#i had to clean all the mud off her paws again

[sevarix-blogs]

i found out where molly was digging 😭😭 i caught her in the act this time. she was behind the shrubs, which is one of the only places with dirt in the backyard. and she was really digging up a storm omg. it's not like her!! i am wondering if a cat or other animal pooped back there or something, that's the only reason i could imagine her wanting to dig so badly

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Crewel taking care of a puppy found in the street and return it to the owner.

This interaction could have easily turned into a long fic (which I unfortunately don’t have the time for) so 😅 I’m afraid I had to cut it short! Luckily I was still able to sneak in some 101 Dalmatians and Cruella references.

If he doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will.

It happened on a rainy afternoon in the Foothill Town.

Umbrella open like a flower, Crewel made his way down the street. In his other hand was a fragrant bag full of high-quality tea leaves begging to be brewed into a nice warm cup.

Sheets of mist fell upon the rooftops, tracing shapes in a shimmering silver. It was chilly—not a concern for him, as he was outfitted in his signature fur coat. He was careful to take light steps to avoid splashing rainwater onto his well-tailored clothes.

A faint light cut through the gloom. It snagged on his periphery, drew his eyes toward it.

He came to a complete stop.

There, displayed in a boutique window, was a mannequin in a floral petticoat and a white ruffled skirt layered like a tiered cake. It was posed provocatively, legs propped up on a chair and body tilted back, hand on the hip. Scrawled on the glass pane was a shockingly scarlet message, as if scribbled by a drunken woman in her bright red lipstick: It should be fun!

“What a marvelous display,” Crewel mused. My compliments go to the designer.

The rain continued to fall like an icy shroud around him. The circle of golden light spilling from the lit interior of the boutique was his safe haven from the weather.

Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a look—perhaps when I’m down browsing, the rain will have let up.

He headed for the door, swinging it open. His entry wad announced by the ringing of a bell, followed by soft scampering across the floorboards.

As Crewel made to close his umbrella, something quickly brushed by his pant leg.

He looked—and startled.

A Dalmatian pup had bolted in, its fur sopping wet from the outside. It skidded to a stop before him and aggressively shook itself off, sending a fine spray of water in all directions… and on Crewel’s tailored slacks. He blinked, but found himself crouching down to its level.

What do we have here, a lost pup?

The boutique owner cursed from behind the front counter. “Sir, please curb your dog!”

“It’s not my…” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to protest.

The Dalmatian, ever so fearless, gave a friendly bark. It nuzzled against his leg, staring up at him with large chocolatey eyes.

The puppy earned a low laugh from Crewel.

“Diving into doors when the opportunity arises, drying yourself off on me… Hmph, you’re a scrappy one. I can’t say I dislike that. Come here.”

Crewel carefully scooped up the shivering creature in his arms. With a curt nod and an apology to the shopkeeper, he retreated to a quiet corner of the boutique, shielding the puppy in his coat. It pawed against his vest and tracking mud onto the fabric. Crewel sighed—he’d have to get the entire suit dry-cleaned later.

“Let’s have a proper look at you,” he muttered, bringing the Dalmation out again.

It was a small thing, dotted like every other dog of its breed. Notably, a large black spot swallowed its left eye.

Up close, he could tell it was no stray. No, this dog was far too full-bodied and muscular to be getting by on only scraps. Its fur, too shiny and trimmed.

… That, and there was a telltale crimson band around its neck. A collar, a metal tag glinting in the store’s bright lights. Patch, it read, male. When Crewel grasped it and turned it over, the tag yielded an address and phone number.

“Ah, that must be your owner,” Crewel tutted. “How naughty of you to make your escape. Shall I bring you back there?”

Patch responded with a hapless grin and a slobbery kiss. He began to go in for a second lick, but the attempt ended in a loud sneeze.

The boutique owner casted them a dirty look.

Crewel rolled his eyes but provided a polite “We’ll be on our way.

He stepped outside, umbrella out again. Crewel regarded his canine companion fondly, ruffling its head.

“Come along, you little rascal. We can’t return you to your owner in this sorry state.

“My apartment here on Sage’s Island is small, but it can temporarily accommodate one puppy. I’ll run you a bath and clean you up before then. A hot meal is also in order—this weather is awful.”

Patch yipped enthusiastically at his newfound friend. Whether he understood what was happening or not was debatable, but he seemed happy either way.

“I’ll take that as I have your permission to proceed.” Crewel draped his coat over Patch, holding him close.

They would brave the storm together, man and man’s best friend.

[lazyneonrabbitt]

Bath time

Daryl Dixon x reader

Daryl's early Alexandria era dislike for showers seems to be rubbing off on his kids..

🐺 🐺 🐺

"Oh my god.."

There in front of you stood your two adorable furred children, now entirely a muddy brown. And their father, less muddy brown but for sure in need of clean clothes.

"You." A stern finger pointed at Daryl. "Pups. Bathroom, now." You turned around to open doors and run the water in preperation. "And take your shoes off."

You heard Daryl kick his boots off and huff as he picked up the kids to carry them upstairs.

It wasn't difficult for them to realize where Daryl was taking then and started squirming in his grasp, trying with all their might to escape but in the end they failed and all four of you now stood in the large bathroom.

The shower was already running at a nice temperature to get the clumps of mud out of the kids' fur but it took both of your hands to keep one kid in place, let alone rinse them off and scrub their fur without having them jump out of the tub.

You needed Daryl's help. He was currently standing at the door, making sure no grubby paws grabbed at the handle and ran off, while said grubby hands were grabbing and pulling at his trousers in an attempt to escape.

"Dee, please be a dear and put her in the tub. I need help.." you admitted in defeat as Hunter slipped from your grasp and made it halfway out of the tub before Daryl's large hand had grabbed him and put him back under the shower stream together with his sister.

"Mmaaaaammm..." loud whines filled the room as they both fiercly protested.

Daryl held both pups far enough under the stream so you could rub at the clumps of mud slowly washing away.

Hunter seemed to have given up halfway through so cleaning him wasn't too much of a fuss, until the shampoo came out.

At the sight of the bottle of doggy wash he wormed out of Daryl's grip, who was more focused on keeping the ever feisty Rose under control with just one hand.

Hunter managed to hop up and out of the tub and slip on the edge, dropping his full, soaking wet body onto yours with a loud flop and sending you both to the ground.

"Ohw, come on!" You groaned as you grabbed at his slippery limbs and get yourself upright at the same time, while Daryl watched you with a shit eating grin on his face. "Looks like the lil' momma's boy weren' havin' it no more."

"Could have helped.." you mumbled as you sat your son back into the tub and shuddered at the gross wet shirt stuck to your skin.

When you got no response you looked over to him. Both his hands were on Rose, but he paid no attention to her chewing on his wrist and instead was clearly distracted by the fact you wore nothing underneath the thin, currently very see-through shirt.

"Hello? Assistance?" Struggling to keep Hunter in the tub you snapped Daryl out of his trance before he reached out to hold his son in place again.

A soft thanks was all he got before you got to rub the shampoo through Hunter's fur, making sure none got in his face. It was a huge struggle already with his paws shoving away your hands and his constant shaking, sending soapy water everywhere to the point of even getting Daryl to complain.

"Ya can't wash'em any quicker?"

Your head snapped to his side giving him a death glare before going back to make sure every inch of your son was covered in soapy bubbles and rinse him off again. "In case you forgo-- oh my god.." you spit out the soapy water that got info your mouth as Hunter shook out his fur again while still under the stream. "In case you forgot, I don't have wolf strength." You struggled to put Hunter back on his butt so you could properly rub the remaining shampoo from his fur. Maybe you overdid it a little, but he was so dirty..

"Wha? Ya can't even handle a kid?" A deep sigh left you before repeating yourself.

"No, Daryl." You state clearly. "Little human me can't handle a werewolf child with werewolf strength. Especially not when they're slippery and wet." An understanding grumble left him as he held onto Hunter's fur a bit tighter to keep him still.

His whines of protest only got more over time as Rose was still gnawing at Daryl's wrist that had bled and healed over a couple of times by now already.

Hunter's long drawn Nooo's and Mammaaa's combined with fake sniffles made an almost believable schtick if he hadn't pulled it so many times before.

"You're almost done, sit still for a minute and I'll let you out."

When he realized his tricks werent working he sulked under the water as you got rid of the last bits of soap bafore moving him out from underneath the stream.

The second he stopped feeling water on his head he full-body shook himself out, sending water all over the place.

"Oh thats just rude, baby." The towel you readied for him first went to your face to dry off before grabbing onto Hunter and wrapping him in a tight hug. It was the only way to get him out of the tub and dry him off at least a little bit.

Now that he was out of the tub and no longer a muddy threat you moved on to clean the more feral of your two children.

Daryl luckily had already moved her under the water entirely to remove large clumps while you prepared for shampooing.

With two hands holding her you were a little more confident in a quicker wash this time but wow were you wrong.

Within the first minute she had snapped at you twice.

Daryl only stared proudly at his daughter currently defending herself against the evil soap monster that was her mom. He cooed her a bit, hoping to bargain with some tasty meat as reward she'd be at least a little more calm.

But of course just as you were somewhat comfortable washing off her legs, Hunter threw his full weight into you to dry himself against your back and so shoving you forward enough to get your entire head under the water, soaking your hair.

You pushed back to sit on your heels again, throwing your head back to get your wet hair out of your face before sending an angry glare at your son out of reflex.

He quickly realized he was in the wrong and ran off, grabbing at the doorhandle and escaping the bathroom.

"Fuck.." you groaned as you turned back to cleaning off Rose, who had picked up her brother's moves and let out a laugh as she shook herself out every time your hands left her body.

"I'm taking a shower after this. You babysit and give them a treat or something."

With newly found strength you pulled through and got Rose cleaned in record time, letting Daryl handle the drying while you took off your soaked clothes and hopped into the tub.

You felt Daryl's gaze on you the entire time, complaining as Rose bit his finger when he wasn't watching her.

"Watch your kid." You pointed at her as you stepped over the tub's edge. "You can gawk at me all night long when they're asleep."

An agreeing tone sounded over the running water and a few moments later you finally got the bathroom to yourself, warming up and rinsing the shower walls off in the meantime.

It was times like these when you doubted yourself a bit, being a human raising two pups that could easily overpower you within the year. What if Rose bit you for real? Would she turn you? Can they do that at their age? The bathroom door opening caught you off guard, peeking tour head from behind the curtain you spotted Daryl standing there in clean clothes and with a worried look on his face.

He stepped up to the tub and questioned the sad emotions he was smelling all over the top floor.

You gave him a short version of your doubts as he helped you out of the shower and dried you off. "Yer a strong one, pups love ya." His hands on the towel lingered on your chest longer than needed when he leaned in for a kiss. "They jus' hate showers."

You huff out a laugh at that understatement when the door slammed against the wall and a still slightly damp Hunter clamped around your leg. "Wav momma."

"See?" Daryl gave you a smug 'told ya so' smile.

He easily wrapped you in the large towel and picked you up, careful to not smack Hunter with your foot.

Rose waddled past just as he walked through the doorway. She probably followed her big brother but her wobbly legs made climbing the stairs quite the challenge.

Once in the bedroom you were tossed onto the bed and clothes quickly followed as Daryl dug through the cabinet and threw a full outfit at your head.

You thanked him and got dressed, watching your kids try wrestle eachother to be the first one on the bed until Daryl picked them up and set them down onto the matress.

Without a second to spare the two jumped up against you for cuddles, their dad happily joining as well.

🐺 🐺 🐺

A/N: I hope you're not tired of kid content yet! I love the pups dearly and hope to be writing for them for a while longer ♡

[thescarletnargacuga]

Human!Caine trying to bathe puppy!Bubble! (You can make it showtime, if you wish lol)

A/N: AWWWWWW!!!

BATH TIME

A HUMAN!SHOWTIME ONESHOT

WARNING: none! Just slice of life domestic fluff

~~~

"Come on, Bubble! Work with me here!" Caine struggled to get his medium sized, mud covered mutt through the bathroom door. "Alright, you've forced my hand. Come here!" He picked up Bubble, smearing mud down the front of his shirt.

Bubble braces his front paws against the doorframe in defiance.

Pomni giggles from behind her phone, recording her husband trying to give their dog a bath. "Why didn't you hose him down out back first?"

"Because he wouldn't stop eating the water." Caine tried maneuvering Bubble through the narrow threshold without getting too many marks on the walls. "Are you going to stand there laughing the whole time or are you going to help?"

"Hmmmmm, I think you've got this."

Caine playfully glared at his wife as he finally got Bubble through the door. Pomni came in behind him and shut the door. The tub was already running with warm water, dog shampoo bottles at the ready.

Caine set Bubble down inside the tub. "Come on, boy. You love water. You'll be fine."

Bubble immediately tried to get out, whining. Caine put an arm around Bubble, preventing escape. Bubble looked to Pomni with sad puppy eyes.

"You're okay, buddy. Daddy's gonna clean you up." Pomni spoke in a soothing voice to calm the pup. "How did he end up like this anyway?"

Caine used the shower extension to start rinsing the mud out of Bubble's fur. "It rained last night and he found every mud puddle at the dog park."

"Aw, buddy. Did you have fun?" Pomni kneeled down to record Bubble's adorable face.

Bubble wagged his tail and tried to lick the phone.

"He had so much fun, he didn't want to leave. If you think getting him into the bathroom was difficult, you should have seen me trying to get him in the car." Caine chuckled, then realized. "Uh... Don't use the car anytime soon."

Pomni laughed. "It's that bad?"

"The backseat...the front..."

"What?" Pomni continued to laugh.

Caine grinned. "The steering wheel....the roof..."

"Oh my god!" Pomni almost dropped her phone in the tub from laughing.

"Yeah, I get to add car detailing to my to-do list." Caine took off Bubble's collar and hung it over the edge of the tub before grabbing a bottle of doggy shampoo.

"I'll help you with that. It's needed in deep cleaning anyway." Pomni kept a hand on Bubble so he wouldn't be tempted to jump out.

Bubble shook, sending muddy water everywhere.

"Ah!" Pomni trying ducking below the tub to get out of the line of fire. It didn't help much. She still got dirty dog water in her hair and on her back.

Caine just sat there on his knees and took it as he poured shampoo in his hand. "And now the bathroom too. Looks like today's going to be a cleaning day." He massaged the shampoo into Bubble's fur, getting him all lathered up.

Pomni grabbed a hand towel and dabbed the water off of Caine's face.

"Thank you, dear." Caine smiled.

Pomni gave Caine a kiss on the cheek. "You're welcome." Bubble whined and tried licking Pomni. Pomni pushed him back. "Nooo, not yet. You're all soapy."

Bubble have a small bark and shook again. Suds covered the couple, as well as the counter and mirror behind them.

Caine spat away suds covering his mouth. "Forget the car, I need a bath now."

"I think Bubble is already obliging." Pomni put her phone away to protect it from further spray and helped keep Bubble still as he was rinsed.

Bubble shook twice more through the rinse cycle, drenching his human caretakers. He jumped out of the tub when they finally let go of him.

Pomni grabbed to towels. One for Caine, and the other she used to dry Bubble. "Who's a good boy? Yeah, you were so good." Pomni praised as she toweled him down.

Bubble excitedly wagged his tail and wiggled under the towel, panting happily.

"Yeah, you're a good boy that deserves a treat for taking a bath." Pomni clicked Bubble's collar back on and opened the bathroom door.

Bubble zoomed out, rubbing himself against the floor and furniture.

Caine stood, drying his hair. "That went surprisingly well. Remember the first bath we ever tried to give him?"

"When we first found him in our garbage bin? Poor thing probably thought it was the end of the world. Now, look at him. Our Bubble-headed boy is just enjoying life." Pomni watched Bubble roll around on the carpet.

Caine put his towel down, his red hair all disheveled. "As all dogs should. Now..." He hugged Pomni from behind. "I don't know about you, but I smell like wet dog. Care to join me for a shower?"

Pomni leaned into him. "I don't know...you always make it so hard to get clean." She smirked.

"What can I say, I'm a happily married man." Caine kissed her cheek.

Bubble bolted out the dog door to the backyard. At first, Caine and Pomni didn't think much of it. "Wait..." Pomni said. "Didn't you say it rained last night?"

"Yeah...oh no!" Caine and Pomni ran to the back door, watching in horror as their best boy dove right into a giant puddle.

[brabblesblog]

What if it was Ban’s turn to dog sit scratch at the Crimson Palace? I’m sure Lord Ancunín would LOVE that 😅

Love is made of fur and dander

Alright! First ask I'm answering. This is a nice, rather fluffy AA piece for fun. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

The mutt's here. Here. In his Palace, in his home, tracking mud and fur and soil in its paws and gods know what else -

Astarion bites back the urge to yell at the wretched creature as it runs past where he's perched on his throne to Ban, who's seated on the floor, arms open for the mutt.

He sighs. "My dearest consort - you do realize how much fur this animal sheds, do you not? Do have some mercy on our floors and upholstery, please, and take him outside."

Ban looks up at him from the mess of white fur she's half-buried in, shooting him a small smile. "Oh, come on. It's only for a day, the servants can clean it all up afterwards, and the house will be none the worse for wear!"

He opens his mouth to retort; Ban gives him no chance. "Besides," she adds, "didn't werewolves use to live here? I remember seeing them the day we did the rite."

"They were a fairly recent addition by Cazador," Astarion replies, crossing his legs irritably. "Only summoned once I had escaped. And that doesn't trivialize any of my concerns; if anything it only proves them accurate - did you not see the sheer amount of fur littering the house that day?"

He's not mad, he thinks. Just... piqued. His beloved always has a penchant for loving strays. This dog, the owlbear that he worried would eat them one day, and, well - himself, if he's being honest.

Astarion watches more intently, leaning forward on his throne, watching his wife disappear into white fur yet again. He feels a slight pang of sympathy for the mutt, a creature who was picked up from certain doom by Ban, who's been given a new lease in life, who's been accepted by her, loved by her - and hopelessly loves her in turn.

Choosing to momentarily ignore that rush of affection in his breast the Ascendant stands and approaches the pair. The moment he's close he regrets it; Scratch immediately bounds towards him, standing up on its haunches in an attempt to lick his face. The dog's forepaws land on the cream lapels of his suit and he curses, despairing of what its condition will be.

"Gods! I've half a mind to drink you dry, mutt!" he hisses, only to be met by his wife's incensed glare. Ban calls Scratch back to her, and holds him protectively.

"Astarion," she chides. "He is a dog. He does not know any better."

"Yes, I am fully, painfully, aware of that fact - but look at my suit!" He gestures at the cream soiled by mud, the rest of the suit none too worse for wear other than for a smattering of dander.

She shrugs. "And so are my clothes. We can have it washed. Stop whinging." Ban finally stands, patting her thigh to ask the dog to follow her. "We're heading to the bedroom. I'd very much like to nap, and I missed cuddling Scratch like we used to in camp."

The Vampire Ascendant, the greatest vampire in all the realms, splutters at those words. Their bed. Really? When Ban has always been so precious about the sheets, asking him to remove your shoes, please and don't wear anything other than nightclothes on the bed, my love and yet she'll let Scratch stay there?

"Ban," he manages to grit out, jaw clenched. "The bed. Are you serious?"

"Oh, completely," she says, not even looking back. "You're free to join us, you know."

He watches them go, crossing his arms. No. Under no circumstances is he joining them. Never mind that they used to do that, back in their adventuring days, Ban wrapped in his arms while the dog slept on top of them. Never mind that it was comfortable, even nice - and oh gods, is he actually considering this?

Ban peeks her head out from the mass of white licking her face to see her husband walk in, a sullen look on his face. He's taken his clothes off save his underwear in some ridiculous attempt to save them, she realizes; she can't help the bark of laughter that crosses her at this.

He glowers, then sits at the edge of the bed. "I had nothing better to do, so I'll indulge you this," he grumbles, "but you can never complain about clothes on the bed ever again. Is that a deal?"

She frowns, weighing it; Scratch chooses that moment to bound over to Astarion again. Despite himself he lets his hand run through the dog's fur, the feeling of it sending him back to those days at camp. He absently cards through the white, coarse hairs, smiling a little.

"Fine," Ban finally says. "You can wear whatever you wish to the bed, but -"

"I know," he says, "no footwear of any kind is allowed; I am fully aware. You needn't remind me every single time."

She rolls her eyes. "Well you need reminding, considering how many times you do it."

Another sigh and he finally crawls towards her, grabbing her by the waist and tugging her close. He presses himself against her back, placing kisses down her jaw to her throat. "Can I tempt you into something a little more interesting than a nap, darling?"

She chuckles, and as she does Scratch settles over his usual spot on top of their legs; Astarion groans at the reminder.

"I suppose that's a no," he mumbles, and Ban's bark of laughter is all the confirmation he needs.

He lets out an exaggerated, long suffering sigh, then settles against her. "If only I didn't love you so much, Ban," he whispers right against her ear.

"Ah, don't pretend, Astarion." She turns to place a kiss on his lips, one he returns with eagerness. "We both know you enjoy this too."

He harrumphs, but knows the battle is lost. Not that he minds much, really.

This, after all, is nice.

Taglist: @elora-the-slutty-songstress @tragedybunny @spacebarbarianweird @ayselluna @enterthedreams @coltaire @qiific3 @misscrissfemmefatale @vixstarria @eatyourheartoutmylove @linllewellyn @ battisonsgf @micropoe10 @thegoodwitchs-blog @akirahime @velcyrptrr @i-cant-get-into-my-other-account @babblebrain-blog@asterordinary @last-but-not-the-least @artist4theworld @gracemisconduct @decadentcoffeewizard @rootin-tootin-n-kind@pursuitseternal @youngtacobanana @krispeenuggiez @girlygmer-blog @cheezits4lyfe @vinegarjello @the0ldmann @wisteriaofthegraves @girlygamer-blog

[celestialspecial]

Such Sharp Teeth

I needed to write a werewolf fic again, so many other writers i follow have been putting out bomb content so i had to join in <3

Writers notes: It's not true abo dynamics- some elements are featured but it doesn't follow truly, it is reader insert but MC's name is Aurora-

also go read @becauseicantthinkwritings Objects in Motion, hooooly shittt

Warnings: 18+themes, graphic descriptions of body transformation, insinuated non con elements, reader digression advised :)

All you could feel was the cool air on your skin, blowing through your hair as the moon glowed overhead. You felt strong, powerful. It was exhilarating and freeing all at once. The beauty of the forest surrounding you as the sharp ribbons of silver moonlight cut in shards through the trees.

You could taste the air, smell bread being baked from miles away, hear people talking and animals scurrying away from you. The forest floor rose up time and again to meet your feet, every sensation heightened. It was a beautiful thing more often than not, but tonight was different. Tonight there was a sense of desperation inside of you.

A tinge of fear, footfalls echoing behind you, they were far but yet still so close. Too close for comfort. Howls rang out and you knew that you'd never escape keeping pace like this. Your breath grew ragged, no longer deep inhalations but tortured puffs. 

You could see your breath in the air before you and then you felt the pain surging through your body. Bones breaking, tissue tearing, muscles unraveling only to be knit back together in another form. You wanted to cry out at the pain but it’d only alert them to your location and that was far too dangerous. 

You could taste blood and feel tufts of fur spring up along your spine as it twisted and mangled its shape into something new. Your eyes blurred as you felt the bones in your face collapsing and extending, ears rising up and canines lengthening in your still too small mouth.

The next time your foot hit the ground it was no longer a foot, but a paw. The squelching sound of mud making contact with the pads of it. You had been running fast but now the speed was unparalleled. Heavy panting as you pushed yourself to the brink of exhaustion.

You still had miles to go but the howling was far off in the distance growing further away and that’s how you liked it. How it’d need to be for as long as it took you to figure out the next step.

The covers you woke up in were caked in mud, it crunched as you shifted in the bed, pattering to the floor surely creating a mess. You groaned stretching your arms overhead, human arms, the muscles sore and aching from how far you’d run last night. 

Even the edges of your feet and tips of your ears felt taut with tension and soreness. Rubbing a hand over your face, coming away with more dirt.

“Shit.”

“Shit is right, look at the state of this room.” A friendly face poked her head in through the doorway. She was tall, elegant limbs covered in a chunky sweater and leggings. Dark brown hair pulled up into a messy bun, light hazel eyes filled with a touch of mischief.

“I’m sorry, Celeste. I promise I’ll clean everything up.” She moved over to the side of the bed, holding a mug of something that smelled heavenly. Gesturing for you to take it, the heat seeping into the palms of your tired hands.

“I’m not worried about it. Here, drink. You need something to warm your bones.” You nodded taking a long drawn out sip. The liquid was chocolatey with a medicinal hint that washed over your tongue and seemed to heat your insides up almost immediately. 

“It should help with well…everything.” She gave a half hearted smile, shrugging one shoulder up, before adjusting the edge of her sweater. “You came a very long way.” You finished the drink, setting the mug into the side table next to you. The warmth began to leech into your bones finally and you felt immensely grateful for Celeste and her healing abilities. 

“I couldn’t stay. I had to…I just-time was running out.” The reassuring smile gave way to an earnest look of sympathy.

“They can kill you for this.” You swallowed thickly, all too aware of the dangers you had put yourself in. The odds hadn't been in your favor but you had to take a chance, to get away from home. Home. It felt a sham to even call it that. 

“I know. And I’m beyond grateful you letting me stay here the night but I promise I’ll be out of your hair soon.” Celeste made a waving gesture in the air, dismissing your words.

“Don’t be ridiculous, stay as long as you need.” The kindness created a fist in your throat, you’d been friends for years, writing letters back and forth since visiting often wasn’t allowed.

Rival pack members weren’t allowed to associate with one another more than their Alphas permitted.

You bit the inside of your cheek in an attempt to shove down the hatred and anger you felt for your pack. To call them such a thing felt like a crime in and of itself. They were horrible and controlling, to think of yourself free from them felt exciting and terrifying. 

“You could get in trouble.” You nearly whispered, even though no one was around to hear. She brushed off the notion.

“We’ll figure out a place for you to stay in the meantime. Has it started?” You gave a brief nod, not wanting to talk about it. The temperature of your skin, the cramping, that undeniable ache that shook you to your core. Like your body was no longer your own. It was infuriating and deliciously tortuous.

“Then in a few days when it’s over we can figure out what to do from there.”

“Your brother is gonna kill you.” 

“What he doesn’t know won’t kill him.”

“Speak for yourself.” Celeste only gave you a smirk before squeezing your shoulder in a comforting fashion.

“Alright up, I need to change these sheets. A dirty dog rolled all over in them.”

That night felt like hell, a worse cycle than you’d ever had before. The winges of pain and agony ached through your system. It felt like your body had been tossed into a blazing fire.

In fact that sounded much better than what you felt now. Heats were different for every pack member but you couldn’t recall a time when you wished you were unconscious instead of enduring it.

You had needed to get away from your town, your pack before this happened. Before you were tied to the worst man you’d ever had the displeasure of knowing.

You were his property in his mind and the idea of you turning him down, running away rather than accepting his forced mating had surely sent him into a rage. 

Maybe your body knew what had been coming and was throwing a fit in rebellion even now that you were in safe territory or maybe the strain and stress of escaping and being on the run had done you in.

Either way no matter how many cold showers you took, how many naps your forced yourself into, how many times your own hands attempted to hit their mark, it wasn’t enough.

Celeste had left a hearty brew of tea for you that was supposed to help, you’d chugged the whole thing down to the shock of your friend and still nothing. Or maybe it had helped and this was the edge being taken off.

Being hit by a bus felt less excruciating than this. 

You somehow managed to fall asleep and when you woke your mouth felt dry, the familiar ache between your legs remained unsatisfied.

You wanted to tear the pillows on the bed to pieces, watching the feathers explode and drift down around you as your screamed into the frigid air. 

You couldn’t even keep the window open for fear of Celeste's male pack members smelling you and paying an uninvited visit. Tipping off her brother that you were here, potentially getting her in loads of trouble.

Your fingers itched to tear open the window and taste the cold November breeze. Your nails scratched gouges in the white paint on the window sill as you stared longingly out at the frost bitten garden. 

A soft knock came at the door, seeing your friend slipping into the room with another pot of strong smelling tea. Celeste sat the tea down on the side table, noting your frustrating posture by the window.

“I’m sorry, I know exactly how you feel.” 

“I hate it.” It sounded like a whine, maybe it was but at this point you didn’t care. 

“I have to go out and run some errands in town but I promise it won’t be long. Drink the rest of this, I put something in it to help your frazzled nerves and maybe even get you to sleep.”

The thought of sleeping another 48 hours and waking up normal again sounded so enticing. 

“Thank you.” You crawled into bed staring out the window imagining running freely through the forest, only this time not away from something but towards something better.

Something that felt intangible right now. Tossing back a long swig from the tea pot and letting your eyes shutter close for however long they’d allow.

The hours crawled by and you felt yourself somewhere in a slumber and waking titration. Eventually you could see the sun was lower in the sky, mid to late afternoon maybe?

Your body groaned in revolt as you got up from the bed, joints creaking and popping, clasping the now empty teapot in your hands.

You could feel the sweat dripping down your brow, swiping at it, rubbing at your eyes anything to avoid feeling how warm your whole body felt.

Celeste hadn’t come home yet and you managed to scrub the pot clean, place it in the drying rack and wash a dish or two more. Just to feel useful for once.

Wanting to be the least invasive houseguest as you could, moving over to where the washroom was and folding some of the sheets spilling out of the dryer. The small menial tasks actually helped contain the disjointed feeling your body was experiencing.

The sound of a key being inserted into the side door, unlocking and closing alerted your ears that Celeste was home. You felt too tired and pained to call out to her, instead waiting to see her face pop around the corner, but it didn’t. 

Footsteps echoed across the wooden floor and sounds of bags being dropped onto the kitchen island, accompanied by the soft sound of items, perhaps fruit, falling out and rolling along the granite. Then you smelled it.

The most intoxicating scent that had ever graced your nose. It was pine trees and fresh crisp air, like looking up into the night sky on a winter evening. It had a bite at first that smoothed into a warm rich earthy quality. There was even a hint of spice, it overtook every one of your senses, like you’d been bathed in it.

This wasn’t Celeste. 

Your ears strained to listen to anything this visitor was doing, whoever it was they had a key. Fuck. Celeste hadn’t told anyone you were here. Your muscles tensed, noticing all sounds from the kitchen had ceased.

Attempting to pad as quietly as you could out of the washroom, venturing a quick look into the kitchen. Sure enough there were grocery bags with oranges spilling out onto the island but no one around.

Silence.

If you could just sneak to the back door, you could see it from your point of view. One quick leap and you’d be gone and able to shift and disappear into the fast approaching night.

One step, then another. You were always known for being quiet in your pack, able to sneak up on any prey. This was no different.

Another few steps and you’d be home free. You felt the cool wooden floor kiss the tips of your toes before the strongest force you’d ever felt knocked you from your feet.

Your legs barely touched the ground before your back was slammed into the nearest wall, tauntingly so close to the back door. Large strong hands held you in place, your shoulders pinned against the drywall.

The scent you’d smelled before consumed you, your traitorous body arching against the wall towards the source.

“Who are you?” The voice was deep, a hint of gravel. Male. You felt your vision clearing from your head smacking against the hard surface to see sure enough a large man in front of you.

He was tall, towering over you, lean and athletic, muscles strained under his white shirt, corded along his forearms down to his hands that stilled you.

You felt the anxious pull to look down, to not meet his eyes. The undeniable mark of an alpha, it irked you to no end. Taking a steadying breath you fought your body, looking up into his face.

He was handsome, carved from rock and earth and dusted with something you couldn’t quite place. 

Dark brown hair that fell across his forehead, the sides were closely cropped but the rest hung longer, down to eyes that were such a deep brown you could lose yourself in them easily.

You could only imagine how radiant they’d look, flecks of gold catching the light when he smiled, but right now they were cold, calculating. The air caught in your throat, a choking noise all you could muster.

Your arms flexed against the wall, knowing you couldn’t escape but dying to, begging to. His nostrils flared, you watched the pupils in his eyes dilate, consuming the already deep brown gazing back at you. His fingers gripped you tighter.

“I said…who are you? Why are you in my sisters house?” 

“I…I.” Your brain couldn’t form words, not now. The scent of him, the feel of his touch against your heated skin, you could feel dampness spreading between your legs, the slow ache building inside your body clawing to get out.

Your inner wolf was barely continued under your skin, a popping sensation in your ears, the room felt like it was spinning.

It was like he could sense everything going on in your body, the way his eyes roamed ravenously over your flushed skin, his fingers flexing against your arms, the intensity of his gaze.

It was a split second but you could feel his face pressed into the crook of your shoulder, hear him inhale you deeply. Groaning as he exhaled, there would be bruises on your body where he gripped you so tightly.

You couldn’t hide the gasp that left your lips feeling his hips pressed against your own, his arousal evident. You felt your hands reaching for his back and his grip lessened enough to let you, your nails scraping against his muscled back through his shirt.

The noise he made rumbled in his chest, you could nearly feel it reverberating through your own body. The scratch of stubble scraping against the soft skin of your neck as he breathed deeply the scent of your heat and your legs yearned to be wrapped around his waist and carried to the nearest flat surface.

A bed, the couch, the floor-

“Hey, HEY!” You felt his hands fall from your arms as another voice rang through the room.

Celeste was wedging herself between the two of you, arms out protectively in front of you. “Billy! What the fuck are you doing here?!”

The man before you took a step back, his eyes were still pitch black, his chest heaving, fingers clenching and unclenching as if testing that they were truly not holding you anymore. 

“Celeste. You know this woman?” 

“I do! This is Aurora, she’s-she's my friend.” His eyes narrowed on you.

“I don’t recall ever being introduced to her before.”

Celeste glanced worriedly between the two of us, I nodded at her, the most encouragement I could offer at the moment.

“She’s…uh…. She left her pack.” His eyes widened a touch, lips parting, taking a solid deep breath before looking back at Celeste.

“Celeste….” His words were a warning, tinged with anger, frustration, concern…

“I know! But she needed to get out of there, they were gonna force her to mate with a homicidal maniac of an alpha!”

“An alpha?” His tone was harsh and abrupt, rubbing the bridge of his noise, lines forming on his brow. “Jesus Christ, Celeste. Do you know how dangerous this is? To us? To the pack?”

“Forced Mating, Billy! That’s barbaric!” He sighed, leaning back against the kitchen counter, running a hand through his already mussed hair. 

“It is. I know that as much as you, but some packs…still participate in the old ways…” his words weren’t convincing anyone, you could see it in the strained expression on his face.

You drew a steady breath , hesitantly pushing away from the wall you had just been pinned to. You missed the feeling of heat from his body being so close to yours already.

“I…I can leave. No. I think I should, Celeste, he’s right. This is dangerous you guys can get in a lot of trouble hiding a rival pack member. If you were to get caught it could be…it could be bad.” 

Billy and Celeste both were looking back at you, you could see the similarities between the two. The dark hair and long lean stature, Billy’s eyes were significantly darker, but they shared similar noses and mannerisms. How they stood, staring you down, intimidating and beautiful.  

“Rory…where would you go?” Your friend sounded so incredibly sad, it broke your heart. “Plus it’s not safe…”

“Once my cycle is over, I’ll leave.” Billy watched you with the focus of a pack leader and in the way only a wolf could. At the mention of your heat you noticed how his nostrils flared, chest rising into a territorial puff. “I’ll find somewhere to go.” 

Celeste walked over to you, grabbing your hand and pulling you into a hug. You held her tightly, the overwhelming feeling of fear and frustration from your body and emotions beginning to take a tighter hold of you. 

“Wait.” A deep sigh came from where Billy stood. “We can figure…something out. Until you have a safe place to go.” His dark eyes were no longer black orbs but the brown had returned, a softness, and something else danced across them as he spoke to you.

“But-“ he raised a finger, the look of admonishment towards his younger sibling. “Do NOT let anyone else know she’s here until I say, and make sure she stays in the house until... well until it’s safe.” 

You watched as he gathered his keys from the island, turning to walk across the kitchen, his heavy motorcycle boots louder than they had felt before, followed by the sound of the door closing behind him.

You knew what you had seen in his eyes, because you could feel it just as deeply. Longing. And something just below the surface, barely concealed but there nonetheless.

[my-beloved-lakes]

Eliot and the stray cat he said they weren't keeping. (Click for better quality)

(Ficlet below the cut)

Eliot glanced up from his book when he heard Parker come in, then did a double take.

She was standing in the doorway, holding a cat. It was scrawny and wet and covered in mud.

"Look what I found in the alley." She said, her voice was sad and sympathetic, but underneath that there was a hint of excitement. "She needs a home."

Oh no. Eliot thought.

"We are not keeping the cat, Parker." He said firmly.

"Woah, who put you in charge?" Hardison asked indignantly.

"We can't have a cat running around here." Eliot insisted. “Not with how often we’re out of town.”

Parker looked disappointed.

"We'd Give the damn thing abandonment issues." Eliot muttered under his breath

"Well, we can at least give her a bath and some food." Hardison said.

Eliot's expression softened.

"It can spend the night. We'll give it a blanket to sleep on and leave it in the bathroom where it can't get into anything." Eliot said. "I'll take it to the shelter tomorrow."

"Shelter's closed over the weekend. Won't open again till Monday." Hardison pointed out.

Eliot groaned. "So we're stuck with it for the next 3 days?"

"Yup." Hardison said smugly.

"What should we call her?" Parker asked.

"No. No. We're not naming it. It'll just make it harder to say goodbye when the time comes."

"Aww, come on, can't we keep her? She needs a home and family to love her." Parker insisted. "And just look how cute she is!"

"They'll find it a good home at the shelter." Eliot said.

"Well, I guess I better go to the store and get some cat chow so she can have something to eat while she's here." Hardison said. "You two can handle giving her a bath while I'm gone."

Eliot rolled his eyes and got up to help Parker clean the cat off.

"Get a wet washcloth." He said. "I'll hold it still while you get as much of the mud off as you can."

Parker gently handed the cat to Eliot and ran to the other room. The cat let out a quiet broken meow that was barely more than a squeak as she passed it to Eliot. It clung to Eliot's arm with its claws, and he could feel the thing trembling. He wondered if it was cold or just scared.

Parker came back a minute later with a washcloth soaked in warm water. Eliot held the cat out so Parker could wipe away  all the mud but after a while Eliot realized the washcloth wasn't going to be enough to get the cat clean. He sighed.

"It's gonna need a real bath." He said. “We’ll take it to the bathroom and do it in the tub.”

"She's not gonna like that." Parker pointed out.

The cat didn't mind nearly as much as Eliot expected. Or at least she didn't show it, maybe she was too exhausted or too scared to struggle. Her ears were pinned back in discomfort but she didn't put up a fight. She just sat in the tub, still clinging to Eliot's arm with her front paws as Parker rubbed soap into her fur. When Parker was done lathering the cat with soap Eliot helped rinse all the soap off, running his free hand over the cat's whole body as Parker poured warm water over it.

As Eliot ran his fingers through the cat's wet fur, he could feel scars. Most were old and long since healed up, but a few were more recent, still scabbed with blood.

"She's had a hard life, hasn't she." Parker said. "No family to love her, having to fight to survive."

"Yeah, seems like she has." Eliot said.

She's trying to guilt me into keeping it.

"She's old too." Parker pointed out. "Older animals are less likely to get adopted, you know."

Eliot sighed and shook his head.

I'm not going to let her guilt me into this. He told himself.

She was right though. The cat was old. Now that all the mud was gone, he could see that her face was covered in gray hairs.  The rest of her was a dusty brown color with tabby stripes. She was a cute cat, he had to admit. She reminded him of the cat he had as a kid.

Eliot shook his head.

Can't let myself get attached. He reminded himself.

He grabbed a dry towel and gently rubbed as much of the water off as he could. Then he set the cat down on the ground.

"Do we really have to lock her in here?" Parker asked.

"She can wander around the back rooms until we go to bed." Eliot said reluctantly. "As long as we keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get into anything."

Parker's face lit up and she opened the bathroom door. No sooner had she done so, the cat scampered out of the bathroom into the livingroom and darted under the couch.

***

When Hardison got home, he found the cat wandering around, cautiously smelling everything. Parker was watching the cat intently and Eliot had his face in a book, paying no attention to the cat whatsoever, or at least pretending not to pay any attention. 

"So I see the cat isn't actually staying in the bathroom then." Hardison said with a sly smile. 

"She'll be put in there when we go to bed." Eliot said. "She's just hanging out out here while we can keep an eye on her."

Hardison smiled and poured a little food into the new bowl he had bought for the cat and when he looked up, he caught a dirty look from Eliot.

"What?"

"You bought the cat a new food bowl?"

"Yeah." Hardison shrugged.

"Damnit Hardison."

"She needs a dish!"

"The cat is not staying." Eliot insisted.

Hardison just rolled his eyes and set the bowl on the ground next to his feet.

The cat snuck cautiously up, but didn't come close enough to eat.

"Oops, excuse me little lady." Hardison said and backed away from the food bowl.

As soon as the cat decided Hardison was a safe distance away, she darted forward and began scarfing down the food, making happy little meows as she ate.

Parker and Hardison both chuckled at the muffled meows coming from the cat.

"I don't think I've ever heard a cat do that." Hardison mused.

I have. Once. Eliot thought, then quickly dismissed the thought.

As soon as the cat was done eating Parker tried to creep closer to pet her, but the cat darted away and sat down, wrapped her tail around her feet and stared at Parker.

"Aww it's okay little kitty." Parker promised. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Parker sat down on the ground and scooted closer, but the cat moved away again.

"Parker, leave the cat alone." Eliot said without glancing up from his book. "She'll come to you when she's ready."

Parker reluctantly got up and settled herself on the couch between Eliot and Hardison.

***

Hardison stretched and yawned.

"Welp, I think it's time for me to get to bed." He said and got up from the couch. "Want me to put the cat up?" 

"Nah, I got it." Eliot shrugged.

"Okay, night night." Hardison said and made his way up the stairs.

Parker got up to follow him.

"Good night, Eliot." She said.

"G'night."

"I really want to keep the cat." Parker said as she climbed into bed next to Hardison.

"Oh babe, we're keeping the cat." Hardison said definitely.

"But Eliot was very clear that he doesn't want to keep her. I know he's not the boss of us, but I feel like we should respect his opinion, right?"

Hardison wrapped his arms around Parker and pulled her close.

"Parker let me let you in on a little secret that Eliot would probably kill me for telling you. He'd never admit it, but he loves that cat already. He's growing more and more attached to her every second. We just have to pretend like we don't notice it for a while, let him think he’s got us fooled. Before ya know it, he’ll cave and let us keep her."

Parker smiled and snuggled in closer to Hardison.

“I think we should call her Snickers.” Parker said

“I like Snickers.” hardison mumbled sleepily. “But don’t tell Eliot till he’s agreed to keep her.”

***

Parker woke up again in the middle of the night and wondered if Eliot was still awake. She carefully slipped out of Hardison’s arm and crept down the stairs. She found Eliot curled up, sound asleep on the couch. The cat was curled up in the curve of Eliot's stomach, nestled into a pile of blankets, purring loudly. 

So the cat’s not staying in the bathroom after all.

She smiled and crept back to the bedroom, nudged Hardison awake and motioned for him to follow her. Together they crept back to the living room.

Hardison chuckled quietly to himself when he saw Eliot asleep with the cat.

"What'd I tell you? He's in love with the cat already."

***

Monday rolled around, but Eliot didn’t seem to be in any hurry to take the cat to the shelter.

"Ya gonna take the cat today?" Hardison asked. 

He already knew the answer was no. Eliot was completely and thoroughly attached.

"If I find the time." Eliot shrugged. "Kinda busy today, though."

Hardison and Parker shot each other knowing smiles.

"Well, I can take her if you want." Hardison offered, knowing full well Eliot wouldn't accept it.

"No, I'll do it as soon as I'm not busy."

***

When evening rolled around the cat was still wandering around the back rooms of the brewpub, but Eliot's day had proven to be much less busy than he said. He had worked out a little, gone over the brewpub menu to make a few revisions and taken one client meeting, but all of that took less than half the day.

There should have been plenty of time to take the cat to the shelter. Hardison noted smugly to himself. But he doesn't want to say goodbye.

***

Tuesday really was a busy day. They spent the whole day planning, and executing a heist and by the time they got home, the shelter was closed for the evening.

Eliot grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and pressed it to his aching shoulder. Then he slumped down onto the couch with a sigh and leaned his head against the back, closing his eyes.

The fight he had with the security guards hadn't been particularly rough, but one of them had managed to wrench his shoulder pretty bad. he had popped a couple painkillers on the way home, but it was still aching.

He looked up when he heard a tiny squeak from the cat as she jumped onto the opposite end of the couch and made her way over to him.

The cat never seemed to meow properly. It always came out more like a raspy squeak, as if she had lost her voice. He was reminded once again of the cat he had as a kid, the only other cat he had ever known who had a meow like that.

She rubbed her head against his leg and walked in circles across his lap a few times before laying down and curling up on his lap, purring softly. Eliot scratched behind her ears, and she started purring louder.

Damnit. He thought. She's not going anywhere, is she? We're stuck with her now.

***

Wednesday morning, Eliot woke to find the cat wasn't asleep next to him like she had been when he fell asleep. He got up and wandered into the next room where he  found Parker, but the cat wasn't there. Neither was Hardison.

"Where's Hardison?" Eliot asked.

"Oh, He figured since we’re keeping the cat, it was probably time to take her to the vet and get her checked up. Ya know, make sure she doesn't have any illnesses or anything we need to know about. The only available time they had was first thing in the morning."

"Woah, we never agreed to keep..." Eliot trailed off and gave in, shaking his head. "Well make sure he knows to get a litter box while he's out."

Parker smiled and nodded.

"Damn cat." Eliot muttered fondly to himself as he set to work making breakfast.

“Also, we’re calling her Snickers.” Parker added.

Eliot smiled. He liked that name, mostly because Parker was the one who came up with it, but he liked it all the same.

[wuyi1551]

Cinder is not at home

* A previously written article, all machine translated

* It's the paro in the red cape raven and the wolf cinder

Usually it will return in the early morning ,the sun was still not visible when the sun was above Raven's head. raven was at home carefully polishing the shotgun, then dealing with the prey from the previous days hunting, until nightfall Raven heard the wolf barking from the door, she slowly got up and picked up the collar and went to the door, opened the door and saw the cinder covered in mud and water squatting on the carpet in front of the house.

"I'm home," Cinder saw the door open and tried to squeeze in, but was stopped by Raven. "Put the collar on first."

Cinder reluctantly raised his wolf's head, and raven put the red collar on his furry neck, the name tag hanging from the collar shining in the dim light.

After putting it on raven turned sideways and let the large, dirty wolf step into the also unorganized home. "After the shower you mop up the standing water on the floor yourself." raven looked at the mud marks left by cinder along the way frowned and said, although she would love to let the other side get rid of these paw prints now but the primary goal is to wash each other clean.

raven turned on the shower in the bathtub, aimed at the wolf sitting in the bathtub, in the other body will be wet and then smear the body lotion and then began to frantically scrub. This is a very physically demanding activity raven felt he had to take a shower after washing each other. "You want to wash it yourself next time." After rubbing out a cinder that was covered in foam and snowy white, raven wiped off the sweat on his forehead and said to the cinder. "I'm not very used to bathing with human bodies, no hair touching the water is too strange." The foam pile in the bathtub spit out bubbles and said. After rinsing the bubbles off, he had to wash it again with a smoothing agent, which was actually not very necessary but raven admitted that the wolf was very comfortable to hold after the wash.

"Can I sleep in the bed today?" cinder asked. Cinder asked, "You can sleep." raven responded and turned off the shower in her hand. She got up and walked out of the bathroom, took out a towel and a nightgown from the closet, and when she returned to the bathroom again, the person sitting in the bathtub was not a wolf smelling of shower gel but a naked girl, but the scent was still the same. raven handed the towel to the other party and leaned against the sink, the blatant sight of which made cinder rush to put the towel around her. "Why are you starting to be shy now, I didn't see you like this when I was allowed to help you take a bath." raven lifted one eyebrow and smiled lightly. "It's not the same, of course I'm not afraid of the original hair." Seeing the other party wrapped in a towel without further action raven left the bathroom.

Cinder also quickly dried and put on a nightgown and took the mop handed by raven on the way out of the bathroom.

When raven also finished showering and came out of the bathroom, she saw that her wolf was already lying on the bed. "Finished mopping the floor?" raven lifted the covers and sat on the bed. cinder nodded and closed her eyes. raven looked at his lover who fell asleep almost a second later and turned off the lamp with a sigh.

"Come back early next time."

[dearrrabbit]

medkit

“what do you think you’re doing?”

steve straightens up like he’s been burned, his posture almost comedically guilty with a nervous smile and his hands clasped behind his back. he immediately begins to voice his warbly reassurances, “what..? what, c’mon babe, nothing, chill!”

but quentin is unmoved by these. he is unflinching, decked in a caked-on layer of swamp mud and hair plastered to his face ( courtesy of the pig, who’s pounce he had veered into the mud puddle to avoid.), and steve is a little scared of the stolen medkit clutched tightly in his clean, thieving hands. quentin crosses his arms across his chest, and steve crumbles like a can in the deep sea. 

“i picked up your medkit.” he says in one breath, “listen, quentin, light of my life, apple of my eye.. “  “thief!” quentin whisper-shrieks, “you’re a fucking thief!���  “you weren’t using it,” steve bargains desperately, “i was, um, i was just ensuring that feng didn’t take it!” 

feng, from her spot on the nearby generator makes an indignant noise. quentin scoffs, an irritable twitch in his eye starting up as he really surveys his boyfriend, untouched by the mud and swamp-water, unmussed, even. his annoyingly white polo shirt and khakis. his gelled hair. his scowl turned into a slight smirk, and he edges closer. 

“so, you’ll give it back, right? now that i’m here?” quentin presses, and steve chuckles, sensing some shift in quentin, on higher alert as he gets closer. 

“well. i could hold onto it for you..” he hedges, and suddenly quentin is two inches from his face, taking advantage of the ramp’s height difference to slot himself ever so slightly above steve. steve lets out a nervous giggle despite having been dating him for months. 

“no. i don’t think you will.” he states plainly, and before steve can roll his eyes and huff, quentin grabs him by the pressed collar and kisses him. 

there’s algae sliding down his cheek and he knows he’s won when steve makes an affronted squawk right into his mouth, flailing and letting the medkit clatter to the ground. their fronts press together and steve makes another structureless noise, and flails his hand again, not sure where to place it. 

he pulls away and even though steve’s got that starry-eyed, just-kissed look he always gets, he’s scrunched his nose up,  “fucking ew, quentin!” 

quentin snickers, stooping to grab the medkit and offering a not-so-apologetic grin. “jeez, prissy-pants.” 

“you did that on purpose!” steve splutters, scrubbing his mouth and trying to paw off the sludge to no avail. “i just got these, thanks a fucking lot, man.” 

he slinks over to the generator, where feng’s breathing through her nose, attempting not to laugh and encourage their antics as she finishes twisting the wires together. quentin perches his medkit atop the generator panel, and crouches down to get to work too, listening to steve grumble and not feeling even a little bad. like at all. 

“hate you.” quentin nudges him. “say it back, don’t break my heart.” 

“love you too.” steve softens around the edges, melting like the sap he is. “asshole.” 

[cluelessatthispoint]

i politely ask for heavy finding and taking care of a kitty

I have two loveable cats! I love this request! Heavy for sure seems like a cat person to me.

~~~~~~~~

Sitting down on the front porch of the base to watch the sunset was a tradition for Heavy. The way that the bright ball of fire sank behind the mountains to welcome the twilight was nostalgic. It reminded him of the sunsets he saw with his family when in the gulag. The air was slowly getting colder, and the hairs on his arms started to prickle at the sensation. The blazing red sun was almost at the setting point when he heard a soft noise from under a nearby bush.

mrrr

Straining his ears against the soft whistling of the breeze he heard it again.

mew

With piqued interest, Heavy slowly got up from his cozy spot, brushed off the dust from his pants, and calmly made his way over to the bush. Making his way halfway there, he could make out the small form of a cat. Its amber eyes stared at him warily. From what he could see the cat looked dirty and malnourished. Clearly not well taken care of; especially since it made its way out in the middle of the desert. A pang of pity welled up in Heavy's chest. No animal should be left out here.

Without warning the cat moved languidly from its spot and began to approach him. All traces of fear seemed to have fluttered away as the cat rubbed up against Heavy's dust and dirt-covered boots. A soft smile made its way onto his lips, slowly not to startle the cat he brought both hands to the underside of the cat. One hand supported the front legs and the other the cat's hindquarters; he lifted the skinny thing up into his big arms and slowly walked back into the base.

"We will get you cleaned up in no time, Da?"

The cat merely purred.

Ignoring the stares he walked back to his room and shut the door with his foot. Walking to the restroom located off to the side of his room, he gently set the cat down on the floor and grabbed a towel. dampening it with lukewarm water, he turned to the cat that stared up innocently at him. His large hands moved with grace and dexterity as he cleaned the matted brown fur of the unnamed feline. It reminded him of helping his younger sister clean up her face after falling in the mud.

"You are small, so very small."

The cat rubbed his head against Heavy's large fingers, prompting a smile from the quiet Russian. When the towel started turning a dirty brown color he pat the cat's head and placed the dirty cloth on the edge of the sink and slipped out of the restroom. Closing the door behind him and exiting his room he made his way into the kitchen. The only mercs in the kitchen area as far as he could tell right off the bat were Pyro, Demoman, and Engineer. Without missing a beat the Scot looked up at him as he made his way to where the canned goods were stored.

"Yae gonna have to name the wee thing."

The slur of words seemed to echo the other merc's sentiments. Heavy nodded slowly and resumed his search for the canned fish. If it was tuna; nobody could really tell. It had a horrible taste and the smell was unlike any other canned tuna he's ever had. Moving various cans out of place he reached his hand back and pulled out a can of fish. Closing the cabinet without a word the giant made his way back to his room and closed the door. Making his way to the bathroom he opened the door slowly, just enough to squeeze himself through. He sat down on the ground opposite the brown tabby and opened the can of fish. Sensing that the treat was for them the cat came bounding over to the large man and began to gently paw at his arm trying to reach the tantalizing treat.

"терпеливый, пациент" (Patient, be patient)

The little feline pawed at his hand till he lowered the can to the ground, seeing as he forgot to get a bowl he poured some of the fish onto his hand and let the cat eat to its content. Heavy leaned back into the cold tiles of the wall and listened to how the cat ate. Its little feeding noises made him happy. When there was nothing left in the can, Heavy slowly got up, washed his hands, and disposed of the empty can. Making his way over to his favorite chair he sat down and watched the cat from afar. The way it explored its new surroundings so carefully and cautiously made it seem like the cat was saying;

"Wait, I live here now?"

A soft chuckle escaped Heavy's lips. Turning over to the nearby table he grabbed his unfinished book and began to read. He read in silence for a while, but looking up from his book he saw that the cat was sitting down near his feet watching him. Almost as if it were waiting for him to read aloud.

Heavy looked back to his book and began to read in a soft voice. After a few minutes, the cat jumped up into his lap and curled its lithe body under his arms, its head gently resting on Heavy's large broad chest.

mew

"That is right little one, get comfortable."

Losing track of where he was in the book Heavy closed it and looked over the cover. Crime and Punishment, a good book. No doubt going to be a classic in the future. Looking over at the cat on his chest and back to the book cover Heavy was struck with inspiration.

"I will name you Fyodor"

The cat purred.

[rubymoon-snape]

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron Defender of the Universe, but I do own Ruby.

Summary: Keith learns someone is cleaning Black Lion and is determined to find out who.

Author Note: This is Keith/Ruby.

"Cleaning"

"Form Blazing Sword!"

The sword cutting through the robeast caused an explosion that decimated most of the Drule fighters the lions hadn't taken care of at the beginning of the fight. Keith scanned the surrounding airspace, looking for Lotor's ship. "Looks like Lotor ran away again. All right team, deactivate interlocks and disengage."

Right as Voltron broke apart into the lions, Lotor's ship appeared out of nowhere and shot a missile at Black, which sent it crashing through the forest and landing upside down in a mud pit.

"Ignite lion torch!"

"Stingray Missiles!"

"Proton Missiles!"

"Rocket Grenades!"

Lotor had to dodge these attacks from the other four lions, which prevented him from attempting to finish off Black Lion. Seeing as his path was blocked, Lotor left Arus's orbit.

Once Lotor was gone, Keith's radio crackled to life with the voices of the other pilots, worried for his safety. Unfortunately, their voices were overlapping, so Keith couldn't understand them.

"Guys!" Keith waited a few seconds before continuing, ensuring he had his team's attention. "I'm okay. I'm just upside down in a mud pit."

"You need help getting out, Chief?" Lance asked.

"No. I'll be okay. I'm going to dunk Black in the lake to get most of this off and then park him in the repair bay in order to be able to get the rest of it off."

"Are you sure, Keith?" Allura inquired. "The other lions don't do well in the water?"

"A quick dip will be fine, Allura. See you in a few minutes." Keith turned off his radio and took a deep, steadying breath. He activated Black Lion's wings, which effectively flipped the great lion back over.

Keith could feel Black Lion's irritation at being covered in mud, leaves, and sticks. "I know, Black, but we just need to get to the lake to get most of this stuff off. Then, you'll get a good cleaning."

Strangely, Black Lion purred in Keith's mind at the mention, but Keith thought it was just Black liked the idea of getting cleaned. Keith pushed his lion to fly quickly to the castle with the wings out (because they were coated in mud as well). Once the dunk in the lake was over, Keith was able to fold the wings, before he landed Black in the repair bay. Keith powered down his lion and took his key before patting the console. "I'll be back in a few minutes to give you a good cleaning."

Keith was startled by the sensation he received from Black that was something akin to a snort. Why would Black doubt him? He put it out of his mind. No doubt it was something he'd never figure out.

Keith changed into his usual red and white jumpsuit and checked in with the team, all of whom had gathered in the lounge. "Hey, guys. I thought I'd check in with you before I go clean Black."

"Unless someone beats you to it," Lance quipped.

Keith conceded his lieutenant's point with a subtle nod. "True. I wish I knew who was doing that."

"Maybe you'll find out soon," Allura added with a sly wink.

Keith got the idea that at least Lance and Allura knew who his mystery person was. "In any case, I should get going."

As Keith made his way to the repair bay, he thought about the last time Black needed cleaned. It had taken two hours for Keith to make it back to Black, because he had to write a report for the Garrison. When he made it to the repair bay, his lion was already cleaned. He hadn't seen who had taken it upon themselves to clean Black, though his lion was purring, which made Keith assume it hadn't been too long ago.

As he entered the repair bay, he heard the distinct lilt of his girlfriend's voice. He followed the sound of her voice and found her sitting cross legged in front of Black in her off hour clothes (black pants, turquoise tube top, and long, blue vest). She was gently pulling sticks out of Black's paw and talking to the great lion.

"And then, Nanny tried to- Oh, hang on, Black. This one seems stuck." Ruby tugged on a particularly stubborn stick and got it loose. "Got it!"

Keith quietly approached his girlfriend from behind, wrapping his arms around her when he was close enough. She froze for a second, but once she saw the red sleeves, she relaxed, realizing it's Keith.

"Are the one who's been cleaning Black, darling?"

"Of course, sweetheart! I am, after all, good at cleaning."

"Yes. Yes, you are." Keith leaned forward and captured his girlfriend's lips in a kiss as his lion purred to both of them.

Fin

[stiltonbasket]

prompt: mdzs, but with daemons.

On the night he crosses swords with the lawless head disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang sect, Lan Wangji finds himself suffering the worst humiliation of his entire life.

He was ready to reprimand Wei Ying, ready to still his maddening, beautiful voice with a silencing spell and drag him off to the meishi to be punished—but then Wei Ying gasped in his arms, oddly unbothered at the prospect of being bodily hauled off the roof, and let out a bubbling peal of laughter.

“Second Young Master Lan, look!” he wheezed, pointing over Wangji’s shoulder. “Oh, heavens—are you this affectionate with everyone, Lan Zhan? Just what is your daemon doing?”

Lan Wangji turned around and blanched.

Yuchen was lying on the roof not six paces away from him, her furry limbs tucked comfortably beneath her, and Wei Ying’s brown-bellied osprey was cuddled up under her neck.

“This wasn’t my fault,” Qingwan chirped, burrowing deeper into Yuchen’s spotted coat. “Yuchen won’t let me go.”

“En, and I will not,” Yuchen said drowsily. “You can just sleep right here, since my Wangji is determined to run around playing the fool in the middle of the night.”

Lan Wangji wanted to die on the spot. Yuchen had never dared cross lines with the daemons of others, save for Xiongzhang’s white serpent, Yulan, who named Yuchen and helped care for her and Wangji from infancy—and yet here she was, caressing the feathers of a daemon she had known for less than ten minutes, and granting him a liberty she would not permit even to Shufu’s Kexin!

“Yuchen!” Lan Wangji cried. Wei Ying fell out of his grasp in a protesting heap of arms and legs, muttering something about rough treatment and wasted good looks and sticks-in-the mud, but Wangji was too horrified to listen to him. “Yuchen, let him go at once!”

“I do not wish to,” his daemon returned, so simply that Wei Ying staggered on his way to collect his fallen wine jars. “And Qingwan does not wish to leave me. For now, you must remain with Wei Wuxian.”

“Qingwan, come here,” Wei Wuxian chortled, now clutching the two pots of Emperor’s Smile to his chest. “Look how red Lan-er-gongzi is getting. And anyway, it’s late. Don’t you want to see Bao Xuan?”

At this, Qingwan perked up and wriggled out from between Yuchen’s white paws.

“Bao Xuan is our Shijie’s daemon. He’ll be worried if we don’t reach the guest quarters soon,” he apologized. “Madam Yuchen, farewell! I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

And with that, he fluttered off to perch atop Wei Ying’s head, after which the two retrieved their dropped passage token and vanished into the night.

Lan Wangji picked Yuchen up, afraid the leopard would disobey him and chase after Qingwan again, and took her back to the Jingshi in such distress that he thought he might go mad. He had never seen a daemon behave so shamelessly before, let alone one born of the Lan clan; the lone exception was Nie Mingjue’s tiger daemon, who was once spotted cleaning Yulan’s scales with her tongue after a particularly bloody night-hunt. But then again, Lan Xichen was the beloved of Chifeng-zun’s life, soon to be his lawful husband, and Wei Ying...

Wangji sank to the ground with Yuchen in his lap, and tried not to think of how Wei Ying had laughed when he saw their daemons embracing.

“No,” he begged, cupping Yuchen’s fluffy face between his hands. “Yuchen, you can’t mean that we—Wei Ying and I, we’re not—”

“The daemons of the Lan recognize their other halves at first sight,” Yuchen said kindly. “It was just so with Yulan-jie and Nie-zongzhu’s Chixin. You are fated.”

Yuchen would say no more, having explained all she wished to, and Lan Wangji was left to lie in his chilly bed, alone, reflecting on the clan scriptures to prevent himself from dreaming of Wei Ying.

He did not succeed, for better or for worse; but by the end of that week, Wangji was Wei Ying’s, and he had fallen so deeply in love that it no longer mattered.

[theshelbyclan]

ok so i need a story with Teddy getting a dog, or if not, some other animals because i can absolutely imagine her collecting all these animals and tommy being like; fucking hell... like that gif, you know? Please write that for your 3k celebration?? I love your work so much and Teddy is like my most favourite OC ever!!!

haha this idea made me laugh so much, because adding a dog to the Shelby mix is not ideal... hope you like this one ;) Also, thank you so much!!

***

The kitchen at Watery Lane wasn’t big, but Polly kept it very clean. And it was something she took pride in, which meant that both the little kids and her very much grown-up nephews were all expected to wipe their feet or take off their shoes before they entered the house. Cleanliness wasn’t an easy thing to achieve in Small Heath. The air was constantly filled with smoke and soot travelled wherever the worker went. Rain and snow turned into mud in seconds and men, children and animals urinated on the streets. Filth was part of life. But not in Polly’s kitchen. The entire morning she had spent cleaning it, with buckets of boiling water scrubbing away and new and freshly washed linens on the table, it looked like something out of a storybook. Which was the exact reason why Teddy and Finn weren’t allowed into the kitchen for the rest of the afternoon. As they played in the front room, their aunt passed them on her way to the market. “Stay here while I’m gone, and don’t you dare go into my kitchen or let anyone else near it,” she warned the two kids before she left. “Yes, Aunt Pol,” they both said obediently as she left. “Finn!” Teddy hissed, as soon as their aunt had left the house, “I have to show you something.” Finn’s eyes started twinkling as soon as he saw how excited his little sister was. Silently, the two of them crept up the stairs and Teddy led the way into their shared bedroom. When she opened the door, a large furry nose protruded from the room and dug itself into Teddy’s stomach by way of greeting. “A dog?” Finn asked, not really understanding, as he stared at this gigantic filthy mutt that seemed to be lovingly eating Teddy’s shoes. “Isn’t she sweet!” his sister beamed, “Look, she follows me wherever I go. And her name is Whiskey!” “Aunt Polly won’t let you keep her…,” Finn stated sadly. But before Teddy could protest, Whiskey had managed to escape the room and had descended the stairs in just a few leaps. In absolute horror, the two siblings watched as she galloped through the squeaky-clean kitchen with muddy paws. “Whiskey, no!” Teddy shouted, but somehow that only seemed to excite the dog more, and she jumped with her front paws onto the tablecloth happily. “Now what?” Finn asked flatly, completely resigning to the fact that he was going to die. “Don’t worry…” Teddy started, when she heard the front door open again and she froze in fear. Aunt Polly took one step into the house and immediately her eyes seem to shoot daggers at the both of them. Menacingly she hissed, “Explain.” “We went out and came home and found it like this,” Finn lied expertly. “Maybe someone broke in?” Teddy tried. But when her aunt’s gaze seemed to only grow darker, she decided now would be a good time to change the subject, “Aunt Polly, could we maybe get a dog, please?”

***

theshelbyclan's 3k celebration

[bokettochild]

Perils of a Pumpkin Patch

Blame the lovely folks over at @ordonianhero‘s blog for this! This is on them and @mayonakaotsumami for creating this idea!

 Time sighs.

 He loved his pup, by some days, Twilight could be a real idiot.

 “Explain to me what the problem is again?” The eldest hero shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as Legend continues to cackle breathlessly, the veteran hero wheezing for breath that was only stolen with continued laughter, bent over and holding his ribs as he attempted to wheeze out words that continued to make no sense. “Deep breaths, kit.” He reminds, a small smile pulling at his face at the pure joy and mischief on the usually stoic teen’s face.

 “I’m trying!” Legend’s breath whistles between his teeth, giggles continuing to spill out for a few minutes as breath after deep breath was pulled into heaving lungs.

 “Now,” Time motions towards the vet, leaving the word hanging, it’s intent clear as Legend coughs lightly.

 The vet’s face was still flushed pink, eyes sparkling with mischief that makes him look far closer to his actual age, the teen practically bouncing on his toes. “Twilight got stuck.” Legend chuckles, smirk setting in with an almost feral hint to it. “In a pumpkin!”

 The old man blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.

 “I’m not sure why I’m surprised.” He finally forces out, shaking his head again as Legend all but dances in place.

 “He needs our help.” Legend continues. “He’s in wolf form and if Wars sees he’s gonna lose it!” The vet cackled softly. “Honestly, I’m half tempted to tell him, but Twi says I owe him, and-” The vet shrugs easily. “He’s not wrong.”

 “Alright, kit.” Time isn’t dumb, he saw the pink bunny hiding in the bushes, and he knows a shifter when he sees one. Legend’s aura is full of diverse twists and turns, but there’s the dark strain of a shifter that weaves in with the other unique abilities and powers, and he’d known the instant that Legend walked back into camp weeks ago with pink hair, aura flaring and still settling down again, exactly what had happened.

 Callused hands reach over to ruffle the vet’s locks. The blue cap had been lost while they work the ranch, and it offers free access to fluffy pink hair, making the vet’s nose twitch as he darts away from the touch.  

 “Come on. We’d best get him loose.”

 Wolfie’s head is indeed trapped inside of a pumpkin.

 Time has to pause to hold back a laugh for a minute when he sees it, lifting a hand to his mouth to hide a smile that Twilight can’t see anyway from within the pumpkin prison. Harsh barks and whines echo from within the gourd as Legend saunters over, tone light and feet lighter as he moves towards the wolf, who’s paws push desperately at the orange walls around his head.

 “Twi, I got the old man. Hold still so we can get that thing off of you.” The vet giggles slightly as he speaks, and a strained whine meets the words. Time can almost see his protégé's face, unamused and nearly a pout, and the thought makes his laugh lightly as he steps over, inspecting his trapped pup.

 “Hylia, pup, you really got yourself stuck, huh?”

 “I would have expected this of the Champion.” Legend teases. “Not you ranch-hand.”

 Another strained whine sounds from the pumpkin headed wolf.

 “Alright, kiddo, we’ll get you out.” Time is already rolling up his sleeves, inspecting the pumpkin and dog combo with a calculating eye as Legend stands aside expectantly. “Kit, grab the pumpkin, I’ll get the pup, when I say pull, dig those pegasus boots-” He cuts off as his eyes dart down to see that Legend is...barefoot.

 One brow cocks, unimpressed, at the vet, who only shrugs off his stare. “They hurt my feet when I wear them too long.”

 “Get new ones?” He blinks slowly.

 “Doesn’t work.” Legend huffs, already moving in front of Twilight, hands working to find a grip on the giant orange gourd that traps Twilight’s head. “Flat feet don’t fit right in any shoe.”

 “Right.” He’ll need to talk to Four about fixing tat problem later. “Well, get a good grip on the ground and pull, I’ll hold him back.”

 “You act like he’s gonna charge me.” The vet snickers, and Wolfie’s whine joins the teen’s voice, nearly insulted.

 “Alright, on three. One. Two. Three!”

 Time’s arms lock around the giant wolf, but as Legend pulls at the lareg pumpkin the dirt underneath his skids and slips, and the vet’s feet fly out from under him, landing him firmly on his ass as Time snorts out a short bout of laughter.

 “Switch.” Legend grumbles, but doing so yields the same results, Time’s hearty pull on the pumpkin only dragging Wolfie out of Legend’s arms and sending the vet face first into the dirt.

 “New plan.” Legend groans, rubbing his sore backside as Time crouches to wipe mud off of the teen’s face.

 “I could try and cut it off, but-”

 Wolfie’s bark is desperate, and Legend frowns. “Might be our only option, pops.”

 The vet is sent to run back to the house, faster than Time and needing to loosen up his limbs again after being thrown to the ground like a discarded toy, and Time is left with his protégé, a pumpkin clad head resting in hs lap as he runs his hands through the canine’s long fur, stifling chuckles each time he glances down at the orange mess in his lap.

 “You really did it this time, eh Pup? What on earth could have prompted you to stick your head in there?”

 Twilight’s wolf form prevents him from understanding the whine that echoes from the pumpkin, and the reminded of his protégé's plight only has Time stifling laughter again, shaking lightly when Malon and Legend make their way to the garden gate, Malon with a sharp kitchen knife in hand as she weaves around the entrance, light laughter floating on the air as she watches Legend climb the gate rather than walk through, the vet darting back over with a sheepish smile as he meets Time’s eyes.  

 “Mamalon wouldn’t let me grab any weapons.”

 He wonders if Legend hears his slip, but there's no doubt Malon heard it if the way she smiles, pink tinging her cheeks as her eyes twinkle brightly while she crouches at his side.

 “Good heavens, how’d he come by this pickle?”  

 “Only Nayru knows.” Time shrugs, and Wolfie’s despairing whine only adds to the canine’s shame as Malon gently pats his shoulder.  

 “Don’t you fuss, love. We’ll get you out of there in a sec.” Green eyes dart up to meet Time’s own. “I brought a blunter one. It should cut through alright, but at the most will poke him a bit if it hits him. I haven’t sharpened it in ages, so he should be fine.”

 The eager and desperate wiggle of the wolf’s hindquarters and the thumping of his tail draws smiles to their faces, and Time nods firmly. “Give us your orders, ma’am.”

 It falls to Legend to hold the pumpkin still while Time keeps the wolf inside still, and it’s Malon who carefully slices through the orange gourd, handing off pieces to the vet, who carefully places them in a clean pail to prevent spoiling them in the dirt. When Wolfie’s head emerges, it’s covered in pumpkin guts and seeds, and the mutts nose it dripping orange as he sneezes and huffs.  

   Black swirls around them as dog transforms back to Hylian, and then the ranch hand sit there, head, shoulders and hair covered in seeds while laughter rings loud and boisterous in his ears from the family around him.

 “Right then.” Malon wipes some seed from her boy’s cheeks, laughter making her voice shake as he tries shaking off the rest of it, only succeeding in shaking gunk all over them. “Guess he’s free now.”

 “This is utterly disgusting.” Legend grins, shaking orange off of his hands and back into Twilight’s hair, prompting a very wolfie growl from the rancher, and then Twilight’s launching himself out of Time’s lap and at Legend, pinning the smaller boy to the ground and shaking orange gunk and seeds all over the loudly protesting vet.

 “I’ll run baths.” Time chuckles as he watches the two, helping Malon collect the last of the pumpkin’s flesh and the knife into her pail.

 “You do that.” A chaste kiss is pressed to his lips as green eyes wink at him. “I’ll get back to the kitchen, we might as well have pie for dinner after all this bother.”

 Her hsvand’s eyes light up, and Legend kciks at the larger boy on top of him, violet twinkling as he tries to meet their eyes. “Pie?”

 “No! Please! No more pumpkins!” Twilight pleads, shooting around to stare pleadingly at the two adults, giving Legend the perfect opportunity to break free, the vet knocking over his brother and darting behind Malon’s skirts with a cheeky grin when Twilight’s midnight eyes turn to him with a scowl.

 “You ruin a pumpkin with pay, I'm gonna make the best of the leftovers.” Malon scolds.

 “There was a keese.” Twilight protests, almost whimpers, red tinging his cheeks.

 Green, royal blue and violet stare at him, each blinking slowly as laughter breaks out again over the garden, Twilight’s protests and excuses snowballing as he tries, fruitlessly, to make the stop.

 “Right.” Malon, scoops up one of the pails of pumpkin. “Link, I trust you’ll help our pup clean up?”

 “Yes ma’am.”

 “Good.” Sharp eyes, rupee green, turn to the vet. “I hear you bake rather well; would you like to help?”

 “He’s covered in pumpkin too!” Twilight protests.

 Legend pokes his tongue out at his brother before turning an absolutely radiant smile on Malon, one that easily rival’s Warriors’ flirtatious one. “Lead the way, ma’am!”

[howlingday]

jaune's from a family of raiders

well not quite he's from a culture that puts a lot of stock in capturing and ransoming off their friends and neighbors from other tribes. think of it like a combat sport only some times you're also stealing cattle and horses.

he's a prince of the high king

well again it's more complicated the kingdoms are like city states they don't exactly legislate or collect taxes all the way out into the wilds. but they do send huntsmen to protect the area and then tax the huntsmen.

jaune's dad just happened to be a huntsman who didn't pay taxes because the area his family had lived in for generations also happened to be outside the control of vale. and lots of people wanna live near the huntsmen who can keep them safe. so he has a position of respect among all the tribes. and jaune is his son

he's also required to have a harem

this one is interesting because it's one of those cultural things that seems weird from the outside but makes more sense when you look at it. men are hard to keep alive without a hospital. even with aura. women are part of a protected group like children and so take less risks in life. leading to there being a ton more women than men. and since technology isn't quite to the level of the kingdoms proper,

well more hands to help maintain a house isn't bad right?

but most of all jaune is a man who only wants to do right by his family, whether that be those from the past, or the woman, or women, that he loves.

and this part needs no further clarification

tldr: au where jaune's part of a tribal community and brings his lover or lovers home to meet the family. how does that go for everyone?

P.S: also sorry for the flowery ask, i felt inspired by something

Ooh, do tell the inspiration!

"Unhand me, you brute!" Jaune sighed as the girl in white screeched and squirmed behind him. "Do you know who I am?! When my family hears of this, they will hang you for this! Do you hear me?"

Jaune kept his focus on the road ahead as he gripped the reigns of Valorie, his mare, glancing left and right occasionally to avoid an ambush. His family might have a hold on the territory, but with his father growing in age, so, too, did that grip loosen. A rival tribe or rogue patrol from the kingdoms would easily snatch up an easy target like the lone swordsman and his latest bride.

"Could you at least tell me where we're going?"

"Home." Jaune answered, not looking back.

"Oh, yes, of course! How could I not know? And where exactly is your home?"

"Just up ahead."

"Uh huh, I see, and what are you going to do once you're home?"

Jaune let out a long sigh as he stretched his shoulders a bit. "Well, drop you off with the others, then have you judged, if there's enough time."

"Judged?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Judged for what?"

"Wife material." Weiss blushed and her jaw dropped. "Can you cook; can you clean; are you good with children; can you have children; do you have any family illnesses?" He shrugged. "Routine wedding discussions."

"W-Wedding?!" Ah, and just like that, the shrieking began anew. "You savage! You brute! I refuse to be treated like some stock taken to auction, about to be sold to some pervert noble!"

"You're not being sold to a noble." Jaune smiled and looked back. "Just me." Before she could begin again, Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, we're home."

It may have only been about a week since Jaune had left, but it felt like forever since his departure from the lands of Arcadia. The valleys and hills were as green and lush as ever, and the summer winds carried the calming scent of flowers across it all. He passed the growing crops, where he saw his sisters, their wives, and some of his own watering and tending to them. They waved to him, and he returned one to them.

"Welcome home, Miss Weiss." The girl marveled at the beauty. She had only heard of such places from her studies in the manor, but to see it in person was something else. Before she could admire it more, however, the mare stopped, jostling her from her focus.

Jaune slid down, then pulled Weiss down as well, carrying her bridal style. He then set her onto her own feet and untied the binds on her wrists and ankles. She lifted her leg, then kicked his shin. He yelped in pain.

"That was for the kidnapping!" She shouted.

"Yeesh! Just a kick?" Weiss turned to see a lilac-eyed blonde woman in fieldwork garments smiling at her. "When he dropped me off, they had to get his old man to get me off of him." She looked past Weiss to Jaune. "You going soft on me, or just your taste in women?"

"And who are you?" Weiss spat. "One of his whores?"

Yang laughed and placed a sweaty, mud-encrusted paw on her delicate shoulder. It felt warm at first, then hot as her grip became tight, and her eyes red. "I dare you to say that again."

"Yang, stop it!" Weiss and Yang looked to the younger girl running from inside the house. She was a brunette with red tips and silver eyes, and she wore a red apron that she had to roll up to her shins. She futilely tugged on the blonde woman's arm. "Jaune told you not to hurt anyone else!"

She let go, making the girl yelp as she was lifted with her arm. "Aw, c'mon, Rubes, we were just playing!" She then looked to Weiss, her eyes lilac once more. "Ain't that right, Ice Queen?"

"Ice Queen?!" Weiss balked.

"Yang, cut it out, please." Jaune sighed.

"Fine, fine!" Yang turned around, lowering her arm. The smaller girl let go as she walked away. "Besides, the crops won't grow themselves. I'll go be a good workhorse." She stopped to look back and winked. "I expect my carrot tonight, though, sweetheart~."

"Play nice and we'll see." Jaune responded with a smile. With that, Yang chuckled and resumed walking, swaying her hips for a few more yards before jogging back to the field. He looked to the younger girl and smiled. "And how have you been, Ruby?"

She sighed. "Do you mean after you left, or after you came back?"

"Both."

"After you left, I missed you. It was your mom's birthday, but I couldn't afford a present, so I took on her chores for the week, but I didn't expect her chores included chimney cleaning, so now I have soot so far up my nose, I'm still sneezing black. Then I had to tend to the chickens, but they're so vicious, and I swear they can smell weakness, because the rooster jumped me at least six times. Then Zwei needed a bath, but he somehow tricked me into the tub, so I smell like wet dog a little bit. And then I had to bake her cake all on my own, but there were eggshells in it and it came out both burnt and raw somehow, and I just- Argh!" Ruby collapsed into Jaune's torso. "I really missed you."

Jaune held her and kissed the crown of her head. "I missed you, too, Ruby." He stepped back and held a hand outward towards Weiss. "Ruby Rose-Arc, this is Weiss Schnee. She's going to be my newest bride." He looked to Weiss. "Weiss Schnee, this is Ruby Rose-Arc, my second wife. She and Yang will help prepare you for judging."

"It's so nice to meet you!" Ruby swooped in, snatching the other woman's hands in hers. Her smile was wide and bright. "It'll be nice to have another short girl in our home!"

"No!" Weiss yanked her hands away. "I refuse! When my father hears of this, he'll-"

"Oh, that reminds me!" Jaune walked to Valorie and reached into her saddlebag. Weiss grumbled as she watched him pull out a small, burlap sack. "Here, Ruby. This was part of the dowry, but I want you to have it."

Ruby opened the sack and squealed in delight. "Dust crystals!" She hugged the new woman tightly. "You are the bestest bestie a bestie could ever have!"

"What the-?! Where did you get those?!" Weiss shrieked.

"From your father." Ruby ran inside with her new sack. "In exchange for marrying you, we'll allow him to trade through our lands."

"My father would never-!" Jaune gave her a curious look. "I mean, not to one of his own-!" Her voice grew softer. "I thought..."

"Listen," Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, "if you don't want to marry me, I understand. Most of the others didn't want to, either. But if you give it a few days, you might learn to love it here. You won't go hungry, you'll be well protected, and I promise you'll be loved every day."

"I just... I didn't think I would be treated like this. By my own family."

"I know." Jaune removed his hand. "Would it be okay if I hugged you?"

"I-"

"JAUNEY!" The two saw a young woman bull rush towards Jaune, carrying a dead boar high above her head. Jaune extended his arms out and caught her, spinning in place at least a dozen times. Blood sprayed around, including onto Weiss and the other two as they embraced. When they stopped, Jaune set her down, giving her a butterfly kiss with his nose to hers. "You're home!"

Jaune chuckled. "Yup!" He peered around her and looked to Weiss. "And I brought back someone new."

Nora turned around and gasped as she looked at Weiss. "Oh! My! Dust! You are so small!" She looked to Jaune and waggled her brow. "Be careful you don't break her!" She then laughed. "I'd shake your hand, but, uh, I'm a little busy. I'm Nora Valkyrie-Arc, Jaune's fourth wife."

"Weiss Schnee." Blood dripped from her hair. "And I was just about to leave."

"Aw! Already?! We were gonna make pancakes tomorrow!"

"I was going to make pancakes, Nora." Weiss turned to the male voice and saw a slim man in the doorway, wearing both an apron and a blank expression. "Just like I do every morning for you."

"Renny!" Nora cheered before tossing the trophy to him. "This is my first husband, Lie-Valkyrie Ren!"

Despite his slim figure, the man held the heavy beast with seemingly no trouble. "A pleasure to meet you." He nodded, before turning to head inside.

"Is he also your husband?" Weiss asked. Jaune chuckled nervously. This was going to be a long day, but they both already knew that.

[gingerel]

Promptis || Breakfast in Bed || Ficlet

Noct stretches as he comes too, arching his back and pressing his head back into the fingers that are scratching trough his hair. He moans softly as Prompto works him just right in that spot behind his ear.

 “G’morning,” Noct mumbles.

 He realises his head isn’t on his pillow, but something much less yielding. Turning his head, he quests to work out what it is, sighing when Prompto strokes over the shell of his ear and he realises he’s been moved to sleep on Prompto’s thigh.

 “You got up,” Noct accuses.

 There’s cause to deeper criticise this misdemeanour but Noctis is warm and comfortable with the cat curled up at the small of his back, rumbling with soft purrs.

 Noctis had given up all his rights as Royalty the moment Prompto had bought the little fluffball home. Wet with mud so thick they hadn’t known he was orange until after a thorough bath and way to young to be safely away from his mother.

 Prompto searched and searched for her when he found him but to no avail, simply rushing him home and panicking until Ignis turned up with kitten safe soft food and weaning milk. Helping scrub the kitten clean in the kitchen sink was a step to far from him but Noct still gets to tease the advisor about how quickly he arrived after nothing but one frantic text from Prompto.

 They never meant to keep Rory, that was never the intention. Yet here he is, almost two years later, taking up half their king bed every night then scratching and whining at the bathroom door for the duration of every shower Noct takes.  

 “I shoved my pillow into your face, and you didn’t notice I’d left,” Prompto tells him.

 Noct pinches his thigh, “I doubt it.” Not remembering Prompto leaving now doesn’t mean he didn’t notice at the time. Prompto is forever telling Noct stories about all the things he gets up to when half asleep but has no memory of doing.  

 “You’ll forgive me.” Prompto says confidently, brushing the hair off Noct’s forehead now. Noct squints up and takes in his appearance. Either Prompto’s not been up long, or he’s forgone his run for once. Bare-chested under one of Noct’s zip hoodies with a light, pale fuzz on his jaw that shows he’s not bothered shaving in a few days.

 Noct loves the fuzz that grows along Prompto’s sharp jaw, so much softer and finer than his own.

 “You sound pretty sure of yourself,” Noct says suspiciously.

 Prompto merely grins.

 Noct yawns, sniffs to clear his nose and -

 “Did you make pancakes?” Noct asks him.

 “Mhm.”

 Noctis sniffs again.

 “With chocolate chips?”

 Prompto taps his nose, “You bet.”

 Noct rolls slightly so he can look up at his husband with wide, pleading eyes.

 “Bring them to me?” Noct begs.

 “The cat is on the bed.”

 “The cat is always on the bed,” Noct points out.

 “He’ll steal food and chocolate is bad for cats,” Prompto says. Noct thinks he’s trying not to laugh.

 “That’s dogs,” Noct says.

 Prompto frowns, “I think it’s both.”

 “Rory, stay completely still and silent if you promise not attempt to steal any food.”

 Prompto rolls his eyes.

 “Fine,” Prompto says, choking back a laugh now. When he tries to slip out from under Noct’s head he grips onto Prompto’s thighs and holds tight.

 “No,” Noct whines.

 “To bring you pancakes in bed I have to leave the bed,” Prompto explains carefully.

 “No, you don’t,” Noctis says, clinging tight, “You’ll work something out. You can do anything you set your mind to, I believe in you.”

 But when Prompto strokes his fingers through Noct’s hair again and bends himself in half to kiss his forehead Noct begrudgingly lets go.

 Prompto’s pancakes are seriously good. Better than Ignis’ but Noct’s smart enough to never say so outside of their apartment.

 Noct rolls over, slipping up into a sitting position, dislodging the cat so it lurches onto all four paws with a disgruntled meow. Rory tries to crawl into his lap and Noct feels particularly bad when he has to stop him for once. Rory gives another meow, heartbreakingly pathetic as he flops down by Noct’s knee and lifts one of his spindly legs into the air to twist himself over and start cleaning his butt.

 “Charming,” Noct murmurs.

 Then Prompto backs into the room with an overflowing tray and Noctis forgets pretty much everything else in the world.