#greed and indifference do

[inariedwards]

Hey friends of queer history, have you seen Gran Fury's poster "Kissing Doesn't Kill"? You can check it out at the V&A's collection.

[cautuscoralcoast]

The Flesh, Blood, Bone, Heart and Soul : There once was a knight who wished to be the wicked dragon

Laios Touden x Monster! reader

Synopsis - In which the lion tempts Laios into giving into his darkest, false desires. You are none the wiser as you laid on the dinner table in a daze—as the apple, the lion tempts Laios to take a bite.

Word Count: 7k.

Tw. Mentions of cannibalism, minor suggestive sexual themes (dubcon), descriptive imagery of eating the reader, lots of blood, major depictions of violence, spoilers for the manga (especially the ending), viewer's discretion is advised

Prev.

The lion has plans for the both of you: Gluttony.

You, who refused to reside in lavish and were repulsed by the sight and taste of flesh.

Laios, who fed into his greed to consume the flesh of monsters for his own satisfaction.

He who couldn't understand the most basics of non-verbal communication; You communicating through the language barrier with the mermaids, often with just non-verbal communication.

You were far from human, and you possessed more humanity than most sinful humans—that's why the lion couldn't call you perfect: Simply just a mockery

What the lion wants is to consume Laios' desires. For Laios, his desires were so potent and much more unique than any other person to have entered the dungeon that the lion just wanted to see that desire bear fruit. It would be something magnificent, so savory, and rejuvenating: The lion wanted it.

And you were part of that.

Canaries, that boy from Utaya, and Yaad, they all posed a threat to his plans.

If the lion could get you to follow along, then perhaps things could flow much better. You and Laios could vow to stay together, and in doing so, the demon gets what it wants.

The only thing is, you were far from human. A monster by nature and an abomination by creation. Though, that never stopped Laios.

The problem was that you wanted nothing more but cry in your own lamentations.

Lonely and devastated from facing your cruel reality, you asked, "Why have you forsaken me with sentience?"

"You desired to desire, and so I granted your wish. Are you not satisfied?"

"I never desired to desire. I had no thought, no mind, no heart or soul: I was epidermis, mesoglea, and gastrodermis. No blood, no bones, no flesh—I was a plant once. Then I flowered into a jellyfish. Jellyfish don't have souls to want. What am I?"

"What you are is something far from logic."

"What am I?"

"You are a jellyfish who became the monstrous sea leviathan of the dungeon."

"What am I?"

"You are the one who is blessed with the water's loving embrace."

"What am I?"

"You are the monarch of mermaids."

"What am I?"

"You are (y/n)."

"What am I?"

"You are my child."

"What am I?"

"I am unable to answer that."

"What am I?"

𓆞𓆝 𓆟

Laios didn't know what to think of you at first.

He was excited at the prospect of discovering a new monster; But alas, that was all he thought of you: A Monster. Just another monster that tried to kill him, and another monster he ate the flesh of. There was nothing more to it.

But then it saved him.

"My name is (y/n), I am the monarch of the mermaids and arbitor of the dungeon's waters. Just who might you be?"

A monster capable of communicating and is able to distinguish itself from others. A sapient monster that is able to communicate with those like him, but the fact that it's in the dungeon is evidence that it is a monster.

Yet, when Laios kept prodding at its body and tampering with its tentacles, the monster never once grew angered by his actions. Even when he supposedly did something horrible to mermaids, the monster still remained patient with him. When Laios told it that it ate its flesh, the monster, instead of becoming enraged, it stayed indifferent about the situation. The monster never tried to harm him.

Rather, it helped him find his friends. When the monster proposed to bring him underwater, he wasn't sure if it were a trap: If this monster was a succubus, a manifestation of his desires. However, the monster did not lie.

When Laios told the monster about the boundless oceans and seas, the look in its eyes was so normal. This monster was able to see right through his soul. It knew how to respond and what to say to keep him calm. It was far more human than he ever could.

It was an odd thought. A monster was more understanding of emotion and feelings while he, a human, struggles with even the most basic forms of communication.

Now that they part, Laios couldn't help but turn around one last time, and he saw the melancholic monarch.

"I promise."

They would never be human like he was. They were far too monstrous to be an elf or a dwarf. But somehow, they were so alive.

Laios doesn't regret eating their tentacles. It was something he ate before meeting the lovely monarch. He can't blame himself for doing so, and likewise, he doesn't blame you for almost drowning him. So they're even in horrible things done to each other.

"LAIOS!"

"It wasn't a monster."

It was a statement he said that even he was in disbelief. You were a monster, and yet you understood more than he ever could. Laios couldn't see your discomfort when he prodded at you or when he told you that he ate your flesh. Yet, you were able to realize the faintest sign of doubt and understanding of his thoughts.

You were definitely a monster.

"Did you know that mermaids can and will have a monarchy if a leader is seen as capable? Mermaids tend to travel in small groups, but the monster we saw was the monarch of the mermaids. It isn't just a few—it's all the mermaids in the dungeon! There also were so many species that were thought to have gone extinct in the dungeon water! They glow in the dark! This monster is named (y/n), and it was able to cast a spell of some sort to allow me to breathe underwater, and that's how I'm here. I made a page here in my book! With the bottom of jellyfish and the top of 'mermaid', they're able to hold a conversation with me! This means that there are monsters that can think like tall-men, elves, dwarves, and those alike!."

Senshi was too busy cooking, and Marcille and Chilchuck stopped listening at the "glow in the dark" part to stare at Laios as if he had gone mad.

"You get taken by mermaids, and you're happy!?!" Chilchuck grabbed the book and looked at the sketch. "Isn't this the monster that tried to kill you the other day?"

"Not trying to kill me!" Laios looked rather proud at the statement. "It didn't say why it picked me up, but it—they apologized for scaring us."

Marcille gripped her staff tightly as she opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She sighed and said, "As long as you're alive, it's alright, I guess. There's no saving Falin if you're gone."

"Oh–yeah."

"You didn't forget, did you?"

"First, you say you're glad, and now this? I can't believe you, Laios."

Senshi just shook his head in disappointment.

"I—I didn't mean it like that!"

𓆞𓆝 𓆟

Laios is Laios. Falin is Falin. Marcille is Marcille. Chilchuck is Chilchuck. Senshi is Senshi. Izutsumi is Izutsumi.

They all were so similar despite their different backgrounds and race. Even then, among family and those of the same race, they were very different. With hobbies, interests, dislikes, stories, and soul is what made them, them.

So what about monsters?

They all were of the same species with the same instincts and appearance. There were little differences, and there was little true free will for them to differentiate themselves from each other.

So where did you stand?

To Laios, the answer was clear.

You were you.

You were a monster, yet you were far from one. You weren't a species similar to the eight he was familiar with, yet you were more sensible than he ever could be. You were a jellyfish, yet the only thing that resembled one were your tentacles. You weren't a mermaid, yet you shared many similarities.

It's these distinctions that made you: you.

There was nothing more enchanting than you. With the tentacles of a jellyfish, ears of a sea serpent, the appearance of a mermaid, you were truly something magnificent.

Laios wanted to become dungeon master in order to make a world safe for you and monsters alike: that was his wish. For Falin and the others to meet you and recognize your beauty the same way he did.

Desperate to save his sister from her monstrous state and his desire to live alongside monsters, he ignored the dangers of temptation the lion gave.

It was only Marcille, out of desperation, made a deal with the winged lion and became lord of dungeon, did Laios truly grasp the meaning of "dungeon master."

Nothing but a trap and prey for the lion go devour.

There was no love greater than what the demon could provide.

The winged lion was creature capable of drawing out the purest of desire: Raw instinct and pure desire as its core.

"Make me lord of the dungeon!"

To save Marcille and everyone else—to defeat the demon, Laios saw no other choice but fall into temptation.

"What a splendid person you have become; However, deep down inside, you haven't changed in the slightest. You are sick and tired of the human world."

As if in a trance, Laios found it difficult to find words to refute the demons claim. Feeling paranoid and agitated, Laios had no idea what to say. That confidence and sense of safety dissipated the moment the lion placed a finger on his chest. As if unraveling open his heart, the lion continued.

"So long as your friends are safe, you don't care if everyone else gets caught up in the dungeon's collapse."

That's a lie.

Laios isn't—couldn't be the only one to feel that way. Everyone else is just as selfish, right? There's no way that not one person doesn't feel the same way as him!

"You despise other humans; That's why you admire monsters so much. Monsters kill humans: They take forms that they can use to terrorize and slaughter humans. 'So cool,' you thought. 'How beautiful they are' I've seen you think. Why want a peaceful world when, in a peaceful world, dungeons and monsters disappear."

The lion walked farther and deeper into the void. Nearing towards what appeared to be a dinner table, the demon beckoned Laios to follow.

"If monsters disappear, you'll lose everything of interest: Your livelihood and passion. Do you really want that?"

The lion picked up a fork and knife and handed it to Laios.

"Falin will be safe, and Marcille won't have to die alone, that young jellyfish won't ever have to starve ever again: Everyone could be happy. Do you really want to choose a superficial and peaceful world over this?"

The lion turned Laios' attention to the dinner table. Laios gasped as he saw a monster not quite a mermaid, and far too similar to jellyfish: It was you. Laying on the table in a daze, covered in a variety of dishes and desserts, the monarch of mermaids remained paralyzed.

"The reason you were so intrigued by the dungeon was a rumor. 'The dungeon is able to turn people into monsters.' You want to be a monster, don't you?"

The lion grabbed Laios' hand with the fork and brought towards the monarch's stomach. Lightly pressing against the soft jelly‐like flesh, the lion continued to tempt Laios on. "You admire the monarch of sea because they had what you wanted. The ability to transform into something much more horrific than the damnest thing man has ever seen."

The lion pushed his hand; The fork piercing the skin and drawing a faint amount of water and blood out. "You want to eat, don't you? You want to taste the actual flesh and not just the flavorless tentacles."

Laios suddenly realized what was happening and tried to get away. "No! I can't eat (y/n)! They aren't a—"

"— a monster? What does it matter if the jellyfish is a monster? You ate plenty of monsters before. What makes this any different?"

"I—I don't..."

As Laios tried to move the fork away from your stomach, the lion chuckled and stopped Laios from moving the fork. Taking advantage of the situation, the demon further pushed in the fork all the way into the stomach of the monarch.

"You won't, even if I say you can become the monster you so desire?" This got Laios to halt all movement, and the lion let out a bellowed laugh. "Just eat the jellyfish, and everything can be yours."

The lion let go of Laios as it watched him pull out a bit of flesh. It looked bland but resembled more of actual meat with the blood oozing out and muscle strewn in deeper below. Laios put it in his mouth and swallowed. Uncooked and cold, it tasted bitter and sweet: It was delicious.

"Feast on flesh, and I'll make sure all your friends remain happy until their deaths."

Laios tore as far he could into the dense flesh and directly took a bite. Blood and water covered his face—clothes soaked in blood.

"Drink all the blood, I'll make so humans and monsters are able to co-exist without any harm towards monsters."

Laios climbed onto the table, grabbed your hand, and placed a finger in his mouth. Pushing your sharp nail onto his tongue, he forcefully drew out blood. He licked and sucked on your finger as he tasted his own blood. Biting down, he drank your blood.

"Chew on the bones, and the young monarch will be able to eat without regret."

You began to gain consciousness to see Laios on top of you. You tried to get up and ask Laios what he was doing. You felt liquid trickle done your chest and to your side. You fell back onto the table as Laios sat up and looked you. You saw blood running down his mouth; You felt as if you were missing something.

"Laios?" You were hardly auditable, but he heard you. Pushing your shoulders down, he went to gently bite your neck. "Ah—ah, what are you doing?"

"Trust me, alright?"

There was no need to ask. You already decided to trust Laios with everything you had the moment he remained truthful to you. You reached out and held onto his arms.

You noticed that the blood wasn't his, but rather yours. You looked at the wounds and missing skin and muscle. It wasn't something you weren't used to. Unable to feel pain, you aren't surprised you didn't notice. The thing that surprised you was the sensation of teeth and hands all over your body. Laios held you close at it was feeling you never felt. You didn't quite like it, nor did you hate it. You'd rather live without ever experiencing it.

"—and devour the heart."

Laios reached out and held your neck. He leaned closer and whispered, "Will you let me eat your heart?"

You brought a hand up and covered your face. With your other hand, you caressed his face. "I—I'm too tired to want to...."

With the winged lion looming over, Laios hastily went in to kiss you. Feeling blood seep into your mouth, you wondered for a moment if it was his or yours. Not that it mattered as the more you drank, the more drunk you felt tasting the metallic flavor.

Moving a hand up to your chest, Laios felt around, trying to find a heartbeat. You held and pulled on his hair as you continued to taste your own blood mixed with his. When you got enough, you pulled away and asked him, "Laios, what am I?"

Laios just gave you a saddened expression when he saw how lethargic you looked. Letting go of you, he hugged you tight.

"I don't know what you are, but all I need to know is that you are you: You are (y/n)."

You didn't say anything as you closed your eyes. That wasn't something you had never heard before; However, hearing him say it, it felt sincere.

Jellyfish don't have hearts. A jellyfish pretending to be a sea serpent don't have hearts. Sea serpents pretending to be a mermaid don't have hearts. You don't have heart.

Despite that fact, the time you spent with the mermaids: Them raising you and eventually making you their monarch—you felt as if you did have one. Even now, as Laios embraced you in his warmth, you felt as if that heart was real.

You gladly gave him your heart if it meant he'll use and protect it well.

You were fine.

You were you.

𓆟 𓆞𓆝

The hunger and gluttonous nature of all living things was what animal, monster, and man were so similar. No matter the differences in blood, flesh, bone, and hearts—the souls remain true. Do plants have souls? Do animals have souls? Do insects have souls? Do monsters have souls? Do we have souls?

Desire was what made the demon: Desire was something created from the need of the soul.

There was no need to know the answer at this moment—not as Laios got the first taste of desire.

Laios wondered how you lived before you met the mermaids. He wanted to know why you desired to know who you are. Even as he ate your heart, he still couldn't understand.

He wanted to know why you despised yourself and why you looked at him in such admiration. The same admiration he held for monsters. What was their to hate about your body? As a monster, Laios felt greater gods and above the world.

As he ate and ate away at the demon—eating its desire and existence—it cursed him.

Angered by the loss of its greatest desire and drive for life, the lion cursed him out of pure loathing.

"Laios Touden, I curse thee."

As the winged lion began to dissolve, it held Laios up by the shoulders and glared.

"Thy greatest desire shall never be granted."

Before Laios could understand what the meant, the lion spoke once again. "My goodness, what pathetic little creatures you are. Surely your kind exists for no other reason than to starve."

When all was left was the face, Laios swore he saw the lion smile. "I was mistaken about that child. That monarch alone was the greatest thing I have ever created. How I wish to tell them one last story."

"If I may desire just one last thing, I wish to grant one last blessing for that child."

Just one blessing to make that child happy.

The demon wished it could have loved you more.

𓆟 𓆞𓆝

When you woke up, you found yourself in the middle of a forest. You struggled to sit up with all the weight of your body. It felt uncomfortably dry and cold. At the same time, you were in absolute awe as this was the first time you saw flora and an endless sky out of the dungeon.

The sun was warm.

The sun was bright.

The wind was cold, as was the ground.

You wondered if this was what humans saw every morning.

Looking in front of you, you saw a human girl encased in crystal. With the appearance of a human, she resembled more of a dragon. She was just like you, wasn't she?

"(y/n)!"

You heard Laios call for you. Hearing him run towards you, he began to apologize profusely for what happened. You wanted to chuckle, but the lack of moisture was quite literally killing you.

"Laios, I need water."

Panicking, Laios struggled to pick you up. You were just too heavy. With your urging, he sat you near a tree.

"I'm sorry."

'It's fine. I'm quite very happy even if the events could be deemed as unfortunate." You found yourself wondering about the demon. "What ever happened to the lion?"

Laios tensed up as he sheepishly scratched the back of his ear. "About that...."

"Oh!"

You were quite surprised to hear that Laios ate the lion and, therefore, defeated it. Despite what the lion put you through, it was the one to raise you. You can't help but feel deeply upset at the news—not that you could blame Laios.

"So why aren't you with your friends?"

Laios looked down in shame. "They wouldn't want me around after all that happened."

"I don't believe that to be true."

And you were right.

As he and the others made amends, they (some) reluctantly helped pull you back into the ocean.

"Thank you for helping me."

Marcille seemed somewhat still disturbed at the fact you were the monster they had attacked. She apologized for everyone in the party and especially for Laios for eating your lappet.

"Did you apologize to them?!"

"This is why I told you not to eat demi-humans!"

It was quite an entertaining sight. Especially when you saw the worry on Laios' wash away with the wind.

It was then that the dwarf asked, "Are you hungry?"

You smiled as you admitted it true. You were always on the verge of starvation. Unwilling to eat anything until you absolutely had to, you starved for days and weeks. Now that you were out of the dungeon, you felt extremely hungry, despite always feeling this hunger.

It was painful

"I'll cook something for you!"

You never thought you would get along with surface dwellers.

"Thank you for the meal."

𓆟 𓆞𓆝

You sat at the seaside, watching as the mermaids swam around the ocean looking at the sun and catching fish never seen before.

Never did you think you and the mermaids would be able to leave the dungeon. Never did you think they would be able to speak the language of man.

In your hands were plants from the sea that Senshi had requested you to forage. Senshi wanted to cook or assemble raw forms of dishes made from Falin due to you and the mermaids' inability to eat cooked food. The first time you ate a sandwich, you vomited it in the ocean and floated around as the foreign pain made you sick. Never again did Senshi want his cooking to make someone that sick.

"Young (y/n)!"

You turned around as you heard Senshi himself shout at you.

"Senshi! I got them right here!"

Senshi thanked you and handed a dish sample. You wanted to ask him about Laios, but he left before you could do so. He and the others were quite busy with everything going on, so you couldn't be upset.

It was one of the things that made you slightly upset. The fact you were tied to the water meant that you couldn't walk on land and help them.

You sighed as you slumped back into the water.

You looked at the castle that arose from the ocean. The metals and wet stone glistened under the sunset. The water painted in the same shades as the sky. It was truly something beautiful that you had never seen in the dungeon. The water wasn't full of magic, light not obscured by darkness and stone.

It was boundless.

The mermaids all came to your side and took a seat on land, all looking at the same sight.

One of the mermaids swam towards you with a troubled look. She placed her head on your lap and spoke. "What now, your majesty? We can't stay here for long. The land is rising at an unstable rate—any day now, we could end stuck on land, unable to reach the water."

You closed your eyes as you thought. You wanted to see Laios at least one more time before departuring. However, if you delay your departure any longer, it could end up dangerous for you and the mermaids.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"Alright."

There was a chance you would never see Laios again after today: Yet, you felt at ease. Laios fulfilled his promise to you, and that was enough for you. The fact you wouldn't have to worry about food and the long-term survival of the mermaids.

You laid back on the sand as you felt each grain cling onto your form.

"There once was a jellyfish who lived for one hundred centuries. Small, naive, unknowing: It had nothing remarkable about it. Then, one day, a lion decided to lend out a hand and guide the jellyfish among fire and brimstone. It told the jellyfish stories of the world and life beyond the dungeon. Held and chained to the water, the jellyfish wanted nothing more but to desire.

Then, one day, there came a knight who lent out a hand and sliced the jellyfish's bubble, showing curiosity beyond the dungeon.

Lost and desiring, the jellyfish took the knight's hand."

As you recounted the story of the jellyfish, the waves drummed, the winds whistled, and the mermaids sung their song.

"No longer bound by self-hatred and loathing, the jellyfish wanted nothing more but to follow the knight."

You wished you were a human just as Laios was. You wanted to see him grow and prosper with the Melini. You wanted to see him with all his friends and family together, dining and feasting on delicious food. You wanted to hear him sing his horrible song. You wanted to see dance with others. You wanted to see him on the throne.

When you wanted to see him, never was it with you by his side. There was no place for a monster next to the king.

With the blessing of the water, you and the mermaids were able to, for the first time, sing a new song together: a song best fit for the Monarch to chant their Lament.

The sound of crunching sand made you halt. Turning around, you saw Laios; Adorned in the same armor you first saw him in and wrapped in the now deceased demon. Despite all that happened, you still harbor gratitude for the winged lion. After all, It was the one to raise you all those centuries ago.

"You're singing with the mermaids." Laios stopped walking when he noticed the mermaids cower in disgust. "—and I see that you all settled well."

The mermaids ignored him as they swam away towards the castle.

"Yes, the mermaids are taking this situation rather well. Some of the tall-men and half-foots came by earlier, and the mermaids quite enjoyed the company."

Laios sat next to you in the sand. Gazing upon the castle with the lion's pelt, he truly looked like a king. You're glad you were able to see him in all his glory.

"I was rather surprised when they chose to converse with surface dwellers."

Laios leaned forward and ran his fingers through the sand. You remained still in the water, lappets fluttering.

"I remember you told me how important the mermaids song were to them. The song you guys just sung, it wasn't yours or the mermaids, was it?"

You felt yourself relax as you heard him speak. "No, that song was the first time we sang it. It was the first time we were able to sing the same song together."

"Why was it so sad sounding?"

"Ah, it—well....the song was a reflection of the monarch's melancholy."

"....the monarch; Are you sad?"

You remained quiet as the waves and oceans crashed onto shore.

"That I am for quite a variety of reasons that remain out of my control." You threw yourself at the sand and covered your head with your hands. "But alas, I will remain just fine. So, I ask that you don't burden yourself with my troubles."

Laios didn't pester you any further, and so, you two watched as the sun began to begin its descent. The waves were gentle, the wind was soft, the sand was silky, and the sky remained its brilliant magnificence.

Soon enough, Senshi and the others came by: Setting up tables and seats by the sea side. You are forever thankful for the few who were so kind as to dine alongside the mermaids despite their monstrous history.

Especially so you're glad Marcille and Chilchuck were able to forgive and apologize to you for your very first meeting.

When the mermaids came back, you all sat by the seaside and the surface dwellers on land. Even with this difference in anatomy and history, the tall-men, elves, orcs, dwarves, and mermaids were able to eat and converse with one another with familiarity. Exchanging tales of different cultures and species, it was a sight you'd never thought to desire.

You couldn't help but smile as you watched the mermaids enthusiastically talk with the others about the different songs around the world. You smiled even more when you saw a few of the mermaids awkwardly converse with Laios.

And you, you weren't like any of them, but neither were they. May it be selfish, you truly are glad that these differences exist among all races. Any one of them could be called a monster. The only difference between a sapient being and a monster was the willingness and power to deny instinct.

With a coral crown embellishing your head and the lion's pelt decorating Laios' figure—you two were the first beloved monarchs of the future united Kingdom of land and sea.

"May this be the union between the citizens of Melini and the mermaids of the Sea Monarch!"

With everyone silent and watching, you, the true monarch of sea, and Laios, the devourer of all things horrible, each go to take the final bites of the lions remains.

"With this shared meal, I hope against all adversaries and conflict that this union lasts a millennia. I thank you all for attending this dinner with the mermaids and I."

With that, everyone went back to feasting on the monstrous parts of Falin's flesh. Quite an odd predicament, but after what you and Laios did, it was much more tame.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Laios asked you, holding a plate of raw sushi towards you.

"I—it's a habit I have yet to forget."

Holding the raw flesh wrapped in rice and kelp, you hesitated for a moment before taking a small bite.

It tasted wonderful.

You ate more and more to the point the mermaids told you to slow down.

"Your majesty! Careful now!"

Laughing, you said, "Please forgive my impudent behavior, but how shall I behave when I can eat without this melancholic heart of mine?"

You wished this night could last for centuries without no end. However, you knew that was only a hopeless dream.

As the night progressed, more and more people would leave. The mermaids swam deep in the water for rest, those of land, going to their shelters, and warm beds. Eventually, it was just you and Laios.

Once again, you two sat by the seaside—it was the only place you two could be together. In silence, you two watched as the moon overtook the sun's position.

"(y/n)," Laios spoke suddenly. He turned to your direction and reached to hold both your hands. "I thought about this for a while, and I—I..."

Laios struggled to get his words out without making a complete fool of himself. Blushing and flustered, he held your hands tighter. "—Will you marry me!"

You were frozen in place.

You didn't know what to say. Marriage was something the lion told you about in only stories, never as something that may happen to you one day. Marriage was a concept foreign to mermaids, and you in turn. All you knew in that moment was that when you saw how red Laios was, that marriage must be something with great importance and the ultimate bond of love for humans.

"Laios! I—I.....I am unable to accept your proposal." You were leaving tomorrow morning. You two were separated by biology and land. He shouldn't marry someone like you. "We are leaving Melini tomorrow. The land is rising at an unsteady pace; We could be stranded at any moment in the night, and we need to wary of these conditions."

Laios grabbed your wrist when he saw you pull away. "Is that the only reason?"

You were melancholic, gentle soul.

Despite your feelings of affection towards Laios, you didn't want to bond with him on such an intimate level when you only had met him a little less than six times. You wish you could stay him just a bit longer to know him enough to accept.

Realizing how uncomfortable you must be from his sudden proposal, Laios let you go.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"It's alright, Laios."

Laios stood up as he bowed in shame.

"I still apologize for being so forceful,"

"Laios—"

Before you could call out to him, he was already gone.

Even with your own feelings of insecurities, you couldn't help but let out a laugh as you thought about how "Laios" Laios was.

You do hope he sees you off tomorrow.

𓆞𓆝 𓆟

The winds bellowed, and the ocean danced, and still no sight of Laios. You held your head up for the sake of the mermaids. You refuse for them to have a melancholic monarch!

"It's time for us to leave, Your Highness."

"I am well aware. Go on before me, I wish to remain just a bit longer."

Watching as the sun changed from a dark blue to red and yellow, then blue, you wanted to see many other things on land. Things you'll never see while bound by water.

Desire was the greatest curse of them all.

When you heard familiar rapid footsteps in the sand, you turned around to see a figure throw themselves on you. You nearly fell in the water when you picked your assailant.

"Laios?!"

Placing him down, you saw him breathe heavily.

"I tried to come as soon as possible but they kept talking and talking! I had Kabru and Marcille distract them as I ran!"

"Laios...." You leaped forward and hugged him as the two of you fell onto the sand. "You're quite the amusing one, aren't you?"

"Yes!"

You two just laughed as you both laid in the sand to catch your composure. With bright sun lighting his face up, Laios really looked gentle as he sounded.

"Laios?" You turned on your side and reached out to hold one of his hands. "When you proposed to me yesterday and after I rejected you, I wanted to elaborate further on my reasoning for doing so."

You sat up and pulled yourself in the water. Still holding Laios' hand, you gently pulled on his hand as if to pull him into the water: He reflexively resisted.

"I can not leave the water nor can I force you in, even with the water's blessing. How could you wish to marry someone like me? Despite that, you are now king of Melini. You have the responsibility to rebuild the fallen kingdom and to guide the future of the people. As you have the citizens of Melini, I have my own people to care for. The mermaids still have need for my protection from this foreign sea and humans that wish to capture them. To marry in time as now is irresponsible and quite foolish."

Laios let go of your hand as he looked away in shame. "I'm so sorry for—"

"—'In a time like this.' Things may change in the future. The future of Melini won't always be in turmoil." You reached out and held Laios' face in your hands. "This is not to say that things aren't able to change. There's no telling how I'll accept your proposal in the near future."

Letting go Laios, you fell back into the water. No longer bound by the size and limit of food in the dungeon, there was no need to restrict yourself to this sapient form. Soaking in all you can, you became more of the jellyfish you once were. Abandoning most of your sapient features, you embraced your jellyfish nature.

"I'll be departing now, Laios. If you so decide to take me as your spouse even as I take this form, then meet me on the west coast once all of Melini shows itself. Perhaps then I'll be able to bring myself to accept."

Laios stood still, amazed at the sight of something as enchanting as you. Even as a mess of jelly, you still remained the lovable you—for Laios, that was enough.

"I'll make sure to bring Falin. She would love to someone as beautiful as you." Laios stepped forward and kneeled before you. "(y/n), no matter what form you take, my feelings will never change."

"Then, if you must, serenade me with a song of yours. The mermaids spoke once of it, and I wish to hear it."

"Of course."

You wished you could walk on land: To live without the restrictions of your gelatinous body. Was it so selfish to want to be with the one you desire?

No matter how strong that desire was. Your love and loyalty to the mermaids were stronger.

However, no matter how apart you two were, the bond made in a short period of time would prove to live throughout the testament of time.

𓆟 𓆞𓆝

"There once was a jellyfish who wished to be human; There once was a knight who wished to be the evil dragon.

There once was a jellyfish who fell in love with a knight.

With every flower, tree, coral, and grain of sand, the jellyfish loved everything around the knight.

With every fiber, lappet, flesh, blood, bone, and soul, the knight loved everything jellyfish consumed and breathed.

Separated by land and sea, once a year, they met at the coast of Melini and the edge of Thalassa. As if a dream, they sing the song of water and dance to their heart's content.

'Thus this dream never end'

'Thou these hearts dance and bond under the sun.'

'How I wish dearly for our union to remain true.'

These were the wishes of the King of Melini and the Monarch of Thalassa.

Blessed by the water of the world, birthed from both land and sea, I, Queen Levia, hereby declare Melini and Thalassa one nation sharing the same flesh, blood, bone, heart and soul."

Thank you for reading!

[flowerandblood]

Guilt | Greed | Grace

[ modern! • Aemond x stepsister! • female ]

[ warnings: sex content, sexual tension, angst, smut, kind of incest but not really, brat taming ]

[ description: After one night together, he and his stepsister remain amused by the whole situation and that they have taken revenge on their parents in some way. Aemond begins to wonder if his relationship with Alys makes sense when their parents decide to go away for the weekend and leave them alone at home. The power of angst, ironic, bitchy Aemond. Anon request. ]

Part 1 − Rage | Revenge | Relief Part 3 − Pride | Promise | Price Part 4 − Blame | Betray | Bliss

Series & Characters Moodboard

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

My other works: Masterlist

_____

After what they had done, they both began to fall asleep in his bed, exhausted after their physical exertion and fulfilment. His stepsister woke up before dawn − she slipped out of his embrace and stroked his hair before she left, quietly closing the door behind her.

He surprised his mother and the rest of the family by coming down for breakfast in the morning; Criston stood up, startled, and walked over to him, extending his hand to him. He shook it, trying to hold back a grimace of satisfaction.

"Criston. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He said with the clear hope that he had finally broken through, that there would no longer be such a tense atmosphere in the house.

He looked at him forcing himself not to smile.

I fucked your daughter yesterday, Criston.

And it felt so fucking good.

"Aemond. Me too." He said low and matter-of-factly, turning away from him even though he could see he wanted to say something more, surely to ask how his studies were going or what he was planning to do today.

He sat down at the table taking a seat opposite his daughter, who for a brief moment pretended to be extremely focused on cutting pancakes with jam. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to take a bite into her mouth and swallow it, and she finally lifted her gaze to him.

"Hi." He hummed and she pressed her lips together, her eyebrows arched in amusement − she was all red, her innocent embarrassment making him feel a pleasant warmth in his lower abdomen.

"Hi." She whispered, immediately leaning over her pancakes, trying not to laugh, and he reached for the toast with a smile of satisfaction.

His mother and Criston watched them with astonishment, Daeron being the only one who seemed to notice nothing and simply ate his cornflakes with milk, surely focused with his thoughts on some test that awaited him at school.

"Why are you laughing? Is something wrong?" Asked Alicent, clearly amused herself, suspecting that this was clearly not the first time they had spoken.

She and he shot each other a quick glance over the table − she didn't seem terrified and he figured she wouldn't mind if he played with the situation a bit.

"Nothing. Something funny just happened yesterday. Right, kid?" He asked indifferently, throwing her a defiant look, biting into his toast with a loud crunch.

She almost choked on the sip of tea she had just taken from her mug in the shape of a dog's head and looked at him with big eyes, hearing her pet name that he had used earlier in the night.

He thought with amusement that her mug fit her perfectly.

"Yes. Very funny." She muttered wearily, pressing her lips together and quickly taking another bite of pancakes, trying with the last of her willpower not to smile or laugh, looking at him pleadingly.

"Don't you want to tell your daddy what you did?" He asked ironically and she burst out laughing, looking at him with her eyebrows raised high, accepting his challenge.

"Maybe you should brag to your mum about what happened first." She said defiantly and lightly, taking a loud sip from her cute doggie cup, and he bit his lip, deciding that he probably needed to say enough so as not to overdo it.

"I see that whatever happened you two quickly found common ground." Said his mother with a sort of expression of contentment and relief, as if she understood from all this that something funny had happened in their absence which had made them, willy-nilly, grow closer to each other.

In a way, it was true.

In a way.

"Yeah. We got closer." He said lightly, and she just threw him a calm, happy look without saying anything else, eating the rest of her pancake contentedly.

"Okay, I'll drive Daeron to school and come back to drop you off at the university, okay?" Criston asked her, but before she could answer anything he interrupted him with a word.

"Big brother will drive his little sister to school. Get yourself together, I'm leaving in ten minutes." He hummed, putting the rest of his toast in his mouth, walking over to the machine to make himself a quick coffee. Criston wanted to protest, saying there was no need, but his daughter ran quickly to get her backpack without even listening to him.

He drank his coffee and started to put on his shoes, waiting for her when his mother came up to him, an expression of gratitude on her face.

"That's very kind of you, Aemond. Thank you for trying, you don't even know how much it means to me. I know it's hard for you, but…"

"Mhm. Ready?" He asked completely uninterested in what she was saying to him, noticing his stepsister behind her − she quickly put her trainers on her feet and nodded.

They moved to his car, which he opened remotely with his key, and settled comfortably in their seats, buckling their seatbelts. He turned on the engine and played a Guns N' Roses record, backing out of the driveway, neither of them speaking to each other as they drove.

He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye as they stood at the traffic lights − he looked at her dress, light, girly, revealing part of her thighs, on top of which she had thrown on a thick, short, light-coloured jumper fastened at the front with big buttons.

It seemed incredibly fluffy to him, from a distance he could sense that it smelled like a pleasant laundry softener.

He shuddered when a driver in the back honked at him, frustrated that he hadn't moved off despite the green light being on. He looked in the mirror, furious, driving off with a squeal of tyres.

"Fucking old prick. Where the fuck is he in such a hurry?" He growled more to himself than to her, but felt her glance back at him with a smile, twisting in her seat, hugging tighter her material backpack lying on her lap.

He felt odd about the fact that she hadn't spoken to him the whole way − for some reason he had a feeling she would flood him with questions about what had happened between them last night, or who he was, what he did for a living, if he had anyone.

He parked in front of her faculty without turning off the engine, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye; only then did she look at him, her eyes big, her gaze calm, her face gentle and full of some kind of gratitude and understanding.

"Thank you very much. Have a nice day." She said softly and he swallowed loudly, looking at her with his jaw clenched.

"… you too."

He watched with indifference as she unbuckled her seatbelt and walked out, closing the door behind her, running towards a group of people, a couple of guys and one girl, hugging them one by one.

He licked his lower lip wondering if any of these boys had fucked her before him and rolled his eyes, deciding he didn't give a shit and drove off, not wanting to be late for his own classes.

He sat in the ancient history lectures thoughtfully, unable to concentrate on what his professor was talking about despite it being his favourite class.

He had already managed to get a few messages from Alys − she was asking him when they were going to meet again, sending him a picture of herself getting ready for work, saying that last night had been wonderful.

He stared at her messages with a blank stare, thinking only of the fact that he had been dating her for several months, and was only able to think about Criston's Cole's daughter.

About her warm, tender hands holding him close to her body, stroking his hair, neck and back with her soft fingers until he fell asleep while being still deep inside her.

He felt a sort of tightening in his pit, a discomfort, an unpleasant sense that something was wrong; he ran his hand over his face, sighing quietly, putting his phone aside and closing his eyes.

He didn't know himself what he thought of this relationship.

He felt that he had got into it because it was his way of taking revenge on his mother, because it allowed him to get physically off, to feel mature, to feel desired, to have somewhere to run to.

But now that his final revenge was done, now that he felt he had his mother and Criston in his grasp, that he had mentally regained control of the situation it all lost its meaning.

He felt nothing for her.

He wasn't even sure if he really liked her.

He felt some kind of shame and embarrassment at the thought that he had devoted months of his life to someone who was so indifferent to him, fucked her for hours like some kind of animal.

Looking at his stepsister, he felt empty, because she was full of everything − warmth, peace, understanding, joy, courage, humour.

Everything he was missing.

He decided to take a break from Alys for the time being and focus more on his studies, which he had neglected in recent months; he pretended not to listen at all if and when Criston's daughter came home, if she went out in the evening or not.

He noticed with interest that she had caught a close relationship with Daeron very quickly, being able to give him what he was unable to − she listened to his childish problems at school when they ate dinner and gave him advice as if he were an adult.

She was the only person besides Daeron he spoke to when he passed her or if they were at the table together − she usually asked him to hand her something, or asked if he would pour more water in the kettle so she could make herself a cup of tea too.

He was used to dropping a bag of Earl Grey into her doggy mug; each time she looked at him gratefully when he handed it to her already poured with boiling water.

"Thank you."

He would sometimes see her sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV, texting with someone on her phone and involuntarily wonder if she was in love with some boy.

For some reason he felt discomfort at the thought, as if he had really stepped into the role of her older brother and wanted to know who she was talking to and where she was going out.

Of course, he would never dare to ask her about it and kept his frustration to himself.

She didn't impose on him or try to talk to him by force knowing it was pointless, something his mother and Criston couldn't comprehend, barraging him with questions he didn't feel like answering.

Some part of him was curious about her, about what she had read and what she had listened to, about what she thought about it all, what she thought about him.

From that day on, he drove her to her classes every morning even when his started much later just to be alone with her for those few minutes.

He once dared to put his hand on her thigh as they stood at the traffic lights, unable to contain himself any longer, stroking her soft, smooth skin with his thumb.

He felt a shudder pass through her, felt her looking at him, but didn't dare reciprocate her gaze fearing what he would see in it.

Disgust, condemnation, mockery, sympathy.

He swallowed hard when he felt her fingers gently stroke the skin of his hand and did so until they reached the car park.

Only then did he look at her with an indifferent, cold stare hearing only the loud pounding of his heart in his ears.

She looked at him with that warm look of hers, the worry on her face coming from some kind of tenderness and affection.

He touched her cheek, her full lower lip, soft and shiny, and she parted it slightly. Driven by some strange, natural reflex, he slid his thumb deep between them, her pupils dilated, her flesh clenched on his finger, sucking it.

He felt it in his cock so hard that he flinched.

He pulled her to him by the nape of her neck in one sure movement, pressing his swollen lips to hers in a wild, loud dance of tongues, teeth and saliva − she threw her arms around his neck, his fingers sliding into her soft hair.

His hand was already sliding down her body between her thighs when they both gasped and pulled away from each other, hearing someone approach the car beside them − he involuntarily licked his lips feeling her wonderfully sweet taste.

She looked at him with wide-open eyes, her breathing sped up and uneven, making the glass on her side steam up.

"See you at home. Have a good day." She mumbled warmly unbuckling her seatbelt and walked quickly out, closing the door behind her.

He ran his hands over his face and slammed the dashboard of his car with all his might, furious at himself for being so desperate.

He kept repeating to himself that this was only supposed to be one time, a simple fun, sweet revenge, but nothing more.

She was a good kid, she wasn't to blame for the situation between Criston and his mother, he didn't want to hurt her.

However, what he felt in his trousers told him exactly what he thought of her and what he wanted.

The worst part was that it didn't look like she was going to stand up to him if he came to her to take it.

He sighed heavily, recognising that they were both fucked up, though she was certainly less so than him.

At least she wasn't a fucking sociopath.

During his lectures, he realised that his mother had texted him a few weeks ago the phone number of Criston and his daughter in case he needed something from them, had to leave them the keys to their house or just wanted to contact them.

He knew that his mother and Criston had decided to take a weekend away to relax together from all that was going on, and Daeron had taken the opportunity to spend that time with his favourite friend.

He felt throbbing in his trousers at the thought that they would be staying home alone.

That they could fuck all night long if they wanted to.

He licked his lips, wondering with a pounding heart whether to show desperation, whether to text her or not.

Since he had her number, she had his too.

After a few hours of pondering, he gave up, deciding that he couldn't take it any longer, that he needed to talk to her, to make sure she was thinking about him too.

After all, it was impossible for what they had done to be completely normal and meaningless to her, wasn't it?

Once the decision was made, he felt some kind of excitement. He wrote her into his contacts as Little Sister 🐶 with a smile of amusement and after a while sent her a message with his heart beating fast.

He shuddered when after a few minutes he saw the new notification on his phone, unsure if he wanted to read it, feeling horrified at the thought that she might have thought he was a pathetic little boy craving her attention.

He unlocked his screen after a moment and went into the messages with his heart beating fast and his throat clenched.

He felt relieved at the thought that her answer was perfectly normal, without a trace of mockery or discomfort − for some reason, the fact that she answered him pleasantly flushed his ego.

He stared at his screen with his heart beating hard, tapping the side of his cheek with the tip of his tongue, feeling the heat in his lower abdomen at the thought that he might be able to spend the night with her again.

Although he hadn't been home for dinner for weeks, this time he appeared back straight after class, startling his mother, who looked out to him from the kitchen.

"Aemond! I thought it was Criston. How good you are here, will you eat with us before we leave?" She asked softly and he shook his head, taking an apple from the bowl on the table in his hand, running up the stairs and locking himself in his room.

He didn't feel like sitting there looking at his face.

He heard the sound of the front door opening, the voices of Criston and his daughter, from which a shudder went through him − he felt excitement and some kind of anticipation.

He was browsing the internet on his phone, eating the fruit he had brought with him with a loud crunch of flesh, when suddenly Alys started calling him.

He stared at the incoming call from her chewing slowly, wondering if he should pick up and think of something quick, say he felt bad or just admit that it all made no sense.

He did nothing feeling his heart pounding and sighed heavily when he got a text message from her a minute later.

He decided that keeping her in the dark was cruel even for him, so he decided to write her back.

He sent her a reply, sighing loudly, and rolled his eyes when the message from her popped up practically immediately.

He pressed his lips together feeling an unpleasant squeeze in his chest − he was sick to his stomach at the thought that they might be getting back together again, but it wasn't her fault.

It was him.

All he had left was shame.

He wrote back quickly and blocked her number so that she could no longer send him any messages or call him.

He thought that only this would make her realize that he was serious.

He shuddered when he got another notification of a new message and thought she had written to him from another number, but was surprised to see that someone else wrote to him.

He got up immediately, walking out of his room, running lightly down the stairs, seeing her searching for something on his TV with the remote, probably looking for a movie already.

She was wearing a top with characters from The Lion King and shorts, her hair loose, pretty and shiny, its dark curls falling over her shoulders.

"If we start now, we might be finished by five in the morning." She said with amusement and nodded at the table top. "If you want, unwrap the crisps and put them in the bowl. Shall I spread out the sofa so we can lie down comfortably?"

She asked, looking at him questioningly, getting up from her seat. He nodded, opening packet after packet, pouring their contents into plastic bowls, trying not to think about her naked stomach, her nice long legs and the fact that she wasn't wearing a fucking bra.

They brought a couple of glasses, bottles of drinks and bowls of crisps close to each other and spread out comfortably, covering themselves with blankets and laying their heads on the big soft pillows she had apparently brought for them from upstairs.

They watched the first fifteen minutes focusedly, paying amused attention to scenes that had become memes − he pressed his lips together when he felt her lay her head on his shoulder, her hands embracing his arm, he could smell the pleasant scent of her shampoo.

He took a loud sip from his glass, trying not to think about the fact that he had been completely hard for about half an hour, that he felt like he was about to go fucking crazy because of her.

His hand under the blanket involuntarily slid down to her bare legs, running it up her knee; he felt her flinch, but instead of moving away she pulled closer to him.

He bit his lower lip feeling his heart pounding hard as his fingers slid between her thighs, teasing her through the material of her shorts in slow, circular motions.

He felt her press her body tighter against his shoulder, her hips began to rock to the rhythm of his hand, a quiet, blissful sigh escaping her lips that told him everything.

He pressed his lips together holding back a groan of surprise as her small hand slid down to the bulge in his trousers, her fingers began to press against his erection, massaging it up and down in a calm, slow motion.

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling that he was terribly hot, the dialogue from the film seemed to him to be just background and he had completely lost interest in it.

He looked up at her with his lips slightly parted as she rose and with a light, sure movement pulled her top off over her head − he immediately reached to the belt buckle of his trousers to undo it when she took off her shorts and underwear, no sign of shame or embarrassment on her face, only shy smile.

She sat on top of him without hesitation as soon as he slipped his boxers down a little, stroking his scarred cheek with her warm fingers, placing her other hand on his shoulder to keep her balance.

He guided his swollen cock, throbbing with impatience, to her entrance and licked his lips, dry with desire, feeling that she was already all wet. She slid it deep inside her with ease, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

He groaned low and tilted his head back, panting along with her as she began to rise and fall on top of him, stretching her fleshy, hot walls with his fat length, feeling how wonderfully tight she was, how loudly her naked body slapped against his.

"− fuck, little one −" He gasped helplessly, desperate, with sure thrusts impaling her on himself; she mewled sweetly, her hands slid under the material of his black Tshirt and brushed across his naked chest, making him shiver.

He ran his hands over her buttocks, her back, her waist, wanting to savour the feel of her bare skin under his fingers, until finally he grasped her soft, plump breasts in his hands, teasing her hard nipples with his thumbs.

She gasped as she felt it, her walls clenching against him making them both sigh helplessly, speeding up − she slid her hand into his hair and kissed him, her lips so warm, her tongue so wonderfully moist, that he purred loudly into her mouth.

"− it seems you have missed me, big brother −" She cooed warmly, innocently, stroking his neck, hair and cheeks, looking at her so closely he could see how pink, puffy and glistening her lips were.

He felt his cock throb hard at her words and began to thrust it into her faster, clamping his hands on her waist and on the back of her neck, sitting up so that her whole body was pressed against his, his face at the level of her chin.

"− me? − you're fucking leaking, kid −" He scoffed with a grimace of amusement, moving inside her more aggressively, forcing her body to fit all of him in, deliberately sliding into her with lewd, loud click of her moisture, a pathetic whine escaping her lips.

"− look what you did to your big brother − how fucking hard he is because of you − have you no shame? −" He hissed and she sobbed with an expression on her face as if she was very sorry to have disappointed him, her lips parted slightly, a moan escaping from them each time his thighs slapped against her buttocks again, her breasts bouncing lightly.

"− I didn't mean to −" She mumbled with difficulty, embracing him with her arms − she gasped and moaned when he pressed her against him and grabbed her breast in his mouth, sucking and licking her nipple for a moment, releasing it with a loud plop.

"− you didn't mean to? − putting on that fucking slutty top without a bra? −" He growled and bit her neck − she sobbed and whined loudly, clenching her fingers painfully tight on his back and hair, letting him fuck her as fast and hard as he wanted.

"− I'm − I'm sorry −" She mewled as if she really felt guilty, cuddling her face into his temple, trailing her warm, puffy mouth over his cheek until their lips clung to each other again in a greedy, sticky kiss, his hips spreading her wide on his thick cock with quick, sure, deep thrusts.

"− you need to be taught a lesson, hm? − you need to be fucked more often so you'll behave properly −" He exhaled and she nodded her head as if she dreamt of nothing else, their lips and tongues rubbing and brushing against each other in moist, dirty kisses, he could feel her walls squeezing him faster and faster, that they were both on the edge.

"− yes − yes, yes, please, oh-fuck −" She mumbled and tilted her head back with her mouth parted wide as her body trembled in strong orgasm − she tried to push him away, moaning loudly, but he held her close, fucking her brutally through her peak until he came inside her with a loud sigh of pleasure, his warm semen filling her insides.

"− that's it − take it − take your brother's cum like a good girl −" He breathed out into her mouth, with thrusts of his hips pushing his seed deep inside her, her hands stroking his hair and back, their bodies all sweaty and hot.

He fell backwards, leaning back against his pillow, laying with her in a semi-prone position, breathing loudly as she did, their fingers trailing over their bodies as if they were blind and wanted to remember what they had done with senses other than sight.

"− fuck − oh God −" He gasped, completely relaxed and satisfied, lazily opening his eyes, looking at the screen again, noticing that by some miracle the action had moved to Rivendell.

They both inhaled loudly when the light in the driveway turned on, and after a moment they heard the sound of a key turning in the lock.

They looked at each other in horror, his stepsister quickly got up from him with a loud splat of his cock against his stomach, grabbing her underwear, shorts and top.

He stood up zipping up his trousers, wanting to give her a bit more time occupying whoever came in, fixing his hair in the mirror and suddenly Daeron walked in, all weepy. He swallowed loudly in relief, looking at him in disbelief.

"What happened?" He asked, trying to hide the tremor in his voice and the loud pounding of his heart. Daeron shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing. Thomas is not as nice as I thought. He only gave me his worst toys to play with and we only played the games he likes." He mumbled pulling off his shoes − he licked his lips, glancing quickly over his shoulder, hearing the rustling of the fabric, looking back at him.

"And what are you doing? Watching The Lord of the Rings?" He asked curiously, apparently hearing the dialogues, going deeper − he wanted to stop him and went after him, but their stepsister was already sitting on the blanket, dressed as before, only slightly more red, scared and smiling at the same time.

"Hi. Yes, we are watching The Fellowship of the Ring. Do you want to join in?" She asked softly and he nodded wiping his cheeks, pulling his backpack off his back and laying down next to her, taking a handful of crisps in his hand.

"I'm going to go to the toilet for a while, you keep watching." She mumbled, and he led her away with an amused look, thinking only of the fact that, sure enough, his semen was just running down her thighs.

She came back after a few minutes and lay down between him and Daeron, slipping under the blanket, his hand immediately going to her thigh − he felt her flinch and swallow loudly, her fingers slid down to gently stroke his bare skin.

They gave up after watching the second part, deciding that they would finish together the next day, and covered themselves with a shared blanket, with the other enveloping Daeron, who had already fallen asleep a few hours earlier.

He embraced her from behind, deciding that he didn't give a shit if his brother woke up and saw it, or if he told their parents about it.

All he was focused on was the pleasant warmth of her body and the smell of her hair, his nose pressed into the hollow of her neck, her fingers entwined with his.

"− wanna be my girlfriend? −" He hummed softly into her ear, just thinking about how both wonderful and fucked up this vision of a relationship was.

She nodded silently, wrapping herself more tightly with his arms, pressing her back and buttocks against his body − he could feel that she was smiling. He murmured contentedly and snuggled into her closing his eyes, finally falling asleep.

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @randomdragonfires @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes

[angelsdemonsandhumans]

❝𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?.❞

; A new exchange student is welcomed in the Devildom. After noticing that you already have made that place your home, he tries to steal everything you have for jealousy. Unluckily for him, that's not how things turn out.

; All the brothers, Diavolo and Barbatos, Solomon, Simeon and Luke.

After your success in the Devildom, Diavolo wisely decided to bring another ordinary human into his realm. You used to associate with demons, benevolent angels, grim reapers and cunning sorcerers. Now that you had spent several years in the Devildom, with no intention of returning home, Diavolo seemed determined to bring another ordinary human into the devildom, to have companions like you.

Since you were an extraordinarily curious and open-minded human who found yourself in a world inhabited by extraordinary creatures, you had acquired a vast knowledge and a great education thanks to the influence of so many different characters from various species. This had undoubtedly allowed you to be much more cultured and educated than normal.

When the new individual was brought into devildom and faced with demons, his reaction was to be extremely surprised, frightened and even incredulous, just as any average human would have done. He immediately noticed the clear difference between the human world and the demonic one, even if they didn't have wings or horns.

He began to scream and cry desperately, terrified by their presence, and also by the fact that he had awakened in an unknown place, looking tense.

While Diavolo and Barbatos didn't mind, as they considered the newcomer's behavior "quite human" and even found it amusing, Lucifer and Asmodeus were irritated.

During the meeting, in fact, Lucifer's irritation was clearly noticed, who seemed to be the most annoyed of all by the human's attitude. His patience had been tested, and his expression had become increasingly tense and impatient.

Asmodeus, on the other hand, looked at the human with a certain amount of confusion and disgust, while he followed all his movements with his eyes, while the mortal tried to leave the room, even if the door have been locked by Barbatos as soon as they had reunited.

Among those present there was also Satan, who observed the scene with a certain indifference, as if he didn't care too much about the human and his reaction. Mammon, on the other hand, had arrived punctually that time and had sat down, surprisingly, in silence.

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«HAH! I WIN! Again!» you yelled vigorously, throwing a triumphant fist in the air. Leviathan sighed in frustration, gripping the joystick hard in his hands while you were extremely excited about your surprising victory. «Ugh, I can't believe I lost. This is so embarrassing» he murmured to himself, scratching the back of his neck embarrassedly. Turning to look at him, you could see the blush building rapidly in his cheeks and just laughed, he was adorable. «Oh come on, Levi! we-» but your sentence was cut short by the sound of Leviathan's bedroom door being slammed as the white-haired figure entered the room.

«Yo, guys. The human is going to stay here!» Mammon didn't look very enthusiastic, in fact he looked irritated. You didn't know if it was because the human in question had to stay in the house with you, or because Lucifer had forced him to go and warn you.

Leviathan blinked slowly, as if he were trying to understand the words spoken by the avatar of greed. Then, making a soft "gasp," he suddenly leapt to his feet, making you jump at the unexpected gesture. «What? A normie is going to stay here?! No way!» he complained immediately, frowning and placing the joystick next to yours on the ground.

You sat up, placing a gentle hand on Leviathan's broad shoulder, looking into his large eyes. You looked at Mammon too, noting his bothered look before they both turned to you. «Come on, it won't be that bad! And I am a human too, do you know?» you chuckled softly, trying to instill some courage in the two demons. «It's different» Mammon murmured, looking a little skeptical, and Leviathan nodded to his words, gesturing lightly and a little carelessly.

«You are like.. like Solomon! He's a human, right? Still, he doesn't seem like it at all!» you blinked rapidly, staring intently at Leviathan. You then turned to deftly pick up the soft joysticks, turning off the addictive game you were facing. You felt the ominous scrutiny of the demons behind you. «Solomon and I aren't that different. We just hold a little power within us, that's it» you chuckled with a sly smile, turning towards them once everything was settled.

Mammon crossed his arms with a gesture of feigned nonchalance «Well, they are about to come back. let's hope he won't destroy anything at least here» you and Levi stopped from fixing the tub where you had slept together that night, turning abruptly towards Mammon. Leviathan raised an eyebrow, puzzled, while you gave Mammon a suspicious look.

«Destroy anything?» Leviathan asked, repeating his older brother's words, stepping back and lifting his head slightly to look into his eyes. «Pardon?» your nervous laugh indicated that you did not expect such situation to happen, and Leviathan's expression indicated that he did not expect it either.

Mammon was visibly intent on answering you, but before he could open his mouth Asmodeus' high, impetuous voice was heard as he flanked his white-haired brother. «Oh my, Mc! Lucifer sent me to deliver an urgent message. We're back, and he wants you to know that you're absolutely needed. So make sure you're ready, okay?» he announced firmly. The boy turned towards you, smiling with his usual sweetness and kindness, and you nodded, leaving the room while Leviathan followed you closely with a reserved and careful attitude.

Silently arriving in the living room, you noticed that all the many brothers were sitting around the soft sofa, forming a circle around the helpless figure of a human. The poor fellow, who had his head down, was helpless and frightened in the face of the presence of demons. You couldn't see his face, though, as it was lowered and covered in tousled black hair.

To his right stood imposing Lucifer, who scrutinized him, Beelzebub, who seemed more attentive to the cereal he had probably recovered as soon as he got home, and Belphegor, who was watching you as soon as you stepped inside the room.

To his left stood Satan, who as in the meeting was indifferent, Asmodeus, who seemed he couldn't wait to leave, and Leviathan would probably have sat down too, who instead remained behind you looking at the human with judging eyes.

You decided to approach them, advancing into the living room and immediately noticing the fireplace which was missing the fire that usually crackled happily and without problems. Your arrival in front of everyone brought a wide smile to Asmodeus' lips. «Mc, I trust we have already discussed the matter of the new exchange student with you. Allow me to introduce Simone, who as you can see, appears rather uneasy and hesitant to engage with us. It occurred to me that you might be better suited to approach him, since I believe he will respond more favorably to your company than he does to ours.» Lucifer spoke as he got up off the couch, after clearing his throat.

You understood perfectly what he wanted to tell you, so you nodded lightly, carefully observing the human. Realizing that to have a private conversation you needed to be alone, all the other brothers followed the Avatar of Pride and got off the couch, while Mammon loudly complained why he couldn't stay with you. He was dragged away by Leviathan, who seemed to understand the situation better than his older brother did, leaving you and the human in a relaxing and serene stillness.

«You can talk. How do you feel?» you asked as you carefully lit the fireplace, carefully bending over to observe how the flame slowly began to crackle, a smile lit up your face as the gentle warmth enveloped you in a delicate caress. But despite this, you heard no response to your words. So, with a slow but decisive movement, you turned towards Simone, approaching and going to sit next to him, observing him carefully.

He had his head raised, staring into the fire with an intense and concentrated gaze, while his green eyes sparkled with an intensity that vaguely reminded you of Satan.

«I feel.. I don't know how I feel. I felt so much strong emotions that now I feel empty» he whispered softly, turning slowly to meet your gaze. You nodded, pulling your gaze away from his. «Mhm… well. Would you mind if I explain to you how this year will be? Lord Diavolo must have told you the basic» smiling softly, you patted his shoulder «I'm Mc, by the way. Nice to meet you» you tenderly held out your hand smiling slightly, and he took it, squeezing it weakly.

After that, you began to explain to him how the year had gone for you; without going into detail about the brothers' private information, of course. You explained to him how at the beginning you too weren't so sure about how it was going and you didn't trust anyone, then proceeding by explaining how living in that house had made the brothers your second family, and how not everyone in the devildom was bad. A bit like the human world, after all.

Then you started talking about the brothers individually. Saying how cold Lucifer could be, but knowing deeply he loved the people he cared about, how it was best not to leave your wallet unattended in front of Mammon, how sensitive Leviathan was truly, how Satan was admirable for his self-control despite his avatar, how Asmodeus could be the best friend of the century, how reliable Beelzebub could be, just don't leave him alone with food, and how Belphegor was kind, and despite his laziness he always did something for you.

«You truly got nothing to fear. And plus, they can't hurt you. You are under the custody of Lord Diavolo. If they dare to hurt you, they will face strict consequences» you spoke softly again, as if you wanted to conclude your explanation in a reassuring way, squeezing his arm with a delicate and comforting grip. You hoped that gesture could somehow contribute to calming all the anxiety that probably tormented Simone, making him more serene in some way.

You looked up at the clock and noticed that it had been more than two hours since you'd started talking. You blinked, realizing that time flew faster than you planned. «I have to go out with Asmodeus in 15 minutes» you said, turning towards him.

He seemed visibly alarmed, suddenly panicked. His wide eyes showed his growing anxiety, while his hands trembled slightly. He probably didn't want to be there alone now that he just trusted someone.

But you just couldn't miss that exit. Asmodeus had been looking for the perfect date and moment for months, since you had always refused every time. If you'd said no to him that time too, he'd probably drag you along with a ruthless and inexorable determination.

«A-and what will I do?» was what the young man said in a deeply disconsolate and uncertain tone, while you sighed playing with your fingers, resting your elbows on your knees, sensing the tense atmosphere given the boy's negative emotions. With a sudden smile, as if the idea that had just occurred to you was absolutely brilliant, you proposed: «..you could stay in my room until I come back. Then, I will make you see the whole house!» He looked at you with that same sad, lost look, and proceeded to nod slowly. «I guess that could do..»

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«Oh, Mc! Like always, I had sooo much fun with you! We absolutely have to do it again!» Asmodeus exclaimed extremely excited, as he waved his hands briskly. His room was perfumed as always, full of flowers of all kinds and colors. His soft bed was completely covered with bags and purses fresh from his grueling shopping.

«Yeah, If only we wouldn't meet that demon during our path, I could have said the same thing» you snapped with a hint of anger evident in your voice. You crossed your arms across your chest, staring at Asmodeus with a sharp gaze, while he gave a guilty smile.

«Oh come on! Who could sell that trashy outfit so much money?! Not even Mammon could do that!» He clumsily tried to justify himself, and you let him be with a disinterested wave of your hand, almost defiantly, laughing softly with a smile on your lips.

«By the way, now It's better if I head back to my room. I left Simone there and I have to show him around» You slowly approached the heavy wooden door while talking to Asmodeus. behind you, his face twisted into a confused expression, raising a perfectly drawn eyebrow. «Who?» he asked, advancing towards you with determined steps.

«Simone. It's the new exchange student, did you already forget him?» you replied, looking up at the demon.

Asmodeus suddenly seemed to light up, but then grimaced in disappointment and folded his mighty arms across his chest. «Can't you do that later?» he asked in a pleading tone of voice «We can have fun here together now!» he tried to convince you, but you, with determination, managed to get out of his room in a few quick minutes; although you didn't mind spending time with Asmodeus, at that precise moment you felt the need to lend your help to Simone, who needed your support.

«Hey, Simone, I'm back!» You entered your cozy bedroom as your host pounded the nightstand drawer closed hard, turning abruptly towards you. He jumped up onto your soft mattress, creating a slight jolt. Batting your eyelashes, you giggled, closing the door. «You must be bored, right?» you asked with a raised eyebrow, scanning his uncertain face. Simone sighed, shaking his head in disappointment and frustration.

«It's not that.. I just had to distract. I heard them walking around, always getting closer and I was scared they would come in» he admitted, sighing bitterly. You didn't understand why he was so afraid of them, they wouldn't hurt him. «Oh.. well» with a bright and wide smile, you put your hands on your hips.

«Let's bring you to a whole trip to the House of Lamentation, where you will stay!» you said excitedly, your hands frantically clapping against each other, before throwing your bedroom door open wide again. With a quick gesture, as if you were signaling someone to leave, you pointed to the outside of the room.

He followed your will, getting up from your bed and walking towards the exit, but then turned to you with an expectant expression, waiting for you too to exit your room to start the tour.

After probably an hour of exploration during which you met the brothers in the different rooms, you managed to show Simone every corner of the house.

In the spacious kitchen you had met Beelzebub, who greedily emptied the refrigerator, throwing open the door extracting every delicacy from the freezer. His nimble hands moved quickly, as if he was trying to steal the food undetected. It was evident that his insatiable appetite had brought him to that room.

In the library, you had met Satan, who seemed to have fallen asleep with a book on his chest. Beams from the moon filtered through the blinds, illuminating the room with a dim, soothing white light. His figure looked so peaceful and serene, as if nothing could disturb his sleep. However, your talking and moving around the room had woken him.

Finally, in the spacious living room, you had met Belphegor, who was lying fast asleep on the sofa. His figure was so still and peaceful that he almost looked like a statue. Even if you tried to talk to him, there was no waking him up. he was so sound asleep that nothing could disturb his sleep.

«And that's it! This is the whole house, you will sleep on my room, I might have some mattress, somewhere.. or I just ask Lucifer one, since you have to sleep somewhere and they doesn't seem to have bothered to give you a place to stay at yet» you huffed impatiently, shaking your head with a gesture of disapproval. He nodded slowly, his expression had eased, as if a weight had been lifted from his thoughts; he wasn't going to sleep alone.

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The month flew by quickly. For Simone, things weren't going the way they had with you, but he still was able to speak more freely with Mammon and Asmodeus than the other demons. Despite this, he continued to experience a strong fear that Beelzebub would devour him, while Belphegor gave him negative and disturbing sensations, as he told you.

But in the last busy week, your company wanted to spend more and more time with you and your friends; Sometimes you hang out with four demons in your class, and other times you had fun with the gang of radiant angels and the human with unusual behavior to say the least. But Simone, insistently, always wanted to be in your company, causing no small amount of stress. You weren't constantly free to please him, and you couldn't take him with you wherever you went. Moreover, your closest friends didn't take a like on him, which surprised you a lot, considering that Simeon and Luke usually liked everyone.

Solomon was known for his imperturbability in the face of even the most boring situations. Despite this, he could not hide his frustration at the fact that your magic lessons and practices were often disturbed by Simone's constant interruptions, which did not allow you to concentrate adequately. While you loved spending time with Solomon brewing magic potions, Simone's constant presence made it difficult to find a quiet moment. Solomon often made sarcastic remarks, complaining that he couldn't carry on his work in peace.

And one evening, while you were preparing to go out with Belphegor and Beelzebub, you stopped him firmly before he could utter the classic words "Can I come?". «I'm sorry, Simone. You have to stop incessantly sticking around me like this. Try to socialize with Mammon or Asmodeus instead. They will be delighted to spend some time with you, but for now, please leave me be», you looked at him, while you adjusted the shirt you had worn that evening, carefully checking that everything was perfect in the mirror.

The young man showed a disappointed pout on his face, as he let out a deep disconsolate sigh. «But..» he looked at you, crossing his arms on his chest «I appreciate you like to stay with me, you are friendly and I like you.. but you should also make your own friends, not only stick around with me. Also because we won't stay together forever, just this year»

Simone looked at you. You felt guilty, but it was also stressfull; You didn't mind hanging out with him, but not if he always started being clingy, getting in the way of your important activities.

«Alright, I get it. Sorry to pressure you» Simone nodded, and you smiled at him lightly, giving him a quick and reassuring hug, before gently pulling away and leaving the room with an affectionate greeting. After all, Belphegor and Beelzebub were waiting impatiently for you, and you didn't want to keep them waiting too long.

After changing his attitude towards you, Simone seemed to find comfort and security in acting like you. You didn't know if this situation was worse or better than the previous one. Surprisingly, he started talking and acting like you with the brothers, who at first didn't seem to find anything strangeness in this, in fact, they appreciated it.

Over time, Simone managed to bond with all the brothers by adopting your affable character. It was as if they had the opportunity to get to know the same person again. You wondered what pleasure or satisfaction Simone felt in imitating you so shamelessly.

Leviathan and Mammon often went out with him, sharing moments of fun and laughter, while Belphegor willingly allowed himself afternoon sleeps in his company. Beelzebub also tried to share food with him, at least when he managed to leave some.

It wouldn't have bothered you (since it was pretty evident how the brothers weren't replacing you at all but just spending time with another friend) if it weren't for the fact that he kept imitating you, seeming to do the opposite of what he used to do; he tried to shut you out, as if he wanted to see you isolated and alone. He had even tried to do it with other people outside of the brothers. You could not deny that his behavior deeply hurt and upset you.

- «Hey, Belphie, weren't we supposed to hang out together?»

- «Heh, don't worry, Mc, I haven't forgotten about our plans. Simone keeps trying to lure me away with promises of hanging out with just him and Beel, but I assured you that we'll be together tomorrow. I promise»

- «Mammon, shouldn't we hang out?»

- «Tch, I already told that human we're gonna be hangin' out in private, but don't get the wrong idea! You better show up when I call you to meet me at Majolish. We're just gonna be hangin' out and keep it casual, alright?»

- «Angel, weren't we supposed to..?»

- «I know, I know.. *sigh* Simone was adamant about spending time with me alone, so I couldn't refuse. the only thing we truly have in common is the name. We have to find another opportunity to hang out together. I promised you that»

It was clearly noticeable that Simone's behavior was starting to disturb everyone more and more, but you had decided to fight evil with evil. He also started to do the things they usually asked you to do, such as, for example, passing a specific sauce or a drink on the table, or helping them to do something, and the petty little mischief that he was starting to do to you (if you told the brothers it was his business). You would have acted cleverly. And that's exactly what you did.

You really started to be an annoying obstacle to him; you didn't give him time to talk, to dialogue with the brothers because you did. Even if they asked him, you did the requested favors. You were the one who started insisting on hanging out, and the brothers sure couldn't pick a human who'd been there a month over you.

It was a battle already won, but you liked playing it smart.

Like that evening; well, Mammon had, as usual, made a huge mess of debt. And so there you are, for the second time, working in adorable bunny outfits. The last time you went you were perfect.

As soon as the human saw how Asmodeus was rummaging from the sofa in a large suitcase full of colorful outfits and rabbit crowns, he became curious. It didn't take long for Lucifer to explain the situation to him. He repented soon after, of course.

«Can I come?» pleaded Simone while you were in difficulty, since the idea of ​​going there meant that YOU would have to supervise their work and make sure that they didn't stop even for a moment, while they couldn't allow themselves a single instant of rest. In particular, Leviathan was very concerned, due to his known problem with interacting with people.

You were in the living room, Simone observed with curiosity how Asmodeus was looking for those clothes that he had jealously guarded, hoping to find them. «I always waited for this day!! Oh, Mc, you were so cute in that outfit, I can't wait for you to wear it again!» the avatar of Lust didn't seem to hear Simone's words, who cleared his throat and put a hand on his shoulder, while he turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

«I asked if I can come too?» he repeated his question in a firm tone, and you looked at him with an air of disapproval and uncertainty. You knew exactly what he intended to do and, deep down, you were aware that he wouldn't take the job seriously. Your thoughts were stopped by the sharp words of Belphegor, who proved to be against the idea: «I think we are enough already» Even his twin, reasoning with the lazy boy, added: «Yeah, the others will work there too»

Raising a puzzled eyebrow, you and Simone quickly turned to look at the twins, while Asmodeus again began to carefully sort all the clothes, to prepare everything to be elegantly worn; you were to attend that very night, after all.

«Yeah, Solomon, Simeon and Luke will be there too!» Asmodeus spoke incredibly excitedly as he threw their respective masters' clothes, throwing yours as well. At the mere mention of Solomon's name, Simone seemed to be even more determined to go too, an aura of irrepressible enthusiasm enveloped him. He would have done everything, without any hesitation, to get to know him deeply, to spend time with him. The mystery around the sorcerer seemed irresistibly fascinating and magnetic for Simone, an enigma to be discovered at any cost.

«I want to come tho» He complained bitterly, and you smiled victorious and arrogantly, knowing that this time he wasn't going to win, while you would go. But your boastful victory was crushed by Mammon's enthusiastic words. «Yeah sure, why not?! C'mon, the more, the best! We will finish this job like nothin'!» You were pleased that despite the fault being his, he was so positive and bold, but why Simone? You really preferred that he not get in the way, but he always seemed to find a way to do it. It made you deeply angry.

Unexpectedly, your penetrating and fleeting gaze fell on Mammon's; this generated a sudden explosion of confused and disconnected babbling, before subsiding into an awkward silence. However, the avatar of Greed's words unleashed a wave of complaints from Leviathan as well, who, with his arms folded across his chest, began to speak vehemently against Mammon's words. «It's already hard this way, if another will be there to see ME act like a perfect moron and-- dance!» he bit his lip, frowning in an expression of pure shame as he clenched his fists hard. «I might just DIE!» he concluded his sentence, glaring at Mammon accusingly, while stamping his foot on the ground in a capricious and childish way.

«Calm down, Levi. I am sure everything will be fine. This time, it's just a day, alright?» you calmly tried to calm Leviathan's agitation, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. «I am sure that with me you will feel better!» Simone joined the scene, almost pushing you aside to wrap an arm around Leviathan's shoulders as he spoke in a reassuringly cheerful way. Your face darkened and you grit your teeth, turning decisively away. Leviathan, much to Simone's displeasure, didn't seem very comfortable with that sudden contact, emitting a nervous giggle. «I- I guess..» he murmured, scanning the other brothers for help.

«So... He's coming?» you spat acid after a few seconds of awkward silence, while you watched the brothers with your arms folded across your chest in defiance. Simone pulled away from Leviathan, showing a dazzling toothy smile, while Lucifer blinked with a certain disinterest, although he held his outfit in his arms with maniacal care. «I should ask-» Lucifer began to say, but was abruptly interrupted by Simone who began to pray, begging to be able to help at any cost, because "he was dying to be able to help."

Eventually, he too received his own uniform; it was a black and white uniform. It deeply irritated you that he too would be present in the work field, creating further distractions and complications. And above all… you knew that he would spend the entire time chasing Solomon everywhere, unable to concentrate on his work. it seemed incredible to you that you had to follow him too to make him do his duty. At least Simeon and Luke, who you knew well, would have helped keep everyone on the line.

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«MAMMON.» The demon jumped suddenly. His circlet, once fixed on his head, crashed to the ground. He spun around, glancing at you with a bewildered expression painted on his face. It had already happened an innumerable number of times that evening: the demon seemed distracted by who knows what, and had been going on like that for hours.

Leviathan seemed to take the job he'd been given seriously, but his inability to do everything himself forced him to enlist the help of Solomon or Luke to deliver orders.

Lucifer was incredibly dexterous and was able to perform every task with mastery, without having to utter a single word. Satan, sadly, was a little too enthusiastic and in that area, infested with too many cats for your liking, he seemed almost overly joyful.

Asmodeus, on the other hand, was not very practical and often complained of sweating, having sore feet and dirty hands because of trays. Despite repeated scoldings to invite him to recover, he continued to be clumsy and inexperienced. You tried to console him, reminding him that it was only that night.

Beelzebub was constantly watched with a hawk's eye, otherwise he would greedily devour everything that was on the trays entrusted to him. Every now and then you pretended not to notice Belphegor going to sleep, because if anyone dared disturb him he became seriously nervous and work with a frown.

Simeon and Luke were extremely conscientious and took every task with an almost sacred seriousness, while Solomon… well, as you'd expect, Simone kept bothering him constantly, following him everywhere, doing his job and hindering the wizard's.

At the time, you had devoted yourself to examining the orders, a long list written by Belphegor. «How large is that family..» you muttered to yourself, before feeling someone hit your back violently. The blow was so strong and unexpected that you almost fell to the ground, while an annoying laugh echoed in your ear. You couldn't stand that obnoxious exchange student.

You were so incredibly close to yelling every insult you could think of in his face, but you couldn't afford to completely lose control like that. His amused and mocking smile made your blood boil in your veins. You turned on him, furious as ever, but then suddenly someone yelled his name, making him jump. Simeon approached you. «My apologies, but we must hurry.» his tone was cold and impatient as he stared at you. He turned his gaze towards the human next to you «Simone, please quicken your peace and refrain from distracting others. The order is awaiting us, stop wasting our time.»

Simeon indicated with his arm the place where Simone had to go, staring at him with furrowed eyebrows and tense face, pushing him decisively to make him move. Simone quickly ran towards the place, realizing that Simeon was very close to losing his temper.

«Ugh, I wish he didn't come» You murmured dejected, while Simeon looked at him with impatience and growing anger, before sighing and turning his gaze towards you. «I'm sorry, Mc...» he gave a slight smile, then extended his hand with a gentle gesture; you handed him the paper, which he took.

«Don't worry, just be patient. We are managing decently well, It will be over soon!»

«I am on the brink of consigning him to the abyss of oblivion.»

«Haha, that's funny..» Simeon slowly turned to look at Solomon, who meanwhile seemed quite annoyed and slightly impatient; he wasn't even too disheveled, while he absently ran a hand through his white tuft. However, he was certainly extremely stressed both for work and for Simone, who at that moment, with a slow and somewhat uncertain step, was approaching.

You had sincere empathy for Solomon, but sadly there wasn't much I could do to stop Simone from continuing with his behavior. Despite this, you had to admit that the boy did his job with some competence, delivering the things assigned to him with some efficiency. However, after the seventieth time you had to stop Simone from distracting himself, and even from trying to cast some curse spell on Solomon (who answered with a bitter smile at every word), you had sincerely had enough.

The situation had become increasingly frustrating, as Simone seemed unable to concentrate on his task anymore and kept getting in the way of Solomon's work. Despite your repeated reminders, the boy didn't seem to understand the importance of the thing you all were there for and kept behaving in an unprofessional manner.

Taking Simone's arm decisively, you also touched Simeon's from behind, who was immersed in the concentration of orders at a table. «I am going to have a talk with Simone. Can you handle everything for a few minutes?» you asked, noticing a slight understanding smile on Simeon's face. With that gesture, you pushed the other human away from other people's eyes. «Well?» asked Simone, confused by your unexpected action.

«....well?.» you repeated through clenched teeth, crossing your arms and moving your back down, slamming it hard against the wall and putting all your weight there. «Just what do you even think you are doing?! I knew you would come here just to bother», you spoke with fierce anger, and he too seemed to get angry, as if you were telling a lie. His presence annoyed you, even if it was you who brought him there.

«Me? What are you talking about? Until proven otherwise, I believe YOU brought me here, I was working!» You raised an eyebrow as you smirked, accentuating your defiant expression. «Do you call following Solomon around work? Do you call trying to obstruct my actions work?» you growled, while you visibly darkened, giving off a negative aura. You ran a hand through your hair, which was sweaty and messy from your frantic activity, and was surprised that you weren't out of breath despite your agitated and tense state.

«I wasn't--» «Don't even bother denying.» you placed a finger in front of his lips, staring at him intently. A sly smile crept onto your lips as your other hand rested on his shoulder. «You aren't playing nice, Simone. but I am really sick of seeing you trying to poorly replace me. So..» giggling mockingly, you pushed him back forcefully, making his balance falter and risking a disastrous fall. «I won't play nice either. have fun on this job.» and with that, you walked out the back of the club and left him alone.

He blinked, staring at the door with a blank, unfocused expression. He shouldn't worry too much, you were both human beings, in a world populated by demons. But the situation made him feel vulnerable. Why were you so cheeky, just because you had a pact with all the brothers? He clenched his fists hard and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He wouldn't let you win, he told himself determinedly.

But you warned him explicitly; in addition to the fact that every time Simone had something in his hand you took it from him with a quick and precise gesture, and that when he went to assist a table, you took his place with disarming ease and took the orderin before him, without hesitation. You weren't sticky with the sorcerer, you simply stayed close to him, until Simone walked away.

«Is this better?» You asked in a calm voice, after noticing that the room had been empty for a few minutes and that there was no other customer waiting. Solomon absently ran a hand through his hair, involuntarily dropping the headband to the ground. You promptly bent down to pick it up for him, noticing how his ears shone in the soft light of the room. «Oh... i guess it is, thank you Mc», said the boy with a slight laugh, as he took the headband back in his fingers and enjoyed playing with one of the bunny ears that adorned it.

Mammon approached rapidly, placing his hands on your shoulders, while his bright and curious gaze scrutinized your face. «Yo Mc!!» he exclaimed enthusiastically, «You should come check this!» he invited you, showing you his phone. it was one of those games as popular as they were deceptive, from which they promised to earn easy and free money. You had already tried to convince him that most of them were scams or otherwise unreliable, but he didn't seem to care in the least, and kept hammering on his point of view.

Smiling smugly and rolling your eyes, you put an arm around his shoulders, causing him to wince slightly and stop to your humble height, since he was up while you were sitting. «Great Mammon, didn't I already tell you to not trust these things? they could probably be more fake than real» you tried to reason with the greedy brother, who meanwhile was sulking slightly; his cheeks were still red from the previous action.

Solomon was called by Asmodeus and Leviathan, who seemed eager to do something and needed his help and skills. You didn't see Simone around you, and you began to wonder anxiously where he had gone; you didn't want to lose sight of him, fearing that he might do something troublesome.

«Hey Mammon, have you seen Simone?» the boy seemed so focused on the phone (his fingers were so fast on the screen that you thought he could be a robot sometimes) that surely he hadn't heard your words, because he didn't even give you a look.

Removing your arm from his shoulders and rising from the stool where you were sitting, you cracked your back aching from the uncomfortable posture, emitting a soft moan of relief. Then, looking around carefully, you noticed Simone going out of the room with two girls, whose long tails of hair flowed sinuous to the rhythm of their slow steps; something was wrong. You squint, raising an eyebrow in perplexity and suspicion, and decides to walk over to see what was happening. You stopped behind the corner of the wall, hidden in the shade, and you could distinctly hear their whispered words, crossing your arms and standing still waiting to understand what their intent was.

«We don't understand how the brothers prefer Mc over you» a female voice was heard, and you raised an eyebrow. "What a bitch, talking bad about me?"

«I know, that's why I am trying to take their place. As you can see, tho, it's not easy. They are so attached to them» he groaned sighing.

«You don't have much time either. The year is about to end, and you will go back home. Plus, Mc stays here more and they come back a lot of times during the year, despite the program that end» the other demon-- the female voice lower than the previous, spoke.

«Yeah, I am aware. Why do you think I'm trying to befriend that man of a sorcerer? He's the hardest over everyone, he literally doesn't want to even talk» Simone snorted, the demons seemed to laugh

«With Mc It's been different; perhaps it was because they both were humans and Solomon wanted another mortal friend?» there was at least 2 minutes of silence after that, before Simone opened his mouth again. «Solomon is human?»

At this you had to do as much as possible not to burst out laughing. He wasn't the first--human or demon, who thought Solomon wasn't mortal, and he made you laugh at the tone of absolute shock he used.

You continued to listen to the conversation in silence, with a very unhappy look, until you heard your name being called by a quiet and reassuring voice. At this, the three voices ceased speaking and silence filled the air.

«Mc, are you out here? Me and Beel were searching for you..» the youngest brother pronounced, throwing his arms around your waist in a gesture of pure affection and squeezing you tightly against him. His chin rested gently on your shoulder while he left out a deep, tired sigh.

Simone walked out of the corner, locking eyes with you. Your softened gaze quickly turned into one brimming with slyness, while a mischievous grin appeared on your lips, giving you an air of defiance. You had heard every word of the conversation and couldn't resist wanting to have some fun at Simone's expense.

He seemed pissed immediately, narrowing his eyes and furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance. His expression darkened.

«Well.. me and Belphie go back in, if you want to come, that's the door. See you later, Simone» you said arrogantly as Belphegor pulled away from the embrace, only to walk back in with you yawning. He had probably just woken up.

«What was all that about?» asked the Avatar of Sloth, turning to you with a raised eyebrow, having felt that agitated energy radiating from Simone. You decided not to say anything and just laugh, shrugging it off. «Nothing too revelant, Belphie, don't worry» you patted his head as you went to join Beel; Simeon smiled as he handed him a bowl of biscuits, to help him a bit to control the hunger he was feeling; the angel knew it wouldn't truly help, but at least Beel was happy.

You decided to drop the matter, as you knew time was too tight for Simone to befriend Solomon, especially considering the fact that the latter doggedly avoided him. It was clear that Solomon wanted nothing to do with Simone, and there wasn't much he could do to change that.

Thankfully, that night was drawing to a close and customers were now few and far between. Those who were present were slowly leaving, the room was almost empty and silent. The atmosphere was almost surreal, as if time had stopped, and only the faint music were heard, among your breaths and voices.

At least, you managed to not dance that night, much to Levi's joy.

──────────────────────────────

«The year is about to end» You carefully observed his behavior. He'd never gotten a room of his own, so he'd spent the whole year in yours, and you'd generously divided your closet to allow him to put something of his into it. However, in all honesty, you couldn't wait for him to go. You could finally enjoy your privacy and solitude, which you had longed for. And as soon as Simone would leave, you were willing to spend a little more time there after the school year was over.

«Yeah. I am sad I won't be seeing them again anymore. Are you?» A small laugh escaped your lips at his words. «What do you mean? I don't stop seeing them», you admitted, turning to observe him. He stared at you with obvious confusion, but also with a tinge of envy he couldn't hide. It was clear that your close relationship with the brothers made him feel left out and jealous, but you continued to enjoy your life without worrying too much about his feelings; he didn't worry about yours, after all.

«Why not?» he asked in a voice suddenly cold and flat, as he turned to comb his hair in the mirror of your room. His expression had become more withdrawn and distant, as if he were preparing for an argument. You, on the other hand, remained impassive, determined not to give him too much space. «Because I am important here in the Devildom», you explained without adding further details. You didn't see the point in explaining everything to him, you just wanted him to leave.

«I mean, I don't get why. you aren't like Solomon, he has something special; pacts, powers» you slowly turned towards him, staring at him intensely, as if he had said some stratospheric bullshit.

«I literally have a pact with the 7 most powerful demons in the devildom. And plus, I am his apprentice. He's helping me» you explained, and again that spark of jealousy showed itself on his face, as he frowned.

«I will manage to get them too, Mc. They also seem to love me now, getting to have a pact with them won't be that hard» he said as if it were child's play, smiling defiantly. But you only laughed heartily; surely that attitude of his would never lead to such a thing. «Why are you laughing?» he growled, crossing his arms in an irritated manner.

«Nothing, you just look so silly!» you spoke giggling, and he slapped your hands; you were intent on helping him pack, but he no longer seemed so happy to receive a hand. «Stop, don't touch my things, I hate you» you made a sarcastic "gasp"; It didn't even hurt, by now he had destroyed all friendship.

«I can't wait to go away, but I will miss Asmodeus and Mammon» you rolled your eyes as you walked away from him and went to sit on your bed. «They just began being nice to you because you started acting like me. They just liked you because you seemed me, haha!» you held your belly, giggling.

«Stop, shut up, I want to hear no word from you. It's a shame this beautiful room is yours» he snorted, closing the now packed suitcase. Nodding and rolling your eyes, you got out of bed and walked out of your room, leaving the door open not bothering to close it. Meanwhile, you caught your D.D.D. that was tucked into one of your jeans pockets.

Turning it on, you immediately entered the messages chats; Satan, Luke, Mammon, Belphegor. As you scrolled for Luke's chat, you received a message from someone else.

«...» you remained silent, smiling as your gaze was fixed on the phone screen. After a few moments, you turned off the display and tossed the device back into your trouser pockets, determined to visit Luke personally later instead of texting him. Looking up, you noticed Mammon moving frantically, almost agitated. He was scanning around him with some anxiety, looking for something important, or.....

...looking for a place to hide as soon as possible. «Okay. What did you do?» you asked approaching him with determined steps, crossing your arms with determination. He stopped abruptly to look at you, his face twisting into a nervous smile as he tried to compose himself. He took your shoulders with a frantic gesture «Mc, Thank Lord you are here! You have to help me!»

You stared at him apathetically, noting his agitated gaze and trembling hands. With a slow movement of your eyebrow, you showed your perplexity at his request.

«You stole something from someone?» you asked, and he seemed to want to answer but you opened your mouth again. «And that someone is Levi, right?» he remained silent staring at you and you nearly burst out laughing at his face. Oh yeah, that guilty face of a cat that had just been caught in the sack.

«Ya know me way too well, ya know?! Well, will you help me? Come on! I have to hide, if Levi finds m-» Levi's scream was heard from the end of the corridor; he shouted Mammon's name. The avatar of Greed seemed to panic and ran off with you, trying to escape from his really pissed off younger brother.

It was always the same story with those two, but you had fun with them every time.

And while you were trying to help Mammon find a hiding place in the living room (he couldn't find an effective one according to him), Lucifer entered the room, interrupting your activity and distracting you. «Mc, a guest is here. I was surprised to find him outside.. after all, It's raining heavily» commented the older brother, glancing at the human; he was completely soaked and with a wide smile on his lips as he waved his hand proudly in the air.

You were pleased that he wanted to see you, but that badly? «Are you crazy? You could have gotten a fever» you approached him, while Mammon stopped and turned to look at you, raising an eyebrow. He had forgotten why he was hiding.

After a few minutes, Simone made himself heard with the suitcase in his hand. He dropped it onto the couch taking a deep breath, and then looked up. «. . .Oh! Hello Solomon» he gave a sweet smile that got on your nerves, and the boy simply returned the greeting, before turning back to you. «I'll be fine. Look, I brought what I meant to make you see» ah, the sparkle in his eyes appeared again..

Every time he spoke of magic, that new extra sparkle appeared in his eyes, he was so adorable that you couldn't help but smile looking at him. «And- ...what are you smiling like that for?» he asked raising an eyebrow. Simone threw a thick blanket over Solomon's shoulders, almost making him jump as she turned to face him. «...thanks?» he raised an eyebrow, grinning confused.

Simone was trying to be nice to solomon, you knew he was trying to bond, as he failed the first time. But Solomon wasn't exactly the type to give him attention out of pity, like the brothers had done in the beginning.

Since during the job, Simone hadn't been able to do anything to bond with Solomon, he was trying even now. But Solomon, as already mentioned, would not have helped him in his attempt. After all, even with you, if it wasn't the sorcerer who wanted to have contact you probably wouldn't have had anything other than a relationship at school as classmates.

Finally, leading Solomon to the bathroom, you made him remove his cloak, squeezing it in the tub then looking at him. «You alright?» you asked, as he nodded and touched his hair, chuckling and knowing how wet it was. «Yeah. Are you interested?» shaking your head, you giggled, leaving the cloak at the edge of the tub. «Now we can go try it out,» you said as he nodded. Leaving the cloak there, you left the bathroom with him, heading towards your room.

«Now..»

Finally, while you were seeing his potion, you ended up talking about Simone. Apparently, Solomon didn't give a damn about the boy; he considered him only a human passenger for the project that Diavolo wanted.

«I think what Simone is interested in is take my place to have you all as his friends. I am okay with him having friends, but not copying me» laughing, the boy watched the liquid move in a mixed and strange way through the glass. «Seems like he's desperate, haha» he said smiling broadly, looking up at you and then standing up straight.

«I mean; with Luke he acted all kind and even defended him when Mammon called him a chihuahua, and still Luke said something is off about him and that he doesn't like him. It's sure that Simone is not trustworthy at all» Nodding at your words, Solomon crossed his arms.

After a few seconds, Simone entered the room, glancing at both of you.

«...you forgot to lock the door?» Solomon blinked, not even bothering to whisper. Staring at him, you shook your head slowly, lowering your head to the potion on the table. You two just wanted a bit of a moment between yourselves.

«..You don't want me here, right?» snapping your hand into Solomon's mouth to prevent him from answering with sarcastic truth, you smiled nervously; he made a bored face, looking at you.

«We just were busy» gritting your teeth you pronounced those words, and Simone entered the room, observing how you were holding Solomon. «You two seem really close..» he whispered, tilting his head. Removing your hand from the sorcerer's mouth, you observed Simone. «...and you don't seem scared even though he's one of the most powerful sorcerers in the three realms» he added while his eyes shone with fascination; fascinated by the power that Solomon held.

Solomon smiled superiorly as you threw your arm around him. «Yep, we are veeery close! We are like best friends basically, aren't we?» Solomon, though surprised by your gesture, showed no sign of discomfort. After all, he was used to interacting with other demons, and he knew how to handle unexpected situations.

«...haha, we are?» the white-haired boy answered, raising an eyebrow and showing a smile, but he put his arm around your back, accepting your friendly gesture.

«Can I stay here?» Simone asked, while Solomon watched the human, while you lifted your arm from his shoulders, going towards Simone «No, we have to work on this by ourselves and you wouldn't be helping us at all» smiling, you pushed him gently out and closed the door quickly, turning the key; you turned to Solomon with a satisfied grin. «Good» Solomon chuckled at your sudden action.

And fortunately, that day passed quickly; the next morning, you were all assembled.

«It's time to say goodbye. I hope you enjoyed your year here, Simone» Lord Diavolo smiled, talking politely, while everyone stood around the exchange student; on his right, Simeon and Luke were settled, and on the other side Solomon and you.

«Yeah, It's been fun.. it's just sad that I have to leave all of you» you rolled your eyes, looking at him «Don't worry, they will forget quickly» you whispered in his ear, receiving a light elbow in the belly. «Ow,» you chuckled, stepping back and standing upright.

Oh but if he thought this was the end it wasn't at all; you still had to do one last thing…just before he could leave in the human world. While he greeted all the brothers, you exchanged a look with the angels.

Only you three knew what you had to do.

Simeon smiled softly, tilting his head and acting as if he knew nothing, while Luke adjusted the cap on his head. Solomon raised an eyebrow. «..ok. What are you planning?» the blue-eyed human whispered, leaning on your ear with a suspicious look, raising an eyebrow and looking at you with a curious smile.

«Nothing..» was your vague reply. As Simone was done greeting the brothers, he returned between you and Simeon, and Barbatos raised his arms to open the glowing portal that would take the boy with the silky black hair straight home. But before he could pass through the glittering portal, Simeon placed his pleasantly cold hands and delicate in his hot, sweaty brow; no one stopped him and Lord Diavolo raised a curious and questioning eyebrow, since Simeon had never acted in that inexplicable way out of nowhere. But from your sly, knowing grin, he knew it was something you'd already planned to do, as if it were part of a carefully orchestrated plan.

They didn't hear what the angel told the dark-haired human, but there was noticed that he had stopped moving completely, almost paralyzed by the unexpected angelic touch.

Next, Luke placed his hands on his arched and tense back, and as Simeon lifted his hands from his forehead in a fluid gesture, the short angel pushed him into the enveloping portal.

«A…curse?» Solomon whispered, his eyes widening. At those words, you burst into a big laugh, while Simeon smiled, adjusting his black gloves in his slim arms.

«You could say that...» you chuckled.

Simone fell to the ground on the sidewalk, getting up and rubbing his sore nose. he did not remember what had happened; he had a total emptiness. He only remembered when he had fallen asleep in his own bed the night before... wait, did he ever got up from his bed? Why was he in the middle of the street? And how was he hurt, as if he just fell from a certain height? To add to his confusion, around him, anyone in the street saw him, tried to stay away from him and looked at him with disgust.

He looked down at his own body; he was dressed casually, he didn't seem to smell bad. He didn't understand why people were avoiding him?

Meanwhile, you were still laughing.

«You gave him a repulsion curse?! No way!»

[sordidmusings]

Buggy Headcanon: Comforting his partner on their appearance

A/N: headcanons requested by anon! Thank you for the request this one was really sweet. I hope it's what you wanted and I hope that you’ve been having better days ❤️

Word Count: ~800

Warnings: afab!reader (they/them pronouns), slight thirst for a bullet there but nothing explicit, gets very sappy but thats my shit so if you don't like it get ready to square up 😤

Get a dose of some love 🤍!!

~ ~ ~ ••• ✦✦✦ ••• ~ ~ ~

Buggy is your biggest fan, just like you are his

He’s always letting you know how highly he thinks of you, whether that be with compliments (usually crude or goofy ones), clinging to you (you’ve heard of velcro dogs, let me introduce you to Gorilla glue Buggy), and touching you with either reverence or greed

Most often, he'll try to take your mind off of it by joking around and acting dramatic

He'll let out an offended gasp. "You're insulting my favorite person in the whole wide world?? TAKE IT BACK."

He'll collapse onto the nearest surface, throwing the back of his hand to his forehead like a true thespian, and bemoan, "My love - my sweet, wonderful, breathtaking love - is the greatest fool. Grab the hat and shoes; they're saying they're ugly again."

"Uh, yeah, but you know what that's perfect for??" *blows raspberry on it*

The reverent touches come in best to ease your difficult days - the way that he traces eyes and fingers across you with awe makes it hard to disbelieve his attraction. He’s learned from your brushes and kisses on his nose that the best balm for insecurities is unflinching affection. 

He loves you deeply and that extends to all of you. Everyone has their favorite pieces of each other of course, but the few parts that he had started out indifferent to (due to his distraction towards your highlighted features) had also gained a rosy sheen because they’re yours.

There was a particularly bad day you had where no sweet words or cuddling would break through your low mood. He had you tell him every one of your insecurities so he could caress each of them with loving hands and tender kisses. You felt much more content at the end; he had proven that not a feature on you would have him hesitate or flinch away. It was quite the opposite actually - he fell in love with you more with each emotional wound you trusted to his care, and he only saw you as more beautiful as you in your totality came into focus before his eyes.

The greedy part of him takes any chance to squeeze at you. A lot of the time it's playful - a passing slap to your ass, a pinch at your waist before he jumps away laughing, a palm at your breast enjoying the feel as he moves by. But there are times where it’s more insatiable - a hungry mouth pressed against breasts and stomach and hips and thighs, grasping fingers sinking into soft skin along with nipping teeth.

While he isn’t the most comfortable with sentimental words, he is actually really great with them. They always hold more weight to you, because he saves them for when you need to understand the truth of his feelings.

It’s not that he never says affectionate things - “There’s my showstopper!”, “So pretty”, “That’s perfect, sweetcheeks” and “Love you, little star” were very common in your life - but he avoided waxing poetic because it made him feel vulnerable.

This is partly due to the exposure he feels at stating such emotions after fiercely shielding anything that could be hurt behind steel plating, partly because this is you so any rebuff could break him (he worries about this not because he questions your devotion, but because he questions his worth), and partly because he fears that his words and feelings are stupid and inane, especially in the face of your own troubles

His own devotion has him push past those fears, because he would do anything to see you at peace or happy and smiling.

After a day of playing, teasing, working, and loving with each other, you still found yourself bending under the weight of the negative voice in your thoughts. Buggy had noticed the sorrow dragging down your features and felt his own heart ache.

The transition to bed was slower than usual to make time for him to keep distracting you with gentle touches, delicate kisses, and helping hands easing your tasks.

You found yourself bundled in your favorite sleepwear and cradled against his chest. You had choked up a bit when he knew to choose these clothes for you and helped you change into them. Buggy may come off as only brash and chaotic a lot of the time, but he diligently saved away any information he could about you, using it to love you better.

When the comforting pressure of his arms, the soft swipes of his hands on your skin, and the lulling warmth of his body underneath you had replaced any harsh thoughts, you began slipping into a peaceful slumber.

Buggy noticed you moving on to dreams so he gifted you one last promise to take with you.

“I would take my chances with the depths of the sea to fall at your feet and worship every piece of you.”

@fanaticsnail tagging as requested ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

[rin-fukuroi]

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 [𝐀𝐥𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐱 𝐙𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢]

Please do not translate or publish my works without my permission.

The originals of my works can be read here

Fandom: Genshin Impact Pairings: Alhaitham x Fem!reader x Zhong Li Warnings: NSFW, threesome, degradation, oral sex, creampie, squirt, cumshot.

Note: English is not my native language, so I apologize if there are errors in the text qq This is my first post on tumblr and I'm a little worried, but I hope you like it!~

You melt in the warmth of two pairs of hands caressing your body. Zhong Li's palms gently squeeze your hips while his lips press against the skin of the inside of your thighs, making you tremble from the pleasant waves that rush to your spine. He is so careful, delicate and carefully slow, slowly massaging your elastic flesh until his long forked tongue clings to your wet folds, drawing circles around your throbbing clitoris. Even that would be enough to make you crazy with pleasure, but now your attention is attracted by the persistent, slightly rough touch of strong fingers to your jaw.

— Open your mouth.

Your gaze hesitantly rises to Alhaitham towering over you. From his emerald eyes, watching intently as your lips slowly open, an even more pungent heat flows to the bottom of your stomach, merging with the pleasure that a man gives you, squeezed between your thighs, thrusting his tongue deeper into your contracting walls, touching every sensitive point in your insides.

Zhong Li has always been too good at everything about your pleasure. The disheveled strands of his bangs tickle your thighs, forcing you to squeeze his head even harder. You knew he didn't mind. He likes the way you cling to him, how you squirm on the sheets, emitting sweet moans from the slightest movement of his tongue. The irises of Zhong Li's eyes, glowing in the dark, shimmer with pure gold, watching you obey Alhaitham. He never tried to fight for your attention, preferring to give you pleasure and revel in your taste, while Alhaitham was less attentive and always pursued only his own pleasure, using your body the way he likes.

This tandem of two opposites will kill you someday. While Zhong Li devours you with restrained greed, Alhaitham bends over you, painfully pressing on your jaw, impatiently stopping your slowness. You unconsciously stick out your tongue, looking up at him, waiting for approval.

— Good girl.

Ah, the praise that sounds in Alhaitham's low, velvety voice is something for which you are ready to do whatever he asks.

Your eyebrows furrow slightly, and an uncontrollable low moan escapes from your throat when you feel his saliva settling on your tongue. You watch with fascination as Alhaitham licks his lips, pressing on your chin, forcing you to close your mouth. You don't need an order, you instantly swallow the mixture of your saliva with pleasure, making a contented purr. For some reason, such moments always made you feel really needed by this indifferent cold man.

Your chest heaves heavily, and your fingers press into the sheets as Zhong Li's tongue slips out of your insides, making its way between your folds to circle around your sensitive clitoris for the last time.

— You are so delicious, dear… — Zhong Li's soft voice merges with your heavy breathing in the silence of the room.

— This is not something worth reporting every time you taste her, Morax, — your eyes are closed, but you can hear Alhaitham's heavy footsteps receding, which made you lift your head, turning your gaze in the direction of Zhong Li.

Your breath literally freezes when a picture unfolds before your eyes of how Alhaitham's big palm wraps around Zhong Li's neck, forcing him to get up from his knees to wrap him in a deep kiss. Your cheeks are flushed, and your lower abdomen is cramping again, but such a pleasant pain when you imagine how their tongues are now sharing your taste. You shudder when Alhaitham's eyes open, meeting your gaze, hypnotized by the kiss of your beloved men. You could almost see the corners of Alhaitham's lips lift slightly in a smug grin before his lips tear away from Zhong Li and all attention turns to you.

— What is it? Did our little whore like what she saw? — your lips open, intending to say something, but all the words immediately melt on the tongue, giving way to a languid sigh when Alhaitham's strong fingers pressed into your hips, pulling your body to the edge of the bed. His towering figure has now settled between your legs instead of Zhong Li, forcing your attention to be directed to his trembling cock, threateningly aligned with your entrance, when his large palms abruptly grabbed your buttocks, lifting the lower part of your body. You unconsciously cross your ankles behind his back, trying to pull his hips closer, so that you can finally feel how this divine member will fill your insides. — How impatient you are, — no matter how desperate your attempts, Alhaitham froze, resting the head of his massive organ on your clitoris, forcing you to squirm even harder in his grip. — Have you forgotten anything?

Alhaitham's cold predatory gaze turned to you, made the heat in your lower abdomen pulsate even more intensely, as if forcibly pushing the right words up your throat.

— P-please… Fuck me, Haitham.

—Louder, — Alhaitham spat out sharply, pressing even harder on your soft flesh with his fingers.

— Well, well, Haitham, be gentle with her at least sometimes, — you feel the soft touch of Zhong Li's palm on your cheek, turning your head to meet the gaze of amber eyes, permeated with adoration, turned to you. He replaced Alhaitham in his place, where he towered over you like a heavy shadow, but the presence of Zhong Li in this place did not make you feel pressure, but made you want to touch him. The palm itself reached out to his hand caressing your face, until an exasperated sigh was heard from the other side.

— Tch, you're too kind to her, Morax. She wants to be used, doesn't you, Y/N?

You hesitate, bluntly blunting your gaze somewhere to the side, slightly moving away from Zhong Li's palm.

— I… y-yes, please…

Morax's eyes open wide, watching you in surprise from his height. You look so innocent, so fragile and tender in his eyes, but such dirty and vulgar words come out of your lips, from which an inexplicable excitement flows to the lower abdomen of a man. He always wanted to protect you, wanted to surround you with care and love, but now, when your miniature hands reach for the zipper of his trousers, still hiding his erection from your curious eyes, his thoughts are filled with something unfamiliar to him. Dark and viscous, but so attractive that Zhong Li can't resist it.

— This is right answer, — Alhaitham's hand painfully squeezes the shin of one of your legs, arranging your foot on his shoulder. His lips press against your heated skin in a short kiss before his cock roughly stretches your insides with one persistent thrust, causing your back to arch from a sudden sharp pain, almost instantly replaced by pure pleasure when his hips pull away from your ass only to crash into it with a loud pop.

You desperately cling to the sheets, trying to stay on the bed as your body begins to slide over the sheets in time with the rough pace set by Alhaitham, but your eyes in silent pleading meet the gaze of Morax, studying your contorted expression of pleasure on the face behind.

Zhong Li's palm touches your cheek again.

— I'll give you what you want.

Zhong Li's free hand straightens the zipper of his trousers in one sharp movement, hastily pulling down the thick fabric along with underwear along his thighs, freeing his hard erection from the tight shackles for a long time, which now trembles slightly not far from your face. You could never take your eyes off his cock, which was a little bigger than Alhaitham's, but filled your throat so perfectly whenever you wanted to make him relax a little and take his mind off the exhausting paperwork. But now… This will be the first time when your lips greedily embrace his oozing pre-ejaculate head in the presence of Alhaitham, who is carefully watching you from his place between your legs.

Your small palm can barely wrap around Zhong Li's cock, which is now gradually filling your throat. Morax's long fingers tangle in your disheveled hair, unobtrusively helping you maintain the gentle pace with which your head swings towards his hips, pushing his massive organ further into the tightness of your throat with each new penetration. Your sweet muffled moans send pleasant vibrations through Zhong Li's body, watching you from under heavy eyelids and long eyelashes. You are so perfect for both of them that for the first time the great Geo Archon has no words to express his admiration. His lips open, emitting soft moans and restrained growls as you accept the same casual but insistent pace with which Alhaitham's cock pierces your insides. Morax's fingers are clenching your soft curls tighter and tighter, while his head involuntarily leans back, and his eyes close, while he just enjoys the warmth of your throat enveloping his hard cock.

When Morax's lower abdomen is reduced to a painfully familiar feeling, his eyes open lazily, meeting the gaze of Alhaitham, who feels the approach of his orgasm as clearly as the Lord of Geo. Let each of you remain silent, allowing only sweet and hoarse moans to escape from your lips, you all shared one pleasure, ready to burst and spill over every cell of your bodies. The eyes of both men watched in fascination as they both filled you to the limit, synchronizing the rhythm of their movements with each other.

You choke, drops of saliva slowly trickle down your cheeks while you choke on the impressive organ of Morax, trying to cope with his pace. You can feel Alhaitham's cock swell and throb in your insides in sync with how Zhong Li is approaching his climax, more and more desperately piercing your throat. You never thought that the pleasure of these two men would be something even more pleasant for you than the pleasure that they give you. The louder and hoarse the sounds coming out of Zhong Li and Alhaitham's throat became, the tighter the knot in your stomach tightened, forcing your back to arch, and desperate loud moans hit the hard flesh of Zhong Li, perfectly filling you over and over again. Your knuckles turn white as you cling to the sheets, letting out one last long moan. It seemed that every muscle of your body, every cell and every nerve was struck by a delicious heat when your walls inevitably tightened around the firm girth of Alhaitham, and your moisture flooded his thighs and the bottom of your stomach with uncontrollable splashes. Your body was trembling in sweet convulsions, forcing both men to fix their eyes on you.

Alhaitham let out a distinct loud growl as his penis struggled to come out and enter your insides from how tightly you squeezed around him, inevitably pulling his own orgasm out of him.

— Fuck…! — his fingers painfully pressed into your soft skin, instantly leaving bruises on it, and you felt the warm liquid pour over the walls spasming around his girth. Alhaitham's thighs trembled, pressing into the elastic flesh of your buttocks, forcing the head of his penis painfully against the cervix, until his hot sperm began to flow smoothly over your skin, settling in wet spots on the fabric of the sheets.

Following the orgasm of Alhaitham, a delightful climax also falls on Zhong Li's body, tearing out a long moan from his throat. His grip on your hair becomes even more palpable when he pulls your head away, bursting out of your throat. His free palm wraps around his swollen cock, from which hot sticky threads instantly break out, decorating your face with a vulgar pattern. You desperately grab the air with your lips, feeling a salty taste on your tongue when a few drops of his sperm get into your mouth, swallowing each of them with pleasure. The silence of the room is broken by heavy sighs, and the fog of intense climax releases Morax's consciousness. His amber eyes run over your cum-drenched face, and anxiety settles in his chest. His lips open, ready to utter words of apology, but he swallows them as quickly as they managed to swirl on his tongue when he notices how greedily you lick the creamy drops around your mouth.

Trying to stabilize your breathing, you raise yourself unsteadily on your elbows, catching the sticky liquid that has settled on your cheeks on the tip of your index finger. Your lips wrap around your finger, and your eyelids grow heavy, blurring your clouded gaze while you savor the taste of Zhong Li on your tongue.

The corners of Alhaitham's lips lift in a barely noticeable smile, while Zhong Li runs his long fingers into the damp curls of the bangs stuck to his forehead, combing the unruly strands back.

— You really are the perfect whore for us.

[ghostyolive]

I will always be so mad that FMA:B gave Greed a different dialogue with Bradley after the Devil's Nest massacre than in the manga because it feels like it just changes his characterization to be so much plainer and more cartoonishly assholish. Like they really wanted to rope you into thinking he was a bad guy so that his twist of caring about people would feel stronger, but it just makes me sad. In the VIZ Media Fullmetal Edition translation, the exchange goes:

Greed: "Whoa there Bradley. How could you do this to them? They were my people."

Bradley: "Feeling pity for your pawns? How pathetic."

Greed: "Pity?! Do you forget who the hell you're dealing with?! I am greed incarnate!! Money, women, henchmen, everything-- they're my possessions! They're all mine! I won't let you take away what belongs to me!!"

...And the exchange in the English dub of FMA:B goes:

Greed: "Whoa, that was a little excessive. Killing me is one thing, but they're not coming back."

Bradley: "Pitying the lost lives of your pawns? Pathetic."

Greed: "Excuse me, are you senile? Did you forget who I am, old man? I'm the living incarnation of greed! Those weren't my friends, Bradley. They were my possessions! Money, women, henchmen-- They're all possessions!"

And that difference is absolutely insane! His manga version is in some ways more obvious and in some ways more ambiguous about his care for his friends. On the one hand, he staunchly refuses to pity them. (I would say that this is because he respects their right to self-determination and what they signed on for when they followed him, but that's almost pure speculation.) But on the other, he specifically refers to them as "[his] people." This really effectively toes the line between multiple meanings-- "[his] people" colloquially would refer to friends, but it also emphasizes ownership. It sets up his arc of acknowledging friendship while also not detracting from his care for the Devil's Nest gang.

The anime just makes him... indifferent and snarky? On a surface level, it makes his character arc far more clear as somebody learning to love and care about others, but it also really devalues his experiences with his gang. I guess I can almost understand why people just forget about them aside from the bit with Bido when they only watch FMA:B considering that it absolutely glosses over just about every part of the manga that makes you care about them. Why should people consider those random guys in the beginning when he makes it clear that he never cared about them? /s

And it's more than just the writing that I have a problem with. Even the animation is so distinctly different from what's shown in the manga that the tone ends up absolutely flipped on his head.

(Note: this online scan doesn't use the official translation) Greed's expression here can best be described as one of pure rage. I think you could maybe loosely interpret the first panel as a grin, but the second panel clears up how he's feeling pretty well. It's especially poignant since the three panels preceding these two entirely obscure his expression. Any calm and collectedness has been shed in the face of his gang's massacre and his eyes are bulging and furious in a way that they haven't been drawn before. And how does the anime handle this absolute gut punch?

Um. Not good, frankly. It's definitely got the wildness of his original expression, but it conveys none of the anger. It throws off what's essentially his greatest display of hypocrisy-- That he only gets angry when his gang is hurt, just like how Ed only gets angry when Al is hurt. Absolutely nothing about his reaction properly conveys rage or frustration, and that honestly just sucks. While episode 13 served as a pretty decent and streamlined recap of chapters 25-28, episode 14 really screwed with some of the moments that made Greed's arc feel so powerful and bittersweet.

Tl;dr Please oh please go read the manga version of og Greed's arc <3

[paperbackribs]

werewolf steve, werebat eddie (ch3)

🐺🛌🦇🥺

It’s the quiet conviction that he’s in the wrong bed that wakes Eddie the next morning. The mattress too soft, the pillow too thick, and the boy next to him is an unwavering, giant red flag too. He sighs, hand under his cheek and contemplates the sleep-creased face of Steve Harrington next to little old Eddie Munson.

And he thought turning into a bat was going to be the only weird part of this weekend.

Steve snuffles, twitching his nose before falling back into a steady breathing rhythm again. And Eddie would like to deny how cute it is, would like to refuse to see how handsome Steve is, and would very much like to pinch the thin river of greed winding through him that would like the chance to have a fun, kind guy too. Someone who stirs Eddie, makes him laugh. But that’s not his fate in this lifetime.

He turns onto his back, staring directly above at the bubble pattern of the ceiling and determinedly focusing on more important matters.

Like the fact that he’s a bat now.

Apparently.

Rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, he wonders what the hell to do with that knowledge. It’s not going to get him anywhere; there’s no big corporation that wants to hire bat services. Last he heard, the ability to squeak wasn’t going to land him a record deal. Eddie huffs out a laugh, maybe he can get into acting. Take this gig out on the road.

No, just like having to watch a girl be brutally murdered in front of him and only barely scraping past that hack job Hawkins PD called an investigation, Eddie is going to have to take his lumps and keep moving.

He peers at the awful plaid wallpaper of the bedroom. Unsurprised by the banality of it, the hint of wasted money on lack of taste, but he is surprised by the pleasant abundance of greenery across the whole space. Potted plants crowd every available surface, some with trailing vines flowing over containers hanging from the ceiling. Even with the window closed, the room smells fresh, a clean sweetness to the air that matches the shiningly healthy and obviously well-cared for leaves, flowers and, he peers closer, herbs.

He wonders whether Steve dug these out of the woods with his big furry paws or if he’d bought them at the local nursery. Looking at the array of sizes and colourful patterns on the clay pots he figures that Steve shelled out a decent amount of money for his botanical set-up.

It twinges something in Eddie. Steve, just as taken in by the Upside Down, doomed to forever be a half-man and half-beast too, but sleeping peacefully within an oasis of his creation, sheltered by the tall walls of the Harrington home, with friends who love him, who don’t care about the monster within.

It feels unfair.

Because what is Eddie now? A monster? Maybe. A creature? Definitely. This new change in his life won’t make it any better, it won’t give him any advantages. It’s just one more thing he’s going to have to hide. To squirrel away like a tender thing lest the soft belly of it be exposed to the type of people who would hurt him.

Hurt, he knows, comes in many different forms. From a father believing your best value is in using small hands to boost a car, in the indifference of a mother leaving you on your uncle’s doorstep, on your best friend pushing you to the floor when you try to kiss him.

He looks over at the effortlessly handsome features of Steve, at his expensive and beautiful room, and thinks that whatever risk Steve carries, it is nothing like the one Eddie would be exposed to if his new secret got out.

He spots a familiar animal on the cover of a book on the bedside table. Curiously, he picks it up, flicking his eyes over the types of bats in the world, their characteristics, advice on care, and other little random facts.

Steve stirs, smacking his lips his eyelashes flutter before his gaze opens to land on Eddie bent over the book. He’s under the blanket that Eddie lays over; his bat version must have crawled out of the hoodie at some point but remained on top of the bed. Last night had been a blur and he doesn’t remember much except panic followed by Steve’s warm hands.

“Hey,” Steve smiles sleepily, “You came back to us.”

Eddie grunts, “Yeah, not sure exactly how that happened, but small blessings and all that.” He scans the feeding behaviour header, noting that blood is indeed amongst fruit, insects, and nectar as their preferred diet. Pausing, he tastes his mouth like it’ll suddenly reveal an obvious craving for bloody flesh. Meeting only morning breath, he grimaces and continues reading.

Finally realising that Steve has been silent for an unusually long pause, he glances over only to be startled by the intent look in his eye as he regards Eddie. “Are you okay?” He asks quietly and Eddie bristles at the concern, resentment stirring that Steve gets to be the kind one. The guy who cares despite being similarly afflicted. Why can’t he be just as resentful and mean as Eddie?

“Well, it’s not a giant dog, but I suppose you should welcome me to the club.”

Steve purses his lips thoughtfully, “I’ll ignore the canine dig for now since I know you’re going through something. But I get it, you know? If you can talk to anyone about being suddenly faced with the oddity of waking up in a body that no longer feels like your own, it’s me.”

Eddie rolls his eyes down at the book, “Our life experiences are vastly different, Steve. I don’t think you could get where I’m coming from if you tried.”

“Maybe not all of it,” Steve admits carefully, sitting up so he and Eddie are on the same level, “But I can try. And it’s got to be better than holding it in. You’re a pretty verbal guy, Eddie. I figure’d you’d want to talk about this.”

“What’s that mean?” Eddie glares at him and Steve raises his palms, saying, “Just that you seem to like talking your thoughts out, and that I’m here, willing to listen if you want to get anything off your chest.”

“Yeah, well, you can keep that hairy chest to yourself,” Eddie mutters darkly, looking at a bat’s mouth held open, exposing sharp fangs from front to back like a deadly, serrated knife. He presses his tongue against his molars thoughtfully; he doesn’t remember there being a lot of sharp tools in his mouth.

“Right,” Steve huffs out a frustrated breath, “You’re obviously in a mood. But fair, you’re allowed to take a beat until you get your feet under you.”

“I’m allowed,” Eddie mocks under his breath.

Steve cocks his head, “Yeah, you’re allowed. Just like I was allowed to take a beat too, once I figured out that turning into a wolf wasn’t a hallucination or a mental breakdown.” Eddie ignores him and Steve says with frustration, “What’s your problem?”

As he does, Eddie’s eyes catch on a fun fact section, and he can’t help the grim laughter that escapes. Of course. Of fucking course. He hears the mounting irritation in Steve’s voice as he calls his name again and latches on to it, happy to smack back. “Did you know, Steve,” Eddie starts, meanness fuelling his smirk, only he has a feeling that the petty feeling is directed inwards. “That bats have the highest rate of homosexuality out of any mammal?”

Steve watches him warily, “Are you saying that the shift turned you gay? ‘Cause I’m not sure it works like that,” his lips tug up cautiously, “It didn’t for me, anyway.”

Eddie sees the invitation to share the joke in Steve’s expression and it fuels the bitterness, “Yeah, well, you being a straight dog isn’t going to surprise anyone.”

Invitation dropping accompanied by eyes narrowing, Steve says, “That’s fucking condescending.” Eddie sees the insult across his face and rolls his eyes, conviction spreading that Steve has never had to think about how he presents to the world for one fucking minute before being afflicted with their shared infection.

“All I’m saying is that the wolf stuff may have made you a bit weird, but you were never gay-boy-in-Hawkins weird to begin with. Let alone the shitty kid from the shitty family with parents who don’t give a fuck.”

Steve’s eyes harden and he sucks his breath between his teeth consideringly, “I’m not sure whether I should share with you how wrong you are or simply tell you to fuck off.”

Eddie stares back just as hard, “You can’t tell me that you were ever the weird guy, Mr Popular Jock. What? Did you get ostracised from the team when you wore the wrong lucky jock strap?”

Rolling his lips, Steve nods his head decisively, “Yeah, you know what? I am going to tell you to fuck off.” Any hint of warmth in his expression shutters away and Eddie blinks, not having realised how open Steve had been with him even while they bickered. Steve continues, voice flat and unfriendly, “You know what your problem is, Eddie?”

“What?” He tries to sneer but the feeling of being wrong-footed continues and it lands with less force than he wants.

“You think you’ve got everyone worked out,” Steve trails his eyes over Eddie's face leaving his skin feeling flushed and burning, “What was it you said in the Upside Down? The Munson Doctrine? I was barely enough for you to approve of even then, right?”

The ground beneath Eddie’s feet shudders slightly, shaking his gut into an uneasy feeling but Steve doesn’t notice his suddenly shaky equilibrium as he bitingly continues, “I suppose I only met the bare minimum when you said that I was a good guy: I wasn’t a massive asshole that would allow you to take the rap for Chrissy’s murder or, I don’t know,” he laughs with very little humour, “Let Max be killed by Vecna? So that must mean I was scarcely half decent, right?”

Eddie frowns: he had meant what he said in the Upside Down — he’d seen Steve care for the party, chase after Max and make sure the kids were safe. He’d been a steady port in the storm who Eddie had looked to more than once while feeling unsafe and unsure, and Steve had always been looking back, with either a reassuring nod or a helpful explanation in the sort of plain speak necessary for a newbie to their wretched adventures.

Steve rolls out of bed and Eddie can’t even be mad that he might use his height to his advantage because he heads straight to the doorway, pausing with his hand steady on the frame. He shakes his head looking down, “I thought that you saw me. It didn’t have to be every part, but I thought that you at least saw that I’m trying to be a good person.”

He looks up and Eddie is pierced clean through by the hurt in his eyes, the walls falling briefly to allow this one sad glimpse, “But ever since I showed you who I really am, what I am, I’ve realised that your approval comes with conditions.”

“That’s not true,” Eddie protests, furiously thinking, but his gut sinks below his feet when he can’t work out a counterargument to the accusation.

The walls over Steve’s eyes swiftly build up again, leaving only a cold man in its wake. “You assuming how easy I’ve always had it tells me that you never cared enough to look below the surface anyway.” He regards Eddie for one last long second as if taking him in for the final time, and Eddie is unsure how to respond when the ground is rumbling so strongly under his feet.

Steve leaves.

Quietly and without looking back at Eddie. No fanfare in the movement as if he’s decided that he’s not worth the fight. He realises now that he’d expected Steve to push back, to argue for Eddie to do better, but—having left him behind—Eddie doesn’t know what to do other than to quietly take his book and leave.

No one sees him out.

If you enjoyed any of this, I hope you'll consider leaving a message over on Ao3 because you would make my day. :)

[genderoutlaws]

KISSING DOESN’T KILL: GREED AND INDIFFERENCE DO

“Gran Fury, a collective of artists and designers dedicated to promoting AIDS/HIV awareness, produced many inventive and thought-provoking posters. AIDS activists had used the strategy of the 'Kiss-In' - large public demonstrations of affection by gay and straight people - to undermine complacency and conservative commentators alike. This 1989 advertisement, designed for display on public transport in New York City and San Francisco, ridicules small-mindedness as well as reminding the authorities of their responsibilities in combating AIDS.”

[angelofthenight]

What Doesn’t Kill Me Pt.2

(Yandere!Alex DeLarge x Fem!Reader)

Warnings: Yandere, Dark themes, Ladstat, Swearing/Language, Unhealthy/Abusive relationship, Jealousy/Possessiveness, Social isolation, Obsessiveness, Controlling behavior, Intimidation/Coercive control/Power imbalance, Emotional/Mental trauma, Violence, Gangs, Manipulation, Physical abuse, Snake phobia, Boundary pushing, Mentions of Rape/Non-Con, Paranoia, Sexual context/themes, Alex is his own warning, You are responsible for your own content consumption

Word Count: 3.9k

Table of Contents

~

Alex Delarge was nothing but a sadistic maniac with a disturbing infatuation for you. A lunatic who could never keep it in his pants. A sociopath who acted like he’s never seen skin before. A monster who claimed to simply be in love.

And the belief of being in love was the worst thing a monster could have.

Despite his charming tone of voice and smile, despite him telling you in different words and metaphors that he loves you, he was awful to you. It was as if his infatuation and fascination with you further eroded any remaining empathy he possibly had left in him before he started to like-like you, which made him indifferent to the suffering or pain he inflicted upon you and others in the name of his delusional love.

And one of the things that created a confusing and fear-inducing environment for you was the fact that he casually alternated between moments of false kindness and extreme violence. He could be playing with your hair and telling you how pretty you were one moment then throwing a glass cup full of liquor at the wall beside your head in the next.

He used your own fear to keep you grounded and dependent. He used threats to you and others to strain you from seeking help or “tattling”. And along with fear, he employed manipulative tactics to isolate you from your friends and family. And the people he couldn’t exactly detach you from, like all of your coworkers and management, he charmed them into thinking he was this picture perfect boy.

Because of this false image of himself, you’ve despairingly found him repeatedly warmly welcomed into the restaurant you worked at. So you couldn’t even get away from him at work. Sometimes he would bring his droogs with him and seat themselves into your section. You’d watch from the back with tears in your eyes before swallowing them to go and wait on the criminals, knowing Alex was just going to flaunt his dominance over you to the boys by jokingly mocking you as you served them. They never tipped, though some days you noticed Pete linger behind the group a bit to sneak in a 15% tip under the bill.

Alex was possessive and controlling, yet he continuously pretended that he wasn’t insanely jealous of all your interpersonal relationships. He isolated you from all your friends with the threat that he would do something violently heinous to them, and he had proved to you to be true to his threats after multiple instances. He also had cut off any contact you had with your family. He claimed that he was all the company you’d ever need.

Even though his love was intense and twisted, and despite the mix of obsession and a desire to control every aspect of your life, you were still allowed to still go out and continue your life just… with no interactions longer than a minute. Especially with boys. Just seeing other guys around you drove Alex absolutely ballistic and homicidal. It was often when he would lash out at anyone who got too close to you. His overprotectiveness and his jealous greed just all overwhelmed him. He had repeatedly gone to extreme lengths to protect you, even if it meant resorting to violence. But in his twisted mind, he believed that his actions were justified simply because he was acting out of his love for you.

Even though other gangs already used to stay away from you when Alex simply just pined after you, now they really wouldn’t touch you now that you belonged to Alex. And if he ever found out another gang messed with you he would maul them all like a savage bear. He became increasingly violent and controlling, going to extreme measures to eliminate any perceived threats to this relationship of his.

He wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way or let anyone take you away from him. Not even you.

He’d use manipulation and mind games to keep you grounded, but he mostly just used fear and violence to control you. And it was a frequent thing that you found your throat being squeezed by his large hand in a fit of rage or just for fun. It took awhile, but he finally trained obedience into you. And with your obedience, only from you being utterly terrified of him, you finally got to see where he lived.

He was like a little boy excitedly showing you his room, tugging you by your hand to show all his records, especially the one from the band that united the two of you in the first place. They say that one’s bedroom was what the inside of their brain looked like, and you agreed on that statement when taking in Alex’s bizarre room. Especially when your eyes honed in on a very large poster on the wall of a traced girl with her thighs apart, her fingers spreading her vagina open.

Alex noticed where your attention was and stepped next to you to say while smiling, “Don’t get jealous, it doesn’t compare to the real thing.” He glanced down at your crotch with carnivorous eyes before telling you he had something to show you. You didn’t pay him much mind as you then dropped your concerned focus to the small four Jesus statues in a dance line, their hands still having bloodied nails.

You finally turned your head to check out what Alex wanted you to see only to be faced with a five foot long Boa Constrictor snake. You screeched loudly and flinched backwards, you couldn’t help it when you had a slight phobia of snakes.

“Don’t be poogly, my lovely, he’s not venomous. This here is Basil!” Alex said to you cheerily, holding the snake out to you as it laced around his forearms. Your eyes grew wide as you paled, you wanted to faint just at the sight of it. And the thought of touching it…

Either Alex didn’t register your disquietude or didn’t care as he wrapped his heavy snake around you starting with your arms and ending with your shoulders. You froze up completely with your features trembling in alarmed fright as the snake slithered around you, making your heart beat rapidly. Your lips were quivering and your eyes appeared blurry from growing tears. You would’ve thrown it off you if you didn’t feel paralyzed by the fear that if you just moved a muscle it would strangle you to death. Yet that fate seemed kinder than the fate with Alex.

It wasn’t until the snake slithered around your neck when your arms began to shake uncontrollably and a palpitation conquered your chest. As if it felt your pulse tap against its scales, it slightly tightened its hold on you. You snapped and loudly begged Alex through stuttered whimpers to get it off of you.

He callously giggled before he unraveled it from your jittery arms. “Alright, alright, don’t lose your head!” He joked. You did not find it funny.

Alex would make you listen to Ludwig loudly and make you listen to his rants and complaints about his day and his droogs. From what it sounded like his droogs have been questioning his leadership, you kept your theory that they were probably plotting behind his back to yourself. You eventually got to meet his droogs when you were once leaving Alex’s and they sat in the area at the bottom of the stairs. They already knew their place with you.

Alex only allowed his droogs to say hi and bye to you and maybe ask how you were doing, but that was it. You were an occasional topic the three droogs discussed when Alex wasn’t present, specifically about what they should do with you if they usurp Alex. Georgie had a fantasy of having his way with you simply because of how much Alex endlessly threatened them about you, like how you belonged to Alex and if they ever touched you he would castrate them. So fucking you would be like the ultimate middle finger to Alex.

But Georgie and Dim didn’t really see the appeal to you. Of course you were absolutely breathtaking, they all had eyes and wet dreams, but you just looked like you were about to bawl your eyes out at any given second. Alex fucked you up so much that if they tried to do the old in-out-in-out with you you’d probably just let them. And that was boring to them. You were like a doormat and plus you just kind of… bummed them out.

Though, Pete secretly had a harmless thing for you, always being the first to say ‘hi’ to you and the last to say ‘bye’ to you; being the only one of the three to ask how you were doing, really abusing the one phrase that Alex allowed them to say to you.

You could recall one time when you were descending Alex’s stairs to see them all waiting for Alex who trailed behind you. “Hello and goodbye, boys.” You said hoarsely with a pink puffiness circling your eyes and cradling your bandaged dorsal side of your arm that Alex had bitten into too deeply during a long night of fornication. Georgie and Dim both unenthusiastically mumbled a “hello, (Y/n)” in unison as you quickly passed them with your head hung low. You went straight into the rusty elevator and hit the button just as Pete squeaked out a “bye, (Y/n)”.

The doors closed yet because of how crappy it was, the elevator needed a quick minute before it could move you down. So you heard the beginning of the conversation that was about how Alex was late again so they came to wait for him. Georgie noted that he had been spending an awful lot of time with you lately and Dim joked that “The girl might’ve rotted your brain a bit?”

There was a haunting silence. The elevator finally jerked and started moving down just as a loud crack of a cane was heard followed by a pained yelp. It made you jump backwards in startelement, your back hitting the wall of the elevator as the continued sounds grew more distant.

You had spent the night at Alex’s many times, waking up to his nude body behind you with his arms cradling your nude body tightly against him; your back to his chest. His twin bed was small, not being built for two people sleeping next to each other, so the only two positions you could sleep in were him sleeping right on top of you or him squeezing you tightly against him to fit.

He always slept in which was torture for you as you always found it difficult to sleep around him. So you would stare into space for hours in a gloomy and drained state. You couldn’t get up and leave as his door had a combination lock on both sides. He’d spin the lock too fast for you to memorize or even catch the numbers.

Most days he’d send you off right away if he had a busy day ahead of him or before his parents had the chance to speak to you. But some days he’d keep you around a little longer just to take up your time. But because of this you once met his social worker who let himself in to have a discussion with Alex about his school attendance.

Alex, in only his underpants, stood behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder as a way to exemplify his innocence to the social worker as they talked and a threat to you to not say anything. But despite you not saying a word, the older creepy man took a mental note on your downcasted mood and quaking eyes. And the subtle bandages in a few places on your body.

But despite the horror of vulnerability in his home, you had grown to find your own home much more horrible.

You became a housemaid in your own home, a slave and a captive. Alex expected your flat to always be neat and tidy when he came, and better than how he leaves it. And not just simple tidiness, he would run his finger over surfaces for dust. He was a nitpicker about what needed to be cleaned or organized. Despite him not getting violent or aggressive about it, just his mere disapproval scared you enough to cater to those expectations. You couldn’t even fall asleep before scanning your whole flat in fear he would find something you didn’t notice to complain about.

You always had to cook for two just in case he showed up, always unannounced, ready to eat dinner or lunch with you (he never woke up early enough for breakfast but you would rather be safer than sorry). And every time you didn’t he would accuse you of not wanting him to show up, leading to him either brutally slapping you or choking you against the wall. And it had to be food he liked. And you always had to make sure there was milk and alcohol in the fridge, as well as drugs and marijuana he forced you to get.

There were oh so many times when you were extremely close to switching one of his drugs to a physically identical yet fatal substance. Yet you lived in the unearthly terror and dread that he would find out.

You lived on edge at home, jumping at the smallest creaks and you destroyed your clock as the ticking drove your anxiousness absolutely mad. You were a mess of a person, a neurotic person to be more exact. You just never knew when he would show up. Show up to hurt you for fun, draw blood, fuck you into the mattress despite your pleas of ‘not tonight’, smother you in his unwanted affection, forcing you to listen to his jokes about all the monstrous things he did the night before in graphic detail.

He acted as if the innocent, simple dates he took you on and the expensive gifts he bought for you with stolen money evened it all out. But it didn’t. He had damaged you inside and out; emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually.

You became a constant jittery person so the sound of a knock at your door nearly gave you a heart attack, jolting in a shake in your spot on the couch.

But… Alex never knocked.

You feared the day had come. You feared it was the day the droogs finally took down Alex and now they had come to kill you for knowing their crimes and identities. You were confident in your theory that the droogs were going to stab him in the back, and so you spent many nights praying at the foot of your bed for it to happen since it seemed more realistic than Alex’s death or arrest. Yet you also found yourself praying to God for the droogs to show you mercy and spare you. But that specific prayer didn’t feel as listened to, nor realistic to you.

So you slowly and cautiously walked to your front door with shaky breathing pumping through your lungs. You delicately placed your hands on the door so you could carefully peek through your peephole. Your shrunken pupils saw a boy your age from your college standing in the hall with his hands patiently in his pockets. You flinched away from the door when he knocked again, the worry for both of your safety’s embraced you like suffocation. If Alex knew about this…

You wanted to go hide and wait for him to leave but the fact you shared a class with him made you think this might be important. So despite your paranoia that Alex would learn of this interaction with the opposite gender, you unlocked and opened your door the size of your shoulder width. You didn’t greet him as you quickly looked down both sides of the hallway to check for your unhinged and possessive boyfriend.

When the coast was clear your obviously nervous eyes looked at the awkward guy, waiting for his explanation. He awkwardly smiled softly, his hands fiddling in his coat pockets. “Hi, I know we don’t really talk, but I’m in your anthropology class.”

You acted like a kicked puppy and looked like a sad clown painting, clinging onto your door like you were about to slam it at any second. “Yes… I know you…” You glanced down the halls again before looking him up and down. “…Why are you here?” Your voice was hoarse and quiet; shaky and weak.

The boy, whose name you recalled as Patrick, removed his hands from his pockets to nervously fold them together. “Well, I know it’s not my place but I’ve noticed you have been missing a lot of classes lately, which I found a bit out of character for you compared to how you’ve always been in school.” He said, referencing how you used to always be an exceptional student… before Alex conquered and messed up your life patterns.

You kept avoiding eye contact, glancing around the hall then looking to the floor then to the wall behind him. You wiggled a little bit in nervous discomfort. You wished he would stop digging and leave the way he came. “I just… I have bigger things going on in my life right now.”

Patrick nodded with saddened features. “I know. That’s not the only thing I came here to say. You might know my girlfriend, Sheila? She’s roommates with your friend Adrienne.” You shifted again, because of Alex you no longer interacted with any of your friends anymore. And the one you kept socializing with, one that called you often when Alex was at your place, had a violent surprise run-in with a masked gang wearing white and codpieces. You avoided her after she got out of the hospital, for her own safety and your own guilt.

“…We don’t really talk anymore.” You spoke in a hushed tone, staring at the floor again. He slowly nodded again with a sorrowful frown. “Yes, I know. Adrienne said you completely shut her out out of the blue one day, same with the rest of your friends.”

You didn’t respond. You didn’t even know how to respond. So you remained silent.

“It was actually Adrienne’s idea for me to come here. But I mostly just came here on my own accord.” He started with a firmer tone of voice. “I know your boyfriend. Alex. I’ve seen you guys together a lot around town. I went to school with him before he was held back then put in the correction thing, and our fathers work together.”

You shrunk away from him, squeezing the door and the doorframe while glancing into his concerned eyes then the floor once again. “…I’ll tell him you said hi then.” You said, beginning to lean back to close the door but his voice halted your action as well as him reaching out to you but not close enough to touch. “No, no. What I’m trying to say is…” He took a long pause, seemingly trying to gather the right words as he bit the inside of his cheek and his brows curved upward.

“I know what kind of person Alex is. And, forgive me, but I can’t help but worry about you. I just wanted to stop by and ask if you were okay. Because if he’s…” he tried to think of a softer way to say what he was suspecting was going on in your relationship, “doing bad things to you I can help you.” He ended his statement and offer with a frown and consoling look.

Your head began to feel dazed and a thick lump sat in your throat that you just couldn’t swallow away. You glanced around the hallway again, feeling your paranoia and fear crawl up your back like snakes with the intent to strangle you. “I appreciate your worry,” you finally made eye contact to use all your strength to morph your face into contentedness and force a small smile, “but I am happy and doing just fine.” But your smile merely looked like someone put fish hooks in the corners of your lips and lifted them up by the thread. And the thick gloss in your eyes and your eyebrows that curved up only made your expression more unsettling to Patrick.

“I’m happier than ever, I really am.” You forced yourself to say. Yet visually and audibly pretending to be happy to be with Alex made you ferociously sick deep in your stomach creating a nasty nausea, your mind only replaying the most traumatic things he’s done to you from the horrific raping to the strangulations.

“Are you sure?” He pushed, wanting to hear the consenting approval of his help from your own mouth. Your forced smile began to shake like it was a heavy weight you weren’t trained to hold, and your tears also grew so unbearably heavy that you believed if you just blinked they would cascade down your face. “Yes.” You forced yourself to say again through your shaking teeth and self-repugnance. You forced the words of, “I think you should go now.”

Patrick frowned but gradually nodded. He said something as he slowly turned on his heels to leave but the ringing in your ears deafened it out. He was leaving, this was the first person to seriously reach out to you and offered you help and an escape, and you were sending him away! Were you really going to pass up this rare opportunity? You were practically digging your own grave and picking out your own tombstone. You were walking towards the edge of the cliff while thrashing your arm out of the hold of someone trying to tug you away from it.

You realized you couldn’t live in fear of Alex forever, you had to take the leap of faith and trust yourself to outsmart Alex. All you had to do was make a phone call when Alex wasn’t around: the early morning where Alex would still be asleep at his flat. You wanted to leave Alex more than you ever wanted anything ever in your whole life.

“Wait… please.” You squeaked out in a hushed tone as the tears finally drizzled out of your pink eyes, Patrick quickly returning to his previous stance to face you. You weeped for a few seconds to gather your thoughts before you moved to the side to rip off a corner of the morning paper that laid on the coffee table beside your door, grabbing the pen as well. You handed them both to him. “What’s your number?”

Patrick smiled happily for you before quickly jotting it down and handing it back to you. You quickly hid it in between the pages of the newspaper. You looked back at him with your bottom lip quivering and tears still swelled up within your orbs. “Thank you.” You croaked through your restrained sob, eyes bright despite the tears as you appeared like you’ve seen an angel.

Someone had finally sent you down a rope into your hellhole.

[dreams-writings]

Reverse Interrogation - Part 1

[sub!Feitan Portor x top!Reader]

‼️ NSFW/MDNI‼️

Synopsis: For the first time in his life, Feitan fails an interrogation. Refusing to admit defeat and give up his perfect track record when it comes to his specialty, he begrudgingly allows reader to strike a bargain in exchange for her secrets.. and is shocked to learn what she truly wants. His body. Frustrated and furious with his predicament, he angrily accepts her conditions purely for the sake of the Troupe, agreeing to do as she says. No other reason...

Tw: eventual smut, torture, violence, NSFW/MDNI, vulgar language, Feitan gives verbal consent but still isn't happy with the situation/ (dubcon????)

Feitan's thin, pale fingers were as cold as his heart, a detail that all of his victim's vividly remembered. They always retold their horrid experience with the notorious Phantom Troupe interrogator with a glaze of shell shocked terror in their eyes. The graphic recollection of such chilled skin gripping and tearing harshly at their own flesh would make them sob even years later after the torment. That is, of the few that survived the ordeal. The man in question wasn't necessarily aware of this, he just did his job, striking an unfathomable amount of fear into the hearts of the unlucky few who crossed his merciless path, and whom were ordered to be dragged off to his eery torture chambers. He'd bring them all to the point they'd do anything in the entire world to escape it. Even giving up precious secrets, his most treasured prize for the effort.

He was nonchalant about it. Indifferent, even. Perhaps he could revel in the glory of it, just a bit - the assignment easily giving a man like him a power trip seldom found elsewhere in his youth. Anyone from Meteor City had been conditioned by a brutally unforgiving childhood.

His eyes might crinkle in delight beneath the mysterious cowl at a particularly profound scream, or those empty grey depths could also glimmer amusedly if they begged for his nonexistent mercy. But such was the nature of his upbringing. At the end of the day.. it was the pride of serving his Troupe which overruled any form of guilt or shame that a normal, perhaps more sane person could feel about butchering people into submission. He never failed an interrogation. And he didn't plan to start today, even as the woman before him.. his newest little nut to crack open, was giving him a challenge.

Someone who survived more than perhaps ten minutes was refreshing. But only at first - as he was about to discover. Feitan was accustomed to the disappointment of most human beings succumbing to their primitive instincts and fragility, interrupting his creative ideas at the worst time. It left him unsatisfied, and pent up. The confessions would soon follow after the initial wave of shock passed.. the pathetic blubbering and hiccuping sobs, as his victim unashamedly spilled their intel before he spilled more of their guts. A part of him pitied them. Only a small, miniscule part. But most of him loathed them, too. Not only for their weakness, giving in so easily... but also betraying whomever it was they worked for or served. Mostly, it was his judgement for their inability to endure. He could only think to himself at such times:

Really? That's all you can take? I could've done better in your shoes.. I wouldn't have broken so easily. I would never be a liability to my allies. How detestable.

In his opinion they belonged beneath his boot, to finally suffer the way they caused others to. Feitan trusted Chrollo's judgement. Always. He firmly believed that not one single innocent person had ever, ever found themself in his chambers beneath his vengeful will. An underground lair of hell, which Chrollo gave the order to utilize when a person was seen as fit for punishment. Another rotten pile of garbage and greed for Feitan to pick apart. He embodied a diety of unforgiving justice in his mind. Long ago, he'd stopped asking what the reason was, and just got straight to carving away.

Feitan was currently preoccupied observing today's victim. Except.. she wasn't really acting like a victim, so what was he to call her? Narrowed, steely grey eyes continued to dart up and down her feminine figure as if searching for clues to piece together a puzzle. He couldn't solve this one, not yet... Even his keen attention for catching any signs of weakness wasn't able to determine a chink in the armor. If he thought he'd found one and explored into it a bit, he was only met with the same resilience as before. Her heated, intense stare of defiance. A smirk began to play across his features, it wasn't often he maybe felt a glimmer of respect for someone in his chair.

"Tough girl. How you become immune to shock?" He asked, pausing to idly run a bloodstained cloth over one of his nasty metal tools. He tossed the mechanism back to a metal tray where it gave a harsh clatter.

A clever glint in his eye, he circled her similarly to a jungle cat closing in on alert prey. She snickered right back at him, and he quirked a brow, noticing the bizarre nature of her mental state. Or rather, it was outlandish to him, to see someone with freshly stripped fingernails acting so present and grounded.

By now, almost at this exact time in the routine, the animalistic "deer in headlights" look would appear as his victims squirmed and twisted to find an escape. Hyperventilating through a full bodily trauma response. But not her. She looked as casual as the first moment he forcibly sat her down... Expression careful and aware, but definitely not in the midst of a primitive meltdown. He couldn't help but feel a little bit of curiosity... And interest. He could treat someone like this as a human, even if his cruelty would remain the same.

He did so by talking to her. She was clearly sound enough to respond.

"You been trained? To handle your secrets like big girl?" He inquired condescendingly, pacing restlessly in front of her, looming over her with menace in his intent.

His ghostly slender hand reached forward to grip her by the hair, yanking on the tufts to force eye contact, and her face twisted into an expression he couldn't quite understand, her sharp exhale of surprise leaving a warm feeling tingling against his skin as it swept past his cheeks.

Stripped bare, she was panting lightly, a reaction he noticed. He kept his victims this way to understand them better - an expert in anatomy; he wanted to be able to take in every reaction. Every last possible weak point that could be weaponized or utilized to coax someone into unbearable agony. Being naked psychologically left an impact, making humans feel more vulnerable and insecure through the interrogation process. Subsequently, it urged them to feel cornered and small in more than one way, and let their treasured secrets slip all the easier.

But this wasn't what he was looking for. She wasn't gasping with pain or flinching away. Instead, her soft pants left her cheeks flushed red. So what was going on?

"You could say that," she purred. "Is it frustrating? You haven't had to really work for this before, have you?" She mused.

The way she was looking at him made his skin crawl just a bit. Mostly because he really legitimately couldn't read her face, and he found that unnerving. He was used to total control in this environment. Given the circumstances it should be something totally different - so how was he supposed to understand her at all? He watched a gash on her face ooze slowly with more blood, a little droplet finding it's way down to the ice cold basement flooring with a faint pattering echo. The woman was unphased by his demeanor apparently.

Feitan just sort of stared after such comments, calculating towards her with a hint of annoyance creeping into his gaze. Was she taunting him? For a moment he second guessed it because he couldn't determine why someone in their right god damn mind would mock a life threatening predator actively approaching with a set of torture tools in hand. Not to mention, she was helpless and restrained. Was she bluffing? Either way he was rapidly coming to the conclusion that she most definitely was batshit crazy, based on how there was seemingly no logical gain in being so bold.

"...Can't feel pain. As much. Can you?"

After a pause this was all he had said. Coming to this final conclusion, realizing that his vigilant eyes hadn't missed any signs after all. Initially he had thought she had gone through some sort of intense training in pain endurance, for the sole purpose of keeping her sacred, crucial information safe. But now he was realizing what he was actually dealing with. He'd broken trained torture survivors before. Easily. They always reached their limit eventually. This was different.

"That's right!" She chimed. "You finally got it, darling. I can feel pain but my nervous system doesn't work the same way as yours.. my pain receptors aren't very intense. So you're playing a losing game here. Tell me though, will you give up? Is this it for you, little sadist? Or are you the creative type~?"

He watched her give him a once over, smug expression still plastered to her features as he felt himself essentially being sized up. He wasn't sure how he felt about it other than the fact he didn't like it.. Feitan believed her close observance of him from head to toe was probably a show of her humiliating him. Maybe searching for weaknesses the same way he knew how to do.. and he hated that possibility. Who was she to reflect his behavior? She MUST be thinking up insults about him silently, that he was too short or something.. the very idea made his blood boil.

This infuriating concept made him loom closer to her, his intimidating nature taking over while his eyes bore daggers into hers. Mere inches away from her face, this was how he typically issued a challenge without speaking a word. Most people would fall apart and quiver with terror being subjected to inescapable closeness with him. Yet another unexplainable reaction followed from her instead, and his eyes darted down at the first sight of movement, noticing she was squirming and rubbing her thighs together under his fierce stare. He didn't put two and two together; he just watched, dumbfounded, unsure if maybe she was attempting to break free to no avail.

"There's more than one way to get information out of someone, you know~ but I get the feeling all you know how to do is rip people apart. The easy method. Boring. You want my suggestion-?"

"Shut up," Feitan snarled ferociously, offended and disgusted with both her and the situation, unable to stop himself before he found his hand wrapping tightly around her neck, violent fingers locking over her jaw in a vicious grip. He hated all her irritating chatter, it made his temper flare. But even more than that, although he would never admit it.. he just hated that she could take away what made him feel the most powerful and secure, simply by existing. He wasn't threatening or scary to someone if he couldn't cause them pain. And he struggled to accept that. It didn't fit in place with his comfort zone.

Gurgling, her eyes squinted with pain, but to confirm what she'd just said.. indeed, a normal person would be screaming, and this was bearable for her, even if fairly uncomfortable. His inhuman retractable claws were digging into her soft skin, causing beads of blood to appear beneath five piercing knives. Quickly, the wounds turned into crimson streams. Yet, she wouldn't yield.

Unfortunately, her time spent suffocating in his merciless grasp also gave him enough time in silence to come to another realization. He let go, instantly - watching her drop back down with a hunched head, coughing and spluttering for air.

He could accidentally kill her this way because her body and mind wouldn't be responding with the queues he needed to go by in determining her state of mortality, and likelihood of death. How could he make a judgement call without the signs he was used to expecting? He could tell when someone was close to death, based on indicators of their shock levels.. all a complete circular link between the psychology and physiology of pain.

He was completely seasoned in his job to the fullest degree. But this wasn't a normal situation, not one he'd ever dealt with. She couldn't necessarily tell him or maybe even understand herself if she was dying.

Shit... her body wouldn't freak out or sense danger. It would just remain in a perfectly neutral state. One second she would be breathing and the next her heart might just fail on her. Normally Feitan didn't have any qualms about killing but when it came to interrogations, death meant that the victim's intel died with them. Taken to the grave. To him, that was equivalent to failure.

And so.. the delimma was quickly dawning on him. He could continue, and risk killing her by accident, therefore ensuring the intel he sought was forever out of reach - or, he could stop and suffer the shame of admitting defeat.

Unacceptable... both were unacceptable. He could only stand momentarily and glare at her maliciously for the predicament she was causing him, a sudden stirring feeling of true hatred arising in his chest. Why was it, then, that there was perhaps more of that same respect from earlier appearing simultaneously? Well.. he must be unable to ignore her strength here, and found himself inwardly acknowledging her impossible feat of enduring his trials. No other human being had ever done the same.

"You will tell me. Tell me what Danchou asked for." He was making an attempt to assert his normally compelling willpower, his intimidating aura leaking into his nen which flared along with his irritability. Right now, he was fairly pissed off, the signs beginning to appear around his frame through a visual residue of nen.

"Maybe I will," she purred again towards him. He paused, surprised yet again by her, unsure if she was being serious. He would've easily taken that in as more mockery but just now - she sounded quite sincere. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't going to ask HER what he had to do for it. His pride wouldn't permit that. She needed to play by his rules in his domain.

But as a result of his confusion he was only left with a loss for words, eyes narrowing into slits as he attempted to piece her apart with his mind. Figure out what she was going on about. Nonetheless, she took the silence as opportunity.

"Take me back to your leader and I'll strike a deal with him. He makes deals, doesn't he? I'll tell you everything if he can give me what I want."

Feitan ridiculed her with that same silent stare, making it clear he was displeased with her request. She shouldn't even get the option when nobody else in her shoes ever could. She was just lucky.. just special because of some random offhand ability she either developed over time, or was born with. So why did she deserve special treatment? What, was she going to ask for a red carpet down here next as she was escorted out? He wasn't going to ask about her weird pain tolerance nor did he care. It was just an annoying hurdle he was finding himself truly aggravated with.

"Fine. But Danchou not an idiot. Most likely end up back with me.. will get you to talk. Eventually."

The only reason he agreed to this was because he was legitimately concerned about accidentally killing her. He was known for his brutality, and early on in his little career he had actually sent people into a premature grave through panic induced heart attacks. His torture techniques had to be modified and drawn out, to prolong their time in the chair and eliminate the chance of losing potential classified information. He knew what to look for, to determine when to back off temporarily. He just hadn't seen it from this woman.

Not to mention, he had carved her up pretty good already. Deep, clean slices decorated her skin in vertical designs where he had experimented for quite a while, attempting in his endeavors to find just one place where her pain was significant. Nothing had been found, and as a result, her blood loss was considerable.

Wordlessly, he made his final decision, cutting her loose from her bonds and noticing her give a shudder at the cold blade. Leaning forward towards him, a tension became present now that she was being freed, an absolutely electric presence in the surrounding air. Goosebumps raised beneath where his fingertips smoothed over her wrists, and he raised a brow, assuming it was the discomfort of cold. "Pretty," she hummed in a strangely sweet tone, and he straightened up, staring at her again in a mixture of confusion and exasperation.

"Your hands," she clarified. He just deadpanned at her. A moment passed, and she would only earn a snippy little "tch" from him in response. His eyes flickered back to her face upon hearing her chuff in amusement at his dismissal, and again he realized just how god damn nuts she was. Clearly, not even slightly afraid of him. He frowned, spiteful at the fact.

As if to make a point, his so called "pretty" hands were what he used to harshly yank her out of the chair by the scalp, dragging her across the floor to go speak with Chrollo. How could she even possibly think that about such hands, which were designed to only ever harm and kill? The amount of blood these hands carried upon them.. it could drown a person. Or several. Such a comment like that made him almost concerned for her. Or rather, it would if she was someone he cared for. He did not. Feitan was definitely judging though.

If anything, her delirious behavior was perhaps the only present sign of her being unwell... Maybe this was how the strain on her body was presenting itself even if she couldn't feel pain. That had to be it. Her compliments couldn't be genuine. This was psychosis of some sort.

He was grumbling and growling under his breath as he kept tugging on her to keep up with him. She wasn't heavy by any means but he was annoyed to even be lugging her weight around. She was a tricky bitch in his opinion and he didn't trust her one bit - not even enough to stay put in the damn chair while he went to ask for Chrollo's input. "Stop" he snarled, the second he watched her open her mouth to start speaking. So instead, she just giggled softly, blood smearing all over her legs from being dragged across the stone cold floor.

Despite his warning, she spoke anyway, and he groaned.

"What do you think I'll ask him for? If I won't cave under the torture.. surely you must be wondering what's worth all my fun secrets."

"Don't care," he stated back flatly. He gave a particularly mean tug on her hair this time, knowing the tension against her scalp really wouldn't cause her much distress anyway. He could do what he wanted.

"Oh c'mon, surely you're curious ~" she hummed. He just sighed, refusing to play her game anymore.

It didn't take long to get her back into the entryway of the hideout where the entire Troupe was sitting around idly.. likely waiting for him to finish up. After all, whatever he found out was going to determine what the group did next. It was part of the pressure he was feeling at this time. He felt himself mentally melt away a little bit, consumed by shame as all other pairs of eyes turned to witness him. Him, in his state of failure.

He noticed all at once the individual reactions - Machi's frown of impatience and the confused yet interested tilt of Shalnark's blond head. Chrollo stood up, and approached. His eyes were always empty yet watchful. He could make sense of the situation amidst the silence within mere moments. "Everyone, please give us some privacy for a moment," he called to the others in his usual collected, calm tone. His diction was consistently elegant and composed. Feitan had always admired it.

He was having a hard time coping with embarrassment however, preoccupied with the difficulty of tolerating an emotion that he hated. Being ashamed or feeling bad about anything at all could make him terribly irritable. The others figured it out eventually, but it made him difficult to communicate with at times, on top of the language barrier. They'd just get snippy retorts and the usual scornful glare out of him if they tried to dig at it. Chrollo was the best person to handle this anyway, seeing as he was entirely unphased by Feitan's personality quirks.

Once the others had cleared out with a few grumbles and sighs, deciding not to comment on the abnormal event of Feitan bringing a victim back up with him, he growled and tossed the girl forward at his boss' feet.

"Won't talk. Some kind of weird pain immunity. Can't continue.. could kill her. She want bargain for secret."

His explanation was short, eyes lowering down to glower at her beneath his boot, giving her a solid kick in the back for the hell of it just because he was mad about what he had to do. He was suffering such humiliation because SHE was too stubborn. Anger helped him feel better about admitting defeat to someone he looked up to.

The woman just squirmed under his heated eyes, legs writhing together like they had before in the chair. He still really didn't like those eyes she gave him from beneath half lidded lashes, as it made him nervous. He didn't get why she always looked like she knew something he didn't. Chrollo watched this scene unfold as well, any changes in his expression so subtle that they were hardly noticable, and past any level of observance. Even the slightest glimmer of amusement in his eye was quick to vanish as he easily pieced apart the situation with a few context clues. He spoke quietly and nonchalantly to the girl, calm gaze lowering back down to her level.

"It sounds like we have no choice but to cooperate with her, Feitan. After the extensive damage done to her body, one might even say we're lucky she's willing to compromise."

Don't praise her for such a stupid thing, Feitan nearly hissed out loud, but kept the thought reverberating in his head instead.

The raven watched his leader lower to one knee, observing her, and he then gave her one of his lifeless smiles before asking:

"What do you suggest we should trade, for your precious intel? What do you value?"

He waited, glancing up at Feitan to note how utterly furious his second in command was, the man was practically exuding steam out the ears. Chrollo wasn't upset by any means in this situation, but he could also understand why his counterpart was struggling with it.

The woman straightened herself up, having patted down her hair once Feitan let go, and she gave the Phantom Troupe's leader a coy smirk. She didn't hesitate to respond with a bold demand.

"Let me fuck him,"

"I want him. Your interrogator. Let me do as I please with him for a while, and he'll be my pretty new toy. I promise not to harm him, and he'll be returned to you in the same condition as he is now. If not perhaps a little bit more relaxed."

She lifted her eyes to hungrily drink in the sight of her captor. Chrollo couldn't help but chuckle softly, purposefully taking a moment to witness Feitan's reaction in real time.

He had to admit, this whole ordeal had his full interest now. The leader had already known where this was going the second the girl was dragged in, utterly unapologetic with the squirming and flushing red body every damn time her captor touched her. The look she gave him was one of desire, whenever she basked in his visage. All behavior that Chrollo understood from women, and he knew Feitan did not. In fact he was sure this was a complete blindsighted smack to the face for him.

She gave a little rocking motion of delight at the mere thought, and Chrollo raised a brow, seriously considering her offer. It was a simple one. So, she just wanted sex. But he understood right away that this was out of his hands. He already made a pact with himself long ago that he would never sacrifice the human dignity of his members for personal gain.

Maybe, though.. he could help his friend out with this one and take the bullet. The truth was that Chrollo wouldn't mind at all, he'd utilized his good looks in the past to get what he wanted for his personal goals, and it was really no hindrance to him to do it one more time.

"So you want pleasure? Rather than just him, I can assure you that I'm another willing candidate for you, and with significantly more intimate experience at that. Would you take me instead?"

"No-"

She began. Except, it was two people who spoke at once. The woman was about to completely reject the idea, but Feitan was already shaking his head.

"No, Danchou. You should not take consequence for my failure. My responsibility to fix."

Chrollo sighed, realizing this could now officially go one way and only one way, due to Feitan's stubborn rigidity. Even if he'd be pissed about it for easily a full week. Feitan would rather suffer any other punishment than let down his Troupe. It was connected to his personal pride and priorities. Chrollo knew this, of course.

"Well, Feitan? Do you agree? You won't be allowed to resist or argue, if you do. You would have to allow her to have her way, if we want to complete an exchange."

Poor Feitan however, was not on the same page. In fact, they'd left him behind by a significant few paces, his brain still working in overdrive to process what the fuck she just said a minute ago. What she just asked his boss for. He quite literally couldn't fathom what was happening or why. Who would want him? And no less, why the hell was Chrollo so quick to immediately consider such a bizarre request? There HAD to be more to it. Maybe she was trying to get him into a vulnerable position, to kill him. This couldn't be right.

"Feitan?" Chrollo asked again. The skull crested cowl around his face covered the view of his jaw hanging slightly open in disbelief.. but it certainly couldn't conceal his mortified eyes, round as stoplights.

"......I, I..."

He almost reverted back to his first language in this instance as he failed to find the words. How could he, when presented with such an unbelievable situation? What could he even do.. or say? How did he even feel about it? He wasn't sure. Too much at once.

At least, the woman was actually quiet as he sat there, dumbfounded and flabbergasted. He shuffled uncomfortably, feeling his face quickly heating up into what was probably a jarring bright red flush. His ears felt hot.. his cheeks were burning and his hands went all clammy. He wouldn't say it but he was scared.

Nonetheless, what came out of his mouth after a few agonizing long minutes passed, said differently.

"Fine. Whatever it takes."

"Feitan.. if you don't want to.."

"Stop it. This my job in Troupe. Let me do job."

His fists clenched, and he stuffed them into his pockets as he noticed the girl's clear satisfaction with his answer. He sneered right back at her, after seeing her snicker. He sent Chrollo a glare, truly feeling like his boss was pimping him out in some strange way. Was this even reality?? In what world would this even happen?

"I'll be so good to you~" the girl hummed sweetly, tantalizingly snaking an arm around his leg. Feitan shoved her off, but not before stiffening at her touch in surprise. He didn't know how to accept touch of any kind and he was more afraid of this right now than even something brutal, like her hurting him back. He'd have agreed much easier if she just suggested that instead. At least that was familiar.. whilst this was foreign.

"Alright. The deal is made. But you won't be leaving this place until you fulfill your end of the bargain, Miss, so long as Feitan also follows through. Now, I don't think you intend to cheat... Your interest in my interrogator seems genuine. But if you try to find any loopholes we'll likely kill you for it. Oh. And Feitan reserves the right to step away if you harm him. Understood?"

The girl nodded eagerly, standing up finally on weak knees. "So.. is that your name then beautiful boy? Feitan? What a lovely sounding name." She wobbled, eventually swerving on her right hip to reach for Feitan, arm wrapping around his slender waist to steady herself. Again, he stiffened at her closeness, expression tightening into discomfort. So then, why.. why did he simultaneously experience a sudden stirring in his lower stomach? Hearing her coo his name in such a sugary sweet way was also a completely new sensation. He didn't think anyone had ever spoken it like that before.

His eyes widened slightly in horror at the realization of feeling butterflies and jittery warmth in his stomach. Of course. He couldn't just ignore what was inevitably coming - what terrifying task he had committed himself to all for the sake of preserving his pride. Like one may try and avoid an intrusive thought, he was trying to cast out the idea that he'd.. well.. he'd be feeling inside of her quite soon. He'd never felt a girl like that before.. wrapped around him, and..

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding before and blinked to clear his head.

"What are you looking at" he hissed menacingly at the woman after catching her oggling him again, yanking her up by the forearm to drag her back to the damn basement designated for interrogation. Not to torture her now.. but.. to do whatever unsightly things she demanded. He chose the same room purely because it was designed specifically to block out noise. He didn't know what might happen, but... He didn't want anyone existing in this proximity to have even a slight audible hint of what was happening. This was a secret he was taking to his fucking grave.

Well, he could at least continue to brag about his perfect track record of successful interrogations, even if he was technically doing it the reverse way this time. He would simply have to bare with the constant embarrassment of knowing Chrollo witnessed this happen. Chrollo would know he stooped this low. But at least, he wouldn't have to suffer the constant belittlement and teasing from his allies. They could be brutal about that.. like siblings. Chrollo would likely have the decency to keep this under cover. Between the two of them.

"And don't hurt her either, okay Feitan?" Chrollo called back out to his interrogator as the small but strong raven hauled her away. He didn't respond, he just growled in frustration under his breath, already having assumed that was part of the exchange. No more torture.

He didn't know what he should be prepared for, and to be quite honest he felt almost faint as they entered the cold basement of the abandoned building in tense silence. The woman tried standing again, gripping for his hand as she pulled herself up.

"Unless you want blood all over you, I need to be patched up. And then I want you on the bed. Understood?" She asked.

Feitan gave an exhale, heavier than usual. Now that they were alone again he could ask her about her nonsensical request.

"you.. why would you..."

"Did I say you could ask questions?" She leered. And his gaze immediately hardened into a glare. He said nothing, knowing if he entertained his rage with a response, he'd probably only escalate from there. He was quickly learning he despised being told what to do from someone other than Chrollo.

"Good boy. I hope you know... I'm not intending to make you do everything for me.. I just want to please you, and watch you squirm a bit. That's all."

He was having a difficult time understanding her motives still but it might've been the haze of fog that clouded his mind after her next statement.

"That doesn't sound so bad, right? Sitting back and relaxing while a nice girl rides on you.."

His breath hitched as he felt her arms suddenly wrap around him, pressing herself into him by the hips to overwhelm him with her scent, and her voice.

"I'll make you feel so good that everyone in this building will know what's being done to you~"

And Feitan shuddered. Her whisper made his knees a little bit weak.. but he was also fucking petrified. Women never got this close to him on purpose. He may not be willing to admit it to himself, but for a brief moment at that time, he faltered... Truly terrified indeed that she was right. He just might break.

[karmas-a-bitch-and-so-am-i]

She took a deep breath as she waited behind the big oak doors. Once they would open she would walk down the alley up to the throne and receive the crown of hell. She was alone, but once she'd step in the hall all eyes would be on her.

The big doors finally opened and she raised her chin, walking as straight and gracefully as she could. Just like she was taught all those years ago. She walked for what seemed like an eternity until she felt the unfamiliar steps underneath her feet. Once she climbed them she found herself face to face to the man that called himself her father.

She did a curtsy and then kneeled on the floor, one knee after the other, to finally be sitting on her knees, her skirts piled around her. She bowed her head once, the looked up to the king of hell. He looked down at her in a mix of pride and indifference but all she had for him was hatred. Her fiery gaze almost made him sigh.

"Do you, princess Archan, swear yourself to do the best for the interest of your people no matter their kind, age, or sex?" He asked

"I do" She answered.

"Do you swear yourself to the crown of hell and its duties, whether its the king's or the queen's?"

"I do"

"Do you accept the role as Queen of Hell with all its highs and lows?"

"I do"

"Then I pronounce you Queen of Hell" He finally said. She bowed her head as he placed Lilith's crown on her head. He then offered her his hand to help her stand up and she took it, gracefully standing to her feet. She did one last curtsy before turning towards the crowd, briefly meeting her lover's eyes. "Do the rings of hell pledge allegiance to the Queen's crown?"

"The ring of wrath pledges allegiance to Queen Archan's crown" Called Satan

"The ring of gluttony pledges themselves to the Queen and her crown" Pronounced Beelzebub with a smile, standing close to Karma

"The ring of Lust pledges their allegiance to the Queen's crown and to Archan." Declared Asmodeus with a grin, proud of Athena, and standing besides Bee.

"The ring of envy pledges allegiance to the Queen's crown" Said simply Leviathan

"The ring of Sloth does the same" Lazily said Belphegior, not caring much more than that.

"The ring of Greed does not accept Archan as their Queen and refuses to pledge allegiance to their crown" Shouted Mammon, stepping closer to the throne.

She tried her best to not show surprise as Lucifer simply sighed in disappointment. She felt panic rise, not knowing what to do but did not show one bit.

"We refuse to accept a half breed as our Queen!" Shouted Mammon

@iyla-difransisco @capt-carter-mostly-official @im-the-bitch-karma

[andguesswhat]

Dear T,

I hope you scream your lungs out at home over what happened. I don't want to think you are indifferent to all that. I don't want to think that you are already so dull to think that this is how it is and you will never be able to do anything about this. Don't mistake jadedness with growing up. Jadedness is the death of evolvement.

Whatever or whoever has driven you to this step, I wish you would stop to try to be someone else.

What worked for others may not work for you.

I thought the path you had taken before all this mess was beautiful.

When you wore that red outfit in Venice, I have to admit for a second I wasn't sure what "the world" would say and if you would "get away" with it. But man, how you pulled it off! You blew them away and everyone was talking about the new masculinity taking over the world. It was convincing and sexy as hell, and it was you. An icon (and unicorn) on the red carpet.

And now what?

Of course all the money makers know only greed, trying to make you conquer them all, there's always more money to be made, probably you want that yourself. But is this really worth it? Isn't the price way too high for you? Don't you think you would be happier with less?

I'm not naïve, you did it once, you did it twice, you may be doing this for the rest of your life.

But I wish you had time and space to reflect, just you and who you are.

I wish you would get back on your path and be yourself! And shine! shine! shine! 💚

[posletsvet]

Something about the stories of Trigun & Hadestown

Something about the story of Orpheus and Eurydice being retold for generations. Something about the story of Trigun getting to be told in three different versions (four, if you consider that there are two mangas).

Something about red flowers being the key symbol in Hadestown, with Orpheus singing dead trees to life and bloom in a gesture of undying hope. Something about Rem's sacrifice turning the blossom of a red geranium into a symbol of determination and kindness.

Something about the lost gentleness and bliss of spring. Something about the lost paradise of the once prosperous Earth, which forced the mankind to eplore the frontiers of distant galaxies.

Something about the souls of the dead in Hadestown living with their heads bent down, silenced by their own fear and indifference. Something about the people of Gunsmoke doing the same, believing there's no other choice but to succumb to violence and afraid to raise their voices and speak out against it.

Something about both stories commenting upon how humanity is sacrificed for the sake of survival.

Something about Hades, the King of the Mine, being crippled and blinded by his greed and loneliness and despair and jealousy untill he can't see nor recognise anything other than the needs of the Underworld, but really just his own. Something about Knives being driven by the fear he hides deep within himself, only caring about Vash and their sisters and claiming it's the good of the plantkind that he aspires to achieve, but in actuality just nurturing his own old hurt.

Something about them both loving to the point of obsession and suffocating the ones they love with how they portray what is best for them.

Something about Persephone being blinded by a river of wine, living in an Oblivion and trying to drown her sorrow in alcohol. Something about Vash's issues with alcoholism deteriorating upon the realisation that him going to confront Knives is a march made towards ruin and despair, his goals as good as suicidal.

Something about the Fates always singing in the back of your mind, defining the outlines of people's lives. Something about Knives and Vash's sisters in a hive mind deciding on the fate of humanity in relation to their kind at the end of the story.

Something about each of the two narratives showing how life and love endures, even in trying times.

Something about hunger and biting the hand that feeds because you're starving for more. Something about taking what you can get and making the most of it. Something about the people of No Man's Land pushing the plants to their physical limit and sentencing them to agony of the last run because they see no other option.

Something about 'What you gonna do when the chips are down, / Now that the chips are down?' Something about the pods of the project SEEDS crash-landing on a barren and desolate planet.

Something about the chorus singing 'Cast your eyes to heaven / You get a knife in the back!/ Nobody's righteous, / Nobody's proud, / Nobody's innocent'. Something about how Wolfwood dies the instant he finally commits to Vash's ideals, for the first time in his life choosing to believe.

Something about Orpheus teaching Eurydice that there's still hope for the better. Something about Wolfwood starting to regain his trust in humanity through Vash.

Something about Orpheus being capable of seeing how the world could be, in spite of the way that it was. Something about Vash stubbornly refusing to stop believing there's inherent goodness in every person's soul.

Something about how Eurydice is destined to die in each telling of the myth because the story is non-existent without Orpheus' loss of her. Something about how Wolfwood is doomed by the narrative, being a dead man walking since the very beginning.

Something about Orpheus leading his one true love out of Hell. Something about Wolfwood leading Vash in instead, guiding him to his end.

Something about Orpheus singing 'Wait for me!' on his way down under the ground. Something about Vash rushing to that smoking ruin which the Hopeland Orphanage became in order to help Wolfwood, fearing that he's late.

Something about Orpheus looking back. Something about Vash bringing his century-and-a-half long run from every and all attachments to a hault and finally stopping to look at the person before him, for the first time in his life allowing himself to believe in a future spent together with someone.

Something about Orpheus losing Eurydice the moment he turns to cast a glance behind him. Something about how the next thing Vash learns after admitting that he wants to spend his tomorrows with Wolfwood by his side is that Wolfwood is dying.

Something about Orpheus reaching the end of the road out of the Underworld all alone. Something about Vash ending his journey the same way.

Something about knowing how the story ends and still beginning to sing it again, as if it might turn out this time. Something about how 'far from here, in a distant time and place, the same song of humanity... still sang'.

Something about love. Something about grief. Something about tragedies.

Something about how, after all, we're still singing.

There's something profoundly meaningful to be said about all this, and maybe some day I will be insightful and witty enough to put my scrambled thoughts into neatly-organised, clear-cut sentences, but for now it will be like that.

[fernshawart]

How Deep Cut doesn't fit the three Buddhism poisons : a small analysis

This has been in my mind for a few days and I need to write something about this.

According to their respective songs, Deep Cut are supposedly written to be representations of the three poisons, but I feel like this doesn't fit them at all. So in this analysis I shall explain why I think it doesn't fit them, and what I believe they truly represent.

To make it simple, the three poisons go like this :

- Snake (Frye) : Hate, Anger, Aversion

- Rooster (Shiver) : Attachement, Greed, Lust

- Boar (Big Man) : Ignorance, Indifference, Confusion

When you just look over these characteristics you may agree with them but let's take a closer look on what I believe doesn't make sense about them.

Let's start with the snake (Hate, Anger, Aversion).

Frye doesn't hate anybody during the story. She literally offers you to join deep cut when she barely knows you. And she doesn't get angry a single time during the story. Not even when she battles you. Look at that ? That's a smile. She's EXCITED to beat you up. Not angry.

If anything, I would argue that her aggressiveness during her entire battle session is because she's just a very competitive person. She enjoys a good challenge. But being territorial is a core part of the inkling identity. That's why splatfests exist, to make sure their desires to fight aren't turned into a war but rather into a healthy rivalry.

Frye has had the opportunity to show genuine anger too, with her loosing streak in the splatfests. But the thing is, even if she's obviously sad about that situation, Frye stayed pretty calm considering everything.

Look at this. Look at Shiver's face compared to Frye. Frye's not angry. She's calm and composed.

Now for the Rooster (Attachement, Greed, Lust). It may be the most fitting of all for a few reasons, but there's still a big problem. Shiver isn't greedy. It's supposed to be a core part of her character, even. She's a bandit because she redistributes her wealth in splatsville, a place that is overall very poor. I know her battle stage is a robbed bank but ... In a sense, robbing a bank may be still part of that Robinhood ideology. Bank owners are some of the wealthiest people around.

She doesn't even have a deep greediness for victory. You can see it in her turf battle dialogue. She's ... Genuinely humble.

If she wins, she compliments you and tells you that she would gladly have a rematch.

If she looses, she tells you that it would be an honor to have a rematch and even talks about redeeming herself. She even explicitly says that the rematch doesn't have to right now, and I feel like if she was greedy for victory she would rush you for it to quickly claim back her victory.

The idea of Attachement, for what I understand, it's more about attachement to an item than a person so I can't say anything to that. But what I do know is that this characteristic, mixed with lust, is the closest concept of the three to the idea of passion and connection to others, which makes it the most redeemable characteristic. But we'll come back to that later.

And finally, The Boar (Ignorance, Indifference, Confusion)... To me, this is the most upsetting comparison. Big man is ANYTHING but ignorant. This isn't ignorant as in stupid, but rather as in "if you are not like me or against me, you don't matter in my eyes."

And the thing is, the simple fact that he is a part of deep cut should be enough to prove that he cares about others.

Look at him. He's not of the same species as them, not even an inkfish, he's far from being humanoid, he's not of the same gender, even if their clans are linked he doesn't have anything that resembles their iconic clothes or earrings ...

Even when it comes to personality, they're very far from each other. He's very calm when the girls get easily excited. He doesn't like violence but battles Neo 3 because he wants to fit in with the girls.

But this is the most important thing of all.

It's all for splatsville. He's doing it for others, for people he probably doesn't even know. Big man is the patriarch of his clan. A leader. His people trust him enough to put him in a position of power where he can care of others. Him being quite literally the worst, almost unredeemable quality of all DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

But there is something else in Buddhism that are opposites to the poisons. The wholesome qualities. Wisdom. Generosity. Loving Kindness. These are the counters to the damage the poisons do. And for some reason ... They fit with the trio perfectly.

Frye is Wisdom. She may not look very intelligent, but this is all an act. Frye isn't stupid. She's having fun and she's being relaxed. She's just like Pearl who we know is silly, but deeply emotionally intelligent when necessary. And funny enough, big foreheads in India are a sign of great wisdom.

Big man is Generosity. The large majority of his actions in-game are based on the fact that he acts for others. He joined the girls because they needed him. He fought for Deep Cut because he knew it was necessary. He's a bandit and takes treasures because he believes it's a necessary for the wellness of all.

Shiver is Loving Kindness. Say what you want about her, but Shiver holds a lot of importance to affection. Remember what she said during the pokemon splatfest ? She wants a partner that she can spend quality time with. She wants something to love. And by saying that, she was looking at Frye.

Deep cut aren't poisons. They're the cure to the poisons. And the worst thing is, they may not even understand it themselves.

[prodbymaui]

Lust Royale Series.

The alternative universe of the mafia where you serve as the heir of the infamous 'Solaire'.

Lust Royale is an original NCT series written by prodbymaui. The release dates are scheduled to start by the beginning of July.

Copying, translating, re-posting and rewriting the following works in any form is strictly prohibited unless given permission to do so.

OVERVIEW: In the world of mafia, things would never go according to one's plan. As an heir to the mafia group who had been at the top of the game since the beginning, Solaire's made sure to pull out and use all their assets to protect the rising soon to be kingpin. All guards up to prevent being indifferent to the dangers of what the consequences of their plans may be.

Because unbeknownst to most players; In this game, evil is hidden everywhere-- in plain sight. Driven by greed as they try to conquer everything their eyes gazes at, may it be simple equipments, or a whole organization. People in this area-- they like to be ambitious. A person might be smiling at you genuinely today, but the next thing you know? You will be meeting your downfall in the hands of the exact same person.

TAGLIST: send an ask to be added..

01: MISTIMED

SYNOPSIS: Being an assassin, it was already expected for love to be seen as a weakness in Yuta's field of work. Therefore, if you find yourself falling in love-- might as well dig your lover's and your own grave because no enemy would pass the chance of sabotaging any glimpse of happiness, especially in the mafia world.

Despite first-hand witnessing the outcome of being in love-- The faceless grim reaper finds himself risking the chance of exposing his identity for the sake of catching the sight of this mysterious woman dawned in her blood red dress.

Coming soon..

02: UNMASKED

SYNOPSIS: You should've figured out the man the moment he stepped inside your headquarters. You should've found out he's nothing but a threat to the organization. As he stood before you, not as an ally but as a spy-- you felt stupid for letting your guards down and showing your vulnerable side. You should've known.

Because now, you have to battle with these crumbling, weakening feeling of love. All the while, Haechan is out there, determined to kill you with his bare hands.

Coming soon..

03: LIONHEART

SYNOPSIS: You were cruel, merciless, and ruthless. Unforgiving to those who had wrong you, ensuring to make them pay trice the amount of what they owe. The lack of empathy towards other people was one thing Mark could've used to dislike, or even loathe, you.

However, as he watches you cut the tongues of the men who murdered Song Jaesoo in half-- Mark finds himself grateful to your father for hiring and trusting him to serve as your right hand.

Coming soon..

04: BOUNDARIES

SYNOPSIS: In a midst of chaos and danger, you found yourself stuck between the forbidden love your father had warned you about several times and your responsibilities as the successor of the great Song Jaesoo.

Would you rather focus on your goals of revenging your late father to continue his legacy? Or would you finally give in and taste the freedom of being with someone whom you truly love?

Coming soon..

2023 © prodbymaui