#i really just woke up and was like: ah man i want to draw them and then i did

[karinab00bs]

Can i request Karina x Male Reader office sex?

Cubicle Rival

Karina x male reader

tags: nipple play, fingering

Nearly everyone in the building had left for the day by ten minutes after fifteen; the janitor had even switched off the lights on purpose to prevent anyone from working overtime. Karina and you remained in the same room where they'd been working; the woman had taken off her blazer and was draping it over the back of her chair, while the man had rolled up his long sleeves to his elbows. As long as their report received approval and they could return home, their looks held little concern.

"Mr. Ethan hasn't replied?" Karina asked you since you had been refreshing your email. Waiting for the first message in their inbox determined whether they could go home early or stay in the office longer.

"Not just yet.” Perhaps sloppily or exhausted, you respond, "It's still being checked."

Karina says, her tone unpleasant to hear: "It's half past eleven; is it crazy that Mr. Ethan still wants to check the report?"

"Why are you anyway blaming Mr. Ethan? You know he is a perfectionist. He promised to wait until today; hence, he will wait until twelve. You are the one who is wrong; why would you hand over such a critical report to an intern who is already on his way home at five? It's not going to be right," you ramble, drawing visible eyebrows furrowing on Karina.

"Why are you blaming me? Blame Ms. Je for putting the director's daughter in our division. What do you think I can do if she's nagging me to do a report? Tell her you can't do your job like that?" Karina started pounding on the table; maybe both of them were already tired, so they were more sensitive and easily ignited.

"You could try pointing the finger at other people. You brought Mr. Ethan and now Ms. Je; pointing fingers at others won't make them do anything or prevent such incidents in the future. Do you also intend to hold the intern responsible, given his obvious ignorance in preparing the report? Indeed, it is your responsibility to consider this matter. How can a child, lacking any knowledge, solve such a significant problem? You, equally irritated, began pointing at Karina as if assigning blame.

"Now you're blaming me?"

You didn't have time to reply to Karina's words because a call came into your cell phone from Mr. Ethan.

"Yes, sir? Yes, thank you very much, sir. I'll send it later. I will finish it in 15 minutes. Thank you very much, sir." You disconnected the phone and looked at Karina. The man sighed softly before saying to karina, "The report is okay; I just need to check for typos. I'll finish it first. Can you get me a coffee?"

Karina was silent for a second before responding, "Fine." 

Upon seeing Karina exit the office, you instinctively shut your eyes.

Although Karina was really terrified to visit the pantry by herself since all the lights had been turned off, she couldn't resist your demand so that everything would be finished rapidly and she could head home. Under low lighting, she began preparing two cups of coffee in paper cups, using a combination of saset coffee and sugar, to ensure you wouldn't have any complaints about the taste. She carried the black coffee paper cups with both hands, but her foot stumbled on something, and one cup of coffee spilled on her chest. "Ah." Karina turned to show a faint smile. Indeed, it appears that she has paid the price for all her mistakes over the past year. Why is this so unlucky?

She took off her shirt, which was full of spilled coffee, and then she walked back towards her office.

She gently opened the door, and she found you closing your eyes and leaning on your chair. Okay, the initial plan was for Karina to stealthily walk to her cubicle, retrieve her blazer, and put it on before you woke up. Karina then crept over, set the coffee she had produced next to your laptop, and hurried to her cubicle.

You blinked up at the scent of coffee, but your attention quickly went from the paper cup on her desk to the figure of Karina, who was unclasping her bra. Fuck.

"What on earth are you doing?" you inquired, your voice quivering with disbelief. 

"My shirt is all sticky from spilling coffee," Karina answered, her bare back now showing.

"Are you not afraid of me doing anything to you?" You asked while getting up from the chair to get a box of tissues. The man was now sitting on Karina's chair, and you could clearly see the girl's large, saggy breasts. While the woman sat at her desk.

"You and I fight every day; I doubt you have any desire to do anything to me, even though I'm naked in front of you right now," Karina replied confidently.

"Do you think if I were naked in front of you, you'd be horny?" Your question made Karina snort in annoyance.

"No, it's crazy to lust after you," Karina said, folding her arms across her chest, making her breasts pop out even more as if challenging you.

"I have submitted the report, and Mr. Ethan accepted it. You raised one eyebrow and said, "All that remains is your business with me."

"What business is it? I have nothing to do with you. Better turn back; my body is all sticky and a little blistering thanks to the hot water dispenser," Karina said, looking down at her coffee-sticky chest.

"You're sure you won't lust after me, right?" you asked again.

"No."

"I'll just clean it so it's not sticky and then go home," you said. "Shut up." You looked down and swept your tongue over every inch of Karina's breasts to clean the coffee off her skin, occasionally giving the man a light sip.

"What the hell are you doing?" Karina tried to keep your head from coming closer to her body, but then she froze as the tip of your tongue rubbed against her nipple. Damn. It was so good.

"They say it's better to use saliva or running water when it's hot." You soaked Karina's upper body, including her skirt, with the remaining water from the glass she used to drink.

"Fuck, what are you doing? I swear.. I'm wet.."

"Wet, huh?" You lowered your head and took one of Karina's nipples into your mouth, sucking gently, while your other hand wiped Karina's body with a tissue.

Karina bit her lip, both hands clutching the edge of the table she was sitting on. "You won't lust, right? There's no way you'll lust after me; after all, I'm just cleaning you."

"Hurry up and clean it.. I'm going back." Karina's words made you smile.

You took a tissue and, using both hands, rubbed Karina's nipples with it. While closing her eyes, the girl looked up. She hadn't felt a touch on her body in a long time, so a touch like this sent her into a trance. Indeed, your skill level is beyond reproach. Just observe how the tissue continues to twist both Karina's nipples, creating a more pleasurable sensation. You idly pinched Karina's nipples so hard that she couldn't help but moan.

"Don't be horny; I'm just cleaning it," you said half-mockingly.

"I'm not fucking horny." Karina's answer made you laugh. You pulled down Karina's panties and let them fall to the floor.

"It's just wet," you teased with a finger that had rubbed Karina's pussy. "I'm just cleaning it; you don't want to feel uncomfortable."

"What the hell are you doing- ahhh ..." Your tongue entered to explore Karina's pleasure hole with your finger stroking the small object on it, creating a stifled moan from Karina's lips, which made you smile because, after all, Karina's sigh had made you win. You deliberately inserted two of your fingers, then scratched Karina's pussywall rather roughly, causing her affection to shift to her clitoris. "A-ahhh.. ahhh.."

"Why mm? Is it good? You said you wouldn't lust after me, but you're so wet, Rina." Karina stared resentfully at your face as she bit her lower lip, deliberately holding back a moan so as not to feed your ego. "Why do you want to end it?" you asked, bending your two fingers precisely at Karina's weakest point, and soon her pleasure juices melted away.

"Damn you.." said Karina in the end, while catching her breath.

"1-0, there is no need to deny that you are also horny for me," you said with a chuckle, and you lowered your head to lick Karina's pussy, which had just reached its release.

"Watch out; I'll get you back."

"I can't wait," you replied as she helped put the blazer on Karina's body.

[whatsaneggimcis]

Signs everything I thought I knew was wrong

I needed to dump my thoughts and feelings somewhere because I feel like im annoying my support group. I think my egg finally cracked Wednesday and immediately I had to start researching and buying gender affirming things. Anyways, here's my list of signs that I wish I had seen like a decade ago, please be kind I'm very new to opening up like this

Another Girl in elementary threatened me with makeup and cross dressing and I wanted it bad.

I think this one is such a major factor in why I feel like this has to be real. Its well before puberty and well before I knew transitioning was a thing. Just a natural thought for someone who’s the wrong gender

Multiple times pleading with god to just make me a girl

Still cis tho obv

Thinking if I held still for long enough in bed, some sort of magic would make me a girl and fix this wrong body of mine

I still remember the dreams where im a girl, i legit became proficient at lucid dreaming just for it.

Ah fuck the egg_irl memes are hitting too hard

My favorite game character is Bridget, listening back to the song is hitting really hard actually

Legit had an anxiety attack and took a day off work because my transfem friend said “careful, i said the same thing before i came out”

Wishing i had magic to turn myself into a girl

Playing female characters just to feel cute

Putting on leggings in highschool, then sleeping in them

Some female mannerisms

Kinda hating my poor skin but couldnt do anything about it since thats only for women am i right fellas

Mild euphoria when someone says good girl

Envisioning myself as the girl during fantasies

Jealousy over a womans body

Ive never seen any man sit cross legged at a table the way i do, idk why that one pops up but i’ve seen plenty of other girls do it

Desire to steal womans clothing to cross dress

At current moment I have no desire to bite my nails because I want them to grow out, even though I was a nail biter for 27 years

In pre school, tried to convince another girl to swap clothes with me

In pre school, loved pretending i was at a hair salon and the other girls in the school would give me a haircut. It gave me ASMR

Speaking of ASMR, I like exclusively listen to makeup, nail and hair roleplays

Feeling like i dont want to transition because I could be ugly

After realization, I dont have nearly as much of an appetite, maybe subconscious bodily sabotage in the form of overeating

Not seeing any future when I tried to plan my life better, before I ever considered the option of becoming trans

Feeling hurt when my dad made somewhat transphobic comments about my trans cousin

Wondering what my parents would do if i woke up one day as a woman and had to explain that to them

Genuine euphoria at the idea of trying on womens clothing, but thinking that i was weird and kinky

Playing with stuffed animals with my best childhood friend, a fellow girl

Hating my balls

I bet it feels good to cry, its probably cathartic

Hating body hair god i hate this so much, I’m just bad at shaving it and dont want to be covered in razor burns and have to explain to coworkers why I shaved my legs and arms

Hating my nose

Adopting a super masculine persona

Forcing myself to have a much deeper voice to not feel any of my true feelings

Actually seeing a future after considering becoming trans

Being hurt by transphobic comments at work before I realized my egg status

Was I sending what they said to my friend because i was hurt by it and wanted reassurance?

When i started drawing again, i had no desire to draw “cool badass epic shit” i just wanted to draw super cosy watercolor paintings.

God damn it i’ll say it, I fucking love pastels. Both the art medium and the color spectrum

Repression of my desire to dance and sing, or I guess express myself in any format due to internalized transphobia

“Mens fashion is so lame, girls have it so good. Im cis tho”

Pure depression my entire adult life

Wanting genuine friend connections with women in a more feminine way

Never caring about going out and buying clothes because none of them worked for me

Trying to force myself to not look at girls clothes because “thats only what weirdos do”

On this topic, how the fuck did i think this shit was normal… i wasnt watching women or anything, its not like i was being creepy in reality. I just wanted to see the womens clothes. Why is that such a bad thing for someone to want

Being jealous of my friend since he was openly wearing his girlfriend’s sweatshirt

Dude i stared longingly at a pink gamer girl chair, still cis tho

Speaking of gamers, being super jealous of C9 Sneaky that he could pass so well and was totally fine with showing that whole side of himself online. Same with Finnster.

I think i hate my voice, ever since realizing this about myself i cant help but hear my voice and think its not me

Being afraid to see a therapist because im not sure honestly

Fearing crying, but that might not be internalized transphobia and actually just be a side product of the vice grip on masculinity in society

Daydreaming about becoming a girl

General body dysmorphia

I want to cry but i cant, why cant I cry why

[renneliaselfship]

Imagine taking the bus home with your f/o after a tired day and falling asleep on their shoulder or the other way around <3

Today was a tiring day and for the first time since I was a very young child I fell asleep on the bus that takes me home and I couldn’t help but imagine Cornelia sitting next to me on the bus, both asleep resting on each other

I did also made a drawing however I have no idea how to draw so I spent like 2 hours doing this and I think the intention is all that counts

You can see what I wrote and the drawing after this point

“The bus is coming,” Cornelia said in a tired voice, waking up early in the morning wasn’t his thing, he didn’t think it was anyone’s thing if he was honest. It was Saturday after all, a day where many overslept and woke up until lunch time but not him or Rene. Thankfully the morning had ended and now they were waiting for the bus to take them home.

The two of them signaled the bus stop, “ah fuck,” Rene said under his breath, it was midday and the bus was full but they still got in it and paid. At least it wasn’t as full as other times where people were barely in the bus, if the bus were to take a curve the wrong way at least five people would fall. Thankfully it wasn’t one of those times. Sure they needed to go standing up but it was better than waiting for the next bus under the sun… right?

Neither of them really wanted to be standing up, especially because the bus was barely moving due to traffic, it would probably take some good minutes to get to the next stop.

Neither of them spoke, one because the chauffeur was one of those who would put the music so loud you could hear the vibrations through your body but also because both were simply just so tired at the moment.

It took around fifteen minutes for a seat to be free and Rene hurried to take it, “give me your bag,” he said to Cornelia once he sat down on the aisle seat with Cornelia standing right next to him.

“I’m fine,” Cornelia replied.

“Just give it to me, your bag is big so it gets in the way when people try to pass to get to the exit at the back,” the seat he got was on the third row so Cornelia was standing close to the entrance. “It is also more comfortable if you stand with nothing on your back,” he added.

That was true, so Cornelia handed the bag to him.

They still hadn’t reached the next stop but they were close to it and since the traffic was so slow some people had decided to get down the bus, sadly it was people standing and one sitting, Rene hoped the person sitting next to him would get off on the next stop.

It felt good to sit down, they wouldn’t get off the bus in a while, their stop was the second to last so maybe he could close his eyes for a moment and-

“Excuse me,” the person sitting next to him was half standing, Rene stood up and let the man get out of the seat, he then moved to take the seat next to the window. Cornelia sat next to him a second later on the aisle seat.

Cornelia took his bag from Rene’s legs, “it is hot and having to bags won’t be comfortable,” he explained, the sun was high in the sky, entering through the window and the weather was hot, it was impossible not to sweat even while just sitting on the bus, so having to bags on your legs meant your legs were going to sweat, in fact, Rene already could feel a bit of sweat right where he had rested his and Cornelia’s bags, it wasn’t a lot so it didn’t really matter, it was mostly the annoyance of it.

Usually it was impossible to sleep in such weather and even more impossible to sleep on a bus but the traffic was slow and both were tired.

Rene rested his head on Cornelia’s left shoulder and closed his eyes, he felt Cornelia’s head on his own, it seemed the two had thought the same.

With this traffic, we won’t arrive home in a while… Rene thought already feeling like he was gonna fall asleep at any second.

~~~

“Hey,” Cornelia woke up by his arm being shaken.

“What?” He sat straight, making Rene wake up confused as to what happened.

“You two fell asleep, what was your stop?” The chauffeur of the bus asked him.

“Ah shit we already arrived at the last stop?”

“A minute ago, a bus it’s about to leave again.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Cornelia said, “we were gonna get down on the previous stop,” he smiled at the man, thanking him for waking them up before getting down the bus.

“Can’t believe we actually fell asleep,” Rene said, both started to walk to their home, from the bus stop it was only three minutes away, “I’ve never been so happy to have this route of buses start and end the trip here.”

“You’re always happy for that,” Cornelia smiled, “should we buy lunch?”

“Yeah, by the way, can you get my phone from me?” He stood next to Cornelia so he could open the bag and get the phone.

“Here,” Cornelia handed the phone to him and closed the bag.

“Damn,” Rene started to walk again, Cornelia followed, both walking next to each other now, “it is 1:30, hopefully we still find some food.”

“We better do, because I don’t feel like cooking.”

“You can’t cook,” Rene said in a joking tone, “let’s hurry up.” Luckily for them, there was a place to buy lunches on their short way home.

[good-beanswrites]

Hello! I really really really love your writting, I just got into Milgram and yours is my favourite in the fandom!! I love how much depth and nuance you manage to fit into short stories and your characterization is on point! (Specially for Kazui, but I might be biased since I love him so much)

I'm not sure if you're still taking requests (if you're not, feel free to ignore!), but if you are I wanted to request Tears + Kazui

(I thought about maybe the old man finally having a moment where the mask falls? When keeping up the image he's built gets tiring, how does he deal with it, and is he by himself or is there someone nearby? Then again, just an ideia, have fun and take your time!!!)

Woo welcome to the fandom! And thank you so much omg, that's so kind!! ;--; I really like that concept -- I definitely think he'd only allow himself a break from the masks when he's completely alone, and even then it'd be hard to draw out of him, so I went for an unexpected release and even more unexpected company... (Haruka :3)

Kazui woke from a dream, immediately unable to stop his eyes from brimming with tears. It hadn’t been a nightmare. It hadn’t shown him broken glass, or blood, or screaming. He hadn’t faced another night staring into Hinako’s twisted expression. No, the dream was wonderful. He was happy. He was in love. He was just… himself. As he rolled over in his sheets, he couldn’t tell if it was the longing that made him cry, or the guilt of longing so deeply for something like that.

It was easier, there in the dark. He didn’t have to keep his cheeks raised in a pleasant look. He didn’t have to hold his chin high. He could hug his arms around himself, not worry about all those eyes on him, and cry for the life he would never have.

He’d kept the thoughts at bay for so long, there was something equally painful and relieving about facing them head-on. The more his body shook with sobs, the better he felt about the weight he’d been carrying on his shoulders. The more he thought about who he was, the worse he felt about being doomed in this life. As always, he was split in two.

“K-Kazui?” 

His stomach clenched in both shock and shame. He kept his face away from the cell bars. He coughed, though it did little to hide the thickness in his voice when he spoke. “Haruka? What are you doing out there?”

“Ah, um! I’m sorry! I was just getting s-some water.”

Kazui desperately scrambled for any kind of excuse to explain the sorry state he was in. Haruka continued, though. 

“It’s- it’s okay if you’re crying.”

His throat squeezed. How pathetic he must be, for a kid like Haruka to try and comfort him.

“No, no. I’m alright.”

“I cry in my cell all the time. And Muu comes in so we can talk. I feel m-much better after that.” His feet shuffled outside. “Do you… uh… do you want to talk? I’m not as smart as Muu, b-but it might help.”

Kazui kept his pained smile hidden. It was an incredibly kind gesture, to be sure, but the boy would never understand. He could open up about everything that had happened in the past forty years, and there was no way Haruka would understand a bit of it.

It was easy to dodge the question. When under the spotlight, he’d found it was helpful to place the attention on someone else. “What do you talk to Muu about?”

“Uh! Well.” There was more shuffling, and Kazui realized he was coming to sit right next to the cell. He hadn’t meant it as an invitation to stay... 

He rolled onto his back, hoping his face was still obscured in the shadows of the panopticon.

“I usually cry because… I’m not like everyone else.” Haruka said. “I don’t-don’t know why. I don’t know why everyone else can be normal and I j-just can’t. I try so hard. I try so hard. If I could be like them, m-maybe my mom would’ve loved me. M-maybe she wouldn’t think I was broken all the time. M-maybe,” he got quiet, “no one would have died.”

Kazui stared up at the ceiling. A few more tears slipped down his face. It looked like an old man like him could still be wrong, now and then. “And… what does Muu tell you, to comfort you?”

“Oh, she tells me lots of nice things. Mostly that she loves me very much.” Kazui could hear the smile in his voice. “And she also says that… that it wasn’t my fault. That there’s nothing wrong with being me. That we can’t be anyone d-different, even if we want to more than anything in the whole wide world. She says, she says people were mean to her too, just because of who she was.”

“Yeah?” The younger prisoners had avoided someone as intimidating as him, so he never heard much about Muu’s reason for being here. 

“Mhm. She said they would say all these awful things, b-because there was this one girl in her class, and… and, well… things were…” Haruka stopped. “Ah! I didn’t mean to make you cry again! I’m s-so sorry…”

Kazui sucked in a shaking breath. “No, I’m sorry you have to hear all this from me. It’s good, though. It’s really good.” 

“O-oh…?”

“I just realized, I’m a lot like that too.” 

Kazui didn’t know what possessed him to continue. He’d been hiding things for so long, he thought he’d be better at keeping it in. It must have been something about the darkness of the hour, and Haruka’s complete innocence, and the dream that still lingered around heart. 

“When I was her age, there was someone in my class like that. He was… well, I’m sure you know. My parents also said I was in need of fixing. I’m sorry you had to go through that too.”

Haruka let out a small sound of acknowledgement.

“You should head to bed, now. It’s late.”

“R-right. Sorry, again!”

“Don’t be. I think I needed this.”

Once Haruka’s footsteps had rounded the panopticon, Kazui brought his arm up to cover his eyes. He knew he had plenty of blood on his hands for what he’d done. This was his fault. But regarding who he was…

A sound rocked through his chest, something between a sob and a laugh. It was nice to think there was nothing wrong with that, after all.

[meowcats734]

(prompt response) Instead of jail time, crime is punished by the erasure of memories. Depending on severity, the criminal may lose days, weeks, or even decades. No matter how long a span of time, the lost memories always include the entirety of the crime itself.

Even though the Silent Academy did its best to keep us away from the war, it still showed up in every aspect of our lives. It echoed in Jiaola's absence whenever I swung by Sansen's place for tea. It rang in every word as Mr. Ganrey gave the lectures that Witch Aimes was supposed to teach. 

And barely a week into the campaign, it showed up in the middle of our classroom, in the form of a brand-new student.

"Howdy," said the teenager in a fifty-year-old's body. He looked painfully awkward at the head of class, introducing himself as a brand new student when he could have passed for a tenured teacher. "I'm Freio, most of the time. Sometimes I go by Jan, and I'll tell you when that is. I'm, uh, I'm a second chancer. If you couldn't already tell."

Iola raised a perfect hand, then before our substitute teacher could call on him, said, "How'd you manage to fuck up so badly you lost thirty years of your memory?"

Freio winced. "I, uh... truth is, I don't rightfully know. They didn't tell me, and I didn't ask. The way I see it, I went to bed thirty years ago as a teenager, woke up in the modern day." Insecurity roiled around him like a blanket. "I... I'm just glad to have a second chance. I guess. Better'n nothing."

"Alright, class, let's settle down. Freio, find yourself a seat," Mr. Ganrey said. 

"We should offer him a place to sit," Lucet whispered from my left.

Meloai, overhearing, said, "Hey, Freio! Want to sit with us?"

Lucet winced, and I sighed. I loved Meloai and Lucet, but Meloai's straightforwardness didn't mesh well with Lucet's shy nature. Meloai had successfully caught Freio's attention, but she'd turned the heads of everyone in the class as well.

"Uh..." Freio looked torn between wanting to jump down a deep hole and wanting to just close his eyes and pretend everything was just a bad dream. I sympathized. "I... okay. If you say so."

Iola turned to watch the old man's body stumble across the classroom desks, the teenager's soul piloting it still confused about why he was half a foot taller than he was used to. His body scrunched up to fit into the wooden school desk, and a few classmates giggled at how ridiculous he looked, knees half-raised to his chest. The humiliated expression on his face burned me to see, and I wished I could do something more for him.

"Now, class," Mr. Ganrey began. "In light of the recent war against the Redlands aggressors, I think that it's pertinent to cover the history of these barbaric savages..."

Ah, that sounded like a perfect time to draw away some attention from the poor second-chancer. Abruptly, I raised my hand. I'd gone with a more confrontational approach in history classes before, but that had gotten me nowhere, so I tried a more diplomatic tone when I spoke up.

"Mr. Ganrey?" I asked. "Your characterization of Redlanders as aggressive savages... doesn't the recent work by Anenne show that Redland culture is no more intrinsically aggressive than any other?"

The class tittered and oohed, shifting their attention from Freio to me, and even though my cheeks burned from the stares, the relief on Freio's face as he was no longer in the spotlight was evident. He flashed me a grateful smile as Mr. Ganrey cleared his throat and began his counterargument.

"Well, I must say you're rather well-read, but consider this: would the Redlanders invade us without provocation if they really were a developed and cultured people? As Chentrenne once wrote..."

###

The classes blurred by, and although Freio stuck out like a sore thumb in each of them, Lucet, Meloai, and I took turns deflecting attention from the school's newest second-chancer. Since the war had begun in earnest, more and more of the second-chancers had been showing up, and it was my hope that eventually, either people would get used to them or the Silent Parliament would stop churning them out.

Regardless of what the future held, however, the four of us were content to spend the present eating lunch in a quiet nook. Freio was still somewhat stunned by what was, from his perspective, a leap thirty years into the future—but Meloai had already gotten him to laugh a few times, and Lucet had bonded with him by sheer virtue of being able to hold a comfortable silence.

Of course, nothing lasted forever, and the momentary respite we'd found in our shady little corner was no exception. Iola and his new cronies—all men who'd been rejected from the war draft for being too young, and felt like they had something to prove because of it—sauntered up to us in a vaguely predatory triangle, fanning out to block the only exit.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the freak squad," Iola drawled. He pointed at us one at a time. "Redlands-fucker. Soulless girl. My ex-toy. And of course, the enemy soldier." Me, Meloai, Lucet, and Freio respectively. Lovely.

"What do you mean, enemy?" Freio whispered.

I winced. Meloai shook her head. "You don't want to know this one, Freio," she warned.

Iola tsked. "Ah-ah-ah! You're not the one in control here, soulless girl. Whaddya think? Wanna know who you used to be, freak?" Despite Freio's body being nearly a head taller, he backed down, intimidated, as Iola grabbed him by the shirt.

"Don't touch him," I snapped, starting forwards, but Iola just kept speaking.

"You used to be an enemy soldier," Iola crooned. "You were a prisoner of war. And the powers that be decided it was more trouble ransoming you than wiping your memory to when you were nothing more than an impressionable child and re-educating you into their very own killing machine, so that they could fire you right back at the enemy they'd stolen you from."

"Iola, that's enough!" I snapped, and shoved him backwards.

With an ooh of anticipation, Iola's new cronies stepped back, giving Iola space as his face twisted into a jitterbugging, lopsided, manic grin. Meloai stepped forwards, flexing a fist that went tick-tick-tick, but Iola said, "Kino? Lantenne? If that thing lays a hand on me, disassemble it."

I held out a hand as Iola's goons stepped forwards. The Cienne of two weeks ago would have simply gotten beaten into a pulp, but I was done with letting people strongarm and manipulate me. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warned. Freio snapped back to his senses as Lucet grimly got between him and the staredown, salt-crystals of sorrow precipitating around her soul like bracers.

Iola scoffed, and through my enhanced soulsight, I saw him ready the same bizarre, mutated light spell that had cooked that poor vole from the inside out. Simultaneously, oil-drops of passion streaked into Kino and Lantenne's palms. "You know, I'm not sure why I was ever mad about getting booted from the army," Iola said. "If I want to kill a Redlander, I've got a domestic supply of them right here."

In response, I simply took a deep breath in, one of my new attunements flaring to life as I gathered misty calm behind my nostrils.

Then I exhaled, and my steady, rolling calmness spread out across the tiny alleyway, eating at and weakening every spell present. 

Lucet shot me a startled glance as the icetouch she was preparing was disrupted, and from Meloai's sudden stiffness, I gathered that I'd accidentally weakened the magic that animated her body, too. Uh, oops. Just because I had a half-dozen attunements now didn't mean I was proficient in their use. I'd used up my reserves of calm, too, and now I was jittery and nervous. Plus, Iola had the raw power of an elf; I was pretty sure my little calm spell had barely shaken his magical abilities. Man, I really needed to get better at casting spells; if I couldn't even shoo away Iola, I'd have no chance if—when—Odin returned to wrench the secrets of attunement out of my head.

I had scared the fuck out of Kino and Lantenne, though, who had suddenly found themselves holding fistfuls of nothing as their spells fizzled out. That was good enough for now. They took an uneasy step back, and Iola must not have liked the odds of pissing off all three of us without any backup, because he shot me a glare and stepped back, drawing the feverish, corrupted joy back into the core of his soul.

"Piss off," I said. 

Iola just grinned wider. "Fine. Enjoy hanging out with a mind-wiped enemy soldier. I look forward to him snapping and killing you all."

Then he spun around and left, laughing to himself as if he'd told the best joke that anyone had ever heard, leaving us alone with a stunned, horrified Freio.

Hesitantly, the three of us moved closer to Freio. The shock on his face had morphed into something bleak and empty.

"Is that true?" Freio asked. "Am I... am I really just... a prisoner of war?"

"It is," said an elderly voice from behind us.

The four of us spun to see Mr. Ganrey stumping towards Freio, and his clouded eyes seemed sharp as a tack for once.

Freio balled his fists. "How can you... how can you do this to me? To us? How can you get away with this?"

"Like this," he said, and tapped Freio on the forehead once.

And just like that, the last three minutes were wiped from his memory.

"We're at war, kids." Mr. Ganrey gave us all a warning look. "Sacrifices must be made. Don't forget it."

The substitute teacher walked away, leaving three faces grim and one face confused in our shady little corner of the Silent Academy.

A.N.

Soulmage is a serial written in response to writing prompts. Stick around for more episodes, or join my Discord to chat about it!

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[trans-peridot]

FFxivWrite Day 9: Lend an Ear

I think Alisaie's relationship with the WoL is something really special, the way she takes them as her motivation to get stronger but also demands they slow down for their own well-being. So I just had to write something about Tayfun and Alisaie. Takes place during Stormblood but pretty spoiler-light aside from mention of some people and places.

Tayfun was getting ready for bed, finally settling into the inn after their arrival in Kugane, when she heard a knock on the door. “Tayfun...” Ah, it was Alisaie.

“Alisaie! Just one moment!” Tayfun scrambled to shove everything she had yet to unpack under her bed. Truly, she carried so much useless garbage everywhere with her. She still had the knives from her brief stint with the Rogues’ Guild, assorted fishing bait which had miraculously not rotted yet, and a dozen circles of different sorts of animal hide in case she got back into leatherworking one of these days. Why she had brought all of these with her across the sea was lost on her. But here she was, shoving a dozen old rings and a replica of the legendary spear Gae Bolg under her bed. Hadn’t she sworn never to bear a spear again after what happened to Estinien? No matter. She scrambled to the door and opened it for her guest. “Alisaie, hello. What brings you in at this hour?”

“This hour? The sun is up, I woke up an hour ago.” Alisaie looked up at Tayfun with scathing judgment. “Don’t tell me you’re only now getting to sleep! I know for a fact you were bone tired after what happened on the Sirensong Sea. Why do you push yourself like this?” Alisaie sighed and sat down on Tayfun’s bed. “I had come here hoping you’d lend an ear to a request of mine. It wasn't lost on me that you've been using a Red Mage's foil since we fought the Warriors of Darkness. Greatsword is less your speed now, is it?”

“I just wanted to try something new, I suppose.” Tayfun could feel Fray writhe in indignation within her.

“Yes, and while you've already risen past the skill of an amateur, your spellcasting is still sloppy. Your fencing, however... You have the arm for it.”

“You said you have a request? Or are you truly just here to revel in outdoing me at something? I know you see us as having this rivalry pushing you to ever-greater heights, so I am glad that you finally have a win.”

“Yes, Tayfun, I have a request. A request and on offer. I only know of the one Red Mage skilled enough to teach, so I presume you learned the same man as me. Now that we're overseas, I suppose neither of us can keep up with our training. Unless...”

“My casting is sloppy while yours is as picture-perfect as your arcanist days. My blade skills draw from my time as a lancer, while I presume you only did play-fencing at home in Sharlayan. You want us to teach each other our respective strengths.”

“Well, not so much lending an ear as placing words to it yourself.” Alisaie scoffed and hopped back off the bed. “But yes, you've hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head. And I shan't take no for an answer. Tomorrow we'll begin, understand? I will take your refusal to take lessons as an admission of defeat.”

“Excellent! As you yourself have said, today is already tomorrow, so we can start immediately!” Tayfun motioned for her foil.

“Oh no you don't! Until you get some damned sleep it's still yesterday for you! You may seek me out when you don't have bags under your eyes big enough to carry all the garbage you brought with you from Eorzea.” Alisaie grabbed Tayfun's foil before she could protest and marched out with it. “Sleep, Tayfun. Or need I remind you how to cast that spell?” Alisaie left with a little giggle.

[welcome-to-roomba-fazbender]

Can we meet your Friends? Or your family? (If you have them)

"Oh! Why sure I can talk about my friends and family ain't used to important questions like this."

((this will be a long post)) click the read more

"On the family side no actual people."

"But I do consider Toof the *walrus* to be my child! Granted I guess you can say all the walrus my family. I love thoes bastards, I used to consider Richard my daughter but... well after she passed away and came back to life, she's both literarily and figuratively DEAD to me."

"As for my friends? well I got at least 6 of them, I could call close friends! and I have many more but these are the ones I'd say I'm closest with and have the most history."

"Let's see there's Moth Man, though we only get to hang out a few times per year. Like mentioned in the past I paid for his top surgery so I do care for that funky moth quite a bit."

"There's Doom Slayer which is quite the fella! Usually when we hang out together I join him during one of his hunts killing demons, we play poker at least once per year. And there's also fun fishing trips where he puts a hook into my back and uses me like bait. We don't talk much but let me tell you great guy, always calls me a freak and abomination he's got a fun way of showing love like constantly trying to rip and tear me in half!"

"And of course I have plenty of fellow phone headed friends but let's start with one that's related thanks to my business!"

"Gemni The Phone Guy, ((owned by @gemnis-trash-fazbenders / @sorrowful--owl ))"

"Gemni has been pretty busy for quite awhile, so haven't had much time to actually spend with him, he opened his own Fazbender restaurant in 2020 and is housed in Australia.

He's the one who supplies me with kangaroo tails, he's an absolute goober always making necklaces out of bones which he calls *clicky clacks* due to the sound they make.

He's a sweet guy though has his own dark past, pretty sure he was one of the workers working in Abel's location... Before uh the incident yeah his mind is all scrambled poor fella I feel bad for him, he's not really able to feel much in terms of emotion but he seems genuinely happy and I hope to spend more time with him in the future!"

"Speaking of Gemni that brings me to my next friend who you all should know very well the one and only..."

"Robert The Cannibalistic Phone Guy, ((owned by @not-robert / @clownsuu ))"

"I met him back in December of 2019 it's around the time Gemni first started getting his restaurant getting set up and started sending me shipments of kangaroo tails, it was nearing Christmas so I wanted a big shipment and when it arrived the only thing in the box was a big buff cannibalistic zombie man who was drunk."

"Let me tell you he was confused as hell also very angry when he woke up, strangled me till my head popped off! Yeah Robert's a real fella just seeing me for the first time confused the hell out of him, though I don't know everything about his origins he's been around a VERY long time."

"Of course after he found out he couldn't kill me that just made him even more pissed and we had a little bit of a fight, eventually managed to calm him down and explained who I was. And ever since that day we've been buds!"

"I feed him all the meat products he could ever need and he dosen't kill my customers and also I can make him do whatever I want, like dressing up in costumes or promoting the restaurant hell it's because of him I have a karaoke bar!"

He also gave me the idea for the bowling alley, he might be an asshole but he's fun to have around. Plus if he wanted to leave he always could but he sticks around because I know he likes me to. That or I'm so cursed it just keeps drawing his attention and he can't help but see what I do next."

"Ah, and of course we have... ugh he's gonna freak out once he sees this post... the little nightmare child known only as..."

"Chuck The Fanboy ((owned by @chuck-the-fanboy / @lazy-charlie ))

"Look, I don't wanna feed into his little obsession but I guess, I will admit ... I care for the little guy. He's just a kid after all even if he's no longer alive, I might treat him like shit sometimes but thats because the kids obsessed with me no idea why honestly."

"I met him for the first time in I think 2017 and he was still alive back then, poor kid walked into my restaurant wearing ripped and torn clothes he looked like he was basically starving. I can't really remember what he looked like but I think he did have orange hair? his skin was also very pale."

"He wanted so badly to buy some food for himself, but he only had a pocket full of pennies... I don't know why but I felt bad for him so I gave him a large soda, a small pepperoni pizza and some french fries to eat... Kid looked at me like I saved his life, like I said I can't fully remember his face but let me tell you he looked so excited."

"I stayed and watched him eat and then he left... I didn't see him again untill 2020 when he walked back in one day with Robert, when he walked back into my restaurant that day... His skin was a green color, and he had one of thoes new chatter phones for a head."

"The kid had drowned in a pond that's all he remembers, he has no idea how he got his new head. All he does remember is waking up and suddenly having a duck trying to warm him up, he calls the duck queen and he treats it like his mother."

"Ever since that day when he came back, he's basically refused to leave and he's became obsessed with me, to the point he calls himself my biggest fan, kinda why he's known as **chuck the fanboy.** He's an annoying little brat and despite all the times I kick him, yell at him and such he dosen't lose any of his feelings towards me."

"He's too innocent for this cruel world, let me tell you but on the good side of things at least he can't die again, though there is something about that Queen duck that's strange it dosen't seem like a normal duck sometimes I wonder why? But yes I consider him... A friend EVEN IF IT PAINS ME TO SAY IT BECAUSE I KNOW IT WILL DRIVE HIM UP THE WALL."

"And my last friend worth mentioning has gotta be the one that matches me the most, someone who's chaotic but could never be my level of cursed."

"Bedlam The Chaos God ((owned by @weirdozjunkary ))

"My timeline and universe itself only really has one god and yes sadly it's the Christian one we also have a Satan."

"Bedlam himself is from another universe enterally full of gods for just about everything that exists, there's even an actual PARTY god there, They are a hoot let me tell you."

"But yeah how did I meet Bedlam then? well I met him back in February this year infact! He was feeling pretty bored that day and decided to check out a new universe and discovered mine by accident, once here he had heard about my existence by ease dropping on some people."

"My guess is he thought I was a chaos god like himself, and was keen on meeting me because of it. Should have seen his face when he first walked into my restaurant and layed his eyes upon me, guy was shocked to say the least!"

"He's a pretty intresting fella, he often changes voices seemingly unable to decide what voice fits him properly, I'm sure he'll find his perfect voice one day. He's basically like a living cartoon I swear when we properly got to know eachother we basically reenacted a tom and jerry episode."

"Don't even get me started on the time we robbed a bank he turned the whole place upside down, and smashed the large vault open with a massive cream pie! We didn't even keep the money we just gave it back like an hour later and we had lunch together after."

"Guy, defiantly is weirded out by me, which is surprising since well he's the god of chaos but fair enough I'm alot more cursed then I am chaotic, but we get along fairly well! Though we don't hang out all the time, I'm a little to overstimulating for him, to hang out for long periods of time."

"Let me tell you though? Despite how little time we've known eachother, he's defiantly one of the most fun people I know, he's also great taste in fashion both litearly and figuratively, don't tell him this but last time we hung out I was chewing on one of his horns while he was talking about another god in his world named Llios."

"I will admit, I have a bit of a teething issue sometimes and I like to bite things though he didn't seem to notice."

"I wonder what he's up to? I gotta see if he'd be interested in joining one of my poker games! Next one is coming up real soon, Count Dracula, Sugar Crisp Bear, Santa Claus, Moth Man are gonna be there. And we're short one member since Slender Man's busy and I can't get in contact with Eyeless Jack I think he blocked my number."

"But yes thank you for the question! Hope this answer satiates your curiosity, feel free to ask more questions about my friends, I'm sure I got more fun stories I can tell about them. I just didn't wanna drag this on for too long."

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

*quickly throws this at you* MERRY CHRISTMAS! SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, YOU'LL BE GETTING TODAY'S FIC TOMORROW!!! SORRY!!!

《~~~~~~~~》

Monomi woke up from her sleep, grinning happily. "Aki! Aki!" She shook her friend awake, causing the man to jolt upright, grabbing his gun from the bedside table. "What?! Someone broke in?!" He asked her, holding it up. "N-No! It's Christmas Eve!!!" She said with a smile. He looked at her, then sighed. "Ah, it's that. You're very excited, huh?" Takaaki asked her, smiling. "Y-Yeah! It's my first Christmas…well, real Christmas." Monomi sheepishly looked to the side.

Takaaki ran his hand through her white and pink hair. "I see, well…I'll try to make this a great day for you." Takaaki said, kissing the top of her head. Monomi giggled and ran out of the room in a rush. Leaving Takaaki alone.

He tried to think of what he could get her. What would she want? She liked Sailor Moon, maybe he could get her something of it. Or maybe of The Powerpuff Girls…

He could only think of getting her things from her favorite TV-shows. He wasn't great with gifting. He just got people something small, like maybe some candy or accessories. But never anything other than that. Plus, he couldn't afford much. He was glad Kiyotaka never asked him for much, despite Takaaki wanting to give him everything.

Takaaki sighed and took out a cigarette from his cigarette box. He lit the cigarette and got up from bed. "I'll figure something out…" Takaaki muttered to himself. "Aki! The star on the tree fell! Can you help me?" Monomi asked him, holding up the ornament. Takaaki nodded and took it from her hands, placing it on the tree.

He rarely ever decorated the house. If he did, it would just be a few decorations around the house. Plus the tree. Kiyotaka always liked decorating, because it was a small moment between them. Him and his son rarely ever got to spend time together, so it was nice.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Takaaki asked his friend. "I'm not sure. What do people do today?"

"Oh, they just…I dunno. Everyone is different. Me and my parents used to visit relatives in other places or we'd go out of Japan for a trip. They sucked, though." Takaaki said. "Me and Taka would just sit and watch movies as we really couldn't do anything else." Takaaki added with a smile.

"Ah, did you call Taka?" Monomi asked.

"No, uh. I'll call him later." Takaaki fixed whatever other ornaments that might've been moved. "Want to…head to the shops? See what you like?" Takaaki asked her, scratching the back of his head. "It's very much late holiday shopping, but it's for you…" He wasn't sure what else to really say.

"Sure! I don't mind!" Monomi smiled widely and hugged him. "Okay, then get ready." Takaaki told her, hugging her back. Monomi nodded and ran to her room to get out of her pajamas. Takaaki did the same. "Remember, I go to work at 10 later tonight. You'll be alright?" Takaaki asked Monomi as he buttoned his shirt. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She answered.

Takaaki nodded and finished up the last few buttons before grabbing his keys. "Let's go, then." Takaaki said as he put on his shoes. Monomi nodded and put on her own.

Takaaki sighed as he walked around a store with Monomi. She'd looked at a few things, but didn't pick them out. Though, he saw how her eyes lit up when she saw them. It made Takaaki note what she would've enjoyed. She wanted to decorate her room more, even though she didn't sleep in it. She only went in there to get dressed or do some work or draw. Sometimes nap. Those were the only times where she'd sleep in it.

Takaaki hummed as he followed her around.

He wondered if he could afford these…

With some of Monomi's income as well, they put both their money in an account they shared. Well. Not all. They had their own separate accounts of course, but they agreed to make one for each other. Say it be a "Roomate Expense." An expense for both or having to do with their living situation.

Either way, it still wasn't enough. But he could pay for more things. Especially with that account/savings. "Pick anything you'd like, Usami. I'll buy it! Just…not anything too expensive of course." Takaaki said, smiling. Monomi nervously looked at him, "U-Um. You don't have to. It's just nice to be with you. Looking at things…" Monomi's voice trailed off as she got more nervous. She didn't want him to be upset.

"It's okay, Usami! I don't mind." Takaaki pressed. Monomi nodded slowly. He might as well get her the things she really seemed to like previously. And of course the things she asked him for.

"Uhm. I'm sorry, Aki. Can I leave the store for a bit? I need to use the restroom." Monomi requested of her friend. "Of course, no need to ask. Be careful and don't get lost." He saw her smile brightly and giggle, "I won't get lost! I'll be okay!" She quickly left the store, seeming to be in a huge rush.

'Great, now I can get her her gifts.' Takaaki thought and started grabbing whatever wasn't expensive (that Monomi seemed to like) and put them in a small little basket. He realized how expensive figures and other merchandise was. Seriously, a whole bunch of yen just for painted clay, sometimes even plastic to collect dust on the shelf or something.

Whatever, Monomi liked it so he didn't question.

Takaaki paid for the things he got and waited outside the store. Maybe the next restroom was far. Or there was a long line in the mall bathrooms? He wasn't sure.

A few minutes passed and there was Monomi, heading his way in a rush. "S-Sorry! The bathroom line was long!" Monomi explained, panting. "It's fine." Takaaki pat her shoulder, "Let's head home. Got some shopping done. And you look like a mess."

"Y-Yeah." Monomi let him wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They talked about random stuff as they headed home. The two ate and watched some movies (and Monomi had convinced Takaaki to call Kiyotaka) before it hit 9 PM. The two gathered around the tree. "Gee, Aki! This is a bit much! This is a little extra from what I asked for…" Monomi said with a slight gasp.

Takaaki shook his head, "Nonesense! It…it was kinda just something I wanted to do for you!" Takaaki's cheeks flushed slightly pink. "I hope you like them."

Monomi opened her gifts that were, let's just say, poorly wrapped. Takaaki wasn't that good at wrapping gifts, but he tried. At least she got excited to unwrap them. "Aki! This is so nice, thank you!" Monomi smiled happily. She continued to unwrap the gifts and her smile grew wider by the second. When she finished unwrapping her gifts, she gave Takaaki a big hug. "These are amazing, Aki! I-I'm glad you got them. But…they were pretty pricey…uhm.."

"Just enjoy them, Usami. It's okay." Takaaki kissed the top of her head. "Let's continue watching this movie before I leave." Takaaki suggested. "Wait! Hold on! I need to give you your gift now!" Monomi got up and went to her room, coming back with a wrapped gift in hand. "It's one gift, but with two things. Well. That still makes it two gifts." Monomi nervously giggled as she handed him the gift.

"Aww, you didn't have to get me anything. It's your day. Since it's your first Christmas, I wanted it to be just about you." Takaaki said. "No, no! I insist!" Monomi pushed the gift into his hands and watched him. The older man sighed and started slowly unwrapping it. "They're not great…but…uhm…" Her words trailed off as she didn't know what to say.

He held up a picture frame with a collage of pictures with them on it. "It's just something I wanted to give you. It's us! And some are of Taka as well. Just some family moments between us, because you're like a dad to me. I-I hope you like it." Monomi explained. "It's okay if you don't!"

He saw two bracelets made of beads fall out of the wrapping and picked them up. "What's this?" He asked her. "O-Oh! That's– uhm–" Monomi didn't know what to say. She knew what it was, but now she felt stupid trying to tell him what it was. "It's nothing. It's dumb and childish." Monomi tried to grab them but he moved them away.

"No. No, it's nice. All of it is nice." Takaaki said, smiling. "They say our names…so they're friendship bracelets?" He asked her. She nodded, watching him look at them. "It's lovely, thank you." Takaaki felt his heart swell with adoration. She was so sweet. Always so caring. He loved that about her. She grabbed the one with Takaaki's name on it and slipped it on her wrist.

"This one is mine and the other is yours. Kinda saying 'This person is my best friend!' and we present the name on the bracelet." Monomi explained to him as she demonstrated what she meant, holding up her hand, showing him his name.

"You like it?" She asked him.

"Very much so. I loved it, Usami. It was amazing." Takaaki tried his best to keep his emotions together, he didn't want to get emotional. But. He really loved it. "Thank you. I hope you liked your gifts as well." Takaaki said, his throat sort of clenching a bit as he felt tears well up.

The two hugged and Takaaki put on the bracelet.

"Let's continue that movie, huh? We've got a few more minutes before I leave…" Takaaki said. "It's fine, Aki. You'll be late anyways." Monomi laughed. "Fine. We can finish it later. See you." Takaaki got up from the floor and put on his shoes again for the day. He walked out of the front door, saying his goodbye and left. When he closed the door, he finally let his tears fall.

But he still proceeded to his car, wiping away any tears that fell. He wished he could spend more time with her today. But work didn't stop, not even for them. Especially with their jobs being the most important. But he was glad to have spent sometime with her.

There was always Christmas day anyways…

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Pulp Musicals and... Thoth??

I would say apologies to all of my followers having to deal with my incredibly wordy Pulp Musicals melt-down this morning, but mostly I just want to say "please please listen to these I promise you want regret it."

Now back my regularly scheduled wordy meltdown. Spoiler alert: I think I figured out what the green statuette on top of MAIA is!

So this morning I posted my analysis of the default MAIA drawing (here) and talked a bit about the green statuette, and how I couldn't figure out exactly what it was but suspected that it somehow linked to Samuel. I also mentioned that it looked vaguely Egyptian. @its-short-for-jackalope then put in the notes that Samuel is after all a writer and reporter, so the statuette could perhaps be an Egyptian scribe. I googled Egyptian scribe statues and none of them really looked right, so I then looked up the Egyptian patron God of Scribes.

His name is Thoth. He's often depicted as just a guy with a bird's head, but there are several depictions both from ancient times and from more recent eras (which doesn't bother me, as Pulp itself takes place way after Ancient Egypt... so far) where he wears a certain type of headdress and looks like this:

And here is once again the blown-up image of the statuette from the MAIA drawing:

I mean... I might be crazy but there's a definite resemblance there. It's a front angle, so our view is pretty odd, but could the blue smear I previously called a beard instead be a long, hooked beak? It's a definite possibility, and I did say there was something inhuman about the face (though at the time I went with "dog" oops).

So I'm pretty much convinced that the statuette is Thoth.

And here's the kicker: in addition to being the patron god of scribes, Thoth is the God of sacred texts, mathematics, science, and magic, as well as the master of knowledge and the messenger and recorder of the Gods. And, maybe most importantly of all, he is the God of the Moon.

So, yeah. Good enough for me.

So what does this mean if each item represents an episode or member of our quartet?

Well, one interpretation is that Ancient Egypt, and perhaps her Gods, will come into play as a central element of a future episode. This would mean that Samuel is instead represented by the globe (unlikely as the Earth is much more within John's line of symbolism), the rocket (unlikely for young man from 1835), or the crack in the wall (also not likely but by process of elimination nonetheless the least unlikely...which is terrifying), or else I'm completely wrong about each of the four protagonists having their own symbol (which makes Rose and Margaret having their own objects when the boys don't very, ah, weird and interesting).

But personally I think the Thoth statuette could still represent Samuel. Thoth is the god of scribes, after all, and that's what Samuel is. And just as Thoth is the messenger and recorder for the Gods, Samuel accidentally woke something inside of Margaret, essentially sending a message from the moon to her latent "divinity" (let's be real, by Ancient Egyptian standards Margaret and the Traveler would be Gods), and is now in a position to record for posterity what he sees and learns of these godlike beings. I'm also working on a theory that Samuel is literally the key to Margaret's gate, and I think that would fit with him being represented by Thoth, especially if the gate ends up being in/on the moon. But more about that after we've finally gotten to see Episode 3...

Unless that Episode completely discredits that theory before I even have time to post it. We'll just have to see.

But that statue is almost definitely Thoth, yeah?

[charley-and-the-swap-machine]

CATSM: RE-INK'D (Chapter 3: Part 1)

🏴‍☠️

The Voice Of Henry Stein

Only two weeks into this company, and already it's gotten interesting.

Joey is a man of ideas, and only ideas.

When I agreed to start this whole thing with him, I thought there'd be a little more give and take.

Instead I give, and he takes. I haven't even seen Linda for days now.

Still, someone has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing, Henry.

On the plus side, I got a new character I think people are going to love.

----------------------------------------

Above all else, Henry hoped this was a dream.

He was hoping that Joey ended up forgetting he existed, and he never got that stupid letter in the mail.

He was hoping that he didn't really see a corpse, a monster, several more smaller monsters, ANOTHER dead body, and some drug addict cultist.

And he was especially hoping that he didn't just meet one of the people who was supposed to be one of the corpses from earlier.

Yes, when he woke up, he would be back home, in his bed, with his wife and daughter waiting for him......

...

Henry opened his eyes, and saw the exact opposite of that.

"....Well, shit. This is real. Okay. Cool. Mhm. Yep. Nnnnnnot distressing at all."

He sat up and rubbed his forehead, taking in his new surroundings once more. He was sitting on a cot of some sort- Why does Joey even need a cot?- in a small room. A hammock hung in one part of the room, and when he looked to his left, he was greeted by one of the posters he saw before. 'Sailor Sillies'. Now that one I remember.

He got up and made him way out of the room, going to the end of the hallway and looking to his right.

There, at a table, sat Barley. He was leaned over and staring off into the distance, barely noticing Henry as he walked into the area.

Henry grabbed the ukulele next to him, and sat down in the chair across from the sailor, making him nearly spring out of his seat upon noticing him.

"AH! Y-You're- You're awake! I-"

"What, you thought I died?"

"N-NO! Of course not..." He looked away for a minute. "...Well, maybe I did, a little bit...."

"Well, I did pass out in front of you, so I guess I can't blame you."

Henry leaned back and strummed a few sour notes. "This thing's tiny."

"Well, I'm not a very big...uh....'person'." Barley nodded his head to the instrument. "....Can I have it back?"

Henry handed it back to him, who carefully set it down next to him. "...I've got a million questions ever since I've walked through that studio door, and I think you can answer a few of them."

Barley looked up at Henry with a perplexed expression and pointed at himself. "M-Me??"

"You're the talking cartoon character over here."

The cartoon sighed. "I hate answering questions....Fine. What do you want?"

"First of all, let's talk about the elephant in the room. How in the hell are you here in the first place?"

Barley froze up. "....Well...I.....I don't...."

"You certainly know, with the way you're acting."

"...How do I explain this without s-sounding insane....u-uh..." His eyes darted around the room. "...All I know is that we came from, well, where we usually live. It doesn't...have all these colors.."

Henry tilted his head. "You mean like..a cartoon world?"

Barley gave a shaky sigh. "I g-guess you could say that. I don't know...how we even came here.....all I know is that these big, goopy hands came and.." He indicated a grabbing motion. "One b-by one, over t-time. First Charley, then a few weeks later, me..."

"Okay, so now I know that some weird magic shit happened, and you guys got taken into our world. Okay. But....HOW? Did Joey do some, like.....ritual?"

The sailor flinched at the word 'Joey', and was silent for a while.

"Barley? Barley, answer me. Shit, did I break you? I'm sorry, I-"

".....H-Have you ever s-seen a dead b-body?"

Henry's eyes widened. "....Ever since I got here, I've seen, like, two...don't...don't tell me..."

"...Daniel Lewek. That was his name, but he told me t-to call him...Buddy. H-He used to...talk to me...but....he's gone now. I...I don't..."

"Joey used..real people..to make you guys. Okay. Cool. What else is new." Henry sighed, rubbing his forehead.

Barley was shaking in his seat at this point. "...I..I s-saw a bit of it....o-once. S-Some lady...she...died to make....E-Edgar...J-Joey put her in th-the Machine...."

"He....what? Wait.....Edgar? He's alive too? Where is he?"

Barley buried his face in his gloved hands, despondent.

Henry got up from his seat. "Barley? I asked too much, didn't I? I..."

"....I-I just w-want them b-back......"

"What..?"

He curled up in that seat. "..Th-They're...d-different now...th-they won't t-talk to m-me....."

Henry huffed and bent down to his level. "Hey, bud, listen. How about we do each other a favor? You help me get out of here, and I'll help you get your friends back." He held out a hand for him to shake. "Okay? Promise."

The cartoon peeked through his hands, and limply shook Henry's, still covering his face with one hand. "...Okay.."

"Alright, little buddy. It's a deal. Hey, you wanna...play some cards or something? Pass the time?"

[writing-nebula]

A Pinch of Christmas Fluff (Mer AU)

It wasn't that Kazuo disliked Christmas, really- it was just that the last several hadn't been any big deal.

There was the staff Christmas party at the school, plus whatever celebrations he had with his classes, and once he'd joined Akiko on the day itself, as her in-laws hadn't been able to come and Hikaru was in the hospital.

But otherwise- and other than that one year- he spent Christmas alone. 

So while he liked the season fine, enjoyed the festivities that came along with it, he wasn't planning much.

Of course, he never planned for Ryo.

They didn’t spend Thanksgiving together, as Ryo and Ginga went to their hometown- which apparently didn’t allow outsiders?- and Kazuo went home to his family, which ended up in him listening to his sisters curse Doji’s existence when he told them he’d run into the guy again.

But, as entertaining as that was, and as nice as it was to see everyone again, he was eager to see Ryo and Ginga again- a fact that his sisters teased him relentlessly about. By the time he got back into town, it was late, and though they were supposed to be back the day before him, he didn’t exactly want to bother them past midnight. So he went to bed, planning to get up bright and early to head over.

He woke up fairly early, just as wanted, but when he stretched over to shut off his alarm, and his tired gaze wandered around his room, he was suddenly shocked wide awake, pushing himself up on his arms to stare at the other person in his bedroom.

What the hell-

“Ryo??” he asked incredulously, and watched as the man scrambled to get up from where he sat on the floor, a bright grin lighting up his face that Kazuo was nowhere near prepared for this early in the morning.

“Morning, Kaz!” his boyfriend greeted him cheerfully, sitting on the edge of his bed now. “Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Get enough sleep?”

Kazuo stared at him in silence for a moment, trying to decide if this was a really vivid dream or not, but when Ryo tilted his head and gave him that curious puppy look he couldn’t help but chuckle, sitting up and running a hand through his messy hair. “Uh, yeah, it was good- and I slept pretty well, I think…?” “Great, fantastic-” Ryo leaned over to kiss his cheek, and Kazuo felt his face flush at the contact, a smile slipping onto his face. “Y-yeah, it’s great, but- Ryo, wh-what’re you doing here- how did you get in??”

“You… Gave me a key?” Ryo chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him. “Not long after we started dating, remember?”

Honestly, he’d completely forgotten- he’d given him the key, sure, but Ryo had never used it before, so he certainly hadn’t been expecting it now.

“Right, right…” Kazuo shook his head and scooted closer to the taller man, still a bit baffled by the whole situation, but happy to deal with it anyway. “Why are you here, then? I mean, you definitely won’t get a complaint from me, but…”

At that, Ryo grinned again, and took him by the hands as he stood up, pulling Kazuo to his feet as well and drawing a yelp from him. “Ginga and I finished decorating the store last night, and I went a little crazy on discount decorations last year so we had a bunch left over, so I figured we could bring them over here and help you decorate! The school doesn’t go back in for a few days, right?”

Kazuo stared at him uncomprehendingly, blinking as he tried to make sense of what was being said to him. “...Decorate?” he finally asked, wondering if his brain was still just muddled with sleep. “Uh- why?”

“For Christmas!”

Ryo squeezed his hands, practically buzzing with excitement. “It’s best to decorate early, really gets you in the spirit of things! If you have some of your own we can start with those, and I brought our extra artificial tree but if you prefer real ones we can wait on that-” Ah, he thought faintly, the realization hitting him in just that moment. I’m dating a Christmas fanatic, aren’t I?

And it turned out that was just the start of things.

Ryo made breakfast for him, and Ginga- who had been waiting in his living room, apparently- proudly presented him with an iced coffee they’d gotten along the way.

He was given time to eat, and process. And then he discovered that you could, in fact, spend an entire day decorating if you had enough things to do.

Ryo had more than enough things, that much was clear.

A lot more things became clear as they hit December proper, and Ryo really got into the swing of things.

The store was like Ryo had bought out a Christmas store, their own home much the same- and it looked great, he had to admit, couldn’t find a single thing to complain about, even when he came home to more color he’d ever had in his house at once.

The Haganes’ excitement over the holiday season was infectious, and Kazuo found himself bringing cookies to share with his class, because Ryo apparently tried to bake every cookie known to man this time of year and would always dump at least two dozen on him every other day.

He found himself using a few spare decorations to spruce up his office, smiling at handmade reindeer- from when Ginga was a child, evidently- and chuckling whenever he glanced up at the small snowflakes he’d hung from the ceiling.

He even found himself wearing a santa hat to work some days, much to the delight of his students, coworkers, and Ryo alike.

All this was done to Doji’s absolute hate, as well, which was just the cherry on top of the whole thing, and it maybe encouraged him more than it should’ve.

(He drew the line at brightly colored, light-up sweaters, though. Ryo could keep those all to himself.)

Kazuo found himself enjoying the season more than he had in years, probably the most he had since he was a kid, and seeing just how happy Ryo was this time of year, how excited he got as the day itself got closer? Absolutely wonderful. It made his day every time he saw his boyfriend smile like that.

For the first time in years, he was actively looking forward to Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, he stayed at the Hagane’s house, watched so many movies he lost track of them all, had more sweets than was any kind of healthy, and stayed up way too late playing a game of Monopoly that ended in Ryo tripping and falling into the tree when he stood up in mock outrage.

(Ginga had been the winner. Kazuo was inclined to believe Ginga had stolen from the bank a few times when Ryo was distracting him with kisses) In the end, he fell asleep tucked against Ryo’s chest, both of them bundled up in the pile of blankets Ryo had dumped on the couch, with Christmas music and a YouTube video of a fireplace playing quietly in the background.

Kazuo was pretty sure he didn’t stop smiling for the entire night.

He woke slowly, nothing but cozy warmth surrounding him, and at first he was confused, because this didn’t seem like his place, and though he was comfortable, whatever he was laying on was definitely not his bed.

Then there was a chuckle from somewhere above him, quiet but rumbling around him, and a hand carded gently through his hair, the combined sensations nearly sending him right back to sleep without a single care to where he was.

“You awake, seashell?” The voice was rumbly too, but this time he recognized it, and Kazuo found himself smiling again as the night before came back to him, all the way up to when he finally drifted off in Ryo’s arms.

Am I really so lucky?

“A little…” he mumbled sleepily, nuzzling more into the warmth that he’d now remembered to be his lovely, warm, wonderful boyfriend. “You’re comfy…” He called me seashell-

Ryo chuckled again, and Kazuo was sure he was grinning like an absolute fool at the sound, starting to wake up more. “Yeah, I thought so- you wouldn’t even let me get up to bring in the presents earlier,” Ryo murmured back, fingers running through his hair again. “But I just couldn’t bear to wake you up…”

“Sorry…” Kazuo yawned as he apologized, nuzzling into the touch.

"No you're not," Ryo rumbled out another laugh, leaning in to kiss his head, and Kazuo could've just melted.

"Fake apologies aside, though, I do need to get up now, seashell- I need to put the presents out before Ginga wakes up."

Kazuo summoned all his theatrical prowess to sigh dramatically, but reluctantly untangled himself from his boyfriend and slid down to sit on the floor, watching as Ryo unfolded himself from the couch and hurried off.

I never thought I'd be so happy, but now I don't know what I'd do without them… 

Soon Ryo emerged again with several bags of presents, which he carefully arranged around the tree for the unsuspecting teen still asleep in his room.

Then he bent down to give Kazuo another kiss, which he happily returned, and this time when Ryo walked off to the kitchen, Kazuo followed- after adding a few presents of his own to the pile, of course- and the two started to make breakfast together, exchanging little giggles at their own rumpled appearances and trading brief kisses back and forth while trying to stay quiet.

Personally, Kazuo was almost hoping that the morning would never end, that they'd stay in this soft coziness forever- where he didn't have to worry about being seen when he shouldn't, or about the gaudily-dressed shark roaming around his workplace.

But all good moments must come to an end- lucky for him, though, it was replaced with one just as good, if… a bit louder. 

Ginga announced his consciousness by sprinting down the hall and bursting into the kitchen, tackling his dad with an excited yell of "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!" that Kazuo definitely did not startle back from, and Ryo nearly knocked over the skillet when he laughed and spun the kid around.

Kazuo promptly shoved them both out of the kitchen, announcing they should start on presents so neither of them set anything on fire, and busied himself with finishing up the meal, content to listen to Ginga's excited exclamations from the room over.

He grinned when the book about seahorses was discovered, and laughed when he heard Ginga find the plush- the awed gasp and instant announcement of "HIS NAME IS PEGASUS" made that pretty clear, even if the spikey-haired head poking into the room and thanking him repeatedly didn't.

Finally he brought plates of food out and sat down to join them, sliding a couple more wrapped packages from his bags over to Ryo while Ginga dug some out from… Behind the couch, apparently? They were certainly hidden well, based on Ryo's baffled expression, and Kazuo laughed around a forkful of eggs as the presents were all dumped in the other man's lap, Ginga grinning victoriously.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect anything less. 

"No way-" 

Ryo barked out a laugh as he unwrapped the softest package and lifted the contents up so he could see. "Kaz-"

He peered past the sweater to look at Kazuo, eyes shining and a huge grin on his face and Kazuo couldn't help but smile back even as he rolled his eyes.

"You wouldn't stop talking about them, and I know you don't have one like this."

"God, Kaz, I love you-"

Ryo said it so simply, the words coming out so easily that Kazuo almost missed it, only having time to freeze up as Ryo leaned in to give him yet another kiss on top of countless others.

He loves me.

Is it really so easy for him…? Is it just… that simple?

He loves me?

…Let's have that crisis later.

They went through the rest of the presents more slowly, chatting and eating between them- and with Kazuo maybe tearing up at the sheer number of things Ginga had made for him, he had to hug the kid for a solid few minutes after he was done- and when there didn't seem to be any wrapping paper intact, and Ginga was already buried in his book about seahorses, Kazuo snuggled back up in Ryo's arms, sighing happily and letting his eyes fall shut.

"Merry Christmas, angelfish," he heard Ryo murmur, and suppressed an eye roll at the nickname, instead just smiling and pressing in closer.

"Merry Christmas, sunshine," he replied quietly, and took great joy in the way Ryo's breath audibly caught before another kiss was dropped onto his head, the taller man carefully angling them back until they were laying down right there on the floor, arms wrapped around each other.

A hand started carding through Kazuo's hair again, and he could've purred, feeling nothing but warm and happy and loved. 

He loves me.

…And I love him. 

[russianpotato1]

The boy with the black heart

Ah, hello. How are you? Welcome to my humble abode. Please sit down and let’s not waste time on who I am. I know what you're really here for. Allow me to show you the world. A world of terror and bloodshed Let’s get into the story, shall we?

In an isolated field near the town of Farewel

Lie on the corpse of a teenage boy. He wasn't yet decayed, but he had a nasty mark on his neck. When suddenly, a strike of lightning hit the poor adolescent and he then drew his first breath.

Crying comes from the kitchen as the mother of Galen Grey, missing for a little under a week, sobs in dismay. Her husband sits beside her, trying to console her with little success. Just then, the kitchen door squeaks open, and in walks Galen Grey, tattered clothes hanging from his body and a mark on his neck.

He stood there emotionless for the longest time. He opened his mouth to speak and promptly collapsed on the floor.

The next day, he woke up in his own bed. He remembered everything. He went through his normal routine. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and went downstairs.

He remembered what happened after he collapsed the night before. He opened his eyes and his mother questioned him for hours. He barely answered. He could care less what this woman thought. But no, she was still Galen’s mother. He grabbed his bag and headed towards the door. His mother and father were already gone.

He waited outside for the bus. He knew what he was going to do to the person who had killed him. The bus arrived, and he got on. He looked at them at the back of the bus. He shuffled to the back and sat with them. "Hey man, you're back," the one by the window said with surprise. "Yeah, it’s been like a week." "Where have you been?" said the other, with equal astonishment . He attempted to recall their names.

That’s it. That’s odd. Why couldn’t he remember? It shouldn’t be something he could forget. Not after what happened. He just had to wait for the right chance.

During the long, insufferable ride to the school, Jack turned and looked at Galen. So Galen, some of the guys were thinking about sneaking into the school tonight and stealing some grade books. Do you think you’d be up for being the ref? " Jack asked, almost nervously, his eyes darting between him and Noah. "Sure man, I’m down." Why wouldn’t I be? " Galen stated calmly with a smile, "Great," said Noah, "we’ll see you tonight."

1st period. Biology. He knew that he would have to go through the motions of his normal day in order to not draw suspicion from them. He sat at his desk and stared at the board. As his mind drifted, a memory of that day came flooding back to him.

It was the 1st period. Just before the bell, his friends Jack and Noah approached him. I went to ask if he would want to play baseball in the field behind the old soap factory with the group that night. "Yeah, of course,I’ll be there," said Galen. "Great, now we’ve got a full team," Noah stated excitedly.

3rd period. English. Galen had been plotting and remembering all through the last two periods. His plan had taken shape. His so-called friends could never stand a chance. As he looked over at Jack, another memory came to the forefront of his mind.

As Galen was walking to 3rd period, he was stopped by Noah and Jack. "Hey man, let’s skip the next period," said Jack. When Galen asked why, Noah stated that "Mr. Sycamore’s not here and we can go ahead and pick teams for this afternoon." Galen eventually agreed, and when teams were picked, Jack and Noah were on the opposing team.

sixth period gym. It was basically a free period. The coach never did anything. Galen was sitting on the bleachers, wrapping up his plan, when he saw a group of kids running. This sight plunged him into a memory.

It was the end of school. He heard someone yell his name behind him. He turned to see Jack and Noah running up to him. "Galen, wait up!" yelled Jack. Galen waited for a moment for them to catch up. "Do you need us to grab you some extra gear for later?" asked Noah. "Nah," said Galen. "I’ve got my own." "Alright then, we’ll see you around five," said Jack. Little did Galen know that would be the last time anyone saw him.

As Galen waited at the school for the group, he was ready to do this after what they had done. Just then, he saw the group walking towards the school. He hurried towards them with an ardent stride. The group were walking directly into their demise, unknowingly. It was perfect.

As soon as the group walked in, Jack and Noah explained what was going on. "Alright, everyone is going to pair up, and the first group back with a teacher's grade book wins," explained Jack. As the other 6 people that showed up started pairing up, Noah stated, "Galen has agreed to ref this match". And then, when everyone was in pairs, Jack and Noah yelled, "Alright, get going." And off they went. And so the hunt begins.

The first group to leave immediately darted up the stairs with their small flashlights. Their lights admittedly didn’t help much; they could only see a few feet in front of them. While they were walking from door to door, something large dropped from the ceiling and hit the ground in front of them. No, not that someone. It was Galen Grey, as the pair stared. Galen looked up, and they froze, mortified. What they looked back at was hardly Galen Grey. It was something else. His face was pale as the moon, and his eyes were looking into their souls.

Galen lunged at the pair, grabbing their throats at the same time, twisting them at unnatural angles, snapping them in one swift move. As they lay motionless on the ground, Galen commanded them to awaken, and they began to stir and wake up. As they began rearranging their heads, Galen reached out to their minds and ordered them to find the others.

As Galen and his undead entourage made their way through the school, they continued the brutal massacre. They are slowly adding more mutilated adolescents to their numbers. Finally, as they ambushed and finished off the last pair of "recruits" and were ready to find and kill Jack and Noah,

On the other end of the school, Jack and Noah raced through the halls, hoping they had won. They had found the math teacher's grade book and immediately bolted to the gym. Upon arrival, Jack and Noah hollered in excitement at the prospect that they had won. That’s when they noticed only a few lights were on in the gym. They were directly in the middle of the court. They slowly made their way to the light, stepping on broken glass and feeling as if they were being watched.

They heard a sinister laugh as they approached center court. Wheeling around, both boys noticed Galen slowly strolling towards them. "Hey man, what’s going-" Jack stopped in his tracks as he and Noah finally noticed what was wrong. It was Galen. He was wrapped in what looked like a tattered black robe, but it looked... unusual. It seemed to have images moving around on the cloak. Images of mutilated bodies

The blood, which was everywhere, was what really froze them in their tracks. His hands were coated in blood. It was dripping from his fingers. It was splattered all over his face. But then their friends appeared from the shadows, necks and arms twisted at unnatural angles. Some had fingers missing. One boy’s jaw was shattered, and it was hanging by his skin. Galen rushed the pair and swung at Noah’s face and grabbed Jack by the throat, lifting him into the air. Noah fell back onto the ground, and Jack struggled to loosen Galen’s grip.

Noah lay there, blood streaming from the lump that was once his nose. Galen put his blood-drenched sneakers on over his throat. And as Jack looked into his former friend's eyes, he saw nothing but pain and pure anger. His eyes were as black as a night with no stars or moon. He saw the death of millions, and he saw that this was no longer his friend. It was someone else. No, something else. This thing had only one thing in its black heart. Death.

"I'm going to make you suffer as much as I did!" yelled Galen. "You left me to die." "I lay in that field for three hours and then you left my body there for a week!" But I will make Noah suffer first. "I will break his larynx like he did when he swung the baseball bat into my neck!" screamed Galen. Jack looked confused for a moment until Galen swiftly brought his shoe down and crushed his larynx. "NO!" Jack cried. "SHUT UP!" Galen growled back.

"You're barely worth recruiting." said Galen, "but I need all the help I can get." "You are a monster!" screamed Jack. Galen looked at Noah laying on the ground struggling to breathe with disappointment. He then crushed his neck and Noah went limp. Galen then closed his eyes and lifted his foot from his neck. Suddenly, Noah’s one good eye fluttered open and he got up. Jack looked joyful for a moment. Until Noah turned and walked over to join the circle of the dead.

"Why are you doing this, Galen?" begged Jack. Galen slowly turned his head and said, in a cold tone, "Who’s Galen?" Jack’s eyes were filled with fear. Then, with the squeeze of Galen’s hand, they went dead, and slowly a swirling black vortex began to appear in his eyes, and he began to straighten his neck, and Galen let him go.

He then turned to look at the dead boys and told his servants to go out into the town to kill as many people as they could. They dispersed and began to exit the school with slaughter in mind. Galen then found his way to the roof, the tallest spot in the area. As he looked down upon the almost peaceful town, the sun rose and people began their commute as normal. But then the massacre began.

Mothers were thrown onto the road while driving their children to school. Their limbs were broken and then their necks snapped. Teenagers that Galen once knew were beaten to a pulp and then strangled. The men walking to their nine to fives were stopped and their necks pulverized. Galen could feel himself growing stronger. When the entire town had been slaughtered like animals, he closed his eyes and focused on tearing a hole in front of him. He heard a loud rip in front of him and knew it was done.

Of course, there were easier ways to travel, but he didn't have the time or patience for that. Galen chuckled to himself as he opened his eyes and saw the tear. He immediately stepped through, knowing it would correct itself quickly. As Galen left the dimension, all of his followers froze and then fell to the ground. They were all dead.

as the bodies fell a slit opened in the air on the school's roof And out stepped a man dressed as an Arizona ranger with his knife and colt on his hip and a coach gun on his back. He walked to the edge of the roof and looked down upon the silent carnage. "Dear God, I’m too late," said the ranger, with decades of sadness behind his voice.

With nothing he could do, he pulled out his camp knife and, as if skinning a deer, he opened a rift between dimensions and sadly walked through. And as the sounds of car horns and fire subsided, he sheathed his knife and began looking for Galen Grey.

If you read this far thank you

[spicyspiders]

don’t you find it moving how we’re still alone

A/N: I started watching The Great on Hulu, so here’s a story about Druig fucking his servant. I wrote this from a third person point of view, which is how I write regular fanfiction, so writing an x male reader fanfiction like this was new. This was fun, but I’ll probably go back to second person.

He wouldn’t really say his job was easy. It was more like he enjoyed the routine of it. The ever-looming threat that he could be fired and thrown out of his living quarters onto the street if he messed up always caused a constant ball of anxiety to lodge itself in his gut. There was also a rumor that one of the previous servants before his time was put in a public execution because of what they did, but he wasn’t sure he believed that. 

The kitchen staff liked to gossip, and he couldn’t blame them. They were usually stuck in their area for the day, whereas the servants had jobs that had them walking all throughout the castle, it was no wonder they had nothing better to do with their time. 

One of the few rumors he did believe was about Druig. He heard it on his very first day, he had the power to control minds. In his time working for him and his family, he had yet to see that, but if it were true, it would be no surprise. Maybe whoever made that rumor up had a flair for the dramatics, or maybe Druig just had a way to persuade who he wanted. He certainly was charming. 

He had noticed that in the first few weeks he had begun working for him. His bright eyes and sharp tongue led him to be popular with those he saw him interact with. There was also something hidden underneath, something dark about him that would draw a crowd towards him. 

He had tried his best to not let it take hold of him either, but he quickly felt himself slipping. Even before he worked for Druig, he found the man attractive, so working in close quarters to him did not make those feelings go away. It actually made them far more intense. 

And it was obvious that Druig was able to pick up on them.

“Ah. There you are,” Druig greeted when he entered his chambers. He was already dressed for the day, which he knew meant that Druig was in for a busy day. 

“Good morning, sire,” he bowed in front of the table Druig sat at, “is there something I can do for you?” He didn’t meet Druig’s eye, as a servant, he felt it wasn’t his place to, so he has become very familiar with the look of Druig’s hands, his arms, and broad shoulders.

The scrape of Druig’s chair was loud in his quiet quarters as he pushed back from the table, “come forward,” his voice range soft throughout the room. He took a few slow steps forward and stopped when Druig’s feet came into his vision. “Forward,” Druig said again, a hint of amusement in his voice. Druig placed two hands on his hips to pull the servant forward in the space of his spread legs. 

Perhaps it was because this was the first time Druig was touching him, or because the trousers he wore were thin, but his hands felt hot, almost saldingly so, on his hips. 

“Sire?” He whispered. 

“On your knees.”

He could feel himself shaking as he slowly made his way onto his knees. He could feel a hot flash go through his body as he came eye-level with Druig’s groin. His heart beat wildly in his chest when Druig cupped a warm hand on his cheek before moving it down to place it on his chin to force their eyes to meet. 

Druig’s eyes were bright and full of mischief, “my dear boy,” he whispered, “the only one I don’t have to control. You would do anything for me, would you not?” Druig asked with a raised brow. 

He nodded quickly, almost fast enough to make himself dizzy. When he woke up this morning, he did not expect Druig to touch him for the first time and then push two of his fingers in his mouth. His eyes widened and he released a harsh pant from his nose as the pads of his fingers were placed on his tongue. 

Druig’s fingers tasted slightly sweet, like a mix of the fruits he enjoyed with his morning breakfast. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he played by what his instincts were telling him and swirled his tongue around the fingers in his mouth. Druig’s groan made his cock twitch and drove him to continue. 

“You’ve worked for me for a while now, and have always been so calculated, even now,” Druig’s eyes once light, now had gone dark with lust, “I want to see everything you have to offer,” Druig pushed his fingers deeper in his mouth, making him choke. “That’s it,” Druig muttered, almost quiet enough he didn’t hear. “Open your eyes.”

He hadn’t realized he had closed them until Druig said it. He guessed he had closed them when Druig’s fingers pressed against his gag reflex because right when they opened, tears were falling down his face. 

Druig pulled his fingers from his mouth at the site of his tears. His wet fingers wiped away the tears. The combination of spit and tears made him feel filthy. His cock felt heavy in his trousers, and he could see that Druig was in a similar state from the bulge in his trousers. 

The both of them panted as Druig unlaced the clothing to pull his cock out. He had seen Druig naked a few times before, given that he’s his personal servant and all, but not in the way that his eyes are taking him in now. There has been times he had come in in the morning when Druig was not yet awake to see his bulge tenting a spot under his covers, but he would always look away and try to calm his racing heart. 

His cock was large and wet at the tip when he pulled it out. Once Druig lifted his hips to ease his balls out, he sat there on full display stroking his cock. 

Druig was invading his senses in an overwhelming mix. The intoxicating smell of his musk made his mouth water, and all he wanted to do was move forward until he was licking all the bead of precum that was gathered on the head. 

He didn’t do that though, he sat back on his heels and watched, even though it was torture. Druig was quick to notice as the other hand not wrapped around his cock was buried in his hair to pull him forward, “should I spend on your face or in your mouth?”

The words made a fire burn in his belly. He didn’t want to take his eyes off his cock, but he still forced himself to look up, “my mouth,” he responded, locking eyes with Druig’s heated gaze. 

Druig’s hand tightened in his hair to the point that he could feel the spot of his scalp singing in pain, “open up,” Druig ground out, his voice a rough sound in his ears. He complied to the order quickly, and a second after his mouth opened, Druig was coating his tongue in his bitter seed. 

The bitter taste might have burned on the way down, but the look on Druig’s face made the action worth it. 

“Swallow?” Druig asked after sucking in a few harsh pants of air. 

He nodded quickly. His knees ached, but the ache in his cock was almost equally distracting. 

“Good boy,” Druig patted his face before placing two hands under his armpits to pick him up, “on the bed,” Druig sent him off with a light slap on his ass. 

He knew Druig’s bed would be comfortable after so many mornings of making it, and so many nights of turning it down, but after getting on the bed face-first, he knew he would have a hard time leaving. It was almost like something took over his body after he buried his face in Druig’s blanket, grinding his hips down once he breathed in the smell. 

Druig’s sudden weight on top of him made him startle, “I could probably leave you like this couldn’t I? Like a bitch in heat using whatever you can to get off,” Druig said into his ear. 

His words made him let out a whine and drive his hips into the soft surface beneath him.

Druid nipped at his earlobe and ran his tongue over the flesh to soothe it, “I’m going to fucking eat you,” Druig whispered hotly in his ear. 

His words made him tense, “sire?” He questioned, but Druig didn’t answer, he only lifted your hips to pull your pants and undergarments down.

Druig dug two rough hands into each of his buttocks, making the servant cry out. Druig kneaded the flesh beneath his palms roughly, and hurt it did, but the pleasure that accompanied it made him push back into his hands. 

He could feel Druig shift behind him and his hands stopping their actions to instead spread him open. His heart beat wildly in his chest. Here he was spread open and at his mercy not knowing what he was doing next. He held his breath waiting for Druig’s next move. He knew how sex between two men worked, but surely Druig was not about to thrust in with no preparation? 

Prepare him he was going to do, but not with his fingers, but with this tongue. The hot press of Druig’s tongue on his hole made him release the breath he was holding in a loud moan. He had messed around in the past before. A stable boy here and there, and even one time, a knight, but he wasn’t well versed in everything sex had to offer. Mainly the penetration part, but this was also new. 

Druig started out with long, broad swipes of his tongue before pressing it as deep as it could go inside. He pressed his ass back into Druig’s face as the wet onslaught continued. The contrast of the warm, soft, wetness of his tongue and the day-old stubble on his face made him whimper. By the time Druig pulled away, he was left with his thighs shaking and had created a wet drool spot beneath his cheek. 

Druig pulled back to undress both of you of the clothing you still had on. He then found himself on his back, Druig between his spread thighs staring down at him. Druig’s cock pressed against his when he leaned down to kiss him for the first time. It was wet and clumsy, but still, the two moaned when their tongues met. 

“You still taste like my seed,” Druig said when the kiss ended, a possessive flair to his words. He pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips before pulling away to grab a tin of lube. The cold press of his fingers coated with lube made him suck in a breath, and release it when the first finger pressed in. One became two, two became three, and then Druig was pulling out his fingers to replace them with the head of his cock. 

The slow press of it inside made him grip onto the covers below him. What felt like an eternity was likely only a minute before Druig was bottomed out. The rhythm Druig set when he deemed both ready took his breath away with each thrust. Each press to his prostate made him groan, and the sound of Druig’s own moans of pleasure filled his ears. 

It caught him off guard when Druig pulled out and switched positions, now with Druig laying on the bed, and his servant on top. This new position made Druig feel like he was reaching deeper inside him with each thrust. 

Druig’s thrust was brutal, the slap of skin-on-skin rang loud through his quarters. The other man tried to keep up, tried to establish his own rhythm of bringing his hips up, but each thrust pressed onto his prostate and sent shockwaves of pleasure through him, making him collapse onto the chest below him.   

“Mine,” Druig growled in his ear. His hands were back at the familiar spot on the other man’s ass cheeks, lifting his body up to thrust inside him.

“Yours,” the other man answered breathlessly. 

Druig pulled him into a hot kiss and then pulled back to stare deeply into his eyes, “when I ascend the throne, this will be your task each night. Riding my cock on my throne, but as my husband,” his words were intense. 

They sent a shock through the other man as he came with a loud moan, making a mess between their sweaty bodies. After a few more harsh thrusts, Druig followed soon after, coming deep inside of him. 

Druig pulled him into a soft kiss, swallowing his whimper when he pulled his softening cock out. They were both panting when the kiss ended, and Druig pulled the man down to rest on his strong chest. 

“Did you mean it?” He asked softly after he caught his breath.

“You have belonged to me the day that you entered my chambers, my love,” Druig responded. He pulled the man tighter to his chest, running his hands along his heated skin. 

He wanted to question Druig more. More on his feelings, his status, and even the rumors from the kitchen staff, but a part of him felt like there was no rush. Laying here on Druig’s chest made him realize he now had all the time in the world. 

[moonlit-reveriee]

Baby Blue

technoblade x fem!reader

concept: techno is scared of ‘corrupting’ the reader, but the reader’s kinda into it...

content warning // NSFW, virgin!reader, very minor angst?, small argument that gets resolved

listen to this while you read: BBBlue (Single) by Olivver the Kid

(this fic was heavily inspired by the lyrics of this song, so i highly recommended giving it a listen!)

───※ ·❆· ※───

When Techno found out you were a virgin, he was terrified. Not necessarily of the thought itself, but of the implications.

He’d never forget the look on your face when you told him. You tried to be casual about it, but he knew you well enough to spot the dusting of pink across your cheeks. You nuzzled yourself closer into his side. Whether out of embarrassment or something else entirely, he couldn’t tell. All he could feel was his heart dropping as the voices chanted at him to “ruin her”

Of course you, his pure sweet angel, would be a virgin. He once again crumbled under the idea that you had chosen him. How on earth could a person like you even think of being with a beast like him. Yet alone, giving up your virginity to him.

He hated how horribly turned on he was by the thought of taking it.

The voices had been relentless about it ever since. They were hyper focused on your every move, twisting every thought of his into something promiscuous. When you rolled out of bed in the morning and stretched, a small sigh escaping your lips, it was endless cries of “make her do that again” “you should fuck those moans out of her” “make her scream”

While making breakfast together in the morning, they wouldn’t stop telling him to “bend her over the counter” “take it right here”

Even at times where he was alone, the voices preoccupied him with endless thoughts of you. He was fairly certain they had forced him to imagine every possible way in which he could have you. “imagine fucking her against the wall” “you can be gentle for the first time y’know” “she’d feel so good writhing underneath us” “press her face into the mattress instead” “make her get on her knees and suck you off” “she’ll be such a pretty little slut for us”

He tried to take care of himself as often as he could, but it was becoming impossible to keep up with. There were only so many times a day he could jerk himself off alone behind locked doors. He was desperate, and sexually frustrated to say the least.

He felt disgusting for it.

After a week of this torment, he could barely even look at you yet alone touch you without the voices and his own guilt pounding against his skull. You couldn’t even think about broaching the subject again, because he was avoiding physical contact like the plague. He wouldn’t come to bed until he knew you were asleep, and would leave long before you woke.

As much as he tried to hide it, you could tell he was tired. Something was wrong, but you knew that he’d never just tell you about his problems unprompted. Techno was insufferably stubborn in that way. After several days of avoiding your gaze and leaning away from your touch, you chose to confront him.

“Techno”, you called for his attention quietly, trying to sound stern while remaining gentle with him. He didn’t turn to fully face you, but he glanced at the spot on the wall just above your head.

You struggled to find the words you wanted to say, so you settled on telling him, “Techno, you look tired.”

He turned his attention away from you. “Just a lot of work around the house this week. I’ll be fine after I rest.”

“Then come to bed with me.” You saw the way his body tensed and tilted away from you at that simple suggestion.

“I just need to write a couple letters first. You can go ahead of me.”

“Techno...”, you whined, daring to take a step closer to him. He gave you an almost panicked look, “why does it feel like you’ve been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you”, he responded quickly, trying to look through you instead of at you.

“Yes you have”, you responded firmly. A flash of guilt washed over his face at your tone. “You haven’t kissed or touched me for nearly a week now. I don’t even know for sure if you sleep in the same bed as me anymore. Fuck, you barely even talk to me.”

Angry tears threatened to spill down your cheeks, but you wanted to hold them in. Techno felt his chest tighten at the sight of it. He instinctively turned and reached out to comfort you, but forced himself to freeze.

“There”, you said, gesturing towards him, “just like that. You’re stopping yourself. Why are you doing that?”

He repeatedly opened and closed his fists at his side, wanting to have any conversation other than this one.

“[y/n], there’s just a lot going on in my mind right now”, he said. It wasn’t a complete lie. “I just need to work though it.”

“Then let me help you.”

“No”, he responded a little too quickly, “I- I mean, I just don’t want to talk about it with you yet...”

“Why not?”, you retorted, trying to squeeze any information you could out of him.

“I just don’t, okay? It’s uncomfortable, I don’t want to talk about it yet.”

“... is this about me being a virgin?”

“I never said that”, he replied, but the tension in his shoulders was enough to tip you off.

“Ah geez Technoblade, if it was that much of a problem for ya, you should have just told me”, you said sarcastically, “instead of avoiding all physical contact for a like week straight!”

“It’s not a problem, [y/n].”

“Certainly doesn’t feel that way.”

Techno huffed in frustration, grabbing a fistful of his hair at the root. He wasn’t sure if he was more upset with himself, or the fact that a few of the voices were still begging him to “please fuck her already”

“Love, I wasn’t avoiding you because I didn’t want it. They”, he tapped a finger against the side of his skull, “they want it so badly. It’s driving me insane.”

He breathed in and out shakily, trying to gauge your expression in the brief moments before he continued.

“I’m a monster. I’ve spilt more blood than anyone every should in a single lifetime. My appearance is more beast than man.”

He looked up briefly to find you staring right at him, a tight-lipped frown upon your face.

“What does that have to do with any of this?”

“I- ... I don’t want to corrupt your innocence”, he admitted.

“What on earth do you mean by that?”

“[y/n], you’re so perfect”, he answered almost breathlessly, “you’re so kind and so pure. Just living with me does enough to taint your reputation, I don’t wanna-“

He cut himself off to swallow thickly. He almost seemed scared of the words he was going to say next.

“I don’t want to ruin this part of you either...”

A heavy silence filled the tiny sitting room of techno’s cottage. In those few seconds, your eyes widened ever so slightly as his words suddenly clicked in your mind. This hulking boar of a man, an undisputed war criminal, was scared. He was scared of damaging you, your reputation, or your recently revealed ‘innocence’. Compared to himself, he saw you as a pure being who could be tainted by unwholesome thoughts.

If what he said about the voices was true, then his actions of the past few days would’ve made sense for him.

“Oh techno...”, you muttered softly, tentatively placing a hand on his jaw. His posture was curled inward, making him look small despite his size. He was stiff at first, but allowed you to lift his gaze to meet yours. He searched your eyes desperately for an indication of your reaction. You gave him a reassuring smile.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

A small wave of confusion washed over his face, but he nodded anyways. “It was at the festival...”

“That’s right”, you said, moving the hand on his face down to rest over his shoulder, “and do you remember what I did that day?”

“You threw an axe into Schlatt’s shoulder”, he answered, watching as the scene played out in his memory.

You lived with Niki in her bakery at the time, and witnessed firsthand the injustice she faced during Schlatt’s presidency. As the chaos after Tubbo’s execution occurred, you took the opportunity to hurl your axe where Schlatt stood upon his podium. The blow wasn’t fatal, but that wasn’t necessarily your goal. You just wanted to see the man in pain.

“It was a lucky shot really”, you admitted, “I wasn’t even aiming properly.” That managed to draw a small smile onto Techno’s lips.

“And do you remember”, you continued, “when I tried to confront the Butcher Army by myself?”

He grimaced at the thought. You had told him you just needed to make a quick trip to L’manburg for some supplies, leaving him at home alone to recover from the previous day’s events. You returned that evening with a sprained wrist and a couple large bruises forming on your body. None of them were trying to kill you, but you took a pretty good beating from Quackity just for trying to confront them.

“Why are you bringing all of this up now?”, he asked.

“Because”, you said, “this is the evidence that will support my next point.”

He looked bewildered by that statement, but continued to listen.

“I’m not a perfect person”, you resumed, “I have blood on my hands just like you do. I know it’s hard to compare to you, but I’m not devoid of my own sins. I can be mean, I’ve hurt people. I’m not a pure, angelic being who would quiver at a single inappropriate thought. I think you forget that sometimes.”

He let your words swirl around in his head; he couldn’t deny the logic in them. The evidence prevented him from denying the truth of your statement. He could almost be mad that you’d talked him into a corner, but he was more overjoyed at the fact that you knew him well enough to do so.

“And you know...”, you spoke quietly, letting your hand fall down to rest on his chest, “if you did somehow ‘corrupt my innocence’ as you say... I really wouldn’t mind that.”

Techno’s breath hitched in his throat. There were a brief few moments, maybe minutes, where he just stared at you. Then his lips were on yours; sudden and clumsy, but passionate. You gripped the fabric of his shirt as he grabbed at your waist, desperate to have you in his arms again.

“I’m sorry, I had to”, he muttered, his lips left hovering a hair’s breadth away from yours.

“You’re so silly sometimes”, you sighed affectionately, rubbing small circles into his collarbone. He gave you a gentle smirk before pressing another kiss into your lips.

“I’m sorry darling, I really am”, he said as he drew you into a tight hug. He took in your scent and the feel of your skin for the first time in days. It felt like he could survive off the feeling of your arms wrapped around his body alone. He wondered why he ever let himself be depraved of this.

“You know I trust you, right?”, you spoke with your face pressed into his chest.

“I’m not sure why, but yes.”

You decided not to reprimand him for saying that. You could help him unpack all that later. Instead, you brought your head up to whisper in his ear.

“You have my full and unconditional consent to take my virginity whenever you’re ready.”

Techno inhaled and held his breath, though for what, he wasn’t sure. It took a while for the full weight of those words to sink in. He leaned back to stare at your face, bringing one of his large and shaky hands up to cup your cheek.

“Are you sure?”, his eyes were wide with trepidation, practically pleading with you to tell him the truth. You leaned into his palm, indulging in the feeling of his skin on yours.

“I want you, techno. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”

Techno was lost in your words. The sudden absence of guilt left his heart light and airy in his chest. For the first time in days, the voices were only a gentle murmur.

“she’s so beautiful” “she wants you” “make her feel good” “show her how special she is” “make her smile” “she’ll be so pretty” “she’s always pretty” “be gentle, no need to rush”

“make love to her”

“... I think I’m ready now.”

───※ ·❆· ※───

ayyyy guess who finally finished writing something!!!

parts of this feel a little rushed but ehhhhhh i was just excited to finally post it. i looove writing techno as an extremely self-conscious character who’s too caught up in their own head to see how ridiculous they’re being. so, this was a treat for me to write

i hope you enjoyed :D

-moonlight

[oneshot-wxnderland]

Lab Partners With Benefits Pt. 3 | Percy Jackson

Summary: Another week, another lab and Y/n and Percy are feeling a different kind of tension this time.

Category: fluff 

Part 1 | Part 2

–––––––––––––––––––

          Percy had been kicking himself all week. He had forgotten to ask you for your number before you left his place and now you probably thought he was just some asshole looking for a one-time hookup. And he didn’t want that. And he hoped you didn’t want that either. But he wasn’t really sure what he wanted. 

         It’d been a hot minute since Percy was in any kind of relationship and he wasn’t sure if he was even the relationship kind. Even if he did want to be, his life just didn’t lend itself to dating mortals. There was always some monster popping up that he’d have to fight, or quest he’d have to go on, or emergency at camp he’d have to run off to, and Percy was a shit liar. It’s what messed up the last time he’d tried to date somebody. He was constantly blowing off dates and rain-checking everything because the gods are needy attention seekers. 

          He’d seen superhero movies before and related a lot to when they had similar issues. Percy’s not saying he’s Spiderman or anything, but he does live in New York and save it from constant peril – so yeah, he’s Spiderman. 

          This time, however, he was really considering trying again. Trying with you. And Percy had a plan. 

          Sliding into his seat when there were only a few other people in the room yet, Percy felt pumped up. He woke up early, showered, had a FaceTime with the boys to discuss the game plan, and got to class ahead of you so that he was ready to give you his number the first chance he got before he lost his nerve. That was part of Jason’s advice: offer his number to you instead of asking for yours. He claimed it would make Percy come off more vulnerable and less pushy. Leo mostly just spouted different cheesy lines that Percy would never use. Frank didn’t say much but Hazel piped in every now and then when she took the phone from him. 

          “So, you’re lab partners,” Hazel started. “Do you talk outside of your lab?”

          “No, that’s why I need her number.”

          “But you said you did homework together at your place right? So how’d that go? Did she seem interested?”

          Percy paused. 

          “Yeah, it went... fine.”

          Hazel was blissfully unaware of the blush that was creeping up his neck but Jason didn’t miss it. Or the way he suddenly needed to roll up his sleeves and fiddle with them. 

          “Did you just do the homework?” Jason asked suspiciously. 

          “We uh... kissed...” 

          “Niiiiiicee, Percy!” Leo hollered. “That’s my boy!”

          Frank retook the phone from Hazel and hastily gave an excuse to go before leaving the call and cutting off Hazel’s confused protests.

          “I don’t know what to tell you, man,” Jason shook his head. “This is way beyond my level now. Piper and Annabeth are nearby I’ll go get them-.”

          “No!” Percy cut him off. That’s the last thing he wanted. The girl’s won’t know or care what to do so they’d ask Piper’s siblings and then the entirety of camp would know. “It doesn’t really change anything. I’m going to give her my number and then the ball’s in her court and I don’t have to worry about it.”

          “But your balls were in her court, weren’t they Percy.” 

          “Leo I am going to kill you when I get back to camp and that is a threat.”

          Leo left the call.

          “I’m sure it’ll be fine, just don’t do your game-time face because it’ll scare her off,” Jason tried to get the conversation back on track.

          “What face? I don’t have a scary face?” Percy added another item to the list of things to not do when he saw her.

          “Yes you do. It’s when you’re charging into battle but this isn’t battle is it Percy?” 

          “You’re lucky,” Percy lamented while he grabbed his backpack. “You just woke up and were already with Piper. All the hard work done for you.” 

          “You got this man, just be yourself.” 

          Percy decided to throw that particular bit of garbage advice away. 

          Now he was sitting in his seat, got there early, and he was even wearing his nice t-shirt, so what could go wrong.

          As soon as you walked in the door all of his carefully curated bravado deflated inside of him. You walked towards your shared table and he had to expel childish nerves he hadn’t felt in years. He’s in college now, for Hades’ sake. He was a man.

          “Hey,” you greeted as you sat down.

          “Hi.” That was stupid. Men don’t say ‘hi’. He should’ve said ‘hey’ back.

          “You’re here early,” you commented and Percy just nodded like an idiot. 

          The plan was to giver you his number as soon as he saw you, but he couldn’t just blurt that out of nowhere. 

          “How’ve you been?” 

          There. Establishing a conversation and definitely not stalling.

          “I’ve been good.” The small amused smile on your face calmed him down a little. He’s got this.

          Class started before he could slip his number in casually but Percy wasn’t deterred. He wasn’t going to let geology get in his way.

                    While you were reading the data you had to chart on the graph, you noticed Percy’s usual fidgeting get even worse. Glancing at him from the corner of your eye, you saw him concentrating intensely on the paper and trying to contain his frustration. You recognized the signs since one of your friends has dyslexia, but you knew he wouldn’t ask for help.

          “So we have to plot the points on the graph and then draw the elevation lines, right?” You asked casually, looking over to him for confirmation. He nodded his head, but still continued to squint at the numbers which all were very small print and close to each other.

         Muttering the numbers as if to yourself but loud enough for him to hear, you got to work. 

          Percy sat back and smiled a little, knowing what you were doing. He looked over at you, from your furrowed brow to your crossed legs bouncing with your tapping foot. With a contented sigh, he recalled what it felt like to be in between those legs. Having them wrapped around his hips while you moaned his name. 

          His eyes trailed up your body, memories that were attached to each part flooding through him like a highlight reel of his deepest fantasies. Then he got to your bare arms and the goosebumps on the skin shook him out of it.

          “Cold?” he asked, interrupting you trying to help him which he really should have been listening to. 

          “Yeah, a little.” 

          “Here.” Percy shrugged off his hoodie and held it out to you before pausing (and slightly panicking.)

          Hold up, is this weird? Am I being weird right now? Should giving her my hoodie come before or after we exchange numbers? I guess doing it before could be a good test of whether she would be interested in exchanging numbers. But this is couple stuff. Her wearing my hoodie. That usually comes after numbers. But she’s cold now and I can’t seem like an asshole withholding warmth unless she accepts or declines my number. 

           Luckily, you didn’t seem to notice his panic as you took the hoodie from him without hesitation and put it on. “Thanks.”

          He calmed down as he watched you roll up the sleeves so that your hands were free to work and he felt a different kind of warmth spread through him. He liked the way you looked in his hoodie. 

          You caught him watching you and it threw you off. This wasn’t the heated gaze that had made you melt before, this was... softer. But the moment was ruined when you glanced down and saw that he hadn’t drawn a single point yet.

          “Hey,” you tapped your pencil on his paper. “Focus.”

          “Sorry.”

          You worked well together for a while. The rhythm of plotting points distracted Percy from his nerves. That is until he felt your hand on his forearm.

          “What’s this?” You asked, finger tracing the SPQR of his tattoo and making him shiver.

          “Oh, it’s a band.” 

          “What band?”

          “The Super Popular... Cool Rockers.”

          “They spell Cool with a Q?”

          “That’s what makes it cool.”

          “Ah.”

          Percy went back to the worksheet, congratulating himself on his quick thinking when he saw you pull out your phone. 

          “What are you doing?” he asked, totally nonchalant. 

          “Looking up the Super Popular Qool Rockers.”

          Percy snatched your phone. 

          “Oh, you won’t find them.” He dodged your attempts to grab it. “They’re really underground.”

          “You’ll be really underground if you don’t give me my phone back.” Percy hastily returned your phone, as if the threat scared him. You tried to glare at him, but found it too hard to suppress your smile once his broke out. “Thank you. Now will you tell me what it really means?”

          “Maybe one day.” People started packing their things and leaving since class had flown by faster than Percy liked. Sensing his window of opportunity closing he decided to Hades with it. “Depends if you go on a date with me.”

          You took your time standing up and gathering your things while pretending to mull it over in your head. Which Percy really did not appreciate. 

          “Maybe one day,” you answered him with a coquettish smile and took a few steps towards the door. “Well, aren’t you coming?”

          Percy was too concentrated on restraining a fist pump to puzzle out your meaning. 

          “We didn’t get much work done today, so we better finish what we started at your place.” You winked at him and strided out the door.

          With a mischievous grin, Percy was quick to follow. 

[loousir]

[Naga] Warmth

Naga Male x Warm Male Reader

Cassius

Warnings: Warming up a cold snake man, hip grabbing, cuddling, suggested dirty stuff but not written/explicitly stated

Masterlist

--------------------------------------------------

It's been a few hours since a surprise snowstorm started. It's not even winter, it's the middle of spring. Currently, you were stuck in a cave you had retreated to, and judging by the minimal decoration, it was occupied by someone, or something.

You decided it was best to light a fire in the fire pit that sat in the middle of the cave. The fire crackled softly and you looked around to find some logs sitting towards the back of the cave. You went to grab them and put them in the fire but when you turned around you saw just who probably lived in the cave. A large naga had made its way into the massive hollowed rock, not taking notice of you.

It was maybe twice the size of you and was beautiful. Their large tail was a baby pink with darker pink spots which is something you have never seen on a normal snake, let alone a naga. You carefully made your way back over to the fire, getting a closer look at, what you now knew as a him, while he tried to coil against himself for warmth.

His hair was the same dark pink as the spots on his tail and his pale torso held similar markings that went up his back. His underbelly was pale pink, nearly white. The most standout thing you noticed about him was that he was trembling. You set the logs onto the fire which caught his attention. His dark pink, almost black eyes held slight shock as he looked at you. His movements were sluggish and he didn't seem to fully comprehend what was happening.

A clawed hand reached out to you and you simply looked at it as he gently beckoned you over. "Warm... P-please..." He slowly slithered over to you and you figured it was best to stay still. He pulled you close to him and snuggled up to the fur pelt around your smaller form. It was fairly large but compared to him it was barely anything. His arms held your waist close to his form and his tail followed, gently coiling around you and himself to try and keep warm.

His face snuggled into your neck, making you blush and pull your arms to your chest. He had turned you so that your face was pressed against his ice-cold chest. He hummed in content as he snuggled closer to you. "Thank youuu." He whispered and you once again just stayed quiet. The fire crackled and the wind howled gently, both of which eventually lulled you to sleep.

---

Some time had passed before you finally woke up. The wind had quieted but the fire was burning... Stronger than you had left it? You carefully sat up and looked to the entrance of the cave. The snow had stopped but it left a thick layer behind. The sound of something shifting against the ground caught your attention and you turned around to see the naga from before.

His shoulders now garnished a massive fur pelt and his hair was pulled back. The both of you were watching each other before he moved towards you. You sat up properly and he leaned down to look at your face. It was slightly flushed from the cold and he just examined you.

"Um... Sorry for intruding." You spoke softly to him while glancing away from his curious gaze. He gently grabs your hips and pulls you close to his body again, kinda like before you had fallen asleep but instead, lifts you to his eye level. Your face flushed slightly as he simply examined you without a word.

"W-what are you doing?" You asked him. He seemed almost lost in thought before mumbling. "How can such a small creature exert so much heat..." your eyes looked up to see he had thin-framed glasses on before he set you down, going over to a small table and writing in a notebook. "Are you... studying me?"

He looked back to with his chin tilted upwards. "I'm studying humans to be exact. As a naga, it's hard for me to get information on them when they think that you're going to eat them." His cheeks suddenly flushed before turning away. "And I do apologize about the show I put on not long ago. The cold really gets to me and makes me act... Odd."

You shook your head. "No, it's fine. It seems like it was good that I was here when I was." He nodded his head before turning back to you. "Do you mind that I continue to study your anatomy and ask some questions?" You blushed gently and shook your head. "I suppose you can. I don't think I will be able to leave soon anyhow..." you said looking back to the cave entrance.

He, slithered, over to you and leaned down once more. "Now, please, tell me how you exert so much heat." He was holding a notebook and pen. "Well, I'm a warm-blood mammal so we tend to be warm. Humans usually have to wear clothes and furs much like you to help keep warm since we don't have the natural protection like a wolf does for example."

He wrote in his notes a little bit of what he told you before gently grabbing your arm to look at it. His fingers were turned sideways when he gently pulled on the hairs on your arm. "Does this not keep you warm enough?" You shook your head and he let your arm go, writing something else down before looking back to you. His clawed hands gently grabbed your jaw and tilted it so he could look at it.

A blush covered your cheeks as he brushed this thumb along the soft hairs on your jaw. He wrote something down and did a quick sketch before going back to observing before suddenly asking, "Could I study your lower anatomy?"

Your brows furrowed for a moment. "What do you mean?" He motions to your trousers and legs. "From here down." He said motioning to his own "lower half." Your face blushed some more before hesitantly nodding. "I... Suppose you can... It's a bit of a sensitive topic for humans..." He nodded his head but continued, hesitantly.

---

Some time had past and a very odd feeling was coursing through both of you. You were heavily flustered and so was he. Cassius just finished writing/drawing in his notebook when he cleared his throat and looked up to you putting your underwear and pants back on. "Thank you... (Y/n). You taught me a lot today..." You looked up to him, still flushed, and nodded. "It was ah... No problem..." He looked back up to you with his own flushed cheeks.

He seemed like he wanted to say something but couldn't. "I should probably head home... Could I... Maybe come back to help you study humans more?"

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