#i forgot to title it LMAO

[asmotheavatarofhorny]

Clingy 💛

• Mammon x GN!MC

• Lots of cuddles described in great detail

• Slightly suggestive

⚠️ CW: describes MC with gorgeous, pretty, adorable; I personally see these terms as mostly gender neutral as of current, however I can see how some people could not! Enjoy :)

Mammon is hot.

And no, I don’t mean just his looks.

He runs warm, noticeably so, and unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with his clingy ass climbing into your bed every night.

Around 3:00 every night without fail, you hear the soft tapping of footsteps on the hardwood floor outside your door, the metal bolts creaking as they shifted to reveal a tall figure (to a human at least). The candlelight burning softly in the hall perfectly framed the boy in your doorway, his fluffy hair and lack of a shirt apparent.

You left your eyes closed. If he wanted cuddles, he would ask. You found that with Mammon, it was best to just let him take what he needed. If he wanted you, he would take you. That’s just how it was between the two of you.

And that’s what he did.

Carefully, and lightly, so lightly as to not make a sound on the floor that he’d memorized so well after the last few years he’d spent walking to and from your bed, just like this.

He towered over you, you were gorgeous. So pretty. He wasn’t sure if it was the lack of sleep, or just the overwhelming awe at the sight of his human. His adorable human. The one he loved so much. But you were the most breathtaking thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

Slowly, he grabbed the comforter from on top of you and pulled it back just enough for him to slip through. He slid into the nest of sheets you’d made yourself, still moving with caution to not wake you. He couldn’t have you seeing him like this. Not now.

He wrapped his arms around your torso and felt his face light on fire. How could he be this lucky? How could he have the nerve to hold such a sacred being such as yourself? How could you allow such a thing from him?

He buried his face into the back of your neck and breathed in your smell. Your essence. He felt himself longing for more. He needed more of you. He couldn’t bare it any longer, as he slowly creeped up under your shirt and rubbed the palm of his hand lightly across your torso.

A leg draped over your hip, and the other went in between your thighs. He found himself kissing your neck, almost suffocating at how sweet you tasted. How soft your skin was, how he longed to merge together with you. He wanted you to be his. He wanted to be you. He wished to crawl up into your skin and become apart of you for the rest of eternity.

You found yourself blushing at the second born’s antics, unable to keep up the disguise any longer. You turned to face him, burying your face into the soft part of his neck. He smelled sweaty, but you didn’t really care. His bare skin was warm, and you reveled in it. He was like your own personal sun.

He repositioned to make you more comfortable before holding you tighter. So impossibly tight you struggled to breathe. You could only smell him. You could only feel him. He was so close you could almost taste it. His soft breath beat down on your earlobe, making you shutter.

He had pulled your shirt up to your shoulders now, and you considered just letting him take it off for a moment. Soon enough though he was rubbing your back, so sweetly. So lovingly. It was almost sickening. His fingertips were like a magic spell, binding you together for the rest of time. And to be perfectly honest, you were okay with that.

This. This was your heaven.

In the morning you would surely be drenched in a thick layer of sweat and a half an hour late for school thanks to Mammon’s stubbornness, but it was worth it for this moment. This bliss that you called your first man.

You hoped deep down, that he would come back tomorrow and do it all again.

[crow-with-a-pencil]

@bamsara he touch

[strawberrywindow]

I couldn't stop thinking about an AU where Daniel resorts to gathering vitae again, this time to 'cure' Hazel, after his Brennenburg adventure💫, thoughts all mainly derived from this loadscreen text that tells us that Hazel is still in hospice care by the time the game's story began.

As much as I love Daniel, I don't think he really learned all that much from his experience even in the most charitable ending towards him in which he saves Agrippa. I can very, VERY easily see him slipping back into old ways if it meant saving Hazel. The most he seems to approach viewing torture as bad is when he realizes he himself no longer counts as an innocent so he can't justify killing others to save himself anymore. But killing no good, horrible, bad people to save HAZEL? Now, we're cooking with gas 😀 💀

[medicbrainrot]

i don’t wanna be here when you lose control

An awkward silence had taken over the room Task Force 141 was occupying when Ghost and Jaguar (Simon and Artemis) had gotten into a heated argument during a briefing meeting for an upcoming mission.

Ghost gritted his teeth. “Why do you always go on these off-topic tangents?! This is important!” His icy cold stare went right through Jaguar, putting a bit of a chill in the air.

“I’m sorry, but sometimes I get off track!” She says defensively.

“That is not good enough! This is important!!” He stalks closer to her, still gritting his teeth. His eyes look as angry as ever through the mask.

“We are not continuing until you realize that what you are doing is disruptive and wasting time!” His tone is cold, and his stare is even colder.

As his anger builds, his tone becomes even more harsh, to the point where he is almost yelling at Jaguar.

“Sit. Still! This is important! Now, can we please keep focus here!?” He grits out loudly.

“I CAN’T HELP IT! I HAVE ADHD!” Jaguar shouts.

Ghost growls and steps closer, putting his face right in front of hers.

“I said SIT STILL. This is IMPORTANT.” He said furiously.

His words shut her up immediately, and Jaguar didn’t move a muscle or say a single word throughout the rest of the meeting.

When the meeting was over, Ghost turned to Jaguar one more time. 

“I trust you understand the gravity of this now.” He said coldly, before walking away without another word. He’s absolutely livid, but he needs to calm down.

The next few days, the base feels awfully quiet as the team prepares for the mission.

Ghost himself is as silent as ever, hardly speaking to anyone, and keeping mostly to himself. It seems like he’s mostly gotten over the argument with Artemis, but he’s still a little pissed off about it.

No one really knows what’s going through his mind, but they’re all keeping an eye on him in case he snaps.

Artemis, in a similar vein, has been more withdrawn than usual, and barely gives more than one or two word responses when spoken to.

Simon picked up on Artemis’ behavior, and realized that perhaps she’s feeling the same way he is: guilty.

He knows he shouldn’t have snapped at her the way he did, but he couldn’t help it.

After a brief moment of pondering, he decides to go find her and try to make it up to her. He gathers a few of her favorite snacks into a little bag, and heads to her room, hesitating before knocking on the door. “Artemis?” 

After a few more knocks, Soap pokes his head out from his own room next door. “Jaguar’s not here, LT.” He says.

Ghost sighs internally. “Where is she?” He asks gruffly, even though internally he’s feeling guilty. His body language still reads frustration, but he manages to calm himself down so he doesn’t snap at Soap.

“Last I heard, she was headed to the firing range.” He supplies helpfully.

“The firing range?” Ghost asks.

Soap nods in response.

“Okay.” Ghost nods, hanging the little bag of snacks on Jaguar’s door handle before turning to leave for the range.

As he approaches the firing range, he can hear shot after shot being fired, in an even, precise rhythm. He slips on a pair of hearing protection headphones, and enters the range to find Artemis there, firing at target after target in pure anger and frustration.

She’s got her own hearing protection on, and it seems like she’s settled into a rhythm of firing round after round into the targets, quickly changing the mag, then continuing to fire.

Ghost approaches Jaguar carefully, getting closer with each step. He finally speaks when he's close enough she’ll be able to hear him over her protective equipment.

“Artemis?” He says, trying to keep a sense of calm in his voice, despite what happened the other day. “I came to apologize.”

“It’s alright Lieutenant.” She says stiffly, without turning around.

His tones soften a bit, not having expected forgiveness so easily. “Are you sure?” He pauses and lowers his voice a bit. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that…We disagree sometimes, but you didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s fine.” she says, equally as stiff as the first response.

Ghost stands in silence for a moment, before taking a deep breath. He’s not sure what else he could say to make things right between them, but he knows he has to do something.

“Are you absolutely sure it’s alright?”

She fires the rifle again. “It’s fine.” She says again. She has yet to turn around, and her voice remains awfully stiff.

Simon begins to worry that it’s not all fine. “I don’t like you sounding so stiff.” He says, notes of concern filling his voice.

He takes a step closer to her, his tone trying to remain soft and gentle. “Artemis…”

This time, she sets the rifle down and finally turns to look at him, slipping off her hearing protection. Her eyes are red and puffy, and now that she’s not holding the rifle, he can see that her hands are shaking. “I said it’s fine Lieutenant.”

An awful sinking feeling settled in Simon’s stomach, almost like he was sick. He knew immediately that he had to do something in order to fix this. All he wants is to comfort her, but he has to know where to start. He slipped off his hearing protection before speaking.

“No, it’s not. What’s wrong Artemis?”

“If you’ve come to yell at me to sit still again, don’t worry. I’ve been working on it the past few days.” She says, gesturing to the destroyed targets downrange. 

Simon looks at the targets, concerned by the mess, horrified by the realization that he was the cause. He takes a deep breath before speaking. “Artemis, I haven’t come to yell. I’m so, so sorry for snapping at you the other day.” 

He pauses for a moment, trying to put himself in her shows. “Do you…want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know…I might go on another tangent…” She says flatly.

His tone softens some more, he can tell that she’s very bitter. “Artemis, you can tell me anything you want. What’s on your mind?” He asks, trying to show that he is being genuine, and won’t criticize her for going on another ‘tangent’. 

“What’s on my mind? What’s on my mind!?” She exclaims, as she presses her hands tightly into her eyes. “What’s on my mind is I’ve been trying to figure out for weeks how to tell my boyfriend I have ADHD, only for it to slip out in an argument and then have him use it against me. That’s what’s on my mind, Simon.”

‘Oh god.’ Simon thinks to himself. ‘That’s what’s been keeping her up at night?’ Simon hasn’t felt this awful in a long, long time. He’s horrified that he’s done this to her. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine.” She mumbles, her hands still pressed tightly into her eyes.

“Artemis…” He takes a few tentative steps closer, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her to face him more.

“I didn’t mean to attack you like I did. I was wrong to do so, and I was wrong to not consider the consequences. I’m so, so sorry for my actions.”

“You’re not the first one.” She mumbles, lowering her hands from her eyes. “I’m surprised you haven’t broken up with me yet.”

“What do you mean?” He asks, his eyebrows raising under his mask. “Did I make you feel like breaking up is the only option?” He’s shocked at the possibility, a look of worry on his face. “Artemis, breaking up with you never even crossed my mind. Are you serious?”

“My last boyfriend broke up with me a few days after I told him, said I was too much to handle.” She says, a few tears escaping her eyes.

Artemis’ words cause Simon to feel another wave of guilt wash over him. He had no idea this wasn’t the first time she was treated this way, and it made him feel so much worse, knowing that he was one of the people who caused her pain. “He was wrong…” Simon starts gently. “He was wrong. You’re not ‘too much to handle’, Artemis.” He pauses. “You’re perfect just the way you are, I promise.”

“That’s not what you said when you yelled at me…” She says with a flat affect.

A look of guilt passes through Simon’s eyes, and he drops his head as he tries to come up with a response. “You’re right. I didn’t say that. I essentially said the opposite, something  cruel, that I shouldn’t have said. But, Artemis…” He pauses, his tone getting soft again. “What I said was wrong. You deserve to be treated better than that… I’m sorry.”

Artemis shrugs. “It’s my fault for fidgeting during a meeting.”

“No Artemis, it isn’t.” Simon sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “You have ADHD. It’s something you can’t control. You deserve to be treated with love and respect, and you shouldn’t have to be shamed simply because you don’t act how others might want you to.”

“I wish that conversation had gone differently.” She sniffles, as a fresh wave of tears fills her eyes.

“I do too, Artemis.” Simon steps forward and hugs her tightly, trying to comfort her. “Is there any way I can make it up to you?” He asks gently.

“I don’t know. My brain is so fucking scrambled.” She sniffles.

“Scrambled?” He asks gently. “Why? Do you feel anxious? Do you feel overwhelmed?”

“I don’t know what I feel right now. There’s too much going on in my brain.” Artemis says.

“It’s okay, It’s okay to not know, love.” Simon says softly.

“It’s not okay! I keep fucking up because I can’t get my fucking brain under control!” She yells, exasperated.

Simon flinches slightly when she yells. “What do you mean by that…?” He asks cautiously. “How have you been messing up?”

“I talk too much, I fidget too much, I annoy everyone around me because I’m too much. I have seventeen trains of thought going in my head at all times and I don’t know where any of them are fucking going!” She shouts.

It takes effort from Simon not to jump when she shouts again. He takes a deep breath before speaking, trying to calm his nerves, so that he doesn’t say something that might hurt Artemis further. “Artemis…If I might speak bluntly. It doesn’t sound like you’re the problem here. It sounds to me that your previous exes were too harsh to you…” He says gently.

“It’s not just my exes. My friends, my teachers, my parents. I feel like I’m gonna go crazy if I have to be still and quiet but there’s nothing I can fucking do about it!!” She tries to take a breath. “It’s always, sit still, stop talking, stop fidgeting, stop bouncing, stop shouting, you’re being too loud, you’re being disruptive. Everything about my existence is annoying and yet I can’t seem to SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!”

Simon’s eyes go wide at the outburst, but he manages to keep calm and keep holding Artemis tightly. “Artemis…” His tone remains gentle, and he realizes what he needs to say. His own trauma is screaming at him to not go near this, but he knows that right now that’s not the answer. He takes a deep breath and starts softly. “I think I understand what happens when you get overwhelmed.”

“What.” She says in a small voice.

He can hear the pain in her voice and it makes him feel even more horrible for speaking so harshly to her.  He rubs her shoulder gently, trying to comfort her. “Your mind feels like it’s being attacked by constant thoughts, and you feel like you might explode if you don’t do something…And you feel like talking and moving helps you, even if just for a little bit.”

“Pretty much. I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 22, but it made so much sense.” She says quietly.

“Artemis, I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this like that. Nobody should have to feel like they’re not allowed to speak or move. You have every right to speak and move around all you want. If anyone else tells you otherwise, they’re wrong.” His voice grows even softer. “You are not too much.”

“Even when it’s you telling me to be quiet and sit still?” She asks.

“That’s on me. That’s me being inconsiderate, and it’s me being wrong. I can’t apologize enough for that. I’m sorry Artemis, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He says softly, hoping she understands.

“It’s okay.” She says sadly. “You didn’t know…”

“Artemis, I still shouldn’t have treated you like that, regardless. I’m just…I’m sorry I didn’t realize something sooner.” He says gently. “If I could go back and undo what I said, I swear I would. But I can’t. All I can do is apologize and make sure I don’t do something like that again.”

“I wanted to tell you sooner… I just….didn’t know how…I felt like there was never a right time…” She says as a tear slides down her cheek.

“It’s alright.” Simon says softly, swiping away the tear with his thumb. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. I’m the one who reacted poorly. It’s on me to learn, not on you to do something you aren’t comfortable with.” He holds her tighter, trying to express his love with the hug.

Artemis leans into the hug, burying herself into his chest. “I’m sorry for avoiding you.” She mumbles.

“It’s alright to ask for space after an argument. It just means you want time to cool down.” He says reassuringly. “If you need more time to process, I’m alright giving you whatever you need.”

“I don’t want more time to process. I haven’t slept in two days. I just want to go to bed.” Artemis says, trying not to cry.

Simon nods, pulling slightly back from the hug. He looks down at Artemis, still feeling guilty about how he hurt her. He can now tell how tired she is, and how desperately she needs sleep. 

“Okay, I can help with that. Do you need anything before you go rest? Water, a snack, anything?”

“A snack would probably be good. I’ve been here at the range since early this morning.” She yawns. “Maybe…maybe, after I’ve slept, we can talk some more about this?”

Simon gives Artemis a warm smile. “Of course, take all the time you need, love.”

He releases her from the embrace and turns to go get her a snack while she cleans up her stuff at the range.

“Simon, wait.” She calls out.

Simon stops in his tracks, turning around to face Artemis again. “What is it, Artemis? Was there something else?” He asks softly.

She steps forward and lifts his mask to press a gentle kiss to his lips. “I love you.” She says softly.

Simon is caught a little off guard by the kiss, but he quickly recovers. He leans into the kiss, and pulls away after a few seconds, smiling warmly at her. “I love you too, Artemis.” He pulls her into another gentle kiss, holding her close. “I love you… more than you could ever know. Never forget that.”

A/N: Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and feedback are appreciated!

Masterlist

[leiandroid]

otayuri week | day five - workplace au

otabek works the nightshift of a movie store, and yuri is a film and photography student that comes to rent&buy movies.

@otayuriweek22

canons and scenes of this verse discussed at length under the cut >>

as usual, i can't write for shit and bridge ideas to anything cohesive or create dialogue that isn't cringe and unnatural so have this list instead (i need y'all to get the full picture ya know) >>

yuri is a film & photography student (more interested in photography over film, which ended up meaning he has a lacking knowledge of movies and the programme requires him to know and watch a lot of them)

otabek is the night shift worker of the movie store. georgi works the day shifts.

yuri started going there to rent/buy movies. at first he went during the day and had initially asked georgi for suggestions but after his third time coming back with georgi's recommendations, which was another over dramatic and terrible romance, he stopped asking. one day, he was late going home from university so he stopped by the movie place at night and that's when he first met otabek on his night shift.

otabek is a semi-pretentions "film not movies" kind of guy, when he saw the stack of films yuri intended to leave with he didn't say anything, only had a look on his face which yuri straight up asked "what's that look for asshole?" to which otabek said nothing and just rang up the tapes and asked "you buying or renting?"

when he returned the movies the next time it was during the day, and yuri went back to rent movies some nights later after evening classes. this time, when he entered the shop otabek was digging through a box of new arrivals and was stacking them on the shelves. yuri browsed whatever movies were on display til curiosity brought him to the box and he asked otabek if there was anything interesting to watch in there.

otabek, finally puts his largely useless (but in this case, useful to yuri) movie knowledge to action. he rifles through the tapes and hands him a film. yuri looks at it with with pursed lips but takes it anyway "this better be good" he warns. otabek just shrugs. yuri adds 2 other movies to take with him from the new arrivals.

this time yuri intentionally returns at night to catch otabek, he puts the tapes on the counter and says "i liked it" then turns away to go peruse the movies. he comes back with 3, and otabek rings them up as yuri watches with mild interest. then asks if he has another recommendation to which otabek stops what he's doing, bites into the lollipop (cherry) he was sucking on, and chews on it as he goes around the counter and walks towards a specific shelf and grabs a tape off of it and rings it up without consulting or showing it to yuri. yuri rolls his eyes before leaving.

yuri takes notice of several things: otabek has a barbell piercing on his left eyebrow, an eagle tattoo on his neck with the wings wrapping around the sides (the lattice of the kazakhstan flag is a band tattooed around his left upper thigh, but yuri doesn't know of it), and a small hoop earring on his right ear. (the gay ear). (also this is set in the 90s). yuri momentarily wonders if he's gay but immediately dismisses it because otabek seems painfully straight and concludes he probably just didn't know about it. it's more ironic than a rule anyway.

yuri has both ears pierced with black studs. he likes to wear rings on both hands and carries his camera with him everywhere. he develops his own photos, has developed them for a long time. he had a bugdet redroom he made in his wardrobe at home in moscow (with blackout curtains, drilling a hole into the back to put in a bulb he painted red, and lined the floor of it with a basin and enlarger). now he uses the university's lofty development studio and practically lives in it. (they are in st petersburg).

otabek smokes and when he isn't smoking he sucks on lollipops and hard candies, his preferred flavour is cherry but he fucks with cola flavour too. he bites lollipop sticks to shreds through the course of his shifts. he tries to keep it to 2 smoke breaks maximum during his shift. the nights are slow so if he doesn't have that self imposed restriction he could spend the entire night on the curb outside the shop smoking till someone came in.

there are bins of candy and snacks on the counter of the movie store, otabek helps himself to the hard candies and lollipops regularly. he drops in a weekly tenner in the register to cover the cost of what he takes (it doesn't, but he deems it close enough).

weeks pass by in similar fashion, otabek's movie recommendations keep making their way into yuri's purchases, they talk about the movies every time yuri comes back to exchange tapes for new ones. yuri rants about the arthouse movies, deciding he hates the genre. he cites that photography is for telling fragmented stories, movies are for telling complete ones. those pretentious films that tell nothing but drone on and on with useless imagery and jarring soundtracks make him furious with hate. otabek drops in an especially awful film of that genre just to piss yuri off and hear the epic rant that yuri will no doubt have prepared for the next visit.

up until that point, all of their interactions have been in the movie store. one day whilst otabek was driving through the streets on his motorbike, he spots yuri and pulls up to him to say hello. yuri had just finished class and was going to grab a bite to eat and asked otabek if he wanted to come with. they become friends. they hang out frequently.

otabek is a hacker by trade. he learns code and hacking shit and does odd jobs for companies to test their security networks by breaking into them and giving them a rundown on their weaknesses and what they need to lock their shit down better. he lives on energy drinks and cigarettes and thinks working out offsets his unhealthy lifestyle.

a handful of times otabek and yuri go into the backroom to watch a movie together from the pile yuri intends to rent. otabek keeps the door slightly ajar, plus there's a small cctv set up of the store in case a customer walks in whilst they're in there.

otabek discovers two things: one, yuri does not shut the fuck up during a movie, and two, his commentary is hilarious. yuri also discovers two things: one, otabek tastes like candy sweet ashes, and two, the earring was definitely a signal.

EXTRA

some details about the shop itself since they wouldn't leave my head and it's hard to represent it in 1 drawing. the shop in the art looks way more clean and official than it does in my head. in reality it's a more dilapidated back alley shop with shitty lighting, old movie posters and sellotape marks littering the walls. the walls have some stains from previous water damage. it smells of air freshner, dust, and a hint of cigarette smoke.

i'm operating on 0 knowledge of a russia in the mid 90s and just borrowing details from unofficial/pirating dvd stores from my home country, but the place makes copies of movies to sell. original vhs tapes are for rent, whereas copies are sold. the backroom is a work station for downloading movies on shitty dial up and copying vhs tapes. the backroom smells of stale smoke since otabek sometimes smokes in there whilst running the recording machines and downloads, etc. he was hired because he knows how to rip files and find movies and hack his way into movie databases to get new/old/obscure releases.

if they don't carry a movie that a customer wants then they can request it and otabek will click around the internet to find and download it and put it on a tape. in the picture, otabek is holding empty vhs tapes that he plans to record movies on to. the shelves have the legit movie copies, but if you want to buy them, a copy is made and you're given a regular tape with its factory sleeve and the movie title written on the label.

they sell and rent originals of russian movies bc they're not hard to obtain and are in demand, especially ones that star russia's heart throb viktor nikiforov (he is especially popular amongst mothers). christophe and the crispino siblings are actors in this verse.

yuri primarily rents the original movies and comes back to buy copies of ones he really really likes after returning them.

the shop is owned by yakov, georgi works the dayshift, and otabek works the nightshift. yakov mostly leaves them to their own devices bc they do a good job. georgi and otabek think he really should hire one more person so they can have some liberty to switch around their shifts when needed but yakov is a stingy old fuck that does his best to not have money leave his pockets. they are open from 8AM to 12AM. they're one of the more popular movie stores in the area since they carry a lot of western movies that aren't easy to find elsewhere and for so cheap.

10pm to 12am are pretty dead hours which otabek uses for pirating shit. similarly the early hours of the dayshift have light traffic so that's when georgi finishes otabek's work from the night prior.

[whippedcremepi]

Galaxy Rosalina

[starchildghost]

too many dreams unsung - set post-episode 78, Imogen doing her best to comfort Laudna in the face of all of the recent Delilah trauma and they share a dream about it. also on ao3

/

Ligament Manor creaks around you, a faint glow of purple and red emanating from the flowers outside into your bedroom. Red moon, red scars, red glows all around - you would be sick of it all if this wasn’t such a necessary, welcome change of scenery and responsibility. 

Laudna rests in your arms, finally having wiped herself out after apology after apology and pulling her hair out until you caught her hands, laid her down, and wrapped your arms around her, stilling her self-flagellation for a betrayal she did not commit. Her sleep doesn’t seem to be restful, but you thank whatever god happens to be listening for it nonetheless. 

You should have gone after her. 

You should have gone after her. 

You should have gone after her,

but you didn’t, and you both have to live with the consequences of that. You let yourself get caught in your rage, in your desire to understand, and you had let her run away. You couldn’t find her on your own, and you didn’t go after her. She had slipped through your fingers. No red ribbon, no glowing red scars to hold it fast, to keep her tethered. 

She hadn’t been forthcoming about her night, but you know she hadn’t spent it alone. How could you have been so stupid? 

Just the night before, you’d witnessed Laudna take on Delilah’s visage and attack ghosts that Delilah had made. If she had a kindred soul on Exandria who was not yourself, it would have been those poor, poor people, and instead Laudna shouted that she had killed them once and would do so again, siccing Delilah’s dog on them once more. 

You had seen the shift in her form of dread - no longer the Sun Tree, no longer the new beginning she had seemed to think her resurrection had brought - instead, a choker, a high collar, and green necrotic energy sparking off of her. 

And you let her wander Whitestone and spend the night alone, you fucking idiot. 

You grit your teeth, remember how you had to pause Laudna’s spiraling self-hatred just a few hours ago, and try to do the same kindness for yourself. 

Your eyes turn to the woman you hold - her back is to you; you had insisted on cradling her tonight. Love is warmth, she had said, almost afraid to meet your eyes, and you didn’t know how to fix this, how to push the pieces of Ashton back into place, how to kick that fucking bitch out of Laudna’s head once and for all, how to make Laudna realized that she is so much more than the monster thinks she is, how help Fearne avoid becoming the wicked creature thinks she will become, give Orym his family back, help FCG stop from ticking over the edge or to find the absolution they so desperately seek - you don’t know how to do any of that, but you can, at least, give Laudna the warmth she wants. You’ll give her all the love she ever wants, too, but for tonight, this is the best you can do for that, too. Her body is so small, so frail, her hair parted in the back as she sleeps to display the scar the rope left behind. You can’t take away the scars, the pain, can’t force air into her lungs or jumpstart her heart to provide warmth of her own, but you can do this. And you will. For the rest of your life, if the gods are willing. 

If they aren’t, well, it seems you’re doing all the work for them anyway, so it doesn’t matter to you what they think. You’re going to save them, because saving them is the only way to save Laudna. That’s the truth that’s planted itself behind your sternum, that propels you forward day after day - your actions are for her, not for them, and they’ll have to make their peace with that if you’re going to do this at all. 

Sleep takes you eventually, your long, lonely previous night and stress eventually winning out over the worried circles your mind paces, and the night is calm and peaceful as your beating heart warms the two of you in bed. 

And then, and these things happen unwitnessed - a shift of the head on the pillow, perhaps, or someone’s arm lifting to cover her eyes from that glowing red, so like the moon you’re both sure you’ll die for, or one of the fey decides to play a little trick - you’ll never know, as it goes for so many things that happen in the middle of the night - there is a soft plink neither of you hear, as your circlet tumbles from its secure place upon your brow and falls to the floor. You won’t know how long it takes for your unconscious mind to discover it’s no longer bound, no longer safely tucked in as you are, but eventually, it must realize that the familiar melody of two years of your life lies so, so close, its favorite tune finally playing again, and so - it travels, and brings your consciousness with it. Who can blame anyone for drifting towards their favorite lullaby? 

You’re baffled and alarmed, of course, to see Laudna facing off against yourself in the woods it takes you a few beats to recognize - you’re in the forest outside of Whitestone, nearly exactly where she ran to today. You have to swallow back that sinking feeling, again, at how it had felt as she turned and ran from you after you had sought her so desperately. You look at yourself - rather, this other version of you, and your panic begins to give way to clarity. 

The you that stands sixty feet from you is younger, her scars hidden under gloves, glowing only purple - this is the Imogen that Laudna met in Gelvaan, the Imogen that ran away with her. Your eyes turn to Laudna as you begin to piece together that this must be her dream, and you wish you could wake yourself up, put the circlet back on, leave her to her privacy, but as your eyes meet hers your vision stutters and jolts, and you are no longer Imogen, an observer who got here by accident in her sleep, safely out of the way of the confrontation, but Imogen, a young woman who fears herself above all else, facing a woman who seems to feel exactly the same about herself. 

“Get away!” The woman yells, her body contorting as she does so, lengthening her body and her jaw expanding and hanging loose, revealing a dark void within, then reverting back to herself. You feel a pulse of fear - but then your eyes catch her shoulder underneath the tattered gown she wears, bleeding a black ichor as furiously as a wound can bleed on someone who is not alive. Your eyes wander over the rest of her, which seems to contort and retract without her intending to, and you see she’s bleeding from several wounds, all over.

She screams at you, trying to get you to run away, but you’re no longer the Imogen Laudna imagined and placed here - you’re the Imogen that has spent years with Laudna, the Imogen that was never afraid of her. 

“The farmers did this to you,” you interrupt her, feeling your rage creep into your voice, making your words drip with it. This, you think, is more or less how you responded in real life, too. “They can’t stand a single thing they don’t understand.” Your hands flex, and you feel the painful itch of your scars against the leather gloves you used to wear to hide from them. 

She stops twitching and contorting for a moment, her eyes finally meeting yours, and within the black that you’re used to, you see a slit of that same, necrotic green that sparked from her in that Whitestone chamber, forming a snake eye with the colors inverted. She’s not quite your Laudna, then - is this who she thinks she is? Is this what she fears what she might become? 

“They won’t be a problem anymore, pretty girl.” Her grin is too sharp, too wide, her voice practically a hiss. She circles you a bit, revealing a pile of drained corpses that her twitching form had concealed from you. Your eyes can’t help but focus on a familiar boot. 

It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. 

You left him behind, anyway. He spent years hiding from you, anyway. This isn’t real, she didn’t hurt him, and even if she had, this isn’t her. 

You return your focus to Laudna - the Laudna you had met in Gelvaan was near starving, a cornered animal who couldn’t do anything but run, but had made crafts to pretty the shacks she stayed in and invented a little companion for herself so she would have someone to talk to other than the murderer in her head. She was light, she was music, she had joy despite everything. 

This Laudna, she is wiry, stronger than the woman you know. Your eyes flicker back to the husks - this Laudna hasn’t spent thirty years fighting Delilah, rather; she fed her and ate up the table scraps. “Laudna, this isn’t you.” Perhaps it’s unreasonable to argue with a version someone has of themselves in their own dream, but what are you supposed to do, run away? From Laudna? A day after you had let her run and didn’t go after her? There was no chance of that. 

Her head tilts curiously as she licks her lips and looks you up and down again. “Oh? Tell me more about me!” She laughs, and it’s an echo of the laugh that Delilah had mocked the three of you with the night before it all went to shit. 

You fumble for a second, but it doesn’t take long to gather your resolve. This is Laudna, after all. You haven’t told all of the Hells that you love her because, ultimately, you want that to be her choice - but you would fly above every city you visit and scream it to every citizen if she would want you to. “You don’t want to hurt me.” You raise your chin, trying to meet her height. “You told me that, just today. You said you never wanna hurt anybody, especially me.” 

Her snake eyes narrow - it seems you’ve annoyed her, if nothing else. She transforms with intention - the mourning veil drops, she grows another six inches, her fingers lengthen and her nails sharpen further, ichor dripping off of them, and once again her jaw unhinges, this time baring rows and rows of sharp teeth as she emits a piercing shriek. 

You don’t wince. You feel her mind trying to pierce yours, feel her try to make you afraid. She wants you to run away, you know. She tried the same thing when you met her in Gelvaan, tried to turn you away as she did the farmers who attacked her. This Laudna, too, just wants to be left alone. You didn’t fear her then, and you won’t now. “Laudna, please,” you whisper, reaching for her. “Please, this isn’t you.” 

She flinches away from your hand, and you drop it immediately. Laudna stalks forward, coming closer to you. “Look at me, pretty girl. I’m a monster. You should leave me alone.” She bares her teeth again, inches from your face. Her voice is more cracked than usual - crushed and cracked windpipes from a broken neck, even more constrained by the chokehold Delilah still has on her. Perhaps she’s forgotten, or doesn’t realize - underneath the mourning veil, black ichor spills from her eyes. She’s crying. 

“Laudna, I -” words fail you, as they so often do - you’ve spent so much of your life hiding from other people. An idea comes to you, instead - the circlet must be off, or else you wouldn’t be here. 

You won’t speak, then. Instead, you shut your eyes, and reach your mind out to hers - whether you’re reaching the Laudna in front of you or the one sleeping beside you, you hope it will soothe her. You try to give her only your best memories, your best dreams for the two of you: your hands linked, you saying “I’m so glad I found you… I don’t know what I’d do with you,”; you pushing a ring of entwined snakes onto her finger, trying not to blush while you do so; “I love you so much” - “I love you more than anything”; her waking up in your lap, you getting to tell her that this gets to be real now, this isn’t one of Delilah’s tricks; your dream of domesticity, of baking cookies with her in a small kitchen that belongs to the two of you; the first kiss in the marketplace, the way your heart hammered as she kissed you a second time. You keep your eyes closed, but she’s grabbed your hand in her own, her fingers back to their normal size. “Fate made me,” you whisper, “just like fate made you. I’m not running away.” 

“Darling,” it’s a whisper, but the voice isn’t this demented version of Laudna - it’s your Laudna, and she’s reached for you. You open your eyes, and the ones that meet them are pure obsidian, still shining with inky tears. “Thank you.” 

You let go of her hand, instead hugging her as tight as you can. 

You awake suddenly, and Laudna is still tight in your embrace. She rolls over, and the same leaking eyes meet yours in the glow from the Feywild’s flowers. “Love is warmth,” she whispers, and nestles in even closer to you. 

[skepsiss]

Stories of Youth - Microfic - Steddie

Decided to try out the microfic this month! @steddiemicrofic The prompt this month was "Suck." I also wanted to prove to myself that I can write just fluff. **Edit: I've updated this to 480 words. I misunderstood the assignment and thought the prompt was 300-600 words, not a firm 480. Anyways, slightly updated.** Length: 480 | Rating: G | CW: Sexual themes

“You asked her that?” Eddie gasped, leaning forward and invading Steve’s space.

They were sitting on their new double mattress, freshly made and wonderfully plush under them both. They were both seated cross-legged with Eddie holding his own ankles as he teetered like a child while Steve leaned back on his hands, lounging. 

“I was 13,” Steve replied, rolling his eyes despite the smile that was spreading across his face, a touch embarrassed.

Steve liked it when they chatted like this; it felt good to just sit on their bed and talk about their youth without any real weight to the conversation. There was still so much he didn’t know about Eddie and he liked that they could ramble at one another and feel closer for it.

“Yeah, but you literally asked her how to give a hickey?” Eddie asked, snickering to himself, tipping to the side. 

“I had like under a minute to react. What was I supposed to do? Run to the bathroom and frantically flip through magazines until I found something?” Steve was acting more annoyed than he actually was, relishing in how Eddie giggled and squeezed his own stomach with joy. 

“Did you do it right?” Eddie asked, wiping at his cheek as if to check if he was crying from laughter

“Decently…” Steve hummed, honestly not sure if he remembered how good the hickey had been. 

Eddie just smiled and crawled the last few feet toward Steve, putting his arms over Steve’s shoulders. He was obviously smitten, and there was a softness to his look that made Steve’s stomach flutter. 

“I’m a lot better at it now,” Steve teased, lifting his chin slightly as Eddie dipped so their lips brushed together. 

“Yeah?” Eddie asked coyly.

Steve lifted his hands to hold Eddie’s hips, grinning at him before rolling Eddie so his back hit the mattress. Eddie shrieked a quick laugh, still smiling broadly as he gazed up at Steve. 

“Want me to show you?” Steve asked, shifting his own weight and slowly ducking in to kiss Eddie’s chin and along his jaw. 

“That a promise, loverboy?” Eddie chuckled, an airy quality to his voice as if he was trying to hide just how badly he wanted it. 

“I’ll make the sacrifice,” Steve teased gently, kissing down to Eddie’s neck and starting to nip and suck lightly at his skin, not leaving marks just yet. 

“How brave of you to bear this cross,” Eddie sighed dramatically, running his hands up Steve’s arms to perch on his shoulders. “I’ll make sure to grade your performance when you’re done.”

Steve clicked his tongue with annoyance and bit down hard on the junction between Eddie’s neck and shoulder, getting a shocked gasp in response. Eddie squirmed under him, his legs kicking out slightly, before eventually he settled into a groan, his hands eagerly seeking out Steve’s skin for more.

[transparent-alias]

THE MACHINE MADE WISE

(Silence-Between-Strikes, from @cryptotheism's excellent Emerald Seas)

[bunglegaydogs]

okay so i made a few changes and it looks well better but still very much wrong lmao i fucking love it when the sun shines on my art though, makes that shit look majestic anyways, don't ask me what happened with nikolai's hand, it looks awful <3

[cosmos-coma]

Our furnace is broken and I am covering myself in blankets to help get warm, can you write something about snuggling for warmth with Eskel on those cold Kaer Morhen nights

Winters Cold Embrace

A/N: I hope your furnace gets fixed soon! its a short funny little thing that I hope makes you at least chuckle

Pairing: Eskel x Reader

Words:~430

Warnings: Language

____________________

The fall had been fine, it was chilly but not too cold- more crisp than anything. But now it was full-blown winter in the keep and right now it fucking sucked. 

The keep was already old and falling apart, but the past few days have been putting it to the test. It's been snowing light flakes of and on, but the real heavy hitter was the wind. It was bitterly cold and was working at widening the cracks of the keep and it slipped into every nook and cranny. 

“F-F-Fu-FUCK, it’s cold as Lebioda’s balls in here… maybe? He might have been a eunuch…” you rambled out from beneath your pile of blankets- peeking out from a little fold just big enough to see through. 

Eskel laughed as he came into view, peeking into the little eye slot you had made. “He definitely was not.” 

“What? Did you know him personally?” you asked peeking your head further out of the blankets to see the warm food he carried. You made quick work of sneaking your arm out and grabbing one of the sandwiches he had on the plate. 

“No, but I feel like it would’ve been mentioned a bit more if he was.” Your witcher commented with a residual chuckle. “Now, can I get in on the cocoon? Even witchers get cold…” He said and began unwrapping your layers of blankets. 

“Please join me,  you’re my personal space heater…” you said through a mouthful of sandwich as you shifted over to make room.

“Gods, you just never stop being sexy, huh?” He grinned and climbed into the space you'd made for him, quickly pulling you to his lap. 

You laughed and wiped your mouth, curling into the radiant heat that was just rolling off his body. A content hum rumbled in your chest as his arms wrapped around you and pulled the blankets back into their proper place. 

“On a positive note-” he started, changing subjects, “- Vesemir is mixing up a big batch of mortar  right now, and when it's ready my brothers and I will go and patch up some of the cracks- starting with the rooms.”

“Oh, I’ve never loved you more…” You said with a sigh of relief as you pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Thank you so much for taking care of me. I guess I don’t do the cold too well…“ you said with a slight frown to your expression. 

His large hand rubbed warmth into your side and drew you ever closer. “Of course…. I’ll always be here, warmth or cold”.

_________________

Taglist: @open--till--midnight @writingmysanity @dark-academia-slut

[enzymedevice]

Been slowly whittling away at this for weeks, which is something I barely ever do as art for me is usually one hyperfocusing session and I’m out. I’m still struggling to believe it’s finished so I may keep coming back and editing small details no one will notice or care about but I’m chomping at the bit trying not to haha

[lokh]

girl...

[lonelysucker7]

Enjoying reading some mullet haired Ben.

[mistytpednaem]

that's cool, random empty blog who saw it fit to respond to a post i only tagged for spoilers and a cw. you are correct, they were also sexually assaulted. hold on i am receiving a very long fax detailing all the times lucy steel and yasuho were in some form of sexual peril

[becaeffingmitchell]

put your blood on ice (you're not gonna make it)

Is it a blessing a curse to grow close to someone you can't have? Beca's well on her way to finding out.

AU where Beca holds her dad to the deal they made and moves to LA after trying one year at college

[chapter 5 ao3 link]