#hi hello. this was a series of thoughts that felt better in verse.

[love-songs-for-emma]

i've discovered that i sleep resting my

head exactly on the spot i got a tattoo

yesterday and while this is silly and

nonsense, i'm going to take this moment

to blame my first boyfriend for yet

another random thing that we had no

idea would have a lifelong effect on me —

when i was little, i would always sleep

with my arms down or bent at my sides.

it wasn't until i was 15 and having

sleepovers with my boyfriend

that i was introduced to

putting your arm under the pillow.

this strat has fundamentally

changed me. every night i sleep

with one of my arms up and under my pillow.

sometimes the arm falls asleep but still,,

i have known no sleepytime comfort better than this one.

and this, ladies and gents,,

is why ive been waking up every hour

for the last 6 hours

my darling first love,,

maybe not in the ways we'd have imagined,,

but u have changed me irrecoverably

—m.m.m.

4:44 AM on friday, march 1st, 2024.

[micer2012]

a reflection on MatPat's plagiarism

Hello, my name is Della, or micer2012, and 2 years ago Game Theory plagiarized three Tumblr posts of mine, making a video that now holds almost 6 million views.

My posts explaining his plagiarism made their rounds on Reddit, Tumblr and Twitter, but despite the Hermits and Pooka commenting on it (generally in support of me or saying they don’t know enough details about the situation to say either way), MatPat and his team have never owned up to anything, and no mention of my name is present on the video. The one Reddit post they made denying it (which was made before my detailed takedown, which they have never responded to (though the mods on the r/GameTheorists Reddit were kind and made sure it stayed up)) didn’t even mention me by name, just referring to me as “a tumblr user”. (Though one of the screenshotted comments in the body of the post does say my name)

This experience was baffling, but it’s overall had a positive impact on my life. r/Hermitcraft gave me a Golden Apple Award (post of the year, 2021). My inbox was filled with excited fans, wanting to ask me questions or pose their own theories, far more than the hate I got. (Though the hate I got from Game Theory fans was VERY funny. I wondered why none of them gave me shit about saying “MatPat misgendered Evil Xisuma” before realizing none of them read that far into the post.)

And getting on a more personal, and much more important note, I met most of my current online friends through this, including my partner. It helped me grow closer with my irl friends as well and gave me an entertaining story that I tell whenever I have the chance. It was one of the first things in my life that really made me feel like my talents, my autistic hyperfocusing and analyzing of things I love, could be valuable. Useful. Exploitable. It blew my mind that MatPat thought an autistic kid’s ramblings about a Minecraft Youtube joke character were good enough to steal. To put an audible sponsorship on. To get 6 million views off of.

And that’s why I’m writing this post, this update years later. As you might’ve been able to guess, Hbomberguy’s Youtube video on plagiarism reopened this wound. It was really hard for me to sit through, it took days of pausing and taking breaks, because I had experienced everything he was talking about firsthand. 

In my 10 page long takedown post, I wrote about how his rewording of my sentences made him say things that were incorrect, just like Filip did. The content farm production style that made big companies like Cinemassacre take one creator (AVGN/MatPat) and turn him and his content into a brand, a voice that reads out scripts by other people with other opinions/theories, is a history shared with Game Theory. What really hit me was Harris talking about how big creators only do this to people they think they can get away with doing it to. How they view their victims as lesser, as not deserving of their words, repackaging them as their own to give to an audience that can gain from hearing them, but deserves better than to have to listen to the original victim.

That’s the thing, I 100% think a video version of my theory to expose to a bigger community than “Evil Xisuma Fans on Tumblr” is a great idea!! Near the end of the video Harris talks about how video adaptations of things could be a great market, even an accessibility tool, and I completely feel that about my posts. I wrote them quickly assuming the reader was someone well versed on Evil Xisuma lore, after not even watching most of the CarnEvil series, and the diagrams I made to explain them are even less comprehensible. Harris makes a joke that I completely agree with, 

“I’m sure some of my videos would do very well if someone translated them into English.”

I don’t think I would’ve ever made my posts if I didn’t have autism, and a special fixation on Evil Xisuma and Hermitcraft. I made them because I felt the character was being done an injustice, and because I wanted to share with other superfans this theory that might explain it away. I do think that MatPat plagiarizing me was ableist. I used to wonder a lot if this would’ve happened if my posts were articulated better, if they had been peer reviewed, if the posts themselves had been spread to a wider audience before MatPat made his video. At one point when the discourse was fresh (before I had the time to write out my 10 page rebuttal), a bigger YouTuber (100k subs at the time) messaged me and started talking on Discord, interested in possibly making a video on the discourse, but I think my style of typing and general enthusiasm drove him away. You can tell by a single look at my blog (or my original 3 posts!) that I don’t usually type like this. This post you’re reading now has been peer reviewed and edited, and took me hours to format correctly. That video could’ve been huge, the entire outcome of this MatPat situation would probably be much different.

I also used to stress a lot about “being the one who ruined Evil Xisuma’s story”. If you didn’t know, to me S8 Evil Xisuma’s story got wrapped up pretty quickly and unsatisfying (in my personal autistic opinion). (though this might’ve been due to s8 being experimental and ending early with moon big) There was no real culmination of the plot points and arcs going on, and I don’t want to blame myself, but when Xisuma said on stream (when the MatPat thing was first going on) that he didn’t want to focus on the discourse or draw more attention to it, it makes a lot of sense to me that he just wanted to wrap it all up as quickly as possible. For a while I beat myself up about it, of ruining the story of this character I love, but it’s not my fault. If anyone’s, it’s MatPats, but I don’t think it’s useful to just blame someone else. That’s how the story ended up going, and that’s fine. This is Evil Xisuma we’re talking about, their inconsistent lore is what made them such an interesting character. And notably, Pooka made an animation with an awesome culmination of Jeff, the Dreamer, Evil Xisuma, and his own sona’s story, and it makes me so happy to watch. Whatever Pooka does is of course his own choice, but I’m glad he got to give this personal story his own ending (if it is an ending, and not just the start of a new chapter!). 

Typing this all out and getting it off my chest has made me feel a lot better. For a while I wanted to make my OWN video essay about Evil Xisuma’s lore and CarnEvil’s lore, actually going episode by episode to explain it instead of just assuming you knew as much about Evil Xisuma as I did. That idea is still not off the table, but MCYT isn’t something I’m that into right now. Maybe if something else comes out about Evil Xisuma I’ll get back on it, but for now I’m fine with letting that go. But I want to make other videos, share other theories and analysis… if I have the freetime I’d love to make YouTube videos, and if I don’t have the time I’ll continue posting to my tumblr and infodumping to my friends. Apparently my infodumping is valuable enough “content” to steal! Writing this out has made me feel a lot better though, I’m really glad I got it out.

If anyone ever wants to talk to me about the things I’m obsessed with, or reach out to me as a source in a bigger discussion about Game Theory or other channels, my inbox is more than welcome :] Thank you for reading! 

Sincerely, a tumblr user.

[multifandomgirl08]

To Constantly Be Away [Mini Verstappen Series]

Dad!Max Verstappen x Wife!Reader (Established Relationship)

Summary: Second race of the season and Max is already having a tough time with the car. Missing his family only makes it worse.

Warning(s): Fluff

A/N: I stayed up late watching qualifying and the race in Singapore while working on this, and took out my stress watching that on Mini Verstappen verse Max.

Words: 1.7k

Previous Part → Next Part Mini Verstappen Masterlist

It had been a bad weekend for Max, the car wasn’t running right with the new upgrades that had been added. They were starting P10 in the race. Y/N couldn’t fly to Jeddah with Nico because she was on call through the weekend. Everything was just going horribly wrong.

“Max!” He heard Christian call him over. “I know that you’re not in the best spirits right now, but I need to make sure that you’re okay.”

Christian did occasionally still check in with him before races, but given that Max hadn’t felt like this since before Daniel had left Red Bull. It felt nice that Christian could still pick up on those things after all this time.

“Call Y/N if you have to, find a way to talk to her or Nico.” Christian laid a hand on Max’s arm. “I know you’ll feel better for it once you have.”

Max tried to manage a smile but just gave him a stiff nod at the end.

Y/N had texted him when she got out of helping one of her co-workers with an issue one hour after he was already at the track for the race. She let him know that Nico had been sitting in front of the TV all afternoon waiting for the race to start before ordering an early dinner. In the photo that she sent, he could see her laptop open to her work email, Nico on his spot on the couch hugging one of the throw pillows. It had made some of Max's nerves go away but he still needed to talk to her at least for a few minutes.

He tapped his fingers against the screen of his phone, looking at the photo of her and Nico napping in his and Y/N’s bed. He let his phone unlock before pulling up his contacts and pressing on Y/N’s name. He stared at it for a few seconds before putting his phone up to his ear.

“Hello?” He heard her voice.

Max let his shoulders deflate, “Mijn leeuwin?” He stammered out.

“Hey Maxy,” She didn’t call him that often, only when she thought he really needed the comfort.

“Hi,” He weakly replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” He choked out, trying to brush off the sound of concern in her voice. He didn’t want to make Y/N upset or let her know how horrible he was feeling about being in the car. There was nothing that she could do to make the car better for him to drive.

He didn’t want to be at the track without his family. It felt wrong. He knew that Nico and Y/N were watching at home, and were supporting him even if they couldn’t be there but he selfishly wanted them here.

He heard Y/N sigh over the phone, “Do you want to talk to Nico? He’s coloring in front of the TV.”

“No, it’s not that bad.” He let slip out. He didn’t want to alarm her about how he was feeling. Brad would be coming into his driver's room soon before the race and he just needed a few moments to collect himself.

“Can you tell me about him? Tell me what he’s doing.” He asked.

“Sure,” He didn’t know if she was doing anything for work at the moment. But he knew that if she was, she was putting it aside for a few moments to calm him down. He could imagine her sitting on the couch with the caramel cashmere Hermés blanket thrown over her legs that had been gifted to them after they had moved. He could feel some of the pain of his headache slowly seep away as Y/N talked about Nico seeing Christian on the TV asking when was the next time that he could see Grandpa and Grandma GG. Max couldn’t help the smile that broke out when remembering that Nico couldn’t pronounce Geri’s name. It always ended up sounding like Gewy. The more she talked the more Max felt like he was in the right headspace to get inside the car. 50 laps, media, and then once he got on the plane he would be on his way home to his family.

They had talked until Brad had come into Max’s room to help him get ready for the race. Max had begrudgingly said goodbye.

“I love you.” He heard from Y/N.

“Love you, Papa!” He heard Nico yell. “Good luck.”

“I love you too, both of you.” He said cradling the phone in his hand. “Be home soon.”

Max pulled the phone away from his ear, giving Brad a small nod. Ready to go out there and give the race his all.

As the race went on it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. It wasn’t great, the major issues with the car seemed to go away after qualifying luckily. It was running closer to what he was used to. Even with those issues, he had somehow managed to finish P3. It felt like a miracle given how the weekend had been going.

He avoided the press as much as he could until he had to go for his post-race press conference and talk to the other journalists.

Everything felt so draining today. Normally he would talk to the team, and try to figure things out with GP about what went wrong earlier in the weekend but he just wanted to go home. He knew it was the thing that would set his head right.

Once his car got to the private airport, the next four hours passed by rather slowly. It was too quiet on the plane, Nico wasn’t bothering the stewardess on board about snacks, and Y/N wasn’t carding her fingers through his hair while she aimlessly checked her phone. He would normally end up taking a nap throughout the flight. She would wake him up slowly. He would start to grumble that she woke him up before her laugh would kick in. It was the best sound that he could hear after a long day on the track.

The drive from the airport was taking too long. Once he got to the house, he pulled into the garage. It took him almost no time to get his bag, lock his car, and make his way through the side door before walking into the living room.

Max quietly closed the door. Given how late it was Nico was probably asleep. Y/N would let him stay up to watch the race but once it was over, podium or not Y/N would have Nico get ready for bed.

He placed his keys in the bowl by the door, quietly walking through the house that was still covered in half-unpacked boxes. He went downstairs, walking by Nico's room to see the light turned off. Max opened the door, the hall light showing Nico's empty bed and missing pillow. That could only mean one thing...

He quietly walked towards the master bedroom, pushing open the door that was half closed. The moon casting a shadow over the bed, to see Y/N and Nico asleep under the covers, his side of the bed, open and waiting for him.

Nico normally wasn’t allowed to sleep in here with him and Y/N. Unless he had a nightmare, Nico would sleep in his own bed. She probably made an exception tonight because she didn’t know when his flight was going to get in.

He moved to the foot of the bed to take off his shoes.

"Max?" He heard as he slipped his shoes off. Then left them at the foot of the bed, making a mental note to put them away in the morning.

He turned his head to see Y/N barely awake, leaning against the pillows. Max shrugged off his jacket before walking over to her.

"Hi, mijn leeuwin." He was quick to kiss her forehead.

Over the last month since the wedding, Max had stopped questioning how Y/N fit into his life. The way that she could accept everything that was going on with his schedule and Nico. She took it all with so much grace. He never knew that someone could.

“Hey.” She muttered.

“I’ll change and then be in bed.” He watched her slightly nod until she laid her head back against the pillow. Nico turned over and moved to curl up next to her.

He was quick to remove his shirt and took off the skinny jeans that he was wearing, his socks getting stuck in the denim before throwing all of it into the laundry basket in the bathroom. His feet tapped against the cold tile, the transition of the wood doing nothing to warm his feet.

Max pulled back the sheets from his side of the bed being careful not to wake Nico. He took off his watch, put it on his nightstand, and then climbed under the black sheets of the bed. Max turned over towards his son and wife, pulling them in closer. All of the stress from the race seeping out of him, finally feeling like himself again.

Not Mad Max, not Super Max. Just Max.

Max closed his eyes, just letting himself lay there for a few moments. Taking in the quiet sound of the house, Nico sleeping next to him, Y/N within arms reach. He reached over, lightly stroking her cheek. He looked over meeting her eyes in the dark. He could see her lips form the question, "Are you okay?"

He nodded back brushing his thumb over her cheek again seeing her eyes flutter closed.

It blew Max away sometimes that this was his life. That by the age of 27 he had a wife and a child. The WDCs were nice and they were things that he was happy he had achieved, but this right here was what mattered to him most. The people that he got to come home to after stressful weekends and hard-fought victories. This was what was important to him.

Max settled further into his pillow ready to let sleep take him when he felt short hair brush over his arm. He opened one eye to see Nico had moved his head to rest against his shoulder. Max kissed the side of his son’s head, finally letting sleep take him.

taglist: @karmabyfernando, @barcagirly, @sachaa-ff, @iamahallucinationnn, @musingsbyshreya, @glow-ish, @nonsensical-nonsence, @fanboyluvr, @champomiel, @gothicwidowsworld, @lighttsoutlewis, @itsalwaysgay, @minkyungseokie

[lovdlydaz]

DEVIL BY THE WINDOW.

incubus!yeonjun x black!afab!reader

“i met the devil by the window, traded my life. temptation touched my tongue, spread the wings of desire.”

warnings: talks of religious beliefs/trauma, suggestive but there’s only dirty talk, kinda sorta angst? talks of the unknown/paranormal, whatever just enjoy

a/n: hello! this will be a 6 part series with ot5, the first one will be yeonjun since he is the oldest. i’m going down by ages so soobin will be next. hope you enjoy! pt. 2 here

you grew up in a very religious way, basically the epitome of a black christian household. your mother would hold bible studies at your house with all of her church friends, and your father was a preacher. your older brother had gotten baptized when you were 15, and he kept spitting religious facts and truths to you every second he could.

the fact was, you didn’t really believe in god as your parents thought you did. you had a bible, you had a bible app on your phone that would give you verses for the day, but it’s not like you ever read them. your bible dusted on the top of your dresser, collecting lint from every other book you had. you were a christian yes, but you were also not one.

you didn’t believe in ghosts, paranormal activity or anything of that sort. your parents always said that your childhood home was haunted, and it was the angels watching over the family that made the spirits not bother either of them. you just rolled your eyes at their bullshit, they would always say that.

however, you did always have that weird feeling that something was watching you, something you couldn’t put your finger on. it followed you everywhere, made you develop paranoia and forced you to always be cautious with everything you did.

you weren’t all that far off, either.

“why do you keep watching her, yeonjun?” soobin asked his fellow incubus, yeonjun staring through his fancy little glass that showed you on your phone at the subway station, headphones on and blasting music to help drown out the noise and the feeling of someone watching you. yeonjun just stared at your form, leaning on his hand and looking like a lovesick teenager.

“i don’t know soobin, but something about her just… makes me feel like i need to claim her. she looks so innocent and small, i need to take her.” he spoke, his voice getting darker with more syllables he spits out. soobin was a little taken aback by this, but he just chuckled and leaned back, staring at the ceiling of their little demon house. “i get that feeling yeonjun-ah, but you do understand that there are regulations to us having contact with humans?” he asked the older, making the man turn his head to him and snap his fingers, shattering the glass mirror.

“i know, i’m not that stupid. but you know, we are demons right? so there’s nothing wrong with bending the rules a little, huh?” he smirked, making soobin sigh into his hands and look up at the blonde. “don’t say that i didn’t warn you when mr. satan is on your ass about you having relations with this girl,” he exasperated, but the smaller was already gone and off somewhere.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ⎯⎯ ୨ ୧ ⎯⎯ ੈ✩‧₊˚

it was nighttime, and you were doing your daily skin routine. you were applying all that you needed to all over your face to make it nice and shiny for the morning, and to help you sleep. you felt so much better now that you were in the comfort of your own apartment, grabbing your phone and laying down in your bed going through media. that’s when you heard it—three raps at the window. you quickly looked at your bedside window, and there was nothing there.

you got up and walked over to it, looking out of it without opening it. you were so scared, but you had to stay strong and tell yourself that you were just hearing things. until you came face to face with a demonic man staring right back at you through your window.

you screamed, grabbing the nearest object and chucking it at your window, breaking it and hitting the man in the face. he groaned and broke through the window, standing in your room while you cowered on your bed. you started to actually pray, trying to make the demon get out any way you could.

after a few minutes of praying and crying, you looked up and saw that it was still there, and just laughing at you. “god you humans are jumpy! prayers only work for ghosts and actual traditional demons, not me sweets.” he smiled, stepping one inch closer while you leaped three feet back. your back hit the wall and you slid down the wall, holding yourself and trying to calm yourself down.

that’s when yeonjun appeared in front of you and leaned down, grabbing your chin and staring at your form. your eyes were red and puffy, your big lips in a quiver as you stared back at him. he was pretty… really really handsome. you were surprised at this revelation, because you were always taught that demons were ugly and disgusting creatures who were the definition of evil. but this one was so handsome… and he looked kind, however that made just to deceive you and not actually be a kind demon.

“will you calm down now?” yeonjun inquired, giving you a small smile and a soft chuckle. your breathing had slowed down but not that much. you were still panicked that you had just witnessed a demon in your room, but he did ease you somewhat. at least he wasn’t trying to steal your soul or something. he just stared at you, hand still under your chin which you could barely notice since you were just trying to study his features.

he had soft pink skin with a rosy complexion, big pink lips and cat eyes. he had big eyebrows which oddly fit perfectly on his sculpted face with long pointy horns that were almost 5 feet in length. they were huge, but it only intrigued you more. his hands were big and veiny, and they were heavy. it made you realize that this man was a real demon, not just one from a fairytale or something. he was a real demon, and you had to take a few minutes to realize that.

however, the flapping of his large wings snapped you back into reality, making you lean back in fear. you hadn’t heard his question, so all you did was stare at him as your breath picked up again. he sighed, pressing a hand on your chest and it easily calmed your nerves, automatically making you more eased and relaxed. he chuckled, getting up and putting a hand on his hip.

“that’s much better, now… how about i introduce myself?” you nodded, getting up from the ground and sitting on the bed while he stood right in front of you. “my name is choi yeonjun, and i am a demon. that much you could probably see, but i’m not just any demon. i am an incubus, which means i feed off the sexual desire of my vic—humans. normally i feed from dreams, but i can also feed from the pure arousal of my subject. now how about you?” he asked, making you snap back into reality since you sorta zoned out on his face while he was talking.

“oh uhm—my n-name is y/n, and i’m a college student about to graduate. i’m 22 and have a job as a banking accountant, and uhm… i’m human? yeah?” you weren’t as scared anymore, but still on edge since he was just staring deep into your soul. it felt like he was feeding off you just from his eyes, which made you even more scared, you didn’t know what to do. you just kept your breathing steady, which he obviously noticed. “well, lovely introduction, i bet we could get along greatly,” he joked, smiling at your somewhat trembling form.

god, he couldn’t get enough of you. you were pretty and you looked so innocent, he wanted to just ruin you. turn you into his little toy to mess with, play with like a ragdoll and morph into what he wanted you to be. and he could, but he needed to ease you into it first. so, he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and staring down at you.

“you’re probably wondering how i got here, and how you’re able to see me aren’t you?” he asked, to which you nodded. “well, us demons have this special little thing where we can either let humans see us, or have them see us in their dreams but never in real life. i’ve chosen to see you since i want to get a raw reaction from you instead of in your dreams, but that’s just me. not every incubus does it my way, but they’re all old farts so it doesn’t really matter,” he chuckled softly, still staring down at you. you couldn’t really comprehend what the hell you were seeing, but seeing him looking somewhat human had your nerves calmed.

although, his explanation made you a bit confused. “how can y’all just… pick and choose who gets to see you or not?” your tone was obviously filled with confusion, but he just laughed some more. “i don’t know, demons are just weird like that i guess,” he smiled, making you softly giggle. he snapped his fingers and pointed at you, smiling while he did so. “i made you laugh! point one for yeonjun.” he smiled proudly, making you giggle again. “don’t get on your high horse about it, it was just a small laugh.” you smiled, making him cross his arms and pout.

“any laugh counts in my book, so!” he exclaimed, making you slightly punch his shoulder. then you realize—he’s hot to the touch. not hot like he had been under a blanket, hot as in he had just soaked in the sun for about 3 years. he felt like he was constantly on fire, and it scared you yet intrigued you. he was filled with mysteries, and you felt like sherlock (insert shinee joke here). however, there was one lingering question on your mind—if he was an incubus… why did he come to you specifically?

“i still have one question though…” you mumbled, his head perking up and his tail swung behind him. “what is it?” he asked. “if you’re an incubus, then why did you come to me specifically? and what are you going to do to me?” your voice had hints of fear sprinkled in it, and he could tell—you thought he was going to suck your life force out of you while you were awake. he just burst out laughing, holding his stomach while wiping his eyes. “oh wow, wow! you think i’m gonna suck your life force away? that’s the funniest thing i’ve heard in my 100+ years of living!” he chortled, making you pout.

“but isn’t that what incubi do? sucubi and incubi suck the life force out of people through their arousal—“ “traditional sucubi and incubi do that, not me hun,” he said, looking down at you with condescending eyes. “what i want to do with you is claim you. make you mine. make you scream in pleasure as i pound deep into your womb with everything i have. i want to hear you, and make sure nobody else can have you unlike me. that’s all i want.” his voice got lower and raspier, crawling towards you and sitting on his knees on the bed. you could feel your legs clench with his words, already sort of feeling the arousal begin.

“and yeah, maybe we feed off of the desire of our hosts but that doesn’t mean we always take their life force out of them. sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. sometimes we have a sort of nifty little thing that makes our human addicted to us more than ever, that no other human could satisfy them. sometimes we can take the life force away and turn them into a demon like us. it all depends on how we feel.” he rambled on, but you were drowning out his voice. that was until he grabbed your chin and forced you to stare at him, red eyes boring down on you.

“while i would like to make you a succubus so we could be together in hell, i would also like seeing you be unsatisfied with any man that tries to fuck you, to see you struggle to cum by yourself and to have me come by your window and make sure your neighbors file 6 noise complaints by the time we’re done. wouldn’t you like that, y/n-ah?” he purred deep into your ear, making you gulp and rub your legs together more. you whimpered slightly, feeling your body grow hot but that only made him smile. “so, it’s a deal? great!” he exclaimed, smiling brightly as he pulled away from you, getting up from the bed and going back to the window.

“see you again at the same time tomorrow, y/n-ah?” he asked, slowly climbing out the window and you nodded, still speechless by what you just had been a part of. he giggled and waved, flapping his wings then disappearing into thin air. you could feel how soaked you were through your underwear and you sighed, really trying to figure out what the hell just happened to you.

ੈ✩‧₊˚ ⎯⎯ ୨ ୧ ⎯⎯ ੈ✩‧₊˚

back at hell yeonjun happily flied into the house he shared with his pals, beomgyu greeting him this time. he raised his head up from his phone when he saw the smiley man come into the room, closing it and setting it down. “so? how’d it go?” he asked, yeonjun flopping onto their magic couch with a lovesick sigh. “i think it went pretty well. she was even feeling arousal before i did anything! so i say i’ve won her over,” he happily chirped, making beomgyu chuckle. “you really have a thing for humans don’t you yeonjun-hyung?” he smiled, yeonjun hitting him playfully and giggling. “not all humans, just her!” he bashed, letting soobin know it was his time to come into the room.

“you know everyone was watching you two right? even hyuka, and you know how he is about things like this, being a new incubus and all,” and that had yeonjun shocked, putting a dramatic hand over his chest and gasping. “really? guess my y/n did a pretty good job,” he proudly bellowed, making soobin roll his eyes and drink his hot coffee. “she is pretty yeonjun, but you do understand that if you put her under a spell that makes her unable to cum without the help of a demon, any demon that isn’t you can help her right?” he told the oldest, making yeonjun’s whole world come crashing down.

“hehe, funny story… i kinda did that before i left, and she didn’t notice…” he scratched the back of his neck, making soobin and beomgyu sigh. “well, you know your time on earth has started over right? so you have 5 days until you can go back, right?” he told him, yeonjun’s heart feeling a slight twinge. “so… i can’t please her until my time’s up?” he asked, soobin nodding. “don’t mean to say i told you so but… i told you so.” he giggled slyly, making the blonde boy growl.

“well then how is she supposed to get off? i can’t help her…” he mumbled, beomgyu holding his older friend in his arms. “how about this… everyone in our group can go and help her for each day you have to stay, and on the day you can come back, you can help her and—if you want—we can join you?” beomgyu suggested, making yeonjun’s bright eyes light up with joy. “you guys would really do that for me?” he asked, the two boys nodding. “i’ll convince hyuka to as well, and be there for emotional support whenever he goes!” terry called out from his room, hearing hyuka’s confused noise from his room. yeonjun just laughed some more, his smile brighter than ever.

“thanks guys, don’t know what i would do without you all,” he sighed, soobin ruffling his hair and beomgyu hugging him tighter. “it’s nothing yeonjun-ah, just what friends do right?” soobin spoke, making the fellow demon nod his head. “mhm, thanks you guys.”

© gg 2023. dividers were made by me. do not steal, use, or repost my work without my consent. reblogging/interaction is welcomed.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hello good morning. Can I request an alternate ending of love only after death. All of them please. Thank you

Technically this series already has an alternate ending, with (Love) going back in time for a happy ending, as the original just has Y/N dying and leaving him to live with his guilt. As there is nothing specified here other than an alternate ending, I wrote some angst with a fluffy ending. What if the gem that brought him back in time didn’t exist?

-It had been weeks since your passing, since he had buried you, visiting you every day, wishing he could take back each day that he ignored you, treated you so cruelly, only wanting to love you the way you should be loved now.

-He came out to the quiet garden where you were buried, surrounded by the flowers you adored, to find a surprise, a sprout growing from your grave.

-(Love) hesitated about pulling it, not wanting your grave to be marred, but there was something else, something holding him back, so he held back, listening to that feeling.

-Days passed and the sprout, which (Love) thought was a weed, grew into a flower, one that was close to blooming, the bud growing more and more each day.

-He tended to the flower, watering it, talking to you quietly, “Is this your way of comforting me, Y/N?” He felt his guilt growing, feeling that this flower was you reaching out to him, to put his mind at ease, but it did anything but- it made his guilt grow, making him feel even worse.

-His family, visiting him, knowing that (Love) was still hurting, saw the flower as well, seeing how well it was tended to, telling them that (Love) was the one doing it.

-The bud grew and grew, to the size of a small fruit, causing the stem to droop down onto your grave, but still gave no indication that it was going to bloom.

-(Love) was confused, researching about this flower, but there was nothing- it was like it was a new species, he even asked those who were more well versed in plant life, having them taking a look, but once again, it yielded no results.

-Despite knowing nothing, he continued to tend to it, watering it, talking to you, as if the flower was you, something he had wished was true, but he knew, deep down, that he was just being delusion, trying to make himself feel better.

-The bud grew into a melon, rather than a flower, as he walked out to tend to the grave like normal, surprising him to see a pure pink watermelon sized melon there waiting for him.

-This brought about even more questions and research but while combing over several books, sitting in front of your grave, a strange noise filled the air.

-He looked around, confused as to what this sound was and where it was coming from before he looked at the melon, his eyes widening.

-Dropping the book, he approached, his hands on either side of the melon, and as he touched it, the melon instantly split open, revealing the source of the strange sound, a baby.

-He turned completely white in shock, his eyes like little dots as his mouth fell open, seeing a tiny baby girl squirming around, crying.

-As (Love) touched this child, she immediately calmed, opening her eyes, and he froze, seeing that she looked just like you but had his eyes, it was a child- the child you and he created.

-After panicking and calling several people, demanding them to come over, (Love) carefully cradled his child, holding her close as she cooed quietly, now calm and content to be in his arms.

-Nobody had ever heard of something like this, gods and humans had no answers, but it was Aphrodite, who could sense that this child was full of love, who offered a possible insight, “Y/N sacrificed herself out of love, protecting those children, right? And when you mourned her, (Love), you wept over her grave. Her love and your tears, your love for Y/N, created this child, your child- it is a child of pure love.”

-While it did sound a little far-fetched, nothing else about this situation seemed to make sense.

-Once D/N was cleaned up, (Love) could only stare down at her, seeing how much she looked like you, seeing you once again in the only other woman he would ever love again.

-She smiled up at him as tears welled in his eyes, looking down at her, “I’ll keep you safe and-and I’ll give you so much- so much love that you will never question it.”

-She giggled up at him, not understanding him as he chuckled, bringing her to his face so she could hug him, wanting her to be happy.

-A wisp of light caught his attention as D/N was playing with (Love’s) cheeks, and his eyes widened, seeing you there, in a long flowing white gown, an angel- his angel.

-You smiled warmly, seeing the two of them together as more tears welled in his eyes, he had so much he wanted to say to you, wanting to apologize and beg you not to leave him.

-You approached and pressed a kiss to the top of your daughter’s head, who cooed, looking up to see what had kissed her, finding nothing before you kissed (Love) softly on the forehead.

-You smiled warmly, tears quickly coming to your own tears as you slowly faded away, disappearing in a swarm of glittering butterflies.

-(Love) smiled down at D/N who saw the lights, babbling happily, reaching out to them, “Y/N is watching over the both of us, D/N. We’ll be fine.” She turned back and he pecked her forehead, making her giggle warmly as for the first time since he lost you, (Love) felt at ease.

[13eyond13]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For anime/manga : Death Note and Berserk.

Thanks 🌻

Hi! Sure thing:

DEATH NOTE:

Favorite Character: L was basically a "love at first sight" situation for me and the main reason I ever checked out the anime (I just really loved eccentric loner sad boys at the time and he just looked exactly up my alley at a glance, hahaha). And he has stayed extremely dear to me and my favourite cartoon guy ever basically since! I actually think Light is a bit more of a complicated/interesting character than L is to think about in-depth, and has become also kind of my favourite one in the series in a different way over time, but L is def the one that I was really obsessed with from the start.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I love everything up until the Yotsuba arc the most I think, I just find it so much fun in the beginning of the story when everything is so well-written and so exciting and tense and fast-paced. The university arc stuff MIGHT be the part that I just find the most fun and funny in the way that Death Note is known to be, with all the detailed little mind games and bitch moves and shocking reveals every other page, ahahah. I remember laughing out loud so many times during that section of the story just due to how ridiculous it gets and how often everyone is pulling the rug out from under each other nearly constantly.

And my favourite scene is probably the "first ever friend" scene in the manga. I WILL NEVER STOP THINKING ABOUT IT it's just so funny and mysterious and intriguing and layered to me

Character I Think is Underrated: Mikami is fairly underrated, but at the same time I myself am not the best at intuitively understanding him or creating content about him either...

Character I Think is Overrated: Matt (sorry I actually like him in the manga, but I just don't think he's that interesting really)

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Lawlight! I never needed much convincing about this.... I went straight from watching the anime to going "omg they should have kissed..."

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: The anime's audio elements are just so iconic and so good a lot of the time! It makes some of the manga scenes SO MUCH better just with stuff like the gregorian chanting while Light's writing the names. And no lie, it's really easy to follow as a story without even seeing what's happening onscreen, too. I used to listen to the English dub while drawing or doing my work sometimes and it felt almost exactly like an audio play.

-

BERSERK:

Favorite Character: Guts is by far my favourite! Which was a total surprise to me, because I thought he was going to be a pretty boring macho action hero cardboard cutout type guy going in. I got very attached to him while reading the manga after a few volumes, and now he's one of my all-time faves...

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I'm going to be very basic and say The Golden Age, but IT'S JUST REALLY GOOD OKAY. It's better than good, it's the reason the series went from just "ok this is pretty interesting" to "OMG WTF THIS IS SO GOOD I'M SO INVESTED NOW"

And my favourite scene?? Hmm.... extremely hard question, but I feel like the sword fights between Guts and Griffith are definitely some of the peak moments. Their first one is iconic in so many ways, but the second one in the snow really got me in the feels and made my stomach drop and my heart beat a bit faster as well!

Character I Think is Underrated: I feel like Casca is just kinda hard to talk about with other fans. She's my second favourite character in the series, but I feel like it's just really difficult to discuss her without it just getting either depressing or into too sensitive territory or something? I love her dearly in the manga, but the fandom space here seems only much fun to talk about Guts and Griffith in for me

Character I Think is Overrated: I am not THAT well-versed in who is overrated or underrated in this fandom, but I feel like mostly almost all the characters aside from maybe Griffith and Guts are a bit underrated and under-explored in fan stuff that I've seen? That might be entirely on me and the fact that I'm mostly looking at griffguts stuff, though...

Favorite Ship/Pairing: griffguts drives so much of the angst and the drama and I think is basically canon to me at this point... I don't think it's hard to interpret Griffith as in love with Guts, but I also think Guts is in love with Griffith too in just a more furtive sort of way

Something I Love About the Show/Movie:

I only partially watched the 1997 anime so far, and the Guts theme song in it is so good! My god that's still such a good fitting song for him and his personality somehow. And I'd never actually heard it before I read the series either!

[forever-rogue]

Unforeseen

AN | I missed these two so much, so naturally I had to come back to them. It’s just some soft fluff! Can be read as a stand alone or part of the series as a whole!

Pairing | Javier x Fem!Reader

Warnings | Mentions of Pregnancy

Word Count | 2.6k

Masterlist | Main, Javier, A Good Man ‘Verse

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You were almost asleep by the time Javier made it back to the living room. You were cuddled up with Stevie and Deacon, half paying attention to a rerun of the news. 

"Dulzura," your eyes snapped open as you looked up to find your husband standing over you. A little smirk tugged on his features as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your forehead, "is it time to put you to bed too?"

"Sorry," you offered a sheepish smile as you sat up and moved to make room for him, "thanks for putting her down. I'm just so tired today…lately."

"I know," he flopped into the spot next to you with a long sigh before putting an arm around your shoulders and pulling you close, "you sure everything's okay? You’ve been feeling off for a bit now."

"Of course, Javier," you insisted, reaching up and gently touching his cheek. Although you wanted to reassure him, knowing he would worry and stress if he thought even the slightest thing was off, you weren't positive either. But having them right there and holding you safely in his arms made you feel so much better, "we've just been busy and then taking care of you and Lucia is a whole other job. I haven't been sleeping well, and I'm sure once I get a good night's sleep I'll be fine."

"You sure, mi vida?" he wasn't quite convinced so you scoffed at him before laying back against his chest. He took your hand in his, lacing your fingers together and kissing your knuckles.

"Positive old man," you yawned lightly, "now stop worrying and relax. Everything is under control, my love."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

But the next morning, you weren't sure it was so true. As you were getting ready for work, you felt…off. As you were dropping Lucia off at daycare, you felt even worse. Halfway through the day, when your students were at lunch, you sat at your desk, lying your head down on a stack of papers as you tried to stay awake and keep your stomach from churning.

Nothing seemed to work. It must have been a nasty stomach ache or you'd eaten something for breakfast that didn't agree with you. But…you hadn't eaten anything different or weird.

With the knowledge that this had been happening more often than you'd like, you grew concerned. What if something was going on and you were ignoring something bad. Shit. Javi would never let you live it down. 

You pulled the phone towards and quickly dialed his office number, hoping you'd catch him between classes or during office hours. 

Almost as if he knew it was you, Javier picked up the phone before the first thing even finished. 

"Hello?" you couldn't tell if he was annoyed or worried. 

"Hi love, it's me-"

"What's wrong?" it wasn't like you to call him during your short lunch break unless something was up. You almost laughed at how protective he was over you, but you definitely weren't in the mood. 

"I-I don't feel well," you admitted, "a-and it's been happening more often lately and I didn't want to worry you but now I'm getting worried and I don't know what to do, Javier. Should I go to the-"

"Stay there and I'll pick you up," he insisted and you could already hear him grabbing his jacket and standing up, "I'll be there within fifteen and I'm taking you to the doctor."

"I-I…you don't have to, Javi. I'm sure I'm just overreacting and it'll be okay," your voice was small and you almost regretted calling him. But then again there was no one that made you feel safer than he did, "I'm sorry to have bothered you, honey."

"Dulzura, I know you wouldn't call me for something like this unless you actually needed me," his tone softened as you felt a wave of emotion wash over you. Your eyes pricked with tears, "tell them you need a substitute for the rest of the day and then I'm taking you to the doctor. I'll be there shortly."

"Okay," you sniffled slightly, "see you soon."

As soon as you hung up the phone, you gathered up your things and slowly made your way to the front office to tell them you were leaving for the day. You almost never took any time off and they were more than understanding.

You decided to wait outside and get a bit of fresh air while you waited for your husband. Taking a few deep breaths, you grounded yourself by listening to the soft chirping of the birds and the distant traffic. 

It wasn't long before Javier pulled up, and almost jumped out of the car when he saw you. The sight of him alone was enough to cause you to burst into tears as he wrapped you up in a hug. You held tightly onto him as he kissed the side of your head.

"Hey, hey," he whispered, "you're okay, you're okay. I've got you. I'll take care of you. It'll be fine."

"I know," you promised, burying your face into his shoulder, "I know. It's probably nothing but I panicked and I didn't know what else to do. I just called you."

"You can always call me," he pulled back and put his hand under your chin and tilted your face up to meet his reverent gaze, "you know I will always be there. I'm glad you called me."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," you smiled lightly as he wiped away your tears, "Javier."

"Come on," he took your hand and ushered you over to the car, "let's find out what's going on."

"Can we go and get a tea afterwards?" you asked as he helped you inside and buckled you in. Javier couldn't help but laugh at the mention of the thing that had brought you together and you still loved.

"Of course," he promised, "whatever you want, Dulzura."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

There was something about the sterile white walls and bright lights of the hospital room that always made you nervous. No matter how many times you'd experienced them, they still caused an uneasy feeling in your heart. So many horrible things had happened within these four walls, and hopefully just as many if not more good things had happened. 

You sat in the chair, nervously swinging your legs as you waited for the doctor. She'd talked to you about what had been going on, taking diligent notes but not making any conclusions just yet. She'd sent you off for various blood and urine tests. Now you were just anxiously waiting for news of what had been going on - or in the best case scenario, there would be no news.

As soon as the knock came on the door and the doctor stepped back inside, a lump welled up in your throat. Her face was unreadable as you sat back and tried to keep it together.

"I'm just going to say this first and foremost - you have nothing to worry about. If you could see the long on your face Mrs. Peña," she chuckled as she sat down in your stool and pulled out your chart, "you're okay, I promise."

"I don't feel okay," you insisted, wondering how nothing could be wrong, "I've been feeling off for weeks and I don't know what it could be. Surely it has to be something…"

"Oh, it is something," she agreed, "I'm not sure it's a bad thing however. I'm guessing you didn't have any idea that you're expecting?"

"Expecting? Expecting…what?" 

"A baby?" she raised a brow in amusement as your mouth almost dropped, "oh goodness, well you're pregnant!"

"Pregnant?" your emotions were all over the place as a laugh bubbled up in your throat, "how is that possible?"

"And here I was thinking you'd know how that works by now," she teased as she scribbled down a few notes. You realized what you had said and a warmth flushed up in your cheeks, "you didn't know at all? Were you trying for another?"

"No," you shook your head, "I mean not really. But not not really…we haven't been trying but we haven't been preventing anything. Our daughter is almost 3 now and since nothing happened since I had her, I just didn't think it would happen again. I assumed we were done." 

"Ahh, well these things do happen," she nodded in agreement. She'd seen this plenty of times before after all, "things usually work in their own time. But after this one, we can always talk about other options for birth control, if that's something you'd want to think about. But you've got plenty of time before then."

"About how long are we talking?" you quirked an eyebrow, wondering how long you'd been a fool and ignoring the signs of pregnancy. You'd already had a baby - it should have been so obvious, "how long have I been oblivious?"

"I'd say you're about twelve weeks along," this time your jaw almost dropped to the floor, "don't worry - this is not uncommon, especially when you're not trying and you're not expecting thinking it's a possibility. All your lab work looks great and I'm sure you've been taking care of yourself as normal. I do want you to come back next week and then we can go into more detail and sonograms, and so forth. How does that sound?"

"Yes, I-I mean good," you still felt like you were in a dreamy daze; but suddenly everything made sense, "no, this is wonderful news. And it does make sense- everything makes sense now."

"I'm sure you'll want to tell your husband," she beamed, "I saw him in the waiting room, he looks…very much like he could use some good news."

"He won't stop fretting until he knows I'm okay," you laughed lightly, "actually he's not going to stop until I've had this baby. Well, honestly, he won't ever stop. He's a worry wart - out of love, but still."

"We go on ahead, and I'll have someone call you to get you scheduled next week."

When you walked back out into the waiting area, you found Javier pacing back and forth, a frown tugging on the corners of his mouth. 

"Hey," you reached for his hand and pulled him slowly towards you, "calm down, Javier. You're going to wear a path into the floor."

"What's up, what's going on?" his hands found your face as he looked you over, as if trying to figure out what was wrong, "why are you so calm all of a sudden?"

"I found out what's wrong," you insisted, putting your hands on his wrists and giving them a gentle squeeze, "I'm okay, nothing is wrong."

"But you said-"

"Come on," you took his hand and pulled him along, not easing the confusion at all. He was just glad however that you were okay, "let's go get a coffee."

"I thought you wanted tea?"

"You might want something a little stronger," you teased, "come on, Javier."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was almost a silent ride to the café, and you could practically feel Javier's thoughts and his sideways glances boring into you. You just held his hand, making a few comments here and there as he drove. You could feel him vibrating with nervous energy.

It was only when you were sitting across from him, your tea in front of you and coffee in front of him that you decided to let him in on what was going on. 

"Do you remember when we had Lucia?" you asked as his face lit up at the mention of his daughter. He nodded but still wasn't putting two and two together, "well then we weren't really trying for a baby. And since then we haven't really been doing anything to try or not try, yeah?"

"Yeah," you could practically hear the gears turning in his head as a small smile tugged on the corner of his mouth, "are you…"

"How do you feel about becoming a father again?" you asked softly as his eyes searched yours. Almost as if he didn't want to jump to conclusions, he was not going to let himself get excited until he heard the words from your lips, "nothing has been wrong with me. Nothing but morning sickness and the joys of first trimester pregnancy. Because I'm pregnant."

"R-really?"

"Really," you reached for his hand and put your hand on top of his, "the doctor estimated about twelve weeks. I'm going to go back next week for more tests. Would you like to come with me, Javier?"

"Yes, of course," this was the man that hadn't missed a single appointment when you were pregnant the first time around. His face softened, "of course. I…this is just wow. I just…this is wonderful news."

"I think," you leaned forward, "it must have happened the last time we had Chucho watch Lucia for the weekend. That was about roughly about twelve weeks ago. And, if I remember correctly I don't think we left the bed very often…"

Javier leaned back in his chair, a little smirk on his face as you just dramatically rolled your eyes before sticking your tongue out at him, "Javier."

"Sorry, Dulzura," he leaned across the table and kissed you gently. You leaned into his touch as he watched you with reverence, "is this what you want? Are you happy?"

"Yes," you promised, "I want this. I'm happy - you make me so happy. Our whole family does. D-do you want this, Javi?"

"Of course," you could see that his eyes were glossy with unshed tears, "its just that you're the one that has to go through the hardest parts of it. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to again."

"We knew that this was a possibility," you reminded him, "and I'm glad it happened. This baby is going to have a lot of love waiting for it."

 A few tears had rolled down your cheeks, which he gently wiped away. The man that had once been sure he was going to remain alone for the rest of days was a far cry from the man he was now. He couldn't imagine a day without you or your daughter. You'd easily and effortlessly become his entire world. 

"Yes," he agreed, "they will."

"Do you remember that night at Chucho's when we were there for Christmas? When you asked me to marry you?" every moment from that night was still fresh in your mind. Javi nodded as he stroked your cheek, "you said at one point you'd never wanted a family."

"Oh, trust me. I remember that," he smiled softly, "I remember every moment with you, Dulzura. From the day we met until now."

"The first day I was in your class," you shook your head in amusement, "and look at you now. You're going to have a wife and two kids, Javi. Who would have thought?"

"Not me," he admitted, "but I wouldn't change a thing."

"Me neither," you agreed, "I love you, Javier."

"I love you too," he took your hand and pressed a kiss to your knuckles, "do you think we should tell Lucia or the family just yet?"

"Nah," you shook your head, "you remember whatever everyone was like the first time - let's keep this for just us for a bit."

"Sounds perfect to me," he stood up and held his hand out to you, "let's take advantage of the rest of the afternoon to ourselves."

"Now that sounds like a plan to me."

[gucciwins]

Next City

orlando brings nothing but peace and smiles

Word count: 3608

A/N: hello friends, this story is a joy to write. allows me to take a break from the stress of uni. this is a short part, more as a filler. i'm making this story as i go, so i am trying to outline a bit that allows the story to flow.

warnings: nothing but fluff

please reblog!!! and let me know what you thought :)

love on tour series // previous part

Orlando, Florida

"You know that's probably the first time I'm on a plane, and I didn't read a book." You tell Harry as you put your lilac cardigan on, taking your black Saint Laurent backpack that he was holding out for you.

"Are you saying I'm good at keeping you entertained?"

"Yup, you're a good storyteller. Should forget the singing career."

Harry throws his head back, laughing. "I'll be sure to mention it to Jeff."

You watch him go down the steps, your eyes trained on his ass that looks amazing in the Harago embroidered shorts. You thank the air hostess one last time before ascending down.

You feel the Florida air hit you and hold back a grimace. You love sunny weather but also like a bit of wind with it, not the humidity. Harry offers his hand to you as you're on the last few steps and accept it, not wanting to fall on your face. You thank the crew once more just as Harry does; he's making a few jokes as you begin to walk ahead. It's always a bit weird walking directly on the tarmac then into a car.

Harry rushes forward, taking your hand in his as he walks you over to your car that will be taking you to the venue. New York was a dream, but you were excited for Florida, a bit of sunshine, maybe a bit of sightseeing. It would be a bit of traveling as there were three shows scattered around.

As soon as you get in the car, you relax and lean against Harry. All this traveling gets tiring, but you can't say you aren't enjoying it.

You get to travel with your boyfriend—it gives you butterflies every time you think about it and see him perform in a new outfit each night. You are almost at the halfway mark of shows, and you're trying to plan a pleasant surprise for Harry, and you're currently running blank. You've told Jeff you want to do something for North Carolina in a few days, and you have his full support. The only good thing is you have time to plan.

The drive to the venue felt quick, Harry having played his playlist titled "Sunshine" and telling you about which one was his favorite and which one he didn't like so much anymore but matched the playlist well. Harry was shocked when he found out you weren't that well versed in music—well, English music at least. Growing up with Hispanic grandparents, you were exposed to artists like Selena Quintanilla, Menudo, and Los Bukis.

You showed him new stuff as well, something he did not actively search, but at random times throughout the day, you would receive texts of songs you might like or songs he found by a Spanish artist you enjoyed. There indeed was no dull moment with Harry when there was still so much to learn.

You both shared a mutual love for Joni Mitchell, something Harry did not stop talking about. You didn't want him to, either.

Arriving at the venue, Jeff left you both to get settled in the dressing room until Harry was called for soundcheck. You saw him place small things in the room to make it feel like home; he threw his pink beanie on the couch, took your backpack, and hung it on a hook next to his. Then walked over to his outfit for the night and opened it up as if to let it breathe.

"You're going to look very nice tonight."

"Yeah, missed the suspenders, did you?"

You tilt your head taking in the powder blue suspenders. "Maybe, I will miss the fitted trousers."

Harry rolls his eyes playfully, "Be back soon enough."

"They better."

Your phone rings just as Jeff walks into the room with Tommy right behind him. Harry frowns because your time together has been cut short for the time being. You pick up your phone "Naomi," a bit odd. "Go on, H. I'll be out soon enough."

"Right, don't belong, querida."

"Bossy," Tommy mouths jokingly at you both, causing you to laugh as you answer the call, and Harry chuckled, amused by you.

Harry walks over, giving you a quick kiss before ushering both men out.

"Naomi, babes. Hi." You speak. Hopefully, she was still there.

"Ugh, who were you with?"

"Harry, he just left. Why?"

"Hmmm…your boyfriend, huh."

You roll your eyes; she uses the word every chance she gets. "Yes, we established that a few days ago."

"Making sure it was real."

"You're a menace." You tell her, causing Naomi to chuckle loudly into the phone. "What do you need?"

"Need you to come home," She answered gravely.

Your heart drops, "What happened? Who's hurt? Fuck—not your parents right." You're freaking out, and she's not saying a word. "Say something, please."

All you hear is breathing before a loud laugh can be heard on the phone. "All is well. I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"I hate you."

"Sure, and I'm married."

You pause, "you know I wouldn't put it past you, but I would also murder you if you did that without me."

"I would never. Also, Sarai would not do it without you there."

"Was there a reason for this call besides raising my blood pressure?"

"There is."

"On with it, you demon." You're smiling so wide you know she can't see but hope she knows. You miss Naomi like crazy.

"We want to go see you."

"You do?" You shout, not expecting that.

"You sound surprised."

"Well yeah, I always go to you."

You know she's rolling her eyes at you, "Cause you're the one always traveling buried in work."

"When were you thinking?"

"Atlanta." You nod; that's toward the end of the month. "If that works for you because we have a random week off, and what better way to use it than getting to see a free concert—I mean seeing my best friend."

"You know, I'm starting to think you want to see my boyfriend and not me."

"What? Never."

You chuckle, picking up on the sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I'll discuss with Jeff to get you picked up and then send you the details."

"Yay, I can't wait to hug you."

"Ditto, babes. Need me to get you flights?" You offer.

"All covered."

"If you're sure."

"Course I am. I got to go; I just wanted to run that by you."

"Glad you did, made my fucking day."

"Good, good."

"I love you, and send Sarai my love."

"Of course, I love you too."

That is some news, you know it's a bit away still, but you can't wait to spend time together. Harry will get to meet Sarai and Naomi officially as your boyfriend. You glance down at your phone to see the time and see that soundcheck is halfway done, and you promised Harry you'd head over. You rush over, going to see the Love band kill the rehearsals just as they do every time.

"You've both made the front cover again," Jeff says, interrupting Harry painting your nails sage green.

Jeff hands you his phone showing you photos of Harry helping you down the plane. Then a few of Harry waving with you, smiling at a crew member in the back. There is none of you holding hands, and you're thankful.

"We look nice." Harry comments. Not at all bothered.

You shrug. "I hate the paparazzi. Never get my full body, anyone. How are people going to see my outfit? They're only going to be talking about Harry's amazing shorts."

Harry bursts out laughing, putting down the nail polish to not smudge your nails. "Darling, you look great in everything. Always named best dressed."

"Says you, Mr. Vogue."

He shrugs, faking a hair flip. "It's so hard; you must try to keep up."

Jeff looks at you, both amused and a bit concerned at how neither of you is taking this seriously. "You're in the press again. More rumors."

"Friends, Jeff. Just friends." Harry grins at you with a knowing look in his eyes.

"Right, okay." Jeff turns to address you. "Viola says you have an interview soon."

"I do."

"What will you say if they ask about Harry?"

You wait for a second, thinking about your answer, before looking up at him. "That we're friends."

"But you aren't."

You sigh, "they don't know that, Jeffery."

"So you're going to say, friends. You're going to stick with that."

You look at Harry to see him already staring at you. His eyes tell you he doesn't mind. He likes keeping you to himself; you nod in understanding.

"Yes, just friends."

Jeff shakes his head. "You're both a little crazy but also really perfect together."

"Kindest thing you've said to me all day, Jeff, thanks." Harry grins up at him proudly.

"Bye then, dinner in thirty."

You giggle as he walks out, blowing on your drying nails as Harry finishes the last fingers on your left hand. "What are you craving to eat, amor?"

"Soup sounds good."

"Oh, think they'll have that rosemary herb bread? It was to die for in New York."

"I'm sure if you ask nicely."

You look up at him in disbelief, "I'm nice." He chuckles, "right?"

He nods, leaning in to kiss your lips softly, "The nicest and the sweetest, also the smartest."

You grin at him, "you treat me so well. Showering me with compliments."

"You deserve to be reminded, always."

You're sure your face is radiating happiness. Harry makes you feel nothing but joy, and you know it's the same for him; the dimples never seem to disappear when you're around.

You're sitting on the couch as Harry tucks in his sequin-laced blue shirt into his trousers, the suspenders hanging on his side.

"Could always unbutton one more." You're looking at his chest that shows not one inch of his butterfly.

Harry doesn't look at you. Instead, he looks at his mirror, unbuttoning just one more before sliding the suspenders on. You can't help the smirk that takes over your face; he did it to tease you, but also because he likes hearing your opinion.

"See, better."

"Have a feeling you like me for my tits."

"You've finally caught on." You tease.

Harry turns to face you, moving close until his face is right above you from where you're sitting, "quite a fan of your tits as well."

You quirk an eyebrow, do you, Mr. Styles? Care to demonstrate how much."

Harry, never one to back down from seeing you topless goes to unbutton your shirt when the doorknob starts rattling. Then the knocking begins. Harry groans, moving away from you to the door.

"Harold, open up. We've got to get you to the stage."

Before he opens, Harry turns to look at you, "cockblocks."

You giggle, because yes, they ruined your moment, but it's a good thing, or Harry would have made it to the stage very late tonight.

"Welcome, Jeff, oh and Luis." Harry greets overly happy.

"Why was it locked? You can't do that so close to show time." Jeff lectures Harry as you stifle a laugh on the couch.

"Sorry, dad. Won't do it again."

"Good."

Luis picks up his lanyard that is sitting on a table when he spots you. "Oh, didn't see you there; you're very quiet."

"Like a mouse, I've been told." You nod, not surprised he missed you.

"Well, you look incredible."

You look down, staring at your flared blue jeans and your pink button-up with tiny red hearts scattered all around. "Thanks, Luis. First-person who's told me today. Thought the top fit a little tight." Gesturing to your cleavage area where you've unbuttoned the first two showcasing your red bralette.

"I say it politely and with love, but fuck off. I told you, you look nice." Harry comes interrupting your conversation.

"You said it, nice. He told me I looked incredible." You shrug, "there's a difference."

Harry turns to glare at Luis, who's holding his hands up, "cool it, H. Sorry you're a sucky boyfriend. Make up for it later; you need to be delivered, sweet goods." Jeff interrupts once again.

You laugh at Harry's backstage name. It's precious and fitting for him.

"Fine, fine."

You get up, about to follow them, never one to miss a chance at seeing Harry make his way into his box.

"Wait," Harry points at you.

You freeze right next to the door.

"Darling, baby, querida, you are amazing, the prettiest person here, always outshining me." He exclaims, wanting you to know how much he means it.

Your smile softens, "thank you, Harry. It's not necessary, I promise. I know how much you like my outfits. Compliments aren't necessary."

"So what was that with Luis?"

You shrug, "riled you up, didn't it."

"Woman, you are brilliant. You're so smart, and that is so attractive. Know me so well already."

"Shut up and kiss me already."

Harry leans in, not needing to be told twice; you press yourself right against him needing to feel every part of him you could on yourself. You're lost in the taste of Harry, the sweetness he always fills you with until there's a loud shout of his name that makes you jump apart.

"Think you've got to go."

"Yeah, got a performance or something."

"Go on, rockstar."

You've decided you'd never get tired of watching Harry perform. There is this energy he brings every night that takes your breath away. The interactions with the fans are memorable and always make you laugh. You love how many film cameras there are each night, and you know you need to have Naomi bring yours with her for when she comes.

Each night there are hundreds of pictures shared of Harry on stage, of fans in their gorgeous outfits, and of the crowd up from the nosebleeds who capture the most beautiful photos as the whole arena shines a light on him.

You'd be lying if you said you didn't have a favorite part of the show; it most definitely is when Harry interacts with the crowd right before 'canyon moon.'

"The first time I ever came to America was when I was 4 years old… to Orlando." Harry shares walking around the stage dragging his wired microphone around. "Disney is pretty scary for a 4-year-old. There's roller coasters, alligators, and stuff. It was a lot. However, over the years, I'm no longer scared of Orlando."

The crowd cheers him on, knowing very well how famous their city is. Especially, learning something more about Harry that he decided to share; you love that you get to learn new things with the audience makes you feel even closer to him.

Tommy could not stop laughing when he saw Harry catch the mickey ears someone threw and slip them on. It was a sight to behold; you couldn't lie, he pulled it off quite well. You all cheered for him as he kept singing.

The dancing only got crazier each night as you all pulled out crazy moves you knew. There were times you'd all see Harry staring at you and freeze, causing him to laugh and shake his head at you all. You knew he enjoyed seeing his favorite people enjoying the show; there was no better feeling than knowing he was doing a good job.

Tonight was over before you knew it. Harry was waving goodbye and rushing down the steps, with Luis leaving quickly to meet him. You stayed out with Jeff, and you observed the band in their final moments, one last cheer radiating through the audience as the lights came back on.

Walking through the halls, there was a lot of chatter and congratulations on a great show. You bounded over to the band when you saw them heading your way and began singing their praise. You lingered on Sarah, wanting her to know that she never failed to impress you. It always earned you a tight hug and a promise she'd be even better the next show.

You happily made your way over to the dressing room to see Harry on the phone and knew better than to disrupt him. You went over and began bagging up your items, such as your change of clothes, your sweater, and your phone charger.

As soon as you were finished, Harry made his way over to you, giving you a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "You were fabulous, H. A true rockstar." You turned in his hold to hug him tight; that's when you felt how sweaty he was but didn't dare pull away.

"Saw your moves tonight, quite some skill you all got."

"We try, truly. Might have to make us background dancers."

Harry laughs; your silly comments never fail to amuse him.

"I'll be back, then we'll head out for the night. We're in Sunrise tomorrow." Harry lets you know.

"Exciting. Now go, please, mi estrella."

"Of course, Bel."

He gives you a small kiss before grabbing his bag and heading out.

You couldn't wait to see him do it again tomorrow.

"Home sweet home," Jeff mumbles as he walks into the tour bus throwing himself on the couch.

"It should be a smooth ride. Get some rest." Tommy addresses you all, heading to the bunker for some needed rest.

Harry is quiet, had his shower in the venue before being ushered out quickly. You had to be in Sunrise tomorrow for the show and knew it would be a tiring day.

"You alright, H?"

He offers a small smile, "tired, is all."

"Going to bed, then." He nods, offering you a kiss on the cheek and heading down the hall that leads past the bunks and into his small bedroom.

"Is he alright?" You question Jeff, who's looking at the television swiping through shows on Netflix.

"Should be. It was a good show, Bel. Relax."

You nod; it was. There was nothing out of the ordinary except the call he got as soon as he was in the dressing room. It was odd.

"Do you know who called him?"

Jeff looks at you now, a bit concerned at your constant questioning, knowing you might be onto something, "Anne, his mom."

You nod, taking it in. "Homesick."

"It happens, especially when they aren't able to come out for a show."

You frown, "think he wants to be left alone?"

Jeff is about to respond when Harry steps out, a t-shirt in hand, "you coming to bed, baby?"

Jeff smiles at you, nodding as if saying there's your answer. "Going, amor. Goodnight, Jeff."

Harry waits for you at the entrance, taking your hand leading you down. After he slides the door shut, he turns to you, seeing you slipping out of your heels. "I got a shift for you to wear."

"Kind of you, sweetheart." He shrugs, hanging it over and slipping under the covers. You change into shorts and the plain white shirt he handed you, aware of the eyes following your every move. "Going to brush my teeth. I'll be back." He nods, sinking further under the covers.

You hurry back and turn the lights of crawling under the covers. You know he's not sleeping, but his eyes are closed, and you don't want to disturb him. His hands reach out for you, shifting you to look at him, then he turns around. Without question, you press yourself against his back, your hand resting on his stomach. You don't move until you feel him let out a deep breath. You move your hand up and down his chest soothingly.

"You don't have to talk about it, alright to keep things to yourself. I want you to remember, I'm here for you, just as you had been for me."

There's no response, you feel him squeeze your hand, and it's enough for you. You let yourself drift off to sleep with the promise of a better day.

"Miss my mum," he speaks out unexpectedly. "And my sister and my family. There's a new baby in the family I haven't gotten the chance to meet. Sometimes it feels like all I do is miss out on things."

"That's understandable, H. Your life has come to be on the road, and everyone must understand. I bet your free time is spent with everyone, never giving yourself a moment to relax." You dare him to correct you.

He chuckles quietly, "you're not wrong. I like catching up with everyone."

"Nothing wrong with that. You're allowed to miss them, but don't feel guilty for missing out because you're doing something you love to do." He stays silent, "you do love it, right?"

"Yes, baby. I do." If he were looking at you, you'd be able to see his smile but settle on holding him tighter.

"Then, know they're proud of you. Nothing more you can ask for."

"Thank you, angel."

"Guess that was your life story, huh." You comment, knowing it took him a bit to open up and were grateful he did.

"Yes, I guess it was."

"Go to sleep now," you tell him, knowing he'd tried to keep the conversation going.

"One last thing."

"Okay, amor. What is it?"

"I really really like you."

You sigh, feeling your heart flutter at his tender words. You press your lips against the back of his neck, holding him close as if he'd disappear if you ever thought about letting go.

"I really like you too, Harry. I promise I do."

With that, you both fall asleep, wrapped in each other's arms, ready for the next city.

thank you for reading <333 i adore you

feedback is important so i hope you leave some :)

taglist: @alienorknight @harry-is-my-sunflower @myfavfanficsever @4hazza @springholland @michelleficrecs @harryismyfwend

sunrise part six

[harrywritingsbyme]

hello sweetheart, I have a kink for daddy!h, corruption!h and a size kink too. can u elaborate pls? xx

The Stages of Corruption

A/N: My brain and puthy are about to explode for the same yet very different reasons lmao. Anyways...imma add this hot lil thing to A Series of Firsts bc why tf not?! And I hope it doesn’t suck…enjoy🙃.

Harry was obsessed with you. He could honestly say that from the moment he met and laid eyes on you for the first time, he was hooked. And yes it was for the obvious reasons of how beautiful and sweet you were inside and out. You were like a magnet, he couldn’t help but to be attracted to you in every way shape and form. But besides that, Harry was also hooked because of how cute and innocent you were. See, Harry had acquired a bit of a corruption kink. In past relationships, he’d always been with someone who had their fair share of experience in the bedroom. But with you, it was the complete opposite. After gliding right through the getting to know you’s, and the building of the foundation for you guys’ relationship, you and Harry moved right into the intimacy phase. And as if Harry had hit the nail on the head when it came down to your innocence, you weren’t well versed in the bedroom at all and you hadn’t really done anything either. The farthest you’d ever gone was a bit of over the clothes touching; which was exactly what Harry was dying to hear. He was yearning to teach you and to be the one to expose you to pleasure. He wanted to be the first thought in your mind when the word pleasure was brought up. He wanted to hear your pretty little voice beg for him and your body to quiver desperately for him. Harry wanted to corrupt you.

And over the course of time, Harry was able to do that.

For starters, Harry got you comfortable with calling him daddy in the bedroom. You’d accidentally blurted it out when the two of you were going at it a little bit. He was on top of you and between your legs, kissing down and suckling on your neck as he had a hand up your skirt that was softly rubbing you through your panties. You were so caught up in how good this newfound feeling of having him on top of you with his face in your neck and leaving marks in the process while touching you between your legs felt that he name just flew out of your mouth. When Harry heard it, his head flew up from your neck and down in the direction of your face to address what you called him. Still to this day he could remember how you got all blushy as he pestered you to say it again. Eventually, Harry was in fact able to get you to say it again and he was able to get you comfortable with saying it in general. You became so comfortable with it that you’d call him daddy in every day situations when it was just the two of you. And to make matters worse, you sounded so sweet when you said it too. This meant that Harry’s cock always perked up in his pants resulting in him needing to take care of himself. Luckily for him, almost 99% of the time he took care of himself, he did it with your help.

The next thing on Harry’s corruption check list was familiarizing you with pleasure. He wanted you to have an understanding the feelings that came along with a release and what it felt like to have an orgasm. When he made you cum for the first time, it was a completely euphoric atmosphere for you both. Harry was lying between your legs while you were completely naked against the bed, taking everything that he was giving you. He used his fingers and mouth to send shockwaves through your body. He just sucked and sucked on your cunt and pushed his fingers all they way up into you. You were squirming and whining against the bed as he continued to work the area between your legs. He pushed is fingers in and out of you over and over again as he continuously sucked on your clit and nipped at the delicious flesh of your thighs. When his fingers weren’t inside of you, his mouth was on your pussy, licking up and down your folds and pushing the  tip of his tongue in towards your entrance. You were so overcome with pleasure as he did this that he had to pin your hips down to the bed in order to keep going and push you into your release. You were crying out to him (or daddy for that matter), you were pulling tightly on his hair, and you were clenching up against his tongue as he pulled you closer and closer to your release. And once he did, you were even more of a mess when he was getting you up to that point. You were crying out to him about how your tummy was warm and tight and that you felt like you had to pee and you couldn’t hold back. There were even little tears forming in your eyes from how intense it was. And when you finally let go, you were gushing all over his hand. Harry got to feel first hand your walls convulsing around his finger (he was only able to get one in since you were beyond tight) as you came. And for you, the feeling was absolutely amazing. It was like a wave of pleasure crashed down onto you and went right through your body. You wanted to feel it again and again and again; you were addicted to it.

After letting you feel what it was like to have a release, Harry helped you figure out what felt good to you and how to pleasure yourself. He kept your naked body between his legs in front of a mirror and guided your hand and the vibrating bullet he got for you between your legs and showed you how to pleasure and tease yourself. This was definitely a lifesaver when you weren’t with Harry but you were craving an amazing release. You kept the tips Harry gave you locked in your mind and you just made yourself feel good. And to make it even better, you kept your eyes shut and just imagined Harry on top of you, touching and toying with your body. You couldn’t believe that you were able to pleasure yourself on you own, and you were so excited about it that you did it all by yourself for the first time that as soon as your hands were no longer tingly, you immediately texted Harry to tell him. Your message was almost instantly met with a response of him being so proud of you and that since you were being such a big girl for daddy, he’d have to give you a little treat. With that being said, after replying with a “can’t wait”, you go straight back to your vibrator to take care of the tingling sensation that was forming in your clit again.

Now onto the fourth checkpoint on Harry’s list. By this point, you and Harry have been playing solely with you. He wanted to make sure that you were completely taken care of and he just wanted to dote on you. He was teaching you so many different things about your pleasure and you were soaking it all up and playing with it. And since you were comfortable with your pleasure, Harry figured that it was time to bring his own pleasure into the mix. When he first pulled his cock out of his pants, you were floored. You couldn’t believe that he managed to hold all of that in his pants and you were definitely skeptical of whether or not it would fit inside once you two got to that point. But knowing Harry and how he guided you through everything so far, you weren’t that nervous about it. Instead of actually guiding you through what to do, Harry let you play with his cock. You wrapped your smaller hands around him and you tugged and squeezed him. Your eyes were focused in on his cock, taking in every detail of him. You were also taking him his moans above you, they were your guide to know if you were doing something right. Now while you were playing with his cock, Harry was in heaven. Harry had his innocent little girlfriend on her knees playing with his cock. He was on cloud nine from the way you squeezed and tugged at him. He was also blown away by the way you brought your forefinger and thumb up to squeeze the swollen head of his cock between them, and by the way you pressed your forefinger down into his glistening slit. You were doing everything right without even trying and Harry was all for it. What made him burst even faster though was when you pursed your lips around the head of his cock. You weren’t expecting him to put in in your mouth the first time you touched him so that just threw him over the edge. And as he came, you were quick to pull your mouth back and just watch his cock erupt right in front of you as you took in his moans. You just watched as the streams of his thick cum spurted out from his cock; and it was a lot too, he just kept going. He came so much that your hands were covered in it since they were still wrapped around his very sizable shaft. But it gets even better. After pulling your hands away from his cock, you bring one of your hands up to your mouth to lick up some of his cum. When you first tasted it, you had to admit that the taste was very interesting to say the least. It wasn’t bad per say…it was just different. But after some more licks and Harry being completely dumbfounded above you, the taste grew on you and you went on to not only clean your hands but also his cock.

This moment was the catalyst to so many things. You went on to taking his cock into your mouth (and throat because he was huge) and even letting him flood your mouth with his cum. After practicing, you became addicted to having Harry’s cock inside you mouth. You were so addicted that if he told you to drop to your knees, you’d be down there in an instant. And Harry loved that. Another thing that was brought into the mix was 69-ing. The both of you were obsessed with giving and receiving oral pleasure so it came naturally; and it was amazing. The entire time, the both of you would be mouthing at each other and holding back so you could keep receiving that pleasure. And when you both came, your juices right on each others tongues. One final thing that was introduced into you guys’ mix was something that was highlighted on Harry’s mental checklist. Face fucking. He’d accidentally lifted his hips up into your face, sending his cock deep into your throat, causing you tog gag a bit.   When he realized what he’d done, he immediately pulled your head up to check on you, and when he did, he was met with a response he wasn’t expecting. You told him that you liked it and to keep doing it. From that point on Harry’d thrust his cock into your mouth and just listen to your gags and feel your nails clawing into his thighs as he fucked his cock into your mouth/throat. What he loved the most about it was the little drops of cum that gathered in the corners of your mouth and your watery eyes once he was all done. It was perfect.

Now Harry was beyond happy with where you guys were and was enjoying every moment of pleasure with you. But the both of you had reached the biggest part of the checklist. Actually having sex. Harry was 1000% against pressuring you into it. He wanted you to be completely comfortable and ready for that big moment. And you were. After just enjoying Harry, you were ready to enjoy Harry. It was a bit daunting to think about all of him fitting inside of you but Harry always took his time with you so you were pretty confident in him doing that at this very big moment for you both. And once that big moment arrived, it was great. When you told Harry that you were ready, he didn’t just jump right in. He planned everything out for you to really have your moment. He put his corruption checklist to the side and made it extra romantic. Harry felt so bad that you were experiencing a bit of pain as he pushed into you that he was constantly giving you kisses and praising you for how well you were doing and telling you that he loved you. But even though he was focusing on you, Harry was exploding inside. You were so warm and tight that Harry could’ve came within the first 5 minutes. You were so tight that even if he wanted to slam into you, he couldn’t. He almost passed out too.  It wasn’t surprising that he felt this way though. Harry definitely had a bit of a size kink. Once you’re a little bit comfortable, Hary slowly moves in and out of you. After a perfect stream of slow thrusts along with his fingers toying at your clit and his mouth against your chest, you end up releasing around him and Harry let’s go inside of you per you guys’ conversation a bit earlier.

The first time, along with a some times after that were soft and slow. They were so that you could be comfortable and used to having him inside of you. And as these times progressed on, the pleasure increased and you were getting even more geared up to take everything Harry had. Which you ended up taking like a champ by the way. Once you were all good to go, Harry went back to his corruption check list. And you two went at it. It was so good that the mere thought of it gave you goosebumps. Fast forward up to now and you two were going at it anytime, anywhere, anyway. You were screaming as he pounded into you forcefully, begging him to give it to you. Harry had his hands wrapped around your throat, pinning your head down to the bed as he dropped his hips down onto yours. What kept him going wasn’t solely your screams and  how good you felt, it was also the end result of it all. He loved it when your thighs and pussy were sore and you could still feel him in your stomach as his cum poured out of you. You two were always in a daze after sex and you both were just about completely numb as well. But as you and Harry were in that state, you both were contemplating the next amazing round.

And neither of you would have it any other way. He was teaching you, your body was always quivering, and your mouth was always begging for more. And yet, there were still an infinite amount of stages on Harry’s corruption check list. This was just the beginning.

Masterlist

[xpeachesncream]

bands | thirteen

[ series masterlist ]

summary: jeon jungkook has it all: the looks, the fame, the money, the women. being considered the sexiest man in the industry, he finds no complaints about the way his life is going nor does he find any reason to apologize for the way he approaches it. he is a force to be reckoned with - until he meets you.

pairing: stripper!reader x idol!jjk

genre: (18+) strip club/nightlife au, post grad au | fluff, angst, smut

words: 3.9k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, slight degradation, trouble stirring behind the scenes if you squint, yeonjun and soobin (txt) make an appearance but also as reg 18 yr olds lol

tags: @brightcolorsoffendme​ @min-nicoleee​ @eggbutnotyolk​ @ra-mun-e @miinoongi​ @jimidol​ @ppeachyttae​ @thebeebi​ @bluesharksandfish​ @kooafraid​ @liriaus​ @thisartemisnevermisses​ @ggukkieland​ @preciouschimine​ @sunniejinnie​ @cypheruby​ @cyb3rbab3​ @masterlists101​ @awhnamjoon​ @redhedhoseok​ @wooya1224​ @taeismydeath @jikookiekosmos​ @un2-verse​ @aynsx​ @wearenot7withu​ (please message me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)

"BTS' Jeon Jungkook rumored to be dating stripper from nightclub!"

"Jungkook is no longer single, ladies!"

"Jeon Jungkook is dating a stripper? Why the hell is he doing that?"

"Who the hell does she think she is? I bet she's not even pretty."

"Jungkook fell for a stripper? Out of all people? Damn, and I thought he was better than that."

Jungkook has been tired, the rumors constantly being spread day in and day out. But, it still didn't mean he was gonna say shit to prove himself to people out there. He didn't need to give anybody answers. Hell, this was strictly between you and him and that's how he wants to keep it.

Fuck every single one of you who didn't wanna be behind him and support him. Don't even think about calling yourself a fan of his if that's your mindset.

He could truly care less. He was happy and he felt ten times better than he has in a really long time. It's unfortunate how people love to stay narrow minded. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that it was so unfair for you - how they stuck to that stripper image, rather than really getting to know you beneath the surface.

But it's not like anyone else deserved to know the real you, not after all this shit. And he was gonna keep it that way, and protect you.

"Hey, don't listen to any of that shit, okay?" Jungkook says as he meets you in your car in the BigHit building garage. "None of that matters to me."

"I know, but Kook." You look at him. "Your career, BigHit literally might not even want me here and-and—"

"Then I'll make sure they understand it's not an issue, because it's really fucking not." He says, getting irritated only at the thought of the company giving him issues over you. He watches as you slightly frown, causing him to sigh and soften his own facial expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get worked up like that. It's just annoying how people are narrow-minded. This has absolutely nothing to do with you." You give him a small smile. "Come on, I'll walk you." You silently nod and hop out of your car. You follow beside him, your stomach in knots having to meet with their performance director. This meant you'd also most likely run into the rest of Bangtan.

In which happens to turn true pretty quickly.

"Jungkookie!" Hoseok says loudly down the hallway as he approaches the both of you. He does nothing besides smile, curiosity definitely filling his eyes.

"This is Y/N. Y/N, Hoseok hyung." He holds out his hand for you to shake, his head tilting ever so slightly because you know he's familiar with your face. He's just trying to remember from where. Or, he has recognized you, but he's trying his hardest not to say anything.

Cause they have seen all of you, especially in that fishnet bodysuit.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! You can call me Hobi for short. Are you meeting with someone?" You nod.

"Yeah." Is all you can reply with as you shyly tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Nice, goodluck!"

"Is everyone else here?" Jungkook asks, making Hobi nod.

"Yeah, but they're still running through some stuff in the dance studio. I just ran off to take a break."

"Okay." Jungkook looks at you. "Follow me, he's in one of the private studio rooms." You both part ways from Hoseok, the need to clutch onto Jungkook's arm immensely strong right now. You hold yourself off though, because even with passing a few female staff members, you catch them looking at you oddly with the way you're walking side by side with Jungkook.

Nope. Don't even think about it, Y/N. It doesn't matter.

Jungkook knocks softly on a door, the middle of it being made up of entirely frosted glass so it's difficult to see inside. Their performance director opens the door swiftly and welcomes you in with a warm smile, stepping aside to let you in.

"I've got it from here, Jungkookie. Thank you." Jungkook nods but tries to peek through the door to get one last glimpse of your face before he shuts it fully. "How are you doing, Y/N?" He sits in front of you, leaning onto his knees with his hands fully clasped together.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Good, tired." He chuckles. "Thanks for taking my call earlier and for meeting at such short notice on a weekend. I had a couple of things come up and didn't want to push things off until later." You smile.

"It's no problem."

"Jungkook tells me a lot about you."

"Does he now?" You chuckle and tilt your head to the side.

"Says you're a really good person. Super hardworking. Told me a little bit about your situation with your brother."

"Mmyeah, it's a little complicated."

"It's alright, no need to get into the details." He smiles before letting out a small sigh. "It's incredibly rare for me to hear Jungkook speak like that. In general. He's usually very closed off, doesn't like to let people in much. He really respects you, you know? Cares about you a whole lot." You slightly blush.

"I'm still getting used to it." He chuckled.

"Look, I know you've been worrying because of where you've been and all that, but I want to reassure you that none of it matters. I don't like to focus on all that. You're here as you, not her." He says, putting another pronoun to your stripper persona.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He nods. There's a small pause before he begins to speak again.

"I could really use some help around here if you're still interested? The boys are becoming a lot for me to handle."

"Ah-uh, yeah! Of course I am." You found yourself stuttering at the sudden offer. Was this fucking real?! "But, you are aware of where me and Jungkook are at, right?" You ask, trying to be completely transparent and honest about their relationship. He nods and waves his hand out.

"As long as you keep it professional here, right?" You nod.

"Right."

"Come, let me show you around really quickly and have you formally meet the boys." You swallowed the lump in your throat. Fucking great. He definitely didn't know they've all seen your titties and pussy out during Yoongi's birthday, and now here you were - about to meet them again in this environment. Hobi was awkward enough even though he tried not to be.

Surprisingly, Jungkook wasn't waiting outside in the hallway like you thought he would be, but the tour commences and the PD is taking you around pretty quickly. You feel even more awkward and somewhat alone [even though you weren't] without Jungkook nearby, but you chug along and say your hello's to the people you're introduced to. He finally brings you into the dance studio, where there's loud ass music blasting, Jungkook, the boys and some backup dancers in front of the mirrors fooling around.

"Aye boys, come here real quick." You and Jimin lock eyes and your body suddenly gets tense. The room feels 10x hotter than it already is, especially when he slowly walks over and clenches his jaw. He is literally seeping with hate right now, maybe actually disgust, and he doesn't even try to hide it. Most of them for sure recognize you, but they seem to brush it off and give you a big wave/smile anyway.

"Last, that's Jimin - Jimin, Y/N." You give Jimin a fake smile, and the only thing his ass can reciprocate is the smallest, tight-lipped smile you have ever seen. You've never even seen your mom do that when she got mad or upset with you.

"Hi." Is all you can say.

"Sup." He looks at you before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Ooookay?" Namjoon furrows his brows as he watches Jimin walk away so rudely. "The hell was that about?"

"I knew that was Kookie's girlfriend! Maybe Jiminie remembers seeing her titties and shit too, needs to walk away before he gets his ass beat by him." Yoongi says lowly behind Namjoon.

"Yeah, like you're any better." Namjoon says, looking at Yoongi weirdly.

"I mean, we did see her practically naked." Jin says, chiming into the discussion.

"I touched her." Yoongi's mouth slightly hangs down. "I touched her."

"Go ahead, say it louder so Kookie can hear you." Jin nods sarcastically. "Go, say it!"

"No, stop." Yoongi's cheeks turn red while shaking his head and laughing. "He'll literally launch me out the window with one hand."

"Good."

"You asked for her to sit on your lap too, bro!"

"I was joking, and it's not like she did it anyway!"

"Whatever, I'm keeping my birthday deep in my memory storage."

"Clean slate for her so it should be for you too, my guy." Namjoon says as he has enough of their conversation.

You look at Jungkook who is silently standing there, looking like a big dork with a huge smile on his face and his thumbs up. You give him the tiniest nod before proceeding to follow the PD out.

"So?!" Jungkook dashes to meet you in their waiting room area, where an abnormally large picture of Jimin posing oddly hung up.

"He said he'll send me all the info and papers and stuff!" You respond excitedly as Kook hugs you and quickly swings you around.

"See, I knew it would work out!" He puts you down. "Are you gonna tell Kai?" You shook your head.

"Not today at least, it's his birthday and I don't wanna take away from that. It's his day." Jungkook smiles at you.

"Text me when you've picked him up? I should be home by then."

"Okay." You blush and back away, making Jungkook look at you with confusion. "I have to keep it professional here, duh."

"Ah I see." He chuckles. "That won't last very long."

"Jungkook." You whine.

"There's a lot of private rooms here and—"

"I'm not listening, sorry. I think Kai is suddenly calling me." You cover your ears as you begin to walk away, giving him one last smile before leaving him to the rest of rehearsals and whatever else they're doing. He laughs to himself as he waves you off, excited to get through the day so he can just spend time with you and Kai.

As the hours go on and it's about time for you to pick Kai up, you quickly stop by the store because you're a procrastinator and didn't buy Kai's birthday gift any earlier. You felt bad you weren't able to find the shoes he wanted, but you at least snagged the video game he had been talking about for a couple of days now. Before walking into the arcade, you made sure to write your birthday card and slip some more money into it before shoving it in your bag to give to him later.

"Your pretty sister is here." Yeonjun grabs Kai by the shoulder as he finishes up a game.

"Yeah, and you're too young for her."

"Age is nothing but a number. It's only like.. 6 years apart."

"Besides, she's taken, dude. Sorry." Kai snorts as he watches Yeonjun's smile fade. "You would have never had the chance."

"You're mean."

"I'm mean, or you just have really high, unrealistic expectations?" The rest of their friends laugh as they follow Kai over to you.

"Hey!" You smile at all his friends.

"Hiiiiii Y/N." They all say in unison, some waving in awe, while the others shyly dug their hands into their pockets. "Birthday boy, you all good to go? Got some good Loco Moco waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Happy birthday again, Kai! Get online later!" Soobin yells out.

"Yeah, yeah." He says, waving them off as he follows you out to your car.

"You guys run through the entire arcade?" Kai laughs.

"Pretty much." He sinks into his seat, legs damn near touching the glove compartment with how long he is. "I'm honestly so excited for Loco Moco. It's been years!"

"It has not been that long." You laughed.

"You're right, it's been months." Kai looks out the window. "Wait, you're passing the road to get to our go-to shop though?"

"Cause I found a better place."

"How is there a better place when that one was already supreme?!"

"Hey, trust me on this okay?" You laugh. Kai starts telling you about his day and how so many people he knew from school had been messaging him happy birthday. He truly looked his happiest today and it was all you could ask for. Though at the same time, your heart slightly sank at the fact that he'd be going off to uni soon and staying at the dorms. He was just growing up way too fast, and you wanted to spend as much time as you could with him now before he was too occupied being a college boy.

You slipped yourself past Jungkook's security, parking in the one guest spot they have in the garage that's closest to the elevator. Kai doesn't really question it and hops out anyway, his hands in his pockets as he follows you into the elevator and onto Jungkook's floor.

"You ready, kid?"

"Is this some like, Michelin Star Loco Moco restaurant?"

"Ah, I guess you could say that." You knocked on the door, hearing music playing in the background. Jungkook opens the door and Kai's eyes widen.

"Oh shit, that's Jungkook?" Kook laughs and steps aside to let you both in. "Sis why—what—how come you didn't tell me we were seeing your boyfriend? I look like a mess!" He says lowly.

"You don't!"

"Hey Kai! Happy Birthday!" Jungkook says smiling, making Kai actually blush. He's cheeks are tinted with a rosy color and he suddenly gets all shy.

"Thanks."

"Your brother's tall." Jungkook looks at him up and down.

"Looking at an 18 year old 6 footer."

"Must be nice."

"Go sit." Kai silently nods as he sits awkwardly on Kook's couch, while you go and check in on him in the kitchen.

"Is he always that shy?"

"No. Just with you, apparently. He's not even that shy around girls." You chuckle as he places a quick kiss on your head. "Need my help?" You still ask even though the plates are neatly prepared already.

"Not really." He smiles down at you. "You hungry though?"

"Starving, actually." Your eyes light up at the plates. "Ouuuuuu, yum."

"Honestly, I think this batch might be better than my first."

"Still honored to be your guinea pig." You carry a plate over to Jungkook's coffee table in the living room.

"Oh shit, that looks amazing." Kai says, slipping himself down from the couch to the floor so he could get a good whiff of the plate. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook hands you the remote before walking into his room. "Pick something."

"Here, birthday boy. Help me choose."

"Let's watch Soul on Disney+." At this point, Jungkook comes out of his room with a wrapped present, his eyes locked on the TV.

"Ooh, I keep seeing this everywhere! Niceeeee." Jungkook says, smiling with Kai nodding and already digging into his plate. "By the way, this is for you." You shoot him a look as he sits on the floor by you, watching as Kai unwraps the present. Kai's eyes light up as he sees a shoebox underneath the wrapping, quickly flipping the lid open to reveal those blue Air Jordans he wanted.

"Kook?!" You say lowly, making him smile at you and gently pinch your side.

"Holy shit!" He holds out a shoe, only for him to immediately shake his head and close the box again. "Jungkook, I can't take this." Kai says.

"No, it's your birthday."

"Yeah, but isn't this expensive? You've already done so much for me and my sister, I-I don't want to—"

"Kai, it's cool. If it's one thing you can do to repay me, it's to take my present." You literally want to cry at how sweet Jungkook is being with your brother. He had been good to you, no doubt, but this was one thing you didn't expect from him at all. Quite frankly, you had forgotten you mentioned the shoes to him. The fact that he actually remembered and kept his word.

"Okay." Kai says, gently setting the box down aside before looking at Jungkook with a small smile on his face. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. Like, even with the food and everything. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." You give him a soft smile before digging into your food while Soul was already off to a start. Kai and Jungkook devour their food together, with you following shortly behind as Jungkook brings over a small ice cream cake from his fridge for Kai to blow his candles on. After the boys had helped themselves to a good serving of the cake, they started getting hyper and pulled up Smash Bros on Kook's Nintendo Switch [as if Kai hadn't played enough games today]. It started to get intense; the boys jumping and yelling everywhere, bouncing off of the walls, with you getting pulled into the competition every now and then. Even though you knew you'd lost over and over again, you happily joined in anyway, seeing how excited your brother was - plus, it was always a bonus to hear Jungkook's loudly obnoxious, nerdy laugh.

"I WIN!"

"Hey, hey, hey. I let you win because it's your birthday." Jungkook said, making Kai laugh as he crashed to the floor.

"Sure." Kai huffed and puffed. "Crap, I'm tired. What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. We should start heading out, bubba." You patted Kai's chest gently.

"What? No, it's late. Why don't you two just stay here?" You suddenly remembered you've had Kai's shit in your trunk since you dropped him off at Yeonjun's this morning. You didn't have any change of clothes, but that could easily be fixed with Jungkook's closet.

"Only if the queen wants, she's driving."

"It's late, baby." Jungkook says to you softly. "No way I'm letting you two head out there."

"Okay." You give him a small smile before handing your keys. "Can you do me a favor?" He chuckles.

"What is it?"

"Kai's duffle bag is in my trunk." He nods and takes your keys.

"I got it. Kai, you can take the guest room or my office room." Jungkook says with his 3-bedroom apartment having ass. "I have my computer in my office room though, and a pull out bed. I don't know how comfy you'll be."

"It's cool, I'll just take your guest room. I always bring my laptop and switch whenever I sleep at my sister's." Kai says getting up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook says, toothlessly smiling at the both of you, completely endeared at how alike you two were - even down to the fact that you both said thank you for every little thing. If this was a result of Kai being close to you and having you as pretty much his mother figure, then Jungkook wouldn't know what to do with his feelings. He felt butterflies every time he thought about how cute and sweet you were, and he was always excited to be around you.

Jungkook does a quick jog to your car, grabbing Kai's Nike duffle from your trunk before jogging back to the elevator and back to his apartment. He walks in to see Kai helping you clean up the remaining dishes in the sink, tidying the rest of the things in his kitchen.

"Thank you." Jungkook says himself, a little unfamiliar with saying such a thing to be completely honest.

"You're welcome." You say softly, wiping your hands on his hand towel. "Off to bed, or are you gonna go online with your friends?"

"I'll see what they're up to, but I'm pretty beat. Today was fun." Kai smiles at the both of you. "I really appreciate it." You ruffle his hair a bit before gently pushing him towards his bedroom for the night.

"Bathroom's right over there, help yourself to anything you need."

"Don't stay up too late."

"Only if you aren't too loud." You gasp while Jungkook laughs out loud.

"Kai!"

"Hey, I'm just being honest. Please remember that I'm right in this room."

"Oh my god, go to bed." You shove him inside the room and shut his door. "Don't even say a word." You look at Jungkook shyly as you hurriedly brush past him to get into his room - even though Jungkook is literally right behind you with those long ass legs of his, making every stride so much easier for him to catch up to you.

"What's your outfit of choice tonight, pretty lady?" He shuts his door behind him as you start to make your way into his closet.

"Hm, I'll just wear this plain black--" You unfold it. "Balenciaga? Okay, I definitely can't just wear this to sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because this is like, name brand and everything."

"So?" He shrugs. "Just wear it, babygirl. It's not gonna make much of a difference, you're wearing it either way." You do a slight pout before you start to slip out of your clothes to get into his shirt. You make his way to his bathroom to take a little tinkle when you notice another toothbrush sitting next to his. A pink toothbrush, next to his blue one.

"Why do you have two toothbrushes?" You wash your hands as he comes in to the bathroom to start getting ready for bed.

"That's yours." Your eyes light up at his statement.

"Mine?"

"I figured since you'd be over more, it'd be easier for you." He furrows his brows lightly. "Unless.. you didn't want--" You press a kiss against his lips, his hands resting on your arms to keep you close.

"No, I did want that. Thank you."

"Of course, baby." He pecks your forehead.

"By the way, way to make me look like such a bad sister!" You say as you start getting your toothbrush ready.

"Why? The shoes?"

"The shoes, the Loco Moco, the games, the ice cream cake." You laughed. "I literally got him a video game and some money."

"I mean, he is turning 18. I wanted to help make it as memorable as possible."

"I appreciate you a lot. Really."

"I appreciate you too." Your eyes widen as you brush your teeth.

"Waaaaow, say thaht wun mohr tiyme." You say, pulling a Jungkook while brushing your teeth.

"Eye apprushiate yoh toh." You giggle. The both of you finish getting ready for bed before slipping into his warm sheets. Jungkook never goes to sleep early, however, he makes sure all the lights are off and that the show he's watching isn't too loud. You have no idea what's going on in his show, but you lay on his chest to watch for a little bit until you feel yourself getting a little more sleepy. He's holding you close, his hand brushing through your hair softly, causing tingles to ripple through your body.

"Kook."

"Yes, baby?"

"You make me happy." You say sleepily as you hung him tighter. He smiles down at you, your eyes now shut close as you slowly start to drift into a deep sleep. He presses a light kiss against your head, fingers still in your hair.

"You make me happy too, sweetheart."

[sniper-childe]

Hello! I’d like to share some of my notes if I were to Beta-read the most recent Archon Quest. I will be going through what worked, what could be taken out, and what could’ve been better. Note that I’m looking at this through an editor’s lens so I’m going to try NOT to change the plot we were given no matter what my opinions are about it BUT some of the said opinions may slip out.

Also, a bit of a disclaimer: I know that Genshin isn’t an actual literary work but miHoYo is known for its writers’ great storytelling and I’ve always loved their work so it really came as a surprise as to what happened to the mess that is Inazuma Act 3. So yeah.

Contains:

1. What was foreshadowed about the characters and why the payoff of their portrayals felt cheap.

a. About Kokomi and the rebellion.

b. About the Fatui, the James Bond villain wannabe.

c. About Ei and the Raiden Shogun.

2. How Chapter 2, Act 3 could have been the turning point that would have us, as the Traveler, cement our perceptions of the Archons and Gods of Celestia OR what I think the death of Signora was supposed to be but was undermined by this one tidbit.

BONUS: I wrote this before Kokomi’s story quest was released but decided to wait for it before posting. And guess what? I think Kokomi’s Story Quest works better as an Archon Quest. At least, some parts of it.

miHoYo teased us this intelligent leader of the resistance that is well-versed in the Art of War. The end of Ch2: Act 2 showed us a powerful Kokomi. So why was she sidelined all throughout the act?

I actually like the idea of the resistance asking the Fatui for aid. But miHoYo chickened out and made it so that they did it unknowingly. To which I say: how? If Kokomi was so smart she should’ve known better. I figured it was the Fatui within a single sentence, so why didn’t Kokomi?

They should’ve stuck with the concept of the underdogs – or in Kokomi’s words, the little fish – of war in an act of desperation. They could’ve shown a calculated Kokomi “making a deal with the devil” and will do anything to win the fight against the Shogunate.

In her Character Teaser, she was willing to burn the enemies’ supplies – to starve the enemy. She can be ruthless, that’s why Kokomi actively giving Delusions to her foot soldiers would have made much more sense to cause the Fatui to be involved rather than the whole “the Fatui orchestrated everything” schtick.

Which brings me to my next point: when did the Fatui turn into a James Bond villain? I hate that trope so much. It’s like the Deus Ex Machina of villainy. It’s lazy. And it doesn’t even fit the Fatui’s modus operandi.

In the prologue, the Abyss Order corrupted Dvalin and the Fatui was just there waiting to steal Barbatos’ gnosis while the Knights are distracted. Morax decided to retire one day so the Fatui swept right in and offered a test of Liyue in exchange for his gnosis.

The last two locations had their own story to tell while the Fatui was just in the background like the opportunistic antagonist that they are.

It also would have been a stronger plotline to have the already set lore – like the tenuous relationship between Watatsumi and Narukami – be the driving force of the Inazuman Civil War.

The prologue and chapter 1 also delivered what we are told we’re going to get in the Story Preview. That’s why they are satisfying. However, with chapter 2, the way it ended turned out to be more about the Fatui rather than “what do mortals see of the eternity chased after by their god.”

Sure, we got the consequences of the war in the World Quests and some of it in the second act. But making the Fatui the Big Bad in the end takes value away from the actions of the characters that are supposed to be the main feature of this chapter.

How much of the Eternity the Raiden Shogun is pursuing is directly from Ei? How much of it is its own understanding of eternity, coupled with Ei’s memories, and its own response? How much of it is the Fatui’s influence?

I have to say though, I’m fine with the puppet actually. Believe it or not. I have had kinda figured that out with the weird shifting of emotions in and out of the puppet. And the dead glowing eyes. So kudos to the design and animation team for that foreshadowing.

It was also said that the current Electro Archon lost someone dear to her and, while I didn’t think it was a twin, I did figure that the current Electro Archon wasn’t the real Electro Archon. So the whole Baal and Beelzebul backstory didn’t really surprise me. So I guess that was foreshadowed too? But my friends didn’t feel the same way so I don’t know. I’m not touching that.

But I do agree that all of the new lore got info-dumped to us by Yae rather than have us find out about them. To be honest, I would have wanted the backstory of Ei to be in her story quest rather than it be in the Archon Quest. A World Quest could work too.

I just feel like the 2.1 Archon Quest ended up cramming so many themes and subplots when it should’ve been focusing on what was promised: the darkness that is brought by their god.

They already had set up the Visions are people’s motivations/ambitions and that taking them away also takes away their agency.

Then they could’ve played with the idea of the people of Watatsumi looking up to Kokomi as their pseudo-god in-place of Orobashi and so with her actively giving Delusions could fit well in the said theme.

They could’ve made Ei and Kokomi character foils of each other and have the final showdown be about them.

And then it’ll all, of course, end up with the people of Inazuma learning how to work without their “gods” or something like that, which is the overarching theme of the whole series if you think about it.

But as I said, my opinions about the plot shouldn’t matter and I’m only here to make what was already written better.

So let’s talk about something that the puppet has done which didn’t make any sense on the surface level but could’ve been clever if it was done right. Killing La Signora.

Okay. So there is a pivotal moment at the end of the first arc of a three-act story where the main character experiences something that will leave them no choice but to move forward. This usually is a physical thing like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. But it can also be a mental or emotional situation.

Over at Honkai, the first arc ended with the death of a beloved mentor and a shattered world (both external and internal). The characters had no choice but to step up and “to stay alive, bravely” (yes, I won’t stop using this line ever). It was so very well done and even after so many years it still hurt no matter how many times you reread/rewatch the scene.

This reread value is what shows how much a twist is well written.

And that is what miHoYo is known for. So I had high expectations with the plot twist (technically this pivotal moment is called a plot twist because it twists the feel and/or pace of the story). Chapter 2 is the perfect spot to end the first act of a seven-chaptered story. So I’m really preparing myself for the inevitable twist.

But then we ended up with Signora’s death.

Okay. So. They could have used that to show us, as the traveler, how Archons and Celestial beings are unfeeling and not to be trusted. We were told this repeatedly by Dainsleiff and by the Abyss Twin. But it is only textbook writing 101 to show NOT tell.

And Signora’s death could have been this portrayal. Although, to be honest, it would have been more impactful if the one who died is a friend of the Traveler.

Them seeing someone die at the hands of an Archon could have their idea of gods shift. Because there is no turning back once you see the proof right in front of your eyes.

But instead, the puppet did it. So what was the point of Signora’s death if not just a power demonstration? We already knew that the Raiden Shogun is powerful. So why did Signora have to die?

Sure, one can argue that the puppet was enacting the Ei’s will so maybe there was a point. But! In Ei’s story quest, we were told that the puppet would have no hesitation when it comes to killing whereas Ei can show mercy.

Which begs, again, the question: how much of the Raiden Shogun’s actions is a reflection of Ei’s will, and how much of it is a logic response of an artificial intelligence from Ei’s memories?

Honestly? I don’t like that they killed off Signora. It doesn’t feel right. I would’ve taken Beidou’s death over Signora’s no matter how much I love Beidou. There was just no build-up to it and it feels weak. I… didn’t feel anything besides confusion. The anger only came later because of the wasted potential.

But overall, I do think they could’ve made it work if it were actually Ei doing the killing.

--

So I just did Kokomi’s Story Quest and man. The soldiers wanting to continue the war is what they really should have made the motivations of the actual war rather than have it as a post-war response and then have Kokomi fix their mess.

Seriously. While it was really interesting to see the usual trauma response of soldiers who had only known war their whole life, they wasted this idea, man.

Before doing the Archon Quest I had thought that the Watatsumi had a hand on the Vision Hunt Decree. Because if I were a tactician, I would have made something to anger the people of my enemies and have them have their internal issues. And while the Shogunate is weak, that’s when I will strike and claim Inazuma for my people and my god.

Then Orobashi will rise once more.

Yep.

Obviously, I really wanted Kokomi to be a more active character in the Archon Quest.

Anyways. If you reached the end, thank you for reading this ~1.5k words of musings. Tell me what you think. Or don’t. You do you.

[rayofsunas]

valentines | diluc [3]

A/n: good evening everyone!! I know this story is kinda a slow start to things, but dw reader is actually in this chapter lol. my plan is too write one more part, which would be the finale :) let me know how you guys are liking the series so far <33 I feel like Diluc is sooooo ooc, sawwy... AND I also can’t remember if the Dawn Winery is Diluc’s home, but pretend it is for this if it isn’t- anyways, enjoy and stay safe!!

Summary: the ever so stoic diluc thought he was being secretive when sending anonymous letters and gifts to you during the week of valentine’s day but turns out everyone in mondstadt knew it was him, though thankfully had tight enough lips to not spill the beans to you. kaeya is of no help, so you go seeking answers yourself.

Parings: Diluc/Fem! Reader (for my other mini-series, there will be some gn ones!)

Warnings: valentines (yes, I’m late, shoot me), fluff, Diluc and Kaeya have a mother (the only reason this is a warning, is cause she’s a mood and I love her), swearing

Word count: 4.5k (I’m so proud and happy with this chapter :))

The letters were vague at first and you usually received them early in the morning, at first there was one. But now there was more than one letter, sometimes Cecilia flowers and even little gifts in a delicately wrapped box along with them. You assumed the writer was a serious night owl to have prepared this all and had sent them when you were asleep, leaving them as a sort of gift for you to wake up to in the morning. 

Though, originally, when you received the first handful of letters, you were creeped out, nervous for obvious reasons.

Who was this stranger sending letters of unworthy praise and admiration? Was their identity that much in danger, to have to be anonymous? And without an address as well... 

The more you read his or her letters, you learned that over four days, they were no threat. They couldn’t have been. Whoever they were, most likely was a young teen, caught in the webs of affection for the very first time, nervous to dip their toes into confrontation out of fear of being rejected. 

But the more you scanned the letters at night, reading them over like a series of detective novels, searching for any kind of clue, you realized this person was far too intelligent, smooth, and straight to the point, to be any kind of lovesick teen. That scenario, that possibility wasn’t possible in your mind. 

The only thing that made them seem like a confused teen was the fact that they sounded lost within their feelings, although straight to the point it was hard to decipher exactly what they were saying. Their words were often hidden behind a thick wall of glass; you could see them, but it was hard to grasp exactly what they were, the true meaning of it all. 

Was his or her adoration for you, really, truly love?

Was praising your skill too small of a thing to feel completely doused in love over?

You were never too sure. 

-

letter one.

I know this may seem odd, coming from a stranger. But I can assure you I am not a creep of any kind. I can’t help but say, I admire your skills in battle; you’re a force to be reckoned with. Please accept these Cecilia’s, I hope they aren’t too much nor are you allergic.

Best wishes.

This was the very first letter you received. Something you solely took for another Knight who you unknowingly, until now, of course, caught the attention of. You assumed that they were just praising you because they wished to be like you, of course, you accepted it with open arms. Praise for such a low profiled Knight felt nice.

letter two.

Hello. I realized I never specified an address for you to possibly reply to my letters with. It completely slipped my mind, my apologies. If it isn’t too much of a hassle, you could leave your letters at Barbatos’ Statue and I could do so as well. I also realized that sending letters to your home may seem... very weird and unsettling. I am sincerely sorry, my intentions weren’t to scare you. I am no creep, I can assure you we are acquaintances. Though, I would prefer to keep my identity hidden for right now. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes. 

This letter was completely apologetic, its entire body and being were sincere you could tell. Yes, you would agree, the letters sent directly to your home were unsettling. But if they were an acquaintance and they had no ill intentions, you had no reason to panic. 

letter three.

I received your letter and I’m very glad to hear you’re no longer panicked or creeped out. Those were never my intentions... I appreciate your willingness to communicate with me. It’s very kind and understanding of you. Also, to answer your question, I am a man. I hope that does not disappoint you... Looking forward to your next letter. 

Best wishes.

You were happy to finally figure out more of who this anonymous person was, and knowing they were a man helped you learn more about who they could be. The list of suspects you were acquainted and or friends with, decreased significantly. You didn’t have many guy friends or acquaintances. You could only name a handful. Was he even amongst that handful? People had different meanings of friends and acquaintances after all...

letter four.

I know this may seem too early, we’ve only been properly conversing for a day or two. But, I would like to say you’re one of a kind and I found myself lost for words when writing to you. I hope you’re faring well. Please stay safe. I heard there was a pretty nasty bar fight last night that transitioned into a bloodbath in the streets. Lots of people are upset right now, politics I assume... Nonetheless, stay safe. 

Best wishes.

He was right. You weren’t cleared for such information, but you had heard talk from some of your fellow Knights that there was a pretty bad bar fight that carried out into the streets late last night. Multiple people had ended up in the dungeons, some still walked the streets whispering their opinions on an ancient conspiracy, though, you were unsure of what that exactly meant. 

Poison, sicknesses, and night terrors were a few of the most talked-about stressors for the fight. Who was to tell which ones were true though, if any. You assumed the truth was riddled in there somewhere though, it had to of been. Rumors often stemmed from an over extreme truth. 

What an unfortunate thing to hear, especially the week of Valentine's day. A week of love, already filled with a bitter hatred, not a good start. Thankfully, you had the letters, they kept you hopeful. The other person on the receiving end could also feel hopeful, so you hoped. You just hoped the situation wasn’t the start of something worse brewing.

Sadly, you weren’t cleared to investigate like you had heard Captain Kaeya was; despite how curious and nosy you were. Unfortunately, you were stuck with paperwork and training the younger Knights; you enjoyed the latter. But those were your duties this week, you couldn’t afford to stray from them. 

Hopefully, your anonymous admirer was alright and well. 

-

You hated to admit it. But over the last five days, you had become smitten. Some say, love at first sight, was impossible, a silly tale told to hopeless romantics who would believe anything. For someone who was not one of those people easy to fall in love with, truthfully, you were starting to believe the tales.

This anonymous man was so kind, well versed with words, so well versed that they moved mountains. You know for sure they had moved your heart. He wasn't willing to share a simple thing; his name. But he’d practically told you his life story, thrown it into your palms easily. Though vague, it was enough to help you understand him better and feel ultimately closer.

You’d learned he was a well-known guy, and as much as he accepted and loved the attention sometimes, it was tiring and draining the majority of the time. He’d said he was a protector of Mondstadt, someone who deeply cared for the townspeople and they're well beings. He’d make any deal, cross any sea, walk through hell with his head held high, just to protect them. He was also a brother, though never specified if he was older or younger, you assumed he was older when he said that he had a very annoying brother; only an older sibling could understand another's annoyance caused by a younger sibling. You could blame personal experience from your time around the younger Knights. You felt like an older sister to a lot of them without that older mentor figure. They weren’t all annoying, but they could share similar qualities at times when they didn't pay attention or learn paperwork completion formats.  

A name came to mind as he shared his vague life story. 

Kaeya Alberich. 

He was all of those things, except maybe for the last one. You knew Kaeya and Master Diluc were brothers, very close in age, but they weren’t blood-related, so twins were off the table; one was older than the other. Something was telling you it was the more flirtatious brother. He was the more outgoing of the two, spontaneous, he would surely be one behind the letters, right? But then wouldn’t he just approach you like normal? Hmmm. Maybe not. He did like to act mysterious, but maybe he was scared of rejection, who knows with Captain Kaeya. He was very hard to read. You couldn’t even tell half the time if he truly meant what he’d say when flirting with you or if he was just saying those things to tease you, maybe even make someone else jealous. 

You were curious, so you decided to approach him. Corner the Captain and demand an answer. He’d have to give you one, you wouldn’t leave his side. So that’s what you did, after your duties had finished around five in the afternoon, you waited outside the Knights headquarters. Hopefully, you’d catch him going in and out sometime soon, it was growing late. 

It was nearing six-thirty when you were getting ready to leave headquarters. Thinking, maybe this could wait tomorrow until you could catch the Captain at a reasonable time. But then he came strutting out of headquarters, his uncovered eye glistening with mischief, a smirk plastered on his handsome face. 

“Captain Kaeya, a word?” You interjected stepping in front of the man, stopping him from bounding down the steps deeper into the city. 

His face broke out in a grin, “Ah, Y/n! Nice to see you again, miss me did you?” 

“Not hardly, Captain.” You said, hoping you wouldn’t get in trouble for practically back-talking your superior. Your own Captain would never let you hear the end of it, the blonde man was a strict one. 

“You wound me,” The cryo user feigned pain. You could only chuckle nervously. “So, what is it you wanted to see me for?”

Your face heated up, burning like fire. “I have a question.”

“Shoot.” He said, hand going to rest sassily on his hip. 

“Are you the one writing me letters?” 

He laughed, sending waves of embarrassment through you. It shouldn’t have but now you felt stupid. Even if you held no romantic feelings for the Captain, he was way out of your league. He probably knew that. 

“Me? You flatter me!”

“No... I mean it,” You stated. “Is it you?”

His face turned serious. “Sadly, not.”

You huffed, heart, dropping to the floor. “Damn it,” You muttered, moving to sit on the stone steps of the Knights headquarters. Kaeya stayed standing, shadow blanketing over you, oddly silent. No flirtatious rebuttal, nothing, just silence. Odd. 

“You know something I don’t, I know you do.” You said, head hanging low. He laughed again. So, you were right.

“Of course, beautiful, I know a lot of things you don’t.” He taunted, eye dripping in mischief. 

“Very funny, Captain.” This wasn’t very funny, not at all. You weren’t laughing.

Suddenly, the Captain spoke up, “Speak to Diluc, I’m sure he knows, he has a very keen eye.”

Master Diluc? Wine tycoon Diluc? What did he have to do with this? He was always off doing his own thing, was it possible he knew anything at all?

“Master Diluc?”

“That’s what I said, yes.”

“You think he’d know who this person is?” You wondered. 

“Like I, he knows about lots of things, one being people.”

“Captain, I don’t like games, please just tell me.” You pleaded, eyes meeting his singular visible one. 

“When you beg, it’s cute,” He said catching you off guard. “See Diluc, he’ll know.” With that, he turned around and began walking off. 

“Wait!” You abruptly stood. “Do you know where I can find him?” 

“Dawn Winery.” You nearly froze on the spot. 

Dawn Winery? Wasn’t that Master Diluc’s residence? You possibly couldn’t, not at this hour either. Archons no...

“I’m sorry,” You hurriedly followed after the retreating figure. “I can’t possibly go there at this hour.”

“And why not?”

“Umm, Captain obvious, it seems inappropriate! People would think I’m going for other intentions!” Oh, if news got out that you went to Master Diluc’s residence late in the afternoon, and people assumed you had other intentions, this would surely be the end of you.

“But you’re not and you know that,” He said. “Are you always such a rule follower and strung up? Archons, you’re Diluc, but a girl version...” He commented.

He did have a point, but if someone saw a young woman entering the Dawn Winery of a bachelor late in the afternoon, suspicion would rise. It’s very conspicuous.

“Yes but-”

“Toodles, beautiful!” You stood still like a statue of ice, heart racing. 

“Bastard...”

-

Against better judgment, you ended up making the short walk to the Dawn Winery. You were hesitant to knock on the large doors though. Scared shitless, beyond nervous, only thinking what would others think? What would Master Diluc think? He’d probably shut the door on your face, leaving you like a frazzled idiot.

You probably stood pacing outside for fifteen minutes, before mustering up the courage to knock on the door. But you never got the chance, because you saw a woman with brown hair and a few gray strands peeking out of one of the first-floor windows. She had a small smile on her delicate face as she watched you. How long had she been there for...?

Your heart dropped the minute you’d been caught pacing, leaving you standing frozen. Eventually, the woman disappeared from the window, leaving you confused. But then the door whipped open with a gentle force and there she stood. 

She was a taller, slender woman with broad shoulders, wearing a simple dark green blouse black pants, black heeled boots with golden vine details were on her feet, making her even taller. If it weren’t for the gentle smile she gave you, she would’ve looked terrifying. 

“I saw you pacing outside for a while, I figured you’d muster up the courage to knock eventually.” She said without introduction.

Oh my... was this Master Diluc and Kaeya’s mother... She didn’t look like either of them, but who knows. You wanted to die, that’s for sure.

“I’m so sorry Miss,” You apologized. “I was just-”

“No worries!” She cheered, hands clasping tightly together. “Which one of my boys are you here for?”

So, she was their mother? Oh my... You shouldn’t have come like this, no not now. 

“Master Diluc...” You whispered nervously. Her smile only brightened, she was happy to hear that. 

“Ah I see, are his girlfriend?” Your chest wanted to explode.

“What?! No! I just, have a question for him...” You practically shrunk under her grey steel gaze and for that, began backing away from the intimidating, yet a kind woman. You were hoping to put some distance in between you two, but she moved along with you. “It’s not of importance to be here so late, I just- Kaeya sent me here and-”

“Ah I see, that one is trouble, I’m sorry you had to deal with him...” She seemed visibly distressed by the mention of the Cavalry Captain. You could relate. 

“It’s no problem, ma’am.” You reassured.

“Are you a Knight?” She suddenly asked, still no proper introduction. 

You nodded your head, her smile widened and brightened. 

“A respectable woman you are,” She praised. “And you’re beautiful? If one of my boys don’t marry you right now-” She carried on, you nearly choked on your saliva. “I’m sorry, I get carried away sometimes, I forgot to introduce myself!”

“My name is Victoria.” Finally, you thought. A name to fit her face. 

“Are you the boys' mother?” You suddenly asked. Manners, you reminded yourself. Remember to have manners and keep your curiosity to yourself. 

“Archons no!” She announced loudly, you jumped. “I’m a family friend of Diluc’s mother. You see, the boys were quite young when she passed, and they needed someone to help look after them, Master Crepus was quite a busy man. I stepped up and became a mother figure.”

“Ahh, I see,” You nodded. “I salute you for being able to help raise such gentlemen, must’ve been hard...” 

She laughed, “Not entirely, at first yes, but then it came naturally,”

“Where are my manners!” She suddenly exclaimed, grabbing your hand. “Come in! Diluc will be arriving soon, he’s out taking care of business.” With that, she dragged you into the mansion. 

The door slammed with a loud bang, and Victoria began walking through the downstairs level, almost excitedly. 

“Oh, um, thank you, ma’am.” You bowed your head in respect, watching confusedly as she disappeared into a hallway, before returning with a bottle of wine. 

“A drink?” She offered, showing off a bottle of wine, that just so happened to be the Ragnvindr’s specialty. 

“No, thank you, ma’am. I’m afraid I have an early morning tomorrow, a hangover would be a troubling start to my day.”

“Very good decision.” She praised, scrambling out of the room to look for what you assumed was a glass for her wine, leaving you once again alone. 

Glancing around the main entrance, you were left staring at very few portraits on the wall, framed maps, and personal memorabilia. One thing that stood out to you the most, a black insignia with a star and white skull, a Pirate insignia...

“A pirate insignia?” You whispered to yourself, confused. Captain Kaeya always told stories of pirates, his grandfather being one specifically. You always assumed he was lying... He wasn't. Maybe you should take back your disbelief in him. 

“That’s mine,” Victoria announced proudly, making herself known again. You jumped, startled, before turning to face the beautiful woman. She returned with a glass-like you thought she would and nearly emptied the entire wine bottle into it, cherry red contents filling to the brim.

You retract your statement about Captain Kaeya, he was still a fibber. 

“You were a pirate?” You asked, astonishment bubbling in your chest. You had so many questions for her, you secretly hoped Diluc would take even longer, just so you could listen to her stories. 

Victoria hummed, plopping onto a cherry red armchair, you still stood. 

”Badass...” You whispered to yourself, taking a seat on the nearby loveseat. 

”Thank you.” She beamed. 

“In my younger years of course. I haven’t been on a Pirate ship in a while. I haven’t seen my crew in years, either...” She reminisced. 

“You can’t be a day over thirty-five,” She smiled at your praise. “Why did you give it up? Being a Pirate, though uncertain at times, seems like loads of fun, filled with adventure.” She shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. 

“The boys lost their mother around the ages of eleven or twelve and I had just returned from months at sea,” She began. “They had run away from home to get into mischief when they met me at the gates; I think they’d been cooped at home for a while, they were grieving still....”

“Kaeya was excited to see my crew return home, infatuated with our stories. He clung to me for hours, with so many questions. Diluc on the other hand was just happy to finally not be bothered by his little brother,” 

Little brother? Kaeya? Wait did that mean-

“Master Crepus found them after he’d come searching, they’d been missing for hours and he was worried for obvious reasons. He attempted to take them home, Diluc was willing, Kaeya though clung to me. So, Master Crepus offered me a slower-paced life, looking after the boys and help keep them in check,” She continued, a smile on her face. “I agreed. They looked like they had gone through a lot and needed a mother figure. I was more than happy to look after them, I’d never had kids.” She ended her story there, swishing the red contents in her cup. 

“I guess that's the answer to your question,” 

“I was busy being a mother.” You smiled. Her story was inspiring, she was filled with pride despite leaving something she enjoyed behind, you could tell.

Leaning forward in your seat, you admitted, “You’re very admirable, I admire your drive to raise the boys. You’re an amazing woman and mother.”

“Thank you,” She blushed. “There is no perfect woman, no perfect mother, but your admiration for me is very telling, you share my qualities. If I’m as amazing as you say, you’d be an equally amazing mother to your own children.” Your face warmed at her compliment. 

“I’ve never thought about having children before... But, thank you.” She nodded, raising her glass in salute, before throwing the contents into the back of her throat. 

“A young girl such as yourself, curious, strong, loyal- You should accompany me one day if I ever find myself returning to swashbuckling adventures,”

“You’d be a great second mate.” The brunette admitted, sharp eyebrows wiggling with excitement. Was she hinting, no, offering for you to join her?

“I’m flattered. But I’m not so sure it would be right of a Knight to suddenly turn into a Pirate,” You giggled, she joined in. “No offense.”

“None was taken, sweetheart! I can understand. A Pirate would never think to become a Knight,” She explained. “Two different worlds, different rules, loyalties, and such.” 

The silence was deafening, but you had so many questions for the woman. Would she ever return to swashbuckling? Had she ever had any cool encounters? Did she feel like a badass? Archons, so many questions, very little time. 

“I believe I never caught your name, how rude and selfish of me.’ What’s your name beautiful?”

“Y/n Y/l/n, ma’am.” You said proudly. 

She smiled, “A pretty name for a pretty girl.” She praised, steel-gray eyes glistening like the stars. 

The door closing loudly caught your attention immediately, you stiffened on the spot. 

Master Diluc...

“Oh!” Victoria exclaimed, standing to her feet. “Diluc has arrived, my my, we talked for a long time,” Retreating towards the door, all you could hear were her heeled boots thumping against the wooden floorboards, matching the thumps of your beating heart surely. You watched uncomfortably as she helped the wine tycoon shrug his jacket off, poking fun at him every now and then. You could see by the way he tried to brush her off that he was flustered, he still hadn't seen you though, Victoria was persistent in her pestering; a mother's love, am I right?

“Diluc,” she started, voice echoing and bouncing off into the walls, traveling into the living room. “A beautiful, intelligent woman is here to see you. She says it’s not of importance, but with a woman of her beauty and admiration, you’ll make this the most important day in your life!” With that, her boots moving could be heard again and she was suddenly in the living room, a huge smile on her face, standing behind the loveseat you were sitting uncomfortably in. 

Another pair of boots could be heard, a heavier set this time, a jingling was heard as well, maybe keys? You weren’t sure... 

“Mother-” The tall man shut his mouth immediately as soon as he’d set his eyes on your figure. “Oh,” He approached, continuously looking between Victoria and you, probably wondering what the hell was going on.

“Miss Y/n,” He bowed his head respectively, though you were confused. You should be doing that instead, he was your superior in more ways than one. Standing to your feet, nearly tripping as well, you decided to greet him the same way, remembering your manners in your starstruck state. You couldn’t tell if it was from Victoria's story or the fact that Master Diluc was standing in front of you. Probably both. “W-what’re you doing here?” Master Diluc a stuttering mess? What an uncharacteristically shocking sight...

A slap sounded throughout the room, Victoria’s hand making contact with Diluc’s shoulder, ushering him forward, that’s what it was. “Diluc stop stuttering! Why are you suddenly flustered, huh?!” She exclaimed loudly, her son just stared at her embarrassed. Face turning shades of red. You giggled to yourself quietly.

“Mother!” 

“Sorry!” Her hands waved out in front of you, various gold dangling bracelets and chains on her wrists making a jingling sound. “I should be going now,” Te brunette then turned to you, taking your hands in her slender ones. “After talking to this eye-opening Knight, I think I should write to a few of my old comrades.” You smiled happily, hands squeezing hers gently. She was staring at you with pride as a mother would to their daughter. 

“Goodnight Y/n. I hope to see you again soon,” She waved you off, moving towards the stairs. “Come find me when you’re ready to leave behind those Knightly duties and join me for a voyage at sea, I’d love to show you my ship one day.” She beamed.

You nodded, seriously considering her offer. You hoped you as well would see her again, rather sooner than later. She was great company. You loved her deafening presence, an admirable woman she was. “Good night, ma’am.”  

As soon as she was gone up the stairs, Diluc awkwardly turned to face you. 

”She asked you to join her on her voyages I see.” He stated, trying to spark conversation. You nodded, fingers fiddling.

“Ya know, I’m considering that offer. It sounds fun.” You teased with a shrug, voice filled with sincerity. 

Master Diluc sent you a soft smile, “Yes. Life at sea does sound quite tiring, but I’m sure the adventures are worth it.”

“Agreed.”

Another deafening silence, Diluc looked like he wanted to say something.

“Can I get you anything? Wine, tea, juice...”

Not that though... You couldn’t help but giggle at the last part, he blushed. 

“Maybe next time, I’d love to be graced with your mother's presence again, maybe hear a few stories.”

“I’m sure she’d love that. Mother has many to tell.” He admitted with a proud smile,

You couldn’t wait to hear those stories truthfully, so entranced. You had never faced adventures quite like Victoria, never had even considered it, now you were though. Curse Victoria and her entrancement, though not literally, you held too much admiration for the woman to ever wish ill on her. 

”So, what can I do for you?” Diluc suddenly asked.

”Oh right!” You were left flustered. So wrapped up in your conversation, you had completely forgotten what you had come here for. Archons, what the hell.

“I had a question, but-”

You paused. 

Diluc’s eyebrows raised. “Yes?” He seemed to be hanging onto your every word. He was waiting for an answer for a long time. It seems he’d have to wait even longer...

“...I seemed to have forgotten.”

[🏷] TAGLIST (if you want to be removed from/added to this specific taglist let me know!)

@gladly-olus​ , @kyquu , @craptainlou , @mintydump , @chscklvr , @irisxiel , @minh0ree , @whatishappinesswhatislove , @rrintarou , @sorenthousand , @cvsmix , @nonniechan ,

3.7.21, rayofsunas

[mittensmorgul]

Re: your recent post about the finale being a giant excuse for a cast party, I've been saying this to people for months. The more I hear about it, the more it sounds like it was an episode designed to say goodbye to the actual TV show SPN, rather than an episode designed around what makes narrative sense for the characters or in-universe plot/themes. The characters have no association with Kansas, only the crew and audience do. The Heaven scene apparently was an open invitation to all (1/2)

(2/3 now) previous crew members, whether it made sense for them to be in Heaven or not (Rachel Miner said she would be there, so I guess demons can be in Heaven now?). IDK if you ever saw Nashville but they pulled the same thing in the finale. Some of the characters were singing on stage and then were joined by all the previous characters who'd died - a huge WTF moment initially - before the audience realised that they'd smashed the 4th wall entirely and it was meant to be the actors themselves.

(3/3) Then the creator and crew got up onstage to say their thank yous before the cameras swung around to reveal the camera operators etc. It was VERY WEIRD, but then again, nobody had the emotional investment in Nashville as they do in SPN so everyone just shrugged and went with it. Given that we had the bridge scene in 15x20 though, I do now think that they were trying something similar, except they thought it through horribly. Anyway, it makes it MUCH easier to dismiss 15x20 entirely.

Hello there! And yeah, ever since (I think it was) Jensen first said that 15.19 would work like a “season finale” while 15.20 would function as a “series finale” I’ve been prepared to think of 15.20 as its own entity, you know? He was pretty emphatic about the concept, and it had me seriously wondering why for the better part of a year. In conjunction with the story he told (repeatedly) of how difficult it was for him to wrap his head around the finale. And then there was that shot on the bridge with the entire crew, and it was like... why?! I mean, I get they wanted to honor the crew in some way but that just felt ~weird and jarring~ after that whole episode’s weirdness.

And now we’ve had confirmation about some aspects of the original intended ending, with a massive party at the Roadhouse in Heaven, with characters we have to assume were ~not originally~ in heaven. Much as I love Rachel Miner, I seriously doubt Meg would’ve been in Heaven-- unless it was the human she had originally possessed and not The Demon Known As Meg. And Ketch? I guess murdering Eileen that one time wasn’t a big enough strike against him to have earned Heaven redemption after his help in s15? But then if Eileen was also there? AWKWARD.... like... the random assortment of faces would’ve ranged from narratively meaningless to outright insulting, you know?

And it kind of goes with the theory I’d adopted shortly after the finale aired, that that particular finale only made sense in the Mockumentary!verse. Because the rest of the episode required to get us to that Heaven Roadhouse Party Concert Ending just... didn’t make sense with the show *we* have been watching for years. But maybe one universe over where the characters in the Mockumentary were actually real, maybe this ending made sense for their show. The contrivance of Dean with a dog fit pretty well with Mockumentary!Jensen walking around set with a dog, and Sam with a wig was spot on with Mockumentary!Jared and his wig on fire like... in the most hilariously awful way, some of the narrative choices fit those characters.

And honestly, my heart hurts for people who haven’t been able to let go of 15.20 as a part of canon, for folks who have been too hurt by it to engage with something that brought them happiness and validation for years. I’m not suggesting that this is The Full Truth here, but that seeing this episode this way might help let it go if it’s only causing them pain. There’s perfectly valid and legitimate arguments to be made that 15.20 isn’t actually a part of canon, so if seeing it this way or accepting this headcanon helps anyone in any way to let go and be able to engage with the rest of canon and fandom again, then it’s worth making this suggestion.

Again, not saying this is in any way a factual statement of how this episode was conceived and came to be, but hooooboy, it sure would explain a lot if it was...

I just don’t want people taking this theory and presenting it as What Actually Happened in any official capacity, because for all we know this is entirely off base with reality. But heck... apply it liberally for personal salvation if it helps, you know?

[prettywordsyouleft]

Labelling Love | Part 1 (Collab)

Summary: Meeting you changed the way Eunwoo viewed romance and love entirely.

Pairing: Cha Eunwoo x female reader

Genre: university au / romance / fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: Welcome to the second series in the monthly Love In Fours Ways collab with @jackiejacks923​ @noona-clock​ & @this-song-thats-only-for-you​ . In the final week of each month during this collab, we’ll be each sharing a mini-series using 4 of the pictures/concepts illustrated in the book that inspired our series that I’ve credited below. 

Credit to: Puuung - Love Is In The Small Things // #76 , #60 , #4 , #33

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 // Collab Masterlist

Part 1 - Not Being Able To Concentrate Because She's There

Cha Eunwoo didn’t believe in love at first sight. Or upon a second or even a third look. He was certain that it was nothing but a phenomenon of the hopeless romantic. A guise that someone who wanted to fall in love badly held over the top of feelings that could be more easily described as attractive or interesting. Eunwoo had met many people in his lifetime that he could easily commit to saying he was attracted to or interested in upon first sight. Such was the nature of being human, so he thought.

However, love was something that came with time. A feeling that grew with experiences shared together, not something you felt straight away. He was a firm believer of this.

So what exactly could he call the feeling that was making his heart beat erratically in his chest as he watched you right now?

Blinking forcibly in attempts to regain control over his physical reaction, Eunwoo licked at his lips, realising his breath was heightened. Now clamping his lips together, he did everything he could to tear his eyes away from your direction and back to the guide in front of him.

“This is the campus library. I hope you took down notes on how to get here because you’ll be spending a lot of your time cramming here. There are eleven floors and this place houses pretty much every book about absolutely everything you could ask a question about. This area here is known as the main study lobby. Most students find the second-floor study area pretty noisy though so if you’re…”

Eunwoo lost his focus again on the tour and slipped back to you at one of the tables quietly reading a book. Sliding your hand onto your neck to better support your head as you continued perusing the pages before you, Eunwoo gulped as his skin began to tingle.

“Its attraction,” he breathed out slowly, trying to claim the feeling overwhelming him as that. It didn’t feel like enough to say it was mere attraction though and Eunwoo frowned. “I’m interested too.”

“And I’m intrigued,” another voice announced, nudging Eunwoo playfully. Glancing at the fellow freshman at his side, Eunwoo cringed at his high school buddy Harvey overhearing his outspoken thoughts. “Who are you attracted to? The tour guide? She’s like forty, dude.”

“No, but if you are, by all means ask her out when we’re done.”

“So then who? The rest of us are guys. But hey, if you’re unsure and want to experiment-”

“Could you stop yourself from talking instead?” Eunwoo replied dryly, dragging his feet reluctantly as the group started to move along. He glanced over his shoulder back in your direction, blinking when he found the table you had been reading at now empty. Spinning around, he thought he saw the end of your ponytail descending the stairs at the front of the building but he couldn’t be too sure.

Harvey jostled him around. “Whoever she is, maybe you imagined her. She could be the girl of your college dreams.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off imagining up a new friend than having you around, Harvey,” Eunwoo commented before letting out a sigh.

Perhaps you were just a fleeting moment of temptation, after all.

Eunwoo was simultaneously relieved and horrified to find that you existed the following day at his first lecture. Harvey’s teasing had simmered down somewhat when the tour moved out of the library and Eunwoo began to believe maybe his friend was right and he conjured you up.

Seeing you in the flesh again solved the puzzle of whether you existed or not.

However, as the hairs stood up on his arms and his eyes fixated on the side of your head as you moved across the front of the lecture hall to the staircase, Eunwoo was troubled by seeing you in person again.

His physical reaction only felt greater this time as well.

Not this row, he begged internally as you came closer to where he was set up, closing his eyes when you diverted towards him. Of course, the universe was testing him right now. Still, he didn’t understand why you of all the people in this world had to cause his insides to implode with nervous excitement like this.

“Hello,” you greeted softly and pointed at the seat you had stopped before. “Can I sit next to you?”

“Oh uh um well uh-”

You grinned. “It’s just the centre of the room and the row, so...”

“That’s exactly why I chose this spot,” he admitted and you bit your lip to control your delight before sitting down.

“I’ve always been the only one who chooses by the environment on where to sit that I’ve known of.”

“Well it makes the most sense to,” he managed to comment and you nodded along eagerly. “You have to be comfortable in order to learn.”

“Precisely! I’m so glad to finally meet someone who thinks the same. I’m Y/N and you are?”

“Eunwoo,” he replied, taking the hand you held outstretched towards him.

He had to clamp his mouth shut before the squeak building up in his throat was expelled, his cheeks feeling hot with his efforts. You mirrored the flushed expression before letting go.

“It’s nice to meet you, Eunwoo. I hope this semester will be productive for the pair of us.”

The first lecture was anything but productive. Eunwoo couldn’t concentrate for the first time in a learning environment in years. And when he hadn’t been as focused in the past, it was due to being unwell and needing to be resting at home, not because a gorgeous girl had sat down beside him. He was well versed in ignoring others around him when learning.

It threw him completely to be unable to focus at all with you next to him.

Eunwoo chalked it up to first day nerves. Or anything else he could kid himself of. But after a second lecture with no true coherency of what was being spoken about in the class and then on the third being called upon and blanking over an answer he knew in great detail from previous study, Eunwoo knew it was due to you.

The problem was he liked you too much to try and avoid you. It wasn’t just the physical reaction now either. Every time you arrived early for class and you chatted over topics before the professor arrived. He was enamoured by the way you thought. Conversation was all too easy between you.

Which was why you didn’t hesitate to gesture to his empty page. “Another day of not taking down notes?”

“Hah, yeah.”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those geniuses who don’t need to write down information to remember and ace all your tests,” you breathed, leaning towards him.

Eunwoo wished right now he was one of those types. He was immensely grateful that all lectures were recorded so he could cram in note-taking later when he was back home. Staring down at his blank page, he let out a nervous laugh. “Nope, that’s not me.”

“Then? Is the content too hard? I could help you during lunch today to get your head around it?” you offered, blinking softly.

He should have been honest with you then, however, the offer to have a meal with you seemed more desirable than anything else and he found himself nodding along. “Could you?”

“It’ll be my pleasure! I can’t have you falling behind so soon into the semester.” Eunwoo groaned out loud as you giggled. Glancing at you with a brief pout, he then grinned. “I’ll buy lunch then for your help.”

“Ooh, deal!”

It was evident even to you after twenty minutes of attempting to explain the situation that Eunwoo was distracted. You didn’t know why, however. At first, he was determined to make his way through the entirety of lunch fully invested in what you had to say. And for that matter, he had been invested enough to hear each word you spoke, they just didn’t make enough sense. Was it because of the perfume you had on today? It had been fragrant in class earlier on, but now squeezed into a tiny table at the back of one of the bustling campus cafes, it washed over him completely. Was it the way you brushed your hair away from your neck and placed it all to one side of your head, exposing your delicate skin? Honestly, Eunwoo couldn’t tell why he was being like this, and admittedly he was growing quite concerned for his sanity.

You were driving him down a path he had never wandered before.

Harvey’s remark about university being known as an experimental time in a young person’s life came to the forefront of his brain. Was his physical attraction to you that out of control that he couldn’t focus in your company? Or was it just you as a whole?

He whimpered with the lack of an answer.

Glancing away from your book, you placed down your pen and sighed. “This isn’t helping, is it?”

“No.”

“And it’s not the professor that’s the problem, is it?” you continued and Eunwoo shook his head sadly. “I bet the content isn’t that hard for you-”

“It’s you.”

“Excuse me?” you asked slowly, brows knitting together. “I’m the problem?”

Eunwoo opened his mouth, only for embarrassment to flare up within his stomach. How could he tell you that it was because of boyish feelings that he couldn’t concentrate in your company? He’d barely known you for a week now. It would haunt him for the rest of his semester if he confessed this early into things.

However, his lack of response had done enough damage, your hands hastily grabbing for your belongings scattered over the table in between lunch. “I’m sorry I’m such a problem. You should have told me earlier, Eunwoo.”

“No, it’s nothing like that!”

“I’ll sit somewhere else on Monday so you can concentrate on the lecture. Good luck with your semester.”

“Y/N!” he called out hopelessly, reaching out for your lower arm. You halted all movement and stared at his gentle grip over your arm.

He knew he had no other option.

“I can’t concentrate because ever since I met you, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

_________________

Part 2

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[bedlamsbard]

Some new concept writing!  Backbone base ‘verse, as per usual for me; this one is a bit more personal than I usually go.

About 6.4K below the break.

While I don’t generally do content advisories, please note that this contains discussion of fairly severe (unnamed) depression and anxiety.

*

Hera cried herself to sleep the night before the Inquisitor arrived.

She was sick to her stomach, trying to fight down how betrayed she felt as well as her own terror. Agent Beneke had tried to comm her in the morning, but Hera had ignored her beeping comlink, knowing that she was too upset to answer in any way that wouldn’t result in a lecture.  Five years of careful training and Imperial service had gone out the window; Hera was so frightened that all she could do was weep, sitting on the floor in the corner of her cabin furthest from the hatch with her face in her hands.  She knew very well that if she hadn’t been on Naboo, she might have done something drastic, but she couldn’t leave Naboo, not from right under the ISB’s nose, so all she could do was sit on the floor and cry and hope that she would have enough notice to wash her face before the Inquisitor arrived.  She didn’t dare put on any makeup to hide her swollen eyes because of the likelihood she would immediately cry it off again.

She knew that she was upsetting Chopper, who had never seen her this miserable before.  Every time she emerged from her cabin he came up to her with a handkerchief or a wet cloth or a hot drink.  Hera took them, trying to smile for his sake if not her own, but the second time he had brought her a drink her hands had been shaking so badly that she had dropped the cup and shattered it.

She thought about leaving.

She didn’t know how to explain to Chopper what she was so frightened of, not when it was something that would never affect a droid.  She had managed not to cry in front of Agent Beneke, just barely, but she had spent so much effort fighting it that he hadn’t understood her the first time she had said, “I’m not a whore,” that she had had to repeat herself.

“You are whatever the ISB says you are,” he had told her. “If the Inquisitor wants you to warm his bed, then you will.  Besides, it may be for the best, even if it is an Inquisitor.  You know I’ve been worried about your health.  Celibacy isn’t good for Twi’leks.”

Only her training had kept Hera from just walking out of his office.  She had sat in front of his desk, barely hearing anything else Beneke said, until he finally released her.  Hera had gone back to the Ghost and barely made it to the refresher before she threw up.  The fact that she was being reassigned had barely registered with her.

That had been three days ago.

She raised her head as Chopper tapped tentatively on the door, wiping her wrist across her swollen eyes. “What is it?”

As he responded, she pushed herself wearily upright, swaying and catching herself on the wall – she had barely eaten anything the past few days and it had left her dizzy.  She found the most recent wet cloth Chopper had brought her, which was still a little damp, and wiped her face with it, then found her uniform jacket and put it on, trying not to look at herself in the mirror.  She knew that she probably looked sloppy and unprofessional and that ISB whites showed every stain; normally she would have cared, hoping that her every aspect of her appearance would outweigh her species, but apparently that didn’t matter anymore.

She left her cabin shaking so badly that her hands slipped on the ladder from the cockpit to the hold. Hera caught herself just in time, but for a bare instant she couldn’t let herself care.  She was aware that unless she fell very badly she wouldn’t break her neck; she might break an arm or a leg, which would at least have the advantage of making her unattractive if that was what the Inquisitor was interested in. Hera was too proud to fall on her own ship, though, and she finished climbing down without further incident.

She hesitated in front of the hatch for what felt like a long time, her hand hovering over the control. Finally she touched it, shutting her eyes briefly as the hatch and ramp lowered.

The figure standing outside was humanoid, his dark clothes making his silhouette briefly indistinct in the gloom of the hangar.  When Hera went hesitantly down the ramp, trying not to be too obvious about the fact she was dragging her feet, she saw that he was human after all, dark-haired and wary-eyed.  He might have been handsome; Hera didn’t look at his face for long enough to decide. He had enough height on her that she would have to make an effort to do so, and she didn’t want to.

“I’m Agent Syndulla,” she said, after they had both regarded each other silently for a few moments. She was proud of the fact that her voice didn’t shake, but wasn’t certain of her ability to keep it from doing so if she had to say much more.

“I’m the Inquisitor.” The human’s voice was quiet, a little hesitant, as if he wasn’t used to speaking much.

Hera waited for him to say something else; when he didn’t, she said, “I’ll show you to your cabin,” and stepped back, unwilling to turn her back on him.

The Inquisitor picked up the bag at his feet and followed her into the Ghost.  He moved very quietly for a big man, making Hera’s lekku prickle with unease.  A sound from above made her look up, spotting Chopper peering down from the cockpit hatch.  The sight of him made her feel a little better as she gestured upwards, saying, “That’s Chopper.”

The Inquisitor followed her gaze and said gravely, “Hello.”

Chopper made a rude sound but didn’t withdraw.  Hera glanced sideways at the Inquisitor to see how he took the insult, but he didn’t say anything, just glanced around the Ghost’s hold.  There were a few new cases of equipment that had been delivered over the past three days, as well as a new speeder bike – presumably for the Inquisitor, since Hera already had one that she had modified to her preferences.

“This way,” Hera said. She bit her lip as she turned from him to climb up the ladder, unable to shake her terrified notion that he was going to grab her right then and there.  He didn’t, though, just waited for her to get most of the way up to the cockpit before he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed her.  Chopper moved back from the hatch so that Hera could pull herself up, then resumed his position to glare at the Inquisitor as the human put his head up.  Hera was so tightly wound that the resulting face-off startled a brief, hysterical giggle out of her, which made the Inquisitor glance at her and offer something that might have been construed as a smile in different circumstances. Chopper responded by extending his electropod threateningly.

“Chop,” Hera said, since although she appreciated the thought, technically the Inquisitor hadn’t actually done anything yet.

Chopper swiveled his dome to regard her balefully, then sparked his prod again and rolled back enough that the Inquisitor could finish climbing into the cockpit.

“I haven’t seen a C1 unit in a while,” the Inquisitor said thoughtfully.

Chopper made an aggravated noise.  Hera put a hand on his dome to push him back, stepping in front of him in case the Inquisitor decided to take offense and use the lightsaber hanging on his hip.  All he did was arch one eyebrow at her and shift the bag across his shoulder.

“He’s not an antique,” Hera said defensively. “He’s just as good as an R-series –”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t!” the Inquisitor said. “I just haven’t seen one recently.”  He looked inquisitively at her.

Hera bit her lip, embarrassed at her outburst, and released Chopper as she moved towards the door at the back of the cockpit.  She veered wide around the Inquisitor as she did so, not thinking about the action until it had already happened.  He didn’t remark on it, though, just watched her.

Her lekku were prickling with nerves as she led him into the corridor, showing him to the cabin across from hers.  If he could read lekku, he would be able to tell from the agitated way the tips were flicking back and forth that she was frightened of him, but she didn’t expect that it meant anything to him; most humans had no idea that lekku conveyed Twi’lek emotions, and sometimes added an element to speech.  Hera knew that after five years in the Imperial service her signals were wildly all over the place and were so confusing to other Twi’leks that it made most of them distrust her, but a human shouldn’t be able to tell. She couldn’t remember if the rumors about Inquisitors being able to read minds were true or not.

As much as she hated having him across from her, there was nowhere else she could put him.  Even if she had been willing to share a wall with him, the cabin next to hers had been turned into an office and she hadn’t thought about moving her equipment out of it until it was too late; the cabin catty-corner to hers was missing both mattresses.  She had been too brain-fogged from lack of sleep and the fact that she had mostly stopped eating to consider the option of moving the one from the remaining cabin into the other room until she was showing him into it now.

He put his bag down carefully on the floor by the bunk, took in the small, neat cabin with a glance – Hera hadn’t made up the bed, but she had found the spare sheets and a pillow and brought them in – then turned back to her.

Hera let go of her hope that he would be content to just stay in his cabin when they weren’t in the field and led him on a quick tour of the rest of the Ghost, from the Phantom to the engine room.  He followed her and Chopper followed him, grumbling the whole time and occasionally sparking his shockprod.  She didn’t show him the smuggler’s compartments she had discovered a few months ago, but as they walked over them she saw his face change for an instant and knew that he had realized they were there.

“Agent Beneke said you would have our next assignment,” Hera said awkwardly once they were back up in the common room.  She was standing stiffly as far away from him as she thought was polite, her hands clamped together behind her back.  He hadn’t made any attempt to touch her, but nothing she could do could choke down her fear that he might try.  And probably succeed.  She was a good fighter, but he was an Inquisitor.

“Agent Beneke?” he said in his soft voice.  Hera couldn’t decide what his accent was, possibly because he hadn’t said much and possibly because he didn’t seem certain himself.  Some of his intonation was characteristic of the Outer Rim, but every now and then a word had come out with such a strong upper class Coruscanti accent that it made Hera’s back teeth ache.

“My handler – my supervisor at the ISB,” she clarified.

“Oh.  Yes, I’ve got it.”  He blinked at her for a moment, then seemed to realize that she meant that she wanted him to tell her about it.  Maybe Inquisitors couldn’t read minds after all, though Hera didn’t think this was much proof of that.  “We’re going to Barzhun – in the Colonies.”

Hera had never heard of the system before. “What’s there?”

He grimaced. “A Jedi temple.”

She looked at him in surprise. “I thought the Jedi were all dead.”

Something passed over his face that she couldn’t read, not that she had ever been particularly good at reading human facial expressions anyway; even in the Empire too many of them came from different worlds with different body languages.  “They are,” he said.

“Why are we going?” Hera said eventually, when he didn’t proffer any further information.  She didn’t particularly want to talk to him – she wanted to go back to her cabin so that she could recover from her attack of nerves – but he didn’t seem to be giving her a choice.

He looked startled that she had to ask, then apparently ran a mental replay of their previous conversation and realized he hadn’t said. “The temple there was cleared years ago – it was an old outpost temple that was shut down during the High Republic, and the Inquisition went through soon after the –”  He stumbled over the words for an instant, then seemed to decide to let her fill in the conclusion of the sentence and went on, “– but recently a few old artifacts have been showing up for sale – antique auctions, the black market, that sort of thing.”

“Jedi artifacts are interdicted,” Hera said.

He nodded. “We’re to investigate, find out where the artifacts are coming from, and shut down the trade.  And anything else we deem necessary at the time.”

Hera considered the weariness in his pale eyes – she met them for only an instant before she jerked her gaze away – and decided that it wasn’t quite the makework it sounded like. “All right,” she said. “We’re fueled and stocked up.  I’ll set a course for Barzhun, if there isn’t anything else you need to do on Naboo.”

He shook his head.

“I’d like whatever files you have on the assignment,” Hera went on. “You can transmit them to me or give them to me on a datacard and I’ll copy them to my datapad, whichever is more convenient for you.”

He nodded.

Hera hesitated, trying to think despite how tired she was.  She was suddenly almost so tired that for a moment she saw the Inquisitor as nothing more than a wary, hurt man not more than a year or two older than she was, with the scars on his face and the careful way he moved indicative of something she didn’t like to think about.  Then she blinked and he was the Inquisitor again, an unknown, dangerous quantity, with Agent Beneke’s words ringing in her mind.

“All right,” she said again, and stepped backwards towards the door leading to the cockpit.  She hadn’t closed the hatch after he had come in; she would have to do that before they took off.  Doing so would mean she would be trapped on the Ghost with him, a thought that made her shudder.

“Agent Syndulla,” he said. When she looked at him, she saw for an instant the weary, wary young man with the scarred face, not the Inquisitor. “You don’t have to – I won’t hurt you.  I try not to hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”

Hera had absolutely no idea what an Inquisitor would think of as hurting someone and had the feeling that she would find out very soon.  She just said, “Please send me the files,” and left the room.

She made it to the cockpit with Chopper on her heels and let the door slide shut behind her, then locked it for good measure.  There was another way to get to the cockpit from the common room, but it involved going through the engine room and hold, and she hadn’t gotten the impression the Inquisitor had any interest in following her.  Still, she looked at the ladder and open hatch and shuddered, bending over with her hands braced against her knees as she tried to get her ragged breathing under control.

He hadn’t done anything. He hadn’t even said anything beyond that last comment, and he had been far more polite to both her and Chopper than most of her colleagues at the ISB had ever been.  But he was still an Inquisitor, and beyond that he was on her ship.  Hera had had passengers before once or twice, the odd ISB agent she had ferried from one place to another, but she had never even had detainees onboard. And now this Inquisitor was here for who knew how long and Hera’s safe haven, a minor miracle after months in prison and then years in the Imperial Academy, wasn’t anymore.  Her home wasn’t safe anymore and if the Inquisitor did hurt her, then it would be with the ISB’s blessing.

Chopper rolled up beside her and crooned a question, patting her hip soothingly with one of his manipulators.

“No – no, I’m all right,” Hera said shakily.  “I’m all right.”  She knelt down and hugged him, an awkward, uncomfortable proposition at the best of times, but at just this moment she wanted to.  She tipped her head down against his dome, trying to control her trembling and unable to do so.

The Inquisitor could hurt her, regardless of what he had said.  For all Hera know, what she considered being hurt and what he considered hurting someone could be two entirely different things.  She already knew Agent Beneke wouldn’t care, not after what he had said the last time they had talked.  He would probably be thrilled.

Chopper patted her shoulder.

“I’m all right,” Hera said, though she couldn’t make herself believe the words and suspected that Chopper knew her well enough that he wouldn’t take her words at face value the way most droids would. “It will be all right.”

She hugged him again, then forced herself to release him, though she stayed kneeling, suddenly too tired to get up. “Can you plot a course to Barzhun?” she asked him. “Then file the flight plan with the Bureau.”

She should have done that herself, but at the moment the effort seemed too much to bear.  Besides, she didn’t want to run the risk that Agent Beneke would try to talk to her again.

Chopper made a sound of agreement.

Hera reached out and took his dome between both hands, forcing him to look at her. “And don’t mess with him,” she told Chopper firmly. “He’s an Inquisitor.  He carries a lightsaber.  He could scrap you without a second thought and I probably wouldn’t be able to put you back together again, do you understand that?  Don’t mess with him.”

There was a long moment of silence, then Chopper reluctantly agreed.

“Good,” Hera said. She released him and sat back on her heels, trying to work up the energy to get up and close the Ghost’s main hatch.  Eventually she just knee-crawled over to the ladder since it wasn’t far away anyway, getting smutches all over her white trousers, but she would be back in her grays as soon as they were in the field anyway.

She made it down to the hold and paused, listening for the sound of the Inquisitor’s steps above her, but couldn’t make them out.  He could have just been sitting in one spot, she reluctantly admitted to herself, but she didn’t like the idea that he was up there somewhere, doing who knew what.

Hera went down to the edge of the ramp and stood there for a few minutes, looking around at the dark, quiet hangar.  The ISB hangars were spread around Theed, since there wasn’t enough space at ISB HQ to house all of the various ISB vessels.  This one was nearly empty except for the Ghost; there was another small freighter housed in a hangar bay on the other side of the building, and a hunter-killer had left only the previous week.  Although many ISB agents worked with the full panoply of the Empire, often in concert with other branches of the Imperial service, Hera was hardly unusual in flying a civilian vessel or working solo.  Or she had been working solo, at least.

She went outside to pace briefly around the Ghost, less because she thought that there might be anything wrong with her ship than because she wanted to not be on it just now.  Normally being dirtside made her far more nervous than being in space, even while being shot at, but when she went inside again the Inquisitor would be there, and it wouldn’t be safe anymore.  Not that Hera was under any kind of illusion about anywhere being safe, but up until now the Ghost had always been the one thing she could pretend was under her control.  She knew that there were ISB failsafes built into the hyperdrive and engines, as well as at least some surveillance, but that was just part of working for the Empire.  Chopper had had them too, but whoever had installed the controls didn’t seem to have realized how eccentric his rewiring and programming had been, since Hera had mostly been making it up as she went along when she had fixed him all those years ago.  He had shed the spyware not long after they had been reunited and let Hera know exactly how he felt about it as he did so.

She finished her circuit of the Ghost and stood outside, looking up at the cockpit.  Chopper must have spotted her, because he had rolled up to the front of the viewport and was peering down at her in concern.  Hera gave him a half-hearted wave, took a deep breath, and went back up the ramp into the Ghost. She closed the hatch behind her, braced herself again, and the went up the ladder to join Chopper in the cockpit.

“Do you have that course to Barzhun plotted?” she asked, then brought it up on the holoprojector after he replied in the affirmative.  The system was more obscure than she had expected, off the main hyper-routes; it would take them the better part or more of a standard rotation to reach it, even at the Ghost’s speed.  That meant she would spend a night on the Ghost with the Inquisitor, whether they left now or waited until morning, Naboo time. Hera didn’t see a point in waiting; it just gave Agent Beneke more opportunity to try and catch her.

“All right.  Plug it into the navicomputer and let’s be on our way.” She settled into the pilot’s seat and started the Ghost’s preflight check, feeling the engines rumble to life beneath her feet.  She probably should have gone back to let the Inquisitor know they were leaving, but presumably he was smart enough to figure it out.

For the first time in her life she winced as she touched the control yoke.  She loved her ship and she loved flying, but once she left Naboo she would be alone in the cold black of space with no one to turn to.  Not that she ever really expected much help from the ISB – she had never bothered filing a complaint when she had been at the Academy, knowing that she would have been ignored at best and punished at worst – but having the option had been something, at least.  Now she wouldn’t even have that.

Light filtered down into the shadowed hangar outside the viewport as the doors above them slid open, like a new dawn breaking.  Hera watched the light spread through the otherwise empty chamber, waiting for the alert that would tell her when she had enough clearance to take off without hitting the doors.  She tried and failed to make herself feel at least a little of the calm she usually felt when she was in the pilot’s seat of the Ghost, when she had the ship at her fingertips and – if only in theory – the galaxy spread out before her, but all she could feel was dread.

*

She stayed in the cockpit long after they had made the jump to hyperspace, staring at the lights outside the viewport until her eyes ached, then curling up in the pilot’s chair. The Inquisitor had sent the mission files to the ship’s computer, so she had them to hand to read if she wanted, but she didn’t want to.  Normally she would have left the cockpit as soon as they went to hyperspace to make herself a hot drink and review the mission files; normally she would have been alone onboard except for Chopper.

Eventually the need to use the refresher got to her.  Hera got up reluctantly, wincing as cramped muscles twinged, and gestured Chopper to stay where he was in case something happened while they were in hyperspace, visions of purrgil collisions dancing in her head.  She had heard the Inquisitor’s cabin door open and shut sometime earlier and was fairly certain that he was still inside, a prospect that made her extremely nervous, but as long as he stayed there –

She wished she had any idea what he was going to do.

Since she was up anyway and because she knew Chopper would yell at her about it if she didn’t eat, she went into the galley.  Hera had no appetite and hadn’t had any since the meeting with Agent Beneke; she found herself staring blankly at her cupboards and coldbox, moving between one and the other as if by sheer force of repetition she would finally find something that appealed to her.  Nothing did, nor in her current mood could she justify the meiloorun she had bought before her new orders had come in, even though after three days in her coldbox she knew the flavor would be starting to go.  But she had to eat something, since she was already a little shaky from lack of food and while that was more or less all right as long as she was sitting on the Ghost, it would lead to slowed reflexes in the field.

She finally picked up the jogan fruit sitting next to the meiloorun and cut it into small, precise squares, trying not to twitch every time she thought she heard something that could have been the Inquisitor leaving his cabin.  She ate the jogan with her back to the counter, forcing herself not to bolt it and flee, since at this stage doing so would probably result in her throwing it right back up.  She was trying to decide if, having eaten most of the jogan, she wanted to try eating something else or if that would be a failed endeavor when the door to the galley slid open.

Hera froze, her hands clenching on the bowl and fork she was holding.  She hadn’t heard the Inquisitor’s approach at all, except there he was.  He stayed by the door but moved to the side so that he wasn’t standing directly in front of it, looking self-conscious about the way Hera had flinched. Maybe.  She didn’t want to trust her impressions of the Inquisitor’s expressions or body language yet, not when she had nothing to compare him to except other members of the service and the only other Inquisitor she had met.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

Hera just stared at him.

The silence stretched out between them, unnerving in its emptiness; Hera cast wildly around for something to say when the Inquisitor didn’t break it, and finally said, “We should be arriving at Barzhun in about fifteen hours.  It’s – it’s not on any of the major hyper-routes, which is why it’s taking so long.”

“All right,” he said, nodding.

Hera bit back her urge to flee and said, “We can go over the files and make a plan closer to our arrival time.  I don’t know what kind of field experience you have –”

“Some,” he said, hesitating briefly before he added, “Mostly not on this sort of op.”

Hera mentally translated that as mostly I spent my time killing people for the Empire, which might or might not be accurate.

The Inquisitor bit his lip, then admitted, “One of the reasons I got this assignment is because none of the others work well with the regular service.”

“Do you?” Hera blurted out.

“I’m human and I don’t kill anyone who looks at me sideways,” he said. “Presumably at least one of those helps.”

“What did they tell you about me?” Hera said quickly, before she lost her nerve.

He raised his eyebrows. “Nothing.”

Hera lowered her gaze, trying to decide if she could take him at his word.  She finally just said, “You can eat anything in here.  Um, except not the meiloorun.  Please.”

“All right,” he said again.

Hera looked down at her remaining two bites of jogan.  She had no appetite left, but both the Clone Wars and prison had instilled in her a horror of wasting food, so even though she hated eating in front of anyone else, she choked them down quickly and then turned – lekku prickling – to put the bowl in the sink.  She should have washed it as well as her fork and the knife she had used to cut up the jogan, but she couldn’t bear having her back to the Inquisitor for that long, even if it made him think she was a slob.

He was still watching her when she turned back.

“Good night,” Hera managed to say, and then forced herself to walk past him to the door.  He stepped back so that he wasn’t in arm’s reach of her as she did so, a kind of minute care that somehow made Hera even more nervous than his not moving would have.

She made it to the corridor leading to the cockpit and had to stop, shuddering.  She wanted so badly to be alone on the Ghost again, for the Inquisitor to not be there, but that wasn’t an option and might never be again.

When she had mostly stopped shaking, she went into the cockpit to check on Chopper and the ship’s progress.  There wasn’t much to see; once they were in hyperspace, there wouldn’t be short of some major disaster that no one could predict.  The problem, as far as Hera was concerned at the moment, was that such disasters had occurred in the past; at the moment, the fact that she couldn’t do anything to prevent them was foremost in her mind.

Well, not foremost. The Inquisitor was there too, but thinking about the sudden appearance of purrgil or hyperspace wreckage or the mines pirates sometimes used was preferable to thinking about him, even if it didn’t make Hera any more comfortable.  She briefly wondered if being knocked out of hyperspace by a mine would discomfit the Inquisitor at all, but knew that she didn’t really want to find out if she could at all avoid it.  Even if pirates might get more than they bargained for if they attacked the Ghost, Hera was well aware of what happened to Twi’lek women in their hands.

She sat with Chopper for a few minutes, reassuring herself with the droid’s presence, before she finally made herself get up. “Stay here,” she told Chopper as he made to follow her. “No matter what you hear.”

He grumbled a protest.

Hera grabbed his dome and forced him to look at her. “Stay here,” she told him, and waited for him to respond in the affirmative before she released him.  She didn’t bother to tell him that she would be all right this time, just hugged him again before she went to her cabin.

She locked her door and stood there for what felt like a long time, then slowly began to remove her white uniform.  She was so tired that she was shaking; she had spent the past three days sleeping very badly when she slept at all, and knew that with an op on the horizon she had to at least make an attempt at it or she would badly regret it.  But she hated the idea of being unclothed while the Inquisitor was here, the same way she had hated it back when she had been in the Academy.  She changed into her night clothes as quickly as she could, found her grays and put them out to change into whenever she woke up – assuming she could sleep at all, which she wasn’t certain of at the moment – and then climbed up the ladder to sit on the edge of her bed, holding her blaster between her hands.  She finally put it beneath the pile of pillows she slept with, where she could have her hand on it at a moment’s notice.  Hera didn’t bother turning the light off, just turned it down as low as it would go; she knew that she wouldn’t be able to sleep in the dark.  She slid between her sheets and pulled one of her smaller pillows against herself, holding onto it for all she was worth, and cried herself to sleep.

*

Hera slept badly, waking up at irregular intervals throughout the night, with scattered fragments of vivid dreams blurring the distinction between waking and sleeping. None of it seemed to form any kind of coherent narrative, though she knew the Inquisitor had featured at some point. So had the colony at Zardossa Stix, the caves on Ryloth where they had taken shelter during the Clone Wars, the Spire on Stygeon Prime, and the usual awful morass of Hera’s memories of the Imperial Academy on Serenno and the ISB Academy on Naboo.  She woke up uncertain where she was, what year it was, and how old she was, staring up at the ceiling above her until its nearness finally told her she was on the Ghost.

Hera flung an arm over her eyes, wincing as sore muscles twinged.  She must have spent the night so tense she felt like she had been beaten with sticks.  When she started to sit up, pain stabbed up her neck behind her right ear and Hera slumped back down; she’d slept wrong at some point in her restless tossing and turning.

The Inquisitor hadn’t tried to come in.

She waited until the stabbing pain behind her right ear eased and then got up, climbing wearily down the ladder.  It took her about three times as long as usual to get dressed; she picked up one of the long strips of leather she used to wrap her lekku and just stared at it, but the idea of additional pressure on her lekku was unbearable at the moment. Even her cap felt like it was squeezing her skull, and after a moment, reluctantly, Hera pulled it off again, since she knew that wearing it right now would probably trigger a headache.  As much as she hated to appear bareheaded in front of anyone, especially a human, especially a man, right now she thought she had to risk it.

She didn’t bother to put her boots on, just went out into the corridor in stocking feet.  The ship was very quiet; she couldn’t tell if the Inquisitor was asleep in his cabin or if he was in one of the other rooms. Hera went into the refresher and got undressed again, this time to shower; the hot water helped a little but not as much as she had been hoping.  She wanted to go back to bed and sleep for a week; going by the chrono she could have easily gotten a few more hours before they were anywhere near Barzhun and still had enough time to read the files.  She was up already, though, for better or worse.

She left the refresher to go to the cockpit and check on Chopper, who made a worried enquiry as she stepped into the cockpit.  Hera sank into the nearest chair, wincing as the movement jarred her stiff neck, and absently checked their progress before she said, “No, Chop, I’m fine.  I just didn’t sleep well.”

She wished that sleeping was the Twi’lek equivalent of powering down, but unfortunately it wasn’t that simple.

He made another worried sound, then rolled out of the cockpit, leaving her alone.  Hera had a pretty good idea where he was going, so didn’t protest him leaving while they were still in hyperspace.  Normally she wouldn’t have cared; at the moment she couldn’t shake the idea that something terrible would happen if neither of them was in the cockpit.

She was more than half-asleep again as Chopper came back bearing a steaming mug.  Hera took it from him, holding it with both hands so that she didn’t drop it the way she had one of his previous offerings, and inhaled the fragrant steam to realize it was what she still called sleepy tea, rather than the caf she had expected.  Twi’leks across the galaxy drank it in the evenings, from curiates like the Syndullas to members of the diaspora whose families had left Ryloth ten generations earlier.  Hera had found it in a market a few months earlier and had bought a packet, feeling as if she was betraying the Empire by doing so, and had started crying the first time she had made a cup.

Now she tried to hand it back to Chopper. “No, I need to stay up –”

He pushed the mug back at her, grumbling a response.

Hera checked the chrono again and grimaced, because technically he was right; she had enough time before they arrived to both sleep for a few more hours and read the mission files, as long as she didn’t oversleep.  And she did badly need the sleep.  But the Inquisitor –

“Where is he?” she asked Chopper warily.

Since there was only one other being on the Ghost, he didn’t have to ask who she meant, just told her that the Inquisitor was in his cabin, presumably asleep.

Hera looked down at the tea in her hands. “You’re probably right,” she admitted eventually.  She drank a little of the tea, careful not to burn her tongue, and sighed in satisfaction.  It didn’t always make her feel better – nothing could do so reliably – but if nothing else it was at least warm, satisfying, and familiar. She sat in the cockpit and drank the rest of her tea, then took the mug into the galley and washed it – the Inquisitor had eaten, she saw, and washed his plates and what she had left behind – then went back to bed.  She locked the door behind her.

[harmony88]

Absolutely love your writing, I've been binging both series for the last week and I am obsessed. I was wondering, if you want to do it in your universe or not I'd love it - but you would be able to write something where the Doctor and Rose end up cuddling after a really hard day? If there is snogging I won't be mad. LOL . Thanks for your stories! They're great!

Hi there! Oh you made my WHOLE day! I'm so glad you like them! And I'd be happy to write something up! I just jotted this down, hope you enjoy! :)

It didn't proof it and I didn't write it as if it was part the verse you've been reading persay, but I suppose it could take place prior to the start of those series if you want, or just be a different AU entirely. I'll let you decide! Thank you!♥️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stumbled onto the TARDIS covered in mud and smelling a little bit like death. Normally, a hyperbolic thought of that nature would cause him to smile, then ramble, then run to the library and pull down all the texts he could find to prove his point disproving the hyperbole, but that wasn't going to happen today.

He was finding letting go of her hand rather difficult, if not impossible, and she stayed by his side as they approached the console table and returned to the Vortex, where time and space lingered in limbo, just as they liked it.

He glanced over at her, noticing the dirt that was caked onto her cheeks, and he resisted the urge to rub it off with his thumb. She didn't say anything, but she did lean against the controls and sigh, watching as he shifted his focus from her face to the bloody wires that always seemed to his constant companion when it came to deflecting, and she bit her lip.

"I'm going to go take a shower," she whispered. He nodded, still playing with the wires. A moment passed, and she inched her way a little closer to him. "Can I have my hand back?"

"Sure," he said, choosing not to banter. even though he desperately wanted to. "Sorry."

"No one got hurt," she told him.

He stiffened, but he smiled and shrugged the way the words settled in his stomach off, and gestured toward to hallway. "Off you go, Rose Tyler."

She hesitated, and she almost kissed his cheek, but the mud and sweat that was illuminated in the light of the console room convinced her not to, and instead she smiled at him, her tongue doing it's usual thing, and she wasn't entirely surprised when his eyes dropped to her lips for a moment before they returned to the wires. "I'll see you soon?"

"Not if I see you first," he replied, and they both felt the sheer awkwardness of this conversation reach a new point, making her dart down the hallway, desperate to wash away this entire day.

The moment she was gone he collapsed into the pilot's seat, and he buried his face in his hands.

He's had her back for two weeks, and he was trying so hard to make it feel like she never left. He was boisterous always, (except right now he supposed). He was constantly bringing up the past, making jokes and reminiscing, but on each adventure they had gone on so far, in the back of their heads it was there - the lingering dread, the utter fear that the universe wasn't going to let this last, and they were on edge. All the time.

They were falling through space and time. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, unable to fathom letting go. Not after everything. Not after losing each other once, and that intrinsic fear was more than he could handle at any given second.

But her smile made it worth it.

He'd burnt up a sun, and he would burn a thousand more if meant he got to keep her.

He was telling himself it would get better, but so far none of their trips in the last couple of weeks had been very quiet - from meeting a fiery red head in a wedding dress to today, where she was taken to a dungeon and nearly beheaded because they apparently didn't follow proper greeting customs in the 190th century (he had sworn handshakes were still culturally acceptable, but apparently he was wrong), and she spent three hours trying to escape while he spent three hours trying to break in, and well...

They did a lot of running, and a lot of fighting, and somehow they were covered in mud. And all he could think about the entire time was how bloody close he got to losing her again, and he wasn't okay.

He wasn't even a little bit okay.

But he stood and walked to his own ensuite, showering the evidence of his fear down the drain, and eventually he walked out into the library in a fresh suit, with a fresh fire and a fresh pot of tea, and he settled into his armchair with a book he didn't really pay attention to the title of, when he suddenly sensed her waiting in the archway.

He looked over his shoulder at her, his breath catching in his throat when he saw her golden locks tucked up in a rather damp messy bun. She wore a loose t-shirt, one that was a little tattered and clearly loved, but it was her rubber duck pajama pants that was making his hearts break, because he knew what they meant.

She wasn't okay either.

"Hello," he chimed, flashing her a smile.

"Hello," she whispered, and she began to rock on her feet a little awkwardly, playing the bottom of her shirt. "Can I come in?"

"You don't ever have to ask that," he told her, his voice more serious and more tender than he intended, and he swore she blushed. He clenched his jaw and turned his attention back to his book, but he set it down of the table next to his chair and watched her cross to the sofa, tucking her body into a fetal position on the cushions.

She suddenly looked so small it made him want to run to her, but he stayed where he was. Neither spoke for many minutes, but when he saw some tears fall onto her cheeks he was there, curling up behind her, and he pulled her onto his chest.

"It's okay," he whispered.

"It wasn't even that big of deal," she whimpered, her tears growing more uncontrolled. "I'm sorry. I'm going to go -"

She tried to pull away, but he caught her hand before she could and gave her a careful look, and she couldn't help but notice his freckles as they danced against the flames of the fire. For some reason it felt...powerful, or something, she didn't quite have the words, but it was impossible to look away from him and she began to trace her lips with her tongue, lost in thought.

"What?" he whispered. "What are you -"

"Nothing."

"Rose -"

"I'm okay," she insisted. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm alright," he said, sniffing and leaning back against the sofa. "Think I'm just going to wipe handshakes from my memory, though."

She smiled, and he smiled back, eyes locked and hearts thudding madly in their chests. "What about hand holding?"

"What about it?" he asked.

"You still okay with it?" she said so quietly he barely heard her, and the smile he gave her sent her heart straight to her stomach and her head tripping over her heels.

"Well," he began, the word croaking in his throat, "I s'pose they are loads better than warp drives or wormhole refractors."

He was doing it again, calling back to the past in hopes it made her feel at home, and she bit her lip, slipping her hand in between his and settling back onto the cushion properly, but this time they stayed sitting up. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her as close as he allowed himself to let her be, and the impulse to kiss her hair was nearly all-consuming.

He didn't.

He just squeezed her hand.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For coming to get me."

Her words were soft, but they were loaded, and he knew she didn't mean today.

"You don't have to thank me for that," he replied. She smiled.

"I do."

"Please don't."

He looked down at her, tracing every curve of her face slowly, oh so slowly, so slowly it was rather unfair, because it was stirring a heat and a need and a desire in her that she knew she'd never be able to act on. And before she could stop herself, she brought her hand up to his cheek and gently rubbed the line of his jaw, her fingers ghosting over his skin, warm to the touch and soft as silk, and he shuddered.

She watched his Adam's apple bob once, then twice, and she knew it was just a matter of seconds before he pulled away and started telling her about their next big adventure.

Any second now.

Any second.

"Rose..." he whispered, his breath hitting her cheek.

Any second.

The room started to feel warm in a way a she knew had nothing to do with the fire. Her skin was prickly, wishing so much that it was closer to him, as close as she could be, tangled around him and lost in his arms. It was unbearable, the centimeters between their chests, and his gaze was intoxicating, burning into her, and she noticed his chest was starting to rise and fall in a way he hadn't been before.

His lips parted ever so slightly, and his eyes fell from her face back down to her lips, which she licked before she could stop herself. "Doctor -"

"Stop talking," he said breathlessly and urgently, and he next thing she knew he had his hands on her lower back, pulling her onto his lap, and he was kissing her. She moaned at the suddenness of it, and at the way they seemed to skip a few steps and go straight to grinding against each other with their clothes still on, and he deepened the kiss so his tongue found hers, then snaked his hands under her baggy t-shirt and stopped when he realized she wasn't a bra.

"It's okay," she nearly screamed, but he seemed to realize what was happening and just cleared his throat, and he slipped his hands away, leaving them at his side. "Doctor, please?"

"Not like this," he said, surprising himself. She was stunned and just stared at him, and he made a face of embarrassment. "I meant. Not that I've thought about it, or, just....Maybe not when we're both feeling. Well..."

She smiled, placing her lips back on his slowly, and he couldn't stop the moan from escaping his throat. "Stop talking."

He swallowed hard.

"I'm never going to leave you," she whispered, her hands finding their way into his hair. "Do you believe me?"

"I..." he stammered, closing his eyes. "Yes."

"Good," she hummed. "Then dance with me."

He opened his eyes, but to his surprise she was sliding her body off of his and walking over to the record player in the corner of the room, turning it on and letting a soft melody filter into the room. He stared at her, captivated entirely as she reached out her hand and wiggled her fingers. He took her hand, but rather than stand and sway with her amidst the sea of books and glow of the fireplace, he tugged her back down onto the couch, and he gently laid her down. He hovered above her, kissing her softly, and his hands stayed on her hips, rubbing small circles over her t-shirt. She wasn't going to push him, but she responded in kind, her arms wrapped around his neck, and he groaned her name, still not trying to escalate anything beyond the snog, and she was finding she was absolutely okay with that.

"I think we should move to the bedroom," he said in her ear, and she changed her mind instantly.

"Yeah," she said, but before they had a chance to move, the TARDIS jolted and knocked them off of the couch, their heads clanking and subsequently spinning. "OW."

"You okay?" he asked, and she nodded, standing up with him as they ran to console to see what the hell was wrong. He sighed.

"Fancy a trip aboard an intergalatic war machine?" he asked her with a gleam in his eye.

"Do we have a choice?" she teased. "I'LL GRAB THE PSYCHIC PAPER!"

She was running to her bedroom to change clothes, and he watched her go, sighing and rubbing a hand over his face.

Oh, he was in trouble.