#he's always round toma's it just happens

[dangaer]

i know a lot of people get mad at it but tbh shin really looks out for the heroine in spade and diamond route.

[restinslices]

ALRIGHT ENOUGH SWEETNESS. LIN KUEI BOYS FIRST TIME FUCKING THEIR PARTNER 🎤 (please)

Omg y’all, my brain let me write again😃

I don’t feel like looking for gifs and my storage space is in hell so I ain’t got photos. Sorry twin

Bi-Han

I know I start his parts off with “the haters will tell you” a lot 

IDC. Imma do it again 

The haters will tell you he won't care and he'll do his own speed and yadyadya. No. 

He's an asshole but be fr y'all 

I'm gonna write this as you're both experienced but it's your first time together. If that's not what you meant then lmk but until then-

You're both experienced but he's still careful 

He's the type to pick up speed fast but he's not immediately gonna be aggressive 

You're experienced but not with each other so he's gonna actively try to be slower and softer 

Very observant towards your needs and adapts quickly 

I think he’s observant in general so I think he’d easily notice how you react to certain things 

More of an action guy 

What I mean is he won’t verbally say a lot. Like you know how some people will ask “does this feel good?”? (That looks ugly as fuck-) He won’t 

He won’t because he’s paying attention to how you react and what gets the best reaction. He doesn’t need to say much 

He’s not completely silent but I don’t think he says much in general, so the first time would especially be quiet because he’s focusing 

Do I think he’s rough during sex? Yes. For the first time though? Probably not. He still feeling shit out

When it comes to making him feel good, he makes sure to let you know. He’d never be the type to lie about nutting. That’s just not him. He’s gonna make sure you do it right 

Very handsy 

He’s vocal when it comes to grunting and I think he’d go out of his way to make noise in your ear if it was something you enjoyed 

Pays attention to both your needs 

I could see him wanting to go a couple rounds before stopping 

Leaves tons of marks as a reminder of what happened 

Now that you’ve started now, don’t be surprised when he wants to do it consistently 

Kuai Liang

Mostly pays attention to what you need 

I think he’s way more verbal than Bi-Han so he’d actually verbally ask what feels good and what doesn’t 

He goes slow

Lots of emphasis on foreplay and trying to set the mood 

His lips are everywhere 

Like legit, every part of you has felt his lips or tongue 

I get it, you may think he’s very fast and intense because fire but no

Fire can also symbolize passion and Kuai Liang is a very passionate lover 

Considering it’s the first time, there’s no need to rush

The type to always be pleasing you. Even if you’re talking or making small comments, his fingers are still gonna be working on you 

When it comes to fucking he’s not doing it fast but how hard he’s going makes up for it 

Will go faster if you ask

Is also leaving marks 

Does frequent check ins to make sure everything is ok

He’s a big dude (in the sense he’s swole as fuck) so he’d probably prefer for you to be on top so he won’t crush you 

If I said he pulls on hair will I be booed or cheered?

If you’re bald then ignore that

Offers to give head. Doesn’t matter if you’re laying down or sitting on his face. He’s leaving here with smth-

The ratio when it comes to orgasming is off as fuck because he’s the type to pull out and start eating you out 

Extra points if it’s after you came 

He’s pulling out all the stops. You’re not going anywhere after this

Doesn’t particularly care how many rounds you go for

Main focus is on how many times you cum. There’s some people that try to be sweet and “I didn’t cum but if you’re tired then-“ don’t piss him off 

You’re either stopping because you���re tired or you’re shaking (or you wanting to stop but that’s not a saucy ending)

Tomas Vrbada

He’s always gonna be a sub to me, idc

He would try so hard to be big man on campus and all strong and shit, but bitch one good tug at the hair and he’s folding 

Lets you take the reigns for the first time 

Don’t think just because he likes being tossed around a lil, he ain’t gonna say how he feels. No 

You can be submissive and still assertive. That’s Tomas 

Similar to Kuai Liang in the sense that he is really focused on what you want and what feels good to you 

Already moans a lot and loud as fuck but he’s especially loud once he’s finally inside you 

He wants to go slow but life happens. The wind just kinda blows this way and next thing you know he’s fucking you like he’s saying goodbye. It’s the winds fault fr 

Is also verbal with what he wants and wants you to be too 

You’d think y’all have fucked several times with how comfortable he is when it comes to saying what he’s into. What do you mean “choke me”?

What do you mean you wanna fuck the cum outta someone or vice versa? Let’s take a breather, calm down, gather our thoughts-

Once he’s horny his brain shuts off and the whore comes out. You’d expect it’d be Bi-Han that would become this bold, but no. He’s bold all the time. Tomas gives mfs whiplash. 

Like bro we were just eating dinner 20 minutes ago

Like I said, he’s really focused on what you want since it’s your first time. You gotta leave an impression 

Is his brain cells shutting off? Yes. Will them bitches turn back on if he notices you don’t like something or you say something feels weird? Yes 

He’s attentive 

Probably came before you because he’s sensitive but he’s not the type to roll over and be like “welp, guess it’s a wrap”

He wants your brain to be as fuzzy as his and he’s determined to make that shit happen 

Idk why I changed my profile to this Fear Street aesthetic when I never write for them but here we are. I wanted to change it and this is where I landed.

[tartiloser]

MORTAL KOMBAT HEADCANONS ☆ them giving head!

starring. . . afab , gender neutral reader and tomas , mileena , + johnny cage. warning for general nsfw + light mention of bondage. requested by ; no one ( 10 / 07 / 23 ) + fandom masterlist ; here.

author notes; my genshin profile theme vs mortal kombat being a special interest atm.. #autism. first mortal kombat piece yay! this is wholly and fully self indulgent but it doesn’t matter. i’m winning.

tomas!

— probably has a map of your pussy etched into his brain. he knows every square inch of your body as if it was his own, so it’s only natural. he loves eating you out just as much as you love getting eaten out. tomas is more than willing to stay in between your legs for hours on end, making you cum over and over. if you get off, he gets off. that’s all he cares about. hearing you moan and feeling your legs squeeze against his head is just a bonus.

— he loves to serve you, so he doesn’t mind doing whatever you ask him to do. he’s extremely skilled all on his own though, so tomas doesn’t necessarily need any guidance. he’s a sensual lover for the most part, slowly dragging his tongue across your clit and occasionally pressing kisses to it, as if to worship you. with him, it’s all about building up to something a bit more.. exciting. you’ll notice the change of pace once he slides his tongue inside. he’s never rough unless you specifically request for that, but he’s not exactly gentle like he was before. 

— his tongue will dart in and out, teasing you almost. tomas has a small thing for bondage, but if his hands happen to be free then he’ll hold onto your thighs, gently rubbing circles into your skin with his thumbs when he’s not busy gripping for support. the assassin also enjoys when you have your legs on his shoulders or wrapped around his head, urging him closer to your already wet pussy. he tries to keep noises to a minimum but occasionally you’ll hear him licking and sucking away.

— tomas finds it extremely cute when you squirm and buck, forcing his tongue deeper into your cunt. trust me when i say he’ll lap up everything like a dog once you cum. he doesn’t let any drop go to waste unless it’s there to decorate his lower face. as you pant, he’ll slowly lift his head up, a small grin on his face. he’s got a hazy but happy look in his eye despite the fact that the lower half of his face is coated in a light layer of your cum. “mm.. you look so pretty,” he’ll murmur, admiring you while you admire him. tomas will never get over how gorgeous you always look after an orgasm. 

— he’s surprised though to feel your hand against his head, urging him back down to your pussy. silently, you ask him for another round. when you feel his tongue playing with your clit again, you know the answer’s yes.

mileena!

— though she doesn’t enjoy receiving oral sex much, she’s more than willing to treat you to the time of your life. she’s eaten people more than she’s eaten out people before, so she only has a small amount of knowledge on how things work. even if she had all the experience in the world of giving head, though.. well.. mileena has never eaten you out before. you’re different. you’re special.

— she’s curious as to what you like. do you prefer things to be slow and sensual or would you rather her be rough? would you like her to spit on your clit, as if she’s disgusted? would you enjoy her softly blowing on the sensitive bundle of nerves laid out beautifully in front of her? these were the things that go through her mind as mileena spreads your legs, taking in everything about your pussy.

— she’s almost experimental at first, kitten licking your cunt as if to tease you. she likes the way your legs shudder against her. when you whine, she grins. you moan and groan every so often too. she decides that she likes hearing you like this, desperate for her touch. she does more to hear your noises, letting her tongue play with your every flap. she may even gently nip a few times— she’s learning a lot from this. she learns that you like it a lot when she teases, though you tend to whine and beg for her to do more. when she does do more, mileena quickly learns that you’re prone to bucking into her like an animal. she doesn’t particularly like it so she just holds you down the best she can. 

— if you can learn to control yourself then she’ll let her hands wander. she’s a boobs type of gal, truth be told. she enjoys touching your breasts when she can reach them. if she can’t, that’s okay. your ass will do just fine for now. she’s a little noisy down there, but she’s sure you don’t mind… your hand grips her hair as you let out a final moan, releasing yourself all over her tongue and mouth. mileena pulls back, forcing you to watch as she tastes your cum almost curiously. she licks her lips, staring you in the eye. it’s.. good. she uses her thumb to wipe her lower lip before licking up any excess from your wet folds. 

— she lifts her head again, looking at you and soaking in your pleased expression. “again,” she says, telling you more than asking you. despite her bossy tone, she pauses on the way down, waiting for your confirmation. it’s only once you say yes that she eagerly begins to lick at your pussy again.

johnny cage!

— he eats your pussy like it’s his last meal. i’m not joking. there’s a hint of desperation in the way johnny noisily sucks and slurps at your cunt. he’s a little rough but he never does more than you can handle. ask him to calm down and he will. his hands will hold you gently while his tongue goes to work on you, nearly abusing your clit. every piece of your pussy is given ample amounts of attention.

— cage can’t help but love the way you writhe against him and all the noises you make. the way you grip his hair and squeeze your legs against his head as his tongue navigates your insides makes him harder than he already is. he didn’t even know that was possible! he wonders what he’s done to deserve such a heavenly chorus of moans from you, moans that get increasingly louder with every move he makes. ah, johnny adores you. every jerk, every shudder, every whimper, every moan— he adores all of it. 

— he’ll convince you to sit on his face at least once. he wants to be nose deep in your sweet, sweet pussy. god knows he deserves it. he’s had such a long day and it would mean so much to him.. please, just this once? he’s strong enough to take it and you both know that. it doesn’t matter your body size, really, he doesn’t care. he’ll hold onto your ass as you sit, grinning all over himself. cage enjoys this position a lot more than most others but if you’re not into it then he’s willing to leave it behind in his daydreams.

— it’s only after he licks up every last drop of your cum that he lifts his head up, a lazy grin on his face accompanied by hungry eyes. his mouth is messy because he doesn’t care enough to clean it. johnny takes a moment to appreciate the hazy look in your eyes, the way you pant like a dog in heat in an attempt to catch your breath. “one more round?” he’ll ask, smirking up at you. it’s amazing how he always manages to fluster you, even from in between your thighs. “i promise i’ll be gentle. i just want to taste you again.”

— with cage it’s more often than not more than one ‘round’. he always likes it when you beg for him to fuck you despite the fact that he’s made you cum several times already with just his mouth alone. he loves the desperation in your voice but even more so he loves that he’s the one to make you feel this way. johnny thinks that if he can’t pleasure you, then he’s not doing his job right. after all, he’s yours just as much as you’re his.

[tiredfox64]

Sooo I was thinking of Tomas trying to learn how to flirt because he wants to impress the reader however the reader (who has feelings in return) catches him flirting with another female Shirai Ryu member and mistakes it as he has feelings for someone else, cries about it to Kuai Liang who decides to help the reader out by taking her on a "date" to make Smoke jealous. When Smoke sees them together on their "date", he becomes consume with jealousy that fires him up to tackle Kuai Liang and bluntly tells the reader how he feels. 😅😅

It Should Be Me!

Prior notes: Oooh i like this one. I hope you don’t mind me using my oc as a place holder for the female Shirai Ryu member.

Pairing: Tomas x Afab reader, and Kuai Liang is there I guess

Warnings ‼️: Silly goose, there is none! I think

Who fell harder: You or Tomas? Could be both. You sure do like each other a whole lot.

Conversation that last for hours. Training together even though he should be focusing on the others. Showing each other your favorite genres of music. Oh the memories get you kicking your feet and rolling around in bed. Everyone thinks you two would look cute together. A perfect match really. But one of you has got to confess already. Ah but it won’t be you.

You are brave enough to take a horde of assassins head on. Confessing to someone that you like them takes a whole different kind of braveness. A kind that you have to build up. For now you will carry on with the hope that no one else tries to take your man. Actually, now would be the usual time you would meet up with him. Get to it, honey!

You were about to round the corner until you heard Tomas. You stopped yourself, peeking your head out to see who he was talking to. He was talking to the new girl. There was something strange going on. Her giggling, his closeness to her, that look he was giving her, that tone in his voice. Oh no! He’s flirting with her.

You heard it, compliments about her eyes and how any man would be lucky enough to have a funny girl like her around. You practically felt your heart rip apart. It hurt to hear those words being told to another girl. You always wished he would say such things to you. A wish that may never come true now. To you it was already over. It seemed he picked another girl over you and you’re left questioning what did she do that you didn’t.

Your eyes started to grow watery and the last thing you wanted was for Tomas to see you cry over this. It was his decision on who to date, you can’t change that fact. You silently walked away while you sniffled and wiped your tears with your sleeve. The only person you trusted to share this heartbreak with was Kuai Liang. At least you knew he wouldn’t judge you since he’s not that kind of guy.

But wait! You made a mistake! You didn’t hear the rest of their conversation.

“Ah Tomas, you’re getting better every day with your pick up lines. Soon enough you’ll be getting more girls than Johnny does.” The girl complimented him.

“Aw thanks, Kris. But you know I’m only doing this for you know who.” He whispered the last part, unsure if you were around or not.

“Oh yes, yes, yes. Well I can certainly say that she will fall for your charm easily now, if she hasn’t already done so. When do you plan on asking her out?”

“Tomorrow. There’s a festival going on and I was hoping she would say yes to going with me. When we are there I’ll ask her to be my girlfriend.”

The look of Tomas’ face showed how enthusiastic he was to ask you out. He was clueless to the fact that there was some miscommunication before he could communicate to you. That girl was already hyping him up to go find you and ask if you wanna go to the festival tomorrow. You were already in Kuai Liang’s office when they were done talking.

══💤══╡°˖✧🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

“I don’t know what happened. I thought he liked me.” You cried into your hands while Kuai Liang just sat there awkward.

Therapist was not in his occupation but looks like he has to play that role for you. He is somewhat confused of Tomas’ actions. He thought his brother liked you a lot considering how much he gushed over you. If his brother changed his mind suddenly he had no idea about it.

Kuai Liang lightly patted your back to soothe you, “I am unsure of what to tell you. Just…please stop crying, it will be okay.”

He wasn’t being mean he just didn’t want anything bad between you guys. Kuai Liang conjured a plan in his head of what to do while still trying to soothe you. An idea popped up in his head. It may have seemed extreme but he wanted to fix the issue fast and effectively.

“Okay, how about this. I take you on a “date” to the festival tomorrow. Someone will tell Tomas where you are and the thought of being with me might make him realize he wants you instead.” He tried to sound confident with this plan like it could actually work.

“Your plan is to make him jealous?” You asked as your crying died down.

“I guess you could say that. Do you have anything better?”

You immediately nodded your head no. Even if the plan didn’t work out at least you could get out for once. Spending time wouldn’t be bad either. You just wished it was with Tomas.

Will you ever recover from this sorrow?

══💤══╡°˖✧🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

Plans were set into motion. You had your plan and Tomas had his. Tomas was preparing himself to ask you to go to the festival with him. He was all giddy and he came walking up to you with a warm smile on his face. His heart was pumping just thinking about you saying yes. His emotions made him miss the sour expression on your face.

“Hey! I’ve been looking for you. I had something important to ask you.” He started off.

“Oh yeah…what is it?” You seemed dismissive but once again his emotions made him miss that.

“I was wondering if you and I could go to the festival tomorrow. I thought it would be nice. Plus I’d love to go out with a pretty girl like you.”

He thought his flirting would really get you this time. This should have been easy but what you said next shocked him to his core.

“No, I’m already going out with your brother. It’s a date.” You said it so casually before walking off as if you didn’t just crush this man.

How could this happen? This was a joke right? Yeah, this had to be. You were joking with him and you would actually come around later to tell him to come with you to the festival. Oh you’re so silly…right?

Tomas was in a daze throughout the rest of the day which continued over to the next. You saw the plan was actually working so you planned to continue with it. Though it still saddened you that he didn’t try to stop you already or ask why you were doing this.

Have patience, soon he will take action.

He was pacing around in his room, blabbering to the same girl he was practicing his flirting with about how you were just messing with him.

“I mean it just doesn’t make any sense. The two are close but never would I think they were that close. We are the ones who are that close. Oh what am I thinking? I’m sure she will be coming around soon and just tell me it was a prank and then we’ll go out there and I’ll ask her to be my girlfriend.” Yeah, yeah that should be right.

“Tomas.”

“What.”

“They’re leaving.” The girl pointed her thumb to the window where Tomas saw you and Kuai Liang leaving for the festival.

Tomas immediately bolted out the door. He didn’t care if he looked crazy to the other clan members for running out into the world, he had to catch you.

══💤══╡°˖✧🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

You sighed in disappointment. The festival seemed wonderful with warm lighting around and yummy smelling food. If only you could’ve spent the time with Tomas. You kept walking with Kuai Liang, arms locked as if you two were on an actual date. He looked at you with a concerned expression. He was hoped this would go differently but he’ll do his best to make the most of it for you.

“I’m sorry about the outcome. I was sure my brother would come after you once he found out you were going with me.” Kuai Liang apologized since he didn’t want you feeling heartbroken.

“It’s not your fault. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” Your voice cracked a little when you said that.

Kuai Liang brought you in a hug, having your head rest on his shoulders. He whispered to you that it will be alright and he’ll buy you some food. That should help.

Unbeknownst to both of you, Tomas was nearby watching you two. He really couldn’t believe you were out with his brother. When Kuai Liang pulled you into a hug it damn near drove the man crazy. He could never hurt his brother but this was the first time he has ever felt the need to destroy him. And when Kuai Liang started to rest his head on top of your head Tomas thought he was going in to kiss you.

A blaze of fury ignited in his body. Hell hath no fury like a man who is after a woman. By the gods he was pissed!

When Kuai Liang pulled away from you, Tomas saw that as the opportunity to attack his brother. Kuai Liang had no time to react as he heard the quick footsteps coming right towards him. His brother slammed into him, tackling him to the ground with a harsh thud emitting from the crash. Kuai Liang was in a daze as Tomas grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.

“How could you?! You know how much I like her! How could my own brother do this to me?” He kept shaking Kuai Liang.

Like? Wait, did you hear that right? Did he just say that he likes you a lot?

Tomas turned his full attention towards you now while still on his knees.

“Please don’t do this to me. Don’t go out with my brother. I’m the one who loves you. Don’t you remember all those nights we would listen to music together? I want to have many more nights like those but with you as my girlfriend instead of just being my friend. I love you.” He announced.

You looked down at him with shock. His eyes are begging you to accept his affection. His tone showed he was desperate and possibly even worried you wouldn’t date him.

“Bu-but I thought you were trying to go after Kris. I heard you flirting with her.”

“No,” he started to get back on his feet, “She was teaching me how to flirt. I was hoping to impress you. I just really wanted you to be my girlfriend and I didn’t want to ruin my chances.”

A blush crept onto his cheeks as he felt embarrassed for admitting that. He was also embarrassed that he was caught before and that the incident caused this great confusion.

Knowing the truth, your heart started to flutter as you realized he was doing all that just to get with you. In a way those words that he said to that girl were actually meant for you. He truly is the sweetest guy around.

You practically leapt onto him, wrapping your arms around his neck. Your lips attacked his lips in a passionate kiss. You were overjoyed by the fact he wants you as his girlfriend. The extent he went through just to better his chances showed he is committed to you. This is like a dream come true for you.

Tomas was surprised by the hug and kiss but happily accepted it. His arms wrapped around your waist. This was a magical moment for him. It didn’t go as planned but he is happy that the outcome still gained him a wonderful girlfriend. He placed you back on the ground while smiling at you. And then he remembered what he just did to his brother. He swiftly turned around and saw his brother wasn’t lying on the ground anymore.

“He must have walked off. Don’t worry, he’s capable of taking a hit.” You tried to calm Tomas’ concerns which luckily worked.

“Yeah, that must be it,” He started looking around, “Well, I would hate to waste this opportunity with you. How about we explore the festival together. As girlfriend and boyfriend.”

“I would like that a lot.” You smiled at him as you two locked arms.

The night ended off on a good note. You enjoyed your time with Tomas at the festival. A warmth enveloped you as you recognize that this is no dream but a reality. A reality where you and him are happy. Just the way you guys both want it.

══💤══╡°˖✧🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

Bonus ending

“Damn! You got knocked the fuck out.”

Kuai Liang heard a familiar voice speak to him as they grunted from yanking on his body. Warm liquid spilled on his face and when he opened his eyes he saw Kris dragging him while drooling over the grilled squid she had in her mouth. He grimaced as he wiped her drool off his face.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Like I said you got knocked the fuck out. Yup, Tomas done fucked you up.” She responded very casually.

“Kris, please refrain from cursing it’s improper. Now help me up.”

He expected Kris to do as he said but she just dropped him.

“What are you talkin about? It’s not improper. I’m just puttin some fuckin love in there. You can drag your ass back home yourself, grandmaster.”

He watched as she started to walk away, more focused on the grilled squid on a stick. When did she even have time to get that?

“Alright! You can curse. Just help me up.”

She listened this time and yanked him to his feet. Poor Kuai Liang, may the elder gods help him.

After notes: I got a 90 on my asl final yippie! And I should have been working on final papers but instead I was finishing this fic at school. Pick and choose, people, pick and choose. Now I better get my ass to communications even tho I hate it. Adiós!

[sillygoosealert]

how about Smoke x Reader on their honeymoon?

Only one thing happens on honey moons.. sex

Only one thing happens on honey moons..٩(๑´3‘๑)۶

Tomas NSFW, AFAB reader, you were a dress for one sentence.

Muffled giggles and laughs can be heard as Tomas rolls around on your bed, with you trapped in his arms

You're in the Czech Republic- a sex hotel, in the Czech Republic

You both thought it be fun to try out something new

And what better time than now?

He doesn't get to see you nearly as often as he would like, he's a busy man

So when he can finally feel you up, he’s ecstatic

When he lays you on the bed he bites and sucks and kisses every part of your face he can

You giggle for him to stop- that it tickles but he only continues with a smile

His hands seem to make their way up your dress and takes it off

Then he just stares at your semi-nude body

‘What, is something wrong?’

‘No no, you’re just- really pretty’

You quirk your eyebrow

‘No just- I can't believe that you're letting me see you like this, I feel special’

‘You are special, to me’

He smiles at you while laying his head on your chest

You interlock hands and he starts to kiss your chest, sucking on your Breast slightly while mainly focusing on your nipples

He's grinding into you, rubbing himself on your inner thigh

He hurriedly takes off his pants while you finish taking off your panties

Then he cups your face while staring at you

‘Can I try something new?’

‘Okay..’

You're a bit hesitant and he knows, but he gives you a little slap on your thigh before placing his head in between them

He gives you a long lick up your cunt, feeling you grip his hair with your freehand

Going to your clit, he sucks on it and pops off with a loud noise

‘Was that good, did you like it?’

‘Yes Tomas, it felt good..’

He always makes sure you like what’s he doing- you enjoying how he makes you feel is one of the hottest things to him

He thinks you are wet enough for him, and he thinks he's ready to progress further

After spitting on your cunt, he lines himself up

Then he slowly slides in

‘You can move whenever you think you're ready’

He starts to hump into you, burying his head in your shoulder

You run your clit and hum into his hair, your other hand running along his back

He cups your face with one of his hands and kisses you roughly

Grunting into your mouth, he picks up the pace and whispers filthy things into your ear

You're both close and with a bite on your shoulder you both finish

‘I’m sorry about the bite baby, are you okay?’

‘It’s okay, I'm alright. Are you fine?’

He nods and very slowly peels off of you

Pulling you on top of him and wrapping his arms around you, the thought of another round or a bath is long forgotten

You are just enjoying each other, at peace with each other

You fall asleep, and what you do when you up doesn't matter as of now

Nothing matters, everything is still and you both are comfortable

Weak pull-out game fr 🎀

[otgo-brooklyn]

Big Brother Slider, the true Mom Friend™

So we all have that friend, who is 100% the mom friend. And listen, are both Slider and Ice little shits of their own devices? Yes, but i'd say that Ice can be a solid Mom friend, when needed. BUT, when with Slider it just goes out of the window, and pair that with Big Brother!Slider, and you have one hell of a head cannon there.

Every time that they go to the bar, Slider doesn't even leave Ice's side, guards his drink like a feral dog, and rounds Ice up when it's time to go home

Stops Ice from having fun recklessly endangering himself

Once at the bar Ice was on his 5th Whiskey sour before a table sent over 3 shots of tequila, Ice smiled and brought one up to toast, and using his mom senses common sense, Slider abandons his chat with Goose and is at Ice's side in about 3.5 seconds saying "no no no no" takes the shots and whiskey sours out of his hand and drags Ice home

Nearly had an aneurism when he found out Ice let someone else (Goose) drive him somewhere

"YOU LET SOMEONE DRIVE YOU? WHAT IF THEY WERE TRYING TO KIDNAP YOU? KIDNAP THEN KILL YOU!? YOU KNOW PEOPLE HAVE A THING FOR YOUNG BLONDES" "WE WERE BOTH GOING BACK TO BASE, AND IM 24" "SO?? YOU'RE PRACTICALLY A BABY" "IT WAS GOOSE! AND YOU'RE ONLY A COUPLE YEARS OLDER THAN ME" "AND?? HE HAS A MUSTACHE! YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU'D TRUST SOMEONE WITH A MUSTACHE??" "YOU WERE IN THE CAR WITH ME!" "SO??"

Slider always, ALWAYS has snacks and Capri-Suns on his person incase Ice gets hungry

It's like clockwork, every time Ice starts to get hungry, hangry, cranky etc. Slider is there handing over a Capri-Sun and some carrot sticks or apple slices

"Well maybe if you didn-" Ice starts before being interrupted by Slider shoving an apple slice into his mouth mid sentence, and stopping what seems to be the next arguing match between him and Maverick in it's tracks. Ice just glowers at Slider with a pout and starts chewing on his apple slice. "I told you not to skip breakfast, now you're gonna be cranky" "Bite m-" and once more Ice is silenced with an apple slice, as Goose and Mav along with the rest of the flyboys watch on in fascinated horror as Ice's temper is swiftly and expertly derailed by Slider and his apple slices. When they're finished Slider promptly procured a Capri-Sun from somewhere and quickly shoved it within Ice's hands before he had a chance to protest. "No" Ice said looking at Slider "Drink it" "No" "Ice" "I don't want to, so im not" "Toma Mikhailovich so help me god" Slider starts, pinching the bridge of his nose, and Ice just huffs and starts to drink. The flyboys never recovered from this.

Once when filing paperwork Ice got a paper cut, as people do, and the cut is small but the tiniest, tiniest, itty bitty drop of blood wells forward and Slider already has a portable First Aid kit spread out on the desk, Neosporin on a bandaid before being wrapped around Ice's finger and Ice doesn't even blink

It's a whole 10 second ordeal and they just continue on with their lives like nothing happened

Ice coughed once after accidentally being caught out in the rain and Slider straight up commandeers the kitchen to make more soup than Ice could ever possibly consume fully convinced Ice is coming down with something

Admittedly, Ice did in fact get the flu, but Slider was too concerned to say "I told you so"

Despite everything, Slider and Ice (platonically) love each other, and Slider is 100% the mom friend between the two of them

If I forgot anything feel free to tell me!

[waddei]

full story behind these two images (6.5k words open at your own risk)

pacing back and forth in the damp grass roman bit his nails waiting for tomas to pick up the phone.

“cmon…cmon…”  

his boots splashes on the muddy puddles, staining his soles.

“fuck..” 

a small click from the phone made him jump.

“tom thank god-”

“what do you want” his friend whisper shouts. voice as always a strange mix between quiet but assertive.

“i need your help” he says with far too little shame for someone calling in the middle of the night.

the wind hit his back harsher than before now, dark clouds swerved above him and he could only pray that the night ended with a storm. He can imagine himself, staring through the window at the flooding street with a grin, watching the rushing  mud and sand wash the town clean. 

tom doesn't  answer,but thats normal by now.

“its important” he begs, a ‘please’ goes unsaid for his own egos sake.

“lets meet at our spot shall we?” he sounds as frantic as his heartbeat feels, tom mooks him from the comfort of his home with an intentionally loud sip of his mug.

he doesnt let the distance stop him from feeling those hollow green eyes stare down at him

“what did you do” tom asks, impatient. for what though, roman doesn't know, that sense of hurry around him never faded.

he swallows as he looks down at his feet. resting next to them in the grass was the man's head, his nose had long stopped bleeding and lifeless eyes stared up at him in long ignored plea of mercy, they were starting to gloss over. roman bit back a sound of disgust.

“i cant tell you right now.just come here” 

tom gave a long heavy sigh “my brother’s sleeping” he said, like it mattered at all.

“do i look like i care?" he snarled “bring your bike too if you're coming”

the body below him caught his eye again. it was fairly tall,only a few inches short of himself,which was impressive in its own right. 

“two trash bags too if you happen to have any”

“two?” 

“yes… two”

tom huffed and the call was cut with no goodbye, again ,not unusual but it never failed to annoy him.

with a groan he squats down in the grass, careful not to stain his jeans neither green nor red. 

he feels unseeing eyes  burn his back.the body had not moved, obviously, its mouth hanged open after having its last words die on his tongue.

He doubts he would have had anything of value to say anyways.

The bastard,miserable not unlike himself, chose to go down swearing until the very end when, after the reality of his situation dawned on him, he began pleading and bargaining like he was talking to the devil. which, if you where to ask anyone else, he was.

his last words where as nonsensical as they were a threat.

Roman doubts it'll amount to anything, after all the plan was to not get caught.

as for the rest of ‘the plan’ as he likes to call it: it didn't have any more steps for now. at least until tom got here, he'll figure it out from there.

He looks up at the moon,bright and unusually big. She sat in the sky directly above him like an otherworldly spotlight parting through the clouds with little struggle,he revels in it even if just for a moment. his childish fascination with her never quite faded.

the wind continued to ruin his moment, swaying tree branches dangerously close to his face, his jacket wasn't enough to keep out the cold, shamefully he wrapped his arms around himself.

a leaf smacks him in the face. He rips the small branch out.

‘tom should be on his way already’-he thinks to distract himself- ‘if he's even coming’.

he's sure he will, where else would he go?

man of habit he is,he’ll find his way here eventually even if roman hadn't called him, he's sure of that.  hed make his rounds like he always does and, eventually, they'd meet again even if he didnt move an inch until then.

he doesn't want to move really,not at all. feeling like he's putting his life on the line if he leaves the corpse alone.

walking through the dense vegetation wasn't easy, he envies the ease tom seemed to have with it.

He makes it to a clearing in the bushes, a familiar checkpoint when traversing the landscape that tom had originally shown  him.

he skips right through it this time, heading for a particular tall tree that stood out against the horizon.

at its base was everything he ever needed. 

Tom, with his bike and two large trash bags pooling out of his cammo vests pockets.

his head snaps to look at him once he crosses the threshold to ‘their place’.

a nice, semi enclosed area by the base of a tree older than everyone they've ever meet where a fallen log made a makeshift bench. tom was sitting on it with his bike next to him. 

wordlessly and shielding his shaking hands he motions for him to follow and  Tom does so with a disinterested look.

roman begins leading him to the scene.

tom jumps over the bushes roman had gotten his pants caught on before. “what did you do?” he asks, verbatim as he had done so on the phone. roman ignores him and hops over a hole in the dirt, tom follows and he helps him haul his bike over it.

they reach the clearing, small drops of water already drizzling made each blade of grass sparkle.

 tom stares at them as he always does,roman assumes a certain fascination with it might exist but the boy's eyes remain as painfully neutral as they always do.

he does not bother hurrying him up as he too takes a moment to stare, only he looks up at the moon instead, trying to  steady his trembling hands.

they move on once tom grows bored of watching the ants or whatever. Roman leads him to the other semi cleared area where he knew the body was.

parting the bushes for tom like the gentleman he is, he lets him take a good look at the scene before saying anything. He takes note of how wide his eyes grow as he scans the ground in front of him. a horrified look begins to paint itself on his face.

it doesn't last much, the small flash of emotion was quickly drowned out by  his usual apathetic look. 

“what did you do?” he asks for the third time, carefully looking at him up and down with a hint of disgust showing through the ice.

“i think its obvious”  roman jumps over closer to the body and further away from tom.

“i fucked up..” he sais with his hands on his hips in a vain attempt a showmanship. “went a bit too far this time”

tom crouches down near his foot and near the man's head, his eyes go wide again when he makes eye contact with it. he watches incredulously as roman, nonchalantly,  nudges an arm with his foot.

“i think i might need some help” its a bold thing to admit for someone like him, tom doesn't fail to notice it.

greyish green eyes narrow on him like a hawk and with a single precise motion he throws the trash bags at his feet.

“im not touching it” he declares with a tone that leaves no room for argument. 

 that's fine, a sensible boundary even. all he needed was the bike and the bags. He opens up the folded bags and lays them in the ground next to the body while avoiding his friends stare.

“welp” he announces to no one, for he knows tom isn't paying attention. “lets get to work”

with more effort than expected he sits the man,dead as he was, against a short stump.

a  phone falls out of his pockets in the meanwhile, tom immediately smashes it below his foot. roman jumped “whats your problem?”

“they can track that” he stomps on it again for good measure.

“i could have sold it-”

“tell me what happened” 

tomas isn't someone he’d call intimidating. the boy was as thin as one can get and a full head shorter than him, but he was hard to read. impossible even. it scared roman in a very specific way he struggled to explain. 

he sighs, with the stars as witnesses he pulls the man's legs closer to his chest.

“well we were just supposed to fight. fucker slipped me a note with a date and place and i just came-uhmp!” He struggled with folding the arms over the chest.

“and?” tom pressed.

“well i had a bad day! and He was pissing me off more than usual..” he takes one last look at the mans’s face, ridden with  bruises and with an undeniably broken nose, his eyes couldn't glare at him anymore. “so once i had him down i just kept stomping on his head”

it felt strange to admit it so easily. tom winced and looked away back to the clearing.roman  took this as a cue to finally fit the first bag over the corpse's head. it covered it all the way to his hips as he expected.

the legs turn out to be much harder to lift than anticipated but he makes due without help. Once the two bags meet he ties them both together at various points until the body is fully secured inside, clumsily  wrapped like a home cooked meal.

he giggles at the thought,Tomas glares at him again.

"we have to get this out of sight somehow" he mumbles "do you still have that shovel in your garage?"

Tom doesn't answer, but he does not freeze either. He stares intently at him, watching him struggle to balance the body on the bike;he sets it with its legs between the front bar where he,while driving, could hold it still.

struggling to drive the bike through the bushes he almost misses Tom silently walking away.

"hey!"  he almost loses hold of the handles. "where are you going?" 

the boy jumps the bushes into the clearing. his hair  sways violently with the wind but Tomas never seemed to mind the way it covered his eyes at random.

"you want the shovel right?" he spits,not bothering to look back at him.

A smile creeps up his face and he bares his teeth like a child;far too giddy even for his own comfort he watches his friend walk away. 

in the meanwhile a thought emerges, unwanted and uncalled for, a little voice inside himself that trembled and stuttered at every word like he's sure he used to  'what if he tells on you' it whispers into his ear 'what if he tells his brother' 

he groans, pushing the bike up another bush. tomas wouldn't, he barely fucking talks in the first place. that won't happen.

the bag slumps forward,too distracted to catch it he lets the corpse hit its head against the front wheel.

he snorts imagining how it's nose must have flattened against it. his shoulders immediately sag after, there's a dirty feeling that comes with laughing at a corpse,no less one you've killed.

He reaches a big rock, too big to jump over,too heavy to lift and too annoying to push the bike around.

scanning the skyline he sees nothing but short,spiky bushes and scattered trees in front of him. the already dim lights of the town were completely lost from sight. the wind lifted up the sandy ground into his eyes but aside from that? it was a perfect spot.

He sets the bag on the ground, letting the bike and himself rest.

now he waits.

He can do nothing without something to dig with. He can get as many rocks out the way as he wants but that in the end doesn't take too long.

he looks up, the moon hadn't moved much from when he last saw her,now without branches to bother him the ghostly light pools over him.The stars shine brighter here in the open field, they occasionally peek from behind the rapidly moving clouds. He lets himself relax,leaning over the hard rock. even with the cold freezing his face a sigh escapes him, carelessly he kicks the bag away and rests his legs over another rock. thunders threatens to make the sky fall on him,he cant bring himself to care.

the beating inside his chest slows down for the first time since the man's head hit the floor. leaves and sand fly at his face so his eyes shut on their own.

'hes taking too long' the meek voice whispers. Tom's house was not too far, but without his bike it's quite the trip. He's not taking detours, his brother was asleep. 

‘shut the fuck up’ he mentally yells at it.

his head drifts and he slowly sinks down as he lets himself lay down more and more against the rock.

ignoring the way the cold bites at  his skin he rests.

with his eyes closed he can't tell if hes asleep or not until  he feels movement on the bushes.

before he can open his eyes to check he's smacked in the stomach with a blunt object.

roman jumps to his feet, hands balled up and ready to fight but before him stood tomas. with a shovel.

"thank God" his hands fall to his sides again.

Tom's hands extend, silently offering him the shovel.

he takes it with a quick remark."you scared me"  

tomas ignores him again and sits down on a different rock a few steps away, staring at the floor he snaps a branch off one of the nearby bushes.

"well!" he dusts his pants off, mostly to amuse himself "I better get to work now! 

the shovel was small, not meant for anything more than some mild garnering or playing in the sand. it stood to about his knee when he stuck it in the ground;still he had to make this work.

bit by bit he began shoveling the sandy dirt out of the way,he would have been sweating hadn't he already been freezing.

"y'know when you mentioned-" the shovel struck a rock, he struggled to lift it up again "having a shovel I wasn't expecting it to be so-" the rocks pops out the ground successfully "small"

he complains to the wind, because tom wasn't listening and even if he was he was not going to respond.

"should have told me it was more of a toy than anything-"

"there's blood in your hands now" tom cuts him off, fancying himself a cryptic bastard all of a sudden.

roman scoffs "no there isn't,I get any on me" 

the conversation, if you could even call it that, dies there. buried with the other guy most likely.

dry grass swayed, some of it stuck to his hair, some brushed at his arms and legs.

most of it he ripped off.

Tom's wordless stare burned on his back, but at least he wasn't alone. his own heartbeat set a rhythm for the shovel going in and out the dirt. the mount behind him grew bigger as the stars moved closer to the Horizon.

"it's 4:36 already" the boy  spoke up eventually.

roman took the last bit of dirt off the hole. "I'm almost done" carelessly he began pushing the bag into the it  with his foot.

tomas waits for the wind to quit loudly howling on their ears to speak again . "my brother wakes up at 5:30" 

he clicks his tongue, being a little meaner than he intended  "I don't care-" 

"he'll notice if I'm gone,give me the shovel back"

roman ignores him, instead hitting the bag with it, making it go down further into the dirt.

"give me 5 more minutes with it" he argues, not bothering to wait for a response.

quickly he covers the hole back up and, as soon as he dusts his hands and before he declares his work done, tom rips the shovel out of his hands. roman doesn't protest when their eyes lock for a second too long.

he stares at the ground where he knows the body is. only shooting a goodbye to Tom once he hears him pick his bike up.

he doesn't doubt the boy waved at him.

he always did.

He picked  his bike up and drove through the terrain like it was nothing, roman knows he has been here before, but he doubts he'll come  back.

confidently roman adds ‘corpses’ to his (mental and very short) list of things he knows  tomas does not like.it sat comfortably next to some classics like: ‘talking’,‘strawberries’ and  ‘staying still’

he giggles at it, although more concerning probably was that he couldn't name a single thing tom liked aside from walking and probably the color green, nor a single other  person he knew aside from himself and his brother.

a brother that to this day remained unnamed. 

He has fun imagining what he'd be like sometimes, there's plenty of time to kill during the day after all. 

‘he probably wouldn't like to meet you’ a weaker version of himself comments, he ignores it.

a single drop soaking through his jacket was enough to drag him back to reality.

the clouds had grown darker, they obscured the moon completely now.

he fills his chest with the salty humid air one last time before turning his back on the burial and heading back the same way Tom had.

he avoids the kill site and prays to no god in particular that the rain was enough to wash it all clean. it was starting to pick up now so the world might be on his side after all.

He reaches the port before he does any roads, the rotten wooden docks left much to be desired but he was used to them now, as a child he had enjoyed watching the crabs that lived under it bury themselves in the sand. the river led directly to the sea. Fisher boats rested on the sand,some new and shiny, most  rusted and abandoned for tourists to take pictures next to.

bright yellow street lamps made the raindrops much more evident. 

taking the chance he looked at his reflection in a closed storefront, he looked as he always had,just a bit more wet. his mask was getting a bit  uncomfortable but it stayed on.

the paved road was the longest way back but he takes it anyway,more mud on his shoes wouldn't be ideal. He blindly walks until he reaches one of the two main roads in the town with a stoplight in it.  he turns right, avoiding walking by it for too long, the backstreets being even more empty if this was possible.

thunder roared above him and a smile tugged at his lips. almost immediately the light rain turned into a violent outpour,but that didn't matter, he could see his house from here already.

doing his best to not wake anyone up Roman limbs to his window like he always does though this time the heavy rain helps disguise the noise.

before he sets foot inside,still sitting on the windowsill, he take this shoes off and carries them to the bathroom.

the jacket lands in the floor and his pants on top of the toilet as he tears his soaked clothes off without much care and almost trips trying to plug the hairdryer on.

he sets it balanced against a shampoo bottle and pointing at his jacket, hoping to dry it while he, using a random brush his mom used to clean the ceramic, aggressive cleaned the mud off his shoes in the shower. 

in the meantime the rain got worse-or better if you where to ask him. his mom's carefully pruned garden began to flood and soon so did the street. the dirt ones-he assumes-aren't doing much better.

he gets giddy at what that means for him tonight.

He dries his clothes, washes his hair and cleans his shoes. by the time he's done it's nearing 7am already.

he goes to sleep, the rain still falling above the house served well for white noise.

the trees outside slammed their branches into his window but his eyes remained shut.

the brewing storm outside promised flow but he didn't care.

his brother was snoring again, he could hear it even with the wind whistling louder and louder. javier was a heavy sleeper, tomas envied him for that.

deep breath after deep breath he failed to fall asleep for the third night in a row,though at least today he had more of an excuse. the branches scratching at his window are more than distracting.

he stares at the back of his eyelids for some time, he can feel the gears on his alarm clock ticking,the hands moving 

every second.

every minute.

every hour.

it marked 2:30 am.

too tired to sleep, Tomas springs out of his bed in frustration.

his feet blindly find his slippers and he's off to the hallway in less than 3 steps.

he takes a practiced route to the kitchen, practically blind he feels the texture of the floor change From the more textured tiles of the hallway to the smooth, cream colored ones on the kitchen. he pries his eyes open but the darkness doesn't get any better until he hits the light switch next to the door.

the wind makes the windows shake and creak, it drowns over the sound of the cabinet opening perfectly.

the movement is near automatic when he fills a small pot with water and sets it on the stove. tomas opens the gas tank and lights the burner on.

from a small box his mother had left them behind he takes a teabag while the water boils.

the kitchen small window leaked the same way it had been leaking since they where kids, tomas stepped over the small puddle to grab his cup from the cabinet and brew himself something warm.

as he blows on it, the phone at the corner of the room lights up. 

at this hour and  with this climate there was only one person that could call.

so,at this hour and with this climate tom let's it ring for a minute or two while stirring his drink.

roman is persistent, and eventually he lets himm get his way.

"tom thank god-" wind  came through the other end stronger than his voice.

"what do you want"

he hears roman swallow "I need your help"

aware of how those words burned his tongue yhe lets them sit in the air.

Uncaring, he waits for roman to get tired of waiting.

"it's important" he clarifies uselessly "let's meet at out spot shall we?" he rushed over his words, trembling slightly.

the  cold must be getting to him-tomas thinks. he wraps his hand around the warm mug and takes a sip, loudly savoring it.

he can feel roman grow impatient. 

"what did you do" he asks him, wary of the volume in his voice to not wake his brother up even with the incoming storm raging outside.

roman swallows, he hears  the gears on his head turning even though the heavy winds. his tongue clicks a few times while he's lost in thought.

“i cant tell you right now.just come here” 

tomascarefully eyes the hallway, still dark and with only javi's  snores coming through.he gave a long sigh.

 “my brother's sleeping” he said,more so as a comment than an excuse.

“do i look like i care?" roman  growled at him, needlessly angry like always “bring your bike too if you're coming”

he went quiet again, tomas wished he could see his face at least. He hated talking through the phone.

he hears him take another deep breath, “two trash bags too if you happen to have any”  

the wind filled the silence on both sides,his brother was still sleeping.

“two?” tomas eyes the drawer where javier keeps them.

“yes… two”

he hangs up,taking another sip in the meanwhile.

the dots are not hard to connect, it was going to happen eventually.

his fingers curled tightly around the cup.

with a deep breath tomas dumps the remaining tea down the drain and rushes to the hallway.

at the end of it was his brothers door, halfway open and with its handle poorly painted. 

"javi" he calls out, quiet enough to not wake him up but loud enough that if he where to be awake he'd hear it. 

the only answer he gets is a loud snore. 

avoiding looking at himself in the hallway mirror like always he makes his way to his room.

the curtains where drawn, the orange fabric tinted gray by the dark sky behind it.

He closes the blinds like he should have before going to sleep.

his bedsheets were still in the mess he had left them in and they will stay like that for now.

tomas changes out of his old pajama shorts in favor of a pair of dark jeans, over his shirt he throws on a dark long sleeved one and then a puffy vest after hearing the wind seemingly pick up even more.

he doesn't take his phone with him, roman was an idiot for taking his.

He stands before the wooden door now, heavy and old it'll surely wake javier up if he opens it. the keys dangling were already too noisy for him to feel safe holding them. The 3 locks taunted him. not to mention the extra bar door outside with its extra two locks, he took his eyes away from it when the window creaked once again.

it led to the patio, right in front of the grill they never use.

he took off the teaspoon that had been acting as a lock for years now after the wooden hook had snapped on an storm not too dissimilar from this one.

the wind immediately threw the glass open and he fought to keep them from slapping against the wall.

tomas grinded his teeth, climbing on top of the couch and pilling on the cushions behind him to block the window he eventually took the small leap into the outside.

immediately he doubled over shivering. warm air form his mouth formed vapor clouds in front of him. 

he rushed down the stairs to the street, taking a sharp turn to the garage he where fiddles for a minute with the lock. the gates draw sand with them when they open and next to javiers beat up sienna  was his bike, slightly rusted from pedaling in the sand.

the fig tree swayed it's branches dangerously low to the ground and to his face, it slapped the back of his head as a goodbye when he jumps the front gate.

he braces himself under the yellow streetlight, getting on his bike the wind hits even harder.

knowing the dirt street like the back of his hands he swiftly dodges potholes and rocks. passing by the same houses he always did, Tomas takes the last street along to the beach all the way to the very back of the town.

his heart races when he spots the bushes he's about to go into.

the empty, wild terrain, was uninhabited.tainted only sometimes and near the road with attempts at building makeshift houses or old tent set ups abandoned. he never bothered fucking with any of them.

above the unfinished foundation and trash stood an unfinished two story house, all bare bricks except for it's roof which had surprisingly been finished but now was partially caving in.

he ignored it for now. he knew what it's inside looked like down to every graffiti painted, but it served as a nice checkpoint to know where he was going.

turning a sharp left from the front of the house where  the bushes began to become trees one large one stood out, literally, above the rest.

his second checkpoint.

‘their spot'

he gets there with ease, and now he waits. thankfully not for long.

the cold humid air was soured when roman, panting and trembling, jumped over the bushes to meet him.

he doesn't say as much as a hello. only becoming him to follow.

so Tomas, against his better judgment and like he always does, follows.

looking from side to side every time a leaf swayed Roman led the way, clearly not comfortable having his back turned on him he looks back to meet green tired eyes multiple times. they narrow on him, and tomas is  sure he can feel it.

“what did you do” he asks, just like he had before.

roman stutters in his step, almost tripping on the grass, but he doesn't respond. he silently offers help to haul his bike over a hole,tomas takes it.

they reach a clearing in the trees soon enough. the air became thick and uncomfortable almost immediately. it's an energy tomas  can't describe, but he's sure he knows what it is deep inside.

he stops, bowing his head down to think.

roman gladly waits for him, spelling out that he, in a way, didn't want to continue either;he stares at the moon with silent guilt weighing his eyes.

they moved on eventually, when tomas wraps his head around the atmosphere and roman quits brooding the later parts the bushes for the former.

tom jumps without looking ahead.

previously blocked by Romans back he saw a man, unconscious, laying in the grass.

his eyes glazed over.

his mouth hanged open.

his face with no spot left unbruised.

he saw a man,dead, laying on the grass

“what did you do?” tomas asks for the third time. eyeing Roman up and down with barely disguised disgust showing I'm his eyes.

“i think its obvious”  roman jumps over closer to the body and further away from himself.  “i fucked up” he says with faux boredom coating his tongue  “went a bit too far this time”

tomas crouches down near the man's head, inspecting with a heavy hearth it's expression twisted in a final scream of anguish.

he watches incredulously as roman, with needles fake casualty nudges an arm with his foot. “i think i might need some help” 

tomas, understaiding, tosses the bags his way. “I'm not touching it”

roman huffs.

“welp” he announces, ignoring the way tomas burns his eyes into him “lets get to work”

tomas watches him struggle with the body, trying to make it sit. 

the man's phone falls out his Pockets and he panics. He immediately smashes it below his foot.

roman jumped “whats your problem?”

“they can track that” he stomps on it again for good measure.

“i could have sold it-” roman whines.

“tell me what happened” he more or less barks at him, wincing at the volume of his own voice.

roman gives a shaky sigh, pleading to the sky for strength to help him pull the man's legs closer to his chest while he talks.

“well,we were just supposed to fight” his gaze drifted over the body, faltering for only one second before continuing. 

“fucker slipped me a note with a date and place and i just came-uhmp!” he interrupted himself, struggling with the bodies limbs.

“and?” tom pressed.

“well i had a bad day! and He was pissing me off more than usual..” he splutters, throwing the dead man a Nasty look like he could see it. “so once i had him down i just kept stomping on his head”

his gut twists in disgust. roman, completely occupied with the task at hand, didn't notice.

he turns his eyes back to the clearing where the soft grass swayed in the strong wind.

tomas hears roman fitting the bags over the man.  a soft giggle, tone-deaf if you where to ask him, leaves his lips when he finishes. he doesn't know what came first, if the head or the legs but when he turns his head to glare at roman the man is fully covered.

"we have to get this out of sight somehow”

roman talks to himself.

tomas bites his tongue.‘we is a strong word’

unaware roman keeps going "do you still have that shovel in your garage?” 

not waiting for an answer roman grabs his bike like it belonged to him and,with little consideration for its owner standing behind him, balances the bags on it. 

he hopes he can feels his eyes burning his back. 

he watches, still struggling to believe it all, how his friend handled the corpse like it was no more than an inconvenience, cursing quietly to himself trying to thread the bike over a bush.

he'd love to be surprised to see the utter lack of care on the man's eyes.

he's grown accustomed to it,it always lingered whenever he talked about anything that wasn't himself,though tomas struggled to call him narcissistic; there's a slight difference between believing you're above everything and believing everything is below you. 

a certain nihilism always accompanies the latter. he knew this to be true, roman wasn't particularly shy about it. pessimistic anger coated his every word when they pertained to the world outside their own bubble.

he watches the only person outside his own brother that he's directed as much as a word towards in the last 6 months struggle with the corpse of the man he’d just killed.

silently as always, he makes a choice and jumps into the clearing.

"hey!" his friend calls out  "where are you going?" 

"you want the shovel right?" He avoids romans eyes. not letting him see the guilt welling on his own.

As soon as he's out of sight he sprints through the trees, blindly jumping and dodging until he hits the road again. out of breath he pushes himself, filling his mind with every minute detail of the dirt road below his feet to black out any other thoughts.

his chest burns already when he reaches his own street. With Every step he took  he could imagine his brother, arms crossed in the kitchen table, maybe drinking a coffee, maybe staring coldly at the door. waiting for him.

his voice, always weighed down with worry, would ask him where he went; and tomas, the weak man he is, would not be able to lie.

not to him.

he reaches the crossroad his house sat on, old and weathering with a certain charm that was lost in everyone but him.

the lights were all off still.

he jumps the first ,low, gate.going up the concrete stairs only to peek inside .he saw the kitchen empty. his legs give up in relief but his heart still pounds on his throat.

he went down the stairs again, letting his eyes linger on every leaf the tree besides it had to offer. in summer,it would blossom in beautiful pink but the wind didn't let him entertain that idea too much.

it didn't take him long to find the shovel. he gripped it in his hands like his life depended on it, but he didnt take  off with it, not instantly as he’s sure roman would hope.

he could turn back. climb back up the stairs and go back to bed.

he could call the police too, but the thought of not seeing roman again didn't feel right.

 only once did he consider himself behind bars too, it occurred to him in that moment that he cared very little where he got to spend the rest of his life, only his brother's imaginary disappointed-no- disgusted glare really moved him.

forcing himself to make a choice he again picks the worse one and takes off running again, now with the shovel clenched tightly to his chest

he gets to the crime scene and runs north from there, following the tracks of his own bike in what little dirt was left uncovered by vegetation.

roman;the man of the hour, sleep like a baby on a rock.he envied  him really.

slowly he approached, stalking just above the grass like a predator about to pounce, he sees the man stir as he raises the shovel.

in an anger fuelled attempt at playfulness tomas hits roman in the stomach with non insignificant strength.

roman yells and jumps to his feet, fists clumsily balled up in mockery of what could be a fighting stance. his eyes focus soon enough  tough and he lets his hands fall.

“thank god, you scared me” he lets the shovel be handed to him with no comment.tomas sits down on a different rock a few steps away, staring at the floor he snaps a branch off one of the nearby bushes.

"well!" roman dusts his pants off for show "I better get to work now! 

blindly he hears him struggle and lift the dirt from off the ground, occasionally feeling specks of it fly into his face.

"y'know when you mentioned-" the shovel struck a rock, roman struggled to lift it up again "having a shovel I wasn't expecting it to be so-" he pops it out the ground "small"

he complains like always, not really waiting for a response. even now tomas appreciated it to some degree.

not enough to fully ignore everything sadly. 

"should have told me it was more of a toy than anything-"

"there's blood in your hands now" tomas cuts his rambling off with a warning. a remainder he hopes will make it through that thick skull.

roman  scoffs "no there isn't,I get any on me"  he deflects, simple but effective it sent a very clear message.

‘i dont care’

silence,like always, is king between the both of them until tomas checks his watch.

"it's 4:36 already" he spoke up.

roman took the last bit of dirt off the hole. "I'm almost done" carelessly he began pushing the bag into the hole with his foot.

distantly the wind kept howling. tomas waited for it before he spoke again.

"my brother wakes up at 5:30" 

javier still had work early in the morning on saturdays.

roman clicked his tongue "I don't care-" 

"he'll notice if I'm gone,give me the shovel back"

tomas  demanded,but roman didn't listen, instead hitting the bag with it, making it go down further into the dirt.

"give me 5 more minutes with it" he argues. Tomas doesn't even bother to look back to him, nodding a yes hes sure roman didnt turn around for.

quickly he covers the hole back up and, as soon as he dusts his hands and before he declares his work done, tom rips the shovel out of his hands. roman doesn't protest when their eyes lock.

he runs again for the fourth time that night, reluctantly waving on his way out, mostly out of habit.

hes only a couple of steps away from his house when the sky gives in.

making his way into the kitchen he can hear his brother still snoring  loudly in his room.

He throws his clothes into the washer with the rest of the pile and starts the cycle, careful not to make too much noise, before going back to bed.

[skymoral]

GAME NIGHT 2 - U N O

🩵 Bi-Han x B!F Wife Reader W/ MK1 Friends 🩵

Summary: You already knew how this would turn out, but you couldn’t help yourself.

Tags: Competition, competitive, aggressive, stacking is fucking evil, arguments, family time, game night, you like to win, war

A/N: It may have a good end or it may not lol

◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢

Today was another family game night you planned again. After begging your husband, and you promised you’d be present at this one

Because the last one went a bit astray when you were absent for a short moment.

You were all in the palace hall, sitting at the round table. It was You, Bi-Han, Tomas, Kuai, Kitana, Johnny(in place of Liu Kang who was busy), Kung Lao, Harumi, Rhonda(Your girlfriend), and Kenshin.

“I’m glad you guys came, especially my ladies.” You said cheerfully as you shuffled the cards.

Your two daughters were sitting in Bi-Han’s lap giving him long French braids. Johnny looked in amusement.

“So are you gonna get mani pedis next?” Bi-Han glared at him, the only reason he didn’t react or say anything. Because of his girls, as he held them.

“Johnny refrain yourself from provoking my husband. I said you could only come in Liu Kang’s place if you promise to do the fucking least.”

“Of course, anything for you doll.” You rolled your eyes passing out the cards. You saw Bi-Han about to say something but you interrupted him.

“I love your hair grandmaster, it suits you.” You smirked at him. He just looked away.

“Thank you for extending your invitation Grandmistress Y/N. I’m deeply honored.” Kitana thanked you.

“Of course! And I didn’t want to be the only lady, so I’m glad my girlfriends joined my family events every now and again!” You sat down next to Bi-Han.

“Friend I’m always down for a little fun, especially when there is a little cutie present.” Rhonda lend over to Tomas blowing him a kiss. He looked at your friend nervously.

“Up you go girls, adult night.” You grabbed them, they whined before kissing there parents goodnight and leaving.

“So everyone remembers the rules from earlier!” You clapped your hands together looking around, everyone nodded.

“Perfect! We will start with Harumi, then proceeds going to the right.”

◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢

Whose next to Who

Harumi - Kitana- Tomas - Rhonda - Kung Lao - Johnny - You - Bi Han - Kenshi - Kuai Liang and then back to Harumi(who is on her left)

Everyone looked at their hands, you smirked but hid behind your cards.

“I’ll put down a blue six.” Harumi put her card down.

Kitana put down a blue one, “UNO!” She yelled excitedly.

“Ooh girl no, you only say uno when you’re on your last card. Because if you don’t you’ll have to draw one.” You laughed.

Kitana deflated with ‘oh’ as the game continued, and it was nice and quiet.

A/N: This is where it becomes toxic lol

“I’ll be back, I’m just grabbing my blanket real quick.” You got up and ran to you and your husband’s room.

Kung Lao put down a draw 4, “draw 4 little cage, and the color is green.”

“Ha! Yeah not happening. Colors red.” Johnny put down a draw four.

“Who the hell told you niggas we we’re playing stacks?” Rhonda looked at the cards.

“Stacks?” Kenshi questioned.

You came back wrapped in a big blue warm fuzzy blanket your husband gave you on your birthday. You grabbed your cards and looked at the cards.

“I AM NOT DRAWING EIGHT FUCKING CARDS! Y’all are fuckin trippin!”

“Sis were we playing regular or stacks?”

“What are stacks, if you don’t mind me asking?” Kenshi asked.

“Stacks is where if someone put down a draw card and you have a similar one. You stack yours on top, along with the next person. Until someone doesn’t have it, they will have to draw the amount of cards that we stacked.”

“Sounds interesting! Let’s try it!” Kitana chimed.

“Are you guys sure?”

“Yeah it could be fun, and it’ll be faster to.” Tomas added.

“I agree with my man Tomas, let’s play stacks.” Rhonda lend closer, shoulders touching batting her eyelashes. Tomas tensed, face turning red

“Rhonda behave! Sooo alright… fine… stacks it is… Baby I’m sorry in advance.” You looked at Bi-Han patting his biceps.

You put down a draw four, Bi-Han looked and only smirked. He put one down, then Kenshi, Kuai, Harumi, Kitana, Tomas, Rhonda, and now it’s back to Kung Lao.

“Are you KIDDING ME! I am not pulling 40 DAMN CARDS!”

“Those are the rules broham.” You smiled.

“Screw these rules, you did this on purpose. With your shuffling!” Kung Lao looked at you.

“ME! I asked everyone are you sure you want to do stacks, AND YOU ALL AGREED! Isn’t that right babe!?” You looked at Bi-Han

“Yes.”

“Asian Jack Frost would agree with you on anything.”

“I’m warning you cage! You talk as if you know every little thing, but the only thing you know HOW to do is fail in life and PISS ME OFF!”

“You wanna go French braids!?” Johnny grinned at him angrily.

“This is why yo ass should’ve left it at regular Johnny boy.” Rhonda chimed watching the four of you all argue.

“Listen happy meal, no one asked for an extra two cents. So stay out of it.”

“What you call me NEGRO!?”

“You shouldn’t speak to a lady like that Johnny.” Tomas interjected.

“That’s right tell him babe.” Rhonda smiled.

“You know how about we just take our cards back and do normal?” Harumi tried to ease the flame.

“I don’t think that’s how this work dearest” Kuai told her.

“Yeah, Kung Lao you’re being dramatic.” Kenshi told him.

“Exactly! Just grab the damn cards, after that no more stacking. Alright, JOHNNY?”

“I think that’ll be a good idea.” Kitana added

Everyone nodded, as well as Johnny. Everyone sitting back down, Kung Lao being reluctant.

“Hurry UP!” Bi-Han barked, still a bit fiery because of Johnny.

“Relax beloved.” You tried to soothe him, rubbing his arms up and down.

◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢

Kung Lao put down a draw four, you drew four. Despite your slight grumble, but at least you weren’t Kung Lao.

Going down turns, it reached Kitana. Who put down there card, she noticed she only had one. “OH UNO UNO UNO!” Kitana jumped from excitement. You chuckled.

“Okay girl we gotchu.” Rhonda said smiling.

Tomas took his turn, then Rhonda. Now on Johnny who put down a skip card.

“Really Johnny!?”

“Yep.” Johnny smirked, looking at his cards

You drew a card, then Bi-Han pulled a blue card with arrows. “What does this card do again my love?”

“OOH! That’s a reverse card, so when you use that card it’ll skip Kenshi’s turn and reverse back to me.” You smiled at him sweetly.

He put down the card and, you cackled wickedly loud. Dropping a skip card, then Johnny and Rhonda started dying laughing.

“That’s it I’M OUT!” He dropped his cards, showing what he had remaining was numbers. Which made you laugh harder holding on to your husband so you wouldn’t fall out the chair.

It continued, till Kitana said uno and out. Which officially ended the game.

◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢

The ladies thank you for inviting them, Kitana clearly enjoyed herself and wanted to do it again at your next one, as well as Harumi as she loved seeing you and the family.

Your girlfriend Rhonda kidnap Tomas to supposedly speak to him privately. After everyone left and you cleaned up.

You were relaxing in a nice hot bath curly hair in a bun with your husband. Your back leaning against his chest, he gave you a soft kiss against your neck.

His nose rubbing against it as he inhaled your scent, “Did you enjoy yourself my darling?”

“I did! I like these kinds of things, and having chaotic fun with everyone.” You turned around wrapping your arms around him.

“Thank you for indulging in my gaming events, and taking the time out of your busy schedule to spend this day with me. My darling grandmaster.” You smiled.

“Anything for you my beloved grandmistress.”

You both shared a lovely and passionate kiss. Bi-Han deepening the kiss. As his grip around your waist tightens.

Then one of the kids knocked on the door, interrupting whatever ya’ll was doing could lead to.

You slowly broke the kiss, “Guess that’s our cue to get out.”

“Well I guess we can finish in the room. When they go back to sleep.

You definitely like that idea, and soon enough when the kids were back to sleep. Bi-Han stood on his word and continued where y’all left off in the bathroom.

A/N: I had fun writing Rhonda and Kitana!💅🏾

[carmillas-vampiric-rage]

Random Bi-Han Headcanons MK1

this man has consumed my thoughts omfg i tried to fight it why am i always shocked when this happens

anyway, here's like a random selection of headcanons i have about this little bitch

warnings: none. my tomfoolery. bi-han being a gay loser.

bi-han x black biracial reader (gn)

he nearly cried when kung lao sliced him with that round blade (he did). boy was legit so upset and surprised he managed to get that blow in despite him being GRANDMASTER and kung lao being INCOMPETENT. picture that scrunch face you make when you trying not to cry and you keep blinking and your eyes burning- that's what he did (canon event)

he is the definition of Mean and Angry Bisexual™. boy is what i like to call a homophobic homosexual. he notices a hot dude or nonbinary person and immediately looks away and says via voice over "no. that is gay."

saw this on another random bi-han headcanon post and i absolutely agree: bi-han loves women of color. i think he primarily dates woc too hehe. let's say hypothetically he hates white people because of tomas. i didn't say that you did. we love tomas in this house btw. and like that same headcanon post; he has a preference for black and black biracial folks. i do not take criticism hehe. this is canon and a fact (he's dating me after all)

absolutely loves when you wear your hair naturally, in any style, he loves when you embrace your culture and family history. he'd never mention or talk about your hair to you, as it seems rude and disrespectful to him, but he thinks it. and he also thinks whenever you wear your hair in a full afro, he's never seen anyone so beautiful. each and every time it astounds him that he's still awestruck.

big cuddler. idc what anyone says, he loves to cuddle. he's literally the most clingy lil guy. after finally finding his person and being able to be vulnerable for the first time since his mother died, he just melts, and becomes inseparable from you. after a hard day, or when he's enraged (a rare occurrence), nothing calms his mind down or relaxes his tense muscles like wrapping an arm around you and pulling you flush to him, your back to him as you sleep soundly. he listens to your soft breathing (or snoring lets be real) and tries to calm himself from the day's frustrations. if you awaken from his entrance, and unsurprising cuddles, you'll touch his hand and squeeze, snuggling closer to him -as if he's not already melted into your skin- and smile as he kisses your jawline and the back of your neck. most of the time, you'll turn over to him, his arm not removing from your waist, and grab his face, kissing his face and lips. the two of you will remain as close, foreheads resting against the other, sometimes talking, sometimes enjoying the sweet silence until you both fall asleep.

like so many others have stated; he was way closer with his mother than his father. when he was a child, being around her was the only time he could actually put his guard down, and be vulnerable. she would protect him. spending time with his mother, were some of the few times he would laugh or smile, as she told him funny stories from her childhood, or tickle him to get a confession out of him, if he'd been the one to steal the last cookie. she was his everything. his closest person. his best friend besides his brothers. and her death broke him. he closed off even more than he already did, vowing never to let anyone besides his mother see his unguarded side. but if he was being honest -and not constantly pushing the thought from his mind- he broke down the night she died, sobbing uncontrollably alone in his room as he clung to the soft baby blue sweater she always wore.

I don't care what anyone says, I don't care what we see in the game or if official heights come out... bi-han is s h o r t. my headcanon is 5'9. that may seem short for him but he just radiates 5'9 energy i do not take criticism. my man is stout so it only makes sense that he a short king.

bi-han used to be inseparable from his brothers when they were kids, their father taking in tomas at such a young age, bi-han always remembers him being there. there isn't a single memory from his childhood that both his brothers aren't in. he'd never tell either kuai liang or tomas, but he cherishes those memories of when they were kids, when they'd play outside every single day, look for creepy and interesting bugs, practice combat, aka, someone ended up with a black eye and sobbing. whenever those memories pop into his head, his permanent frown softens a bit, though he tries not to let anything show on his face. part of him does wish he could be close to them like they were as kids, but he's too stubborn and full of himself to actually try and repair the relationship he's mostly stilted over the years.

~~~~~~~

just a few super random headcanons of my babygirl. may come back to some of these or write another part if i think of more. feel free to add onto these i crave bi-han headcanons!!!!!!!

[whoretalkombat]

BI-HAN FIC IDEA THAT'S BEEN IN MY HEAD FOR DAYS

This is literally just brain thoughts with a somewhat cohesive plot of the man I have been thirsting for for days

Absolutely not proofread

—.———.———.———.———.———.———.———.—

Ummm so reader is in an arranged marriage with our scrumptious, frosty man, Bi-Han (love this trope for his character)

This is like pre-MK1

Reader is in love, but Bi-han is not :(

What does he take her for? Granted

So basically, he gets back from a mission, and he's not in the mood to deal with anyone >:(

Reader tries to aid in helping with his bandages and whatnot bc Bi-Han is injured (bc reader always has 🤪)

But our calloused man gets unnecessarily angry with reader (like super mean, hurt with no comfort type mean)

This makes reader leave him, but they don't know that they're preggers 😳 (like with twins 😳)

It's funny bc I don't want to have kids irl, but it's one of my favorite tropes for male characters

—.———.———.———.———.———.———.———.—

Yea, so fast forward to like 3 or 4 years

Reader takes twins out to the market in the village they live in

The twins run ahead and bump into dun dun duuuuuunnn Tomas

Reader catches up to them and they're like ??? to Tomas

Reader introduces the twins to Tomas and Tomas is like 😳🥰

Twins go off to play with the other kids, and reader and Tomas are like 🧍, reader explains what happened, and Tomas being the breedable and good boy that he is, is understanding

Then like a few weeks later, the same thing happened with Kuai Liang 👁️👅👁️, 😳🥰, 🧍

I want that man to breed ME

—.———.———.———.———.———.———.———.—

Reader and twins live kinda in the outskirts of the village and twins are playing outside of the house

Bi-Han is making his rounds in the village, and when he is leaving, he notices the twins

Did I mention that the twins are cryomancers too?

Girl twin is practicing her aim and she has snowball in her hand while boy twin is standing with two sticks raised up making a goal

Bi-Han thinks nothing of it since they're in a village in the mountains (but it's spring time???) he's confused now

But twins go inside since reader called them for dinner (Bi-Han is more confused cuz it sounded like reader's voice, but he shakes it off like the dumbass he is)

—.———.———.———.———.———.———.———.—

Don't know when this happens, but maybe like a month later??

Bi-Han's thoughts abt the twins are still brewing and he decides to go back to the mountain village at night (like a thief in the night)

Reader is hanging up laundry in front of the house, obscuring Bi-Han's view of them

Until BAM reader comes into sight and Bi-Han is hit with a ton of ice breaks

Bi-Han is left with many thoughts (hurt for him >:) this time)

Reader goes back inside, and Bi-Han goes back to the Lin Kuei

—.———.———.———.———.———.———.———.—

Later (like another month), Bi-Han returns for his weekly visits (kinda stalkerish???) to see reader who has twins

(Ooh maybe do a part where Bi-Han goes out at night and finds Kuai Liang and Tomas leaving reader's house.... drammmmmaaa)

Anyways, reader was asleep from exhaustion, and the twins are still up and awake just lolly gagging around the house

Girl twin notices Bi-Han outside approaching the house, and she and boy twin are on the move to protecc and possibly attacc and hide like mini assassins

Bi-Han enters the house and he's abt to enter reader's room, and boy twin gets protective (he's the more impulsive/emotional one) and throws a snowball at the back of Bi-Han's head

Bi-Han vs. Little Twins???

Twins yell and stuff waking reader up, and reader comes out of the room and finds Bi-Han, the grandmaster, Lin Kuei assassin getting attacked by two little ice demons

Reader stops the twins and is shocked by Bi-Han's appearance

Bi-Han and reader go outside to talk (angst, hurt, with maybe a sprinkle of comfort for reader, but not for Bi-Han. We will make this man suffer)

—.———.———.———.———.———.———.———.—

So yea, not really sure where else to go with that, but I needed to get my thoughts out TROLOLOL

[dipendenteconad]

Some LiuHan/BiKang headcanons for MY soul (SFW) pt. 3/?

How do you see their relationship? Because I imagine it to be very discreet, at least during the first weeks. While I believe Liu Kang to be more chill about his relationships, Bi-Han tends to make a big deal out of everything, and he did have to get used to having a partner at first (not that I imagine Liu to be Bi-Han's first, but probably the first actual serious relationship if you get what I mean?). So, he wanted to make sure he and Liu would really work out before making things "official", that's why he'd ask Liu Kang to keep their affair a secret;

Though, after some time passed, and their feelings for each other grew more and more, Bi-Han grew tired of always sneaking around. Liu Kang respected his wish to stay secret: he never tried to rush things or to force Bi-Han into coming out to his brothers, but eventually, the cryomancer admitted he didn't want to hide him anymore. Y'know, he finally understood he was deep in love. He refused to mix his work/role as a Grandmaster with his personal life, but he trusted his family to support him;

Which is what happened. Kuai and Tomas definitely suspected something already because his constant visits to Liu' place were getting suspicious, but they never dared to comment on it and waited to Bi-Han to tell them something first. They def teased him a little at first but if he was happy, then they were too;

As I said before Liu Kang is a big romantic in my opinion, I just know he was so happy to finally be able to be open with Bi-Han (while respecting his need of space and privacy ofc). Would they show affection in public, in your opinion? I think yes, but rarely. Liu Kang would definitely love to leave quick kisses on Bi-Han's cheek or put an arm around his waist, small gestures that don't look like a lot at first but that are still capable of melting Bi-Han's heart a bit;

Also them being public means that Liu Kang doesn't have to hide his heart eyes anymore whenever he's gazing at Bi-Han;

It might look like Bi-Han is the colder one in the relationship, or that he doesn't care about things (even outside of ship discourse, I see people headcanoning him as cold and rough a lot), but the truth is that he's very caring and remembers every little detail about the people he loves: he would listen to Liu Kang talk for hours without ever growing tired; he works on gifts months in advance because he wants them to be perfect; he always writes Liu letters when they are away from each other; he knows the other man's tastes like they're his own; and so, so on;

Bi-Han especially enjoys writing, as it helps him put into words his emotions in ways talking could never allow him to. Whenever he has a moment of quiet, he sits at his desk and frees his mind of all the thoughts that have been bugging him for days. In particular, each letter to Liu Kang reads as a heavy confession, and Bi-Han wouldn't trust anyone besides Liu to read them. In response, Liu's answers never disappoint.

Short post for this round. Even if this is a series of multiple posts, you don't have to read them as connected to each other. I may write something once and then say another thing that contradicts it. I don't have single interpretations for them, and I'm very open when it comes to headcanons.

[hanniejji]

Imagine, when Kazuha first found out his parents were having a baby he was so mad. Another sibling to take away the attention of his parents? One he’d have to share his toys with and babysit and never leave him alone?!

He stormed off to Tomo’s house and bawled in frustration. He brought up how he wanted a baby sibling once! Just once! One he could pick on and mess around with. Teach them how to fish so when Tomo wasn’t available he didn’t have to be scolded by his parents that it was too dangerous. To Kaz’s frustration, Tomo was excited to hear about a new baby. He wouldn’t stop babbling about how cute they were and how he loved to nibble their little fingers or blow raspberries on their pudgy tummies, especially when they grab the tip of your finger in a strong grip.

“Trust me Kaz, the moment they grab your finger you’re going to feel the brotherly instinct to protect them.”…

There wasn’t much other children in the village, so for a new baby, one by the Kaedehara Chief, a huge celebration was in order. A huge feast, lanterns, joyous music, and dancing. By then his mother’s tummy had grown big and round. Everyone wouldn’t stop touching it, trying to feel the baby. Kaz was sulking as he tore a chunk of meat off the skewer with his teeth. The festival for his birth certainly wasn’t this grand. The villagers were constantly handing them gifts and blessings—all for the baby.

“Kazhua.” His mother called him in later that night. It was nearly dawn when the festival finally ended. His mother was sitting in her rocking chair in the nursery, stroking her bloated belly. She was trying to calm the baby down; after all the excitement they wouldn’t stop kicking making it hard for her to sleep. He walked over to stand beside her and she took his small hand, guiding it to her belly. Kaz flinched feeling a rough bump against his palm. “That’s your little sibling. Feel them? They’re so excited to meet you.”

Kaz felt the kick again and stared at his hand with wonder. “Kazuha, if anything happens to us…keep them safe from harm. You’re their big brother; they’re going to be looking to you to keep them safe. They will follow your footsteps and learn from you,” She gently pressed her hand against his cheek, “I know you are going to be an amazing big brother…”…

Ever since then, Kaz’s view toward the newest arrival was skewed. He envied them, he knew they would annoy him by their clinginess, yet, he found he would rather enjoy that. He was so lonely with his parents always busy, the only time he really spent with his father was samurai training.

Days passed and Kaz was forced to wait outside his mothers room, hearing her labored screams of pain. It shook Kazuha, but he dared to open the door. Every handmaiden surrounded his mother. Dabbing cold water against her skin and encouraging her. His father at her side, holding her hand and occasionally kissing her knuckles. His eyes widened hearing a screeching noise. It sounded similar to a startled piglet from Toma’s family farm. He was in awe as he saw a small, red, sticky infant appear in the mid-wife’s arms. His mother and father sighed in relief as the midwife showed the infant to his parents.

They took them to a basin and started to gently wash the sticky stuff off the baby as his mother sighed in relief. He saw his father come towards the door and slid it shut before backing up to the other end of the hall as if he saw nothing. His father beckoned him in and placed his hand on his shoulders as he walked in. He felt like he was in a fever dream, even as his mother kissed his forehead and cooed to him about his new life.

A hand maiden came over with a crying bundle of blankets and set them down on his mother’s chest. She gathered the energy to put her hand atop their back and gently shush them, brushing her thumb across their head. Kaz was still staring in awe. Big red eyes identical to his own opened and he felt his heart inflate.

“Do you want to hold them?”

Kazuha silently nodded and climbed onto the bed, sitting completely still. It took his fathers aid to gently hand the baby to rest on his lap, instructing him how to properly hold them. He held out his finger and they grabbed onto it with a strong grip. Tears came to his eyes as he smiled and kissed the top of their head.

“Hello Little Maple, I’m your brother, Kazuha…”

…. -🌻 (sorry for how long it is I took it and ran with it 😅)

NO STOP IT SHUT UP DON'T YOU DARE SPOIL MY WHOLE KAZUHA MAPLE FIC YOU LEAKER I WILL HUNT YOU /j

[fanficshiddles]

Losing Control, Chapter 15

Emilia managed to survive work that weekend, then was back at Uni on the Monday.

Loki managed to coax her into his bed again on the Wednesday night, keeping her up very late, so on Thursday she was struggling to stay awake by her afternoon classes.

And it just so happened that Norse Mythology was her last class of the day...

‘Emilia Cooper!’ Loki barked.

Most of the class jumped, having been concentrating on writing out some work. Emilia nearly fell off her chair, she had just started dozing off and Loki caught her.

She sat up straight, cheeks red as she looked wide eyed at Loki who was stood behind his desk, glaring at her.

‘What do you think you’re doing taking naps in my class?’ He snapped at her.

‘S… Sorry, Sir…’ She was a little shaken at the sudden rude awakening, but her senses were quickly coming back to her, remembering it was his fault in the first place that she was so bloody tired. ‘Some guy that thinks he’s the bee’s knees decided to keep me up last night, more annoying than anything though.’

A few students sniggered. Emilia thought Loki was about to explode from the look on his face, his jaw clenched. But he kept his composure. Just.

‘See me after class.’ He said firmly.

Emilia slumped back in her chair with a sigh, folding her arms over her chest.

When class was finally over, with Emilia barely able to keep her eyes open, she lingered while the rest of the students rushed out of class, happy it was the end of the day.

Emilia slowly sauntered up to Loki’s desk, he waited until the last student was out the door and it closed before he looked up at her.

‘Before you say anything, it’s your fault entirely that I am so damn tired.’ She hissed at him.

Loki smirked. ‘I will take partial blame for it. It takes two to tango though, you could’ve said no.’

Emilia scoffed. ‘Since when does that stop you.’ She folded her arms over her chest.

Loki stood and stalked around his desk to her. ‘When I know you don’t truly mean it.’ He reached out and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. ‘When your body is saying yes. As it always does for me.’ He purred, then brushed his thumb over her lower lip.

‘Are you going to just get it over with then?’ She grumbled.

‘Get what over with?’

‘I assumed you were going to spank me for falling asleep, even though it was entirely your fault.’ Emilia stated.

Loki smirked and moved in closer to her, his free hand slid round her back and right down to her bum, he squeezed it and pulled her flush against him.

‘Do you want me to spank you?’ He smirked, still holding her chin.

‘Like hell I do!’ She snarled.

‘You’re the one that brought it up.’ Loki patted her bum, making her tense up.

‘Because that’s what you always go to!’ She tried pushing away from him.

‘Hmm. I’ll make you a deal. If you come round Friday night, I will think about forgetting your misbehaviour today.’ He hummed and released her.

‘But it was your fault in the first place.’ She screeched at him. Though her stomach did leap at the thought of another night with him, as much as she didn’t want it to.

‘Or I can take you to my office right now and give you a spanking. Your choice, kitten.’

Glaring at him, she swung her bag over her shoulder. ‘I’ll be round Friday… But you’re sorting food.’ She huffed and headed towards the door.

Loki chuckled. ‘That can easily be arranged.’ He called after her.

- Friday night came round too quickly for Emilia’s liking.

She had the night off from work, but instead of a relaxing chill evening, she was entering the lion’s den. As she so called Loki’s flat now.

But she was pleased that as soon Loki let her into his flat, she could smell food.

‘You’re cooking?’ She asked as she followed her nose straight into the kitchen, to see something on the hob.

‘Don’t sound so surprised. I am a great chef.’ Loki said as he followed her through and grabbed her arm to stop her getting to look in the pan.

‘I’ll be the judge of that.’ Emilia said as she was redirected by Loki to the island counter. ‘What is it? Smells tomato-ey.’

Loki chuckled. ‘It is. Meatballs in a luscious tomato sauce.’

‘From scratch?’ She asked as she sat down.

‘From scratch.’ Loki nodded.

‘When I said you’re sorting food, I didn’t mean you had to go all out like this and show off. Takeaway would’ve been enough.’ Emilia reached across the table and grabbed a few grapes from the fruit bowl.

‘You are too obsessed with takeaway.’ Loki sighed.

‘I’m sorry, but having my professor cook me dinner like this feels way too personal. Almost like a date.’ She said with a mouthful.

Loki glared at her and swiftly moved the bowl out of her reach. ‘Don’t fill yourself up with grapes.’ He scolded. Then he leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest, looking down at her intently.

‘Would you like it to be a date?’ Loki asked simply.

Emilia was slightly caught off guard at him asking that outright. She frowned. ‘Pfft. No. That would be so weird.’

‘Weirder than having your professor fuck you into multiple orgasms?’ Loki quirked an eyebrow up.

‘Touche.’ She shrugged.

Loki just smirked and shook his head, then turned back to finish cooking.

Emilia was pleasantly surprised that Loki wasn’t lying about being a great chef. The food was delicious, she could’ve easily eaten seconds, but Loki wouldn’t let her. He didn’t want her to have a full stomach with what he had planned for her. But he promised she could take some home with her.

But Loki didn’t get very far with the plans he had for her…

After coaxing her into submission, getting her to kneel on front of him after stripping naked, he had her give him a blowjob. Then he trapped her on his lap while he fingered her, making her cum a few times even though she begged for a break after just the first.

‘Get on your hands and knees, kitten. Let me see you.’ Loki growled low.

Emilia glared at him. ‘You’re so bossy.’ She huffed and reluctantly got into the position he wanted, on her hands and knees on the bed on front of him.

‘OW!’ She screamed as he smacked her ass really hard.

‘Watch it.’ He snarled.

Emilia kept quiet, let her head hang down as she felt Loki crouching down behind her and spreading her open, making her flush in some embarrassment as she could tell he was looking at her there. Far too intently for her liking.

She squirmed slightly. ‘Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to stare?’ She hissed at him.

Loki pinched her ass cheek, making her yelp. ‘Behave. You’re on a thin line, kitten.’

He trailed his fingers around her wetness, then travelled upwards to her anus. But when he lightly touched her there, he got a reaction he had not been expecting at all, she completely freaked out.

She threw her whole body forward as she screamed out ‘no’ over and over, almost throwing herself off the bed if Loki hadn’t been quick to grab her hips and stop her from falling.

‘Please, no! Please, don’t do that. Not anal. Please, Loki. Please don’t.’ She cried out hysterically. Her entire body started shaking and tears streamed down her face as she fought and struggled against his grip.

Loki was utterly confused at the very drastic actions from her, he eventually managed to wrestle her into his arms on his lap, and he cradled her head against him as he stroked her hair.

‘Shhh, shhh. Emilia, calm down. It’s ok, it’s ok.’ Loki said calmly.

But she kept pleading with him not to, like she was stuck on repeat. He gently grabbed her face and had her look directly at him as he brushed his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away her tears.

‘Emilia.’ He said firmly. ‘Calm down. Speak to me. What has happened there?’

She was almost at the point of hyperventilating, but Loki managed to get her to breathe slowly and calm down. When she spoke, she was still shaky.

‘There… there was… a guy before, who tried it with me. But he was too rough, it hurt so badly. He wouldn’t… He wouldn’t stop when I asked him to. It hurt so so much. I… I can’t do it. Loki, please don’t make me do it.’ She clutched at his shirt tightly, more tears falling down her cheeks.

‘Emilia, I am not going to do something that so clearly terrifies you. I promise, darling. I won’t ever do that with you. It’s ok, shhh.’ He pulled her tightly against him again and just held her until she calmed down, with lots of back rubs and hair stroking.

It was the first time Loki had seen a genuinely terrified emotion out of her, very vulnerable. He felt bad that he had caused it, but he was also furious thinking that someone had made her this way in the first place.

It took a good hour before Emilia felt a bit better. Loki just held her, speaking softly about random things, stroking her hair and keeping her calm.

‘Come on, kitten. Let’s get you something to eat. Perhaps some more of my delicious balls.’

Emilia turned her head to look at him better and raised an eyebrow. ‘Did you just try and make a joke?’

Loki shrugged with a smirk. ‘Did it work?’

Emilia rolled her eyes, unable to hide a smile as she pressed her head against his chest again.

‘Well, at least it got you smiling.’ Loki chuckled.

He surprised her as he slipped her from his lap, and off the bed. He grabbed one of his shirts from his wardrobe and slipped it on her.

‘I think this is the first time you’ve actually dressed me.’

Loki grinned and tucked her hair back behind her ear. ‘Don’t get too used to it.’ He winked at her, then put his arm around her waist and led her through to the kitchen.

She sat down while Loki heated up some of the leftover meatballs. He also poured her a glass of juice.

‘Who was he?’

Emilia looked over at Loki, he now had his back to her as he heated up the food. ‘Who?’

‘You know who.’ Loki said firmly yet with some softness, he then turned around to face her. She saw genuine concern on his face.

‘It… doesn’t matter.’ She shook her head.

‘It does. Does he go to our Uni?’ Loki asked.

‘Emilia.’ He growled when she didn’t answer.

‘Yeah, he does.’ She said reluctantly.

Loki’s eyes darkened a bit. ‘Does he take my class?’

‘No, he doesn’t.’ She said quickly.

‘Are you lying?’ Loki narrowed his eyes at her.

‘No, honestly he doesn’t.’

‘Name?’ Loki turned briefly back to the meatballs as he began dishing the leftovers up.

‘I’m not telling you his name.’ She said quietly.

‘Emilia, he hurt you. If you don’t tell me his name, I will find out anyway.’ Loki said seriously as he turned back to her.

‘How would you do that?’ She scoffed.

‘Interview every single boy at that university until I find him.’ He growled low. And Emilia knew that he was being serious.

‘Adam Johnson.’ She sighed.

Loki nodded once, then picked up their plates and motioned for her to follow him to the living room.

‘Uhm, are you feeling alright? I thought you said before you never eat on the sofa.’ Emilia said, completely baffled when he sat on the sofa and motioned for her to sit next to him.

Loki shrugged. ‘I thought we could watch a movie. I might even let you have some of my chocolate stash later, if you’re good.’ He smirked at her when she sat down.

Emilia wasn’t sure what to make of this side of Loki, part of her was unsure and on edge. But there was also a part of her that was really enjoying it.

What surprised her more, was that he didn’t initiate sex at all that night. After they watched a movie, while she snuggled against him with his arm wrapped securely around her, they went to his bed and he simply kissed her on the lips softly before cradling her in his arms again as they fell asleep.

[ecileh]

Nesta and the Mercenary

Pairing: Nesta / the mercenary Rating: explicit Length: 9k Tags: F/F, SAPPHIC SMUT, canon-compliant, non-graphic past mention of the canon SA AO3 link

But Nesta had gone with that mercenary. My hateful, cold sister had been willing to brave Prythian to rescue me. “What happened to Tomas Mandray?” I asked, the words strangled. “I realized he wouldn’t have gone with me to save you from Prythian.” —A Court of Thorns and Roses, Chapter 30

BUT WHO DID GO WITH NESTA TO SAVE FEYRE?? THE MERCENARY.

This is their story. It’s very gay.

As they sat around the fire for the quiet hour before bed, the faerie came.

Later, Nesta’s memories of the encounter were crystal-clear, but frantic and scattered with her terror. She remembered the faerie’s golden fur and elk-like horns and snarling voice. She remembered how Feyre tried to stave him off with a hunting knife. She remembered protecting Elain with her own body like a shield of skin and bone, despite her own fear, always putting Elain’s safety above all else.

Most of all, she remembered her father telling Feyre to go, and live well, and never come back, because she was better than all of them.

She remembered how deep down, she agreed.

Then Feyre’s eyes were on Nesta and she was saying, “Whatever you do, don’t see Tomas Mandray again. His father beats his wife, and he’s never done anything to stop it.” Nesta set her jaw so her lips wouldn’t quiver. “Bruises are harder to conceal than poverty.”

Those were Feyre’s last words to any of them as she left with the beast.

As much as the encounter had made her fear for her life, nothing could have prepared her for the growing horror she felt as she watched Elain and her father dry their tears and go from cowering in terror and sobbing with grief, to bland smiles and mindless conversation in mere minutes.

“To think we had an aunt on the island, all along. I do wish we could have met Aunt Ripleigh before she grew too ill,” their father said, idly picking up his wood carving supplies.

Elain smiled dreamily. “I wonder what her mansion is like, or if she has any handsome bachelors for neighbors. Feyre is so lucky to get to travel, even if it’s for such a sad reason.”

Nesta looked from her sister to her father in disbelief as they chattered away about Aunt Ripleigh, who, as far as Nesta could tell, was a figment of their imaginations.

Elain continued, “Isn’t it funny, how you wrote to our other relatives on the Continent so often for help, when we had one just a few days’ ride away?”

“Feyre left with a beast, Elain. What the fuck are you two talking about?” she hissed.

“I’m sorry, Nesta, that you did not get to go,” Elain said mildly. “But that’s no reason to curse at me or call Aunt Ripleigh’s coachman a beast. He seemed perfectly well-mannered to me. Are you on your cycle? We should have picked up some willow bark tea from the hedge-woman at the market.”

Nesta sputtered, unable to form a response. She looked toward the door, which had been shattered by the faerie mere minutes before. The door was now whole, but it had a little round window that had not been there before. And all of Feyre’s paintings were now missing from the wood.

“When did we get a window in the front door?”

“Hm?” her father said. “Oh, I suppose Feyre must have done that before she left, after the wind damaged it.”

Her eyes fell upon Feyre’s hunting knife, lodged in the cabinet that Feyre had painted with little blue flowers. She pulled the knife from the wood, then looked outside the bare front door’s new window. It hadn’t snowed since that morning, and there was not a footstep in the snow, not even from when Nesta had returned home an hour before.

And Nesta Archeron knew, with absolute certainty, that she was the only one left who knew the truth.

✦✦✦

Nesta rose early the next Sunday and marched into town alone, before Elain could wake and tag along. The market was sleepy and most vendors were still arranging their wares in their stalls and wagons when Nesta arrived. But the person she was looking for was already there, leaning against the broken fountain.

“What will it cost for you to accompany me to the wall? No more, no less,” Nesta asked the only woman of the handful of mercenaries who awaited work in the town square.

She was a mountain of a woman, perhaps in her late twenties, with scars through her eyebrow and along her forearm, chin-length dark hair, and thick muscles draped in silver fur—the very wolf that had earned Feyre her life sentence in Prythian. She narrowed her obsidian-dark eyes as she spoke in a voice that was at once husky and girlish, “Have the Children of the Blessed brainwashed you into thinking you’ll find a faerie husband in Prythian?”

“The Children are simpering fools,” Nesta scoffed. “I’m looking for a human, and I won’t expect you to go over the wall with me. Just get me through the woods.”

The mercenary appraised Nesta from toe to head, her gaze lingering on Nesta’s curves and fine wool dress. “It won’t be cheap, what with rumors of faeries getting over the wall. For what exactly does a fine lady want to spend two days hiking through snow and wolf territory?”

“I am no lady,” Nesta said, steeling her spine to her full height, which was still several inches shorter than the mercenary. “Just tell me your price and I will pay it.”

“You're the brassy-haired huntress's sister,” the mercenary said, fingering the silver fur on her shoulders.

“They took her last week because of the very pelt you wear.”

The mercenary looked at Nesta for a long moment, then clicked her tongue. “Forty silver. Double if you don’t get through the wall and I have to bring you back. And you’ll want more practical clothes, princess. Your boots are fine, but you need pants and warm layers.”

Nesta counted out twenty silver. “Don’t call me that. You get the rest when I see the wall. We leave tomorrow at dawn.” It was more than she had expected, though she had not actually known what to expect. The silver, plus the cost of any clothes she couldn’t salvage from Feyre’s old hunting garb, would eat up a good chunk of the little fund that she had set aside for herself. But if there was even half a chance of rescuing Feyre from the faerie beast who had stolen her and bewitched their family, it would be more than worth it.

“Whatever you say, princess.”

“My name is Nesta,” she said, frowning up at the other woman.

“The princess has manners! I'm Rab.” The mercenary grinned, extending her hand. “It will be my pleasure to do business with you.”

Nesta glared at Rab, but shook on their deal anyway.

✦✦✦

Telling her family that she was going to “check on Feyre and Aunt Ripleigh” had been a vexing affair. Nesta was still in a pissy mood from it when she met Rab in the town square the next morning at dawn, in the same exact spot she had left the scar-faced woman. Blessedly, Rab had stayed true to her word rather than having made off with Nesta's silver, as many other mercenaries might have done.

“What's got your bloomers in a twist, princess?” the mercenary asked with a smirk, noting Nesta's stormy expression.

“You ask as if I'm wearing any,” Nesta said flatly. “Let's go.”

Rab raised her eyebrows suggestively, but stayed silent, having apparently decided not to tangle further with Nesta's attitude.

They walked in silence for the first few hours. Nesta felt awkward and exposed in Feyre’s pants, which hugged her larger backside obscenely, and she was soon gasping for breath. She may have had a full week of square meals for the first time in months, but her body was still not strong enough to overcome the lingering weakness of near-starvation.

Nesta did not complain or let herself fall behind, however, and Rab did not slow her pace, though she did loudly announce, "I could use a bite," before sitting down on a log and handing Nesta a few pieces of hard bread and venison jerky.

Nesta ate quickly, though she appreciated the chance to catch her breath. Rab chewed slowly while Nesta took long sips of water from a canteen and shrugged off her outermost layer now that she was warm from walking.

They continued like this for the rest of the first day: Nesta quietly pushing herself to keep up, Rab maintaining a hard, steady pace but also enforcing regular breaks. She would never admit it, but Nesta was grateful that her pride was saved from having to request time to sit down and catch her breath.

“Didn't your family care to help search for your lost sister?” Rab asked as they bedded down for the night. “I saw you with a third girl. No parents, other relatives to help you or go in your stead?”

Nesta frowned. “I'm keeping up, aren't I?”

“I didn't mean to offend,” Rab said with mock solemnity, piling wood onto the fire. “You're doing fine. I'd just be surprised if coming yourself was your first choice.”

“Even if my father or my sister could make this trip, which they couldn't, they're so magic-addled they wouldn't understand where they were going.” Nesta sighed as she inched closer to the fire, savoring its warmth. “They think Feyre is at some imaginary relative's house and that I've gone to check on her.”

Rab froze in the middle of adding a log to the fire and raised an eyebrow. “They've been glamoured?”

“It's utterly infuriating. I forged a letter and everything to ensure that they thought this nonexistent aunt desperately needed me, and not Elain or my father, to come visit. But they're so bewitched that all I had to say was 'Aunt Ripleigh', and they were glassy-eyed and dreamy-voiced, telling me to have such a lovely trip.”

“But you are not glamoured.”

“Clearly not,” Nesta snapped. Sparks flew as she took the log from Rab's unmoving hand and tossed it roughly into the fire.

“There's a science to a good campfire, and you're fucking it all up, princess.” Rab grabbed another log and used the end of it to rearrange the fire. “Why wouldn't the faerie glamour you? Have you had past dealings with them? Or a charm that protected you?”

Nesta shook her head, then pulled up her sleeve to show the mercenary her iron bracelet. “This is useless. Elain had one, too, and was enchanted anyway. Don't know why I still wear it.”

“The only metal that will stop a faerie from hurting you is a wit of steel, or a sharp blade to the heart or the neck, and the latter is only after sticking them with an ash arrow first,” Rab said, fingering the sword at her side. “You’ll have to rely on the former, as it doesn’t seem like you’re wanting for mental steel. That’s a good thing.”

Nesta stiffened and said bitterly, “Try telling my family that.”

“Do you think my mother was proud to raise a child more beast than girl until I started bringing her money every season until she died? Or that any mercenary bands respected me as an equal until I proved myself their better? You might as well have pride in whatever it is that you’re good at.”

Nesta heard the truth in Rab’s words. She knew her own stubborn pride was all that had kept her going these years. Even if her father never looked at her the way he looked at Elain every day or at Feyre as the faerie led her away. Like he was proud of the people they were. But Nesta didn’t need his approval—or anyone’s. Right now, she just needed to bring Feyre back, because it wasn’t right that she was gone.

It wasn’t right that nobody but Nesta even knew enough to miss her.

That didn’t mean she wanted to face any of that pain right now. Not with the mercenary always observing her so intently.

So Nesta was silent as Rab directed her to boil beans for dinner. She tried to ignore the thickness in her throat and the feeling that Rab could see right through her. If anything, the sensations only ached more keenly the more she tried to shove them away.

Meanwhile, the mercenary stomped through the trees around camp and scattered salt or whatever charm she had to deter any passing faeries who might scent two humans so close to the wall. Even though they both knew it would do nothing to stop a faerie who truly intended to steal, torture, or devour them. Even though Rab herself had said only an ash arrow and sharp blades and wits would stop a faerie. But this close to the wall, humanity felt too fragile to dismiss anything that could turn a faerie away.

“Say one word about the overcooked beans and you’ll be eating snow for dinner,” Nesta said as she handed the returning mercenary a bowl.

“I’ve seen worse,” Rab said before tasting the meal. If one could even call it a meal. “Actually, you know what? I think I like it better this way. It’s inspired. Maybe when you find your sister, her faerie husband will spare your life to keep you as his cook.”

“Shut up.” Nesta closed her eyes and struggled to swallow a mouthful of dry, flavorless mush.

Rab snickered and set to spreading the mush on a piece of hard bread. “Can you at least defend yourself better than you can cook?”

“I'm sure you'll disagree, but not every problem needs to be solved with fists and steel,” Nesta said. Reaching into her pack, she found Feyre's knife. “Though, I do have this.”

The mercenary arched one dark eyebrow. “And can you wield it?”

“Sharp end to the gut,” she said as she stabbed the knife into the cold ground next to her. “Just like that.”

“That's a hunting knife, princess. It's for skinning and filleting, not stabbing.”

Nesta glared at the mercenary, who looked like she was trying not to laugh in Nesta's face. “It wouldn't feel good if I stabbed you with it, would it?”

“Fair enough,” Rab said, setting her bowl aside. “Eat fast, if you can stomach it. I'll give you my time until the moon rises, but then it's bedtime.”

“Your time for what?” Nesta asked.

“To show you how to survive an attack long enough to run away if your wits—or your tits—aren't enough. Works for faeries and men alike.”

For the next hour, Rab showed Nesta the fundamentals of self defense: how to escape a bind, to stun an attacker by gouging their eyes or hitting them in a soft spot (if they even had any), and to wear a knife properly, though Rab impressed that Nesta should only draw it as a last resort, since wielding it would take weeks to learn, and it could easily be taken and used against her.

The quick training was a blessed distraction from her brooding, but Nesta was still relieved when she could curl up in the bedding that Rab had laid out, so that she could hide her face in the shadows of the forest, but the mercenary stopped her.

“You a heavy sleeper?”

Nesta shook her head.

“Good. Then I won't have to worry about not being able to rouse you for your watch.”

“Do I get a discount for doing your job for you?” Nesta asked.

Rab smirked. “Absolutely not, princess.”

The night was cold and long, but the mercenary sat close to Nesta through her watch, her warmth welcome at Nesta’s back. Sleep came even more scantly for her than usual, as it had been years since she had slept anywhere besides the huge iron bed, and its mattress, as lumpy and old as it was, was still a far cry from the cold, hard ground. So she did not care much when her watch came—or at least she wouldn’t have at all, if it weren’t for the distant howls of wolves. Rab had told her not to mind them unless they grew louder than the crackling of the fire, but the sound was unsettling all the same.

The second day passed much as the first, quiet and grueling, though as they drew closer to the wall, the mercenary grew visibly more agitated, fussing with her layers and furs and accidentally thwacking her sheathed sword against tree trunks as if she had forgotten how far it stuck out from her body. Nesta, on the other hand, was exhausted from the day before but had gained some sureness of foot as she picked around the tangled roots and thorns that wove through the snow.

“We’ll camp here,” Rab said abruptly as she dropped her pack on the ground.

Nesta narrowed her eyes at the sun shining through the trees, not yet near the horizon.

“We’re close, aren’t we?”

“You can’t go into the faerie lands so close to nightfall, princess. You’ll have a good night’s sleep and then be on your way with a full day of sunlight before you,” the mercenary said. “Start the fire while I have a look around, see if there’s a gap in the wall nearby. In most places it’s invisible, but here there’s stone brought in by humans. It means there was a gate that faeries were getting through.”

“Absolutely the hell not,” Nesta said, fetching the purse from her pocket and pressing it into Rab’s hand. “We’re done here. Two more hours of daylight is that much closer to my sister.”

The mercenary sputtered in disbelief at the suggestion. But even in her shock, Rab was fast, and she grabbed Nesta before they were more than a step apart.

Nesta tried to stomp on Rab’s feet, to throw her head back at Rab’s face, but Rab was the one who had taught her to do those things. The mercenary anticipated each attack and swiftly dodged Nesta’s blows.

Though Nesta had only just learned how to escape a bind, she had lived her entire life on the offensive. She was feinting, distracting the mercenary. When Rab adjusted her hold on Nesta in order to swing her head out of the way, Nesta took the opening and spun in Rab’s arms.

She sank her teeth into the exposed skin of the mercenary’s neck. Rab yelped in shock, and it was enough for Nesta to slip away.

She took off running toward where she assumed the wall would be. Northward, with the setting sun to her left.

“Nesta, stop!” Rab cried, but Nesta was not listening to the mercenary’s voice or even whether footsteps followed behind her.

All she knew was that Feyre was somewhere on the other side of that wall, and Nesta would bring Feyre back, even if she had to trade herself to the beast that had taken her sister away.

It wasn't right. It just wasn't right that Feyre had been taken away without any choice, and Nesta had been left behind to her own wretched life.

If any of them deserved to be taken away by nasty, vain faeries, it was Nesta, who had never said a kind word or obeyed an order in her life. The faeries would have just eaten her or sent her back once they'd had enough of her attitude. Not Feyre, who always did whatever was required of her, and then some, and still found it in her heart to make things beautiful and care about others.

The woods blurred into a canvas of grey and white smudges as she ran. She barely registered the bare branches that cracked across her face like tiny whips. Skipping and leaping over rocks and tree roots felt second-nature—though her boots were heavier than any dancing shoes, dodging the obstacles recalled some memory in her muscles of long-disused dance steps as she ran toward her destination.

All Nesta could picture was Feyre enslaved to the faeries like their ancestors, meekly scrubbing their floors or being sold off in marriage to a hideous beast. Feyre, trapped for life in a misery she didn't deserve.

And only Nesta knew.

It wasn't right.

Nesta had no idea how long she ran, though even with the added adrenaline of her fury and fear, she knew she could not have made it far.

But just when she thought her winter-starved body would give out, the snow underfoot melted, and when her eyes refocused on the grey in front of her, it was the stone of a wall.

The wall.

Nesta gasped with relief and pressed her hands to the smooth stone.

It was cool, but not cold. And the air was warm, scented of lemon and roses. As if the magic of Prythian itself leaked through the wall to offer a deadly flirtation to any mortal who dared come this close.

She stepped back, taking in her surroundings. Old, rough stone ran along the bottom of the wall as far as she could see, but here, from her chest up, the stone was smooth and clean. A very recent repair if the sharp, precise fit of the stones and the lack of lichens and moss were any indication.

To the left, toward the setting sun, the patch of fresh stone went as far as she could see, sometimes even comprising an entire section of wall from bottom to top, as if the entire wall had crumbled in places. But to the right…the patch ended.

Hoping a rogue faerie or the freeze of the particularly bad winter this year had broken enough of the wall for her to slip through or climb over, she ran to the right, toward the darkening sky, savoring the warmth and the smell of fruit and flowers. A tiny, uncharacteristic smile toyed at the corners of her lips—everything seemed brighter here, and she was so close.

Nesta almost laughed when she saw the pile of boulders ahead, perfectly arranged that she might clamber over them to reach the break whence the rocks came, toward the top of the wall.

She was just putting her hands on the second boulder when a hard yank at her collar sent her tumbling backward. The breath was stolen from her lungs as she hit the damp ground.

A great shadow stood over her. She blinked the shock from her eyes just in time to see short, dark hair swaying around a shaking head.

“You are a damned idiot,” Rab hissed, pulling Nesta back to her feet. “Didn’t you hear me when I said you can’t go into Prythian tired and hungry? We’ll both be alone in the night, on either side of the wall with no one to watch our backs. And then the first monster you meet, if they don’t outright eat you, will ply you with fruit and wine and trap you in a bargain or put you to sleep for a hundred years, and you’ll be too hungry to refuse, princess. And then you’ll be no use to your sister.”

“I've gone hungry plenty.”

“That's exactly how I know you won't be able to refuse anything you're offered. I'm just doing my job to give you your best shot.”

Nesta gave the mercenary her best withering glare: eyes narrowed, one finely arched eyebrow slightly raised, her sharp lips pressed into a thin, cruel purse. “Your job is done.”

The mercenary sighed. “It's your life.” She reached into her pack and handed Nesta what was left of the jerky. “Try to make it last. Eat nothing of Prythian origin, not even a berry.”

Nesta nodded, then turned back to the wall. She expected to hear the retreat of footsteps behind her, but there was only silence.

“Why are you still babysitting me?” she asked coldly, glancing back at Rab.

Rab gave a wicked grin that Nesta wanted to insult right off of her face. “Because if whatever allows you to resist glamours doesn’t let you through that hole, I’m not missing out on my double pay by letting you die on this side of the wall.”

“I'm not going to die,” Nesta snapped, though she swallowed, looking up at the break in the wall.

There was no turning back now.

So she climbed.

It wasn’t a very long climb, maybe ten feet to reach the fresh break. But hauling herself up the layers of boulders required the grueling use of long-dormant muscles, and she was embarrassed to struggle in front of the mercenary with her bulging biceps and thick neck. It was a blessed relief that Rab did not offer to help, as Nesta’s pride might have necessitated that she kick the mercenary in the face.

And when she finally got to the top, the air undulated and sparkled, as if simmered by the forge of the earth beneath, but she could see it.

Prythian. The land of faeries, a land that only the stupidest and unluckiest of humans had seen in centuries.

She would be the first to be neither.

Through the shimmering air, she could see a forest of pale spring green, dotted by white and pink and yellow blossoms. The forest stretched into the distance, occasionally broken by smooth rolling hills and glittering rivers and ponds. She could even spy distant trails of smoke rising from little buildings surrounded by lush gardens. The undulating air seemed extra thick between her eyes and the villages, as if trying to hide their existence from her, but failing.

Nesta knew that Prythian was full of monsters, and even though faeries were known to prize beauty, she had not expected their homeland to look so … normal. Not unlike the mortal lands, just … more colorful. More beautiful.

She looked back at Rab one last time, her eyes inexplicably hot with tears she refused to shed.

“Have you seen it before?” she asked.

“Once,” Rab said. “Where the wall meets the sea. It made me sick to even look at. A dark, twisted hellhole perfect for all the monsters that inhabit it. No wonder they break through to torture us.”

Nesta scoffed quietly, turning back to the spring-touched forest. So not even the wall’s ancient magic could glamour her. Somber and steeled, she reached a hand through the shimmering air.

She was immediately met with a buzzing, crackling pain that coursed through her entire body, and she drew her hand back quickly as a metallic scent scorched her nostrils.

A quick examination of her hand showed no damage other than a little redness. Either a test that she would not fail, or a warning that she would not heed. Nesta rose to her feet and stepped through with her entire body this time.

Every muscle seized with excruciating pain as she froze mid-step, then crumpled to the stone beneath her feet.

The pain lingered this time, like pins and needles from head to toe.

But Nesta rose, shaky and panting, even as Rab yelled below her, “Come down! You can try again tomorrow.”

Nesta jumped.

She screamed as the air held her for a moment, her muscles spasming through the pain, no longer buzzing, but burning through her flesh and veins.

She didn’t remember falling, but she must have. She was curled in the fetal position on the boulder, her teeth chattering and her nose burning with the scent of metal. There was something hot and salty in her mouth and when she spat, it was bright red with blood.

The mercenary yelled again, “Knock it off, princess. You failed. If you keep trying, you'll—”

Staggering to her knees, Nesta howled again, not with pain this time but with rage.

“This isn't fucking right!” she raged, blood streaming from her nose and mouth as if she'd just ripped a creature apart with her very teeth.

She grabbed a small rock from the boulder pile and hurled it at the magic air atop the wall. “Give my sister back!”

The wall held the rock in shimmering air, then flung it right back at her, square in the stomach.

“People have died messing with that magic! I will drag you down myself if I have to!”

The scraping of rocks behind Nesta indicated Rab was following her up, but she didn't care.

“What do you want to let me through, you enchanted piece of shit? My firstborn? A blood sacrifice?” Nesta snorted and sucked up all the blood and saliva and mucous in her mouth, and she spat it all at the wall.

The spot where the disgusting red liquid hit the shimmering air glowed golden-white for a moment, and then it exploded.

✦✦✦

Nesta was floating in a pool in the Archeron estate gardens, ignoring the sound of her younger sisters giggling and splashing in the background.

Nesta loved the pool, but not for the same reasons her sisters did. The water was pleasantly cool as she slowly waved her arms and legs to stay afloat, and the sun warmed her face, and she liked the patterns of stars and flames that danced across the backs of her eyelids in the sunlight. The pool had been meant as a water feature in the garden, where water lilies and lotuses and colorful ducks could float, but Feyre had invaded it—playing pirate—one hot summer years ago, and it had been the sisters’ domain ever since. They always begged her to play their childish water games with them, but she hated getting her face wet and they knew not to direct their splashes toward her. Nesta was content to float, if she joined them in the pool at all.

The splashing and screeching faded into whispers, and a small hand laced in hers.

“Nestaaa,” a girlish voice said in her ear. “Come play with us.”

Nesta opened one upturned blue-grey eye, meeting its near-twin in her youngest sister’s freckled, smiling face. “No, thank you.”

“Please! Hide and seek isn’t as fun with only two people.”

“Hide and seek isn’t as fun when you’re doing it in a pool of clear water. It’s way too hot to go in the garden,” Nesta snorted.

Elain, who had been hanging back behind Feyre, popped her head over Feyre’s shoulder. “We’ve been playing it with our eyes closed, and then the hiders can move around but they have to be quiet or else the seeker will definitely hear the splash and find you. Please, play with us,” she begged.

“Please, Nesta, all you have to do is find us. You’re the best seeker.” Feyre squeezed Nesta’s hand. “Elain always opens her eyes!”

“That was one time!”

Nesta opened her other eye and raised her head. “No splashing, you say?”

Her sisters nodded expectantly, a wolfish grin on Feyre’s face and a pretty pout on Elain’s.

Nesta kicked her feet under to stand upright and closed her eyes tight. “One … two … three … four … five … six … seven … eight … nine … ten!” She reached her arms out and began walking slowly through the pool, careful to keep her movement silent so she could hear her sisters.

Elain was easy to find when a splash and a giggle gave her away less than a minute in. But Feyre had always been a strange, quiet child, and she was much more skilled at games of stealth. Which was probably why she loved sneaky games so much and hated that Elain had to resort to cheating to find her.

“Nesta, what are you doing?” Elain asked. “The game’s over.”

Nesta tip-toed quietly through the pool, listening intently and reaching out in hopes of bumping into their youngest sister. “I still have to find Feyre, silly.”

“But Feyre is at Aunt Ripleigh’s.”

Nesta whirled and opened her eyes. “What did you just say?”

“She’s helping Aunt Ripleigh,” said Elain, who had suddenly aged ten years and was ruining a beautiful silk gown as she sat on the edge of the pool and dangled her legs in the water. “How flattering it was of Aunt Ripleigh, to require us in her time of need!”

Nesta thrashed in the pool, turning in circles. “Feyre!” she yelled. “Come out! This isn’t funny!”

“All you have to do is find me!” Feyre sing-songed on the hot breeze. “Nestaaaa.” Feyre’s girlish voice grew deeper and huskier, distorted like bubbles in water.

“I’m trying!” Nesta cried, then looked down at the water and reflected sunlight that made it hard to see her own feet. What if Feyre had—in the deep end—when she couldn’t yet swim and only ever tip-toed on the shallow side—

“Nesta! Wake up!” called the strange, low and girlish voice.

“Feyre!”

Nesta took a deep breath, and dove underwater.

✦✦✦

Nesta sputtered as the liquid hit her face. It took several tries to fully open her eyes and blink away all the water.

“About fucking time!” said the girlish, husky-voiced shadow that hovered over Nesta against a backdrop of fading sky. “Just relax, princess, stay still.”

Nesta scowled and scooted her arms to prop herself up, but firm gently hands pushed her back to the ground.

“You didn't tumble far, but if you're hurt, moving before you know it is going to make things much worse,” said the shadow.

“I can't go very far with you straddling me,” Nesta said hoarsely.

“That's the point, princess.”

Nesta's eyes had adjusted enough now to see the long, sculpted face and scarred eyebrow—Rab, the mercenary.

Who had brought her to the Wall. Which she had failed to cross.

She had failed, utterly failed, to rescue Feyre. Her little sister, whose little hand she could still feel wrapped in her own.

“I'm just a common bitch, not a fucking princess!” Nesta hissed. “And I’m a terrible sister.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

Rab just coolly raised her eyebrows.

A hot lump in her throat threatened to strangle Nesta as she allowed Rab to poke and prod her fallen body, searching for internal bleeding or broken bones. Though by the time Rab was checking her eyes and asking asinine questions to assess whether her throbbing headache indicated an injury to her mind, Nesta couldn't hold back the eye rolls and scoffs that came more easily than breathing.

Rab froze in the middle of making Nesta count fingers, her pointer still raised above Nesta's face.

The hairs on the back of Nesta's stood on end, and she felt it too.

They locked eyes. Nesta saw nothing but terror in Rab's deep, obsidian gaze.

“Whatever you do,” Rab hissed, her lips barely moving, “don't look anywhere but my face. Don't look. Don't make a peep. Its power comes from acknowledgement.”

Nesta pressed her lips together. Her shivering had little to do with the dewy ground pressing at her layers of clothes.

The temperature dropped precipitously. It was a cold unlike that of the winter woods they had hiked through these past two days; this cold was a living, leeching thing that stole any inner warmth.

Look at me.

The voice was not a sound carried on the air; but rather something older than ears, something felt in the bones, something inherently understood. The cold thing, the leech, circled them, though Nesta did not see it.

But she could feel it. She could hear it.

Look at me. I will devour you. I will snap your bones between my claws. I will drink your marrow while you watch.

Having nowhere else to safely look, Nesta took in every detail of the mercenary's face. She traced the planes of the high cheekbones, the aquiline nose, the sharp brow, the cleft chin. A face that would have been beautiful if carved into stone, but was daunting in the flesh.

She watched the sun-browned warmth drain from Rab's face, leaving full lips ashen and scars stark white against olive skin.

I will make it hurt, and in the end you will beg for my teeth to shred you into oblivion. Look at me.

The throbbing headache turned into a sharp pain along her temples as Nesta clenched her teeth. She flinched minutely at the pain and relaxed her jaw, but it was enough to break Rab's waning focus.

Look at me.

The mercenary's dark eyes narrowed and grazed all over Nesta's features as if unable to find an anchor. A bead of freezing cold sweat dripped from Rab's forehead and splashed onto Nesta's cheek.

Rab was slipping.

Look at me. Look at me. Look at me.

The voice was ancient, hollow, terrifying, seductive.

Nesta just had to be worse.

She lifted her head and wrapped her lips around the finger that was still dangling above her face, even though the flesh was as cold as the faerie-chilled air around them. Rab's eyes, which had wandered as far as the ground next to Nesta's head, grew wide with shock and snapped to Nesta's mouth with sharp, almost predatory focus.

And as quickly as it came, the horrible faerie slithered away. Plants rustled in its wake, as if recoiling from its presence, and the air warmed.

But Nesta's shivering no longer had anything to do with the temperature. And even though she had initially sucked Rab's finger to distract the mercenary, she found she did not want to stop.

She had never been touched like this by a woman, and barely by a man—she refused to count Tomas’s assault days earlier or his harsh, foiled attempts at pawing in his woodshed before. But this, with the mercenary—she wanted it.

It was now she who needed the distraction—not just from her failure, but from their near-brush with death. She needed to feel alive.

Or maybe it was just the faerie magic that leaked through the wall here.

Either way, Nesta wanted.

Nesta's tongue lazily traced the sensitive fingertip, her lips and palate forming a light suction to take the mercenary knuckle by knuckle. She held Rab's gaze as she did so, enjoying the slight twitch in Rab's left eye every time she sucked the finger deeper.

The mercenary's full lips quirked when she shifted her straddle over Nesta, until their pelvises met with a sensation that sent Nesta's abdomen rippling with pleasure and surprise despite the terror that still gripped her muscles. Nesta arched her hips to grind her pelvis into Rab's, and when Rab withdrew her finger from Nesta's mouth, a small gasp escaped.

Her hand freed, the mercenary set to finding the skin under Nesta's clothes. As her hand tickled Nesta's breast, Nesta closed the gap between their mouths. Rab's lips and tongue were soft and ... surprisingly warm. So were her hands where they grasped her breast and slid along her waist, and so was the spot where their pelvises met—her protector seemed to run extraordinarily hot. The sensation was exquisite.

Wanting Rab’s heat to envelop her, Nesta kissed Rab deeper, harder, and ran her hands along Rab’s body until she found a series of leather laces, which she deftly untied. Meanwhile, Rab half-unbuttoned Nesta’s coat and undershirt and pulled away from Nesta’s kiss to admire the escape of her full breasts, peaked despite the warm evening air leaking from beyond the wall. Nesta tried to slip off the mercenary’s jacket, but was met with resistance as Rab buried her hands and face in Nesta’s chest, squeezing her breasts together and licking and sucking every inch of exposed skin.

Nesta luxuriated in the feel of the mercenary's soft mouth and rough hands until she could not stand it anymore and tugged on Rab's jacket again. When Rab still did not move, Nesta practically growled, “Get up, you brute.”

Rab froze mid-lick, her tongue still on Nesta's nipple, as she glanced up at Nesta and smirked.

“As you wish, princess,” the mercenary replied, matching Nesta's mocking tone. She stood, extending a hand to help Nesta rise and ensuring that Nesta was steady on her feet before Rab leaned against the rubble of the wall to remove her boots and undress.

Nesta watched intently, drinking in every ripple of the mercenary’s body as it was revealed limb by limb. Rab had little curves to speak of, besides that of her thick thighs, one of which was spidered with black veins that ran from ankle to hip. Her breasts were small but pert, overshadowed by the broad muscles gained from years of fighting. And yet, her muscles were very different from a man’s—softer, as if kept deeper inside her body, encased in thicker flesh, criss-crossed with pale scars.

Nesta thought she was stunning.

When she was bare, Rab ran a hand through her short, dark hair, a move that she surely knew showed off her muscled arms. She smiled coyly in a way that had Nesta unbuttoning her coat the rest of the way.

The mercenary shook her head and picked Nesta up before she had a chance to remove anything more than her coat. She pushed Nesta against the wall and sank her lips into Nesta’s neck, gently licking and sucking so that goose flesh spread across her skin. Rab slowly unbuttoned the rest of Nesta’s shirt while Nesta explored Rab’s bare skin, tracing circles that ultimately led her fingers to the trail of coarse hair from Rab’s navel to the warmth between her legs. So warm—the thatch of dark curls was so warm, and her engorged clit was positively burning. Nesta rolled it between her fingers and stroked it slowly, dipping her fingers into the wet behind it to slicken her touch, then playing with the bundle of nerves to feel out what made the mercenary shudder and gasp.

Rab unlaced Nesta's pants and swiftly peeled them down to pool around her ankles, kneeling in the process to bring her eyes level with Nesta's pelvis. Nesta wasn't ready to remove her fingers from Rab's clit, and she reached for it until she couldn't, leaving a line of slick along Rab's torso.

Nesta arched into Rab's hands, which slid up her legs to grasp her ass, fingers reaching into the space where her buttocks met.

“You weren't kidding about not wearing any knickers,” Rab said with a glance up at Nesta.

“I’ve never worn pants before…” Nesta ran a light, teasing touch along Rab’s thick neck and shoulders.

Rab chuckled before burying her nose and mouth between Nesta’s legs, breathing deeply and licking Nesta's clit in exquisite, heated patterns as she unlaced Nesta's boots.

By the time Rab had removed the last of Nesta’s clothes and laid her bare, Nesta’s chest was heaving from the pleasure of Rab’s tongue. The mercenary met Nesta’s eyes and though Nesta mourned the loss of Rab’s mouth, she welcomed Rab’s lips on her own and the return of access to the warmth between Rab’s legs. Nesta tasted Rab’s mouth, enjoying the saltiness of her own flavor on another’s lips. Rab dug her fingers into Nesta’s ass and lifted her onto a large piece of the crumbled wall, the perfect seat to wrap one of Nesta’s legs around Rab’s waist, while Rab lifted her opposite leg onto the boulder beside Nesta in an act of impressive flexibility.

Nesta moaned at the feeling of hot, wet cunt on cunt as she and Rab ground against each other in unison. Rab’s breaths grew loud and fast, turning into gasps when Nesta played with her nipples and licked her earlobe. Rab wrapped her hands around the back of Nesta’s head to hold her closer.

“Aren't you afraid that a faerie will catch us here?” Nesta whispered breathlessly, her lips against Rab's ear.

Rab shuddered, whether from the thought of faeries or the heat of Nesta's breath, Nesta did not know. “If I must die, I always wanted to do it mid-fuck,” the mercenary said teasingly. “Fae are horny bastards, though... Half of them would be as likely to try to join in, if you believe the stories.”

It was Nesta's turn to shudder as she imagined such a deadly creature joining them.

“Would you like that, princess? A monster on one end, and your protector on the other?”

Nesta was unable to form any response other than a moan as she imagined the scene and arched into Rab's heat, her nipples grazing against Rab's broad chest.

Rab chuckled as she ran her mouth along Nesta's collarbone and shoulder. Nesta leaned into the sensation—until Rab sank her teeth into the spot where Nesta's neck met her shoulder.

Nesta yelped at the sharp pain, which seemed as much payback for Nesta biting Rab earlier as it was to pin Nesta in place as Rab’s grinding grew faster, harder. But Nesta didn’t mind the pain much, not when it seemed to sharpen the feeling between her legs. The sounds of pleasure that escaped her mouth seemed to encourage Rab, who pressed hard against Nesta with a shudder and released the bite with a deep groan as they both climaxed.

Panting heavily, Rab released her raised leg and sank to her knees before Nesta, her large hands wrapped around Nesta’s waist. Her face came to rest between Nesta’s legs for a moment while she caught her breath before she sank her face into Nesta’s cunt and licked her once again with gusto.

Nesta tangled her fingers in Rab's hair, gently directing the mercenary's head to the exact spot where she wanted it—up, left, up a little more, more.

Licking turned into sucking, and Nesta shuddered and moaned when Rab teased one finger at her entrance.

“Do you want me to fill you up?” Rab’s voice rumbled against Nesta’s clit, and Nesta moaned again.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Lips closed back around Nesta’s clit as Rab slowly fed her finger into Nesta’s expectant cunt. Nesta immediately tightened, savoring the feeling.

“More,” Nesta said breathlessly.

Rab made a low sound of agreement against Nesta's clit as she inserted a second finger and curled her fingers to massage a spot that, combined with the vibrations of Rab's voice, sent Nesta over the edge, clenching rhythmically around Rab's fingers.

But when Nesta's orgasm faded, she was still arching into Rab's mouth. She pumped up and down on Rab's fingers, almost as if her hips had a mind of her own. Nesta leaned back against the crumbled wall, savoring the cool stone at her back in contrast to the hot mouth and fingers at her core. It felt amazing, but still, she wanted—

“More.”

Rab compliantly inserted a third finger.

“You’re so wet,” Rab crooned, pumping her hand in response and running her tongue along Nesta’s clit. “Seems like you won’t be happy until I fill you up entirely. Are you sure?”

Nesta nodded pleadingly. “I can handle it.”

Rab grinned and rose halfway to worship Nesta’s breasts with her mouth and free hand as she inserted another finger. She curled all four to rub that internal spot, while her thumb grazed over Nesta’s clit.

Nesta’s senses were nearly overloaded, but still she begged. Rab hummed with pleasure that she could elicit this response and slipped her thumb from Nesta’s clit to her core. Nesta gasped as Rab thrust the rest of her hand into her hole, stretching her to what felt like her limit.

“Rab,” Nesta moaned, her legs shaking.

The mercenary kissed and licked and bit her way back down to Nesta's clit. Her hand was now fully engulfed in Nesta's core to the wrist, and Nesta could have sworn her lower abdomen swelled with every thrust.

The sheer force of her climax made her cry out, far too loudly for their precarious location.

But it seemed, luckily for them—or unluckily, if either of them had been serious about the threesome with the horny type of faerie—the horrible, cold leech-faerie had scared away everything for quite some distance, as they didn't even hear a wolf howl that night.

They camped back in the spot that Rab had originally picked out. Though it was much warmer near the wall, the proximity to Prythian was too unsettling. And neither of them needed to say that they felt like they had already pushed their luck for the day.

Nesta barely made it through dinner—blessedly cooked by Rab this time —before she was pulling Rab under the fur blankets of the bedroll so she could have a turn at tasting the mercenary.

It was a welcome distraction from the guilt of her utter failure that day, but mostly, Nesta was nowhere near done with Rab. She didn’t think she would ever be.

When the mercenary, dripping wet from her orgasm, turned on Nesta, she hesitated a moment before saying, “I—my full name is Mirabelle. I started going by the nickname when I realized I’d never hear the end of the mockery in my line of work. It’s too pretty a name for me, but I wouldn’t mind if you called me that while no one else is around. If that’s the name I make you cry out.” Rab—Mirabelle—smirked with arrogance.

“It’s not too pretty for you.” Nesta frowned, reaching out to stroke the face that hovered between her legs. “I think you’re beautiful, in quite a remarkable way. You look like you were carved from stone. I would proudly put you in my garden to admire.”

Mirabelle snorted, but her smile reached her eyes for the first time since Nesta had met her. “Makes sense for a stone-cold bitch to think that, then.”

✦✦✦

Months later, Nesta watched as a servant frantically rushed to find a big, floppy hat for Feyre to protect her skin from the sun.

It was pointless. Feyre had returned home already freckled and tan. If she hadn’t been practically glowing from the inside, some residual magic of being loved in Prythian no doubt, she would have reminded Nesta of Mirabelle—so out of place in, for all the sun she’d drank in as she wandered the countryside, fighting faeries and wolves and protecting stone-cold bitches.

Nesta’s heart was heavy as she approached Feyre, who was examining the dirt on her hands.

“Even if you washed them, there’d be no hiding it,” Nesta said to her sister. “To fit in, you’d have to wear gloves and never take them off. Sit under a parasol and let your freckles fade.”

Feyre grabbed her shovel. “Maybe I don’t want to fit in with your social circles.”

Nesta huffed. As if it was her social circle. “Then why are you here?”

“It’s my home, isn’t it?”

Nesta reached into her pocket to toss the chunk of painted wood, a bit of table that had been torn off by the faerie beast. “I think your home is somewhere very far away.”

Feyre stared at the piece of wood, painted by her own hand with tangled vines and too-blue foxglove.

“Glamours don’t work on me. So while I watched Elain and Father dry their tears and forget everything, talking nonsense about some made-up aunt’s house, I remembered everything. I thought I’d gone mad—but I looked at that table and his claw marks, and the gouge of your knife in the cabinet, and I knew it wasn’t in my head.” Nesta reached under her skirts to her calf, where she wore an embossed leather sheath gifted to her by Rab. From it, she brandished Feyre’s hunting knife.

Feyre blinked, looking at the knife in disbelief. “Elain said you tried to visit me.”

The anger boiled to Nesta’s surface, after long weeks of letting it simmer beneath a façade of blank listlessness. She did not bother to hide it anymore—not around Feyre, whose ferocity could rival her own. “He stole you away into the night, and he lied about why, or else you wouldn’t be back now. And then everything went on as if it had never happened. It wasn’t right.”

“You went after me—to Prythian,” Feyre said hoarsely.

“I couldn’t find a way through the wall. I could see it. Right there on the other side, I could see it. Even when others couldn’t. But I couldn’t get through the magic.”

The shock in Feyre’s eyes gutted Nesta like a knife. Like Feyre didn’t think anyone would have come after her, even if they knew where she was. “You went four days through the winter woods. Through wolf territory. Through woods where faeries slip through.”

Nesta shrugged. She’d lived. “I hired that mercenary-woman who bought your pelts. I figured she owed me as much, if she was going to wear the faerie-skin that got you taken away. And I didn’t think anyone else would believe me.” Her voice came out soft, unbidden, as she spoke of Rab. She hadn’t left the Archeron estate or seen her lover in weeks. Not since the mercenary had taken a job and not yet returned.

“You did that for me?” Feyre said, the words half-strangled with emotion.

“It wasn’t right,” Nesta repeated, meeting the mirror of Feyre’s eyes.

“What happened to Tomas Mandray?”

Fury and shame welled up in her chest and coursed through her throat, threatening to break open the little box where she kept the secret of what Tomas had done to her. Nesta exhaled forcefully through her nose, willing all thought of Tomas away.

“I realized he wouldn’t have gone with me to save you from Prythian.” The words held another meaning, the subtle praises of the one who had gone with Nesta to save Feyre. A tiny gift, to trust Feyre with one thing that no one else knew.

Feyre’s eyes widened, and Nesta had the distinct feeling that Feyre was seeing right through Nesta’s hard shell of rage and pride. As much as Nesta had willingly bared in the last few moments, knowing that Feyre was seeing that much of her still made her desperately uncomfortable. But there was understanding in Feyre’s eyes—understanding that Nesta was near her limit, that Nesta feared sharing any more of her fragile, secret happiness with Rab would somehow lead to it shattering.

“Tomas never deserved you anyway,” Feyre said softly.

Nesta had to change the subject—and she was so ready for an end to months of frustration and lies and worry. “Tell me everything.”

And hours later, when Feyre finished her long tale of faeries and High Lords and blight and love, Nesta asked Feyre to teach her how to paint.

[dangaer]

i'm dropping a list of some of my muses bedroom preferences. if you wanna tl;dr; it they're all switches with subtle roles they fall more familiar to. MINORS DNI.

ikki: top / dominant is the life he has led in his years of experience, many girls like the idea of him being absolutely obsessed but the reality is he's the type of character who has a massive praise k*nk, you tell him he's beautiful and show it with your actions he'll be literal putty in your hands. he'd be an insanely good service top and i don't want to hear anyone saying no.

sawa: top / ? now like, hear me out when i say top because ultimately sawa is the type to want to treat her partner to the world. even if she was to bottom, she would be the one to sing their absolute praises and just wish to give them all the love in the world. she's extremely affectionate, and won't let anyone leave having had a bad time.

shin: bottom / submissive in a sense, especially in his relationship. he's into the idea of being treated a whole damn lot after everything that has happened in his life. he has tried both being a top and more dominant, and he enjoys it when he does, but there's something extra perfect at being able to let himself go at that point, too.

toma: top / dominant. the thing is he's not rough at all, and if his partner expressed interest in exploring the other way round, he'd find himself too besotted to even think about saying no. he really enjoys it, as long as he can have his one by his side.

asra: ..... service top all the way, or an extremely mischievous power bottom. there is nothing too much that asra isn't willing to try when it comes to roles for his partner, but these two are the ones that fall best in line. considering that they've already given their heart away, is there something wrong in them wanting to spend hours in treating their partner too?

julian: bottom. such a massive bottom, but will top a partner under the right circumstances. he's massively into someone else taking care of him, but he can also see the pleasure in directing someone into absolutely how to do that. meaning he can then show them just how much he believes they went wrong afterwards.

portia: service top or just a genuine bottom! portias very intune with the realisation that she does deserve good things, despite the life she has lived. she wants to feel her partner let go and feel good while they direct her on what to do, or have an experience of something truly beautiful. when she tops, she likes experimenting a lot. which leads to lots of fun but also tlc at the same time!

muriel: top! not as dominant as one might think because muriel is such a softer lover than most. he likes to lay down, take his time with his partner ... he's very much an official wine and dine type of person, and the ability to touch someone until they fall apart is very nice for him. if someone wanted to give it back to him, he wouldn't say no, however, it'll just be a newer experience for him that he'll be happy to try out ( and definitely enjoys! )

yasuhiro: service top / power bottom. there is literally no in between, he's the type of person who wants to make those he's interested in a time to remember, but tends to have a lot of quicker relationships over long term ones.

mineo: his book has shown him how to be the perfect top, but lbr he falls straight into service top / bottom category IMMEDIATELY. man is absolute putty in someone's hands when he ends up in a relationship, and he will devote so much into making them happy. he wants to pleasure the ones he loves, and his touch is always soft too.

eriko: dominant / top. she'd bottom for someone she truly fell for, but that's going into headcanons i will be dropping onto her page.

kei: is either a top / dominant or power bottom, because kei bottoming for someone means he'll be a massive pain and probably manage to manipulate some control back before the situation go out of hand. despite his usual easygoing nature, in bed he can certainly be the type to have a stern voice. he's pretty commanding, likewise.

yuzuru: moooost likely a top, but works super well into bottoming for the ones he grows to love and care for. as an officer, a lot of his relationships allow him to revel in his need for control, but in other parts of life, when he gives such a wide part of himself away, he could very easily give way to the object of his affection.

kageyuki: ???? - all his sexual experiences have been the typical affairs that have had him in a top role, and only at 29 years old, when he discovers his freedom, does he come to terms with an experience outside of that. he's open because he is so open to exploring everything new with his partner, in a much more explicit role too. if they want him to do one thing, he will. he's awfully unfair to his partner, because his observations will ensure he knows their weakness either way, but at the same time leaves his own so open for the new pleasure too.

aiji: top, for definite, but definitely falls into the whole service / submissive top role when in the right situation. he's a little inexperienced in what people can do while making love, but he finds himself willing to learn and perhaps even find out, given the circumstances he is taught them.

lucifer: top / dominant / sadistic for the most of his relationships, despite his attitude at some points, he ends up relishing in what may be having control over another persons pleasure and pain in particular. despite this, makes an amazingly great power bottom, and is happy to let his partner take the reigns to completely bottom if they so dare. behind asmodeus, along with satan, he is definitely one of the most experimental / lustful demons i have.

mammon: service top or dominant top. cooould bottom if he knew it would make his partner happy, because he'd give up the pride for that. his partner is his treasure, and he refuses to have them treated in any other manner. he pampers his partners, he will turn them into pillow princess'. man will devote himself to them if you let him. at the same time, treat him well and they will get a completely welcomed but new side of him all together ...

satan: usually dominant / top but actually part times very frequently in being the bottom only when he feels like being an absolute menace to his partner. also after asmodeus is one of the most experimental / lustful demons i have. whereas lucifer will drop it into private, formal conversations, he will be the one texting or telling them in public, running a hand across their thigh under the table until they come undone in his hands. it's up to you if you want to take it further, or give him a run for his money for such actions in the night.

asmo. switch. asmo is simply just dtf. he wants to explore every possible position with his partner, and them enjoying it is his favourite place.

beel: service! top! loving and cherishing your partner? he's so big into telling you how amazing they are for him, how much it means to have them by his side. he's playful enough to let you take the reins, and find the enjoyment of being taught just how to make the one who means the most to him feel just right. after enough experience, he'll be sure to do it all by himself as he tells them they can let themselves go for him.

belphie: power bottom / bottom, but has a sadistic enough streak that he will play the dominant role for his partner once he has enough energy for it. his dream role would be to be someones pillow princess, but also he's aware that sometimes a partner won't know exactly what he needs, and sometimes he has a streak bold enough to let him wish to push further. if his partner was looking to explore any further but was worried about physical consequences, he's more than up for exploring in dreamscapes with them instead.

diavolo: dominant! ... unless with the right person, then diavolo is definitely a strong bottom too. he likes to explore new things with his partners and therefore finds it such a fun time to learn about human customs and all the things he can do with them in the long run. he's got a slight masochistic streak, and good puppy-eyes to boot ... it makes it difficult for him not to explore both sides of the relationship when he can, too.

barbatos: dominant, mainly power bottom. from what canon has shown us he has a masochistic streak, and he likes to give his partners a belief that they do have a sense of control over him before that perfect butler persona breaks and he shows them the truth. honestly, though, part of him would enjoy letting go and letting someone serve him without instructions, just once ... but he has to lead to that, and have a relationship deep enough so that they can share that trust.

simeon: power bottom or dominant top again, but slips into the other role easier than my other muses would. simeon likes surprising his partner the most, and letting them see a side of an angel they wouldn't expect at all. he can't help it, really, he enjoys it a lot.

solomon: dominant / top. it's what he's known his entire life, but is the worst tease about it the entire time. he will always tease his partner in public and act innocent the entire time it happens, before whispering something in their ear to get them riled up. despite popular belief, however, solomon is close to his demons - many of whom he's held fwb dynamics with and has explored a rather submissive side to. he does enjoy it, on occasion, and will be happy to follow if his partner so wishes.

thirteen: similar to eriko. she screams topping unless the person she is with she completely trusts.

raphael: exploring, actually. he's unsure the more he considers it.

liliana: bottom! ... in some routes she leans more into a rather power bottom type dynamic but at the same time i think she finds herself happier this way? there's always something appreciative about being treated like this.

dante: top / dominant. a very traditional gentlemans gentleman, he knows no different and understands its the position that he will uphold his entire life ... not that he doesn't enjoy it, of course, he has a streak of his own that he likes to keep behind somewhat closed doors. but given the right partner, and situation, his mind might slip to trying something else, too.

nicola: top / dominant ... but partakes a lot in being a service top / will let the occasional partner top him entirely. it's all about playing a game to nicola, much rather freer than his own cousin is, because when he loves someone, it's all about the keeping them by his side. he likes to pamper, and be pampered, in ways both he and the one he loves may not expect in the long run.

oliver: power bottom / bottom. i don't take constructive criticism, his job and boss are incredibly stressful and this man deserves to be pampered, to have something done for him when in the bedroom.

gilbert: dominant / top or a service top. he could bottom, on rare occasion where he gets drunk, but he's a pamperer by nature ... one of the ones who just wants his partner to feel good, to pamper and to spoil them. as long as theres a blush on their cheeks, a smile on their face and hes achieved the highest respect. he's happy.

yang: top. the only muse of mine i can't imagine a bottom under any circumstance rip.

[kn96artworks]

full: https://privatter.net/i/6927068 

mini lore under cut (warning: don’t click any of these if you’re in a bad mental state or just feeling sh*tty or under the weather in general)

ex? surgeon mikage / nurse ryuga, r18g?

basically mikage suffers from severe MDD with psychosis (+/- schizophrenia? maybe) and suicidal tendencies following the tragic death of his parents (more or less the same as canon, but here mizuto was suspected to be secretly taking drugs and gradually became more and more unstable. mizuto was a surgeon too i guess). after the tragedy he was admitted to the psychiatric ward for close observation and recovery. 

so ryuga took care of him throughout his admission, and he inevitably formed an attachment to the guy. yeah. 

then after rounds of intense treatment and ECTs he’s good again. all’s well. until it’s not.

they ended up dating after mikage got discharged because the attachment was mutual i suppose. they maintains a good fluffy relationship in between works (which is decidedly difficult since they work in different departments)

mikage is fine and stable since quite some times and he got back to work as always. everyone’s happy (because he’s a d*mn good surgeon even though he has like massive impostor syndrome and near nonexistant self esteem)

then he starts to act strange. his mood became noticeably more labile with worsening mood swings and prone to violence. they suspected that he’s relapsing due to stress/exhaustion so they put him on medical leave. subsequently his condition deteriorates.

(turns out he’s been skipping his meds) (he insists that he’s fine) (random side note, doctors make the worst patients)

ryuga has been keeping tabs on him all the time and urged him for a psychiatric visit. unfortunately it didn’t happen. ryuga being ryuga, also took a leave from work to keep an eye on him. 

but why ryuga tho? 

because fusa and toma were separated from him for their safety (or rather fusa saw him getting worse and she called ryuga about it. she went away and took touma with her. toma was initially reluctant but she reasoned that it’s for their own good.) mikage, currently very unstable, interpretted it as fusa abandoning him and forcefully taking toma away from him.

so mikage, in a fit of emotion, drugged ryuga and locked him in his house. 

and he later mutilates(basically paralysed and blinded) ryuga so he can’t escape. he did it out of fear that ryuga would either leave him or be taken away too. the story ends with him mercy killing ryuga and commiting suicide afterwards.

this is very fked up. i have no idea from which corner of my brain did this came from.

btw there’s an even MORE fked up version of the story/pic whereby mikage straight up amputates ryuga’s arms and legs. this will forever haunt me ⊙﹏⊙∥

i am sorry for making ya’ll read/see this