasure, as Minho nudges her.

"I have already told Minho this…" she glares at him as he smiles amused by her side

"but I'll say it again for the benefit of everyone in the room, I'm here because my brother wants a truce between Bangtan and Stray kids" she waits patiently as her words float through the air.

Chan’s gaze is laser focused on the nervous girl, he is silent for a moment before he finally speaks.

“A truce, huh...?"

"Why does Namjoon want a truce and why send his precious little sister into the lion's den? Any of us could have killed you on the spot, you’re lucky you escaped Minho with a simple cut”

Clearing her throat before speaking again she looks to the floor "Namjoon's sick of seeing his brothers hurt and murdered"

"That's why he wants a truce and as for your other questions, he sent me because he knows that above all else you respect women. He figured you'd at least let me explain myself"

She takes a breath as all the eyes in the room are focused on her

"that and well, there's too much bad blood between you and our members. At least I haven't killed any of your men" she finishes as her eyes scan the men standing beside Chan.

She recognises a few faces.

She notes that Felix and Changbin are at his side with Seungmin off in the corner watching her intently with dark cold eyes as he spins a butterfly knife between his fingers sending chills down her spine.

"He also sent me because I'm part of the deal he's offering"

"As a sign of good faith Namjoon is proposing that I stay here until you can be sure he won't attack your 'home' anymore" she closes her eyes for a moment as she tries to calm her rapidly beating heart.

The room is so silent after her speech that it's almost suffocating as she waits with bated breath for some sort of response.

Chan's face hardens, surprising her "he's offering to keep you here? Like you're some sort of prize for us to hang on the wall? What if we don't trust you enough to keep you here?"

Y/N goes to speak but is stopped as Chan stands up from his seat. He walks around the desk and towards her as sweat starts to build on her forehead.

"Are you even willing to stay here? Willing to follow my rules?" Y/N nods to Chan's questions.

"Namjoon has asked me to do this and I will do it to the best of my ability. I've also seen such horrible things, watched our members get hurt, had to watch Taehyung hold Jungkook down as he screams in pain so that I can make the blood running from his leg finally stop…".

Her vision becomes cloudy as she bites her lip as the tears drip down her cheeks "I want it to stop" she whispers as she looks down to the floor, not wanting the enemy to see her hurting even if she was trying to negotiate an alliance with them.

Bang Chan is silent as he looks at her for a moment, she can feel that Minho is looking at her too and the thought makes her wriggle against the rope wrapped around her hands.

“very well…I can see the loyalty you have for your family. I only hope we can trust you to show the same loyalty to us”

Chan turns his back on them as he walks back to his desk ignoring the surprised looks from the younger members "you can untie her now Min"

Minho nods as he pulls out a knife and cuts the rope. Her eyes drift to his own and she notices that his face is a little softer than it had initially as Chan sits down he watches Y/N wipe the tears from her face with a look of sadness.

"I take it your brother will be in touch to finalise the details?" She simply nods, not quite trusting her words.

"In that case, Minho, I'll be entrusting dear Y/N to you to watch over" Minho groans at the command but nods dutifully.

"Take her and get her step up in the room beside yours" Chan gives Y/N one last look before returning his attention to the papers on his desk, Minho takes a hold of her arm more carefully than before and tugs her out of the room.

It's oddly silent as they walk down the winding corridors which lead to his room, Minho finally speaks up after noticing the awkwardness of the situation.

"I suppose I should officially welcome you to the family..." Minho says while attempting to diffuse the tension.

He leads Y/N up a flight of stairs before finally reaching two doors "My room is the first on the left here if you need anything and this is your room" Minho opens the door and ushers Y/N into the room as he strolls in after her.

Y/N looks around the room while Minho fiddles with something off to the side; the room is relatively simple, she notes, it has a large floor to ceiling wardrobe, a comfy double bed. A full sized mirror and a lamp stowed beside a small bedside table.

Minho gives her a few moments to find her bearings before speaking "well it's late and I'm ready for this day to be fucking over"

His sigh makes her turn to look at his face, his eyes are bloodshot and has bags under them which makes her wince as he gives her a piece of paper which seems to hold his phone number on it.

"in case you need it… try not to though ‘kay?" she nods while watching him walk to the door, leaving the young woman to her new personal space.

"Chan will probably arrange for me or Bin to go get your shit from Bangtan so don't worry about all that"

Y/N eyes start to water a little at the mention of her old home making Minho panic as he moves towards the door "since I'll be watching over you for now, if you need anything just text me or knock on the wall… I guess”

He's about to leave when Y/N grabs his wrist making him turn back “thank you for you know… not killing me straight off the bat”

Minho snorts at her words as he nods “hmm you're lucky you’ve got a pretty face. Wouldn't want to mess it up too much” again he laughs at her when he notices her wide eyes.

“Night” he smiles ever so slightly as he turns and slips away into his own room leaving Y/N alone to take everything in.

Changing into some old shorts and a baggy top she found laid on top of her bedside table she flung herself onto the bed, it was comfy sure but it wasn't home.

As her thoughts turn to her brother and his own inner circle, each of the members in it becoming like family themselves, tears flow freely from her heavy eyes and her chest rises with her increasing sobs.

She doesn't even care anymore if the Stray Kids members can hear her, she's distraught about leaving them behind but she understood why Namjoon had done it and that made the pain in her heart burn a little less brightly.

She'd done this for them, to stop the bloodshed and pain that invaded their lives daily and if her living here was the only way to do that she would have to suck it up and deal with it. As she's about to go to sleep her phone, which she had almost forgotten about, buzzes to life with messages coming through fast.

Jeon Cena 💪🏼:

Y/N?

Are you okay?

Do I need to beat some bitches up?

Cause I swear I'll come down there and

fuck

them

up

😡

God of Destruction 💀:

Please tell me you got there safely? 💜

Kook calm down, I'm sure everything's fine

Jiminie Cricket 🦗:

Speak to us Y/NNN

If you don't answer I'll be forced to cut a bitch 🔪

J-Nope 🔆:

Has anyone heard from her yet?

Guessing not?

Motionless Min 😴:

No

Starting to worry now…

Jinnie Choos 💁🏼‍♂️:

Lil Tae Tae 🎤:

If she doesn't answer in the next 5 minutes I say we burn their building to the fucking ground

Jinnie Choos 💁🏼‍♂️:

Motionless Min 😴:

Wouldn't we risk killing Y/N doing that?

Seems counter intuitive? 🤷🏼‍♂️

God of Destruction 💀:

No one is doing anything until she gets in touch and that's final

Everybody got that?

Jeon Cena 💪🏼:

What if she doesn't get in touch?

We sit around and do nothing?

Strawberry Shortcake 🍰:

Guys!

I'm fine!

Please don't burn the building down 🙈

Just been given a room so it could be worse

Seems like I'm stuck with Lee Minho for the time being 😫

She can't help but laugh as fresh tears roll down her cheeks "fuck I'm going to miss these idiots"

Y/N wipes the tears from her eyes before quickly explaining to the guys exactly what had happened from Minho tying her up, which was met with many furious responses, to Chan agreeing to the truce.

It takes her a few hours but finally the exhaustion finally kicks in and her swollen eyes close as she begins to dream of her happy life back at Bangtan.

Once she felt she'd given a good enough update she bid them all good night and buried herself under the unfamiliar covers.

[vampiretendencies]

request; doing a chore/task that you know they don’t enjoy doing w rafe pls and thank u love ur writing

warnings; fluff

pairing; rafe x fem!reader

authors note; thank you love, i appreciate that ! i’m currently taking requests, but i am having a bit of writers block so bare with me. i am taking requests for blurbs from the prompt list below or anything that solely from you.

other ways to say i love you prompt list

If you'd had told Rafe he'd be here now he'd call you a liar.

Because, right now, you are in between his legs whilst he's sat awkwardly on the bathroom counter. You'd been pestering him for days about doing his makeup.

But his excuse was always, "I already told you no ... 'M gonna' look fucking stupid."

You longed to do so; Rafe's eyelashes aimed atop his cheek bones so effortlessly. Angelic most would say as, his orbs conversed equally with the pricelessness of his beauty.

Days begun to pass by and the constant mesmerizing thought of what you wanted nagged him. He simply found it unrealistic to his character, as it’s demeaning— merely seeing it as paint for a face, meaningless.

The only thing he knew of in his life with meaning was you.

After serious debating, he’d decided to as one could tell. That same pout that washed over your features, stained his thoughts, and he knew the only way to remove it was to give in.

You grasped onto Rafe’s black long sleeve clad shoulder, a silhouette for his frame. Polishing his wispy eyelashes with the thinnest coats of mascara, just the tips, to accentuate what he already had. His arms lazily hung around your waist, both hands at the small of your back— caging you in, as if to say ‘you’re not going anywhere, and neither am I'.

“Stop blinking Rafe.”

“It’s getting too fucking close to my eyes.”

“Shh, you can take it.”

You hummed, and a glimmer of a smile compiled within Rafe’s lips. Toying with each other was rather the liveliest part of the relationship. His hand moves to grasp your wrist, in action to apply the last few coats of mascara.

"You can only keep going if you give me a kiss, Princess."

"But I'm almost done-"

Your air seemed to be knocked out of your lungs, as Rafe pushed your body forward and cupped a hand under your chin. With your cheeks flushed; Rafe molds his lips with yours at a sickeningly slow pace, thumb rubbing circles against your jaw line.

"Needed to feel your lips."

[chosclub]

After Last Night, 𝟏

PAIRING — choso ° f!reader GENRE — one night stand au!smut WORD COUNT — 6.1k (side eye) WARNINGS — cunnilingus (f!reader receiving) º penetration º 18+ smut! CONSPECTUS — After spending too long mulling over a breakup, you decide to join your friends to the bar they frequent, hoping for a new beginning and the guitar-playing, angel-voiced singer looks like a good contender. PARTS º 𝟷 º 𝟸 (coming soon)

A/N: If you were thinking to yourself:

"Damn, I wish I had a soundtrack-like playlist to listen to as I read",

We might intergalactically connected

It’s right here

Listen in order (obviously)

☆

According to the multiverse theory, there are infinite amounts of you, they all diverge upon different branches made up of decisions and indecisions. But out of infinity, there exist two current versions of you that are living simultaneously at almost midnight. One is curled up in bed, luminated only by your lamp, blurry light like a warm blanket as you scroll on your phone, eyes brimming with exhaustion. The other is squished between dancing, drunk bodies, in a dress slowly riding up your thighs, sticky, sweaty and exhausted. If your fate lay in your hands like a magic orb, every decision only decided by you, the beholder, you’d pick the first reality; To be half-asleep, in bed, alone but in good company. However, it’s been months since you got dumped and–

“I just thought to myself, fuck it yanno? Life’s too short to care about some man!” You shout over the blaring music to Maki, who seems to be completely in her own world, eyes shut, face jungled by her hair as her head sways side to side.

“Yeah! Fuck men!” To your surprise she shouts back, reaching out her drink to clash against yours and chug in solidarity. A cacophony of voices from your friends join in, shouting the same. Can’t count how many of these moments have happened up to this point, some with complete strangers, most with the girls who dragged you out in the first place. The burning that initially rested in the back of your throat is no longer there, replaced by the insatiable desire for more – more drinks, more dancing, louder music, more excitement – fast forwarding through a movie and trying to fit in as much as possible. 

This rush of adrenaline has taken over you like a quenched beast, thirsty for more energy in any form it can latch on to, you decide to take a lesson from Maki’s book, closing your eyes, trying to absorb the music into your fingertips and arteries. Granted it’s been…a while since you’ve gotten to have a night like this, relationships sneakily take it out of you, it’s apparent your tolerance has depleted and the expectations for a Friday-night-out for everyone is your wannabe-alcohol-blackout-bender. 

The bar your friends frequent is a small one but always lively, the building feels like it’s going to spill over with the amount of people that fill up the dance floor, the bar, the patio. Moreover, Nobara offhandedly mentioned a hottie (her words) that plays with his band every weekend. 

There’s a newfound feeling, a thought that screams within you to disregard the fear of what could happen next — you have no one to answer to, no man in the corner telling you your dress is too short, no policing on what fun you could have. It’s an epiphany, only amplified by the alcohol that takes over your whole body, swaying your hips more deliberately, leaning comfortably into the air, lifting you and everyone else up until the entire dance floor floats. 

In an instant, the bubble is poked, atoms popped and disintegrated into the air; you have the ball and a football player just hungrily tackled you for it. Except you’re at a bar and a tall shadow of a being just bumped into your shoulder with a rushed force like you were the gate blocking his way through.

His hands hover over your shoulders as he floats through behind your back. “Shit! I'm so sorry!” He’s stopped to, presumably, only check if your brain is still intact inside your skull before he sets to rush through the rest of the crowd. The linger feels like an eternity to you, two paradoxes standing still among the dancing crowd that elevates around them. He’s almost made it to the stage when you come back down to Earth, leaving you standing still, without words. Another you would’ve cussed him out, grabbed him by the collar of his white shirt and brought him close to your nose to spill threats straight into his nostrils, this you only stares as he maneuvers from behind everyone, spilling an occasional excuse me you can only decipher from the movement of his lips.  

You watch as he props his foot onto the edge of the stage, a leap he climbs over with ease. He props his guitar over his shoulder, resting his hand on the strings. He stands over the crowd like a giant, the murky clouds drifting at his shoulders, he stares intently down at the people that seldom notice his band’s presence, sans one. The lights are dancing along his frame, pink purple blues illuminating his visage. His hair is split in two spiky buns, only a few strands that frame his face, his eyes dark with seriousness, a stripe the color of his eyes tattooed across his nose. 

The music drifts, dragging a series of groans, cheers, boos with it as he enters the indigo lights. 

He stands alone, adjusting his guitar and stepping closer to the mic. The lights dim a cool blue, leaving him as the center of attention, the focus. 

He steps on one of the pedals by his feet and begins to play a riff on his guitar. It’s a slow intro, already having captivated the audience, who have begun swaying to the entrancing melody.

He’s closed his eyes at this point, dipping his head down causing the loose strands to stand still on the tip of his nose and cheeks. His chest rises slowly in preparation, he leans closer to the mic, lips just grazing the metal grid of the mic head. He joins the melody and God, his voice is fucking angelic. He’s entered his own world now, paying no mind to the captivated crowd at his feet. His voice is raspy but strong, he’s singing as if the next verse is his last, the grate of his throat transforming the cringy 90s song he covers into an emotional ballad. You remember the melody, blasting from your older brother’s CD player, chorus bleeding from his room into yours until you banged a fist against the shared wall, signal for him to turn the volume down.

Your friends emerge from the rest of the crowd behind you to join the statue they left behind, watching, gazing at the dark-haired, angel-voiced performer. 

“No fucking way, is this Boyz II Men?” Nobara calls, propping her elbow on your shoulder like a pigeon landing on a limestone sculpture. 

“Yeah,” is the only word you can muster. 

She nods, “I’m into it.” The rest of you nod in unison like ogling robots, all at the command of the singer. Everything else sounded blurry, except for his voice. He’s reached the chorus, belting the notes, occasionally letting the audience peak at his irises, flooded in the iridescent indigo light. 

“I used to hate this song but–” A sentence left unfinished, floating with the air particles because whatever you say is no match for his melody and the way it has enchanted the crowd. 

The song concludes, the crowd enveloping him in cheers as his other band mates emerge from the crowd, picking up their respective instruments and talking amongst one another. Maybe it is the wow-factor of the band or maybe they are from outer space but you notice their uniquely styled hair; The bassist looks like a sea urchin, hairspray-locked spikes peeking out from his head of hair, the one with a mint-green detailed guitar next to him, pastel pink hair washed out by the dazzling white spotlight. The main act, the lead, listening to the two conclude a quick soundcheck, two buns lazily hanging on his head, the strands of hair slowly being picked up by the soft breeze of the ceiling fans and being dropped back on his forehead. 

The bassist begins striking a weighty, groovy riff and like a stack of dominoes, the background track and the guitarist follow lead. The pink haired boy inches his foot to his pedal board, tapping one slightly and his guitar begins to sound gritty; It’s a beat you can’t help but bop your head to. The lead singer’s voice has also taken a new approach from the ballad-singing, emotional sound before. This time, he’s closer to the mic, head dipping down so his irises glare forward and his voice swings in a way you’ve never heard before, left fingers carefully changing chords. His confidence and slight smirk drive a stake through your chest, heart pumping blood to get any other body part other than your head to move. His ability to soften his voice in falsetto for the pre-chorus leaves you captivated because holy shit he’s good. And holy shit are the three of them coordinated. 

The pink haired guitarist quickly taps a different pedal on his board, the bassist immediately playing a different riff, one heavier, more viscous. The slow riffs from the mint-green guitar send the crowd slowly swinging, bopping their heads. The singer adapts as well, grabbing the mic stand with one hand; You can’t tell if the wavelengths traveling from the bass guitar to you are affecting gravity itself, if the three of them smoothly transitioning to the slower part of the song, or if standing for so long has made you light-headed, but you’d bet the triple digits in your savings account that the raven haired, two spike buns singer glanced into your eyes. 

You exhale at the slight exchange, two stars orbiting a galaxy and only for a nanosecond meeting at a conjunction; When you blink, his eyes are closed as the other two band members begin singing the background vocals, leaving the lead to show off more of his falsetto.

—☆

The alcohol that was streaming through your veins has died down, only leaving behind heavy eyelids and a fuzzy view of everyone dancing. You and your friends linger around the bar, your elbow propped up on the wood, your only crutch to stay awake. The people have begun to fizzle out, the band playing earlier taking a break, the speakers booming with 2010s R&B. 

You wish you would’ve seen him approaching, like an entity identifiable by their silhouette, the shadow growing bigger and bigger behind you. 

“Hi,” he begins and before you can turn around to acknowledge the greeting, he continues, “I’m really sorry about bumping into you earlier.” 

It is then you turn your head from the rest of the conversation, catching a glimpse of the girls as they stare as if they’ve seen a being and are too scared to tell you that it’s about to devour you first. 

Now that he’s closer, he’s taller. 

“It’s fine,” you shrug, smiling, “I mean surely you could’ve navigated a crowded venue better but who’s to say?”

He has the same gaze from earlier, iridescent eyes unafraid to maintain eye-contact. He smiles and purses his lips to the side as a terrible cover up for his smirk. 

“Settle it with me and let me buy you a drink then.” 

You try to play it cool, but you’ve already used up all the shrugs and he’s already leaned his elbow against the bar, cocking his head to the side; He’s made himself comfortable because he already knows the answer. The other girls have already left, you see Nobara’s amber hair from your peripheral standing outside with Maki and Mai. 

All the confidence and allure you can convey to him, trying your hardest to mirror him – “Sure.” 

He turns to face the drinks, the only time you can look at him meticulously without him noticing. You stare at the tendons on his neck, his white shirt that hangs loosely on his form as he leans closer to the bar to get a bartender’s attention. Your gaze makes its way down, defined muscles outlining the shape of his arm, he rests his left on the bar and his right he holds by his face, a soft wave to catch the eye of the bartender who has his back turned to the both of you. You don’t dare look down further. He turns his head to you just in time before your eyes can make it past his waistline.

You blink at the bartender who stares expectantly back at you – An unsuspecting passer-by that watched you gawk at the spiked-bun singer. 

“A vodka cranberry, please,” 80% cranberry, you wish to add because you want to spare tomorrow-you the turmoil, she’s dealing with enough from the sleep-deprivation as it is. The bartender glances back at him, asking if he’s starting a tab or closing it off. He drives the inside of his cheek between his teeth before requesting to close it. 

Once the bartender has turned, tending to more drinks and drunken orders, the raven haired boy turns to you, leaning temple against his palm.

“I love your drink of choice –” He tips his head forward slightly, pausing for you to fill in the blank.

“____” 

“I love your drink of choice, ____”

“What did you get?” You pause as well, waiting for him to give a part of himself, an equal trade so that even if every memory from tonight diminishes tomorrow, each other’s names will remain. 

“Choso,” He reaches the arm he was balancing his temple on to shake your hand, you giggle at the sudden formality and he smiles expectantly, like he knew that’s the reaction the gesture would ensue, “A whiskey neat.” 

“Oh, simple, I like it.” 

The bartender comes back with the two drinks,  one a radiant rouge, the other a brooding umber. He leaves the checkbook for Choso to fill out and departs once again.

You take a sip of your drink, the bitter taste of vodka hitting your bottom lip; As if by telekinesis, the bartender had taken the ratio you thought of and flipped completely.

You exhale a biting breath. “Damn, that’s so strong.” 

“You don’t like it?” Choso looks at you as he takes a sip of his drink, lips tipping the edge of the glass back. You can’t help but stare, wishing you were the drink. He swallows a sip back without even wincing. 

“Not how I’d make it, I guess.”

He raises his brows, “You bartend?”

“Yeah, a few blocks down.” You nod, “I guess on my days off, I come to spend money here instead of getting the drinks for free at my own workplace.” 

He smiles, “Makes me feel fateful you chose tonight to blow your money on a 200% markup.”

You shrug, “of course, anytime.” 

— ☆

The cold fall air is nipping so late at night, you try your best not to stumble over the cobble, shamelessly hanging on to Choso’s arm as he tries not to stumble over you dragging his body down. It’s nearing 1 a.m. and the music booming from the bar suddenly turns off, drunken bodies shuffling out and trying to figure out where to venture to next.

“Who lives closer?” You suggest. You glance up, expectant, and although you reach his shoulder, it still feels like Choso towers over you. He turns his head slightly towards you, but the eyes are what lock in with yours, waterlines lifting as he smirks. 

“What’re you trying to whore me out? We just met!” He exclaims. Panic almost rushes to your chest before he quickly chuckles, “Fuck dude, I’m totally kidding, I’m sorry. My apartment’s nearby if you’re willing to walk a bit.” 

You exhale, nodding because he seized all your words from you. 

The night envelops you both in her dark embrace, mid-October wind pulling your coat back as you use your hand to cover any part of your face you can keep warm. You and Choso try not to stumble and you try not to turn and look at him as he walks, his eyes focused straight ahead, jaw lightly clenched trying to bear against the wind. His hair flowing behind him exposes part of his face you hadn’t seen yet, soft pale skin, he looks different, his tattoo more in view despite the color of it partly blending with the night sky. 

His apartment is a few blocks away from the bar, a duplex he says he shares with his bandmates, Yuji and Megumi. The road is quiet, streets lined with cars and the glowing of streetlights is the only warmth you two can seek out in the cold. From the outside, the duplex is brick-lined, bay-windows on the first floor that overlook the street; You can see a warm light radiating from a lamp left on inside. 

You reach the top of the steps, Choso unhooking his arm from your hold and fishing through his jacket. The keys jingle as he inserts one and opens the door, allowing you to enter first into the warmth. The living room is eccentric, a long lamp reaching over the couch, orbs that illuminate the room hanging from the metal. The couch is caramel colored leather, lined with pillows on each side, matching the side chair and the walnut wood of the table. A fireplace faces the couch and everywhere, everywhere, on the floor, on the bookshelves, propped against the coffee table, are vinyl records, they line the player, they cover the table.

“Wow,” You exhale a breath, face vibrating with warmth, “this is an insanely nice place.”

“I know, right? We’ve been renting it for a while, got extremely lucky.” Choso floats in behind, hanging his jacket on the coat hanger and heads for the kitchen. “You want anything?”

You turn to face him and the kitchen, a large bar counter lined with stools and next to it, a dining table. These guys really like lamps, you think to yourself, eyes glancing at a small lamp on the corner of the counter. “Water, please.”

Choso nods and you both turn in sync, him towards the cabinets and you to your left to look at the bar cart that’s placed in between the living room and the walkway to the kitchen. You gander at the alcohol, accessories, and the fancy, when-the-guests-are-here glasses. When Choso approaches from around the counter, he asks, “just water?” 

“My liver’s going to give out by tomorrow,” you cringe at the thought, tomorrow-you hungover, tired, and miserable. “But you do have all the ingredients for a mojito, and it is one of my favorite drinks.”

“Can I watch you make it?” You look at him and there it is again; his intense gaze, looking straight at you as if there was nothing else in the world that could keep you out of his sight. All you can do is nod. 

You grab the muddler, container of mint leaves, and rum; Choso reaches from behind you to grab the syrup and you both set the ingredients on the counter. He opens the fridge, grabbing ice and a container of cut strawberries. 

“Could these work?” He holds the container up.

You shrug, “haven’t tried that before.” 

You add the leaves to a tall glass as he grabs a cutting board and begins to cube the strawberries. You’re side by side working in sync but you can’t help but glance at the way his veins protrude from his forearm even when he’s relaxed, how muscular his arms look, the overhead lighting shading in the valleys of his forearm, making the muscle bulge in the light. Your chest tightens watching him glide the knife across the stem of a strawberry, angling the knife to cut the fruit into smaller pieces. Unlike him, you’ve been enjoying the secret glances you get at him rather than the blazing eye-contact. It’s a game you’re unsure he would participate in, an act you don’t want him to catch you in, a secret between you and yourself; In this moment the only person that gets to secretly admire the valleys of his muscles is you. 

Frankly, staring at Choso had already built up a demand of sexual frustration that you are taking out on the mint, extracting every last drop that you don’t notice when he slides the cutting board full of glistening, cubed strawberries towards you. You hope he doesn’t notice how much you’re torturing the mint, the creased leaves sticking to the glass. But you also hope he does.

He announces he’ll be back, departing from the counter and disappearing to the living room. You don’t want to turn back to follow him with your eyes, the desire bubbling inside you like a geyser. Instead, you can hear him shuffling, stop, then hear a record crackle as he lowers the needle. 

He’s back at your side, watching you intently split the batch of strawberries in two, adding them to their respective glasses, and smashing them as well. You can feel his quiet stare on your shoulder as the record begins to play. You almost laugh when the music floods the room; He’s queued slow songs, full of bass that have your body vibrating trying not to bop your head or move your body. The room is filled with honey, it radiates from the soft yellow lighting, it flows from the record player and sticks to every corner and has begun flooding to the ceiling until everything is tinted yellow. 

After adding ice, you reach for the double-sided jigger he pulled from one of the drawers, measuring the simple syrup on one side, pouring into the glass, and rum on the other side. 

“Oh, fuck, almost forgot,” he states, startling you in your state of thought about his body. He opens the fridge again, grabbing a lime and a half-consumed bottle of club soda. He slices the lime between his hands, handing one half to you to squeeze the juice out of. Your knuckles turn white at the intensity of the squeeze, all the frustration from his gaze, his confidence, his voice, traveling to your forearm. He hands you the other half for the second glass and then the chilled soda. After pouring, you give both the glasses a stir, sliding one towards him. 

He doesn’t waste time tipping the glass back and taking a sip. You have to divert your eyes to the dishwasher to not stare at the way his collar bones come into view and the way the tendons on his neck project. 

He exhales a quiet breath. “____, this is so fucking good,” he says, making your eyes switch back to him as the edge of your glass is steady on your lip, not quite ready to tip over. “I saw you pour in the rum but I can barely taste it.” Dangerous, he adds, grinning. God he’s almost making your eyelid twitch. 

You finally swallow back a sip. 

“I’m glad you like it.” You smile, amidst the warmth, the music, the soft lightening, his compliment striked out, making your cheeks warm; You have to look down out of even more embarrassment that he noticed a compliment so simple made you blush. 

Maybe the pent up nervousness has affected your depth perception because when you look back up, you swear he’s hovered closer. He holds the glass to his lips again, slowly indulging another gulp and staring directly into your retinas. His gaze is so fierce you can’t help but stare right back; His tattoo is in full view when he sets the glass back down, empty, the well of it rouge with strawberry nectar. The music that’s continued to play isn’t helping either, the way he has his arm extended on the counter, biceps stretched, isn’t helping at all. The record spins. The song that plays intros with a guitar solo which leads you back to him, thinking of his fingers strumming each individual string under the iridescent lights.

There’s a soft crackle as the record halts. It catches you off guard, eyes deflecting as you watch the needle automatically lift and levitate back to its place. 

From your peripheral, Choso hangs his head down before sliding his hand off the counter and turning to flip the record over. You chug back the rest of your drink quickly, head dipping forward again to admire his back and the way his white shirt hangs from his shoulders to his waist. You watch him take each side of the record in his palms and give it a flip. Then pick the needle between his fingers and hover it over the record. Then pause. Then turn. Then all of the sudden, he’s walking at a quicker pace, wider strides, back to you. You catch a last glimpse of his dark irises before he’s grabbed the side of your face and enveloped your lips in his. His lips are soft, cold from the ice, bitter from the alcohol, but tender nonetheless. His right hand travels underneath your coat to your hip, pulling your body forward by the flesh. He lightly sucks on your bottom lip before pulling away. Eyes blown out like supernovas, breathless, he says, 

“I had to kiss you,” the words spill from his lips in a rush like he was going to die if he didn’t get to taste your lips. 

You’re still both attached at the hip, a branch splitting in two, his breath reaching the tip of your nose, his eyes gazing into yours in expectancy. You lean forward once more and take his lips in yours again – If the universe were to collapse in on itself, what a way to go making out with Choso. This time, he kisses with fervor. His hand leaves your cheek to slide to the back of your neck and gently tangle his fingers in a handful of your hair. His tongue prods at your lips, pushing against the flesh to meet yours. The sensation of his tongue simultaneous with the way he drives your lip between his teeth has you letting out a whine into his mouth. At this, Choso’s nails dig into the flesh of your hip. 

Fuck, he softly groans, beginning to walk backwards and dragging you with him – you willingly follow like he’s holding you by the leash. You can’t let go of his lips the same way he can’t let go of his hands from your body; The feeling of him so close has sparked the fuse that’s slowly begun to inch closer and closer to the dynamite. The way he holds you steadily as you almost trip over his feet fills your chest with warmth, filling every crevice with color and making you lightheaded. You’ve wandered into a bedroom, his, unable to let go of each other and almost tumble in front of the bed. You slip your shoes off using your opposite ankle, detaching your lips from Choso’s to take a breath. He’s breathing loudly, his chest rising with every inhale, the hair on top of his head inflating and deflating when he exhales. 

“Kiss me again,” he breathes, waiting. And you do. He’s kissing you passionately, jaw wider, unafraid. His tongue slides on yours in passing as he slips his on the soft and slick side of your bottom lip. Your hands begin to stray over each other’s bodies and he pulls you close again. The tip of his hardening cock prods your groin shamelessly. He spins you both, your back now facing the bed; He lets his hands wander down from your neck to the zipper of your dress, dragging the fastener down the metal teeth agonizingly slow. Your dress loosens when the zipper reaches the end and he slides the fabric from your shoulders. You’re standing before him, almost naked, vulnerable. He’s staring and you have to look away, knowing the heat that flows through your temples isn’t because of the mojito. He backs you slowly onto the mattress, the lamp on the bedside table is a low light, the equivalent of a candle or the shade of moonlight when it’s a full moon, enough to keep the shadows of your bodies hidden but enough to appreciate what you can see and feel of Choso. With your distraction of the amount of lighting in the room, Choso has already lifted his shirt from his shoulders and hovers over you. His pale torso is wide, you can see the scales of his side abs, the shadows of his abdomen contrasted by the light. His right bicep is by your ear now and he leans down to meet your lips again. 

Your hands reach the stretch of his sweatpants, sliding your thumbs underneath the band and the rest of your fingers slide the pants down his thighs, he has to wiggle his leg to toss the fabric on the floor, making you laugh. He smiles. 

Choso brings his chest close to yours, reaching his hands underneath your back to unclasp your bra. It feels freeing when he takes the garment and tosses it to the side of you and begins to pepper kisses onto your neck. You’ve both fully committed now, there was no room for pointless mind reading; When he reaches your collarbone and sucks on the skin, you think you’d be stupid not to understand his feelings. He’s wandering down further, confident as he delves deeper into the anatomy of your body. He kisses the valley between your breasts, settling on a particular spot to leave a deep purple mark. He takes one of your tits in his mouth, licking the soft and sensitive skin around the nipple and suckling on the bud. The feeling leaves you whimpering, taking a handful of his hair and pushing him closer to your skin, trying to burrow him inside you forever. 

He doesn’t succumb to your pressure, traveling down the valley of your stomach to your underwear, he slides his palms up your thighs and slides the panties off. Without wasting any time, his mouth is on your core, licking whatever nectar has begun to seep out. A hot summer’s day and he divulges on an overripe apricot, sinking his tongue against the slit, sucking every drop of the juice out. You moan, the wonderful feeling is heat to your core, you can feel his cock harden against the flesh of your thigh. Yet, he keeps going, grabbing your leg to make sure it stays open for him. A part of you wonders if he’s even breathing, his mouth busy on the flesh of your cunt and his nose reaching your clit, you wonder if he’s too focused on your pleasure to breathe. His tongue peeks inside your walls, then retrieving to lick up your slit and repeating. You’re on the cusp of an orgasm, muscles clenching, when he takes his middle finger, sliding it in the soft flesh. His hands are cold, they cool you down like melting ice cubes when he touches you. The feeling of his tongue and finger is overwhelming but you don’t want it to cease. You feel an orgasm coming on, afraid if he adds another digit, you’ll combust like the death of a thousand stars. He looks up the hill of your body, watching the tendons on your neck stretch as you lean your head back against the covers, your stomach heaving up and down. Without a sense of control, he moans into you watching you relish every moment. He slips a second finger, a silence in the room between your soft whimpers all you can hear is a gush. He picks up his pace slightly, leaving you melting into the bed. Breathless and whimpering, your orgasm flows through you like thrashing waves kissing the shore. 

Every muscle in your body contracts and relaxes, you feel Choso plant soft kisses on your inner thighs. His lips are soft, relaxing you and bringing you back down to Earth. He floats back up to you, looking into your eyes, you can barely open them to look at him properly. He hovers over your lips, kissing them, softly sliding his tongue to yours, you can feel the moisture on his chin and practically taste yourself on his lips. 

You’re eager to continue, relish in his pleasure like he relished in yours. You don’t want the night to end, to conjunct at one point and diverge from each other forever. You’re trying to signal to Choso that you can continue, trying to kiss him harder, tougher. You reach your hand down to his briefs, the soft fabric slightly wet with pre-cum. He smiles into your teeth in response,

“You want to keep going?” He asks. You nod, licking his bottom lip. He begins to lift himself off of you, leaning over to his bedside to try and scavenge a box of condoms. 

You reach for his shoulder, “I got an implant,” smiling almost encouragingly. He laughs, it’s short but it sounds heavenly, a complete contrast from the brazen persona you’ve gotten to know tonight. He slides his briefs down his legs. He leans closer to the side of your head, driving your earlobe between his teeth. You take his divergence from your face to grab a hold of his cock and guide it to your entrance. 

The feeling of your orgasm is still remnant, overwhelming as Choso’s dick fills your walls but your desire to continue overrides any discomfort you have. He groans softly against the nape of your neck, dragging his hand to your hair and gently grasping a handful. You feel so good, he whines, his whimper a low and deep moan, sexy, leading you to close your eyes and drive your hips further against his. 

With each thrust, the movement between his push and yours makes a slush sound, sap spilling against him, it’s almost embarrassing, almost, because you swear it makes Choso’s cock even harder in you. 

Choso fucks you slow but hard. Venus observa. He feels so captured by your cunt, that he’s lost all other motor functions, his lips lazily and sloppily kiss and lick your neck, your face, your ear, he’s lost complete control, shamelessly groaning against your cheek. The sounds that come out of his throat only drive you closer and closer to your release. You whine and moan against his ear, his cock burrowed in you in perfect fit, your hands stray to his shoulders, then back, digging your nails in as he drives into you deeper. He reaches one of his hands down your stomach, pressing a finger against your clit and stimulating the area in rhythm with his thrusts. You clench your muscles against him in preparation for your orgasm, Fuck, he draws out the word, groaning at the feeling of your folds tightening against his dick. You orgasm almost simultaneously, you first, arching against him and yelping an ah! at the intensity. The air is popping like bright stars, you salivate at the feeling of spilling on his cock. Choso follows you, coming in you, adding to the complete mess he’s made. 

He stays on top of you, his skin warm against yours, until you feel him inhale and slide off your stomach. You open your eyes, retinas embracing the warm light; when you turn to face Choso, his eyes are closed, the light pours on him like golden nectar. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not asleep,” he smiles, breathing slowly and softly. You think for a moment, eyes drifting to his torso, tattoos etched at his ribcage and abs. 

“When’s the last time you had sex before this?”

He scrunches his nose, trying hard not to laugh. “Actually, I am asleep.” 

You chuckle breathlessly, “I’m only wondering, I promise. It’s been six months for me.”

“Ooh, close enough. Almost a year.” 

Your eyes widen slightly, trying to remain inconspicuous to the surprise. No offense to Choso, on the contrary, you think someone so attractive would have a line out the door. 

He opens his eyes, indigo retinas flooding with light and you can tell by the slow blinks, the way his eyes are almost squinting that he’s tired. “Have you ever been to the small restaurant on Second street, a couple blocks down? They have a great breakfast.” 

“I don’t think so, no.”

“We should go.” He pauses, awaiting a reaction, “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” you smile, Choso’s fatigue drifting to you. 

He leans and hovers over you, clicking the lamp switch off and dragging his blankets over the two of you. Even with the light turned off, you can see the silhouette of his body, covered by the blankets, scooting closer to your warmth. You’re staring at the moon reflecting out the window, hearing Choso’s breathing slow, too tired to think a single thought. 

[niiine]

𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐇

Character(s). Xiao, Lumine

Synopsis. Xiao's voice lines and how selfish he is when it comes to you.

Fluff & comfort

Gn! reader, but if I missed any fem pronounds, PLEASE FORGIVE ME. But I'm careful this time, i promise.

Mutual pining because whyy not. Xiao is a Tsundere (OOC a bit. I'm sorry) and reader's numb ehe.

Lumine is friends with the reader but kinda OOC (?)

Rushed ending ;‹

NOT PROOF READ. Pleas excuse grammar, spellings, my life, and other mistakes

Xiao is such a baby girl. I love this man sm please make him real. Here's Scaramouche's/Wanderer's version (another baby girl). Once Kazuha's home, I'll do his as well💖

SELFISH

"Didn't I told you to call me as soon as you see yourself in danger?"

XIAO's voice is rasped. Worried, and yet full of authority as he reprimanded you. His golden orbs, a piece of sun that decided to embodied heaven, scrutinizing your figure— searching for any injury but hoping that there's none.

"Lumine told me that you're on a commission, don't wanna disturb you, Xiao."

The yaksha sighed at your argument, clearly not amused at the shallow reason you've Come up with.

"Commission or none, you will call my name. Do you understand that, (y/n)?"

You nodded, aware that the topic is not up for discussion.

In your mind, it's nothing for Xiao but protecting Liyue and its people. And the thought it self did more damage than the Hilichurl you've encountered earlier.

But what can you do? You're just one of so many that needed the man that is currently bringing you to the safety of your home. You're so self-centered to think that he will drop anything just to come and save you, and yet—

"Xiao?"

You heard a soft hum in response, a cue for you to continue,

"If I call out your name in the most unpredicted time, when your hands are full and the situation cannot be abandoned, will you st—"

"I will be there."

—He just let you be selfish.

REMINDERS

"I told you, I'll bring them home. I promise" Lumine's voice is clearly tainted with annoyance, although her words bring out a soft chuckle out of your lips.

It's just a night out. Catching out with each other's story while strolling the ever busy streets of Liyue, But Xiao can't leave you alone with the knowledge that your endeavor with Lumine will be at the break of night.

"Knowing you, there will be a high possibility that you will be called to an emergency, if such happen, call out my name." he muttered, particularly to your friend,but his eyes falls on you at the last four words.

"Yes, yes. I will. Besides, Lumine promised that she'll stay the night at home so you don't have to worry that much" You gave him a small, reassuring smile, but please don't expect that it did the job.

"Alright. Then make sure you call m—"

"Xiao I swear if you don't leave us alone I'll take (y/n) to Mondstadt tonight" You do not, Xiao neither, but Lumine does know that the Yaksha— he can deny it all as much as he wants—can't stand a day without seeing you for a day, so;

The traveler's outburst is enough to keep the man away from your tail for a little while.

Although it doesn't suffice for him not to wait for your arrival at the roof of your home once his duty is settled for the night.

NIGHTMARES

"Xiao"

Not even seconds passed when the owner of the name you have uttered appeared in front of you, weapon gripped tightly around his fingers, ready to take down anything that caused you harm

But much to his surprise, and relief, there's no sign of any danger around the area. Just you laying on your bed (NO. THIS IS SFW.) with tears adorning your porcelain face.

"What happened?" He questioned, feet scurrying to your comfort, his gentle digits kissing away the remnants of grief from your cheeks.

"I—I... You... I dreamt of you... dying" your words almost inaudible from hiccups, and the man before you loath the sight before him.

He hates the fact that he'd rather burn the land of geo himself, than see you in such state, but somehow, the thought of you mourning his demise is comforting, addicting even.

"I'm here, I'm fine...look" He took your hand in his, cupping his face with the warmth of your palms.

He leaned on your touch, and you caressed his face, thumbs moving across the places it could reach. Taking in everything, anything, that will prove that he's here. That he will always be here.

"Stay"

It's selfish of you to take the precious time of him that could've been used to cleanse Liyue.

"Sleep, i'll be here"

It's selfish of him to oblige and put you before the land he swore to protect.

The moon peeks a little, illuminating a space in the room but barely reaches the feet of your bed— as if afraid to expose what two pair of eyes are scared to admit.

DREAMS

You woke up with a sight to behold.

Your friend, whom you called at midnight, now deep in his sleep beneath the windowsill, moonlight dancing just above his emerald head.

How come a being, whose hands are tainted by rivers of blood, can look so divine?

You take in everything, carving the image in the back of your head. Xiao looks so beautiful. His legs were crossed as well as his arms, his head leaning on the wall behind him.

You moved closer, adoring the red eyeliner that decorates his eyelids, adoring his lips that's tightly close, adoring how he heaved his chest at every peaceful breathe he takes.

He's breathing. He's alive. Your nightmare is but a disgusting imagery of your worst fear, nothing more.

Your fingers find its way upwards, hoping to brush a strand of hair that falls between his eyes, although the action was forgotten when a hand grab your arms;

"Don't just crept up on me like that. What if I hurt you?" the Adeptus scolded you, his hands now checking if he had caused you any bruise.

"I can't help it. You look so beautiful while asleep"

Xiao's glad that the moonlight is not enough for you to notice the kiss of pink on his cheeks, and that you're still out of the vicinity to hear his heartbeat.

"You think I sleep? Since when did you became so disrespectful to the ways of the adepti, mortal?"

He tried to masked his rampaging emotions with fake annoyance, but the moment he hears laughter came out of your perfect lips, Xiao achingly hoped, yearned that he's not an adeptus.

INNOCENCE

"What?"

"I said, once there's enough snow, we can ingest it."

The man before you squints his eyes, confused and a little bit irritated at how much you're trying not to laugh.

"Is there anything you find amusing at my words, (y/n)" He tried his best to look intimidating, and on normal occasions, it would be a piece of cake considering how edgy he looks already. But sometimes—like this one, he's just too cute to be feared.

A bunch of snow began to accumulate at the top of his, some drops at his nose and he crinkles it in the most adorable way to remove the snow.

And in addition to that, he just said that he eats snow.

The protector of Liyue, a yaksha, a respectful adeptus— waits for the snow to be thick enough so he can eat it.

"None..hahaha none, it's just that..." you snorts, obviously having too much fun "i imagine you munching on snow hahaha"

"But we can really eat it. Look at this." he proceeds to crouch over and take a decent amount of white fluff in his hands, you watching his every move with amusement.

He put some on his mouth, and a ghost of fun played on his face.

"Wha— Wow you really did! How does it taste?" the las enthusiastically motion for you to open up your lips so he can put the remaining snow in his hands.

You swear there's a bit of smug expression resting on his face when he saw how giddy you get at the taste of the snow.

KARMIC DEBT

It's not new to him. The clenching of his chest, darkening thoughts, walking in the thin line of insanity and life. It is part of his life, it is part of him.

On this days, Xiao know better than to socialize with any living being. No one is safe once he tainted them with his karma—his curse, his punishment.

And it's alright. He's used to it. Caging the bloodlust insides, gambling with the headaches that brings out painful pasts. He conquers it all, push it deep enough just so he could continue his duty until it devours him again, and again, and again.

He will deal with it alone.

But there are times when it's so vigorous, times when he especially needs to stay away from anyone—and every time that it happens, like now, all he can think of is you.

So he seeks your presence. Ignoring the fact that he may cause you harm.

How selfish, really. But when darkness eats away at him, there's only you who can ease his burden.

And you take him with open arms. Like the winds caging his body, your soft embrace lull him to rest.

"Those memories... So dark" he murmured, curling up against your touch, his head on you chest and your arms around him. Protecting him against the enemies he can't fight alone.

"I know... I know Xiao. But I'm here, alright? I'll never leave you"

The movement of your fingers on his back take away the pain that plague his body, soothing both his physical form and his mind.

"So promise me, promise me that you'll always be here with me as well."

How selfish, really. But when he nods his head softly before falling asleep at your hums, his head at the crook of your neck and you cradle his lean figure, you don't really care.

GREEN

"It's one of Liyue's grandest festival!"

"I know that. I just simply see no point in watching humans litter the seas" he crossed his arms and looks at you uninterestedly.

"Well, the lights are pretty." "And? Please, (y/n). Stop being annoying"

You're taken aback by his words. Hurt at how he responded at your invitation. And archons, Xiao wants to take everything he said the moment he saw looks at your eyes.

"Fine, I just thought we could have fun with the others..." "But I understand"

Your voice sound dejected as you walked out of the inn, like a kicked puppy that yearns for attention. But he can't help it. He's been so close with you these past months, and he can't let you get any closer. He needs to protect you, even to himself.

Besides, there's no chance that you will ever reciprocate his feelings, right?

Yet regardless of how dedicated he is to stay away from you, he still finds himself scanning the crowd for a glimpse of you.

And he did. Of course he does, he always do. To spot you in the midst of people is like looking at the back of his hands. But this time, instead of the usual butterflies, his stomach drops.

There's a pang in his chest as he watches you talk so happy with someone. If he had accepted your invitation, would it be him you're talking to like that right now?

Probably not. He's not fun to be with, so your smiles will probably be missing if he's the one with you.

Ah, there's a pang in his chest at the memory if you leaving due to his choice of words.

He wants to snatch you away from the one you're talking with. He wants you take you somewhere far, somewhere they it's only him you'll see. He wants you to look at him, just like every time. Just him.

He didn't know what this feeling is. He only knows that despite sounding so selfish—turning you away and then thinking of snatching you back— he didn't care.

APOLOGIES

"(Y/N) until when are you gonna ignore him?" Lumine whispers into your ears, noticing how uneasy you are the last few days. His amber eyes flowing with concern.

"I told you, I don't wanna annoy him. I know I'm a bit much sometimes and I just don't want to bother him so much" your response earned a sigh from the traveller. "Xiao is just confused. You should talk to him, really"

She patted your back before waving you goodbye, thinking just how stupid the two of you for not being honest with your feelings.

Left at the comfort of your home, and with no things to do, your mind wanders back to the man in question.

You never thought of confessing because you don't wanna lose him as your friend, and yet here you are—watching him slip from away from you.

"(Y/N)" a tender voice halt your train if thoughts, gaining your attention. Turning around, your eyes met with golden ones.

You probably stared for too long because shit, you missed those eyes.

"Xiao... What are you doing here?"

There's a tug in his heart. So he's not welcome here anymore?

"I... want to talk to you" his eyes now darting anywhere but yours. Fingers fidgeting with his mask voice somewhat bashful.

"I'm listening" you murmured, gesturing at the space beside you for him to occupy, which he did.

"I talked to Lumine," he started. Trying his best to meet your (e/c) orbs "And she said that..."

"She said that?"

"Never mind what she said," He heaved a sigh to regain his composure, and you hummed in return. Whatever it is, you can get it out of Lumine herself, later.

"But I want to apologize... For what I've said. I didn't mean it"

His head's hung low. Afraid to look at you and see any negative emotions from you. What if you can't forgive him? What if you won't accept him again?

"Xiao" he looked up at your call. He missed your voice uttering his name.

"What if I told you that I love you, what would you do?" It's stupid of you to say such things, but you realized that you may lose him, in one way or another, so might as well be honest.

And you are ready to whatever his answer will be. Whatever. But not his silence. Not the way he opens and closes his lips, as if forcing the none existent words to come.

A soft chuckle left your lips. Kind of taking his loss for words as a rejection. "There's no need to say anything. I understand that this things are no—"

"No!"

You look at him, confirming if you've heard correctly. Things are happening so fast yet so slow for you that coherent thoughts never came.

"You're... You're important to me. But I'm not human, (y/n),"

His eyes averted your gaze again. As if scared that the fact will drive you away. When be received no response, the adeptus continues.

"I can't fathom human emotions. I don't understand them," — "but I know that I want you to be always with me"

Your heart skipped a beat at his confessions, albeit unclear and messy, it's soft and gentle. You reached out towards his face, and he jumped at your actions, clearly on edge at the conversation you're having.

You laughed at his actions, of which he returns with a lenient scowl.

"Nothing's funny, mortal"

"You want this Mortal. Adeptus Xiao"

He sighed, and said nothing to refute your words. Warmth begins to envelope your heart as everything sink in.

Xiao loves you

You took his arms in yours, just like what you always do. And he offer nothing against it. Loving the sensation of your skin on his as you put his palms at your cheeks.

"You don't have to understand those feelings, Xiao" closing your eyes when he hummed

"You just have to be honest with them" he rubbed your cheeks with his thumb, leaning in to leave a kiss on your forehead.

It's selfish how he wants to put you first above anything despite his duty. It's selfish how you want to entrance him throughout your punny lifetime, fully aware that you'll outlive him some day;

But just like what you've said, it's just honesty at its peak.

[doggone-devil]

How (Not) to Summon a Demon: Chapter 3

So this one is a bit longer than I meant it to go, and I still had more to write. But to keep it from getting too long, I'm cutting it here and will continue in Chapter 4. This is going to be a bit of a slow build story, but hopefully not too long. I'm aiming for at least 10 chapters.

Pairing: Alastor x fem!Reader

Warnings: profanity, light threatening?

Normal people woke up from nightmares and were able to laugh them off as they start to recede to the back of their minds, forgotten within the hour as they go about their day. You, on the other hand, had your nightmare staring at you with a giant smile spread across their face.

Sitting on your bed, your knees drawn close to you for safety, you watch the demon currently standing in your room with wide, cautious eyes. He didn’t seem phased one bit, tilting his head every so slightly when you jumped, seeming amused at your reactions. It was starting to piss you off but fear held strong, keeping you from moving any closer to him.

“So,” you finally speak, jumping again when he straightens up to attention. “What do I have to do to make you leave?” It’s a reasonable question, you think, but the demon seems to be annoyed as his brows draw together. The smile stays and it creeps you out.

“My dear, I can not leave once our contract is fulfilled,” he explains, closing his eyes. “You see, when you summoned me, an agreement was formed. One that can not be unbroken by any means.” He opens his eyes, the red orbs staring straight through you, bringing a chill up your spine. “I grant you one wish, a desire that you so desperately want, and in return, I claim your soul for all eternity.”

“My soul,” you repeat. He nods. “For eternity.” Another nod. “Yeah, not gonna happen.”

“What?” His smile seems to falter every so slightly, twitching as you see blackened gums peek out.

“Not gonna happen. One wish for my soul? Doesn’t matter what I want, whatever it is can’t be worth my soul.” You scoot back on the bed when the demon suddenly takes a step forward. He doesn’t stop until he’s at the edge of your bed, power radiating off him in waves. It’s making you nauseous and dizzy.

“I don’t think you quite understand the predicament you’re in, darling,” he growls the last word, his voice deep and laced with harsh static. “If you don’t make a wish, I can’t leave.”

“Ok, then we’re at an impasse. Because I don’t want to lose my soul.”

“I -“ he pauses, taking a deep breath before regaining his composure. The smile is back to being stretched wide, pointy teeth almost like a threat towards you. “Surely there is something in this world you desire more than your soul. Fame? Fortune? Good health?”

You deadpan at him. “I don’t want to be famous, I can gain money on my own, and I can be healthy on my own.” You’re starting to relax every so slightly. The more this demon talks, the less you feel scared of him. His movements and actions are too human, even if his appearance isn’t, and in some twisted way that’s making your interaction with him feel normal.

“Look,” you start to say, turning to sit on the edge of your bed, “the only wish I’d wish for is that you leave and go back to wherever it is you came from. Yet even for that, I’m not selling my soul over so get comfy demon boy. You’re stuck here.” You stand and start to leave your room, but he grabs your wrist, twisting hard to make you face him. You wince at the pain that shoots up your arm.

“You know,” he glances down at you, smile turning sinister and dark, “perhaps your friend from earlier could help persuade you into making a wish.” Your eyes widen before anger takes hold.

“You wouldn’t,” you whisper. His smile growls, eyes forming into dials.

“Try me, darling.” It’s not a threat, but a warning. A promise. You know it, can feel it in your core. He’s not playing around. Tears start to form and you try to blink them away.

“I-I don’t want to give up my soul,” you sob out, knees giving out as you fall to the floor. He’s still holding your wrist, your arm dangling in his grip. All those horror movies you’ve watched in your life are flooding through to your thoughts, scenes of damned souls, of eternal fire burning away flesh in Hell. Demonic entities prodding and poking with sharp objects, torturing endlessly without mercy. Your breath quickens, your chest pounding as you begin to cough.

“Now, now, no need to panic,” the demon says softly. Shocked, you watch him kneel down to your level, pulling a handkerchief from inside his coat. He lets go of your wrist and begins to dab your cheeks, drying off the tears that have spilt over. It’s…surprisingly gentle. He speaks up again, “Would it help if I explain things a little better?” You nod weakly, your head too torn from reality at the moment to form coherent words. Your still trying to grasp the concept that, yes, demons exist and, yes, there is a Hell. This means Heaven is real, angels, and even God. Oh God. That last fact almost sends you spiraling again, your legs wobbling when you feel him lift you off the floor.

You’re back on your bed, your shoulders hunched as you stare at the floor. God is real. You weren’t really a believe, never have been. An atheist, firm in science and facts, but now God has become one. Because if this thing before you is truly a demon, then it came from Hell which has a ruler, Satan. Who did Satan come from? God. You’re so fucked.

“Darling?” You snap up, the demon’s words finally registering. “It’s rude not to listen when people are speaking to you.”

“Sorry,” you automatically apologize. It gets a quick chuckle from the demon.

“You are becoming a strange creature, mortal. Nevertheless, I told you I’d explain things better and that is just what I’m going to do. Now, where to begin? Ah, yes!” He starts to explain the mechanics of Hell, of sinners and overlords. He even tells you about the devil, Lucifer, and his daughter, Charlie. This leads down a path of him telling you about some hotel for redemption, a silly idea if you ask him, truly humorous. Next, he explains how, yes, there is a heaven and tells you what little he knows about angels. You’re starting to realize that Hell isn’t all that different from Earth, just filled with bad people instead.

You feel reality come back down for you as you take in this new information. The world doesn’t seem so off balance anymore, and from what you could tell, it seems your past actions were leading you to be a sinner anyways. While you weren’t exactly hell spawn from birth, you weren’t miss goody-two-shoes either. You’re pretty sure you’ve done a lot of things the Bible strictly says not to.

“So, wait, when I die, I might just ‘pop’ into existence there like I never died in the first place?”

“Oh no, you’ll fall. Hurts like Hell,” the demon corrects, laughing at a bit at his own pun. You roll your eyes, spotting closer to him. You don’t know when it happened, but you’re sitting criss-crossed on your bed facing the demon who mirrors you. His head is in his palms, elbows propped on his knees. You feel like you’re in high school all over again, gossiping the latest news. It’s weird.

“Will I have like horns, a tail, and leathery wings?” You nearly snort when Alastor mimicking your eye rolling.

“Do you see any of those on me?” he asks and you study his features. His hair is bright red with black tipped ends. Two tufts of, hair? Ears? You’re not sure what they are but they twitch every so often. You notice he does have horns but they’re kind of like antlers, like a - you gasp.

“Are you a deer?” you ask, eyes lighting up. You unconsciously lean forward, making the demon lean back.

“Regrettably.” He quirks a brow at you and you apologize, moving out of his bubble. Geez, what is wrong with you? This is becoming too normal, too fast. You still haven’t even gotten to the soul owning part.

“Ok, then, I have to know. If - and I’m saying a big if here - I wish for something and you take my soul, what happens?”

“When you make a wish,” he states with confidence, making you frown, “I will own your soul. Simple as that.”

“But what you do mean by own? I disappear and become a ghost in a jar? Are there puppet strings you attach to me and move me how you want? You gotta give me details here, man.”

“Nothing like that, my dear. You would be free to live your afterlife however you want, but you would be mine. You would be at my beck and call whenever I shall need you.”

“Oh.” You feel surprisingly ok with that and you don’t know if that should scare you or not. You shrug, however, standing up once more. “Well, I hate to disappoint you again, demon boy, but even if I make the wish, I have no idea what to wish for.” You actually make it out of your bedroom this time, walking to your kitchen. Afternoon light floods in from the windows, the morning gone as noon rolls through. You feel hungry with everything that’s happened so far and open your fridge to scavenge for sustenance.

“How about a new house?” the demon asks as he trails behind you, standing next to you while you rummage the shelves of the fridge. “Surely you want something bigger?”

You stand, holding a loaf of bread and a jar of mayonnaise. “Nope!” You shut the fridge and walk to a clear counter, setting down the ingredients for your poor-man’s sandwich. “I happen to like this dainty apartment, thank you.”

“Then how about a brand new vehicle? I’m sure any woman would be thrilled to have a cherry red Cord in their driveway!”

“Wrong again, Mr. Demon Boy. My yellow Volks gets me where I need to be just fine.” You bite your lip to keep from laughing, seeing the demon obviously getting upset next to you. His ears, as you’ve come to think of them, have laid backwards against his head. His eyes glare at you as you spread the mayo on the bread.

“My name is not ‘demon boy’.” He straightens his bow tie and wipes his coat. “The name’s Alastor, a pleasure to be meeting you!” Now you laugh.

“A bit late for introductions, ain’t it?”

Alastor looks offended. “Would have happened earlier had someone not fainted when meeting me.” You frown.

“I didn’t faint, I just…needed to rest a bit. It’s not like I’m used to having a literal demon appear in my apartment!” You angrily slam the lip back on the jar, returning the bread and condiment to the fridge. Alastor has to side step to keep from being barreled through by you.

You grab your sandwich, looking at him. Before you take a bite, you state your name. He repeats it and the way it rolls of his tongue should not be causing your cheeks to redden, if only a tiny bit. You blame the sunlight you feel coming from the kitchen window.

“I could give you anything in the entire world and yet you want nothing?” Alastor asks again with a defeated sigh. You nod, continuing to eat your sandwich. A thought then crosses your mind and you swallow.

“Actually, I got the perfect idea! How about I just wish for whatever my roommate wants?” Alastor shakes his head. “Why not?”

“The contract states it must be a wish granting your one desire. No one else’s. It’s your soul I’m claiming, after all, not your roommate’s.”

“That’s just dumb,” you remark, finishing your food. You huff and cross your arms. “I’m gonna need time.”

“Time for what?”

“To think of a wish, duh! If it’s gonna be worth my soul, then it’s gotta be big. I’m not wasting it on just any old wish.”

“How much time are we talking about here?” Alastor asks. His tense smile tells you he’s not liking the outcome of this situation. Tough luck. You’re playing by your rules now.

“I don’t know. It’s indefinite until I can think of something.” You shove off the counter you’re leaning against, walking to the living room. Alastor is right behind you.

“That’s not going to work for me, my dear,” he states. You turn around and have to stop to keep from bumping into his chest. You lift your head to stare at him.

“It’s going to have to, deer,” you grin. “You’re stuck with me until I make a wish, like or not.”

“I’m home!”

“Veronica!” You shout and suddenly, Alastor is on his ass behind the couch, your arms outstretched as you look at your roommate in panic. She’s eyeing you and the couch before she slowly shuts the door.

“Ok, as much as I know you want to pretend you didn’t just have someone standing there, I’m gonna need to know who it is you just unceremoniously pushed behind the couch,” Veronica says, shifting her weight to one leg as she places a hand on her hip. She’s full mom mode now, no use lying, but how were you going to explain a literal demon to her? Sure, it was her idea in the first place, but even she knew deep down it wasn’t real!

“Uh, I, well you see.” You’re fumbling with your words, trying desperately as you glance a look towards Alastor. The demon is glaring up at you like you just stepped on his new puppy, huffing a strand of loose hair from his face. You look back to Veronica who’s walking over to you. “Wait!” You move to stop her but it’s too late, she’s leaning over the back of the couch. You wait for the scream, to watch her flee out the door screaming bloody murder, but she doesn’t. She just looks at you like you’re an absolute idiot.

“I’m offended, I really am,” she says. “You attempted to hide this stud? Unbelievable.”

“Huh!?” You nearly break your back trying to climb over and look at Alastor. He’s suddenly human looking, the red hair and horns gone, replaced with short brown hair that’s gelled upward. His skin isn’t ashy pale but caramel, red eyes now brown still glaring up at you.

“Forgive this one, she’s a bit mental,” Veronica apologizes, talking now to Alastor.

“Not a problem, my dear. Not the first time a woman has shoved me down, I assure.” Alastor smiles with a wink, making Veronica giggle and you feel like you’ve stepped into the Twilight Zone.

“Alastor, can I talk to you? Privately?” You grab his hand once he stands up, tugging it towards your bedroom. Alastor turns to Veronica as you drag him.

“Pleasure meeting you, dear, if you’ll excuse us!”

“Sure,” Veronica mumbled, watching you drag one of the most attractive men she’s even seen into your bedroom. As the door slams shut, she just shakes her head, whispering, “You go girl.”

Masterlist , Ao3

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