#hand of fate II | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kasagia · 6 months

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Right hand

Pairing: Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x fem!exBeneGesserit! reader Summary: You were his right-hand (wo)man after he saw you in combat during your training on the Bene Gesserit. He freed you from them and turned you from a Bene Gesserit into a faithful soldier who took care of all his dirty business. Getting rid of the bodies of the people he killed, organising opponents for him to fight, poor people on whom he could vent his anger and desire for bloodshed, or even concubines. You were his eyes and ears in the baron's court. You reported everything to him, being more effective than any Bene Gesserit. But he wants more... much more. Warning: 18+; violence; blood; Feyd Rautha; death; fight; brutality; smut; bathing together; dagger play; breeding kink? I guess; a lot things happening; my first time for Feyd so I'm a little nervous😅; enjoy!; Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen's Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ Main Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ PART II ~•♤♤♤•~

It wasn't your choice to undergo Bene Gesserit training. Your mother abandoned you when you were a little baby and took you to these terrible women, leaving you to their mercy.

You hated them. Their entire organisation, which included planned breeding, aimed at creating the Kwisatz Haderach. To you, these women were a sick cult that you were reluctant to be a part of. You trembled with fear, thinking of the day when they would send you to extend the genetic line of a nobel family by lending your womb or to ensure that their plans succeeded.

However, you realised that you had little say in the matter. The Bene Gesserit would find you anywhere if you tried to run and hide. You were doomed to follow the orders of your crazy old reverend mother and wait in fear for the day when you could prove your usefulness.

But one day, you crossed paths with Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. And for a very long time, you considered it a real gift from fate. The first happy turn of events in your tragic life.

He was on a diplomatic mission. He was being shown around by the princess of your planet, and they happened to be attending the training of the Bene Gesserit sisters. You immediately caught his attention. Your movements were smoother, full of the passion of a true warrior. You charmed him so much that, at first, he thought you had put a spell on him. After seeing your potential and your obvious dislike for your sisters, he took you with him to Giedi Prime.

He faked your death so the Bene Gesserit sisters wouldn't come looking for you. He made you his right hand, his most trusted soldier. It was only after years of service under the Na-Baron that you realised that you had entered a much worse hell than any plans the Bene Gesserit had for you.

Feyd Rautha was supposed to be your personal devil. But first, you saw him as your saviour.

An animalistic, bloodthirsty scream resounds throughout the na-baron's private training room as his 'toy' falls dead under the blow she received from the furious man. You enter the room just as Feyd pierces him with his sword, causing drops of blood to land on your face.

You wipe them away, undeterred by the na-baron's brutality. Years of service had accustomed you to all the acts of cruelty he was capable of. At least this time, the dead man's entrails didn't spill around him. You hated calling his harpies to the feast. Despite so many years spent at the side of the baron's favourite nephew, you never got used to his concubines. They made you feel strangely uneasy.

"My lord, na-baron." You say, announcing your presence. Feyd breathes heavily and shifts his mad, furious gaze to you, not noticing your entrance until you speak.

You walk past the body, avoiding the pool of blood, and hand him a towel. He takes it from you without a word, wiping the sweat and blood from his head, chest, and back. You ignore his exposed muscles and kneel next to the man on whom he took out his anger, preparing to carry him out of the room before the next opponent/toy shows up.

"You were right. That old fool entrusted Arrakis to my brother. He will embarrass our family in one day. Ha! Even half is enough for him! This wretch doesn't know how to manage a small province, let alone an entire planet with fremen ready to attack at any corner." He says, rubbing himself furiously. He throws a towel into the corner of the room and walks to the table to pour himself something to drink.

"He gives him a chance to prove himself. When he wastes it, you will get it and prove to the baron and the lords that you are rightfully entitled to the title of baron." You say, securing the body so the guards at the door can carry it out.

"Every fool knows that. It's obvious that I'm a better choice than this scoundrel, who will sell the secrets of our family and swear allegiance to anyone who threatens his life. Baron throws a party in his honor. To the success of his mission. He's just doing it to piss me off. He doesn't give a damn about Rabban or whether he succeeds. This is just another of his tests on me. That's why you're coming with me. I've already sent for a dress for you." You look up at him with your surprised gaze. You're even more shocked when he reaches out his hand to help you up—something you didn't expect from him in his white, burning rage state.

"A dress?" You ask, taking his hand. You hold your breath, keeping yourself from gasping, as he lifts you off the floor with one strong pull. Unprepared, you bump completely onto his chest, not being able to keep your balance.

You freeze at the feeling of his muscled body close to yours. You can feel his heart pounding in his chest from the adrenaline he felt while killing this poor man. You tense up, seeing his icy-blue eyes already staring at yours. He starts giggling darkly as he presses you tighter against him so you can feel every muscle of his.

"Is there a problem? Would you prefer to come naked? I wouldn't mind, but…”

"I'm simply surprised that you want me there officially. I usually sneak there. I watch from the shadows. Well, you know." You interrupt me before he can insinuate anything, and with his silent permission, you move a decent distance away from him, leaving his arms.

You always had to be careful when making moves like this. You saw how he punished for minor offences, just for breathing. And you didn't run away from the Bene Gesserit with him to lose your life because of one of his… impulses. Although he has never put you in any serious danger, which was strangly amazing, since all of the servants who worked for him (and are still alive) have experienced his wrath on their bodies at least once.

"I know. But this time, I need you by my side. Not in hiding. My birthday is coming up—the most important of them all. I want to know what my uncle will come up with. Maybe you can find out something from the Lords. Besides, why wouldn't I want to have such beauty on my arm?"

"You want a woman by your side so you can humiliate your brother before he leaves? Perpetuate in him a sense of belief that you are superior, even if you don't have power over Arrakis right now?"

You see his hands tighten on his blades. You purse your lips, realising you were too quick to question his intentions. Basic mistake. You shouldn't have tested the waters when you knew Feyd was already on the end of his patience.

He takes a step towards you, entering your personal space. You swallow and lift your head to meet his gaze. This wasn't the first time he had intimidated you, tested you, carefully gauged your reaction, and waited until he finally saw the fear in your eyes. But you never gave him that satisfaction. If the Bene Gesserit taught you anything, it was that fear was weakness. A weakness you could tame... at least enough not to show it to anyone else.

So you endure his piercing, burning gaze with indifference. You stay like that even after a small smirk starts to appear on his face. You wonder how many people before you saw that smirk and stared into those night-black eyes on Giedi Prime as they passed from this world.

"That pink little tongue of yours will get you into trouble one day, my little witch." He purrs, his tone low and dangerous. He reaches up to your face with his free hand and gently runs his hand through your hair, caressing your cheek and jaw with the pad of his thumb. "Possible. I'm a na-baron... don't I deserve the best?" He looks defiantly at you, throwing you the proverbial gauntlet. He's waiting for you to stumble. For open defiance of his order.

You don't understand why, but he's been acting like this more and more lately. He made ambiguous comments, carefully watching your reaction. It was something new—a change in his behaviour that you hadn't figured out the reason for yet. But you had too much on your mind to think about it any longer.

"I can prepare you a beautiful concubine perfect for Giedi Prime standards." You suggest at which he shakes his head, laughing hoarsely. He turns his back to you and pours himself another glass of water.

"It's not necessary. I want you. Go and get ready. I'll join you in two hours when I'm done here." He says just as the door opens to reveal the soldiers you called for to take the body away and who have brought him a new drugged opponent. Feyd licks his lips, flips the blade up, and catches it, making a little show before lunging at his toy.

"As you wish, my na-baron." You say before leaving him to get ready for the party. Another warrior's scream echoes off the walls of the chamber as Feyd unleashes his anger on him.

You scan the room carefully, standing with your glass against the wall in a more crowded part of the room. You try your best to blend in with the crowd, but with your hair down, it's not that easy. Even if you try to cover your hair, you can feel people's curious gazes on you. But the worst ones are the burning gazes of the lords on you, some of them too lustful to be able to feel comfortable.

If you could, you would hide in the shadows, as usual, and observe them without being the centre of attention. You felt like a monkey in a circus or an exotic animal at an exhibition. The cold hand on your shoulder reminds you why you can't do this. You turn around to once again meet the na-baron's intense gaze today.

"You look good." He says as his eyes carefully scan the black latex dress with cutouts on the sides that reach down to your hipbones. "But I don't remember having that metal corset disguised as armour and that ridiculous chain veil sent to you along with the dress."

"I almost mistook this rag for a nightgown. I had to wear something on it. They think I'm your whore anyway; we don't have to prove it to them." You respond to his taunt and turn towards him. He is wearing black, formal armour, which is perfect as an official outfit.

"Do you find it scandalous to be my whore, little witch? Maybe even disgusting?" You meet his gaze to roll your eyes at him, at which he chuckles, wrapping his arms around your waist. You don't like this closeness, but there's nothing you can do to push his hand off of you. You are in public. Such a gesture towards him would be equivalent to a death sentence.

"I see nothing... honourable or good in being anyone's whore, my na-baron." You say, gently moving away from him so as not to lean on him as much.

"Have you seen anything noteworthy?" He asks, unfazed by your trying to move away from him. He pulls you up, wrapping his arms around your waist tighter and making your back rest against his chest. His fingertips brush against the exposed skin, caressing your hipbone.

You frown, turning your head to look at him. He's never been so... clingy before. He always respected your personal space and never touched you. You blame it on his desire to tease his brother, who is staring at you intently from across the room, and you shift your gaze to the people present at the party.

"Several lords congratulated your brother. However, there are rumours and beliefs that he will not be up to the task. Some also believe that you will slit his throat before his ship leaves for Arrakis."

"This idea crossed my mind. If you hadn't brought this information to me earlier, you would probably have had to deal with making the public believe in his… tragic and sudden death from natural causes."

"Natural causes; I wish I could see that." You scoff, finishing your drink. You turn around, leaving his arms, and set your glass down on the table. When you turn to him again, he holds out his hand for you to take.

"You'll see if you don't entertain me. I'm bored, and looking at this smug idiot isn't helping my patience or my ability to restrain myself. Dance with me, my little witch."

"You're interrupting my work." You complain, taking his hand. He leads you to the dance floor and spins you around, pulling you tight against his chest. He holds you close to him, perfectly placing his steps and moving to the beat of the music. He is as fluid in dancing as he is in fighting. Flawless as always.

"I'm your work. You are my right hand; you meet all my needs. I don't think I need to remind you of that, do I?" He asks in challenge, taking your chin between his two fingers as he looks at you carefully. You only smile at him in a sweet, artificial way. He laughs, fully aware of how fake this act is, and drops your chin.

Over the years, you discovered that he liked it when you teased him and responded to his taunts with your own. Of course, only when no one could hear it, and not very often. He had a reputation to uphold. He couldn't afford for anyone to see his right-hand (wo)man mocking him. Unbeknownst to you, he found it adorable the way your eyes lit up whenever you did something mischievous.

"Of course not, my na-baron."

"Good." He nods at your words. He takes his eyes off you for a moment and focuses on something behind your shoulder. He leans down, his cheek brushing against yours. You shiver at the sudden closeness, his scent becoming more distinct as you inhale it wholeheartedly. It's captivating. Sweet. Intoxicating. Dangerous. Just like him. "Do you have your daggers?" His hot whisper reaches your ear. He's so close, you can almost feel his full lips brush against your earlobe.

"Yes, why?" You ask, perfectly masking the tremble in your voice. But you doubt whether you can hide from him how your heartbeat speeds up. You blame it on the adrenaline rush. Not fear caused by his proximity.

"It seems to me that you will soon have to prove to these imbeciles once again why I chose you to be my right-hand man." He explains as the song ends.

You feel him reluctantly release you from his embrace and take a step away from you. You turn around and see his brother walking towards you, his right hand following him, giving you a mischievous look and a lecherous, mocking smile when he sees your outfit. You straighten up, lifting your head proudly at the man in a similar position to yours. The difference between you was that you served the stronger Harkonnen. It would give you an inviolably higher position if, like them, you had a penis between your legs.

"Brother. You finally brought your pet to play with us." Rabban says, nodding to his brother. You feel a wave of disgust as his gaze lingers on you longer.

Feyd tenses, furious, as his brother's eyes are all on you. You wouldn't have noticed if his hand hadn't been on your hip bone a moment later, hiding some of your exposed skin from his brother's eyes. You wonder what his problem might be. After all, he chose this dress for you by himself.

"Be careful. She doesn't have a muzzle. I would prefer that no harm come to you before you go to Arrakis. She's got some pretty... sharp teeth." He says it condescendingly, pulling you closer to him. In a perfect world, you'd kick them both in the groin. Unfortunately, you don't have that luxury. You can only imagine putting these two pseudo-alpha males in their place. But how sweet these dreams are...

"What about a small competition? My man against yours? Let's see what this mysterious beauty that you keep hidden can really do." Rabban's right-hand man gives you a cocky, confident look. He plays with the dagger in his hand, making a poor show that was intended to intimidate you. You roll your eyes behind your metal chain veil and shift your gaze to Feyd. You are only subject to his orders. Not some weak, pathetic creatures.

"This party is already dead. Do you want to kill also YOUR pet?" Feyd mocks him, and you almost break your unflappable, emotionless attitude, barely holding back your laughter. Na-baron sees this and smiles to himself, rubbing circles with the pad of his thumb on your hipbone.

"Are you afraid that she won't heat your bed anymore?" Feyd narrows his eyes at him. You feel his fingertips dig painfully into your hip as he tries to keep himself from lunging at his brother with the blade. You know full well that the eyes of the lords, the baron, and most of the people at the party are turned towards you.

"I have no doubt whatsoever about the outcome of this little skirmish. She will just sweat unnecessarily. And I would rather have her in full strength tonight." He says it in a mocking tone, shifting his gaze towards you. He licks his lips and tightens his grip to make his lewd intentions towards you clear to the two men.

Despite his famous reputation, he never touched you. Giedi Prime society might have thought otherwise, but in the years you had served as his right-hand man, he had never once taken you to bed or had you entertain him at night. You appreciated it immensely, which is why you accepted such behaviour from him without batting an eyelid whenever you were in public. It was all a game to maintain the reputation he had built over the years. Or so you thought.

"Feyd, boy, release your pet. Let her entertain us." The baron's words interrupt any skirmish that might have developed between the brothers.

It was not uncommon at Giedi Prime parties for soldiers to fight against each other to entertain the crowd. You just didn't think that you would have to fight someone during your first official arrival at the party. Although you should have anticipated such an unexpected turn of events. The baron and Rabban would not miss the opportunity to find out how much you were really worth and why Feyd, out of all the talented soldiers, chose the Bene Gesserit as his right-hand man.

You send a quick glance at Feyd. He gives you a small nod, so you bow to the baron and prepare to fight. The crowd around you parts to form a circle. You feel people's excitement as you flip the metal chains from your face to your hair, revealing more of your face. You wrap the shawl around your hair, tying it tighter and making sure it won't get in the way of your fight.

You look at your opponent, who is also preparing, trying to spot any of his weak points before the fight even begins. Rabban says something in his ear, which causes the manly smile to grow. Feyd stands in front of you, blocking your view of them. You look into his steel blue eyes as he leans towards you.

"Don't hold back." He whispers in your ear, handing you his blade. "And finish it quickly. We have other things to do."

You nod at him. He walks away from you, sending a mocking smirk at your opponent. He spreads his arms, taking a few steps back, as if inviting him to try his hand at you. You feel the burning gaze of his eyes on your back as you position yourself in front of the man.

"Don't worry, witch. If I win, I won't kill you. It's a shame to waste such a pretty face. I wonder if you're as good as the rumours say. Your pussy must be good to keep the na-baron entertained for so long." He says, waiting for you to activate your shield. But you don't do this. You want to completely humiliate him and give everyone in the room a clear message about your power and that you didn't secure your place just by having a pretty face. The crowd cheers, but you think you can hear Feyd growl furiously amidst the shouts of approval.

"I doubt you'll have the chance to find out." You say, and without waiting for his next words, you attack.

After the first few attacks, you figure out his tactics. He is physically strong, it's true, but that's his only advantage. It attacks you in a learned way, repeating its patterns. You read him quickly and position yourself to use his strength and mass against him. You could have walked up to him a long time ago and slit his throat, but you know it would be much better if you had some fun with him. You will show that you have complete control over the course of this fight.

You dodge the man's punches, and after a few minutes, you quickly get bored when you once again manage to kick him and send him to his knees. You take advantage of the moment he gets up from the floor to glance at your na-baron. Feyd doesn't look happy with your introduction. Of course, you see his interested look and how he appreciates your skills, but he doesn't look at you like he usually does. He doesn't wait with bated breath for your next move, like the crowd around you does. You can tell from his face that he wants you to finish this as soon as possible. You frown, surprised that he of all people doesn't enjoy watching the fight. You wonder what the hell is wrong with him.

Your moment of inattention is, of course, immediately exploited by your opponent. You manage to fend off the man's blade, but not his kick, which sends you landing on your butt on the floor. You feel rage more than pain; you only see red when you hear the cocky laugh of the man you are fighting with. You're so focused on driving the blade into his body that you don't notice Feyd's angry look, the murder in his eyes, and the desire to rip your opponent apart with his own hands as you fall to the floor. And you certainly don't see the trembling of his hand, as he instinctively wanted to grab you and pull you safely behind him.

You strike once, quickly driving the blade into the man's stomach and leaving it there. You push him to his knees, push away the hand that holds the sword, and reach for the dagger hidden in the sleeve of your dress. You strike a second time, piercing his shoulder. You stick the second dagger into his hand and knock the weapon out of his hand, taking it from him. You grab the man's throat in a tight grip and tilt his head back. You lean over him, a mocking smirk on your face as he struggles to breathe.

"I didn't even take off my high heels." You mocked him as you slit his throat.

You smile victoriously as you decapitate him. His head rolls at your feet, blood splattering your dress and face as you breathe heavily. You sigh, feeling your heart pound in your chest, as you bow to the crowd surrounding you as they shout and applaud you. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Rabban's sour, angry expression. You kick the head of his right hand towards him and give him a small smirk. You stand upright as you meet the eyes of your na-baron.

And then you saw it. Hunger in his eyes. Pure lust and desire, as his pupils were wide and solemnly focused on you.

You knew that gaze. He only looked like that at things he really wanted. Only his favourite concubines got THAT look from him or a beautiful, precisely made weapon that fit perfectly in his hands. Usually he had that look in his eyes right after the great battle he won. He would lock himself with his concubines and then spend long hours in his chambers, giving himself completely to his primal instincts.

You shiver as he walks towards you, ignoring anything else in the room. He grabs you tightly by the throat, and, to the delight of the drunken crowd who are screaming madly with excitement after the show you had made, he kisses you.

It is hard, hungry, and passionate. His hand completely removes the metal chains and shawl that were covering your head, and he pulls you to him as close as possible. His grip on your hair and throat is tight as he demands that your mouth be opened for him by biting your lower lip. You moan involuntarily, causing his tongue to slip into your mouth, as he is exploring new territory with a zeal you've never seen from him.

He pulls away from you when you're completely out of breath. Your vision is blurry, your heart is pounding from the adrenaline of the fight, and you can only stare at him stupidly and blankly while trying to understand what just happened.

Your eyes widen as he licks his lips, lust still burning in his eyes as he takes in your panting form and swollen, red lips. A trickle of blood drips from your mouth after he bit into it a few minutes ago. As you taste your blood on your tongue, you realise the terrifying truth.

Feyd Rautha Harkonnen desired you.

Feyd strokes your neck, which is still in his tight grip. His eyes travel from your lips to your neck, to your collarbones, to the valley of your breasts, and to your hips, which were starting to bruise from how tightly he held them in the moments before your fight. Suddenly, everything starts to fall into place for you. His strange, unusual behaviour, the flirtatious comments, the long stares, and his more frequent attempts to hold you close to him and touch your exposed skin are starting to make sense.

You were screwed.

Completely and utterly fucked up.

You've been avoiding him since that night. More than any Reverend Mother or Bene Gesserit. Which was a very difficult task, considering how many things you had to do as his right hand.

But, luckily, you managed to avoid being alone with him. Of course, it couldn't last long. You knew him very well, and you knew that eventually he would try something and come for you. But you tried to deceive yourself by living the lie that his desire would pass and his concubines would effectively take care of him.

If he noticed your attempts to stay away from him, he never mentioned it. Of course, he chased after you when he saw you walking alone down the hall, but you never gave him a chance to catch up with you. He may have grown up here, but you knew the palace like the back of your hand. And all the nooks and crannies you could hide in from him.

So you actually managed not to get close to him for a very long time. Until it was time to train a unit of soldiers directly subordinate to him.

"Y/N!!!" You're sure all of Giedi Prime could have heard his scream. You sigh, calming down as you continue your walk to the arena. You step out into the black sun, carefully watching the men training. You walk up to him and bow to him.

"My lord na-baron." You say it politely, unfazed by the fact that he's practically seething with rage. You were more used to dealing with him like this than when he was horny... or worse, kind. You would turn on your shield if you knew it wouldn't make him fall over the edge and start murdering everyone he could.

"Take your blade. None of these piles of useless muscles know basic defensive moves. Look, you all! You have to learn this by the end of the day, or next time you will enter this arena as my opponent!" He walks over to one of them, probably to either stab him or adjust his position, leaving you to get ready. You tie your hair up so it doesn't bother you during a fight and choose your blade.

You gasp in surprise when you are suddenly pushed. You turn around quickly, trying to keep your balance as you face the na-baron. You move your hand to activate your shield, but his voice stops you:

"Don't. I have to show them how to do it. No shield." You know he's lying, and that's not why he doesn't want you to turn on your shield, but you don't say anything. You just nod and prepare to get into a defensive position.

He attacks you quickly. Very quickly. You've trained with him before, and you have to admit, he's never been this… brutal with you.

You go through different positions with him until you finally stop following the textbook fighting patterns and start fighting seriously. You keep up with his movements for a long time, blocking his blade with yours and dodging attacks that you have no physical ability to block, but he keeps pressing against you, not letting you rest or trying to return the favour with one of your attacks.

You gasp in surprise when he trips you, sending you to the ground. You block his swing at you with your blade and kneel in the sand, trying to get up, but he's pressing too hard against you with his sword for you to move. You use all your strength to push him away from you. Feyd growls, throwing his sword aside, and simply lunges at you. You're too shocked to do anything as he snatches the blade from your hand and sits on top of you.

You fight him, sending both of you rolling in the sand. Eventually, he gets impatient and wraps his hand around your throat. You take a hoarse breath as he blocks your airway. You grab his hand around your neck and try to pull it away. You dig your nails into his palm, but he remains unmoved, pinning you to the sand.

He leans closer to you, and you take the opportunity to wrap your hand around his neck. He laughs, showing you his black teeth as he practically lays on top of you. His erection presses hard against your thigh as he grinds against you, grunting as he too begins to feel the need for air... and something more. You see black spots in front of your eyes, and you feel tears welling up in your eyes as you struggle to breathe.

You let go of his neck completely, your hand falling next to your head, and you desperately try to use the remaining air to try and use your Bene Gesserit voice on him. But before you try to say anything, he loosens his grip so you can breathe, but his fingers are still lightly holding your neck.

Too busy breathing, you don't notice how he tilts his face towards you. Only when you feel his tongue on your neck do you realise how close he is to you. You freeze when he runs his tongue from your neck, from jaw to cheek, to taste your tears. You hear him moan softly. To confirm that your brain, stunned by lack of oxygen, didn't make it all up on its own, he rubs against you, and his hardness in his pants is clearly felt by you.

You just fucking hope he doesn't fuck you in front of those soldiers.

You meet his black eyes with yours. You shiver as he leans in, his bare chest pressed completely against you as he whispers into your ear.

"Damn you, witch... if you taste as sweet as your tears..." He growls. You feel dizzy, and you're not sure if it's because of the heat of the moment, the fact that he cut you off from oxygen for a while, or because you're overwhelmed by his scent and the warmth that radiates from the two of you.

You thank whoever is above you as he finally pulls away from you and stands up. He gives you his hand and helps you stand on your two feet. The soldiers obediently look at the ground, not daring to face the na-baron's gaze. You swallow hard, pulling your hand from his grasp.

Feyd barks orders at them, herding them back to training. You breathe a sigh of relief when he stops paying attention to you. You use your shawl to wipe his saliva and your sweat from your neck. You take your blade and are about to leave the arena to do the rest of your duties. But a tight grip on your wrist stops you. You tense up and turn around to face him again.

"Y/N." He murmurs, watching you carefully. You're sure that bruises are starting to appear on your neck from his tight squeeze. "Come to my chambers tonight." A cold shiver runs through you, but all you can do is nod and watch his retreating figure as he leaves to continue the training.

You hoped he didn't mean what you thought he meant by that... invitation. Otherwise, this could be your last night on Giedi Prime or the last night of your life. You're not sure yet.

For the first time, you feel fear as you walk to his chambers. He had called for you at such times before, but it never occurred to you that he wanted to do with you something else than discuss with you matters that were related to the Giedi Prime Court, the baron's plans, or other political matters and plots.

You shudder, wondering what might be waiting behind that door. You saw the condition in which some of his concubines left him. You didn't want to become one of them; you didn't want to be reduced to being his lover. It was fine as it was. You felt very good as his shadow, ears, and eyes. You liked conspiring together with him, making plans, and that hrill each time you managed to take down the enemies that were standing in your way. He was supposed to be your savior, not your persecutor. Were you that naive from the beginning, or has everything started going to shit recently?

The guards let you through without saying a word. With your heart pounding, you enter his chambers.

He's sitting on the bed. His harpies finish taking off his clothes, and at first you want to back away, but as soon as his gaze meets yours, you freeze. Feyd snaps at one of them. She hands him a glass of his wine while the others look at you furiously.

"Leave." He tells them, never taking his eyes off you. The women look at each other, not wanting to leave him, especially leave him alone with you. You guess that if it weren't for Feyd's presence, they would have attacked you long ago, trying to eat you before their master got a chance to touch you. Disgust arouses in you as you think that you may be soon reduced to their role and turned into one of them. "I said something." He growls at them, shifting his gaze from you to give them an angry glare.

The harpies are going out obediently, but they are not wasting an opportunity to hiss at you as they pass you to get to the exit. You hear one of them scream in pain as Feyd suddenly throws a knife at them right before they close the door behind them.

You were more used to his brutal reflexes than to his tender gestures. You actually preferred him being aggressive more. At least you could have predicted his movement. That's why you didn't even blink when he threw a blade at his pets.

"You wanted to see me." You start when you are alone. If you could impress him with anything other than your fighting skills and the ability to obtain various information by staying in the shadows, it would be that you never showed fear or insecurity. At least not to those who don't know you. Almost no one could read you. Almost.

However, Feyd saw that you were behaving differently. But he was tired of controlling himself around you. He couldn't do it anymore after tasting your lips, tasting your skin mixed with tears, and feeling your curves press against him. He wanted more. Much more than he ever got from you. And he was going to take it, whether you wanted it or not. He won't go crazy with lust for you... or at least not with as much longing for you each night as he used to.

"I did..." He stands up, and you're grateful he's at least wearing underwear as he walks over to his bar and pours a second glass of wine. He hands it to you and taps it with his own. He takes a few sips and looks at you. After a while, he sits down on his bed again and swirls his glass, playing with the remains of the wine. "Baron wants me to find a wife." He announces calmly, staring at you intently as he finishes his wine with one big sip.

You almost choke on your drink. You place your glass on the table and meet the careful gaze of his cold, blue eyes. You feel yourself starting to get hot with nerves.

"I beg you pardon?" You ask, still reeling from the shock of this sudden information.

"He wants me to find a broodmare who will bear my heirs since I am getting close to the appropriate age." He repeats, standing up gracefully. He approaches you, his steps slow and measured, as if he were approaching his prey in an arena. And for a moment, that's exactly how you feel. But you show no fear or any other emotion as he stops a few inches in front of you. You straighten up, your muscles tensing as you think about any answer.

"I… I can make the necessary preparations and check which high families…"

"Strip." He orders you. His tone is hoarse, leaving no room for any objection. He talks just as if he were asking you to pass him the dagger rather than to stand naked in front of him. As if it was an order he carried out every day and something you should be used to following.

"What?" You ask stupidly, unable to process what he said to you in your head.

"Have you gone deaf? Undress. Take your clothes off." He repeats mockingly. He crosses his arms, takes a few steps back, and leans against the wooden post of his bed as he watches you carefully, waiting for you to either obey his order or openly disobey him, giving him the opportunity to punish you... as if he even needed a reason to do so.

"My na-baron, I..."

"Exactly, Y/N. I am your na-baron. So follow my order. Now. I'm not in the mood for our games. You think I haven't noticed you've been playing hide-and-seek lately? I have given much worse punishments for such disobedience and attempts at self-indulgence. Take your clothes off, or I'll rip them from you."

For a moment, there is a deathly silence in his chambers. Only your breathing can be heard as you try to find any way out of this situation. But you can't think of anything. Your mind is empty, your hands are shaking a little, and all you can do is look at him, silently begging him to change his mind. A frown of impatience appears on his forehead, and you know you have to do something before he gets irritated and cuts you with one of his blades.

You sigh softly as you reach for the laces of your shirt. You take your time, slowly untying your bindings. Feyd devours every bit of skin you expose to him, and you swear you hear him hold his breath as your shirt lands on the floor. You get out of your shoes and socks very slowly.

Luckily, he doesn't comment on it and lets you get out of his clothes at your own pace. He knows he will win anyway. Tonight, he will finally stop playing cat and mouse with you and put his hands on what is rightfully his. So he savours every moment, making a plan in his head for what he will do to you tonight for this small act of rebellion.

He licks his lips as you stand in front of him in nothing but black underwear. His eyes take in your every curve, skin lesions, and scars that mark your warrior body. Oh yes. He was going to enjoy this night and finally unwrap his early birthday present.

"Good girl. You know where the bathroom is, right?" Without waiting for your response, he goes there, expecting you to follow him.

You swallow hard. You're glad that at least you managed to stay in your underwear and that you're not completely naked in front of him. You get out of your pile of clothes and leisurely follow him to the bathroom.

As soon as you enter, the door closes itself behind you. You sigh, the sweet smell of bath salts reaching your nostrils. But you don't feel so relaxed when the coolness of the bathroom and the black marble you stand barefoot on make you shiver and your nipples harden.

The na-baron's dark chuckle catches your attention. He's in a large, black bathtub, his hands resting on its edges as he enjoys the warm water, watching you closely, a spark of amusement shining in his icy blue eyes. He looks like a vulture waiting for the best moment to kill his prey.

"It had been a long day. Join me." He says, lifting his hand for you to take and step into the tub.

Having no choice, you obediently reach for his hand and release it as quickly as you can, sitting on the other side of the bathtub with your legs tucked under you so as not to accidentally touch him. He laughs, shaking his head in amusement.

"Not so far, my little mouse. Closer. I won't bite… well, not yet."

"I'm not a mouse." You snap at him. If you're going to die, at least die with dignity. Blinded by your anger at him, you sit on his lap before you can think it through. It's only his hardness pressing against your ass that makes you realize what a mistake you've made. You don't show your discomfort, though; you even lean against his chest, letting your head rest on his shoulder.

He laughs softly, wrapping his arms around you just as the skin of your back meets his chest. You feel like you're in a cage, even though he's trying to calm you down by lazily drawing patterns on the skin of your arms. Your underwear soaks up the water and sticks to you, making you feel even more uncomfortable.

"Hand me my dagger."

You much prefer receiving such orders from him. You get up from the bathtub to get away from him for a moment, but he stops you by grabbing your hips tightly. He shakes his head and nods towards the dagger, which is literally at his fingertips. You bite your lip, keeping yourself from talking back at him, and reach for the weapon, handing it to him. You do this carefully, not wanting to cut the skin of your fingertips with the very sharp blade.

He cuts through the fabric of your bra with surgical grace. You gasp in outrage but don't move, knowing full well that you are only millimetres away from him taking your blood. You don't have to turn around to know he's smiling cockily as he traces the tip of his dagger across your skin to your panties.

"You know I can take it off by myself?" You ask as he traces patterns with the tip of his dagger on your stomach, around your navel. You hold your breath as he rests his chin on your shoulder and pulls you closer to him, rubbing against your still-clothed ass. You learn the hard way that the rumours about his... greatness were true.

"You had your chance at the beginning, now it's my turn. You're lucky that I'm not taking it off of you with my teeth anyway." He growls in your ear. You shiver as he presses a wet kiss on your shoulder, peppering kisses on your skin, down to your neck, and down to your jawbone before he rests his chin on your shoulder again.

"Sorry for interrupting your fun, my na-baron." You growl as he hooks the tip of his dagger against the fabric of your panties.

"No worries; you will compensate me in another way." He says, cutting your panties. He throws them behind him and lazily presses the dagger against your jawbone, forcing you to turn your head to look at him.

You meet his blue eyes with yours. His irises are practically non-existent, giving way entirely to his dilated, black pupils. He stares at you hungrily, licking his lips. He looks lost and indecisive, as if he didn't know what to do first.

His other hand, the one not holding the dagger pressed against your neck and jaw, explores your body, caressing your skin as if it were some kind of precious silk. You sigh as he cups your breast, which, of course, fits perfectly in his hand. You want to punch him in the face, but the dagger at your throat reminds you that one wrong move could cost you dearly. So you take his hand in yours instead, stopping him from over-exploring.

"You know... I tried to stay away from you. From the first moment I saw you... fighting with those daggers of yours... you're not as graceful in dancing as you are with them in your hands, taking down all your enemies. But you are Bene Gesserit. I know you're dangerous. So damn dangerous... if I were anyone else, you'd use your voice on me and tell me to castrate myself. Or you could make me magically disappear by throwing myself off some tall tower just because I thwarted your plans or looked at you wrong. Surprised? You may live in the shadows, my little witch, but I won't miss anything you do. You know I have trouble controlling myself... so how can I do that when you're so damn irresistible? The fact that I've endured all these years and not gotten close to you the way I wanted—the way I dreamed so many times at night—is quite a success, don't you think?"

He massages your breast, playing with it. You bite your lip, holding back a moan as he pinches your nipple. He leans closer to you, pressing his nose against your neck and inhaling your scent deeply. He removes his hand from your breast and moves your connected body along your body. You gasp, tightening your grip on his as he brushes your clit gently with his fingertip.

"I… I should go." You mumble, squirming in his grip, which is, of course, pointless and only makes him groan in pleasure as your ass rubs against his hard, leaking member.

"Stay. You won't oppose your na-baron, will you?" The bastard knows well that you won't openly oppose him, and he uses it as best he can. He moves your joined hands to his length, forcing you to wrap your hand around him. He hisses, pressing the blade closer to your throat and tightening his grip on your hand as he guides yours along his length the way he wants. "Your skin is so soft… and that beautiful hair that you needlessly hide… you don't know how many times I imagined pulling you by it." He mumbles into your neck. The hand with the dagger now presses against your chest, only causing your heart to beat much faster. A wave of heat washes over you, your traitorous pussy clenching desperately as you hear his moans in your ear.

"Feyd..." You moan as his hand releases yours and works at your desperate pussy. He growls, feeling the warmth of your walls around his fingers and the wetness he caused. You remove your hand from his member and tighten your grip on his hand, trying to push him away from your private parts in a desperate attempt to regain control of the situation.

"Don't fight. Just give yourself to me, Y/N. Let me show you how much you've lost while trying to hide yourself from me in your shadows…" He growls, pressing the tip of the dagger to your nipple. You freeze, moaning as he becomes stiffened by the sheer movement of his blade.

He bites into your neck, making you moan loudly and throwing your head back. He licks and sucks your neck, rubbing his painfully hard cock against your pussy. The water splashes around you, some of it spilling out of the tub due to his sudden movements. A few inches deeper, and he would have slammed into you, bisecting you with his huge cock, which stood ready for you from the moment he saw you in your underwear.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel what you're doing to me? How hard I am because of you? It's like this every time you hand me my blade, perfectly balanced and sharpened, every time you meet all my needs without even communicating with me, you just know what I want by looking at me, my little witch. So tell me, who is a better partner for me than my right hand? Who can I trust more than you? Who should I fuck, full of my heirs, if not you?"

You don't respond; you can't find any words as your brain desperately tries to shout out the pleasure he's giving you and force you to resist him. Unsuccessfully. The warmth of the water, his body, his scent, and his precise, deliberate movements cut off your thoughts. Feyd is practically salivating at the sight of you so lost in lust and desire as he witnesses you lose control for the first time.

He throws away the dagger, which falls with a crash onto the marble floor. Neither of you care as he grabs your hips and, in one smooth, quick movement, turns you around so you can face him.

You only have time to draw in a quick breath before he demands your mouth. You moan into his lips as he kisses you with the same passion and intensity as he did a few weeks ago at the party after you won the fight. You try to pull away from him, but he holds you tightly, placing his hands on your back as he presses you against him. You don't stand a chance against his strength. You can resist him, but you know it won't be long before you collapse from exhaustion. You bite his lip until you draw blood, which only causes him to groan and have him grind against you, the tip of his cock teasing your entrance.

You gasp as he leaves your lips for a while and pulls your hair, exposing your throat to him so he can mark it even more. He sucks on your skin, littering it with hickeys as you feel him slowly move, positioning himself beneath you so that his member presses against the entrance of your pussy.

And just as he's about to join your bodies, to make you two one, to feel your hot, wet, tight walls around him, there's a knock on the bathroom door.

This time, he's the one who freezes, tightening his hold on you. You feel like he's making sure he hasn't misheard or imagined it in this heated moment between you, but when the knocking sounds a second time, he realises it's real.

You pray with gratitude for the soul of the fool who dared to interrupt him, because you know that even if it were something important, he would not live to see the morning.

"What?!" He growls furiously, not letting you go, not letting you move an inch from him, still believing that he can quickly get rid of the intruder and go back to ravaging you, maybe even fucking you while he talks to whoever is standing in front of that damned door. Though Feyd preferred to be fully focused on you when he took you for the first time. However, he was convinced that if he didn't feel you around him soon, he would go crazy. He is so close... all he had to do was push a little more...

"My lord na-baron. The Baron wants to see you. It's very important."

You see pure rage bubbling in his eyes. He growls, shifting you from his lap as he stands up. You look down as you see all of him very clearly, especially what you were exposed to a few moments ago. He throws a towel at you, and you automatically catch it. He wraps one around his waist before he comes back to you again and grabs your throat. He gives you a crazy, passionate kiss, stroking your neck and appreciating the marks he made before pulling away from you.

"We'll come back to it, little witch." He leaves you with that promise, closing the door behind him with a bang.

You hear him shouting something at his harpies, and you shudder at the thought of having to walk past them to get out of here. You lean back against the tub, still sitting in the now-cold water, as you slowly process everything that happened.

You succeeded this time, but you know you won't be so lucky next time. You could either accept... your new responsibilities and his expectations of you, or you could try to break free from him, risking your life.

It was a decision to be made in the privacy of your own chambers. For now, you let yourself lie in the cool water, fully aware that if you weren't interrupted now, he would fuck you silly, likely planting his seed inside you.

You ran away from the Bene Gesserit with him because you didn't want to be a whore, a vessel for their crazy breeding plan. Apparently, you just changed the owner of your womb. You had to do something if you didn't want to end up as originally intended—as the mother of the future Kwisatz Haderach.

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iceunhie · 3 months

Text

— out of this world (and into another) : genshin impact

premise: you could've sworn the transmigration curse didn't have an effect on you... so what exactly are you doing here?! (alternatively, you tumble straight into your favorite video game; and you're kinda fucked)

...or, a genshin manhwa otome game inspired au.

act i: scaramouche, alhaitham, wriothesley.

↳ act ii: lyney, neuvilette, kazuha, kaeya. (next)

warnings. fem!reader but can be imagined as genderless if u'd like hehe, a shit ton of manhwa tropes in one, this is a hot mess aka not proofread all that much, half clunky half decent writing

a/n: as promised via the poll heh,, while i do plan to make this an actual au, im not that sure ^^; just the tip of the iceberg here tho!!

MAIN MASTERLIST | AU MASTERLIST (coming soon)

YOU — unsuspecting civilian turnt transmigrator

you've always been too attached to fictional characters for your own good.

yes, even the ones that are remarkably irredeemable (the power of a backstory is very formidable) and complex (complexity is a virtue!)

villains have always been destined to die, be cursed, or destined to curse others. it was heartbreaking, really. you've wished for a chance to rewrite their fates for them to find even a sliver of happiness, even when the fate of their plot says otherwise.

which is why when you find yourself awake into the game of your dreams, “Teyvat's Seven Stars”, like any lover of cliche novel and manhwa tropes, this is the time you think that maybe life wasn't so shitty on you.

....there's only one tiny, teensy, itty bitty problem here, actually.

you're not the protagonist. you're not even one of the protagonist's faithful friends and underlings that light protagonist's road to conquering the world and its men (and as of the 4.0 update, it's women); no, you're none of those.

you're a no name extra, and not to mention, a character involved with the game's main villain characters who are coincidentally the love interests of the game's black route!

[ unlock transmigration package: ultimate transmigrator's route ( ????? MODE ) ]

[ no ] [ yes ]

( 国崩 ) SCARAMOUCHE — the tyrant

“as of today, you will be engaged to crown prince kunikuzushi, who is her grace the shogun's rightful heir to the throne.”

when given approval to stare at your so-called soon to be husband, you expect the worst, mostly. the multitudes of character dialogue you've played through detailing his rather discourteous personality (which basically meant he was a huge asshole) don't exactly paint a pretty picture.

however...

who was this tender hearted looking scaramouche that ‘obliterated armies in the blink of an eye?’ the t in tyrant stands for tyrannical, not timid!

eyes like lighting framed by the longest eyelashes you've ever seen and an unfairly pretty face, comparable to a fair lotus. after fawning over his otherworldly countenance, a sinking realization of dread pools in your stomach.

oh, you are so screwed.

essentially tied to the indigo-haired ticking time bomb of a future tyrant due to the strong standing of your family for a period of until the main story starts, you're destined to never get crown prince scaramouche's affection, being his fiancée who scaramouche is arranged to for political means only.

not to mention, you're in an even more deadly position; of all the characters you switched souls with, it's the one that essentially dies by their own fiancé's hand because they were horrible to him! what atrocious luck!

frantic, you wrack up about three ways to survive.

plan a) win over the shogun's favor by being an appropriate partner unlike the original flavor of this body, who resorted to bullying the innocent prince and unknowingly digging their own grave or b) be a guiding friend to scaramouche as he learns the ways of the world and c) make sure you don't end up giving the protagonist a bad ending via his twisted personality.

weighing all these options, you decide to do all three in hopes to cement a life instead of a deathflag. prevention is better than the cure (aka: the protagonist) after all!

(you may also just want to spend time with your favorite character. having a time limit and a sign that says ‘i'll die in the future!’ should at least warrant you extra time to show some affection to scaramouche, at least.)

so, you do what anyone in your position would do: give affection! lots of it.

admittedly, it wasn't all flowers and rainbows. scaramouche—ahem, kunikuzushi—was very shy and reserved indeed, with his mother ei even worse off! (besides, who trains and studies all day and has to stop crying every time they were injured?! that was just too much!)

it was rather hard at first, the frigid atmosphere of the usually silent Tenshukaku Palace almost impossible to permeate. but with your amazing charm (read: deathflag radar) and social skills, you manage to let the members of the Royal family open up to you.

speaking words of praise in ei's cooking (a very difficult feat to accomplish), spending afternoons with your fiancé and teaching him ‘how to be a shoujo worthy male lead, name-version’ (very confusing to explain), and the cherry on top, driving away that vile teacher of his—the Doctor—once word got out that he'd been taking advantage of scaramouche as a political puppet king in the future. trauma enabler destroyed! look at your immeasurable powers!

(“you're not a failure.” clasping kunikuzushi's hands in yours as he reels back from you. damn that doctor.

his tears shot a wave of heartache through you. you can't bear to see your favorite in such suffering. “whatever happens in the future, i won't abandon you.

no matter what, i'll always be on your side, okay?”

kunikuzushi looks at you with something in his eyes—something like adoration. “do you promise that?”

“yeah.” you say without hesitation, the glow of the sunlight hitting your face so dazzlingly that kunikuzushi's eyes widen that his mouth hangs agape in awe. “i promise, kuni.”)

to your greatest delight, your efforts worked in your favor.

ei now spends time with her son, and though it's almost always just a tad bit awkward, you and the guuji yae miko get the two to strike up conversation, and overtime, kunikuzushi becomes more open to you.

(“[name], what kind of man is your type?”

“huh? well...” you think for a while. this was a great opportunity to say it, right? that life changing protagonist quote!

“to me, the only person i'll ever like the most is you, kunikuzushi.”

“do you really, really mean that?” and oh, he looks so cute—flustered and red from your words. worth it.

“yup! now, i made some shimi chazuke, try some—”)

(admittedly, lots of favoritism is involved.)

—and while you reap the fruits of your hard work, you spend warm, sunlit afternoons with ei at tea, even learning about other nations from scaramouche's aunt nahida and even befriended a few of his future affiliates—childe (though for some reason, kunikuzushi always pulls you away from him whenever he spots the two of you together), signora (she tolerates you, you think) and etcetera.

(“then, if i do well, can you kiss me on the cheek, [name]?”

you agree, much to his delight. scaramouche avoids the gaze of a certain pink haired fox eyeing him questionably. unbeknownst to you, he glares at the woman's scrutiny.)

unprecedented things unrelated to the plot happen too; like how your family, which basically only saw you as a political bargaining chip and an unwanted child they could get rid of easily—no longer sent you any demeaning letters demanding money once scaramouche found out....

(“they've been leeching off of you for how long?” so scary... is this was kunikuzushi is like when he's worried?)

(“...kunikuzushi, how long will you keep up that weak-hearted facade of yours? if they find out how.... dishonest you are....”

“i don't need the reminders of a foxy old hag that doesn't know her place. this is fine as it is.”)

(you don't need to know.)

but, you're nothing compared to the inevitable flow of the plot. inazuma is wracked with war, and it just so happened that you'd been unceremoniously kidnapped by a certain resistance leader's trusted general, used as a hostage bargain for approximately the majority of your life. in the worst moments in your dreary cell, there's only one thought in your mind.

....kunikuzushi's face, devastated when he tries to reach for you, before slipping away from him like sand— face morphing into an unbridled state of rage that's too natural, too familiar. when did he learn to make a face like that?

(they say the kingdom was wracked with thunderstorms all night that day.)

afterwards, fate doesn't make it kind for you.

years go by in the blink of an eye, with your capture fervently forgotten in the midst of the growing animosity of the two conflicting forces.

although you did hear that yae sent out a search party for you while at the resistance's base, the shogun's forces never reached you.

eventually, you got released secretly by sympathy of kokomi, the leader of the resistance, who felt pity for you getting caught in the crossfire. letting you go under the condition that you'd likely never meet any of the precious characters you've gotten to know and change was a heavy price to pay, but you didn't have any choice.

indeed, no matter how much you tried to divert the plot, your duty as an extra has ended, and you were even lucky to even be alive. you could only hope that your fiancé—ex-fiancé—took note of your lessons well, bidding farewell to inazuma as you hop on the boat to mondsdat.

by now, you at least hoped that scaramouche and the protagonist met, his true chance at happiness starting now that you were basically dead.

(even if your heart felt like breaking into a million pieces.)

....is what you thought would happen, but why is it that after three years from your supposed capture, inazuma was still at war?

“that crazy prince... he's still working to find his former fiancée... and he's razing almost every village apart looking for them!”

“—didn't the shogunate say that whoever finds her would receive almost 3 million mora?”

“the entire lot of them are lunatics, i tell you. all because of a missing person, too!”

what's more, why was it still going because of you?!

( 艾尔海森 ) AL-HAITHAM: the information guild master

to be fair, normal people don't really run into one of their favorite characters often after transmigrating.

but to be fair, again, you certainly didn't think you'd actually be in your favorite video game franchise caged in bed with essentially one of its main love interests.

eyes wide and unceremoniously looking—definitely not ogling— at the toned body that's currently enveloping you in its arms, the soft tuft of ashy gray hair caressing the crook of your neck, murmuring incoherent mumbles of—is that another language?

???????

you blink, looking down at the bare body currently embracing you. oh. oh.

you're an extra.

you're just an extra, but why are you in bed, currently being served breakfast by the most gorgeous man you've ever laid your eyes on, with a pretty view of the rainforests' canopy?

“you should lie down. if i recall, sufficient sleep is required in order for the human body to perform its basic bodily functions. although our partnership is temporary, to let you fall to harm is a situation i'd like to avoid as much as possible.”

“....what?”

“...?”

the guild master, al-haitham, is a character in Teyvat's Seven Stars that is heavily debated on whether he's technically a villain or not. in the game, he's the right hand of sumeru's leader, nahida, working as the overseer of the AKASHA, a guild that gathers information to the nation's leader. he's a pretty shady character—always working behind the scenes and very unfalteringly blunt—and a ‘villain’ for crown prince scaramouche's route, helping the protagonist escape his clutches.

he's often the subject of comedic ire, his banters with a certain broke architect always the highlight of any bonafide al-haitham fan.

“we're expected to work together by lord kusanali's decree in the duration of investigating the hivemind project the lord suspects the baron siraj is partaking in.”

right, that one scene in the game where al-haitham needed to go undercover to infiltrate a coup de etat staged by one of the factions against nahida... right... what.

you were that extra! the one that fell in love with him and pined for his affection!

(“well, i get that part, but does sleeping together really have to play a part in this...?”

al-haitham gives you a mere quirk of the lip, tilting his head. “we do have to play the part of a married couple in dire straights, do we not? this cover is more efficient.

...besides, i don't have anything to complain about. you're certainly better company than kaveh.” )

in truth, al-haitham wasn't bad company. far from it. aside from the internal giggling and fangirling (you) and the incredible stack of books (alhaitham) that you have to see more than the grey haired man on a daily basis, the two of you work out a rapport that stems from memories of the body you transmigrated in.

he's nice to be around, surprisingly considerate when he wants to be—he tells you about the books he always reads....

(who even reads ‘20 Tongues Language Memorization Guidebook: A Basic Overview of Vocabulary and Terms’ for enjoyment?

the content makes your head run in circles because of how complicated it is; but who wouldn't like to listen to an extremely attractive man overexplain to you with a calm and pretty voice?)

...is generous enough to provide meals and cook dinners that have you crying tears of gratitude because you know how awful yours compares (it was either too bland or too seasoned; al-haitham is surprisingly picky when he wants to be)

(you assigned al-haitham the title of “absolute s-tier husband material”— his capabilities are out of this world!)

by chance, you once gave al-haitham a little tidbit of information that proved to be valuable later in the investigation—courtesy of your avid game knowledge—when you two had been lost to the psychological illusion magic cast by siraj when you two finally broke in his estate.

(“whatever happens, if siraj messes with your mind, just make sure to think of me instead of anything else.” al-haitham lets his hand find yours.

“you once asked me if i trusted you, [name].”

“....” you're treated to one of al-haitham's rare smiles, one that warms you up from within. “i do. so don't let yourself get hurt.”)

however, your temporary partner had faltered for once, flinching when siraj took the form of his old grandmother who'd passed to exploit al-haitham's mind, hesitating and frozen in place while siraj inched ever closer to finding out his weakness.

and you couldn't stand it, the character you cared for—the al-haitham that always had a plan, always knew how to stay calm, had looked so unsure and hopeless.

(“wake up, al-haitham!”

with you cradling his face, al-haitham stares back at the only constant in the memories of his grief, eyes meeting yours. “you don't have to do it all alone. i'm right here, aren't i? believe in me.”)

your (fake) husband snaps back to reality, finally allowing enough time to apprehend siraj and put a stop to his malicious project.

(“thank you.” al-haitham tells you solemnly. it hits you that this may be the last time you may ever see him. “i'm grateful that you brought me back to y— to my senses.”

there's a sincerity in your voice that rings from your heart. “anytime, al-haitham.”)

you thought that was the end of it.

defeating siraj meant you two no longer had to associate with each other, but somehow, to your great surprise, al-haitham doesn't stick to the plot at all. you were sure you didn't interfere with the game, though?

for some reason, al-haitham doesn't erase himself from your life, unlike the original route's flow.

in fact, he's become... easy to run into, a constant in your otherwise mundane life. he takes you out to lambad's tavern for an occasional drink, says he's lending you his headphones when you find yourself overwhelmed by the city (you were never good with noises) and even helps you out as you vent your problems to him.

(the day after, said problem conveniently disappears. how strange....)

and most of all, allowing you to enter his personal space... leaving kaveh's jaw dropping when he accuses al-haitham of having a lover.

“you're always going who knows where with them! what else is there to figure out?”

“...we are merely friends.”

“a friend that you let into your personal library? do they know that you still keep the ‘fake’ ring in a box inside the closet?” kaveh laughs. “nice try, al-haitham.”

(after all, kaveh could never unsee the way al-haitham's eyes softened at the feeling of the head on his shoulder lean onto him, with you no doubt asleep. he even took his headphones off! kaveh has never seen him actually take them off in order to keep the person who's sleeping on his shoulder as undisturbed as possible.

in fact, kaveh doesn't think he's ever seen al-haitham be this touchy or considerate with anyone this much before.

.....and most importantly, kaveh would never forget the way al-haitham, a man who found no merit in politeness and preferred bluntness, a man who preferred solitude rather than company—deliberately getting close to someone—pressing a fleeting kiss on the crown of your head.

kaveh blinks. it seems even the throes of love can reach even the most unconquerable of peaks....)

( 莱欧斯利 ) WRIOTHESLEY — the monster duke of the north

“—i need you to gather information on duke wriothesley. serve him undercover as one of the prisoners of the fortress.”

the duke of meropide—a man swamped with terrible rumors. they say he was exiled from the nation due to murdering his entire family. they say he possessed a face worthy of the title of a beast— grotesque, littered in scars. they say that any who end up in his estate, the iron prison of the north, meropide, never saw the light of day again.

(“only criminals of the worst kind are fated to be sentenced there. nobody returns, so we've stopped questioning it...” )

so to say you're not fearing for your life that bad right now is a massive understatement.

“now, mind telling me how you were able to sneak into the most impenetrable prison in all the land, miss prisoner?”

how did it end up like this?

so you wake up and find yourself in jail. lovely.

seriously, of all the places you can transmigrate into, why did it have to be fontaine?! Teyvat's Seven Stars chapter 4's main starting point, the nation of justice is littered with dark themes and high difficulty capture targets.

.... such is the case with the man in front of you. unlike what the rumors of him say, duke wriothesley paints a rugged yet dashing picture of a nobleman, even if he was —if you recall— one of the hardest capture targets to conquer in the game.

a villain character who you played once during one game route, acting as the driving force during one of the love events of one of the protagonist's other love interest, lyney. duke wriothesley almost assassinates lyney's younger brother, freminent, leading lyney to rally up a certain group to bring the nobleman down.... a typical side character villain, who's existence was added as late as 3 patches away from lyney's.

(even inazuma would be better than this! at least the tyrant route could be avoided, and let's not mention the easy sumeru route as well...)

“well, miss prisoner, cat got your tongue?”

in summary: fortunately for you, the body you transmigrated is in the position to spy on the current affairs of the fortress of meropide, with courtesy and with permission of one of Fontaine's leaders, neuvillette. unfortunately for you, it seems our dear monsieur wasn't able to inform wriothesley beforehand, leading to the current situation.

aka, you're pressed dangerously close to wriothesley's chest, with a knife at his throat and his hands pinning you against the wall, noses almost touching. you're not sure if this is even the kind of tension that two people who are trying to kill each other are supposed to have...

(“i'm an ally!” you sputter out. wriothesley raises an eyebrow at you. “monsieur neuvillette sent me.”

“how am i supposed to trust you after i saw you slinking around here, knife at my throat?” he replies, eyes narrowing. “i know that i'm labelled as a beast, but i don't really know what came over that pretty little head of yours when trying to sneak into my chambers.”

what does he take you for?! “...are you accusing me of something indecent?!”

“just saying — i've met lots of prisoners with your excuse, my lady.”

“i'm prepared to use this knife, you know.”

“hah.” wriothesley grins. “how aggressive. more aggressive than most. do you want me that bad?”

“stop twisting my words!”)

in any case, you hate wriothesley. you know he's one of the characters in Teyvat's Seven Stars and is a villain for one of the easy love interest routes in the game, but his personality is... a real piece of work.

you'd rather the protective and kind kazuha, or even the charming and elusive lyney! why did it have to be him?

not only did he not believe you, he even told you to prove your authenticity! you're just glad that his assistant sigewinne had been there to vouch for you — you're not sure if you'd even be on your two feet right now if she didn't.

so now you're stuck constantly on your feet, running to and fro — helping the dark-haired man record new prisoners, establishing trading routes to the main city of Fontaine, and treating other prisoners of the fortress with sigewinne.

your biggest surprise by far, though, is just how... different the duke is from the rumors. his scars were merely battle scars of honor (to which sigewinne rolls her eyes, “your grace, please stop trying to look cool”) he got from various succession fights, not scars to show how he was cursed to turn into a beast. he has a love for tea, but always seems to have a cup of your favorite blend with him when you feel tired after a long day of working (laboring) for him and the estate.

(“your daily report of new convicts, your grace.”

“-this is the tea you like, your grace. i've prepared it in advance.”

“you're very adamant on proving yourself. aren't you sick of such tasks by now, miss prisoner?”

“no.” wriothesley's expression screams 'why not?' on it. “ it's because of my own misjudgement of you.”

“...elaborate.”

“i may have had unnecessary prejudices on your conduct thus far. but you're... not like what the rumors paint you out to be.” you say sincerely. “you're more amazing and incredible than anyone else. i truly do admire you.”

wriothesley's expression; you couldn't decipher it. “i see.”)

he's battered, but caring. sigewinne makes you watch (in horror) as she doodles cartoonish looking characters on his face when he's asleep — wriothesley never fusses, only an exasperated sigh to his assistant. he's harsh with his tasks and duties, but is the first to rush you into sigewinne's infirmary to tend to you after you pass out from overwork.

(“don't worry, [name]. the duke may not look it, but he's very gentle!” sigewinne giggles. humoring the little girl who was the first to show you actual decency in this place, you try to nod. sigewinne doesn't seem convinced.

“i'm serious! after all, compared to other people who've snuck into the fortress, you're the first he's treated this way.” she says cheerily.

“what does that mean?” you can't help but scoff at that. “so he just works someone to the bone from the get go?” you shudder. damn production zone...

sigewinne blinks. “ oh no, not like that. it's just that he's never been so lenient before. in fact, when you fainted, he even gave me the order to prioritize treating you over anything else.”)

well, this wasn't exactly what you thought you would be doing when you transmigrated into your favorite game, but you suppose you can take it.

besides, you'd miss a certain duke otherwise. life truly is full of strange twists....

a/n: thank you for making it this far! if anyone asks why wriothesley's was short, listen, this was completely impulsive and i was out of inspiration LOL, but i do hope you enjoy! look forward to new parts though hehe :3

@ ICEUNHIE: do not repost translate or plagiarize my works.

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tsscat · 2 years

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GET GONCHED

#tara talks #goncharov #media #unreality tw

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yikes-aemond · 2 months

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I love you. It's ruining my life.

pairing: Benjicot Blackwood x Bracken!fem!reader (no descriptions of reader except that she wears a dress and has "flowing hair")

warnings: canon typical violence, cursing

summary: You meet Benjicot Blackwood in the woods and continue to pine after him for years.

word count: 2.9k

part II can be found here. part III can be found here. part iv can be found here.

You were bleeding the first time you saw Benjicot Blackwood.

At the age of three and ten you had thought yourself invincible. So careless in your disregard for your father’s rules about minding the boundary stones that you crossed into Blackwood territory. So careless that you sought to climb a ravine that was nearly impassable. So careless that you lost your footing, scrambled to find purchase, cutting your hands and tearing your dress. So careless that you twisted your ankle and cried out in pain, alerting all those in the surrounding area to your presence.

Face down in the dirt and sobbing, you did not hear him approach. But when you felt his touch at your shoulder, you jerked in response and tried to roll away.

Through your tears, you saw a figure crouching before you. His face was almost entirely blank except for the furrow of his brow. Dark, messy hair that had likely never seen a comb. Stormy eyes that flitted across your person, assessing and calculating. A slight tremble to his fingers, fidgeting with the dagger at his waist. A black and red cloak, with a raven sigil pinned at the shoulder. No mistaking a Blackwood. And not just any Blackwood—Benjicot Blackwood, heir to Raventree Hall.

You screamed, whether from the pain or fright, you could not be sure. You tried to push yourself up to flee, but your ankle would not bear any weight.

You fell back to the dirt, spitting a curse that you had heard your cousin Aeron use when he thought you were not around.

Benjicot raised to his feet. “I would not recommend that, my lady.”

You were sure that he knew who you were. Your gold dress might have been torn and dirty, but the red stallion detail was clear as day. You sat up and tried to brush the tears from your face, but there was no hiding your fear. You were trapped on Blackwood land, in violation of the assize and without any way to escape.

Benjicot’s gaze had not left your face. From your Septa’s lessons, you knew that he was not much older than you. Maybe only a year or two. But even at five and ten his presence was imposing. He walked with a confidence of someone years older, so clearly comfortable in his own skin.

Panting, you managed to gulp down enough air to make out, “If you’re going to kill me, then get on with it.”

Benjicot’s expression did not change, except for the almost unpercetable raise of his eyebrows. Unsheathing his dagger, Benjicot slowly circled your form before lowering and stopping right in front of you. He was so close that you could feel his hot breath. Smell his leathers and the soap he had likely used to wash that morning. Bringing his dagger to just under your chin, he forced your head to raise and meet his eyes.

The cold sting of the blade made your breath hitch. Your body trembled, but you dared not look away.

Leaning further into your personal space and pressing the dagger into your skin, Benjicot asked, “Are you so eager for death, my lady?”

You pressed yourself into the dagger, feeling the bite of the blade cut into your skin. Warm blood trickled down your neck and soaked into the front of your gown. You watched Benjicot trace the path of the blood. Saw his breath catch ever so slightly at your actions.

But he did not withdraw the blade and you did not move away. “There are fates worse than death, my lord.”

An emotion flashed across Benjicot’s face, but it was gone before you could place it. Removing the blade from your neck, he leaned away from you and sat back on the ground. “One could say that a quick death is too good for a Bracken.”

You could hear the smile and jest in his voice. For the first time since falling in the ravine, you felt like you could breathe. Whatever had just passed between you and Benjicot, you were now sure that he wasn’t going to harm you.

“And one could also say that being killed by a Blackwood is likely to bring shame upon my entire family.” You flopped onto your back, giving up on any attempt to stand.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Benjicot twirl the dagger between his fingers. When his hand stilled, you shifted your gaze fully back onto him. “What do you plan on doing with me, my lord?” Your voice did not come out as strong as you would like, but you felt a shift in Benjicot’s disposition. You could tell that he had reached some kind of decision.

Benjicot leaned back into your space, his face directly above yours. Your heart started beating faster. Your stomach clenched and dipped. And for one fleeting moment, you thought that he might kiss you.

His face drew closer and closer, but instead of your lips, he sought your ear. “Remember this well, my lady. This land is not for Brackens.” You tried to keep your breathing even, but with his body so close and his voice so raspy, you felt bewitched. You, the helpless prey to his predator.

“Should you wander into these woods again, I cannot guarantee that you will meet the same fate.” His lips brushed the side of your face, whether intentionally or not, you did not know. “Sleep well, my lady.” And before you could react, Benjicot brought the hilt of his dagger against your temple, sending you into darkness.

Six years had passed since that fateful day. You will never forget waking on Bracken soil, cold and alone and in pain. But other than the injuries you sustained because of your own stupidity, you were unharmed. Benjicot had knocked you unconscious and carried you home.

You lied through your teeth when your father and Aeron questioned you about what happened. You claimed to have suffered a hit to the head (not untrue) and could not recall how you made it home. When your story did not change, they eventually gave up asking.

You had seen Benjicot sparingly over the years and only ever in passing or from across a crowded room. But you watched him—oh, how you watched him.

Each year you begged your father to allow you to attend the Riverrun assize just for the chance to see him. From afar, you watched him grow taller and more handsome. A lean build and broad shoulders developed from years of sparring and training. His reputation for violence and ruthlessness made all Bracken guards nervous. Bloody Ben, indeed.

And at the last assize you knew he was watching you, too. Each time you entered a room, you felt his eyes track you and linger. Felt his gaze sweep across you; your skin flushing and hot at the thought he might find you as desirable as you found him.

On the last night of the assize, Lord Tully held a feast to celebrate a successful negotiation of the boundary stones. You were passing tables upon tables of lords, knights, and squires, trying to make it to your seat without being crushed.

But then you saw Benjicot. Walking in your direction.

Your eyes caught, and what you would have given to be anywhere else in that moment. Alone with him.

To outsiders, Benjicot’s face was indifferent, blank. But you knew his eyes were mirrors of your own—an intoxicating mix of intrigue and longing. As you passed each other, you felt the hairs breath of space between your hands. You had not touched, but your hand flinched as if burned. Propriety demanded that you keep your gaze forward, so you fought the urge to watch Benjicot walk away, but only just barely.

That was almost a year ago. No matter how many times you walked the tree line separating the Bracken and Blackwood lands, you never saw him. You thought of writing him a letter but feared interception and rejection. And what could you possibly say? Thank you, Lord Blackwood, for saving me six years ago. In case you were curious, I have been infatuated with you ever since. Surely not.

So, imagine your surprise that on an otherwise unremarkable day, when you were merely walking the pastures with Aeron, that you were finally granted the opportunity to see him.

Aeron and the other young men walking with you had stopped just short of the boundary stones. The day was relatively cool, and the fields were still damp from last night’s rain. You stood a short distance away from the others, preferring to settle against a rock formation and wait for the men to finish their work.

“Can you even get that thing up?”

You heard Aeron unsheathe his sword. “Well enough for killing Blackwoods.” The others laughed at Aeron’s joke while you rolled your eyes at their arrogance.

“Bracken!” A voice rang out from across the field.

Your heart leapt to your throat as you swung your head around to see Benjicot approach with a host of Blackwood men. You heard a roaring in your ears as your focus narrowed on the scene before you.

Aeron and the others had turned toward the direction of the Blackwood lands. From where you stood, you could see the tension line their bodies. Their laughter dying in the wind.

Walking with purpose and determination, Benjicot demand, “Put the boundary stones back.”

Aeron hesitated briefly before approaching, “We didn’t move them—”

“Oh, so they just moved themselves, then?” Benjicot cut off. “Just rolled their way over so Bracken cows could fill their bellies on Blackwood grass.”

Aeron tried to argue, “The assize at Riverrun—”

But Benjicot wasn’t having it. “Fuck the assize,” he paused before adding, “and fuck you. This is our land.”

You were paralyzed. You did not know if Benjicot had spotted you yet, but even if he had, you were not sure your presence would matter. Blackwoods and Brackens never needed an excuse to shed each other’s blood.

You watched unease flicker across Aeron’s face before resolving into determination. “It’s Bracken land.”

Benjicot’s face clouded over. And when Aeron mumbled “Babe-killer,” you saw rage and anger bubble to the surface.

“What did you say?”

Aeron turned back toward the Blackwoods, disgust marring his features. “Your false Queen Rhaenyra is a kinslayer,” Aeron accused.

Never mind that Aemond Targaryen drew first blood in this conflict by killing Rhaenyra’s son. Not that Aeron bothered listening to you when you pointed this out.

Benjicot grimaced before asking, “Your uncle declared for Aegon, did he?” But he knew the answer. No matter that your father had sworn fealty to Queen Rhaenyra nearly two decades ago. No matter that rumors spread wild about Aegon’s drunken, lecherous ways. No matter that this conflict was sure to result in war and death and famine and fire.

Benjicot had reached his limit. “Well then, let me tell you. Aegon Targaryen is no true king,” he paused before continuing, “just as you are no true knight.”

With each word, Benjicot advanced until he stood chest to chest Aeron. “You’re both craven”—shove—“little”—another shove—“cunts!” With a final shove, Benjicot pushed Aeron into another Bracken man, sending him to the ground.

But Aeron had reached his limit too. Unsheathing his sword, Aeron pointed the blade at Benjicot’s chest.

And Benjicot could not have been more delighted. A crazed look came over this face—Bloody Ben rising to the surface to meet battle. Smirking and laughing, he advanced toward Aeron’s sword and said, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Stop!” You shrieked, finally finding your voice and your legs. You sprinted to the both of them, shoving the Bracken men out of the way when they tried to hold you back.

You stood between the two of them, wrenching Aeron’s sword away from Benjicot’s chest so that it pointed at your own. You faced toward Aeron, eyes pleading to back down from this challenge. “That is enough.”

You missed the look of panic on Benjicot’s face as you stepped in front of the sword. Missed the way he nearly lunged for you to pull you out of the way. Missed how his eyes settled and softened at the edges when taking in the sight of you. Your golden dress and flowing hair. Gods, how he wanted you.

And if Aeron did not move that fucking sword away from you in five seconds, Benjicot was going to kill him. Consequences be damned.

Your interference seemed to strike Aeron dumb. He did not know what to do, but when he finally realized that his sword was directed toward you, he sheathed the blade. He made to grab you but you resisted, flinging your hands out to both sides in a bid to stop the two of them.

Your chest was rising and falling rapidly, betraying your panic and fear. But when you spoke, your voice was strong. “There is no need for violence.”

Turning toward Benjicot, your breath caught in your throat. His attention was on you. His eyes glued to your form. You were not even sure he was blinking. You fought the heat that threatened to crawl across your cheeks and expose your feelings.

For the first time in six years, you spoke to Benjicot. “We will move the boundary stones back.” Out of all the things you had imagined saying to him, boundary stones had never once crossed your mind. But such is your luck in this life.

Aeron stiffened and started, “We will do no such—”

You did not see Benjicot move, but suddenly he was in front of Aeron again. “Are you going to defy an order from your lady, you craven cunt?”

You did not bother pointing out as your father’s heir, Aeron ranked higher than you in House Bracken.

No, instead you watched Aeron pull back his arm to swing at Benjicot. You were not sure what possessed you—love, most likely—but you found yourself shoving Benjicot aside and stepping into the line of Aeron’s fist. By the time Aeron and Benjicot realized what happened, Aeron had already struck you across the face.

Your face whipped to the side from the force of Aeron’s punch, causing you to lose your balance and fall to the ground. You were stunned from the hit. And when you gingerly touched the side of your mouth, your hand revealed blood.

When you looked up to Benjicot and Aeron, you were not sure who was more shocked. Aeron looked sick with himself, but Benjicot—oh, Benjicot was enraged. How dare anyone strike you? How dare anyone make you bleed?

Benjicot unleashed his fury. You could hear bone snap from the force of Benjicot’s punches and strikes. Aeron tried to block, but Benjicot was too fast and too angry to be slowed.

“You call yourself a knight?” Benjicot spat at Aeron. “Hiding behind your lady and letting her fight your battles? You fucking worthless excuse for a man. I should cut off your godsdamn balls and hang you with them.”

When Benjicot drew his dagger, you knew you had to put an end to this. Picking yourself up off the ground, you approached the fight. Of all the foolish and ill-thought plans you had ever had in your life, interrupting a fight between a Blackwood and Bracken may have been the stupidest.

Just as Benjicot was about to strike, you placed your hand on his back. He was hot and hard and you felt a shock surge up your arm where the two of you connected. Instantly, Benjicot lowered his weapon and turned toward you.

He was breathing heavily, but the crazed look in his eye faded when he beheld you. He could see the tears gathering at the corners of your eyes. See the shallow cut on your mouth. See the fear and hurt and longing in your gaze. His knees threatened to buckle.

Keeping your hand on his back, you whispered, “Please, stop.”

You forgot about the men surrounding you. Forgot about propriety. Forgot about the boundary stones. Forgot about your feuding families. Forgot about everything except for the man in front of you. The man you loved.

Quick as lightening, Benjicot sheathed his dagger. He longed to grab your hand and pull you into his arms and assess your injuries. But unlike you, Benjicot did not forget himself. Not when there were those here who could still harm you, whether by word or deed.

So he simply said, “As you wish, my lady.”

My lady. Oh, your heart squeezed at the sound of that.

Holding your gaze, Benjicot returned to his men. In the distance, you heard the Bracken men help Aeron stand, hurling insults to the Blackwoods as if Benjicot had not just thoroughly bested their lord.

Clearing your throat, you repeated, “We will return the boundary stones. Let that be the end of this matter.”

As you turned away from Benjicot and crossed back onto Bracken land, you let a sob escape. Hoping that the others would blame it on your injuries, you avoided their looks of concern and confusion. You ignored Aeron’s apologies. You wanted to get as far away as possible. But with each step you took, you felt your heart break just a little bit more, realizing that your love was an impossible dream.

--I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if I should do a part two.

#benjicot blackwood #davos blackwood #hotd #hotd x you #hotd imagines #hotd x reader #hotd imagine #house of the dragon imagines #house of the dragon imagine #house of the dragon x reader #house of the dragon x you #house of the dragon #benjicot blackwood x reader #bloody ben x reader #benjicot Blackwood imagine #benjicot Blackwood imagines #benjicot Blackwood x you #my fics #bloody ben x you

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liliacamethyst · 1 year

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Web of Shadow and Light (Part III)

Sequel to Webs of Fate

Miguel O'Hara x SpiderSun Reader

words: 5.2 K

warnings: secret pregnancy trope, swearing, angst, heartbreak, grumpy/sunshine

Part I Part II Part III

The Spider-HQ echo with an unsettling symphony - a child's piercing cries and the hushed whispers of concern from some of the multiverse's bravest Spider heroes. They stand clustered around the smallest yet most powerful disturbance they've ever encountered - a baby boy. His wails have been echoing through the HQ since Miguel left the room, leaving the baby and dozens of Spider-man behind. Each cry is a call for help that pulls at their hearts, demanding attention, challenging their patience.

After much deliberation and coaxing from the rest, Miguel gave his team an ultimatum - they have until dawn to find an alternative solution, before Gabriel has to be eliminated, before the universe collapses on itself. His voice was a cold whisper when he spoke, "Figure out another way by tomorrow morning, or..." Nobody dares to complete the sentence, not even Miguel, the unsaid words hanging heavily in the air. And with that Miguel was gone, and the baby immediately started wailing and hasn’t stopped since.

Now Gwen, with her brows knitted in worry, rocks the baby with desperate gentleness. Her blue eyes are bright with unshed tears, a look of sheer helplessness painting her usually confident face. Beside her Peter B. is attempting to cheer Gabriel up but his efforts as pointless as they are endearing. The usually funny and charming Peter B seems to be losing a battle of wits with a one-year-old. It would've been humorous, had the situation been any different.

The sight of the little baby boy weeping his heart out, oblivious to the chaos his presence is causing tugs at their hearts, binding them in a collective resolution - they must protect this child. The shadows and the light, entwined in this web they’ve all been thrown into. And the clock is ticking.

Hobie scoops up the little boy, cradling him close in an attempt to soothe his relentless tears. "See, the cow says muhhhhh," he coos. His tiny cries falter, curiosity momentarily replacing distress. He gazes at Hobie with wide eyes, intrigued by the cool looking man. "And the butterfly," Hobie pauses dramatically, "well, the butterfly don’t say nothin’." He continues his little game, while rocking the baby gently in his arms. "And the pig says-"

Miles chimes in with an eager grin, "Oink, Oink."

"Nah, bruv," Hobie laughs. “The pig says, ‘You have the right to remain silent!’”

Gabriel’s face scrunches up, and the waterworks start again. Hobie chuckles, "Fair enough, little fella. Cops make me wanna cry too."

Meanwhile Jessica Drew, clad in her black and white Spider-Woman outfit, her dark locks cascading around her shoulders, is leaning against the doorframe, half entering the room, her eyebrows raised. "Well? I assume he didn’t stop crying?“

Beside her Peter B. with his shaggy brown hair and five o’ clock beard just shakes his head.

“This is nuts. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is working.“ Gwen states.

In the background, the cries of baby Gabriel cotinue, little fists flailing as he continued his tantrum. Jessica, arching an eyebrow, comments, “He’s still going at it?”

Hobie Brown, just gives her a quick nod. “Oh yeah, the kid has got a set of lungs.”

Suddenly, Pavitr Prabhakar, yelps as a makeshift toy, made out of wood and spiderwebs, hit him square in the forehead. "Ow! And one hell of arm throw."

Methodically, Jessica starts running through a mental checklist. “Diaper?”

Peter B. Parker nods. “Clean.”

“Food?” Jessica glances at Miles who holds a baby food jar and a bent spoon.

Miles, in his black and red suit, shrugs. “Kept smacking the spoon out my hand.”

“Nap?” Jessica's questions further.

The entire room answer in unison, clearly frustrated “Literally the first thing we tried.”

Pavitr smirkes at them. “Jinx.” But his joke is short-lived as Gabriels screams become even louder.

Gwen, then takes charge, “Ok, we have to do something,” her eyes flicking around the room with determination. She points to Jess, “You have to talk to Miguel. You’ve been around him the longest, maybe you can get through to him.”

Jess looks hesitant but nods.

“And Peter,” Gwen turns to Peter B who’s still juggling items in his hands, to entertain the baby and stop his crying. “Get Mayday’s toys. Maybe the baby’s just bored.”

Peter gives a thumbs up. “You got it, boss.”

“And Pav, Hobie,” Gwen instructs, her voice steady. “You need to rally the other Spider-people. We need everyone on board to protect this little guy.”

“Margo, you’re with me, girl. We are paying our old friend Lyla a little surprise visit. Something’s a little fishy with her.” Margo nods eagerly.

As everyone scatters into action, Miles stands there, looking slightly lost and raising his hands. "Hey, guys, you forgot about me! What am I supposed to do? How can I help?" he calls out to the rapidly moving group.

Pav whirls around and points at Miles, "You, take care of the little guy, newbie," he says, as Hobie thrusts the still crying baby into Miles' arms.

"Great," Miles grumbles, balancing Gabriel on his hip and looking down at the squirming bundle of tears.

He starts to bounce up and down gently, trying to imitate what he's seen in movies. The baby continues to cry, unfazed by Miles' efforts.

“Alright buddy, let’s figure this out together. I can swing through New York, so how hard can babysitting be?” Miles whispers to the baby.

Hours drag on and Gabriel's relentless cries continue to echo through the HQ. Despite his earnest attempts, Miles, armed with only his spider powers and limited babysitting experience, is unsuccessful in calming the baby. He’s tried everything he can think of – makinf funny faces, telling funny stories in a soothing tone, gently swinging him back and forth with his web-slinging skills, and even humming a little tune (it was Humble by Kendrick Lamar, but the thought counts, right?). At one point, he even tried to entertain the baby by creating animals out of webbing, but that didn’t work either. The baby is relentless, and his cries only seem to get louder.

In the meantime in Miguel’s office, the echoing cries penetrate through the walls. Migel is sitting behind his desk looking at some documents, while Jess stands in front of him.

“Please, Miguel, it’s a baby boy. How did you imagine doing this, huh?” Jess exclaims, her voice rising. “Did you plan to build some sort of machine to just vaporize him? Or did you think of strangling him with your own bare hands? I know you’re not a monster.” But Miguel's face remains stoic, his eyes never leaving the papers on his desk.

“And look,” Jess continues, pointing vaguely in the direction of where the baby’s cries are coming from, “this baby is already older, and nothing has collapsed yet. The universe is still here.”

“I can’t risk any more lives, Jess,”Miguel responds coldly, finally looking up at her.

“But what if there is another way? We haven’t even tried everything. We have brilliant minds here. Let’s...let’s figure something out that doesn’t involve.. that,” Jess pleads, her voice softening.

Miguel looks at her for a long moment but his expression remains unreadable. The cries of the baby continue to fill the air.

Jess then turns her gaze towards Lyla, , who is stationed nearby, her holographic interface flickering with data. “Lyla, what are the kid’s powers? Run a genetics test, a DNA test. We need something to work with.”

Lyla’s synthetic voice answers in an eerily calm tone, "I have already processed the genetic information, Jessica. Thanks very much, genius. As per my findings, the child’s power attributes remain undefined. In regards to the DNA test..."

Lyla hesitates just a fraction of a second, but enough for Miguel to notice. It's an unexpected response from an AI that's programmed to be efficient and direct. A strange tingle rises within him but he pushes it aside, refocusing on the matter at hand.

“is inconclusive.” Jess squints at Lyla. “Inconclusive? What do you mean? Is he an anomaly or not?”

“He’s an anomaly, certainly. However, the DNA analysis is...complicated,” Lyla maintains her composed tone. “Complicated how?” Jess presses on. “Just...unfamiliar and intermingled genetic markers,” Lyla responds vaguely. “The child is an enigma.”

"Miguel, please" she continues, turning back to Miguel, clearly frustrated with Lyla's vague responses that are not helping her case. Her tone is still serious, "this isn't some variation of a monster, this is a baby."

For a moment, Miguel’s gaze flickers, his usual icy aura briefly wavering. "It doesn't matter," he finally grunts, closing his eyes as if to physically shut out the argument. Jessica's voice turns unexpectedly brittle. "I didn't join the Society to kill innocent kids."

Miguel clenches his jaw hard. "We do what we have to do for the greater good. No exceptions." Jessica takes a deep breath, her next words coming out almost in a whisper. "What if there was my Gerald or a version of your-" she begins, but is quickly cut off.

"DON’T. Don't even go there, Jessica" Miguel growls, his hand forming into a tight fist. "And why the hell is it still crying?"

Jessica's gaze softens slightly. "That child, that little boy, probably misses his parents. Parents who are going through hell right now, searching for their baby." Miguel's fist tightens further, a spark of something, maybe regret, guilt, flashing in his eyes. Jessica presses on trying one last time to convince him. "He was found in 586, right? Maybe we can reconnect with Su-"

"No," Miguel interrupts sharply, his voice a final command. “Until tomorrow morning, Jess,” he finally says in a low voice, putting an end to Jess’ outburst. “That’s all. You can leave now.”

There’s a heavy silence, where the only sound is Gabriel’s distant crying.

Jessica looks at Miguel, her gaze piercing. "Think about what you’re doing, Miguel," she whispers and leaves the room, closing the door softly behind her.

In the heart of the HQ, Margo sifts through the labyrinth of Lyla's concealed data. She uncovers a file that captures her attention – the baby's DNA results. "There you are," she mutters to herself, an air of triumph in her voice. As she opens the file, her eyes widen in disbelief, "Oh no…“

"What is it, Margo?" Gwen asks making her way over to Margo.

Margo's voice trembles slightly. "So, while looking through the hidden data, I found the baby's... there was a parental match."

Gwen's heart skips a beat. “I knew something was was off with Lyla. Of course she knows more. Well, who are the little guy's parents?"

Margo hesitates, then blurts out, "Miguel and Sunny."

Gwen stops dead in her tracks, her mind reeling. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"The baby's mother is Sunny, and the father is Miguel," Margo reiterates, her voice steady.

Gwen eyes widen. "But... are you sure? I know Sunny's baby. I was there when baby Gabriel was born!“

"Yes, I'm sure. There were two parental matches for the baby in the spider DNA logs:Sun Spider and Spider-Man 2099. When was the last time you saw the baby, Gwen? Babies change quickly at that age." Margo confirms.

"Miguel and Sunny? That's not possible... how have we never noticed that there's something going on between those two?" Gwen's mind whirls with confusion.

"Oh, I noticed," Margo's voice holds a hint of smugness, "The way he was sneaking into her room at night? And the way he looked at her every time she set foot in a room, like a lovesick puppy. It was adorable. Wait, nobody else noticed?"

Gwen splutters, taken aback, "What? No, I... well, he's all 'we need to sacrifice ourselves to protect the multiverse. No more traveling for fun'" she imitates Miguel's voice with a teasing lilt, then she adds, "And Sunnys is literally the personification of a warm embrace."

Gwen's mind whirls but she continues, “ Woah, okay lets focus on the important part. I mean, I knew something was wrong with Lyla, but why... why would she do that?"

"There's more, Gwen," Margo says, her voice shaking slightly. "I found another thing in her data. It's... it's about how she's processing information."

Gwen frowns, "What do you mean?"

Margo takes a deep breath before explaining, "In simple terms, Lyla's been teaching herself new things. She's changing, growing beyond her original programming. Her code is self-evolving."

"And the data about the baby?" Gwen asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Margo sighs, "She's been... twisting it, making the baby seem more dangerous than it actually is."

Gwen's mind reels with this new information, the world around her seeming to tilt. "But why?" she finally manages to ask. "Why would Lyla do this?"

"I don't know, Gwen," Margo admits. "But we need to find out and warn Miguel. And soon."

Meanwhile in Miguels office, the wailing becomes louder, almost as if piercing through the walls, trying to reach something, or someone. Miguel's face betrays his discomfort, as if the cries are tugging at his walls around his heart. There's a weight on his chest, something unidentifiable that makes it hard to breathe.

Suddenly Lyla’s holographic interface hums. She begins to show the outline various strategies for eliminating the child. Her voice, analtytic but almost cheerful, fills the room. “So, we could create a temporal displacement field, effectively erasing the child from existence. Or perhaps expose him to a slow-acting molecular destabilizer..."

"Based on the trial," she continues unfazed by Miguel’s lack of response. "the device should work as intended, wiping out any of its DNA and trace. Be like the anomaly never existed." There's a hint of satisfaction in her words.

Miguel, until now staring blankly at the wall, finally turns towards Lyla, his complexion pale and his eyes wide.

His insides twist painfully, the mere idea of bringing harm to this innocent child becoming now unbearable.

“Stop,” Miguel chokes out.

“Apologies, Miguel. We must consider all options for preserving the multiverse. You out of all people should know that,”Lyla retorts.

But something within Miguel snaps. His ice-cold distant facade crumbles. Rising abruptly, his chair clatters loudly onto the floor.

Without saying another word, he strides out of his office. “Miguel? Are you listening? Where are you going?” Lyla calls after him, but her words are unanswered in the empty room.

Walking down the hallway, Miguel slows down as he passes the room where the infant's cries come from. He pauses when he hears Miles' pleas inside.

“Little dude, if you stop crying promise I’ll get you some cool kicks. Maybe some baby Jordans? Please, please just stop crying,” Miles pleads, his voice sounding desperate and utterly exhausted.

After a moment hesitation, Miguel pushes open the door and steps into the room. His gaze, sterner than ever, as he takes in the scene: Miles looking near defeat, his energy spent trying to soothe the wailing child, his spider suit rumpled and hair disheveled.

"Enough," Miguel comms sharply.

Miles looks up from where he's been pacing with the baby, his eyes wide like he's just been caught stealing cookies from a jar. “You,” Miguel points at Miles, who is holding the still-crying baby. His voice booms with authority. “Put him down”

Miles, slightly dumbfounded, obeys and carefully lays the child down on his makeshift bed. “I need you to return to Earth 586. Get some of his belongings - toys, blankets, anything you can find," he orders, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"But Miguel--" Miles startsbut gets cut off immediately.

"Now," he says, his red eyes flashing dangerously. Miles opens the portal hastily and disspears to your universe.

The crying has subsided to whimpers, and Miguel finds himself kneeling next to the little one, who reaches out for him. As if on autopilot, Miguel’s hands scoop him up abruptly from the bed.

"Quiet, niño. "Miguel growls at him with a low and threatening tone. "I could just... do it right now." His irritation gets the better of him, and he bares his fangs at the little one. This sight shocks Gabriel into silence for a moment, his big, teary eyes widening at the sight.

But then, to Miguel's surprise, the baby breaks into a fit of giggles, the sound infectious and joyous.

Gabriel suddenly mimics Miguel, baring his own little teeth – two tiny milk teeth and the beginnings of baby fangs peeking from his gums, causing Miguel to stiffen in shock.

Caught off guard Miguel's hold slips and Gabriel lands back on the web-shaped bed with a bounce. The baby's laughter ends abruptly and is replaced once more with tears and cries.

Still in shock, Miguel stumbles back a step, but Gabriel's cries soon pull him back into the present. With a sigh, he picks up the little boy yet again andGabriel immediately snuggles into the crook of Miguel’s neck, his tiny arms winding tightly around his throat. Miguel swallows hard, unsure of what to do next.

Then, almost instinctively, he starts to hum a tune he thought he'd long forgotten. "Tú eres mi sol de la mañana, el sol que brilla..." His voice is barely audible, the words shaky. Gabriel's little body relaxes against him, a content sigh escaping his lips followed by a quiet yawn. He nuzzles closer to Miguel, his tiny breaths falling into sync with the rhythm of the song. "...alegra todo, mi corazón," Miguel coninues softly, his mind flooding with memories. He sees a bright, lively girl with the same curious eyes as the boy in his arms.

"Daddy," Gabriella asks, her large eyes bright with curiosity as she looks up at him, "why do you call me your morning sun? I'm not yellow."

Miguel chuckles at her innocence, his fingers gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He cradles her against his chest, looking into those eyes so full of wonder. "No, mija" he replies, his voice soft with affection "you're not yellow but you are my sunshine."

"But why?" She wrinkles her little nose, her childish curiosity making Miguel's heart fill up with love.

"Because, mijita," he begins, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple, "just like the sun, you light up my world. You chase away the darkness with your laughter and your love. You are warmth, you are joy, and just like the morning sun, you are a new beginning, a promise of a brighter day."

Gabriella blinks up at him, her lips curving into a small, and she hides her smile in the crook of his neck. "I like that, Papi," she whispers, "Sing the song again, please?"

“brilla, conmigo, brilla que brilla, alegrandome esta cancion. Tu eres mi sol de la manana…“

Eyes closed, Miguel draws Gabriel unconsciously closer, his heart full, and for the first time he’s feeling a sense of contentment he hasn't experienced in years.

The moment is shattered by the sound of a throat being cleared, pulling him abruptly out of his peaceful trance.

Peter B is standing in the doorway, arms loaded with various dolls. "Wow, he's finally asleep," he remarks, looking between Miguel and the now sleeping Gabriel with a relieved smile. "I was starting to think that was impossible."

Without responding, or even sparing a glance in Peter's direction, Miguel turns away from the door and heads to the bed. He gently places the sleeping toddler down, pulling a small blanket over him. Once he's confident that Gabriel is settled, Miguel quietly leaves the room, his demeanor as frosty and aloof as ever, making no acknowledgment of Peter's presence.

Peter B is quick on his feet, rushing after Miguel. "I brought him toys from Mayday," he blurts out. "She won't miss them. She's not too good at sharing, but I guess she won’t mind in this case."

Miguel continues his stride, not giving Peter so much as a backward glance. "Que maravilla," he mutters under his breath, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Ignoring the dismissal, Peter B. reaches out and places a hand on Miguel's arm, stopping him in his tracks. Miguel raises an eyebrow and glances back at him half-heartedly, clearly not interested in a conversation.

Peter takes a moment, his gaze intensifying. "Hey, boss," he begins, his voice shaky yet determined. "We can't let anything happen to this boy, right?"

At Peter's words, Miguel closes his eyes and takes a deep, steadying breath.

Back on Earth 586, you're in the throes of a meltdown. Your little boy, Gabriel, is nowhere to be found. You've scoured the whole city of Nea Yorkey, every nook and cranny you can think of, but there's no trace of him anywhere. Desperation gnaws at your insides, and fury bubbles up, hot and fierce. Your mind is in turmoil, swirling with anger and fear, clouding your ability to think straight. One thing is crystal clear though: whoever dared to touch your child will pay dearly for their actions.

You're frantically trying to find a way to contact anyone from the Spider Society, while simultaneously considering every possible avenue to traverse the multiverse yourself. Alchemax - the multinational conglomerate known for its cutting-edge research and technological advancements - seems to be your only hope. As you're about to make your way there, a sound from Gabriel's room stops you in your tracks.

Your Spider senses, already on high alert due to the unexpected circumstances, seem to kick into overdrive. Every instinct within you screams that something is about to happen. Your heart pounds in your chest like a wild drum as you slowly approach the room.

Meanwhile, in Gabriel's room, Miles is having his own share of troubles. In his haste, he stumbles over a toy car that starts making an assortment of noises and brightly lit animations. "Ah, this stupid toy!" he curses under his breath.

A thought suddenly crosses his mind and he wonders aloud, "Wait, does he need a blanket?" Just as he's about to reach for a small bunny stuffed animal that lay discarded on the floor, an intense blast of sonic energy sweeps across the room.

Caught by surprise, Miles finds himself flung across the room, his back hitting the wall with a thud. Before he can even let out a gasp, a spider web shoots out, pinning him securely against the wall. There he hangs, suspended, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. His breath comes in shallow gasps as he attempts to comprehend what just happened. Well its safe to say he didn’t saw that coming.

Miles, still stuck against the wall, manages to blurt out, "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" you echo, incredulity lacing your tone. "You break into my son's room and ask me whoI am?"

Your mind races as Miles stammers, "Wait, your son's room? Wait, are you...are you a Spider-person aswell?"

Ignoring his question, you stride towards him, an aura of threat radiating off you. "Stop talking!" you command, "I ask the questions!" In your hand, a ball of solar energy forms, crackling with power and casting a glow across the room.

"Why are you here? Where is my son?" The words are more of a growl than a question, the motherly instincts in you sending waves of danger rippling across the room. "Your son is okay, please don't hurt me!" Miles pleads with a shaky fear laced voice.

Squirmy and visibly frightened, Miles stammers out his confession, "We-we took him...it was our mission... He's an anomaly...we needed to get him out of this universe, send him to his own, so it wouldn’t collapse and interfere with the multiverse...but he doesn't have one, and I'm so sorry..."

His voice dwindles to a murmur, words tumbling over one another in his haste. Amidst his ramblings, your icy inquiry slices through like a blade, "Who instructed you?"

A sharp wince contorts his face, betraying his fear. "Our boss..." he starts, his voice barely above a whisper, "Miguel... Miguel O'Hara."

The energy in your hand dissipates, leaving only shock in its place. It's almost too much to take in - the idea that Miguel, your Miguel, could have done something like this. "He's okay, we... we didn't know he was the son of a Spider-woman. I'm Miles Morales, by the way." he introduces himself, attempting to inject some normalcy into the situation.

"I'm Spider-Sun," you respond automatically, your voice sounding distant to your own ears.

"Wait … you?" Miles' eyes widen in recognition. "You're Sunny?" When you give a numb nod in response, he continues, "You look more like 'Stormy' if you ask me." Your gaze snaps to Miles, the intensity of your death glare immediately silencing his attempt at humour. "Sorry, sorry," he stammers, raising his hands in surrender. "I just...I've heard Gwen and Peter talk about you."

"They never stop talking about you," Miles continues, trying to regain his composure. "They always say you have such a radiant personality and how much they miss you. They take care of your son, don’t worry. Hes safe for now.”

"What do you mean he's safe 'for now'?" you cut him off abruptly, your voice cold and hard. Miles gulps nervously before responding.

"Eh...we have until morning to find a solution for this...anomaly," he stammers. You interrupt him, seething with a fury that makes him cringe. "My son's name is Gabriel. He is not an 'anomaly'," you spit out the words like they are poison, hating the way they make your sweet little boy sound like some kind of mistake.

"Eh, yes, for Gabriel," Miles corrects hastily, "because, eh... if we don't find an alternative, they need to, eh...eliminate..." He trails off, speaking so quickly and softly that you almost don't catch his last word.

"ELIMINATE?????" You scream and for a split second, Miles is sure he sees your eyes blaze with a terrifying, luminating light.

"We can stop them. We can talk to them and say it's your son," Miles says quickly, desperately hoping to calm you.

"I don't talk. Bring me to my son," you demand. Without wasting another moment, you order him to open the portal. "Y-yes, right away, Sunn... eh, Mrs. Sun, eh... Ma'am," he stammers, visibly trembling under your steely gaze.

It takes him two shaky attempts before he manages to successfully open the portal, his hands still unsteady from the encounter.

Back at the headquarters, Peter chases after Miguel into his office. "Boss, all I'm saying is, what if Lyla is wrong?"

Miguel is pinching the bridge of his nose, a deep sigh escaping his lips. The weight of the situation is quickly becoming too overwhelming and he feels himself teetering dangerously close to his breaking point.

Just at that moment, Gwen, Pav, Margo and Hobie burst into the office, their faces set withdetermination. "Miguel, there’s something you need to know. Please hear us out. Margo and I, we found something.Lyla is - ," Gwen starts but Miguel is quick to silence her with a raised hand.

Just as Miguel is about to speak, the lights flicker, casting an ominous glow throughout the room. Hobie looks around nervously. "Is that eh...normal?"

Peter quirks an eyebrow. "Did you forget to pay the electricity bill?"

The lights flicker even more violently, plunging the room into a dance of shadow and light.

With a violent burst, the door is flung open, and a brilliant surge of light blinds everyone. You stand in the doorway, an ethereal aura glowing around you.

"O'Hara!" Your voice thunders through the room, heavy with wrath and revenge. As Miguel turns around to face the source of the sound, a massive, lightning-tinged sonar blast slams directly into his chest. He's pushed backward, knocked off balance before he can brace himself for the attack. He tries to recoverr, to shift into defense mode but he doesn't get the chance. You're relentless, a solar goddess in human form, hurtling blast after blast at him. Miguel has no time to regain his stance, each attack landing with more force than the last.

Gwen makes to step forward, her instincts screaming at her to intervene, but Peter grabs her arm, pulling her back. "That's Sunny," he says, his voice a mixture of awe and concern. Hobie's eyes widen comically. He cocks his head, a smirk playing on his lips. "Our Sunny, eh? Blimey, I never knew she had it in her. That rebellious firecracker," he mutters, a distinct note of admiration creeping into his typically laid-back British drawl.

Miles bursts into the room, breathless and disheveled. He stumbles towards Gwen, his voice hurried and concerned, "I tried to stop her, but she was...she was furious. Woahhh, I've never seen Miguel get beaten like this before."

And he wasn't exaggerating. Miguel was fighting back, his fangs bared, his claws out and ready but he was no match for your rage-fueled attacks. You were right up in his face, delivering punch after punch at a brutal pace

"Where's my son, O’Hara? What have you done to him?" you demand, your voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.

At your words, Miguel's movements falter. His defense wavers, and he barely manages to gasp out, "Your son?" He doesn't dodge your next blow, doesn't attempt to shield himself or strike back. Instead, he allows you to continue.

Miguel is shocked. His reflexes kick in as he sees the next punch coming and he grabs your wrist, halting your next powerful punch aimed for his face. He locks eyes with you, his gaze holding an emotion you've never seen in him before. Is it fear? No, it's much deeper, more profound.

As he stares at you, your luminescent eyes gradually lose their fiery intensity, shifting back to their human form.

"I... I didn't know," Miguel stammers, his voice a trembling whisper. "Lo – lo siento. I – I didn’t know.”

His breaths are ragged, and you can see a war waging inside him.

"But...how?How didn’t I know?" His voice is choked, your wrist still securely in his grip. “Your son?” Miguel continues,his voice is barely above a whisper. His eyes search yours and all he sees is raw, untamed anger with an aching pain that pierces his soul.

“Yes, MY son!” your voice echoes through the room like a whip. “Did you think that you could just take him from me? That I wouldn't come for him?”

Miguel’s grip on your wrist loosens as he stumbles back. His heart feels like it’s about to explode as realization dawns on him. The dark curls, the small fangs the baby had bared at him –pieces of a puzzle start falling into place. His own blood runs cold.

“Where is he, Miguel? Where’s myGabriel?” your voice breaks as you say the name, and it feels like another punch to Miguel's gut.

“Gabr...” Miguel chokes. “No... no...”

His voice is barely audible, the air knocked out of him by the significance of the name. His knees buckle, and he falls on the floor. "NO."

“You, who I thought would protect any child, wanted to eliminate my – our – flesh and blood!” Tears, full of anger and hurt, stream down your face, but your voice doesn't waver one bit.

Miguel, still on the floor, looks up at you with tear-streaked cheeks. “I didn’t know. I swear on my life, on Gabriella’s memory. I-I wanted to do the right thing. I- I never, -Lo siento.”

There’s a moment of tense silence as you look down at the shattered man before you,the love of your life, the father of your child, who almost made the most horrifying, unforgivable mistake.

Just then, from another room, the faint sound of a baby's cries pierce through the heavy atmosphere. You abruptly yank your wrist out of his grasp and towards the door to leave.

Your heart clenches as you break into a run, following the pitiful cries. You don’t look back.

Miguel remains on his knees. He doenst follow you, he doesn’t dare to move, anchored by the crushing weight of what he's done, as the sounds of Gabriel's cries fade into the background.

"Gabriel," he whispers, the name escaping his lips like a vow. A promise of redemption. And with that single word, Miguel knows he'll move heaven and earth to protect his child.

Part 4 "Webs of Redemption"

Hello, you wonderful souls! I want to say a big thank you for your patience and kind words about this series. I really appreciate each of your sweet comments and messages – they mean so much to me. Thank you all for the insightful ideas and suggestions you contributed for part 3. I've incorporated as many of your concepts as I could because they're simply brilliant. I'm eager to hear more of your thoughts, criticisms, and proposals for part 4. I also want to give a special thanks to Jess, @wolfjessedragon . Her inspiration and amazing ideas were the driving force behind Part 3, and I couldn't have written it without her! love you guys, keep being awesome!

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magicmalcolm · 10 months

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Enemies standing directly South-South-West of us, however, are sadly perfectly safe.

#cardinal blade #hand of fate 2 #hand of fate II #cool sword #perfectly viable in exactly eight directions #video games #gayme boy #a gay who games

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imxnotxhere · 10 months

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Acotar Men Fic Recs

** Updated 03/07/2024 **

I already made a list for azriel which was actually meant as a list for all the characters I read for but I read a lot more of azriel fics because he's my baby and the list was getting too long. So here are the rest of the characters and I also added some more azzy drabbles sorry

Rhysand

@azsazz

dioxazine part 2 - fluff, smut, modern au, art school au

the lord's work - smut

if you should die before you wake - smut, rhys x cass x azriel x reader

just hold on - smut

a court of four horsemen - smut, part of a series

double duty - smut, rhys x reader x cass

what's mine - smut, rhys x eris x reader

lavender haze - fluff, suggestive

@tadpolesonalgae

mine - smut, check warnings!

knocked up - smut

vampire!rhysand drabble - smut

professor!rhys headcanons part 2 - smut

soothing - fluff, aftercare

@leafsandstarlight

easy like sunday morning - fluff, smut

@azrielbrainrot

my body keeps saying it's yours - smut

all over my skin - smut, rhys x reader x azriel

@writingsbychlo

home to us - fluff

rhys as a pleasure dom - smut - technically a drabble? blurb?

@azrielscrown

mirror mirror - smut

daylight - fluff

@acourtofwhatthefuck

shrinking violet - smut

@shadowdaddies

if i catch you i fuck you - smut

@fieldofdaisiies

rhysand... - drabble, smut

Cassian

@azsazz

mirror mirror - smut

take it - smut

a court of four horsemen - smut, part of a series

@tadpolesonalgae

on the strategy board - smut

pools of sunlight - fluff

@leafsandstarlight

halley's comet - angst, smut

@princess-tulip-writes

drabble - smut - az x cass x reader

@fieldofdaisiies

cassian... - drabble

@illyrianbitch

words of affirmation - fluff

Eris

@acourtofmenandthirst

runaway - angst, smut

fox hunting - smut

closed until further notice - fluff, smut, coffee shop au

smut blurb

smut blurb II

@leafsandstarlight

destiny's battleground - angst, smut

my lovely throne - smut

despite our differences - angst, smut, series

the prince of blood part 2 part 3 - vampire!eris

@tadpolesonalgae

servitude - smut

thumb prints - smut

@serpentandlily

sly fox, dumb bunny - series

@azsazz

the burning of the autumn leaves and the roaring of my yearning heart - angst, smut

soul on fire - smut

a court of four horsemen - smut, part of a series

@azrielbrainrot

fire on fire - angst?

mind over matter - angst?

@gothicbabydollz

riding eris' face - smut, drabble

riding eris' thigh - smut, drabble

@honeybeefae

cauldron fated - angst, smut

@princess-tulip-writes

making out with eris while giving him a handjob - smut, drabble

praise kink eris - smut, drabble

@fieldofdaisiies

eris' hands... - drabble

eris... - drabble

@theostrophywife

like you wanna be loved - fluff

Lucien

@tadpolesonalgae

solecist night - smut

@acourtofwhatthefuck

yell at me again - smut

personal problem - smut

the moon on a string - fluff

@princess-tulip-writes

drabble - smut

drabble - smut, az x lucien x reader (kind of)

@gothicbabydollz

dom lucien - smut, human!reader

@fieldofdaisiies

lucien... - smut

@ceoofyearning

say yes to heaven - fluff

Helion

@leafsandstarlight

a high lord's scholar - fluff

@tadpolesonalgae

new mechanisms - smut

sweet like peaches - smut

#azriel smut #azriel x reader #rhysand smut #rhysand x reader #rhys x reader #cassian x reader #cassian smut #eris vanserra x reader #eris vanserra smut #eris x reader #lucien vanserra smut #lucien vanserra x reader #helion x reader #helion smut

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iamyourdailydoseofbi · 3 months

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LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO. ( HOTD x READER )

AUTHOR NOTE! Thanks for all the love. <3 pairing: King Aegon ii Targaryen x Niece! Targ! ( Strong ) Reader suggest song to listen to whilst reading: Like Real People Do by Hozier or Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives prompt : I wanted to ask Aegon x niece!reader who is married to him and has been for a long time (say since the Driftmark incident), and has been taking care of him for a long time: helping him through hangovers, patching him up when he gets into fistfights etc. And no matter how much he tries to drive her away by cheating, by yelling and throwing things and generally being disgusting she never gives up on him. I need the ANGST. can you do that please? and Hi🥰 Can I request an Aegon II x Targ!(Strong) reader. She is Rhaenyra’s first child, and she inherited the Targ looks, so she is accepted by the greens. She has always been close friends with Aegon, so it was logical for them to marry. Aegon is still kind of an ass, but he loves her, she can always calm him down. Feel free to change bits here and there, it’s just an idea. Thank you so much in advance, and much love to you!😊 word count: 1, 000+ words

When your betrothal was first announced, you were barely ten and one and Aegon, was ten and two. It was supposed to be a match made in good will. You were a year younger than Aegon, a happy girl who would make a good Mother one day. But, Aegon detested it. No, he loathed it! He made it clear as day, having no shame if hurt your feelings or caused problems. But, it never bothered you.

In many ways you were like Helaena. You were gentle, soft spoken and viewed the world with a special glimmer. There was this good in you. A good that everybody noticed and adored in the tense walls of the Red Keep. He noticed many things about you, not as if he was paying attention to you. Why would he? You were just a pest. His annoying, pest of a wife.

You liked to read under the weirwood tree in the garden’s. You liked lemon cakes, not the actual tart, but the sugary lemon slice on top. Your eyes and nose could crinkle up when you smiled. You refused to wear a corset or keep up with the fashion trends in Court, preferring your own distinct style of gowns and hair styles.

Your jaw would clench whenever you tended to his bleeding fingers, something he inherited from his Mother. You would chew on your bottom lip to stop yourself from flinching whenever he yelled at you. Your eyes would look for him in a room, like you wanted the assurance of his presence there. You were always patient with him, even though he never deserved it.

You made him feel things, good things. He had gotten used to being ignored or only receiving negative attention. But, it was almost like a dirty little secret of his. To savor the good moments with you. To clutch it close to his chest when he was all alone in his bedchambers. You were good and you were always good to him. He wanted to break that, and he would.

Watching as you softly wrap his hand with the bandage, he doesn’t speak up, not daring to ruin this one moment of peace. He could ruin it. He would ruin it, just not right now. This was a nice moment of calm. Just this once would he allow it. Feeling bile go up his throat, he swallows it back down, his face curling up in disdain. His head was still pounding. His gut bubbling up from the large amount of food and strongwine he gorged on. He felt sick, disgustingly sick.

"You must be careful. Twas' a cut on the finger that took Viserys." You warn, "I do not wish for you to endure such a painful fate as well."

"Do not speak." He murmurs, almost pleading.

"Aegon, I worry for you. Truly, I do not wish to awake one day to hear you've died." You whisper, "Please, Aegon. Be careful. If not for my sake, then for your own."

"Stop with the nagging." He scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"I am not nagging, I know I am not the wife you wished or wanted. But, please, Aegon.."

Feeling his annoyance bubble as you say his name, your voice soft and making it sound so lovely. He detested his name. He detested the legacy that was being forced upon him for being named after his ancestor. But, the way you said it. You made it sound like such a beautiful thing. Like he was not the discarded son, the hated one, the sinful one. Pulling his hand away from you, he abruptly stands up from his hair, pacing on the other end of the table from you.

He couldn’t bear you caring for him. He was horrid. He was rotten. Everyone in Court thought of it, why could you not do the same? Why could you not stare at him with the same disdain as everyone else? Why? Why? Why the fuck did Rhaenyra raise you so well? Running his fingers through his greasy hair, he thought of the cruelest of things to say to you, wanting to keep you far far away from him. To make you hate him. To make you see him in the same light as others do.

"Why can you not be like other whores? Why can you not spread your legs and not your lips?" He sneers, his voice cruel.

"Is that I am to you? A whore." You ask, swallowing the lump in your throat.

"Yes, your a thing for me to fuck. Something for me to use when I need my cock wet. So stop speaking and do your duty.” He continues, “Be nothing more than a thing for me to fuck when needed be.”

“Aegon..”

“No, no, you are nothing. You may look like a Targaryen, but you will always be the blood of a whore. Tis’ why it is no surprise you follow in the same path your Mother does.” He adds, watching your reaction carefully.

Seeing the tears bubbling up in your eyes, he for a split second wishes to take it all back, to beg for forgiveness. But, the voice in the back of his head stops him. You were Rhaenyra’s daughter, a good and kind person. She raised you right. She raised you perfectly. You were supposed to be his enemy. You were supposed to stare at him with the same hatred your Mother stared at his Mother with. Yet, despite it all, you were kind to him. It was fair. It wasn’t fucking fair.

Clenching his jaw tightly, he shakes his head firmly, burying the guilt that festered within him. Soon enough you would understand. Soon enough the good, the kindness, all of it would die within you. You would detest him. You would grow to hate him just as everyone else did. Then, only then, would it make all of the cruelty he had thrown at you be excused. He would then have a good enough excuse for it. The guilt he felt would die.

“Why do you say such cruel things to me?” You murmur, your voice cracking at the end.

“Because I can. Tears do not move me, so do not expect pity from me.” He confesses, “I never wished for you. I never wished for any of this. Yet, you pester me with your kindness.”

“What must I do for you to not hate me? Tell me, tell me, what you wish for me to be and I will be it.” You murmur, eyes full of so much kindness.

“Stop talking.”

“Tell me, Aegon. Please, please, tell me what you wish for me to say and do. Tell me what girl you wish for me to be, and I can be that girl for you.” You plead, bargaining with him.

“Stop talking.” He repeats, his voice a little louder.

"Aegon, please, stop shutting me out. Just speak to me."

You stare up at him, big teary doe-eyes. The same look you gave him whenever unsure, seeking out guidance and reassurance. The same haunting eyes you gave at your wedding, so young and unsure of what to say or do next. Feeling everything bubbling up as you plead and beg him, attempting to please him despite it all.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Were you so damn good?! Why can’t you just hate him?! Why could he not just break you?! He broke everything else around him. From toys to furniture to others around him. He could break it all, yet you refused to break or bend.

"He is your brother, your kin. You should not treat him in such a manner."

"Aegon, you twat! You break everything!"

"Tis' the third glass you've broken this week, your grace. Do be careful."

"You are a Prince, a man of a high status, a man grown. Act like it, stop conducting yourself in such a dishonorable manner."

"Have you no shame? Do you not see the dishonor you bring to your wife? To our family name?"

Tears bubbling in his eyes, his bottom lip trembling softly, a lump in his throat thickening up. Shaking his head, he covers his ears with his hands, attempting to block out your soft pleas and attempt to mend things with him. You were so good. Alicent always said she wished to lock you away, to protect you from his rotten touch.

He wished that he was not so rotten. He wished that he could just hold you and melt into your warmth. He wished that he could love you the way that you clearly loved and cared for him. He wished that he could not have such cruel thoughts lingering in his mind. That you both could be like Rhaenyra and Daemon were, so happy and full of love.

“STOP FUCKING TALKING!” He snaps, tears streaming down his face.

Thankfully, you stay quiet.

“Why can’t you hate me as all the others do? Why must you be so good? So kind? After all I have done to you, you continue to love me." He pleas, "Just hate me. Hate me, scorn me, hit me, damn me to the seven hells! Be like the others. Please..”

---

love you babe's for requesting this! i really loved this and had so much fun. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

@decadentfantasy

@the-riley-show

#house of the dragon #house of dragons #house of dragons x reader #house of the dragon x reader #hotd imagine #hotd imagines #aegon ii targaryen #hotd x reader #aegon targaryen x reader #aegon ii #aegon ii targaryen x reader #aegon ii targaryen smut #king aegon #aegon the second #hotd aegon

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seospicybin · 1 month

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THE BABYSITTER.

PART II

Felix x reader x Hyunjin. (s,f)

Chapters: Part I

Synopsis: Working as the family's babysitter, you learn a lot from Hyunjin and Felix's happy marriage, including their sex life. (20,2k words)

Author's note: Fair warning! Contain wholesome dad!hyunlix content and saucy threesome. Don't forget to share what you think of this one x

Do you know that Aster means star in Greek but is also the name of a flower? It also happens that stars and flowers are Felix and Hyunjin's favorite things, respectively.

You often think that it's fated there's a word for their combined favorite things and it only makes sense that they made it as a name of their child.

Aster is as beautiful as his name and you couldn't find a toddler smarter and sweeter than him, and even though he wasn't born from his parent's womb, he inherited his parent's features.

Aster has Hyunjin's dark, silky hair and full lips, and Felix's eyes and small button nose, and in all honesty, he also takes after his parent's charms, the sweet smile, and the warm gaze. Other than t, Aster has other exceptional attributes, he is smart, inquisitive, and very well-spoken too.

To put it simply, you get a feeling that Aster will break a lot of hearts in the future.

The afternoon sun casts a warm glow on Aster's milky skin, you're sitting on the grass watching him chasing after a dragonfly with Mandu trailing behind him.

Aster is one happy kid and it makes sense because he's growing up in a family happy, and watching him play secretly heals your inner child.

Exhausted from running, he's waddling his way to you and as he gets closer to you, you catch him in your arms, then sit him on your lap.

"Do you catch the dragonfly?"

"No," he sadly answers, reclining on your chest as he catches his breath from all the running.

As you look up at the sky, you see an airplane looking so small as it flies between the clouds, "Do you see that, Aster?"

He follows to where your finger is pointing and sees it right away, "Airplane!"

"That's right. Airplane!" You proudly say along with a quick kiss on the top of his head.

Aster raises his small hand in the air as if he's trying to catch the airplane in his hand, "Come down here airplane!" He cutely shouts.

"I don't think they can hear you, bubba," you say while brushing his dark locks with your fingers.

"So far away," he mumbles with his head tilted up and his eyes tirelessly following the airplane, "in the sky."

All of a sudden, he gets up from your lap with his hand still raised in the air, "Airplane so far away," he mumbles.

You wrap your hands around him, "Do you love airplanes, Aster."

He stifles a nod then looks over his shoulder at you, "I love airplanes."

"Aster loves airplanes," you repeat and hold him tighter.

He outstretches his arm as far as he can and jumps on his little feet, "Caught it!"

You pretend to be surprised, "You caught the airplane in your hand?"

He fists his hand into a ball and shows it to you, "I caught it."

You hold his little fist with both hands and tell him, "Want to take it home?"

"Take it home. Yes," he answers while scratching his nose.

Aster gets on his toy car and you're pushing it from the back while also holding Mandu's leash, together you're walking back to the house.

"Let's check the mailbox," you say, stopping by the front of the house to check it.

"Want to see," Aster demands, offering his arms at you.

"Okay," you take him by the arms and carry him so he can see inside the mailbox.

"Mails!" He exclaims.

"Would you please take them out for me?"

"Okay," he replies, raking the mails from inside the mailbox and clutching them in his arms.

"You got them all?"

"Yes," he answers, hugging all the mails close to his chest.

The beeping sounds coming from a truck take Aster's attention away and send a couple of mails slipping down his arms. You turn on your feet, looking at the house across the street, and notice that someone is moving in there hence the moving truck.

You pick up the mails and make Aster hold them as you steer the toy car into the house. You take Mandu off his leash and he starts running inside, then helps Aster to take his sandals off after.

"Cookies," Aster suddenly asks.

"You can have cookies later after dinner, okay?" You softly tell him, remembering that one of the house rules is no snacks before dinner.

Aster seems hungry so you go to the kitchen to start making dinner for him. Since there's no one else in the house, Aster keeps following you everywhere and he's playing with his toy on the kitchen floor.

"One, two, three, five," he incorrectly counts.

You lowly chuckle while keep flattening the pizza dough on the kitchen counter, "One, two, three, four, five," you correct him.

"Four, five, six," he counts again, standing up and wriggling his body as he continues, "Seven, eight, ten."

"Seven, eight, nine, ten," you correct him again.

Aster starts jumping and dancing, throwing his plushie in the air, and having a party on his own. You drop whatever you're doing to watch him being a little happy bean he is.

"Old Macdonald had a farm E I E I O," he sings, picking up his plushie and dancing with it.

"And on that farm, he had a horse, E-I-E-I-O," you both sing in unison and Aster continues the rest of the song in cute gibberish.

You put your focus back on plating dinner, putting the fleshly baked pizza onto the plate and some broccoli on the side. For the dessert, you crack open a can of rice pudding and put it in a separate bowl or Aster will mix the food.

"Come on! Time for dinner!" You help Aster get onto his chair.

Before you can eat dinner as well, you refill Mandu's bowl with food and water and the three of you have dinner together with the sky gradually turns dark outside.

Amid dinner, your phone rings, and as expected, it's a video call from Felix. You scoot closer to him and put the phone against the box of tissue to get Aster in the frame, then hit the accept call button.

A second later, Felix's face appears on the screen, "Hello, my beautiful boy!" He greets his son with a wide smile.

Aster is busy chewing his food but he recognizes his dad's deep voice and looks up from his plate of food. A smile blooms on his chubby face, he glances at you and says, "Dada!"

"That's right. That's dada!" You say, encouraging him to talk.

"Did you miss, Dada?" Felix asks with a sad smile.

Aster only giggles with his mouth slobbering wet with drool and food, but after a while, he stifles a nod.

"Are you having dinner, sweet boy?" He sweetly asks.

"Yes," he hastily answers, lifting one side of the plate to show what he's having to his dad and almost sending the food sliding down onto the table.

With almost a year of experience in babysitting, your reflex is well-trained for such situations. You hurriedly put it down before he spills everything.

"What are you having, Aster?" Felix asks again.

You whisper it to him so he can say it to his dad himself, "Homemade pizza."

"Home and pizza," he incorrectly repeats your words.

Felix chuckles at that and calls for, you guess, his husband, Hyunjin to come so he can talk to his other dad. It takes him a while to finally get him on the phone.

"Mmm... yum, yum, yum," Hyunjin says with his baby voice like he usually does whenever he talks to his little one.

"Daddy!" Aster shrieks in excitement. For a long time, Aster has been closer to Felix than Hyunjin but lately, the dynamic has changed, Aster has been clingy to Hyunjin more.

"Hi, baby. Did you eat well?" He asks as Felix puts his arm around him so they're staying close to each other.

Instead of answering, Aster takes a big bite of his pizza and munches on it with exaggeration, making his cheeks round, full of food

"Ooh... Aster is eating so well. Good boy!" Hyunjin praises with a smile and applause.

The video call continues with his parents watching him eat his dinner and ends with a bittersweet bye as Felix just wants to keep it going.

"For now, be good with bubba, okay?"

Aster slumps on his seat and tugs his finger between his bunny teeth, nodding to whatever his parents are saying.

"Don't worry. We're not going to set the house on fire... not yet" you interject with a joke and give Aster's hair a quick ruffle.

"We'll be back soon, baby Aster," Hyunjin tells his son but it seems like he's indirectly saying it to his husband as well.

"Please come back safely!" You say with a smile, lifting Aster's hands and waving them at his parents.

"Bye-bye, sweet baby," Felix says, making small paws with his hand at him, "Dada loves you."

"Love you," Aster says back.

"Aww..." Felix coos, melting at hearing his son saying the affectionate words back to him.

"Daddy loves you too," Hyunjin adds.

"Love you," Aster also says back to his dad rather aggressively.

The video call ends with yet another bittersweet goodbye from Felix and that tells how much they treasure each other. Aster is growing up in a loving, kind family and he'll grow to be the person who spreads that love and kindness to other people.

Before Aster gets drowsy, you hurriedly clean up after dinner and take him upstairs to wash up, putting him in his pajamas.

The doorbell rings and since you're upstairs in Aster's room, you think you misheard it at first so you wait if the doorbell is going to ring again.

Aster glances at you when the doorbell finally rings again, you decide to carry Aster in your arm to get downstairs faster. You can't be too careful these days so you peek through the window to see who is it.

It's someone you haven't seen before, a guy with foxy eyes and a dimpled smile, well, his dimples appear when he smiles and he's smiling at you right now. You hesitantly open the door, keeping it slightly ajar, and pop your head out.

"Yes, can I help you?" You talk while running out of breath.

It seems you get him out of a trance from the way he's standing up straight as he starts talking.

"Hi, I'm Jeongin, I'm new..." he introduces himself, and suddenly his words trail off.

"New...?" You ask in confusion.

"I'm new in the neighborhood," he finally finishes his sentence with a sheepish smile, "I've just moved into the house across the street."

That explains the moving truck earlier and you can see from the door that he's still having some of his stuff outside.

"Ah, yes, welcome to the neighborhood," you say with a polite smile.

He notices Aster as he nuzzles his head into your neck and sucking on his thumb. He waves his fingers at Aster along with his dimpled smile, "Hi, hello!" He softly says.

Aster nuzzles his head further into your neck, he always gets shy when meeting new people and according to Felix, he gets it from Hyunjin.

"What's his name?"

"Aster," you reply.

"You have a really cute son," he compliments.

If only you get a dollar for every person who thinks that Aster is your child, you would be getting a new car by now. You smile at him while rubbing Aster's back.

"Oh, no, I'm just the babysitter," you inform.

"In fact, I don't live here. The real owners are out of town so that means, I'm also house-sitting for them," you stop talking before you start rambling.

"Oh..." he says with a nod and a smile that is bigger than the previous one.

A moment passes in awkward silence and Aster is getting heavier for you to carry him in your arms, but you can't just tell your new neighbor to scram.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" You courteously ask.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was supposed to..." he scratches his head as he's just remembered something. He hands you the small paper bag he's been holding in one hand.

You take it from his hand and immediately mutter your gratitude to him, "Thank you!"

"See you around, I guess?" He says, shoving his hands deep into his jeans pockets.

"See you," you say back, quietly struggling to keep Aster holding Aster in one arm.

The second the door is closed, you let out a big sigh and put the paper bag on the nearest table, hurriedly taking Aster back upstairs to send him to sleep.

You sit on the small sofa in his room and sit him on your lap, gently patting his back as he rests his head on your chest with his eyes drooping. You think he's sleeping but all of a sudden, he sleepily mutters, "Night, bubba."

"Night night, sweet Aster," you say again with a soft kiss on his head.

"Night Dada."

"Night Daddy."

"Night Nana," he mutters for the last one, mentioning his grandma since Felix's mom sometimes comes to help babysit him.

"What about Poppo?" You remind him of his favorite plushie he's hugging close to his chest.

"Night Poppo," he sleepily mumbles along with a kiss on it.

Aster is fast asleep not long after that, you put him in his crib and that doesn't mean your day ends there. You quietly tidy up his room and check on Aster for the last time.

Something about watching him sleep makes you feel at peace, you tenderly rub his round cheek and brush his hair that's getting too long away from his face.

"Night night, sweet Aster," you whisper before leaving his room.

The next day, the fun starts all over again.

With yogurt smeared all over his mouth from his lunch, Aster insists on coming with you after breakfast to pick up the blackberries from the bushes in the backyard. You only noticed them earlier when you were hosing the plants.

"Blueberries!" Aster exclaims.

"They're blackberries," you say, holding a bowl to put the picked fruits, "Want to pick them up?"

He seems hesitant but takes a step forward, he yanks at the leaves and is unsure of how to do it. He refrains and takes a step back, "Bubba do it."

You squat down and show him how to do it, taking the blackberry off the bush, then put it into the bowl, "Like that, bub."

The next minute, Aster is excitedly looking through the blackberry bushes to pick the fruits while you're holding the bowl for him.

"Wow! You picked a lot, bub!" You gasp in surprise seeing the blackberries he has gathered in the bowl.

Aster counts them in his cute mumbling voice, "four, five, six, seven, eight..." he joyfully claps as he successfully counts them all.

The two of you wash them together under the running water and you use the chance to also clean Aster's mouth, wiping it clean with a napkin after.

"Want to try it, bub?" You ask as you kneel on the floor, showing him the blackberries you picked and washed in the bowl.

He looks at it for a second then takes one, he doesn't hesitate to shove it into his mouth. He seems to like it as he keeps taking one after another.

"Is it good?"

He scrunches his nose, you guess the last one he takes into his mouth is sour but despite all that, he keeps chewing and says, "Nice."

The sound of Mandu's footsteps startling both of you as he sprints toward the door and starts barking. Curious as to why he gets so excited all of a sudden, you take Aster with you to check if someone is at the door.

Turns out, Mandu sees the family's car pulling up in front of the house and that's why his tail is wagging behind him, knowing that his daddies are coming home soon.

They don't even bother getting their stuff out of the car, they're going into the house and impatient to see their son. Mandu jumps the second Hyunjin pushes the door open, barking and licking at his face as he scoops him into his arms.

"Hi, baby..." Felix coos at his son as he's clinging to your side.

Unlike Mandu, Aster is looking a little confused at his parent's return.

Seeing his son's reaction, Felix kneels on the floor and looks at him, "It's dada," he tells him.

Aster only clings harder at you and then he starts running inside, you can see Felix's smile fade a little after getting an unexpected reaction from his son.

You follow Aster inside to take him back to his dad and find him walking towards Felix with the bowl of blackberries, he's handing it to him as if to show him that he did it.

"You picked blackberries with bubba?" Felix asks him with a smile.

"Yes," he eagerly nods.

Felix tries again, opening his arms at him, and with a quivering voice, he asks, "Can dada have a hug?"

Aster nods again and dashes toward him hard, almost sending Felix to fall to the back. Felix looks like he's about to burst into tears when he finally gets to hold his son.

From your side, Hyunjin gently grabs your elbow and you both exchange a quick hug.

"Welcome home," you mutter to him, "How was the flight?"

"The best sleep I've ever had," Hyunjin playfully answers with his hand lingers on your arm.

"Glad you're finally home!"

"Why? Was he a handful?"

"Other than he's always out partying and came home late, he's alright," You jokingly answer.

After kissing Aster non-stop, Felix turns to the side to see his husband there and makes Aster come to Hyunjin next, "Don't you miss daddy, hun?"

Hyunjin bends down to take him from Felix's arms, he nuzzles his head in his stomach to place tickling kisses there and makes Aster giggle and drool at the same time.

"We were only away for four days but his hair is already this long," Felix says as he stands next to you.

You only notice it now that Aster and Hyunjin have a similar hair length, they also share the same dark, silky hair.

"Aster looks like daddy now," you point out.

"That's right!" Felix exclaims in agreement as he puts his arm around your shoulder.

The day continues with Hyunjin and Felix taking their luggage out of the car, unpacking one of them to take a few things. Aster is sure a spoiled baby with the amount of things they bought for him from their short vacation.

"This is for bubba," Felix says, handing you a bag of things.

You grin as you take it from him, "You bought me something too?"

"Of course!" Felix hastily replies.

"Thank you!" You say with a gratuitous smile and decide to check the content later at home.

Even though his parents are already home, you're staying to continue your job to babysit Aster and also to help around the house, you figure that either Hyunjin or Felix are still tired from their flight home.

Aster is having fun with Hyunjin though as they're playing together in the backyard with Mandu, sporting the same hairstyle by tying their hair in ponytails.

"He looks more like Hyunjin now," Felix says as he shows you the picture he took of them in matching hairstyles.

Aster used to look a lot more like Felix but now, he and Hyunjin indeed look so much alike. The hair, the lips, and the soft features he has give off that distinct charms.

"Oh, yeah, he looks like mini Hyunjin now," you agree with a smile.

Felix lets out a delightful sigh as he continues scrolling through Aster's pictures and shows you the ones he took when he was still a baby.

"He was so small when he came to the world," Felix says along with a picture of newborn Aster curling into a little ball.

"And look at him now, he's so big and full of energy," he adds while looking at his son playing with the garden hose with fondness in his eyes.

Then he turns to look at you and smiles, "He's almost two now."

"Yeah, time flies so fast," you say, suddenly reminiscing the time when you started babysitting Aster and he was only 13 months back then.

"Which reminds me that we should start planning his birthday soon," he says, shifting the conversation before it gets too sentimental.

You immediately stand up straight and put your hand across your chest, "I'm at your service," you jokingly say.

Felix lowly chuckles and looks at his phone again, "We can do that tomorrow but now, we have to order dinner."

The short vacation was everything he didn't know he needed but Felix couldn't be happier that he is now at home.

He's looking at his little family, his husband Hyunjin and his son who heartily eat their dinner next to each other and then there's you, the additional member whom he loves as much as his own family.

Felix feels grateful that he surrounded himself with people who cherished him and vice versa, and that allows him to find happiness in a simple thing like this.

"Anyway, guys, I have something to tell you," you suddenly announce in the middle of dinner.

From the way you keep clearing your throat and your hand tightly wrapped around your chopsticks, it seems like it's something serious and Felix can only hope it is good news.

"Yes, bub?" Felix asks, stopping whatever he's doing to hear what you have to say.

"I just got the announcement yesterday but I passed. I'm graduating this summer," you reveal the news with a bright smile on your face.

Felix lets out a sigh of relief knowing that it's good news and not something he's afraid to hear.

"Oh, my God! That's amazing!" He exclaims, not taking another second to think but coming at you to hug you. He knows you need it, especially after knowing how much you've been worrying about it for these past couple of weeks.

"Thank you!" You mutter as you return the hug.

"This occasion calls for champagne," Hyunjin says, getting up from his seat to get it along with the glasses.

"Aster, bubba is graduating!" Felix says to his little one while squeezing his hand in excitement.

Aster is certainly too young to understand, he remains busy with his dinner as he bites into his spaghetti meatball with the tomato sauce slobbering all over his mouth.

Hyunjin meticulously pours wine into the three glasses without spilling a drop and to make his son feel included, he pours apple juice into a plastic cup.

"Congratulations on graduating!" Hyunjin says as he initiates the toast.

The three of you clinging your glasses together in the middle of the table to finally have that delightful sip of bubbly wine.

"Cheers, bubba!" You say as you bring your glass close to Aster and he immediately picks up his glass of apple juice and clinking it with yours.

And the day couldn't have ended more beautifully.

The decision to have Aster wasn't an easy one, Hyunjin and Felix talked about it more than a dozen times until they came to the final decision that they did want a child.

The decision is only a part of the process, getting Aster into the world is a whole other thing. There were a lot of doctor appointments and legal consultations, and of course, there was the search for a suitable surrogate mother, it was one of the most draining parts of it all.

Looking back at it, Felix realizes that he's done a lot to bring Aster into the world and it reminds him to cherish every moment he has with him.

"Again, again!" Aster says to Hyunjin who's been flying him like an airplane.

Hyunjin takes a moment to catch his breath before lifting him again in his arms as Aster puts his arms to the front.

"Poppo too," he mutters after one lap.

"You want to take Poppo flying?"

"Uh-huh."

"Babe, can you give me Poppo!" Hyunjin asks for Felix's help as the plushie is perching on the armrest of the sofa.

Felix hurriedly snaps him out of his daze and hands Hyunjin the blue jellyfish-shaped plushie and then watches his husband swing his son around the bedroom.

Aster is having so much fun that he's constantly laughing and drooling at the same time, it makes Felix happy that his cheeks are hurt from smiling non-stop.

Seeing that Hyunjin is getting tired from carrying him around, Felix thinks it's time for his bedtime.

"Aster, come on, get in your jammies!"

Hyunjin carries him to the sofa and sighs as he takes a seat next to him, holding Aster as Felix puts him into his sleepsuit. Then Felix sits him down on his lap as Hyunjin starts reading him a bedtime story.

"Goodnight dada," he mumbles while rubbing his eyes.

"Goodnight, sweet baby," Felix replies with a fond kiss on the top of his head.

"Goodnight Daddy."

Hyunjin places a long kiss on his forehead in response, "Night, angel."

"Goodnight bubba. Goodnight Nana," Aster continues with his night greetings then brings his plushie close to his mouth to kiss it, "Goodnight Poppo."

It takes quite some time until Aster drifts into sleep but Felix continuously rubs his back and showers him with gentle kisses.

"Can you believe he's almost two now?" Felix lowers his voice to talk to Hyunjin.

"Our baby has grown a lot," Hyunjin says, brushing Aster's hair away from his face.

The realization makes him sad and it's coming from the fact that they're growing older with him too. Felix rests his head on Hyunjin's shoulder, trying to imprint this tender moment in the back of his head along with this bittersweet feeling for him to treasure in the future.

"Better put him in his crib," Hyunjin says to him with a gentle ruffle on the back of Felix's head, "Cause you have another baby to tuck to bed."

Felix raises his eyebrow in question and it registers to him when Hyunjin points at himself, confirming that the other baby is him.

"I'm sure you're tired as well," Hyunjin adds.

"Yeah, okay," he answers with a smile.

Hyunjin kisses Felix's forehead and places another kiss on Aster's head before leaving the bedroom.

Realizing that he can't stop time and Aster will only get bigger, Felix remains there for another moment just holding his son in his arms to his heart's content to finally lay him in his crib.

Felix dims the light on the way out and goes to his room, finding Hyunjin already lying on the bed. Instead of getting on his side of the bed, Felix fits himself in Hyunjin's side, forcing him to scoot away. He then puts Hyunjin's arm around him.

"You should be the one tucking me in," Hyunjin says with a sweet kiss on Hyunjin's neck.

Felix lowly chuckles and gets comfortable in Hyunjin's hold, "But I'm your baby too," he says.

"That's fair," Hyunjin responds, drawing him closer and holding him tight.

He then turns his head his way and presses another kiss on his lips, "Goodnight, baby."

Felix gives him a long peck in return, "Goodnight, love."

At 5 am, Hyunjin's alarm rings and he hurriedly turns it off before it wakes the person sleeping next to him. Well, Felix usually wakes up around the same time but he looks like he needs some more sleep so he lets him.

However, Felix stirs in his sleep sensing the bed shift as Hyunjin gets up and forces his eyes open.

"What time is it?" He asks with his gruff morning voice.

Hyunjin crawls over to his side of the bed and places a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"I'll cook breakfast. Just go back to sleep," he murmurs.

"Thank you, honey," Felix mumbles with a smile and then closes his eyes to sleep some more.

On the top of the stairs, Mandu's ears perk up hearing Hyunjin's footsteps and he jumps out of his bed the second he comes out of his bedroom.

"Morning, Mandu," Hyunjin greets his beloved pet, squatting down to pick him up and carrying it with him as he goes downstairs.

The coffee machine is set, Mandu's bowl is filled with food and a water tumbler is ready for him to take to the basement. Hyunjin is on a diet plan that requires him to do twenty minutes of workout in the morning and that's what he's going to do there.

Once he finishes his workout, he continues his morning routine by washing up, and preparing breakfast in the kitchen and when the clock shows it's almost seven, he comes upstairs to wake his little one with Mandu trailing behind him as usual.

Aster is already awake when he pushes the door open, rubbing his eyes off his sleep and kicking his feet up in the air inside his crib.

"Hi, angel baby, you're awake already?" He walks up to his son and kisses the top of his head, his hand tangled in his son's soft locks, sniffing at it before giving him another kiss.

"Want to get down?"

Aster doesn't say anything but lifts his arms at Hyunjin, wanting to get carried in his arms. He puts him down and sits on the carpeted floor with him, still sleepy Aster clings to his dad for cuddles. Mandu suddenly jumps onto Hyunjin's lap and joins in on the cuddles.

"What do you want for breakfast, honey?" Hyunjin softly asks as Aster plays with Mandu's white coat of fur.

"Milk," he replies a while later.

"Milk?"

"Milk and toast," he answers again while resting his head on Mandu's back.

"And yogurt and blueberries?"

"Yogurt and blueberries," Aster repeats.

Hyunjin is smiling at how affectionate Aster is toward Mandu, petting his head and holding him close like he would do to his favorite plushie.

Unbeknownst to him, Felix is watching the whole heartwarming scene from the doorway and his heart is about to burst as this is the first thing he sees in the morning.

Felix loves his little family so much.

This should be his nap time but Aster is all hyper and you've been chasing him around the house that you can feel sweat forming on your back.

Needing a break, you kneel on the carpeted floor and catch your breath. Aster stops on his track as well, resting half of his body on the sofa and wickedly grinning at you.

"Want to drink your milk?" you persuade by showing him the bottle of milk you're holding in your hand.

"No," he refuses, tugging his fingers between his bunny teeth.

You quietly make your way closer to him, hoping to catch him before he gets to run and makes you chase him around again. Sadly, he's too clever for a toddler and runs before you get to grab him and he's heading to the study room where Hyunjin is working.

Worse is the door is not completely shut and Aster can easily push his way inside, squealing as he runs away from you.

Hyunjin is there, sitting behind the desk and looking like he's in a virtual meeting. You stand by the doorway and gesture for Aster to come back.

"Daddy is working," you whisper at him.

Instead of obeying you, Aster climbs onto Hyunjin's lap and he takes him without looking away from the computer screen.

"Aster, no..." you mutter while shaking your head at him.

But he clings to his dad and hides in his chest, making Hyunjin pause on the meeting to handle his son.

"Why aren't you napping, mmh?" He asks.

As if he tries to win him, Aster presses a kiss on Hyunjin's cheek and almost bites him again, but Hyunjin is quick to dodge away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him in," you say as you step inside his study room, "I'll take him."

"That's okay," Hyunjin says as he holds Aster close, "Just give me the bottle."

"Okay," you come up to him to give him the bottle and leave the room, making sure you fully close the door.

In the kitchen, Felix is still busy baking his famous brownies, and the sweet smell of it wafting throughout the room as he takes it out of the oven.

"Oh, my Gosh! That smells so good!" You gasp as you walk up to him.

Felix smiles as he puts the brownies on the kitchen counter and lets it cool down. He takes his oven mitts off and pours himself a glass of water.

"Monster Aster is finally off to nap?" He asks, then takes a big gulp of water.

"He ran to the study room and insisted on napping with his daddy," you answer, snacking on the bowl of chocolate chips in front of you.

"Of course!" Felix sighs, he takes another gulp of water and gasp.

"Aster is in his Hyunjin's phase," you joke, tossing a piece of chocolate chip into your mouth.

"There was never a Felix's phase in the first place," Felix grumbles with a pout.

"Well, you can adopt me and I promise I'll always be on your team," you joke while shoving another piece of chocolate chip into your mouth.

"I'll consult it with my lawyer first," he shortly responds with a smile.

After helping Felix slice the brownies into small squares, you go back to the study room to check on Aster and whether Hyunjin has successfully made him nap. You cautiously turn the knob and push the door open, popping your head inside to check.

To your surprise, Hyunjin's done it. Aster is peacefully sleeping in his arms and Hyunjin endearingly brushes his head before placing kisses on the top of his head. He's doing that while also working on something on his computer, he has his headphones on so he doesn't notice you until you come and stand close enough to his desk.

"Let me take him," you mouth your words at him.

Hyunjin takes his headphones off and fixes Aster's head to snuggle it on the crook of his neck, "I'll do it. I'm done working anyway," he says.

As Hyunjin walks across the living room carrying Aster in his arms, you and Felix stop talking to not accidentally wake Aster as Hyunjin is about to put him down for his nap. He comes back downstairs carrying his other child, the furry one who is always on his team.

"I smell brownies," He says, putting Mandu down and jogging his way to the kitchen to check, following the sweet smell of Felix's brownies.

Felix slides the plate of brownies in his direction and continues to write down things he needs to buy while discussing it with you but you're distracted by his beautiful cursive handwriting.

"Oh, this is nice!" Hyunjin gasps in joy and his eyes sparkle at the sight of it. He even rubs his hands together before taking a piece of brownies from the plate.

"Honey, can you take care of Aster for a bit?" Felix asks as he puts his pen down.

"Mmh-hmm," he answers without a beat and takes another piece of brownie.

"The fridge is empty so we're going to do some grocery shopping," Felix explains but Hyunjin is too busy stuffing his mouth with brownies to pay attention.

Looking at Hyunjin certainly reminds you of how much he looks like Aster when he's eating with his cheeks inflated and lips slightly jutting out.

When he realizes that you and Felix are watching him heartily eating brownies, he stops chewing and puts on a foolish grin.

"This is so good, babe!" He says with an exaggerated tone and hastily kisses Felix on the lips.

Felix is so taken aback that he freezes for a second and blankly blinks his eyes at him, and you, as usual, being the third wheel in this marriage.

"This is why I married you," Hyunjin adds with a sweet smile that makes his eyes form two crescents.

"Because of my brownies?" Felix asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Because you're the best husband ever!" Hyunjin remarks with a sweet smile plastered on his face, "But also yeah, because of the brownies."

Felix can't help but smile as his fingers fiddled with the pen, flustered by his husband.

"Stop being so cute!" He says to Hyunjin.

You prop a hand under your chin and also look at Hyunjin, "Yeah, stop being so cute!" You say, just to remind them that you're there.

Hyunjin ignores both of you, continues chewing his food while making funny noises, and even does some dancing while holding a piece of brownie in his hand.

Felix takes his wallet and notes with him, "We're going, babe," he says.

"Wait, you forget something," Hyunjin says, stopping Felix from walking away.

Felix gropes every pocket on his jeans, checking if he is forgetting something, "I don't think—"

Hyunjin grabs him by his elbow and pulls him close, "You're forgetting this," he says, pressing a kiss on his lips.

It's better to exclude yourself from this scene, so you turn on your feet and grab the car keys from the bowl.

"I'll get the car ready," you say.

"Bubba, you're also forgetting something," Hyunjin jokingly says.

"No, thank you," you refuse right away without even looking.

While Felix is busy picking fruits for both consumption and baking ingredients with utmost focus, you wander through the herb and spices aisle to take some things off the shopping list.

You're scanning through the list then at the shelves next, taking the ones you need and putting them into the trolley. You stand next to the shelf to check if you missed anything.

"Oregano!" You mutter, turning to the other shelf and scanning it to find between various types of herbs there is.

"Oregano, oregano, oregano," you continuously mutter as your hand trails every jar while carefully reading the labels to find it.

"Here!" A voice says along with a hand that offers you the herb you're looking for.

"Thank you!" You mutter as you take it and look up to see a familiar face, "Oh?"

He smiles when you see him and clutching his shopping basket in front of him, "I hope you still remember me," he says.

"Yeah, sure, you're the uh..." Oh shit, you forgot his name but you know he's the guy who came to the house a couple of days ago, "You're the new neighbor."

"Nice to see you again," He replies with his dimpled smile that only confirms it's him.

"Nice to see you," you say back with a polite smile.

"Are you here by yourself?" He asks.

"No, I'm here with someone but he's... somewhere," you pause to look around to see if Felix has returned and look back at him, "How about you?"

"It's just me," he replies.

Your eyes wander to his shopping basket and take a quick scan at what he bought.

"Making curry for dinner?" You wildly guess based on your observation.

He shyly chuckles and shifts his basket to the other arm, "That's the idea," he says.

"Well, you're going the right way," you playfully respond with a soft chuckle.

His hand flies to his ear and rubs on it, "oh, that's a relief!"

"Oop! There you are!" Felix says with his deep voice startling you.

Why does it feel like you just got caught doing something you shouldn't do when you're just talking to a guy? You turn on your feet and take a step back so he can put the bags of fruits into the trolley.

A moment after that, Felix notices that you've been talking with someone. He looks at him and at you, then looks back at him.

"Hello, hi," Felix says to him, then turns at you, "Who is it, bubba?"

"Oh! This is your new neighbor," you introduce him, forgetting to mention anything about it until now.

"My new neighbor, huh?" Felix says with a smile and quietly gives you the side eyes.

"This is the actual owner of the house and Aster's dad, Felix," you introduce Felix to him.

"Nice to meet you," Felix says, offering his hand to him.

"I'm Jeongin. Nice to meet you," he introduces himself back and takes Felix's hand to shake it.

Oh, yeah, Jeongin! That's his name, oh, why are you so bad at memorizing names? You try not to show how you've been avoiding calling him by his name until this second.

"Nice to meet my new neighbor," Felix says with another side-eye shot at you.

Another moment passes with Felix glancing at you and Jeongin in turns, you need to find something to say to disperse the awkwardness that slowly builds, better if you remove yourself from the scene.

"I guess we'd bett—"

"You know, we're celebrating Aster's birthday next Saturday," Felix suddenly shares, "We would love for you to come!"

The invitation must have come as a surprise to Jeongin but you're not one with the rights to it, Felix is free to invite anyone.

"I'd love to," Jeongin answers with a polite smile.

"Great!" Felix exclaims in joy, "Just a fair warning though, it's a kid's birthday party so there'll be no alcohol."

"That's more than fine," he responds.

Jeongin scratches his ear again and you start to think he does it whenever he gets nervous or flustered. You don't want to make him uncomfortable for long and you have a lot of grocery shopping left to do.

"We'd better let you get back to your shopping," you say, secretly taking Felix's arm to take him out of his way.

"I guess we'll see each other around a lot," Felix says with a foolish grin on his face.

"Eh?" Jeongin responds in confusion.

"Cause we're neighbors," Felix says.

"Ah... yes."

You drag Felix along with the trolley to not make it even more awkward, "See you!"

"See you!" Jeongin says as he waves his hand at you.

The shopping isn't the worst part of it but putting all the bags into the trunk is. Felix bought a lot it's enough to feed a whole village but you're aware that half of it is for his baking needs.

"How come you never mentioned anything about the new neighbor?" Felix asks.

"I simply forgot to tell you," You answer while keeping your eyes on the road.

"How come you forgot a cute face like that?"

"Mr. Lee, you're married," You remind him while shaking your head in disbelief.

"What? Just because I'm married I suddenly can't see cute guys anymore?"

"You know that's not what I mean."

"He's tall, he has nice shoulders and dimples..."

"No comment!" You refuse to respond to his words.

"Oh, come on! Just admit it! He's cute," Felix says, aggressively hitting your shoulder and forcing you to respond.

"Okay, okay, yeah, he's cute," you finally admit with a low sigh.

"I can tell that he fancies you too," Felix adds as he leans back on his seat.

"Mr. Lee, please stick to what you do best," you briefly glance at him as you continue talking, "Baking, not matchmaking."

Felix raises both hands in defeat and says, "I'm just saying."

And of course, getting everything off the trunk means more handwork. You and Felix carry as much as you can in both arms and push your way into the house.

"We're home!" Felix announces the second he steps into the house.

There's music playing in the living room so you guess Aster has woken up from his nap and there he is, jumping on his little feet and singing to his favorite cartoon song.

"Babe, come here!" Hyunjin orders, taking the grocery bags from his arms and putting them on top of the dining table.

"What? Why?" He asks in confusion but relents as Hyunjin drags him to the living room while you keep walking toward the kitchen.

Hyunjin sits Felix down on the sofa and then he grabs the remote to replay the song playing on the TV. Together, he and Aster start dancing and singing to the song, creating a special show for his dear dad and husband, Felix.

Felix is so wrong to think that he has no one on his team when, in fact, both Aster and Hyunjin will always be on his team.

Today will be Hyunjin's first day back to work after his vacation and Aster somehow senses that.

He's been spending the whole afternoon playing with his dad until Hyunjin has to go and get dressed for work, he's taking over the late-night news tonight and that's when Aster feels alarmed. You try to keep him distracted by taking him to the back porch to play with his new toys.

As Hyunjin comes to kiss him, Aster gets fussy, he runs after his dad to the front door. He even takes his shoes with him as he gets to his father.

"Go with daddy," he says, holding his shoes at him.

That only makes Hyunjin reluctant to go, he pulls Aster for a hug and holds him for a moment. He kisses his cheek and also the top of his head.

"Daddy has to go to work," he says to him with a gentle caress on his cheek.

Aster doesn't say anything but opens the strap on his shoes then hands it to Hyunjin, asking him to put them on for him.

"Oh, baby," Hyunjin sadly says and lifts him into his arms.

As heartbreaking as it is, Felix comes to take Aster so Hyunjin can go to work. He rubs Aster's back and then slowly, he takes him from Hyunjin's arms.

"Daddy will be back soon, okay, angel?" Hyunjin continuously consoles Aster with kisses and caresses.

Aster holds his hands out at Hyunjin, desperately wanting to get back into Hyunjin's arms but Felix firmly holds him down.

"You'll play together again when daddy gets back, mmh?" Felix calmly tells him as Aster is whining and fighting to get out of his arms.

Hyunjin checks the time on his wristwatch and looks at Felix, "I really have to go," he says.

"It's okay. He'll quiet down soon," Felix assures him not to worry about Aster.

Hyunjin puts on a sad smile and hugs both Aster and Felix, he then presses a kiss on Aster's head and mutters, "Daddy loves you."

He then turns at Felix for a quick peck on the lips, "I'm going, yeah?"

"Be careful, okay?" Felix says with a smile while bouncing Aster in his arms to stop him from crying.

With a heavy heart, Hyunjin picks up his briefcase and waves his bye at Aster before getting out of the door.

You feel helpless as you can't do anything to help calm down crying Aster, he tends to only cling to you when his dads aren't around and he only wants his dad when he's fussy like this.

Felix keeps bouncing him in his arms, rubbing his back and wiping the tears on his cheeks while muttering words in the softest tone.

"Dada is here."

"Dada will play with you, mmh?"

"How about a cookie, mmh? Do you want a cookie?"

Felix knows that Aster can't say no to his cookies and it indeed works to make him stop crying, he rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and then nods.

"With milk," He mumbles.

"Cookie with milk?" Felix asks as he tenderly wipes the tears from his eyes with this thumb.

"Yes, please," he mumbles while doing the sign language.

"Can you smile for dada first?"

Aster nods and then puts on a smile for his dad, he looks cute even though his face is puffy and red from crying. Felix lights up the second he sees a smile bloom on Aster's sweet little face.

"That's Dada's beautiful boy!" Felix exclaims with an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

You prepare the seat for Aster and help to get him in it as Felix is off to get the cookie jar from the cabinet and then the milk from the fridge.

"One for sweet Aster," He says, putting one cookie on your Aster's plate.

"Thank you, dada," Aster cutely mutters as he wastes no time to take a bite at it.

"You're very welcome, my darling," he replies with a smile and a gentle pat on the head.

He turns to you with the cookie jar in hand, "Do you want one too, bubba?"

"You know I can't say no to your cookie," you answer.

Felix places one on your plate and another one for himself, he then fills Aster's cup with milk, before pouring milk into two glasses which you guess is for you and him.

"Choccie sauce!" He chimes, asking for some chocolate sauce in his milk.

"You want some choccie sauce with your milk?" Felix asks, taking it from the top cabinet.

Aster nods while breaking a piece of cookie with his hand.

Felix squeezes the bottle and puts some chocolate sauce in his milk, he lets him stir it with the straw before taking a sip.

"Isn't that nice, Aster?

"Nice," he answers, emphasizing the word that sounds like a hiss.

"Do you want some choccie sauce in your milk too, bub?"

"No, thank you," you kindly refuse.

Felix joins in on the dining table, eating the cookies he made and never failed to make, ever since you tasted his cookies, all the other cookies taste just alright for you.

Once he sits down, Felix takes a rewarding bite after all that hard work on calming Aster and lets out a delightful sigh.

"The adoption paper seems very tempting for a moment," he jokingly says.

"You've done well, dada," you assure him, making him feel acknowledged for his effort.

Aster looks a lot better after having a cookie and it seems like he's already forgotten about Hyunjin leaving for work. He drinks his milk through a straw and lets out a cute gasp after.

"One more, please?" He politely asks.

"You can have one more but you can't have another one until after dinner, okay?" Felix makes a compromise before giving it to him right away.

"Okay, dada," he answers with a nod.

"Here goes another cookie for my sweet tooth," Felix says as he places another cookie on Aster's plate.

"Thank you," he mutters with a grin.

"You're very welcome, bub!" Felix says back, then notices that you're finished with your cookie, "Do you want to have another one too, bub?"

This is why you don't feel like working because oftentimes, you find Felix treating you like his child and you don't mind any of it.

"No, I'm good, thanks," you kindly refuse with a smile.

"You're staying for dinner, right?"

"I don't know if you remember but I told you that I need to leave early today," you meekly say, then check for the time on your phone.

Felix gasps in surprise when he finally remembers it, "Oh, yeah, you're going to visit a family member in the hospital," he says.

"Yep and I'm afraid I have to leave now," you say while replying to a text from your mum.

"You can go, bub. Don't let your mum wait for you," Felix assures you as he puts the cookie jar back into the cabinet.

"Are you sure it's fine?" You hesitantly ask as you gather your things from around the room.

Felix comes up to Aster and holds the back of his seat, "of course, we'll be okay," he assures you with a smile.

You don't know why you think he won't be capable of taking care of his own son but you guess you feel bad for couldn't help him especially with Hyunjin working late tonight.

"Buh-bye, Aster," you say bye to Aster with a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Bye-bye, bubba," he replies as he keeps munching on his cookie.

"Drive safely, bub!" Felix comes up to you for a quick hug before letting you go.

The phone chimes as you get out of the house, your mum is rushing you even though you still have enough time to make it to your house to pick her up and drive to the hospital before the visiting hours end. You compose a quick reply to tell her you're already on the way to calm her down.

As you're about to climb into your car, you see Jeongin waving his hand at you from his house which is right across Felix's. You raise your hand to let him know that you see him and put on a smile even though you're not sure he can see it, and you think he's just wanting to say hi to you, he jogs his way to you.

"Hey," Jeongin greets you with his engaging foxy eyes and dimpled smile.

"Hey," you say back, returning the smile to him.

"You're getting off early," he says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Yeah. My mum and I have to go to this family thing," you vaguely explain.

"I'm not going to keep you long then," Jeongin says, slowly taking a step back.

"No, I mean, I have some time if you want to say something," you blurt out, feeling bad for indirectly turning him down.

"I need ideas for Aster's birthday present," he pauses to shift his weight to one side, "I think no one knows what he likes more than you."

It seems like it'll be taking a lot more time to decide

"Oh? Well, Aster likes—"

"I was hoping that we could go gift hunting together," He says while shyly scratching his ear.

"You want me to help you look for Aster's birthday present?"

"Yes, but not now, of course. You have somewhere to go right now," he hastily answers with an awkward smile.

"Well, I can't right now but I'm not babysitting tomorrow," you have no plans tomorrow, and helping someone out is never a bad idea.

"Tomorrow?" He stammers.

"If that's too soon we can do—"

"No, that's better," he hastily responds.

"The sooner, the better," he says with another shy smile and looks away when your eyes meet in a gaze.

"Okay, then should I give you my number or...?" you ask, hesitating whether you should take out your phone or wait for him to give you his phone.

Jeongin fumbles to get his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, unlocking it first before handing it to you. You type your numbers in and give the phone back to him, at the same time, your phone pings with a new text which you guess is from your mum.

"I'm sorry but I really have to go right now," you tell him with an apologetic smile.

"Yes, sorry for keeping you for so long," he apologizes back and hurriedly steps away from your car.

"See you tomorrow," you say before getting into the car.

"See you!" Jeongin says with his dimpled smile.

The next day, you help Jeongin look for Aster's birthday present as promised. You texted him beforehand, telling him to meet you at the toy store and he came just a few minutes late from the appointed time.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"No, not at all," you shortly reply.

The search for the birthday present doesn't take much time, Jeongin has it wrapped in store and by the time you get out of the store, the daylight still lingers on the sky.

"Do you want to get an early dinner?" Jeongin suddenly asks as he holds the door open for you and lets you out first.

It's the first time you meet a guy who's this forward and instead of discomfort, you find this refreshing, and it makes it easier for you to get along with him.

"I have nowhere to go this time so why not?" You answer with a smile.

Since Jeongin is new in town, you take the duty to recommend any good restaurants to him and settle on one that is located only two blocks away from the toy store.

The two of you taking your time to enjoy dinner, chatting in between bites of food, and getting to know him better. Jeongin newly moved into this town for a job, he lives with his dog and he is one year younger than you which is no surprise.

"How long have you been babysitting Aster?" He curiously asks.

"Almost a year now," you shortly answer.

"Did you happen to find this job or you always wanted to be a babysitter?" He playfully asks, then takes a sip of his soda.

"It's obviously the latter," you joke back.

"I mean, I don't see what's wrong with that," he says while lowly laughing.

"The job initially came for my mum but her social calendar is packed for the rest of the year so I took it," you wipe your fingers onto the napkin, "I needed the money for college and a new car."

"So you're still in uni?"

"I'm actually graduating this summer," you inform with a proud smile.

"Oh, congratulations!" He beams a bright smile at you, genuinely ecstatic with the news.

"Thank you so much!"

"And so, what's the plan after graduation?" He asks, completely all ears about it as he stacks his hands together on the table.

"I haven't told this to anyone but I... I got this job offer," you openly share.

"Oh, I'm the first to know this?" Jeongin asks with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes," you shyly nod.

You can't believe that you easily share it with someone that is not your mom and you don't know why you feel comfortable talking about it with him, maybe because he's someone you've just met that makes it easier.

"Where does this job offer come from?" He asks in utmost curiosity.

"From an architecture firm in the city," you answer.

"But that's..." he seems to change his mind and decides not to finish the sentence.

"That's amazing!" He says, having a drastic change in his cadence.

All of a sudden, someone places their hand on your shoulder and you're ready to swat him away when you look over your shoulder and find Hyunjin there.

"Oh, my God! You scared me!" You gasp in surprise as your hand clutches your chest.

"I know my bubba so well to know that it's you just from the back of your head," Hyunjin says with his hand starts gently massaging your shoulder.

"What are you doing here?"

"Was having a quick dinner with a colleague and saw you on the way out," he answers, then his eyes shift to the guy sitting across from you, "May I know who is this, bubba?"

"Oh, yeah, this is Jeongin, he is your new neighbor actually," you introduce Jeongin to him.

"Nice to meet you!" Hyunjin courteously says as he holds his hand out to Jeongin.

"Nice to meet you!" Jeongin says back as he shakes his hand.

"This is Hyunjin, he is Felix's husband, also Aster's dad," you introduce him back to Jeongin.

You can see in Jeongin's eyes that he's putting two and two together and eventually comes to a conclusion.

"Oh?" He keeps his expression in check and quickly recovered, "Aren't you the uh... the anchorman?"

"Yes, I am," Hyunjin replies with a smile.

"Honored to make your acquaintance," Jeongin says with a blushed smile.

"Well, I'm sorry for interrupting your dinner, just wanted to say hi," Hyunjin says with his hand still firmly resting on your shoulder.

"No, that's okay, we're just chatting," You tell him because it seems like he's getting mixed signals from this.

Hyunjin checks the time on his wristwatch, "And I'm late for movie night."

"Oh, please send my love for Aster," you say.

"Will do," Hyunjin says, he then looks at Jeongin, "Have a great night!"

"You too!" You say, placing your hand on his before he takes it away.

The two of you decided to call it a night not long after Hyunjin left and since your car is in the shop, Jeongin insists on giving you a lift home, you cave in almost immediately because you don't feel like taking a bus home.

"Thank you for the help by the way," Jeongin says as he keeps one hand on the steering wheel and the other rests on the center panel.

"No worries," you say while holding your purse on your lap, "I'm sure Aster will love it."

"I trust you on that," he briefly glances at you to flash you a soft smile, "bubba? Isn't it?"

"What?"

"That's what they called you," He shortly answers.

"Yes, I think it's Aster who started it and everyone in the house decided to call me that ever since," you explain.

"I think that's cute," Jeongin comments, seamlessly making a right turn to where your house is and stopping the car.

You unbuckle your safety belt first and then sling the strap of your bag to your shoulder, you turn your head to the side to be greeted by his foxy eyes, shining even under the dim light of the car.

"Thank you for the ride home," you mutter your gratitude.

"I should be the one thanking you for the help," he says back, turning his body to look at you.

"Well, then, you're very welcome," you reply.

The silence only builds tension in the car and you know you should get out of the car soon if you don't want the tension to keep on rising. You pull the handle to unlock the car door and push it open.

"Goodnight, Jeongin!" You mutter a second before you get out of the car.

"Goodnight!" He says back with a scintillating smile.

The best part of Hyunjin's day will always be coming home to his family and seeing their faces light up when they see him.

Tonight, Hyunjin comes home to find Felix and Aster lying on the sofa bed, watching a movie with a big bowl of popcorn on Felix's lap. None of them notice him coming until he stands next to the TV.

"You said you were on the way like an hour ago," Felix says with slightly unamused face.

"I'm sorry," Hyunjin says with his hands raised in defeat.

"It's not our fault that you missed the first 20 minutes of Cars," Felix says.

Hyunjin puts his briefcase down and takes his suit jacket off before joining them on the sofa bed. He shares a kiss with his husband first then a kiss on the head for the little one.

"Oh, no, I missed a lot of it," he says with a pout as he pays attention to the movie playing on the TV.

Aster remains unbothered by Hyunjin's ferocious little kisses on his head and cheek, he's so focused on watching his favorite movie and shoving popcorn into his small mouth.

"Can daddy have some of that, bubba?" Hyunjin softly asks, opening his mouth for him.

Aster picks up a piece and feeds it to Hyunjin but before it gets into his mouth, he brings it toward him and eats it.

"Oh?" Hyunjin exclaims in confusion, "That's not very nice, Aster."

Felix laughs witnessing it and gently pats the little one's head, "Aster, that's not very nice."

As a way to get back to him, Hyunjin wraps his arms around Aster to keep him still as he places ticklish kisses on his stomach, sending him into a series of laughter.

"Daddy, I think we need some refreshments," Felix says.

Hyunjin takes a handful of popcorn and eats it from his hand, "You guys started the movie night without me and now I have to make drinks?"

Felix nonchalantly shrugs, "Well, you were late. This is your punishment."

"Why am I punished?" Hyunjin argues, squinting his eyes at Felix.

Felix shrugs again and puts his hand in Aster's hair, "What do you think about hot chocolate, Aster?"

"Hot choccie," he mumbles instead of answering Felix's question.

"With marshmallows, yeah?"

"Marshmallows," Aster repeats.

Hyunjin sighs and relents, "Okay then, how many marshmallows do you want?"

"Three," Aster eagerly answers.

"Use your fingers," Hyunjin orders.

"Three," he says again but he holds up his five fingers at him.

"Hot choccie with marshmallow, okay but daddy wants a kiss first," Hyunjin demands, pursing his lips at him and asking for a kiss.

Aster slowly leans in and gives him a slobbering peck on the lips. Hyunjin scrunches his nose as he tastes the grease from the popcorn butter from the kiss.

"That's a very salty kiss but okay..." Hyunjin gets up from the sofa bed and loosened the tie around his collar, "Two hot choccies with marshmallows coming right up!"

Aster doesn't make it to the end of the movie, he falls asleep on Hyunjin's lap and he holds him close as he continues watching the movie with the volume turned low.

"I met bubba at the restaurant today," Hyunjin shares with his hand tirelessly brushing Aster's hair.

Felix glances away from the TV to look at him, "Yeah?"

"Mmh," Hyunjin answers, "She was with the new neighbor."

"Ooh..." Felix coos and picks up his mug, "Did they seem like they're on a date?"

"I think so," Hyunjin doubtfully answers.

"I think they'll make a cute couple," Felix remarks after taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

Hyunjin hesitates to share another thing about the encounter but if there's someone he can share everything with, it's Felix.

"And I accidentally eavesdropping on their conversation," he admits.

Felix looks at him in disbelief, "You nosy!" He playfully remarks and touches the tip of his nose with his finger.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Hyunjin defends himself.

"Okay, I believe you and now you don't have any other options but to tell me what you eavesdrop," Felix says, putting away his mug to put all of his focus on the conversation.

"She was telling him about her plan, saying that she got a job offer in the city," Hyunjin shares.

The glints in Felix's eyes dim almost immediately and his voice drops, "Oh?"

Knowing that he needs comfort, Hyunjin puts his arm around Felix's shoulder and pulls him close to his side, "We can get a new sitter if you want or I could—"

"You know we don't need a new sitter. I hired her because I like her," Felix says with a sour expression.

"I like her too," Hyunjin keeps his tone low and soft, his hand gently massaging Felix's shoulder.

Felix rests his head on Hyunjin's shoulder, "and we'll never find someone like her again," he sadly says.

"I know, baby," Hyunjin says, pressing a sweet kiss on his forehead and turning his head for a chaste kiss on his lips, "But you know we can't keep her here."

Something has just registered into Felix and he gets hit by a wave of sadness. As much as he wants to keep you here, he can't and shouldn't. You have a whole life ahead of you and he can't keep you from living your life to the fullest.

"It's going to be okay, love," Hyunjin murmurs with another kiss on his forehead.

It's a habit for Felix to roll into Hyunjin's side and cuddle him when he first comes to his wake. When he's ready to start the day, he plants a close kiss on Hyunjin's neck and gets up from the bed.

It's an exciting day and Felix can't wait to wake his little one. He quietly pushes the door to his bedroom and turns up the brightness of the lights in his room.

"Good morning, birthday boy!" Felix cheerily says as he peers down into his crib.

Aster is half awake from how he keeps tossing around in his crib, disoriented and disheveled.

"Still sleepy, mmh?" Felix softly asks with a tender caress on his cheek.

Aster rubs his eyes as he looks up at his dad with his big, innocent eyes and a simple thing like this is enough to melt his heart.

"You want to take a few more minutes of sleep, mmh?"

Aster may not say anything but he slowly gets up, standing up in his crib, and holds his arms out at Felix, asking him to lift him.

His best mate, Mandu, barks at the sight of Aster coming out of the crib and starts to circle Felix's feet with his tail wagging behind him.

"Calm down, there, Mandu!" Felix orders as he carries Aster in his arms then slowly sits down on the carpeted floor.

Mandu wastes no time but jumps onto Felix's lap, joining Aster and wanting to play with him.

"You're two years old now," Felix says, slightly in disbelief that his son is already two now and no longer a baby.

"Two," he mumbles.

"Are you excited for your birthday party, bub?" Felix asks as he brushes his matted hair.

Aster doesn't fully understand what birthday means and only hums his answer as he pets Mandu and nuzzles their heads together.

"There'll be balloons, presents. There'll be a birthday cake," Felix speaks while rocking him on his lap from side to side.

"Cake?"

"Yes, your birthday cake with sprinkles and candles on it."

"Choccie sauce?"

Felix raises his eyebrow at that, "You want choccie sauce on your birthday cake?"

"Choccie sauce in milk," he says, talking off-topic.

"Oh, you want choccie sauce in your milk for breakfast?" Felix guesses he's talking about what he wants for breakfast.

"Uh-huh," he nods.

"With pancakes?"

"Toast with jam," he says as he looks up at him, wide-eyed.

"Okay, but first, we have to brush your teeth and then wake Daddy up," he says.

Hyunjin is still peacefully sleeping, lying on his stomach with his face planted onto the pillow, only the side of his face is visible. Felix puts Aster down next to him and lets him wake his daddy up his way.

Aster crawls over to him, placing slobbering kisses on Hyunjin's cheek and then using his fingers to play with his plush lips.

"Daddy!" Aster calls with a slap on his shoulder.

Hyunjin peeks through the corner of his eyes and then pretends to sleep again, he puts his hand on his stomach and tickles him. As a way to get back to him, Aster climbs onto Hyunjin's back and bounces on it with his hands tugging at his hair. Getting no reaction from him, Aster licks his cheek.

"Aster, that's not very nice," Hyunjin groans with his voice muffled by the pillow.

In a swift move, Hyunjin turns over on the bed and sends Aster falling to the side, he is having a laughing fit as Hyunjin tickles his stomach.

Hyunjin eventually lets go to let him breathe and pulls him to his side, holding him close as he places an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

"Happy birthday, beautiful boy!" Hyunjin sweetly mutters. He gets cuteness aggression from how oblivious he is about his birthday and presses another kiss on his squishy cheek. Noticing that Felix just watching on the edge of the bed, Hyunjin outstretches his hand at him and says, "Come here, my baby."

Felix softly smiles and joins them on the bed with Aster lying in between him and Hyunjin. Hyunjin puts his hand over Aster to reach for Felix's hand and then laces them together.

"What should we do, baby?" Hyunjin asks him.

"What?" Felix asks in utter confusion.

"Our Aster is a big boy now," Hyunjin says with a faint, sad smile.

"And he'll keep on getting bigger," Felix says with a wistful sigh.

Birthday makes them realize how much time has flown and how time keeps slipping away from their fingers, and that's the thing about birthdays: realizing that everyone around you is getting older too.

It feels weird to come dressed so nicely, not that you didn't dress properly before but you wear this nice dress and you got your hair styled, you even put some make-up on.

You ring the bell even though you can just let yourself in like usual but you're a guest and this is how you come as a guest.

Through the window, you can see that Felix is coming to open the door and you hurriedly put on a smile.

"Oh, you're here!" He says with a delighted gasp, looking rather a little surprised to see you outside the door.

Felix doesn't hesitate to pull you into a hug. He pulls away the next moment and then takes a step back.

"And looking so gorgeous!" He takes your hand, lifting it in the air to give you a spin.

You can feel the genuineness in his compliment as his eyes shine in the same warmth as his words and your cheeks are heating, flustered from his words.

"Thank you, Felix," you say with a shy smile.

Another moment passes as he can't stop staring at you and he somehow snaps himself out of it, turning his head toward the house.

"Aster, bubba is here and she looks so pretty!" He announces to everyone inside the house.

You're getting even more embarrassed that he shouts it into the house and not long after, you can hear the sound of Aster's footsteps along with his squeals. He looks at you with eyes wide and gleaming like two clear marbles.

"Doesn't bubba look pretty?" Felix asks.

"Bubba pretty," Aster mumbles with a nod of agreement.

Even though he doesn't really understand what he's saying and only repeating his dad's words to you, his compliment tugs at your heartstrings.

"Thank you, cutie," you coo, squatting down to hug him.

You notice that Aster is already dressed as well and even has his shoes on, "What are you wearing Aster?"

He looks at his dad for help and you catch Felix mouthing the word to him, "Overalls," he mumbles.

"I think you look nice," you say, fixing his hair by combing it with your fingers.

"I'm cute," he says with a nod and a grin that shows his two bunny teeth, making you and Felix burst into laughter.

"You are cute," you compliment again and press a quick kiss on his fluffy, bouncy cheek, "Aster, the cutest."

You scoop him into your arms as you follow Felix walk further inside and see through the glass doors that the backyard is already decorated with colorful balloons, there's a tent and a bouncy castle with the theme of Aster's favorite cartoon characters.

"Oh, Aster, it really is your birthday," you coo as you give him a gentle pat on the head, slightly jealous that he is one lucky kid and not aware of it.

"Bubba is here!" Hyunjin beams from the second floor.

"Hi, Mr. Hwang," you playfully greet him, knowing he doesn't like to be addressed by that.

Hyunjin ignores it this time and descends the stairs with his loyal follower, Mandu, leading the way, "And looking stunning too!"

"You clean up pretty good as well, sir!" You compliment back with a grin.

"Stop flirting!" Felix jokingly says with his hands planted on each side of his waist, "Honey, I need you to take Aster because I need bubba in the kitchen."

"Alright," Hyunjin rushes to you and then takes Aster from you.

The birthday party has come to a peak in the afternoon, you don't even have to watch for Aster, he's having fun with the other kids playing inside the tent. The adults are having a blast as well, eating the food Felix has prepared and thoroughly enjoying it.

"I think I came at the right time," Jeongin says, catching you getting out of the house with a tray of food.

"Oh, hi!" You greet, keeping the tray steady in your hands, "Mini burgers?"

"Maybe later?" he kindly refuses.

Felix rushes to you and grabs you by the elbow, "Come on bub! Help me with the cake!"

He drags you into the house, not giving you a chance to say something to Jeongin before leaving.

As you and Felix bringing the cake out of the house with utmost care and cautiousness. Felix has outdone himself, he puts everything in him to make the best birthday cake for his dear son. You feel a little nervous with the fear of your foot stumbling at something haunting the back of your head.

Thankfully, Hyunjin has already gathered everyone and no child is running around that would cause the worst of your nightmare.

Aster gets excited the second the candles are lit and everyone is singing for him, he can't stay still Hyunjin has to hold him close to his chest.

"Happy birthday dear Aster!" Everyone shouts in unison right before he blows the candles along with his parents. "Yay!" Aster joyfully cheers and claps his hands together from successfully doing it in one try.

Everyone bursts into laughter seeing his reaction to it and you can see how loved and cherished he is by everyone around him. You're beyond happy for him but inside, you feel a little sentimental seeing how much he's grown and you took part in raising him, even if it's just a small part of it.

"Happy birthday, my little man," you wish him with a kiss on each of his cheeks and a tight, warm hug.

The kids take turns to get a piece of the birthday cake and run away once they get it. You secure a piece for Jeongin as an apology for not properly welcoming him to the party earlier.

"I saved you a piece," you playfully say as you hand him the plate.

"Thank you very much!" Jeongin beams a smile at you as he takes it.

"Unfortunately, we only serve apple juice but I'll try to get us something stronger," you offer, leaving him for a minute to get cans of soda from the fridge and rejoin him on the table.

"I appreciate it," he says, popping it open with one hand. "Cheers!" You both exclaim at the same time and then sip it.

The kids are nowhere close to tired from running and playing around the backyard which is the opposite of what the adults are feeling, you can see that their energies are slowly drained out just from watching the kids running and playing around.

"How do these kids have so much energy?" Jeongin asks in bewilderment, "Are you sure it's just apple juice?"

"I think one of those kids spiked it with Red Bull," you joke.

"Which one of them?"

"Mmh... let's see," you say, propping a hand under your chin as you watch the kids jumping into the bouncy castle, "I'm pretty sure it's that blonde kid with the bowl-cut hair."

"No," Jeongin disagrees, he points at the girl playing in the sandbox, "I think it's the girl with the space buns."

You burst into laughter and almost spill your drink holding it in.

"What?" He looks at you in confusion.

"How do you know they're called space buns?"

"Why? It's a piece of general knowledge," he defends himself then sips his drink again.

"Okay, yeah, sure," you nonchalantly say with a sly grin.

"Anyway, with the job offer..." Jeongin says as he puts his can on the table, "Does it mean that you'll quit babysitting Aster?"

The soda gets caught in your throat as you hear his question and you quickly clear your throat to answer him, "Yes."

Jeongin nods and looks at you, "Would you say yes if I asked you on a date? You know, hypothetically," he says with a quivering laugh.

"Oh..." you don't mean to drag your word and give him the impression that you're likely to reject him. It's not rejection when he knows the possibility of it continuing from one date to another is low.

"I would love to but it's just... it's not you, I swear, it's just..." you nervously say while fiddling with the lint on the hem of your dress.

"Bad timing?" Jeongin precisely guesses.

You stifle a nod, "I'm sorry," you mutter.

"Hey, no worries. I'll just meet you here under the thinly veiled that I'm the neighbor across the street," Jeongin playfully says with his dimpled smile, making you feel the slightest bit guilty about rejecting him.

It's a kid's birthday party so it ends before the day gets dark. Other than that, the birthday boy himself is tired from skipping his nap and falls asleep on Hyunjin's lap. Seeing that either Hyunjin or Felix has to send the guests off their way, you offer to take Aster inside and tuck him in for bed.

Aster must be so tired that he doesn't stir a bit as you wipe him clean with a damp towel and put him into his sleeping suit all while he's soundly sleeping.

"Sweet dreams, birthday boy," you softly mutter with a tender caress on his cheek.

You put Poppo next to him before quietly leaving the room, making your way back downstairs with a contented feeling from a day that ended well.

Unbeknownst to you, the day is not over yet.

"There she is!" Hyunjin beams from the base of the stairs.

"What? What's wrong?" You ask in confusion as you carefully walk down the stairs.

It's when you finally arrive downstairs and turn toward the kitchen you see Felix carrying another cake for you.

"I made another cake for you," Felix says with a smile.

The cake size is identical to Aster's birthday cake but it has a different color of icing, it's lilac with sugar pearls around it and there are candles on it too.

"Come here!" Felix says, putting the cake down on the dining table.

"Come on!" Hyunjin appears behind you and steers you by the shoulders to the dining table.

"Is it really for me?" You ask in disbelief.

"Yes, bub," Felix shortly answers as he's lighting the candles, "to celebrate you graduating soon!"

It's endearing that they're planning all this just to celebrate graduating and you're not even officially graduated yet. You feel so appreciated and cherished, more importantly, these people make you feel like you're a member of the family.

"This is so sweet," you coo, feeling so touched by the gesture.

"Shh... blow the candles," Felix says with a hand resting on the small of your back.

You treat it as a it's your own birthday, closing your eyes and making a wish, wishing it from deep within your heart, and as you blow the candles, you manifest it into the universe.

"Congratulations on graduating, bub!" Felix mutters with a smile and pulls you into a warm hug, then places a kiss on your cheek before letting go.

"Congratulations, bubba!" Hyunjin takes his turn to hug you, also placing a sweet kiss on your cheek.

"We actually have a gift for you to go with this but this man right here," Felix points at Hyunjin with a side eye, "forgot to pick it up."

"Oh, no, please, this is more than enough," you say with a grateful smile.

"Let's have a slice!" Felix hands you the knife but you can't bring yourself to cut it. Not only because it's too beautiful to eat, it means a lot more than just a cake.

You look at Felix and wince, "Can I at least take a few pictures first?"

Felix cracks a laugh, "Sure. It's your cake."

"I'll get us drinks," Hyunjin says, excusing himself to leave to get it, "Real drinks!"

The cake is sliced, the champagne is poured and well distributed, and the three of you kick off the after-party with a toast. After a sip of bubbly wine, you take a bite of the cake and gosh, it's just as delicious as it looks.

"Now, this feels like my birthday!" You jokingly say with a grin.

"So... what's the plan?" Felix hesitantly asks as he puts away his plate of cake.

"Pardon?"

"Your plan after graduating?"

You've been meaning to tell them but keep refraining yourself, you're afraid that you'll make them feel like you're betraying them but it has come the time to come clean.

"Not too long ago, I got this job offer from a firm in the city," you share.

"Oh?" Felix's voice drops as if he's hearing something that he doesn't want to hear.

This is why you hate to bear this news and as much as you hate to continue, you have to tell them the rest of it, "I'll move away to the city soon."

"We're so happy to hear that, bub," Hyunjin says with a big, exaggerated smile and pulls Felix close to his side.

"I'm sorry if this sounded so sudden. With Aster's birthday and everything, I just haven't had the chance to tell you until now," you explain, feeling the weight pressing on your chest.

After a while, Felix looks at you and smiles at you, "No need to worry bub. We're happy for you and we fully support you," he assures you but you can hear the sheer sadness lingering in his voice.

"I'm sorry," you say once again with utmost sincerity.

"Stop apologizing!" Felix scolds you and pulls you for another hug, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," you earnestly say as you hug him back.

"I mean, we still have two months before I leave," you add in an effort to cheer him up.

"For now, more champagne, please daddy?" Felix says, ordering Hyunjin to refill everyone's glasses with more wine.

As everyone moved on past the sentimental part of it, the private party continues and you've been secretly mustering up the courage to ask them something.

"Do you guys perhaps have a date night next week?" You shyly ask.

Felix looks at Hyunjin and sighs, "It depends on this guy right here," he says with yet another side eye.

"Why do you ask?" Hyunjin asks, elegantly cutting the cake with a fork.

"I want to join your date night," you bravely answer.

On a few occurrences, they asked if you wanted to join their date night and either they were joking or being serious, you felt bad for rejecting them. However this time, you dare to ask them because this is what you want.

"Well... we can arrange something for that," Felix says as he exchanges glances with Hyunjin.

Hyunjin repeatedly nods and holds his wine glass by its stem, "It'll be fun."

You pick up your wine glass and smile at both of them, then say, "Can't wait."

The last time you had a proper date was nearly two years ago and you forgot how intense it could be, you can't decide on which dress to wear or the make-up you put on is too much, or do you apply too much perfume? Every decision you have to make feels like life or death.

You can move past it by reminding yourself that both Hyunjin and Felix have seen you, they know what you look like on both good and bad days, and you're sure they will like you no matter what.

By the time you're ready, you take a look at yourself in the mirror and you're not going to lie, you like what you see and it gives you a boost of confidence.

"That's right. I look good, I have nothing to worry about," you say to the reflection in the mirror that looks back at you.

However, when your mum informs you that Hyunjin is outside to pick you up, the nerves come back and are stronger than before.

"I hope you don't mind we're borrowing her for the night," Hyunjin playfully says to your mum as he helps you get into the car.

"You can take her and not return it, I'll be fine with it," your mum says to him.

Your mum knows Hyunjin and Felix well because the babysitting job initially came to her before it got to you. For tonight, you told her that they're taking you on a dinner out to celebrate your graduation, and no other questions asked after that.

"Bye, Mum!" You say with a wave of hand.

Hyunjin gets into the car afterward and he immediately turns to look at you, "I obviously waited until I got in the car to say this but you look lovely tonight, bub," he sweetly compliments.

"Thank you," you say as you put on your safety belt.

It doesn't take long to get to their house and you feel nervous again, mostly because you came for a different reason. Not for work, but purely for pleasure.

One weekend every month, Aster stays with his grandparents per their requests which explains why he is very fond of them. It seems like they chose this weekend to send Aster to his grandparents.

"Felix has been keeping himself busy in the kitchen," Hyunjin mutters before opening the front door for you.

"Not less than I expected," you say.

It's no surprise that Felix is going over the top for tonight. It was supposed to be a simple dinner but he outdone himself by adding flowers and candles, shiny cutlery, and fancy wine glasses.

"Just in time!" Felix beams as soon as he sees you enter the house.

"Hi," you greet, unbuttoning your coat with one hand, and then Hyunjin helps take it off your shoulders.

"Is that really you, bub?" Felix exclaims, his eyes shine as he lays his eyes on you as if he's seeing something wondrous.

Flustered, you put your hands close to your side and avoid his eyes, "It's just a dress," you sheepishly say.

"Well, dinner is ready so please take a seat!" Felix says while coming around and getting behind the kitchen island.

Hyunjin does more actions than talking, he goes to the dining table and pulls a chair for you, "Please!" He says with an elegant wave of hand.

Not that they never treated you this nicely but still, it feels a little weird to be treated this way as if you're... special. Deep down, you know you like it, you're just not used to it.

Felix takes care of the food and Hyunjin takes care of the drinks, both of them insist you do not do anything except sit and enjoy the dinner.

The dinner is beyond anything you ever had, it's even better than the one you had at the finest restaurant. Maybe it feels that way before they're made by Felix and your palate is used to his cooking.

"Compliments to the chef!" You praise as you finish the last course of the dinner.

"I'm glad you liked it," Felix says with a smile.

"Liked it?" You ask in disbelief, "I loved it!"

As expected, Felix refuses your help to collect the dirty dishes and take them to the kitchen. He makes you wait on the sofa as Hyunjin goes to take a new bottle of wine.

"Now it's time for more wine!" Hyunjin announces when he returns, refilling everyone's glasses with white wine this time.

You often wonder what they do at a date night but it's far simpler than what you imagined, just talking in between sips of wine or bites of food, the only difference is the depth and the quality of the talk. The most interesting thing is getting to know them from a whole new perspective.

"Oh, we almost forgot!" Felix gasps as he's just remembered something.

He then glances at Hyunjin and says, "The gift!"

"Yep. Don't worry. I got it," Hyunjin assures him, sprinting to his suit jacket draped on the headrest of the sofa and taking something from the inner pocket, a small, velvety box.

Felix seems to be more excited than you, perhaps he's been anticipating to see your reaction to it. Hyunjin sits on the other side and pulls the lid open.

"We hope you like it," Felix softly says as he places his hand on your knee.

It's a bracelet and you assume it's white gold from how it glimmers under the light, it's dainty and has a small pendant that hangs like a little lucky charm.

"I love it!" You truthfully say with a suppressed squeal.

"Give me your wrist," Hyunjin gently orders and you obey him without questions, holding out your hand at him. You watch as he puts the bracelet around your wrist and clasps it together.

"There!" He says with a soft smile that makes his eyes form two crescents.

You take a moment to admire how it looks around your waist and how the shiny gold reflects the lights to your eyes, "It's beautiful. Thank you!" You sincerely say to both of them.

"You're very welcome, my love!" Felix says, putting his arm around your shoulder to pull you close.

Using the proximity to your advantage, you lean in and press a kiss on his lips. It catches him off guard that he's stiffened for a second and when it finally registered to him, he returns the kiss.

"Hey, what about me? I'm the one who picked up the gift," Hyunjin says, suddenly feeling left out.

"Thank you, Hyunjin," You say with a chuckle, purposely addressing him by his name to amuse him.

He doesn't wait for you to lean in, he puts his hand on your chin and turns your head his way, and then slowly, he leans in to kiss you.

The moment his lips melt on yours, all of your senses are going out of the window but one thing that your brain demands is more of that kiss and so Felix fulfills that for you, planting kisses on your neck.

A low moan escapes your mouth as you feel the softness of their lips leaving searing kisses on your exposed skin and their hands exploring your clothed body with utmost gentleness.

As you take a moment to breathe, Felix drags his lips to your neck while Hyunjin playfully nibbles on your ear with his teeth faintly tugging at it, it feels ticklish yet inexplicably arouses you.

"You smell really good, babe," Felix murmurs with his lips grazing the sensitive skin on the column of your throat.

Hyunjin captures your lips in a hungry kiss, not giving you a chance to respond to Felix's words. His hand trails the curve of your body and continues its way down south. Your legs reflexively pressed together as his hand inches closer to where the heat is but Felix halts it, catching his hand just before it gets to its destination.

"Let's take it to the bedroom first," Felix says to Hyunjin with his lips red, swollen, and wet.

It could be the wine or simply those kisses are so dizzying that you're staggering as you get on your feet. Fortunately, Hyunjin is quick to hold you and keeps you steady by putting his arm around your waist.

"Want to take a sobriety test first?" He jokingly asks.

"Oh, my God! It was just a bottle of wine," you answer with a sassy eye roll.

They choose the guest bedroom for two reasons, it's closer and it's where you usually sleep when you need to stay over. The lights are low, there are rose petals on the bed and on the other part of the room, Hyunjin lighting some candles to create an even more intimate ambiance in the room.

As you take it in, Felix hugs you from the back and then presses a soft kiss on your neck before resting his head on your shoulder.

"You know that you're our special girl, right?" He lowly speaks but with his deep voice, it feels as if he's speaking right through your soul.

"Our very own special girl," Hyunjin says as he gives you a rose.

You bring the flower close to your nose to inhale its sweet, distinct aroma and smile.

"I know," you answer.

A smile blooms on Hyunjin's angular face as he comes up to you and you think he's about to kiss you until he misses your lips to kiss Felix.

"You may be our special girl but my husband is the most special," Hyunjin says without the slightest bit of doubt.

You don't feel offended at all by that, if anything, you feel special just from being allowed to be a part of their relationship.

"That's fair," you say with a chuckle.

As he kisses Felix more, Hyunjin comes closer to hug his husband with you in between until there is no an inch left between your bodies. Instead of feeling jealous like you used to, you feel warm all over as if the love they have for each other seeps into you.

They can't seem to ignore you for long though, they put their attention on you again. Behind you, Felix swiftly pulls down the zipper of your dress and impatiently parts it open so he can place kisses on it while Hyunjin keeps your lips busy with his deep, hungry kisses.

It's all happening so fast that the next thing you know, the dress is off of your body and pooling around your ankle, and you're standing with just your underwear in between them.

Using his knuckles, Felix whimpers as he drags them down your spine, feeling how soft it feels under his touch, and gets the urge to explore more by unclasping your bra next.

"Ah..." you softly sigh as the bra is snapped open.

Felix pulls the straps down your shoulders and Hyunjin's eyes grow darker as the bra is finally off of you, exposing your soft mounds to him.

Felix's hands are the first to indulge in them, cupping them until the flesh molds into his hands. His fingers occasionally circling on your hardening buds and then he holds them up for Hyunjin to feast on.

"Take them in your mouth, love," Felix orders him.

Without words, Hyunjin obeys him, taking your breasts into his mouth in turns.

"Oh—" you suppress your moan as Felix pushes both of your breasts to the center so Hyunjin can take them both at once.

The sight of his plush lips wrapped around your nipples is arousing as it is but oh, it's seeing his slick, hot tongue twirling your nipples that make your eyes roll to the back, all the while Felix placing hot kisses all over your neck and shoulder.

Felix eventually let go of your breasts, he's gliding his hands down your sides and makes a trail of kisses down your spine, he doesn't stop until he's kneeling on the floor and starts kissing and sucking on the flesh on your ass cheeks.

"Oh, my God..." you heavily sigh, feeling overwhelmed with how many stimulations going on at once.

Hyunjin with his greedy mouth on your breasts and Felix with his ferocious bites on your ass, these two attractive people are feasting on your body and it's just the beginning.

A moment later, Hyunjin follows suit and goes down on you. You look down and watch as they're eating you from the front and back with their hands intertwined on the side of your thighs, it's romantic yet kinky as fuck.

Your underwear is drenched from both your essence and Hyunjin's saliva. Your eyes are fluttering open and shut. Your legs are trembling from the pleasure building up inside you.

Felix notices that you're getting unsteady and quickly puts his hands on your back

"Shall we take it to bed, mmh?" He doesn't wait for your answer but steers you to the bed, letting you sit on the edge of the bed.

Giving you a moment to gather your senses, Hyunjin and Felix are taking each other's clothes off with eyes locked in an intense gaze until there's nothing left but their heavenly bodies on show.

Your brain can't comprehend their beauty and their sculpted Greek God body. You can only watch in awe as their lips meet in a rapturous kiss and if you have to be honest, you can keep watching them making out in front of you for eternity.

After a moment though, you change your mind. You don't want to be a mere watcher, you want to get yourself in there and take part in it. You take the initiative to kneel in between them and take their hardening members in your hands. You begin by slowly stroking them at a steady pace and when you're ready, you take them into your mouth in turns.

At times, you bring their tips together and lick them together, taking as much as you can into your mouth.

"Such a good girl," Hyunjin murmurs with a pat on your head, seeing your mouth full of his cock and at the same time, pumping Felix's cock with your hand.

Felix looks down and puts his hand in your hair, "I told you. She's a fast learner," he says.

They decide that it's your turn next, they make you get back on the bed and lay on your back. With a sly smile on his face, Felix parted your legs open, making you feel more exposed than you already are.

"Just lay back, okay bub?" Felix says with a smile.

With his hand holding your leg by the ankle, he dives into your wetness and skillfully pleases you with his hot mouth. Doesn't want to feel left out, Hyunjin patiently waits for his turn to plant his mouth on you next. You glance down and see their heads hanging between your legs, their mouth glistening wet and their lips flushing red.

The pleasure keeps building up and you lose track of whose turn it is because they are as skillful and offering you the same amount of pleasure. They only stop when they deem you're already on the edge and then give you a moment to recollect your senses to get you ready for next.

Hyunjin and Felix lay on each side of you on the bed, lips locked, hands all over and skin brushes against the skin. They may have tuned it down a little but the tension keeps on rising.

"How are you so soft, mmh?" Hyunjin asks with his mouth only inches away from your ear and his hand gently pinching the squishy flesh on your stomach.

"Can't stop touching you, bub," he murmurs with his hand going down south to touch you on your delicate flesh, gently rubbing on your bundle of nerves until it blossoms under his touch.

Felix turns your head his way so he can kiss you, kisses you so deep that your body eventually molds against him and your back meets Hyunjin's chest.

"Oh, yes, baby," Hyunjin mutters, not sure if he's saying that to you or Felix, or both. One thing for sure is he's enjoying the view.

Hyunjin lays on his side and then lifts your back, drapes your upper leg the back, and over his hips, that way he can rub his cock in your wetness.

"Mmh... so wet," Hyunjin's voice is muffled as he speaks with his mouth pressed on your shoulder.

As he rubs his cock between your wet folds, you can feel every inch of his length, swollen and hot, so ready for you and at the same time, making you feel impatient to have it inside you.

You turn your head and bravely ask for what you want from him, "Want you inside," you say to his face.

Instead of looking surprised, Hyunjin shows a satisfied expression as if he's been waiting for you to say that. He hastily kisses your lips and keeps his face close to yours.

"Want it inside, huh?"

"Uh-huh," you answer with an eager nod.

"You heard the girl, babe," Felix says, leisurely laying on your side with a hand propped under his head.

Hyunjin softly laughs and presses you another haste kiss while his hand aims his cock into your entrance, teasing it for a little bit while lubing his length with your arousal.

"Ready to take me?" He asks with a wicked grin plastered on his face.

But that is just a rhetorical question, he doesn't need your answer to push his cock inside you to fulfill your wish.

"Oh..." you grip his forearm as he pushes more of him into you.

Next to you, Felix's eyes are centered on Hyunjin's cock, and watches it going into you little by little while slowly stroking his cock.

"You're always tight for me, bub," he murmurs.

Hyunjin abruptly stops pushing and places his hand on the dip of your waist. It seems like he's taking this moment for himself to calm himself down and take a breather.

After a while, he asks you, "More, yeah?"

"Yes, please," you say but it comes out more like a whine at how small and needy you sounded.

Hyunjin has no other intention but to give you what you want, putting the rest of his length into you in one quick push, making you jolt against his body and tightly grip his forearm your nails dug into the flesh.

"You feel so good I need a moment just to compose myself," Hyunjin mutters as he rests his hand across your chest.

However, a moment only lasts for a moment and Hyunjin begins thrusting into you from behind, setting a slow pace to give you more time to adjust to being inside each other.

Felix refuses to be a mere spectator, he turns and lays upside down next to you. He uses your thigh as a pillow as he lays on his back and puts his mouth on your clit, unbothered by the fact that Hyunjin's cock is deep inside you.

You also refuse to remain idle when Felix's cock is within kissing distance from yours, you prop your elbows against the mattress and lean in to put it into your mouth, you compensate the rest you can't take with your hand.

The three of you eventually move in sync and soon, the room is filled with all sorts of lewd noises, it's either the skin-slapping sounds of Hyunjin's thrusts, the slurping sounds of Felix licking on your clit or your mouth sloppily sucking on Felix's cock.

"Bub, I won't be able to stop if you keep clenching around me like that," Hyunjin warns through his gritted teeth.

The exceptional dynamic only lasts that long as you abruptly pull Felix's cock out of your mouth but keep your hand wrapped around his length, struggling between gasping for air or moaning out of pleasure.

Hyunjin slows his thrusts but he adds depth and intensity to it, launching his cock deeper into you and continuously hitting you right on the spot thus bringing you closer to your high.

"I'm so close, oh—" your moan gets cut off as Hyunjin thrusts slower but harder. Your hand flies to the back and gets caught in his silky locks.

"Why do you feel so good, oh fuck, I can't—" Hyunjin's voice breaks, also can't hold himself back anymore.

You feel faint the closer you get to your climax and completely lose it as you reach your high, your eyes screwed shut and your body stiffens and softens in the next second.

"Oh!" Hyunjin grunts with his open mouth planted on the nape of your neck, his breath feels hot on your skin. With eyes closed, he manages to find your lips and kisses them.

"I didn't mean to cum inside you, bub," he says against your lips, "I'm sorry."

If he didn't tell you, you wouldn't have noticed that his cock is still planted deep inside you, engorging and pulsating as it releases his seed, which explains the different kind of high you experienced just now.

You take a breath to be able to speak and nod, "That's okay."

"You just feel so good. I can't control myself," He openly admits.

"It's okay," you assure him.

He wraps his arms around you and holds you close, he buries his head in the crook of your neck, enveloping you both in a warm embrace.

When he's ready, he slowly pulls out of you and looks down to see his cum dripping out of you. So is Felix, his eyes widen at the sight of it that he takes a big gulp of air.

"Oh, I cum a lot," Hyunjin says, his hand tenderly rubbing your inner thigh.

"I got it, love," Felix says with an easy smile.

You're clueless as to what he meant by that until Felix leans in and licks Hyunjin's essence off of you, he then plants his mouth on your cunt and sucks deeper as if he tries to take as much Hyunjin's remnants out of you. You're already overstimulated as it is but that doesn't mean you stop receiving pleasure from it.

When he lifts his face, Felix's mouth and chin are glistening wet with mixed fluids, of your and Hyunjin's essence, and also his saliva.

"That's better," Felix says with a satisfied smile.

Hyunjin smiles before pressing a haste kiss on his lips and cleaning his mouth and chin in kitten licks.

"More wine?" Hyunjin offers out of the blue.

After all of that, you think it's the right time to take a break and have some wine to quench your thirst from the cardio and constant moaning.

"Yes, please," you breathlessly respond as you lay on your back, exhausted.

Hyunjin has no problems walking out of the room fully naked to get a bottle of wine. You and Felix wait on the bed, lying next to each other, also naked.

"You know what? We should have asked the cute neighbor to join us," Felix shares all of a sudden.

"What's with this random thought?" You ask in disbelief, hugging a pillow close to your chest.

"I don't know. It just crossed my head," Felix innocently says.

"Don't tell me you've been thinking of another guy as we were doing it?" You say with a look of disbelief.

"Uhm... maybe," He jokingly answers.

You gently slap his chest and you don't expect his chest muscles to be that firm.

"Get it together!" You scold him.

"What did I miss?" Hyunjin returns with a bottle of wine in hand and glasses in the other.

"Bubba is surprisingly into BDSM," Felix jokingly responds.

"No!" You hastily deny and land another slap on his chest.

"See?" Felix rants with a low laugh.

Hyunjin carefully pours wine into each glass, not wanting to spill a drop on the bed and as usual, everyone has a toast to finally take a sip of it.

"Bub, I must say, you improved a lot," Hyunjin compliments.

"What is that supposed to mean?" You say, slightly embarrassed by it.

"That's true. You're more confident and more responsive, also intuitive," Felix comments.

"I get the impression that you guys are evaluating my performance..." your words trail off as you look at them in the eyes, first at Felix then at Hyunjin.

"Because we are," Hyunjin jokes then sips his wine.

"Don't worry, bub. You did so well!" Felix says with a thumbs-up.

Not going to lie, you feel a boost of confidence hearing that you feel like you accomplished something that you didn't know you were trying to achieve in the first place. Maybe it's because you care about them so much that their opinions matter to you, no matter what they are about.

However, there's one more thing you try to accomplish tonight.

First, you finish your second round of wine and put the glass away. The alcohol helps you to loosen up and gives you the courage to ask.

"Can I be on top next?"

The question seems to shock Hyunjin more than it does to Felix, he forces swallow his drink and gasps for air.

"Are you saying you want to do it again? Right away?" Hyunjin asks in disbelief while Felix is slyly smiling at you.

"Why? Are you tired?" You say in a mocking tone.

Felix bursts out laughing and rolls over to lay on his stomach, "Ooh... who is this girl?"

"I don't know but, love..." Hyunjin pauses to turn his head toward Felix, "I think we found our match."

It's not easy as you thought but you asked for it.

Fortunately, both Felix and Hyunjin have been nothing but letting you do anything as you please. They don't mind being ordered around by you.

"Ooh... I really like the view," Felix says as you get on top of him.

He's seen you naked a couple of times but it only takes Felix one compliment to make you flustered.

"Come. Bring it in!" He says, holding up his arms at you and asking for a kiss.

You give it to him, lowering yourself until your lips meet in a kiss that somehow feels a lot more intimate than the previous ones you shared.

It's your first time being on top which also makes you the one with more control. You feel nervous because what if you're doing it wrong? What if he doesn't enjoy it? What if, what if, what if...

As if he heard it, Felix tenderly caresses your cheek and brushes your hair away from your face, "Just enjoy yourself and know that I'll be enjoying it no matter what," he comforts you.

"Yes," you say with a smile.

Felix's makes its way down to tease you, making you drenched once more to get you ready for him. He doesn't need to do much for that, you're already aroused from how he kisses you so hard but gentle at the same time.

When it comes to the time, you take a deep breath and lift off of him. You give his cock a few slow pumps before aligning it with your entrance.

"Need help with that?" Hyunjin appears from behind you, he checks whether you're aiming it right then places his hands on each side of your waist.

"Now, slowly lower yourself down," he further instructed.

You nod and follow his instruction, lowering yourself down and feeling the tip of Felix's cock enters you. You sigh as you need to take the rest to continue.

"Yes, bub, keep going," Felix encourages, enjoying both the view and the tightness that wrapped around him.

Hyunjin watches from over your shoulder and at times, mutters sweet nothings into your ear.

"Keep going, bub."

"You feel that? Feel how hard he is inside you?"

"Oh, if only you know how good you feel."

Hyunjin shifts his attention to his husband who's lying underneath you, "She feels fucking good, mmh?"

"Oh... so good!" Felix answers without a beat.

Here's the tricky part, you can't decide whether you should bouncing on his cock or rocking your hips back and forth. Again, this is your first time being on top, everything is new to you and you don't know which Felix prefers.

However, you remember what Felix said and remind yourself that all you need to do is enjoy yourself. You let go of inhibitions and insecurities, stop thinking altogether, and start doing.

You move by instinct whichever you feel would bring you the most pleasure and put your mind into it, relax and breathe, and enjoy yourself.

"You're getting too good at it," Felix says with an overwhelmed sigh. He takes your hands and laces them together, letting them be your support as you roll your hips back and forth at a steady pace.

Hyunjin's hands are all over you, kneading your breasts and touching your soft skin. His lips find solace in the crook of your neck, kissing, muttering sweet nothings, or simply just planting his luscious lips there.

You're doing whatever it is that makes you feel good, you change the pace and alternate between rocking or pulsating your hips. You're so into it that you're not noticing how Felix keeps himself quiet anymore, he lets them spill out of his mouth, filling the room with his deep, raw groans.

"You're close, mmh?" Hyunjin asks, squeezing on your breasts and then gently pinches your nipple.

Not sure if he needs your answer or not, but you know he knows.

"No need to hold yourself back, my darling," Hyunjin whispers in the softest tone that feels like a quick gust of wind.

No one tells you that it's going to be this exhausting but damn, you want to keep going and you won't stop until you reach your high.

Hyunjin comes to your aid, guiding your movement, and firmly grips your waist to regain your rhythm as it begins to turn sloppy.

Deep down, you feel selfish for getting yourself closer to your high instead of your partner but you can't help yourself. Your body wants what it wants.

"I'm close, I'm close," you repeatedly say in a mix of a moan and a cry your brain is too foggy to tell the difference.

"Keep going, bub, keep going!" Hyunjin says, giving up on guiding you as you suddenly pick up the pace and go impossibly fast.

"Oh!" You cry out loud, reaching your high that feels more intense than the previous.

You collapse onto Felix and he immediately holds you close while keeping his hips bucking into you to finish it. He doesn't even say anything but turns into a moaning mess as he cum inside you.

The second your head hits the pillow, you mean to rest your eyes for a moment only to fall asleep, blacked out for the rest of the night.

The next morning, you find yourself snuggling close to Hyunjin.

It doesn't hit you yet that you're sleeping over at their place and sharing the bed with the owners, oh wait, you turn your head to the side to find Felix's space is empty. He's always been an early bird and is probably busy making breakfast in the kitchen.

You turn your head back at Hyunjin and you realize this is the first time you see him up close, you can see the faint mole under his eyes and the shade of red his lips are. There's only one conclusion: Hyunjin is inarguably beautiful.

As if he senses your observant eyes, Hyunjin steers in his sleep, and knowing how horrible you look right now, you don't want to be the first thing he sees in the morning so you pull the duvet higher, covering half of your face with it.

He forces his eyes open and smiles when he sees you, "Morning," he says with his voice deeper than usual.

"Morning," you meekly say back.

"Where's Felix?"

"I'm pretty sure he's in the kitchen," you answer.

"As expected," he says with a sleepy smile.

Unconsciously, you find yourself staring at him again as he brushes his soft locks to the back and then puts his arm above his head, showcasing his bulging biceps. Unintentionally or not, you enjoy the morning view.

"Stop staring, creep!" He playfully says with a sly smile.

"I'm just curious," you say, still covering your face with the duvet, "Are you always waking up looking this good?"

The question remains unanswered, Hyunjin refuses to answer until he has his first sip of morning coffee and you feel inexplicably hungry, famished even.

"Don't forget your morning after," Felix reminds you, putting the pill and a glass of water in front of you.

"Thank you," you waste no time to take it.

The breakfast is quiet, maybe because everyone is just as famished as you or maybe the caffeine is not kicking in yet, either way, you're enjoying this kind of silence, it's nice and comfortable, the kind that doesn't conjure any questions.

"What time are we going to pick up Aster?" Felix asks as he spreads butter on his toast.

"I don't know. Eleven?" Hyunjin doubtfully answers while holding his mug of coffee with both hands.

"The weather is nice. We should have lunch out," Felix suggests as he puts the buttered toast on your plate, "Do you have any plans for today, lovely?"

"Me?" You ask for confirmation as your brain hasn't fully functioning yet, "I have to drive my mum to her dentist appointment."

"Oh, I was hoping you could join us today," Felix says with sheer disappointment.

You may have spent the night with them and had a date night with them, but you're not ready to cross certain boundaries yet. After all, they're married and at times, you have to remember your place, because you promised yourself not to ruin this precious thing they have. You love this family so much as your own that you get the urge to protect it, including from yourself.

"Maybe next time," you kindly refuse.

"How about next week?" Felix asks, tilting your head and slyly smiling at you.

"What about next week?" You ask in confusion.

Felix loops his fingers around the handle of his coffee mug, "Want to go on another date night with us?"

Okay but for this one? You have to take a moment to consider it but if you have to be honest, it's just too good of an opportunity to pass.

Hyunjin flashes a smile your way and lifts his coffee mug close to his lips, "Same time, next week?"

Last night was fun, last night was thrilling and exciting, and damn it, you crave the rush of it already. Surely, you want to do it all over again so you smile back at him and say, "Same time, next week."

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serpentandlily · 3 months

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Lost in a Labyrinth - Azriel x Reader

Lost in a Labyrinth Part III - Azriel x Reader

Summary: Lonely and heartbroken after his near kiss with Elain, Azriel finds himself at the door to the most exclusive pleasure house in Hewn City, The Labyrinth, taking Rhysand’s cruel advice. What he expected to find was a pretty girl to warm a bed with him for a single night. But instead he finds something he never thought existed—his mate. A mate that is tangled up in something far more sinister than he could ever imagine.

Warnings: angst angst angst

➻❥ Part I ➻❥ Part II

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Part III

and when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun. - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

The First Attempt

Poison was probably the easiest and cleanest way to kill somebody. It involved very little effort on your part, just a slip of the hand to pour the poison into their drink when they weren't looking. It usually didn't involve blood or puke unless you got one of the nastier poisons, which you never did anyways. Some of the girls were more sadistic though and well, you couldn't blame them for it.

But while it was the simplest method of killing someone, it was probably one of the harder ones to pull off. First, faeries had very good senses, especially when it came to smell. One sniff of their drink could expose the poison in it, unless you were able to get your hands on one of the odorless ones. Those were more expensive though and Lydia and Keir certainly weren't willing to fund you guys besides your nightly rate from your clients.

However, when you had made a trip to the apothecary in the underbelly of Hewn City, you had begrudgingly forked over the money for one of those clear, odorless poisons. There was no way anything else would get past Azriel and his shadows.

Your heart ached in your chest as you stared at the decanter of whiskey sitting on the bar cart in your pleasure room. Azriel had been kind to you. He had offered you some mercy by buying out your nights and not returning until that fateful meeting at the party. And while he clearly liked being more dominant while bedding you, his touch had been gentle, soft. No one had ever shown you such care and here you were, plotting out his murder.

But you simply had to do this. Freedom was only one dead body away for you. One more hit and you could finally wash your hands of this place, disappear to another court—perhaps one that would allow you to bathe in the sunlight for the rest of your days, something the citizens of Hewn City had never really experienced.

Kill Azriel.

Kill the shadowsinger and you'll be free to go.

Those had been Keir's exact words.

You had killed before. There was a time when your finger was covered in black lines, a new one added every time you didn't have enough money to pay the house fee or enough for food and had to borrow from Lydia. One every time you failed to perform for a client, no matter what they asked of you. But now you were down to one last mark.

One for the Shadowsinger.

One for Azriel.

You let out a sigh, sitting down at your vanity to brush your hair. Azriel was due to show up any moment now. Ever since that night at the party, he had been coming by at this time every single night. He would buy out all the nights Lydia would allow him to before showing up.

He never even made it seem like he expected sex on any given night. Sometimes the two of you would just cuddle in bed, whispering stories to each other about your lives. Sometimes he would come all tense and frustrated with whatever the High Lord had demanded of him. On those nights you would offer to give him a massage and listen to him complain about how much he hated his work. It seemed like the two of you had that in common, at the very least.

You hadn't made any attempts yet. You told yourself it was because you were planning out the best way to kill Azriel. Poison, knives, strangling. There were a multitude of ways to do it. But you knew deep down what the true reason was. You had grown fond of the Shadowsinger. You didn't want to kill him.

But your wants and needs had never really ever agreed with each other your whole life.

So here you were. Waiting for Azriel to come so you could poison him and be done with this Gods awful place. You wanted out of the labyrinth and unfortunately, this was the only way.

No matter how much you liked Azriel, he was the one standing in the way of your freedom.

You saw his shadows before him. They seeped underneath the door to your room like smoke. Your heart skipped a beat at the sight of them before pure dread washed over you.

Kill Azriel.

Kill him.

A gentle knock on your door was heard before it was pushed open and the Shadowsinger stepped through the threshold, his beautiful face illuminated by the candlelight. His hazel eyes searched the room until they landed on you and you watched as they lit up ever so slightly—the most emotion he would allow himself to show.

You set your brush down and stood to face him. Azriel stalked forward and by his body language alone, you knew the sort of mood he was in. You braced yourself on the vanity behind you as he came to a halt in front of you, tilting your head up to stare at his lethal and devastatingly beautiful face.

He didn’t speak as he grabbed your face in his hands and kissed you with a frenzy that lit your body on fire. You returned the passion, stringing your arms around his neck to pull yourself closer to him. His presence washed over you like a tempestuous storm, all encompassing. You lost yourself in it—in him.

You had never felt so taken by someone before. But being with Azriel was just so easy. He was a breath of fresh air in this otherwise suffocating labyrinth.

He pulled away all too soon.

You opened your eyes, heart pounding in your chest. “What was that for?”

“I missed you,” he murmured, voice hoarse.

You smiled up at him. “You saw me last night, silly.”

“And yet still I miss you the moment I leave.” He buried his face in the crook of your neck and your hands slid into his dark hair. He exhaled a breath that kissed the sensitive skin of your throat.

You didn’t want to say it out loud, but you felt the same way. Every second apart from Azriel felt like a lifetime. You gently raked your nails over his scalp and you felt his body loosen in your hold, finally relaxing.

Your eyes fell on the decanter of whiskey sitting on the bar cart. So unassuming. So ordinary. But it held your freedom. You swallowed harshly as Azriel pulled away from you

“Go sit,” you said to him, nudging him in the direction of the couch. “I’ll get you something to drink.”

You watched him take a seat as you moved over to the bar cart. You picked up a whiskey glass, not even realizing how much your hands were shaking until you did so. You quickly set it back down on the cart, taking a deep breath.

You could do this.

All you had to do was just pour him a drink. Just one drink. That’s all it would take. One drink and he’d be dead within the hour. He’d be dead and your bargain with Keir would be over. You would be free.

“I need to make a trip back to Velaris before it gets too late.” Azriel’s voice caused you to jump, almost knocking over the whole cart. “I have to give my mission report to Rhys before the day is over.”

“You mean you haven’t gone to see the High Lord before coming here?”

“No,” Azriel answered. “I…I just wanted to see you first.”

Your heart snapped into a million pieces in your chest. You frowned, staring at the back of his head. You could hear the hesitation in his voice—could feel how much it had taken out of him to admit that. Azriel wasn’t very forthcoming, so to blatantly confess something like that…

Fuck, you couldn’t do this. Not like this. You couldn’t kill him like a Godsdamn coward.

You grabbed the decanter and dropped it on the floor, watching it smash into a million pieces just like your heart had. The whiskey splattered on the ground, soaking into the carpet. Azriel whipped around at the noise, eyebrows high.

You turned red and stuttered out, “Oops. I-It slipped right out of my hand.”

He chuckled, the sound deep and rich. You quickly looked away, your heart pounding in your chest. You had been minutes away from killing him. Tears lined your eyes as you knelt down to start picking up the glass shards. Azriel was at your side in a second, grasping your elbow and pulling you up off the ground.

“Don’t touch it. You’ll cut yourself,” he murmured. “Let me take care of it.”

His care, his concern, it only made you feel so much worse. You sucked in a breath of air, trying to blink away the tears.

“Hey, hey,” he whispered, grasping your face with his scarred hands. He lightly stroked your cheeks with his thumb. “What’s wrong?”

You stared up at him, into his devastating hazel eyes. “Why are you so kind to me?” Your voice cracked, your throat hoarse as you held back your cries. “I have done nothing to earn your care.”

“Earn my care? Angel, you don’t have to do anything to earn my care. I care for you because…because,” Azriel paused for a moment, almost like he was debating something. “Because you allow me an escape from my duties—from my incredibly lonely life. When I’m with you, I don’t think about anything else. There is nothing you need to do for me. Just allowing me to see you—to be with you—that is enough.”

“Azriel, I….” You wanted to tell him everything. Wanted to tell him about your bargain with Keir—about the steward’s demand that you kill him. But the words wouldn’t come out of your mouth. “I just wanted to help you relax and I’ve already messed it up. I’m sorry. Let me go down to the cellar to get another bottle—”

“I don’t need alcohol to relax. I just need you, angel.”

You were speechless. So utterly speechless. Any words you might’ve said got caught in your throat. All you could do was stare up at him—up at this beautiful male who had shown you he was nothing like the reputation that followed him around. He was gentle, kind, and so much better than anyone you’d ever met in this wretched city. He deserved so much more than this, so much more than you.

“Okay?” Azriel said, knocking you out of your thoughts.

You nodded your head, swallowing down your cries.

“Okay,” you murmured back.

Tonight you’d give him what he wanted. It was the least you could do.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Azriel flew back to Velaris feeling lighter than he had in decades. It was probably irresponsible that he had gone to see his mate before giving his High Lord his mission report, but he had needed to see her. To feel her in his arms after the day he had in the Illyrian mountains.

Tonight had been a blessing. She always took care of him like she knew exactly what he needed. And tonight he had just needed to hold her. She had talked him into a massage, her hands magic against his skin and muscles and then they had just laid together, talking about everything and nothing.

He felt more rested than he would have if he had tried to go to sleep. He felt refreshed, buoyant—like he could take on anything that was thrown his way as long as he had his angel to return to.

It was nearing six in the morning now and he knew Rhys would be awake, usually tending to Nyx while Feyre got some desperately needed rest. He landed with a small thud in front of the River House and quietly made his way inside. He paused as his shadows whispered to him that Rhys was waiting in his office—no babe in sight.

When he opened the door to the office, Rhys was indeed waiting for him—arms crossed and his brows furrowed. Azriel quietly closed the door behind him, pulling out his report from the shadow realm and setting it on the desk in front of his High Lord. Rhys glanced down at it for a second before looking back at him.

“Azriel,” Rhys said, “Where have you been all night? I’ve been trying to reach you but your mental shields were up.”

Azriel cleared his throat before answering. “I had a matter to attend to before I came here.”

He kept his voice devoid of any emotion. He didn’t want anyone to find out about her yet—his angel. She was his for now. His secret, his love, his mate.

Rhys raised an eyebrow at him, nostrils flaring. “Is this matter the reason why you smell of cheap perfume and aphrodisiacs?”

Azriel shrugged, nonchalantly. “This matter is none of your business.”

“Am I wrong to assume that your scent means that you’ve taken my advice?”

A muscle in Azriel’s jaw twitched but he refrained from speaking in anger. “Everything you need to know about the mission is in that report,” he said, nodding towards the file on Rhys’s desk. “If that is all, I will take my leave.”

Rhys frowned. “No, that is not all. Please, sit, Azriel. I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Azriel begrudgingly sat in the armchair in front of Rhys’s desk. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and get ready to see his angel again in a few hours. He’d once again bought out all her time slots, leaving her with no clients other than himself. Meanwhile, he tried every night to convince her to leave with him, to return with him to Velaris. But something was holding her back…or perhaps she didn’t feel for him the way he did for her.

That was a depressing thought that he frequently lingered on.

“What is it?” Azriel asked, wanting to get this conversation over with.

Rhys rubbed his jaw, his striking violet eyes assessing Azriel. “I’ve been meaning to apologize for the way I spoke to you on Solstice Night. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t angry when I saw you and Elain together, so ready to make your…affections known in plain sight—especially when she has yet to reject the bond with Lucien. But I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did.”

Azriel tensed in his chair at the memory of that night—at the cruel words Rhys had thrown his way. But unlike before, no hurt came from the memory. No hurt, no longing, no despair. Nothing. Instead, where that hole had been in his chest before was now filled with thoughts and longing for his angel…his sweet mate.

“It’s fine,” Azriel replied, stiffly. “You did the right thing. It would have been a political nightmare had Lucien seen us.”

Rhys nodded. “It would’ve. Especially with how many ties he has to other courts—other courts we’re still trying to repair our reputation with. But I treated you like one of my subjects that night and not like a friend. It wasn’t just Lucien I was thinking of, but you too, Azriel. I don’t want to see you hurt if you give your all to Elain and she decides to pursue the bond further down in the line.”

“It wasn’t your choice to make. It was mine,” Azriel can’t help but say. To his surprise, Rhys nodded his agreement.

“You're right. It is not my choice nor is it my life to live,” Rhys said. “Which is why I’ve decided to rescind my orders for you to stay away from her. I just ask that if you two do pursue something together, please use discretion—especially when Lucien is around. At least until she fully rejects the bond or tells him of her own affairs. Is that reasonable enough?”

Azriel stood from his seat. “I appreciate the apology, Rhys. But everything else is not needed. I have no plans to pursue Elain or court her. Is that all?”

Rhys stood as well, his jaw flexing. “So I was right, then? You were willing to throw away our relations with other courts for a female you have no interest in months later? Azriel, I can’t even speak to how irresponsible that would’ve been.”

“Well, nothing happened. You intervened at the right moment,” Azriel said, coldly.

Rhys studied him again. “No, that isn’t like you, Az. Something else has happened. Does this have anything to do with that female you had hanging off you in Hewn City? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with a prostitute of all people now.”

Anger striked through Azriel like lightning.

“Watch how you speak about her,” he snarled, hands flexing.

Rhys gaped at him with a disbelieving look. “Godsdamnit, Azriel. Are you that desperate for love that you have truly fallen for someone you’re paying to be in your company?”

“If you are truly my brother,” Azriel growled. “If you truly have my best interest in mind, then you will drop this now. I don’t need your advice or your concern.”

“Of course I have your best interests in mind! But, Azriel, this is lunacy. I don’t know what that female has told you, but she only cares for your money. If you had any sense, you’d put a stop to this—”

Azriel lunged forward, slamming his hands on Rhys’s desk, shadows spiraling around him.

“I said,” he snapped, bearing his teeth, his voice as cold as ice. “Watch how you speak about her.”

Rhys’s mouth dropped open in shock and before he could say anything else, Azriel disappeared in a flurry of shadows. He needed to leave, far too tempted to rearrange Rhys’s face with his fists. So he let his shadows take him somewhere else he knew he could let off steam—the training ring.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

The Second Attempt

Azriel was laying next to you, fast asleep. Even his shadows had rescinded to the dark corners of the room, content to leave their master in your hands. The hands that were currently holding a dagger, shaking as you straddled his sleeping body.

Why was this so hard?

You had killed plenty of males like this before.

But as you stared down at Azriel’s beautifully peaceful face, something ached terribly in your chest. He looked so much more boyish when he slept. His dark hair tousled, his large wings relaxed, the harsh lines of his face smoothed out.

The room was dark except for the singular candle on your nightstand, half illuminating his handsome face. He was nude from the waist up, his swirling Illyrian tattoos on display—tattoos you often traced over as the two of you laid in bed together.

It had taken a while for Azriel to actually fall asleep in your presence. The first few times he had spent the night, you had woken up to him holding you in his arms, staring at you as though you were his entire world—like nothing else mattered in that moment but you. It had caused your heart to flutter and ache.

But now here he was, asleep. A sign that he trusted you now. Trusted that he could sleep and not have to be vigilant. And he looked so vulnerable like this. Gentle and soft. Nowhere was the usual foreboding and threatening aura that followed him around.

So vulnerable.

So unassuming.

So clueless that you were currently straddling him with a dagger held above your head, ready to strike.

You blinked as you felt watchful eyes on you, freezing. His shadows had meandered out of the dark recesses of the room, slowly crawling your way—like they were giving you the opportunity to stop this yourself before they intervened.

You let out a deep breath and lowered your arms.

Poisoning him had been a coward’s move and so was killing him in his slumber. If his shadows had any sense, they’d strangle you right here and now. You fell off of him, laying back down at his side. The shadows rescinded, the threat gone in their eyes.

But as long as your freedom was dependent on Azriel’s life, he would always be in danger around you. No matter how much you wished to not hurt him. No matter what you felt for him.

Azriel had to die.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Azriel had never felt happiness like this before you. Not truly. He hadn’t even known it, hadn’t known that this was something he could feel. But here he was, his heart full and his mind at peace. There was only one thing that could make this better than it was.

He ghosted his scarred fingers over your bare back, lightly touching your soft skin. You were laying on your stomach next to him, nude except for the silk sheets pulled to your waist.

His lips twitched as you let out a tiny noise of satisfaction at his touch, turning your head on your folded hands so you could stare up at him.

He would never tire of staring at you—at your beautiful, serene face. Your alias made perfect sense. Serenity. That was what you made him feel. Though he felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of how many other males might’ve felt like this around you.

The only solace he had now was making sure that you were his from now on. He didn’t care how much money he had to spend to keep you occupied with him. So long as it meant you’d be his angel and no one else’s.

You smiled up at him and the sight was so breathtaking, he lost his train of thought.

“What are you thinking about?” You asked in that sweet voice that melted his ice cold heart.

“You,” Azriel replied, honestly.

You scrunched your nose at him, your smile growing. He trailed a finger down the slope of it, watching your eyes flutter at his soft touch.

“That’s what you always say.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “It’s the truth.”

“You're sweet,” you teased, making him chuckle.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever described me as sweet, Angel.”

It was your turn to shrug a shoulder. “You’re sweet to me.”

“You’re special,” he said, so genuinely that it made your heart skip a beat.

“Am I?”

“Yes,” he said, brushing your hair off your back and over your shoulder. “Of course you are.”

You closed your eyes with a hum, content as he began to trace lines down your back again.

“Can I ask you something?”

Your eyes flew open, brows furrowing. You gave him a small nod, curiously.

“Do you…” he trailed off for a second, his voice lacking the sureness it had a moment ago. “Do you…feel this—this thing between us the way I do?”

“Azriel,” you warned, making his hand pause on your back. This was a topic you tried to stray away from with clients. You weren’t supposed to develop true feelings for any of them and you hadn’t. Not until…

“I know, I know,” he said quickly. “I understand your line of work. But I…I can’t help what I feel, Angel. Tell me you feel it too.”

You frowned, a nasty feeling coiling in your gut. It should be easy to say no. But that wouldn’t be the truth, would it? No, the truth was you did feel it—that fiery energy between the two of you. Azriel was different. He didn’t feel like a client. He called you by your real name, knew personal details about your life. All things you had shared for some unknown reason.

All you knew was that you had wanted to share those things with him so you did. You wanted Azriel in a way you’d never wanted anyone else. You wanted to know him, craved his presence when he was gone, loved being with him like this.

The line between the two of you was so blurred, you weren’t sure it had ever existed in the first place.

You looked back up at him, your eyes conveying the things you couldn’t yet say out loud. Because you couldn’t let yourself feel like this.

But Azriel stared back at you, knowingly, like he could read everything you had spelled out in your mind. “You don’t have to say it, Angel. I just need to know.”

You rolled onto your back, letting out a sigh. “Azriel, we can’t—”

“Why not?” He cut in. “Why not, Angel? If you…if you feel something for me then please, take me up on my offer. Let me take you to Velaris. You don’t even have to live with me. I can buy you your own apartment and anything you need. You’d never have to work again. I could take care of you, Angel, the way you deserve to be taken care of.”

And what a life that would be. Free of this place, of this gods awful city. Free to live with Azriel. Free to do as you please. Free to bask under the sun, to see the stars in all their glory—no longer buried under this mountain.

But it wasn’t possible. It was a dream and only a dream. So long as that mark was still on your finger, this was all you could offer him before he’d meet his demise.

“Azriel, I can’t,” you murmured. “You know this.”

“But why? Whatever reason or worry you have, tell me. I can’t stand leaving you here day and night. I can’t stand the thought of another having you.”

You rose from the bed, hiding your face from his sight so he didn’t see the tears lining your eyes. You quickly shrugged on a night gown, hugging yourself as you lingered by your dresser.

You didn’t want to talk about this. You didn’t want to confront this head on. You couldn’t. Just like your other dreams, it would never come true for you.

Azriel sighed, running a hand through his hair. He knew he had pushed too far but he couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry. I’ll drop it just please come back to bed.”

You squeezed your eyes shut. You should kick him out, send him home. You should tell him to never come back even if it meant you’d be stuck in this place forever without his death on your hands.

“Please,” he whispered. “Come back.”

The pure desperation in his voice had you folding. You laid back down next to him, let him take you in his strong arms once again.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

The Third Attempt

It had taken at least twenty minutes for you to lug Azriel off the bed and into the chair that you dragged into the center of the room. The faebane laced sleep draught had done its part in this scheme. Azriel had been knocked out, his shadows nowhere to be seen.

And now you were tying him to the chair with some strong rope, in knots you knew he wouldn't be able to undo.

Another week had gone by with no attempts on his life due in part to your growing feelings for the shadowsinger. But a visit from Keir had you snapping out of whatever hold Azriel had on you. You needed to do this. You needed to kill him and put an end to this. It wasn't fair, it was never going to be fair but it had to happen.

Out of all the males you had killed, you knew this was the only one that would linger with you for the rest of your life. But it was a necessary sacrifice if it meant you could not only leave this awful city but this Labyrinth too.

You decided you weren't going to be a coward about this. Azriel deserved to be looked in the eyes as you killed him, otherwise the shame might just eat you alive. It would be so much easier to just try and poison him again but you knew this was the only way it would get done. Maybe you could explain it to him, maybe he would understand.

Hell, part of you was hoping he'd fight his way from the binds and end your life himself. Would that be a better outcome to this mess?

You were still debating that.

For now you leaned against the wall, fiddling with your dagger as you waited for him to wake up. You had spent all last night making sure he was happy—content. You had given him everything. Your body, your heart, your mind. It would be your last gift to him.

But your freedom was hanging in the air between the two of you and that far outweighed anything else. You had been lost in this labyrinth for far too long. It was time for you to finally find your way out. Unfortunately, your way out was through th—killing the one male who had made you feel things you'd never thought you would.

"A-Angel?"

Azriel's hoarse voice made you stand up straight, your gaze falling on him tied to the chair. He blinked a few times, still a bit drowsy from the draught. You watched as he slowly realized his predicament, that he was tied up and without his shadows. He yanked at the binds that had his arms held behind his back, strung up to the chair.

"Angel," he repeated, finally catching sight of you, "What...what is this? Why...why am I tied up?"

You stalked forward and he noticed the dagger you held in your hand. His eyes went wide with alarm and he stared up at you in disbelief. He tried to yank himself free again, making the wood of the chair groan.

“What are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to do this,” you started with a sigh.

Azriel stopped his struggling, raising an eyebrow at you. “Do what?”

“Kill you,” you said, bluntly.

Azriel was silent for a moment before he burst into laughter. Your brows furrowed in confusion at his reaction. Normally this was when males started demanding you untie them or pleading for their lives depending on how much pride they had.

“What’s so funny?” You snapped, taking a step closer to him.

Azriel shook his head, his laughter fading. “You’re not going to kill me.”

You frowned. “I am. I have to.”

Azriel leaned back in the chair, his wings held out proudly. He had completely ceased his struggling, all the alarm gone from his eyes. “And pray tell, Angel, why do you have to kill me?”

“It doesn’t matter,” you answered quickly, trying to regain your composure. “Not to you anyways.”

“Well, seeing as I am the one about to die,” Azriel remarked, so nonchalantly, “then I think it does matter.”

He smirked at you, furthering your confusion. Why was he acting so…so calm?! You narrowed your eyes at him, closing the distance between the two of you.

“Why are you smiling?” You huffed, fisting his hair and pulling his head back to expose his throat. You pressed the dagger against his pulse point.

“It’s cute that you think you’re in control here,” he shrugged, that smile not leaving his face.

“I am in control here,” you snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re the one tied up!”

“Am I?” He drawled out before yanking at the binds again. “Ah, you’re right. I am.”

You stepped away from him with a sneer. “Why are you acting like this!”

“Like what, Angel?” He smirked at you again, flicking his hair out of his face.

“Like I’m not about to kill you! Like you’re not about to die!”

“I’m hoping we can talk this out,” Azriel shrugged.

“There is nothing to talk about,” you growled, frustrated. You’d expected some yelling or shouts from him, maybe a few pleas thrown in but not whatever this was.

“I beg to differ,” he replied, “seeing as I’m about to die, I’d like to know why.”

“Because…you…I—fuck!” You turned away from him, holding the sides of your head in exasperation. You squeezed your eyes shut, Keir’s words replaying in your head on repeat.

The smile dropped from Azriel’s face at the show of your distress. “Angel, come on. Just drop the dagger and talk to me. Whoever has put you up to this can be dealt with.”

“You don’t understand,” you cried out.

“Then make me understand,” Azriel pleaded. “Please.”

“I have to kill you, Azriel,” you wept. “I have to or I’ll be stuck here forever.”

“Stuck here? Stuck in The Labyrinth?”

“Yes!” You let out a tiny sob, still not facing him. “If I don’t….if I don’t kill you, I won’t be able to leave.”

“Angel,” Azriel whispered, “Why would you be stuck here? If you need help leaving, I’ve already offered to get you out.”

You whirled around to face him. “I can’t just leave, don’t you get it! I can’t just walk out of here like you. I’m trapped.”

“Trapped? Angel, please explain it to me. You’re not making any sense.”

“I was so, so stupid. So stupid, so naive,” you cried.

“Just tell me what it is,” Azriel said, gently. “Let me help you!”

“You can’t,” you whispered, wiping away the tears streaming down your face. “You can’t help me. Not with this.”

“Why?”

“Because I made a bargain with Keir,” you said, staring down at the dagger in your hand. “All the girls here have to do it. We get to work here, not get sold off and eventually we will be allowed to leave but…”

“Not without a price,” Azriel filled in the blanks. “So what do you owe Keir favors or something?”

You shook your head. “We’re given marks and targets. He tells us a name and we…we kill them for him.”

“And let me guess, Keir gave you my name?”

“Yes, he did,” you sighed. “You’re supposed to be my last mark. After this…I’ll be free.”

Silence fell over the room. Silence until Azriel uttered one sentence.

“So kill me.”

Your head shot up in surprise. “W-what?”

“Kill me,” he repeated, staring directly into your eyes. “If it means you’ll be free, if it means you can leave this place and have a life of your own…kill me.”

“Azriel,” you murmured. “I—”

Azriel yanked himself out of the binds, causing you to gasp. He gripped your arm and dragged you to him, angling the dagger right against his heart.

“Do it, Angel,” he whispered. “It’s okay. Kill me. I want you to be free. I want a better life for you. So kill me.”

You stared at him, tears pouring down your face. Your hand was shaking as you held the dagger against his skin. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Azriel was giving you his permission, telling you to do it, to kill him.

He kept a firm grip on your wrist, burying the dagger deeper so it pricked his skin. A small droplet of blood formed, sliding down his bare chest. “Do it, Angel, please.”

“I-I…I can’t,” you sobbed. No matter how much you tried to convince yourself to push the dagger straight through to his heart, you couldn’t. “I can’t.”

“Why?” Azriel asked. “Why can’t you?”

“I just…I can’t—”

“Why!” Azriel shouted, making you jump. Your hand was shaking so bad now, tears still streaming down your cheeks. “Why can’t you do it! Tell me why!”

“I don’t know,” you stuttered out through a sob. “I don’t know—”

“Yes, you do,” Azriel said, sternly. “You know why.”

You shook your head, sobbing. He pressed the dagger deeper into his skin. “Why can’t you kill me, Angel? Come on, you know. You know why.”

He was right.

You knew why.

You’d known all along. Since the moment you had laid eyes on him that night he came to your room. Something deep inside of you had recognized it and subconsciously buried it. But you couldn’t deny it any longer.

“Say it,” Azriel demanded. “You know why. Say it!”

You let out a sob.

“You’re….you’re my mate.”

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

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kasagia · 6 months

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Right hand II

Pairing: Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x fem!exBeneGesserit! reader Summary: After you miraculously escaped from his arms the other night, you tried to stay away from him as best as you could. You have to put a lot of effort into escaping from the na-baron, who is tirelessly and constantly chasing you, or into avoiding another invitation to his chambers late at night. However, on Arrakis, the situation between you changes drastically... And you're losing control over your life, and it's not because of Feyd. Warning: 18+; violence; blood; Feyd Rautha; death; fight; brutality; smut; Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen's Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ Main Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ PART I ~•♤♤♤•~ PART III ~•♤♤♤•~

You are standing in front of the window of the ship that is taking you to Arrakis. You nervously play with the edge of the shawl that covers your head. You don't have good memories of that planet. Before you escaped with Feyd, the Bene Gesserit sent several of their young apprentices to… train in the sands of Dune. Including you.

You still remember the screams of some of your companions who went crazy from a lack of water and decided to end their lives. And sometimes at night you dream that the sandworm swallows half of your group, leaving you practically on your own.

Arrakis didn't just kill your friends. It killed any belief in the Bene Gesserit in you, only confirming that you would rather die than be completely subject to them.

And now you're going back there with someone who had full control over your life again. It's funny how history likes to come full circle. And how, despite their repetition, people still fall for tricks and fall into fate's traps, acting in exactly the same way.

A cold hand on your bare shoulder snaps you out of your stupor. You act fully automatically,drawing the dagger attached to your belt and twisting the attacker's arm. You pin him to the wall, placing the blade against his pale neck. You freeze as your eyes meet Feyd's icy blue gaze.

"Good reflex. If you were anyone else, I'd kill you for this, but I'm in a particularly good mood today, so I won't punish you as I would like. What were you thinking about, my little witch, that you didn't hear me sneaking up on you? Or maybe I have finally surpassed the master?" He asks with a mocking smirk, showing off his black teeth. You snort, shaking your head at him.

"Keep dreaming." You say, taking advantage of his amusement. This time, you are not keeping your mouth shut for fear that he will deprive you of your tongue for your boldness towards him. You move away from him, which he takes with clear displeasure, and return to your place by the window.

"If I dream about you, I prefer to dream about something much more pleasant." He wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you into his chest. He slides your shawl off your head with his teeth and nuzzles his nose into your hair, inhaling your scent.

You feel him sigh deeply, leaning against you a little as he relaxes into your scent and closeness. You frown, but let him hold you because you feel calmer having him close to you. Despite everything that had happened in the past two weeks, you still found his presence reassuring. It didn't make any sense to you, but apparently, over the years, you had begun to involuntarily associate him with something akin to a safe shelter. Herkonnen. A psychopathic, bloodthirsty future baron. How ironic…

However, being in his arms helped you come to the conclusion that the demons of the past should remain in the past. And you should focus on the newest one that is now wrapped around you.

You stare at your reflection in the glass, shuddering as his scent surrounds you, mixed with the blood that stains his uniform. You wonder which soldier you will have to find a replacement for this time.

"What were you thinking about?" He whispers that he doesn't loosen his grip on you even for a moment, knowing full well that the moment he does, you'll wriggle out of his arms and find another excuse to leave him.

You checked the condition of engines and fuel 8 times. He started counting after the ship's captain complained to him about your constant presence. He beheaded him without giving him the opportunity to complete his complaint against you. Feyd smiles, remembering the irritated frown on your forehead when you had to clean up his mess. Of course he followed you then. Of course, 'just to make sure that the next captain you appoint will be more competent'.

"It doesn't matter." You sigh, resting your head on his shoulder. He would enjoy your submission and willing closeness if he didn't see that, by doing so, you only wanted to distract him from the main topic. Clever little witch you were…

"It must be important if you stopped paying attention to your surroundings. You are always alert and aware of the things that happen around you. No matter what. I remember how, during one of our escapades, you were the only one who didn't fall into the trap."

"Well, that one was actually obvious." You say it with a mocking smile, remembering how you had to save him and his soldiers.

For the rest of your life, you will never forget how you had to dig Baron Feyd-Rauth Harkonnen out of the mud and save his ass from the Assassins who planned his execution. Of course, he killed any witnesses, leaving only you and him alive. After all, his uncle and brother couldn't find out about it.

He growls in your ear, tightening his grip on you as a warning, when you make him replay that day in his head.

"Don't brag now. I was… busy observing something much more interesting than muddy swamps." He grumbles, burying his face in the crook of your neck. The warm air he exhales makes you shiver.

"Which was?" You ask shakily, placing your hands over his to stop him from roaming them over your body.

"You." His answer is short and simple, as if it were the most obvious thing you should know. He doesn't hide it anymore; he doesn't keep his desire to himself. He wants you. He craves you. He shows it to you so clearly and thoroughly that you laugh at how naive you were to believe that you had only a friendly, platonic relationship. But how could you not believe that he only saw you as a means to an end when he treated everyone else around him like that? Since he treats people like things to play with and break whenever he wants? How could you have predicted that you would become his obsession, a precious jewel in his collection that he would want to protect and have just for himself? "I'm asking for the last time. What were you thinking about, little witch?" He asks, wrapping his hand around your neck and forcing you to look into his eyes.

You have no escape from him now. And you certainly won't tell him that lately you've been thinking more and more often about how to run away from him, or what would happen if you stayed with the Bene Gesserit, or how your life would have looked if you escaped from them on your own. You wonder if it wouldn't have been better to bury yourself in the sands of Arrakis all those years ago with your friends and die there. You are sure that it would be a much more dignified death.

"I... I thought about Arrakis." You decide to respond safely and carefully, so as not to reveal too much to him. You didn't want him to become suspicious of you. Not when you had to handle him carefully, lest you fulfil any of the Bene Gesserit's sick plans and visions.

"So what about this? Are you scared?"

"No. I am not. I'm never afraid. Fear is the mindkiller. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration." You repeat the mantra automatically without thinking much about it.

You flinch as you realise that you are answering quickly with the Bene Gesserit litany of fear, which they've made you learn by heart. A great deal of anger grows within you as you realise how much they have influenced your life, even so many years after you ran away from them.

"You're quite tense. More than when I usually hold you." He points this out, starting to gently stroke your back in an attempt to relax you. You give him an angry look instead, suddenly understanding why he was irritated with you for reading him and his emotions perfectly when he was the one who was flustered and furious.

It was always easier for you than for him to hit sensitive places or to read the other one like an open book. Apparently, you're not the only one who's learned this over the years. He knew you as well as the back of his hand. He just never showed any trace of concern for your well-being.

You had your… tender moments when you allowed yourselves to be vulnerable with each other once or twice, but you both treated them more as minor lapses in maintaining your impenetrable façade of indifference and neutrality. In the end, everyone is on their own. And looking for a friend in him was a completely stupid thing—an act of true naivety and a sign of self-destruction, maybe even masochism.

"Maybe you shouldn't hold me at all, then?" You growl at him furiously, unable to control yourself. He just frowns, more surprised by your behaviour than offended by this blatant act of disrespect. He had rarely seen you so nervous or furious.

Of the two of you, you were the one who was the most calm and composed. You were always able to hide all your emotions behind a mask of indifference. He's fascinated by how you really behave when you don't have a filter on. He often throws you off your balance only to see your cheeks flush with anger; you take out your anger in a fight (just like him); or you bite your lip to avoid saying something back to his taunts.

"Or maybe you should drop your attitude and just let me do it?" He asks, his lips brushing against your earlobe. He doesn't wait for your response; he simply catches the tip of your ear between his teeth. He bites in gently, sucking and caressing your skin with his lips, as if your ear's superior helix were the sweetest delicacy he could enjoy.

"I'm not fighting or trying to escape, am I?" You respond, enduring his treatment with dignity. At the ship's window, you can see a small smile appear on his lips at your words.

He decides to pull away from you, but he is not giving you even the smallest chance to run away from him. He presses you against the cold glass, entering your personal space even more than when he had you close against his chest. You lift your chin, looking at him defiantly as he puts his hands on your hips.

"You are not. But you also don't want to be here in my arms." He replies, cupping your chin with two fingers. He leans closer, making you feel the metallic scent of blood that still lingers on him, probably from his fight with some prisoners on the ship. "And I don't like it at all." He whispers hoarsely into your ear.

"Since when do you care what others want? I don't remember you spoiling your concubines like that." You snap, causing him to laugh mockingly and shaking his head in amusement.

He leans in, making you tense up slightly. You think he's doing it to kiss you, but instead of feeling his lips on yours, you feel his cheek brush against yours, and his lips blow hot air into your ear again as he whispers softly:

"Because they weren't you, Y/N." You shiver at the sound of his dark, hoarse whisper in your ear. You can't say you don't feel the effects of his... seduction. But you promised yourself long ago that you wouldn't be any man's whore, concubine, plaything, or broodmare. And certainly not HIS. No matter how... tempting he could be.

"And what is so special about me? Hm? My body? My appearance? That I can fight well? You would get bored of me. Like you did with all your concubines."

"Did they understand me like you do? Have you ever seen them look at me as anything other than a wild, bloodless beast in the heat?" He answers your angry questions with his, dismissing your attempt to start a verbal fight with him.

His thumb traces the line of your jaw, examining you closely. Looking into his light blue eyes makes you feel uncomfortable. He shouldn't have reacted to you like that. You weren't used to anything he had been doing these past few weeks. You preferred to fight him than... when he showed you so much tenderness, appreciation, and affection.

"Have I ever looked at you differently?" You ask defiantly. He smiles, licking his plump lips. You give in to this provocation, and, without controlling it at all, you move your gaze to his lips. His dark chuckle makes you look back into his eyes.

"Yes. Yes, you did that... you don't even know how often." He hums, his fingertips moving towards your mouth. He caresses your lips with incredible tenderness and delicacy. He presses on them gently, but you squeeze them as tight as you can, preventing him from doing anything he planned.

You react faster than him. You bite his wandering fingers, take advantage of the fact that he is still trying to process what has just happened, and quickly pull away from him. He laughs, shaking his head, looking at you intently as he deliberately crosses the distance between you two. He doesn't have to say anything for you to see how clearly he's mocking you and daring you to continue to defy him.

"We're not even on Arrakis yet, and you're already delusional, my na-Baron? Or maybe the black sun of Giedi Prime made you start seeing a mirage?"

"If you are a mirage or an illusion, then I never want to be sane again, my little witch." You gasp, as he wraps his arms around you tightly, clinging to you completely. He leans in, his nose tracing a line along your temple, inhaling your scent before burying his face in your hair.

He keeps a firm grip on your shoulders. You place your hands on his, trying to loosen his tight grasp somehow, but it only makes him hold you tighter. He tilts his head slightly and brushes his nose against yours.

You shiver, feeling how close he is and how his musky smell, mixed with a hint of metallic blood, surrounds you. He presses himself against you so tightly that there's practically no space left between your bodies. You close your eyes, letting out a small, shaky breath. And just as he's about to press his lips against yours, the metal door to the room slides open with a loud bang.

You jump away from him, grunting as a young recruit enters your field of vision.

“My lord na-Baron. Lady Y/N. We will land in fifteen minutes."

"We would rather notice it ourselves." Feyd growls at him. You see him reach for the hidden dagger. You walk over to him, resting your chest against his back, and grab his hand before he places it on his dagger and throws it at the poor man.

"Thank you, Oliver." You say with a smile. The man swallows in fear at Feyd's furious glare. He bows and leaves the two of you alone.

You step away from Feyd, letting go of his hand. You frown, seeing that he's even more furious than when one of the soldiers entered. You raise your eyebrow questioningly, not understanding why he's practically huffing in anger now.

"What?" You finally ask him, not understanding the reason behind his behaviour.

"Oliver... do you call all of them by their names?" He asks, spitting out the soldier's name in disgust. You sigh, rolling your eyes as you reach for the shawl he had thrown off you and put it back on your head.

"If I know them, then yes, why?"

"You've never called me anything other than my lord and na-baron." He speaks in an almost accusatory tone. It takes a lot of strength in you not to burst out laughing when you realize he's completely serious and not joking right now. You try to come up with some excuse, wondering how to safely answer his question.

"And you always call me your little witch." You answer. Using his name somehow never felt right to you. At first, out of respect for him, maybe even fear. After all, he saved you from the clutches of the Bene Gesserit. Calling him by his name was out of the question. With time, you did it out of habit. And now… now you didn't want to call him by anything else because you knew that it would be a small step on his way to make you his.

"So this is supposed to be our thing?" He asks with a challenging, teasing smile.

"We don't have a thing." You huff, walking towards the exit. He, of course, follows you faithfully. You can feel the excitement radiating from him. He was definitely planning something big to do on Arrakis. Something he didn't tell you. You just hoped that he would be too busy with his brother and securing the spice mine to take care of you at the same time.

"Don't we?"

"You should focus on what you tell your brother. You're finally taking the reins. Rabban won't give them to you that easily. And we need to establish a final plan of action on Arrakis." You say, returning to your matter-of-fact, cool tone. He smiles, nodding.

"Don't worry about that… I'll make him kiss our shoes." You snort, shaking your head in amusement at his words. It might be true, but it's still hard for you to imagine him actually putting this plan into action. As you'll see in a few minutes, he actually intended to do that. "And the plan was decided a long time ago. I told you I wouldn't let us split up. And not because I question your leadership skills or loyalty. You are the only competent and worthy person to lead half of my army. But we, little witch, work together. Always. You don't change something that works perfectly. Get ready. We're landing soon." He leaves you with a quick kiss on your temple.

He walks away from you with a sly smirk, as if he's managed to trick you. You sigh as you watch him walk out of sight, walking with a spring in his step towards his room, probably to grab his things and get his harpies ready to leave.

You look out the ship's window at Arrakis for the last time. You close your eyes, promising yourself that since the Bene Gesserit, Feyd Rautha, Giedi Prime, or the Harkonens hadn't killed you, this damn planet wouldn't do this either. You weren't the same Y/N from 10 years ago. You were more powerful. Your bones won't sink into the sands of this damn dune... you'd even rather become the mother of that Kwisatz Haderach.

You practically jump out of bed with your heart beating fast as you wake up from another nightmare. You sigh shakily, pressing your hand to your mouth, trying to calm your breathing as best as you can as your heart pounds frantically against your chest.

The screams of your companions echo in your ears, and the images of the Fremen pumping the water out of them replay in your head. And that damned sandworm...

“Y/N, look at me.” His cool hands on your bare shoulders and his raspy, commanding tone bring you back to reality.

As soon as you look into Feyd Rautha's blue irises, you stop trembling. You snap out of this strange trance, trying your best to forget about the returning memories that haunted you more often during this week of your stay on Caladan. You suspect that this may have resulted in a rather close relationship with Lady Jessica. You breathe slowly, focusing on his pale skin that looks like snow, illuminated by the moonlight that streams through the window of one of the Caladan's inns.

“Breathe in and out.” He gives you another order. You nod, imitating the pace of his slow breathing as you slowly begin to calm down. "I will kill that witch as soon as I get my hands on her." He growls, brushing your sweaty hair away from your forehead with his hand. You see immense anger in his eyes and the seeds of a plan forming in his head as he thinks of many ways to make that Bene Gesserit pay for your nightmares.

"You can't. She's the prince's mother. Besides, it's not her fault that she recognised me from somewhere. I could have been more careful."

"You covered your face with a mask for an entire week, all the time, even to sleep. What can you call that other than being careful? Besides, the baron knew that these negotiations were doomed to failure anyway. It's not like her suspicions ruined them. I would have decided to leave this damned palace even without it." He assures you, slowly lowering the two of you back onto the mattress. He wraps one arm around you, his tight embrace grounding you in the moment and helping your mind focus entirely on the present rather than the dark memories from your past.

"The Baron will be furious with you. It's all my fault. You should have killed me." You say, focusing your gaze on his daggers, which are strapped to his hip. Feyd follows your gaze and snorts. He grabs your neck, forcing you to lift your head and look into his eyes again.

"And get rid of the only competent right hand I've had in years? I'd rather suffer his punishment for this... small act of disrespect towards the Atreides. And who knows? Maybe he'll even like it? Harkonnen chooses inns over Atreides' palaces. I can always say that I saw rats running freely around my chamber and decided that such conditions are not worthy of a na-Baron and they are an insult to my person that I could not allow them to do." You roll your eyes at him, but you can't help but smirk at him.

Feyd finds himself smiling slightly at the sparkle of amusement in your eyes. He decided he preferred seeing them in your eyes rather than the emptiness and terror that didn't even let you breathe normally. He reveled in the fear of others. But yours brought him more pain than joy. Unpleasant pain.

It was starting to worry him. And maybe he would think about it more if you weren't lying so close to him now, practically in his arms. At his fingertips if he wanted to play with you. But, surprisingly, he didn't. And even if so, he wanted it only if you were as desperate for his touch as he was for yours.

"There are also rats on Giedi Prime. And you have to share a room with me because there's not enough space here for all of us. I'm sure your harpies are furious. You'd probably rather do something else with them, too, than hold me through my nightmares like some scared little child." You tease him, snapping him from his thoughts. He looks at you carefully, admiring the way the beads of sweat on your forehead glisten in the moonlight.

He feels a strange, new desire to make them be caused by him... or rather, by the activity he would subject you to. His gaze returns to your eyes and your lips, and he feels himself harden slightly as his thoughts turn to fantasies about you—something he's been doing a lot more of lately. One of his harpies mentioned something about him moaning your name...

"Maybe you actually deserve this punishment? Such sharp language…" He whispers huskily, tracing the line of your jaw with the pad of his thumb. He watches you carefully, and, as usual, he sees no fear in your eyes. Even when his fingers travel to your neck and then to the fabric of your nightgown, imagine how close he is to touching what you hide from him and everyone else behind your outfits designed to fit you into staying in the shadows and fighting. If he could, he would dress you in the most beautiful silks and jewellery so that he could feast his eyes on the only beautiful view of Giedi Prime. You see a crease form on his forehead as he becomes aware of this strange desire. He removes his hand before he goes too far to come back, and he clears his throat as he focuses his gaze on your eyes again. "What was that? That dream?"

"I... I don't want to talk about it." Feyd feels how you tense up just thinking about your nightmare. If it was anyone else, he wouldn't care. He wouldn't spare a thought or, if he was curious enough, force them to talk. But with you... he just nods and gives you space, turning to lay on his side of the bed.

"Feyd..." His heart beats faster after you use his name for the first time. He turns to your side of the bed so he can fully look at you. He hums, pretending that you're not giving him a heart attack and that he's not replaying the soft, gentle tone with which you said his name in his head. And he wants to hear it again. In many ways. A quiet whisper, a cry, a scream of pleasure as he makes you come... "I... can you..."'

He doesn't wait for you to ask him. And he could. He could make you beg for him to bring you the comfort you need or mock you for being so defenceless and scared, but how can he make you do that when you look at him with those doe eyes? How can he do anything other than pull you into his chest, place his hand on your head, and play with your hair, guiding your face into the crook of his neck as you look at him like no one has ever done before?

He wasn't the type of man you turned to for comfort or solace, and yet here you were, lying next to him, just wanting to feel his safe embrace around you again. He smiles when he feels your breathing and pulse slow as you fall asleep against him, allowing him to be with you in your unconscious state. He could do many things to you. He could slit your throat, stab you in the heart, scalp you of all your beautiful hair, and touch and taste any part of you he wanted. Satisfy himself with you and give yourself to his concubines when he ends using you.

But all he can do, as you sleep so peacefully on his chest, is pull the covers tighter around you and place a gentle kiss on your head. He doesn't remember the last time he felt such peace or the last time he felt wanted—not because of his status or the benefits he could bring to someone, but simply because someone wanted to be close to HIM.

"After all… I guess Caladan isn't that bad, my little witch." He whispers, pressing a kiss on the top of your head.

Feyd liked to think that the moment you first said his name and clung to him after the nightmare for comfort and security (IN HIM) was the moment he fell for you. But the truth was that it was a day later, after his uncle had punished him, inflicting various wounds with a blade on him, that you returned to the Giedi Prime without the expected agreement with Atreides. And, of course, he didn't rat you out. He took the blame. After all, it was his fault. He put your well-being above anything else and ordered to leave Caladan when Lady Jessica became too attentive to you. And he would do it again. He couldn't lose his right hand.

You felt guilty and took care of him. And those few days when you played the role of his nurse were the best ones in his life.

Feyd learned to love pain. Numerous punishments made it impossible for him not to do that. But he loved your gentle touch even more, esepcially when you tried your best to heal him. And he could get a thousand cuts or even more if it was the price of feeling your tender, caring touch on his skin once again.

And lying there with a torn back, looking at your sleeping form next to his bed, ready to meet his every little wish; he promised himself that he would do it. He will feel your hands on his body again. In better, less bloody circumstances. And definitely not with worry staining your beautiful eyes. But desire. Passion. Affection. Maybe even love.

"Uncomfortable, my lord?" You mock him with a little smirk as you both lie on the sand, observing the surroundings.

"Shut up, or I'll put you over my knee." You huff, shaking your head at his words. You know it's the last thing he'll actually do at this point. You use your binoculars to zoom in on a specific sand dune, in the middle of which there should be a Fremen base.

"Someone woke up with his left foot. I thought you'd be more enthusiastic about the upcoming fight." You say, trying to spot any movement, silhouette, or anything that indicates that your informant was right, and this is the place where one of the more important sietches are.

"I am. But it's damn hot here. Besides, sand gets in where it shouldn't." You smile, barely holding back your laughter, as Feyd allows himself to grumble next to you. You squeal in shock as he spanks you. You look away from the dune and give him an offended, shocked look when he chuckles hoarsely at your reaction.

"You're lucky that it's just a desert and that you're not dressed all in black like our soldiers. If this shipment of new equipment, weapons, and uniforms does not arrive this week, I will return to Giedi Prime and slaughter these useless scientists and engineers. Besides, your harpies will probably be more than happy to help you get rid of every little grain of sand from your body."

"Jealous?" He asks as you go back to watching the dunes.

"I wouldn't willingly be around these cannibals even if you paid me." You say, ignoring the fact that he was clearly asking if you were jealous of HIM, not the fact that he has his concubines and you don't. You shiver, feeling his piercing, burning gaze on you.

You're a little annoyed that he's doing practically nothing. Apparently, he too must have felt the effects of spending many weeks in that damn desert, and he had enough. Just like all of you.

"Arrakis brings out your more feisty side… I like it." He takes the binoculars from you and looks in a completely different direction. You snort, trying to see what caught his eye. You frown as you see a sandworm scurrying in the distance. But it wasn't under the sand... "Tell squad six to kill it. Those rats must be moving around again."

"Will you waste the bomb on a sandworm?"

"Only the most important Fremen travel like this. Whoever's on the back of this is not just anyone." You nod. You turn on the communicator and share information with the group, giving them the orders. You feel Feyd's eyes focused on you all the time. You roll your eyes and shift your gaze to his as he continues to stare at you curiously.

"What?"

"You've been here before, right? You may not know the ways of the Fremen, but I can see in your eyes that this planet is no stranger to you."

"The Bene Gesserit prepared us for every circumstance." You answered him deceptively. However, this does not quench his curiosity. And you know that since you're doomed to wait here for a good hour before anything happens, you're doomed to keep him entertained.

"Did they send you to Giedi Prime too?"

"No. But I was often send to Caladan." You say, not realizing how bad a move it was. The wrinkle on his forehead and the gentle tightening of his hand on his blades prove to you what an idiot you are. But you can't keep an eye on the dunes and anticipate his mood swings at the same time. Which he's had quite a lot of since you came to Arrakis. He didn't show it to anyone else, but you could see that the heat was bothering him just as much as it was for all of you.

"Why? Breeding program? Don't tell me you were supposed to be Atreides' pet." He spit out from his mouth the names of the people who were his family's greatest nemeses, as if it were some kind of dead poison. Even though the Atreides were long dead, buried in the sands of Arrakis, he still talked about them with huge hostility.

No. I was supposed to be your pet.

"I don't know." You slide off the sand to get out of sight of your possible opponents. There's no point in observing the area now. You know that your best men and their troops are positioned around you, so you could have left them to make the first attack. For now, you had to defuse a bomb that was about to explode next to you.

"You don't talk about it often. About the Bene Gesserit." He pursues the topic further, following in your footsteps. You both are standing on a small ledge, with your backs pressed against a sandstone. You don't have much space, so you have to rest your arm on his so as not to fall down and crash into the rocks below you.

"I don't want to remember it. I have another life now. Better one." You say, fiddling with your communicator. You issue a surveillance order to the rest of your units and turn it off, waiting for them to notice something. You take the shawl off your head and wipe your sweaty forehead with it.

"I won't let them hurt you again. Or anyone else." You freeze for a moment at his words. All you can do is stare at him in shock as he reaches for your face and grabs your hair. He ties them awkwardly, making sure they don't get in your face. It's a sweet gesture... even too sweet for him. And you wonder how the hell he knows how to tie someone's hair back.

You are about to tie your shawl around your forehead again when Feyd suddenly takes it from you. He wipes the back of your neck and makes sure there isn't a single bead of sweat on your face before he ties your shawl around his wrist.

"Who said they hurt me?" You ask, swallowing. You try to hide the tremble in your voice, but you suddenly become very aware of how close you are to each other. And that you two are completely alone...

"Your eyes and actions tell me more than you can let through your mouth, little witch."

"Shut up, or I'll put you over my knee." You respond with what he told you earlier without thinking much about it.

You gasp in shock as he presses you against the sandstone behind you, guiding the two of you deeper. His dilated pupils, slightly clenched jaw, and rapid breathing confirm how fucked up you are. You've lost your damn guard. Again. And now he will use it to his advantage.

"Oh, my darling little witch… you don't know how much I want you to do this…" He growls in your ear. His nose traces a path from your hair to your neck, inhaling your scent. You shiver as his lips brush against your neck.

"What are you doing?" You moan as he sucks your neck and bites it lightly, leaving a hickey there. He moves his head away from you and looks at the trail he created. He hums lightly, planning where to leave the next one. And another one. And another. And another...

"Shhh... We have a few minutes before they stop bombarding them. Another few before the dust settles and before we enter those rats' canals... let me make sure that my right hand is properly relaxed in the meantime."

As usual, he doesn't give you time to respond. He leans down and captures your lips in a passionate kiss. His chapped lips brush against yours, gently urging you to open your mouth for him. You try to tighten them as best you can, but he somehow manages to bite your lip, which makes him immediately clear the way for his tongue.

You gasp as his hands cup your ass. His fingers dig into your flesh, and you know that if it weren't for the thick tactical suit, it would have left bruises in the shape of his fingers. He picks you up without breaking the kiss and presses you against the stone-sand wall of the small cave.

You moan as his bulge rubs against your clothed core. You dig your fingers into his shoulders, holding yourself up as he peppers your neck with hickeys, grinding against you.

On Giedi Prime, you would struggle with him, trying to break free from his grip. But here, while you've been busy planning, tracking, fighting, and increasing your spice production for the last few weeks, you haven't had any opportunity... to take care of yourself. He wasn't helping either, following you around and acting like a fucking guard dog. And from what you heard from your room next to his in the night, he wasn't denying himself anything. Damn bastard.

What you didn't know was that he was fucking his fist thinking about you all this time because, since the two of you shared a bath, none of his concubines have been able to please him. So he's just as desperate as you are.

You moan as he thrusts into you, especially hard. He also purrs against your neck at the sounds you make. You're well aware that if it didn't take you forever to put your clothes back on, he'd already have you naked beneath him, fucking you wildly and giving you orgasm after orgasm... and you almost want to let him. If only those fucking witches weren't planning on breeding you with him, you would have been riding him wild a long time ago.

At one point, he bites into your neck, making you scream uncontrollably. You blush furiously when he pulls away from your neck with your blood on his full lips and gives you a hungry, lustful look.

"Take off your pants." He orders you. He licks the blood from his lips and leans down to lick the rest from your neck, leaving a few more hickeys on it.

"We… can't… we... battle..." He suddenly stops making any movements, but instead of moving away from you, as you think he will, he grabs you tightly by the throat. He squeezes lightly and leans forward, resting his forehead against yours. He breathes deeply and heavily, nuzzling his nose against yours before opening his eyes to fix his wide pupils on yours.

"Are you defying me?" You shake your head, always being a good soldier. "Good girl. Pants down, or I'll rip them off, and you'll have to walk back to the base without them."

This is a very real threat. And even though you know he would rather kill any man who dares to look at you in this state than expose you to the… lust of the hundreds of men who were on the base, you have no desire to parade around Arrakis with your bare ass. You start to take off your pants, slowly unbuttoning them. He won't even let you take them off of you all the way. As soon as he sees your exposed pussy, he drops to his knees in front of you, holding your hips in a tight grip.

"She blocks me so much when she has a damn spring between her legs… a real desert oasis…" He mumbles, his fingers collecting your wetness. You gasp as he looks you straight in the eye, sucking your juices from his finger. You lick your lips unconsciously, your brain completely stunned by the suddenness of the situation, the lust overwhelming you, the sight of him on his knees for you, as well as the spice in the air.

You don't even protest when he licks the stripe of your pussy and tightens his grip on your hips, pressing his face against your crotch. As he begins to lick and suck on your more sensitive parts, you scratch his scalp with your nails in a vain attempt to grab something. His dark, raspy chuckle against your clit makes you even wetter, as the vibrations and fingers teasing your entrance only fuel your desire.

He eats you like he's really dying of thirst. He brings out in you sounds that you would be ashamed of if you were in a better, saner, more aware state. And you try to maintain the last of your dignity and stifle your moans by placing a hand over your mouth, but he growls in protest and removes your hands so quickly that you have no idea when it happened. He places it on his shoulder, encouraging you to dig your nails into him as he devours you like his life depends on it. Like he would die if he didn't make you cum, lick up every last bit of wetness from between your legs.

At one point, he puts your leg over his shoulder. He's even closer to you (if possible), but you're not really paying attention to what he's doing as long as his mouth and fingers are still working their magic on you. You pull him closer, chasing your sweet release, when suddenly, he pulls away.

You growl in anger, opening your eyes. He's still on his knees in front of you, his face covered in your juices, and he's staring at you hungrily as if his face wasn't buried in your pussy moments ago.

"Say my name." His demand throws you off balance for a moment. You open your mouth to argue with him, to taunt him, but instead you close it quickly, biting your lip as his finger lazily moves in and out of your needy pussy. "Scream my name and I'll let you cum."

You don't want to give in to him like that. You don't want to show any weakness. But his fingers stretch you so wonderfully, hitting your most sensitive spot. You tremble around his fingers, biting your lip until it draws blood, too proud to admit to yourself how weak you were.

You escaped from the Bene Gesserit and from your fate to the only safe place; it's darkest under the lamp. No one in their right mind would willingly hide in the house of the man to whom you were supposed to submit. But it turned out that you were following the path these witches laid out for you anyway. But damn, he made you feel like you'd never felt with any man or woman...

You growl furiously as he removes his fingers again—right when you're finally about to come. He laughs hoarsely, sucking his fingers clean of your wetness.

"You're extending my fun, little witch. You must like it as much as I do." You protest as he dips his fingers inside you again, taking you close the edge again. You grab his neck, trying to pull him towards you, but he just laughs, intensifying the work of his fingers and fending off your feeble attempts to pull his face back to your needy cunt. "You know what you have to do to cum." He reminds you with a cocky smirk, watching your trembling, panting form.

Feyd drinks in the sight of you, so needy and desperate to orgasm. And it's all because of him. Every little moan, the closing of your eyes and the tilt of your head in pleasure, the ragged breathing, the quickening of your heartbeat, the wetness between your legs, the sweet nectar of the gods dripping down your thighs—it was all because of him. His cock hardens as he imagines how you'll react as he pounds into you like an animal in heat, stretching your tight walls for him. How you'll clench around his length and dig your nails into his back to feel him as close to you as possible. Or when you swell beautifully with his heir...

He will have you there. Willingly. He will prepare you as he is now; he will fuck out of you any thought until nothing except the desire for him remains.

"Feyd..." You moan as he unconsciously speeds up the movements of his fingers, thrusting them into you at breakneck speed. He smiles, blowing air at your pussy, making you moan even louder.

"Again." He demands, licking the small trail of your juices that has formed on your thighs. He welcomes the way you wet his hand and your shawl that was wrapped around his wrist. He'll save it for later this night.

"Feyd!" You pull on his head and he obliges. He couldn't be cruel to you in this state.

You come suddenly, quickly, and intensely. Your vision is blurry and unclear, and your blood is rushing through you as you moan loudly, holding on to him with all your might.

The next thing you know, he's holding you tightly by your trembling legs as he lowers you to his lap. You straddle him, hugging him tightly as you breathe slowly, trying to get back to a state of relative using after he fucked the orgasm of your life out of you. You hide your face in his neck, too disappointed in yourself to see the proud smirk on his face. He lazily rubs your back, holding you as you regain your strenght.

"You owe me, little witch. And you know, I always collect my debt." He growls hoarsely in your ear and presses a kiss on your temple. You can smell your scent on him. You blush, embarrassed, as you can feel desire rising in you again. "No response? Not a single malicious comment? Did I make you come so hard that now you are speechless? Are you really just a little mouse in need of my attention under that strong witch façade?"

"I'm not a fucking mouse." You snap at him in anger, finally coming to your senses.

"So that's the first one. Even better for me." He stands up, slowly carrying you from his lap to the ground. He reaches for your pants and helps you put them on. He grabs your hands and pulls you closer to him. You can't stand alone. You can't fucking stand alone. He laughs as he realises it, which irritates you to the point where you can't control yourself anymore.

"Shut up." You use your voice on him before you bite your tongue to stop yourself. Silence falls between you for a moment. You swallow, realising what you've done. You open your mouth to explain yourself, but, as usual, he beats you to it.

"Hmm… interesting. So you have that fire in you…" He tangles his hand in your hair and watches you closely, fascinated by the way you used your voice on him for the first time. "As sweet as I thought. Better than any water… Use that voice on me in a way I don't like, and I will really punish you, little witch. And this time, it will only be pleasant for me. Understood?" You nod your head with clenched teeth. "Good girl. Let's go. I believe they stopped dropping bombs right when you came on my face and fingers." He brags, letting you go when he sees you can stand on your own. You roll your eyes, realising how often he'll brag about it. You draw your blade and follow him, looking forward to hunting for Fremen.

You try to ignore the sand that… got where he was a few seconds ago and where he had it himself too. Damn bastard.

You walk through the corridors of your base. You're covered in blood, but it doesn't bother you much. Maybe a little when you remember that you will have to remove clotted blood from your hair. You sigh, adjusting the scarf around your neck that you took from some fremen to hide the hickeys as you walk to the war room to give new orders to the soldiers.

The Sietch has been completely destroyed by you. You murdered most of the fremen, and those left alive were taken prisoner... or to the camp brothel. You preferred not to go into details.

As you walk through the halls, you hear rustling behind you. You take a few slow steps and turn around, with your hand on your dagger, only to see na-Baron's harpies. You tense up as you watch the three women carefully and distrustfully.

"How can I help you?" You ask them, trying to avoid showing them genuine disgust and hostility. After all, they had somehow kept Feyd away from you… for now.

"The little witch is in trouble…"

"Our master will be very angry with her…"

"Maybe he'll even let us suck her bones when he's done with her…"

They say one by one, tilting their heads as they observe you. You shiver slightly, but you quickly adopt a hostile, intimidating stance, not caring much about what they say. They may have been cannibals, but you were a trained soldier and killer. You would kill them in a heartbeat if they weren't useful to you in some way.

"What do you want, vultures?" You growl at them, expecting them to get scared and return to their master's chamber, waiting for him like faithful dogs.

"The little witch's friend is here…"

"Our master is interrogating her…"

"And he learns very interesting things about the witch."

"When he's done with her, he'll be ours again."

"We will eat her meat and feast, celebrating our victory."

And what really should scare you more is the part about them saying they're going to eat you, but all you can think about is that friend he's interrogating. Another Bene Gesserit? Impossible. You made sure that everyone who came into contact with you either believed you were dead or forgot that you existed. Except for one… No. No, that wasn't possible.

"I have the blood of hundreds of rats on me. Get out of my sight unless you want yours to adorn my armor. And believe me… I will do it with great pleasure. I bet your master would fuck me on your corpse as a reward." You snap at them, still processing what may have been happening in the interrogation room. If your suspicions were true... you didn't even want to think about it. This couldn't be happening. You're paranoid. After so many years of keeping everything a secret... you couldn't lose control that easily.

You pay them no further attention and continue walking, ignoring their hisses and mocking laughter as you change your plans and head to the interrogation room.

You had to run away. As far away from here as possible. But if you do, he will chase after you. And when he finds you, and there is no doubt that he will, he will gut you and throw your remains to his harpies.

So you couldn't escape. You had to face him and try to tame him somehow. But how the hell are you going to explain to him that you ran away from the Bene Gesserit with him because you didn't want to be his concubine? Maybe a few years ago he would have understood it, but now that he has found this strange obsession with you, how could you get out of this situation? He'll cut you up before you even try to say anything.

You pass soldiers standing at the door of the interrogation room. They nod at you, letting you in as you hesitantly walk over to see for yourself if the situation is actually as dire as you think.

You feel the cold metal door on your back as it closes behind you with a bang. You freeze in place, swallowing nervously, as you see the Fremen Reverend Mother handcuffed to a chair. What scares you much more than the fact that it is really a Bene Gesserit is that it's Lady Jessica. Your former trainer in that sick sisterhood.

Feyd is standing right in front of her. His hands are gripped tightly around his daggers, and his gaze is focused on the woman in front of him. He strokes the blade of his dagger with his thumb as he is lost in his thoughts. He behaved as if he were completely oblivious to you, but you know him better than to even think for a while that he didn't notice your entrance. But he doesn't say anything as he continues to stare at her intently.

"She can tell you that herself. Right, Y/N?" Lady Jessica looks at you, raising an eyebrow defiantly. Even captured, she looks proud, as if she were the one who had power over what was happening in the room. "I should thank you. If it weren't for you, Paul would never have taken over the Kwisatz Haderach's way. No matter how hard I tried..."

"Feyd…" You ignore her and walk over to Harkonnen. You place a hand on his shoulder, but he just flinches at your touch, moving away from you. His eyes were fixed on the floor; he wasn't giving you even a single glance.

"I'm not surprised. If they sent me to breed with such a monster, I would also run away... not necessarily into his arms, but I really admire your skillful mind. To come up with such intrigue. No one would ever imagine that a little scared girl would run straight into the lion's mouth to take shelter there. I remember how you cried down my skirt when you found out what your mission was. I never would have imagined that my apprentice would go so far."

"Silence!" You shout at her, using the voice, and surprisingly, you succeed. You don't have time to try to understand what just happened—that you used your voice against a much stronger woman than you, the Reverend Mother. You walk up to Feyd and cup his cheek with your hand, forcing him to look at you.

His gaze is blank. He's wearing his mask, blocking out any emotions that might get through and reveal what he's thinking. He takes your hand and moves it away from his face, pushing you away from him like a bug.

"Would you like to see a monster, concubine of the Atreides? I'll be more than happy to show you one…" Before either of you can react, Feyd swings, creating a long gash across her chest. The woman gasps in shock, placing her hand on her wound, from which blood is now flowing down on the floor.

Before you can take a breath to talk some sense into him, he plunges the blade into her chest. You tremble as you hear the sound of cracked bones under the movement of his dagger and the witch's screams.

You don't do anything. You just stand there, watching as Feyd takes out his anger on her, disembowelling her. The metallic smell of blood hits your nostrils, but even that doesn't cause you to react. All you can do is stand and watch. And wait for your turn.

You feel sick as Lady Jassica's screams remind you of your friends who died on Arrakis. You deny what's happening in front of you as your thoughts return to that fateful day.

You weren't sent to Arrakis to try to survive. No, the plan created by Bene Gesserit was much worse. You were sent there to kill each other. This sick test was intended to eliminate weak individuals, leaving only one Bene Gesserit alive, the one who was the strongest among the young generation of women trained by these mad witches.

You were sent on one ship, thrown into the desert with weapons and one bottle of water, as an act of mercy. There were fifty of you. You killed half of them. Or at least that's what the Reverend Mothers told you after the Sisterhood took you back from there..

You were the only one left alive.

From that day on, you promised yourself that you would never let them control your life or make you go through these tests again. You didn't want to take part in their sick games ever again. You preferred to die rather than become their tool again, a monster that blindly follows their orders.

You never wanted to feel powerless or furiously frustrated again.

And now, standing there and staring blankly as Feyd killed the woman who was your mentor in front of you, you felt as if you were once again that helpless girl who is forced to do as she is told and who has no power over anything that is happening around her.

You flinch as blood reaches your shoes. You look up to see Na-Baron turning towards you. Blood was dripping down his armour as he cleaned his blades on her clothes, which were already soaked in blood.

For a moment, you delude yourself, thinking that it's not what you think. That he didn't actually discover the truth about your past in the Bene Gesserit by accident. That everything will be all right, just how it used to.

But by the look in his icy-blue eyes, you know he knows. He gives you the same angry, bloodthirsty glare that he gives his victims moments before they die. But there's something else there. Pain. Betrayal. Without knowing why, you feel a flood of guilt wash over you, outweighing your fear. But you didn't owe him anything. No loyalty or sincere devotion.

You gasp as he pushes you against the wall and presses the knife to your neck, breathing heavily. You feel it gently pierce your skin, causing blood to leak from the wound and run down your neck. He doesn't move away. He doesn't bend down to lick it off your skin. He presses further and harder, looking straight into your eyes. And you don't know if he's just testing you or if he really wants to kill you.

Suddenly, fucking him wasn't the worst solution to the situation you found yourself in...

Part IIITaglist: (I hope that everyone is here...) @thegabbyh @himesuedi @wo-ming-bai @beebeechaos @mamawiggers1980 @moonsoulk @avidreader73 @heartarianagran @dreamlandcreations @ancientbeing10 @lovereadingfanfic @jeansjoie @workof-a-rr-t @aixicl @ladyredstar1991 @evangelineimagine @hobobobo-fett56 @happyant3 @marsflys @aaaaaamond @kamcrazy123 @k1swass @yum-yahgurt @tyns13 @oh-you-mean-me @menari @tyns13

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