#have no clue if i mask or if i masked so long its hard to stop

[prettyboythings-blog]

Dam I just realized I don't make eye contact. Thought I did tbh.. But like now I'm hyper aware that I don't and can't.

Plus it's easier for me to read lips to catch what you are saying but still.

Its like wow for me

[sweetiecutie]

🖤Fuck or die🖤

Paring: slasher! König x fem! Reader

Warnings: NSFW, mdni, dead dove do not eat, non-con so rape, cuckolding, unwilling cheating, oral, facefuck, dick piercing bc I know y’all like it, unprotected sex, blood, murder, gore in the end. This is only fiction, don’t take any of this too seriously! If you feel triggered by any of these tags - just scroll past!

Word count: 4k, holy fucking shit

A/n: not me writing this in one day, jesus fucking christ😮‍💨 It’s first time I wrote something so violent, but I think I did pretty good! Originally planned to post it on halloween night but I’m too eager to share!! Also, I tried my best to fix all mistakes by proofreading it 4 times, I really did, but I’m pretty sure that I left out some still

It’s been very uneasy in a small town where you lived - series of blatant murders shook up all inhabitants with their brutality. Cruelly butchered corpses gave a hint of culprit’s strength, so cops guessed it was a man. And the most terrifying thing about this whole situation was that this maniac was still on loose - he never left any evidences, not a damn thing - nothing that could give a clue of who he was. The only trace he’s ever left wasn’t an accident or his mistake, but a well-planned thing - after appearing nameless in numerous news reports and articles he finally decided to introduce himself, writing KÖNIG with his victim’s blood on white flooring, said victim’s two bloody teeth serving as umlaut.

And his motives behind picking out victims were just as unclear - there was nothing in common between all these people: he didn’t have any preferences in victim’s sex or age, their profession nor appearance - as long as they lived in one family house, to avoid anyone hearing their screams, you figured. It seemed that he simply loved killing, who that was - didn’t matter.

You can’t say how exactly it all happened. It was another evening that you were spending at your boyfriend’s place - Paul’s parents were out of town for a few days for anniversary of their wedding, leaving a huge house for their only son. You felt uneasy - there weren’t any new murders in over a month, people were scared that maniac will go “haunting” very soon, which meant that no one was safe.

Paul only cooed at you soothingly when you shared your worries with him, promising to “protect you from all weirdos out there”, placing a comforting kiss on your forehead. So to distract yourselves you decided to throw a movie night - stacking up with snacks and beer, Netflix window opened on a large tv-screen, ready to serve its purpose as you made last preparations.

Cuddled up on the comfy couch, your boyfriend’s comforting warmth slowly seeped into your tense muscles, you watched some corny comedy, groaning in tandem at poorly-made jokes. When suddenly a sound of shattered glass jolted you both up, staring tensely at each other.

- I’ll go check it, - Paul said, getting up and heading to the living room from where the noise came. Everything was quiet for a few long minutes, your fingers fiddled with loose string on the corner of fluffy blanket as you heard some crashing and your boyfriend’s angry shouting:

- Y/n, get out of here!

Then everything was as if in a blur; tall figure clad in all black stepped into the living room, white scream mask contrasting starkly, huge knife covered in thin layer of blood was shining in blue tv-light. Your heart dropped to your stomach as you stared at the man in front of you - sticky feeling of fear seemed to fill every muscle in your body with heavy lead, making it impossibly hard to move even an inch. And then something in your head snapped, you threw yourself off the couch and towards the door opposite from killer, but he was way quicker - huge hands gripped you by your shoulders, rising you off your feet easily and dragging you back towards living room, your struggling and screaming did nothing to help.

You were now kneeling in front of this psycho, hands tied up tightly with coarse rope that dug painfully into your soft skin, surely leaving deep indents and dark bruises. Your boyfriend was laying on his side a few meters afar - bound by his wrists and ankles with same rope, crimson blood oozed out of deep stabbing wound in his stomach, nose obviously broken and bleeding - all these a result of his grapple with intruder, which obviously didn’t end in Paul’s favour.

- Please, - you weeped, tears and snot covered all of your face, whole body trembled with fear and adrenaline. - Please, I’ll do anything you want, just don’t kill me, - you managed to choke out, silent cries tore through your chest, their intensity made it hard for you to breathe - you were hysterical.

- Oh, I know you will, sweetheart, - mechanical voice said in mock sympathy. One huge glowed hand came up to cup your chin, causing you to jolt violently upon feeling the contact; murderer tilted your head upwards, your insides churning upon laying your eyes on white plastic of his mask.

His thumb rubbed soft circles on your wet cheek - it was almost ridiculous how gently he touched you. This made you sob even more, but you didn’t dare to turn away, too scared to anger him.

- That would be a shame to kill such a pretty little thing, after all, - maniac said, glove-clad pad of his thumb swiped over your trembling bottom lip, soft cotton absorbing the mixture of your tears and saliva glazing it. - I may have an idea. Wanna hear it?

Silence set in for a few long gut-wrenching seconds which was interrupted only by your quiet sobbing and sounds of your boyfriend struggling against tight ropes. Quiet squeal tore through your chest as huge hand squeezed your cheeks harshly, yanking your face upward, forcing you to look up at König. Your bleary from tears eyes fixed upon two black holes in his mask, where man’s eyes supposedly were.

- I said “wanna hear it”? - slasher gritted out, his tone harsh as he put heavy emphasis on every syllable he uttered, making you shrink even further into yourself. You nodded your head hastily, not wanting to try out your luck any more.

- Y-yes, - you stammered, your voice giving out making your response sound more like a kitten’s squealing rather than human speech. König stared at you for a few long silent seconds, your knees beginning to tremble from both fear and painful exposure to hard flooring, which soon irradiated onto the whole of your body.

- I’ve been watching you guys, you know? For a few weeks now, - he said nonchalantly, his grip on your face loosened, long fingers tracing intricate shapes on your cheeks and temples, tucking a few strands of hair behind your ears, getting it out of your eyes. A wave of hysterical cries threatened to tear through your throat upon hearing his words, but you tried to suppress them as much as you physically could, staying still before him.

- Yes, - his voice sounded delicate - as if one of those passionate lovers who proclaimed their tender feelings. - Seen you guys do stuff… kiss, cuddle, fuck. A pathetic view, to be honest, - as he said so, his fingers came to tangle in your messy hair, massaging your scalp with soft movements. You felt sick. This man with a dagger bigger than your forearm clasped tightly in one hand, was caressing you so tenderly with another one - his unpredictable behaviour was making your guts churn.

He turned toward your boyfriend who was still thrashing harshly, struggling with all his might against secure confines of tight rope. Your gaze shifted towards your lover as well - the sight made your heart ache - his blood - some already caked and some fresh and shiny - covered the whole bottom of Paul’s face, a makeshift gag out of piece of some fabric was tied skilfully around his head - by the looks of it not to be untied by itself. His eyes met murderer’s, you could make out his muffled promises of killing the bastard, threats to not touch you and to get the fuck out of here. Murderer didn’t look impressed at all, staring silently at your man lying at his feet.

- Look at this pathetic scumbag - I tied your hands loosely, hoped for a bit of a fight, - harsh noise came from the speaker behind the mask, which you figured to be a sigh. König then turned back towards you, his head tilting to the side slightly, you could practically feel his intense gaze prickling on your skin. - Why are you even wasting your time on this piece of shit? He can’t even fuck you right, and you expected this piece of shit to actually protect you from danger? Provide for you?

Hot tears rushed down your cheeks at his words, as you stayed silent, not knowing what to say. König sighed again, rolling his shoulders to rid himself of the tension in sore muscles, his neck popping loudly, making you jolt at the sound.

- Now, my plan is - how about I show you what a real man is like? Set the bar high for you, hm? - he said, a cool glimmer of blood-stained blade caught your eye as König twirled his knife skilfully in between thick fingers barely twenty centimetres away from your face. He noticed your attention shifting from him to his little tool, softly nudging your chin up to look back at him. - Oh, don’t worry darling. If you’re being a good girl that thing won’t touch you, deal?

You nodded your head frantically, swallowing a thick lump in your throat. - Anything, - you choked out, voice hoarse and barely audible but it was enough for him to hear.

- I like the eagerness, - murderer chuckled, straightening his back from semi-crouching position to stand to his full height. His hand left your face with a small pinch on your tear-stained cheek, tossing his knife from one hand to another as if he was juggling; finally gripping the handle tight König pointed the tip of sharp blade towards your boyfriend: - I want you to watch. You dare closing your eyes and she’s dead.

Your eyes widened in panic, staring fearfully at Paul, mouthing silent “please” at him. Maniac shifted his attention back to you; he put his knife into its holster which was attached to his thigh with tight leather straps, you noted that he didn’t secure the handle, making it easier to pull the knife out in one move if needed.

You watched as if in slow motion how his hands came to the waistband of his black jeans, undoing the button and tugging zipper down, pulling front pants pieces apart. Your gaze darted up towards his mask-covered face, confusion mixed with terror written on your face - your insides dropped as you finally realised what he actually meant.

- What? Doll, I promised to show you what a real man is like, - one big hand came to rest on the crown of your head, not pushing nor pulling, just staying there securely. - Now I warn you, you dare using your teeth - I’ll pluck every single one of them before gutting you like a fucking pig, you get it?

Your breath stopped upon hearing his words, shoulders started shaking as strong bout of adrenaline rushed through your veins, making your poor heart pound crazily, threatening to break your ribs from the inside. You nodded your head vigorously, all of a sudden extremely aware of the tight rope binding your wrists together, how your fingers prickled from constricted blood flow, how much your shoulders ached from being pulled back for so long.

- Good girl. Now, go on, - König said, lightly pushing your head towards his clothed crotch. You had to crane your head up painfully because of the height difference between you two in order to even reach König’s private parts. You gazed up at him, unsure of what exactly he wanted you to do, but he just stared down at you silently, not offering any instructions nor comments.

You darted your tongue out, licking a noticeable bulge showing through his boxers, soaking black fabric in your spit. You did it again, and again, fear and adrenaline subduing feelings of humiliation and shame, you could hear your boyfriend’s muffled “get your fucking hands off her”, but König didn’t seem to pay slightest attention to the other male. You tilted your head to the side, pressing your opened mouth to the thick shaft that was trapped between man’s v-line and his tight underwear, sucking on it softly. That made slasher heave a deep sigh, hand on your head tangled deeper in your hair, holding you firmly in place, indicating for you to keep going.

- Now pull my boxers down, - psycho ordered a few seconds later; his voice, though contorted by voice changer, now sounded deeper. You looked frightfully up at him, your hands still bound tightly behind your back.

- But… how? - you asked, a spark of hope igniting in your chest as thought of him untying your hands popped up in your head. But it was extinguished just as quickly as it appeared with his next words:

- Well, think about it, - he shrugged his broad shoulders ever so slightly, your mind racing at the speed of light as you tried to figure out the problem.

You opened your mouth, moving as slowly as you could to indicate that you didn’t mean to do anything reckless - baring your teeth and gently hooking the elastic of his boxers, your canines grazing slightly against warm skin of murderer’s lower stomach. Once you secured your hold on elastic you pulled down on it, managing to slide it down slightly. König’s hard cock sprung right out, standing tall and thick against his clothed stomach - tip was concealed by brownish foreskin, and your eyes widened at the sheer size of him. Your attention was caught by two symmetrical rows of shiny silver balls running along mighty shaft, glistening coldly is white light of living room’s chandelier.

- Now, doll, that’s what a real good cock looks like, - man said, his free hand came to wrap around thick shaft, pumping it a few times to reveal pink head, a shiny bead of precum sitting in the middle of it. - Open wide, princess. And mind your teeth.

You let your mouth fall open, sticking your tongue out; his cock was standing too high for you to reach it in your kneeling position so König had to guide his length down to your lips, your mouth managing to only take his tip and a little bit more inside.

With your mouth full of other man’s cock your eyes wandered in the direction of your boyfriend; thrashing around seemed to finally exhaust him, crimson blood oozed out of the wound in his stomach. His chest was heaving in tandem with his wheezing breath, angry tears streamed down his temples as he stared with fierce anger at your abuser, the sight made your throat clench, causing you to gag on killer’s hefty length.

- Aw, poor girl is not used to a decent cock, huh? Tell me, did the even reach down to your throat? Lemme guess - he was cumming a few minutes after shoving his pathetic ten centimetres in this precious mouth, wasn’t he? - König chuckled darkly, suddenly pushing down onto your head, forcing you to take half his length down your tight throat, keeping you in place as you choked around his thickness, metal balls were rubbing painfully against the softness of your tongue, irritating sensitive buds of it.

Murderer’s free hand joined the one resting on your nape, gathering your hair in a makeshift ponytail, fixating your head in one position. Tears of pain and humiliation rushed down your reddened cheeks as man fucked his massive cock into your tight throat; his pace was erratic, without certain rhythm, making it hard for you to synchronise your breathing with his irregular thrusts. Your lungs burned with lack of air, dainty kneecaps ached from standing for so long on hard flooring, surely bruising your tender skin.

He let go of you only when you actually started to choke, your whole face reddening with exertion; thick strings of spit mixed with precum connected your swollen lips to glistening pink tip, fat tears rolled down your cheeks, dripping down your chin onto the floor below. A choked cry tore through your chest as massive hands manhandled you around, forcing your head down so that your wet cheek was pressed against cold hardwood facing your boyfriend, your back arched and ass up high in the air. König kneeled down behind you, backs of your thighs were touching coarse denim sitting snugly around his legs, cold metal rivets of his holster contrasting brutally with warmth of your skin. Broad palms kneaded on soft pudge of your ass, delivering a strong smack to the swell of your buttcheek, impact softened slightly by the fabric of your shorts and his glove.

Your boyfriend started thrashing as hard as ever, grunting and screaming as much as he could as König pulled your shorts along with your underwear down to your knees, huge hands resting on the bottom part of your ass, thumbs spreading your pussy open. Silent tears ran down from your eyes, gathering in a small puddle on the floor; you heard maniac tut behind your back, a pad of thumb swiped up and down your slit, making you jolt from sudden contact.

- What a shame, - he heaved a deep sigh, straightening his shoulders and looking up at your boyfriend. - She’s wet, dude.

A few small sobs left you upon his words. Paul tried talking back, but a horrible bubbling sound came out of his throat - gag in his mouth was completely red with absorbed blood, some of it oozed down the corners of his mouth, adding to the bloody mess on his face. You sobbed at the sight, squeezing your eyes shut to avoid looking at horrible picture.

- Turns out our little slut likes it rough, yeah? - König mocked, leaning over your frail form, one meaty forearm rested next to your head, huge chest pressed tightly against your back, overstimulating your thus on age senses. Terrifying mask was barely a few centimetres afar from your face as man whispered right next to your ear: - Did he ever fuck you rough?

His heavy gaze was fixed expectantly upon you, huge hand that still rested on your ass squeezed your flesh painfully, causing you to cringe. - No, - you mouthed, but that was more than enough for him. Slasher hummed in acknowledgment, straightening back into his kneeling position.

- Don’t worry love, I’ll give this pretty pussy what she needs, - psycho said, fisting his leaking cock a few times before aligning swollen tip against your tight entrance. With slow but persistent push of his hips König forced one third of his length inside your poor cunt, fresh dose of hot tears rushed from your eyes, pain of penetration adding to the ache all over your body.

With a sharp snap of his massive hips man forced as much of his cock as it’d go into you. Loud yelp tore through your throat, scratching it painfully; stretch of his girthy cock was too much for your pussy to take, ladder of piercings adding to unpleasant feeling. Tender walls fought against his thick length, such sudden stretch caused your muscles to reflexively constrict around him more, drawing a throaty groan to tumbling out of killer’s broad chest.

- There there, dearie. Poor pussy so used to pathetic cocks, can’t even take me whole, - König said in fake compassion, you felt his length throb within you, twitching a few times. Strong hands held you in place tightly, preventing you from moving your hips even for a millimetre.

Murderer generously allowed you a minute or so for your poor cunny to accommodate to his size before beginning to move his hips in shallow but quick thrusts. Soon enough König was full on fucking into you on rapid pace, your whole body jolting forward with intensity of his mighty thrusts, strong arms yanking you back in place every so often.

One of his deadly hands slithered around your ridiculously smaller form, index and middle fingers danced across your spread around his dick folds, causing your stomach to tense at sudden contact. Free hand yanked you up by the rope binding your wrists, urging you to raise your torso; your shoulder blades were pressed tightly against his heaving chest, warmth emitted off him like a fucking radiator.

Clothed fingertips rubbed tight relentless circles on your clit, causing thick pleasure to rush up and down your spine and your back arch uncontrollably. Your teeth clenched to suppress all the small sounds threatening to spill out of your lips; you felt König’s massive form shift behind you, cold plastic of horrendous mask pressed against the side of your face - he was whispering right into your ear, soft voice real and unchanged:

- I’m gonna slit your fucking throat if you’re not using it, - that caused a shiver to rush down your spine, arising goosebumps in its wake. You moaned out, doing as the murderer wanted, letting all the small sighs and moans flow freely from your lips, your voice lower than usual from all the crying and throatfucking.

Your breathing became shallow; your head just wasn’t working anymore - emotional shock along with physical abuse drained you out of all strength - you were a mere rug doll in psycho’s tight grip, and he could do whatever he pleased with you, you were too exhausted to fight back anyway.

Consciousness started to slip out of your grasp, vision blurred out with tears, dark spots appearing in the corners; König’s throbbing dick pounded your poor pussy mercilessly, thick cockhead nudged against all the sweet spots inside of you, his piercings stimulating you even further as if in spite of all your attempts to resist pleasure psycho was forcing onto you. A tight coil curled in the pit of your stomach, threatening to explode with every harsh snap of mighty hips against your reddened ass. Soaked with your slick fabric of König’s gloves felt overbearing against your clit, his fingers never once stopping to rub your sensitive nub.

A few moments later something deep within you snapped, like a rubber band stretched to its limit - suddenly the world around you turned white, ringing noise filled your ears as you had the most painful orgasm of your life being wrung out of you; your body quivered and thrashed in serial killer’s strong grip, unintelligible sounds and words poured out of your lips, barely louder than a whisper. And then everything became quiet. Soft velvet of darkness enveloped your bruised and exhausted body; you were drowning in warm waves of sleep, not finding it in yourself to try and fight them off. You gave in happily, trusting yourself in welcoming hands of darkness and quiet, afar from horrible reality, afar from fear and danger.

It felt as if your head was splitting in two - horrible ache settled somewhere deep inside of your brain, pain irradiated from within to the outsides of both hemispheres, causing you to groan in agony quietly in. Your whole body hurt, eyelids felt swollen and heavy even as they were closed; and then suddenly your eyes snapped open.

You were lying on cold hardwood flooring in your boyfriend’s living room, shorts and underwear still pulled down to your knees, but your hands now free from rope. You pulled your bottoms back up, hot tears pooling in your eyes as you let out a choked sob. You felt wretched, disgusting, dirty.

- Paul? - you called out to your boyfriend, the sound of your own voice startling you - hoarse and scratchy, total opposite from your usual octave.

As you turned around your breath got caught up in your chest, bitter ball of bile got stuck in your throat - you felt like you were about to throw up.

Here lay Paul - pale and lifeless, dull eyes staring blankly into nothingness, gag still fixed tightly around his head, now brown with dried out blood. Some of his insides spilled out of the gaping cut across his stomach, lying on the floor in a small heap right next to him, huge puddle of blood spread out on the floor, getting into all small cracks and gapes in wooden flooring.

And on the wall behind, in strange brownish color that looked all too similar to the caked blood on your boyfriend’s face, in sprawling handwriting were words:

SEE YOU SOON ♡

Slasher! König Masterlist

Another a/n: I’m planning on making it a series - let me know what you guys think<3 Likes, reblogs and comments are highly appreciated! Give writes some love - we live off feedback<3

[aeferkssr]

the first time you guys got a little more intimate than usual, they were oh so gentle. staring deep into your eyes before even daring to touch you. their own eyes crinkled up, showing their eagerness.

they cup your face in their hands as they admire you with all that they have, all that they are. as you were gently pulled into them, you close your eyes and pucker your lips a bit. your action being recognised by a kiss on your nose, and a cheeky giggle.

your face flairs as you as you avert eye contant, even when you two are so vulnerable they never miss a chance to tease you.

"im sorry, dear. you were too cute to not toy with." they muse as you pout. their left hand positioned right over their wide grin as their right never left your face.

you two finally close the gap, not for long but enough for fireworks to blaze behind your eyes. their smile never ending as they practically bounced in place, not even trying to mask his excitement.

you two meet fot the second time, your arms wrapping around their head as you play with what hair you could access. they turn their head to deepen the kiss as you panic, trying to 'go with the flow'.

that flow definetly wasn't flowing.

"calm down, you're going too hard" they say as they kiss your jaw.

"sorry, i got nervous"

they chuckle: "i can tell"

you two go at it again, matching their flow better than the last. you two eventually melted togetger, them pullung you closer by the waist. their arms never left your body, trailing down you midrift to the plush of your ass.

they reach for your hands to interlock your fingers, never once breaking the passionate exchange. you could feel them smile through the kiss as your tongues danced with one another.

you two part for air, panting as you looked deep into each other's eyes. both of your lips curling into a smile as their hands never left yours. both you lips being glossed eith the other's saliva. you two kiss once more, this one full of adoration and honesty (embarassment too, but its more poetic to leave ot out).

"GUYS, THEY'RE FUCKING IN THE BATHROOM"

shit.

SHIKANOIN HEIZOU. KAEDEHARA KAZUHA. KAEYA. wanderer. aether (delusional). lumine. venti. xiao (delusional 2). kaveh. al haitham (i have no clue). tighnari. cyno.

masterlist.

[chuuyascumsock]

Well This Is Just Slut-tastic || Minors DNI

Summary: Hey guys, here’s the sexless virgin back again to write about something they have no clue about but acts like she does.

Tags: Female! Chuuya Nakahara/Reader, Afab reader, LESBIANS LESBIANS LESBIANS, Gay As Hell Sex, I’ve Never Had Sex, Help What Is Sex, Power Imbalance (You’re Her Subordinate), Petnames (Baby, Doll, Princess, Pretty Girl, etc.), Thigh Riding, Cunnilingus (momentarily tbh), Sucking Titties Because I Love Titties IRL, Uhhhh And A Side Of Scissoring, Classic Lesbian W.

Chuuya wasn’t used to being invited to out-of-work events by her co-workers. She couldn’t count how many times she’s seen the same uncomfortable look that’s crossed people’s faces when she walked by or even happened to be in their presence. Like they were scared of her. Being one of the executives came with its title which skewed every individual’s image every time it was brought to light about how much power she held. And it got lonely.

Until you showed up.

“Do you wanna come over for a girl’s night and sleepover at my place?”

At first, Chuuya had thought of you to be obnoxious with your kind compliments and gentle eyes– thinking of it to be a complete facade– much like how Dazai wears a mask to keep others from getting too close. But as you were placed under her as her subordinate by Mori, she came to see that there were no hidden motives or facade. You were the most genuine person she had ever come across. She’d be lying if your compliments didn’t stick with her and leave her blushing with her heart pounding in her chest. Especially when you told her how pretty you thought she looked.

“We can watch The Girl and Her Dog,” You add, watching the taken aback look on Chuuya’s face diminish into a spark of excitement in her eyes.

“Really?”

You nod, jutting your bottom lip out slightly, “So can you? Pleeease, Chuuya?”

Chuuya always wondered how you managed to get away with calling her by her first name so casually like you had known each other for years. It’s not like she did much about it anyways— a small part of her enjoyed the way her name rolled off your tongue. It felt… Intimate. Something she didn’t experience much with any of her other co-workers.

“Fine,” She sighs in defeat. Though it seems unprofessional to do things like this with her subordinate— what’s the harm?

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Fuck, did you have to keep it so cold in your apartment?

From the moment Chuuya stepped into your home, she’s been shivering nonstop. When asked about why it was so cold, you just tilted your head with an innocent smile, “Is it? I haven’t noticed.” How could you not feel it? Being in a tight tank top and skimpy shorts— you must’ve been lying.

If it wasn’t for Chuuya’s thick long-sleeved shirt, it was safe to say that her hard nippes would’ve made an appearance through a thinner fabric, just like your siff peaks through the tank top her eyes linger on. But she keeps her mouth shut, refusing to complain or comment about the temperature any longer after you’ve been so kind to her by offering a blanket (it didn’t help much).

You're as perceptive as ever though.

You watch her body tremble under the blanket occasionally— her eyes glued to the TV as she attempts to keep her mind off the cold. “If you want, we can cuddle. I don’t have anymore backup blankets,” You giggle.

Chuuya nearly immediately accepts, but then hesitates with a mixed expression on her face, “Isn’t that weird?”

“Why would it be weird? It’s only weird if you make it weird,” You turn your head back to face the TV.

She sits there, contemplating for a good minute before slowly shuffling over next to you until your shoulders pressed against one another. “Just don’t tell anyone about this,” Chuuya huffs, leaning into your surprisingly warm body. It takes everything in her to not react when you shift your body to wrap your arms around one of hers and hug her arm into your plush tits. A vivid blush crosses her face, fortunately barely visible due to the darkness engulfing the room.

“I won’t.”

Chuuya feels your eyes linger on her stiff posture before you relax against her body and rest your head on her shoulder. She’s stopped shivering, but at the cost of thinking about how your cute, perky nipples would feel with her lips wrapped around them.

It doesn’t get any better as the night continues and you tell her that you won’t stand for her sleeping on your uncomfortable couch.

You roll over to face Chuuya in your bed— eyes blurring in the dark for a few moments before you get a clear outline of her face. “Are you alright, Chuuya?” Your voice is soft, as well as your touch, your hand reaching to tuck a piece of her bangs away from her eyes.

Chuuya shivers at how your fingertips ghost over her skin, “I’m fine, why?” The subtle tremble in her voice betrays her reassurance, her thighs shifting under the covers to rub together from your electric touch and the cold.

Your eyes flicker over her face before you near her, your noses a few inches away, “Are you sure? You’re shivering again— we can always cuddle like earlier, I don’t mind.”

Or you could turn the AC down.

Groaning, Chuuya gives in once more to your warmth and sinks into your arms when you pull her close. “Can’t you turn the AC down?” She speaks her mind, only to be shut down quickly.

“Sorry, don’t know where it is, so I can’t change it,” What a lousy excuse and a lie, but Chuuya doesn’t comment or point it out— too distracted by the way her chest presses against yours.

Suddenly, there’s no space between either of you and everything begins to feel all too hot and sensitive.

With such little personal space, it wasn’t much of a surprise that Chuuya’s mind began to wander. Thoughts of what would happen if the distance between your lips closed and she could have her way with you evaded her, only adding to the heat.

“For someone who says she’s cold, you feel very warm right now, Chuuya,” You point out with a small smile, yet don’t make any attempts to move away.

Chuuya shivers when you shift just barely, your breasts sliding against hers as you adjust your position. With your noses now touching, she’s sure that she isn’t just imagining things. “Shut up…” She whispers.

Your eyes bore into her and she feels like she could just melt under your gaze. “You know, I meant what I said every time I said you looked absolutely beautiful and any guy would be lucky to have you,” You murmur softly.

Chuuya feels her heart skip a beat, but at the same time— a small bit of irritation nips at Chuuya when you mention her being with men. Was it not obvious enough that she wasn’t interested in them? “I don’t like men.”

“Oh…” To anyone else, it would’ve sounded like you were surprised, yet Chuuya could tell that it was something else, “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

There’s a small huff from Chuuya, “No, but I am annoyed that you still refuse to make a move even after telling you I don’t have an interest in men.”

“I was just trying to be cordial,” You respond quietly.

“I think we crossed that line hours ago,” She mutters before closing the gap between the both of you to press her lips against yours.

It’s firm and straight to the point, it almost feels like she’s still trying to be professional, even when she’s kissing. And it makes you giggle against her lips.

She pulls away with a quiet growl, “What’re you giggling at?”

“It’s just that your kisses fit you.”

“What’s wrong with the way I kiss?” Her brows furrow.

You move your arms away from around her waist before cupping her cheeks, “Nothing, I just thought it was cute. You don’t have to be so stiff, though.”

“Whatever,” She grumbles before you pull her into another kiss, this time much softer as she relaxes.

Chuuya’s hand falls to grab at your hip, pulling you closer to hook one of your legs over her own hip. You shiver as she rubs her hand along the expansion of your outer thigh, teeth nipping at your bottom lip.

When you part your lips, she’s eager to angle her head and deepen the kiss, her tongue invading your mouth as she moves her hand from your thigh to your ass. Her hand squeezes the fat of your ass momentarily, earning a muffled moan against her mouth and your hips jerking into her thigh between your legs.

Chuuya’s lips part from yours and she pants out, her warm breath hovering over your lips, “Have I ever told you that I think you’re fucking hot?” When you shake your head in a small ‘no’, she grips her fingers further into your fat to grind your clothed crotch over her thigh again. “Well you are— n’you make me so fuckin’ wet, baby.” She groans, moving to entangle her tongue with yours again.

The kiss grows sloppy and wet as your lips smack together loudly, a sheen of spit coating both of your lips, her hands not giving away at forcing your hips down against her muscled thigh. You begin to grind down on her thigh, small noises escaping the back of your throat as you feel the pressure rub against your clit through your clothes. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” You heave out when pulling away from the messy kiss.

“Yeah? You want me?” She moves her kisses along your jaw and down your throat. She’s given a quick nod from you in return which makes her grin, “I want you too, pretty girl.” Her teeth sink into the skin of your neck softly before she sucks at the spot, leaving a noticeable hickey above the base of your neck.

“Please… Wanna see you,” You plead, tugging at her long sleeved shirt, wanting it off.

Chuuya obliges and fumbles to take it off with how close the two of you are. She tosses her shirt away somewhere in your room and it, revealing her small, pert tits.

“They’re so pretty,” You mumble, hands trailing to run overly flatly against her chest.

“H-Hey, I can’t be the only one taking stuff off,” She shudders at your touch, her own hands coming to tug at your tank top to pull it off. Both topless and bare, you shiver, noticing just how cold your apartment really was, “Told you it was fuckin’ cold.” Her hands grab at your ass to pull you up further, her face now level with your breasts.

Your lips part into a moan when she takes one of your nipples into her mouth, rolling the hard bud between her tongue and teeth. “F-Fuck— yeah— well I was fine with it before cause it got you close to me,” One of your hands come up to thread into her soft locks as she sucks at your nipple. She takes the other nipple between two of her fingers to rub and play with as she hums against your skin.

“So you made it cold just so you could be close with me, hm? God, you just get cuter and cuter, baby,” Her words vibrate against your skin before she pulls away from your nipple with a quiet ‘pop’ and moves to the other one to suck on.

“A-Ah, Chuuya, that hurts,” You whine as she roughly pinches your nipples between her teeth and fingers.

“Yeah, well you don’t get to complain after I froze my ass off f’you instead of going home like I would’ve usually done,” She moves away from your chest to litter your sternum with love bites.

A pout settles over your lips as you tug at her hair, “I wanna have fun with you too, s’not fair that you get to do whatever.”

She puffs her cheeks out slightly, “You’re so impatient, you know that? Bet you’re wet,” She continues to kiss and nip at your skin, a hand reaching down to snap the waistband of your shorts against your hip.

“You’re one to talk— I bet you’re soaking,” You want to reach down to her own shorts, but she has you positioned in a way you can’t reach them, “This isn’t fair.”

“Really? I disagree,” She grins, maneuvering the both of you until you’re lying on your back and she’s hovering over you. Her hands quickly come to tug at the waistband of your shorts and underwear, pulling them off with ease as you lift your hips to help her. “Fuck, spread those legs for me, doll— wanna see that cute pussy of yours.”

It’s embarrassing, but you can’t help but open your legs at her demand to reveal your wet folds glistening with arousal. Her stare burns into your skin, making you squirm under her, “No more— I want to feel you, Chuu.”

Chuuya waves you off as she huffs through her nose, hands holding your thighs apart as she lowers her face down, “After I get a taste— then you can have me all you want, princess. But I need this,” She insists, tongue lolling out to lick a strip up through your puffy folds to collect your taste on her tongue. “You taste so good, y’know that, baby?” She buries her face back between your thighs to press wet kisses against your sopping pussy, uncaring of how messy they were.

Your thighs clamp around her head, fingers threading tightly into her hair as you needily rut your hips against her mouth, “Mm, feels good— but I really want you, Chuu. Please? A-Ah… Wanna feel your pussy on mine.” You whine.

Chuuya groans against you, the vibrations against your clit making you shiver and buck your hips against her before she sits up, “Fine, but next time, you better let me have a proper taste.”

“Promise, okay? But please— just need you s’bad,” You watch her with an impatient stare as she strips herself of her shorts and underwear, leaving her bare for you to see.

“Love how needy you are f’me, baby,” She sighs out as she fits herself between your legs, one of hers straddling over one of your legs to rest by your hip and the other resting near your ass. She grabs the latter leg and holds your leg against her chest for stability and leverage.

You can’t see much from the angle you’re at, but you can feel how wet she is when she lowers her pussy to come flush with you. And it makes you shudder feeling her slick leak from her soft pussy onto yours. “Oh my god…” Your head falls back onto the pillow when she moves her hand hand between the both of you to spread your sticky folds apart for her slippery cunt to slide across yours until her clit bumps yours.

“Fuck, I can feel you throbbing against me,” Chuuya gasps, pressing down against you harder. “Can’t believe you’re getting off on rubbing pussies with your superior, naughty girl,” She growls out, hand tightening around your leg.

You reach a hand out to fondle one of her perky tits as you try your best to rut your hips back against hers in rhythm, “Can’t help it, you’re s’pretty, Chuu.”

Chuuya moans, her chest arching into your hand as she grinds harder against your pussy, the arousal between you both creating a lewd schlicking noise with each time she moves her hips. “I think you’re pretty too, baby. The prettiest— fuck— the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

Your soft groans and moans fall into desperate whimpers as your hand plays with her sensitive nipples and her grinding turns into bucking her hips roughly against yours erratically. “M’gonna come— Chuu, your pussy feels so good.”

“Yeah? Wanna feel you come all over my pussy, pretty,” She hunches over to smash her lips against yours, her hips animalistically rutting along with you— desperate to feel your nubby clit rub against hers again.

Jolts of pleasure shoot down your spine as the new angle of her hips and her tongue violating your mouth sends you over the edge. Your toes curl and thighs quake as your lips tremble against hers in the hazy kiss, your cum leaking from your clenching hole to join the slick between your legs.

Chuuya isn’t far behind as her hips falter and slow to long and tedious movements to ride out her own orgasm. You both pant against each other with open-mouths, pulling away just enough to look at the mess between the both of you.

Both of your pussies glisten with cum, threads of arousal connecting each other before Chuuya pulls away completely. “God, you’re so good,” She whispers as she places a soft kiss to your lips before you both untangle your limbs from one another to lie down and cuddle under the covers.

You bury your face into the crook of her neck, “Do you think I should turn the AC off?”

“Yeah— I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’m still really fucking cold.”

[sassydefendorflower]

In case of their death, each Bat has a dedicated spot where they keep their will/private messages to different members of their family/their friends.

It makes sense in their line of work.

Tim's is a hard drive, no surprise there, but he made sure the code to access it was just stupid enough that most of the family would have to come together to crack it (and even then, they still have to call Bart for the final clue) - it’s something stupid and sentimental, something Bruce would never have guessed Tim would choose as a password. Maybe Quadruple Summersault. Or Short Pants. Or Second Mask. Or Always Be Prepared. Or maybe just I Love You.

Babs has a lot of video messages just in case. She wrote code that would automatically send her last words to everyone she cherished (her dad, the Bats, the Birds of Prey, her co-workers at the library) should she forget to enter the I'm Still Alive Code. (she has to stay at the hospital once without her phone and accidentally sends her last words to everyone - Gotham is chaos for a day until people manage to check in on her).

Cass has already hidden all her goodbyes in the rooms of those she thinks deserve it. Once she is gone, she hopes Bruce will find the letter in her nightstand. The one that says "my words are still here, you just have to look for it" - which is a bit ironic, considering most of her letters consist of funny cartoons and nice memories captured in the chicken scratch of someone who might never be a portrait artist but can undoubtedly catch a moment in time with just a few strokes of a pencil.

Dick updates his will every couple of months, just to be safe. And his letters? His final words? Those are usually stored with a civilian friend or two. One batch is definitely kept at Titans Tower. All of these people have instructions to send them once the news of his death has hit the public. His letters are unusually long, filled with jokes and anecdotes, and a lot of things he never quite managed to say before. For someone who likes to talk, Dick is awfully good at saying nothing. But that's not how he wants to die - at least not this time, so long letters it is.

Jason doesn't have a lot of letters, or a lot of anything really. He just has a very detailed will. A binding legal paper that explains exactly what the family is supposed to do with his body. He's not gonna take any more chances with this. At the end of his will, there is only one addendum: I love you. Please let me be dead. Nothing more - nothing less.

Steph is a bit obsessed with the details of her death, maybe because her first close encounter resulted in a complete loss of agency. She wants to plan it down to the smallest bit, and since she knows she cant do that, she plans everything else. Where she wants to be buried, what songs should be played, what kind of food should be offered... and in each of these instructions there is a personal message hidden just within. She wants Bruce and Tim to carry her coffin, carry her one last time. She wants Cass to dance at her funeral, and Babs and her mom to write the speeches. Small love letters hidden in a search for control.

Damian is needlessly good at compartmentalizing, or maybe its because he's just twelve. He should think of himself as immortal, and nothing is crueler than the fact that he doesn't. He has a will, hidden underneath his mattress because he's too young to actually request legally binding documents. And he has letters and paintings and notebooks - in the hopes that when they find them they'll remember him as a boy and not a weapon. For someone so desperately striving for the title of Robin, Damian mostly wants to be remembered as a son.

For a long time Duke didn't partake in this "family tradition". Because he saw himself as outside of them, as someone with parents, as someone with a home. But a dozen close calls, and suddenly mortality becomes something else. So he saves his will on the Batcomputer, addressed to his parents but protected by Bruce. And he writes small notes. Thoughts. Ideas. Things he thinks they will appreciate should he be gone one day. And he leaves them lying around. Maybe the mark he makes is hidden in the small things. The post-it notes and exploded overhead lights. Duke would be fine with that.

And then there is Bruce, who - in a way - cannot die. His legacy is the Cave, his brain a part of the mainframe they use to fight crime. And he knows that. He knows that no matter where he goes, he will never be really gone. So he makes sure that one day - long after he has passed - the Batcomputer destroys itself. To set them free. To leave them with the physical memorabilia of Bruce Wayne, and no longer with the desperation of the Bat. It's the biggest love letter Bruce can imagine writing - the possibility of being free.

[seungkw1]

maestro — ljh // chapter 1

⛧ pairing: lee jihoon x afab!reader (reader uses she/her pronouns) ⛧ theme: fantasy, suggestive (18+ smut in future chapters) ⛧ chapter wc: 2.7k ⛧ warnings: minor knife violence ⛧ a/n: when i tell u that lee jihoon wrecked me sooooo bad this comeback !!!! the maestro mv was fully giving villain!woozi and my brain took that and absolutely ran with it. also, this is my first chapter fic!! much more to come, stay tuned <3

Your knowledge of the enemy is minimal, but what is known for certain is this: the Maestro is a dark and powerful sorcerer that is not to be trifled with - and you’ve just walked right into his trap.

You fucked up.

Your task was simple enough: sneak into the palace, steal the ring, and get the hell out. You’ve done countless jobs like this over the years - you're a professional for fuck’s sake. Sure, this gig was a bit more high-profile than usual, but nothing you couldn't handle. 

Yet somehow, they caught you. 

You rack your brain for a clue - something, anything, to indicate what went wrong. But you come up blank. Everything had gone according to plan (up until you found yourself surrounded by imperial guards with a knife at your throat, anyway), not a single detail overlooked. Something is off here, your instinct tells you. 

Here you are now, being forcefully escorted through the palace’s underlevels by a squad of imperial goons. The head goon hauls you through the dim hallways, his grip on your arm painfully tight, knife drawn and at the ready in case you were to try something foolish. A dark mask covers his lower face, so he's hard to get a read on, but you can tell he’s nothing more than a large, brainless oaf. You’ve single-handedly outwitted enemies like him in the past - but here, you are far too outnumbered. For the time being, you comply. 

You arrive at a large steel door, adorned only by a small barred window in its middle. With a rough shove the guard pushes you into the cell - you fall to the ground, your palms striking the cold stone floor. The hinges let out a horrid creaking sound before the door slams shut with a loud CLANG. You hear the clunking of a heavy chain, then the click of a padlock. Footsteps fade away as the imperial squad retreats - then, silence. You are all alone, trapped, imprisoned in this musty cell, somewhere in the depths of the Maestro’s palace. 

You sit on the hard ground, alone with your thoughts. The more you think about it, the only explanation is that this was a setup. But the Agency’s entire job is to sift through lies and misinformation; if this was a trap, there must be something larger at play - something elaborate, sinister. 

Unfortunately for you, you have nothing but time to try and piece together this puzzle. You lean your head against the stone wall, trying to figure out how the fuck you're gonna get yourself out of this mess. 

The absence of natural light leaves you with no way of telling time. The silence grows eerie. Your mind wanders, imagination soon running wild. You’ve heard of people who lose their minds within days of solitary confinement. Will that happen to me?, you can’t help but wonder. How long will I be here? Are they going to bring me food, or am I doomed to die of starvation? How did I even end up here? What are they planning to do with me? What if they forget about me? What if…

Your mind grows weary. You decide to lay down - no use in staying awake and overthinking. You rest your head on the gravelly floor - it’s uncomfortable, but your eyelids soon become heavy. You drift in and out of consciousness, strange visions and voices floating through your mind. Before long, you are asleep.

You’re running. You don’t know where to, but you are running through winding, endless corridors. Running from… something. You don’t know what. The sound of your racing heartbeat pounds in your ears, surpassed only by the heaving pants of your labored breathing. The neverending halls begin to expand around you - they grow larger and larger, disorienting your sense of perception. From behind, unsettling noises draw nearer and nearer: screeching echoes, thunderous crashes, wicked laughter. You run, but it’s not fast enough. The horrid sounds infiltrate your mind, reverberating through your skull so loudly you feel as if your head is about to explode. Suddenly, through blurred vision you see the hallway’s end; at it stands a cloaked figure, facing away from you. You can’t see anything else of the entity, but you sense the dark energy that surrounds it. Dread wells in the pit of your stomach, filling you with terror - but, for some reason, you are drawn to the malevolent being. Their presence is magnetic, alluring - frightening, but seductive. You press on - you don’t know why, but you must get to them. Your legs feel as if they’ve turned to lead - each footstep slowing you down further. You’re almost there, almost, almost… finally - the figure is within arm’s reach. In excruciating slow motion, you extend your hand toward them. Your fingertips graze the black cloak, its woven texture coarse against your skin. Your hand glides over the thick fabric - you close your grip around their shoulder, forcefully turning them around to face you. You lift your gaze to look at their face-

BANG.

You jolt awake in a panic. Disoriented, heart pounding, it takes you a moment to realize you’re still in the cold, dark prison cell. Faint light enters the room through the now-open doorway. Standing in it is a tall, thin man - you can barely make out his face, but his presence is unsettling. He peers down at you, his piercing eyes practically boring a hole into your head. 

“Come with me,” is all he says. 

You blink dully a few times, still not fully lucid. You try to process what all is happening, but your dream (nightmare?) weighs heavily at the forefront of your mind. The odious man quickly becomes irritated.

“GET UP!” he bellows at you.

You rise, stumbling to your feet. Two guards enter from behind him, swiftly seizing hold of your arms and yanking you out of the cell. They halt in front of the man. An unpleasant scowl seems permanently engraved on his face. He smirks at you.

“Well aren’t you pretty.”

You spit on the ground in front of his feet. The man glares at you with vitriol. He draws a short sword from the depths of his cloak, pointing it at your face. He traces the razor-sharp tip lightly across your cheek.

“Act like that again,” he sneers. With a quick flick of the wrist he delivers a small slash into your cheekbone. You barely flinch.

“And I’ll carve some very permanent scars into that pretty little face of yours.”

You stare at him, but say nothing. With a huff he turns, sauntering off into the hallway.

“Come along now. The Maestro wants to see you.”

—

The first thing you notice upon entering the chamber is the hundreds of candles set alight, illuminating the otherwise unlit space. The second is the hooded figure seated upon the throne at the room’s distant end, reclining arrogantly - watching you intensely. 

You hadn’t seen their face, but you know: it is the figure from your dream.

The guards stand you before the Maestro. You still can’t see their face. The thin man who summoned you steps forward, giving a small bow to his master.

“The thief, Your Majesty.”

The Maestro leans forward. Their face, previously shadowed, becomes illuminated in the candlelight: you see a man, much younger than anticipated - and strikingly beautiful. His eyes, adorned with dark makeup, peer up and down your body, studying you. He rises, nonchalantly descending the few steps before him; the clacking of his boots against the dark marble echoes through the otherwise silent chamber. He strolls toward you, maintaining eye contact, coming to a stop within mere inches of you. Slowly he removes his hood, revealing a head of long pale tresses. Up close, he is even more stunning. 

The man lifts his hand, delicately taking your chin between his thumb and forefinger. He tilts your head, observing the cut on your cheek.

“I told you to bring me the prisoner unharmed,” he scolds his servant. His gaze doesn’t stray from your face.

The subordinate’s face drops. “Apologies, my liege,” he responds hesitantly. “I-”

“Leave.”

He says nothing else. The servant’s eyes darken with fear. “My liege-”

The man before you motions to the guards. “Take him away.”

The guards seize the man, dragging him from the chamber in silence. The door closes with a heavy thud. You are now alone with the enemy. 

Your existing knowledge of the mysterious individual known as the Maestro is minimal - you have a fairly high level of clearance within the Agency, but even there the details are sparse. Rumors abound, but what is known for certain is this: the Maestro is a dark and powerful sorcerer, and is not to be trifled with.

You watch the man before you intently as he turns on his heels, meandering casually across the room, hands behind his back. Undoubtedly, his presence is intimidating; but admittedly he does not seem to be nearly the loathsome monster you’ve been led to believe he is. Regardless, you will not be letting your guard down. 

“My apologies for the poor treatment you have received thus far,” the man starts as he resumes his seat upon the large, ornate chair. A bowl of deep-purple grapes sits on the table beside him; he reclines again, reaching for the supple fruits. He plucks a particularly round grape from its stem, drawing it to his lips - he places it upon his tongue, holding it there momentarily before biting down, its juicy flesh bursting within his mouth. He chews, his eyes fixated upon you. He swallows before continuing.

“I had to ensure you were who I thought you were, and not some irrelevant member of the Agency.”

You grimace, displeased to learn that your suspicions were correct. He did know about the mission, and presumably the Agency’s agenda too. If that’s the case, then how much else does he know…

You’re itching to ask him who exactly he thinks you are, but you hold your tongue. You know better than to engage with the enemy unless absolutely necessary.

“But now that I am certain, I assure you you will receive nothing but the finest accommodations.” 

You say nothing. He eats another grape. You’ve been staring for far too long when you realize his plush lips seem to have you in a trance; you quickly return to glaring at him.

A few moments of silence pass. The intense eye contact he sustains stirs up a sensation within you - not fear, not worry, but rather… intrigue. You know the man is dangerous, yet here you are - simply captivated by him. You silently curse yourself for allowing emotion to infiltrate your mind like this. You’re smarter than this. Get your shit together.

“Refusing to speak, I see. Very well then. But aren’t you curious?” He leans forward, taunting you. “You know I hold the answers you seek, y/n.”

Your stomach drops. He just called you by your real name. Members of the Agency are exclusively referred to by their code names - even amongst colleagues, true identities remain concealed. How does he…

Your face remains stoic, indifferent, but he smirks. He can read you like an open book, and he knows you know it. 

“Go on, question me. You must see there is no threat here - I am unarmed. You may speak freely.”

You know that’s an absolute crock of bullshit. A cunning sorcerer is never truly unarmed - god knows what he could conjure up in the blink of an eye. But, admittedly he does have a point. You very well may die here - might as well get some fucking answers first. 

“How did you know I was coming?” you ask coldly.

A sly grin appears on his face. “Ah, she speaks! Good girl.” You scowl at him; he continues. “It’s simple, really - it was me who allowed the Agency to ‘discover’ the location of the palace. I made sure their little reconnaissance efforts would lead them to send their most skilled operative to retrieve the ring.”

“You wanted the ring to be stolen.”

“No. I wanted the ring to be stolen by you.”

You pause at his unexpected words. What?

Every neuron in your brain is screaming at you to be silent, don’t play into his little games. But you open your mouth anyway.

“And why me?” 

“Oh, I’ve had my eyes on you for quite some time, darling.”

Your stomach jolts. He said it so nonchalantly, as if he was telling you the weather rather than admitting he’s been watching your every move for god knows how long.

You stare at him incredulously. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

He simply shakes his head. “Patience - you will learn the whole story in due time. Guards!”

A new pair of imperials, much more polished and intelligent-looking than their brutish counterparts you’ve dealt with thus far, enter the room. 

“Please escort my guest to her bedchamber for the night. I must retire.”

The guards steer you toward the hallway. You follow without resistance. 

“Goodnight, y/n,” the man calls as you step through the doorway. You glimpse back: he is seated in the same position, watching you intensely. You catch a curious look in his eye, one you can’t quite read. He disappears as the heavy door shuts behind you.

—

As promised, your new accommodations are satisfactory - lavish, even. You’ve never seen a room with so many ornate embellishments, nor a bed with so many cushions and fine coverings. The washroom was equally fanciful, offering a large tub and luxurious-looking towels. Enticing, certainly, but at this point you are exhausted, and simply want to sleep anywhere that isn’t a cold stone floor. You lay upon the bed, not even bothering to retreat under the covers. Within seconds, you drift off to sleep.

You find yourself in the same hallway again - this time, not running, but merely standing behind the cloaked figure. You extend your hand, grabbing his shoulder and turning him round. You raise your eyes, meeting his gaze - but where his eyes should be, you only found blackness. You stare into the void of his sockets, hypnotized in fear, their darkness seeming to infiltrate your soul. He draws a dagger from his cloak, shoving you into the wall and placing it against your throat. You feel its pressure, but it does not break skin. He draws his face into yours, tenderly placing his lips upon your cheekbone - right atop your freshly-scarring cut. He kisses you - slowly, fervidly, his lips burning against your skin, but instead of pain you feel only pleasure. His free hand wraps around the small of your back, pulling your torso into his, holding you tightly against his blisteringly-hot form. The dagger remains perilously at your throat, a constant reminder of the power he holds over you. His lips parts from your cheek as he draws his head back, looking at you once again, the abysmal darkness of his stare penetrating through you. Slowly, he leans in, his lips converging on yours. Your mouth reaches for his, wanting for his kiss, yearning for his taste- 

Your eyes open. There are no windows in your room, but you get the sense that it is morning, midday perhaps. Dazed, you try to wake yourself up, but your mind keeps drifting back to your dream - to the man who has somehow infiltrated your subconscious. You raise your hand to your face, running your fingertips over your wound, but…

Quickly, you sit up, tossing your feet to the floor and heading toward the washroom. You approach the mirror, peering your face in close to the glass. Where there should have been a fresh scar: nothing. Not a mark on your skin. 

You frown. You don’t know what this means, but you suspect nothing good will come of it. 

A knock comes from the door. You hear the turn of the lock, followed by the creaking of the door swinging open. A young female servant enters, carrying a bundle of fabrics. A second follows, placing a tea set on the small table.

“You are expected at supper today,” the first woman informs you curtly. She places the fabrics upon your bed. “Wash up and dress in fresh clothes.” The two leave swiftly without another word.

You let out a sigh of annoyance. So this is how it’s going to be then. Fine - I’ll play along with his little games. You glance back at the mirror. A tired face looks back at you, grimacing.

Not like I have much of a choice anyway.

⛧ chapter 2: coming soon ⛧

[natureboy96]

Rhysand is Tamlin's abuser

I've been enjoying crackshipping and fun posts for the past few months, it's far more pleasant to interact within fandom this way I've found, but this thought came to me last night and it won't leave my head, so I simply have to go for another rant/long post about it.

The discussion about what happens Under the mountain is largely focused on what happens to Feyre, which is understandable as she's the POV character; the problem is, what happens there isn't about Feyre at all. Everything UtM is designed to break Tamlin, especially torturing Feyre. And Rhysand is a large part of that.

While Rhysand is sexually assaulting Feyre, he's also psychologically torturing Tamlin. Can you imagine how horrible it would be, being forced watch and witness this fragile human you've come to love, being turned into a sexual prop and toy, forced to dance and drink and vomit and dance again, every night for months on end, knowing that the slightest twitch could end up killing someone you care about, or hurting Feyre even worse? I wouldn't put it past Amarantha to leave Feyre with a few less limbs if Tamlin grimaced.

And the thing is, Rhysand not only knows that he's hurting Tamlin, but that he's doing it intentionally. He explains fully that he wants to protect Feyre, yes, but also that he wanted to make Tamlin suffer, to make him feel hate and pain. All those horrors that Rhysand drugs Feyre, so she doesn't have to witness it and be scarred by it? Tamlin has no choice but to look, and not react, and Rhysand knows it. Tamlin doesn't know anything about Rhysand's "evil mask" during and after UtM and only sees him for how he presented himself; a sexual predator who worked as hard as Amarantha did to break him, and continued to trigger his trauma after they were free.

But Rhysand has a grudge for what Tamlin did to his family, yeah? A grudge he's been holding on to for at most over four centuries (due to the lack of dates and timelines, the only clues we get for when things went down between their families was that it was after the war 500 years ago, and a few years after Tamlin "matures" as Rhys says it, which could be as early as Tam being 18 or 19) And that he doesn't know all the details about! a grudge he's had centuries to try and find out the truth about, but that he's chosen to assume the worst about Tamlin instead, and that ended with Tamlin's family dead in retaliation.

Rhysand being angry for what happened to his family (after getting revenge in retaliation) does not justify months of psychological torture.

And then in ACOMAF, instead of taking any accountability for the pain he caused either of them, he at most justifies how he treated Feyre, and entirely ignores the pain he caused Tamlin. Worse yet, he goes on to villainize Tamlin for dealing poorly with his PTSD, trauma that he had a direct hand in causing, and actively antagonizes him further to make it worse!

Tamlin should be held accountable for the pain he caused Feyre, and I would argue he pays for it well more than his actions warrant. Rhysand never takes or is held accountable for any of the pain he causes, not to Tamlin or Feyre (and later not to Nesta either). Beyond feeling bad in a monologue or again justifying his actions when confronted by the High Lords, he never has to answer for the harm he's caused and its handwaved away almost immediately on being addressed.

Rhysand and Tamlin hurt each others' families, Rhysand abuses Tamlin, who later abuses Feyre, who later abuses Tamlin back, and then the Night Court abuses Nesta, after she abused Feyre when they were poor and starving. It's just a cycle of abuse, but only some characters ever pay any actual, tangible price for it.

All of this is to say, I have found myself having far more sympathy for Tamlin reacting poorly to his PTSD than the person who gave it to him with psychological torture and then villainized him for it.

[monochromatic-heartzz]

Man. I am in a roll lately.

I've been having so much Sampo on the brain but let's discuss a stupid concept i thought up. This probably won't be long dw. (<- Future Heart here, hi. I lied.)

Could 5 Star Sampo be a Preservation unit?

Now. I know what some of you are thinking. "Preservation!? It doesn't fit him! He should be a very strong dps or an irreplaceable support! Why preservation????" And to that i say, maybe he should be.

But. It's just... i've talked about this in a post before but it was a very short jokey thing that was the first time i'd done an analysis in a while.

Belobog. The planet where its people follow the preservation. They want to preserve humanity and civilization. So they fight to survive, just enough until the Astral Express gives their assistance and they can be free from the pain the Stellaron has given them.

Well, you know, there's a biiit of an outlier in the Belobog cast. And it's, as you know, our old Sampo Koski, Masked Fool who came here to help drive the plot forward. He follows the path of Elation, as all Masked Fools do, and as far as we're concerned there should be no connection with him and the Preservation, and no indication that his views align with it.

WRONG!!!!! Masquerade Duet. Sparkle guesses that the reason Sampo wants his mask back is because of a catastrophe in Jarilo-VI, and judging by his reaction and later words, she hit the nail square on the head.

So?

That's. Kinda it? He wants to preserve the civilization in Jarilo-VI, and all the work he put would be undone if this catastrophe were to happen without interference. All the work he put into helping preserve humanity in this planet. Mmm does anyone remember what happened to an outsider who helped preserve civilization on Belobo- Fire trailblazer.

Yes. It's because they are the protagonist. And they will get every playable path one day, but. Canonically, they become a pathstrider after their views and feelings align with the path.

Let's be real, Sampo loves Belobog. Pretty evident from context clues and dialogue even outside of it. He clearly helped preserve it, though it was from the sidelines and really nothing major.

So. How would he earn being a preservation path thingy?

The catastrophe in Jarilo-VI. His mask.

Gang. I think we found our way.

And yes. Gameplay paths don't equal canon lore paths, we've known for a while. But sometimes narratively ingame paths can be used to deepen a character in one way or another, even if its not stated.

Even though it would be a bummer if he got his big 5 star form and it was a preservation unit. I think it sounds sweet. After probably helping it so much, it would be a nice way to say "Yeah this is more his home than Epsilon ever would be, he has the will of the preservation to show it!!"

I do not know. I am. Once again: spitballing. Don't take this too seriously we have nothing about this guy and im working hard on not crying because i see no new content of him.

This is definitely not a hill i would ever die on. But i rarely see people talking about him being a preservation unit, and i wanted to show the idea a little love

[transingthoseformers]

Tarn geting on his infrequently used personal account on The Great Conversation and lurking in Relationship Advice before coming to the conclusion he actually needs to post because there's no previous question that addresses his problem.

Megatron gets a high priority notification that DamasceneSteel is posting. Tarn is using his old personal username! Megatron keeps tabs on his most volitle high comand member's activity infrequent as it is. "Help! I accidentally seduced a jet," is the last thing Megatron expected from the DJD leader so he lurks on his personal acccount(identity known only to Soundwave) and watches the trainwreck unfold in real time.

Tarn's geting notifications of Lucky slagger! Or, Share your Wisdom I beg you! Not to mention, Hoax! Everybody knows jets dont frag grounders ever!

Then User ShootyShoot McBangBang weighs in to dispense his wisdom. No hoax mech. I once when I was a newbuild, I slaged off my CO so bad i got temporary assigned to a grounder unit and let me say you losers on the ground are fragging weird about fragging. All weird and soft and slag when you flirt. I though my temp CO was flirting with me but when I kissed him he punched me for being a weirdo. The loser had no clue even when I explained how to him exactly how he was coming on to me!"

Tarn meanwhile is cross-referencing the database. Misfire might be an incompetent Deceptacon but he's a seeker and he's actually giving an explanation that's sheding light on of what the frag just happened with Pharma.

What would Jet courting look like to the uninitiated? Tarn typed tentitavely and waited for a response.

Hmmmm. It's really hard to describe the subtitles between flirt-threat and threat-threat to grounders but basicaly if it looks like a seeker's trying to kill you and you're still alive or they could kill you at any moment and they chose not to it's pretty likely they're trying to spike you.

Tarn blinked in shock and typed an incomplete response as he processed. Wait would that mean

KaoniteMiner2793 responded at the same time, But Starscream

Misfire cut them both off with STOP! ✋️ 🛑 Speculating on the Air Comander's love life WILL get you slagged! He'll make sure. You could be a Phase Sixer or the slagging DJD and he would find a way! Anyhow onto a shiny new and much safer topic! DamasceneSteel, you said you seduced a jet and I hadn't heard through the gosip network about anyone in the airforce geting it on with a grounder. You bringing the good news of The Cause to the Lost Colonies, or trying to pull a DocKnock?

Pull a DocKnock? Tarn typed brow furrowed under his mask

ShootyShoot McBangBang blythly typed away unaware who he had warned off. You know Knockout the medic and interogator from Velocitron? Pulled a slagging Wrecker over to our side early in the war with his impeccable valve Dom game? Break-something or other? The two of them single-handedly launched the Converted to the Cause porn genre. Its rumored some of the hottest smut in the genra were written by one of the elite trine.

It's been so long I forgot about that recruitment campaign. KaoniteMiner2793 added. It got unpopular when mechs realized they had to kill their lovers if they didn’t join the Cause and didn’t have live capture bounties.

Tarn considered his response. Misfire didn't. Live capture bounties! we had those! When?! 🤯

We still do. Tarn educated absenly before he logged off. Mostly medics and a few others who if they can be made to serve The Cause are more useful alive than dead. Thank you for your help clarifying the situation.

Tarn leaned back in his chair to best consider how to use the situation.

Megatron blinked at his screen stuned. Starscream's ridiculous stunts were courting attempts?!?! It was ridiculous! Preposterous! It made... entirely too much sense actualy. Had he accidentally been engaging in an amorous game of one-upmanship with his subordinate??? What in the Pit?!

Misfire sipped someone else's energy drink and scrolled to a new thread.

This is just great amazing great amazing great

Win Misfire for being our Ultimate The Great Conversation problem solver today

Megatron is Learning Today and he's not quite sure he's ready to think out the consequences

Tarn got what he was looking for, and shall utilize that information accordingly (oh the humanity, that relationship is going to be so fun given the conditions of this au)

Win Knockout and Breakdown for kick-starting a porn genre

The little lore drops make it extra interesting too like the part about live bounties and how for a short period of time porn was 100% used as positive propaganda

[xqueen-of-disasterx]

Under the mask

Kinktober day 2

Paring: fem!reader x Ghostface!amab!Nat

Warnings: SMUT, DUB!CON, Dom!Nat, Sub!Reader, implied murder, blow job, unprotected sex, riding, Daddy kink (I’m sorry), stalker behavior, clit play, slight dumbification

!Disclaimer English is not my first language so please excuse any grammar or spelling errors. This story is completely fictional!

Masterlist- kinktober

A ghost made it was through your hometown. Hiding in the shadows to wait patiently for its next victim. The community in your city was terrified to say the least. The police was useless having no idea who the gruesome could be. The only clue which they did have that the killer must be a male. No woman could be this sadistic they thought, they suspect. Oh how wrong they were. Why the cops interviewed some innocent man Natasha made her way through the cold city. This years October was especially cold leaving anyone outside to freeze especially at this hour. However Natasha was burning in desire. Desire for you. She was watching you for a week now, her body was longing for your youth and sexuality. You were different than her other victims she didn’t want to kill you. Not yet. She wanted you to be hers. There was only one problem; your boyfriend.

You were alone tonight like so often you tried to call Peter to see if he was home but he didn’t pick up making you suspect that he was out with friends . Peter, your boyfriend, rather went out to have a drink with his friends and some chick named Gamora. To be honest you suspected him cheating on you. He’d smile at his phone all the time came home late at night smelling like cheap perfume. You didn’t leave him either, to big was your fear of ending up alone. You made your way into your apartment building up the stairs facing the door. You press the door handle down to notice that the door was unlocked. You looked at the handle confused not knowing how the door could be unlocked when you checked it twice the this morning. You tried to clam your nerves by thinking it must’ve been your boyfriend and not the killer. What would be the chances?

Once you were in your apartment you called out for Peter. No response. You felt a shivers down your spine something was off you weren’t alone here. Your instincts set in and you rushed to the door. Your hand was nearly touching the handle as you felt to arms grab you roughly. The persons bloody knife on your neck pressing the sharp steal against the soft flesh of your throat. “What I nice catch eh?” She pressed you hard against her. “It’s a shame you had to put up with such an excuse for a boyfriend but I took care of that sweetheart” Her touch felt strangely comforting better than Peters could ever have felt. “We are going to have a lot of fun tonight”

The woman with the mask found herself with you on your couch again. The white screaming mask and black clothes hiding her identity from you. You were afraid of her but also aroused at the sight of her bulge. “I’ve you are a good girl I’ll leave you unharmed bunny.” Her voice was sweet like honey pulling me in to her. “Yes of course Daddy” Your knees hit the hard ground as you watched Natasha unbuckle her belt moving her hips away from the cushion to pull down her pants and boxers freeing her thick length. She was big to say the least the biggest you had had yet. “You’re so big daddy” you said in an awe wrapping your hands around her erected penis. “I know bunny but could girls can take it” Your plump lips wrap around her deep red tip your tongue circling it making the woman with the ghost mask throw her head back groaning. You swallowed a few more inches bobbing you head up and done.

You pull away again licking up the sides of her cock spreading the saliva up her thick shaft making her crazy. You lick her balls and the woman above you was in heaven and you. You enjoyed it more than you should. “Do you like that daddy” you ask in an innocent tone your tongue on her shaft again. Nat moaned nodding how how badly you wanted to see her

face twist in pleasure maybe later you thought. You wrapped around her again put this time she had decided that you were way to confident. She place her hands on your head holding it in place as she roughly fucks up your throat making you gag and whimper. The sounds you made were running vibration down her veiny shaft as she grew even more desperate. Her groans turned into whimpers as she emptied herself into your throat. Hot cum shot down into your stomach as you swallowed everything she gave you.

Roughly she pulled you up making you sit on her lap avoiding her still hard member. “Good girl“ she whispered in your ear pulling you up and forward your entrance right above her tip. Slowly she pulled you down making you cry at the feeling of the stretch. You pushed your face into her neck as she filled you up to the brim. She moved your hips back and forth making you cry as you rode her your legs shivering. You clenched down hard as your arousal dripped down your thighs. You babbled some unrecognizable words at he feeling for her finding your sweet spot “Fuck you little slut too cock dump to talk” her hands found your clit. She pulled the hood back rubbing tight circles. “Do you like your clit getting played with” she groaned into your ear. “Fuck I’m gonna-” Natasha interrupted you “cum cum with me” you clenched down hard as you both had your releases her painting your velvet walls white. You collapsed on top of her.

“Ready for round two?”

:)

I do not own these characters all rights go to Marvel

[jamminlocks]

Just A Wink {Suna x Reader}

•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°

Flirting, flirting strangers, Fluff, Humor, Canon Compliant, oneshot, not beta read, reader is a volleyball player word count: 3,174 Summary: While waiting outside to enter the gymnasium in early January weather, a player from the Inarizaki's volleyball team is staring at you in way that chills you more, so you decided to have a bit of fun. A/N: this fic idea took over me and i spent a night writing it ao3 ꒰1꒱ ⪼ 2 ⪼ 3 edit: some changes and additional text edit 2: had to change stuff again cause i fucked up the timeline

The crowd of volleyball players waiting for the gymnasium to enter seems to just grow denser in front the glass doors entrance. Your coach and captain had your team on stand by right on the stairs, away from the cramp crowd. The downside is you feel the chill on your face and hands. With your sensitive ears, you have to put earmuffs on. The team’s bag is placed on the stairs while you wait.

Some of your teammates wear their excitement on their sleeves, smiles and radiate with energy to start a game at any moment. Others are in the process of mentally preparing themselves. Most of you are just themselves as usual or taking in distractions to avoid nervousness.

You are talking with one of the setters and opposite hitters about how long you all have been stuck outside already. That maybe the team could have around thirty minutes later. The other argues that it could have rushed everyone by the time the team got here.

Eventually, the chat moves on from a topic you aren’t really knowledgeable enough to take part in. With not much to contribute to the conversation, you look at the scene outside the Tokyo gymnasium. Other teens in their winter wear. Groups identified by their team’s color and standing by the banners with their school name. The bright uniforms contrasted by the dule clothes of regular folk here to watch the games in person, mixes of grays, blacks, and beige. Everyone is walking and standing around, waiting to enter.

A new team arrives, stationing themselves not too far off by the stairs too. A boys team wearing maroon jackets with thick black lines over their shoulders and sleeves. The banner matching their jackets reads in bold black characters “Inarizaki”. Its the team ranked second place in the last nationals tournament. 

You do your best to pay no mind to them, but you are very awestruck, and so are some girls in your team. The setters looking for Inarizaki’s setters. You team’s second libero, ever the boy lover that she is, is checking out their entire team with one of your third year opposite hitter having to be the nearest ear to what she has to say. A middle blocker informs the team manager, who seems to have no clue who Inarizaki is.

Your team didn’t make it to nationals last time– losing at the prefecture’s finals– nor did you watch it in person. The faces from Inarizaki you knew, but couldn’t put names on. Only identifying them based on their positions.

The easiest you could identify was the ace and captain. The rest of the boys you had a hard time scanning to match the faces you remember from TV. Most of them are wearing masks. Leaving you with only their eyes and heights to go by. Much like the rest of the boys teams, they tower most of your teammates, including you.

Two of Inarizaki’s middle blockers you recognize, the tallest blocker standing next to the captain. His attention was on the rest of their team while the captain talked to their coach. The other, the one with an impressive torso, is standing next to the ace. Even back then you noticed that he slouches the most, but you didn’t think that he did it outside the court too. His hair is parted in the middle, straight on both sides, covering the thin sideburns next to his ears. His eyes are closed, as if he was sleeping up right. The last you notice are the twins and theur dyed hair.

Other teams arrived and you watched them as well. Finding notable players and the players from the girl’s team’s to look out for. Another ten minutes fly by. Having done enough examining, you return your attention to your friends and teammates. Picking up your bag from the stairs as you all prepare to enter. Not that you’ll enter at any moment, just so you could all get a move on when you do. The sea of volleyball players walked at snail’s pace to let the people at front move. The teams still at the back are standing but stationed. One team after another, they enter. 

Most of your attention is on the people in front of you and your team. With each shift of the crowd, Inarizaki and your team are now side by side in the crowd outside though still distant, waiting for your turn to pass the glass doors. Your eyes naturally wander back to the maroon colored boys team. They stand firmly. Their confidence as the powerhouse of Hyogo prefecture manifested itself. That aura compels you and many others to not get any closer.

Another team approaches and you mind your bag. To make room for your other teammates, you switch your duffle bag to your other shoulder, carefully maneuvering it not to hit anyone. 

And then you feel a chill, not the cold, a sort of awareness. You don't know what it is but you ignore it. Attention on the crowd again, you scheme the heads for how many people left. Not caring where you look, you turn to your right.

Meters away, Inarizaki is facing forward, ready to march in at any moment. Except the slouching middle blocker. He has his eyes squarely on you. His gaze is a stab to your head, and it's alarming. 

Everything is slower as you stare back, trying to find anything that his eyes are saying. They are narrow. Sharp as a knife. The shadow on his lids are prominent. An eerie combination. And yet, you don’t look away. It's hauling you in. Such eyes could only mean a scowl, but they feel impressionless. Without the rest of his face for you to see, you feel exposed, seen in your natural state.

However, a part of your mind says “he’s looking at you.” but you are quick to dismiss the thought, not completely. You know what he looks underneath, and from what you remember, you did like what you saw. 

Or his gaze just so happens to land on you.

Not knowing if the guy is judging you quietly or is simply staring at you with other thoughts in his mind, you decide to have a little fun. 

He doesn’t seem to know that you’ve noticed him. Holding eye contact as you tilt your head up slightly, the corners of your lips tug into a small lazy smirk, eyes playfully narrow at his. 

You give him a quick wink. 

His thin eyes instantly gape open, stunned. It brings a new aura to his face. One moment he looked like a young assassin that found his target, the next he was a ruffled school boy. It endears him to you. 

Eyes flickering away. He is tugs his masked face under the collar of his jacket. No one from his team seemed to notice his sudden alertness. Save for their captain beside him, looking with minimum curiosity.

Not what you expected. Not that you had a reaction in mind. It's better than the disgust or indifference you supposed.

In a matter of seconds, the crowd's pace changes and your team is propelled into the entrance.

In no time, you are already at the waiting area where teams prepare. 

Still, Inarizaki's middle blocker's reaction lingers in your thoughts. The longer you think about his reaction, replaying it, the more you find it cute. Delighted to fluster a boy, you smile to yourself, humming a lighthearted tune as you change shoes

“You seem chipper all of a sudden. Are you excited too?” your manager asks worryingly. Were you smiling to much? To save face, you chew the inside of your cheeks, returning you expression to the unusual unreadable.

“A guy was staring at me so I winked at him and he got shy” you recount matter-a-factually. 

Hearing this, your starting libero said, “ahh, feeling bold today aren’t we?”

It sinks in how embarrassing it could have been for you if he hadn't responded that way. From a different angle, it's like you were flirting at a player from a powerhouse school. What does he think of you now? 

"Maybe."

"What team is he in? How hot is he? Or is he the cute type?" Your other libero probed.

Before you could say anymore, your captain called everyone.

"Get ready girls! The opening is in a few minutes"

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

During the first three days of the tournament. You sometimes feel that chill again. 

Though you are aware that many eyes are watching, it's still different from what you experience.

It would be too much for you to assume that was him again, bordering wishful thinking. Especially when your team has not had a run in with Inarizaki since day one. You saw some of their players walking around and about the gymnasium. None of whom were that blocker. 

Fortunately, you had the chance to get a glimpse of their game on the second day. Truly an impressive group. A promising ace. A near undefeatable defense specialist. Gamble making twins but the result often counts. And him, their middle blocker who can make the spikes at almost any direction. Such a shame you didn't get to see more, having to leave by the end of the second set.

Later on, you see in the tournament brackets that Inarizaki lost to Karasuno, moving up to the next game.

It's the forth day, you and your team's captain, starting libero and middle blocker watched Ichibayashi High vs Kamomedai High after winning your match. Your middle blocker friend wanted to see the shortest Ace in the boy's tournament in action and you three accompanied her. 

Standing behind the cement railings, you watch the game with an overview of the court. Other people are here to watch. So you pay no mind to everyone around you, watching only the match.

Then the chill is back. The same one you felt before. You turn to the crowd. Most are visitors. Players have sore thumbs for their jerseys. No one seems to be looking at your group, or you.

It's when you glance at the corner of your eye you see the guy, not too far from where you stand, that middle blocker from Inarizaki.

He is without a mask. The gymnasium lights lit his features well. You’ve seen plenty of attractive boys during the games that have a lot of girls swooning. He isn’t one of them. Except the longer you look, the more good-looking he becomes even when he isn’t trying. Brown hair almost neatly combed down. His posture is much like before, lean body slouching and hands inserted in his jackets pockets. You feel his towering figure even more.

Other players from Inarizaki are with him too, the twins, captain and ace. They all intensely observe the match, occasionally hearing side comments from the twins and their ace rebuttling them.

Although the middle blocker isn’t looking at you, the chill remains. Interacting and getting close was not an option.You can only steal glances of the boy as you watch on, distracting with the game in front of you. And it works, it goes unnoticed to you the people leaving and arriving on the railings. Then, Inarizaki left and their place was taken by others. When they return, they are closer to your group now. And he is right next to you.

Another Inarizaki player arrives and inserts himself between the blocker and their ace. The middle blocker moving aside, even when there is still an entire foot of space. Moments pass as you remain tense, pretending to still have your whole attention to the game. You have the sneaking suspicion that he is doing so as well. There is too much unnecessary tension for two strangers to have.

You try to covertly steal a quick glance. But when you turn, his eyes are on you, just like before. The world slows again as you stare at each other. Eyes still sharp and a monotonous gaze that could petrify. The two of you trapped in this bubble in time. It's clear that you caught his attention. “He’s definitely looking at you,” said a voice in your head and you have no reason to disagree.

Without a second to spare, you took your chance.

You softly chime, “Hello again.”

“Hello,” he said. His voice is low and cool, matching his face.

Impulse prevents you from thinking further ahead, so you just return to the game in front of you. Not caring for embarrassment. He does so as well. The noise of the cheers and smashing balls fill the air of the abruptly ended chat.

“Sorry about the other day.”  He continues and you take a second to make sure that it was him and not your thoughts.

“Oh, it's fine. No harm done."

Then it's quiet for about a minute. Now that he is next to you, you have the urge to talk to him, get to know him a little. But the silence between you two has lingered longer for you to feel comfortable breaking it.

"How were your games?" the middle blocker asked. his voice is monotonous and yet not disinterested. Loosely catching the attention of the boy beside him, though not interested to hear more.

"Its tiring really. Loads of fun though. We won semi-finals so thats good," you state. Not really bragging. Its just the truth. The boy leans back to see you.

"Congrats," Suna replied.

"Thank you.” looking at him again and him at you. There's a small softness in his expression that wasn’t there before. You stray a little “and you are?”

In a split second, he is stunned before he speaks. “Suna.”

And you offer your name in return and he nods, continuing to watch the match.

The static noise of loud merging voices and bad drums from cheers return. It could have ended there, but perhaps you really are feeling bold lately.

Still focused on the court, you said, “you played well yesterday”. He doesn’t say anything, likely because you just admitted to have watched him after your little interaction. And you aren't ashamed of it.

“Thanks” he says, this time catching the attention of their ace. 

Him and the guy look at Suna, then at you as casually as they can. The air around you two tenses up for your respective teammates listening. Neither of you are facing each other.

“Wish I saw more. Had to leave by set 2” 

“There's still next year,” he reminds you.

“That's true.”  Cheekiness sparks in you. “Are you sure you’ll be here next time?”

The gray heard twin on the other side leans forward inconspicuously, taking interest in your private chat. Their white haired captain side eyes you from where he stands, arms crossed.

With dry yet natural confidence, he said, “We will.” 

“Will you be here next year?” Suna asks. Genuinely questioning it too, you paused. 

The Inarizaki players could only silently gawk in different ways, trying their best for neither you or Suna to notice. They did not expect his question. Taking notice of his team’s sudden change of focus, The blonde twin head’s snaps to you, confused.

Honestly, you said, “Depends, if we're lucky.” He seems content with our answer.

“Good luck, then.”

You look at Suna, arching a brow with that spark of cheekiness. “For my next game or next year?” 

“Both, if that makes you happy” 

Without much thought to keep in the flow of the conversation, you slip "for me or my team?"

Suna then turns to you, and says, "whatever makes you happy." His tone didn't change, yet there was more weight to it.

His answer makes your face a degree hotter. Especially when his eyes have hidden suaveness meant for only you to see. You've been out of the court for a while and suddenly you're weak from your knees to the soles of your feet.

“Then I'll make sure it won't run out.”

As much as you enjoy the back and forth, its cut short by your manager’s high voice perses through the noise, “guys, coach wants everyone back. Let's go!” she waves at your group to comply.

Not following after the other girls leaving, you look at Suna one last time, giving him the smirk you had before. You didn't care if anyone else would see. Indeed, you are incredibly bold today.

"See you around, Suna-san”

Like the first time, you give him a quick wink but your stare lingers just enough. Intrigue in his eyes, Suna cooly nods back, one corner of his lips tuck into smile.

His teammates gave a more colorful reaction you get a glimpse of as you jog away to your team. The most notable is the blonde twin turning to the middle blocker in shock as if he had done a crime.

All you heard was the loud fussing of the blonde as you leave.

Walk alongside your teammates, your libero speaks, “it was him wasn’t it?” 

“Him who?” you play innocent.

“Yeah who?” the captain asks the both of you.

“She said she winked at some boy the other day, and just now, she was flirting at a guy.” 

The manager asks in a child-like giddiness, “so, was he?”

Should you bite their shallow bait? Given that they are witnesses and your admition the other day, you do, no point in pretending. “Yeah it was”

Your libero laughs as your captain and middle blocker are entertained and astonished. 

“He wishes us luck, by the way.” You tell them

“More like, good luck to you” your captain teases.

Suspiciously squint at her, you said, “listening in, are we?”

“Hard not to when your flirting with one of the best blockers of the nation”

“I wasn't flirting. We were just chatting” you clarify, ignoring the bit of information your blocker just stated. However, you are lying. You were half-flirting. That's not for you to admit.

“You asked if he’ll be here next year,”  reminded your libero.

“And he asked if you’ll be too”, your captain adds as your manager cooed. 

Hoping to deflect their antics, you retort "Who wouldn't want to be here next year?"

Hand on her chin with a thoughtful expression, your captain argues. "I don't know, but it really, really sounded like Suna-san specifically wants you here next tournament." 

“We better tell the rest of the girls to do their best, then” your manager suggests and they strongly agree. Their teasing heats up your face.

“Alright, that's enough. Now shut it and keep walking” you said with clenched teeth. Pushing the short libero forward through the crowd.

The four of them laugh, taking it as your defeat. Rubbing your temple, you can only imagine the commotion among your team. To them, they'll be motivated to your benefit. To you, they'll be motivated at your expense. You regret ever opening your mouth.

But when you recall what he said and the way he briefly looked at you, you are far from regretting it completely

[sepublic]

undefined

            We got ANOTHER promo y’all!!! It’s technically a trailer but it’s thankfully very brief, given the runtime it’s hyping up is only two episodes, compared to usual TOH trailers that are advertising at least nine episodes! This is an official release and NOT a leak!

         First off, Luz’s laptop!!! She’s doing this 11:09 pm at just 20%, she’s got references to Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight on her desktop, and I think that one Hades game? The one with Zagreus? Anyhow the Hollow Knight references are REAL, coupled with the S1 intro, makes you wonder if it influenced stuff like Hollow Mind…!

         Luz also has a Good Witch Azura fanfic file! And she’s recently made art since her return to the human world; You can’t see all of it, but it appears to the Owl House’s roof, in a parallel to how the intro usually ends with Luz, Eda, and King on the roof when she ignites a light spell and pushes it into the sky! Augghhhh she’s coping…! And her username is @FriendofOwlsandTitans… Oh my GAWD! She accepts King as a TITAN she’s a friend to TITANS!!! Original art do not steal, just like her GF!

         “All I ever wanted was to be good at something”… Good lord, if that doesn’t summize SO much about Luz. Her feelings of inadequacy. Her initial dreams of being a chosen one. Her desire to help others and be of service to them. Her need to JUSTIFY her own existence, to quote her girlfriend… That hit hard. Like I know but OW.

         She’s making video diaries again as we guessed, but this time to HERSELF; Girl needs a place to vent, good for her! She probably stayed up and snuck to the kitchen to let herself indulge in her dark feelings and thoughts alone. Did Luz make a video for Eda and King and eventually give up, being forced to confront herself inward without any distractions? She says she knows what she has to do now, is… Is Luz about to do something rash? Something involving Belos? Babey don’t hurt yourself, or maybe she just means the general principle of making thing right!

         Then skipping past stuff we DO know, we see Luz and Hunter dressed up for Halloween! Hunter has a HOOTY mask, likely meant to invoke his Golden Guard persona, and Luz is honoring King OH MY GAWD WAAAIIIIII!!!!! She’s MOURNING her Titan brother, just like she mourned Eda! They’re in a dilapidated house, the shack where the Portal opens? They’re armed… Probably investigating paranormal activity, AKA Belos. This fits with another shot of them entering a basement with the same coloring as the house, atop the stairs!

         We get a proper look at Amity and Gus’ new designs in the show’s own art style! They look AMAZING… They painted Hooty’s face on the door, pffft, but also ouch. The longing. Treating this place as an earthly version of the Owl House because it kind of is with its role and even coloration! If they miss Hooty you KNOW it’s been a while. Willow must’ve grown flowery vines outside to spruce up the place, it seems to have been converted into a fulltime hideout! If this was the old Wittebane home, I’m sure Caleb would appreciate it… Philip on the other hand.

         The door seems to have just… Opened on its own as Amity looks back. Or did somebody, probably Luz and/or Hunter (seeing a glimpse of Gooplos?) quietly leave, and Amity only notices when she hears the door swinging behind them?

         We have a hand, either Amity, Willow, or Hunter’s, reaching out to some glow-in-the-dark night decorations; Including a symbol of the moon and sun. This is likely one of the characters mourning and being reminded of the Collector, rather than in-universe connection.

         We see our cast, sans Luz, looking at some sort of box with styling reminiscent of the Portal! Not only does it suggest it was actually Caleb and his wife who made it (and Philip plagiarized), but also! Caleb must’ve left it behind in the human world. When Flapjack was pecking at the floorboards, was it to find this? It must be a clue, perhaps on how to make a portal, a Titan’s blood rift, etc.! Is this distraction what got Luz to sneak out earlier?

         There’s some sort of book page we see next, presumably the contents of the box the kids found given their hands! I’m not sure the significance of the symbols, but the bottom one reminds me of the curse… Or is it just a reference to Clawthornes loving birds, AKA his wife? Is that some sort of teardrop? Maybe it’s Titan’s Blood and that’s meant to be a FURRY arm of a Titan! And what even IS that thing to the right?!

         Hunter says “Did you know that HE was here?!” In a distressed voice. Is this him potentially confronting one of our protagonists for keeping information about Gooplos’ potential survival, regardless if they actually knew and were hiding? Or him talking about Philip and Caleb to perhaps Luz, with the realization that either was a town founder, and inquring as to how Luz didn’t notice!

         Then we get Gus and Hunter THE BROS dressed up for Halloween, Hunter doesn’t want to hear spoilers because Gus is likely talking about a recent human hyperfixation of theirs! Brothers.

         And then, finally… Luz and Hunter aren’t here, it’s just the other kids, maybe those two are at some other part of the zoo more personal like the aviary…

         WE GET THE LONG-AWAITED ANSWER TO THE GIRAFFES!!! AFTER TWO YEARS, ARGUABLY THREE IF YOU CONSIDER WHEN THE FIRST TEASER THAT MENTIONED GIRAFFES WAS RELEASED!!! Since the very beginning, we have been haunted by this question and whether they’d answer it, but now… NOW…! It all comes to light.

        The kids are obviously scared and locking arms in preparation, that’s so cute, venturing into ancient territory that hasn’t been traversed for generations. WILLOW HAS HER HAIRCLIP FROM WING IT LIKE WITCHES!!! Was it a gift from Amity, I MISSED IT SO MUCH! She takes a picture and a Giraffe, recognizing natives from its home realm, FREAKS… 

       We get one idea of why Giraffes were banned and it makes sense. God the kids’ reactions are so funny. Of course Willow the Bravest is bold enough to step ahead and take pictures for the rest! This is such adorable levity and I appreciate the closure, this is their one chance so of course they’d take it after two months of debating if they should risk it! Mayhaps they regret that risk now.

[aspd-culture]

I apologize, i know this is a “culture is” blog but i was wondering if you had any tips on unmasking? Its a huge struggle for me and its effecting my treatment and mental health severely.

This culture is blog definitely is in massive part a place to ask and answer questions too, no worries at all!/gen

The biggest thing for me that helped was first working on the masked piece that told me I was supposed to give a fuck about what people thought of me. I learned that manually over a long period of time, having next to no sense of embarrassment as a child and early teen. I found that once I got back to "I really don't give a fuck if you like me or think I'm a shit person or what, and if you think I should be constantly putting on some act for you, then you're an exhausting person and I'm glad to see you leave my life so bye", the rest of unmasking has come easier.

The second biggest thing builds on this; making sure you're not filling your life, especially your personal relationships which are supposed to be caring, supportive, and filling your battery vs draining it, with people you can't unmask around. Massive red flag if they can't get past the easy symptoms like flat affect and need for emotions being clearly communicated after a conversation or two and maybe some reassurance if they are more sensitive or have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. If the people you value push you to hide your disorder, you will no matter how hard you try not to. ASPD makes us cling tighter to bad people sometimes, because we know that we hate the social dance of trying to find someone else even remotely trustworthy, let alone that we can tolerate spending time around. This goes 10x for any Exceptions.

The third is letting yourself get a little angry. You shouldn't be spending your energy trying to hide symptoms you never asked for and that hurt you more than anyone else. This disorder doesn't show up without the failure of *at minimum* a few adults in your life for many years without resolving it. If they don't like you being like this, then maybe they should have done their job. It isn't your job to hide their mistakes. It isn't your job to hide their *failure* to do a simple job of keeping a kid safe and secure. If you look up the percentage of needs being met that leads to a secure attachment style (which ASPD is not compatible with), you probably will find the getting mad portion of unmasking pretty easy. The bar was in hell and the majority of the adults supposed to take care of you in your childhood played limbo. That's worth being upset about.

To be clear, this isn't the go ahead or encouragement to get violent, abusive, or destructive, but if your symptoms are inconveniencing someone vs hurting them, then fuck it. You deserve to breathe and just *be* sometimes instead of starring in Normal Person, Director's Cut all day every day.

Once I got those things under my belt, most of the rest of unmasking for me has just been reminding myself that I will burn out if I keep making myself fit in a box that does not fit me. It was not my choice to end up a square while everyone else is a circle, and no matter how much it might bug anyone, that won't make a square fit through the circle hole.

Just in case no one else in your life says this to you, I will. You deserve at least some amount of time - and while sleeping does *not* count - without the mask at least some of every day (with maybe exceptions for like the occasional holiday with family or work trip or anniversary or something) without masking. There are plenty of symptoms of this disorder that do not cause harm to anyone, they just don't like it because they aren't used to it (for example flat affect) or because it causes them to have to put some effort in (for example, needing to communicate their emotions vs playing a bs game of Guess Who? with the clues read in a language you don't understand). Those symptoms can and should be unmasked sometimes.

Plain text below the cut:

This culture is blog definitely is in massive part a place to ask and answer questions too, no worries at all!/gen

The biggest thing for me that helped was first working on the masked piece that told me I was supposed to give a fuck about what people thought of me. I learned that manually over a long period of time, having next to no sense of embarrassment as a child and early teen. I found that once I got back to "I really don't give a fuck if you like me or think I'm a shit person or what, and if you think I should be constantly putting on some act for you, then you're an exhausting person and I'm glad to see you leave my life so bye", the rest of unmasking has come easier.

The second biggest thing builds on this; making sure you're not filling your life, especially your personal relationships which are supposed to be caring, supportive, and filling your battery vs draining it, with people you can't unmask around. Massive red flag if they can't get past the easy symptoms like flat affect and need for emotions being clearly communicated after a conversation or two and maybe some reassurance if they are more sensitive or have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. If the people you value push you to hide your disorder, you will no matter how hard you try not to. ASPD makes us cling tighter to bad people sometimes, because we know that we hate the social dance of trying to find someone else even remotely trustworthy, let alone that we can tolerate spending time around. This goes 10x for any Exceptions.

The third is letting yourself get a little angry. You shouldn't be spending your energy trying to hide symptoms you never asked for and that hurt you more than anyone else. This disorder doesn't show up without the failure of *at minimum* a few adults in your life for many years without resolving it. If they don't like you being like this, then maybe they should have done their job. It isn't your job to hide their mistakes. It isn't your job to hide their *failure* to do a simple job of keeping a kid safe and secure. If you look up the percentage of needs being met that leads to a secure attachment style (which ASPD is not compatible with), you probably will find the getting mad portion of unmasking pretty easy. The bar was in hell and the majority of the adults supposed to take care of you in your childhood played limbo. That's worth being upset about.

To be clear, this isn't the go ahead or encouragement to get violent, abusive, or destructive, but if your symptoms are inconveniencing someone vs hurting them, then fuck it. You deserve to breathe and just *be* sometimes instead of starring in Normal Person, Director's Cut all day every day.

Once I got those things under my belt, most of the rest of unmasking for me has just been reminding myself that I will burn out if I keep making myself fit in a box that does not fit me. It was not my choice to end up a square while everyone else is a circle, and no matter how much it might bug anyone, that won't make a square fit through the circle hole.

Just in case no one else in your life says this to you, I will. You deserve at least some amount of time - and while sleeping does *not* count - without the mask at least some of every day (with maybe exceptions for like the occasional holiday with family or work trip or anniversary or something) without masking. There are plenty of symptoms of this disorder that do not cause harm to anyone, they just don't like it because they aren't used to it (for example flat affect) or because it causes them to have to put some effort in (for example, needing to communicate their emotions vs playing a bs game of Guess Who? with the clues read in a language you don't understand). Those symptoms can and should be unmasked sometimes.

[85-rend]

hi it’s me, the person who thinks completely normal thoughts about lethal company. Anyway if you have employee oc’s, what is there role in actual moon looting, and how do they treat eachother in the ship. Also do they have a fave piece of loot and least fave monster?

I have 4 employees, a whole crew, so this might get a bit long :)

Fifty-Six :

"Human" (absolutely not)

Ship captain! has the most experience of the whole crew (they've been here way longer than anyone else. longer than anyone could survive this job)

Maybe a little too happy about the job. takes it very seriously

Prefers to go alone hates taking equipment bc it takes up space they could use for something else

prides itself on efficiency . has everything down to a system

looks scary but they're actually pretty nice and soft (both figuratively and literally)

pretty secretive, mostly lying through omission . doesn't like to talk about themself

doesnt like to be seen without the suit and helmet on. it has to happen eventually but it hates it, raises too many questions. it can try to look more human but its not perfect.

has a tier list in its head of every single piece of scrap for deciding priority of what to take back to the ship. it has a second tier list for if it gets hungry

huge soft spot for cute things. likes rubber ducks and plushies and things like that . will make exceptions in it's efficiency and priorities to take them even if they're low worth

Feels like they need to be doing something with their hands constantly

really likes Zachary, they're very close. doesn't want anything to happen to it... will agree to go together with Zachary despite usually preferring to go alone

likes Elliot, she's alright, she works hard. thinks she's a bit too reckless and hard on herself

alright with Morgan. they don't entirely get along but it's not too bad so it's alright . he notices the weird looks Morgan gives him, no clue what that's about.

Zachary :

Masked picked up from Rend after it tried to hide in a ship and the autopilot left

got "hired" by The Company. it doesn't like this. but it doesn't have a choice

it promises promises PROMISES it won't infect its coworkers. but it wants to so bad. it wants to help them. but it won't.

TERRIFIED of The Company building. absolutely refuses to leave the ship there. Fifty let's this slide, it doesn't mind having to carry some extra scrap to the desk

absolutely refuses to wear the helmets, its uncomfortable and its worried it'll get scratched or something . its fine without it,if that was going to hurt them it would've a long time ago

needs to go with someone in the facilities, becomes very distressed if alone for too long

it'll take equipment if asked, but it often forgets to use things like walkie talkies. it also struggles using it (it has a hard time with the buttons and small things like keys are really hard for it to hold)

hates this job and wants to leave but its scared of what would happen

very touch starved and having no other maskeds around has been effecting it.. (if it does see other maskeds on the moons it'll follow them around instead of its crew)

it wants to be closer with the others, at least El and Morgan are cautious around it. they dont really trust it much

El trusts it more at least, if 56 cant go with it it'll usually goes with her instead (also because Morgan usually stays in the ship but if they do go in still Zachary will more likely go with Elliot)

Morgan doesn't trust it much, they've dealt with maskeds before

Fifty-Six on the other hand, Zachary REALLY likes him. he doesn't mind it being around and hes nice to it

Zachary is like the first of the crew to have seen 56 without his helmet after it found him with it like completely torn apart. it was really worried about him, scared it got hurt. 56 was alright though dont worry

Elliot :

ACTUALLY a human

mostly goes by El instead of Elliot

youngest of the crew, not much experience but good with a shovel

pretty confident going in the facility, will often lead or even go alone. but absolutely CANNOT deal with coil-heads or nutcrackers. all that confidence goes away when they have to

he has automatonophobia and scopophobia. terrible combination to have here if im being honest

helmet is slightly dented after she tried running from a thumper and slammed into a metal pipe (did get away from it, shes still alive obviously . but that did hurt)

his nose was like broken before, never healed the same so its kinda crooked (this was before being at The Company, probably from getting in a fight as a teenager)

he tends to be kind of hard on himself, very apologetic when he makes any sort of mistakes.

his hair feels like shit. its been like bleached to hell so its all brittle and shit

none of the crew have anything against El but they did agree that if anything happens shes dies first (they have not agreed on what "anything happens" or "dies" entails though)

respects 56 a lot, almost exclusively refers to it as 'captain' . nobody else really cares about that, its just El who does that

trusts Zachary more than Morgan does, still cautious because she knows what it can do but believes it that its not going to do that

El and Morgan are rlly cool with each other. she likes to listen to them talk about whatever, they know a lot about stuff and El thinks thats cool

Morgan :

also actually human

mostly does ship duty but does also go in the facility sometimes, pretty good at it.

also takes the job seriously, not as much as 56 though. just wants to be safe, make sure nobody gets killed

they were on a different crew before this one. it didn't end well..

very dry and kind of snippy, they do care though just arent good at showing it

they kinda rlly seem like an asshole but will open up to people sometimes it just takes a while

very interested in xenobiology, got the job to get to observe the moons wildlife more directly. theyre fine with doing the rest of it though

really good at dealing with the creatures because of that

despite not being the fighter of the group they have taken down nutcrackers before, El will not so they deal with that instead.

only one on the ship who actually has first aid training. usually is the one to have to deal with that. only ever seen Elliot and Zachary get hurt though, Fifty-Six is somehow always fine

very suspicious of Fifty-Six, knows something's up with him but doesn't say anything because they don't wanna start shit with whatever kind of alien beast it is

cautious as hell around Zachary, doesn't like to be alone with it. they've seen what maskeds do to people and they don't like it.

but they've never actually interacted with a masked for so long so it's.. an interesting experience at least. there's not much documented about them so this is the most they've gotten to know about maskeds

Elliot and Morgan are chill, Morgan will often talk to her about different things. she's a good listener.

[xbruised-peachx]

Mäuschen Ch 3.

Chapter three is ready! No smut this time, just plot!

Summary: Waking up, the nightmare of questioning continues... but takes an even worse turn than you could imagine. Word Count: 10,726 Tags: Angst, tension, violence, HUGE WARNING for noncon recording and blackmail 🔞+ STORY Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

AO3 linky! Translations at the end of the chapter (not as much foreign language this time but ya know)

Tag list- @xncasi @m99n @uwu-i-purple-you @quiziwizi @kitty-satan1 @xxgirlscoutcookiexx @rainydayfanfic @confuseddipshit @konig-breedme​

Awaking at an unknown time felt very odd to you. Most times when you awoke, you would instantly turn to pick up your phone from your bedside table, checking if you had time to sleep in or had already slept in too much. But now, all that was beside you was the dark, dingy concrete. It wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was all very real.

He was very real.

You peeled your eyes open more, seeing and hearing the fluorescent still as grating on your senses as normal. You slowly sat up, rubbing your eyes and scratching your ratty bed head. You tried stretching your now very cold limbs to try and get your blood flowing, as well as work out any cricks that came out while you were laying on the hard floor. You actually had to do quite a few just to feel normal, feel like you could possibly stand. But then remembering last night... you blushed thinking of it and thought it would be better to stretch your legs out more.

Once you finally felt confident in your body’s ability to function, you slowly got up onto your feet, pulling your comforter up to envelop you and preserve your warmth. As it wafted over your shoulders, you smelled it in the air again. That gunpowder smell, softly mixed pine and soil... as well as a lingering reminder of what you two did... Nothing could get your mind off it. Get your mind off him. ...But you loved it. You couldn’t help the soft smile that sprung on your cheeks as you thought of it all; his loving embrace, caring enough to give you a snack, the absolute bliss you two felt.

Speaking of the snack, you almost went to grab it yourself for your breakfast but... you hadn’t even fully checked your surroundings yet. You had no clue how late it was, if it was late, and if so, if they dropped off their own breakfast for you. You squinted as you tried to adjust to the bright light that hung above, shining on the table. When you did, you did see a small plate with two pieces of toast, uncovered but at least there was one little side of unbranded strawberry jam next to it. And as you approached the table, you noticed something else that startled you much more. A man, right across from the other side, just looking at you as he sat patiently. You jumped, clutching your chest where your heart was as you yelped, “Jesus fucking Christ!”

The man, dressed head to toe in digital green camo, looked up at you nonchalantly, his wrap around shades and mask fully obscuring his face. “My apologies, I did not want to wake you. But they had me bring your breakfast.” His voice was so deep, though he was talking at a normal volume, it boomed at its low frequency. Looking down at his sleeves, you saw a patch of the flag of South Korea, explaining his rather thick accent.

“...O-okay...” You stuttered out, looking at him in confusion as you tried to parse anything about his face. At least König had eyeholes, this guy was a complete blank slate. “Well... I don’t mean to come off as rude but... why are you still here? The last girl that dropped off my food just left as soon as she could.”

“I will also be helping with your interrogation today. It would be best if I stayed here, yes? And also, I’m sure you would like some company.”

You shrugged your shoulders, pulling out your chair to take your seat across from the man. The whole time, watching you behind his sunglasses. Sure, he was right, it was nice to have company at this time but... someone who just sat there, watching you sleep? How long had he been there? And even now he just kept staring at you, unmoving, you barely even saw his chest rise and fall to breathe. You opened up the jam, looking around for any sort of plastic knife. ...Of course they wouldn’t even give you the luxury of that. You tipped the little tub over, crinkling it to get it out on one piece, then using the edge of it to slice the glob in half, transferring it to the other piece. Using the back of it, you spread it as evenly as you could, then carefully licked it clean of the remnants, trying not to cut your tongue on the sharp edges of it. Picking up the piece, you noted how cold it was, but at least toast wasn’t that bad when it went cold. Unlike the baked potato you had last night. Taking your first bite, you looked up and weren’t surprised to see him, still staring, watching silently. For someone keeping you company he certainly was... here.

“So... What’s your name?” You said breaking the silence as you swallowed your food. “Or, I suppose what people call you.” You thought back to König, still unsure if that was just a nickname.

He let out a short laugh, looking to the side before turning back to you. “You can call me Horangi. Everyone else calls me that.”

You tilted your head to the side, looking at him confused as you took another bite. “Is that your actual name? Or would you prefer not to tell me like...” You trailed off, thinking of him, but not wanting to mention him. You felt if you mentioned him a lot, more suspicions would be raised about you two.

It seemed he didn’t notice your strange cut off, instead just answering your question. “Haha... no, it’s just a nickname. I was one of the younger people in my brigade, but since they respected me, they started calling me after the year I was born. Horangi, tiger.”

You nodded, trying to recall the Chinese zodiac. Though the animals came to you easier, recalling the actual years they applied to was different. Last you knew, we were still in the year of the tiger so... 24 years ago. He was 24 years old. You smiled slightly to yourself, proud of yourself being able to deduce it yourself. Taking another bite, he had gone back to just watching you. Well... at least you were putting some effort into being some company. You glanced around the room, avoiding his unfeeling gaze. You were sure he did have some sort of emotion at the time, even if it was just in reaction to being in his own head, thinking silently. You weren’t even sure if he could see you with those dark wrap around glasses.

You finished up your first piece and started on the next. Swallowing that first bite, you look back at him, who was still staring at you, but now had his hands on the table, fingers interlaced. You tilted your head slightly and decided to speak your mind. “You aren’t too talkative, huh?”

He let out a slight chuckle, his gaze finally breaking as he looked slightly off to the side. “Yeah... I tend to just stick to myself. Stay in my own head so to say. My apologies.”

You shrugged your shoulders, taking another bite. “It’s fine. Heh... I don’t blame you for not wanting to talk to people here. I know I don’t.”

He let out a bigger laugh that time, his gaze meeting yours again. “You are not wrong. There are some people here I can at least tolerate for missions. But your case is different. You have to start talking.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you said, annoyance dripping from your voice as you repeated your words. “I’m trying, okay? They’re just asking questions about my dad and I don’t know anything.”

“I mean... that’s what anyone being questioned would say.” You could practically hear his eyebrow lift at you, doubting you with just his voice.

“And I am being honest.” You shrugged your hands at him over dramatically, like you were presenting yourself as your own form of innocence. He just chuckled again, shallowly shaking his head. You took another bite of your toast, just about finishing this last slice. “I’m doing everything as I’m told, because I do not want to be hurt. And yet I’m still treated like shit.”

He shrugged, making you slightly annoyed at his uncaring gesture. “They don’t care much for anyone, much less hostages like you.” The way his voice dropped, going more cold as he referred to you... You had to bite your tongue and avert your gaze as you glared at the ground. And here you thought he was actually going to be somewhat respectful of you, considering you actually made him laugh a bit.

Finishing your toast off, you pushed the plate to the side. He got up instantly and stiffly, quickly grabbing the plate and walking off to the door. You thought he was finally leaving but instead, he just left it by the empty side of the door. Turning on his heel, he started to walk back over. You looked down at the floor slightly, getting lost in thought as his harsh words lingered in your head. “What’s going to happen once they get all they can from me? ...When I’m no longer of use?”

His pace slowed considerably, looking down at you as he passed you. He even paused, just looking at your sadden posture for a moment before slowly returning to his seat. “I... am not sure. I’ve seen some hostages in my time here, but most times, they are military themselves. Not civilians. It’s... different releasing a fellow soldier back after we get the ransom as opposed to a civilian.”

“So you’re saying you don’t think they thought this through that well?”

You earned yourself another laugh from him. “You could say that. I think they’re just... very focused on the objective they have right now.”

Just as you were about to say something in response, the door behind you opened. You quickly looked behind to see who was entering, Horangi even poking around you, leaning to see. You wondered if he even knew what was really going to happen in terms of questioning, or if he was just backup. First you saw him... him duck under the frame of the door, putting his hand up to hold it as he passed. You smiled slightly to yourself, he seemed like he woke up today quite lighthearted. You were just happy they brought him in to question you again. The way you two talked... let your guards down in front of each other... you had only known each other a day at this point but you were sure he felt the same ease you did anytime you saw him, or even thought of him. But then someone else was hidden behind his large frame. That black balaclava, grey camo gear... the little creep contractor was back and soured your mood a bit. Three people interrogating you... this seemed... excessive. Though König was there for you, you had a really bad feeling about this.

The two of them continued in, König continuing forward and reaching the table while the contractor locked the door behind them. You looked up at König, who immediately couldn’t keep his eyes off you. Even with the bright light shining down and making it hard to see, you could barely make out his soft expression, even just feeling love and ease emanate from him. Though you both still felt slightly more at ease, it was clear you weren’t the only one who was feeling a bit more nervous about this situation, as his fingers started drumming on the table.

He broke his gaze from you, glancing over to his smaller, fellow contractor that was spinning his keys on his finger before putting them away in his pocket, all while making his way over to the table. “Good morning everyone!” He greeted everyone enthusiastically, ignoring the tension that lingered in the room. You glanced over to Horangi, wondering if he could feel it as well. Though the way his head was slightly tilted made you think he was just confused on why he was so enthusiastic. The silence hung in the air as neither of them responded, just looking at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes, gesturing for König to follow him as they went into the corner, both grabbing chairs for themselves. As he came back, he put his right next to Horangi. König followed after, about to set his chair next to his to the side of the table, but before the contractor even sat down, he started to correct him. “No, no, no. You can go ahead and sit on that side.” König looked down at him with much confusion as he pointed to the empty spot next to you, but did as he said, reluctantly tossing his chair to be next to you. You knew he didn’t want to sit next to you so you two could keep up the charade of not knowing each other. But with him being directed to do so... more red flags raised in your head. He looked at the little man, expecting another order, but instead he took a seat, looking up at König and gesturing to his seat. He did as such, sitting in the chair slowly, not breaking eye contact with the man sitting across from him. He spread his legs slightly as he seemed a bit big for the chair, his knees being a bit higher than his hips. He placed his hands on his knees, his left leg moving side to side slowly as he started drumming on it. His gaze looked determined, but he kept looking elsewhere. He was attempting to appear confident and cool, almost like he was trying to intimidate his fellow contractor, but inside his mind was screaming, in a constant flight or fight response as the silence hung in the air.

The man across returned the stare, but was able to hold much more confidently at König, only breaking it to glance at you. “I guess I’ll cut to the chase then,” his heavily accented voice cut through the silence as he took a big sigh. He put both his hands on the table, pushing himself up so he could loom over the table, for once being higher than König as he stared directly at him. “...Do you two take us for fools? Do you two really think a company like Kortac here, are a bunch of fucking idiots?!”

His stern voice immediately made your stomach sink as you shrunk back into your chair. You instantly glanced around the room, trying to avoid his glare as he shifted his gaze to look back and forth between you two. You looked to Horangi across from you, who seemed just as confused and befuddled by this development. Though you could not see his expression, you could see as he switched between looking at the man beside him, then to König, then back to the contractor with a slight head tilt. Looking over at König, you saw his chest rise as his breathing got heavier. His light drumming on his knee turned to a full grip on his camo cargo pants. And most surprising of all, though his face was full of fear, his eyes locked onto the accusatory man. “W-what are you trying to say?” He was truly trying to appear confident but the both of you were scared, confused on what was even going on right now.

“So you really think we’re stupid?” His head cocked to the side as he glared down at König. “You really think just because you can’t see a camera in here, we don't have any?” Instantly, you felt the color drop from your face, both of you glancing at each other at the same time, absolutely petrified. “You think a PMC, like Kortac, would not be able to invest in hidden cameras for our interrogation rooms? Heh... well, the tactic worked, you two thought it was safe. Safe enough to FUCK BEHIND OUR BACKS!”

He slammed his fist on the table, the loud noise plus his yelling startling you extremely. You pulled one of your knees up, keeping your foot on the chair as you sunk further back, trying to shield yourself as instantly you felt attacked. You looked over to König, though you were scared yourself, you instantly worried about him. He was as stiff as a board, not even his chest moving like he had forgotten to breathe. Instead, the grip on his leg got even tighter, his clothes crumpling as his knuckles were white. His gaze averted from the main interrogator to Horangi... who really just seemed to be a backup now, as he seemed surprised too. He had averted his gaze from you two and even from his fellow contractor to look at the floor, his hand up and holding where his mouth would be on his mask.

The silence hung in the air as tensions rose even more. “We saw it all. There is no denying it.” You felt your expression turn more horrified as the revelation dawned on you more. Though fear would normally wash any color from your face, the blood rushed to it as you were both scared and embarrassed. You mirrored Horangi, covering your mouth as it dawned on you more. “...I have to say, even though I am rightly pissed... König... you are the absolute last person I would expect to be able to pull a beauty li-”

His sentence was cut abruptly as König shot up out of his chair, the legs scraping against the concrete, grating to everyone's ears. His hands on the table, switching to gripping that hard as he loomed over his fellow contractor, challenging him directly. When he spoke, his voice was low but almost growling, striking a bit of fear even into you as you saw the way he glared down at him, eyes wide but pupils pinpricks. “Do not. Speak of her. Like. That.”

He wasn’t denying it... he wasn’t even trying to defend himself as he attempted to insult him... he was defending you, immediately. Through all the fear, as your heart raced, you felt it skip a beat in that moment. You looked up at him with care as his gaze did not break from him. You knew deep down inside, his heart was probably racing more than yours. But the fact that he chose to fight for you with his fight or flight response... you felt even more respect and trust in him.

The other man scoffed, looking up at him now. “Sit back down.” König did not break posture, continuing to hover over the man. “Now.” Completely ignoring his orders, he tilted his head slightly. The little move he does... like a hawk looking down at a rodent in a field. You weren’t even sure if he had blinked in a few moments. Just purely challenging him. “...Fine, you vysokiy ublyudok...” He puffed out his nose, speaking in what you assumed was his native language. Shaking his head, he didn’t sit down, instead just staring up at König. “At least you two aren’t putting up a stupid fight and denying it. Saves me from one annoyance at least. Because it is clear as day what I saw... had to sit through nearly two hours of...”

He shook his head again as he trailed off, more horror dawning on you as he was even correct about the time, how long it all was. “Y-you really... saw all...?” you softly and disjointedly asked, feeling more faint as this went on. You thought most of yesterday was a nightmare but this?

He darkly chuckled, shifting his gaze down to you. “That is what I said, is it not? Yes, I saw every little ‘intimate’ moment you two had. Every bit, every position, everything... Even audio. That’s why we had to review it anyway. Had to rewind but then we saw something that should have never happened in the first place. It’s good to know even though he acts big and tough, he's just as much of a whiney bitch in bed.”

“What is the point of all this?” König angrily spit at him, right as he finished his statement. “You caught us, were you expecting to interrogate us? But since you can’t do that now, you’re just taking some sick pleasure in humiliating us, like the fucking pervert you are.” His words cut through the air, and you could tell he was speaking through harshly gritted teeth as he called him out on being a pervert. He gripped the table even harder as his stare intensified.

He scoffed again, squinting as he looked up at the larger man and laughing slightly as he spoke. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you, the one who fucked our hostage. Don’t tell me you also did when you first kidnapped her...” König just stayed completely stiff, looking down at him and shaking his head slightly. The contractor’s face twisted into surprised amusement. “...You really did? Ha! You sick fucking bastard... getting with the hostage that puts out on the first man she see-”

He was cut off again, this time König snatched his wrist, holding it up so it was against his forearm. It caused him to be thrown off balance as he was still leaning on the table. König had to lean over more to counteract this, but could with ease due to his size, making sure he stayed on his feet. “What did I say?!” He growled what he said so loudly, it took you aback, practically coming out as a roar. He glared down at him even more intensely as he finally looked back up at him. “I ought to snap your arm like a fucking twig.”

He laughed exasperatedly, looking up at König with a strangely delighted expression. “Yeah, you should. Then we might be able to get your deviant ass out of this god damn company.”

König’s expression shifted to confusion, his grip loosening slightly, but just enough that his arm could actually be freed, snatching it back to himself. “What do you mean by that? Why aren’t they letting me go for this?”

Though he was still cringing from the pain, you saw his cheek turn up as he smirked under the mask. “No, they aren’t. You two still have a use. A very important use.”

“Spit it out already. I’ve had enough of you talking like you're better than us.”

His smile twisted even more, making a chill run down your spine. “I’m sure you know what blackmail is, yes? Originally we were going to just send your dad some lovely pictures of you in our facility, hoping that once he saw you, he would give up his location so he could save you. But you two... oh, you two provided something better than a photo could ever depict.”

It was as if time stopped. All your limbs felt cold as your blood itself ran cold. “...I-I’m gonna be sick.” You held a hand to your mouth both from shock and from genuinely feeling nauseated at the insinuation. He... They were thinking about blackmailing your dad with... security footage you had no clue about... of you... and him...

You felt so faint and mortified, you were stunned back to reality as you heard his big footstep slam on the ground. He had moved to the side of the table in one step, quickly grabbing the aggressor's uniform by the shoulders and picking him up with ease, lifting him nearly a foot off the ground so they could be eye to eye, but on his level. “You absolute sick fucks... Don’t tell me you’ve already sent it!”

“Hey! Hey! Put me down, idiot!” König did not, instead just glaring at him with much intensity. If looks could kill, this man would have been obliterated. He struggled, kicking his feet to try and loosen the grip, but soon realized that was futile. He looked back at the table, looking over to Horangi. He had been sitting silently this whole time, his hand near his mouth, watching all this unfold before him. “Horangi, help me out! You’re supposed to be my backup here.”

Snapping out of his stunlock, he looked up at the two of them. Looking at the contractor he just shook his head disappointedly, then looked over to König. “L-let’s put him down. I think he has more to say... and he isn’t going to reveal it when you’re threatening him.”

König broke his glare to glance at Horangi. The way he looked down at him, almost with a bit of contempt, it worried you he wouldn’t listen. Looking up at König yourself, you caught him glance at you a moment, seeing his expression soften instantly as he saw your worried but fearful face. Looking back at the contractor, he shook his head as his expression got intense again, before dropping him unceremoniously. He stumbled on his feet for a second from the fall and took a huge breath.

He instantly glared up at König. “You better sit in that fucking chair now, or I will not speak any further. I will let Kortac do the worst things to the both of you if you do not fucking listen! Got it?!” His voice was filled with pure fury as he aggressively pointed at the empty seat next to you. König looked at the chair, looking angry at it as well but then his gaze went up to you. You looked at him, pleading with just your eyes, gesturing with your head for him to sit down as well. You were just as disgusted as him at this revelation, if not, justifiably, you were way more disgusted by this. But you knew you both had to unfortunately comply to this, to play his sick, twisted game. He clearly had more he wanted to reveal but he wanted to make sure König was completely compliant before he did. His expression softened and he looked disappointed for a moment, before nodding slightly and hanging his head down as he sat down reluctantly. The contractor held his chin high, looking down at König with contempt as he sat looking up at him annoyed. “...Good boy.”

“Spit. It. Out.” König couldn’t hide his agitation at him as he spoke through gritted teeth again, having been tired of his smart comments since the very beginning.

“Keep your mouth shut and I will.” He crossed his arms, glaring at König, waiting for another interruption, but not getting it. “...So, we have the recording of you saved. We know any father would do anything to rescue his daughter from such a big, scary man. But also we know that must be soooo embarrassing for you two... even though you should have been embarrassed in the first place. That’s besides the point though, we aren’t evil here at Kortac so we are going to give you a simple choice.” You felt your stomach flip again. The idea of having to make a choice during all of this made your anxiety shoot up even more, and you hadn’t even heard the choices. “There are only two options, don’t worry. Option one is the tape, we get to send that to your dad and you, little miss, are freed from this room. You will still be at this facility but I’m sure someone can let you stay in their room...” He glanced over to König and gave him a slight wink, creeping you out even. “Option two is we don’t send the tape, saving you two from embarrassment, instead just sending him more... wholesome photos of you. But you will be under a 24/7 watch. Even if you need to go to the bathroom, we will send a woman in here to watch. And König will never set foot in this room again. He will be banned from even looking in the fucking window of this room.” 

Your stomach dropped even more, more dread and anxiety and horror setting in as the two options settled in your head. The fact that both of them were equally as awful in your mind... “You are truly one of the most disgusting, detestable groups I’ve come across in my life. And that is saying something...” He gripped the edge of the table, looking in pure fury as it looked like he was about to get up again. You quickly scooted your chair closer to him so you could lean over and grab one of his hands, startling him at the touch as you gently held it. He looked back at you, his expression stunned but soft, softening even more as you felt the tension in his hand relieved to your touch.

“König...” you said his name softly, looking into his eyes. His gaze averted as he got shy again, like a little kid being scolded. “It’s okay... I know and I agree this is absolutely fucking disgusting...” You trailed off slightly, glaring over at the contractor before looking back at him. “But, you need to calm down... or he’s...”

“If you don’t fucking listen to me, König, I will send that fucking tape out and I’ll make sure you never see her again.” He finished your statement for you, proving your point. König looked back at you, his expression sorrowful as he pulled his hand back and then interlaced his fingers with yours, drumming his fingers on your knuckles. He was so nervous, you could even feel small tremors in his hand. And the way his eyes looked at you... you badly wanted to hold him more, lift up that mask and kiss him, comfort him and tell him everything was going to be okay... that you were going to be there for him... You were going to be there for him. The contractor rolled his eyes with a loud exasperated sigh, catching your attention as you noticed him leaning over to look at you two holding hands. “Absolute fucking freaks... stop it! Can you two fucking focus?”

König’s expression switched to annoyance again, looking at him with pure contempt as he slowly and reluctantly pulled his hand from yours. “...Okay? You have my attention.” He looked up at him expectantly, gesturing with his arms wide open, showing his open attention. He responded non-verbally, crossing his arms again and glaring at König’s smart comment. Clearly he didn’t like receiving them himself.

“Well... with that, you have your two choices. However... König, you get no say in this now.” He looked taken aback by that, seeming like he was about to speak before he was interrupted quickly. “You’ve pissed me off too much. Besides... I think it’s more appropriate Y/N gets to choose. After all, it’s her daddy who might have to see her sex tape... or might never meet her wannabe boyfriend.”

He paced slowly around the table to the side you were sitting on, just leaning on it and crossing his arms again, watching you with contempt as he left you in pure silence. Deafening silence. You alone had the choice here... and more anxiety bubbled up as you thought of it. You know König couldn’t help but still you looked over to him, hoping to find comfort in him. He gave you a very sympathetic and concerned look, wanting desperately to care for you, to fully comfort you. But you both knew even holding hands would have him giving you two shit. You found yourself looking at the floor after, feeling like this was all futile. You felt so hopeless, you felt tears start to well up again. Trying to fight them off you glanced up, meeting Horangi as you did. He was still sitting there, silently, his hands clasped and elbows on the table, letting his hands meet where his nose would be. His gaze seemed fixed at the table, not noticing you even had looked at him. Like he was lost in thought completely. 

Going back to the choices made tears start to well up again, anxiety taking over as you brought your hand to your mouth, lightly starting to nibble at your fingers as you were forced to mull over the possibilities. You started with that second option, where the tape never makes it out. Obviously, you wanted that. Who would want their dad to see such a moment? And last night you two... you didn’t want to even think about that. It was so rough but so passionate... The thought of your dad seeing you like that made you want to puke. But the consequence of him not seeing it... you would never see him again. You would be stuck here, for however long it took for someone to come rescue you or your dad to release the info, and maybe they would release you... no one to support you. You could barely last a few hours by yourself yesterday. The amount of elation you felt when you saw him after feeling so hopeless last night... The idea of never feeling that again, just being stuck in that hopeless, lonely feeling... for weeks on end. It made your anxiety spike even more... in all that misery you would never feel his comfort again; not his warm arms, not his soft lips, not even his beautiful voice... saying sweet things to you and making you feel so nice and loved inside. If your dad saw the tape... at least you’d have someone there for you. Someone to comfort you through all this. Sure... your dad would kill him once he saw him but... at least he’d be by your side... And at least you two might have a chance of making it out of here.

You paused, looking up and meeting the eyes of the contractor, who was still looking at you expectantly, but surprisingly patient as you mulled this all over in your mind. You opened your mouth to start to speak, but hesitated, looking down at the floor as you second guessed yourself. You were sure you wanted him... wanted him for support but, was it worth the cost? You heard the shuffle of clothes as a step was taken toward you. Grabbing your chin lightly, he made you look up at him, taking too much pleasure in having complete control over this situation and making you feel more nauseous. “What is it? You can spit it out...” his voice cooed at you. You tried looking over at  König, but his grip forced you to keep looking at him. Even then you could still feel it, the absolute daggers being pointed in your direction.

“I...” you stumbled on your words. Feeling your chest heavy made it hard to speak, tears starting to well up as you really had to vocalize your decision. You did your best to blink them away, meeting his gaze with the most determined face you could muster as your voice croaked out, “S-send it.”

Stunned silence hung in the room a moment before König finally cracked out, “W-what?” You heard the chair start to scoot out but quickly a glare was shot his way, the chair scooting back in slowly. “L-liebing, you don’t... I’m not that-”

“I can’t do this without you, König!” You shook and broke free from the grip, quickly looking over to him, unable to look at him without some tears breaking free as well. “I... I can’t be alone... I-I need you to be here for me... and at least you will be here when it gets sent.”

His eyes were telling a whole story. You couldn’t even begin to imagine the emotions he was feeling. Concern for you and your dad seeing it, fear of your dad seeing him, appreciation that you actually cared for him... love that you chose him. It was all so much that you even saw his big blue eyes start to get more shiny... was he about to cry himself? You quickly shot up out of your seat, jumping over to his lap to hug him tightly, ignoring as you heard the contractor attempt to scold you. He held you just as swiftly and tightly, burying his head in your shoulder as you gripped him as close as you could. You felt the tears burst out as you silently sobbed, just catching your breath as you burrowed your face in his shoulder as well, gripping tighter as your emotions got the better of you. You took a deep breath, lifting your head slowly to look at him. He felt your head lift so he went to meet your gaze. Through the dark lighting you were able to tell he had in fact been crying as well, his eyes turning more bloodshot and still looking wet.

“Please... I don’t want to be alone...”

“I’m not going to, mein Mäuschen...” his voice shook as he spoke, gently caressing your face as you spoke, his thumb wiping away the tears that stained your cheek. “I’m here for you... and I will always be.”

“How sweet...” His voice broke you two’s moment, sarcasm and disdain dripping from his voice. You both glanced back at him, both of you very annoyed by his interruptions. “Well, if that is your decision, I will have them send it as soon as they can to the appropriate channels. Horangi, do you have any additions?”

“Nope.” He spoke very swiftly and shot up out of his chair. His fellow contractor reached out in an attempt to stop him, but he just stared straight forward and marched at a quick pace out the door, slamming shut behind him loudly. It left you all confused. You wondered what went on through his head during all this, as it seemed like he didn’t know any of this was going to happen.

The contractor shook himself out of his stunned look and looked back to you two, sighing loudly. “Well... you two are free to go too, I guess. I have nothing else to say to you deviants.” As you got up from his lap, König quickly grasped your hand as you stood up, slowly getting up as well. “Oh, a couple ground rules for this deal too. She has to stay in your room the whole time. You must accompany her if she needs to go to the bathroom, if you need to go to the mess hall, take a shower. The only time she is to be left alone is if you are working. And if he is asleep or you need to go to the bathroom while he’s working, tough shit. We have a camera pointed at any dorm door so we will know if you leave by yourself. And guards outside will make sure you have no chance of escape. This little deal is a privilege, missy. If you break it, not only will your father know how much of a slut you are... you also will lose your little boyfriend.”

You felt his hand grip yours tighter slightly before letting go, stomping over to him quickly. You quickly shot to look at him, seeing him just as he grabbed his right arm, the same one that had held your face before. You couldn’t even see König’s face but you knew rage had taken him over as he held up his right hand, his other hand coming back and swiftly snapping his index finger the exact opposite way it was supposed to bend, twisting it along the way. He cried out in agony as his whole body winced, scrunching up as his knees started to give. “That is for ever fucking touching her...” his voice growled lowly, bending down to his height so he was right in his face. He grasped his ring finger and did the same thing, holding it as it snapped against the back of his hand. You cringed, looking away. Sure, you hated the guy too but this was... a bit much for you to see. “And that... is for not fucking listening to me when I said to not talk about her like that.” You glanced back hesitantly, seeing König throw his hand away in disgust as he quickly grabbed it himself, trying to soothe the pain. He didn’t let him get the relief too long though, grabbing him by his chin and forcing him to look up at him, mirroring the way he had grabbed you earlier. “If you put a hand on her again, I will make sure every last bone in your hand is mangled to be unrecognizable. If you speak negatively of her again, I will make it so they have to honorably discharge you... and you will be begging for fucking mercy from your mother and from God. I will make you regret even thinking about her... even breathing the same air as her, you degenerate.”

He quickly paced back over to you, trying not to make his footsteps as angry as he felt as to not scare you. Swiftly grabbing your hand again, he took a deep breath, giving your hand a tender squeeze as he looked down at you. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Liebling...” His expression was just as soft and sweet as his voice sounded, though his voice still had hints of shaking behind it. Slowly, he guided you to the door, testing the handle and seeing it did remain unlocked. Pulling it open, he stopped in the doorway, looking back at the contractor, who was now sitting in a chair, holding his broken hand and still sucking breaths between his teeth. “Hey... you shut it in a door. Got it, Fetzenschädel?” You glanced back, trying to see his reaction, but only able to see as he lowly glared up before you were guided out.

You held the door so it wouldn’t slam too loud and kept up with König as much as you could, always remaining a little behind him. He kept his gaze to the floor as he turned the corners of the facility, and you felt his hand start to have light trembles as you continued further. You glanced around him, seeing what was ahead, or if there were any people ahead. You wondered if that’s what got him nervous... possibly being seen with you, especially right now. When you were supposed to be being interrogated, but instead you were walking down these people’s home facility, holding hands with the tall, intimidating masked man. You looked up at the ceiling, seeing some hallway splits were labeled as he turned down the “Dormitory” hall. You passed many doors, you both moving so fast you couldn’t even see the nameplates above the door numbers. He reached number 6, sure enough, his name was on the little placard above. He let go of your hand so he could fumble in his pockets for his keys, pulling them out and seeming almost comically small in his hands. Once it clicked open, he held the door open for you, looking at you softly as he gestured for you to walk in.

You immediately noticed how little there was, just the basics for him. A single bed that was sandwiched wall to wall almost. It wasn’t like a twin sized bed, you had seen plenty of those in your life, this one was a decent chunk longer. You wondered if it was custom made for him... if he was that well respected here. Or... if he was before you... You didn’t want to think of yourself like that and quickly brushed it aside. A long and short dresser was to your left, multiple vests on top were placed messily. And beside the dresser was an overflowing hamper, filled with athletic jackets, black and heather grey t-shirts, and cargo and sweatpants. To your right was a desk, many disorganized and loose papers covered it, as well as a small orange bottle in the far corner. On the other end, closer to the bed was a TV, small but flat screen, still seeming quite worn and dusty, angled to face the bed. And beside that was the bedside table, a lamp, a metal water bottle, a black alarm clock with red lettering, and a few books. All this furniture perfectly encompassed the rather cozy room, though you were sure to König it was very small for his size, though it seemed adequate to you.

You hear the door behind you click and you glanced, seeing König twist the lock and then finally look over to you. You could tell he smiled under his mask but then shut his eyes, taking a very large, shaky breath before starting to step forward. “I’m sorry, Mäuschen... if you could give me a moment...” He quickly stepped past you, heading for the bed and grabbing the pillow. He swiftly slammed it against his face and let out a loud but muffled yell, his hands gripping hard onto it as it lingered on longer than you realized any person would have the lung capacity for. You were startled by the sudden loud sound, despite it being muffled the best he could. But you also understood exactly why... he was just as frustrated as you were fully disgusted. He pulled the pillow from his face, still gripping it hard as he took a harsh breath in. “Diese Fetzenschädel! Absolut verfickte perverse Hurensöhne! Nach allem, was ich für sie getan habe... behandeln sie mich und meinen Liebling so?! Scheiße! SCHEIßE!!!”

He let out another frustrated groan, almost turning into a yell but it seemed he didn’t want to again, looking down at the pillow and throwing it to the headboard. He turned and threw himself to sit on the bed, leaning over, putting his head in his hands and gripping hard. You slowly walked over, not wanting to startle him when he was already on edge. You placed your hand on the bed first so he knew you were coming then slowly jumped up onto it. He quickly looked over to you, his eyes looking mad but softening as soon as he saw you, allowing you to see them start to well up with tears more. “...Why?” He lightly shook his head, laughing to himself as he shut his eyes. “Ich bin es nicht wert... Why, meine Maus?”

You took a big sigh, stopping to think for yourself before you spoke. You leaned up, gently cupping the side of his masked face, getting his harshly gripping hand out of the way and guiding him to look at you. He was still clearly fighting tears as he looked back at you. “König... I couldn’t stand the thought of being alone... I didn’t... I don’t want my dad to see that but... at least you’re here. You’re here right now... you can comfort me through this. With the other option I... I would’ve been stuck alone. No one could comfort me or help me. I’d just be stuck in isolation, waiting for someone to help me.”

His eyes just looked at you, shocked, stunned, but still tender. His focus started to shift, from your eyes to your mouth, switching quickly and subtly. “I... I just don’t understand...” His eyes started to shine more again as he focused on your eyes. “I don’t understand why you want me... Sacrificing that much just so...”

You cut him off as he trailed off, bringing your knees up and under you so you could be completely on the bed, and reach his height much easier so you could truly meet eye to eye. “Baby... I need you... I’ve been kidnapped and brought to a cold, heartless facility but you... you are my true hope right now. You’ve shown me kindness and passion through all this... The amount of happiness I felt yesterday when you walked through that door, hell, even when you walked through the door today! I... I feel so at ease with you... I feel like I can just talk with you for hours with how easy it is, and even that I can stop and enjoy your presence in silent moments... You are the only person I’ve felt like that for. You are the only person I have true hope for. No matter what... I’m stuck here... and if I am going to be stuck here, I want to be with you... my captor who has been sweet with me since the moment I first made him smile... my captor turned my savior...”

He just looked at you again, stunned into silence. Even his eyes were shaking, though they remained focused on you, you saw the little shakes of his iris. A moment passed, just sitting there in silence looking lovingly at each other as your words sunk in. He swiftly pulled one of his arms around your waist, putting his hand on the back of your shoulder as he pulled you in close, his other hand going up just as quickly to lift up his mask. You closed the gap just as quickly as you knew what he wanted... and you wanted it too, so, so badly. You lifted yourself up so you were just on your knees and shins, sitting up so, for once, you were slightly taller than him. With the gap closed, his other hand was free to also wrap around your waist, keeping you close as you slowly pulled your body around him, allowing your legs to straddle just around his waist and hips as he leaned back slightly. Clearly, he was enjoying this a lot, especially as he slightly hummed in the kiss. He pulled back, looking up at you, then down at your body, admiring the position, then back to you. His eyes were lust filled for a moment but immediately softened as he saw yours, the tears having dissipated now. “Mein Liebling, mein Schatz, mein Mäuschen, mein Ein und Alles...”

He quickly pulled his mask up again, and you had shut your eyes preparing to kiss just as fast, but you both heard it. A musical little knock at the door, rudely but unknowingly interrupting. König groaned and rolled his eyes, saying “Motherfucker...” under his breath. He looked back up at you, then gently patted your thighs, telling you non-verbally but just as reluctantly to get off him. You did as such, bouncing as you sat down normally on the bed, watching him as he walked over to the door. He really did make this room seem tiny. He opened the door a crack, leaning down as he peeked through. “...What is it?”

You heard that familiar, low voice distantly from the other side. “Well... first of all, I have to tell you we are working together today, just stocking the munitions. But also...” There was a pause, then his voice sounded more hushed. “Do you mind if I come in? I have to... talk.”

He paused too. You couldn’t tell his expression, you wondered if he was confused or if he was just lost in thought as he contemplated what was up. You saw him poke his head out slightly, looking around to both sides before holding the door open, his hand near the top of it. Sure enough, it was Horangi who entered, walking under König’s arm as he quickly scuttled in the room. König shut the door just as fast, crossing his arms and looking down at the man with an intimidating look.

“Alright, I want to start this by saying I had no idea what was going to happen in that room. I thought I was just going to be helping with the regular questions but... this is all a shock to me too.” His voice sounded genuinely worried. You couldn’t see where his eyes were looking though as he still wore his sunglasses.

“So that’s why you were so quiet the whole time...” König’s arms did not uncross, instead just continuing to look down at him with a slight head tilt and a raised eyebrow. “Or so you say... How can I trust you? How do I know you aren’t lying directly to my face, taking me... taking us for fools?”

You looked up to him with sympathy, understanding what he meant but... “Let’s just... hear him out, baby.” He looked over to you, slightly confused. But he seemed to let his guard down at least, uncrossing his arms and leaning on the dresser instead. “When we were in the room, he seemed just as uncomfortable with it all.”

“I was...” he chimed in, looking at you both before looking up at König. Though he was easily a foot taller than you, he still had to crane his neck quite a bit to meet his eyes. “First, them revealing they had it on tape and had watched it... then saying they want to send it?! All for a fucking location?! It’s fucked up and... I’m sorry you two are even having to go through this.”

You found yourself smiling a bit at his course language. He was clearly fluent but couldn’t kick his accent, combined with his deep voice, it at least helped break up the tension. König didn’t seem as amused though, continuing to look down at him, slightly rocking himself on his own arms supporting him. “You should show more sympathy to her. It’s her dad who’s gonna have to see our non-consensual sex tape.”

You found yourself feeling queasy at the reminder, but took a deep breath, trying to get it out of your head. You had to remind yourself you weren’t alone... this was part of the logic in your head, why you took this deal. You had him to comfort you now... you didn’t just have to take deep breaths. You stood up, right as Horangi glanced over to you, starting to speak as you made your way over to the dresser. “Right. Yes, I am... very sorry to you especially, Y/N. They shouldn’t have even considered this, let alone made you make such a fucked up choice.”

“It’s fine,” you shrugged your shoulders, trying to brush it off as you hopped up onto the dresser, brushing some vests to the side as you did so you were right next to König’s arm. He looked down at you, quirking his brow but still, you could tell he was smiling as he looked at you. You nuzzled yourself into him, letting you wedge between his arm and chest, as he took the hint, wrapping his arm around you to pull you closer. Feeling the warm comfort from him, you shut your eyes to take it all in, just letting yourself feel it. Opening your eyes you brought your left hand up slowly to his shoulder so you could hold him as well. You both locked eyes with a loving gaze. “I’m as happy as I can be in this situation... because I at least have him to support me through it.”

You both just stopped, enjoying the moment... the silence not bothering you as you leaned up so you could get a closer look at his eyes. You wanted to kiss him again but you also just wanted to enjoy looking at those beautiful blue eyes. You could look at just them for hours you felt, but you remembered the other reason you didn’t want to kiss him, glancing over to the man to your left. He bashfully glanced at the floor a second before looking back at you two. Clearing his throat, he looked back up to König. “That’s, uh, also why I’m here... I want to help you with that.”

You looked up to him to see his reaction, seeing genuine confusion again as his thumb rubbed over your bicep. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“I want to get in... wipe their hard drives, snap the disks, whatever they have. I want to help you guys make sure that is never seen, especially by her father.”

“I...” you paused, choking on your words a moment as you were surprised by his sudden support. “W-while I want that obviously, don’t you think it might raise some suspicion? If they find out that it very specifically was our recording... they’ll definitely connect the dots and punish us.” You looked up at König, seeing him nod in agreement and then glancing to his fellow contractor, his fingers starting to drum as they caressed your arm.

“That’s what I’m thinking too. It’s just an idea for now but... I’m sure we could figure out something.” He paused, looking to the ground as he took a deep breath. “I... I feel bad that I didn’t do anything to help you two while I was in the room. I should've spoke up... should’ve helped you beat up that dumbass... So I’m helping you now. It’s what I would want too if I was in your situation.” He looked up to König as he finished his words, seeming to look up for approval. He looked back at him, seeming to want to remain stoic but you saw the way his eyes softened, smiling slightly. He took a moment, shutting his eyes and then nodding.

“...Okay, I’ll accept it. We can discuss it more in the armory... try and cover it up a bit as we go obviously. Don’t want to say it directly. We can also talk after dinner.”

You saw Horangi perk up cutely as he got the approval. “Alright!” He cleared his throat after saying it so enthusiastically, making you laugh in response. “R-right... I agree though we should head out... I’m sure they’re watching the cameras, especially yours. They’ll probably raise suspicion if we stay here any longer.”

“Ja...” He paused, looking down at you as he slowly pulled his arm away, pushing himself to get up from the table. “You said it’s just stocking today right?” He nodded, starting to walk backwards to the door but also keep an eye on you guys. “Okay... so I shouldn’t need my vest... should just be fine like this.” He was talking to himself, looking at his clothes he had on then back to the dresser, looking at the pile of vest behind you, then back to you. His eyes saddened a moment as he did, taking a step forward and putting his hands by the sides of you, leaning and keeping his face close to yours. He let out a sigh, “I’m sorry I have to leave so soon, mein Mäuschen...”

You smiled sympathetically at him. “It’s okay... I understand.” You both held eye contact for a moment, you pushed yourself up more and he leaned down more. You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck and he lifted his hand to the bottom of his mask. Both of you knew what you both wanted, and you gave it to each other, closing the gap and letting the world wash away in the moment of a little passionate goodbye kiss. In the back of your mind, you knew Horangi was still there, but you didn’t even care, just fully enjoying the feeling of his lips against yours. You wanted to pull him closer, but you knew you had to let go. You understood but didn’t want it to end. Reluctantly you pulled back, slowly opening your eyes and seeing him do the same, pushing himself up from leaning over you.

He took a deep breath as he kept looking at you. “I’ll be back soon, mein Liebling... make yourself at home, baby...” You nodded, looking around him to the few activities in the room, figuring some way to entertain yourself for however long. He turned on his heel, walking over to meet Horangi at the door. You just watched, admiring his physique from behind as he walked away... getting a bit entranced by it, until you realized he was about out the door, and you remembered a thought you had while falling asleep last night.

You ran up, holding the door right as he had entered the hallway and as he was shutting it. You poked your head on the edge, really making sure you didn’t break the rules as you called out to him, “Hold on! König!”

He quickly turned around and lightly jogged to the door, concern and slight worry on his face as he scanned the hall. “What is it, baby?”

“Can you... while you're out possibly... ask one of the girls here if they have some extra clothes I could borrow for the time?”

Instantly his face looked surprised as he sheepishly shifted his gaze around, glancing down the hallway where Horangi was and avoiding your curious look. You could just tell his face was turning red under his mask. “I-I... I can try, Liebling... No promises on that though, I... W-we can talk about this after, okay? I can promise I can... eventually.” You looked down at your pajamas slightly disappointed, then back at him, whose face had turned sad as he looked down at them too. “I’m sorry... I just... I-It’ll probably be better if you come with me to do that. Okay?”

You nodded, putting your hand up to the door knob but then stopping a moment, right as he was about to turn again. “Wait, baby. One more thing?” He looked at you curiously, raising a brow but hearing you out. You gestured with your finger for him to come closer, and to lean down. He did as such, still remaining curious and cautious. You smiled and stood on your tiptoes, giving his clothed cheek a little peck before returning back down, watching for his reaction. His eyes widened a bit but quickly you saw the corners of his eyes turn up. “Have a good day.” You smiled softly at him as he leaned back up, his smile remaining and you could really tell he was blushing now. You had always wanted to do that. You giggled in the silence as he just looked down at you lovingly.

“Remember to lock the door, Mäuschen.”

“Okay.” You didn’t continue shutting the door, just staring up at him, not wanting him to leave but in the back of your mind, you knew you had to let him go. It seemed he didn’t want to either as he returned the loving stare. It jumped you a bit when he suddenly and quickly leaned down, pulling his mask up and giving you a quick peck on the lips. You felt yourself start to blush once he pulled back, looking at you with slightly lidded eyes.

“I really have to go,” he said with his voice hushed, his tone disappointed. “Goodbye, meine Liebe.”

He closed the door as you started to blush more. You clicked the lock shot but still his goodbye lingered in your head. Trying desperately to recall the German you knew, plus the context, plus other words he had said. Liebling was like darling... Liebe... My love. More blood rushed to your cheeks as you started smiling uncontrollably. He had called you other pet names before but this... this hit differently.

You took a big breath, a sigh of content as you made your way over to his bed, jumping up and laying face first into the pillow. You couldn’t wipe the excitement from your brain as you kicked your legs to relieve some of the extra energy you had. Lifting yourself up, you took another deep breath, turning to lounge on the big bed. Looking around the room, it set in that you were alone and had to find something to do. At least it was better than solitary confinement, you could borrow his books or watch TV. You thought about it a moment, turning and grabbing one of his books, reading the back synopsis of it. You thought it’d be nice if you’d save the TV watching for tonight, though you were sure at some point you’d need a break from reading. The idea of just being snuggled up in his arms tonight as you slowly dozed off... It brought another smile to your face as you opened the book. You thumbed to the first chapter, settling in as you were enveloped by the smell of him on his warm bed as you started reading his book.

Translations! Vysokiy ublyudok... (высокий ублюдок)- tall bastard (first bit of Russian ayyy) Fetzenschädel- (literally) Tattered skull (Austrian insult to say idiot) Diese Fetzenschädel! Absolut verfickte perverse Hurensöhne! Nach allem, was ich für sie getan habe... behandeln sie mich und meinen Liebling so?! Scheiße! SCHEIßE!!!- Those idiots! Absolutely fucking perverted sons of bitches! After everything I've done for them... that is how they treat me and my darling?! Fuck! Fuck!!! Ich bin es nicht wert- I'm not worth it Mein Ein und Alles- my everything

[phoenixeclipse-lmkau]

Phoenixeclipse Forgotten AU — Into the City

Sun An is free from the Void, lost and alone. Now she has to find someone to help her, but before she can do that can she handle the city? And who is this man who wants to help her?

Loud, loud it was all so loud. An lifted her hands and held them tightly over her ears as best she could. She could barely see the city over the horizon and yet she could hear all of the roaring engines, the loud bustling people and even the demons that roamed through the shadows of the city.

 

Her eyes stared ahead at the city as she continued to hold her hands over her ears. Is that where she had to go? Squinting her eyes she attempted to see farther but only a flicker of gold entered her vision. She couldn’t control that power yet, every time she even tried her eyes burned and watered.

 

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, something she did nothing to get rid of. With tired sore legs, aching red bare feet, and an exhausted heart she trudged forward. With each step the noise that rung in her ears got louder and louder. Block it out, block it all out. Taking a deep breath she stopped, her hands remained cupped over her ears and she pushed mana through her hands.

 

The burning sensation that followed through her body was unmistakable. Her mana burned every time she used it, like molten lava following below her veins, heating up whenever she used it. But she knew, that she wouldn’t be able to get any further without the help of her mana.

 

Slowly as the heat roared the sound around her began to fade. It faded until she could only hear what was right around her. Her golden eyes fluttered back open as a feeling of relief flooded through her. Everything was so much more quiet now. She hated it, she hated how quiet it just became. She didn’t have to glance over her shoulder to know that they weren’t there.

 

Meihua and Jing were still trapped in the void. Her mother was still trapped in the void where she couldn’t get to. If only she listened to Meihua when she said they would find another way, or if she had listened to Jing when she said to stay on the mountain. If only- NO! Her mom needed to get out of there she needed to be free, the same went for her sisters.

 

With newly steeled resolve An fixed her robe. Long dark brown hair was covered by the enchanted robe, her six fluttering ears tucked out of sight along with most of her monkey kin features. Dark brown fur, a light pink mask covering her face and dark red roses that were scattered atop her head and across her shoulders.

Everything was hidden under a single black robe to conceal herself away. Her ragged clothing barely did much to help her with concealing anything else. The robe was the only thing left intact since her battle, not even her shoes had survived. Every step causing more and more pain to her already sore feet.

 

“Sun Wukong and The Six Eared Macaque… I am going to find you, and you are going to help me,” she slightly growled before beginning her trek once again. Completely unaware of the silver eyes that followed her every move, now bolder with the seals that surrounded the young girl’s ears.

 

>>><<<< 

 

“Get out of the way!” someone shouted causing An to jump out of the way of a large vehicle, the engine roaring as it passed her.

Gasping in shock she stared wide eyed at the large vehicles that sped through the streets. Back in the Void there were so few vehicles, almost all of them were broken down or wasted away to nothing but scraps. Just bits and pieces of the world that found its way into the Void. This new reality was, startling and still so damned loud.

Stumbling through the streets she tried to find clues, surely she could find answers here. More people meant more information for sure, she just needed… she needed some place to start her search. Her eyes flickered around trying to find anywhere to stop for just a moment, her legs so sore they felt as though they were about to collapse.

How long had it been? How long has she been walking? It was nightfall when she arrived and that was at least two days ago. Had she stopped since then? She couldn’t remember. She was so tired and all she wanted was to curl up and sleep. Her stomach let out a low grumble causing her to tightly curl around it in pain.

She pulled out her small satchel and saw there were at least three coins in it, golden coins. Did they have the same money system in this city as the Void? It was doubtful but she had to try, at least ask someone to see if she could get some food. Her tail swiping around nervously as she looked around for a smaller food place.

Her eyes landed on the store that was in front of her. When did she get here? It didn’t matter, she decided as she stared at the pink pig emblem holding a bowl of noodles. Food was food and she was in desperate need of it. She just hoped that they would accept her payment. With a deep breath she opened the door, hearing the clear chime of a bell causing her to wince.

“-I’m just saying that clones are stronger than gold vision,” An older man who was sitting at the counter said with the roll of his eyes.

“But Gold Vision has a lot of uses too,” A young brunette back talked as he mopped up the floor.

The smell of fresh noodles hit her after their words and the sound of washing dishes. She glanced outside, it was getting dark but they should still be open. At least she hoped they were.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t-,” The older man began but was cut off by An who spoke up before she lost her courage.

“Hello!” She spoke louder than she meant to, a flush quickly covering her face not that anyone could see it.

The brunette jumped almost to the ceiling in shock, quickly whirling around to look at her. His dark eyes seemed to flicker under the light but An ignored it in favor of trying to push down her own embarrassment.

“Hi?” The man at the counter with a bowl of noodles asked in confusion.

“D-Do you work here?” Why did she ask that!? She cannot believe that she just said that, her blush darkened.

“Yes, yes I work here,” The young man nodded staring at her as if he was trying to figure out some elaborate puzzle.

She was certain that he wouldn’t find anything, or at least she hoped he didn’t. There was no need to drag anyone else into this if she didn’t need to. Carefully she shook the thought away as she pulled out a coin from her bag holding it out to him.

“D-Do you accept coins? I don’t have anything else,” She muttered before jumping back when the older man squealed quietly at the sight of it.

“Is that a void coin!?” He almost shouted staring at her outstretched hand excitedly before quickly composing himself.

“Yes it is. I don’t have any other money on me,” An replied looking down as she hoped that they would accept.

“What the heck is a void coin?” The younger man asked staring at it.

“Oh. They don’t accept that here,” The older man said, and immediately An’s heart sunk if anyone would have accepted it, it would have been a smaller mom and pop shop right.

“But tell you what,” the man began, getting An’s attention as he shuffled through his bag and held up several pieces of paper. “I’ll buy that from you for a week’s pay. It’s worth more than I can give but a week’s pay will definitely get you some food,” He said with a wide, kind smile.

An’s eyes widened looking at the money as a large pig demon suddenly entered the room. He took one glance at the small girl and froze his eyes roaming over her very disheveled appearance. He was about to open his mouth when the younger man spoke up too.

“Here, let me pay for you tonight. Pigsy can you get her a bowl of noodles?” He asked with a small smile.

The pig didn’t respond and just turned around as he started towards his kitchen. The sound of pots and pans being moved, were as clear as day. She was going to get food, she let out a sigh of relief before pushing herself to stumble towards the counter. Unfortunately she didn’t have that much strength and nearly fell over only to be caught by the young man.

“Woah! Are you okay?” He asked a shocked expression as he helped her up.

“S-Sorry, I just need food is all,” She muttered quietly, and a bed, and sleep, and safety, and her sisters, and her mother. The list went on, tears threatened to pour out of her eyes but she quickly pushed them down.

“Here sit, Pigsy will have your food out soon,” He helped her to sit down on a stool in front of the counter.

An didn’t know what to say, this was a stranger that had nothing to do with her. He was being extremely kind too. Picking at her cloak she bit her lip quietly trying to calm her racing nerves. What did he want from her? Was he going to as for repayment later? No one is this kind to strangers without wanting something in return. She knew that first hand, her hand trailed across her bandaged wrist.

“My name is MK, what’s yours?” He spoke up with an energetic tone catching her off guard.

She glanced at the cheerful expression and muttered a barely audible response, “An.”

“An, that’s a nice name. What are you doing around here all alone? Damn that sounded way wrong. I was just curious cause you look so roughed up,” He rambled abandoning his mopping in favor of sitting next to her.

She looked at him again with a frown. The only thing visible was her frown, her eyes along with the rest of her head still securely covered by her cloak. She couldn’t risk revealing her appearance, not to this man not to anyone. Not until she found her fathers, and even then what was she even going to say.

“Just… looking for someone,” She mumbled as Pigsy came back out setting a bowl of food in front of her.

She ignored everything else in favor of immediately chowing down on her food. Causing them to fret when she choked on some of the food. A glass of water was placed in front of her which she immediately drank.

“Be careful, you could hurt yourself,” MK spoke his eyes brimmed with worry.

“Thanks,” she muttered before going back to eating her food.