#dear author do you have any idea how little that narrows it down

[jerichomere]

when a character is described as having “tea colored skin”

[ivystoryweaver]

With You part 12

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Summary: You and your husband adjust to life with Jake in the mix and Marc gone quiet.

Pairings: Steven Grant x gn!reader, Jake Lockley x gn!reader, Marc Spector x gn!reader. No use of Y/N.

Word Count: 3k

Content: fluff, some angst, spicy times (more under the cut)

Warnings: cursing, references to Marc's trama/past, food prep and talk about food (I know this can be triggering for some) sex implied, foreplay, handjob, but language is not overly explicit and is gn. Probably inaccurate DID, based on the show.

Steven arrived home from work, having narrowly escaped a London downpour. Setting his bag down right inside the door, he shed his damp jacket and kicked off his shoes, thinking Marc might pipe up and scold him at any moment.

Marc was the neat one. Like military neat. Like, don't leave a mess or mom will make you regret it, neat. Like erase your existence from your alter...from the authorities...from the world, neat.

Steven was the messy one. Scatterbrained, he'd been called by a boss or two. It wasn't so much scatterbrained as it was a bit of unaware brain sharing.

But he hadn't shared much of anything with Marc lately. Not since Khonshu had stripped him of his armor mid-fight and almost gotten him killed. That was two weeks ago.

Padding over to his fish tank, Steven placed his hands on his knees, bending forward to take a look at his tiny little school. There were four fishies now, which almost seemed appropriate. One for Steven, Marc, you and now Jake.

Narrowing his eyes, Steven scrutinized the colorful little creatures before reaching for some fish food.

"All right then, time to eat," he chimed. Dumping a few flakes into the water, he smiled at their eager nibbles, until his eyes caught his own reflection.

"You there?" He asked, not actually addressing anyone, but definitely thinking of Marc. "No? ...didn't think so."

With a sigh, Steven sauntered to the kitchen to start the kettle. The flat was dark - the thunderstorm outside made sure of it, and he worried, for a moment, about you trudging home in these conditions.

"Should be alright," he mused to himself, the way he was prone to do. "Not due home for a couple hours yet."

He stopped short when he saw a note on the kitchen counter. It was not unlike the several notes you had left for Jake, on the bedside table. Same envelope at least.

"What's this, then?" he mused, picking it up.

The letters, displayed in your handwriting, spelled 'Marc'.

"Hm. Left you a note. Best come read it," Steven tried to tell his alter. Hearing nothing, he chewed on his lip for a moment before turning the envelope over in his hand.

The contents really did belong to Marc, but Steven felt that maybe had had the best chance of actually communicating with him. So he opened the letter and began to read aloud.

"Hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be reading this," Steven said to no one, because apparently no one was listening. "If you're not going to look at it, you should at least hear it."

'Dear Marc, I can't remember the last time we've gone so long without seeing one another, or at least speaking. Even on your longest missions, it never felt like this. If I could go back to the last time I saw you huddled on the kitchen floor, I would have never let you out of my arms. I would have never ranted about what Jake should do, or how much I hate Khonshu. I would've just held on and told you the truth over and over - that you're everything. That it didn't matter to me if you wore the suit again without telling me because I trust you, and because you can make your own decisions. I've always trusted your judgment. You are the real Moon Knight and you had every right to put on the suit if you felt like you wanted or needed to. I would have told you I support you 100%, that you're needed, that you're loved - that my anger and my bright ideas about how we should march right up to Khonshu and punch his bony beak didn't matter, not when you were feeling so shut out, so displaced, so thrown backwards in time, made to feel any less than. You are not less than Steven. You are not less than Jake. Or me. And you sure as hell are not less than an ancient deity who needs a modern day human body to roam the streets of London. It is he who needs you. And I need you. I need you, Marc. I need to see you again so badly, I can't even breathe sometimes. Not at night, after Steven falls asleep, not in the shower sometimes, or at work, when someone asks after you. I need you so much. Please, this isn't about making you feel guilty. You're my husband. You are the love of my life. I know you're resting now. I know you're taking the time you need. Steven is taking good care of you. But when you're ready, please, please come back to me. I love you so much.'

Running a hand over his chin, Steven folded the letter and put it back where he found it. Peering at his reflection in the microwave, Steven waited...hoping...

But it was quiet.

The next night, you made it home first. Steven had spoiled you rotten the previous, stormy evening. He claimed he was treating you to some warm soup and a hot bath because you were drenched when you arrived home.

But you knew it was because he read your letter and wanted to cheer you up. In fact, you believed that Steven missed Marc too. They didn't always co-front - you typically were only with one of them at a time, but they did talk all the time, and what you had sworn to Marc one afternoon on the rooftop was true: he was Steven's best friend in all the world.

So, a comforting bath and cuddles in bed made you both feel worlds better.

Tonight you wanted to show Steven a little love right back. It was really too bad that you found yourself elbow deep in making vegan fajitas when you heard the front door, because you desperately wanted a big hug.

"I'm in here, babe!" You called, dripping your way over to the sink to wash up.

Steven would have normally spouted off a greeting, two terms of endearment and one fun fact by the time he reached you, but as you turned to see him leaning against the door frame, you only heard the sound of your name...in an American accent.

Your heart rate tripled - your face flamed hot...then you saw your husband's dark curls were covered by a flat cap.

Holy shit. "Jake?"

"Hola," he winked, folding his arms over his chest. Noticing your apparent distress - and automatically assuming he was the cause, the corners of his mouth turned downward.

"Mi amor?" He questioned, his eyes going wide like a child getting in trouble.

"Jake!" You breathed, rushing up to throw your arms around him.

His body sagged in relief, melting into yours until he found the strength to wrap his bigger, stronger arms around your frame.

"Oh my god, oh my god," you gasped, gripping him desperately. "You're here, I can't believe it."

Surprised but thrilled at how relieved and happy you seemed, Jake nuzzled the spot right above your ear, running his hands up and down your back soothingly.

"I hope it's all right," he whispered, his hot breath tickling your ear.

Easing back, you gazed up into his deep brown eyes. "What do you mean? Of course it's all right."

Chewing on his lip worriedly, he shrugged one shoulder adorably, still holding on to you. "It's not a bad time, is it? You're not...supposed to be with Steven? Or anyone?"

You melted. "Baby, it's your body. If you're here, you're here. You don't need my permission." Gently caressing his cheek, you shook your head in wonder. "I just - I don't think I've ever seen you before midnight."

Glancing down at his outfit, you realized you didn't recognize his clothing as Steven or Marc's. Your heart swelled, seeing this new piece of him - a faded, denim jacket over a striped t-shirt.

"And I've never seen you wear anything except Steven's PJ's or your driving uniform," you added, brushing your hand over his.

"Or nothing at all," he cheekily added, biting his lip, waiting for your reaction.

You grinned like a fool, giggling as he swooped you up into a tender kiss. He sampled your lips one at a time, sucking gently, taunting you - until you licked hotly into his mouth, sinking your fingers into his curls. This knocked the cap off his head, which made him growl in response.

Two strong hands dragged your thighs around his waist and in a few long strides, he planted you on the countertop with an 'umph!'

"Sorry," he murmured, his forehead touching yours affectionately as he squeezed your hips, settling right between your spread thighs.

"Was that an offer?" you whispered, referring to him wearing nothing at all. Peppering his smiling lips with little kisses and driving him absolutely crazy, you added, "Is that why you're here?"

Easing back slowly, he swallowed. "I just wanted to see you," he earnestly admitted, a little uncertainty creasing his forehead. "I thought...maybe we could have dinner together. Is that okay?"

He was pretty new to this whole...you thing. Being married...sort of. Making an effort to...be with you. And not just sleep beside you. So he wasn't entirely sure if he was barging in to a special evening with Steven. He also wondered if you were hoping he was Marc. Actually, he was pretty certain that the surprise on your face when he first called your name was you mistaking him for Marc, for just a second.

"Come here," you softly cooed, pulling on his jacket to drag his mouth back to yours. Brushing your lips over his, you used your legs to urge his body flush against your center. "Yes, we can have dinner together..." which reminded you - you were mid-fajita prep when Jake arrived.

Tapping him cutely on the nose, you kissed his mouth one more time. "To be continued."

As you carried on with food prep, a different energy sizzled in the kitchen with Jake, most notably because he was a different person. Marc cooked with you plenty of times. In fact, he probably cooked more often than anyone and he was pretty good at it.

Cooking with Marc was precise, detailed - he knew what he wanted to do and you willingly played a supporting role. The two of you moved with practiced synchrony, like a well-rehearsed dance.

With Steven, it was all about experimentation. As a vegan, Steven was used to substituting ingredients and making things up on the fly. He also left a huge, hilarious mess behind, and typically ended up wearing a portion of his recipe.

For this reason, you had bought Steven an apron that said, 'Team Herbivore' which made Marc roll his eyes every time he saw it. Not because of the slogan but because it had three cute little veggies with smiling faces on it.

With Jake, there was no precise exchange of places, nor an experimental mess. Jake moved right with you from behind, loosely caging you in, picking up a spoon you would set down, stirring while you reached for a knife. You chopped and he added spices. He didn't even ask.

Once your hand was knife free and scraping veggies into the skillet, he was nuzzling into your neck and humming.

You lost your concentration a few times because he was just so close.

"This okay?" He would ask periodically, slipping his hand around your waist to sway with you.

"Where did you learn to cook?" You giggled, melting at the sound of his apparent singing voice?

He paused, going a little stiff.

Hoping you hadn't hit a nerve, you turned around slowly to find him smiling wistfully. "I used to watch my mom."

Your eyes widened as you tried to figure out what to say. Marc had never mentioned cooking with his mom, or her really cooking much at all. He had mentioned going to bed hungry though.

"I know...how she was," Jake softly interjected into your buzzing thoughts. "Especially with Marc." His gaze dropped as he eased back a step. "But sometimes, she would sing in Spanish. And cook. Sometimes I helped."

Reaching for his hand, you gently squeezed. "I didn't know you guys spoke Spanish until we met," you admitted, trying your best to connect a little more with Jake. "That sounds like a wonderful memory."

"One of the few," he sighed. Almost shyly meeting your eyes, he smiled warmly. "I've never told anyone that - or anything...about her."

Using your hold on his hand to pull him closer, you slid one arm around his waist. "You can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

"Mm-hmm," he hummed back, nodding over your shoulder toward the sizzling skillet. "Better stir, mi vida."

Jake's seasonings were totally on point and dinner was delicious. The two of you cleaned up the kitchen and headed to the living room to relax. You noticed Jake sat a little awkwardly on the sofa - in total contrast to the smooth, panther like movements you were accustomed to, late at night, in your bedroom.

"Jake, you okay?" You asked him, grabbing your current reading material and settling down beside him.

He nodded unconvincingly. This was wildly foreign to him. Jake only did a few things in this world: protect, kill when he had to, serve Khonshu, sleep and fuck. He didn't even eat that often - his alters usually saw to most of the body's physical care.

"What...what do you do? At night? What should I do?" He adorably asked.

You almost laughed, it was so cute, but you didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Well...Marc and I play card games or do puzzles. We watch baseball games or old action movies - "

"You like baseball?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.

"I do," you confirmed with a smile. "The time change is a little weird from here to Chicago or New York, but we watch some afternoon games, or we watch older games."

He nodded, absorbing the information as you went on.

"Steven and I read together, or he reads to me. We like documentaries too. Sometimes I help him study for school." You chuckled, wondering if this all sounded boring to such a night owl like Jake. "Sometimes we have word search races - like, to see who can finish the fastest."

"I do crosswords in my car sometimes," Jake shrugged, as if he totally understood the appeal. "Do you like crosswords?"

"Mm-hmm," you grinned.

It was on. The two of you found a crossword website online and printed out two copies of the same puzzle. Turning on your phone's stopwatch, the race was on.

Jake kicked your ass.

"Let's go again," he chimed, finding another crossword on the laptop. "Loser has to take of their clothes."

You gasped, pretending to be offended. "Mr. Lockley," you playfully scolded.

Hearing you call him Mister anything had him shutting the laptop and scooping you up in his arms, almost racing to the bedroom. "Fuck it," he chuckled. "I surrender, I'll take off my clothes."

You howled with laughter as he deposited you on the bed and kicked off his shoes. Next came his socks - then he went for his belt. Shit, he wasn't kidding.

Crawling backwards on the bed, you settled back to enjoy the show, propped up on a pile of pillows.

Jake had peeled off his jacket while you were cooking, so once his pants were loose, he tugged off his t-shirt. You licked your lips at the way his abdomen flexed at the motion, and almost mewled at the way the shirt's collar mussed his curls. Then he paused, checking for a reaction before removing his pants.

"Don't let me stop you...Mr. Lockley," you teased, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth.

The corner of his mouth curled as he pushed his pants and boxers all the way down. Leaning forward to kick them off his feet, a loose curl fell across his forehead.

Your mouth went dry at the sight of him naked and ready for you. Climbing onto the bed on his hands and knees, he hovered over you, reveling in the way your eyes devoured him.

"Your turn," he purred, teasing you with a nibble to your lips.

Running your hands all over his smooth skin, you felt between his legs, teasing his length with your fingertips.

Hissing in pleasure, he more than willingly allowed you to have your way, licking wickedly into your mouth while grinding into your palm.

"Do you really read and study all the time, mi vida?" He groaned out, rolling his hips in time with your strokes. "Or is this more your idea of fun?"

"Definitely this," you breathed against his mouth. "A fucking lot of this."

Spending the evening with Jake was a balm to your tender heart. You had seen him since the night Khonshu healed him - since your first night together - but only late at night, for a quick conversation, or for a repeat performance.

So spending an entire, domestic evening with him, ending up between the sheets for hours, before falling asleep draped across his naked body - you were in heaven. Maybe Jake really was going to ease into your life - actually be in a relationship with you.

Your heart swelled with love for your husband - for all the lovely, wonderful parts of the system he was. You would have to grab some extra ingredients from the store and plan another vegan fajita night for Steven, since Jake enjoyed the first batch. Not that Steven minded, angel that he was.

Which only left Marc.

Even with your heart so full and alive, there was still a gaping hole. As always, you tried not to put the other two in the middle of any situation, or treat them like messengers to try to get to Marc. But they were more than ready with updates.

Steven had confessed to reading the letter, and trying to talk out loud to Marc several times a day. Jake said the same, finally asking you if maybe it was his fault that Marc was so absent - so silent.

The three of you agreed that Marc just needed some time. As always, you decided not to take it personally. This was about him.

You beat Steven home again the following evening, and this time, waiting on the kitchen counter, was an envelope bearing your name.

next->

@stormydaysxx @laaundromat @kindlover @deezisnotreal @stevenknightmarc @imonmykneessir @marvelouslovely-barnes @evilbubu @usualsworld @rivalriotrenegade @wordacadabra @this--is--music @i-still-dont-like-your-face @avengersinitiative2012 @lockleywife @poppyflower-22 @thursdaywritings @scoliobean @peregrine-nation @local-mr-frog @ren-ni @valkyrie05x @randomhoex @tsukkie-daisuke @flyestvenustrap @spxctorsslxt @cicithemess2000  @bitchotine 

dividers by saradika

[yaut-jaknowit]

YESS I GET TO BOTHER YOU AGAIN:D

Imagine the reader teaching their yautja mates/friends teenager some cool human fighting move you see in movies n shit (also have an awesome day ilyyy)

How to Fight

Pairing: Chopper (Male Reader) x Reader

Word Count: 1171

Summary: With a little luck, you were able to entertain yourself while on the mothership. Access to the internet was the best far from earth. Every night, you took it upon yourself to watch movies. Sometimes rewatching old ones or finding new releases. Until, one night, Chopper's buddies caught sight of what you were watching… It went downhill from there.

Author Note: I love when you come bother me! It's the highlight of my day. I didn't know what to with this one so I started in a random place and ran with it. The ball... well it ended up somewhere else I guess.

Masterlist

Ao3

All it took was one glimpse at a movie you were watching. Worst of all, it was Kung Fu Panda. The whole group was completely intrigued. Within moments, they’re sitting down next to your small frame, elbows on their knees with their chins resting on their fists. All of their eyes were zoned in on the holo screen in front of you.

With some trial and error with the earth’s internet and the Yautja’s network, you were able to figure out how to broadcast movies. As a human on a mothership full of Yautjas, there was a limit of what you could do. Safely. That part was key when it came to staying alive here.

From the rumors that have trailed across the ship, the only reason you’re alive is the fact your mate’s species sees you as his pet. Degrading as it is, you do your best to see the positives in the situation. Your mate, nicknamed Chopper, has lots of friends – you guess that’s the best word for it. They love to come over constantly.

Some of them like to tease you, especially on your size. Due to the translator that sits perfectly behind your ear, just below the skin, you are able to understand them. It’s not perfect but gets the job done well enough. In the end though, you didn’t take it to hard, coming to terms that’s how they are. In a strange, nonhuman way, its their way of showing that accept you. A positive in a situation that didn’t start out all that great. But hey, that’s a story for another time.

Currently, you were happily squished between the hard form of Chopper’s legs. His heavy torso was draped over your own, part of his weight put onto you. An arm as contently wrapped around your abdomen, keeping you secure to him. Chopper’s tresses created a curtain on either side of your head, as if narrowing you down to focus on the T.V.

After a few scenes of Po training and the others showing their skills off, Courtin – a new given to him, stood up abruptly. All eyes were on him. You had to draw the curtain of tresses out of your way to see Courtin. A brow was raised by you.

His mandibles chittered with speech. The translator was quick to start up. “These moves, I must learn them! Could aid us when we hunt, brothers,” he rallied his fellow Yautjas to stand up with him. Even, your sweet, dear Chopper took stand with him. You snorted at the declaration. “Ooman, laughs at me. Why? Think we Yautja can not learn these moves from a flick.” It took you a moment to realize what he meant by that last word. Again, not perfect.

“Courtin, it’s not that.” Now, you decide to rise to your feet and crossed yours arms. Before realizing that was a bad idea. Right, different social cues and body language, for the most part. “This movie is aimed for children, unbloodeds. It is meant to be silly and fun,” you explained to him calmly. The worst thing to do to a Yautja in their presence was to offend their pride and skill.

“You are all talented, blooded and whatnot. But these moves aren’t real. It just for the movie to be filled with action and tension.” All of their eyes were set on you.

Courtin stepped forward, enough to feel crowded within the group of eight Yautjas. Despite the fact he and any of the others were young, he still towered over you. Stupidly enough, Courtin leaned down to be level with you, hands grasping his knees. “You say these moves are useless?” he asks for you clarify.

For some reason, you feel a hair on edge. Though, they would never hurt you, per their honor code, it’s hard to forget they are predators. “In all honesty, yes. They are.” His three mandibles tapped against one another. Courtin stood up fully once more.

“Hmphf.” That made him sound so human. Maybe him and the others were learning a few human things from yourself. One could only hope. “Then, must find other media to consume. Ooman, show more.” Always demanding. You believed that was almost all of their species type.

From one rabbit hole to the next and over countless days, everyone – including yourself – believed they had learned enough. From movies. All from movies. Nothing else. Well, your mate and his friends would have a batter advantage than due to the fact they are trained predators. Yet, here you were, in a private kehrite with everyone.

The heat and humidity was killing you without much movement. Yet, when Jqal-od called upon you to step into the ring – one that reminded you of wrestling, you accepted. Though, they were more focused on the fighting parts of the movie… you focused on a different part. Those who were smaller than their enemies. Cliché, yeah. Guess what though, it works.

Not against someone two feet taller and highly trained. In theory, it works.

Jqal-od placed a heavy paw on your shoulder. You returned the gesture. Together, the two of you shook the other. Then, you two stepped a decent distance away from one another. You and him had your gaze set firmly on the other.

Silence entered the ring as everyone quieted down on their own accord. A deep breath filled your lungs with air before slowly exhaling. Jqal-od’s tongue darted out with a flick before hiding away again.

The next moment, the lean, yet clearly trained Yautja pounced like a leopard. Before you had time to react, let alone think of using a move from the movie, he had you simply pinned. Your back to the mate as he straddled your lower torso. One hand held your two high above your head. Even kicking your knees into his back, trying to hit something of importance did nothing. The Yautja barely reacted to the move.

All you could was stare blankly up at him. The Yautja in question leaned down, tresses creating a curtain. His top mandibles twitched. He was smirking in his own way. “What happened, little ooman?” he teased and snickered down at you.

He finally released you from his hold and stood up. With a hand, he held it out to you. You took it. Jqal-od easily tugged you off of the ground and onto your feet. You brushed off the invisible dust on your clothing and walked away to Chopper. Someone else took your place and challenged the Yautja.

“Well, that didn’t go to plan,” you grumbled and rested heavily on one foot, hips jutting at an angle now. Chopper snickered and placed a hand on top of your head. You turned to look up at him from underneath your brows. “What you laughing about?”

The Yautja just shook his head and patted yours with his hand. The two of you watched the scene in front of you unfold, as hilarious as it was. No one knew what they were doing.

[whentranslatorscry]

Miss Kyouko’s Locked Room Lecture (4/7)

However, how do we get out after sneaking in?

A fitting room is a fitting room, even if not locked.

Without drawing the curtain, you wouldn’t know the situation outside— the design prevents those outside from seeing one inside changing, and vice versa, there’s no way to tell if someone outside is looking this way, impossible to know the right moment to come out without detection. If at this moment a clerk felt this customer was taking unusually long to change and opened the curtain—

“I just did it without thinking too much— anyway, intentional or not, I happened to not be seen by anyone when I came out, that's probably the most reasonable explanation." Kyouko-san's explanation was really quite reasonable.

Not even on the job, her detective reasoning was so reasonable that it approached disbelief. Still, uncanny luck does, in fact, favor some criminals.

A “perfect” crime, it seems, isn’t as complicated as you might think. Making elaborate plans and showing how clever you are tends to leave more clues and make it easier for the police to figure things out. The more obvious the trail of thought, the easier it is to spin a story. Perhaps a chaotic, seemingly contradictory approach is what truly stumps the authorities.

“This so-called ‘locked room’ has many holes, formed as it is by lines of sight. If the killer managed to slip through a blind spot and commit the crime unseen, they could have made a quick escape.”

“But wouldn’t security cameras capture the fugitive? Maybe we can't identify who, but surely we could narrow down the suspects to people who left the store after eleven…”

“Who’s to say the killer fled outdoors? Mingling with customers might even be safer… and if the killer were, say, an employee, they can’t exactly abandon their job on the clock.”

Murder somebody and then go back to folding clothes? Tooasa found it hard to believe there were too many employees that dedicated. Based on the ‘murdered without much thought’ image of the killer he had in mind, they’d probably ignore the cameras and make a panicked escape. On the other hand, we couldn’t rule out the possibility that our bungling culprit might have stayed at the scene simply because they didn’t think things through. Panicked people do the most foolish things.

“All witness testimonies appear reliable without major discrepancies. A little far-fetched as a narrative, but nothing fundamentally implausible has occurred.”

Kyouko-san declared the verdict.

Thus confirming his initial suspicion; if there were glaring inconsistencies or blatant errors in the statements, he wouldn’t feel so troubled. Despite everything appearing logical, something about it felt off-putting still.

“If anything, avoiding detection by numerous individuals and surveillance cameras is highly unusual… but, not entirely inconceivable that they could evade capture, given the existence of blind spots for both parties.”

“So based on your deduction, the culprit didn’t intentionally play tricks on this point?”

The word ‘tricks,’ coming from a policeman, might be somewhat reckless, but he had long since abandoned any pretense of shame. Unfortunately, the reply he received was,

“No, no, no. I don’t do deductions, remember?”

Stubbornly frustrating.

“It's merely hypothesis. I deliberately avoid deep thought as it leads me to verbalize my ideas excessively. When an interpreter starts inserting their own interpretations, communication becomes harder, does it not?”

She was right.

On the other hand, Officer Tooasa typically enjoyed watching foreign films with subtitles since he appreciated how interpreters simplify and complement dialogue. Therefore, listening to Kyouko-san’s interpretation shouldn’t be problematic despite its non-literal nature.

“Being a responsible adult, I cannot allow myself to be so unlucrative… Oops, be so disruptive to others’ work.”

“……”

“To get into the specifics anyhow, Yanei-san was reportedly a regular patron— but it seems she wasn’t a dear guest.”

She put it delicately, but agreed with him on this regard. The Nashorn staff who knew her did not outright insult a regular, especially one now deceased, but the nuance in their choice of words was apparent enough that it didn’t need interpreting for Officer Tooasa.

Although a regular, she was not a guest of honor.

“She would shamelessly haggle to lower prices, often complain about the goods, try to make unreasonable returns… Well customers are only human, you know.”

As somebody who ran her own agency, Kyouko-san could perhaps understand. Thinking of the outrageous requests the chief made of the Okitegami Detective Agency on a regular basis, Officer Tooasa could only bow his head in apology as part of the force—He would assume the forgetful detective did not remember every single one of them, but it must have left some impression. Maybe her memories reset day to day but experiences remain in a corner somewhere— maybe.

Being often mocked as a civil servant paid by tax, Officer Tooasa understood very well, if you didn’t acknowledge that “the customer is God,” you could hardly do this job.

"Annoying though she may have been, she wasn’t so bad as to drive people to wish for her to cease to exist…still there was a reason that necessitated her death,”

Kyouko-san said, tapping her pen.

She'd been filling the empty space on the timetable with information about the victim's identity, but by now, the whiteboard that was her arm was nearly out of space.

“Necessitating… her death?”

It may be a so-called motive, but people are killed for reasons so trivial they couldn’t conjure them up in their wildest dreams, so digging too deep here may prove to be a futile exercise— Some are killed for being wicked, some for being good— it’s impossible to generalize. There may even be those who are killed simply because they are ‘impossible to generalize’.

Besides, if only a few hours of hearing from a limited number of people were enough to judge her character and personality, the deceased would not be able to rest in peace.

As expected, Officer Tooasa’s men were in the process of filtering through the victim’s interpersonal relationships at home and work, and with this thought, he felt a twinge of guilt, as though he were slacking dining elegantly with Kyouko-san this evening. As part of his job, he realized anew that good progress had to be made from these talks.

“It could be a murder without motive, or it could be that the murderer did not mean to kill but the victim died as a result.”

Kyouko-san further listed the possibilities.

“Yes… Or maybe a case of mistaken identity?”

Officer Tooasa ventured a hypothesis that he himself found unlikely, merely to pass the time— and after reacting to it with a “Mistaken identity?”, Kyouko-san went on to say,

“Killed by mistake— interesting, it could be.”

“Oh, could it be? Mixing up who to murder…"

“It's quite possible. She was said to have worn unusually large flat-framed glasses— and in the heat of emotion, it’s possible they couldn’t quite make out who it was.”

She said and touched her own glasses.

“Anybody would be tremendously nervous when murdering. When human life is on the line, people are prone to astonishing errors.”

She spoke as if standing in the killer’s shoes, something very difficult for Officer Tooasa as a policeman to do— the sole province of a private detective.

Remaining calm and rational was not easy when you can't afford to fail— though being wrongly killed would be the last thing anybody would want.

“But Kyouko-san. No matter what the motive was, you wouldn't want to commit murder in a busy store.”

The conversation had come full circle, but this was still the bottleneck— it's easy to understand if it were an ad hoc crime in which somebody was struck while walking alone on a street at night.

“Particularly, assuming the reason for killing Yanei-san was her being a troublesome regular— which is to say, if we assume the murderer to be an employee, it makes even less sense. Few with any sense at all would think for a second to plot murder in their own territory.”

Almost like the murderer saying, “Suspect me.”

Even discounting that, when viewed as a matter of simple cost and benefit, the fact that a person met their demise within a high-end boutique, where the brand image is of paramount importance, could potentially deter the flow of customers. Should rumors circulate that somebody was bludgeoned to death with a hanger in the shop’s fitting room (and they will), it could lead to the worst: bankruptcy. At minimum, it would simply feel unsettling to have your workspace become the scene of murder.

All harm and no gain.

If we were to, rather forcefully, entertain the idea that there might be a benefit in committing murder within one’s own territory, the only conceivable upside might be a slight easing of nerves when embarking on such a grave endeavor.

Nevertheless, in Officer Tooasa’s gut feeling it would still be more convincing if the culprit acted impulsively, without any thought, considering neither gains nor losses, merely that they ended up bludgeoning the victim.

“If there were other advantages to committing a crime in a familiar place,”

Kyouko-san said, offering a capped pen— from the look of it, she had already written down as much information as she could. She had indeed roughly reviewed what they had heard today— he took the pen, put it back in his breast pocket.

“Could it have been because meticulous preparations can be made in advance? Setting up mechanisms, making arrangements— creating traps to kill the victim.”

“Mechanisms… Locked-room shenanigans, huh?”

However, with regard to this particular murder, it was really difficult to imagine there being any large-scale contraptions behind it. It still gets hung up on there being too many witnesses. Somebody would have surely seen, what with eyewitnesses and ceiling cameras. Avoiding all was virtually impossible. Unnatural to leave to chance and impossible to do systematically—

The Little Prince says, “What is essential is invisible to the eyes.” Yet Kyouko-san says, “What is visible to the eyes is also equally essential.” If we were to extrapolate a “third rule of essentials” by analogy, it might be, “even unessential things can be invisible.” Now if only someone had eyed the despicable villain—

“Even unessential things can be invisible to the eye— such a profound thought indeed. We often miss the crucial in crucial moments,”

Kyouko-san praised this strange thing.

“Speaking of which, a locked room featured at the beginning of The Little Prince, too. The sheep in the box…”

“Oh… now you mention it.”

But Officer Tooasa did not nod in agreement as much as to say “now you mention it.” In fact, interpreting that as a locked room was where his mystery-loving mind had led him.

“The sheep in the box though, is just like Schrödinger’s cat, isn’t it?”

Trying not to reveal his mild trepidation, he joined in the conversation so casually. At least Schrödinger’s cat was a term more compatible with mysteries than The Little Prince.

‘Haha. The Prince would cry if the sheep were dead—oh!’

Just when Kyouko-san looked to be laughing warmly along with their casual chitchat, she exclaimed an ‘oh!’ She clamped a hand over her mouth and, in the process, knocked over the demitasse of espresso she had been about to sip after the meal, in evidently the reaction of somebody who had just realized something.

“Wha— what just happened, Kyouko-san?”

“It, it’s nothing.”

“Nothing? That sure didn’t seem like nothing.”

“I said it’s nothing,”

She repeated, taking another sip of her espresso, the first person he’d ever seen drinking a double-shot, black, no less.

“Erm… Kyouko-san. If you, you know, noticed something…”

“I noticed nothing. Nothing’s come to mind, nor have I deduced anything. The mystery of the case is far from solved, and not one doubt or inconsistency has been cleared up.”

She declared with certainty.

Declared with too much certainty, in fact, that it was hard to believe a word she said. It was baffling how she could lie so blatantly.

“You’ve… solved the mystery?”

“I said I haven’t. Ugh, I just can't make any sense of it. Now, it’s getting late, about time to go home. Thank you for today, Officer Tooasa, the meal was delicious. I’ll be looking forward to your future accomplishments.”

Kyouko-san wiped the meticulously written timetable clean with a wet wipe, rolled down her sleeves swiftly, and made an all-too-obvious move to call it a night. She couldn’t just leave like that.

It appears that she, who was only supposed to act as an interpreter, somehow ended up putting the pieces together due to Officer Tooasa's offhand remark. The relationship between the detective and the policeman, as embodied in detective novels, was unfolding— an unexpected turn of events, especially for the professional detective that Kyouko was.

If, however, she had indeed uncovered some truth, Officer Tooasa was in no standing to let that go unasked.

This was no battle of wits.

He wasn’t that far gone to lose sight of his responsibilities.

He needed to hear her deduction as soon as possible to react appropriately— no matter how popular terms from detective novels such as ‘locked room mystery’ or 'impossible case’ may become, such words are powerless in the face of the reality of ‘a murderer at large’.

“Oh dear, I’m in a pickle now, aren’t I?”

Kyouko-san crossed her arms, showing a truly troubled expression.

“It is so very unfortunate I can’t be of any help. This time I was only requested as an interpreter. I may discover the truth yet cannot grandstand with my deduction.”

As apologetically as she said it, the underlying message screamed ‘if you don’t pay, the machine won’t work’ so stubbornly.

Or, considering her respect for professional ethics, perhaps this should be respected just the same.

In the first place then, it was Officer Tooasa who wanted to send Kyouko-san back home. He could have insisted on solving the case all on his own and turned away the detective. Unfortunately for him, these developments were unwelcome as well.

Had that detective been any other than Kyouko he would have seen them off here— But.

“Erm, how about we head to another place next? There’s a quiet bar where we can sit down and talk things through.”

He had no knowledge of any such quiet bar (that would be another one owed to his colleagues), and never in his life had he been so forward with a lady.

“Well for my part, I’d like to proceed directly to the station to receive my compensation, hurry home to bed, and completely forget about the truth I happened to piece together.”

As if he would let her forget so easily.

But she could do just that. The forgetful detective had that ability. To reset any deduction or culprit profile, erasing them from her mind— by tomorrow morning, she would have forgotten it all. If he did not ask her tonight, her deductions would vanish into oblivion.

“But then again, it is difficult to say no when you’re so insistently invited. I will accompany you then. But— I will only provide some hints; if you could, based on these hints, make your own deductions, please do.”

“Hints… huh?”

“Correct. Hints distilled from the information that anybody listening to witness accounts would know.

Hint number one: Numerous eyewitnesses saw the victim, Yanei-san, approaching the store about eleven AM. But when you organize the testimonies you find all the eyewitnesses were customers who came to shop at the time. Why do you think that is?

Hint number two: Because Yanei-san never left the fitting room, staff suspected something was amiss, opened the curtain and discovered the body. But how did that staff determine Yanei-san had been in the fitting room all the time?

Hint number three: You cannot see inside the fitting room from outside, but can we say for certain you cannot see out from inside?”

“Err, uh, um…”

Kyouko-san talked so much and so fast that he wasn't able to catch the three at first, and had to count them off on his fingers to confirm what they were.

Hint #1: The biased eyewitness accounts— all who had seen Yanei Sashiko were customers.

Hint #2: Why did the first person to discover her notice something was strange in the fitting room?

Hint #3: You can't see outside from inside the fitting room— is this really true?

The first hint he hadn't realized until he'd been told, but looking back on it, it seemed to be accurate— we can’t say for absolute certainty without listing the eyewitness testimony of all questioned. However, since the detective-turned-translator said so, well, it's probably the case.

As for hints number two and three, he already had some ideas. Staff had noticed after Yanei had been in the fitting room for a considerable amount of time. And you couldn't see outside from inside as you couldn't see inside from outside, right?

That would be all there was to it.

Officer Tooasa, who understood neither the mystery of the case nor the meaning of these hints, was hoping for a fourth hint, but it seemed to end at three.

“Now then, shall we be off?” Kyouko-san stood up to leave her seat. “Try unraveling these hints yourself, officer. Ideally by the time we arrive at the next venue— so that we may enjoy some light mystery discussion over drinks.”

Contrary to her smile, he, alas, utterly failed to meet her expectations.

Prev | Next

[444tsumu]

title Not His Type

rating ★ ★ ☆ nsfw content

word count 4,800+

warnings timeskip!mattsun, yes i’m writing that he still practices w the s4, anyways explicit content, matsukawa calls you a bitch, spitting, rough sex, spanking, mattsun fucks you in his car, oral sex (f!reader giving), don't be silly wrap your willy folks

author’s note thanks to @kansroji for forcing me encouraging me to write this self-indulgent mattsun fic, send her her flowers everyone bc this was just muah :*

summary Issei teaches you that the meaning behind the words ‘I hate you’ is a lot different from what you’re used to.

“God, do you ever shut the fuck up?”

“How could someone be such a bitch?”

“I don’t know Mattsun, you tell me.”

There are two things necessary to keep the world spinning on its axis: inertia, and the insatiable hatred between you and Issei Matsukawa.

No one quite knows where it came from. Maybe it was your lack of regard for his permanently disinterested personality, or maybe it was the insufferable habit you had of making a comment every time Matsukawa did as much as make a noise— whatever it was, it was a never ending cycle of pure repugnance.

His tone was light, yet knowing Iwaizumi, you knew it was wavering on a more strict tone you really didn’t want to hear today.

Oikawa watched the interaction between the three of you, eyes narrowing as he did something nobody appreciates from him: he started plotting.

Oikawa watched the interaction between the three of you, eyes narrowing as he did something nobody appreciates from him: he started plotting.

To you and Issei, the nature of your relationship was that there wasn’t one at all. There was nothing but an indescribable hatred that will never go away because you guys just physically can’t stand the other.

To everyone else though? In Hanamaki’s words, “you guys just needed to fuck and get it over with already.” Sexual tension couldn’t fill half of the void the storm you and Mattsun left after every exchanged word. It nearly swallowed the room, the only two not able to see it being yourself and the middle blocker.

With an inquisitive look on his face, Oikawa decided the only way to get rid of this long lasting rivalry being now or never. “My dear Y/L/N, bad news.”

The words brought you back down to Earth, making you bite down a glare at the bored man in front of you and turning towards the setter.

“As much as I’d love to be the one to take you home,” he winks at you, long arm reaching out to lightly press itself against your cheek and you already see where this is going, “I just can’t—”

“Tooru..” Your voice wavered the same way Iwaizumi infamously did.

“Seriously Y/N-Chan, I hate being the bearer of bad news..” The sparkle in his eyes made you clench your jaw to prevent the scream from slipping through your lips. “But I had almost promised Iwa-chan and Makki a ride today.”

You could hear the slick in his voice, and you absolutely hated it. You hated how you knew exactly what was being planned. You knew in Oikawa’s stupid little head, he was formulating a stupid little plan thinking things would work out in his own stupid little way.

“I’m not getting into that fucking asshole’s car—”

“Oikawa I will purposely crash if she as much as steps foot in my car—”

“Get your fucking feet off my dashboard.” You hear his voice growl, long fingers reaching in front of him to press the Start-Stop button on his car and get the engine running.

You didn’t mean to press a sock-covered foot onto it, it’s just that you needed to adjust the anklet resting against your skin. You hadn’t caught when his eyes glanced over at the diamonds either, remaining for a second too long to be appropriate and quickly force it’s way in front of him.

With a slightly exaggerated roll of your eyes, you threw your head against the headrest and stared through the window to your side. You were wishing there was an awkward silence to torture Matsukawa’s ears, but instead, his phone automatically connected to its Bluetooth and began to play a song you surprisingly recognized.

He drove faster than you were sure he was supposed to. As soon as you blinked, he had already backed out of Seijoh’s parking lot and sped through the secluded roads and towards the city you inhabited.

Unwillingly, of course, you managed to steal a few glances at the brown-haired man next to you. His face was (surprise) as uninterested as ever, eyebrows resting dully above his hooded lids and lips turned just slightly down enough to look like a frown. Every now and then, his lips would go along with the song and his tongue would swipe across his bottom lip and into the corner of his cheek.

Matsukawa wasn’t an ugly guy. There wasn’t enough hatred in your soul to even try to lie against the idea. He was extremely tall, extremely fit, had a nice smile, and his voice matched his looks. If he wasn’t such a stuck up, emotionless asshole, he’d probably be one of the hottest guys you’ve ever seen. If and probably, of course.

“Gotta staring problem?” He muttered, head bobbing to the song in the background and that in itself just brought your cholesterol an unhealthy amount higher.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I see you have a lack of vocabulary too..” The banter between the two of you went back and forth, an awkward silence retching the car’s air after he sadly had the last word.

“I can’t believe there was a time you weren’t such a nuisance.” You nearly mouthed, words quiet enough to get lost within the lyrics of Kanye West, yet loud enough to get into Mattsun’s earshot and cause the car to abruptly park on the side of the nearly secluded road ahead of you.

“Hey, what the fu—”

“What’s your problem with me?” Matsukawa’s words haunted the air, and if you weren’t already awaiting his words, you might have actually been scared of the harshness in his tone.

“Me?” You questioned, using a hand to dramatically smack against your chest and glare at him in disbelief. “What’s your problem with me?”

He didn’t respond, only staring at you blankly and gripping on the steering wheel with enough aggression to taint the knuckles of his large hands white.

“Stop acting like a toddler,” the annoyance looked weird on him, and his usual nonchalant attitude disappeared with a mask of pure frustration that you’d be lying about if you said was ugly on him, “just tell me what the issue is so we can both stop whatever the fuck it is we have going on.”

“We,” you pointed between the two of you, “do not have anything going on, for your information.” You stubbornly crossed your arms across your chest, staring at him blankly and watching his large hand run across his face.

“You wouldn’t even be my type, you know damn well that isn’t what—”

Every word after the first half of the sentence drowned out as you continued to repeat it in your head. You wouldn’t even be my type. You wouldn’t even be my type. You wouldn’t even be my type…

“Earth to Y/N.” Mattsun snapped, glaring over at you and leaning his body back lazily against his driver’s seat. It was slightly reclined back, the comfortability of his position insinuating he didn’t plan on leaving until this conversation got somewhere.

“What do you mean I wouldn’t be your type?”

The words came out faster than you could acknowledge them. You didn’t regret speaking them, but you knew that they only worsened your situation. He would use this as if it was fuel to his never-ending out of fire of an ego and you hated it. The cold air in the car suddenly became more noticeable, goosebumps raising onto your exposed skin and making you feel as if all your senses were being ambushed.

“Well, well, well…” He begins to tease as if he was never angry, his large arms resting behind his head and that stupid smirk back onto his pink lips, “you feel some type of way about what I said?” His voice echoed into your ears as you did nothing but watch him in disbelief.

“You never stood a chance with me anyways.” You bit back at him.

Something in the air changed, but neither of you decided to acknowledge it. It was dark, the light from the dashboard doing nothing but illuminating your features and making Issei smirk to himself in the lack of lighting.

“How so?” He was antagonizing you, itching for you to continue to play his little game back with him because he had a plan. You could see it from the way he lazily blinked over at you, smirk still against his glowing face with nothing but arrogance and faux oblivion.

“You wouldn’t be able to handle me if you tried.”

Those words changed the aura within the car all in itself. You knew the double entendres of a statement could go any way with him. Deep down, you both knew exactly what you meant. Your words remained solid though, eyes staring at him like a fox refusing to glance away from his brown irises.

“Wanna try me?”

You were playing a dangerous game, you knew that. Something about you didn’t care though. There were many ways this conversation could’ve went, but you wouldn’t expect it to go in this direction.

The air in the room was thick, Issei’s brown irises watching you nothing short of predator like. No one spoke after those three words, and faintly, the change in mood also affected the change in genre of music as R&B began to slowly play through his speakers. You wanted to scoff.

His large ring covered hand suddenly inched towards your chin, gripping your jaw and forcing your eyesight on his own face. You weren’t one to blush, but the roughness to his calloused fingers brought a small tinge between your slightly exposed thighs.

“You gonna get in the back or I gotta force you back there?” His words commanded you, the strictness laced within the confines of his voice leaving you no option to do as he told.

Doing what Matsukawa said as if you were following his orders was something foreign to you. The temptation of doing as you pleased crossed the back of your mind, but the curiosity of seeing what he had in store filled you with much more satisfaction.

Without a word and instead settling for a simple eye roll, you kicked your shoes off and found your way between the two front seats and into the cold leather seats of the back of his car. It was cramped, surprisingly cleaner than you'd imagine, and smelt of nothing but Issei.

You would have enjoyed it if the circumstances were different.

Your body sat with your feet resting behind you, leaving a space open for him. The sound of his car door opening and shutting was the cause of the goosebumps rising against your skin.

Subconsciously, you knew were supposed to hate him. You were supposed to despise him for always being such an asshole to you, and you were never supposed to forgive him for anything he’s ever said to you out of his stupid smirking mouth.

You weren't supposed to be hopping into the backseat of his car after challenging him into sleeping with you. You weren’t supposed to be enjoying the feeling of his presence as it finally found its way next to you, the dark tints of his windows hiding his expression but not doing a good job at hiding the bulge hiding in the confinements of his sweatpants.

Your eyes glanced over his, quickly switching between the tent and his irises with an innocent smile on your face. “You gonna take those off or am I gonna have to force them off you?’

Mattsun had never laughed at anything you’d ever said. At least, never to your face. For the first time though, a soft chuckle left his lips as he hunched his body over and rolled his sweats down. You’d be lying if you said you never wanted to provoke that sound out of him again.

He wore Supreme black briefs, a smirk on his lips as he watched your eyes trail over to the excessively large print. His dick was long, curving deliciously to the left and making you fear for your own safety. The thought of that nearly made you drool.

Mattsun made a show of pulling his briefs down, his erection springing to life and showing you that he wasn't even fully hard yet. Maybe you would’ve felt some type of way about not arousing him as much as he was you, and you could thank the pool inside your panties for that, but something about it brought a glimmer to your eye Issei couldn’t ignore.

“Eager to suck my dick, huh?” His words ring against your ears, and you do nothing but give him a glare while getting on all fours across the backseat.

His long torso leaned against the car door, eyes boring onto your frame with a blank expression that drove you insane. You knew this was all an act, he had to have been pretending just to get a rise out of you. There was no way you could’ve missed the way his dick twitched when you got up to take your shorts off.

Your frame was left in a white t-shirt and a seamless green pair of panties known for their cheekster style. He would’ve told you that you looked absolutely delectable, but he'd never let you sit within that satisfaction.

You lowered yourself on all fours once again, holding your hair back with one hand and lowering yourself down between his long limbs. Your eyes just couldn't look away, the large veins running up and down his perfect looking length in a way that made you embarrassingly ready to shove it down your throat already.

And without another word, you opened your lips and allowed a trail of saliva to sliver down the underside of his dick. His thighs tensed up, but as you watched him through your lashes while lowering your lips onto his tip, his bored and expressionless face remained the same.

He couldn't take his eyes off the sight in front of him, as much as he'd hate to admit it. Your ass was up in the air, back arched in a way that nearly made him release a groan as your pretty little mouth left sloppy kisses along his throbbing tip. You used a free hand to run down his cock slowly, hands landing underneath his thick balls and holding them alongside the bottom half of his dick.

He tried to hold the hiss you took out of him, but you used that as an excuse to make him suffer even more. Almost as if it were a competition, you sucked your cheeks in while taking the rest him that fit into your mouth agonizingly slow.

Matsukawa was too big, not that you were complaining. You didn’t have much of a gag reflex, but his size goes beyond that. So in order to accommodate to the situation at hand, you lolled your tongue out across your bottom lip and easily slipped a bit more than half of him down your throat until he felt his tip tickle the back of it.

“Holy fuck..” He breathed out, words stopping as he bit his lip and tilted his head to get a better look at you.

Your eyes began to water, but you ignored the sensation to take a deep breath as you began to massage his balls and lower half with your saliva covered hands. You began to move your mouth in the opposite direction of your hands, touching just enough of his balls with your tongue to get him to grip a chunk of your hair from within your own hand.

“Fuck, just like that.” You never took your eyes off him, and Matsukawa found it even harder to control himself with the way you took so much of him with so much ease.

You hollowed your cheeks as you slipped his now fully-hard dick out your mouth. Trails of saliva followed, the explicit view of your teary eyes and sloppy lips making him groan within his throat.

“Fuck my throat.”

The words were harsh, your expression being just as blank as his once was, and Issei realized he wasn’t really the one in control here. Not if all it took was for you to tell him what to do and he was scrambling to do it like second nature.

His lips revealed that lazy smirk you wanted to fuck off his face, the large hand gripping your hair nearly shoving his dick back into your fresh, wet mouth. “Don’t mind if I do, princess.”

The nickname he called you didn't even have time to register in your mind, the sensation of Matsukawa forcing your head up and down his dick as much as he could being the only thing on your brain. You couldn't help the tears from slipping down your cheeks, eyes opening once again to hazily look over to the ones burning a hole into your face.

Matsukawa couldn’t find it in himself to look away from you. He wasn't sure if it was the tears, or the way you allowed him to fuck your throat so easily, or the drool leaking down into the balls you fondled at the same time, or even the way the hand once gripping your own hair found its way between your legs as he watched you play with yourself, but Issei decided this image was going to ruin everyone else for him.

He already decided he couldn't get enough of you. The sound of your gags filled with car in a nearly pornographic way, yet not once did you ask him to stop and he took note of that. 

“Fuck,” he broke out, eyes struggling to watch yours as his lips parted open, “you’re gonna make me cum,” his words were interrupted by a load groan. Your tongue found its way back onto his balls as his tip rammed into the back of your throat and Issei felt his toes curl. “Fuck, fuck, fuck..”

Right on time, you went against his strong grip and popped his dick out of your mouth with saliva drooling down in a way that looked so forbidden, Issei was sure he would’ve came at that sight alone.

“That was...”

“Not your type?” You bit at him, a mocking smile on your lips as you bit your lip and found your way onto the comfort of his lap.

It was weird, the way you felt like you fit perfectly within his frame as if it was a piece of a puzzle. Matsukawa would agree if he could, hands nearly instinctively finding its way onto the globed of your ass and pulling the fabric of your panties over and over again.

“Never in a million years.”

His smirk haunted you, lidded eyes staring at you once again and you realize Issei Matsukawa is a really hard guy to get a reaction out of. So taking the challenge yet again, you stared at him just as emotionless. Your fingers lifted the patch stuck to your folds, and the trail of wetness that dripped over onto both you and his own thighs was nearly sinful to the sore eyes.

It was hard to imagine taking a dick you were sure you could see in your stomach with such an expression, and you wouldn’t wish that suffering on your worst enemy. You couldn’t believe how much just half of him stretched your insides out, your walls sucking him in and barely being able to hold it in together.

“Don't worry, take your time.” Matsukawa’s tone was beyond condescending, the taunt behind his words bringing an anger within you enough to cloud your mind of all common sense. It was unexpected, the way your body just shoved the rest of him inside of your tight, pulsating hole and rested all your body weight on top of him.

“Fuck!” Both of you yelped out, your hands clawing at his chest while his gripped your ass cheeks apart in nothing but a burning sensation.

He filled you up to the brim, the sureness of him hitting your cervix causing your eyes to flutter at the feeling. You bit your lip, adjusting your body to where your feet were on either side of him on the backseat and your body was more able to move.

His eyes widened in surprise at your actions, the sound of both of your pants alongside the music that was long forgotten struggling to keep you attentive. Without warning, you lifted your body up and slammed back down onto him. The action brought a pretty little gasp out your lips, mouth parted and eyes clenched at just how fucking amazing the curve and thickness of his cock was.

“C’mon baby,” he whispered into your ears, hands reaching over to intertwine themselves with your own so you got better balance, “fuck me like you mean it.”

“You’re such an asshole.” You breathed out, beginning to bounce your body up and down his dick perfect enough to hear the squelching sounds of your wetness after every impact. Issei groaned, eyes glued to the sight of where your pussy swallowed him whole and spit him back out over and over again.

“Mm, what else baby?”

Issei’s bored resolve started to crack, groans slipping through his lips in a way that made you tighten up against him even more if it were possible. Your hands gripped his intertwined ones, bouncing up and down faster than you could probably handle. The sensation of his dick hitting your cervix over and over causing you to arch your back closer into his body as you bounced.

The sound of your body slamming into his began to quicken, the strength of your legs giving up as you realized his started to fuck you back from the bottom and drill his length into you.

“Fuck, Issei…” You moaned out embarrassingly loud, Mattsun’s eyes watching you with curiosity in his irises from the way he wanted to figure out how to get you to moan out like that again.

“Don’t be shy now,” he teased, the strain in his voice telling you that even if he was torturing you with the pounding of his dick, he was enjoying it just as much as you, “where’d all that mouth go, pretty?”

You felt yourself clench at the nickname, head leaning back and leaving your neck open for him to lick a trail over towards your jaw and softly bite the plush skin. The windows began to fog up, the sensation of your poor pussy taking him in and out and quick pace causing the car to jump up and down with each stroke.

“F-fuck,” you stuttered out, nearly crying out when his hands found it’s way towards under your ass to support you as he drilled all of this thickness into your throbbing pussy.

The familiar knot began to grow within your stomach, and your hand found it’s way between his messy locks only to grab it and tilt his head roughly back against the window. A surprised groan left his lips, eyes staring up at you widely with a smirk endured from straight pleasure shot up his lips.

“You gonna cum all on daddy’s dick?”

Usually the words would have made you cringe, and you wanted to bite a snarky remark at him for the name. Yet something in you grew feral at the sentence, beginning to rub your clit against him each time you harshly dropped down as you roughened your grip on his hair.

“Fuck yes, daddy, make me cum,” your words tickled his ears, the moans at the end of each word bringing Matsukawa into a state of euphoria. He could hear you say that to him for the rest of his life, if he could.

“Come on baby,” he groaned out harshly, smacking your ass enough to leave a sting that made you cry out into his neck, “give it to me!”

His words echoed in your ears, your loud cries like music to his ears as he watched you fuck him back just as rough as he was being with you. Your hand pulled his head back once again, his scalp hitting the window harshly but he didn’t care once your lips came crashing onto his.

It was nothing but teeth and tongue, sucking on each other’s muscles and making out as if nothing in this world could ever be right again without it. His hands gripped your ass once again, spreading them harshly apart and spanking them with as much toughness that went into spiking a volleyball.

You screamed into his mouth, words being unable to come out as he began to drill into you even rougher and faster than you knew was possible. Your legs had long given out at this point, simply being tossed up and down like a rag doll by Issei’s strong arms and cocky attitude. You were in heaven, even if you’d never admit it.

“I— I hate you,” you fought to yelp out, pussy beginning to squeeze at the feeling you knew all too well as you stared into his eyes and made him look at you as if he was seeing God, “but you fuck me— fuck, you fuck me so good..”

Your words became faint whispers, stars beginning to formulate instead of his once brown irises and bring you into a state of euphoria.

“Daddy I’m gonna—” The words were stolen from your lips as Matsukawa slammed your lips against his own and gripped your back close to his chest.

“Cum baby,” he groaned into your lips, your own sounds preventing you from being able to kiss him back as your covered tits bounced into the confinement of his chest, “cum on daddy’s big dick.”

The words brought a vibration within you, a mantra of the words daddy and please slipping as you felt the euphoria take over your body and leave you with nearly nothing inside you. Issei could practically feel you cum, his own resolve giving out as his shot his thick cum into your throbbing pussy and bringing another scream from between your swollen lips.

“Take it, good girl— fuck yes..” Words slipped from his mouth without his own permission, the sensation of your pussy holding him within you as if it never wanted to let him go and he really wouldn’t mind.

Nothing but your struggles to catch your own breath filled the car, his own haunting the ghost of your ear as you laid out across his chest with saliva threatening to slip from your lips and cum leaking down both of your thighs. It was absolutely disgusting if you really thought about it, but the idea of knowing you had just slutted each other out so sinfully brought your toes to curl one last time.

No one said a word, and as much as you wanted to comment on how he was still gripping your chest against his own, you decided to go against it and try to find reality from the solitude of his wide chest. You could hear Brent Faiyaz on the radio, the view of just how foggy the windows were making you giggle to yourself.

“What’s funny?” The rumble of the words against his chest caused your pussy to throb once again, and you had almost forgotten he was still lodged inside of you with a load of cum threatening to spill out.

“Nothing.” Your voice was gone, and as embarrassing as it was, Issei mentally found himself obsessing over how raspy it got.

The silence was calm, yet the awkward conversation of what next lingered within the air between the two of you. You knew it was going to come soon, and you weren’t really sure of what could possibly happen afterwards. There was no going back from this, Issei Matsukawa had fucked you so good, you never wanted to fuck anyone else again.

The first to break it was Mattsun, which took you by surprise. His large hands found their way towards you cheek, caressing your head as his pushed you back far enough to face him with fucked out eyes and swollen lips and Issei convinces himself you’re one of the seven wonders of the world.

“We should do that again sometime.” He suggests, bored eyes staring into yours as you noticed the small smile lifting amongst the corner of his lips. You wanted to smile back, but the idea of having some more fun with him seemed quite better.

“Eh,” you replied, lifting your weakened body back into his straddling state and biting your lips as you placed both hands across his broad chest. You notice the way his cock twitches hungrily within you, and you realize you were gonna enjoy this a bit too much.

He’s seeing stars, thinking the hottest thing he’s ever seen is a fucked out you staring at him this way and you realize you’ve finally won. You stare at him, bored eyes and a lazy smirk on your lips mimicking the face he spent all his life mastering.

“You’re not really my type.”

                             © 444TSUMU 2021

[ladyartemesia]

The Kiss

◐ PART VIII of THE ALPHA ◐

◐ Series Masterlist ◐

◐ Part I ◐ Part II ◐ Part III ◐ Part IV ◐ Part V ◐ Part VI ◐ Part VII ◐

Pairing: Alpha Werewolf Jimin x Omega Reader

Rating: Hard Mature 18+ (for this installment)

Warnings: this one is a little darker, descriptions of violence, ABO sexual dynamics including discussion of scenting, marking, mating, and claiming, strong sexual innuendo, discussion of violence relating to ritual combat, possessive behavior, injuries and discussion of injuries, lots of people have, use and are threatened by knives, kidnapping and drugging, its not as bad as it sounds, but it is definitely a bit darker…

Word Count: 4250

Author’s Note: I said it before but it bears repeating...You have no idea what your support has meant to me. Truly your asks and your messages and comments…they made me so happy. You made me believe that people wouldn’t forget about this story. I am so grateful you were able to wait. As many of you know I faced a medical emergency recently and you were all so lovely. The best followers on this site and I MEAN that. As always, my angels @ppersonna @xjoonchildx and  @untaemedqueen​  were (and continue to be) the best betas and the best friends anyone could ask for. My thanks to ALL of you for helping me bring this story to life! I don’t know what I would do without your daily encouragement and your daily support. You guys are the heartbeat of this story. It wouldn’t be here without you.

——◐——

Two Years Ago 

——◐——

Centuries ago the moon goddess stumbled across her human soulmate while he was sleeping. Struck by his beauty, but reluctant to reveal her identity, the goddess began to visit him in his dreams where she could hide her true form and appear before him as a mortal woman. 

In the world of dreams their love flourished and from that blessed union the packs were born…

The wolf nations celebrated this sacred romance every ten years during the Festival of the Lover’s Moon…

The day of the festival was spent eating and drinking and dancing at large parties, but when the sun went down… well—

That’s when things got really interesting. 

On the night of Lover’s Moon the young unmated wolves of the pack were permitted to commemorate this legendary love story in a decidedly scandalous manner. 

The unmated men assumed the role of the goddess’s sleeping lover—they were blindfolded (to represent slumber) and led into a large sectioned off area of the dark forest to ‘wait and dream.’

Unmated she-wolves over the age of maturity (eighteen) took herbal scent suppressors and ventured out into that very same forest in order to anonymously ‘visit’ the young men ‘in their dreams’...

The rules for what exactly that meant were pretty fast and loose which was why Min Yoongi was thanking the goddess and every other deity he could think of that Yunli was still seventeen. 

“But I will be eighteen in two days! Please can’t I just—“

“No. Absolutely not under any circumstances ever.”

“But Yoonji is going!”

“Ji-ah is nearly nineteen and has never been interested in any of the snotty little man-pups of our pack.” He snorted. “She’s probably going out just so she can shove a bunch of them in the lake.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Yunli mumbled irritably. 

Kim Taehyung yawned idly and snuggled into the cozy little pallet he prepared at the base of his favorite tree. The blindfold he and all the other unmated ‘lovers’  wore was made from witchcloth and could not be removed while the sun was down—so he had snuck into the forest earlier to set everything up. 

Now all he had to do was wait until—

“H-Hi Taehyung.”

Oh sh—

“Uh. Hello...Miss.”

Taehyung didn’t recognize the owner of that voice, but he knew for sure who it wasn’t. 

“I was hoping to find you tonight.”

This is not good. 

“Well I’m—I’m flattered… naturally but—”

She touched his hand and he squeaked. 

“I was thinking you and I might get to know each other a little bet—eep!”

The sharp point of a custom blade pressed directly into the unfortunate young beta girl’s pulse point. 

“Are you lost, puppy?”

A heavy cloak obscured the newcomer’s features, but there was no mistaking her meaning. 

Taehyung bit his lip to keep from snorting as the poor she-wolf scrambled away. 

“Ji-ah,” he tsked with feigned disapproval, “that wasn’t very nice.”

Min Yoonji grinned as she sheathed her wicked looking dagger and slid languidly into his arms. 

“You don’t like nice girls, Kim Taehyung.”

“I like you,” he whispered breathlessly against her lips. “Nice or not—it doesn't matter to me…” His hands slid greedily over her soft curves—pulling her closer till he felt the beat of her heart against his own. “I’ll like anything as long as it’s you.” 

This was the stupidest idea in the history of stupid ideas. 

Jimin huffed as he struggled to find a comfortable position against the giant boulder he’d chosen as his perch.

Why did I let Taehyung talk me into this?

He could be at home—in bed—comfortably sleeping off the all-day feast he’d indulged in. 

Instead he was out in the middle of the forest sitting blindfolded on a rock in the off chance that one of the she-wolves was out looking for him. 

Not bloody likely. 

Not when prime targets like Namjoon, Hoseok, Jungkook—and countless others—were scattered throughout the woods. 

“Park Jimin?”

Every hair on Jimin’s body stood on end. 

It was a soft whisper—the speaker clearly didn’t want her voice to be recognized, yet something about the sound sent a curious frisson of interest down his spine. 

He gulped. 

“Yes… that’s me. But if you’re looking for Hoseok he’s just a little deeper in. You probably caught his scent downwind so—”

“I’m not looking for Hoseok.”

Jimin licked his lips and the sight of it sparked a odd curl of heat in the pit of your belly. 

“I don’t know where anyone else is…”

“That’s quite alright.” A muted shuffle of movement reached his ears as you settled down beside him. “I was looking for you.” 

“Oh…” He rubbed the back of his neck idly. “Are you sure?”

Laughter like fairy bells whispered through the air and Jimin felt his heart clench.

Don’t get your hopes up. 

“Who are you?”

You were silent for a long time and then—

“I am someone who owes you a debt. One I have never been able to repay.”

Jimin’s head tilted curiously as he considered your words. 

“I’m sorry, miss… you must be mistaken. There isn’t—“

“You don’t remember.” 

It was a statement—not a question. Your voice was nearer now. He could feel the warmth of your body close to his—though not quite touching. “It was your wolf that saved me. But you had not gone through the Change yet.”

Familiar shame spiked sharply in his chest.

“I’m seven years past the Change...Why have you never mentioned this before?”

“Circumstances prevented me from doing so.” 

There was a cold finality to your pronouncement—which of course did nothing but further inflame his curiosity. 

“Then why come to me now?”

“I’ve come to repay you.”

Jimin’s mouth dropped open. 

Were you trying to—?!

“Oh—no please that-that’s not necessary—I could never take advantage of—”

You giggled again.  

“I am not offering my body, Park Jimin.”

Jimin breathed a heavy sigh of relief then shook his head with a wry chuckle. 

“Well considering the circumstances I can hardly be blamed for assuming you might be. And honestly most men would jump at the chance to—”

“You...are not most men.” 

Jimin’s eyes narrowed beneath his blindfold. 

“Little she-wolf—I may not be wrestling bears for fun or bare knuckle boxing in the town square, but I am still an alpha.”

The weight of his command poured over your body as he spoke the last word. There was no order or intent—he had simply given you a taste of his power. 

Aside from your direct blood relatives, no alpha had ever dared unleash their compel in your presence—therefore you were utterly unprepared for the effect it had on you—

Utterly unprepared for the strange surge of want so potent and profound that it stole the breath from your body. 

It was primal—invigorating—

Sensual.

You and your wolf may not have been entirely connected yet, but she was suddenly quite vocal about her desire to fully bask in Park Jimin’s attention.

A wicked grin played over his lips as he leaned in closer and you could almost feel the soft brush of his lips against your cheek. 

“Did you think I would not desire the touch of a beautiful woman in the moonlight?” he whispered. 

Please touch me, Alpha. 

Your eyes widened. 

Dear goddess. Your inner wolf was turning out to be a shameless hussy. 

“You might desire it, but you are far too  honorable to accept it as payment for a debt.”

Jimin drew back warily. 

You were correct of course. After all he had refused you when he believed that was your intent but—

“How could you know that?”

Evade. Evade now. 

“Well... how could you know I was beautiful? You’re blindfolded.”

He shrugged and your wolf took careful note of the way it made all the pretty muscles in his back and shoulders ripple. 

He will give us such strong—

Oh boy. 

He will do no such thing. Please calm down. 

“Not everything must be seen with your eyes.”

Is that how you found me? All those years ago...

Questions churned chaotically beneath your consciousness but you dared not give voice to them. 

Focus.

“I must repay this debt. Ask for what you want and—if it is in my power—I swear it will be yours.”

Jimin smiled again, but this time it was somehow softer. For a moment he looked almost…

Sad. 

“I’m afraid that the only thing I have ever wanted is not within your power to give...and I dare not ask you or anyone else for it.”

For her. 

He sighed and drew even farther away from you—in fact it seemed like he was preparing to leave. 

No. 

Your hand reached out almost of it's its own accord and wrapped tightly around his wrist. The contact sent a shock of searing heat through his veins and he froze. 

“Please alpha. It is not acceptable for someone like me—” a leader, a Luna, “—to owe another my life and offer nothing in return. You must let me pay my debt.”

Omega, his wolf growled, sweet perfect omega. 

Suppressors may have hidden your scent, but the siren song of an omega pleading prettily in his ear was unmistakable—irresistible…

“What if all I want is your name?”

You sighed deeply. 

“I cannot give you that. My name is… not mine to offer.”

Jimin laughed. 

“A woman I cannot remember with a name I cannot know and whose face I cannot see.” He shook his head. “Perhaps you are just a figment of my imagination.”

It was hard to explain what happened next...For whatever reason his words cut you deeply and you were overcome with the desire—no need—to refute them somehow. 

“I’m real enough,” you whispered, bringing his hand to your cheek. 

Jimin was genuinely beginning to wonder if you were a witch as well as a she-wolf. Being close to you was intoxicating and the urge to draw you in was steadily overpowering every other thought.

“Could I ask you for a kiss, then?”

“You—...You saved my life and all you want... is a kiss?”

The air grew heavier as the strange magnetic pull between you swelled to a silent inescapable crescendo. 

“In Seoul I often searched for someone who could ease my loneliness, yet each time I walked away emptier than before.” His thumb brushed gently over your lips and your eyes fluttered shut. “I have never had a kiss that meant anything to me.”

But yours might. 

It was unclear who moved first, whether he pulled you to him or you surged forward but when your bodies aligned and your lips met his for the first time it was as if you had never been separate from one another. 

As if you had always been deeply—intimately —together. 

The indescribable feel of him lit over your senses like a struck match. It was an ignition in the purest sense of the word— a fiery visceral awakening fueled by a consuming flood of desire. 

Yes, Alpha. 

He might never see your face or hear your name, but Jimin knew he would remember the taste of you for the rest of his life. It was hot and bright like liquid sunshine— a pure relentless light flowing through him where there was once only darkness. 

A soft needy moan rose up from your chest and he growled in primal satisfaction as you melted against him. 

Your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt of their own accord, desperately trying to bring him closer until he wrapped his arms around you in a heated embrace. 

“Please,” he begged breathlessly against your mouth. “Please tell me who you are.”

The words crashed over you like a bucket of ice —dousing the hazy pleasure of his kiss with a cold bite of reality. Suddenly you were wrenching yourself away from him and your wolf whimpered in misery at the loss of his touch. 

“I can’t,” you whispered. 

And then you were gone. 

“Did someone hurt you?”

You looked up to find Jin taking in your tears with cold fury. 

Twin knives were already gleaming dangerously in his hands and he appeared ready to filet whichever bastard was foolish enough to make you cry. 

“No,” you sniffed—well aware of how pitiful you were at the moment—crying in the corner of your cousin’s kitchen. “I got myself into this mess without any help—as usual.”

Jin sighed and slid down next to you. 

“Tell me.”

“Something happened that I…I didn’t intend.”

“Oh I knew that already. The Luna isn’t supposed to be running around on the night of Lover’s Moon in a forest full of blind horny wolves—“

You snorted and shook your head. 

“You’re absolutely right. I should have stayed away.”

Jin’s eyes narrowed and he wondered if perhaps you had caught Kim Namjoon with another omega. Nothing would be official until after the Change of course, but your bond with him was basically a foregone conclusion at this point. 

“You went looking for someone...didn’t you.”

You nodded miserably—all but confirming his fears. He made a mental note to push Namjoon in the swamp at the next available opportunity. 

“You know... the stories say that a Luna is powerfully drawn to her mate under the Lover’s Moon—that her wolf can sense him even before the Change.”  He reached over and gently began to brush the tears from your eyes. “So it’s not surprising that you sought him out, but it’s not really fair to hold whatever it is you saw against him. There is no relationship between you yet and…” he chuckled, “kisses beneath festival moonlight don’t really mean anything anyways.”

It was clear that Jin had somehow gotten the entirely wrong impression, but perhaps that was for the best. 

No one knew of your connection to Jimin and no one had seen what passed between you. 

Still…

Something about his assessment stung you. 

“You really believe that? ...That a kiss exchanged tonight means nothing?”

“I do.” Jin spoke with conviction. “There’s ancient magic at play in those woods. You can’t always trust what you see—or what you feel.”

“Oh I...I didn’t know…”

After a moment you laid your head against his shoulder and let the last of your tears run silently down your cheek. 

“Jin-ah have you ever wanted something you knew you couldn’t have?”

“Yes.” He sighed heavily and pulled you in to snuggle a bit closer. “When I was younger I dreamed of having a mate just like everyone else…”

The words were so softly spoken—almost wistful. Your heart splintered just hearing them. 

“But… she could be out there—your mate.”

Jin shook his head. 

“When is the last time you heard of a female alpha?”

Fresh tears welled up in your eyes. 

“Jin…”

“Hey,” he whispered, “don’t waste your crying on me. I’ve long since come to terms with who and what I am.”

“You’re not sad anymore?”

“Well… maybe sometimes I am… but I had to accept that people like us are not like everyone else. Our destinies were written long before we were born.”

“And you believe you’re destined to be alone?”

“Wolves in a pack are never really alone.”

“Yes...but they can be lonely,” you whispered thinking back to Jimin’s words. 

For a moment Jin’s eyes were the saddest you had ever seen them. 

“Well...I suppose they can.”  Then he chuckled and gave your nose an affectionate little tap. “But you don’t need to worry about that. When the time comes Namjoon will take his place at your side and the two of you will build a wonderful life together... Isn’t that what you want?”

Isn’t it?

Your treacherous thoughts drifted back to the boy in the moonlight—to the way your body sang when he touched you and the strange insatiable desire to know him and be known by him in return.

“Please...Tell me who you are.”

A heavy ache settled in your heart. 

You were the Luna of the mountain nations. A true born moon princess. 

You could never be the woman who kissed Park Jimin underneath the stars. 

You were not like everybody else. 

“...Yes. That is what I want.”

——◐——

Now 

——◐——

Jimin’s heart pounded as he tore through the dark paths of the wood with Taehyung, Yoongi, and Jungkook close behind. 

He had never led an attack—had never been trained to command wolves in battle. 

It was his first true test of leadership and he hadn’t even been a leader for twenty-four hours. 

Yet the fears and anxieties that might have normally clouded his mind were notably absent. 

There was only you.

Ironically Jimin owed Namjoon yet another debt—this time for explaining what exactly someone like him was capable of. 

The alpha Jin captured had given up their plan and position after being exposed to Jimin’s unique gifting, so he had a concrete target in his mind… He suspected however, that your captors had taken precautions after leaving some of their men behind. They had shifted their camp. 

But it wouldn’t be enough to save them. 

Jimin didn’t need your location to find you. 

He spent years refusing to look at you, and even then he always knew exactly where you were. He could sense you in any crowd—hear your voice in a thousand.

Once it had tormented him cruelly to be so aware of you. 

Now it was the only thing keeping him sane. 

He followed the connection between his heart and yours like a lifeline and it guided him as surely as the stars. 

The alphas followed him without question. 

If any of them harbored lingering doubts before, they were firmly laid to rest after what they saw at the cottage. No ordinary wolf could do what he had done. 

The Alpha would bring back their Luna and retribution would be swift indeed. 

The drugs in your system kept swinging you in and out of lucidity like a nightmarish pendulum. You tried to shift after the initial nausea faded, but whatever they gave you kept your wolf caged beneath your skin. 

Jimin

The longing you felt for your mate was the only thing tethering you to reality. You could almost hear him echoing in the far corners of your mind—  

I’m coming Omega—hold on. 

I’ll find you. 

Part of you recognized that his voice was likely nothing more than the wistful creation of your drug-addled mind, still you clung to it like the last shred of hope while the minutes (or hours) flew past.

Chaos clouded your thoughts even in clearer moments as many unavoidable concerns forced their way through the haze. 

Jin was at the house with you when they broke in. You had no way of knowing if he survived. 

The men who took you were crass and irreverent. Their eyes followed your form with too much interest and too little respect. 

It was starting to get cold and (due to you nearly dismembering a high council member and needing to be compelled unconscious) you were still wearing a thin white ceremonial dress which offered very little protection from the elements. 

You wondered idly if your idiot captors would let you freeze to death before they accomplished whatever it was they took you for. They clearly needed you for something or you would have been long dead by now. 

None of them struck you as particularly brilliant planners so the mastermind must be somewhere else... 

Frankly the entire situation was as puzzling as it was troubling. Iron Claw had always gotten along well with your pack. 

Technically they were (almost) what the human governments called a vassal state. The presence of a Luna determined the dominant pack in a region and the Luna of the mountain nations had been born into Silver Fang—your pack—for the last thousand years or so. 

Why would they challenge us now? 

The birth of a Luna indicated that the goddess had chosen that pack to lead. Their willingness—not only to kidnap you—but to go against the dominant pack by doing so was alarming to say the least. 

A sudden explosion of movement and sound interrupted your contemplation. Motion erupted all around you—boots pounding on the ground, men falling into their wolf forms, knives being drawn… 

You lifted your head—straining forward to see the source of the commotion—and nearly collapsed in relief when you finally did. 

Alpha

Your mate stood at the edge of the camp flanked by two enormous black wolves. 

A deadly looking jingum sword gleamed dangerously in his right hand. You recognized it immediately as your great-grandfather’s combat blade—the thousand year-old weapon of the Silver Fang Alphas. 

Relief flooded your chest all over again at the sight of it. Only Jin could have given him that sword—which meant he was still alive. 

The black wolves—Yoongi and Jungkook—snarled viciously but made no move to attack. 

Your captors were still scrambling into some sort of combat formation when Jimin finally spoke. 

“You have violated our sacred laws, trespassed in sovereign pack lands, kidnapped a Luna under the protection of our goddess, abducted the mate of the Silver Fang Alpha, and risked open war between our peoples.” He took a single step forward. “Surrender now and I will be merciful.”

The biggest of your captors—a man you recognized as the de facto leader—spat viciously on the ground. 

“You are not my Alpha,” he growled.

A cold—almost cruel—smile twisted over Jimin’s lips.

“Very well.”

Then he dropped to one knee and a massive grey wolf—Taehyung—leapt over his head and tore out the defiant leader’s throat before he even hit the ground. 

Your mouth dropped open. 

Bangtan formation.

Yoongi and Jungkook lunged forward in opposite directions, tackling their targets to the forest floor in a bloody clash of teeth and claws. 

One of the larger Iron Claw alphas half-shifted and charged Jimin but his arm shot out lightning fast, catching his attacker by the throat to send him flying through the air into a tree. 

The next several minutes could only be described as terrifyingly beautiful.

It was immediately clear that Jimin had been holding back when he fought Namjoon. 

He dispatched his opponents with such elegant savagery it was almost art.

You were so mesmerized watching Jimin sensually sword dance his way through a dozen alphas nearly twice his size that you almost missed Taehyung’s wolf rushing over with a dagger clenched between his teeth. 

Luna are you okay? 

You grinned and held up your rope-bound wrists. 

“I’ll be better once you pass me that knife.”

Taehyung nodded once and dropped the blade at your feet before tackling another wolf that was tearing towards the two of you. 

You sawed through the ties around your ankle first then twisted your arms to try and slice through the restraints on your wrist. 

The Iron Claw wolves were clearly no match for Jimin and his alphas. 

Jungkook and Yoongi chased after the few who were trying to run while Taehyung half-shifted to subdue the handful of wolves left alive as prisoners. Only Jimin continued to fight as the last three of your captors still standing took turns being slammed into the dirt by his strikes. 

He was clearly capable of dispatching them, but you were fairly convinced that you would die if you had to stay away from him for another second. The ropes, however, were surprisingly thick and the angle you were cutting them at wasn’t the best. If only—

You were almost free when you saw it. 

One of your captors had pulled a hunting javelin from their supply wagon. He must have hid himself at the onset of the fight, but now he was comfortably concealed by the shadows—and taking aim at Jimin. 

Your heart dropped into your stomach. 

The attacker appeared to handle the weapon with familiarity. He was too far back—too well hidden—Jimin would never see him in time—

The last cord around your wrist snapped and you were on your feet, pushing through the combined haze of fury and sedatives to charge the wolf who dared attack your mate. 

By the time he saw you it was far too late. 

Under the effects of the drug your aim was a little skewed but you weren’t Kim Seokjin’s cousin for nothing. 

One clean flick of your wrist and the dagger shot through the air, burying itself between the brute’s shoulder blades—all the way to the hilt. 

His body fell to the ground just as Jimin sent the last of your captors careening into a pile of previously defeated foes. 

For a moment all was quiet. 

Then your eyes locked across the distance and everything around you sharpened to a single whispered word. 

“Jimin.”

He had run non-stop for miles and torn apart a dozen wolves to get to your side—no amount of space between you now was tolerable. 

The sword clattered to the forest floor as he moved toward you—desperate to feel you—to wrap himself around you and know that you were safe. 

What happened next was as natural as breathing.

You opened to him and he lifted you into his arms, taking your lips in a hot unrepentant kiss. 

Fire exploded across your senses, burning away everything but the touch and taste of him. Every part of you was at once fiercely and gloriously alive. Desperate moans passed between you as he licked into your mouth—a dark primal promise of the pleasure he would take between your thighs. 

“Alpha,” you whimpered, too delirious with want to manage anything else. 

Suddenly Jimin’s eyes shot open. His hands flew to cup your face, searching it with a mixture of realization and disbelief.

“You… It was you.”

If you are already on the taglist, then I will automatically tag you for the next part! If you would like to be added to the taglist, please let me know.

Please tell me what you thought of this update! I am really excited to hear your thoughts! Feedback really does fuel my writing and hearing from you means a lot to me! On days that its hard to write, I go back and I read your lovely words and it makes me want to keep going! I cannot overstate its value in my heart! Seriously this story keeps going because you guys have been so supportive and wonderful. You have no idea how much just a few word can brighten my world and fire up my muse. 

[leviiattacks]

May I request a Levi x Reader angst fic? Just barely any fluff, mostly angst going on lol. The reader is a traitor, formaly working for Marley, but betraying them in secret and putting their loyalty on Paradis. The reader is also a shifter and married to Levi for a couple of years. That love and care however is gone once readers identity is found. He truly despises them, insults them, maybe a bit violent with them, and outright tells them that they mean nothing to him anymore and hate them to bits. Readers punishment is to hand over her titan to Erwin, and they agree instantly, broken over everything, believing its all their fault. Once Erwin inherits Readers titan, he breaks down and screams, crying, because Reader was innocent the whole time. They never betrayed Paradis. Never killed anyone, never harmed anyone. They finaly know why they betrayed Marley, the abuse being to much for them, enough to just leave them behind for Paradis. Just... loving and caring as they all saw them. But now the damage is done. They wont come back, they're dead, believing that they died, hated and despised, with no one to mourn their death. Everyone regrets everything.

author note :: i was thinking of leaving this in my drafts but i already wrote it and may as well post it. it didn’t end up going the way i hoped but yeah i hope it’s ok anon. anyways ANGST. ANGST, ANGST. as always i love feed back :-) ⟹ all of the headings with the years are just meant to mean it’s a different moment from that year so those moments don’t happen right after each other i hope that makes sense!! word count :: 7.2k warnings :: canon typical violence, death

845, i.

Everything is falling in place when it shouldn't.

Sun never makes itself known in Liberio yet here it is shining down onto the bustling streets. You half expect for it to crash down and burn into the hundreds of civilians going about their daily business yet nothing of the sort happens. It's typical sunlight and you curse yourself silently for your sinister thoughts.

Secretly the voice at the back of your mind still whispers frantically but you don't wish to hear what it has to say. Instead you choose to drown it out with the sound of Zeke's voice. Finally deciding to pay attention to what it is he's been droning on about for the past ten minutes.

"Soon, soon, soon." He sighs dreamily looking a little delirious.

"Soon?"

Your question catches him off guard, he lightly shoves you with his elbow scoffing in annoyance.

"Did you sit here to not even listen to me?" He turns to take a sip of whisky and the hearty gulp he chugs shows his mild irritation. You assume he's been rambling on about Marley's plan to infiltrate Paradis. You have to admit that the idea of destroying those demons from the inside is amazingly well thought out. However it's all he's been able to discuss for the entire week now and frankly you're getting a little exhausted of it.

"I zoned out..." Quietly placing your glass back down onto the wooden counter you sigh closing your eyes. It's too early to be drinking and you don't trust Zeke enough to slip into ignorance and leave yourself vulnerable. Men are to not be trusted, especially Eldian men. The thought of Eldians triggers your flight of fight response, you want to shrivel up into a cocoon and never come out until the world is rid of the monsters. The lowest of the low, the dirt in between the crevices of Marleyan soldier's boots. That is what Eldian's are.

It's ironic coming from you, your entire family labelled as undesirable Eldians yourself but you, you know you're different. An honorary Marleyan is what you will become. What you are. The treacherous imps who are but an ocean away are the true evil.

Eyes flicking to Zeke he's lighting a cigar. Old habits die hard and he's yet to quit this self destructive custom of his. You couldn't care less if he chooses to cut his lifespan short by ten years, it's his own choice to make. A disgusting cowardly choice but it's a choice fit for an untamed man like him.

The Island Devils are said to be the bad apples but you can't help but stare at your fellow citizens from time to time and wonder what it is they could be hiding. If a demon slipped through the cracks you wouldn't be surprised. Sly in nature, persuasive in tone, that is how devils go about their daily lives alone The hymns they drilled into you all the way through elementary school echo and rebound in your mind.

Locking your bitter thoughts away you have to push yourself to not punt Zeke in the mouth when he teasingly blows a puff of hot smoke into your face.

Fingertips grazing with his he freezes at the sudden contact giving you the perfect opportunity to slip his cigar away and take it in between your lips. You allow for it to linger there but you aren't foolish enough to inhale its contents.

"Zeke, my dear friend. We shall soon be met with the fruits of our own labour but I assure you that discussing Marley's plan constantly will be of no benefit for you nor I."

The day you and Zeke had met had been at warrior training camp. Zeke was a miserable, unmotivated oaf. Always tripping and falling behind the rest of the warrior cadets. You felt rather bad for him, if you were born as unskilled as him you don't know what you would have made of yourself. Zeke, the only child of his parents ironically only ever ended up rising through the ranks after handing them over to the Marleyan government. His father and mother had been conspiring an escape plan but were executed immediately alongside their fellow team members once Zeke had outted them. Unexpectedly he was spared, the fact he turned on his own parents showed where his loyalties were. To his surprise, he was even allowed to continue his training with the other warriors - only this time everyone kept an increased distance away from him. The warriors weren't informed of what he had actually done but everyone had a gut feeling. Everyone apart from you stuck with that feeling. You thought strategically, If he were to become an enemy in the future you knew being close would come at your advantage.

The day you and Zeke had met your mother died, his mother passed away the same day. At least that's what he had told you.

The two of you bonded over the little things, told each other stories about your life at home. Reminisced about what it was you missed.

Then it all came crashing down the day Zeke confessed. The day he told you he killed his mother and father by handing them over to Marley. Your knees buckled underneath you, crashing the floor he tried to grab at you but you thrashed around in retaliation kicking and screaming not understanding why he did what he did. Yes, they were traitors but they were his parents and if the monster had the nerve to turn on the people who gave birth to him who's to say he wouldn't do the same to you or to Marley.

Zeke doesn't know it but ever since then you take the opportunity to sneak the occasional glance at him. Every single time you narrow your eyes in malice. If there's a man in Liberio who you don't trust in the slightest it's him, he must think the feud between the two of you from childhood has been put at rest but it hasn't.

Zeke takes another swig of his alcohol. On this occasion he downs it entirely slamming the glass down with vigour.

"ONE MORE GLASS BARTENDER!"

846, i.

Another day of extensive training is about to end, your back is layered in uncomfortable layers of sweat and the same can be said for your forehead. Kneeling down in the under layer of the forest you're hidden waiting to strike. Going up against the elites is nerve-wracking but you're sure you can pull it off so long as you stay calm during this game of hunters against prey.

It's simple enough if you can conceal yourself and stay out of sight. The robust trees that surround you act as decent enough camouflage and your green cape paired with them lets you veil yourself, keeping you further into the foreground, blending into the environment.

No one will be able to catch you if they can't see you.

All of a sudden your previous thoughts are thrown away when you sense something in the atmosphere has changed, the hissing of the wind behind you isn't natural.

Turning to your side you don't bother to cover up the sound of leaves rustling and branches cracking, your priority is slipping away fast enough to hide again, a tug can be felt at your cloak and your reaction time barely covers for you, your gear fastens itself to a low enough tree branch and the descent is mind numbing. Your breakfast churns in your stomach but you ignore the uneasy feeling, leaping and diving wherever you find a small enough gap. You believe you can outrun your huntsman.

That is until you sneak a glance back and your muscles nearly tense up in pure astonishment, you've been kicked in the teeth just by the man's presence. Captain, Levi slinks behind you weaving through the gaps with increasing speed, he's gaining momentum and all the while his face stays relaxed, this isn't even his full effort.

Terrified you dart upwards and then left, a corner comes into view - Levi should assume you've turned into it and so you rashly choose to dart back down. Much to your hard luck you find that his senses are well adapted, the direction of the wind is enough for him to trace your whereabouts.

The pursuit resumes, and he stays disturbingly relentless.

Arm shooting to the right you think perhaps making it look like you're aiming to fly somewhere else again will completely catch him off guard, he can't expect for you to pull the same trick twice.

Setting your plan into motion your finger pulls at the trigger but you startle when the cable doesn't come out, it's jammed. Panic seeps into you and to make matters worse your gas is running out.

Without warning you're thrust into the body of a nearby tree, the bark scrapes against you and scratches begin to form anywhere you've made contact with the jagged surface, you want to admit defeat but the warrior inside of you denies Levi the pleasure of seeing you beg. In its place you deliver a harsh kick to his thigh, you're aware he's injured it and you're certain there are no rules to say you can't play dirty. Your boots hammer against leg hard enough for him to give out and let go of your body, but then you realize you lost this game from the very moment your grapple hooks broke, you have nowhere to hold onto.

Before you can even let out a shriek of horror Levi's shot back to you, he frantically accelerates and by a miracle humanity's strongest is able to grab a hold of you again. This time you don't dig your heels into his leg and you allow for him to clutch you by the torso.

Within a minute the two of you descend towards the forest floor and Levi throws you into the dirt furiously.

"You could have died. Being foolhardy will only lead to an early death." He barks as he directs his blade towards your neck.

"Am I dead yet?" Whispering back your gaze isn't trained on the blade but right up at him.

His nostrils flare up, his hair sticks to his forehead haphazardly and the knuckles that hold his pointed blades are white in tangled dissatisfaction.

Grabbing you by the hips he flings you over his shoulder choosing to not continue with the confrontation.

"I know what you're up to." His voice is still rugged from the pursuit and it takes you a split second to register what he's said.

Your eyes widen and your breath hitches in your throat, no way, there's no way in hell he knows. He's sharp but he's not a mind reader.

Your position means he can't read your face seeing as you're facing his back, instantly steeling your features you let out a breathy laugh.

"And what may that be?" Silently you pray he's worded himself ambiguously to catch a slip up.

"Being gutsy, you think that makes you a good soldier. It doesn't."

Relief floods you. He doesn't know.

"Soldiers need to be brave." Your retort makes him grumble.

"If  you die with no meaning by being reckless what's the purpose of being a soldier?" His question has you stopping and thinking on what the correct answer is.

Unable to think of an answer you ask another question.

"Are you saying your previous comrades died without meaning?"

"No. Their deaths fueled me slay more titans."

"So if I died back there who wou-" He swiftly cuts you off showing no inclination of wanting to hear what it is you have to say.

"I'll cut your tongue off if it's stupid." He clearly isn't serious about the threat but he does mean it when he warns you to not overstep.

Despite the consequences you say what's on your mind. "I just wanted to ask who would give my life meaning if I ever died. I don't have siblings and my parents died long ago."

Silence follows and the crunch of his boots against the muddy leaves tells you he probably doesn't wish to answer your question.

"Sorry-"

"I would. I would give meaning to your life." He says it with such ease you almost want to admire the enemy but you know he's said it because he feels he has to.

"You barely know me but I hope one day you can stop thinking everyone has to rely on you." You say it with taunting understanding.

Another bout of silence follows. Only this time the two of you feel warmly comforted, he doesn't understand how you've seen through his facade but it's easy for you to spot another liar.

846, ii.

Brows drawn back you observe your surroundings attempting to mask your scrutiny. The place is running amok with uncontrollable Eldian folk. The stench of unadulterated sin makes itself known but you seem to be the only person able to smell it. Eren bumps against the table you're sat at and your face twitches a little but you say nothing. You're yet to get used to these people's lack of manners.

At least that's how you force yourself to think. To be truthful, you don't quite understand what it is these people have done wrong. Ever since you've arrived you've been nitpicking at every single minor inconvenience or possible issue. A girl stole a potato and broke it into uneven pieces to share and you attempted to twist the story in your head to make her look like an unfair, greedy voracious demon but... you found yourself finding very little to actually be angry at. These people are essentially normal in every way of the word, they aren't demons and you can't help but feel yourself slip away from everything you once knew as reality. You're finding it difficult to believe what years of Marleyan education taught you, the hymns that were once drilled into your brain permanently are but a vague memory.

You feel disgustingly under-dressed and out of place, you don't belong here not when you're meant to hate these people, not when you're meant to despise them. You should be fighting the urge to shove their heads onto pitchforks or to skin them alive and feed them to pigs. Everyone back in Marley told you to control your impulses but now you're here and you've settled down even having the opportunity to converse with these individuals, share their pain, share their loss, share their suffering, you wonder why you have no impulses to control. Have they brainwashed you? Or is it that you're the real demon in this situation?

Fingers mingling with each other on your lap you sit hopelessly alone. Interacting with the so called enemy is much harder than you expect. Worry consistently bubbles in the pit of your stomach and every night is spent tossing and turning evaluating then reevaluating who the bad guy really is. At first the task of daily interaction isn't a big deal, you find it easy enough to approach members of the team and fake interest in their lives until the original plan falls through. You do become invested in your team members lives and stories that it comes to the point where you don't have to force yourself to smile at their jokes or to sympathize with their tales of grief. You become one of them and you swear you're meant to feel like a traitor but eerily you feel like you belong.

Nevertheless you try your best to stick with what you know. You're nothing like Zeke, you're loyal, capable, faithful and trustworthy. Never will you turn your back on Marley.

Rising to excuse yourself from dinner you think you've just about made it and escaped finally able to hide away in the confines of your bedroom but your lips form into a straight uncomfortable line at the feeling of someone's hand latching at your wrist. You're halfway down the hallway just a few more steps away from your bedroom. You hope it's one of the rookies.

"Oi, come here."

Head shooting backwards your eyes land on Levi, his dark curtains fall in front of his eyes - you note that he hasn't trimmed them as he usually does. Despite his size his grip is firm and your wrist squirms around a little trying to manoeuvre out of his bruising grasp. He seems to notice he's underestimated his strength once again and loosens his hold on you. Narrowed eyes analyse your anxious form, they're grey and in this lighting almost glow appearing silver. For a brief second your mouth is left ajar by the delicate but rough manner of his face.

"Everything Okay?" He doesn't typically seem to care very much about anyone, the question activates your senses and you're on full alert but the eye contact you make with him seconds later slows down the gears in your mind, they only whir and hum in anticipation completely coming to a halt.

"Yes, yes everything is okay." You're playing around with the hem of your shirt and you silently question when you were ever this nervous around anyone. You're a Marleyan soldier for heaven's sake not an unrestrained, unsupervised child left to play in a park.

Despite your clear inability to cushion and shield yourself from your Levi's stabbing gaze you attempt to appear as nonchalant as possible.

"I'll be going I just feel a little —" At first you had thought to fake you were ill but at the feeling of a sudden strike of pain you hold onto your stomach, the ache burns into your abdomen and without permission it travels higher up towards your ribs. "A little unwell." You manage to wheeze out. Hand placed onto a nearby cement wall your thought process is hasty speeding up by the second. Have they figured you out and had you poisoned? No, you barely ate anything today.

You hunch over feeling the bile crawl up your throat, on reflex you clamp your eyes shut not wishing to anger a superior by acting insolent and disposing of your dinner in the hallway. Shaky palms reach hesitantly for your lips and you force yourself to keep it in. Levi would commit a murder if you heaved and gagged letting it all out in front of him.

You motion towards the door trying to emphasize that you can handle yourself in the privacy of your room. Tears bite at the sides of your eyes and your vision is so blurred you can only make out the faint outline of the man who was just in front of you.

"Relax. I'll clean it." Your hair is brushed away from your face securely held back and you can't hold it in any longer, the acrid storm surges through your throat, you retch at the harsh sting it leaves behind. Breathing heavy, perturbed and anxious you gasp in all the air you can get.

"I knew you looked ill." His hands hold your jaw gently, the pads of his fingers are calloused but his touch remains soft. A tissue dabs at your mouth wiping away the excess untouched sick.

Just like the sick which surged through you less than a minute ago you feel something else entirely tear into you. You can't put a finger on it but it's dangerous for you to not feel contempt.

847, i.

Your heart accepts what your mind has been ignoring for months on end when Levi looks you square in the eyes after a heart wrenching expedition. The vacant look on his face is enough for the guilt to consume you whole but he doesn't know that. He doesn't know of your sins.

The wagon of corpses reeks of death and desperation. It's rotten and the smell is sickening. Forcibly you  stop yourself from feeling any more grief. The despair isn't yours to go through.

Your first ever personal loss outside of the walls and you've learnt Paradis is not home to demons. Cheeks burning in mortification you can't formulate any thoughts on your own accord, instead they continuously emerge in bursts and finally a single thought sticks out from the rest - Are you aiding in the destruction of innocent human life?

The both of you are sat on guard duty with the corpses, half of the team has been wiped out in one sweep. Your trembling hands don't seem to want to steady any time soon and you sit there with your guilty conscience strangling you slowly, your airflow is getting shallower. Shorter, quicker breaths leave you. The imaginary gash in your chest is bottomless, and your lungs push and pull in a power struggle.

Levi's coarse hands abruptly hold onto yours and the floodgates open again, he doesn't know what you've done to him, done to his soldiers, done to his people. If he knew who you really were, would things be different?

"This was out of your control."

Do you tell him?

The question sits in your mind for a while until you shake your head. He takes it the wrong way and think you're responding to him.

"This was not your fault." For the first time in months you've heard his voice crack under pressure.

"Pe- Petra she- I could have taken one for the team and died instead of her." All that remains of your dear friend is her blood soaked cloak. Her body was one of the few that had to be hauled away earlier to decrease the carriage's load.

The fabric still smells of Petra, smells of honey and chamomile and the simple soap offered at the base, but it still smells of her.

Firm hands grab your shoulders and Levi's fingers dig sorely into your flesh.

"Don't."

"But I- I didn't contribute as much as her and she has family who are alive." Hiccuping you try to bare with the fact that you'll wake up tomorrow and not see her preparing breakfast for everyone else. You know you could have propelled her out of the way just in time if you hadn't been so taken aback by the entire situation.

"You were her comrade. She made the choice to die for you."

You want to reach out, sob into his chest and yell that you regret it all, scream and tell him about the secret you've been hiding. A sorry excuse of a comrade you are to let her die on the battlefield not knowing your true identity. The tears roll down your cheeks and Levi feels his heart constrict and squeeze as he comprehends the lack of regard you have for your life. "It should have been me." Is repeated over and over again, your eyes are raw and bloodshot, the vicious wind sinks its teeth into you.

"Then die."

"If you're willing for her life to have no meaning. Die." The words he spits out are as cutting as the bitter wind. He feels cheated and you're finally able to come to your senses.

He's faired much worse but you doubt he's ever acted out the way you have in front of another person. In this never-ending void of darkness locking away the dull ache caused by deafening loss is the best choice for everyone.

Much like the night you had been sick he takes a grip of your jaw and directs your face towards his, this time he's not as gentle as before but you conclude that it's because he's drained, completely exhausted from the battle. The eyes are the windows to the soul but Levi's window panes are shattered, completely crushed by the weight of the constant burden he has to carry.

"I'm sorry." You croak out the apology. He grits his teeth because he doesn't want you to apologize but he doesn't voice out his opinion. As a substitute he presses his arms against you, the terribly raw panic is murdering you. Levi's gruff voice is a mixture of faux irritation but mutual understanding.

"Cry." He allows for your head to loll against his shoulder.

As the dark envelopes both you and him the scent of the dead only becomes more and more pungent, recalling fond memories of Petra and the others you know your heart settles on a decision before your mind does. You're a two timing back stabbing traitor for this. What you hated Zeke for you have become yourself.

Disloyal, unfaithful and fickle.

That day you place your loyalties with Paradis.

847, ii.

Levi's wiping down one of the kitchen tables, you're kneeled on the floor scrubbing vigorously. The others have already given up, panting they've left using the excuse of fetching water from a nearby well. Your back aches but you find cleaning reassuring and somewhat of a decent distraction.

"Why do you like to clean?" You're used to Levi asking you abrupt questions by now, after all the two of you have been acquainted for well over a year now. Through that year he's learnt about you and you about him. When in the midst of what looks to be humanity's final year's, twelve simple months is enough to form a bond worth a decade.

"I'm not good at a lot but I am good at cleaning."

"You know that's not true idiot." The tone of his voice indicates that your answer doesn't please him.

"But I do think I'm good at cleaning? Maybe not as good as you but I am half decent."

"Not that. You're good at much more than half the people I've ever met." He sneers, his footsteps edge towards you. "Purely being a good person is a talent these days."

You suppress a flinch because you aren't a good person at all. Neither are you that middle ground between good and bad. Rough around the edges and uneven, you're shards of glass ready to slash and hack away at him if Marley somehow lures you back.

The confession, if you could even call it that catches you by surprise and anger fills you. You almost want for him to not trust you and call out your bluff. It's a little unnatural how badly you want for him to realize the truth.

Your head turns up to stare at the man who's a few steps away from you. "Or am I just good at acting genuine?"

You don't even mean to snap at him and you don't even realize you have until you see his eyes widen and mouth part in imperceptible surprise. Biting your tongue your attention is diverted back to the wooden floor. Driving your washcloth into the crevices and dips of the floorboards you ignore Levi's leather shoes which now stand right in front of you.

"Are you questioning my judgement of character?"

Be born in Marley, That's what you had done, trained to destroy people you thought to be devilish entities, foolishly chose to grow attached to the so called enemy. Your mind lingers onto a specific thought and you're deathly afraid to be thinking it in the first place but there's no more avoiding it.

Falling deeply in love with Levi is your worst mistake to date.

"What I did. It was out of my control." you reply, voice hard.

"Not disclosing what it was?" He asks.

Your silence is his answer. Kneeling down to where you are he disarms you, the washcloth is taken out of your hands and he places it onto a table.

"You are a good person." His voice is brusque and he states it like it's a fact, something you should know. Hot tears threaten to spill over, he's stupidly naive for not rethinking that opinion of his. Lips thinned and eyes watering you don't know how to feel.

"Levi. I'm sure you'd like to think that but I am not."

"You love the members of the corps unconditionally I can see it in the way you look at them."

"Sometimes you look a little sad when you stare." The last sentence he adds in has your pulse racing. He's right, you often feel miserable thinking about how everyone would react knowing who you really are.

"I'm not interested in bad people." He sounds distant saying such warm words and it takes a moment for them to actually sink in. You don't quite believe you've heard him correctly. The dread sinks to the bottom of your stomach and the feelings you've buried at the back of your mind hit you like a tsunami. The thought of him feeling the same way for you, is agonizing.

"Stop being ridiculous." The uncertainty is killing the both of you.

"Loving you is not ridiculous, if you don't feel the same way you can say that and I'll step away. We'll be back to normal."

"No, no, no. You don't get it. You're just saying that." Your voice quivers and the intensity of this new revelation is too large for you to cope with.

"Why would, you," He begins, voice just above a whisper, "ever think that way?"

"Why would you even look twice at me?" You reply.

"Because I worry for you."

"You worry for everyone."

"I worry for you the most."

Instead of letting you respond to him this time he carries on speaking.

"We both know we feel the same."

You already knew you were in love with Levi, you didn’t need for him to tell you. You knew you were in love when you tried to memorize his facial features, you knew you were in love when his laughter was the cause of your laughter, you knew you were in love when you threw yourself in front of that abnormal for him.

That's when you begin to understand what all his signals meant. You now knew why he'd let you stare so intently, you now knew why he laughed particularly hard when it was you who had made a joke, you now knew why he scolded you and nearly broke down at the sight of your injured arm after that specific expedition.

You know it. He knows it. You both know what this will lead to.

But you still lunge onto his lap, you still press your wobbly lips against his. You still choose to surrender yourself to him and he still reacts by taking a hold of your shaky hands which lay on his chest. He envelopes them in his warm grasp. Slowly but gradually the ice thaws and dissolves. Heartbreak, anguish and suffering when one of you loses the other will be the end of your romance, you're sure of it. Hell, the both of you are in the middle of a war but your heart flames up thinking of all of the possibilities.

Perhaps it'll play out the one way you wish for it not to.

Could your ending be in betrayal?

848, i.

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded hus-"

"Cut the crap and kiss me." Levi's crude interruption isn't appreciated by Erwin but everyone knows Levi doesn't care all that much for formalities and hates being in the spotlight for too long.

Gripping him by the collar of his suit your lips are a centimetre away, he stops you tightening the hold he has on your waist. His lips gently press against your collarbone and his breath meanders towards the shell of your ear.

"Swear you won't die on me."

Gulping you look away apprehensively. You know you can't promise that.

“Oi, I’m expecting an answer.” His voice flickers slightly.

Forefinger holding your chin up you see your soon to be husband close to tears, he valiantly blinks them away. Levi has never been one to make his pain public and your heart twists in your chest as you realize just how much of a hold his feelings for you have over him.

"I can't promise that, you know it'll only hurt more." The strange bitter taste in your mouth won't let you comply with his request and by measuring his reaction you see his eyes cloud in an unidentifiable emotion, you're sure it's nothing positive.

"We may not have a happy ending Levi but we'll always have a happy middle."

Levi scoffs in derision, he has to think your attempt at being meaningful is ridiculous.

You lean into him and it's all so heart-wrenchingly familiar yet foreign. His body sags comprehending that not everything will go the way he wants it to. One of you is guaranteed to leave first.

Hands finding purchase in the cloth of his white dress shirt Levi doesn't cringe at you creasing the fabric as he usually does. He allows for you to call the shots this time, your lips brush faintly against his before you nosedive into him. No resistance is felt and he replies almost immediately. Everyone applauds as his fingertips press into the back of your skull and you find that this is all incredibly hideous. The innate disloyalty you feel, you throwing your entire life away for this man but you find yourself not caring. To hell with that miserable life crammed with sin.

Levi smiles against your mouth, you assume you're meant to magically smile back but you can't make yourself. It's uncomfortable relishing in the undeserved happiness knowing it won't last forever.

The world you live in isn't ideal nor is it forgiving.

Momentary joy is all an antagonist can hope for.

849, i.

Jean can’t take his eyes off the newly weds.

You’re cooing into your Levi’s ear gently, his cheeks flush scarlet at the feeling of your hot breath against his skin and he scolds you for having the gall to rile him up in public.

Jean sniggers finding some sort of odd delight from the interaction - he’s never seen the Captain this content and at ease.

849, ii.

You don't know why you've dragged yourself out of bed just to stare at your husband's face but you have, despite the toll life has had on him he seems sound for once. His breathing peaceful yours is anything but that. When it's dark the weight becomes heavier, your skin tingles and your throat burns aching for release.

Eyes blurring your hands shake reaching out for him but you can't find the courage to make contact. Nothing will ever warrant plaguing him even more with your existence.

The memories become increasingly bitter.

"If we make it out of this alive we'll have children and they'll look just like you."

"I want them to look like you." had been your reply.

Levi winced not seeming to like the idea.

"No, I want them to look like you. You're beautiful."

How wrong he was for thinking that.

You, beautiful? He'd stab himself ten times over if he knew just who exactly he had said those words to.

850, i.

Zeke had betrayed you after finding out who you were to Levi but you half expected that he would tell him the truth at some point regardless of that fact.

Tear stains travel through the mud and grime on your face, Levi's eyes are indifferent as he twists his wedding ring off his finger flinging it into the surrounding rubble.

Without your permission he yanks your arm forwards intending to take your matching ring away but you hold on digging your heels into the dirt beneath you.

"You disgusting bitch. Give me it."

You scream, high and awful, he continues jerking at your arm the muscle throbs crying out for him to stop but he doesn't and no one steps in to put a halt to any of it. Levi having had enough grabs at your neck ruthlessly. In any other circumstance he'd be labelled callous or cruel but everyone on the battle field shares a similar empathy for their Captain. Neither they or Levi had expected your disloyalty.

"I said give me the ring if you know what's good for you." His fingers slide around your neck, his seemingly low words cling onto the little respect he has left for you.

"No." Your defiance has his eyes hardening in and posture tensing. "I'm not handing it over."

Levi says nothing, he only holds onto your throat tighter, if he really keeps at  it your windpipe will be crushed in no time. You know he's holding out on purpose, he's still giving you a chance. He expects for you to stand your ground, say you never deceived Paradis, say something, anything to make him let go of you.  

"Marrying you... It just happened somehow. I know it was selfish of me." He squeezes harder. "I know it was. I'm sorry Levi." Gasping and breathless you clench and unclench your fists finding it too difficult to explain.

Your mouth opens, you want to tell him you haven't seduced him like he thinks you have, tell him you dropped that plan of yours long ago but then you falter at the last second.  It's typically hard to tell when Erwin's infuriated but it's painfully obvious when you make eye contact with him over Levi's trembling shoulders. It's enough to tell you to give up. Enough to tell you that you're beyond redemption, you've ran and hid long enough.

"Hand over your titan." Levi says nothing to Erwin's proposition, the hold he has on your neck loosens but his silence is sickening. It means he agrees.

This is fate's idea of a cruel joke.

But you agree, on the basis of one condition.

"Fine but-"

Levi cuts in, all regard for you devoid from his system.

"You're in no place to be making demands." He snarls, his patience quickly running thin.

However Erwin urges you to continue speaking taking you aback.

"If it's not too much maybe we can accommodate your final wish." Erwin had always been thoughtful in nature and you thank him for even bothering to show you a sliver of benevolence.

Everyone's looking, all eyes are on you. Some are blinking away tears, others are disgusted unable to stare at you for more than a few seconds at a time. Levi falls into the latter.

Brazen with not an ounce of shame you mention the ring again. "Let me keep it." Your left hand covers your right and underneath the flesh is the last symbol left of your union with Levi.

Whispers and murmurs orbit you, none of them are kind and Levi loses it.

His reflexes are paralyzing, he's back at it clawing your neck mercilessly but you don't scream or shriek as you did previously. You take it, you let him unload his frustration.

"Levi. Let it go for the sake of humanity." Erwin says pointedly. Irritation pricks him, he wants this over and done with and your rebelliousness doesn't look as if it'll be tamed any time soon unless you're given what you want.

Levi's face is crimson, the fresh blood from the expedition still steaming. "Y/N, I'll saw your arm off if I have to." But, you know he's already given into Erwin's orders when he throws you to the ground letting you crash and wheeze for breath.

850, ii.

Levi's been appointed to guard you for your final night alive. The room feels wistful as you think back wondering if the life you lived was respectable.

"Why did you stare at me when I slept? Did you think of killing me?" Half commanding and half pleading his voice cracks. He coughs attempting to cover it up.

You jolt not expecting the interaction at all and you're not the slightest bit surprised that he had seen you all those nights staring so deeply. He'd always been a light sleeper. You turn your head up hoping he's looking at you.

He isn't.

"I wanted our children to look like you. I think you're beautiful."

It's now his turn to recoil, only he does so in repulsion remembering the familiarity of those words. They had left his own lips not too long ago.

"I'd never have children with the likes of you." He sounds tense then.

You understand. No one would want to have children with someone as hated and as despicable as you.

"I know." You whisper faintly.

850, iii.

When Erwin's eyes glaze over unable to focus on anything in particular Levi assumes it's him growing used to the titan powers. What he doesn't expect is for his Commander to bang his head against the floor unrelenting screaming your name.

Pairs of hands move to stop him but he thrusts them aside wailing. Levi stresses trying to figure out what it is you could have done in the wake of your death.

But Erwin Smith. Courageous, brave Erwin Smith, who never cracked at loss of life for the sake of humanity, who always eloquently spoke to everyone around him at all times, finds himself slumping down to his knees and weeping for you.

The warm blood from his self inflicted assault still trickles down his nose, a tremor shakes through his entire body when he thinks of breaking the news to Levi.

The edge in Erwin’s voice grows dangerous.

"We made the wrong choice."

Erwin can't word it any better than that.

But Levi understands right away, he wishes he didn’t, he wishes he was ignorant enough not to.

Hange sticks an arm out aiming for his shoulder but he stumbles away nearly falling back into the floor not wanting to be touched by anyone.

He finds that he is not human enough to cry. It’s that or he’s not human at all without your presence.

854, i.

Levi has grown old without you, lived to see months and new seasons without you by his side. Over time his eyelids have become heavier, the corners of his mouth naturally droop and he remains perpetually somber.

Sometimes you visit him in his dreams, each time you make a silly comment about how his grey eye bags make him look like he’s been punched in the face. “Levi Ackerman, I swear if you don’t sleep soon!” You cushion the blow by whispering sweet nothings, reassuring him that you still think he’s beautiful. 

Occasionally you add in that you don’t blame him for the past, but those conversations only last for a few seconds at a time.

“I don’t blame you.” It always starts off with the exact same phrase. 

“I should have listened to you.” Levi’s tone is stern and uncompromising .

“Lev, I was never going to tell you to spare my life. You tried to listen to me, I could tell you wanted me to deny it.”

Levi refuses to answer you, he still thinks he’s at fault.

Not a day goes by where he doesn’t think of that ring. He regrets throwing it away recklessly into the rubble.

Some day he’ll return to Shiganshina to find it. The idea sounds laughable but he has to find a reason to smile as he fights for his life.

That is what Levi thinks as two set’s of jaws snap shut onto his legs, a flurry of red surrounds him. His throat constricts at the feeling of his thighs being ripped away from the rest of him.

“I tried.” He whimpers to no one in particular, eyes blank and losing meaning.

“I know Levi, I know.” The same voice from his dreams soothes him.

“Do not despair. Find me again in another world.” The biting wind adds in.

Levi’s eyelids flutter shut unable to do much else.

He’s unsure if he has the courage to face you again in another lifetime.

[faggotmox]

title: what do you call that one

rating: g

pairing: Jon Moxley/Bryan Danielson

word count: 2111

warnings: none except romanticizing parenthood lmao

author’s notes: @sarahcakes613 won the prize as they guessed the fuckin’ name when i was SURE none of yall would. so round of applause for sarah, everyone. thank you.

summary: they agreed that they wouldn’t pick out a name until they met their son, but Bryan’s a dirty cheat & has already picked out a name.

[ a new hold, part 1 ]

“I should have known you’d be a baby hog.” Bryan was glaring at Mox.

Ever since Bryan finally convinced Mox to hold their son the younger man had been snatching their still nameless boy from Bryan any chance he got and holding on for dear life. Baby Boy Danielson-Moxley (or as the nurses accidentally started calling him Baby Boy Moxson) was doing great, but the doctor had some concerns so the family was on day two in what would most likely be a 4 day stay. At least they got to stay together at the hospital. Bryan had been terrified at the idea of not being in the same building as his new born, but there were rooms just for this situation actually.

Currently Bryan was sitting crisscrossed in the chair near the window while Mox laid on the bed with their infant perfectly perched on the center of his chest. Hoodie and t-shirt tossed off to the side after one of the nurses spent fifteen minutes talking to Mox about how skin on skin contact was really good for baby and dad. Bryan still thought she was just trying to get Mox shirtless.

“I’m not commenting on that. I’m in my happy place.” Mox mumbled, his eyes just barely open as he watched hockey highlights on the muted TV. Bryan couldn’t not stare at his partner despite a book being in his lap, the picture before him was stunningly beautiful.

“We need to decide on a name.” Bryan tried to distract himself with that conversation, he knew he had been staring at Mox too long. The other got fidgety when Bryan wouldn’t stop looking at him.

“You already have one picked out, don’t you?” Mox glared from the bed, his happy place disrupted by the fact that Bryan had obviously broken their promise. "Unbelievable."

“No!” Bryan shook his head, trying to act innocent. “Okay, so I thought of a few!”

“We agreed we wouldn’t pick a name before we met him!” Mox was quietly shouting at Bryan since their baby was sleeping on him.

“So, you didn’t think of a single name?” Bryan narrowed his eyes but Mox shook his head. “I haven’t decided…I just thought of some.”

“No. I see it in your eyes, dude. You’re fuckin’ set.” Mox sat up a little and shifted their son into his arms. “C’mere.”

“I--” Bryan stopped himself, not wanting to be defensive. Yeah he already had a name picked out but it wasn’t on purpose. Bryan was the one to suggest the ‘no names until we hold the kid’ thing in the first place. Bryan climbed on the bed, able to situate himself facing Mox between the laying man’s legs.

“Here.” Mox leaned forward to pass their son over to Bryan. “Watch his head.” The last part was mumbled along at the end.

“Watch his head? Mox, you’d be holding him like a damn cactus if I hadn’t shown you how to support his neck!” Bryan’s glare leveled at Mox.

“Ah. Whatever. So what’s this name you’ve got picked out?” Mox leaned back in the bed and watched Bryan cuddle their son safely in his arms.

“I don’t have it picked out.” Bryan grumbled as he looked down at the little guy in his arms. “ I just-- okay. It just kinda popped into my head.”

“I’m sure.” Mox teased, but gave a shrug. “You gonna keep me in suspense?”

“Briar.” Bryan said clearly. Very clearly like he knew Mox was going to question him instantly. Every letter perfectly formed in Bryan's nasally northwestern accent.

“Briar?” Mox blinked a few times as Bryan nodded. There was a long moment before Mox spoke again. “Like a fuckin’ briar patch?”

“Yeah. Like a briar patch.” Bryan looked down, not wanting to show that being teased about this was getting to him.

“You wanna name our son Briar Patch?” Mox asked in disbelief.

“No, you jackass, I don’t want to name our son Briar Patch. I want to name him Briar. And if you could not be a dick for a few seconds I can explain why.” Bryan sighed and Mox could tell he was upset even without seeing his face.

“Okay, okay. Sorry. I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’ll hear you out.” Mox reached out to tug the little hat down further over their baby’s head. A little American Dragon symbol on the hat.

“Briar.” Bryan said again, this time with some more confidence but didn’t say much else.

“I knew you’d wanna pick some hippie name but I thought it’d be like Forrest or Sage…or Basil.” Mox didn’t know how not to tease the other and when Bryan looked up with a glare Mox couldn’t stop the little grin on his face as he leaned over to kiss Bryan’s scowl.

“Basil means regal, asshole.” Bryan grumbled. “Are you gonna be serious about this cau--”

“No, no. I’m sorry. I’ll be serious. This is very serious.” Mox nodded then reached for the baby. “Can I hold him again?”

“What? You’ve been holding him all morning!” Bryan shook his head, leaning back enough that Mox couldn’t take their son. “Are you already that anxious? He’s right here, Jon.”

“He’s just so cute. I like holding him.” Mox pouted but sat back on the bed. “Okay, so you like the name Briar. And apparently Basil.”

“I don’t like Basil.” Bryan shook his head, his long hair falling in his face a little. “I like Briar. The reason I like it so much is…is because briar patches are nature's barbed wire. I thought it'd be a nice way of naming him after you."

When Bryan finally looked up Mox had to quickly wipe his eyes. Of course now he felt like an asshole since Bryan obviously put thought into this name despite their rule. Then again neither of them were ever really rule followers.

Instead of saying something back Mox got up from the bed and went over to the whiteboard where BABY BOY MOXLEY-DANIELSON was written in the too small space. Mox used his hand to wipe the long name off and replace it with BRIAR (grabbing the red marker not the typical black, just for style). Bryan tracked every move Mox made and felt his chest tighten when Mox wrote the name up there.

"Thats a good fucking name, Bry." Mox paused with a small smile on his face. "Hey. Bry and Briar. That's really cute."

"I may have noticed that too." Bryan grinned as Mox got back on the bed. "Hi, Briar." Bryan kissed the forehead of baby Briar.

"Briar Danielson." Mox shook his head as the little blue eyes popped open. "Hell of a name."

"He's going to be a hell of a kid." Bryan pulled some of the blanket aside so they could see Briar's face, mostly his chubby little apple cheeks. "Thanks for being a dad with me, Jon."

"Look at him…fuck. I can't get over the fact he's our son. That Briar is our son.” Mox sighed and grabbed his phone off the bedside table to snap a photo of Bryan holding Briar. Mox already had about 30 photos, more or less the same of Bryan and Briar. “How’d you come up with Briar, by the way? You said it’s cause a briar patch is nature's barbed wire but…”

“Remember that weekend I took off to go to the mountains?” Bryan started to shift, his ridiculously flexible body and core strength allowing him to move from sitting facing Mox to being able to lay back on Mox without having to put Briar down. “I went camping those days. It was right after we decided to have him, and I was really in my head about some stuff. Needed to sort myself out, I guess.” Bryan laid back against Mox’s bare chest, Mox’s arms snaked under Bryan’s arms to hold onto Bryan while he rested his chin on Bryan’s shoulder.

“I remember that weekend. You came back all fucked up, like all those scratches and stuff.” Mox frowned. After that weekend Bryan came home covered in tiny to large scratches, some pretty nasty cuts, and bruises everywhere.

“While I was hiking some of the trail came loose and I fell down the side of a kind of cliff that wasn’t too steep. At the bottom where I landed was a briar patch. Like a really thick briar patch. It was up the slope too so once I tumbled into it I couldn’t go up. I had to just climb my way out of it towards the creek. That’s how I got so cut up.” Bryan explained. “After I was so pissed. I was seeing red. I was exhausted. Then I started thinking about how the cuts looked like the cuts you get after you play with barbed wire. And it just…stuck. Just seemed like a good idea, I guess.”

“Fuck.” Mox mumbled, his mouth pressed to Bryan’s shoulder as he looked down at Briar while Bryan spoke. “That’s such a sweet story, Bryan. You picked a great name, baby.” Mox tipped his head  to kiss Bryan’s cheek. “So…when do I get to hold Briar next?”

“Am I gonna have to start setting a damn timer, Jon?!” Bryan let out a deep laugh and shook his head. “You’re practically holding him anyways.”

“I’m holding you. Not the baby.” Mox points out. “You hate being the little spoon anyway cause it makes you feel small.”

“Oh my god. Go get us dinner, you’re insufferable.” Bryan got up to go sit in the chair he had before. “I’m going to read to him anyway.”

“Fine. Fine.” Mox groaned and dragged himself off the bed. Bryan reading to their son was actually one of Mox’s favorite things in the world. He started to walk towards the door, just leaving to do as he’s told in hopes he’ll get to hold Briar again if he distracts Bryan with food.

“Jon!” Bryan finally got Mox’s attention after he had opened the door and took a step out.

“Yeah, babe?” Mox turned back to look at his partner.

“Put on a damn shirt!” Bryan tossed one of Mox’s plain black t-shirts at him.

“Oh shit. Right. Sorry.” Mox took a step forward and was able to catch the shirt and tug it on. “Thanks, babe.”

“Not that anyone would have complained.” Bryan shook his head as the door closed.

[iceprincessviviane]

Whispers in the darkness

Paring: Yandere!C!Technoblade x BookwormEnchanter!Female!Reader

Type: Romantic (Technoblade is yandere) Trilogy - part two. (Previous part, next part)

Warnings: swearing, possessivness, yandere, angst, injury, blood, threats, sugestive content, silly jokes created by me.

Summary: Technoblade is trying to convince and adjust Y/N to new situation and himself. Some time has passed, but troubles are showing.

Author's note: Continuation from part one. Insipration from ACOTAR. English isn't my first language, so sorry for any mistakes.

Words in red colour are Technoblade's voices.

Words in blue colours are Y/N thoughts.

Three days have passed and Y/N felt better. She was almost lying in bed all day, but she started to fast recovery. All her energy was restored and she could left their room. Technoblade went at adventure in Nether, for some supplies. She slowly went downstairs, hearing the cooking sounds and humming. Of course Phil was standing in the kitchen, preparing something. They both froze for a while. Realization hit her harder, than she expected. He knew... he had to know. Winged man sighed and his shoulders dropped. As he thought, he didn't know what to do.

"I... I noticed that Techno has thing for you, I adviced him conversation or something... when he left two days ago for training I have never expected, that he will come back with you in his arms. I was shocked, afraid and confused." Phil explained slowly.

Y/N bit her lip and hugged herself. He was one of her the most trusted person here, aside with Foolish and Bench Trio.

"Listen, I was with Techno through a lot of shit. He is my friend and I will always be on his side, no matter what. I don't fully support... this kidnapping, but I am still with him." He continued, then took cups of tea and plate with sandwiches. "Hungry?"

Y/N nodded and sat down. He put everything on table and sat too. Everything looked like during her last visit. Phil was living in house in opposite combined with Techno's by bridge.

"So... you won't help me convince him to let me go, right?" She asked with saddness.

"Unfortunetly no. I am not going to be involved in stuff between you and him. But is it that bad? You are not missing anything, Techno is caring about you, here is safe and all the stuff you need." He looked at her.

"I used to be a free person, you know..."

"I am sure, that he will let you go on backyard. On attic, we can set up enchanting place with books and stuff. Sometimes Ranboo is visiting us." Phil was determined to show good sides of current situation.

He didn't want to be manipulative, but for everyone's greater good, was that she had to accept her fate. Technoblade could be rough, when it came to be obedient. He really acted diffrent, since he found his thing for her and now, when Y/N was there, he was calmer and more relaxed. If she would escape, he will for sure track her down and then, everyone which would help, will be in great danger. Technoblade wasn't leaving something behind. Probably whole Smp will be burning. Maybe it was selfish, but Phil didn't want any argues or wars for now. Y/N was eating quietly, thinking about his words. It wasn't that bad for sure. She expected being injured and thrown into cellar or something and actually they didn't even tie her.

"You are being serious with that enchanting place and yard?" She asked quietly.

Phil nodded and smiled to her gently. After eating he took her to the attic, where was some space and shelfes. Immediately her humor improved, they even started to talk about setting up enchanting place. Later this day, Phil left to his house and Y/N was reading on the couch, cover by the blanket, because days here were colder than in main Smp part. Technoblade managed to bring most of her personal stuff here including clothes. She was wearing warm sweater and pants, but still got closer to the fireplace, which was very nice in her opinion. Sun started to go down, she was thinking if Techno will come, Phil said that he sometimes made trips, which lasted days.

Sudden sound of opening door caused her to turned at it's direction. Piglin hybrid stepped inside and smiled to her warm.

"Hi darliIIIAAAAAA!" He screamed and dropped something.

Y/N frowned and stood up. Small ball of fur squeaked and immediately recognized it's owner, it asap ran to her and hid behind her.

"Snowflake!" She screamed and picked up her fox gently, then petted it's head softly.

"It bit me!" Techno growled and sucked his injured finger. "This had to be surprise..."

She sent him warm smile and again sat on the couch. Snowflake snuggle her head into Y/N's chest, she hugged her back.

"Thank you for bringing her here..." She looked at him softly. "It mean a lot to me..."

The Blade smiled proudly and came closer. Fox started to growl, when he approached. Y/N gently petted her.

"It's all right my little one. He isn't that scary as he seems in first take." She smiled at Techno.

After a few minutes small ball of fur calmed and accommodate itself on Y/N's lap and went to sleep. Technoblade quietly sat on couch and looked at them curiously.

"Do you know that I am scary, intimidating and grim huh?" He whispered.

Y/N rolled eyes and looked at him. "Of course I know. I experienced that few days ago."

Silence fell upon them, Technoblade didn't excatly know what to say, this whole situation shloud looked way diffrent, he just didn't predict this whole chase, althought is was fun.

'Make her forget about it.' 'She will understand.' 'Chase was interesting.'

"Phil showed me the attic and mentioned, that there we could make enchanting place. Is that true?" She asked quietly, looking deep into his eyes.

"Yes of course! It's all yours, you can make there your working place." He said and took her hand, then gently rub it with his thumb.

"Really?"

He nodded with honest smile. Y/N hugged him gently, watching out at fox. "Thank you. Also I need a basket and blanket for Snowflake..."

"This isn't a trouble princess."

}*{

Some days passed Y/N was busy with making her workplace. Technoblade helped her, Phil occasionaly showed, but didn't want to interrupt them both. They worked hard with wood, she made enchanting table, because he brought most of her supplies to cottage, being careful and avoided everyone. For now none was looking for her and Techno wished, that this would last the longest, no troubles, no worries, just him and Y/N happy.

Piglin hybrid also brought her notes and books, so Y/N could study again, she was so happy about it, finally could do something useful. When the attic was finally done, she went into their shared bedroom. Deep inside she was still hesitant, when it came to Technoblade, but decided to don't make him angry. Being in tundra wasn't so bad, but also wasn't a paradise. Yes, she was thinking how to get herself from this awkward situation, but hasn't find solution yet.

Immediately Snowflake get up from her basket and sniffed around. Y/N smiled softly, recently her fox was more curious and brave, even tried to play with Techno's fox named Aura.

"Let's go to outside for a while, we both need fresh air."

They went outside, Y/N took a deep breath. Fox immediately jump off and started to run through the snow. She covered herself more by cloak and sit near, watching cute ball of fur playing around. Fresh air let her relaxed more and clean up thoughts. Around were silence, hound was sleeping in special building, sometimes Steve was moving in snow, to find a good position. Around the fence slept more wolfes, guarding the exits. Y/N swallowed slowly, she wasn't able to go through. Unfortunately, Snowflake had another idea, fox fast ran away from yard, jumping in snow and spinning around.

"Snowflake!" Y/N stood up immediately and ran to her. "Come back!"

But little fox puppy didn't want to listen, it ran away even more far. Worrying owner didn't think too much, just found place, where dogs were away and jumped over the fence. One of them woke up and started to bark and howl. Snowflake put her ears back, came back into her owner's arms, curling up. She hugged her tightly.

"Don't do it again, you scared me..." she whispered quietly into it's fur.

Cold wind started to blow and Y/N heard the whole hound howling, it was terrifying. She turned back just to meet Technoblade standing intimidating with sword in his hand.

"Are you trying to escape?" He asked slowly observing her.

"What? No! Snowflake ran away, she got over the fence..." Y/N explained quietly.

"You really think, that I am going to belive in this?" He made one step further, she responed with one step back.

"I am not lying!"

"You better not be lying, because you won't like my punishment, my dear." Technoblade looked deep into her eyes. "If fox is causing troubles, maybe it should disappear?"

Y/N shook her head. "I promise, it won't happen again, please don't hurt her!" She had almost tears in her eyes.

Piglin hybrid nodded slowly and gave her his hand. She took it gently and together came back inside. Silence remained between them, Phil was in his house, busy with books. Y/N took Snowflake upstairs and put in the basket. Fox immediately curled up and went to sleep, she backed into kitchen. Technoblade waited with narrowed eyes, she swallowed hard.

"You broke a rule."

'She wanted to run away from us!' 'She deserve punishment!' 'We won't let her leave the house!'

"I know, but I just wanted to catch Snowflake! You really think, that I would escape without nothing, only in cloak?"

"No, but rule is a rule."

He moved closer, towering at her. Their eyes met, red and y/c. She saw there anger and disbelief, but she didn't do something bad. Technoblade gripped her chin once more, Y/N hissed, when she was forced to look at him.

"Listen Y/N. I really feel diffrent around you, calmer and stable, but that doesn't mean that my true nature disappeared." He said slowly.

"I know, I told you... Snowflake ran away, I just wanted to save her..." a single tear strimmed down at her cheek.

Piglin hybrid moved his hand to wip it out, then cupped her face. Atmosphere changed immediately. Maybe it was warm, which radiated from his body or this gentle touch, but somehow room became hotter. Red crawled at Y/N's cheeks and Technoblade sighed quietly. His thumb has been found on her down lip. Time has frozen, she was looking straight into his eyes, their gaze locked. She grabbed his wirst gently, but he didn't stop.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm admiring. Be quiet."

But when he leaned in and Y/N colsed eyes, pending what will come next, silence distrubed light grunt from the door. They immediately turned heads at this direction. Of course Phil was standing there with awkward face.

"I am assuming, that I am bothering you..."

"Yes." Technoblade's eyes narrowed.

"Of course not. Come in." Y/N said and left Techno's grasp with smile.

}*{

Phil stayed till late hours, they discussed some cases, she left them quite soon, because conversation bored her. Y/N started to work in attic, but when night has fallen, she moved to their bedroom and started to read book. Snowflake laid on her lap, so she could pet it's head slowly. Phil and Techno talked quietly, so it was immpossible to hear anything.

When the door opened, Y/N lifted her sight, piglin hybrid entered into the bedroom. His eyes narrowed, when he spotted cute, little ball of fur, but didn't say anything.

"Talking is over?"

Technoblade nodded and closed the door, she put away book. Snowflake jumped off bed and went straight into her basket, avoiding him at all cost. Y/N sighed quietly and stood up, Techno locked his sight on her posture.

"I am going to take bath. You can go to sleep, if you want."

He blocked her way out, she looked at him with surprise. In one heart beat Technoblade pinned her to the closest wall. Quiet 'welp' left her lips.

"We had a thing, before Phil naughty interrupted us." The Blade whispered with deep voice.

"Did we have?" Y/N asked while looking at him, she tried to act tough.

"Oh yes, we had my dear."

He put left hand on wall near her head and right hand gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. Their eyes met again, confidence faced uncertainty. His touch was more gentle, that she might expect.

"Let myself be clear. You will have to pay, for today's little bad behaviour."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She suttered.

"Let's say... if you don't want me to throw out this little, annoy ball of fur... you will have to kiss me." Technoblade said with deep voice.

Y/N looked at Snowflake peacefuly sleeping at basket and sighed helplessly.

"Do you promise? And never, ever again will threat her?"

"Yes. I always keep my word."

She nodded slowly, red crawled on her cheeks, cupped his face carefuly, hesitated for a moment. Y/N, closing eyes, gently pressed their lips together, in slow, shy kiss. She had to stand on her tiptoes, to reach Technoblade's lips. His hand moved at her waist and pulled her closer and he kissed her back in more confident way.

Y/N was so sweet and her lips so soft, like they were made for him. Piglin hybrid fast took control of the situation. Hand from her chin slipped on neck, to press their lips closer. Y/N made quiet moan, which caused his blood to boil. He smiled through a kiss.

'So good for us.' 'So sweet, so soft.' 'Don't stop, don't stop!'

Voices went feral, their demands and screamings filled his head, in one smooth move Technoblade grabbed her thighs and lifted Y/N up, without breaking the kiss. Now, she slipped hand into pink hair. He muttered with satisfaction, but then she broke away and opened eyes. The Blade snorted, greedy for touch, contact and pressed lips to her neck, kissing slowly.

"Techno!" Y/N winced and grabbed his shoulders.

"Relax princess." He whispered into her skin softly. "It's part of the punishment."

She blushed even at her ears, when he pressed few more kisses, then broke away too. They looked at each other in silence.

"Well, now I think, that it wasn't a punishment for you at all." Technoblade laughed slighty. She shook head with disbelief and helpless, then looked down.

"Oh, don't be so shy, I mean, I like it, but you don't need to be."

"Are you going to put me down?" Y/N asked with impatience.

"Maybe yes... maybe no." He hid head in her neck's crook.

In fact Technoblade just had to chill a little bit. His blood was still boiling, lips were touch starved and hands didn't want to let her go. After a few deep breaths, he gently put her on the floor.

"Thanks you." Y/N giggled softly.

"Go for this bath." The Blade smiled haughty and kissed her forehead.

She nodded, grabbed night clothes and left bedroom. Technoblade was smiling like idiot, when she went out. Feeling in his chest grew only bigger through days, when she was here. Also he wanted show everyone that Y/N is his and only his, he would bite her shoulder or neck, maybe give her golden jewelry, but for now it was pointless. As long, as she wasn't leaving the basement, all of this could come later. Of course Technoblade desired to mark her, but her shyness and innocence were too adorable and entertainment.

}*{

Next week has passed without any serious problems. Technoblade was always in cottage, Phil sticked around lot, so they could spend time together. Usually, they were talking, pair of friends described Y/N their adventures, Phil was telling of far away lands, and she was always listening witn true amazement. When Techno and Y/N were alone, he usually read her books or they just cuddled on couch. Sometimes she was trying to work on attic, but it was quite hard, since piglin hybrid has become clingy and very touch starved. He stole her few kisses during this week, but they weren't so intense as their first kiss. But since yesterday Technoblade has acted like he was always lost in his thoughts. That was something diffrent, so she noticed quite easily.

Y/N was sitting at the table and watching piglin hybrid carefuly. He was making her cup of tea, but silence reminded between them for too long.

"You are taciturn, since yesterday... something happend?" She asked finally.

He smiled and turned back to her with cup of tea. "You are so caring darling." He put the cup on the table.

"That isn't answer of my question..."

"You don't need to worry about it. Everyone has a quiet days, even me." Technoblade grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently, it caused Y/N to smile too. She took a sip.

"It taste better than Phil's?"

"Um... I can't tell the diffrence." Y/N shrugged, it tasted good, tea like tea.

"Great." His smile widened and she felt warning twist in her stomach. Something was odd...

"You... are sure, that everything is all right?"

This time, he didn't even bother to answer. Just looked at her and studied her face. Y/N blinked... but suddenly her eyelids became very heavy. Though she was sleeping today well. Fatigue mastered her body, Y/N groaned quietly and put cup down with loud sound.

"Feeling tired?" Technoblade asked slowly.

She lifted her sight at him with little struggle. His face was stern, but something in his eyes... made her shiver inside.

"What... what did you do?"

"Nothing... nothing at all."

Y/N stood up slowly, but she tripped at first step, needed to support herself by table. He squeezed her hand harder and embrece waist, to hold her. She couldn't push him back, all energy went out, her sight found half full cup of tea...

"You bastard..."

Dark laugh left his lips, he lifted her in bride style, like she was like a feather. Technoblade kissed her forehead reassuring.

"I think, you shloud go to sleep my love."

Then, Y/N started to see blurry and finally lost consciousness. She didn't know how long she has been unconscious, but when she woke up, she has seen their shared bedroom. Then felt cold metal around her wrist. Still little tired and probably under the influence of drugs, Y/N tried to move herself from bed. Chain from her wirst was attached to wall and it was pretty long.

'What the hell happend...?'

Y/N didn't want to believe, that Technoblade drugged her... maybe staying here wasn't the best idea... Door opened with quiet noise, causing her, to look at it's direction. Piglin hybrid went inside with tray full of food. She clenched jaw and looked at him with narrowed eyes. If she could, she would throw at him fireballs again.

"Don't even think to get closer." She hissed quietly. "What is this?" She rose her hand with a handcuff.

Technoblade put a tray on table and sighed. Actually he had all his netherite armor on, sword at his belt, then trident and axe on back. Y/N swallowed hard.

"I am going on adventure with Phil... actually it's for supplies..." The Blade said slowly.

"So you chained me?!"

"I don't want to risk anything darling."

"Take it off." Y/N said totally serious.

"I-"

"Take it off!" Tears started to come up into her eyes.

Technoblade didn't even move slighty. He just watched, when she tugged chain couple of times, then sat helpless on the bed and quiet sob left her lips. He immediately came closer and crouch on her level. Despite her protests, Techno grabbed her hands and rub them gently with thumbs.

"I will be back in three, four days. You have food on table and I brought you new books. Chain can reach bathroom."

"Please take the chain off!"

'Music for our ears.' 'Make her stop crying.' 'We already miss her...'

He kissed her forehead, but then stood up and left her room, closing it on a key. Y/N was too shooked to make any move, she pulled her legs closer to chest and hugged them. Loud sob left her lips this time and tears strimming down at her cheeks freely. Snowflake jumped on the bed and snuggled near, to cheer up it's owner, but without any success.

Y/N just couldn't believe, that Technoblade actually did this. She behaved good all the time, didn't even fight his... sudden whims or whishes. He wasn't exactly as people talk about him, he had feelings, goals and persons which he cared about. He was a person, not a weapon. But this... she called fire at her fingers and grabbed the metal. After a few minutes, it didn't make any effect, but she spotted slight purple light on metal.

Enchantments.

Closing eyes, she focused on chain. After a second she had an answer. Mending and Unbreaking. Y/N cursed aloud, without key or magic, there was no way to open it. She was too weak for casting spells. It was made by Phil for sure, Technoblade didn't know enchanting that good... she curled up on bed, trying to find a way out of this horrible situation.

}*{

Ranboo sighed stepping at outisde stairs in Technoblade's basement. He was here so long ago, at least three weeks ago. Moving into mansion took a lot of time and they had to finish filling the rooms. After this, Eret told Foolish, that Y/N is missing, they immediately went to her home, only to find out it was empty and some things were taken. He helped with searching, because Eret and Foolish stated, that she couldn't just leave without a word. A week of no progress caused them to stop. Ranboo saw the true sadness on demi-god's face and he wished he would help. Tommy and Tubbo missed her too and Michael wanted, that Y/N read his tales. Enderman hybrid sighed once more and stepped inside. Main door wasn't locked, none dared to come here and steal something, maybe except Tommy. He would do that without any hesitation.

He needed blaze rods and some honey, to start bee farm for Tubbo. He was in the middle of searching, when heard suspicious nosie from on top. Ranboo looked at celling unsure. Technoblade and Phil were on trip, he know that, because they met in the Nether once in fortress. He knew only one ghost and he wasn't here for sure... Then he heard quiet whimper and sob. Tall teenager swallowed hard and started to head upstairs. The noises were coming from Techno's bedroom, that was really odd. He tried to open door, but it was locked. Looking around, he spotted the key on the nearest shelf, so took it and open door slowly and quietly.

Ranboo almost dropped everything in his hands, when he saw Y/N on floor, chain around her wrist, eyes full of tears, skin more pale than usually. She immediately looked up, her gaze was full of shock and disbelief.

"Y/N?" He knelt near her, look if there were any injures or wounds.

"Ranboo?" She almost cried this words. "What... what are you doing here?"

"I am getting supplies from Techno... and you? For gods sake, Foolish and Eret were looking for you!"

Tears left her eyes, when she heard this words. None has known what exactly happend... telling whole story wasn't a great idea.

"Why there is a chain on your wirst?"

Y/N bit her down lip and looked at him embarrased. This whole story was an absurd, what if he won't believe her?

"Technoblade..." she whispered quietly.

"Why Techno would do that? And Phil, he wouldn't allow it..."

"But he did!" She screamed, clearly with fear in her voice.

Enderman hybrid was confused, this didn't has sense or logic. He sighed slowly and looked at Y/N, no she wasn't lying, so what was the case? What was going on here?

"Let me help you with this..." He took metal into his hands and tried to break it. After few minutes, he grabbed sword, but still, stubborn chain didn't want to let her go.

"It's enchanted... only key or magic can release me... " Y/N explained quietly. "And if I leave... gods help us... Technoblade will be after me."

"But... why? What did you do?" Ranboo asked without even thinking.

"I don't know! This is madness, I just want to get back to home, but they won't allow me." Y/N started to shake and tears strimmed down at her cheeks.

Ranboo hugged her gently, she was watching out to not water his skin or suit too much. He rubbed Y/N's back gently.

"We will need help... to get you out of this I guess."

"No... Technoblade will be after them... please don't tell anyone!"

"But, what about you?" He seemed worried.

"I don't know... I will try to break out, but I don't know when... just please promise me, that you won't tell anyone!"

Ranboo hesitated for a moment. How will she manage to break herself? And how could he be quiet about it? Eret and Foolish are still sad and hopeful or her returning, Michael every night is asking, where is aunt Y/N.

"Right, I won't... but someone will know, now or later."

Y/N sighed, he had right... someone will eventually step inside Technoblade's house and find her... but now there was no better plan.

"Yes, but at least maybe that won't be my close friend... you shloud go, before they see you."

He again hesitated, but after all, hugged her for goodbye, stood up and left. Also put everything as it was when he came. Still he was torn, because, wanted to help, but didn't want to let down Y/N or betrayed Technoblade's trust. Finally he left closing the door carefuly, lost in thoughts.

}*{

As Technoblade promised, he stepped into house exactly four days after leaving. Inside was silence, he had full backpacks and was tired, Phil went to his part, they both needed rest. After put everything in magazine, he went upstairs and entered his shared bedroom. Y/N was sitting under wall, where chain was attached, room didn't changed at all, some things were moved, but nothing odd.

'We didn't see her for such a long time...' 'We are going to hold her whole day.' 'Can't wait to see her again!'

"I'm finally back princess." He hummed and got closer.

She looked at him and stood up slowly, a little bit shaky, she unsure wrapped arms around his waist and closed her eyes.

"Please, never ever again leave me alone here... please." Quiet whisper left Y/N's lips.

Technoblade smiled satisfactorily, then hugged her back and pressed soft kiss on her forehead.

"Will you be obedient now?" He asked cupping her face in hands and wiped out tears.

Y/N nodded almost immediately, Piglin's hybrid smile widened, well that was better than he has expected. He couldn't complain, more things could be complicated, but for now, he wanted her to calm and be nice as she shloud be.

"Good. Let me help you with this." The Blade took gently her wirst and pulled out small, golden key from his pocket, then opened handcuff. Skin where it was, was violated, red abrasions and scabs, his eyes narrowed.

"I will take care of this don't worry."

Y/N sat on bed and looked as he put away his cape, weapons and grabbed bandages, then cover injuries with it.

"Thanks..." she said after everything was done.

"Now I am going to take off my armor, then maybe bath. If you want... you can go downstairs or help me."

Y/N looked at him with a hesitation. They together started to undo Technoblade's armor, after a while he ended looking at her, when she was patiently helping. It took a moment, netherite armor was heavy and parts were big, but after everything was done The Blade hugged her tightly.

"I missed you sweetheart..." he whispered into her ear. "I'm glad, that we are on good terms now."

Y/N bit her lip, most important thing was, that they couldn't know, that Ranboo was here. This made her anxious, poor boy, wouldn't have chances with Technoblade...

"I missed you too." She smiled gently and pressed shy kiss to his cheek.

Night has fallen quickly, piglin hybrid was napping a lot after bath and Y/N finally could go to the attic or kitchen, so she spent time mostly there. Working and making herself her favourite meal. When she entered the shared bedroom, Technoblade was sitting on bed shirtless and taking care of his sword, he lifted his eyes in her.

"Come in."

Y/N closed door and walked few steps forward, this view reminded her, that actually she had trident with her, when got kidnapped. Where it could be now?

"Technoblade..."

"Yes sweetheart?"

"When we met in forest, I had trident with myself... what happend with it?"

Piglin hybrid stopped and put sword away, then stood up. She swallowed hard, maybe it wasn't a good idea...

"Why do you want to know?"

"Trident is important thing for enchanters... and this was my only one. I also spent a lot of time searching for it and enchanting it..." Y/N said honestly.

"It's safe in the cellar." He got closer to her and smiled gently.

She nodded and let him hug her, then wrapped her arms around his waist. Technoblade placed hand on her neck, kiss was slow and gentle. Piglin hybrid smiled after breaking out. Inside, Y/N sighed with relief, he didn't noticed, that Ranboo was here.

She let her guard down in vain. The Blade's gentle touch fast, became inescapable grasp on her throat, Y/N pupils widened immediately. Tried to pull him out, but that was only a weak try.

"You think, that I am stupid or blind?" He asked, then lifted her up, still holding her throat, air started to go out and didn't come back.

Y/N tried to kick him of, but again that was only a weak try, even when he was tired. She grabbed his wrist and trying to push off his hand, only to take breath.

"After a whole week, you just casualy asking me about your trident huh?" His eyes narrowed looking at her reaction.

'Grip her harder!' 'Make her cry and scream!' 'Show, who is in charge here!'

Voices again went feral, but this time they demanded violence and wildness. His sight almost became red and ears was full of noise.

"Techno!" Y/N whispered quietly, fighting to stay focused.

"Apologize and everything will be all right."

"Please..." Tears started to strimming down at her cheeks, she became weak.

He shook his head. "That's not how you apologize. Just say that you are sorry for being dirty, little girl, forgive me."

"I... am sorry... for being... dirty little girl. Please forgive... me." Words slowly left Y/N' lips.

Technoblade smiled with satisfaction, then just let her go. Y/N' body hit hard the floor, she hissed at sudden pain and looked up at male. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to stay like this, on knees.

"I hate do it to you. I really do. Please promise me, that you will be good, obedient, little girl."

Graps on her chin hardened, Y/N nodded almost immediately. After this, she had enough, hear pounded so fast, eyes full of tears.

"It's late, let's go to sleep princess." He left her chin and went straight into the bed.

She stood up shaky and quietly, then grabbed her night clothes and went into bathroom. When came back, Technoblade is sleeping peacefuly on his side. Y/N without any distrubing noise, snuggled into bed and turned her back at him. She couldn't sleep at all, just laying there and thinking. After today for sure her mind changed and situation seemed to be horrible and without exit.

The mattress sagged under the weight of Technoblade, when he changed his position. She immediately froze, again he put an arm around her waits and his head right behind her's. Y/N swallowed her tears in silence.

}*{

Couple of days have passed and Y/N became much more shy and quiet. Technoblade usually held her around, but when not, she was in attic working or reading books. Piglin hybrid was satisfied with her behavior, showing his affection and caring way.

It was almost an evening, Phil was working on supper, Technoblade and Y/N were sitting on couch, he held her hand and read ancient poem with shinning eyes. Winged man couldn't resist to smile, while was hearing it.

Everything became much calmer. Well it ended, when Ranboo stormed into cottage, heavy breathing, burns on his face from tears and he was in full netherite armor.

"I am sorry! Please forgive me..."

[obiwanobi]

Catch me thinking about sith Anakin who got in a fight w/ Palps (did Palps cross a line? Did Anakin decide he had nothing to lose? Idk), barely managed to win and is now seriously hurting and a little freaked out winding up outside Obi-wan's quarters and Obi-wan doesn't have time to draw his saber let alone figure out how a sith lord managed to get so far into the jedi temple unnoticed and Force is that blood? before Anakin's passing out with only a murmered request for help.

LISTEN you can’t keep sending me perfect prompts, how do you know I can’t resist bloody men on their knees begging for salvation, how do you know me so well??? anyway here’s 2.3k of always-a-sith!Anakin who could have been the new ruler of the empire but said ‘no thanks, this is too much responsibility, I would like to be pampered by my favourite jedi now’ (with a bit of Ahsoka as Obi-Wan’s padawan!)

 He didn’t mean to kill him.

Well, not at first.

He didn’t mean to kill Sidious, but pulling his lightsaber from his lifeless corpse only felt like complete satisfaction. A weight on his shoulders he didn't know he carried disappeared, letting him stand up above the body of his master— former master, and gaze upon what was left of him. A shapeless form on the ground. A dark cape around an old man playing at being a god. A begging mess of futile promises when he realised it was the end for him.  

As mindless fury leaves him, his ragged breathing slows down and his fist unclenches around his saber. Sidious is dead. Now that the adrenaline rush is gone, his knees start shaking. His Master is dead. His face is wet with sweat and blood and tears. Dead and now Anakin has no one.

And then...  And then fear.

"You know," Ahsoka groans as the water starts boiling, "I don't understand how you got your reputation of Cool Jedi Master. Other padawans think I'm lying when I tell them you wear the ugliest slippers at home and gets excited by new tisanes."

"You gifted me those slippers."

"As a joke. And you still wear them."

"I'm not going to throw away perfectly good slippers." Obi-Wan wiggles his toes under the red and yellow fuzzy monstrosities, just to see his padawan rolls her eyes. "And they're really comfortable."

"So you're just going to stay there, then? Your whole battalion is out celebrating our first day of leave since forever, but you prefer to drink your tea alone and go to bed at 22:00?"

"No one wants an authority figure around when they're letting loose and celebrating, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan says, pouring hot water in his cup. He raises the kettle towards his padawan as a question, to which she shakes her head. "I thought you would be happy to see me putting sleep before work for once."

"I am, Master, but I thought it could be..." She trails off, fidgeting with the hilt of her sabers. For once, she looks like a typical padawan, just like he was at her age, dying to enjoy one night away from the temple and any kind of responsibilities.

"It's alright my dear," he sighs, "you can join them if you want."

Ahsoka suddenly perks up. "I can?"

"If you're old enough to be sent to the front, I think you can handle yourself for one night on Coruscant."

"Thank you Master! I promise I'll be careful and not come back too late!"

"You do that, and-- wait, Ahsoka," he adds as she's already halfway through the door, "make sure to stay around Cody! And no alcohol of any kind! And don't lose your lightsaber at sabacc again!"

"That was you!" she yells from the end of the corridor, "don't worry, I'll be fine! Don't wait for me to go to bed! Goodnight Master!"

Obi-Wan smiles, blowing on his cup. He already sent a message to Cody earlier to keep an eye on her, so he knows she's in good hands.

He has his herbal tea, his ugly slippers, no reports to read or write, and no immediate Separatist menace to plan for. For once, a perfectly good night to catch up on sleep and meditation.

So, of course, something has to be wrong.

The Force is bright. The Force is lighter than it has ever been for the past few years.

And Obi-Wan can't understand why.  

It's not just him that can feel it: Ahsoka has acted chipper since, more like the teenager she is, laughing with the clones and playfully teasing him the whole fly back to Coruscant. The temple has felt livelier than ever when they arrived, Jedi from all ages going about their day with a new spring in their step, greeting each other warmly in the corridors. Even Master Yoda has taken a few minutes during their Council meeting to note the shift in the Force. No Master could pinpoint the origin of this change, but all agreed that something good happened somewhere in the galaxy, and they were just feeling ripples of the effect in the Force.

Still now, the whole temple feels a bit more like it used to, before the war, and all Jedi are a bit happier without knowing why.

Only Obi-Wan feels like a noose tightening around him. Whatever it is, it's slowing making its way around his presence in the Force. Focusing on him and him alone. Doesn't matter how much Obi-Wan tries to hide himself, it's getting closer and never slowing down or losing interest.

Needless to say, Obi-Wan has a bad feeling about this.

But after almost three years of war, sullen faces and grim expressions, he doesn't feel like dampening the sudden good mood around the Temple just with a few words. He can probably deal with whatever it is by himself.

His tisane is cold when he finally emerges from his meditation. Nothing is clearer than when he started: the Force is deaf to his questions and inquiries, still light as a breeze. An airy unconcern for his restlessness. And yet, a thick pressure still looms around him, getting heavier each passing second now.

His fingers start pulling on his collar.

The clock on the wall indicates that he lied to Ahsoka when he said he was going to bed at a respectable time today. No diurnal Jedi would still be up right now, but he still considers going out to knock at Mace's door. Narrowed eyes and a very long sigh will be his first answer, but Obi-Wan knows that Mace would never refuse to hear him out. Yes, he finally decides when the pressure seems to creep even closer to him, it's worth waking up Mace.

He opens his door, wondering if he should take his robe with him, and instantly stops walking.

There, in the empty corridor of the Jedi Temple, at his door and on his knees, is a Sith. He knows it's a Sith only because he recognises this specific mass of hair, the large shoulders, the dishevelled dark robe. He knows it's a Sith because he has crossed path with this one enough times on the battlefield to recognise him anywhere. Outside of it a few times too. He isn't sure it's a Sith when the Sith raises his head up, bloody and bruised face torn in an agonizing expression, and his eyes are blue.

"I— I didn't know where to go," Darth Vader says quietly, with the kind of voice expected from a lost child. It gives Obi-Wan a second shock to hear his voice, making his presence suddenly real. "You said... You said if I ever wanted to, if I needed help one day, you would— I could—"

Obi-Wan remembers it. He remembers all the times he offered his help. His pleas for him to stop the violence, the appeals to reason, the multiple suggestions of a gentler path. His hand continuously outreached but never taken. He remembers the burning gold of the Sith's eyes too, and his black cape floating above the dead clones at his feet.

His laughter the first time Obi-Wan brought up the idea of lowering their blades and talking around a cup of tea. His sneer the third time Obi-Wan tried to change his misconceptions about the Jedi Order and play-flirt with him in the same breath. The silence the fifth time Obi-Wan asked him his name, his real name, the one a parent gave him.

The tears the last time he gave it to him.

"And you're always trying to save me," Vader adds more forcefully now, like the words anger him, "you're always here, showing up almost every time I'm sent somewhere with your stupid smile and stupid words, and you're always nice, and... and teasing, and disappointed when I kill someone, like you expect me to be better, and I don't understand you, but..."

Vader raises his hand towards him, and it's only this sudden move that shakes Obi-Wan out of his stupor. Before the Sith can touch his leg, Obi-Wan calls his lightsaber to him, ignites it in one fluid motion, half-expecting Vader to be up and swaying his saber in his face by now. But the Sith is still on his knees, and it's only now that the blue light of his blade is above him that Obi-Wan realises the state he's in. His face isn't the only thing bruised and battered: his dark tunic is stained with blood and ripped in more than one place, one of his arms is bent in an unnatural way, and it looks like a cut above his hairline is still bleeding, making his curls stick to his face in a mess of wet hair and burned skin.

"Vader," Obi-Wan says slowly, when his thoughts finally regain a semblance of coherence. A rapid investigation through the Force assures him that no other enemy is around and the calm and quiet of the night in the Temple isn't a prequel for a storm. "How did you get in here? What are you doing here? How—"

Vader's hand, stuck in the space between them, reaches once again for Obi-Wan. Foolishly, Obi-Wan lets him. His fingers twist themselves in the fabric of his pants.

"He made me killed them all.” Vader wobbles on his knees for a second, the hand on Obi-Wan's leg gripping it tighter. “No platoons, no battle droids. Just me. He sent me to the power station and I cut through them so easily, so quickly, they didn't even fight back, and I didn't think that..." he trails off, panting. "Until.... until I saw the electro-whips." 

"Are you talking about Naphtla?" he asks when Vader doesn't seem to be able to continue.

Naphtla. Outer Rim. Barely on the Republic radar until this afternoon, when nearby troops answered a distress signal and found a hidden Separatist power station operated by slaves. A third of them were dead, killed only a few hours before, and the survivors turned to the Republic for immediate support. Slaughtered like animals, the rescue team reported to the Council only a few hours ago, by one single man wielding a red lightsaber. According to witnesses, the darksider cut through the slaves like bantha butter, killing everyone in his path without discrimination, until he stopped for no apparent reason and abruptly left.

"You were the one who killed the people at the station there," Obi-Wan realises out loud, horrified, "the slaves from Zygerria."

Vader snaps his head up and his fingers tighten painfully around Obi-Wan's knee. "I DIDN'T KNOW!"

All Obi-Wan's senses and logical thoughts urge him to back out, put an end to this nonsensical charade, raise his lightsaber between them, get away from the dark, hungry void Vader generates in the Force.

But his eyes are looking up to him. Gripping his gaze with the same intensity as his hand on his leg. Bloodied face and pleading, on his knees. Full of tears.

Obi-Wan doesn't push Vader's hand away.

"I didn't know they were slaves, I didn't!"

"Vader."

"He never said! He sent me without telling him, he knows I don't—" A small noise sounding suspiciously like a sob swallows the rest of his words.

"Vader, who sent—"

"When I came back," he tries again, quieter. Obi-Wan opens his mouth to ask about this he, but Vader's head lolls for a second, too heavy to support, before butting gently against Obi-Wan's leg. Vader makes no effort to move, content to stay there, and after a second, a small, almost timid nuzzle against his thigh sends a series of shivers through Obi-Wan's spine. It shuts him up instantly. "When I came back, he looked at me for so, so long, before saying that he knew, he knew I was going to fail, that I was... just like them after all, and that I could never... And I was so mad, so angry at him, so I... I..."

The last words are muffled by the fabric Vader clings to. Hides into. There's blood on Obi-Wan's pants now.

"What have you done, Vader?" Obi-Wan asks, softer than he intended. "Vader," he asks again when no reply comes, without success. The hand not holding his lightsaber moves, hesitates for a moment, then settles lightly on Vader's hair, mindful not to touch any open wounds. His fingers nudge him to tip his head back, gently, carefully, and settle on his cheek to hold his face up, looking at him. "Anakin." His name, his true name, makes him blink a few times. "Anakin, what have you done?"

"I killed him," he finally admits, barely audible. He looks exhausted, more like a child in need of rest than ever.

"Who did you kill?"

"My master."

"Dooku? You killed Dooku?"

"No," Vader— Anakin frowns, like Obi-Wan should know better. "Sidious."

It's a bit much to process in one day. Another Sith Lord, Vader's master, concealed and kept a secret, now dead, killed by his apprentice —and does that make Vader the ruling Sith Lord now? Do Sith have rulers?— the lightness in the Force the same day, a half-dead Vader begging for help in the middle of the night in the Jedi Temple, and all of that while Obi-Wan is still wearing his ugly slippers.

He's so glad he sent Ahsoka away for the night.

Anakin doesn't let him time to feel the migraine coming.

"I can't do it, I can't be my master, I can't— and Dooku hates me, he will never help me, even if I let him have it all, he will never..." Vader seems to run out of steam, and lets his eyes close as his head falls once again against Obi-Wan's thigh. Closer. "You said you could help me. You said I could come to you at any time. You said you would always be there if I didn't want to... do this, anymore."

"I did," Obi-Wan assures him, his hand lightly petting his hair again.

Anakin lets out a long breath. His fingers tighten on the fabric of Obi-Wan's pants, loosen, and tighten again.

"You're the only one I trust," the Sith quietly tells the Jedi, and it's the saddest thing Obi-Wan has ever heard.

[seasonsofeverlark]

The Dare

Author: @always-andshewrites​

Prompt: CHOOSE ONE (or combine with the visual): So @heathersaid posted the above picture and it go me thinking, imagine Katniss buying this because she wants to bring home the bakery smell but also hiding it from Peeta  because she doesn’t know how he will react and she doesn’t want to admit she misses him when he’s gone but one day he comes home early… Rated M or E Any genre except Angst: fluff, humor, comfort PostMJ or Modern universe Any trope but I would be curious about a friends or enemies to lovers OR As I was typing my previous ask, another one popped into my head LOL: A proposal story where Peeta realizes Katniss is serious about their relationship after she buys the candle below because she wants his smell at all time. He decides to propose on Valentine’s Day so now they can celebrate the date since Katniss is anti-Valentines Day M or E rating, fluffy 😊 [submitted by @just-a-girl16​]

Rating: M (Minor sexual situations & language)

Summary: Peeta has loved Katniss from the first moment he saw her and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Katniss has always made her feelings on marriage clear. But Peeta buys a ring and keeps it close by at all times…just in case. And “just in case” just so happens to be tonight. Everlark-Valentine’s Day-Proposal

Author’s Notes: This fic is dedicated to my dear friend…I’m sorry for your pain and I hope this fluffy story works as a little band-aid. You know who you are. _______________

“Are ya listenin’ to me, Peeta? Because what I’m ‘bout to tell ya is important. Maybe the most important words you’ll ever hear.”

My seven-year-old self eagerly nods my head up and down as my grandpa swoops me off the ground, swinging me in the air, and then plopping me down on his knee. Grandpa narrows his eyes seriously at me, and I try my best to return his gaze.

“Now, listen and listen good, son, cause I won’t be ‘round forever.” I nod again, so Grandpa knows he has my full attention. “If you don’t remember anything I’ve taught ya, then ya gotta remember this. The best things in life require an abundance of patience, persistence, and hard work. Do you know what those words mean?”

I press a finger to my chin and look up as I repeat the words in my head.

“Patience means you wait for something calmly, sometimes for a long time,” Grandpa says.

“Oh! Like when Daddy’s baking cookies and I have to wait for the timer to go ‘ding’. And then I have to wait for them to get cooled,” I say, lighting up with a smile at having correlated the two.

“Yeah, something like that. Anyway. Persistence means you don’t give up. And well, hard work, that word is self-explanatory.” Grandpa pauses, his wrinkled lips forming into a straight line. “What I’m trying to tell you, Peeta, is anything worth fighting for don’t come easy. You see, one day, son, you’ll meet a woman who’ll make you crazy. She’ll turn your world upside down and inside-out. She won’t take none of your crap. That’s the kind of woman you hold on to. And if she tries to be slippery, then you fight for her with all you got. You prove yourself to be worthy. But most importantly, Peeta, remember that she’s always right.”

I smile at the memory, wondering if my grandfather somehow had a glimpse into the future. At seven years old his words only served to confuse me. At the time, girls were gross and had cooties, and I simply could not fathom the idea of chasing after any girl. For so many years I thought of the last words the wisest man I had ever known had given me. And for so many years they never quite made sense.

That is, until I met the love of my life. My best friend, my soul mate, my other half. The woman Grandpa described to me as a child summed Katniss up to a tee. She was like a wild animal, free, untamed, and lived by no one’s rules but her own. And she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. However, with Grandpa’s advice of patience, persistence, and an abundance of hard work, I finally got her to crack.

And here I am, three years later; my relationship with Katniss stronger than ever.

I make the turn onto Seam Street and park my car outside of Katniss’s apartment complex. I reach into my pocket for my phone to let Katniss know I’m coming up, but then decide to surprise her instead.

Katniss and I are supposed to meet at District 12, her favorite restaurant for our “Valentine’s Day Dinner Date,” but I left my wallet on her nightstand. I get out of my car and reach into my other pocket, grinning from ear to ear when I feel the tiny black velvet box.

Eager to set eyes on my mighty huntress, I take the steps two at a time and feel the vibration of someone’s blaring music.

“Uh-oh,” I say, wondering if the music is coming from Katniss’s apartment. She has the tendency to blast her music when she gets in one of her “deep cleaning” moods, or if she’s stressed out. I’m hoping it’s the former.

Once I reach the door to her apartment, I fetch my keys and let myself in, only to get blasted by her music when I open the door. I quietly close the door behind me, not that she can hear me, anyway, and toe my shoes off. When I turn around, my heart swells inside my chest at the sight before me.

“I was wondering where those boxers went,” I mutter to myself through a grin. Katniss is still oblivious to my presence, so I take a moment just to admire her. She’s rocking my favorite pair of orange boxers, along with one of my shirts as she dance-vacuums her way around the living room.

But that isn’t what has my heart pounding so hard in my chest. It’s the subtle aroma radiating from beneath the flickering flame of the candle perched on the kitchen table. I inhale deeply, and my nostrils are filled with the refined scent of artificial vanilla. Maybe sugar cookies? Or perhaps cupcakes.

Ready to make my presence known, I sneak up behind Katniss, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. Katniss nearly leaps in the air from my sudden touch.

Her smile could literally light up the room, and if my heart could smile, I think it would, knowing that I am the cause of that smile. She reaches for the remote and powers off the music, then circles her arms around my neck.

“What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at the restaurant,” she mumbles into my neck.

“I missed you, and well, I forgot my wallet,” I tell her, inhaling another whiff of vanilla. “What is that? Did you bake something?” I ask, knowing good and well it’s the candle.

“Oh, huh…what?” Katniss gives me a bemused expression just before her eyes go wide with realization. Quickly, she zips across the room to the kitchen table and promptly blows out a puff of air, extinguishing the flame from the candle.

“What’d you do that for? I thought it smelled good. When did you start burning candles, anyway?”

Katniss shrugs her shoulders dismissively. “The apartment was smelling musty. Opening the windows didn’t work, neither did air freshener, so I grabbed a candle at the grocery store.”

“Okay,” I tell her, giving her a kiss on the cheek and not pressing the issue. Then I head into the kitchen to get a cup of water. It’s hard, very hard to keep my lips from stretching across my face, but somehow, I manage it.

I make my way back to the living room and plop down on the sofa. I set my glass on the side table and check my watch. “I need to run home and get a few things done. Do you want to meet at District 12, or do you want me to swing by and pick you up?”

Katniss’s body seems to slump at my statement. “Actually, I was thinking,” she begins, twirling the end of her braid—something I know she does when she’s nervous. “Since you’re already here, maybe we should just…um, take one car. I mean—unless you need to do your things right now.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” I beam, finally allowing my lips to curve into the cheesy grin they’ve been dying to since the moment I got here. Then I motion with my finger for her to come here. I didn’t actually have errands to attend to; I just wanted to leave Katniss’s options open, but to say I am elated would be a drastic understatement.

Katniss’s face lights up with a grin as she sprints to the couch and pounces right into my lap, straddling a leg on either side of my hips. Then she hooks her arms around my neck, pressing her mouth—and her body, flush against mine. I part my lips, welcoming the assault from her tongue. In the moment of heated kisses, I reach around and feel my way up Katniss’s back, digging my fingers deep into her muscles, which results in a moan, a sigh, and a groan of pleasure escaping from her lips.

“My God, how are you so good at that? And how do you always know the right spots?” Katniss grinds into me, readily accepting my wet kisses against her neck.

I know I’m going to hate myself for this, but I spent too much time preparing for tonight to just stay in with my girlfriend. Even if it feels so damn good…

“Katniss…I—we should—”

“Mmm hmm,” she moans, vibrating against my lips. Dammit.

“Go get dressed, baby—um…dinner. Plans…remember?” I manage to stumble out, hopefully enough words for her to understand my meaning.

“I don’t mind if we skip dinner,” she says, pressing her chest to mine as she teases my neck with kisses.

If I don’t stop her now we’ll never make it out of here, so I grab her hands and lock my eyes with hers. “Go get ready, and I promise to fully satisfy all of your hunger needs tonight. Trust me, I have big plans for you.”

Her eyes darken, and the corner of her lip twitches into a smirk. “Oh, do you now?” she says, hopping off my lap, and I give her ass a smack before she runs off to her room.

“How fancy is this place?” Katniss shouts from her bedroom.

“Nice enough to wear a dress,” I call back, not wanting to give too much away.

“What kind of dress, though? Like…dinner-with-your-mother-kind-of-dress, or—”

“No, no. Not that kind,” I jump in, feeling slightly queasy at the thought.

“Oh, thank God.” Katniss exhales a sigh of relief, her thought process mirroring my own.

“Okay, I’m ready. What do you think?” About half an hour later, Katniss comes traipsing down the hall, twirling once when she reaches the living room.

My jaw falls slack at the sight of my girlfriend. I knew she would look stunning in a dress—I find her glamorous in her PJ’s. But Katniss has somehow managed to dress in my favorite—everything. From the flowing, dark emerald green dress that stops just above her knees, to the matching, open-toed sandals on her feet. I can’t take my eyes off her as she models the open-backed dress for me, exposing her beautiful olive-toned skin with the nearly transparent straps that cling to her shoulders. But I’m the only one who knows this because of the dress’s matching shawl that hangs loosely draped across her shoulders. 

But the real gem of the evening is hanging around her neck and between her perfect, and slightly protruding, collar bones is the necklace I gave her on our three-year anniversary. Her hair lacks its usual braid, instead it hangs loose in deep, thick waves, pulled around to one side of her shoulder.

“W-wow,” I manage to stutter. “Y-you’re so beautiful,” I tell her, closing the distance between us and kissing her full on the lips. Katniss has never been the type of woman that spends hours primping in front of a mirror, but she doesn’t need to. Katniss is naturally perfect and beautiful without the added makeup, hair product, and artificial enhancements that so many women spend fortunes on. However, all she has to do is put forth the least bit of effort and it puts her over the top—beyond magnificent.

“Are you ready?” Katniss asks, motioning toward the door.

…..

“I liked your new candle,” I say with a knowing, crooked grin from the seat across from my girlfriend at her favorite restaurant. District 12 serves the best lamb stew with wild rice and dried plums.

“About that,” Katniss hesitates, pulling her hands out of mine. Her right hand automatically reaches up to twirl a lock of her hair, a sign that she’s nervous. “I have a…sort of confession.”

I reach back over and grab onto Katniss’s hands, locking my eyes on the gorgeous, stunning beauty that is my girlfriend. “Sort of?” I ask, feeling a wave of heat prickle up my back. “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad,” Katniss rushes to say, squeezing my hands for reassurance. “It’s about the um…candle.” I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I know in my heart of hearts that Katniss loves me, but there is always this tiny little pestering voice in the back of my head, which oftentimes takes on the voice of my mother. And the voice is constantly trying to make me second guess myself. “I um…well, it’s just that…if I tell you this you better not make fun of me.”

“Katniss.” I pull back with narrowed eyes, slightly offended at the insinuation.

“I know, I know, but I…I just had to say it. But well…it’s just that sometimes I miss you.” Katniss shrugs her shoulders, refusing to meet my eyes. “And I bought the candle because the smell reminded me of you. And so, when I’m missing you and can’t see you, the candle kind of…tides me over until I do get to see you.” Katniss breathes a sigh of relief at her confession. “See, I told you it was stupid.”

I squeeze Katniss’s hands, then lean over the table to get closer to her. “Katniss, it isn’t stupid at all. It’s no different than when I steal that giant sweatshirt you sometimes sleep in. Or when I don’t want to wash my pillow cases because they smell like you.”

“I love you, Peeta,” Katniss says with darkening cheeks and eyes. Then she leans forward, her lips melting into mine.

…..

“Are we there?” Katniss asks anxiously for the third time.

“Almost, baby,” I tell her as I lead her down the narrow and winding path. I can’t believe she actually let me blindfold her; I guess it’s just one more affirmation that tonight will go as planned. 

Finally, we’ve reached our destination, and I slow us down to a stop, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. “Tell me something, Katniss, what do you smell?”

“Huh?” She asks, her face scrunching up in confusion.

“Just because you can’t see doesn’t mean you can’t…see,” I tell her. “Use your other senses, Katniss,” I explain after her continued bewildered expression.

Katniss inhales a deep, cleansing breath through her nose. “I smell…” she begins, still absorbing her surroundings. She takes another deep breath, recognition filling her features. “Trees!” she finally exclaims. “And…birds…chirping high up in the trees…and…branches swaying. Squirrels…Peeta, are we…are we in the woods?” She asks, unable to contain the glee from her voice.

“Are you ready?” I ask her.

Katniss doesn’t respond; instead, she impatiently yanks the blindfold over her head. I can barely make out her disappointed expression through the darkness.

I click the tiny little button in my pocket before she has time to utter a single word. Then suddenly, everything around us transforms into the most beautiful sight. Katniss gasps as she looks around, taking it all in. At first, I can tell she’s overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of white, twinkling lights. I spent much of the week stringing the lights—everywhere. Over the fence, wrapped around trees; there are even lights outlining a path on the ground that leads to a set of steps. It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust, but I know the exact moment she realizes where we are.

“Oh my God, Peeta!” she croons, turning to face me and circling her arms around my neck. “We’re at…you brought me to Mockingjay Park. This is…it’s where my dad would bring me when I was a little girl!” she cries, pressing her lips to mine and pulling me closer. “I just…I love it and it’s the most amazing surprise; it’s just…I kind of wish I knew beforehand, so I could’ve brought my bow.”

“You mean…” I’m more than thankful I thought ahead as I reach behind me, seemingly producing Katniss’s bow out of thin air, along with the quiver containing the sheath of arrows.

Katniss’s emotion seems to burst inside her, and she jumps into my arms, hugging her legs around my waist. I grab onto her, cupping my hand under her ass so she doesn’t fall, and she attacks my mouth with kisses. “Every time I think I can’t possibly love you any more…every time you do something amazing, and I think: “There’s no way he can top this,” and you go and prove me wrong. I love you, Peeta Mellark. I swear, I fucking love you,” she professes, locking her hands around my neck and tangling her fingers through my hair.

Eventually, she wiggles out of my arms, excited to finally be able to use her bow.

“We’ve got the entire park to ourselves for the next two hours,” I inform her, handing her the bow and arrows.

Katniss raises a brow. “You mean…”

I nod, unable to quell my goofy grin. “The entire park is ours; there isn’t a single soul for miles. So…why don’t you take your shoes off, and let’s walk to the range.”

Katniss doesn’t need to be told twice. She kicks her heels off, and together, we walk across the field and toward the row of targets.  

“This is too easy; I think we need to up the ante,” I call out to Katniss after thirty minutes of watching her hit bullseye after bullseye.

“What do you suggest?” Katniss turns around, smirking at the compliment.

I get up and make my way toward the target, and this confuses Katniss.

“Wh—Peeta, what are you doing? Get back over here.”

Katniss holds her position at the fifty-foot mark by the time I’ve reached the target. When I first made these Valentine’s plans for Katniss, I never intended on proposing. It was supposed to be just like any other ordinary date night. But Katniss’s confession at dinner is what changed my mind. I just didn’t know how I’d do it until now.

With my back pressed against the target, I hold my head up high, brazen with a confidence I didn’t realize I possessed. Then, my hand plunges into my pocket and digs out the small, velvety box that contains Katniss’s precious ring. Quickly, before I lose my nerve, I pull the box out and place it on my head. “You’re going to hit this target.” I state firmly. Confidently.

“Peeta—what? No—no, you’re nuts,” Katniss says, shaking her head dismissively.

“What? You don’t think you can do it? I thought you were up for a challenge?” I can’t help but taunt her.

She takes the bait. I see the flaring of her nostrils; I can almost see the steam shooting from her ears as her knuckles turn white from gripping tighter onto her bow.

“Fine!” Katniss hisses back. “But it’s your funeral,” she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Katniss,” I call out as she readies herself. She spins around on her heels, meeting my eyes.

“Yes?”

“I trust you.”

The corners of her lips slowly curve up into a mischievous grin. If there is one thing I know about Katniss, it’s that she is literally incapable of refusing a dare. And that’s basically what I just did. I dared her.

I straighten my back, so it’s flat against the target as I admire my beautiful, amazing, and talented girlfriend. I’ve seen her do this a million times, yet somehow, she amazes me every single time.

Suddenly, the butterflies in my stomach feel as if they have just grown claws, flapping their wings and filling me with so much love for this woman as they search for an escape. My heart is pounding against my chest, but my anxiety is not about whether or not she’ll hit me, but what her answer will be.

I decide to focus all my attention on Katniss as she goes through her routine. She always stands taller on the first inhale, the one that steadies her nerves. I envision her lungs expanding with the fresh, winter air. Then, she holds the precious gas in place for a moment before pursing her lips, slowly releasing the remaining oxygen, all her anxiety dissipating along with it. Then I watch intently as Katniss mouths the words, “One, two, three.” Her beautiful, delicate fingers pull the bowstring tight, and then, just like that, the arrow is released into the air, soaring, flying, gliding—and headed straight toward my head.

The arrow soars gracefully as it glides through the air. My heart accelerates as it gains speed, the space between myself and the arrow shortening, lessening, yet I am not the least bit afraid. My eyes remain locked on a frozen Katniss when the arrow slams into its target, impaling the little black box above my head. How I did not so much as flinch as the arrow made its impact goes to show my trust in the beautiful woman—who is now hauling ass toward me.

It feels like it happens in slow motion. Katniss doesn’t wait for the arrow to make impact, but rather, the second it’s released into the air, her bow and quiver of arrows crash to the ground. Fear is written all over her face; it’s as if she’s only just now realized what she’s done. Then she’s running full force, making a beeline straight toward me, trying to outrun the arrow.

In the time it takes her to run to me, I’ve already removed the arrow from the “target,” inspected the contents of the ring box, and slammed the lid closed.

“You stupid, stupid, idiot!” she screams, cries, slamming into me and crashing us to the ground. She pulls back for a second, scanning my body for injuries before pinning me back to the ground and slamming her lips against mine. “I could have killed you; you could have died! I can’t lose you, Peeta. Do you know what that would do to me? Don’t you ever, ever, ever do that again!”

Katniss is crying so hard that it’s brought on the hiccups, and she’s struggling to breathe. “Katniss, baby, calm down. I’m okay, I’m fine. I was never in any danger. Don’t you see? I trust you with my life.” I hold her face firmly in my hands, forcing her to look into my eyes. But her shiny, glassy eyes and tear-streaked face is filled with sheer terror, which is like a knife in my gut. I really hadn’t expected her to react this way.

Katniss collapses on top of me, resting her head on my chest. Realizing that in all the commotion I dropped the ring box, I look around until I spot the box, and quickly scoop it up.

“Come here, sit up,” I tell her, pulling us up into a sitting position. She sniffles but complies.

We’re sitting Indian Style across from each other on the grass. I’ve got the box clutched firmly in my hand when my mouth seems to start moving on its own. “Katniss, I…I know you never wanted this. You told me so on our first date. But, Katniss, I—there’s no me without you. I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone—only you. Just you.” This isn’t going anything like I planned it, even though I didn’t actually plan it. For someone who is so good with words, I’m a blubbering mess. So, I release my grip on the box and open my hand to Katniss.

She takes the box, then looks up at me, her stormy, gray eyes wide with shock, her mouth agape. “P-Peeta?” she questions.

“Katniss, please, just…just let me,” I beg her, and she nods. “Katniss, you are my other half. My soul mate. You complete me. Everything about you is perfect, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about you. And even if you don’t want to get married, that’s fine. I’d be happy and content to continue as we have been. But I was hoping…thinking that maybe you felt the same way.”

There is a pregnant pause as she continues staring at me. My heart feels like it’s going to explode out of my chest as I await her response. “P-Peeta, a-are you ask—?”

I nod, and the smile that stretches across her face could light up this entire park. “You have to say it, Peeta. You have to ask the question if you want an answer.” She grins.

I know what she means. She wants me to do it right. So, I pull myself off the ground, crouching on a single knee and taking the black box from her hand. I open it, so it’s facing her, and ask the million-dollar question.

“Katniss Everdeen, my best friend, my other half, the love of my life, will you make me the happiest man in all the galaxies and take me as your husband? Put up with me when I’m smelly and grumpy, and allow me to make you cheese buns for the rest of our days?”

Tears are streaming down her cheeks, and she can’t seem to get rid of the ear-splitting grin breaking her face as she nods her head fiercely up and down. Then she offers her hand to me, her fingers equidistantly spaced apart so that I can slide the ring onto her finger.

Once the ring is on, she brings it closer to her face to inspect it and says, “It’s perfect.” Then, she once again tackles me to the ground. With a leg straddled on either side of my hips, she pins my hands on either side of my face and presses her lips to mine.

“So, what are we going to do with our last hour?” She whispers into my ear.

To be continued…

[shyficwriter]

Don’t hide Loki’s things

Marvel fanfic | Loki x Reader

Summary: Reader is sassing Loki and hides his stuff, prompting a chase where Loki ends up tickling reader to reveal the location of his things

Author’s Note: Prompt that won first place in the poll (Option: Loki 2). Second place (GOTG 6) will come shortly, and I’m still deciding how I want to go about a tie breaker for 3rd place lol. Based off prompt from @delightfulfics

Word Count: 1,336

“Go away.” Loki said in frustration, rolling his eyes after the second paper ball hit him in the back of the head. He was being a sour puss lately, largely due to boredom of not being trusted to join the other Avengers on missions, and you thought maybe if you could convince him to do an activity that he might start being a little cheerier, or at least a little less sour.

You moved to stand in front of him and put on your best ‘cute and innocent’ face as you lowered the book he was reading. “Aw, you know you'd be bored without me.”

“Boredom would be a most welcome friend compared to your presence at the moment.” Loki said, pulling back his book and turning so his back was facing you again.

You turned with him, grinning. “Well that’s not nice. Why don’t you put down the book and we can do something. We could watch a movie?”

“I’m not interested in your moving pictures. One can only watch the reptilian movie so many times.”

“Hey, Jurassic Park is a classic, Lucky Charms.” You grinned, trying to provoke him, knowing Loki hated it when you called him by that name.

Loki looked up at you with dark eyes. You finally got his attention. Putting down his book his stood, towering over you. “Well if you insist on bothering me, then I suppose I’ll go for a walk.”

“Cool! Let’s go to-”

“Alone.” 

The words came from his voice, but the man in front of you did not move his mouth at all. You heard the door shut behind you and watched in confusion as his form shimmered away before your eyes.

Realizing you had been tricked you didn’t bother to chase him down, instead you turned your attention to the book he had been reading, and you got an idea.

***

About an hour later, you heard Loki return. From your place on the couch you could hear his footsteps walking to his room, some shuffling noises, and then slightly angrier footsteps exiting his room and walking in your direction as his called out your name.

His eyes were narrowed as he asked if you had seen his book anywhere.

“What book? Can you be more specific?” you grinned, mostly from nerves than from anything else. You knew you sucked at lying.

He stepped toward you, prompting you to get up from the couch and pretend you needed something from the other side of the room.

“You know very well what book, and I’m not going to entertain the notion that you didn’t take it, now where did you put it?”

You reached the other side of the room and you wasted no time opening the door, hearing him already approaching you. You quickly made your way through it without a word and shut it behind you and took off running, nervous giggles bubbling up your throat as you heard him rip open the door and sternly call your name.

You rounded a corner and ducked into a stairwell. You could hear Loki calling your name as you descended the stairs. You considered camping out there for a little bit until you heard the door above you open just as you reached the bottom of the flight. Startled, you looked up to see Loki, almost surprised that he had such a close tail on you, but you supposed that’s what you got for not looking behind you as you ran. With a squeak you ripped open the door and bolted, nearly knocking into Happy as you did so. 

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Where’s the fire?” He called.

“No fire,” you panted. Just then Loki shot out of the stairwell, a playful look of murder in eyes. You squeaked out, “Loki!” as the rest of your answer to Happy and took off again.

You know you couldn’t outrun the god, so you ducked into the nearest room, not sticking around long enough to see what happened to Happy, knowing that he’d probably be dumb enough to try and stop Loki. You knew Loki wouldn’t hurt him, but you also knew he wasn’t going to let him stand in the way of his target either. 

[Little did you know, Loki just calmly walked up to Happy, who looked at him suspiciously, but after Loki explained that you two “were playing a simple game of tag” and he was “it” Happy simply let him pass. Oh, gullible Happy...]

You didn’t waste time. You were grateful to see that you had ducked into a room with another door, and even luckier, it wasn’t a closet. Before you ran out into the hall, you thought better. Surely Loki saw you run into this room. He’d be there any second. Instead, you left the door wide open and went instead to crouch behind the large drink bar on the right side of the room, suddenly grateful for Tony’s over-abundance of rooms for parties.

Just as you thought, Loki entered the room not long after. Not peeking, as you didn’t want to accidentally be seen, you still heard him chuckle as he no doubt fell for your plan for him to think you ran on through, before he ran though the door himself. 

You waited just a bit to make sure he was gone before you quickly got up to walk back out the door you had entered in, intent to run back up to the stairs to gain a larger head start on Loki, maybe hide away in Steve or Nat’s rooms, somewhere Loki might not think to look. 

However, the moment you walked out the door and softly closed it behind you, you were startled by a loud “Boo!” shouted behind you. Clutching your heart, your eyes widened in horror as you spun around to find Loki standing there.

Damn! He hadn’t fallen for your trick, you had fallen for his trick! 

Before you could take off, Loki caught you by the arm, a mischievous gleam in his eye. “I’ll give you one chance, my dear. Where’s my book?”

Nervous giggles poured from your mouth as you said, “Uh... What book?”

Loki tutted, “That was a mistake.” and before you had a chance to think his fingers flew to your ribs, tickling them mercilessly.

You squealed, backing into the door you had just closed, and now very much wishing you hadn’t and foolishly thinking you might have been able to escape your torment if you had left it open. You grasped at his wrists, trying in vain to smack him away as you shrieked for him to stop. 

“You had a chance, now you’re learning why it’s not wise to steal from the God of Mischief.” There was laughter in his voice. You apparently had succeeded in your goal to cure him of his sourness, but by god, at what cost?

You slid down to the floor and he only followed you down, laughing with you as you laughed your head off and begged for mercy when his fingers began to attack your stomach. 

“You better tell me where you hid my book, and give me an apology for taking it in the first place, otherwise I can just stay here and find all your most sensitive areas to make you laugh and squeal for hours.” 

He may have been the god of lies but you had no doubt he’d keep true to his word this time. Breathlessly you cried out, “OKAY! Okay! I give up! Second floor! Coat closet! I’m sorry! Please! I’m sorry!”

Loki stopped with a grin, looking down at you as you gasped for air. “Thank you,” he said, but you noticed he didn’t get up, he was still straddling you, looking down at you and grinning that grin of his that he wore when he was up to no good. 

He spoke again, “But, to make sure you’ve fully learned your lesson...”

Your eyes widened as he grinned wider. “WAIT-”

But of course, he didn’t.

[icequeenbae]

Daddy’s Struggles (m) | BBH

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Dad!Baek, domestic au, established relationship (duh), a slice of life, fluff, a lil smutty(!)

Warnings: some friskiness between mom and dad if you know what I mean, mentions of teenagers watching porn (I’m not promoting it, you guys lol), also this gets fluffin’ sweet get a bucket in advance

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Baekhyun overhears your teenage daughter watching porn. You have to handle a small crisis.

Event: the BBH day @supermwritersnet​

© Please do not copy/ post on other platforms without permission.

Author’s Note: This… came out of nowhere:D I blame my dear beta @baekshoney​​ – we'd once discussed the idea of Baek being a teenager’s parent (in relation to a different story). Don’t we all love dilf Baek though? lol Anyways, this is a tiny glimpse into his future as a cute af father and husband <3 Let’s name him puppydad!Baek 😊 I hope this lifts your mood a little on a day like this!

On that note – happy birthday to our genius idol (aka mochi-cheeked hyperactive puppy), I wish that he stays healthy and happy and on the radar throughout the next 2 years (and forever)!! Don’t be too sad, guys, he’s hopefully going to finally lead a somewhat normal life for a bit 💞 Ok, I’ll let you get to it already~

A yawn.

You rubbed your tired eyes and dictated a reminder for tomorrow morning to your AI assistant. It was pretty late and you had your hands full all day with your kids. And while family time was always great, there hadn’t been a spare moment for you to tend to your own business. But two decades of dealing with your hyperactive yet loveable children (and husband) taught you to make the most out of what you got. So you were doing just that, organizing your errands and sorting important emails after everyone had scurried off to their rooms, and your husband — to the shower.

Baekhyun was quite exhausted himself, so you realized he must’ve gotten in the common bathroom by the time you exited the one in your bedroom. He did that sometimes when you locked the door out of habit. Not that he couldn’t come in, it was just… You used to scold him pretty badly for breaking into the bathroom. Picking locks wasn’t something you wanted your juniors to acquire as a habit. They had enough of their daddy’s traits as it was.

The thought made you chuckle. Your eldest son had already outgrown his father by at least five and a half – gotta be precise here! – centimeters (which made daddy very proud, but also a teeny tiny bit jealous). Despite his height, which, you were sure, was going to break the golden 180cm in the next few months, your boy’s build was exactly the same as Baekhyun’s. His shoulders were broad, his hips wide, and his waist was naturally narrow. Legs long and lean, and eyes always mischievous. He was eighteen and already seemed more like Baekhyun’s best friend rather than his child. Being both the hyung and the oppa of the household, he was the most mature out of the bunch, and always a big help to his parents.

Your middle child, your precious daughter, resembled you a lot. Her wavy hair and her big eyes with the longest eyelashes either of you’d ever witnessed. Seriously, that was the first thing Baekhyun’s friends had commented on when they came by to meet your new baby. ‘Is this even normal? Can she see through those? That’s one pretty baby!’ She was even prettier now, at her sweet sixteen, cheeks still a bit chubby, which – just as her button nose – were definitely an homage to her dad. Not to mention her hands that were even more delicate and exquisite than his.

The youngest, your six-year-old son, was a blessing. You weren’t planning to have more children after the first two until you suddenly thought… why not? Cannot say that you weren’t a little bit under the influence at the time. It was one of those rare weekends when your kids had a sleepover at their grandparents’, so you had the whole house to yourself. Deciding to have a domestic date and enjoy shameless daytime drinking, you indulged in a whole glass of wine before both of you were tipsy and giggling, then you added one more to the mix. At that point, all kinds of crazy things were brought up.

‘We should do this more often…’ You informed your partner. ‘This is exciting! We can walk around naked the way we used to before we had teenagers in the house!’

‘I miss our naked Saturdays…’ Baekhyun whined, almost spilling his wine while trying to sip it gracefully. ‘Now I barely even see you naked with your shower locking obsession!’

Pursing your lips, you dismissed his complaint.

‘After that incident… You cannot blame me for my caution.’

The incident was, well, your son needing to use the bathroom while his sister was taking too long and heading to the one in your bedroom. He nearly walked in on… an adult scene.

‘He didn’t even see anything, Y/N-ah,’ your husband grumbled, but you waved him off, downing your drink as if it was a shot of tequila rather than a glass of wine.

‘I don’t see a problem though,’ he blinked at you, not following. ‘We’re alone. Why not… See each other naked again?’

‘Right. We can also- Y/N-ah!’

‘What?’ You eyed his suddenly enthusiastic form with nothing but suspicion.

‘We can create a distraction!’

‘Hm?’

‘A distraction for them. So that they’d be busy with something else while we’re away.’

‘Hmm?’ You still couldn’t locate the source of his excitement.

‘Lemme show you,’ he slurred, tugging on your wrist to get you up and dragging you to the bedroom.

Let’s have another baby – that was his brilliant idea. Had you both not been such poor drinkers, one of you would’ve thought this through.

Nevertheless, you were glad that you didn’t. Because your little angel, who could sometimes be more of a tiny demon, to be frank, was the single sweetest thing to ever exist on planet Earth. He had his entire family wrapped around his little finger, and you – most of all. How could anyone blame you? That troublemaker was the spitting image of his dad and had a personality to match — just as playful and affectionate.

The chill spring breeze from the window licked at the bare skin of your arm, causing you to shiver slightly, coming back from the land of reminiscing. You stretched on the bed, noticing how protruding your nipples became from the cold even while hidden by the gentle fabric of your nightgown. Pulling the covers up, you grunted under your breath, wondering what was taking Baekhyun so long.

Just as you did, the door cracked open, and your husband sauntered into the room.

‘Ah finally, I thought I needed to go rescue you again,’ you chuckled.

That had happened before. He once used the common bathroom to shower before bed and ended up captured by your daughter, who was around six or seven at the time, in the hallway. She then demanded cuddles, knowing that her father was too weak to turn his precious girl down and send her back to bed. You found them both huddled up asleep on the couch, with your husband’s head tilted dangerously to the side. Terrible sleeping postures always had consequences, so you spared him the agony of the next morning, waking him up mercifully and helping to get your little girl to her bed. This was only one of many occasions – Baekhyun was a softie.

This time, however, he was a bit stupefied.

He didn’t react to your remark and seemed like he was going on autopilot when he came closer and sat on the bed.

You lifted the covers, inviting him to join you, and he followed your lead, still staring at the wall across the room.

‘Yeobo,’ you called, getting slightly alarmed. ‘Are you okay?’

He blinked, the stupor breaking, and looked at you with astounded eyes.

‘I- I think,’ he began, making you shift to face him properly. ‘I think I just overheard our daughter watching porn!’

His voice lowered to a whisper by the end of that sentence.

‘Oh my god,’ you whispered back. ‘How do you figure?’

‘I was walking down the hallway, and I thought I heard something from her room. I didn’t fully register what it was, but now that it processed… It was definitely porn!’

The signs of distress on his face almost caused you to break down in a fit of laughter. You held it in with all you got. Fathers and daughters, the eternal struggle.

‘First of all, ew. Aren’t you even a little bit ashamed to be eavesdropping on your kids like that?’ You didn’t let him protest. ‘Also, how do you even know it was porn, you know she sometimes mumbles and whimpers in her sleep. Like someone else we know…’

Giving him a pointed look, you leaned over his chest to turn the lights to the lowest mode, leaving the room dimly lit. It was always effective when you wanted to help him relax.

‘I wasn’t ea- And you think I can’t tell what porn sounds like? There are some generic… sounds. That give it away.’

‘When was the last time you watched it?’ You murmured, eyeing him curiously.

Of all people, you knew best how short his attention span was. Sometimes it could work to your advantage. Like right now, when you needed to de-escalate this before you could reason with him.

‘I- wh- I don’t know, probably when you were pregnant,’ he recalled. ‘The third one was somehow the toughest on me. You looked way too attractive for a heavily pregnant lady, let me tell you.’

‘Heavily pregnant??’ You scoffed, softening right after. ‘Well, you have a point, he was pretty huge. I swear, if he doesn’t grow up to be taller than Chanyeol, I’d be offended. That boy’s giant head prolonged my healing by at least a month.’

Baekhyun sighed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking back to that time.

‘He was the only one who caused you to tear, right?’

‘Yeah. Which is weird, considering that he was my third one. Ah well, I guess I’m not getting any younger…’

‘Aren’t you though? I’m constantly being asked about my pretty young wife,’ Baekhyun smiled at you charmingly. ‘And you only became prettier after the third pregnancy. I say it’s the hormones.’

Your cunning little plan was working. He was incredibly easy to distract.

‘Tell me the truth, was it the boobs? Or my butt? I did gain the most weight with the little daredevil, that’s for sure.’

‘It was all of you. You always looked so sexy when pregnant, I just wanted to have you all to myself,’ he cooed at you. ‘To feed you handpicked strawberries. And smother you with kisses. My beautiful young wife.’

At some point during this conversation, you shuffled closer to each other, now cuddled up snugly on the bed. Your finger slowly traced abstract patterns on his chest, happily exploiting the access to his skin where his pajama shirt was unbuttoned.

‘Ah, you’re just saying that to get under my nightgown,’ you batted your eyelashes at him, and he shook his head.

‘Maybe a little, but that’s true. And it’s not surprising that people are noticing – you are younger than me.’

‘A couple of years is nothing at our age,’ you murmured, bending your knee and moving your leg slightly up his to get cozy.

‘Well, you know what people say… Small kids make parents younger. Wanna have another one?’ He nudged you gently and laughed at the dirty look you gave him.

‘Yeobo- please don’t make jokes like this. I’d rather look for other elixirs of youth than go through that entire ordeal again.’

You knew that he was kidding, but the thought made you shiver.

‘I know, honey, I know. Like I said, you’re not in need of any elixirs.’

At this you relaxed, melting into his shoulder, and guiding his arm to wrap around you, warming your exposed shoulders.

‘Well, Mr Byun, same to you. Still as charming as two decades ago.’

‘Hey, I’d like to think that I’m more charming now. The experience and all.’

‘Who helped you gain all that experience though?’ You poked him lightly, and a low chesty laugh escaped his lips.

‘Of course, it was my one and only, my young, and beautiful, and smart and sexy little wife,’ he punctuated each compliment with a chaste kiss to your cheeks, nose, lips, and neck.

You squirmed in his arms.

‘Ah, you make a woman go mad,’ you purred into his lips mockingly.

He snickered softly, ready to lean in, but then stopped abruptly.

‘Wait a second- What about-’

‘Baekhyun…’ You murmured as he fussed on the bed.

‘I should probably go in there, and-’

‘And what? Embarrass your daughter?’ You held him down. ‘She’s sixteen, honey, it’s just the hormones. We’ve both been there. Let her be.’ You nuzzled his neck, pressing your lips to his sensitive skin lazily.

His mind was growing cloudy again since your hand was now caressing his inner thigh foxily. He’d probably realized what you were doing by now, but you were right, so he allowed you to sway him into giving the idea of an immediate intervention up.

‘Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t be nearly as appalled if that was our eldest,’ you scoffed and added in an exaggerated tone. ‘Never took you for a sexist.’

‘But- he’s eighteen, and she- she’s my little girl…’ He mumbled in a small voice, hazed further by your not-so-subtle seduction. ‘I can’t let her- watch that-’

‘Don’t worry, yeobo,’ you whispered soothingly in his ear, slipping your hand into his loose pants. ‘I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Without you. No need to traumatize the poor girl, that’s how daddy issues develop.’

‘You should know,’ he bit back meekly, sighing when you finally wrapped your fingers around his semi-hard length.

‘The sass! It’s almost like you still got it, Mr Byun. Care to impress that young wife of yours?’

‘I sure will, you cunning woman,’ he growled playfully, completely giving in to it and attacking your laughing mouth as he lifted the covers over your head.

A/N: Thank you for reading! As usual, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments/ asks, and if you’re new – check out my Masterlist ^^

[bxcketbarnes]

Fake Death

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Reader

Words: 1400+

Author's Note: @queen-of-mischief and I came up with this idea after seeing a theory about Loki's illusions and had a fantastic discussion on how it would go if the reader figured out his tells and shit! Happy Reading xox

"Loki!" You call out as the man suddenly stabs Thor, gaining the attention of the Elves at the bottom of the hill.

The God of Thunder falls down the large hill and Loki quickly follows the tumbling man. Jane gasps and begins to make her down the hill as well, leaving you at the top.

Your eyes widen at the scene that's unfolding in front of you, not knowing if this is some ploy to get the Dark Elves’ attention. "You really think I cared about Frigga?" Loki asks as he stalks closer to his brother, your heart beating in your throat as you scurry off of the ground before following them. "About any of you?"

Loki kicks Thor across the face, tossing the burly man a few feet away from him. "All I ever wanted," the raven-haired man continues, taking a couple of more steps towards Thor, "was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

You couldn't believe what you're hearing as you suddenly get closer to the two, going to intervene when Jane stops you. Thor reaches out for his hammer when Loki grabs a hold of his wrist, cutting the limb completely off.

A gasp leaves your lips, tears coming to your eyes as Thor thrashes against the dirt, grabbing a hold of his right arm. Jane rushes towards the man she loves, checking out his wounds before Loki grabs a hold of her.

"Malekith I am Loki of Jotunheim and I bring you a gift!" He calls out as Jane thrashes against his grasp, attempting to get away from the man. Loki tosses her towards the Dark Elf leader, his eyes casting down at her as she suddenly looks up. "I only ask for one thing in return… a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

You notice the dagger in Loki's left hand, furrowing your brows as you always thought he was right-handed. You eye the man curiously before bringing your attention to your enemies, watching the big guy whisper something into Malekith's ear.

The leader lifts Jane off of the ground before the Aether begins to dissipate from her body. You breathe a bit heavily at the events that are currently happening, your eyes moving towards Loki to see his eyes already looking at you.

You sigh sadly as you felt betrayed by the man before returning your gaze to Jane. She falls almost ten feet to the ground and you go to rush towards her when Thor yells.

"Loki, now!"

A gasp leaves your lips as you look back towards the trickster, seeing his hand glow green for a few seconds as he removes the illusion he had on Thor. The hammer returns to Thor's hand before sending a bolt of lightning to the Aether, hoping to destroy it.

Loki moves to cover Jane as the crystal shatters into a bunch of pieces. You cover your face with your arm, letting out a small laugh as you couldn't believe it was all planned.

Why didn't they tell you? Your victory was short-lived as the crystal repaired itself before flowing into Malekith's body.

"Oh, no," you mumble and get your weapon ready.

Malekith and the crew begin to walk back towards the ship, sending some of the soldiers to hold you guys off. You scramble to your feet and go to fight them when Thor stops you.

"Keep Jane safe! We got this," Thor mumbles and you nod your head.

-

You and Jane managed to make it a few hundred yards away from the fight, making sure she's a safe distance away. You can hear the big guy screaming loudly and you look over the small hill you're hiding behind to see him explode.

A gasp leaves your lips as the two men managed to kill him. A laugh leaves your lips as you stand up, moving to head down there when you notice Loki's body laying on the ground. "Loki?" You softly mumble to yourself, feeling Jane's eyes on you as you stumble your way towards the two.

"You fool, you didn't listen," Thor mumbles, hearing his voice waver as he grabs a hold of Loki.

Tears pool in your eyes as you're suddenly kneeling beside him, your hands pressed against his chest. "Loki," you cry out and his dull eyes move towards you.

You can see his skin becoming gray as your hand suddenly holds pressure to his wound. "Y/N…" he trails off and manages to grab a hold of your hand. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

His dull blue eyes dance between yours and Thor's as the tears stream down your cheeks. "It's okay. It's okay, Loki. You did well today. I'm so proud of you," you reassure him before leaning forward to press a delicate kiss to his cheek.

You and Thor are silent as Loki slowly closes his eyes, watching the raven-haired man take his last breath. You hold your sobs in as Thor rests his head against the man's chest.

As the three of you walk away from Loki's body, you can't help but look back at the deceased man. You swallow thickly as Thor grabs a hold of Jane's waist before the Bifrost picks the three of you up.

"Are you coming to earth?" Thor asks you once you all reach Asgard. You shake your head in reply, needing some time to yourself. "Go save the planet, buddy."

He nods his head before the two of them hop over to earth. You slowly walk across the bridge towards the center of Asgard as a million thoughts are running through your head.

You were sure Loki's right-handed… so why was he using his left if it was weaker out of the two. You run your hands through your hair as you decide to go tell Odin about his son.

You bow to Odin once you reach the Throne room and notice the older man holding his staff in his left hand. You furrow your brows as you've always seen him holding it in his right. Something's not right…

"My king, I have a quick question for you," you mumble and take a few steps towards him.

"Of course, Lady Y/N, by all means," he muses and you smile softly.

You fiddle with your fingers as you make it halfway up the steps, standing four feet away from him. "Correct me if I'm wrong…" you trail off and look him straight in the eyes, "but Loki was right-handed, yes?"

"You are correct. What does this-" Odin starts but you cut him off with a dark chuckle.

"It's funny because before Loki died, I witnessed him fighting with his left hand. Now, that doesn't make any sort of sense now does it?" You ask in a sweet voice, smirking at the man.

Odin stands up from his chair and tries to leave when you press your hand to the man's chest, stopping him from leaving. "You dare put your hands on me?!" He growls and grabs a hold of your wrist.

You narrow your eyes at the man before pushing him back into his seat. You tsked before straddling his lap, glad that you're the only two in the room otherwise you surely would be killed for your actions.

"You want to answer my question now?" You ask as Odin sets his staff into the holder, his hands resting on your hips. "Why would Loki use his left hand instead of his right?!"

Odin clears his throat as his eyes meet yours, a sigh leaving his lips. "Ah, uhm, well you see my dear-"

"What's the matter, my king?" You ask innocently as your hands roam up the armor he's wearing. "Cat got your silver tongue?"

You smirk as the man's eyes widen, his grip on your hips tightening. "How-"

"I'm not an idiot," you simply mumble as the illusion of Odin disappears.

Loki lets out a deep sigh while leaning back on the throne. "No one's ever been able to tell the difference," he mumbles and you let out a laugh, shaking your head at the man.

"That's because most people don't pay attention as I do," you tell him and Loki's hands trail up your sides.

"Please don't tell anyone."

You make a face as you hear the plea leave Loki's lips. "It must be painful for you to beg," you whisper while bringing your face closer to his.

The man's eyes glance up at yours before fluttering shut. "Y/N-"

You shush him before pressing your lips to his. Loki groans beneath you as his hand slides up the middle of your back before gripping the back of your neck, holding you in place.

A giggle leaves your lips as he kisses you back, a low growl escaping his throat. "You little minx," Loki mumbles against your lips after pulling away, his hips grinding up against you.

"You love it," you tell him softly and a laugh leaves his pink lips.

-

Taglist: @poweredbyghostadventures @valentine5sos​ @deephideoutmilkshake @jessalyn-jpeg​ @noisynightmarefest​ @albinoclifford @suchalonelysunflower​ @maddz-world​ @queen-of-mischief​

[justnerdthings]

Frigid Heart Ch. 1

F!Reader x Bi-Han

The first chapter. I'm not sure how good it is. I'll admit that I don't know much about Bi-Han.

I'm planning this fic to start off in the 1600's and then skip to modern day. But who knows if it'll happen that way.

Title by the lovely @khadrimxart

You were tossed from the cage at the Grandmaster's feet. You were such a beauty, even if you were from a rival clan. A servant girl, but one who had impressed the Lin Kuei, who had attacked your clan. You had such fury and loyalty for your dead masters that you had managed to hold your own against several Lin Kuei assassins. That was, until Sub-Zero had shown up. The Grandmaster looked from you, then to Sub-Zero.

"Are we taking prisoners now, Sub-Zero?" He asked with a raised brow.

"This one managed to fend off a few of our assassins," Tundra answered, bringing up the rear of the group.

"Oh?" The Grandmaster looked over the group, then back to you on the ground. Lifting a foot, he wouldn't even grace you with his hand as he raised your chin to get a look at your face. He grinned at your beauty, even with your face bruised and sliced, he could see it. The Lin Kuei had use for beauties like you.

You spat at him. Bloodied saliva splattered his leg.

He sneered. "Insolence!" He hissed and kicked you in the side of the head with an armored foot. You hit the ground like dead weight, knocked out from the sharp blow. The Grandmaster looked to his group of assassins with that scowl still on his face. "Who did she defeat?" He demanded, looking to each of their faces accusingly.

"No one who is here," Smoke answered, earning him an inquisitive look. "They were weak. We dealt with them."

The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes, but didn't question it. If they couldn't cut down a simple servant woman, then they deserved to be disposed of. "And who finally captured her?"

"Sub-Zero," Cyrax answered.

"Sub-Zero." The Grandmaster turned his attention to Bi-Han. "Well done. Though, I doubt she was much of a threat to you."

Bi-Han wouldn't have admitted it even if you were. "Not at all," he confirmed. "Smoke is right. Those other assassins were weak. They're not a problem anymore."

The Grandmaster smiled with a pleased nod. He could always count on this little group to do what was necessary. But there was still the matter of this wretched thing on the ground. He looked back to your limp body. "Well, she is your prisoner, Sub-Zero. Do what you will with her…" he trailed off, curious to what Bi-Han had planned.

Bi-Han bowed his head in gratitude, but said nothing else. The Grandmaster almost frowned at being denied Bi-Han's plans, but it wasn't of importance. He brushed it off. He turned to the rest of the group. "You've all earned your rest," he said with a dismissive wave. The mission had been completed. There was nothing more to do for the moment.

You woke as cold water splashed over you. You gasped and shrieked as your body tensed in chilled shock. Your hands were chained to a stone wall, and you had been stripped naked. Unable to hide yourself, you shivered on the cold stone floor. Two older women were standing only feet away. They gave you sympathetic looks. One held a bundle of clean clothes. The other lifted a bucket as she stepped forward.

The chilled water was splashed over you again. You gave another shout as it stung your naked skin. "Stop!" You demanded.

"You will be cleansed," the bucket wielding woman told you with an air of authority. She was obviously the one in charge. The other only bowed her head.

"Let me go, you old bat!"

"Bah!" She stepped over and smacked you hard across the face. It stung worse than the Arctika water. "You are in no position to give me orders! You are a prisoner of the Lin Kuei!"

"Fuck the Lin Kuei!" You hissed. But it only got you smacked again.

"You will respect the Lin Kuei! It is because of the Lin Kuei that you have been allowed to continue breathing."

"I'd rather die than be your prisoner."

"If you keep speaking, you may get your wish," The elder woman spat. She turned and gestured to the other woman to come forward. "You will change into these clothes."

"I will run."

"Where to?" She looked back to you. "Look around. You are in the dungeon. The door to this cell is locked from the outside where two guards stand. You can not run."

"Then I will fight."

"Then you will die," the woman said. She took the clothes from the other woman, who then hurried to unlock the chains from the your wrists. Being freed, you shifted your gaze between the two. They didn't look like fighters. You might have been able to take them… but what of the guards on the other side of that door?

The clothes were thrusted into your chest. Instinctively you held them. "Change. Now," the older woman ordered impatiently.

You stood there, staring at the two. The quiet one gave you a pleading look. You unfolded the clothes, finding them to be a simple blue hanfu. You quickly slipped into it, thankful once you had. Your shivering nearly stopped as the hanfu held in some body heat. You were handed a sash and quickly secured it around your waist, keeping the clothing closed around you. A simple pair of slippers were dropped at your feet. You stepped into them, surprised that they had fit correctly.

Seeing as they were cleaning and clothing you, it seemed unlikely that they were planning to kill you. And the hanfu, while simple, was good quality… much nicer than the rags your old masters had given you. You felt out of place already.

“You will not speak unless asked to,” The older woman told you. Your brows knotted to her, but her soul piercing glare cut through you. You looked away, to the stone floor, and nodded silently. You may have been able to fend off some of the Lin Kuei, but you were no match for that stronger one that had shown up back in your village. “Good.” She sighed in some relief that you had quickly learned your place. “Did your old masters give you a name?” She asked.

You shook your head. “My parents named me. Y/N.”

The woman hesitated. “A shame.” You looked up with confusion. “It is a pretty name, but it is no longer yours,” she explained. “Your new master may wish to give you a new name.”

You jaw hardened.

“Your old life is dead. Do you hear me, girl?”

You nodded, feeling a knot grow in the pit of your stomach.

“Whatever attachment you had to your old life, has been severed.”

You nodded again.

“Now, come here,” The woman said. You turned and she gripped your arms tight. She caught your eyes with hers and frowned. “I know this is difficult, but it will be easier if you just do what you are told. The Lin Kuei are not as cruel as your old masters have led you to believe. However, the Lin Kuei are harsh in their expectations.” She gave you a small shake and straightened your posture up. “Which clan are you from?”

“The Snow Ninjas,” you answered, letting your eyes drift back down to the floor.

She caught your chin firmly and tilted your head up to make you look back to her. “Are women treated well in The Snow Ninjas clan?”

Your jaw hardened and you shook your head.

She sighed. “And yet, you have such a mouth… Be wise and watch your words. We are not treated well here either. We are servants and comfort women. Some are prized for their beauty. Those with desirable traits and abilities are often used to continue bloodlines.

Your jaw hurt as you further clenched it.

“I can see beyond those bruises and scars on your face… You have been blessed with beauty. Do everything in your power to retain it for as long as possible. Your life will be easier here if you do.” She sighed heavily and brushed a stray clinging hair behind your ear. “Do you understand?”

You nodded.

“Good. Now, let’s get you upstairs and tend to these cuts.”

As much as you hated being in the Lin Kuei’s little village, you would admit that it was rather… cozy. As the two women led you along the courtyard that you had been so unceremoniously dumped on earlier, you noticed eyes on you. Servants and Assassins alike were curious of Sub-Zero’s new slave. Apparently, he’d never agreed to have one before--not his own anyway. He was a very private man. Of course everyone was wondering why he’d decided to keep you.

You were led to a small cottage just outside the courtyard. Lily, you’d since learned the name of the older woman, opened the door which you were surprised to see was unlocked. “He is not here at the moment, but you are expected. Come,” She waved you over. You stepped into the house and froze at the sight. Apparently Sub-Zero had never learned to use a broom… How could the man live like this? Everything was strewn about. Walking through with Lily, even the small kitchen was piled with objects that did not belong. He obviously did little cooking, if at all. Lily sighed at the sight, as if this wasn’t the first time she’d seen this mess.

“This man, I swear,” she mumbled and shook her head, casting shame to the chaos. You couldn’t help but grin at her reaction. “Well, I suppose you ought to clean up a bit.” Your grin faded. You turned your head to look at her nervously. She placed a hand on your shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “Good luck, dear. And remember what I’ve told you. And don’t be getting any ideas about running off. There is nothing around here for hundreds of miles. You’ll freeze to death before making it anywhere.”

You frowned at the idea of not being able to get to safety. “Thank you…” You watched her step away and out the door. She closed it behind her, leaving you in the strange pig-sty of a home. This would take hours to sort through.

Stars shimmered in the sky by the time Sub-Zero came home. Stepping in, he pulled his mask from his face and tossed it onto the side table—

The side table that used to be right there…

Now his mask was on the floor. He stared at it in confusion before looking up. His mess--his things… They were gone! His jaw hardened. Had he been robbed? Who would dare to rob him?!

A strange, but enticing scent wafted to his nose. It filled his house. Meat? Spices? Food? His brows knotted as he stepped further into his home. He stepped around a corner to see a woman in the kitchen. That’s when he remembered you--his new servant. His shoulders relaxed, mentally kicking himself for having forgotten about you. He watched you silently until you caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of your eye.

You froze, not sure what to say… or do. You recognized his eyes. That was the man who easily overwhelmed you back home. Of course he would be your new master... What did the Lin Kuei expect of their servants? Lily hadn’t told you many details. Were you even supposed to be cooking? You supposed you were about to find out.

He stepped towards you, eyeing you up and down for only a moment before he followed his nose to the pot in the hearth. You couldn’t read his face as he peeked inside, but he hadn’t shouted. That was good, right?

Bi-Han hadn’t ever come home to a hot meal. Of course he’d eaten hot food, usually in the palace’s dining hall where some other Lin Kuei got their meals. But never in his own home--from his own kitchen. A surprise, but an interesting one. And his home… it was spotless!

“Where are my things?” He asked slowly, almost accusingly as he straightened from the pot to look at you.

You were all kinds of tense looking into his eyes. You opened your mouth to answer, but hesitated for a second. “I… cleaned,” you said pathetically. Of course you’d cleaned. That wasn’t what he’d asked at all. “I organized…” You’d corrected yourself. “What are you looking for, Master?”

His eyes flinched hearing that last word. That would take some getting used to. “Show me,” he told you.

Your brows knotted. Show him… what? Where everything was? “Oh… Yes, Master.” You bowed your head and cautiously stepped towards the cabinets. Opening them, you showed him where all the eatery was. Another cabinet held herbs and spices. Pots and pans hung over the hearth. In the small hallway, a narrow table had an oil lamp placed on it, in its drawer were small odds and ends. The sitting room, the furniture had all been cleared off and cleaned. Bi-Han silently wondered when he had acquired a hardwood sofa. You showed him the closet, which had the broom he also hadn’t realized he’d had. Wooden boxes lined the walls, full of various things, trinkets he’d gotten on missions--treasures. Led to the bedroom, he was surprised to see his bed had been made. His dresser had been straightened out, his clean clothes folded neatly, each type having its own drawer. And his closet… The weapons and armor he’d collected over the years were neatly displayed, ready to grab at a moment’s notice. You were certainly earning your keep already.

“I apologize that I have not had time yet to tend to your laundry,” you spoke cautiously, flinching in anticipation of some sort of punishment… But it didn’t come. You relaxed as he stepped away. Your brows rose curiously. “Master?”

“You will have plenty of time tomorrow,” he said, walking out of his room and heading for the kitchen. You followed him quickly as relief washed over you. You had already planned to do his laundry tonight, but tomorrow was a welcomed idea. “What is this?” He asked, pointing to the hearth as he sat at the table.

“Nothing impressive. Again, my apologies. I only had time for a quick stew.”

Bi-Han hid his amusement. You had said it wasn’t impressive, but to him, it was. In the time since you’d been brought to his home, you had done more than he had expected. Much more. Obviously you were a skilled servant. “Is it done?” He asked.

A panic surged through you. You hurried forward. Of course. He must have been hungry. You hadn’t seen him since you were brought to the Lin Kuei. You weren’t sure if he had eaten all day. You quickly grabbed a bowl and spoon. You filled the bowl and brought it to him, bowing your head as you placed it on the table in front of him.

That may have been the best stew Bi-Han had ever tasted.

[eastofthemoon]

Title: A Rose Has Thorns

Rating: G

Series: The Owl House

Characters/Pairings: Hunter/Willow

Summary: It was Hunter's first solo mission since he left the Emperor's Coven and moved into the Owl House. All he had to achieve was purchase a few items at the market. That should be simple, right? 

Archive of Our Own

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Luz asked.

Hunter sighed as he held up the list, swinging the basket over his shoulder. “I can handle a shopping trip, Luz.”

“Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you’re not exactly used to things like shopping,” Luz retorted. “I mean, from what Lilith said about the Emperor's Coven...”

Hunter couldn’t deny that. Most of the domestic chores in the Emperor’s Coven were handled by servants or abominations. Hunter had never even done his own laundry until he found himself living at the Owl House.

That had been an interesting lesson. Eda claimed Hunter had done well, but Hunter had a hunch that setting clothes on fire was not as common as Eda claimed.

Hunter sighed as his cardinal flew to his shoulder. “Look, I’ll be fine. I have my palisman with me and I have actually bought things before.”

Luz chewed her lower lip. “Yeah, but-”

Eda placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder. “Let him go, kiddo. If Hunter wants to do this solo we've gotta respect that.”

“Besides, it’s not like he could do any worse than you did,” King called out from the couch. “He just has to avoid trusting any wizards.”

Hunter raised an eyebrow. “Why would I trust a wizard? They’re famous for being shady-”

“Oh, wow, would you look at the time,” Luz said nervously as she pointed over her shoulder. “I have to, uh, go get ready for my date with Amity! See you later, Hunter! Byyyyyye!”

Luz hastily dashed out of the room. Hunter turned to Eda.

“Do I... want to know?” he asked.

“Meh, I'll fill you in on the blackmail later,” Eda said as she crossed her arms. “Seriously, kid, you sure you don’t want to at least take King with you?”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “For the last time, I’ll be fine. I’ll be back within the hour.”

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

Two hours later, Hunter couldn't suppress the twitch in his eyelid. He had finally managed to find almost every item on the list... except for formian crystal. He was almost tempted to just return empty-handed, but he knew the house needed it for their crystal ball - whatever his opinions on King's shows.

Besides, it was a matter of pride at this point. After his declarations, how could he prove to Luz and Eda that he could be useful and handle things like a normal person if he didn't return with every item on the list?

Unacceptable.

His cardinal gave a comforting tweet. It had tried to give him some suggestions, but hadn’t been in the market place for a long time. So in spite of intentions, the little palisman knew even less than Hunter.

Hunter patted the cardinal’s head as he glanced around the various shoppers passing by. There were many less people around at this time of day which admittedly is why he had come alone. There was a much lower risk of one of the Emperor Coven guards spotting and arresting him on the spot.

Still, Hunter wasn’t thrilled with the idea of asking someone for help. What if they recognized him and reported him? Maybe if he picked the right shopkeeper- Wait. Not far from him were a couple of girls close to his age.

Chances of them turning me in is lower, Hunter thought and walked over. At least if they're anywhere near as anti-authority as the human. I’ll ask them.

The two girls were laughing over some joke, but stopped abruptly as they noticed Hunter approaching.

“Hey, can I ask you two a quick question?” he asked.

The girl with pink hair and three eyes looked at him and smirked. “If you mean where to get a better fashion sense, that is not going to be a 'quick' answer.  Where do we even begin?”

“Uh no,” Hunter said with a raised eyebrow. “I just wanted to know where I could find someone selling formian crystal.”

The other girl tapped her chin in thought. “Um. That's for old crystal balls, right?  I think there’s a booth over in the east-”

“West side,” the pink haired girl jumped in with a grin. “She means there’s a seller on the far west side of the market.” She turned to her friend. “Right, Skara?”

The girl named Skara blinked, but then nodded rapidly. “Oh..uh, yeah, like Boscha said.” She gave a shaky smile and pointed. “To the far, far west side.  Nearly...outside the market?”

“West side, okay,” Hunter said as he started walking in that direction. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” the girl named Boscha said with a smirk.

Hunter found her a bit odd, but he was too worn out from shopping to worry about it.

“Last item.  Last item!  I can do this.  I just need to get this done so we can head home,” he said aloud to his cardinal.

Another hour later, Hunter had been up and down the west side of the market three times but he still hadn’t found any formian crystal.

“Where is it,” he grumbled as his cardinal hovered nearby. “It’s supposed to be here!”

The cardinal tweeted in his ear.

“No, I will not just go home,” Hunter said as they continued to walk. “I can't fail my mission, and it isn't complete until I find-”

Suddenly, he walked straight into someone's back. The pair of them let out a grunt as each, separately, stumbled and fell to the ground.

Hunter quickly forgot about his annoyance as he scrambled to his feet. “Sorry, are you okay?”

The person he had bumped into was another girl. She waved off his concern as she adjusted her glasses and dusted the dirt off her clothes.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a small smile. “A little dirt never hurt anyone.”

A bee palisman carrying a small basket hovered nearby and the girl gave it a pat on the head. “I’m okay, Clover - oh dear.”

Hunter looked down and saw what she had noticed. The items from his basket had fallen out when he had crashed into her.

“Great,” Hunter grumbled as he knelt down and started picking them up. “Just what I needed.”

He started gathering up and inspecting the items for damage, engrossed in his task until a jar of toad jam was suddenly thrust in his face. He hadn’t realized the girl was kneeling next to him and was helping to gather everything

Hunter blushed. “Uh, thanks,” he replied. Why didn’t I see that?

“You're welcome,” the girl replied, still smiling. “Do you need help with anything else?”

Hunter sighed. “Actually, yes,” he said as he rose. “Can you tell me where I can get some formian crystal?”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Formian crystal?  Here?”

“Yes.  The vendor that’s supposed to be stationed in this area.”

The girl frowned. “Um..last time I checked, no one in this part of the market has ever sold anything like that.  This is the area for fertilizers, cloth dyes, and any of the really pungent produce.”

“What?!” Hunter cried. “But that Boscha girl said there was a stall here for it.”

The girl’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she held a tight frown. “Wait, Boscha? Three eyed girl with pink hair? She told you to come here?”

Hunter didn’t like where this was going. “Uh, yes. I’ve been searching for over an hour.”

The girl sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Boscha, honestly…” She shook her head. “I kind of hate to tell you this, but she lied.”

“What?” Hunter growled. “Why would she do that?”

 Was it all a trap? Was she working with the Emperor’s Coven-

“Because she’s a mega jerk and probably thought sending you to the 'smelly' end of the market would be funny,” the girl replied firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. “She has a twisted sense of humor.” She pointed to herself. “Personal experience.”

“Oh,” Hunter mumbled. “That kind of makes sense.”

He glanced over the list. Maybe he should just head back now. He had wasted enough time as is and there would be...concerns if he wasn’t back soon.

The girl gave a small smile and pointed. “Come on, I’ll take you there.”

Hunter blinked. “Um..take me where?”

“To where you can get some formian crystal.”

Hunter frowned and tilted his head. “You will? But... why?”

“Because I want to,” the girl replied. “Besides, I was heading in that direction anyway.”

Hunter paused. Should he trust her? What if this was another trick? But without her intelligence, he had no way to avoid failing his objective.

“Are you coming?” the girl asked with a concerned frown.

Hunter shook his head. “Yes, sorry.  I was just lost in thought.”

The girl smiled back. “I’m Willow by the way.”

“Hunter,” he replied, frowning to himself. Willow? That name sounds familiar. Wonder why?

He tossed the thought aside and quickly caught up with her.

True to Willow’s word, she took her directly to a stall selling assorted magical crystals, including what he was looking for. She even helped him bargain to get it a few snails cheaper.

Hunter tucked the small bag carefully in the basket.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” Willow replied with a smile. “I know what it’s like dealing with a bully far too well.”

So, do I, but on a different scale, Hunter thought as his mind drifted back to the Emperor’s Coven.

His cardinal tweeted and Hunter patted his head. “I have to get home, but thanks again for the help.”

“Sure thing,” Willow said as she began to walk in the other direction, the bee buzzing busily beside her. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Hunter said with a wave.

As he walked home. The girl’s name bugged him. Willow...Willow...I know I've heard that name somewhere, but where?

Hunter got his answer exactly two days later.

Luz had invited two of her friends over for a 'study session'. Amity had apparently been dragged off into ‘bonding sibling time’ with her brother and sister, which was admittedly a bit of a relief for Hunter. She was still suspicious of him over that whole Eclipse Lake business.

Gus was the first to arrive. He seemed wary of Hunter, but was mostly friendly.

“If Luz says you’re okay, then I’m willing to trust her opinion,” Gus said. “She’s a pretty good judge of character.  Besides, it's hard to pull the wool over an illusionist's eyes!”

Hunter couldn’t help but agree with him.  Or at least his opinion of Luz.

They chatted for a bit before Luz’s other friend arrived. Hearing a new, and yet somewhat familiar voice, Hunter raised his head and froze.

It was the same girl who had helped him at the market. It was only then his brain connected the dots.

Willow, as in Luz’s friend Willow who she talks about all the time, Hunter thought with a gulp. Cursing his poor memory, he stood up.

“And this is Hunter,” Luz said as she pointed to Hunter. “Also formerly known as - wait for it - the Golden Guard.”

Willow gave a shaky smile, but it vanished as she spotted Hunter. The basket slipped from her fingers, kept up only by her bee palisman's efforts.

Hunter coughed as he gave a sheepish wave. “Um...hi?”

He could feel everyone’s eyes on them as the silence between the two of them continued.

She’s probably just as surprised as I am, Hunter thought.

Luz got in between them and frowned. “Something wrong?”

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh...we've met before. Actually."

Luz tilted her head as Gus grasped his chin in thought, muttering under his breath.

“You have? When?” Luz asked.

“Uhh…” Hunter stammered as he struggled to find an explanation that wouldn’t have Luz fretting over him.

“In my dads’ shop,” Willow chimed in quickly, fending off King's attempt to climb her and peer into her basket.

Hunter blinked. “The shop?”

Willow gave him a look and suddenly he understood.

“Rrriigghhhttt,” Hunter said slowly and gave a shaky smile. “I was just curious so I popped in for a quick look.”

“Yeah, and we had a nice little chat,” Willow added.

“Oh,” Luz said as she placed an arm around Hunter’s shoulder. “Man, the Boiling Isles.  Small world, am I right?”

“Suspiciously small,” Gus commented, tapping the spine of a book.

“Who cares,” King said as he pointed at Willow. “The important thing is that I’m smelling tasty yum-yums that should be in my tum-tum, but they're still in that basket.  You have brought tribute to your monarch, and it must be delivered!”

Willow smiled. “You're right!” she glanced at Luz. “It’s snaggle bread but my dads left out the fairy wings so Luz can enjoy it.”

“Aw, that was nice of them,” Luz said as she moved to take the basket. “How about I get some plates?”

“I can do it, I know where they are,” Willow offered as she headed into the kitchen.

“Okay,” Luz said. “There should be some toad jam in the cupboard too!  Fresh from the market!”

Hunter glanced behind as his cardinal landed on his shoulder.

“Um..I’ll go make us some tea,” Hunter offered as he pointed. “Be right back.”

He ignored their baffled expressions as he ventured into the kitchen. Willow didn’t turn around. Hunter hesitated, considering talking to her, but finally just moved towards the kettle in silence, turning on the tap.

More silence followed until Hunter turned off the tap and placed the full kettle onto the stove.

The clearing of a throat caused Hunter to look up. Willow had finished arranging slices of bread on a plate with the jar of jam, and was rifling through the butter knives.

“Ssssooo,” Willow began as her bee fetched teacups from the pantry, “I’m assuming you didn’t want Luz to hear how we actually met?”

Hunter covered his face with one hand. “Yes, please,” he groaned. “If she found out how my first shopping trip went, she would never let me live it down.”

Willow’s face softened. “Luz isn’t like that,” she admonished as her bee palisman landed on her shoulder. “But I get how being tricked by Boscha can be kind of embarrassing, so I’ll respect your pride.”

Hunter sighed. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”

Willow crossed her arms. “However, there is something else I want to make clear.” Her eyes narrowed. “Amity and I do talk about things, after all."

Hunter sighed. He’d been expecting this. “All right, let me have...it?”

Suddenly, Willow was holding one of the knives and was stomping forward. Hunter barely had time to react before he found himself pinned against the wall. His cardinal gave a concerned tweet, but the bee was buzzing angrily nearby and it stayed where it was on the counter.

Hunter could theoretically get out of this. Probably. Maybe. Willow was shorter than him and he had more training, but she had a weapon and he didn't - not to mention the sheer determination shining in her eyes.

“Luz is a very dear friend to me, and I care a lot about King, Eda and Hooty,” Willow stated firmly as she held the butter knife unwaveringly. “Now.  I do believe in second chances.  That's why Amity and I are friends again.”

“Under...stood,” Hunter said slowly, wondering how a simple butter knife could be more threatening than Kikimora's clawed monsters.

“I do, however, wish to inform you that Luz is friends with a plant witch.  Plant witches know about plants.  Including which ones are very toxic,” Willow pulled his shirt collar close until both of their noses were touching. “If you betray Luz, or Gus, or Amity or anyone in this house you'll get first-hand knowledge of dragon fly blossoms.”

“The... burning, stinging kind?” Hunter guessed.

“The same,” Willow said as her bee gave another buzz. “Do we have an understanding?”

“Clear as formian crystal,” Hunter replied as he held up his hands.

Willow’s smile returned. She slipped the butter knife up her sleeve and her bee suddenly became much calmer.

“Good,” she said and took a deep breath as she steadied herself. “Oh boy, that took a lot out of me.”

Hunter wasn’t sure how to reply, but was thankfully saved by King’s voice.

“Where are those snacks?!” he cried. “Your tiny tyrant is getting hungry here!”

“Be right there,” Willow called as she gathered up the plates. “Coming?”

“In a minute.  I, um.  Need to wait for the water to boil to make tea,” Hunter added quickly.

Willow smiled, nodded and left the kitchen.

Hunter took deep breaths until he heard the kettle boil, removed it from the stove and started pouring it over the teabags. As he was putting the lid on the teapot Hooty extended his head into the kitchen window.

“Wooow, that was intense,” Hooty commented.

“No kidding,” Hunter commented as his cardinal landed on his shoulder and then paused. “Wait, you saw the whole thing?”

“I see everything in this house,” Hooty replied cheerfully.  "Eeeeeverythiiiiing."

“And you didn’t do anything?  Say anything?!” Hunter asked.

“Willow wouldn’t have hurt you unless she had to,” Hooty replied as he smiled. “She’s a lovely lady who's as sweet as a dragon fly blossom.”

Hunter kind of understood. Helping out during his first shopping trip proved what kind of person she was. And yet, there was that look in her eyes. Willow, for all her sweetness, was clearly also a person who was willing to protect those around her.  Whatever the cost.

Even A Rose Has Thorns, Hunter thought.

It was a line from one of Belos’s old books. Hunter never quite understood the significance. Of course roses had thorns. It was just how they were.

He looked to where Willow had stood. Now he felt like he understood the full significance.

“She’s very admirable,” Hunter muttered, andis cardinal tweeted in agreement.

He glanced at Hooty and saw the house demon was smirking at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You liiiiike her,” Hooty sang as he wiggled about.

Hunter blushed. “What? Well...Yes, I mean I hope to be her friend.”

“Oh, old Hooty has been around all the blocks!  This is clearly the beginning of a slow-burning subconscious unrequited crush,” Hooty replied in a sly tone.  "That is, for noooooow~"

Hunter waved his hands in the air. “What makes you think that?!”

“Oh, I don't knooooow," Hooty smirked.  "Why are you blushing?”

The words died in Hunter’s mouth as he fumbled with the kettle, putting it aside and sweeping the teapot onto a tray.

“I’m leaving now,” he declared.

“Feel free to ask me for advice,” Hooty called to his retreating back. “I’m knowledgeable in all the glorious and sinister ways of the heart! Just look at how I helped Lumity set sail!  Literally!”

Hunter vowed he would never ask as he left the kitchen.  And did his best to ignore the tweeting of the cardinal on his shoulder.