#i really tend to keep my opinions to myself

[cellsshapedlikestars]

"Not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her." If you're currently taking prompts, I was wondering if you would take one that tackles the above quote from book-Jon's thoughts. While he thinks highly of atypical and unique females like Ayra or Val, his misogynistic views of women who adhered to the rules of his society (by choice or otherwise) need to go! Time period of your choice/doesn't have to be bookverse.

I'll be honest, anon - is Jon actually any more misogynistic than the rest of Westeros? Baseline everyone is, because the society they live in is.

This prompt came in back when I requested them (like half a year ago, oops) and I've come back to it every once in a while, but could never really think of a way to turn this into a story that wasn't just Jon sitting there and thinking the things I'm about to write. So instead, I'm just writing my thoughts lmao.

I'm gonna put it all under the cut, because I don't normally do this sort of thing (aka, give my thoughts on canon in a not-story way. I don't like discourse, so I'm placing this under the cut & not tagging it to hopefully avoid that.)

Now, I'm no book scholar, I haven't studied them and parsed through them, I don't read a lot of metas (sorry!) and I actually read the books years ago, so maybe I'm completely wrong here, but I always took that willowy creature line as Jon being a shitty teen boy and trying to pretend he doesn't want the thing he wants. Jon's other thought at this moment is "a warrior princess, he decided" - which is just him... coming up with Val’s whole personality despite not really knowing her. He’s thinking in generics & story tropes in this moment. Willowy creature. Warrior princess.

I also think Jon's admiration for "unique females" is less active misogyny and more him... sort of taking Arya's side? Because doesn't Arya 'hate' feminine girls, too? Arya doesn't fit into that role and because of that, she ends up resenting it (which, to me, is absolutely something a young girl would do. I did it. I went through my not like other girls faze). So of course Jon, who adores Arya and wants to protect her and feels a kinship with her as the two "outcast" Starks, would also take that on. Plus, if you think about it, the only real ladies he would have ever interacted with would be Catelyn (who didn't love him the way he wanted her to) and Sansa (who at some point, kept her distance). Every other reference point he'd have is either from a distance, or from stories. You also have his role model, good ol' Ned Stark, who is amused by Arya's "boyish" behaviors, then gives his "girly" daughter a doll because that's what girls like, right? No matter she's too old for it. And Robb "My Sisters Aren't Worth Trading For" Stark.

But Jon doesn't actually hate willowy creatures, if we're equating that with feminine women. He thinks of Sansa fondly enough, he wants to give Ygritte flowers from the glass gardens, he loves that Ygritte loves songs. When he thinks about his mother, he wants her to be a lady. He wants to be Lord of Winterfell. He wants a lady wife and children. I think that the willowy creatures line is based less in actual hatred for feminine women, and more a way for him to pretend it's not what he wants, because he thinks he can never have it.

I think we can also look at willowy creatures another way, in that Jon doesn't respect people who don't use their own agency, or are too cowardly to stand up for themselves/others. But that doesn't necessarily apply to feminine women? Look at Cat, who fought off an assassin and helped her son wage a war and 'saws through' a guy's throat when Robb was killed (thanks asoiaf wiki for that description). It doesn't even really apply to Sansa, who is one of the more passive characters, action-wise. But she stands up to and manipulates Joffrey into not killing Dontos, doesn't bend for Tyrion to cloak her, and runs away with Dontos despite not having a guarantee of her safety.

And the fact that he repeatedly denies Stannis because "Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa" tells me he doesn't actually think less of women who follow traditional roles. If he did, he could easily think Sansa wouldn't be able to handle it, or doesn't deserve it because she's a woman.

Now, like I said, I'm no book scholar, so maybe there's some other point where Jon's like "women are stupid and useless" but I'm not remembering them.

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TL;DR: Jon is a teenage boy who grew up in a misogynistic society, who has one negative thought about a generic willowly creature, but when he actually knows women, seems to respect them well enough

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Sorry anon, I know this was supposed to be a writing prompt, I just couldn't make it into an actual story. But I still had thoughts about it. clearly lol

now, if anyone disagrees with me on any of this, that's fine! This is just my opinion and conclusions I've come to, all while having a very pro-Jon and pro-Jonsa bias (and as someone who spent most of their child/teen years resenting the color pink and pop music and girly girls, only to grow up and realize I like all of those things, along with my grunge music and horror movies and questionable taste in fashion)

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Me, when Sebastian joins my party for the first time: Okay, this time I'm not going to forget about you, Sebastian. I'm going to make an effort to use you a lot this playthrough so I can better understand you.

Also me, immediately forgetting about Sebastian while finishing Act 2 and making it halfway through Act 3 before I finally notice his Faith quest: ......................Oh. Right. My bad.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

any of you nerds already made a list of in-universe use of the word companion for companions or do i have to do it myself

[jojea]

oough

[brainjuicey]

sometimes I say something about the intricacies of the world for paragraphs and paragraphs, sometimes out loud for an hour straight, and at the end I realise I might just be searching for myself in it all. maybe we don't need the death of hyper-post-modern conservatism in favour of the death of patriarchy under gender bending extremes supported by mainstream erotica and whimsy, radical social reform with prison abolition and idyllic anarchism. like maybe I just need to get fucked by a really attractive man or woman who makes me feel like sexy big bad wolf with a heart of gold.

[iz-star]

Some thoughts about Zayne in "Adventure above clouds" event:

Like I've explained here, I've been having a bad feeling about Zayne's fate in the next main story updates, and after finishing Zayne's route in "Adventure above clouds" my feelings of uncertainty are just increasing.

So, I'm going to write down some thoughts I had while playing his route, especially about him wearing Dawnbreaker's variant outfit "Shadowfall dawn", which might be a bit interesting for some.

Disclaimer: I would like to pride myself as a Zayne connossieur but that's actually quite far away from reality. I'm a Zayne main and I devour every piece of info that there is about him, however my interpretations and opinions are my own and can be wrong. I'm someone that sometimes tends to overanalyze so, it's up to you if you agree or no with my takes! I'm also always open to be corrected ❤️

Let's get strated with by saying that in this event, Zayne was undoubtedly and utterly perfect. He's honestly all what he's always been: Sweet, patient, cute, smart, funny, gentle, caring and a lot of other things, the only difference here is that he's more prone to show his affections openly and straightforward which only showcases his development as character. It's like he finally feels at ease by expressing himself, especially around MC. When I say he was perfect, I'm not talking at how lovely he was (he's always been lovely anyway) but more like, he's natural, he feels less stiff, totally happy with MC and himself, smiling most part of the time and showing his love even through words, to the point MC says this:

Since Snowy Serenity he's been more direct at expressing his intimate thoughts towards MC. For example, in previous cards he would always refer to her as "someone" and even refer to him in third person: "Someone thinks it's special treatment" [Drunken Intimacy] "He can't ignore you even if he wants to" [Tranquil Heart] "Recently, a certain someone ocupies my mind. Whether I'm walking, eating or sleeping, I keep picturing myself with her" [Heartstring healer] to mention a few.

It's in Snowy Serenity that we have a clear change in his way of expressing his feelings. He starts with "I don't want the person I like to get hurt", in here he's still using the third person but the message is really straightforward "the person I like" and as the conversation goes by and it becomes more meaningful, deep and intimate, he leaves all his chains behind and says "I need you, I have never denied that". This card is all about communication, even he admits that he's always been bad at saying what others want to hear and still, he's trying.

In Hidden Motive, this behaviour keeps going. When MC says that the lights behind him are beautiful, he looks at her and replies "Indeed, very beautiful". Because his eyes are fixating in her, she clarifies that she's talking about the lights but without hesitation Zayne replies: "I know. I was talking about you"

And I'd like you to recall Drunken Intimacy because this is like a paralel with Hidden Motive, since both cards were made for lovers' day festivities; Drunken intimacy for Valentine's Day and Hidden Motive for Qixi festival which is lovers' day in China. Not only they are like cards that go hand in hand but also showcase Zayne's and MC's character develompment and how their relationship has changed:

See the difference?

In Snowy Serenity and Hidden Motive, there's a focus on improving communication, being honest about their needs and feelings (Zayne saying "I'll survive" at MC's concern and her telling him that he'd better stop talking in Snowy Serenity and MC talking about her "last wishes" before dying and entrusting them to Zayne and he replying that he didn't come all the way here to listen to her talk about that nonsense) and finally, getting both physically and emotionally closer.

In this last event, "Adventure above clouds" it feels like the result of this devlopment is finally paying off all their effort: they're both happy working together to solve the escape room, showing open affection, talking about the future and the past ("Us in 50 years" "Our childhood memories" or how was Zayne's university years without MC and the big difference now that he has someone to watch the falling snow with). They talk about how they're each other's sun, how they keep each other warm. When Zayne says that the snow will show them the way and they both "pray" it kind of reminded me of Master of Fate. They getting at the top of the Ice Palace reminded me of Foreseer.

(It's like we've reached peak, literally lol. Ok, bad joke, that's why I love Zayne).

And once all of this has happened, once they've gone through all this develpment, they've come this far together, even bits of the story reminded me of Zayne's myths, and they've talked about the past and the future, what's next?

Zayne mentions eternity.

Zayne has mentioned eternity a couple of times, like in one of the PV's where he's wearing End of Depths outfit ("As the cosmos dances to the tune of eternity, life will reach the fathomless depths of deepspace") and in some of the texts that show up when you level up your affinity with him ("I want to turn every moment into eternity).

In here, he doesn't mention eternity directly, but it's implied when he says "Every snowflake will rememember your name. As well as our story". Eternity is just another way to refer to death for immortal people. It's like Zayne is saying "Your name and our story will endure in the snow even when we're no longer here". We often talk about the memories we leave behind in this world once we part from it, who will remember us? What are the proofs that we existed and lived in this world once we're gone? Will our story fade away? In here is like Zayne is just promising her that their love won't be forgotten.

Let's remind that one focal point in the story is immortality. We know that MC it's immortal and even in the main story, when Zayne it's explaining things about the protocore in MC's heart, he mentions that he doesn't know too much about it, however he knows that her protocore creates a shield around her when she's attacked and that she will live long enough to discover its misteries (kind of reminds of the Creatio Protocore that Foreseer gave MC but that's another talk for another day).

Whether if Dr Zayne knows about MC's immortality or he doesn't, that's something we don't know yet (altho something tells me that he knows, but I won't be explaning this here, if you're curious about it just ask), however we know two things:

1._ Zayne it's against using protocores in human hearts to reach "immortality". To him, death is still essential to life.

2._ Even knowing this, he also knew in his heart that he would do everything in his power to prevent MC's death and he seems to know that something bad is about to happen.

Master of Fate and Foreseer already proved these points. Master of Fate had to kill MC for the greater good but decided to say "fuck it" and instead chose to seal her powers. Foreseer also broke the rules for her sake and gave her the Creatio Protocore, going against Astra's will in order to cure her illness and extend her life (probably one of the things that caused her immortality?). She's always been the exception to every rule in Zayne's book. Something tells me that things with Dr Zayne won't be the exception.

And now... we have to recall something about Zayne's first PV.

Ever since the beginning, Zayne's route was presented as something with angst. It's interesting to hear these unknown voices saying "Won't you regret it" "She will not come back" "You've paid the price"

This whole PV makes it look like Zayne puts MC to sleep in order to protect her (like with MoF) so she wouldn't "come back" ( revive with the help of her aether core) and then... he loses control of his evol and freezes the whole hospital? Dies in the process? These are just speculations and can be wrong, however we simply know that something bad is happening there and, if we recall them talking in "Adventure above the clouds" and "Us in fifty years"... this PV kinda shatters the hopes for them to have a life as long as that. However, 5* memories and events are not exactly connected to the main story but I think they kind of... interconnect somehow? I'm still wondering how the devs are going to relate each ML route with the Main Story. The announced that they are going to release more "Main Story Branches" from September to December, and I don't know if by saying "Branches" they meant routes? Or simply referencing to the way they've released the main story until now, with each chapter dedicated to each LI? Either way, those are questions for another day.

Now, let's remember this:

"When you and the world wake up, I hope we do not meet again"

A quote that kind of leads us to Zayne's next lifetime: Dawnbreaker.

I've mentioned above that there are bits of Zayne's route in Adventure above clouds that reminded me of MoF and Foreseer, but now it's also time to mention the most obvious thing, the Dawnbreaker reference in this event, of course: "Shadowfall dawn":

There are two things about Zayne's look here:

1._ He's wearing the variant version of Dawnbreaker's outfit.

2._ He also has a halo above his head.

And these two things together create an interesting concept considering that Dawnbreaker Zayne, the serial killer is considered the Grim Reaper, his whole aesthetic is dark, it's even clarified in his anecdotes that his wardrobe was full of black clothes. To see him with a brown variant of his outfit wouldn't make sense at some point... So, of course, Doctor Zayne being his opposite, the one who instead of ending lifes, saves them to the point of exahustion, wears the clear variant outfit, looking like an angel.

Were have we read this before?

Of course, Doctor Zayne is in the opposite role of Dawnbreaker Zayne and even tho Doctor Zayne is always wearing black clothes outside of his lab coat, it's actually wearing his profession's clothes what completes the aesthetic with Dawnbreaker: The Guardian Angel (white) and The Grim Reaper (black).

However in Adventure above clouds, Zayne is not wearing his lab coat cause he is not in his Doctor role. He's just being Zayne, he's being himself, what he is. He's being free, like I commented at the beginning of this post. Still, the fact he's wearing Dawnbreaker's variant with a halo seems a bit supicious considering what I've already pointed out, right? It could also be that I'm simply looking too much into it, but I also believe in the power of foreshadowing, especially considering that we all know that Zayne's birthday is coming next and it kind of connects with Dawnbreaker.

In the story of Adventure above clouds, of course there is a reason as to why everyone is wearing an accessory, in Zayne's case, it's because his role is being "Winter's emissary" just as MC, so she is also wearing one, however we all know that "Winter's emissary" it's more likely to be a fitting title for Zayne than for her. Recalling what it's been previously mentioned here, he says "With Winter's Emissary by your side, every snowflake will remember your name, as well as our story".

Zayne is saying that he'll be by her side in the snow, he is promising her eternity in the snow and with the halo above his head, it is clear that he kinda looks like MC's Guardian Angel, the one who is always going against his duty to ensure her safety, the one who pursued a medical career in order to take care of her heart disease, the one who is always on the lookout for her health and tho stric, still indulges her a lot. Aren't angels emissaries as well?

But you know, in order to become an angel, you first have to die? Doctor Zayne didn't have to die in order to fullfil his role as a doctor, however this one is simply Zayne. Emissaries never stay, they always have to return to the ppl who sent them. Will Zayne return to snow?

What was Zayne's reply to MC's post again?

At the end, all of this are nothing more than supositions that of course, it'd be very happy to get wrong. I wouldn't mind ending up looking like a clown if these theories are wrong and we get to spend a lot of time and precious memories with Zayne. I genuinely just want to see him being happy after all these years of respressed emotions.

[sh0tanzz]

I wish you would do a full post dedicated to toxicity or angsty shortcomings in relationships with the boys 🫠 I loved reading the toxic head canons ❤️

angst hurts my heart but !!

RIIZE RED FLAGS based on astrology~

hyung line edition ❗️

reminder this is based off of MY opinions of their birth chart placements + aspects and is not exact fact unless I knew them myself and I am not a professional astrologer

Shotaro

Vague - not exactly a red flag but he cares a lot about the things going on within his personal life but sometimes he might prefer to keep things to himself due to paranoia of how his s/o will react or if they’d use it against him..he might have a fear of betrayal that can make him be pretty vague and unable to tell his s/o a lot of things in regards to him which can feel secretive to someone who wants a relationship with open info

Intense - His Scorpio moon paired with his Cap venus leads to a need for loyalty as well as his moon/mercury aspect making him very observant of your words and even remembering things you said a longgg time ago which can be overwhelming and feel even persecuting to some. He might also be paranoid in the relationship of cheating or disloyalty.

Coldness- When he's upset he might have a tendency to be cold yet indirect. He has a scorpio mercury and when upset or protecting themselves they can say things that really hurt or could be pretty cutting. He also has a libra mars so he'd be pretty passive aggressive or indirect with his upset.

Eunseok

Nonchalant- (reminder that nonchalant means that a person cares but acts in a way that suggests indifference/disinterest) He can sometimes be too nonchalant and can make someone overall feel as though he has no passion in the relationship when really he does but just doesn't think you have to be lovey dovey 24/7 or he cant express his passion super well as times

Outburst- Eunseok has a cap moon and moon/saturn aspects paired with a mutable mars so he doesn't express his emotions well or bottles them up which can lead to him getting triggered at random and having a spontaneous outburst out of NOWHEREEE due to suppressed feelings which can be super problematic to some

Insensitive- it’s not on purpose or with malicious intent but Eunseok can sometimes not realize that though a situation isn’t a big deal to him to someone else it might be, he also can forget the more subjective side of things which can accidentally hurt peoples feelings

Sungchan

Sensitive - His pride is high and his reaction to things may be 3x more dramatic than the actual event that happened. When he's been hurt emotionally (whether it was intentional or not) he has a hard time letting go of what happened and might even give a silent treatment until he feels you've shown remorse.

Insecure - He cares a lot about what other people think of him and that can bleed into his relationships. He might act one way in public but another way in private which can make his words/actions seem insincere or disingenuous.

Internal struggles- Has a hard time balancing his feminine side and masculine side and what I mean is he is someone super emotional and feels his emotions very deeply but might try to cover that side of him up with a masculine facade which can bring tension.

Wonbin

Avoidance - He might refuse to acknowledge the red flags or obvious shortcomings/problems in the relationship or himself and may take a long time fully accepting or facing these problems as they are or has a weak approach in attempting to fix or acknowledge the problems. Idealizes a lot of aspects and tends to withdrawal when things don’t match his vision.

Procrastination- Once again, has a hard time facing things head on and takes a while to put action into something and avoids the messier more negative emotions that one must face in relationships; he could also take a long time to let the relationship reach the next more serious levels.

Stubborn- It's hard to change his mind about certain things..in arguments he'll try to pull a "lets agree to disagree" but it's a topic where you both need to be on the same page. He might even just straight up go mute in arguments if he doesn't feel like his opinion was valued enough.

[plant-dad-sulu]

I'm going to make my own post on why shatner's kirk is hard to draw because i'm a star trek fan and an artist and work in theatre/film and am insane, so here we go

For reference:

I've seen someone say before that he's hard to draw because the lighting changes his features too much to pin him down, but that's just not true. If that was the problem then no one in any tv show would be easy to draw and let me tell you it's hard to get nimoy and kelley wrong. The actual reason, in my opinion, is all the soft edges.

A lot of people who complain about him being difficult to draw -- myself among them -- work with lineart, and one thing lineart depends on is defined features. Shatner has obvious and recognizable features, but the combination of the softness of those features with the way they've done his makeup means that drawing those features makes them feel too severe and leaving them out makes him feel like some generic Man.

His lips, for example, are clearly there, he's got really nice lips, but because they have been made up to be essentially the same colour as the rest of his face it feels wrong to the artist's brain to draw them as thick as they really are. To leave them out entirely removes a defining feature that makes this Shatner™ and that creates a sort of paradox in which nothing really looks right.

It's the same with his eyebrows. As we can see in the photo, he has decently thick eyebrows, but while they are defined at the bottom they seem to blend in with his forehead at the top. Partly this is because he's on the edge of blond and partly it's because they've got some makeup in there (foundation or possibly just powder to keep him from being shiny). So we are faced with the same issue: to draw them defined would feel wrong and to draw them thinner would make this Not Shatner.

His nose, too, has very soft edges in a way that's hard to depict with lineart without making it feel more defined than it actually is. His nose bridge is fairly broad and isn't super pronounced, and his nostrils aren't particularly defined from the tip of his nose either, so no matter what lighting you get, the shadows will tend towards softer. Same with his cheekbones and jawline -- they are undeniably There but because of the gradualness of the curves, none of them are super defined leaving the artist with the question of "do i draw this in or do i shade it in or do i leave it unshaded and let the viewer extrapolate?" It doesn't help that he tends to smile tenderly, which doesn't create sharp lines in the face and doesn't create much change to the other soft features.

The most definable and easily depicted aspects of his face, in fact, are his eyes and his hairline. He's got partially hooded eyes that are decently defined by his eyelids, both of which are nice and easy features to draw, and they settle into nice dark shadows by his nose bridge. The only place, in fact, where his nose and eyebrows casts sharp shadows. His hairline is insanely recognizable. The roundness at the corners of his forehead combined with the widows peak make up for the relatively light colour of his hair up top. You put together his hairline and his eyes and it's the most obvious shatner you're going to get.

And because shatner is your typical 60's leading man, his face shape is simply not noteable. Nimoy has a long face and kelley has a very square/round one. Shatner's somewhere in between. He's got a nice silhouette and that's all. But there's a million actors out there with the same silhouette because it's attractive, and so if you don't get those defining features in there -- the ones that are so difficult to draw -- then he just winds up looking generic, and so your brain tells you that's Wrong.

tl;dr soft things are hard to draw, shatner is all soft angles

[cxrdycxps]

Caught In A Trap • Joel Miller

☢️ sexual assault (past but there’s flashbacks and discussions) • victim shaming • description of injuries • blood • panic attacks • swearing • ☢️

Main Masterlist • Joel Miller Masterlist

This is part 2 of Cat and Mouse. You should really read that first unless you enjoy not understanding the narrative. Unfortunately this fic has a mind of its own and is gonna have a final third part. I know, I know. I hate myself too. It should be out by tomorrow night, yes I said that last time. No, I’m not lying this time. Thank you to everyone who has read, reblogged and commented so far. I love you all.

“It’s stupid. Isn’t it?” You asked Lou, pacing her living room. She had listened to you explain the whole date to her and now she was weighing up her opinion of what happened and you couldn’t take the silence. “I’m stupid. He’s fucked half the town. Why am I surprised he played me?”

“Like you played him?” Lou asked and you stopped your pacing to stare at her. She didn’t hide from your stare like most people tended to, meeting you dead on. You clenched your jaw before taking a seat and nodding. “Look, I love you. When two people have been through what we’ve been through, there are repercussions. We were items of use. We weren’t people. We didn’t get to have names or belongings or even autonomy. That way of living is going to leave a scar.”

“I don’t want them to have me any more. I don’t want to hide and just do as I’m told. I don’t want to have sex with a man just because he wanted it.” You told her with a sniffle, wiping your face. “But they all do it. They all do something and then they make it my fault, like I’m the crazy bitch.”

“Hear me out?” Lou asked and you nodded. “You keep picking men that make you crazy. Like Nolan right? He used you for sex. He wasn’t open about it but once you figured it out, you let it continue to happen. Abdul, had a reputation for having more than one woman on the go. Aidan was a misogynist from the word go. Luca wanted a housewife, not a partner. Every man you’ve tried to date has been really fucking shit.”

“They have to be. They need to be awful. There aren’t any good men.” Lou held her hand out to you and you took it, letting her draw you into a hug. You hadn’t realized that it was you that was sobbing. “There was so many and none of them tried to help. If there was good men they would’ve helped.”

“Those men weren’t banded together because they were good. They banded together because they were like minded individuals.” Lou told you, rocking you both from side to side. “You knew Joel Miller was a slut. You’ve heard more stories about him having sex than there are single, age appropriate women in the compound.”

“He was nice. He was nice and I slept with him and we, he made me laugh. No one ever bothered to do that. He offered to go home. He would’ve left if I didn’t want it.” You whispered and Lou shushed you again. “For the first time since Nolan I had sex on the first date. I wanted it this time.”

“While I’m sure Joel Miller is a great guy, that’s the bare minimum. I know you’ve never received it but respecting your right to withdraw consent is basic human decency.” Lou told you and you wondered what it meant that having your basic human rights respected felt like winning the jackpot.

“He didn’t mean it though. He got what he wanted by filling my head with false promises. Then he sent his kid, who wasn’t even suppose to know about us, to bail him out. He had expected me to give in.” You cried against Lou’s neck and she shushed you gently. “It felt good. For the first time. When I told him I had an ache the next morning he didn’t insist I just push past it. He was gentle with me.”

“Those are some more of those basic human rights. Absolutely no one should be trying to push you to agree to sex that will hurt.” Lou sighed and you blinked at her.

“It’s bad that I don’t know that, right?” You asked and she only shook her head, kissing your forehead.

“You were in that room for a long time. There was so much you missed, so much to learn. I’ll help you.”

///

Joel stayed to the rear of the group out on patrol. He was fixing to give Tommy a peace of his mind but heading out to kill a bunch of runners wasn’t the time. Tommy and Joel never argued on a patrol because they needed to have each other’s back.

So Joel didn’t give in to the temptation, keeping his distance from his brother who clearly didn’t see anything wrong in his actions. That just made Joel even more mad.

Ellie was on his shit list too because she knew better than to listen to Tommy. She knew better than to come looking for him on a night he said he wasn’t available to her. Boundaries were important between him and Ellie and he was pissed that she ignored him.

“I know that face.” Joel inhaled deeply because right now Nolan was the last guy he needed to see. He had been pissed enough to find him on the patrol but so far he had stayed well away. “Black Widow sunk her fangs into you, huh?”

“Do I look like I’m in the mood?” Joel asked, barely tilting his head in Nolan’s direction. Tommy looked back at Joel when he heard him speak and winced but turned and kept his face forward.

That pissed Joel off even more. Tommy had probably had something to do with Nolan being on the patrol. Joel clenched his jaw.

“She ended things?” Nolan asked and Joel stared resolutely ahead. “You said something bad, didn’t you? It was a joke or a throw away comment but little miss took it to heart.”

“Nolan, fuck off.” Joel warned, eyes facing forward. He couldn’t help but be relieved when Abdul heard the tension in his voice and dropped back. Abdul was a good guy and it might deter Nolan.

“Always ends it once she gets what she wants. Bet every conversation left you wrong footed. Had to feel like you’d make it up to her?” Joel inhaled deeply and stared at Tommy. He was willing to bet Ellie’s life there was no pack of runners.

“You can go and fuck yourself too.” Joel warned. He took measured deep breaths and remembered that he was liable to get in trouble if he hurt any of them unprompted. It wasn’t the same lawless land in Jackson. He couldn’t just punch people that pissed him off.

“Man, we’re trying to help you here. We’ve all been through it. This is what she does as some sick fucking revenge.” Abdul told Joel and he swallowed roughly. “She had some bad times outside the wall, got a little roughed up once or twice before Jackson.”

“When she got here she decided it was our fault. Let’s it look like our decision, you know? To pursue her. Happened to be in our line of view at the bar, we chose to talk to her. We didn’t choose anything.” Nolan piped up and Joel furrowed his brow. “Let’s you feel like you’re playing her then leaves you high and dry. Like you need to go looking for her.”

“She’ll bump into you a couple of times. Each time she’ll cause an argument or make you out to be an asshole. The next time she sees you she’s already forgotten about it.” Abdul spoke again and Joel felt his chest tighten. “Tells you all about her three date rule.”

“She doesn’t do one night stands.” Nolan scoffed and Joel looked over at him sharply. “She never does it, makes her feel dirty. Until she’s crawling into your lap like a damn bitch in heat.”

“That’s enough now.” Joel warned Nolan when his tone changed from conversational to direct anger.

“Safe, you made her feel safe.” Abdul finished and Joel realized that without a shadow of a doubt, he’s been played.

///

“Joel isn’t a dick.” You jumped, the rocking chair jolting with your movements. You raised your sunglasses off your eyes and found Ellie Williams standing at the top of your porch step. Unlike the times you had pretended with Joel, you genuinely hadn’t heard her coming and it sort of unnerved you. “It seems like he is but he ain’t.”

“Ellie, I’m sure he ain’t.” You sighed and set your sunglasses back down over your eyes and tilted your head back to continue absorbing the last of the Summer sun. “Don’t you worry about what I think about your daddy.”

“Okay firstly, that’s weird. Don’t say that. Joel isn’t my dad.” You lifted your head up again to look at her. “He and I went through a lot together but I only met him like two years ago.”

“Okay. My point still stands. I’m sure he’s a great guy. Don’t worry about me. I was just in a bad mood the other day, ‘s all.” You assured her. You didn’t want her to think bad of Joel, father or not.

“Cause I made you think that. I shoulda known better than listen to Tommy. Joel was having an off-duty night. We’ve got boundaries. Boundaries are important.” You sighed and sat forward in your chair. You knew that your relaxing had come to an end.

“Honey, I was mad at him before you knocked on that door. People like me, well, we got issues. I’m tryna work on them but I don’t always do that good.” You told her and she nodded, listening earnestly. “I had some rough things happen and now I play games with people. I can’t help it. I’m trying to find someone that can put up with me, pass my tests.”

“Joel can put up with anyone. He crossed the country with only me for company. I’m annoying as fuck.” Ellie told you with a grin and you huffed a laugh. “You should give him another chance.”

“I don’t think it’s in the card but you’re real sweet for tryin’ to fix things between us. It isn’t his fault really. I shoulda known better.” You explained and she frowned, crossing her arms.

“Is this cause Tommy says you dump men to punish them?” You clenched your jaw and wondered if you were going to have to have a word with Tommy. Tell him to mind his own business before you minded it for him. “I was taken by a man who wanted to hurt me before. I killed him.”

“Not all of us are that fortunate, kid. But if I ever see him again I’ll have a go. See if it fixes me.” You assured her. You ignored her comment about Tommy and leaned back in your seat again.

“I think that you’re making a mistake. Punishing Joel. He’s the only person I know who doesn’t deserve punishment.” Ellie spoke quietly.

“Me keeping my distance is the opposite of a punishment. I can assure you that.”

///

The key got caught in the lock. The hinges of the door squeaked. Every floorboard creaked and groaned. You were able to map the steps taken right up to the edge of the bed. The rattle of a belt buckle. Your arms ached from being tied above your head. “You just been waiting for me, huh?”

You gasped, springing up in the bed with a hand over your racing heart. The room was black with darkness and you fumbled for your lamp, knocking it over in your haste. You ignored the shatter of glass in an effort to get to the main light switch.

You fell against the wall, your panic urging you on. When your fingers closed around the switch and the light came on you could finally breathe.

You were in Jackson. You weren’t there anymore. You were safe and you were home. When your breathing was under control you looked down, unsurprised to find footprints of blood. You had walked on the broken glass.

You let yourself slump against the wall, slipping down to sit and take the weight off your damaged foot. There was no pain to feel yet, your nervous system still on high alert. You sighed heavily, head tilted back. As the adrenaline wore off and the pain kicked in there was no point in fighting the tears.

There you sat against the wall, sniffling and blinking while attempting to get all the glass out of your foot. Swiping at your eyes angrily when you couldn’t see and breathing deep through the sobs trying to fight out of you.

It was exhausting, feeling this way. There were tricks you had learned to make it better. When you had arrived to Jackson every night was spent like this, sobbing in your room cause you were scared of the dark.

Then you had met Nolan. And sure he was a little forceful in his come on but you found the nights easier with him by your side. You had felt safe from the nightmares that plagued your mind. Putting up with sex you didn’t really want was a small price to pay. He never took it forcefully, just spent his time convincing you and wasn’t that easier than what had already happened?

It wasn’t until you found out he had been enjoying your deep sleep a little too much that you had to call it all off with him.

You hadn’t ever told anyone that. Nolan was a valued member of Jackson. He was big and strong. He worked the patrol routes and fixed up houses. You just helped around wherever you were needed.

Nolan hammered home two harsh truths. The first was that there were no good men. The second was that you unfortunately couldn’t keep away from them.

So you played them at their own game. You got a warm body to sleep next to and they got their dicks wet. You made them work for it. You didn’t hand yourself over in a way that made you feel that skin crawling filthy, the way Nolan and all the men before him made you feel.

There was the introduction of your three date rule. You teased them. Made them want you with a desperation that made sure that they’d tell you all their dirty little secrets. The men of Jackson didn’t want to kick you out because you had dumped them. They wanted you out because you held their worst secrets close to your heart.

They feared the monster of their own creation. You wanted them to fear you. Every cheating, lying scumbag among them.

Joel had been different. He had risen to every single challenge you had offered. He had gone the extra mile for you. Sure he had said stupid things but never out of cruelty. Never to hurt you.

Ellie had told you that Tommy had orchestrated the bail out so maybe he hadn’t expected you to do whatever he wanted. Maybe he had been as much a victim of outside sources as you were.

You had wanted him in a way you had never actually wanted a man before. You hadn’t broken your three date rule in years, never since Nolan. But you couldn’t help yourself, crawling into his lap in a way that made you feel like the games were over.

You wanted them to be over. You wanted to be wrapped in Joel’s embrace, wanted him to fend off the nightmares and hold you when they broke through anyway.

You wanted him on top of you, gasping against your neck, pushing into you slowly. He had been so gentle with you, taking his time with you. He had been bashful about his size, almost apologizing until you had been begging him to fuck your harder and deeper.

You sniffled again and probed the skin of your foot, checking for any pain that could be caused by glass still being inside. When you found none you pushed yourself up, limping out of your room and hitting each light switch on the way, bathing your house in the golden glow.

You found your first aid kit in the bathroom and patched your foot up. The tears had stopped for the most part and you took advantage of that to clean up the broken lamp and the blood.

You’d have to visit the clinic tomorrow and get it checked out but for now the bandages would do. When you looked at the clock you found it to be a little after four. Acceptable enough to get up and start your day.

You wouldn’t be getting any more sleep with those images in your mind and the phantom ache in your arms.

///

“Joel it isn’t that big of a deal.” Ellie sighed, trying to shake the grip he had on her shoulder. He didn’t answer and she rolled her eyes at him, wiping the blood out of her face. “Shimmer is gentle usually, she just spooked.”

“She ain’t broken yet. I told you not to ride her.” Joel huffed, pushing her towards the clinic. She had slapped a piece of gauze over her injury and called it a day. He had half a thought to kill her when he had peeled back the gauze and found the deep wound. “Could’ve died.”

“You’re being dramatic.” Ellie sighed, shaking him at last when they pushed through the door. She let him talk to the receptionist, looking around. She blinked when she spotted you dozing in a chair, bandaged foot elevated on a table. Ellie looked over to Joel who hadn’t spotted you yet and grinned, moving to drop into the seat next to you. “Hey.”

“Fucking- Jesus Ellie. What the fuck?” Your eyes flew open and you almost bolted out of the chair. It was then Ellie took in how exhausted you looked. “Gonna put a fucking bell on you.”

“You just reuse all your lines like that?” Joel asked with a scoff and your eyes widened, turning to look at him and back to Ellie. “Got nothing original, huh?”

“What are you talking about?” Ellie asked him, wondering why Joel had his ‘I shoot people for fun’ look on his face.

You were saved from the conversation by your name being called. You pushed yourself up, ignoring Joel’s comments and barely took one step, limping heavily, before Ellie slotted herself in under your arm.

“I’m fine.” You assured her and she shook her head, resolute in helping you.

“She said she’s fine, Ellie.” Joel grunted. Ellie ignored him and supported you walking toward the treatment room.

“Thank you.” You lifted your arm from around her shoulders and supported yourself on the door handle.

She was in the treatment room by the time you had gotten your stitches. You were hoping not to see them again but just as you were receiving a pack of gauze and bandages Ellie stepped out, prodding her own stitches against Joel’s advice.

“What’s the verdict?” Ellie asked, slotting in beside you at the counter. You had been given a pair of crutches and you propped them under your arms.

“Four stitches, no pain meds and the threat of brute force if I’m caught working or walking on my foot.” You told her with a sigh, ignoring Joel’s glare. You felt sort of off balance having him this mad at you. It wasn’t anything you weren’t used to but you weren’t blackmailing Joel. You had gotten mad at him for a proper reason.

“I got four stitches too!” Ellie cheered and bumped her shoulder into your arms. “And I’m not allowed nap today. Just in case it’s a concussion. Joel probably won’t let me on a horse ever again.”

“Sucks to be you, I guess. I’m gonna nap all day.” You told her with a shrug, smiling when she laughed at you and shook her head.

“Yeah yeah, you’re a dick. You gonna be okay to get around? I can call by and help?” You frowned at Ellie, eyebrows furrowing at the effort she was suddenly putting in. “What?”

“Thanks for the offer, Honey. But it’s just a little cut. I’ll be fine.” You ruffled her hair before grabbing the gauze and bandages off the counter. “Stay away from them horses, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She sighed and you rolled your eyes before shuffling towards the door, your crutches clicking loudly in the silence that followed. Just before the doors closed behind you you heard it.

“She ain’t your friend. Stop acting like it. She’ll just let you down too.”

If there was one thing you wouldn’t let happen ever again, it was letting a man be right about you.

///

You spent a lot of time out on the rocking chair on your porch over the next few days. The summer was winding down and you were enjoying the last of the warmth before Jackson turned into the frost bitten, snow covered town it was in Winter.

Your foot hurt something awful but it showed no sign of infection which you were grateful for. Without pain meds the best you could do was stay off it.

Reading on the porch seemed to be the best way for it. And so you spent all of your time out there, watching the comings and goings of Jackson. The days were peaceful, allowing you to nap in the chair to avoid the fact you weren’t sleeping at night.

It wasn’t until the creak of your garden gate sounded on the fourth day that your peace was interrupted. Ellie had a large plaster slapped haphazardly on her forehead and a larger grin on her face.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” You asked her with an eyebrow raised. She only shrugged, tossing her book bag down at your front door and taking a seat on the bench on your porch.

“Told them I had a headache. They sent me home. Except Joel is out all day on a patrol and I’m bored.” Ellie explained and you nodded, rocking yourself with your good foot.

“And you can’t call over here while Joel is around cause he told you not to.” You offered. She shrugged instead of denying it and you had to laugh a little.

“Like I said. Joel isn’t my dad. I don’t have to do what he says.” Ellie explained and you rolled your eyes at the pure teenage attitude that poured off her. “He’s afraid I’ll get attached to you. I once got attached to a book full of puns so he’s probably right.”

“Well I mean, you’re only talking to me cause I spent a night with your father figure and you feel bad for interrupting.” You teased and Ellie laughed.

“Nah. I heard about you way before Joel. I take note of women that men hate. It’s important to be feared by men.” Ellie told you honestly and you laughed, shaking your head. “I read a book about feminism. It was in my room in Jackson when we moved in. It’s important to have good female role models.”

“I’m not a good female role model. I’m the opposite of a role model. I sleep with men to get their secrets. That’s not exactly inspiring.” You reminded her and she shrugged.

“Well I ain’t gonna go copying you if that’s what you’re afraid of. Not like I’ll be sleeping around with the men of Jackson.” Ellie scoffed and you tilted your head at her.

“Is that right?” You asked with raised eyebrows. “I’m sure the women of Jackson will have as many secrets.”

Ellie flushed a deep red and sat up on the bench, her jaw hanging open. “I never said that.”

“Didn’t have to. I’m very observant.” You told her, letting your head fall back again. “I ain’t gonna tell anyone.”

“Ellie!” You winced and Ellie groaned loudly. It seemed Joel had gotten home early. You continued to rock your chair and took a deep breath. He was just as in the wrong as you were. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“More importantly, what are you doing here?” Ellie asked, laying back down on the bench. “It’s way out of your way.”

“Looking for you. I get back early and hear you’re suffering headaches and can’t find you anywhere.” Joel snapped, pushing in your garden gate. “I told you I didn’t want you hanging around here.”

“She ain’t doing no harm.” You sighed, you hated to get involved but she was shrinking in on herself, away from his anger. “Every kid played hooky once.”

“I didn’t ask you. Last thing she needs is to be hanging around you. She’s a kid, no games to be played with her.” Joel snapped and you huffed a laugh.

“That’s right. I’m the only one who plays games.” You told him, pushing yourself to your feet. You winced, reaching for a crutch. “You know what you did. All the games I played was to prevent you doing that.”

“Oh yeah, the same games you played with damn near every man in this town, huh? I heard it all, Nolan and Abdul had a lot to say.” Joel scoffed, grabbing Ellie’s backpack and waving her forward. She looked between you both before shuffling towards him. “We all had it tough outside Jackson. You don’t gotta punish everyone for it.”

“Is that right? They told you all about me, huh? That’s a silly game for them to have played.” You leaned against your porch railing and grinned at Joel, wide. “Get off my property, Joel.”

[ladyloveandjustice]

I love Natsume (character and show) with all my heart but rewatching it really makes his monologues at the end of every episode and the similar themes they tend to fit stand out and I can only imagine if he actually said these out loud and how irritating it would be for Nyanko-sensei

End of Episode music plays

Nyanko-sensei: oh no

Natsume: my bonds with people and youkai...they're both important

Nyanko-sensei: oh god he's doing it again

Natsume: i'm not alone anymore...

Nyanko-sensei: We know! We all know! that's very obvious, i'm literally right here!

Natsume: There are so many people I care about and want to protect...

Nyanko-sensei: Can you protect me from hearing this every day

Natsume: but i'm constantly anxious it will all go away.

Nyanko sensei: I keep telling you to go to therapy for that.

Natsume: Others have shown me so much kindness I want to be kind myself

Nyanko sensei: I GET IT. YOU'RE ALREADY TOO KIND IN MY OPINION.

Natsume: telling the truth and letting people in is hard but slowly. I'm getting there...

Nyanko-sensei: Oh thank my noble majestic self, we're fading to black now, FINALLY.

[enchanted-wildflower]

On animism

One of my teachers at university told us something today, that I believe to be relevant to animism and therefore also witchcraft:

He explained that in the West we see everything as occurences, whereas in some languages the same happenings are described as actions. Meaning that in the West we tend to imply that there is no agency involved in whatever happens, while some other languages tend to imply that someone activily causes things. His example was that in the West rain is understood as something that just happens, no one causes the rain. Whereas in Mesoamerica it was believed that it rained because some god was crying.

While the idea of a literal crying god causing it to rain on earth might be outdated, I find it really interesting how these two perspectives - events vs. actions - might shape our relationship with the world. If rain is not just an occurence, but someone acting with agency, rain becomes another part of the community we live in. The community then doesn't only consist of humans anymore, but of everything that surrounds us. Suddenly there are all these new players that actively affect your life with their actions. Other-than-human persons that you can interact with and with whom you have to keep a friendly relationship. If the tree in front of your house isn't just an object, but a being with agency, you actually have to be at least respectful and might even want to build a relationship with them, get to know them, learn from them.

I think that's really the core of animism. Descriptions of animism are often reduced to the believe that everything has a soul, but I think believe doesn't even factor into it. You don't need to believe that there is a non-physical aspect to rain, mountains, stones. It's about how we interact with them. I don't even have to ask myself the question if the tree in front of my house has a soul in order to learn about and from them or to interact with them. In my opinion animism is something that is done, not thought or believed. It's a perspective.

Listening to my teacher also reminded me of the following part of Braiding Sweetgrass (great book btw) which explains all this really well:

A bay is a noun only if water is dead. When bay is a noun, it is defined by humans, trapped between its shores and contained by the word. But the verb wiikwegamaa - to be a bay - releases the water from bondage and lets it live. "To be a bay" holds the wonder that, for this moment, the living water has decided to shelter itself between these shores, conversing with cedar roots and a flock of baby mergansers. Because it could do otherwise become a stream or an ocean or a waterfall, and there are verbs for that, too. To be a hill, to be a sandy beach, to be a Saturday, all are possible verbs in a world where everything is alive. Water, land, and even a day, the language a mirror for seeing the animacy of the world, the life that pulses through all things, through pines and nuthatches and mushrooms. This is the lan- guage I hear in the woods; this is the language that lets us speak of what wells up all around us.

[...]

This is the grammar of animacy. [...] In English, we never refer to a member of our family, or indeed to any person, as it. That would be a profound act of disrespect. It robs a person of selfhood and kinship, reducing a person to a mere thing. So it is that in Potawatomi and most other indigenous languages, we use the same words to address the living world as we use for our family. Because they are our family.

To whom does our language extend the grammar of animacy? Naturally, plants and animals are animate, but as I learn, I am discovering that the Potawatomi understanding of what it means to be animate diverges from the list of attributes of living beings we all learned in Biology 101. In Potawatomi 101, rocks are animate, as are mountains and water and fire and places. Beings that are imbued with spirit, our sacred medicines, our songs, drums, and even stories, are all animate. The list of the inanimate seems to be smaller, filled with objects that are made by people.

[...]

The language reminds us, in every sentence, of our kinship with all of the animate world.

- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (2013), p. 78-80.

[wingzie]

Keeping a "Safe Place" on Social Media (As Army and a Jikooker)

In my opinion, social media needs to take responsibility for what it has become. I don’t think it ever will, because it feeds on negative attention, but I try to focus on what I can do to help. For myself and others.

My bio on Twitter includes the sentence “A Positive and Safe Space for everyone” and I take this very seriously. As a baby Army, I used to be in several GC’s for report pages. Back then, reporting used to be primarily done in GC’s privately and we tried to limit any engagement. Soon afterwards, I started to witness a change: Egos started to get big, there was a saviour complex with Y/N tendencies, some would start engaging with the posts we reported and deals were being made behind the scenes to protect certain accounts. It made me sad to see this change in priorities and it wasn’t why I joined them in the first place, so I left when things started to go bad.

What did I do instead? Mute, block and report with my own system. I tend to “mute” someone first if they really annoy me and then “block” a second time if they are a repeat offender. I will automatically block and report someone if they say something really bad. I do not engage. That includes: liking, retweeting or quoting. It boosts the harmful tweet. Even more so if your display name includes something related to BTS or the members and it will add to the trends. By taking away the engagement, you are taking away their audience that they are hoping to gain.

I have mentioned before how a particular anti revealed that they would aim to get on a report page's radar, because the posts on them helped advertise their posts and accounts. Their plan was rather like a business model and it was scay how well thought out it all was. It was also clear that they had help and was in a GC thrmselves, just like the report pages were. When report GC's started to die out, they grew even more with how public the fighting became. The antis figured out how the change in social media worked in their benefit, before the rest of the fandom and even the social media creators itself did. They still fail to this day to understand how fandoms (and the language within them) changes over time. The algorithm encourages these type of negative posts too. On my second account I accidently liked a BTS tweet and my feed suddenly contained so much negativity about them, rather than about their projects or joy.

But how is all of this linked with being a Jikooker? Because we sometimes end up boosting that negativity that we really shouldn't. I quite honestly do not care what their theories are, but I always end up seeing them somewhere. More than I see actual posts about Jikook sometimes. Someone reached out to me that they felt like they knew more about tker theories than about BTS or Jikook as a whole. It's also why, whenever something negative happens, I start to spam more Jikookry instead. It's actually how the Live Reactions series was created, because I wanted to counter those talking bad about it. And to help us relive it with fondness.

I also think there is a lack of understanding about what the word "cult" actually means. It is up to an individual to try to break free, but it might also be difficult. There was a post by a young girl who had been added to a tker GC by a friend from school. She wanted to leave, because it was quite frankly bullshit, but was afraid to because she had given the GC owner some private information that they had threatened to leak if she left. That is terrifying and I sometimes think back to that girl and how she is doing. If she did manage to leave or not. For some, they are persuaded to stay whether they really want to or not.

That adds an entire new layer to all of this: Children being on the internet too young or not understanding the implications of certain things. I am a 90's kid. It was drilled into me religiously about the dangers of The Internet. That doesn't seem to be a thing anymore though, or they are quite literally left to their own devices. Because of this, we sadly saw an increase of online crimes aimed towards children during lockdown. There needs to be more done and again social media needs to be taking responsability. Ticking a box claiming your age does nothing to protect anyone. Not every Army with questionable intentions is a child though, of course. There are those that refuse to watch content or rely on heavily edited clips. I get a lot of those edits myself in my inbox, either by tkers or jkers who have found them and asked if they are true. My common answer: No. This is also why I try to give sources and encourage anyone to try to watch all the BTS content that they can. I know there is a lot, but it will help you on your journey. What can be done to stop them? Honestly, not much. We can hope to encourage them though and stop those that wish harm in their tracks. How do we do this? By being louder in our support. Because, at the moment, we're being louder with our hate and social media is boosting that even more. Rather than the praise and love that BTS and Jikook deserve.

[atinylittlepain]

Apothecary - Chapter Two

joel miller x witchy!reader

series masterlist

everyone's got something to say about her, and Joel doesn't know what to make of it. when he returns the favor he owes her, he tries to get some answers up in the mountains and away from the wagging tongues of Jackson.

warnings | 18+ angst, mentions of death, spooky-ooky vibes, people being superstitious dickheads

a/n | thank you all for the love on the first part of this series! i just got so excited i couldn't help but write the second part :) keep letting me know what you think, my inbox is always open and i love to hear from you!

.................................

“My son had a cough since he was two years old. She cured it with whatever she keeps bubbling on that stove of hers.”

“I had a rash that just wouldn’t go away. She gave me a balm that cleared it right up. A godsend, really.”

“Wouldn’t be alive today if she hadn’t nursed me back to health with all those herbs and plants she tends to.” 

“She talks to animals. Calmed a bucking colt with a whisper– I saw it myself!”

“I heard that infected don’t even notice her. Just walk right past her. That ain’t human, if you ask me.”

“That cat of hers spies on people and brings all their secrets back to her. You can’t tell me that’s a normal cat, not with the way it stares at folks.”

“Some of the women say they’ve seen her out in the middle of the night, dancing naked in her backyard whenever it’s a full moon.”

“I don’t know about dancing naked, but I have seen some strange lights coming from her shop on my way home from the Tipsy Bison. Lord knows what she gets up to in there.”

“She curses men. Lures them up into the mountains and puts them under her spell. But they always end up dead.”

“Dead?”

“As a doornail. It ain’t a coincidence that any man that crosses paths with her seems to wind up with one really unlucky patrol shift. Luck’s got nothing to do with it, lemme tell you.” 

Even though Tommy told him to forget about it, Joel’s been doing a bit of recon, asking people around town about her, and every new anecdote only further confuses him. It seems like everyone’s got some sort of opinion about the resident witch.

It has shocked him, really, how openly folks call her that. Even the ones that speak highly of her. He had asked Ellie about what she had heard one day after she came home from her classes at the community school. She had shrugged, a knowing grin on her face

“Well, she sure helped me out, old man. But yeah, my friends say their moms call her a lot worse names than witch. Personally, I think it’s fucking cool. D’you think she can fly around on a broom like in the movies?” Joel had not been particularly amused by that question.

He’s not sure what to make of any of it. Some people call her a saint. Others call her the devil incarnate. But there does seem to be a general consensus that any man that sets her in his sights is doomed to meet a timely demise.

It’s been two weeks since he saw her at the town market, and he hasn’t even caught a glimpse of her since. According to Maria, she’s been busy with a flare-up of some sort of stomach bug in the community, making house calls and – Joel supposes – working her magic. 

He can’t figure out why he even cares. After all, he’s only met the woman once. But he can’t seem to shake her out of his thoughts, replaying their meeting over and over in his head, particularly the moment she had said Sarah’s name with such certainty.

He finds himself rolling all this over in his mind most nights, sitting out on his front porch as the summer sun turns to thick liquid over the mountains. It’s in such a position that he finally sees her again, approaching his house with a tired smile on her face.

“Hey there, stranger.” She walks up the first step to his porch, leaning against the wooden beam as she speaks. He can’t help the way his eyes trail over her, a pair of coveralls like the kind mechanics used to wear pulled distractingly taut around the swell of her hips and a cloth bag slung over her shoulder, the tops of jars and bottles peeking out of it. When his eyes finally slip back up to her face, the quirk of her eyebrows lets him know that she totally clocked him checking her out, and he has to clear his throat, swallowing his embarrassment before he responds.

“Um, hey– hi. I, uh, haven’t seen you around lately.” She tilts her head at him, smile simmering down to a crooked smirk.

“I’ve been a little busy with all the– y’know, vomiting and diarrhea around town. But I think folks are finally out of the woods now.” Joel has to wonder to himself how she can still manage to look pretty while talking about vomiting and diarrhea.

“How exactly do you help– with that?” Her smile broadens.

“For the stuff coming out the top end, peppermint oil mostly. Ginger is king, but I’ve only got so much of it cultivating at the shop. For the problem down below, you just gotta push fluids and tell them it’ll pass.” 

“Can I ask– how do you know this stuff?” 

“Most of what I know comes from my mom. She was a lady of the plants, knew just about everything about anything that grows.” Fondness laces through her words, a soft smile as she tells him this, and he finds himself mirroring her expression.

“Lady of the plants– that’s a new one to me.” 

“Well, it’s better than witch, right?” Joel’s smile falls, but she just laughs.

“So I take it you’ve heard the rumors about me?” He’s not sure how to respond, a thickness settling in his throat and ice prickling the back of his neck. His voice comes out a bit hoarse when he does finally answer.

“Heard a lot of things about you. Not really sure what to believe though.” Her smile screws up at that, eyes crinkling as she looks at him.

“Why don’t you just ask me what you’re wondering then? Get it straight from the source.” She crosses her arms over her chest, the unbuttoned snaps of her coveralls splaying open to reveal the edge of a white tank-top, the suggestion of cleavage drawing Joel’s eyes before he can help it. He swallows hard, eyes darting back up to hers.

“Is it– I mean– are you?”

“Am I what?” She wants to hear him say it, he can tell by the ghosting curve of her lips. The word feels silly coming out of his mouth.

“Are you a– a witch?” Her smile goes practically radioactive at that, big and bright as she throws her head back in a laugh. She looks back at him, her lips pursed, eyes narrowed.

“Oh yeah, certified. Got the black cat to prove it and everything.” As if on cue, Stevie jumps up onto the railing of the porch, making Joel jump in his seat. She stifles a giggle behind her hand, Stevie nuzzling against her arm that’s wrapped around the porch beam. Joel huffs.

“Look, it seems like everyone’s got something to say about you. But I’m not the kind of guy to buy into a bunch of bullshit rumors.” She hums at that.

“Oh, no? What kind of guy are you then, Joel?” 

“The kind that likes to work things out for himself.” 

“Is that what this is? You working me out?” 

“Sure am trying to.” She sucks her teeth, squinting at him.

“And?” Joel sighs.

“And– I’m thinking it’s gonna take me a while to reach any kind of conclusion.” She nods lightly at that, smiling at Stevie as scratches under the cat’s chin.

“Hmm, alright. You let me know when you reach your conclusion then.” A thick blink of silence falls between them, and Joel finds himself unable to tear his eyes away from hers, only breaking when she lets out a sigh.

“I didn’t just come over here to give you a hard time. Was actually hoping to cash in on that favor you owe me.” He sits up a little straighter at that, nodding.

“Alright, when did you wanna go out– I mean– not– go out– like– not like a–” She laughs, silencing his floundering. 

“I know what you meant. And I was thinking the end of this week? Do you have time on Friday?” 

“Uh-huh, yep. That’s my day off.” Her face falls.

“Oh, I don’t wanna take up your day off, I’m–”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m happy to help, really.” Her frown softens into a suggestion of a smile, and she nods.

“Well, alright. Thank you, Joel. You good to meet at the gates that morning?” 

“I’ll be there, darlin. Sounds like a plan.” She grins.

“Until then, Joel.” She turns, hopping down from the porch step, before glancing over her shoulder to look at him.

“Oh, and don’t worry. I’m not gonna curse you. Not yet at least.” It’s so unexpected, he ends up choking on an inhale, but his coughing doesn’t drown out the sound of her laugh as she slinks away from his house. He’s so busy watching her saunter off that he doesn’t notice the cat jumping down from the railing, startling him when she starts twining between his legs. Stevie looks up at him, yellow eyes unblinking, as if she’s expecting something from him. He tentatively leans forward, holding out his open hand which the cat sniffs at before nudging her head into his palm, a low purr vibrating through her body. 

“You gonna go tell her all my secrets, Stevie?” The cat looks up at him, head tilted. A little too human-like for Joel’s taste. She lets out a small mrrp, before going back to twining between his legs, sleek spine arching up into Joel’s hand. Then, just as quickly as she had appeared, she pads off down the steps of his porch and out into the night. 

…

“Rumor has it you’re helping a certain lady out with some work up in the mountains tomorrow.” Joel huffs at his brother’s cocked eyebrow and crooked smirk.  He takes a sharp swig of his drink before responding.

“Owe her a favor, that's all. And before you tell me I’m not gonna come back alive, I’ve already heard that from four other people this week.” That gets a laugh out of Tommy, his eyes glancing around the bar before focusing back on Joel. 

“Nah, you’ll come back alive. It’s the days after when they always end up dead.” 

“You serious?” Tommy shrugs.

“There’s been a couple of guys, sure. But if you ask me, that has more to do with the stories people believe than it does with her. What we believe, we create, brother. The mind is a powerful thing.” He punctuates his words with a tap of his fingers to his temple. Joel grumbles.

“Yeah, yeah, alright, wise ass. But you’re telling me there really have been men who’ve–”

“It’s all coincidence, Joel. Like I said, there have been a few guys who started chasing after her. Went up into the mountains with her, y’know, all romantic and shit. And then, well, it seems like every time, only a few days later, they wound up dead. But in every instance, it was a bad patrol shift that got them. S’just coincidence that it happened after they got with her.”

“How many coincidences?” Tommy sighs.

“Four. In the last four years or so.” Joel feels his brows lift at that.

“That’s a lot of fucking coincidences, Tommy.” Tommy shrugs.

“Look, folks always talk about how horrible it is that all these men died. And it is. But no one thinks to mention what that must have done to her. To like someone? Hell, maybe even love someone? And then not only have them taken away from you, but to then be blamed for it too? It’s fucking atrocious, man.” When Tommy finishes speaking, silence falls between them, Joel a bit stunned by the clear compassion Tommy speaks with about her.

“Why d’you even care? Why not join the crowd, huh?” Tommy frowns at that, twirling his liquor in his glass rather than looking at his brother.

“I didn’t tell you this– I mean, why would I? But, Maria had a pretty difficult pregnancy.” He takes a sharp inhale before continuing to speak.

“We weren’t sure if– if the baby– if we were gonna be ok. And she was there for us, through it all.” Joel can see the tears pooling in his brother’s eyes, glinting in the low light of the bar when he finally looks at him.

“I don’t know if we’d have our boy today if it hadn’t been for her. So yeah, I care about her. And I’ll side with her every time. And most folks will too, when push comes to shove. She’s done a lot for this community. But it’s easy to spread poison behind people’s backs. So that’s what they do.” Tommy sits back on his stool, sighing deeply.

“Suppose a lot of the men see her as a challenge, y’know? Steal a cursed kiss and live to tell the tale, or some bullshit like that. And the women see the men pining after her, and they don’t like that one bit. Either way, they talk, way more than they should.” Tommy throws back the last of his drink, wincing at the burn. Joel, meanwhile, is still trying to process everything his brother just told him.

“So should I tell the kid to start planning my funeral, or what?” Tommy laughs, shaking his head.

“Nah, I think you’re too much of a stubborn ass to let a rinky-dink curse sway you. Besides, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.” Joel squints at his brother.

“Why’s that?” 

“You said you’re just doing a favor for her. She might not even like you enough to curse you, brother.”

…

Joel doesn’t sleep at all that night. His mind works over what Tommy told him again and again, trying to reach some sort of conclusion about everything he’s learned, and coming up short every time. He shuffles out in the early morning light, eyes bleary as he nears the gate. She, however, is chipper as anything, smiling broadly when she sees him.

“Hey there, you ready to go?” He nods, grumbling out a quiet affirmation, and then they’re off.

Most of the morning is spent in silence, hiking up into the mountains. Joel knows that it’s not infected they have to worry about, not out here. But raiders are a whole other story, so he keeps a steady hand on his rifle slung over his shoulder, letting her lead them a few paces ahead of him. 

“You’re quiet this morning.” She glances at him over her shoulder as she speaks, eyebrow lifted.

“I’m thinking.” 

“About?” He huffs, stopping where he stands in the underbrush of the woods. When she realizes he’s no longer following, she turns back around, hands on her hips as she looks at him.

“I just– I wish you’d give me some straight answers here. I’ve heard something different about you from just about everyone in town– and I’m not sure if I believe any of it. Just– please.” Her brow is furrowed, eyes squinted at him as she worries her bottom lip between her teeth. 

“What do you want from me, Joel?” He swallows hard, eyes glancing around the thick trees before looking back at her.

“The truth– I want the truth.” She sighs, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific than that.” He has to laugh out of frustration at this little game they’re playing, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a low curse before focusing back on her.

“Alright, I’ll be specific. All those men that died. A lot of folks around town are convinced that you had something to do with it. S’that true?” When she speaks, Joel’s taken aback by her tone, her usual lightness replaced by a steeled stoicism.

“I had nothing to do with that. Any of it. The only curse that was on those men was their own goddamn minds buying into the town bullshit.” He’s inclined to believe her, judging by her unwavering gaze and the sure tilt of her chin as she speaks, but there’s still more that he needs to know.

“But you are– different. Aren’t you?” That coaxes a smile out of her, and she steps a bit closer to him.

“Different.” She says the word like a challenge, and he nods, taking his own steps closer to her.

“Is that your conclusion, Joel?” Both of them have their arms crossed over their chests, and they now stand so close that their forearms lightly brush.

“Starting to think I ain’t ever gonna reach a conclusion about you, darlin.” Her eyes crinkle, smile threatening to crook into a full-blown grin.

“Would that be such a bad thing? No conclusion?” It’s like magnets, the way their faces tilt, subtle shifts toward one another until he can feel the light air of her exhale across his mouth. He hums, a low sound in his chest.

“I think I’ll live.” He can practically feel the stretch of her grin at his words.

“I think you will too.” It happens as easily as a tide rolling in, languid in the way their lips slip together. His hands find the sweep of her jaw, pulling her in deeper, her palms splaying over his chest. He’s a little surprised when she swipes her tongue over the curve of his bottom lip, coaxing him open and tangling even closer with him. A woman has never taken charge like this with him, and it’s making his head spin. When she does pull away, he’s only a little embarrassed by the way he chases after her lips, stuttering into some sort of composure when she grins at him.

“For the record, you’re not wrong.” Not entirely sure what she means, he frowns at her, shaking his head. She laughs.

“I am different, Joel.”

“That wasn’t just a lucky guess, was it? About– about Sarah?” Her eyes soften, features dropping into a sad understanding. She slides her palms up from his chest to twine behind his neck. 

“No, it wasn’t.” 

…

“This is lemon balm.” She glances over her shoulder at him from where she’s crouched down, thumbing at a cropping of large, waxy leaves. He’s learned the names of more plants today than he could ever remember, though he still nods when she shows him a new one like he has any clue what it is.

“What do you use that for?” 

“You dry it, and then you can brew tea with it. It’s calming– helps with sleep and stress. Or you can mix it into salve to treat cold sores. Though not many people in Jackson come to me with that problem.” She clips several leaves from the plant, carefully tucking them into her pack and slinging it over her shoulder as she stands back up. 

They’ve been out all day, moving through the woods as she collects various plant snippings, explaining each one to him, how to use it and what its use is. And between them, a silent understanding has settled, even though Joel hasn’t asked anymore questions about her. But he knows that Tommy was right. Whatever she is, she’s a good one.

“We oughta head back soon. Sun’s starting to set.” She nods, wiping her hands off on the front of her jeans, and they easily step into stride with one another. They spend most of the hike back in a comfortable silence. Joel finds himself wanting to say something, ask something more, but always hesitating, mind hazy from the heat of the day, and from the stamped memory of the kiss they shared. Even if it was cursed, he reckons that he wouldn’t mind that.

“Joel? I want to say thank you.” He glances at her walking alongside him, the quick-fading light casting syrupy shadows across her features. He has to blink a few times to keep himself from staring.

“No need for thanks. I was happy to repay the favor.” 

“No, that’s– that’s not what I meant. I mean– thank you for coming out today with me, I appreciate it. But– I wanted to thank you for– thinking for yourself– about me.” That makes him stop in his stride, turning to fully look at her as she does the same. They’ve just crested a hill, the gates of Jackson coming into view, and her eyes keep glancing back toward it, a nervous crease between her brows.

“It’s just– you’re right– I know everyone has something to say about me. And I guess I don’t have too many friends because of it. Most folks make up their minds about me before they even talk to me. So, thank you– for not doing that.” His chest twists at her words, the worried look scrunched across her face. He’d like to take the pain away that’s clear in her expression. And then, that tightness in his chest grows for a different reason, as he realizes that he’s already in far too deep with her. He has to clear his throat to shake away the thickening feeling, tentatively reaching his hand out to her, his fingers skating over the faint dip of her collarbone. He can see her breath catch at his touch, and he revels in it, letting his hand trail down her arm until their fingers are tangling together.

“You shouldn’t have to thank me for that. Whatever may or may not be true about you– no one deserves that. I just– why do you help them– when they treat you the way they do?” She sighs, squeezing his hand in hers, and giving a weak shrug of her shoulders.

“Because it’s what I’m good at. I always wanted to help people– and that’s what I get to do. Even if some of them are fucking dicks about it.” Her crassness catches him off guard, pulling a stuttering laugh from his chest as she grins. But she’s all seriousness again, clearing her throat, her brow pulling down.

“Suppose I should warn you now that they’ll talk about you too– if you stick around me. And I don’t blame you if you don’t want–” He’s heard enough, and does something entirely too bold by closing the distance between them to steal another kiss, her wide eyes meeting his when he pulls away.

“Don’t care what any of ‘em have to say about me, or about you. They can talk all they want, darlin.” He can feel the relief in her sigh. She nods, giving his hand one final squeeze before breaking away, continuing the walk back to town. 

When they get back inside the gates, she offers him a small smile, her hands fidgeting with the straps of her pack.

“Thank you again. I really appreciated your help.” 

“Like I said, it was no–”

“Well, well, well– what do we have here? Looks like she’s got Miller under her spell, boys!” The change in her demeanor is instant, face scrunching up as they both turn to see where the commentary is coming from. Joel recognizes the man, Mason, if he remembers right, and a small group of other guys he knows from past patrol meetings. They’ve all got a similar sneer across their faces, eyes zeroed in on her, and he has to fight the urge to step in front of her to get them to stop looking at her like that.

“Guess we better get another coffin ready, huh? Hate to break it to you, Miller. She may be pretty, but she ain’t nothing but bad news.” Joel’s fists clench at his sides, and as the men break into another howl of laughter, his feet start moving toward them before his brain can catch up. But she’s quick to step in front of him, hands pressing into his chest and eyes fierce.

“Don’t– it’s not worth it.” It’s immediate, the calm that washes over him with her words, though he still glares over her shoulder at the men, whose laughter has only escalated.

“Awww, she got you good, man! Hey, witchy-poo! What kinda magic you got working on Miller to have him so whipped?” And with that, Joel is ready to bash their heads in all over again, though she holds him back with her palms firm against the front of his shirt. 

“Joel, it’s fine. They’re harmless, really.” He glances at the men one more time before finally focusing back on her, huffing as he nods. She gives him what she can of a smile, worry still pressed between her brows. 

“I’ll see you soon, ok?” His hands flex at his sides, wanting more than anything to tuck her under his arm and walk off together, but he settles for another nod, and a whispered acquiescence. She’s gone in a blink, walking off to the hollering of the men behind her. Before he can do something stupid, Joel heads off in the opposite direction toward the Tipsy Bison. He needs a fucking drink.

…

Joel is nursing his second tumbler of whiskey when just about the last person he’d like to see sidles up next to him at the bar. 

“Miller.” Mason sits down on the stool next to him, but Joel keeps his eyes on his swirling glass. 

“Look, man, I’m sorry for giving you a hard time out there. But I’m trying to help you out.” Joel rests his elbows on the bar, glancing briefly at Mason.

“Don’t remember asking for your help, man.” Mason laughs, turning on his stool to fully face Joel, a stupid grin across his face.

“Well then you don’t know her as well as we all do. I meant what I said, y’know. She’s bad news.” Joel’s starting to feel that anger creeping up his throat, angling himself just slightly in Mason’s direction to get a good look at him.

“Son, I’ve heard enough stories this week to have a pretty good idea of just how full of shit you all are. I thought this was a community of decent people, really. But after being told one too many times about some ridiculous curse, I realize you’re nothing but fools and cowards.” Mason laughs again, and Joel’s a blink away from slapping the sound right out of his mouth. 

“I’m not talking about that bullshit curse.” Joel squints at him.

“Come again?” 

“That curse you’re referring to? I agree with you that it’s town nonsense. But that’s not what I’m talking about.” When Joel stays silent, Mason’s mouth stretches into a smile.

“She may not be sending men to their graves, but she ain’t so innocent either. See, she likes to meddle.”

“Meddle?” Mason nods.

“In other people’s business. Sure, she helps folks all the time. But that’s not all she’s doing in that shop of hers.” Joel huffs, getting tired of the way this man seems to be stringing him along.

“Talk plainly, son. It’s getting late.” Mason barks out a laugh, sliding off his stool before laying a hand on Joel’s shoulder, a squinted smile on his face.

“Why don’t you go see what she’s got cooking up in that kitchen of hers in the middle of the night. Because I can tell you right now, it ain’t fucking tea.”

[fangswbenefits]

getting this off my chest

I really, really love writing for this fandom.

I think I haven't felt like this in years.

Astarion is such an enticing vessel for my creativity and has rekindled my joy for writing and putting it out there.

Alas, imposter syndrome really gnaws at my nerves more often than I care to admit.

"But Ruby, you have so many people who like your work. Why do you doubt yourself?"

Because I grew up being told I was never enough. That I was the worst at what I did best, which back then was learning English and surrounding myself in the language, hence why I sought comfort in fanfiction.

My sister, whom I love dearly, is an English teacher. She would be so harsh on me, and I know she meant well. She really did. But it was so hard back then. I would come to her with creative writing in English and she would just roll her eyes and tell me I wasn't good enough.

Nowadays, she acknowledges that I am more proficient than her and more at ease with the language, and even tells my nephew to study English with me instead.

But back then, I needed someone to believe I could do better.

So, there is a part of me that is proud that I am able to deal with real-life fatigue by writing and finding enjoyment in this hobby. But a much darker part of me tells me I'm not worthy and that I simply got lucky.

The Arrangement means a lot to me. I tend to dive right into fandoms and start writing for the character that caught my eye.

But I couldn't do that for Astarion... I am still unsure why. For those of you who have been here from my Miguel O'Hara days or when I first started posting about Astarion, you'll know The Arrangement was the first thing I ever posted for him.

Took me 2 weeks to get the first chapter out because I kept thinking I couldn't find a voice for Astarion. One that felt like him. After all, I'm always a step behind because I am not a native speaker. There will always be that looming feeling that I can't convey this story properly.

Even if you now know me for my Astarion smut, that wasn't even the driving force of my love for him.

It took me 2 months to feel comfortable writing smut for him. Why? I don't even know.

But The Arrangement feels different.

I love writing it and I love taking my liberties with the plot.

It's my opportunity to fully showcase my love for him.

I know not everyone likes it. I know some of you have dropped it. Some of you will drop it. But some will walk along this path with me, and I can't stress enough how your feedback and love help keep these negative thoughts at bay.

It's an internal work, though. It is not your job to validate my writing skills. This is not what puts food on my table. I am not looking to be published. I am looking for an escape. And it's so frustrating when my mind tries to rob me of joy even when it comes to a hobby.

"If this is a hobby why does it matter what others think or if they like what you write? Just have fun. Write for yourself."

And I do write for myself, but I share my work because I am hopeful my words can make someone's day. I seek that connection I never had growing up. Perhaps it sounds silly, but it's what makes the most sense in my head.

The Arrangement should be my pride and joy even if not perfect (nothing ever is, I suppose). And I'm exhausted of not feeling proud of it. I'm tired of this vicious cycle of self-doubt.

Don't get me wrong. I love writing smut. I think that's what I'm best at (well, in my opinion). I love exploring Astarion this way, too, but...

I don't know where I'm going with this... if anyone has made it this far, thank you, and sorry for the word vomit...

[lightlycareless]

✨ consensual smut

Heya anon! Thank you so so so much for being patient with me!! I don't usually write smut that often so it does take me quite a while to do so, specially when I was already writing other things, but oh my god was this the perfect opportunity to write the nastiest thing I've written in my life. I have really no idea where this came from, I just—well, I just wanted to write it :))))))) and it's finally out.

Anyways, the warnings are: smut. straight up smut. oral, vaginal, anal, a bit of exhibitionism I believe, and yeah. Minors, do NOT interact pleaseeeee

So, without further ado, happy reading!!!

Sorcerers can be known as lonely wolves amongst the community from time to time; tending to keep to themselves, both inside and outside missions, for a wide variety of reasons.

Beginning with ego, preferring to brag about a job well done when completed by themselves (the riskier the job, the better). Saying you finished it with someone else just didn’t have the same impact.

Or… they didn’t like the competition, not like this, at least. It felt almost like cheating to “join forces”, circling back to the first point, where some would think that doing so would label them as weak, or worse, losing their ground.

And just as the story often goes, the higher the rank, the bigger the ego, and that would be the case with none other than Naoya Zen’in, who was anything but elated to hear that his next mission would be a team effort.

In other words, he’s going to be paired up with someone else. A fellow sorcerer.

You.

It wasn’t either’s fault, really. It’s just that the nature of both of your and his technique gave way to an unusual synergy.

You didn’t complain of this arrangement, being used to it due to you being more of a supportive sorcerer. If anything, this was just another Tuesday for you: same movie, different actor.

Oh, but for Naoya, this was the absolute worst.

“I’m not taking the mission” Naoya firmly declares. “So, find someone else to do it.”

You don’t say anything against Naoya’s words, for it was well known that while he didn’t like taking missions with others, he didn’t like taking missions with you. Or you in general, he just… can’t stand you. Why? No one knows, it’s just the way it is.

“But—Zen’in-sama—” his poor manager would always, always, try to rationalize with him, make him understand that every mission he’s assigned to is carefully catered to his talent, and not because they had something personal against him…

But it’s easier to move mountains that change Naoya’s opinion—and this always led him with problems with other fellow sorcerers and managers, having to profoundly apologize in his name whenever Naoya decides he’s too good for anyone else.

Thankfully, you were a good sport when it came to dealing with Naoya; since you were often paired together, you already knew how his tantrums would usually go.

Doesn’t mean you liked hearing every time.

Oh well, at least you’ve learned what to do to tune out his madness.

“It’s fine” you say. “If he doesn’t want to do it, I’ll gladly take the job myself.”

Naoya’s eye twitch.

“What, think you’re better without me?” he scoffs, it’s always your subtle arrogance that he hates the most.

“I didn’t say such thing” you responded, not bothering to look at him. “I just said that if you didn’t want to do the job, leave it to me. I’ll do it.”

“No—I’ll do it” Naoya frowns. “It’ll serve to show you how the job is done.”

The manager wasn’t happy Naoya ended up taking the mission by berating you, but… well, he was glad it worked.

And after overseeing the mission’s details one last time, your manager is the one that ends up driving the two towards the location where both would be spending the next few hours: an abandoned school just outskirts of the city.

To say that the drive there was awkward would be an understatement—it was overwhelmingly silent, tense, mostly from Naoya, who felt could be irked by the slightest mishap.

Your manager would try his best to ease this sensation, strike casual conversation by commenting on the weather, how work has been calm compared to other seasons, or how he knew that the two would finish this mission quickly, per usual fashion.

The only one answering would be you, though, in an attempt to escape this uncomfortable situation, but you were only able to do so much when Naoya’s occasional scoffs ruined the mood.

A discreet sigh of relief managed to escape your manager’s lips upon arriving, for it meant that he’d finally be freed of the crossfires of your and Naoya’s rocky relationship—he hated to desire this on you, but whatever happens from this point forward, it’s solely your issue.

“Check-ins are every hour” he reiterates. “All you need to do is—”

“Search the building, assess the amount of cursed energy, identify said energy, and get rid of any lingering curses.” You repeat, he smiles. Naoya rolls his eyes.

“Once done, just call me and I’ll pick you up.”

Aside from the irritation caused by the obvious flirting nature of your manager, Naoya was exasperated that he’d been essentially assigned to a recon mission. Why is he even considered for such things…?

“Thank you” you say, giving the manager one last nod; knowing his job to be done, the man turns around, gets into the car, and drives away.

Now alone, Naoya is the first one to voice his consistent displeasure for this arrangement.

“Let’s get this sham of a mission done.”

You remain silent as you trail him, careless if he was being followed by you or not, to the entrance, with him eventually opening the doors and stepping inside.

Naoya gives the main hallway a quick look of disdain, while well kept, the building has obviously been abandoned for quite some time. Nothing scary, not thrilling as he usually strives to partake—this really couldn’t be the worst mission of the—

“A school” you say, unsure if he knew.

“Huh?” he frowns, thoughts interrupted. He didn’t.

“This used to be a school back in the day.” You continue. “Apparently, this place has been plagued by rumors of curse sightings since forever, but it isn’t until one of those rumors was eventually linked to a gruesome incident that the principal decided to take them seriously, but it was too late; the parents were deeply upset by it and demanded the school to be closed. And that’s how it’s been since then.”

Naoya remains quiet, but his face carries a look that tells you he wasn’t interested in whatever history this place may or may not have, all he wants to do is finish and go back home.

You press your lips together, before sighing.

“From the top” Is the only thing Naoya says in response, and soon the two head to the last floor, starting to check every room from left to right. Naoya suggested that both go separately in order to cover more areas faster, but you counter by hinting that curses might know they’re there, so it was better to leave your technique set up to inform of future movements.

Naoya ends up unwillingly agreeing to your observation, staying behind as you set up a net of cursed strings, perfectly applied so that as soon as the slightest movement, disturbance, and all in between happens, you know of it.

Going through this same process through every room was tedious work by itself, enough for Naoya to slowly grow more and more irritated—but his emotions do not culminate until after you set up setting everything up and do one last checkup, coming to the realization that there was no threat to begin with.

No major cursed energy, or lingering curses. Nothing

Nada.

This whole mission had been for nothing, and all because everything was cleared before they even arrived.

And this made Naoya infuriated.

“Are you serious? We came here to an empty, ugly building that’s supposed to be filled to the brim with cursed energy, only to find out there’s literally nothing?! HQ is turning into a joke!” He hisses. “I should give them a piece of my mind when I return—who do they think they are, wasting the time of the Zen’in heir?! What are we supposed to do now?!”

He didn’t know what he was expecting as a response from you, possibly to agree with him, although you calling your manager to pick them up was very high up the list—but he can at least safely say that you gently wrapping your arms around him from behind and pulling him against you was not one of them.

An action so unexpected that it was enough to keep him silent while you rest your head against his back.

“I don’t like it when you get angry” you murmur softly. “It makes me sad.”

Any other person would’ve probably kept their distance from him, waited for him to cool down and then approach him. Or maybe never at all, depending of the severity of his words.

But that was for the majority, if not everyone else but you. Because the relationship you had with him was different, far from the fellow, heavily disliked sorcerer that has the misfortune of commonly getting paired up with him.

Oh, it was far more intimate than that. It was the reason why Naoya treated you the way he did, and why you treated him the way you did.

Why he had to act like he disliked you, like the mere thought of you was enough to make him vomit, no other woman in the world holding this privilege from him.

Because the two were dating—had been for a bit over a year now—and due to the noisy nature of their families and the prospects of their career, had to act like they didn’t.

“It’s not like I enjoy getting angry too, princess. But look at this shit show they pulled us into” he scowls, you feel him tense up a bit. “I’ve told them many times before that I don’t want these shitty missions when I’m clearly capable of doing more!”

“Not even with me?” you pout, gently squeezing him. He sighs.

“It’s nothing against you, baby” Naoya admits, placing his hands over yours. “I just can do more.”

“I know” you smile, hugging him tighter “I know you can do more.”

“What are going to do about this failure of a mission? I should report them for even putting us in something like this—”

“Actually, I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” You say, he raises an eyebrow. “Because I know why there’s nothing here to begin with.”

“And why do you know that…?”

“Because I was the one that cleared it out” you state proudly, he blinks.

“What? What do you mean you cleared it?” he frowns.

“It was easy—just had to ask my manager to inform me of any missions HQ was considering putting us together, and work from there.” You reveal. “And as soon as I knew the type of mission it was, I went ahead, cleared it up, and the rest is history.”

“How’d you get the manager to do that?” Naoya asks. “I thought we couldn’t—"

“Let’s say I’m very persuasive.” you chuckle, he frowns. “Not like that of course.”

“Didn’t look like it earlier…”

You pout.

“I just want you.” You murmur, he smirks.

“I know.”

Silence.

“So… what do we do know? What’s gonna happen to the paperwork? Or the rest of the hours…” Naoya asks, but thankfully, you’ve long anticipated all that, given the way your hands slowly trail down to the waistband of his hakama.

A gesture that unwillingly tenses him at first, before smirking.

“What’s gotten into you?” he teases, you pout.

“…What? It’s the first time we’re alone since a long time…”

“And that’s what got you in the mood?” He might be acting like he isn’t amused by your antics, like he’s above your feelings, but the reality was so different.

Naoya can admit that he wasn’t expecting this turn of events, but what he won’t deny is that he’s all for it.

You nod.

“I missed my boyfriend…” you murmur. “But I’m upset with you too.”

“Huh? What for?”

“Because of the way you were treating me. Acting like you hate me…”

“It’s just an act, baby—we can’t have them finding out our relationship.”

“You could’ve been a bit nicer.”

“I’m sorry” he chuckles, turning around to see you and your adorable face pouting at him. “Shall I make it up to you.”

You nod.

“Let me call a taxi, then. We can at least use the hours for—"

But you stop him before he can even reach for his phone, making him confused.

“I thought you wanted—"

“I can’t wait” you insist. “I need you now.”

Naoya’s eyes widen, and then, he smirks.

“I knew you were deprived—but never to this extent.”

You don’t respond, at least not with words, opting to instead pull on his collar and bring him down to face level, where you’d lips would take his into a heated kiss, your tongue moving past his lips and into his mouth, eagerly showing your desperation for him as your hands pull him even closer to you.

Naoya expresses the same sentiment by placing his arms around you, his hand on your back and the other behind your head, keeping you still but close to him—and whatever anger he had for this wrongly assigned mission is quickly discarded in favor of drowning in his desire for you.

The only reason they ever separated from the other is because of air, had this not been an issue, the two would’ve overlooked this detail and kept on like that.

However, another reason for this distance would be your needs, those that could only be met with something more than a kiss, so when you finally pull away from him, you waste no time guiding him into the next course.

“Let’s go upstairs—I know where.”

“Here?” Naoya breathes, somewhat dizzy from the kiss. You nod. “I wouldn’t call this the best place to do that.”

“I know… but I want to” you admit. “I’ve been planning this for a long time.”

“To do it on a mission?”

You bite your lip—Naoya’s cock twitches.

“You vixen…” he hisses, allowing you to take his hide and move to the stairs.

You never understood the thrill behind the exhibitionism of doing it on… anywhere, really. More so in morally correct places.

Like a school, for example, which was the most common place where you’d heard these things happen, more so when you were still a student.

Whenever professors discussed this distasteful situation amongst the class, reprimanding them in hopes of lessening their occurrence, you knew someone had recently been caught doing such a thing, which made your face scowl out of disgust, wondering who in their right mind would fuck at a high school??

And that’s what you consistently thought through your whole life… that is, until you met Naoya.

That’s when you understood why couples couldn’t keep hands off each other, no matter the place, no matter the time—and it didn’t help that Naoya was a really good lover…

So eventually, everything you did, everything you said, everything you breathed was for him.

It’s like you stopped existing all together, or more like you solely existed for him. Completely making you his.

Oh, how you loved Naoya.

And loved fucking him too.

So now that you get the thrill behind doing it in questionable places, you have a checklist of where you want to be with him. A mission just happened to be on the top of the list.

“On the second floor” you say. “We can do it there.’

“You really did plan everything, didn’t you?” he snickers, you squeeze his hand.

“I just missed you so much, Naoya…” you murmur.

“And you couldn’t wait for the weekend?”

You shake your head.

“I want you now.” You frown.

“Alright, alright—I’m all yours.”

The two eventually arrive to an abandoned classroom, one you previously disclosed as adequately prepared for your… lascivious activities, due to the desk it had. Once inside, you waste no time to push Naoya against the wall and begin to kiss him passionately yet again, with your fingers nimbly unbuttoning his shirt, throwing it to the floor before moving onto his pants, untying his belt and easing him out of the garment, leaving him with nothing but his underwear and his hardening cock.

The sight of his bulge makes you smile, finding it adorable that even the smallest of gestures could get him like this; it was flattering, really, the effect you had on your boyfriend… and it just made your desire for him grow even more.

“Y/N—” he moans against your lips, hands trailing all over your body, starting by your breasts, kneading them harshly before going down to your waistband, tugging and pulling at it as if to urge you to act. “Y/N—take off your clothes, now.”

His wish is granted soon after, with you quickly removing your skirt and tossing onto the nearby pile of clothes, giving him a sight that makes his breath hitch up to his throat.

If his cock wasn’t completely hard by your previous actions, it is now.

“You’re not wearing underwear” He breathes. “All this time, at the car—you were wearing nothing.”

“I wanted to be ready” you say. “I didn’t want to waste my time with silly things.”

“Fuck—Y/N” he laughs. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

You don’t respond, instead, you get down on your knees, pulling down his boxers and taking out his cock, which now sprung completely up to life.

“Maybe” you lick your lips—his size remains impressive even after all this time. “Most definitely after this”

You wrap your hands around his throbbing member, relishing it’s warmth underneath your skin as you stroke it, eventually leaning forward, giving it a kiss before taking out your tongue and circling the tip with him.

Naoya hisses at the warm, wet sensation of your tongue teasing over and over again the head of his cock, before it moved down to the shaft, passing through the prominent vein on the underside and eventually settling at the base, where you’d fondle at his balls also giving them a kiss, before finally taking him into your mouth. 

Keeping eye contact with him was of your upmost priority when doing this, because the sight of his tightly shut eyes, clenched jaw, and the harsh grapples to your hair, always made you coo. For as much as he liked to behave arrogantly, as if he were above indulging in these pleasures, it really didn’t take much for him to succumb to your touches.

You take him deeper and deeper into your mouth, only stopping when his cock was finally nestled deep into your throat, nose touching his pelvis, and staying there as to get used to the intruding sensation.

Once you do, you do not hesitate to pull back, all the way up to the tip as you slid your tongue against his shaft, before pushing your head back down and taking him completely once more, bobbing your head up and down, loudly slurping as your tongue licked whatever on it’s way, covering his cock with a thick layer of your saliva so as to prepare him for what’s to come.

As you continued to do so, Naoya slowly began to feel more and more warm, mind going fuzzy at the sight of you earnestly devouring him, with the sounds of your slurps, or the fact that you were completely naked before him, sucking him off in a place he would’ve never once considered, highlighting your true debauched nature underneath that innocent play you always put up.

His orgasm was already on its way the moment your mouth graced his cock, been thinking of nothing but seeking his own release, grappling the back of your head and moving you to his pace of preference—but the moment you look up to him, with those damned doe eyes that always drove him crazy, is when he finally knows he’s about to cum.

So, he tightly grapples your head even further, keeping a steady speed he knows will make him cum soon enough, more so when you’re moaning and groaning, sending vibrations to his cock that just make his knees buckle, fingers dwindling their hold on you as his breath becomes ragged, more erratic, lightheartedly debating whether to finish inside the warmness of your mouth, or raunchily mark your face with his seed—one thing is for sure, no matter what he chooses, he’d loose whatever inhibitions he had left.

However, that was not something for him to decide, perhaps never was, for the moment you hear a familiar whimper from his mouth, the one that let you know he was near, you pushed your head further into him, taking his cock completely and placing your hands on his legs to keep him from moving, which he immediately tried to do when startled by your intentions.

“Y/N—Y/N” He breathes, trying his best to not completely succumb to his pleasures, but of course, that was nothing but silly dreaming of his. And in a deeper part of himself, he didn’t want to miss out on this. “I’m going to—”

It didn’t take long for him to come undone. Not when you continued to bob your head up and down his shaft, groaning and moaning at every movement, licking just where you knew he liked, making his cock twitch and then—thick spurts of his seed fill your mouth, it’s warmth briefly burning your tongue before swallowing whole, hollowing your cheeks so as to not allow any of it spill and quickly liking your lips to clean up any remnants once you free his cock from your grip.

You’d look up to him, with a flustered, expectant look that gave off the idea you were looking for approval, his commendation for a job well done, for taking him like a good girl…

Or not—

Because Naoya wouldn’t be able to say a word before you’re him back into your mouth, and wasting no time to do the same as before, bobbing your head up and down, all with the intentions of making him cum once more.

Naoya wasn’t even done coming down from the mind-numbing sensation his first orgasm gave him, before he’s already on his way for the second—and it’s here that he realizes he might’ve underestimated your lust, making him worry, for the first time in his life, what the hell is going to happen to the mission.

“Y/N—you—what’s—what’s gotten into you?!” He breathes, doing his best to distract himself from the heat and nasty slurps coming your mouth, the lewd noise of your fingers now swiftly playing with your dampened cunt, and the possibility that called your intense actions to be result of being possessed by a demon of lust—or—or something!

“The—the mission!”                                                                                                  

Naoya would whimper, not that he really cared for something he didn’t even want from the very start, but that was all he could muster in defense of the overwhelming pleasures you were giving him, causing you to slowly free his cock from your warm mouth, tip connected to your lips by a string of saliva.

“We were given 3 hours to complete this mission, weren’t we?” you breathe, licking your lips. Naoya nods. “Then we’re going to be just fine…”

If this is how it’s going to be for the next hours, Naoya isn’t so sure he’ll live to tell the tale…

But if he was being completely honest, however, the thought of being completely subdued in pleasure with the woman he loves most, alongside the unconventional place this was all partaking in, is one that has him thrilled with anticipation, a debauchery he didn’t think himself capable of ever experiencing in his life, yet here he is, proved wrong.

So, after you reassure him for the second time that day that the mission was taken care of, he completely gave himself to you.

You’d end up making him come two more times before finally freeing him of his torment, giving him one last clean, pick-up whatever traces of cum were left behind with your tongue, before giving the tip a kiss, standing up soon after and removing what was left of your clothes, the two now completely naked.

From there, Naoya seizes your lips into a heated kiss where he was able to taste both himself and you before placing his hands over your waits and guide you to the nearby desk, where he intends to take you for the first time that day.

“Turn around” he breathes in between kisses, expecting you to obey, but instead of doing so, you whine.

“No— I don’t wanna.” you pout, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, kissing him again.

“Really, princess?” he smirks, loving the vivid contrast in your behavior: acting all shy as if you weren’t a complete, desperate whore seconds ago. “What do you want, then?”

“I want to ride you” you confess, and to your words, all he can do is chuckle out of amusement.

“What’s gotten into you?” he says—you’re rarely this assertive, always the one to let him take control instead (although he’s the one that pushes himself into that position, you just let him)

But now, you’re all over him, and not only that, but you seem to have a clear vision of what you want, he was only there for the ride.

And this… was so much better than he ever thought it would be.

“I missed you, baby…” you murmur, pulling him closer to you. “I missed you so, so much.”

His heart squeezes with longing at your adorableness, and the desire to please you in anything you wanted, anything you said, completely overrules any previous sentiment.

Yet, there’s another side of him that stops him from it—tells him to not comply easily.

That he could make you work for it a bit before finally indulging you, especially after the way you treated him a few moments ago. And could you blame him? It’s all in his teasing nature, to see you beg for him in the same adorable way you’ve done before.

Something he knows you also love no matter how much you complain about it.

“If you’re always going to be this needy, then maybe we should keep apart for longer—”

But his teasing stops being fun when you, instead of begging him as he was expecting to see, give him a stern frown, followed by pressing your hands against his chest and beginning to push him away, showing how annoyed you were by his “playful” suggestion, which had nothing of playful—to you, it was straight up hurtful, because you truly did miss him…

And Naoya is quick to react, giving you a soft chuckle before pulling you closer to him—you keep retaliating.

“Ah, don’t be like that princess.” Naoya coos. “You know I was just teasing.”

But you don’t respond, instead, you look away, trying to peel away from the kisses he began to place on your cheek, down to your jaw, and to your neck…

“That not—that’s not nice” you whine. “I don’t like being away from you for too long….”

“I know, I know… I can see that” he murmurs. “and feel it too.”

Naoya doesn’t give you any further warning before plunging his fingers deep into your cunt, moving them in a scissoring motion to stretch your walls as much as possible, only to find himself with failure, a feeling that proved to be much sweeter than what one could imagine, for he wholeheartedly relished on the fact that the tightness of your walls barely allowed him to move his fingers, less stretch you as he initially anticipated.

If anything, all he could do was tease and rub the spots he just knows would make you come undone, which he started to prepare given the way you began to squirm and whine against him, tightly holding onto his arm as you try to move him away, make him stop, but the forming waves of your orgasm just made your mind warm, fuzzy, the closer and closer you got to your release.

“N—No—Naoya!” you gasp, closing your eyes. “I don’t—I don’t want it like this!”

“Oh, I thought you did, my love.” He teases back, fingers unrelenting. Naoya just loves seeing you getting a taste of your own medicine. “After all, you’re squeezing my fingers so tightly, you’re going to cut them off!”

And the thought that his cock will be in the same predicament in just a few moments… it’s enough to harden him even more.

How do you even do it?

“No… please” you whine again, unwillingly clenching on his fingers. Naoya hisses.

“Then what do you want—tell me what do you want” He breathes against your ear, moving one of his fingers to your bud and teasing it, mercilessly, and this is when Naoya finally feels you’re seconds away from cumming.

“I want to ride you” you cry desperately, almost as if depriving you for one more second of your release would be your death. “I want to ride you, Naoya—please, please, please.”

And who is he to deny his princess, after she begged so nicely?

“Alright, baby” he says, freeing his fingers from your warm tightness and licking the remnants of your slick; the sudden void inside your cunt made you whine in protest, but you were swiftly quieted with a heated kiss, where he’d moan against your lips, before smiling, pulling away, and signaling the beginning of the long day ahead of him.

“I’m all yours.”

Already drunken with his presence, you waste no time guiding him onto the nearby pile of clothes, which you used to form some kind of mat for him to lay on, gently pushing him so he’d lay his back completely onto the floor before proceeding to straddle him.

Naoya’s hands rest on your hips as you begin to accommodate yourself by lightly raising your hips and grabbing his cock with your left hand, rubbing the shaft against your dampened cunt for lubrication, before aligning the tip towards your tight rim.

You were just less than a few seconds away from pushing the head of his cock into you, seconds that seemed eternal to both you and Naoya, but even when completely captivated by your hypnotizing pleasures, your boyfriend was still able to remember one last caution, snapping out of the alluring sight of his cock millimeters away of entering your cunt and using his hands to stop you in place, an action that made the impatient you frown and look to him in turn.

“Baby—the condom” Naoya explains. And while he’s loved the idea of fucking you raw for as long as he could remember, he wasn’t ready for the risks that came after.

But just as you hinted, you had meticulously prepared everything for this evening, down to the smallest details—and there was nothing that would ruin it. Not even the scare of a baby.

“I’m on the pill” you murmur, moving your hips against him. Naoya groans. “Today, I only want your cum to be inside me—whether on my mouth, pussy… Or ass”

Truly, he must’ve died and gone to heaven.

“You’re amazing.” He whispers, before hissing when you finally decide to sit down on him, plunging the head of his cock past your tight rim and into your warm walls, groaning as his member is now completely engulfed in dizzying tightness of your cunt, slowly stretched as he moves deeper and deeper, until he’s bottomed completely, nestling just by your cervix.

Once he felt he’s gotten as profound as he could, Naoya sighs, tossing his head back and enjoying how you slowly begin to jump up and down his cock, as if testing the speed, before finding a pace of your liking and committing to it—his hands, while resting on your hips, do nothing to control you, instead he just lets you guide him through your pleasure, letting you use him as your own personal sex toy, while taking care of his pent up stress caused by this stupid mission and other endeavors.

His mind turns into a blur at the sight of your tits bouncing before him, which he didn’t take long to take a hold of, fondling and pinching to his liking which in turn caused you to moan louder, barely overcoming the lewd noises of your skin slapping against him, which he knew would’ve made him cum instantly had he gotten the fortune of seeing your ass bouncing before him instead.

But what he gets is good too, specifically your contorted face, eyes tightly shut, mouth agape and letting out your lovely voice, which sweetly whined and moaned his name whenever his cock hit that sensitive spot, and as loud as your heart desired for there was no one around to hear.

“I’m going to run out of a name, my love” Naoya would still find it in him to tease you, even when you relentlessly continued to bounce over him. And on the same note, he would still overestimate the neediness in your actions, given the way you’d respond, hazily looking down to him.

“I love you.” You murmur, leaning into his face for a kiss, which he obliges all too happily. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

You’d chant between kisses, squeaking every so often when he plunges his hips upwards, directly ravaging your sensitive spot.

“You’re so adorable, Y/N” He breathes, continuing to rut against you. “So pretty, so cute—How did manage to get so lucky?”

His words seem to have a positive effect on you, as seen with the tightening of your walls and the loudness of your moan while hastily moving against him, up and down his cock to achieve that ecstatic rush, that sensation that makes your head go blank and your vision white.

“Nao—Naoya—” you stammer, gasping as you lean back up while continuing to jump on him. “Naoya—I’m—I’m almost—"

“I know, baby—I know” he hisses, having felt your orgasm building up long ago by the way your hips sloppily moved against him, the hindering of your fingers intertwined with his, and of course, the drunken look on your face, slightly crossed eyed, cheeks flustered, evidently made from nothing but pleasure.

The perfect excuse to tease you—he just had to.

Thus, he presses his hands deeper into your hips, with such force that manages to stop you from moving, keeping you still no matter how much you tried, much to your dismay.

“Naoya” You try to give him the benefit of the doubt, but his sly smirk tells you all. “Stop it—please.”

“What? I’m not doing anything” he says. “You keep doing you, baby—”

“Stooop iiiiit!!” you whine once more, trying to remove his hands, but his fingers only dent deeper into your skin. “Naoya! I want to cum!”

“I’m not stopping you” he chuckles. “Come on—show me how much you want to cum.”

Pressing your lips together, you frown.

If he’s going to play like that, then you guess you could give him a taste of his own medicine, see how he likes being teased too.

“I don’t want it anymore” you say. “I’m leaving—you can get off by yourself!”

“Don’t be silly, Y/N—"

“I don’t care” you interject. “And while you stay here, I’m going out there to find someone that will fuck me good—maybe even better…”

Oh.

Oh.

Is that how you’re going to play? Oh, you’ve done it now.

“Excuse me?” Naoya frowns. “What did you just say?”

“I’m going to find someone that will give me what I want.” You continue, a bit satisfied by the anger showing in his face—he didn’t like it so much now, did he? “Whenever I want it, and when I want it.”

“Oh, is that so?” he murmurs darkly. “That’s what you’re going to do? Find another man to fuck you?”

“Yes, I am—so if you excuse, I have to fi—”

You don’t even know how or when Naoya gained control over you, only that you were now on his position, with your back laying against the ground, legs raised over his shoulders and pressed against your torso while his arms encased you, all whilst looking down at you with such fury in his eyes that lets you know you’ve personally offended him.

“Do you think anyone else can do what I do?!” He hisses. “Think anyone can fuck you as I do? Make you cum as I do?!”

He’s asking as if he’s searching for a response, but you both knew he wasn’t, not when he began to plunge deep into your cunt once again, fast, deep, like a mad man completely lost in both his lust and anger, berating you once again.

“You’re wrong” He groans, huffing as his skin slaps against yours, keeping you closer, tighter, and beneath him. “You’re wrong Y/N—you’re mine.”

You moan, tightening at his words.

“You’re wrong—all of you is mine, you’re mine, mine, mine, mine!” Naoya groans, completely in trance for the warmth of your pussy and the anger in his mind, the jealousy, for the barest notion of you being out there with someone else was enough to do so—he wouldn’t allow it. Couldn’t allow it, you’re his and only his.

And he—he would die if it weren’t that way.

“Naoya—” you cry, his harsh ministrations managing to bring tears out from your eyes, but far from being those of pain, it was nothing but pure pleasure, as if you haven’t been losing yourself to that sensation moments ago,

There was just something of his possessiveness that always drove you to the edge, his dominance which you could never fight, allowing him to stretch your cunt in ways you didn’t think possible, ravaging your cervix as quickly, yet painfully good, in an unrelenting way you just had to take it.

And you loved it.

Naoya thought he’d gotten control of you, but really, you played him like a fiddle; knew what buttons to push, what words to say to rile him up.

In your defense, though, you didn’t like how arrogant he was being, more so after disclosing how much you missed him, past the way he was actively avoiding you even if it were to keep up appearances.

Besides, you doubt he’s going to care that much after this, considering the way he’s plummeting against you.

“Yeah—say my name” he groans against your ear, pushing your legs deeper towards your chest, keeping you there to treat you like a toy, his own cumdump, and nothing more. “Say the name of the one that’s making you cum, whore!”

“Na—Naoya~” you whine with each thrust, a surge of hotness washing over your body at the lewd name. Any other moment you would’ve refuted him, but here, like this—yeah, you were his whore.

The only one.

“Naoya, Naoya! I’m—It’s so—It’s so good! I’m going to cu—”

“Take it” he hisses, leaning impossibly closer to you—and you feel as if you’re about to pass out. “Take what I give you—take my cum—take me, take me!!”

The desperation on his voice, alongside the subtle twitch of his cock and the sloppiness of his hips tell you his very, very close to his orgasm.

The louder his groans, the hotter his breath felt against your ear, the more you shivered underneath him, and when he hits that one angle, you tightly close your eyes shut, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, whimpering his name one last time and then— your mind goes blank.

Naoya cums, spilling his warm, sticky seed as far and deep as he could into your cunt, coating every inch of your walls as he fills you to the brim—a sensation that only heightens your orgasm, eyes dizzy and mouth agape as your walls tighten once more, letting the waves of your release numb your body, all while he keeps you in place, forcing you to take all of him, just as he promised.

It might’ve been his 4th load of the day, but Naoya still felt like there was so much he could give, especially after seeing you like this, prettily sprayed out underneath him, taking his seed like a good girl while you proclaim your love for him, chanting it as some kind of mantra that would kill you if you didn’t continue to do so, even for the briefest of seconds…

Could he really be blamed if he desired to continue, after seeing all this? Besides, this was barely the minimum to make up for the weeks you’ve spent apart from him, he needed much more than that.

After coming down from the haze of his orgasm, Naoya gives you one last look before smiling.

Naoya wasn’t lying when he asked how he’d gotten so lucky to find a partner as perfect as you; he just… couldn’t believe that he had managed to find his better half in this life, or at all, when he once considered himself to be a skeptic in these matters.

But he did. Naoya found the one that would accept him as he was, with his defects, his faults, his virtues, and achievements. Someone that would look at him lovingly, even after ravaging them, and still seek for their affection, just as you were doing right now by weakly reaching for his lips and softly kissing him—undoubtedly reeling in the aftereffects of your first orgasm of the day.

…

…

…

Yes.

There’s no denying it, he had to admit it now.

The fact that even though you were the first one to declare how much you missed him, and planned all this as consequence of such, he was the one that missed you the most, and was ecstatic to hear that the main thing that kept the two apart would finally bring them together.

Oh, how he hated it when his duties as sorcerer came in between the two. How he also had to act like he didn’t care for you, show disdain at the mere mention of your name, see how others wished to pursue something more intimate with you, and not be able to tell them you were already his.

There’s not a single day he doesn’t think about you.

In fact, you’re all he ever thinks about—you.

You.

You.

“I love you” overflowing with affection for you, he eventually murmurs, leaning down to kiss you. “I love you, Y/N.”

You give him a soft smile, heart flourishing upon hearing the words you’ve always wanted to hear from him—the things that he’d only disclose when in the confines of your arms, away from the prying eyes of the world, and just between the two.

“I love you too, Naoya.” you whisper back, softly kissing him.  And something about your soft gesture, the tenderness behind your voice or the way your cunt twitched ever so lightly, immediately springs his cock back to life, wasting no time to slowly rutting his hips against you once again, making you whine in turn for you were still sensitive past your orgasm…

But that didn’t matter, not when you’ve already lost all inhibitions, allowing yourself to dive into the pleasure the man you love was giving you, and forgetting the world around you.

Naoya would take you once more in that position before moving you to your knees, amongst his favorite ways to take you, where he’d be able to knead and slap your ass to his liking, marking it bright red to the point where he’d knew you’d have issues doing the simplest of tasks such as sitting down—but it’s ok, he reassures you, he’s going to make it up to you just the way you begged him to; starting by filling you with his cum over and over again.

He'd didn’t want to move from this position, certainly not after seeing how eagerly you were throwing your hips back to him, putting up a pace even he considered to be unusual for you, but he doesn’t fight it, if anything, he allows you to take lead  it’s the least you deserve after treating his cock so nicely, squeezing it just how he likes it, or frantically keeping it warm as given the way you’d reach for his cock whenever it would accidentally slip out of your cunt, quick to put it back in and continue.

“Aren’t you the desperate one?” He laughs, his right hand loudly smacking your ass as he continued to plunge his hips against you, the sharp pain makes you moan, but not falter in your pace. If anything, you just go faster. “What? You’re too fucked dumb to answer me now?”

“Naoya—Naoya please” you whine, eyes closed, tears falling down your cheeks, thinking in nothing but the way his cock stretches and fills you deliciously, rubbing all the right places not even your fingers would dream of achieving. “I want to cuuummmm!”

Wanting to take you up on your offer, Naoya then moves to your ass. He begins by down before him, ass up, allowing him to place his fingers right into your tight hole, stretching and teasing to ease the pain he knows you’re going to feel in the beginning.

And while you were delighted that he was doing so, in more ways than one, it wouldn’t take long before his good-natured intentions began to frustrate you, specifically because he seemed to be leaning more into the teasing side of things, doing so for what you considered an eternity.

“Hurry up, Naoya!” you’d whine, moving your hips to denote desperation, but he just chuckles.

“I don’t want to hurt my princess’ ass.” He says, curling his fingers inside you and making you gasp. “Who’s going to keep my cock warm if Ido?”

“You can—you can always use my pussy….” You breathe, and he has to stop himself from—wait. Does he even have to?

“You’re a whore, did you know that?” Naoya smirks, spreading one of your cheeks as he finally presses the tip against your rim.

“Yes—but only your whore.”

Even as malicious as Naoya can be, more so after the way you teased him and the hypnotic state the pleasures of your body put him under, he was still able to contain himself while moving into your ass, showing his gentleness—always reserved for you, of course— by leaning forward and kissing your cheek whenever you groaned out of what he considered discomfort, patiently moving his cock alongside your walls, letting you get used to the sensation, while asking you if you were ok.

“Does it hurt?” He’d whisper, kissing you softly.

“N—no…” you murmur back, instinctively squeezing his cock. “I’m ok.”

And the cute way you respond makes him smile, giving you one last kiss before pushing deeper and faster into your ass once you tell him you’re ready to continue.

He keeps a steady pace, one that makes both see stars, specifically Naoya who has yet to make sense as to how could you possibly squeeze him so tight, but keeping him rooted in reality, enough to hold you close to him, reassuring you it was fine whenever you whined, or praising you for being a good girl and taking him whole, like you always did.

Naoya ends up losing count of how many times he’s cum by that point, and you didn’t care to keep count either, for all that both could care about was staying as close as possible, until neither knew where one began and the other ended.

Both just wanted to think of each other, of their body, their warmth, the safety they felt when together, as well as the passion of their desires—their adoration.

The thought that the two were perfect for one another, in more ways than one, was constant, but today, it was nothing but clear.

It’s all that resonated inside Naoya’s mind as he thrusted deep inside you. Not even the need for a break was enough to sway him away from it, even after going at it for hours, forgetting to do the hourly check-in’s they were supposed to do—and that was nothing but the fault of the lewd sight before him, of his cum having filled you to the brim to the point that whenever he moved his cock drops would flood past your rim.

The rest of the world could burn, for all they cared, but as long as they had each other, that’s all they needed. That’s all they wanted—

He doesn’t think he can do it anymore.

Deny his feelings any longer, not when he’s given this, relentlessly, lovingly; a warmth that made him feel at ease whenever near, wanting nothing but to be in your arms, see your face, hear your voice.

Feeling himself become delirious if you’re not there, to the point of throwing everything overboard if he doesn’t get to see you soon.

These weeks were pure agony, and Naoya doesn’t want to handle that kind of pain anymore. Not when he can feel like this, every day, for the rest of his life.

Even as weeks passed, his sentiments to you remained the same. Unbudging, if only growing stronger…

You were his heart, his home…

And perhaps… it was time to let you know.

So, while holding you tight, in place, and against him, Naoya would cum one more time, softly groaning against your ear before moving to your lips, where he’d catch them into a tender kiss, eventually revealing the desire that has been on his mind for a while, but only now was his heart ready to disclose.

“Marry me.” He’d murmur, his tone gentle, sweet, hinting nothing but the truth behind his words—

Yet, caught by surprise, all you could do is freeze against him, tensing underneath his hold as you wondered if you heard wrong—or perhaps… correctly?

“Wh—what?” you whisper, as if afraid to have heard wrong… or perhaps, correctly?

“Marry me, Y/N. Move in with me” he breathes, giving you another kiss. “And marry me.”

“Naoya…” you murmur, but too enthralled in his excitement, he continues to ramble on.

“Come with me to the estate, or we can buy an apartment—it doesn’t matter. But don’t leave me alone anymore. I can’t—I can’t live without you any longer. So please, marry me.” Naoya begs while his face on the crook of your neck, as if embarrassed, but eagerly waiting for your answer.

But instead, he’s received with silence, alongside the acknowledgment of the tension of your body against him, and the undeniably lack of excitement he thought you’d have for his words, for he believed you’d feel the same, and such, he slowly began to realize that maybe he should’ve kept it to himself.

There was a reason why he was afraid of being disappointed, after all, and why you hadn’t said anything of the like before.

If you wanted to marry him, perhaps you would’ve let him know by now. But you hadn’t, and now, he asks himself why he ignored his instincts for something so fleeting, ruining what little time both had for one another.

“Forget it, Y/N.” He begins, pulling away from you. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was uncalled for, something at the heat of the moment, I didn’t mea—"

“Do you… mean it?” you begin, low as a whisper, but loud enough for him to stop. He could hear the fear in your voice, his heart squeezing with sadness, making him feel even more guilty. “Do you really… want to marry me?”

“I never knew I wanted something so much… until I met you.” Naoya immediately says, in his usual fashion to see you happy, more so when seeing the corners of your eyes begin to tear up—whether remnants of previous activities, of because of this surprise… he doesn’t care, he’s quick to cup your face and softly kiss them away. “I love you, Y/N. And I want to spend the rest of my days with you.”

“Are you… sure?” You ask, a hesitance that reflects fear of being hurt, or that this was nothing but a dream; too good to be true.

But if there’s one thing you’ve come to know about Naoya, is that even in his playful nature, he’d never, ever lie to you. Less with the intention of hurting you. Not when he’s already told you over and over again, that you’re the love of his life.

“I mean it. I mean all of it.” He’d reassure you, thumbs swiping your tears. “I want to be with you for the rest of my life, and the next one, and the one after that, if you allow me.”

You tried to find any hint of deceit, anything that might indicate he was lying; but as mentioned before, Naoya is a man that holds no fear when it comes to being assertive, and as all that surrounds you, he’s nothing but honest.

“So please” He murmurs as he slowly begins to rut against you once again, pressing his lips against your neck and making your breath hitch. “Marry me.”

You moan, beginning to feel pressure building up in your cunt for the nth time as he continues to chant the words you’ve longed to hear since the moment you knew he was your soulmate.

“I love you, Y/N’ he breathes, clenching his teeth as the buildup of his orgasm comes far earlier than he anticipated, perhaps it was the sensibility of this tender moment, or because you just had something that drove him crazy; but he doesn’t give it much attention, nor does he care how many times he’s cum or how much he’s got left. All that matters is being with you, close, like this—and the notion that this might be a permanent thing now, if you so desired it. “Marry me, my love.”

That he’ll come back from a long day of work to the home the two will build, and you’ll be there, waiting for him, as loving and adorable as you always are, ready to ease his sorrows away.

“I love you.”

Naoya ends up coming inside you at the thought, all whilst holding you tightly against him, taking in your scent, while you remain still arms wrapped around him and taking one more load, which you thought to be impossible since your tummy felt full beyond capacity, proven right when his seed begins to drip out your cunt and beneath you, a clear fault against your condition; but a minor complaint when it comes to what just happened.

You just wanted to focus on the man who just disclosed his desires to be with you… and telling him that you want the same thing.

“I do.” You whisper back, this time, you cup his face. “I want to marry you—I love you.”

And so, you seal your compromise to him by wrapping your arms around him and kissing him; your cunt equally holding onto him as his cock twitches a few more time, letting out the last spurs of his seed.

A sensation that warms your heart when you imagine that one day, you’d be doing the same thing in hopes of having a child.

But for now, you’d both continue to enjoy each other’s bodies, now with another level of adoration and anticipation for the future, until of course, Naoya decided it was time to be the responsible one, much to his dismay for he would’ve liked to not be, when said future begins to concern him—specifically, how long has it been since the two started.

“What—what time is it?” Naoya breathes, taking a deep breath as he lays beside you, resting as he slowly comes down from his nth bliss that day; he’d been in a constant state of fuzziness, it’s a mystery how he even thought of anything but you.

“I don’t know…” you murmur back, following him by placing your head over his shoulder, draping one of your arms around him and sighing contently. “But it’s still not enough for me…”

“Princess, as much as I’d like to stay inside you all day, we need to get back.” He says, you pout.

“Do we really?”

“I never thought I’d say this myself, but we have… duties to tend to.” You sigh again.

“Fine, I guess you’re right, but… we can’t leave like this.” You say, and the devilish smirk on your face passes undetected to him. “We need to get cleaned up.”

“What do you propose?”

It was quite easy, and nothing Naoya could disagree to at first, until he eventually realized this was just an extension of your lust, not willing to let him go just yet—but even then, he complied.

You’d have him lay down on the floor again this time, giving him a quick peck before you carefully hovered over him, adjusting yourself in a way that set his cock right before you while you pussy faced his. Once ready, you began to lower yourself over him in a position that easily allowed his tongue to tease your walls, while you, his cock.

Naoya slightly shudders when you take his cock in your mouth once again, beginning to do what you claimed to be cleaning, although he knew better than that, specifically by the way you’d lick the edge between the tip and his shaft, the areas you knew as sensitive, and how he ends up coming not so long after that.

“I thought you were supposed to be cleaning me.” He breathes; Naoya might be “annoyed” by your deceiving act, but it’s nothing but a hypocritical act for he ends up making you cum as well. “You’re just getting me dirtier.”

“Re—Really?” you whine, instinctively clenching your walls against his tongue by your orgasm. “Try not to get hard then…”

“That’s impossible” he says, clenching his teeth when your tongue licks that same vein that was always have him grow sensitive. “Not when I have my slutty wife’s cunt in front of me.”

At his words, you moan, unknowingly pressing your pussy into his face, making him grab your hips instead and keep you there, moving his tongue deeper into you and inciting another orgasm out of you.

Neither you nor Naoya know how they’re going to make it to the rest of the day, feelings virtually sucked dry by their strenuous actions, yet unwillingly to let go of the other; seems like the two were far more pent up than initially disclosed.

But even then, neither considered too bad—specially Naoya, who was thrilled by the notion that you would have to dress up in your uniform once again, head back to headquarters with your pussy filled with his cum, and with nothing, not even some panties to hold his seed from sliding down your thighs.

It certainly doesn’t make him want to “clean” your cunt as initially planned, not when it twitched so beautifully before him, as if teasing him, his seed overflowing past your rim, evidence of the countless times he marked you as his.

Well, he guesses he could reward her for her arduous work instead, succumbing to do so by beginning to softly kiss it, relishing on the combined flavor of his seed and your slick, a taste that immediately has him moaning, cock hardening as well. 

You moan too upon feeling his cock harden inside your mouth, instinctively pushing your hips deeper into him, completely smothering him.

“Naoya—” you breathe, pulling away from his cock once his tongue graces a sensitive side of your walls that has you clenching on him. “Naoya—”

He only groans in response, particularly louder than before, coarser too, which only makes you feel prouder, hotter, as if he were enjoying himself even more than before. Did this really have to stop?

“Ah, yes, Naoya—” you whine, curling your toes. “Right there—Naoya, right—There!”

And your beloved future husband obliges, prodding and pushing his tongue just where you wanted, how you wanted it, pushing you closer to your release while greatly relishing your taste, as you imagined so due to the incessant, loud groans he was giving you. It was such your enjoyment for both your and his pleasure, that the need to turn around and see him began to overrule your senses.

You definitely want to lose the adorable face he must be having right now, didn’t want to miss this type of intimacy after being so far apart from one another; so without much time to waste, you give up on his cock, giving his shaft one last lick and the tip a quick kiss before licking your lips clean and leaning back, carefully to not hurt him as he kept eating you out, until you felt safe enough to turn around and see him.

The anticipation was killing you, you wanted to see him! But… just as you raised your dizzy eyes, thanks to the orgasm he was able to put you through that every moment, something before you catches your attention, temporarily hindering your movements as you attempted to focus your vision…

Running cold when you finally manage to see what it was, completely petrified when realizing the following revelations: one, that the groans you once believed came from Naoya and his undisputable enjoyment didn’t come from him, but rather, someone else.

And two, that the place was not as curse-free as you previously proudly assessed.

In other words, the one groaning had been a curse all along (Whether it had been aware of your activities from the very start, or just noticed it, you don’t know.) But most importantly, you’ve let your guard down and now placed both in danger, delicately so, since the two were in a very, very vulnerable position!

All sense of lust you had for Naoya quickly disappeared into thin air, now replaced with the urgency of leaving the goddamn classroom and getting him into safety.

“Naoya” you fret, trying to move, but he keeps you in place by the tight hold of his hands on your body. Great! “Naoya!”

“Yeah—yeah I know” he groans, completely consumed by your cunt—any other moment, you would’ve loved this, but now—this wasn’t the right time! “Keep squeezing my tongue, baby. You’re so cute when you—”

“No, Naoya!” you squeal. “It’s not that!”

Naoya has heard you scream a plethora of ways, most of them of his authorship—but even when this tone was scarce, he was still able to recognize it as one he did not want to hear from you ever in his life, certainly not like this, on the moment you should’ve been feeling nothing but worshiped.

So, alarms quickly begin to ring in his head, finally lifting his attention from your ass to you, wondering what could’ve put you in such a rush, eyes widening when finding out soon after.

“Y/N!” he gasps. Naoya doesn’t bother to ask why, or how such thing appeared before you, instead he focuses on maneuvering you off him and keeping you away from the imminent danger, swiftly using his technique to do just that.

Once Naoya completely exorcizes the curse out of existence, he was finally able to focus on you, regaining his breath as he tried to calm down the commotion.

“Are you ok?” he asks, to which you hesitate to respond at first, but you eventually nod.

“Yeah—I’m… I’m ok.” You breathe, trying to fight off the guilty beginning to settle into your heart; the one caused by the mere miscalculation of your surveillance. “But—"

Or worse, how you now compromised this area and mission, simply because you were too excited to see Naoya again…

“But the—the mission—I—what have I done?” you gasp, clasping your hands over your mouth once guilty finally roots itself in your mind. “Oh, Naoya—what did I—"

“Don’t worry about it” Naoya quickly intervenes, hating to see you like this, quickly wrapping his arms around you to take away your concerns. As stated before, he didn’t care about how the cursed spirit came to be, he just worried about your safety. “Sometimes curses can pass undetected, even to the most talented of sorcerers.”

“But I’m—I’m supposed to be one of the best!” you fuss. “How—why—”

“What matters is that we’re both ok.” Naoya reassures once again, and with enough insistence, you begin to take deep breaths, finally calming down, at least… a bit more.

“Oh, Naoya… what are we going to do now?” you still manage to fret. He chuckles.

“Well… we ought to leave by now, shouldn’t we?” He says, and you press your lips together, frowning as you wondered how he could be so… at ease?

“But the mission… I filed—”

If there’s another thing you can count on (and shouldn’t forget so easily), is that Naoya always has a solution for everything. Perks of being a Zen’in, one supposes.

“I’ll worry about that” he says. Nothing money can do if that’s the case. “And instead… you can worry about our wedding.”

“Our wedding? But how could I—” you suddenly go quiet as color of your skin returns, but this time, a flustered bright red, as if finally remembering the shocking advancement that occurred today. “Our wedding…”

After a few seconds of thought and acknowledgement, you can finally enjoy the nice ring it has to it.

Our wedding. You repeat. In due time, you’ll be his wife and he’ll be your husband. Taking his name as you’d begin to live together… undoubtedly preparing for the future both will build the children you’re going to have…

If that’s the case, a simple mission does seem a bit redundant to this fact, but even then, you couldn’t help but worry—

“I have ways.” Is all that he says when noticing the slightest turmoil in your face. “I know they’re not the best, but for this occasion I think it can be… forgivable.”

“…are you sure?”

“Didn’t want you finding out like this, but I’ve done worse.” He says.

“Like in Sendai?”

“Yes, like in Sen—Huh?! Who told you that?!”

“I dunno.” You shrug. “I just said a random city, you’re the one that snitched on yourself.”

“Ah, hahahah, don’t act all smart on me, princess. You heard something, didn’t you?”

You shrug again, smiling.

“Y/N!”

“Let’s just hope that your skills in hiding things are better this time, my beloved husband.” You chuckle, and the nickname makes his heart skip a beat.

“You’re lucky you’re so adorable.” Naoya says, you chuckle, leaning in to give him a peck on the lips. “But yes, I’ll do my best to keep this hidden… we might only need to get creative to make up for the… six hours we’ve been away.”

Your concerns return. “Do you think we’ll be able to pull this off?”

Naoya still wants to show off.

“Of course, have you forgotten who your beloved husband is?” He smirks. “My love, the Zen’in name holds an amount of power no other family can compare to, not even the Gojo’s—so don’t worry about anything. In fact, I think that finding an excuse might not even be necessary; we’ll just say there was a curse of higher grade that managed to pass undetected, we dealt with it, and that’s it.”

“Sounds simple… do you think it’ll work?”

“Told you, didn’t I?” he says, leaning in for another kiss. “There’s nothing a Zen’in can’t do—and you’ll know so soon enough once you become one too.”

Y/N Zen’in.

… yeah, it has a nice ring to it. You wouldn’t mind being called that from now on.

“So don’t worry your pretty little head about anything—your husband will take care of it. Until then, worry about our wedding, or where you want to go after this…”

“A hotel.”

“You’ll be the death of me.”

If… headquarters didn’t get to him first.

“—what do you mean there was a curse?” Your assistant frets upon receiving your updated report, one that is intended to work as a patch to the one you previously filed. A rare occurrence in your career, for you were known to be meticulous, nothing ever escaped your gaze, not that common in Naoya, but he believed that since you were on the case, this would’ve been easily dealt with!

So… why was it different this time?

“I thought you said there weren’t any!”

“There wasn’t” you respond. “At least… when I checked first.”

“Things like this happen.” Naoya intervenes, doing his best to not lash out completely for he hated how you were being treated right now.

“I—I get it, it happens” he stammers, quick to sense the threatening aura coming from Naoya and composing themselves, sighing. “I guess what surprises me is that it took you six hours to realize that. But also, there’s a lot of things that don’t add up!

First, as soon as the two called the sighting of a higher-grade curse, we began an investigation… only to find out that there weren’t any remnants of cursed energy to match a curse of said level. In fact, there was nothing at all, as you initially said, Y/N!

From there, if you were truly fighting this curse as long as you did, you would’ve died. No one can go on that long without, well, facing repercussions! Yet here you are…

Just—please, be honest with me if you want me to help you. What where you two doing during all that time?!”

Your eyes and Naoya’s quickly dart to one another, bearing a look that told the other this turned out to be far bigger than they expected, certainly out of the norm for the heir who was bragging of their seemingly untouchable status.

But even then, neither worried, because they knew that once their relationship was made public, your assistant would be able to place the pieces together on their own. It’s going to be anything but obvious when it does.

“So?” He insists. “What were you two doing?”

Better keep it a surprise, then. Oh, how Naoya wants to see his face the moment he finds out you've been fucking him all this time, and to believe he really thought he had a chance with you...

“Nothing.” you eventually say, a smile on your face. “Just… catching up.”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling my teacher to stop asking my opinion about Israel in front of the class?

Both of my parents are Israeli immigrants. I was born in the USA. They are generally pretty progressive and raised me to be critical of the Israeli gov. There were many different reasons why they decided to move to America, but their disapproval of Israel’s colonization of Palestine and right wing leadership gaining more power was a factor.

Israel is also where they grew up, so despite their criticism of the government they have a lot of emotional and family ties there. As you can imagine the current situation has been emotionally complicated for them.

As a Jew who is pro Palestine I tend to keep my opinions to myself because it is such a divisive issue and I am pretty conflict avoidant, I really hate getting into arguments with people and I don’t think getting yelled at by genocide sympathizers would actually help anything. I have a very obviously Jewish last name, and I’m told I also look stereotypically Jewish tho I’m not even sure what that means bc there are Jews of every shape and color but that’s besides the point. My philosophy teacher has decided I am the class expert on Israel and Palestine. She brings the topic up CONSTANTLY and she calls on me first every single time, to ask me questions about specific aspects of the situation and get my take… she treats me like I am authority on the subject and I very much am not.

After several classes of her doing this, I met her during office hours and explained to her that I’m not like, an expert just because I’m jewish and that it makes me feel uncomfortable when she singles me out. I told her that it’s a lot of pressure to be put on the spot about such a delicate issue in front of people I don’t know well. She apologized but also said that she was just trying to give me the space to express myself as a Jewish person and seemed kind of offended that I asked her to stop. AITA?

What are these acronyms?