#i was thinking also after drying my face and rehydrating

[vi-v-iv]

how am i supposed to live my life normally when “so, who’s the girl” “there is no girl” “i know” is burned into the back of my eyelids

[forgetfulminks]

Simpler Skin Routine

This post is a continuation of my Simplest Skin Routine. If you saw that post and thought it was too simple, or if you tried that routine out and want to add to it, this is the post for you! So, now you're more interested in skin care and ready to add more products to your routine! But you still don't want it to be too complicated. Well, this routine only has 3 products and is the basic formula for a daily skin routine.

Cleanser

Washes your face more effectively than just water + soap. This step should always be done first in any skin routine, as it washes away anything that has built up on your face throughout the day (not just oil, but makeup too). If you cleanse after putting a product on your face, it will most likely wash it away and you won't get the product's benefits. If you have oily skin, this step is essential and you should be cleansing every morning and night. It's still important to do it at least once every day for any skin type though. There are many different cleansers to choose from, but most types of cleansers have versions that are formulated for all the different skin types. If you know you have dry, oily, or normal skin types, then I would look for a brand you like and choose the one that specifies it's formulated for your skin type. If you have combination or sensitive skin (like me, I have both 🙃), you will need to do more research because some formulas won't work for your skin and could even damage it. If you have specific skin issues like acne or eczema, you will also need to do more research to find one that targets those issues. However, if you don't know where to start and you can't be bothered researching, CeraVe is a great brand to start with. If you want more information on specific cleansers and which work for which skin types, this is also a great article on it by AdoreBeauty.

Moisturiser

After cleansing your face, it's time to rehydrate it with a moisturiser! If you have dry skin, you should be moisturising every morning and night, but it's still important for all other skin types. When looking for a good moisturiser, you want to look for one that is non-greasy or lightweight, especially if you have oily skin. This will make sure that you don't over-moisturise your skin, which can cause acne. Other than that, choosing the right moisturiser for your skin type is similar to choosing a cleanser; just get one that matches your skin type. If you're just getting into skincare, I would recommend getting the same brand of cleanser + moisturiser. It's very common for companies to choose ingredients that compliment each other in the cleanser + moisturiser, so matching them is a good idea. Don't be afraid to mix and match if you want to though! It won't have a huge impact. If you want a good place to start, I would also recommend CeraVe, they have good general moisturisers. I've also heard that The Ordinary's moisturiser is really good too (and cheap). I personally don't love the brand, but that is another option if you want to try it! The Ordinary moisturiser is a good to mix and match with cleansers though, as their formulas are always very simple and may even work better if you have a different brand of cleanser.

Sunscreen

Can't skip this step, your skin still needs sunscreen! I would recommend doing this last in your routine, as it will sit on top of your skin and all the products you put on it and protect it. You can put makeup on top of sunscreen too, so I always put on sunscreen after my moisturiser has set into my skin and then finally putting on makeup. You can put on sunscreen before your moisturiser if you want, I don't think there is much difference, I just prefer the opposite. In the previous post, I recommended getting a moisturising sunscreen, but don't do this if you already have a moisturiser! If you really like the moisturising sunscreen, you can technically make this skin routine shorter by using a cleanser and then a moisturising sunscreen. I wouldn't do this if you can avoid it though, as having a separate moisturiser will give your skin so many more added benefits. But if you don't have much money or you don't like having too many steps, then a cleanser + moisturising sunscreen is a great skin routine! The moisturising sunscreen I recommended in the last post is from the Cancer Council, and the lightweight sunscreen I recommended is from La Roche-Posay. But use any sunscreen that works for you!

So there's the routine! This will take care of your skin and it's known as the basics of any skin care routine. If you want more, you can add more products like a weekly exfoliator, an extra cleanser to double cleanse, or some serums to get more benefits. But if you don't want to do this, then this 3 product routine is still amazing for your skin!

[dollsonmain]

Long rambly.

Got a little too enthusiastic to get those remaining ponies clean and now there are too many ponies in each station and I can’t move anyone forward until I clear out the later stations.

Got a few more ponies in the soup, and a few more ready to go in the soup when that batch is done. No other progress can be made until more soup is done.

I don’t go up and down the stairs to take photos unless there are a bunch of ponies to photograph. One or two more soups should do it.

-

I just spent over an hour fighting with extremely hydrophobic potting soil and I am annoyed. (Also looks like I wouldn’t have been mowing today anyway, it’s raining.)

It was the bottom of a bag of dirt that’s been here long enough to dry out completely, and that got me thinking that maybe a lot of fine particles settled to the bottom and that’s why it can’t rehydrate. Which I understand but can’t explain.

Anyway, I ended up aggressively straining it with water at the sink, effectively rinsing the dirt part of the dirt and likely most of the nutrients out. I do have a fresh bag of dirt that I’ve topped it off with, so it’s not totally devoid of dirt-dirt and nutrients, and I have that bone, scale, feather, and blood fertilizer.

Anyway I finally said fuck it and made That Guy pay full price for two more of those little face planters at Target. I got the dark one on clearance last summer but the others never did go on clearance. They have some of the baby succulents I’d propagated in them, now. One is the PERFECT size for a pudding cup I had, so I used that one as a cache pot, and the other I had to fill with dirt completely because I don’t have a suitable plastic cup to use as an insert.

I suppose I could move the larger plant from the darker pot to the medium pot and then use another pudding cup in the darker pot with the small baby succulent, but I don’t know if I have the patience for that at the moment.

I’m getting really annoyed with That Guy regarding my plants, though. He gets agitated every time I prune them, separate them, or move them to more suitable containers. When I said I was going to make friends for the older one he begged me not to “hurt” it.

It’s no wonder his pepper plant is struggling.

I also rinsed and strained the dirt the sad, soggy, Happy Bean plants are in because it was from the bottom of the same bag of dirt and equally hydrophobic.

I want to order more silicone trays. They’re great for keeping the windowsill clean while also allowing further drainage from the pots. I do let them sit in the sink on a grate to drain after watering, but sometimes there are still some dribbles.

-

And then my stomach was like “You skipped breakfast and I’m going to hurt you, now.” so I’m sitting down and having some breakfast.

I wish I could stop being angry at myself when I drop food. It’s not something I can do anything about and I drop things constantly, but it infuriates me regardless.

-

16 years we’ve lived here next month and we’re still getting junk mail for the previous owners. We’ve also lately been getting mail for a Charlie and Karen Rose whom we’ve never heard of.

When their dad died, we were getting mail for That Guy and his sister as though they were married, which was weird. Their dad did some paperwork magic when he was about to lose the house when they were little and made them the owners, and the owners being minors meant it couldn’t be taken by the bank, or something like that, so as soon as their dad died the WE BUY HOUSES AS-IS vultures started sending postcards here.

-

I’m getting to the point that I’m ready for Son to leave in the mornings because the noise videos he likes are so horrible that they cause me physical pain. Some sounds do.

That Guy said that as soon as Son has his license he (That Guy) is going to get him an application at one of the local grocery stores that we don’t shop at, and I’m like... Did you ASK Son if he wants to work there? If he doesn’t want to work there he will cause trouble on purpose.

Also, why not me? Why not help ME get a job?

Because then he won’t be 100% in financial control, and if I have enough money to leave him, I will.

[nurseshannansreviews]

ad. 💦 Have you ever used a facial mist? They feel so good and refreshing! My mom introduced me to them when I was a teenager and I've been using them ever since! This @cleancare_solutions_ facial cleanse is by far the best #facialmist I've ever tried! Love how it's made with the natural healing powers of hypochlorous acid and it also includes clean electrolyzed water and sodium chloride! The reason it works so well is because #hypochlorous is a natural and gentle antiseptic. I've been using it for about a week and my skin looks and feels way softer and hydrated. It totally got rid of my dry patches and redness too. It keeps my skin hydrated while reducing inflammation and I love how it's gentle and safe for all skin types so my daughter can use it too.

💦 It feels absolutely amazing when I spray it on my face! Plus it totally helps keep my skin healthy and restores it's natural balance! I simply spray the mist on my face whenever I want like after showering, post workout, before applying makeup or anytime throughout the day as a skin reset (especially in polluted areas). I also use it to rehydrate my skin after a day in the sun. This daily mist is my favorite way to instantly refresh my face and get rid of dirt and impurities.

💦 I usually keep it in my purse and have it available whenever I feel the need for all day cleansing and hydration ! Try it for yourself and let me know what you think! I bet you will love it too! https://www.cleancare-solutions.com

[orange-waterfalls]

Grounded

Dadiplier x PLATONIC!child!reader

Ask: Hi i have Father Issues so i'm requesting dad!Stan the waterman comforting platonic child!Captain y/n after they have a bad day at school, if that's okay! Bad day can include bullies, lunch food accidents, bad grades, &/or shitty teachers if you need any ideas.

A/N: I took LESS than a month this time! Writer’s block is a bitch, so I consider that a win! This one’s nice and short and sweet, methinks. Crying, I think is the only warning I could possibly give. Bit of angst on that front. Never made something like this in my life. I love it. Also, Dadiplier (Stan?) reminds me of Ted Lasso. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the shorts. Anyway, enjoy

Word Count: 2k

Started: June 29 (yeah I know I’m sorry s,fdhnbsj)

Finished: July 11

You close the front door with your foot and walk inside with your head hanging. You had gotten in trouble at school (well, “trouble”. You had to call your mom) and were a bit worried about what would happen now that you were home. Your dad wasn’t mean, of course not, but he would have to hear the news from your mom, who was… just a little mean. She was mean because she worried. Dad never had to deal with your bad days at school. You didn’t know how he’d react.

You try to be as quiet as possible navigating your dad’s house. You didn’t know if he was home, the garage door was closed and he could still be out delivering. Just in case, you tiptoe. However, you didn’t appear to be quiet enough, because he calls your name.

You wince. He doesn’t sound angry, per se, but he’s a little loud. You hear footsteps behind you and sigh. You slowly turn to face your dad. Your head is still facing down.

“Hey, sport,” He greets, voice a little tense, but trying to be soft. You lift your hand in a weak wave. He sighs. “Do you think you can look at me?”

Tears prick your eyes a little as you raise your head to look at him. He’s still wearing his uniform. He might have left work early to meet you when you got home. He doesn’t look mad, or sad, or disappointed, he looks worried. The worry only amplifies when he sees the tears slip down your face. He races over to you, getting on his knees and rubbing your arms, comfortingly.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” He whispers. You shake your head and wipe your eyes. He tries to speak, making little sounds as he tries to figure out what to say. “Come on, come here…” He lifts you up and holds you close as he carries you to your room. He leaves the door open, setting you on the bed so you’re sitting, and gets on his knees on the ground again.

“Look at me, champ,” He prompts, “Look at me, it’s ok.” You let yourself look at him, blinking away the hot tears. Your lip quivers as you try not to cry too loudly.

“What happened?” He asks. You try to talk, only letting out a squeak and a sob, the question making it all 10 times worse, somehow. He suddenly pulls you into a bear hug, wrapping his arms around you and putting your face on his shoulder. He climbs on the bed so that he can hold you easier. 

“Alright, just let it out, you’ll feel better,” He sighs. You finally let it all out, crying and sobbing into his shirt, getting the fabric wet. You hold him tightly, not nearly as tightly as he holds you, and cry and cry and cry for what seemed to be hours. He pets your head and shushes and whispers “it’s alright” and “it’s ok” and “let it out” as you do, indeed, let it out.

By the time you’re all out of tears, your face is dry and your eyes feel sticky and your nose is stuffy and your head hurts. You open your mouth to ask for some water, but he pulls a bottle out of his fanny pack instantly. You don’t bother asking how he had fit the entire metal water bottle in there before you chug it. He keeps a hand on your head, waiting for you to rehydrate and breathe and calm down.

“Better?” He smiles. You nod, giving a weak smile back. He pets your head a little more, looking like he wants to hug you again, but doesn't. 

You sniffle and wipe your face as he pulls out a towel and douses it with some of the water left in the bottle. Your carpet got wet, but neither of you really cared. He wipes your face down once, with minimal complaining of “I can do it myself” on your part and a joyful “you’re my baby, I wanna do it” from him. He then folds the towel and drapes it over your eyes and forehead and pushes you to lay down on your pillows.

“Rest a little while I make dinner.” He instructs.

“What’s dinner?” You croak. You can practically feel him wince from beside you.

“Your favorite!” He says in a sing-song voice. “And! I have a surprise later!”

“What’s the surprise?” You say, excitedly trying to sit back up. He tuts and pushes you back down.

“Well, if I told you, child of mine, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” He scolds. You snort and roll your eyes under the towel. He gives you a peck on the forehead through the towel, leaving the room and turning the light off so that you could sleep better. You were fully prepared to stay awake.

Until you woke up confused and a little groggy. You frantically looked around, wondering what year it was, before everything came back and you groaned and flopped back down. You never understood how you can fall asleep by accident.

A soft knock at the door tells you it’s been a while, long enough for dad to get everything ready. He pushed the door open, peeking his head in.

“You awake, kiddo?” He whispers. You make the split-second decision to pretend to be asleep, for some reason. Not like you were supposed to be asleep or anything. He wouldn’t get mad at you. Well, you already had your eyes closed. 

“Kiddo?” He repeats.

Ah, yes. An opportunity. To lie. By omission. Why were you lying? Well, why not? What’s the harm? It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free. 

You “wake up”, stretching and yawning and sitting up, rubbing your eyes.

“Dad?” You say in your sleepy voice and look at him. He immediately looks guilty as he walks over and sits on your bed.

“I’m sorry, hon, I didn’t mean to wake you…” He apologizes, petting your head. You force yourself to yawn again for good measure. He smiles. “Glad you got a good nap in.”

“How long was I asleep?” You ask, blinking your eyes all the way open.

“Maybe an hour. Or two… or four.” He coughs. Your eyes fly open.

“Dad!” You squeak.

“Hm?” He frowns.

“I have homework!” You whine. He nods, understanding.

“Oh. Well, you can do it tomorrow.” He shrugs. 

“It’s due tomorrow.” You say.

“You’re not going to school tomorrow.” You stare at him, wondering if he’s messing with you.

“... dad, today’s Tuesday. I’m going to school tomorrow.”

“No, you’re not. I called the teacher and asked what happened.” You raise an eyebrow. “And when I told your mom about it…” You hiss like you’ve been burned. He laughs and shoves you a little.

“Oh, quit. Your mother was very upset.” He nods.

“Mmmm…” You look away guiltily.

“At your teacher.” He raises an eyebrow. You raise both.

“Oh?”

“She’s going to have a conversation with the school board tomorrow. I suggested you stay home, since you were so upset earlier, and she agreed.” He explains. You blink at him.

“I… thought mom would be mad at me.” You mumble and shrug. He shrugs one shoulder in return.

“Well, your mother only ever hears your side of it. This time she heard the adult’s side of it. And the fact that you are generally more polite about your teacher’s behavior says a lot about you.”

“Does it?”

“It says that you’re a good, honest kid.” You suddenly felt guilty for pretending to sleep.

“... dad?” You started.

“Hm?” He hummed his acknowledgement.

“I wasn’t asleep when you came in. I pretended.” You confess. He blinks at you.

“... oh… ok…” He nods. He pauses a moment. “... why?”

“... I… don’t know.” You respond honestly. He looks at the floor.

“... well, that should be fine. Come on, let’s get dinner and get your surprise.” He picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. You laugh loudly.

“Can’t you tell me what it is?” You complain.

“Of course I can’t! What do you take me for?” He carries you out into the living room.

“I thought mom told you to stop letting me eat on the couch.” You pointed out.

“She did. Your mother doesn’t have to know everything.” You snorted as he dropped you on the couch and set your food in front of you.

You sped through your dinner fairly quickly, still trying to savor the food at the same time. Dad had to tell you to slow down more than once. You weren’t embarrassed. You wanted your surprise. When you were done, you ran everything over to the kitchen sink and ran back to the couch, practically launching yourself back into it. He looked at you.

“So.” He said, more of a statement than the beginning of one.

“... so?” You asked, hopefully.

“Ready for your surprise?” He smiled.

“YES!” You yelled.

“Ok! Close your eyes.” He waved at you as he stood up to go get whatever he was needing to get. You squeezed your eyes closed, impatiently vibrating on the couch. You heard the footsteps reenter the room. 

You opened your eyes and smiled at him. He handed you a cardboard box and gestured for you to open it. You tore into it like a feral cat and stared at the object inside.

“So? What do you think?” He inquired, sounding very very nervous. You were feeling quite a mix of emotions at it. You liked it, don’t get me wrong, but this was… bought for a reason.

“This is…” You started, your eyes trailing up to look at your guilty-looking father. You squinted at him. “... expensive…”

“Oh. Well, yeah, it cost a bit of money, but… um…” He sputtered and rubbed the back of his neck. You closed the box, gently setting it on the other side of you and turned to your father, who was now avoiding looking at you.

“Dad…” You started, a bit worried. He inhaled through his teeth.

“Your mother told me that I have to be… a little harder on you. Show more… assertiveness. As your father. The man of the house. An authority figure.” He explained, clearing his throat.

“And…” You open the box once more, pulling the brand new game system out and putting it in your lap, “... this is being more strict with me?”

“Well, it-that-you…” He stuttered before pausing and breathing deeply. His hands folded and held in front of his mouth as he thought. He turned to you.  “... sweetheart.”

“Father.” You raised an eyebrow at him. He ran a hand through his hair.

“I am… going to tell you something, and… and I don’t want you to be mad at me. I, as your father, only want what’s best for you. And sometimes what is best isn’t what feels best. So, in your best interest, I–” He rambled, sounding like he was about to cry.

“I’m grounded, aren’t I?” You sighed.

“I am so, so sorry. I love you so much, I didn’t want to do this, I–” His hands shook as he took your face in them and he got tears in his eyes.

“Dad, it’s ok. I get it. I got in trouble. Besides, this should keep me entertained.” You laughed as you lifted the system to get a good look at it.

“Yeah, it–yeah. That’s why I bought it.” He shrugged, laughing along.

“We could play together, too.”

“Yeah? You’d let me?”

“Yeah? Of course.” You put the system down to look at him.

“But I grounded you.” He still wasn’t looking at you. You rolled your eyes.

“Dad. You’re a good dad. Grounding me once isn’t going to change that.” Tears started to fill his eyes again and he sniffed.

“I know…”

“... Mom doesn’t know about this, does she?” You cringed at the thought of your mother finding out about this.

“Well, I… she doesn’t… need to…” He finally looked at you again. You smiled and shifted to hug him tightly.

“... love you, dad.” His breath hitched a little and he hugged you back. 

“Love you, sport.”

Mannnn I started crying I wish he was my dad msdnqljghfdgrb8y

[vexillumalbum]

MLQC boys being interrupted while having sex w/Reader

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory. 

All I want to say is that I wrote it long ago so there might be some mistakes. Also please bear in mind that English is not my native language. Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy!

NSFW below!

Gavin

The orange rays of the setting sun warmed the naked skin of your back pleasantly from behind the windows. Your boyfriend's white button-up casually framed your waist, barely clinging to your forearms, previously sliding off your shoulders. You had to hold it with your hands to keep it from sliding completely off. 

In fact, in that position, Gavin had a perfect view of your bare curves, with the shirt or without it. 

He was lying on his back facing you, propped up on pillows with his arms behind his head. His watchful gaze never left your body, even for a moment. His amber eyes scanned your figure, gliding over your perky breasts, smooth skin glazed in orange and silky strands of hair dancing near your neck and collarbones with your every move. 

He licked his lips.

“Come here.” It wasn’t an order, but also not a plea. It sounded more like a request of a man so in love with his girl that he couldn’t bear not touching her anymore. 

You giggled - and Gavin could’ve sworn it was the prettiest sound in the whole universe - before wrapping your fingers around his outstretched hand, letting yourself be guided to his solid body. 

Minutes later you were a moaning mess, your hips pinned to the mattress by two calloused hands, the devilish sounds coming from between your legs mixing with heavenly whimpers of your boyfriend’s name that were leaving your bruised lips. 

The grip you had on Gavin’s hair tightened when he sucked on your clit in time with his fingers working magic inside your heat. In response you heard a growl as his hips started assaulting the mattress even faster. The beast has been awoken

Tingling on your skin came as a warning for the pleasure that was supposed to arrive next. Your muscles were squeezing Gavin’s fingers hard and he couldn’t wait for his cock to be enveloped by your wet warmth next. Heels dug into the mattress, fingers gripping white sheets, head thrown back with parted lips and ragged breath and—

Thump thump thump

“Are you guys okay in there?!” Minor’s concerned voice sounded from outside of the bedroom right after knocking. It startled you to the point where you jumped up, covering your bare figure with anything you could reach for, even though you were sure the doors were closed and the intruder wasn’t able to come inside the room. “I’ve heard some weird noises and I thought I’d check on you! You know, better safe than sorry!”

Gavin immediately looked over you, checking if you were alright, before turning his head to the door with a look that could kill. He palmed himself through his boxers, his erection still evident and painful. 

“We’re alright! Thanks, Minor.” After a brief moment of silence you managed to say, not knowing if you should laugh or cry or maybe both. You heard a quiet “okay” and some shuffling - the intruder left the area.

In a moment of passion both you and Gavin had forgotten that Minor was temporarily living in your apartment due to AC disfunction at his place. He wasn’t a perfect roommate but at the same his presence wasn’t overbearing and you didn’t have any complaints… up until now.

“I’ll beat him up.” Through clenched teeth Gavin’s voice was low as he was putting on some shorts he took out of the drawers, and he now resembled the Super-Scary-Officer-Gavin more  than Your-Loving-And-Doting-Boyfriend-Gavin. 

“Don’t be so harsh on him. He was concerned.” You giggled only to be met with a doubting look from your boyfriend. “As he said, better safe than sorry.”

“I’ll give him something to be sorry about.” Poor Minor

Victor

The last few weeks have been pure torture. You were very open about how much you hated these business trips that both you and Victor had to take all the time to different places in the world. Your boyfriend was less outspoken, however the days of longing were taking its toll on him as much as on you. Sleepless nights, lonely dinners, unfulfilled lust…

Therefore, when there were no meetings, reports and proposals to write or filming sites to visit on the horizon, you jumped almost literally at the opportunity and took Victor to the wellness center. 

It was a pleasant evening, the sun had recently set, but the heat was still there, aligned from time to time by the cool breeze. The white bathrobe your only cover as you and Victor relaxed on the private terrace of the apartment, with the sound of the bubbling jacuzzi in the background.

Sitting in his lap, your boyfriend was caressing your bare thigh with one of his hands, while the other was stroking your hair. It was an intimate moment shared between two lovers finally reunited and ready to spend some much needed relaxing time together. 

Until…

It started as an innocent kiss between sips of fine dry wine selected by Victor himself.

He had you almost fully naked on his lap, with your robe slipping down your back, threading fingers in your silky strands and tasting your lips - which he had to admit - were even tastier than his favorite crimson beverage.  

You were determined to get him naked, to free these gorgeous muscles from beneath the soft robe. With your nails scraping his skin lightly you were revealing more and more of his toned body earning sweet sighs from Victor as a reward. 

His skilled fingers moved from your hair to kneading your butt, making your already wet pussy to rub on his clothed hard length. The added friction was like a cherry on top of the whole make out session but you didn’t want to stop there. Why would you settle for just a cake when you can have a full four course meal, right?

“Victor, I need it, please.” You begged when he didn’t want to give you what you wanted well knowing what was it that you desired. 

“What is it, babygirl?” His question was whispered into the damp skin of your neck where Victor was leaving love bites. “Tell me what you need. You know I’ll give you everything.” He sounded so seductive, his low voice was making you shiver and you were sure your pussy was getting wetter and wetter with every word he said. “Just say it.”

“You.” You crumbled. “I want your cock. Please.”

He fulfilled his promise a few seconds later when you felt his girth stretching you out in the best way possible. Victor gripped your hips and with a look that was telling you to prepare for a ride, he started thrusting up while roughly bringing you down on his cock over and over. 

You gripped his shoulders with one hand while the other was clamped over your mouth to make sure no-one could hear the moans your boyfriend was bringing out of you.

So close, you were co close, and when his thumb pressed on your clit, you could swear you saw stars and—

Bzzt bzzt bzzt

You jumped at the sudden sound, fear taking place of lust and passion. With a quick look to the side you saw that Victor’s phone was ringing and the caller’s ID was “Financial Director”. Thinking it was important you exited his lap, sliding to the next chair. 

A low growl escaped him when you pulled away, his member still as hard as ever. His furrowed brows were the indicator of how much he didn’t like what you did, but you only smiled to him sheepishly and gestured to his phone. 

A part of him was impressed of how much you valued his work and that you knew how important it was. Yet, the other part was furious that your love making fucking got interrupted. 

He took a second or two or more who knows if he stopped time to admire your rosy cheeks and bruised lips and how you were panting after minutes of passion, before picking up his phone from the table and answering the call.

“Be quick.” The tone of his voice so much different than when he was talking to you, eyes narrowed and teeth clenched - he was mad. But that didn’t stop him from giving you a look that you could only describe one way: I’m not done with you yet.

Shaw

At times like this, you were immensely grateful for the almost deafening music that could be heard in the Live House all the time. 

Usually, it annoyed you that the rumble from the speakers drowned out any other noises - like when you were talking to others, but now you liked that you had the freedom to moan as Shaw's hips were pounding into you to the rhythm of the club song. 

Hands clutching his muscular arms, head tilted back repeatedly hitting the wall behind you, you were braced for a wild ride. Your boyfriend's hands tightly squeezing your ass supporting your weight, his hot lips nibbling at your neck marking you in every place he had access to, his cock driving into you with a reckless abandon.

And all of this caused by your short dress that showed a little too much skin in Shaw’s opinion (and he would never have thought that something like “too much skin showing” would be a problem for him but seeing every guy in the club eyeing you had his blood boiling) and your teasing ways.

During the break between songs, when Shaw had a chance to rehydrate himself for another hour on stage, your boyfriend decided to satisfy a different type of thirst. For your pussy

Sex with Shaw was always fun and wild and everything you ever wanted. But it was the best when he was hot and bothered and when envy was seeping through his body like a venom making him see red.

To be honest, you weren’t surprised when he grabbed your wrist right after exiting the stage and pulled you into the back room. You weren’t surprised when he pinned you to the wall, his lips already marking your collarbone as his hands were skillfully pushing your panties aside. You weren’t surprised when he unzipped his pants and pushed them down, freeing his hard cock.

And you sure as hell weren’t surprised when he slid into you with one sharp thrust while sucking on the sensitive skin below your ear.

“Tell me,” he panted in between the thrusts while his tongue was exploring your neck. “Do you enjoy making me jealous? Do you think it’s funny or something?”

As you were able to only whimper and moan, you didn’t respond. Of course you were enjoying making him jealous once in a while, especially when you were rewarded with his hips snapping into your in the back room of Live House.

“Answer. Me.” You swore he wanted to kill you with how intensely he was impaling you on his cock.

“Yes! Yes oh god yes!” You managed to choke out right before his fingers pinched your clit. Loud scream elected from your throat and you didn’t fail to notice the smirk Shaw was having plastered to his handsome face.

“Let me make this clear, baby.” He slowed a little as he leaned into you to have his mouth right next to your ear. “You are mine. Only mine.”

You wanted to respond. Say something, anything, but then—

“Shaw! We’re going back on the stage!” 

Adam’s voice broke through the music and your pants along with a few pound knocks. You jumped at the sudden intruder, your eyes wide and lips parted. 

Shaw on the other hand was totally unfazed when he started thrusting into you with a full speed again. And again. And again. And again. 

He didn’t even say anything back, he just went straight back into fucking your brains out.

“I told you, you’re mine.” He murmured into your sweaty skin when he saw how startled you were. “So focus on me and only me.”

Lucien

You liked surprising your boyfriend. For example when you visited him at the university with some tasty lunch and a big smile plastered to your face, or when you learned how to brew tea so you could make him the best beverages when he was particularly stressed with work, or when you memorized all scientific names of his favorite butterflies to feel closer to him through joined hobby…

Or when he came back to his office at the Research Center after a tiring laboratory work only to find you wearing very skimpy purple lingerie and his lab coat, sitting in his chair with a smug grin and a twinkle of mischief in your eyes.

Part of him wanted to chide you for being reckless like that. After all, he would as much as kill, without even batting an eye, anyone who stumbled into his office with you being inside looking like that. 

But other part of him the freaky part already imagined taking you in various positions, against different surfaces during his whole lunch break. 

And so he started with face-fucking you on his desk, while pinning you to the mahogany wood with one hand as the other was palming himself through his trousers. Your panties torn and long forgotten on the floor, the lab coat loosely hugging your form with your legs wrapped around Lucien’s shoulders and hands grabbing his hair tightly. 

This man’s mouth could not only recite poetry and name every flower in the garden, but also it was able to make you cum in a record time. You had to bit your lip very very hard to control the volume of your moans.

Your second orgasm was delivered to you by the scientist’s long nibble fingers exploring your warm sensitive flesh like his life depended on it. And in a way it did, because you were the sole purpose of his existence and making you feel good was his mission, so…

Lucien was preparing you for the third one, when you decided that enough is enough. After all, you came there to make him feel good, not the other way around. 

So before your boyfriend could react you pushed him onto his chair and dropped to your knees with a grin, and when he stubbornly wanted to got up again, you batted your eyelashes a few times as you stroked his member through the fabric. He got the message and relaxed into the seat. But don’t be fooled, he was still in control.

“Such a good girl.” He praised you when you were undoing his belt. He gripped your hair guiding your face closer to his crotch.

You’ve given Lucien a blowjob so many times already, you knew exactly what to do. You licked, sucked, bobbed your head and massaged with your hands what you couldn’t fit into your mouth. 

Every sigh from the professor was making you shiver so you worked even harder to hear more of them until—

Knock knock knock

“Professor, excuse me…” From behind the door the head of one of Lucien’s assistants peeked out and before you could do anything he saw the position you and your boyfriend were in and immediately panicked. “Oh my— I’m—I’m so sorry!” 

He was long gone before you could even pull away from Lucien, but you didn’t miss the murderous stare professor had while looking at now - fortunately - closed door. You didn’t know if you should laugh or collapse into the ground from embarrassment. 

You were sure your face was redder than a tomato. Luckily, knowing Lucien’s reputation no-one would be so stupid to tell anyone about this situation. Or so you hoped so.

Before you decided on your final reaction to the intruder, Lucien’s palm grabbed a handful of your hair and he brought your head closer again so that your nose was brushing his hard moist cock. 

“I believe we have some unfinished business here, butterfly.”

Weirdly, you never saw this assistant in the Research Center ever again…

Kiro 

Kiro loved music almost as much as he loved you and his snacks.

So he was taking every opportunity he could to show you around his studio, write music with you and compose. 

And do other, less appropriate deeds.

For the longest time Sunshine Boy couldn’t find inspiration for his newest song. He tossed and turned in his bed every night and skipped meals because of it. He didn’t want to disappoint his fans and you, his greatest biggest fan!

But only if he knew that bringing you with him to the studio would be the cure for his lack of inspiration, he would’ve done it already days ago. Why didn’t he think of it sooner? You were his muse after all! Your moans were the greatest music to his ears!

So that’s how you ended up with Kiro pounding into you from behind tightly gripping your hair to guide your head nearer to the microphone so that every one of your whimpers could be recorded properly. 

The speed of his thrust was setting a rhythm that he wanted his new song to be in which gave him a plethora of sounds escaping your mouth. Oh how much he loved those sounds.

Gripping your hips he angled you a little more so that he could go even deeper, take you even better. He was sure he was leaving bruises on your skin with the force of his grip, but he didn’t care. He would smother them with kisses later. 

“More, Miss Chips. I wanna hear you more.” He murmured as his hand circled your waist and his fingertips pressed onto your swollen clit. If you didn’t know better, you would think that he wanted to kill you from the sheer amount of pleasure he was causing you. 

Your moans were getting higher and higher and Kiro knew it was because you were getting closer to your release. He loved that moment, right before your orgasm when your muscles were clasping around his cock trying to milk him from everything that he had, and your eyes were rolling onto the back of your head and you legs were shaking like leaves on a windy day and—

Bam bam bam

“Kiro, what are you doing in there?! Our recording session starts soon!” Savin’s voice sounded from the other side of the door and Kiro cursed under his breath that he was interrupting his own recording session.

You on the other hand squealed and tried to move away from your boyfriend but he didn’t let you.

He slowed down his thrusts and clamped a hand over your mouth.

“We’ll be there in a minute!” Kiro answered but his agent didn’t seem to be convinced because he insisted on waiting for you two at the door.

When you wanted to move away again, disappointed that you wouldn’t be getting the realest that you wanted, Kiro brought you closer to himself again and started snapping his hips into your once again. His hand still clamped tightly over your mouth. 

“Well, maybe our recording is over but we can at least finish this.”

____________________________________________________

thank you so much for reading!

if you want to read more of my works they are here

[xoxopandapanda]

InuKag Week 2021: Day 1

@inukag-week

Day 1: Battle Couple

It was a long and difficult day to say the least. The baby wouldn’t go down for anything, quickly becoming irate and angry at any attempt his parents made to help him settle down. Inuyasha’s shoulders and arms were of no comfort, and he didn’t want to nurse from Kagome. He cried and cried.

Soon his parents cried with him.

Inuyasha held it together for a while, taking the babe from Kagome when she started to choke up at his rejection of her breast. “Here,” his voice was soft, barely audible over the screaming child in Kagome’s arms. “Give him to me. You get some shut eye while we go out for a walk.”

Kagome had shaken her head at first but didn’t stop Inuyasha when he lifted the bundle out of her arms and tucked it into the crook of his neck. “I’m serious,” he told his wife sternly, “get some rest.”

Kagome felt the burn of tears down her face and saw through the waterworks Inuyasha’s shoulders fall slightly. But he turned on his heel and quickly left the hut they occupied, true to his word of taking the baby out for a walk. Kagome dropped her head into her hands, not bothering to even tidy or cover herself up before falling over to cry.

She felt like such a failure, of a mother and wife.

Kagome had gone nearly two days without a few hours rest, and exhaustion quickly crept on her. She was too tired and far too upset herself to remember that Inuyasha needed far less rest than her and could handle a fussy baby for a while. Once she was rested, she would probably blame baby brain for forgetting such a vital part of her husband’s characteristics, but that was for a rested Kagome to worry about.

Sleep came to her quickly, albeit restless sleep. She kept waking and searching for the other occupants of her home, before remembering they were out on a walk. She moved in and out of awareness, not having slept alone in what felt like eons, but realistically was only two years. Her bed felt cold and the room too quiet without her boys in it.

Sunlight finally peaked through the crevices of the walls. Inuyasha had promised her that he would fill in the gaps that the aging wood had created. But that was before the early labor and dramatic entrance of their first-born son just a few short months ago. Kagome half thought to remind him of the task, but then thought she couldn’t risk his attention been separated from her and the baby.

She wasn’t ready to be solely responsible yet.

Sure, reasonably she knew she could do it. It would probably just take him a few hours to gather the straw and mud to bulk up the walls, and with his speed and strength the longest part of it would be waiting for it to dry before adding more. He could help her out during those times, but the thought of even a moment where he wasn’t beside her with his full attention on their baby was too much to imagine.

Kagome started to choke up realizing she had left him to her own worst fear last night – solo parenting.

She rubbed her eyes, and the voice in the back of her head told her “Inuyasha is his father. He is just as capable of taking care of him for a few hours, if not more so.”

She threw that thought to the wind and continued to berate herself for leaving him alone with a very upset and very inconsolable baby for an entire night.

Kagome forced herself to sit up, stiff from having slept in the position she fell over in, rearranging her clothes. She winced at the soreness of her breasts and was sure to loosely cover herself.

“He should be hungry,” she said aloud to no one in particular. ‘Hopefully’ went unspoken.

As she dusted herself off and walked to the bucket of water in the corner to get a drink, Inuyasha’s head ducked in the room, eyes scanning for her.

When he saw her, he gave her a sheepish look. Kagome panicked for a moment – did he leave the baby with Sango and Miroku? What would they think of them as parents if they just dropped the kid off when he got fussy?

Her thoughts were interrupted when he stepped into the room, a whimpering lump on his chest alerting her to the baby’s presence.

Later she would realize her panicked thoughts were more of a manifestation of her own desire to ask her friends for help but wouldn’t out of an irrational fear of judgement. That was another thing she was going to have to work out.

“Sorry to wake you, but he’s suckling on me.”

Kagome blinked, her brain still foggy and slow. Oh. Inuyasha meant the baby was hungry.

She went to grab the baby from her husband, but then thought better of it. Wouldn’t be good to drop the kid in her exhaustion trying to get herself sorted to feed him.

She put down the ladle she was drinking from and sat back down on their futon, crumpled and unmade from the events of the night before. The smell of it made her speak. “We got to air this out today.”

“Once he’s fed, I’ll bring it out.” Inuyasha stepped up into the main room and crouched beside his wife, waiting for her to be ready for the baby – who was still whimpering, but had at least dried himself out of tears.

Kagome adjusted her clothes before holding her arms out for her son – her perfect, fussy, big, loud, demanding son. He quickly latched and took off suckling, eager to fill his stomach and rehydrate after the waterworks of the last few hours.

Kagome felt Inuyasha settled behind her, his arms coming around to hold up their son with her, so her arms didn’t have to hold up the weight. Sighing loudly, she leaned back into him, her head resting against his shoulder and his chin nuzzling into her opposite shoulder. Kagome closed her eyes and started to drift of.

Okay, maybe she did drift off.

Next thing she knew Inuyasha had switched their baby on her breasts and was rubbing his wet nose into her cheek. “Hey,” his voice in her ear was a nice change from the screaming of the night before, “I need you to lay down. I’ve got to burp the brat.”

Kagome nodded, slumping over on his arm, until he removed it and let her flop onto the futon. She could hear the shuffling of his feet walking and bouncing the baby up and down to help him release excess gas. The wet blech told her that more than likely the fire rat robe was going to need to be washed.

Groggily she called out, “He did drink pretty dang fast.”

“Yeah,” came the reply, “let’s just hope he kept enough down to keep him calm for a little bit.”

“Maybe he’ll go into a food coma, and we can rest to.”

Inuyasha snorted. “If there’s a god out there, then let’s pray it happens.”

Kagome knew she should help her husband. He was probably having to juggle a baby while getting out of his clothes and then having to clean both of them up. She knew she should just get up and even if it was to wipe off their son, at least do something. But she couldn’t even manage to open her eyes to watch what she was sure was quite the scene playing out in her house.

She could say she was surprised when she was lifted up and put onto some blankets, but she wouldn’t because she didn’t have it in her to even register what was going on. Managing just a little bit of strength, Kagome saw her son on his back next to her, his chest going up and down and a very light snore coming from his mouth that also caused his ears to twitch in rhythm. He was naked which Kagome knew was probably a bad idea but couldn’t even find it in her to care.

If he soiled the blankets, he soiled the blankets. They washed.

Besides, it wasn’t like she was exactly clean herself.

Rolling to her side, she gently tucked an arm under her head and the other coming down softly to rest on his chest. The movement of his breath quickly lulled his mother into a far more peaceful rest than before.

The sun had well slid its way across the sky by the time Kagome woke up. Inuyasha was sitting in the genkan, a shallow dish of water before him and the boy in his lap. The baby seemed very fascinated by the light dancing across the surface and was enchanted by the experience.

Kagome could tell that her husband was just as enchanted by watching their son experience the world for the first time.

“Some partner I am.” Her voice was rough and gravely from dehydration. Inuyasha’s ears moved before his head. He looked over his shoulder at her, bemusement in his eyes.

“Didn’t know I married a bear demon.”

Kagome rolled her eyes at his quip. Gods help her if her son developed his father’s sense of humor. “I’m sorry for leaving you to all the work. I’m not a very good wife, am I?”

Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed, whether in confusion or annoyance, she couldn’t tell. She was too far gone in her emotions to care. “What kind of mother am I, even? I just leave my boy alone and don’t comfort him?”

Inuyasha cut her off before she could continue down her path of self-deprecation. “No one could comfort him last night. Miroku told me that babies get that way sometimes, so we’ve just got to stick together and make sure he knows we’ll be there for him.”

Ah. He had gone to see Miroku and Sango last night. Kagome felt a sting of bitterness in her chest, worrying about judgement for no reason.

“But,” Inuyasha looked back at his son, stroking the top of his head and lifting his fine sliver baby hair, “we aren’t going to win the battle unless we rely on each other and have each other’s backs.”

Kagome nearly stopped him, wanting to know what battle before she realized Miroku had probably use an analogy to get through to his half-demon friend.

Inuyasha continued. “You had my back with Naraku, and when I got injured. I had your back when you had to fight off Hobo and the entrance examples. It’s no different now.”

Kagome opened her mouth to correct him like she had thousands of times before about Hojo’s name, but her heart had other plans. “You’re right,” she spoke softly, her eyes beginning to close again now that she was comforted. “We’ve got each other’s backs. Thanks for having mine last night.”

If she had kept her eyes open for a few more moments she would have seen the color light up across her husband’s face before he turned to look back down at their boy, who was now touching the water to refract light differently, although he didn’t understand the science of his actions.

If she had stayed awake for a second longer, she would have heard her husband say, “I’ll always have your back.”

[bonny-kookoo]

A machine that feels:

One does, one doesn’t | SHORT | PJM x MYG x Reader | ❤️🌩🔞❗️🤖

Pairing: platonic(?) PJM x Reader, platonic(?) MYG x Reader, JJK x reader

Genre: romance, Android!AU, Angst!!, mature

Warnings: past sexwork (it’s only a tiny bit mentioned but still), poor robo boys were treated like trash, but it’s okay they’re in good hands now, confusion, clumsy yoongi- but more like verbally clumsy you’ll get it trust me, timid jimin, he’s so soft, do I smell romance blooming hmm...

Summary: seeing Jungkooks drastic changes into a right direction, both Hoseok and Taehyung decide to bring their Androids, Yoongi and Jimin, two former pleasure bots to the shelter- to introduce them to you and Kook, and maybe help them recover just as great as the military Android did. But there’s the issue; while jimin wants to learn how to feel, Yoongi doesn’t seem to be too eager to learn..

Jimin likes to feel.

It’s somewhat of a little reminder that, against what’s always said about him and his kind, he is actually alive, and doesn’t just pretend to be. He doesn’t understand most of the emotions he’s gone through in the past, the fear of openly expressing them still present, even though he knows that he’s not forced to be a certain way anymore. He’s still filled with bitter fear, and embarrassment whenever he interprets something wrong.

The only way he knows how to express his emotions was physical, after all.

It’s still heavily frustrating to him that Taehyung doesn’t want that from him. Jimin isn’t sure why the young man bought him in the first place; his whole purpose was physical pleasure, so why was this person telling him that he’s more than that?

He tries to make sense of it, but he can’t find any conclusion that seems logical for him. He knows he’s bad at household chores, barely managing to operate the rice cooker at this point. He’s bad at doing laundry, since his eyes had been damaged and can’t distinguish color that well anymore. He’s not very helpful at helping his new owner around the animal shelter either- too fearful of hurting the dogs and cats and little pets around to really do anything by himself.

He wants to be helpful, but he can’t think of a way he could ever be.

And it fills him with confusing emotions he doesn’t understand, things he detects as sadness and dissatisfaction and disappointment in himself. He just wants to understand.

He just wants to feel.

Yoongi however, doesn’t.

He knows what’s hate, knows what’s anger, knows what’s frustration; his past owner having joked around that the hit to his head had knocked some human sense into him by accident.

And he hates it.

He doesn’t get why Jimin craves to understand emotions so much. He’d been totally comfortable being used every day back at the place he’d been employed- it had been irrational that he had suddenly felt something like disgust at being touched by strangers. He doesn’t know himself why he suddenly started to hate physical contact, doesn’t understand why his body suddenly didn’t listen to basic commands anymore.

Maybe he had been broken when blow had hit his head.

Because there’s moments he feels guilty about something he can’t seem to pinpoint. When he gets into a argument with Jimin or Hoseok, he tends to use harsh words, and it doesn’t hurt him immediately like he knows it should. It bites him back way later however, when he has to observe the aftermath of his actions and words used, and even though he knows he has all the right to talk like he does, he still feels guilt. He still feels sadness. He still feels..

Tired.

He’s an Android, so simply charging should help his body regain energy again. At first he’d thought his batteries might have been damaged as well, but their capacity was still at 97%- a healthy amount for an Android his age.

So why did he feel tired all the time? Exhausted even?

He really didn’t want to feel.

Jimin watches the small puppies with worried optics as they all excitedly run towards him, instantly trying to crawl all over him as they Nop on his clothes or play with their litter mates around him. “He likes you.” A female voice comments, and his system instantly craves to know who it belongs to.

Turning around, he spots a female human, smiling at him gently as she opens the gate carefully, stepping inside the playpen the puppies are running around as she sits down close to him. It feels weird to have her so close, for some odd reason it makes him nervous.

He’s nervous often nowadays.

“What’s your name?” She asks, and jimin swallows, trying to sort out his current system operations and scans before he stutters.

“J-M095.” He answers, because that’s what his name was. But you simply giggle. Did he say something wrong?

“So you’re Jimin, yeah? Taehyung had told me about you.” She says, and he nods. If you’ve heard about him, you know of his purpose- and he’d learned that humans weren’t too fond of conversing much with a pleasure bot. “It’s nice to meet you.” You suddenly say however, bowing a bit as you still smile friendly. “I’m Y/N.” You tell him, and he nods, throat suddenly dry.

He has to avert his eyes, your visuals too strong for his internal system to fully support at the moment. You know what he is, right? Why were you so nice to him? He was just an Android-

“Baby!” A Voice says, and Jimin turns, spotting a young man- no, an Android, giving you something. A water bottle? “Please rehydrate. You have not consumed any water in the last 52 Minutes.” He says, and you get up, accepting the bottle as the Android leans closer until his dark hairs can touch your face-

A kiss?

Jimi a optics move frantically before he hastily averts them, feeling weird to have witnessed this. He knows what that gesture was, what it meant, but he wouldn’t have thought that you.. but another scan of the other Android just tells him that it’s a military model with a rebooted system. Yet when his eyes follow the dark haired Android named JJK walk over to the bigger dogs he’s even more confused.

Why is he petting them?

Now, again, jimin knows what this gesture means to humans. But androids can’t feel satisfaction or other positive feelings from simply touching an animals coat.

Right?

“Aren’t they cute?” You comment, and jimin perks up, before averting his eyes again.

“I.. guess they do possess all distinctive features to be considered as such, yes.” He says, and you notice the very unique sound of his voice. There’s a very mild metallic undertone to it that you think you could fix if he’d ever let you- and one of his optics also seems to be faulty, as it moves quite slow and erratically compared to the other.

“Hmhm.” You say. “But do you think they’re cute?” You ask, and Jimin looks at the puppies. There’s several running around, playing and roughhousing with their brothers and sisters. He’s more comfortable with the lone one currently clumsily climbing into his lap however. It’s shy and seems to shake a little, watching her mates with a sense of slight fear. “You can pet her. I think it would help her feel less scared.” You say gently, and Jimins hand slowly comes down, touching the soft fur of the puppy, jumping away a bit as it looks up, trying to lick at his palm. He tried again, and feels a weird sense of comfort run through his system.

He likes this.

“You’re cute too, Jimin.“ You day, and Jimin suddenly looks up, furrowing his brows. It’s the first real glimpse of his face you get. „I know you’ll say no, but humans think of things as cute when they appeal to them in a certain way too.“ you explain, your past experiences with Jungkook helping you to explain these things to the Android in front of you.

“Taehyung says I can no longer offer my services.” He hesitantly says, and watches as your cheeks turn a bit red in embarrassment. He likes the giggle that escapes you however.

“I- that’s-“ you start, before you clear your throat. „And that’s true. You should decide on your own with whom you want to connect like this. You’re your own person.” You say, and Jimin nods.

Maybe he wasn’t yet.

But maybe he was becoming his own person.

“I do not think that a bunch of old felines can fix the errors in my system” Yoongi comments, as he’s practically shoved into the cat-room by Hoseok. He flips down in the middle of the room like a child throwing a tantrum, simply sitting with his arms and legs crossed, uncaring and passive as he hears Hoseok sigh.

“Just.. try.” He mumbles, before his presence leaves.

Yoongi is alone for a while.

His scans show several bodies inside the room with him, but nothing moves for a while as he waits. If he lets himself think about it, if he were to be a cat, he wouldn’t get close to him neither. There’s no reason to; he has no food to offer, doesn’t know how to properly play with cats, and they all seem too old to enjoy these things either.

But he feels connected to them, in a way.

Because he too, is an old model with outdated soft- and hardware, that no one wants anymore. Maybe they should built shelters for androids? But then again, he could also simply be scrapped for parts as a last purpose. He doesn’t understand why that has not happened yet.

“Oh?” A female voice sounds, and suddenly, there’s movement.

The old bodies awake, stretching their limbs before they start to move towards the origin of the sound. “They like you.” He comments, and your body comes into the range of his sight, as you sit down in front of him. He’s not interested in humans, but he does note that you are a very visually appealing person. You nod, before putting some treats into his lap. He doesn’t know if he should be offended or confused by the action. “What’s the purpose of that?”he asks, before picking up the small bag.

“They’re a little wary of you- you’re new, and they haven’t had the best experience with people until now. So-“ you say, opening the bag for him when you notice him struggling. His body was weak these days- but he was glad that you weren’t commenting on it. “Sometimes you gotta help them a bit. Lure them in, you know?” You say with a smile, before you show him how you put a treat on your knee, bringing the cats closer.

He mimics that action.

He watches them intently, until he hears you giggle. “You’re making them nervous if you watch them like a predator.” You say, and he doesn’t know why he suddenly feels shy, but his system doesn’t seem to be in his control suddenly. “What’s your name?” You ask, and he scoffs a little.

“You already know who I am, and why I was brought here. Your question is simply used to lead to something you call ‘smalltalk’ which is something I’m not interested in participating.” He says, and immediately wants to slap himself. He doesn’t know why he feels the urge to do it, but he does- the guilt flowing into his veins as he awaits you leaving. But he can only sense you nod.

“That’s okay. We can just be quiet then.” You say, and his system halts for a second or two. Because he doesn’t want you to be silent- he likes the sound of your voice, he just doesn’t want to talk. There’s no input he could give, because all his words ever did was hurt and offend.

And even though he doesn’t know you, he doesn’t want you to feel neither of those things.

“You’re..” he starts, suddenly feeling weirdly hesitant. “In an intimate relationship with one of the androids here. JJK.” He states, and you nod, with no hesitation he could detect. You didn’t seem shameful at all about it.

“What about it?” You ask, and he slowly reaches out his hand towards a scruffy looking cat that seems weak on his legs. He slowly leans forward to sniff the hand of the Android however, as Yoongis optics watch the scene intently.

“That’s not his purpose.” He states, and you nod again.

“He doesn’t have one these days.” You say, and yoongis brows furrow as his face shows confusion. You decide to explain as the scruffy cat suddenly bumps his head into the palm of the Android, who begins to scratch the cats neck as if on autopilot. “He can decide on his own. The relationship is because we both love each other a lot- I’d never force anything on him.” You say, and Yoongi nods in confirmation as the other cats slowly brush their body’s against his back and knee.

They’re becoming comfortable around him.

And he can’t help but feel as if it’s because he’s comfortable with you.

“This is very inconvenient.” Yoongi comments, as Jimins worried expression shows how sorry he feels for the words of the older Android.

“He doesn’t mean it like that-“ he starts, but Yoongi cuts him off.

“I do.” He says, and you laugh as Jungkook brings you some parts you’ve requested.

“It’s fine. I know it’s not as professional as it could be.” You say, and Jungkook sits down close to you as his arm places itself around your middle while he watches you work on Yoongi’s arm.

“It’s better than nothing. Your physical strength had been declining to a mere 32%- after swapping these parts you’ll be up to almost 80% again.” He comments. “You should express a bit more gratefulness considering this is done out of pure generosity.” He says, icy blue optics watching Yoongis red ones.

“Please don’t fight-“ Jimin says, and Jungkook turns around to face the shorter Android.

“We are- not fighting though?” He says, and you giggle again. Everyone turns towards you.

“Guys please let me work, you can all be cute later.” You say.

“Your Home is very nice.” Jimin says as he sits on the couch with a cup of warm tea in his hands. He likes the feeling of warmth against his skin.

“It’s very small.” Yoongi deadpans, and Jimin looks at him instantly, as Yoongi grumbles out. “But it.. fits the definition of a ‘home’ quite well, I suppose..”

The corners of Jungkooks lips turn upwards into a small smile as he looks at you next to him. “It is a home.” He confirms.

And maybe, it’ll become a home to them too, one day.

[klaus-is-the-real-number-1]

Where is my mind? (number 5 x reader)

ASK: five is stressed about the apocalypse, and reader notices and decides to play some slow music and asks him to dance. They begin to talk, some fluff, and reader suggest it’s time to stop going apocalypse after apocalypse, just enjoy the time they have left. five gets angry, and they have a huge fight. Lots angst and fluff.

A/N: uh not too angsty sorry :/ i also feel like its kinda a mess? but i am not sure but i hope you enjoy 

Words: 1229

Thunder cracked through the sky like a thousand whips going off simultaneously, accompanied by flashes of white mimicking an old fashioned camera capturing a moment in time. After a dry spell that was tied together with an astronomical heat wave, petrichor seeped through the open windows of the city was a welcome scent. It was the earth breathing as it rehydrates and re-energises, welcoming the soothing drops that were sent from the heavens, some may even say it was the Gods weeping.

Water dripped down into the room from the open window, droplets echoing around the dimly lit room. Disheveled books littered every possible surface, open at random pages that had to meaning to one another. They ranged from stories of untold truths, biographies about people before their own time and long complicated math theories that only the smartest people could wrap their heads around. 

Hunched over his desk, Five furiously scribbled away on scrap paper, writing the first thing that came to his complicated mind. Occasionally sipping from his hours old coffee, he shut himself off from the rest of the room and even the rest of the world, getting so entranced in the wonders of his own thoughts he became detached. Eyebrows furrowed as he read and re-read his work over and over, etching wrinkles into his forehead. His blue eyes were like an ocean that held stories that he would never tell a soul, sat at the bottom of the never endless sea in a shipwreck.

Slowly, you moved behind him and placed your hands on his tense shoulders, massaging with the lightest pressure to try and ease some of the tightly strung knots. As he relaxed into your hands you leant over to look at his writing, numbers and greek letters adorned many sheets that were all lined up neatly revealing the longest equation you had ever seen. It was an improvement from when you came into Fives room, numbers written in chalk covered his walls, overlapping to the point of it being illegible. Slowly, you started to buy him journals and notebooks and started to wean him off writing on his walls to keeping it all organised in one place. “Sometimes, I think you’re too smart for your own good.”

Just like a wave, his shoulders gently rose before crashing down as he sighed, lifting his hands to meet yours, gently running his thumb along your knuckles. Music drifted across the room causing Five to sway in your arms before abruptly standing up and spinning to face you, arms loosely drifting down your back and resting on your hips encouraging you to lift yours around his neck, swaying slowly to the rhythm of the music. His chest pounded like a thousand drummers beating their instrument simultaneously yet it sounded like music to your ears, a soothing melody that you could play on repeat over and over again.

“You know, Five,” You sigh as you sway to the music. “You don’t have to save the world when you don’t even know how it may end.” His body suddenly tensed followed by his grip loosening as he stepped away from you.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” His eyes were clouded with an anger, not being able to wrap his head around how you could even suggest for him to stop. “You won’t ever be able to understand.”

Without being able to get a word in, Five launched into a heated rant, eyes sharpening with every word that came out of his mouth. No stone left unturned as he ripped into the very fiber of your being, almost as he forgot who he was talking too yet it didn’t stop him bringing up your intelligence. What should of been a harmless comment from you to encourage him to relax tipped him over the edge in stress and all you could do is stand there and take the verbal onslaught.

Shakily, you brought your hand to your face to try to wipe away the freshly formed tears. As soon as Five saw your glassy eyes he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes instantly filled with regret as he realised the gravity of his words. “Y/n, I didn’t mean-”

“I should go.” You cut him off, not even wanting to look him in the eyes in fear of tipping over the edge and not being able to keep the tears in any longer. “You just get so carried away, I don’t want you to get so stressed where you get to the point where you crash, Five.”

Before he could respond his door closed shut behind you, speeding down the stairs as fast as you could even if you knew Five could catch up to you in a heartbeat but you didn’t want him to see the tears flowing down your face. The carpeted stairs muffled your steps as you descended, tears now flowing like waterfalls down your face as you gained speed getting closer to the main door, vision blurred from your heartbreak of what Five had said. He had gotten angry before or at least let a mean comment slip through every now and again but nothing like this, it was as if the pressure in him was building like a volcano and only the smallest fracture would cause him to burst, there must be something he hadn’t told you but it didn’t stop your chest from hurting as much as it did.

When you got outside and cold droplets of rain hit your face you sighed, you knew you would have to leave him be just for one night so he can calm down. Luckly, you didn’t live too far from the Academy, at a quick pace you managed to get home in record time yet still didn’t avoid being soaked through to your core, shivering like a scared dog, you get ready for a restless night of hoping Five didn’t do anything he would regret and praying that your chest would stop hurting from his words.

Golden rays shone through the window as the sun slowly rose causing the birds to sing a song for the new day, as your eyes adjusted to the brightness they spotted a familiar dark figure sat at your desk. “Morning.” He spoke, a timidness present in his voice.

“You can’t just appear in my room while I’m sleeping, Five.” Your eyes followed him as he got up to sit on the side of your bed, sighing as he did so.

“I’m sorry about last night,” His eyes locked with yours. “I’ve been really stressed and I just didn’t think, I shouldn’t of taken it out on you.” Ever so carefully he rested his hand on yours and just like the night before he ran his thumb over your knuckles. “You don’t have to forgive me but-”

He never got to finish his sentence as you tightly embraced him, hearing him sigh with relief, raising his arms to mimic your actions before falling down onto your bed. He relaxed and got comfortable, the only sounds to be heard was soft breathing and the songs on many birds, chirping to celebrate the day. “Five?” You heard him hum. “I forgive you.” Without looking at him you knew he had a smile on his face, you just held him tighter as you both drifted back into calming nothingness of sleep.

[mldrgrl]

Broken Things 15/24

by: mldrgrl Rating: varies by chapter, rated R overall See Chapter 1 for summary and notes

He’s never felt so lightheaded in his life, but heavy at the same time.  His shoulder is sore.  He’s both hot and cold.  Just a few moments ago, Katherine told him she would be right back and under no circumstances to move from where he lays in the bathing tub.

When Katherine returns, she brings Jimmy and Jesse with her.  The two men stand awkwardly in the doorway, averting their eyes and clearing their throats.  Katherine is no-nonsense with them, ordering them to assist Mulder in standing, mind his injured arm, and make sure he does not fall.

“If you feel too weak, like you’re going to faint, or that you can’t walk, you say something,” she tells Mulder.

He already feels weak, but he’s too embarrassed being helped to his feet in his own bathing tub by his ranch hands.  They get him up and out of the tub and then Mulder does have to pause for a moment.  He feels momentarily dizzy and a bit nauseated, but it passes and they can continue out of the washroom into the hallway.

Mulder is soaking wet, dripping water everywhere from head to toe.  He looks apologetically at the floor and at Katherine.

“Don’t worry about it,” she says.  “I’ll mop up later.”

While Jesse and Jimmy are helping him into his room, Katherine gathers all the towels she can find.  She lays two towels out at the edge of the bed and has the men sit Mulder on them.

“Thank you gentlemen, I’ll take it from here.”

The brothers look relieved to be dismissed.  They scurry out of the room and Katherine starts by draping a towel around Mulder’s shoulders.  She manages to get him out of the right arm of his undershirt and then removes the sling to complete the job.

“Hold still just for a few moments,” she says.  She stretches the collar out and pulls the shirt over his head and then off his arm without too much disturbance.  She has a dry, torn up pillowcase on hand to fashion a new sling and then she pats his chest dry.

When she starts to dry his back, she leans into him and cups the back of his head with one hand.  He sighs, his face so close to her breast that he’s nearly resting his cheek against her.  Her hands are gentle and soothing.  They make him feel sleepy.

“I’m going to lay you back now,” she says.

“Okay,” he murmurs.

She embraces him from his right side, one arm around his shoulders and the other across his middle.  She draws his head to her shoulder and then brings him down onto his side.  She slides away then, but holds the back of his neck as she pulls his legs up onto the bed.  She makes sure he has a pillow underneath his head and then she places her hand gently onto his shoulder.

“Close your eyes,” she says.

“Close my eyes?”

“Not for long.”

“Alright.”  He’s confused, but closes his eyes.  When he feels her fingers brush his abdomen and unbutton his drawers, he thinks she must be the most caring person he’s ever met, the way she was able to anticipate any possible discomfort for either of them.  She drapes a towel over his abdomen and upper legs and somehow manages to remove his soaked drawers from underneath it.  Her fingertips graze the outside of his thighs and he knows it’s a very good thing he’s feeling so lousy and weak because the tingle he feels in his pelvis isn’t quite strong enough to cause any embarrassment, even though it should.

“You can open them now,” she says.

He opens his eyes to the ceiling for a few moments, but then watches her as she dries his legs and feet, noting just how methodical and efficiently she works.  Melvin had given him that same observation, but he hadn’t truly seen it in action before.  She’s also the most confident and commanding he’s ever known her to be before with the way she directed the boys, and him.

“Kate,” he says.

“I’m going to get some fresh underthings for you and hopefully the doctor will be here soon.”

“Doctor?”

“Melvin rode out to fetch him.”

“Oh.”

Katherine putters around his room, picking up wet towels and clothes and taking them away.  She opens up his wardrobe and rummages through his underthings before taking out a pair of drawstring drawers.  She dresses him as smoothly as she undressed him.  For some reason it’s more embarrassing for her to be putting him into fresh drawers than it was for her to take them off.

“Kate, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry all this happened,” he says as she removes the towel from his hips.  “I mean, I’m sorry that I didn’t get the chance to apologize for the way I behaved last night.  That was only last night, wasn’t it?  I haven’t lost some days I’m not aware of?”

He smiles to let her know he’s not being serious, but she drops her head and folds the towel over her arm.  The sound of horse hooves outside prompts her to move and she goes to the window and looks outside.

“Looks like the doc is here,” she says.  “We can talk about that later and I’d like you to know I’m sorry as well.”

“You don’t have anything to apolo-”

“Katherine?” Melvin calls from the door.

Katherine goes to the bedroom door and opens it.  The doctor rushes in with his bag, removing his hat and nodding at Katherine as he comes through.  Mulder has met the doctor a handful of times and has found him to be a decent man.  Melvin stays in the hall, but paces by the door.

“Ma’am, you must be Mr. Mulder’s wife,” the doctor says.

“Katherine.”

“Doctor Black.  I understand Mr. Mulder has taken a fall?”

“Yes, I believe he fell from his wagon after suffering sunstroke.  His shoulder was dislocated from the fall, but I was able to reset it.  We got him into a cool tub and I gave him salted water to rehydrate.  When he regained consciousness I observed that his pupils were of two different sizes indicating a possible concussion.  There is a small hematoma at the left side of the head, above the ear.”

“I see.”  The doctor nods and sets his bag down at the foot of the bed and opens it.  He removes his black jacket and rolls up his sleeves.  “How long was Mr. Mulder unconscious for?”

“Approximately ten to fifteen minutes.”

“Any vomiting or altered speech?”

“No, Sir.”

“Headache?”

“No complaints thus far.”

“Very good.  Let’s have a look then, shall we?”

The doctor sits at the side of the bed and begins to prod Mulder about the ribs and then the shoulder.  He’s less gentle than Katherine and he winces a few times under his ministrations.  He asks a few questions of Mulder and checks the sling.  Katherine watches the doctor’s every move, staying behind him and to the side, but close.  The doctor makes little murmuring noises to himself as he works.

“How might you have come to be so knowledgeable about patient assessment and treatment?” Doctor Black asks, turning to look over his shoulder at Katherine.

“I had a year of nurse’s training, Sir.”

“Mmhm.  Well, they did a fine job with your training.”

Mulder is surprised to learn this piece of information, but not shocked.  Her handling of him during this time was impressive enough, but to learn she’s had a year of training along with it, it means her skill also comes with knowledge.

“Tell me,” the doctor says, standing and rolling his sleeves back down.  “What would you suggest as treatment at this stage?”

Katherine doesn’t falter or hesitate.  “I’ll be making a bone broth shortly that I believe he should take for at least the next three days.  A liniment for the shoulder, preferably of camphor, to alleviate any soreness.  Aside from that, rest and limited use of the arm for the time-being.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Mulder asks.

“Have you had nurse’s training as well?” Doctor Black asks.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then I’m afraid you’re not qualified.”  The doctor takes a tin of liniment from his bag and gives it to Katherine.  “Rub this into the shoulder every few hours or as necessary.  Plenty of rest and limited use of the arm for the next week.  If he misbehaves, make it two.”

“Hey, now,” Mulder says.

The doctor chuckles as he puts his hat on and closes up his bag.  “Mrs. Mulder, the next time you’re in town I hope you’ll stop by my office.  Don’t be surprised if I put you to work though.”

“Oh, I never finished school, Doctor Black.”

“You learn more by doing than you do from a book.  Mr. Mulder, you listen to your wife.”

“Doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice,” Mulder answers.

“Could I get you a cup of coffee before you go?” Katherine asks.

“I would appreciate that very much, thank you.”

Katherine tucks the sheet over Mulder’s chest.  “I’ll be back with some tea for you soon.”

Unconsciously, Mulder pouts his lips.  He feels a bit envious of the good doctor that he can share something with Katherine that he can’t.  He also doesn’t want to be left alone.  Katherine escorts the doctor out of the room, but Melvin slinks in after they leave and stands over the bed.

“I guess it’s a good thing you got yourself such a thick skull,” Melvin says.

“I always knew it would come in handy one day.”

“You got yourself a good woman, you know that?”

“It has occurred to me, yes.”

Melvin grunts.  “Best try harder not to muck it up.”

↭

Her experience in nursing school probably could have put her off of doctors for good, but she still finds herself in awe of their profession.  She knows that not all doctors are bad, just one in particular.  Doctor Black seems kind to her.  He compliments her coffee and asks about her experience with genuine interest.  He tells her a little about his background and then he thanks her for the hospitality, but he has to go.  She walks him to his carriage.

“I meant what I said earlier,” he tells her.  “I could always use an extra pair of hands if ever you’re available.  I know how ranch life is though and you probably have more than enough to handle here.”

“I would like that very much, but you’re right.  My duties here keep me busy.”

“I know a fine nurse when I see one though.”

“I actually wanted to be a doctor.”  She surprises herself when she blurts this out.  She’s only told one person in her life of that long-ago aspiration.

“Well, it’s a pity then you gave it up.”

“You don’t think it was just wishful thinking on my part?”

“A few decades ago I may have said yes.  I’m sure you’ve heard of Miss Elizabeth Blackwell though.”

“Of course.  I don’t think I would have even entertained the thought if not for a woman like her.”

“I’ve had the good fortune to meet her and I will admit that she helped to alter my perceptions a great deal.”

“You are in the minority, Sir.”

Doctor Black nods, but scoffs.  “When I started practicing, I was performing surgeries without anesthetic, and now chloroform’s as common as a housefly.  Five years ago we thought morphine was a cure-all until we learned there can be some dire consequences associated with the drug.  Medicine changes and so do times.”

“Thank you for coming out today, Doctor Black.”

“It’s been a pleasure making your acquaintance, Mrs. Mulder.”

Katherine returns to the kitchen to start a bone broth to boil and get the tea she promised Mulder.  She’s feeling lighter now, despite the day's events.  

“Don’t get up,” Katherine says to Mulder when he moves to sit up as she comes through the door.

“I thought you’d never come back,” he answers.  “Thought maybe I lost you to the good doctor.”

“I have to restore you to good health first.”

She knows he likes it when she teases him and sure enough, he smiles.  She helps him to sit up and arranges the pillows behind him so he can lean against the bedrail.  When he’s settled she sits down beside him.

“Let’s get some of this liniment on your shoulder,” she says.

He makes a face when she opens the tin.  The camphor smell is strong.  She removes the sling and holds his forearm with one hand as she rubs the liniment into his shoulder with the other.  She’s never seen him shirtless before or touched more than his hands or face.  His skin is softer than she expected it to be.  The hair on his chest is thin and sparse, far different from her former husband who resembled a bear more than a man.

Katherine shakes her head a little to clear her thoughts and then looks up at Mulder.  He’s watching her with a half-smile on his lips like he’s been reading her thoughts.  She averts her eyes and kneads a little deeper with the liniment.  He grunts softly and then sighs.

“Nurse’s training?” he asks.  “Why didn’t you mention that before?”

“It was a long time ago.  I guess it was never really relevant to any of our conversations.”

“Why didn’t you finish?”

“I married Jack.”  It’s the truth, but not the whole truth.  It’s as much as she’s willing to give him at this moment, though.

Katherine puts the cap back on the tin and puts the sling back into place.  She gives Mulder the tea and stands, wiping her hands clean on one of the rags left behind.

“I need to check on the broth and start cleaning things up,” she says.

“Wait.”  Mulder puts the tea down onto his bedside table.  “I don’t want to let this linger any more than it has.”

Katherine sits down again with a sigh and she nods.  

“I need you to tell me what had you so upset,” he says.  “I thought I was clear with my intentions for the land and unless you’re also hiding a degree in architecture or engineering and were planning to do the surveying yourself, I truly can’t work out what I said or did to cause such discord.”

“I suppose the fault in that is mine.”  She covers her right hand with her left in her lap to prevent herself from nervously twisting her ring.  “Initially when you said you had hired a surveyor, I assumed all the plans had been made and I felt excluded.”

“I told you you would be a part of the planning though, didn’t I?”

“I’m not really accustomed to men keeping their word.”  She bows her head slightly in contrition.  “And I know that’s unfair because you have kept your word to me about everything you said you would do.  And everything you said you wouldn’t do.”

“I have tried.”

“But, last night you said I would be involved, to an extent.  It was the qualifier that really upset me.  To an extent.”

“I only meant-”

“No, I think I know what you meant,” she interrupts.  “After staying up half the night stewing over it, I realize that you only meant that there are obviously going to be certain things I won’t have a say in.  The horses, for example.  Your new corral, the stables.”

Mulder nods.

“I have gone from being allowed to have an opinion about nothing to being asked how I think and how I feel and I am trying to trust it’s not all just some cruel joke God is playing on me.”

“I don’t believe he would do such a thing.  Not to you.”

“Yes, well.  You have no idea  what He’s already handed down to me.”

“Kate…”

“I need to go clean up.”

She moves to stand, but Mulder puts his hand over hers.  She doesn’t flinch this time or pull away.  He rubs his thumbs over her knuckles for a bit and then he moves his hand to her face.  She tips her head into his hand without a second thought and nothing has ever felt as right as his hand on her cheek.

“You have to come to me,” he says.  “I can’t come to you.”

“Hm?”

He slides his hand to the back of her head and presses gently at her neck.  She leans closer to him and puts her hand on his chest as she kisses him.  She feels him smile before he brings his hand to her shoulder and then down her arm.  She rests her forehead against his with her eyes closed.

“Will you read to me when you come back?” he asks.  “I’ve been thinking about how the animals got their colors all day and I don’t think I can go another night without knowing.”

She laughs and then kisses him again.

[novantinuum]

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 1.2K~

Summary: Amidst their danger-fraught mission to retrieve Pyrope and Demantoid’s prisms, Pearl and Steven take a much needed break.

Finished playing Unleash the Light again the other day, and had some philosophical musings about it, which lead to this. XD There’s not many fics about this game that I’m aware of, so thought it would be fun to throw one of my own in the ring.

If you read this and enjoy, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos/comments on AO3 as well. Thank you! <3

____

Another key. Another lead on Demantoid’s whereabouts. Another hard battle won.

Pearl expected they’d meet some resistance from the prisms’ light constructs when they first arrived on the glittering, indigo-hued surface of Crystal System Colony 215, but she certainly didn’t imagine having to fight so many. Using her spear as a crutch, she slowly lowers her exhausted body to the ground, eager to take a short rest from their journey. She leans her head back against the rocks and sighs. Stars… there’s so much more diversity in their forms and attack strategy now. In their last two major outings with these sorts of light constructs, they were considerably weakened. Disorganized. But now, with two prisms working side by side once again, she’s beginning to recall why these tools were so feared by her comrades during the war. Running at their prime, they’re savvy. Self-regenerating. Able to clue into combatant’s weaknesses. Capable of multiplying into armies that can effortlessly eclipse a whole battalion of Crystal Gem soldiers. Good Gems were shattered on those battlefields.

In truth, reflecting upon those matters, she sorely wishes Steven wasn’t a part of this mission at all. He’s more than capable of holding his own in a fight, yes, but… in the most ideal of circumstances, that gentle soul should have nothing to do with the messy afterimages of his mother’s rebellion.

Her gaze lifts towards the sky for a moment, dark hazy purple and speckled with stars. How far they’ve traveled, she muses, how fervently they’ve fought… all in defense of this new era. In many ways it’s a miracle what they’ve created in just a year’s time, which is why she was unsurprised to learn of the aristocratic holdovers unwilling to voluntarily give up their seats of power. Still, they haven’t failed in their creed yet. As long as one Crystal Gem stands to brandish the star, the spirit of Era 3 is alive and well.

Just as she’s beginning to hum a peaceful melody to herself, basking in the gentle glow of the surrounding cosmos, she notices Steven making his way into the clearing, alone. Hmm. All the others are probably back at the cave entrance, busy strategizing for the next stretch of their mission. What led him to step away, though? Was he following her, or did he also crave a similar peace and quiet?  

The boy’s pace is sluggish, seemingly suffering from a similar (though undoubtedly more human) brand of exhaustion she herself feels, and his hands are shoved stiff in his pockets. He still wears that novelty backpack, but the prism they’ve befriended is nowhere to be seen. Interesting. Normally, George peeks his head out of the main zipper pouch as they journey. Perhaps he elected to stay and discuss strategy with the others instead. Regardless though, and as she feared, Steven appears considerably drained by their recent experiences. She watches as he clambers towards the rock formation across from her and gradually sinks into a seated position.

“Steven?” she asks, slowly pulling herself to her feet to cross over to him. “Are you holding up all right?”

He replies with just a noncommittal shrug at first, his expression void of any immediately recognizable emotion. Then, unzipping the cheese pocket of his backpack, he retrieves his water bottle and takes a long, long drink. He holds a single finger up as he rehydrates, signaling for her to wait.

Finally, after draining almost half the bottle, he caps the top again and opens his mouth to speak.

“I’m okay,” he says, wiping his lips dry with the back of his hand. “What about you? This… probably doesn’t bring back a lot of great memories, huh?”

“No,” she agrees with a wry smile. “Not really. That’s all right, though. We have more than enough strength on our side this time."

First taking a knee, she moves to sit next to him, folding her legs to the side. The boy shoots her a slightly quizzical glance, but doesn’t offer anything more. Pearl frowns.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks after a brief pause, brows creasing. “It looks like something’s bothering you.”

Steven purses his lips tight, blankly staring straight ahead as the gears in his head whir.  

“It’s—“ he starts, and hugs his knees to his chest. “It’s probably stupid, I don’t know, I guess I’m just… how are all these light constructs any different from us? We’ve had to fight dozens of them today, and… I know that probably shouldn’t eat at me, but it does. I don’t want to have to fight them. We literally have the same history! Diamonds make Gems,” he counts off on his fingers, “and Gems make prisms, and prisms make light— when do all these cycles stop? When does everyone finally get to stop fighting and be free? George found his freedom, so- so why not them?”

She folds her fingers together, roughly wringing them against one another as she considers the moral quandary he proposes. Admittedly it’s a truth she never committed much thought to back amidst the atrocities of the war— the fact that all of them… Gems, prisms, and constructs alike… are hewn from the very same hard light. They’re all programmed, made with distinct purpose. Thus, how far of a leap would it really be to suggest that they all possess some form of sentience? Some form of free will? Before meeting George, she didn’t think prisms were capable of such individual thinking, but they are. This universe is full of strange wonders.

So what else could she be wrong about?

She offers a thin, apologetic smile. “I’m afraid I don’t have any solid answers for you, but… you strike a valid point. Perhaps all of us aren’t so different.”

“D’ya really think so?” he says, his eyes glimmering with stars, seemingly overjoyed to have convinced her of this.

She gives a short chuckle, reaching out a slender hand to ruffle his hair. “You’ve long since shown me that anything’s possible.”

The boy grins at her affectionate touch, appearing far more relaxed now than when he first sat down. Good. If they’re gonna succeed in retrieving these last two prisms, they’ll need him in high spirits. His encouragement, healing powers, and support has been paramount to this mission so far. In the far distance Amethyst’s laughter rings, reminding her both of the Gems she loves, and the trials they’ve yet to face together. To be honest, she has no way of guessing how many battles they have left to fight. But… regardless of outcome… there is one possibility that’s always worth striving for. Gently, she rests her hand upon Steven’s shoulder.

“Listen…” she says softly, “I don’t know how successful we’d be reasoning with the light constructs directly, but if you ever sense a good moment to try and settle this issue with Demantoid and Pyrope peacefully, I want you to take that chance, all right? For everyone’s sake.”

Steven nods in full seriousness, taking her words to heart.

A faint smile dusts her lips as she pulls the young teen closer, allowing him to nestle his head against her chest like he always used to do when he was but a kid. “And for the record? You’re definitely not the only one who’s tired of fighting.”

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Guardian of Creatures; AU! Queen x oc female x reader Chap. 13

*Author’s note*

Well been awhile since I did an update for this series but here I am with another update! This time we’re gonna turn back the clock and find out what happened to our gang of mistfits when Serafina left them. So as I told you all before, Oded Fehr plays an allied wizard for John and Serafina, but now we get introduced to a new THREAT to our heroes. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and until next time :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@queen-paladin

@queensdivas

@queendeakyy

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@glitter-at-the-panic

@kinole009x

@geek-and-proud​

@wormzteef​

_________________________________________________________

Chapter 13,

The Ambush

*2nd Person POV. The morning after Serafina leaves*

The next morning you awoke to the desert sun shining in your tent.

“What do you mean she’s gone!?” you hear John’s voice snap with anger.  You peek out of your tent to see the boys all standing around under the desert sun but Serafina was nowhere to be seen.  John stood in front of Freddie, his hands fuming with his purple magic while his sons Seraffel and Thor stood behind their father, the same look of anger across their faces.

“I’m saying what is true. She’s gone on her own path.”

“What is it with you fucking Nagas and your riddle talk!? Where exactly did our mom go!? And I swear to god if you don’t start making any sense I’ll freeze you so bad you won’t start to thaw till the next Ice Age!” Seraffel warned.

“Always barking but never biting. Really Seraffel you’ve threatened me thousands of times since your hatching and you’ve yet to hold up to that threat. No matter how old you were.” Freddie spoke nonchalantly, like he didn’t even care for the ice dragon’s threat.  You walk up to Brian and ask him.

“What’s going on here?”

“It would appear that Serafina has gone off on her own somewhere. John and Serafina have rarely been apart from one another, the longest I’ve seen them be apart is when Roger and I were first sent by Freddie to save them.”

“Freddie please just—just tell us where our mom’s at? She could get captured or-or killed!” Thor pleaded.

“Your mother can handle herself. Right now she needs to go on this path on her own.”

“Fred normally I would agree on with what you say but this is no time for a pissing contest! Grindelwald knew we were in New York, who’s to say that the rest of his family or even his spies could be out here looking for us right now!? What if her power alone is not enough?” Roger said as he paced back and forth with worry.

“For someone who claims to care for her you seriously underestimate her Roger dear.” Roger halted in his spot to stare at the Naga. “Serafina’s path lies on a different path than ours for the moment. This part of her journey will come to pass with what we need for the final phase of ending Grindelwald’s followers once and for all. Now will the four of you get your heads out of your arses and understand Serafina is more than capable of taking care of herself and isn’t some fragile little maiden that always needs protecting!”

Freddie’s eyes glowed a fearsome yellow and his voice grew deeper and more snake like.  

“Now then, we should reach the Medjai coven by the sun’s highest point if we leave now. Burn the tents and get rid of any evidence of our trail here.” Freddie slithered onward.

As the boys went on with Freddie’s orders, you then ask Brian once more.

“Will she be okay?”

“Serafina is unlike any other witch I’ve met before. Elf or otherwise. She has power unlike anything I’ve ever seen. If I had to say who I should be more worried for, I’d say it’s whatever poor unfortunate soul crosses her path.”

Once the site was cleared up of any of your traces, you continued onward to the Medjai covenant.  It felt like an eternity had passed until finally as you all came up over a hill and just down below, several village stood there in the middle of the desert.

“We’ve arrived.” John spoke as he urged his black stallion onward.  You followed behind him, then his sons, Brian and Freddie, while Roger flanked in the rear.

As you all approached the entrance into the village, several men in black garb with most of their faces covered, held up their wands towards you guys ready to strike.

“Waqaf!” one of the guards spoke up.  Your horse whinnied and reared on it’s hind legs.  You held onto the reins as tight as you could as you tried to calm your horse down.

“Whoa, whoa boy whoa easy!” you tell your horse.  John’s horse nickered and anxiously paced forward and back.

“We’re not spies! We’re friends with your covenant leader Ardeth Bay. My name is John Deacon and these creatures are my friends.” The guards looked at one another suspiciously when a stern but warm voice proclaimed.

“Let them pass!” soon riding on top of a camel was an Egyptian man with long black hair, two Arabic tattoos on each cheek and one across his forehead, and chocolate brown eyes.  He sported a mix of a goatee and beard which went well along his strong jawline.

He was a big man on the muscular side, probably standing at around 6ft, maybe a couple inches.  But it was the way he just seem to carry himself that made it seem like he was a true leader, a chieftain maybe.

“This man is under my protection. Anyone who tries to even lay a curse upon him shall face immediate exile, do I make myself clear?” the way his voice commanded these guards, it just made goosebumps come across your arms.  The guards put their wands away and bowed with their left feet forward and their right arms crossed over their chests, hands going right over their hearts.

He then turned to John and soon his camel and John’s stallion stood face to face of each other.

“Welcome back my friend, it’s been a long time.”

“I wish the circumstances could be better Ardeth.”

“Well, it is most definitely an upgrade from being lost in the desert for days on end without water and hardly any food.” John chuckled embarrassingly but then the two men clasped hands with each other in a firm handshake.

Then they taking back their hands, kissing the side of their index fingers and placing it on their foreheads before placing their hand before their lips once again (must be an Arabic greeting).

“You and your friends have had a long journey not only from your last hideout but also across the desert. Come, satisfy your hungry and quench your thirst. And for two of your companions, regain their energy.” Ardeth said the last part as he looked to Roger and Seraffel who both looked practically exhausted.

“Thank you Ardeth. We appreciate you giving us a place to rest and regroup.” John thanked him.  Ardeth bowed his head before urging his camel forward.  You all follow behind the leader of the Medjai sorcerers and as you enter the village, you can see hundreds of Arabic witches, wizards and young children running about going about their day.

Some were selling robes, others had potions and spell books for sale, animals were also being sold at what almost looked like a petting zoo setup but it also had dogs, cats and falcons in their cages.  Horses and camels were also on sale at the shop, each wearing a price board around their necks as they went about either pacing around the fence, drinking their water, or eating the food provided for them.

This entire marketplace was just a buzz with people.  As you passed by, some of the Medjai wizards and witches looked at you and your friends.  Some were in awe, others were skeptical, and the rest held respect as they bowed their heads to you and the others.

Soon you arrived at a large tent.  It seemed a pretty good decent size (maybe about 8ft long and 13ft. wide) for all of you to fit inside.  The front flaps were a stripped pattern of cream and, at least to you, an earthy kinda brownish-red.  The rest of the tent was an earthy tone of dark green and brown stripped pattern.

You all unmounted off your rides and Ardeth walked up to the tent and opened it up for you all.

“Enter my friends, eat and make yourselves at home.” John bent down to take his shoes off before entering inside the tent.  Brian did the same thing and gave Ardeth an Elvish thank you by placing his hand over his heart and bowing his head.  Ardeth did the same motion and Brian entered inside.

Roger, Thor and Seraffel, then Freddie followed behind after Brian.  You undid the last of your laces on your shoes and set them down beside the rest of the shoes that aligned the tent.

“You are the human savior the Naga Freddie has foreseen, aren’t you?” he said to you.

“Well—I don’t think I’d go so far as to say that. I mean yeah I did save John and Serafina’s sons from being imprisoned for all eternity but—other than that I’m not really all that special.”

“I disagree. You have a strong powerful aura within you. You may not yet realize it but it’s in there.” His strong, calloused hand gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze of reassurance.  “Every creature on this earth whether mortal or mythical has that power. It’s only up to those brave enough to seek it out. Not all heroes are of just one image.”

He walked back over to the flap of the tent and opened it up for you to walk inside.  You enter in and soon Ardeth follows right behind you.

Whoa! This tent was bigger on the inside! Various and beautiful kaleidoscope-like patterned quilts hung along the walls of the tent. There was a pool at the center of the tent and that’s where you saw both Seraffel and Roger, half naked, in the pool rehydrating themselves after being under the hot African sun for the past couple of days.

Thor was just drying off his wet hair (probably just getting out of the pool himself) wearing a white Arabic tunic.  Freddie was curled up under the shade fast asleep, while Brian and John were conversing quietly to themselves.

“Hey (n/n) get in the water’s amazing!” Seraffel called out to you.

“It was amazing till you nearly froze it over yah overgrown icicle!” Roger snapped.

“Oh whatever you’re made out of water yourself you’re fine.” Seraffel waved off nonchalantly.  You shook your head at seeing those two argue pettily.

“Maybe later guys.” You gave them an answer.

“I apologize for what happened with my guards out front. We’ve been needing to increase security for our coven.” Ardeth said as he went over to the kitchen to make some drinks for us.

“We understand Ardeth. My grandfather—is resilient.” John spoke lowly.

“He is. Unfortunately, it was not your grandfather or his followers that I was referring to.” At hearing this, most of you all look up at the leader of the Medjai sorcerers confused.

“What—do you mean then?” questioned Thor.

“It would seem Grindelwald has finally convinced an even greater foe to side with him.”

“Who?” you ask.

“The Shadow Sorcerers.” At hearing that name, everyone in the room went frigid with fear.  Even Freddie’s eyes had opened at hearing their name.

“Who are the Shadow Sorcerers?” you ask.

“A separate branch of one of the most powerful and most dangerous wizards and witches. They branched off during the time of Thomas Deacon, they viewed his radical thinking of submitting themselves under the Sorcerer Supreme’s rule unlawful. So they branched off, became their own branch of sorcerers.” Freddie first explained before John joined in.

“Once my grandfather became Sorcerer Supreme, he tried to sway the Shadow wizards not as pawns, but an ally. A secondhand ally you may call it. Some of the Shadow covens agreed and allowed some of their students to transfer into our school. To study our way of magic. But they made for certain that they would never submit themselves under the rule of the Sorcerer Supreme. At least not without something to gain from it.”

“They value their pride more than anything else in the world. But it would seem some of the Shadow covens have decided to go fully under Grindelwald’s thumb. Their source of magic comes from the most ancient and most darkest of all magic. Using their very own shadows as an extension of themselves in order to take down any enemy.” Ardeth said.

“The Shadow coven takes their inspiration of their magic based on the animals that you humans refer to as Nocturnal animals. Even basing each specific family off the Latin name of said animal. I’ve even seen the Shadow Sorcerers even control other beings to their will by using their own shadows against them. A few of my people before the massacre learned that the hard way.” Freddie said.

“How many Shadow sorcerer covens are there?” asked Thor.

“There are 10 main covens of Shadow Sorcerers, and then depending on the Nocturnal animal they are inspired to emulate, the covens get subdivided into classes based off the species. The covens with the most subclass are the Felines, Rodents, and Mammalia clans.” John answered his youngest son.

“So that means we’re screwed.” Seraffel exclaimed angrily.

“Not necessarily my young ice dragon.” Ardeth added.  “I said that some of the covens have joined Grindelwald. You see there are some that have remained either undecisive or wish to remain neutral. But I’m afraid the ones that did join along with Grindelwald, are one of the most strongest Shadow Sorcerers of all.”

“Which coven classes joined alongside him?” Brian asked. Ardeth sighed and said.

“I—truthfully do not know the exact number. But the one that has been skulking around here lately come from the Corvus clan.” You noticed John clenching his hand into a fist and even saw it tremble.

“So what do we do now?” asked Seraffel.

“Right now my friends you rest. And I strictly ask that you do not leave this tent as the sun sets. The shadow wizards tend to do their hunting at night. And whatever you do; Never. Turn on. The lights.” With that, Ardeth left you guys alone to your thoughts.

“Damn. Siding with the Shadow Sorcerers. Grindelwald must be getting desperate if he wanted to ask for their help.” Roger said.

“Does Grindelwald fear the Shadow Sorcerers?”

“To an extent. My grandfather is many things, a coward is definitely not one of them. But he is aware of who is powerful than even him. He must’ve sueded them to a deal that not even they could refuse.” John said. He lowered his head down to his hands and run his fingers through his hair anxiously. “I just hope and pray to Merlin that Serafina’s at least not in Egypt anymore. Or at least nowhere where a Shadow wizard could be.”

“She’ll be fine John. She’s stronger than you realize.” Brian comforted the anxious young wizard.

For the rest of the day, you all rested and pretty much stayed inside the tent because after traveling the desert for 2 days none of you even thought about wanting to go back outside.

When the sky became dark, it was as Ardeth said, no lanterns or lights were coming on in the camp.  Not even lights from the tents or houses nearby were up.

“Man, Ardeth wasn’t kidding. Not a single Medjai has their lights on.” You said as you came back into the tent.

“Then we must do the same.” Brian said. He went up to one of the lanterns and turned off the flame candle inside.  Roger did the same to his side of the room, and on and on until finally the entire tent was nothing but pitch black.

You adjusted yourself on the soft red velvet couch (well it felt more like a bed with how big it was).

“Goodnight everyone.” You say.  They all reply with a goodnight and soon you all fall into a silent sleep.

‘(Y/n).’ a ghostly whisper calls out to you.  You moan and try to go back to sleep but the voice calls out to you again. ‘(Y/n)~’ the soft gentle coo of this man’s voice reminded you a lot of your grandfather.  The grandfather you lost back in the War.

He had moved to a small town of Leuven in Belgium after remarrying a woman named Pamela Janssens.  She was nice and she really helped your grandfather out of his depression when your grandma died of a heart attack.  He enjoyed the Belgium countryside and the people were nice to him even from being from America.

But when the German troops invaded Leuven, you were told by your mother (who was the daughter of your grandfather) that he had been shot and killed by a German soldier and Pamela had been raped before being brutally murdered and then their house was burned to the ground.

Your granddad was like a superhero to you.  Even in his old age, he never let anything bring him down. That’s why he was able to still pick you up even as you became a teenager.  When you received word of his death from Pamela’s sister, it crushed your entire world.

‘(Y/n)~’ the voice called to you again.  No it—it couldn’t be him. There’s no way.

“Granddad?” you whisper as you sit up.

‘It’s me.’ You gasp and quickly hop off the couch. ‘I’m here.’ The voice called out again.  You peek outside of the tent but it’s nothing but pitch black outside.  The crescent shape moon hardly gave off any light but it was then a small blue flame stood before you.  It danced and you swore that it had eyes staring up at you.

A trail of them soon popped out, leading away from the village. Something in your gut didn’t seem right but there was a magical force that was just beckoning you to go forward.

‘Hummingbird. It’s me.’ No way…..it—it was him.  Only one person ever called you hummingbird and that was your grandfather.  You then find yourself walking out of the tent and followed the trail of blue flames, each one of them disappearing as you walked through them.

*3rd Person POV*

Freddie’s eyes snapped open as he looked up in time just to see (Y/n) leaving the tent.

“Roger! Roger!” Freddie hissed quietly.  Roger groaned and turned his back on Freddie, burying himself under his pillow. “Thor! Seraffel!” the dragons only kept snoring softly, well Thor was.  Seraffel was mumbling incoherently in his sleep.

Rolling his eyes, Freddie decided it was up to him to get their human savior back.  He peeked his head out of the tent, his tongue sticking out to taste the air, hoping to get a scent of where they had gone.

He left the tent and soon spotted some fresh footprints leading away from the village.

“Damnit!” he slithered forward following the footprints as fast as he could, hoping it wasn’t too late.

A few feet from the village, he soon heard the sound of wings flapping.  Quickly finding a rocky ledge to hide under, he soon saw 4 figures land down a few yards away from him and soon the figures of 4 men in black robes stood there.

However one of them kept out his black feather wings out and he spoke to the three men.

“With them separated it’ll be easier to take them down. But leave them alive—for now.” The three wizards soon took off on foot now to find (Y/n).  Each going a different direction in hopes of ambushing them.

Freddie kept his eyes on the leader who merely just stood there, scouring the entire desert sand.  There was something off about this Shadow sorcerer just standing there, he had to be plotting something.

Suddenly out of nowhere Freddie felt three steel blades being shot into his back.  He arched himself but as he turned around he was caught by surprise as the figure of the leader fired some type of gas at him, all the awhile saying BOO!

Freddie swatted the air but it was too late.  His vision soon started flashing back to the day his entire race was killed.

“Aww, having trouble?” the leader’s voice (sounding thunderous, haunting, almost demonic).  Freddie saw the leader’s eyes glowing the same haunting blue as Thomas Riddle Deacon’s eyes.  The very same cold blue eyes that stared back at him as he slaughtered each and every Naga. “Watch the stars, have a drink!”

Freddie began thrashing around trying to get rid of this horrifying memory but all he kept seeing was blood spurting, the flash of green light, and the agonizing screams of his family.  He soon felt some sort of liquid being dumped onto him as the Shadow Sorcerer continued to taunt him.

“You look like a snake who takes himself too seriously.” His palm soon sparked out a blue fireball and as Freddie finally went calm for a split second to look up at the wizard, he told Freddie. “You want my opinion? You need to lighten up.” He threw the blue fireball at Freddie and soon he was being burned alive.

The leader soon disappeared into the shadows as Freddie screamed in pure agony.  The blue flames eating away at his coils like a hot grinder slowly and torturously burning away every inch of his skin.  Somehow he managed to send a telepathic cry for help to John who immediately woke up.

“Freddie!” John shot up exclaiming which soon woke everyone up. Brian’s elvish hearing soon heard Freddie’s torturous screaming.

“Come on!” everyone soon left the tent and raced to help the Naga.  Suddenly all the lights in their tent came on and the shadows soon came alive.

Razor sharp teeth and red eyes surrounded them as they now felt themselves being bound by the shadows.  John tried to break free but he soon heard the very same thing happening to the tent next to them.  And the home after that, until the entire Medjai was either screaming in terror or with their last dying breath.

“Hello John, remember me?” soon entering the tent with Ardeth also trapped within his grasp was a lean stature man with short black hair, ice blue eyes, a strong jawline and skin as pale as the moon.  He looked to be about his mid-30’s possibly even 40s. But it was his voice.

His voice that was soft and lulling like a lullaby, but it held an icy, haunting tone to it as well.

“Jonathan Corvus.” He smirked.

“It really has been too long. How’s little Fina been?” John snarled softly but soon let out a groan as he felt himself being squeezed tighter by Johnathan’s magic.  “And you know, it is very surprising to not see her here with you. I mean back at school you guys were—heh stuck together like glue.”

“Dad, you actually know this son of a bitch?” Seraffel asked.

“Now that is quite rude. Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners?” A shadow spear shot out and struck Seraffel in his thigh.  He let out a painful scream.

“Seraffel!” Thor screamed.  Seraffel groaned and growled in pain.

“Dragons always were quite brutish for my taste. But I guess that’s why you and sweet, sweet Fina adopted these monsters. Freaks till the end.” The shadow spear slowly went deeper into Seraffel’s thigh.  The blood now starting to ooze further down his pant leg, he threw back his head trying to hold in his agonizing screams.

“What do you want from us Corvus!?” John demanded.

“Well truthfully we were ordered to take you and your little band of monsters to see your dear old grandfather but it seems we’re one short. So—you’re coming with us till you tell us where Serafina Black is.”

The last thing any of them ever saw was pure darkness as the shadows wrapped around them till they couldn’t breathe.

*2nd Person POV*

You kept following your grandfather’s voice until you came out towards the Nile River.  Whatever light from the moon directed itself into the water, almost giving it a crystal like glow to it.  Panting after running so hard you couldn’t hear your grandfather’s voice anymore.

“Granddad?” you called out. “Granddad!” again nothing but silence.  Suddenly something whooshed behind you.  “G-Granddad?” soon a figure appears out of thin air.  He had a black hooded cloak covering himself from whatever light there was and he just stood there silently for what felt like eternity.  His hands slowly came up and you were frozen with fear at just who was now standing a few feet away from you.

John’s grandfather, Grindelwald Deacon.

You quickly take out John’s wand from your hip and aim it at him.  Even though your hands and legs were trembling with fear you tried to stay strong.

“You stay right there! I know who you are!”

“(Y/n) (L/n). I am not here to hurt you.” His soft whisper of a voice said to you.  Hearing him speak in the flashback was one thing but now that he was actually standing here before you it—it made you feel……cold. “I only want to help.”

“Help me?!” you snapped quietly.

“Yes.” He told you. “You are so very, very far away from home. Far away from everything that you know, far from those that you love.” You thought back to your family.  You hadn’t even really been keeping them updated on everything since you took the job in trying to discover John and Serafina’s secret club.

No, no he’s manipulating you! You’ve seen this before with John the night Serafina’s family was slaughtered don’t. fall. For it!

“I said don’t take another step!” you warned.  But your façade was easily dropping as your hand trembled even worse.  And still, he kept walking closer and closer to you.

“My child, I would never see you harmed. Unlike with what the Naga has told you.” What? What is he talking about. “Dear one, it is not your fault that your very birth was planned to go along with the Naga’s plan for vengeance. It is not your fault that you were forced into this world, if you were siding alongside me I would ensure that you were free to live your life. A world where your very existence is not meant to satisfy someone else’s gain.”

Even though you wanted to strike this man down, no matter how much rage and fear was starting to build up within you…….he was right.

Everyone so far has kept calling you the ‘Human Savior’. You didn’t ask for any of this. And why did it have to be you? Sure you might have gone along with it but now—now it was starting to feel like a game to you.  That your only purpose for even existing was just to satisfy Freddie’s plan.

“I—I……” you loosened your grip on your wand. Grindelwald’s hand slowly comes up and wraps his fingers around John’s wand.

“You are an innocent. So go now. Leave this place, return to the life that you know.” With that he apparated into smoke and disappeared from your view.

You debated and debated long and hard.  Yes you had come this far already but—was it really worth it? Why did it have to be you? Why couldn’t someone else take this job? Clearly John and Serafina have something to gain out of saving all these creatures as well as their entire community, why did you need to be involved?

Suddenly something pierced right through your back. Although no blood spurted out from you, you still felt like something was piercing your very soul.  Your right arm suddenly shot out and twisted itself inward.

What—what was happening to you? You tried to resist but each time you did, you were forced to contort and twist about until you were pulled to your knees.

“What’s…….”

“Thought you would realize just what we were? Guess Muggles really are as stupid as they come.” Soon coming out was a strong-bulky looking man who had shadow-like tentacle arms coming out from behind him, his hands seeping out a black aura (much like John and Serafina’s magical aura).

“Shadow sorcerer.”

“Oh look it does speak.” You narrowed your eyes at the insult but your eyes were forced to go wide-eyed.  “Such manners, nothing but beyond neanderthal anger. Running about like starving goblins.” You soon felt yourself being lifted up into the air, still unable to gain even the slightest ounce of control back.

“What did—you do…..with my…..friends?”

“The same thing I’m about to do to you, muggle.” In a flash, the shadows shot right towards you until you were cocooned in complete blackness.

[theroyalmile]

Body by Chemo

Last weekend I went for a 9-mile bike ride to downtown Boston and back.  I was admittedly nervous and skeptical about this ride beforehand for a couple of reasons.  First, it has been years since I rode a bike, and I know there’s that whole expression “It’s like riding a bike” but I’m not sure that expression is all that accurate.  Second, I have never ridden a bike in Boston.  Third, I get winded these days going up and down my stairs, so I was not sure I quite “had it in me.”  But, my whole household was going, it was a beautiful day, and I had been promising myself I would make an effort to be more active.  So off we went.  Oh, and there was a promise of breakfast sandwiches and coffee and donuts once we made it downtown- nobody could say no to that.

The beginning of the ride was rocky.  The original bike I borrowed was just a little too tall for me, and because of that I felt incredibly unsteady.  I traded bikes with one of my roommates and that bike ended up being a better fit for me- a few loops around a parking lot and I thought, “Hey, it really is like riding a bike.” With my confidence reasserted, we hit the bike path.  

The bike ride was, overall, beautiful.  I did find myself getting winded and had to stop a couple of times.  My roommates had been prepared to take it easy with me, and were very supportive.  Eventually we made it the 4.5 miles downtown and I felt so incredibly proud for conquering my first time back on a bike and first time biking downtown, all while dealing with the fatigue, shortness of breath and other goodies that come with my chemo treatment.  I felt empowered and heartened, which made me feel optimistic about the ride back home.

That optimism was short lived; almost immediately after we took off it became apparent that my body simply could not handle it.  I told myself we just had to get out of downtown and back on the bike trail and then I would ask to stop.  We made it and I signaled everyone for a quick break.  I thought maybe if I caught my breath and had some water it would be okay.  One of our bike squad members offered for me to try their bike to see if that made a difference.  I hopped on bikes a block or so, and then hopped off almost immediately- it just wasn’t going to work.  As I hopped off, right after we had crossed an intersection, I heard two men yelling from a car about some girl having a fat ass, or something to that effect.  Regardless of whether they were talking about me or someone else who had crossed the street with us, that was the final kick for me.  Any experienced fat girl understands that you will always think those comments are about you, even when they are not.  (Disclaimer: I do not mean “fat” as something negative, and I am definitely not looking for people to tell me I’m not fat, I’m simply stating a fact about my body).  Anyways, it was at this point I felt the tears of frustration welling up and knew my ride was done.  I told the crew I couldn’t go any further and would walk while they biked on.

There is a certain trauma that comes with being fat and exercising.  It’s almost like you never want someone to see you fail at any kind of physical activity because it feels like you're reinforcing the stereotype, like, oh of course the fat girl can’t finish the bike ride.  My roommate had offered, very kindly, to come back and pick me up in the car.  That was an indignancy I couldn’t bear- it was one thing to fail to finish the ride; it was another to have to be driven home.  No, I said stubbornly, I would walk my bike home.  Caleb of course insisted on walking his bike with me.  

As we walked our bikes I became more and more upset.  Part of it was the embarrassment of being a fat girl walking a bike home.  I almost want to scream at passers by “It’s not because I’m fat- I have cancer!” But another, bigger part of it was the reality of admitting to myself that chemo had changed my body, and it simply wasn’t up to the tasks it might normally have been.  Eventually I became upset enough that I had to stop and let myself have a small breakdown.  Caleb hugged me while I cried and tried to keep me in perspective. “You’re going through chemo” he reminded me, and tried to help me realize that having made it as far as I had was a feat in itself.  He walked across the street to grab me tissues and a gatorade so I could cry, rehydrate, cry, and rehydrate some more. 

****

Here’s the thing about chemo- it has made me feel incredibly betrayed by my body.  I have always been overweight, since my teenage years or even earlier.  Different versions of overweight, but overweight.  That was just the way it was, and I had reached a certain level of acceptance of that.  But I had always prided myself on how active I could be.  Pre-pandemic I could run 4-5 miles no problem.  I would hit the gym three times a week, I would get the steps in.  I was still fat, I was active, and I felt good about myself.  

Because of chemo, I am now fat, inactive, and feel terrible all the time.  I get winded walking up stairs, I am exhausted by my five minute walk from the T to my office downtown, and I find a short walk will tire me out for an afternoon.  And it’s not just my stamina.  It is absolutely everything.

The skin around my mouth had begun peeling and reddening.  My cuticles are dry and peeling and hurt.  My hands and feet are dry and cracked.  My arms are bruised up and down from frequent IVs. I oftentimes cannot open my medicine bottles or jars without help.  My hair, of course, is completely gone, not just on my head, but my nostrils too, leaving me with an almost constant runny nose.  My eyebrows are thinning, along with my eyelashes, and I pray to whoever is listening to please not take those away from me too.  My hands shake, and have turned dark brown from the cytoxan (which thankfully I am done with).  My memory is terrible.  I am breaking out like I’m back and middle school. My joints hurt, my muscles ache, despite me doing nothing all day. AND I get hot flashes now! Oh and I am hungry all the time.  Honestly ALL THE TIME.  

Here’s the thing- my body and I have been in a constant battle since I was 12 years old.  It took me 10-15 years to learn to love my body for what it was, with the understanding I was never going to have the same body as my friends, was never going to fit their clothes, and was never going to be the traditional idea of “in shape.”  But we had come to truce, my body and I.  I had found acceptance, and even joy in my body.  I had even got to a point where I wore a bikini for the first time since I was a child the summer before the pandemic and it felt amazing, liberating.  I followed plus size models like Ashley Graham and Tess Holiday on Instagram and thought heck yeah, if they can do it so can I.  

My cancer treatment has taken the pride I had in my body and the control I had over my activity levels and appearance and destroyed every last piece of it.  When I was having my worst struggles with my body in college, therapists used to ask me to list my favorite things about my appearance.  My top two on that list were always the same: 1) My hair and 2) My boobs.  Well, cancer has taken one of those things from me already and will have taken the other by the end of this summer.  Like I said, my body has betrayed me now in more ways that I can count.  And that betrayal is likely not going to end for a long time.  Honestly not until there is no cancer in my body any more.  Because let’s be real- that’s the biggest betrayal of all.

Whenever I catch myself in the mirror these days it has the potential to ruin my whole day.  There are few outfits that make me feel comfortable and attractive.  My face feels round, rounder without hair to frame it. I try not to look too long, lest I find more things to hate.  I am terrified of upcoming social gatherings, and wonder how on earth will I be able to feel remotely happy about my appearance for them.  

Chemo has reshaped my body in so many ways, some that I am only starting to realize.  It is hard, fitting into this new body and becoming accustomed to it.  It is even harder learning to love it.  Indescribably hard.  I think I can get there but sometimes it’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Moments like the complete few minutes of despair I felt during our bike ride sometimes make that light seem even further.  But it’s important to remember those moments are often fleeting, and can change with a little perspective.  

****

After I cried it out on the bike path, I checked the time and realized we really needed to start heading home.  Caleb had a vaccine appointment to make and I was an hour away from committing murder of some poor bystander out of sheer frustration.  I looked on Google maps and found the walk home would be 48 minutes, probably more pushing a bike and with my sad little chemo lungs.  The bike ride home? 12 minutes.  So back on the bike I went, and it took every muscle in my body to pedal that 12 minutes home.  Fueled by my anger and embarrassment, and the residual tears, we eventually made it all the way home.  

I originally found little pride and satisfaction in our trip.  All I could think about was how I couldn’t bike the whole thing, and about how those guys in the car had yelled, and how much I hated my biking outfit, and how defeated and mortified I was feeling.  

Sometimes perspective takes time, but eventually I found some.  I owe a lot of the perspective to Caleb’s support and encouragement both during and after the bike ride, and to my parents pride and excitement as I was telling them about my biking adventure.  I also owe a lot of it to a nap, a much needed shower, and a new day.  With perspective I rediscovered some of that pride I had lost.  Nine miles there and back?  I did that shit.  And yeah, maybe I didn’t bike the whole thing, but I sure as hell did the whole thing, and did the whole thing while in the midst of chemotherapy treatment.  While in the midst of poisoning my body beyond recognition.  I am a freaking badass. 

And what did I do that evening?  Ate my body weight in sushi because I wanted to.  

I know there are going to be a lot more ups and downs like this.  That bike ride was filled with some very high highs and some very low lows.  This is going to happen.  And while I don’t know exactly what to expect from my body in the months to come, I do know that whatever happens I’ll see y’all at the beach in July- I’ll be the fat girl with the bald head in a bikini eating an ice cream cone.

[mdzsgildedfate]

Gilded Fate - Chapter 10

Reincarnation AU [Chapter 10/?] Characters: Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, Original Characters. Pairings: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, Xue Yang/OC

The hike back was considerably more difficult than the hike to the pond. Not only was the way back uphill, but by now Xinyi’s fever had worsened. By the time they’d made it halfway, Chen was walking with one arm around Xinyi’s waist to support his weight. Despite the reversed incline, the Lan Jiaoshou seemed to be leading them along at a faster pace, only adding to Xinyi’s diminishing energy. When they stopped for their second break, QianHua made his way to the head of the group where Sizhui and Jingyi were resting.

“Jiaoshou? Is there a reason we’re walking so fast?”

“We stayed at the pond a little longer than we meant to.” Sizhui explained in a gentle tone. “We’re just trying to get back before it gets too late.”

QianHua looked up at the sky. “We’ve still got plenty of time before the sun sets, though…”

“We have other things planned for the day.” Jingyi spoke up. “You’re still young, how can you be tired already?”

“It’s Xinyi. He’s sick and struggling to keep up with how fast we’re walking.” QianHua explained, tossing a glance back to his friends.

“Sick?” Sizhui asked, looking surprised. “He looked fine when we left.”

“Well it’s worse now.” QianHua frowned, beginning to feel irritated with the two. “Go see for yourself!”

Sizhui nodded and followed him back to where Chen and Xinyi were sitting. Just as QianHua said, Xinyi was looking significantly worse. His skin was pale and glistening with sweat despite how long they’d already been resting for. Kneeling down in front of him, Sizhui put his hands to Xinyi’s cheeks, feeling the heat rolling off him in waves.

“Mm… Your hands are cold.” Xinyi said, leaning into the touch.

Sizhui frowned, his brows upturned with concern. “We’ll slow down and take more breaks.”

Xinyi shook his head immediately. “Don’t slow down. It’ll take longer.”

“You’ll get worse if you exert yourself too much.” Sizhui stood and looked at Chen now. “Do you all still have water?”

Chen shook his head and Sizhui unclipped the water bottle from his waistband, pushing it into Xinyi’s hands.

“Keep him hydrated and let me know if he gets worse.”

They nodded and, with one last concerned look at Xinyi, Sizhui returned to the front of the group to rejoin Jingyi. The break lasted longer than the previous ones had and, when they did start moving again, their pace had definitely slowed. Xinyi regained the ability to walk without Chen’s support and the rest of the hike back seemed to pass faster now that he wasn’t struggling to breath with every step. Once they reached the gates, the three split off to return to their room.

Xinyi stripped out of his sweat-soaked robes and crawled onto his bed. Chen opened the window and hung their robes out to dry before sitting down beside Xinyi. Using the rest of the water from Sizhui’s bottle, Chen wet one of his clean shirts and began wiping the sweat from Xinyi’s face and chest. QianHua collected their empty water bottles and left the room to refill them.

“How do you feel?” Chen asked, discarding the shirt to lay beside Xinyi.

“Better… Just really tired.” Xinyi replied, reaching out to hold Chen’s hand.

Chen smiled and laced their fingers together. “Take it easy today, ok? Don’t go running off with mysterious priests.”

“Ha, right. Don’t worry, I think I’m pretty done with that.”

“Oh really? Why’s that?”

Xinyi looked down at their hands, recalling the words last exchanged with Xingchen. “No reason in particular I guess. He’s just kinda weird.”

Chen chuckled. “A Taoist priest who’s been living in an ancient temple in the middle of the mountains with only another Taoist priest for company turned out to be weird? I never would have guessed.”

“You sound jealous.” Xinyi laughed.

“Jealous? Who’s jealous?”

“Really? You weren’t jealous when I said I slept in Xingchen’s room?” Xinyi asked, propping himself up to look down at Chen. “Or when I came back wearing his clothes?”

The man looked away with a frown, his cheeks turning red.

“Or what about today? When I said my hair ornament was from Xingchen?” He leaned in, his nose brushing against Chen’s cheek lightly.

Chen turned his head back to face Xinyi, his eyes trailing around the details of his face. Snaking an arm around Xinyi’s shoulders, he pulled the man into a kiss. Xinyi breathed into the kiss, putting his hand flat against Chen’s chest.

“See?” Chen broke the kiss, smirking at Xinyi. “Why should I be jealous?”

Before Xinyi could answer with much more than a laugh, they heard the door sliding open and broke apart before QianHua could see them. Sitting down together, they slowly drained their water bottles again before pulling their robes back on to rejoin the rest of the class outside. After resting and rehydrating, the colour had returned to Xinyi’s face and he seemed just as energetic as ever.

~X~

Around three in the afternoon, the students began returning to the courtyard from their rest. With Song Lan still missing, their plans for the evening would also require adjusting. Originally, he and Xiao Xingchen were supposed to demonstrate their sword skills, but with one of the hosts missing, someone else would have to step in. The two Lans stood off to the corner of the courtyard with Xiao Xingchen, still waiting anxiously for the other priest to reappear.

Just as they were starting to talk amongst themselves about who would take Song Lan’s place, the man finally appeared at the front gates. Nothing about him looked any different, not giving any indication as to where he’d disappeared to for most of the day. Although Xiao Xingchen’s face barely changed, Sizhui and Jingyi could tell he was annoyed with him. And they could hardly blame him.

After worrying them all for the better half of a day, Song Lan approached them as though he’d only excused himself for a few minutes. Sizhui and Jingyi waited patiently for him to reach them, but before they had a chance to speak, Jin Ling appeared and spoke for them.

“Where have you been?!” He demanded, looking the priest over for any indication that the necromancer had gotten to him.

“I apologize. I left for a secluded meditation.” Song Lan replied, offering a small bow. “I didn’t realize how late it was.”

Jin Ling huffed and folded his arms over his chest. “You should have told us you were leaving!”

Song Lan frowned slightly, looking to each of the other men before replying. “Did something happen?”

“I found something in the forest.” Jin Ling lowered his voice. “A cave full of corpses. Someone’s been practicing demonic cultivation nearby.”

“I… don’t see how that’s possible.” Song Lan furrowed his brow. “Xiao Xingchen and I would have noticed something like that immediately.”

“The cave opening was covered in camouflaging talismans.” Jin Ling explained before fishing the nail out of his sleeve. “And the corpses had these in their skulls. The sigil engraved in the head might have been obscuring the yin energy from you.”

Song Lan went tense at the sight of the nail, hesitating for a few seconds before slowly reaching a hand out to take the nail. He looked it over, unable to hide the pain and anger bubbling in his heart. After inspecting the sigil, he shook his head and gave it back to Jin Ling.

“This is Xue Yang’s work.”

“I thought so at first too.” Jin Ling replied as he put the nail back.

“It’s not possible though.” Sizhui continued. “Xinyi still hasn’t awakened, and even if he did recently-”

“He wouldn’t have a strong enough golden core to do something like this.” Jingyi finished.

They had solid points that Song Lan couldn’t deny, but the increase of Yin energy gave away that he didn’t entirely believe it.

“I found the cave yesterday. When I went back today, it was empty.” Jin Ling continued. “Whoever this is, they’re moving fast. You and Xiao Xingchen are at risk, we need to figure out who’s behind this before…”

“Before they use us as a weapons.” Song Lan finished Jin Ling’s thought, giving Xingchen a worried look. “Do you have any other leads? Any guess as to who they are or what they might do next?”

Jin Ling’s shoulders slumped. “No… The cave was the only thing I found and there’s nothing left in it. I doubt the necromancer will make another appearance there.”

“Is it possible there’s another reincarnated cultivator here? Besides Xue Yang?” Song Lan asked, looking back at the clusters of students dotting the courtyard.

“It’s impossible to know. Unless you recognize the soul personally, the only way to tell is if their spiritual energy has begun to destabilize as they awaken.” Sizhui explained with a frown.

“We’ll go out night-hunting after the students go to bed then.” Song Lan said decidedly. “Until then, we should proceed as normal. If the students suspect something is wrong, it’ll only make it harder to investigate.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and went ahead with their original plans for the sword fight. Trying to quell the worries in his mind, Song Lan drew the students’ attention to him and directed them to stand along the outer edge of the courtyard. Xiao Xingchen followed behind and they quickly took up position opposite each other in the middle of the yard. Song Lan explained the different styles of sword fighting and which ones he and Xingchen specialized in. As he finished speaking, they both drew their swords and let their blades slide together before taking two long strides away from the other.

Their movements started out slow, demonstrating basic moves at a speed the students could follow. Spinning around the courtyard, their movements complimented each other in a graceful dance, the billowing robes bleeding together into Yin and Yang. Their movements gradually increased in speed and complexity, filling the valley with the metallic trill of ShuangHua and FuXue clashing together. When the demonstration finished, the two broke apart and bowed to each other, and then to the students.

Everyone burst into applause, cheering excitedly at the impressive performance. When they quieted down, Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen slowed down some of the more complex moves as the former explained the techniques. Even with the reduced speed, the two looked otherworldly together. When they finished, they bowed again and sheathed their swords. Xingchen stepped away from the stage and returned to his seat with Jin Ling and the two Lans.

Song Lan turned to one of the tables that had been moved to the foot of the stairs where a few simple-looking swords were waiting. He picked one up and addressed the students again, glancing quickly around at his audience.

“Does anyone want to try?” He asked, a faint smile on his face.

Hands shot into the air and Song Lan slowed his eyes to look over each of the volunteers. His eyes fell on Xinyi, looking directly at him for the first time since returning, now noticing the ornament fixed to his hair. Song Lan paused, his body going rigid. The tiny detail had transformed the boy into a haunting reminder of the most devastating events of Song Lan’s life. It sent a shiver of anger and disgust through his body.

The resentful energy within him surged again and pushed his body into motion before realizing what he was doing. Song Lan crossed the yard and stopped in front of Xinyi, staring down at him for a moment before holding the sword up for him.

“Wang Xinyi?” He raised his eyebrows slightly.

Xinyi’s gaze flickered between Song Lan’s face and the sword in front of him. He still felt feverish, but the nap had revitalized him enough to consider the challenge. Even so, something didn’t feel right. Casting a wary glance to where Xiao Xingchen was sitting, he could see the man shaking his head at him. Their tiff from earlier replayed in his mind and he promptly decided to ignore Xingchen’s warning. Xinyi looked back at Song Lan and smiled, taking the sword from him.

“Sure.”

Song Lan spun around and led him to the middle of the yard. Xingchen was on his feet now, looking at Song Lan with an annoyed expression. With his sword in both hands, the priest tapped the nail of his index finger against the sheath loudly enough for them to hear. Song Lan ignored him, but the sound was stirring up Xinyi’s anxiety, making him wonder if he should back out.

Before he had a chance to reconsider, Song Lan drew his sword and pointed it’s tip at Xinyi. With shaky hands, he pulled his own sword out of its sheath and mirrored the movement. Looking up at the priest, he could see that two black, vein-like lines had appeared on the side of Song Lan’s neck. Momentarily distracted by them, Xinyi almost missed Song Lan’s first attack. It was slow enough to block, and there was plenty of room between Song Lan’s blade and Xinyi’s body, there was an intensity behind the move.

Steeling himself, Xinyi tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and focused his attention on Song Lan. The man drew his sword back and struck again with a downward slash. Instinctively, Xinyi brought his blade up to block it, the two blades bouncing off each other with a piercing ring. The more Song Lan swung out attacks, the more Xinyi became aware of how naturally he responded- and the more he became aware of the growing sincerity behind the attacks.

Their moves rolled out, one after another, each one striking out with increased speed and strength. Xiao Xingchen and Sizhui crept into Xinyi’s peripheral, their hands on the hilts of their swords as though they were genuinely worried Song Lan and Xinyi would hurt each other. It seemed unnecessary, until Xinyi’s blade shot past Song Lan’s and brushed across the man’s cheek, leaving a thin, red line behind on his skin. Xinyi drew back slightly, coming back to his senses.

The black veins on Song Lan’s neck crept onto his face and, in Xinyi’s moment of hesitation, he swung his sword at him with a heightened ferocity. A sudden, sharp pain shot through Xinyi’s left hand, causing him to drop his sword with a loud clatter and buckle onto his knees. Xiao Xingchen flew in front of him, blocking whatever attack Song Lan was already executing. Sizhui came running to his side, Chen and QianHua appearing seconds later. The two priests exchanged four or five more blows before silence finally fell over the courtyard.

Sizhui untied the sash around his waist, bundled it up, and pressed it against Xinyi’s hand. “A-Yi, I need bandages! Chen, go get water!”

“Everyone go back inside! Now!” Jin Ling’s voice roared out as he quickly herded the other students towards the stairs.

Isn’t this a bit of an overreaction for a little cut?

Xinyi looked up at Sizhui, feeling the world spin around him as he moved his head.

Oh, fuck...

Looking forward again, he noticed the long splatter of blood on the ground in front of him. The sight of a severed chunk of flesh in the middle of the blood flipped Xinyi’s stomach over, immediately putting him on his side to vomit on to the stonework. The corners of his vision darkened and before he knew it Jingyi and Chen had returned with the supplies.

Sizhui took the bloodied sash away and poured water over Xinyi’s hand, revealing that Song Lan’s blade had cut clean through his little finger and part of the way through his ring finger. After clean bandages were expertly wrapped around the wound, Xiao Xingchen put his arms under Xinyi’s knees and around his shoulders and lifted him up. He carried the man up the stairs into the temple, followed by a parade of the two Lans, Jin Ling, Chen, and QianHua. Song Lan had already disappeared from sight, along with the rest of the class.

~X~

The Lans took up the lead once they were inside and guided the parade back to their own room where Xingchen laid Xinyi down onto the bed. His skin had gone pale again and sweat was beaded across his face, the fever having suddenly returned full force. Looking the man over, Sizhui instantly sensed the turbulence of Xinyi’s spiritual energy. Holding two fingers over his body, Sizhui followed along the spiritual pathways, studying the eb and flow of energy. After a moment, he pulled his hand away and looked over at Jingyi.

“This… Doesn’t make sense…”

“What doesn’t? What’s wrong?” Chen asked, standing over them anxiously.

“Go back to your rooms.” Jin Ling cut in, stepping towards them. “We can take care of this.”

“But-!”

Jin Ling and Jingyi grabbed the boys by their shoulders and rushed them out of the room, forcing them out before they could say anything else. Slamming the door shut, Jin Ling spun back around to look at Sizhui with an urgent expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Sizhui hesitated for a moment and looked back down to Xinyi. The man’s eyes were hooded, going in and out of focus as his head lulled around aimlessly. He let out quiet, pained moans, squirming on the bed with his injured hand cupped to his chest.

“I don’t know how, but he’s already been sealed..” He said finally, furrowing his brow. “More than once. By the looks of it… someone has sealed his energy at least a dozen times.”

“What? How is that possible? Who could have-?” Jin Ling gaped at them, words failing him.

“I don’t know!” Sizhui said back, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. “Sealing someone expends an enormous amount of your own spiritual energy, only someone with a high cultivation level could have done this.”

“Is that why he’s been having nightmares for so long without awakening?” Jingyi asked, looking a little horrified.

“Yes. His energy has been trying to release for a long time, but these blocks are keeping that from happening.” Sizhui put his hands to his face, rubbing his eyes wearily. “It can’t wait any longer. I have to remove them.”

“Remove them? Isn’t it better for him not to awaken?” Jin Ling asked, folding his arms over his chest.

“No. This will kill him. It’s already done a lot of damage to his pathways, he won’t last much longer like this.” Sizhui stood and walked over to his guqin. “I won’t condemn him to die over a fear that he might become violent.”

Everyone in the room exchanged anxious looks. After an idle moment, Jin Ling and Jingyi nodded at each other. Jin Ling took out his rope and the two of them set to work tying Xinyi to the bed. Once they were confident he was secure, they stepped away and looked to Sizhui. He took a deep breath and set his fingers to the strings, slowly plucking out a qi-filled melody. As the song worked its way through Xinyi’s body, he began struggling against the restraints and letting out pained cries.

Xingchen knelt by the bed and put a hand on Xinyi’s shoulder, looking down at him nervously. The man’s eyes opened wide, staring straight up at the ceiling. The energy in the room increased and swirled together, creating a thick atmosphere. Everyone’s muscles tensed as Sizhui played on and Xinyi struggled more and more, his bandages soaked in blood again from squirming against the ropes holding him down.

When the last note was strummed out from the guqin, the energy in the air popped and crackled like fireworks had been set off. Xinyi stilled and fell back against the bed, his only movement being the heavy rise and fall of his chest. Xingchen looked to Sizhui nervously, who stood rigidly over his instrument with apprehension. No one said a word or moved a muscle for a long time, holding their breath for Xinyi’s reaction. When none came, Sizhui finally forced himself to approach the bed.

“Xi-Xinyi?” Sizhui asked hesitantly, the hair on the back of his neck standing up when Xinyi met his eyes.

“...Can you untie me now?” He asked quietly.

“Are you…?”

“Please. My hand hurts.”

Sizhui looked down at the bloody mess, feeling his heart lurch at the state it was in. He motioned to Xingchen, who immediately gripped the hilt of his sword and stood back, and moved to begin untying Xinyi. He removed the knots holding down the injured hand and carefully unwrapped it, discarding the soiled bandages to begin cleaning the wound again.

“Jiaoshou…”

Sizhui looked up at Xinyi, surprised to hear him still addressing him by that title.

“Will you take me home?”

He couldn’t make sense of it. Xinyi’s blocks were removed and his energy released, there was no mistaking that he had awakened, but he spoke like nothing had changed. Speechless, Sizhui simply nodded and focused on redressing Xinyi’s hand. Tentatively, Jingyi stepped forward to finish untying him. As the binds fell away, Jin Ling tightened his grasp on the hilt of his sword, preparing himself just in case Xinyi’s calm demeanour was a facade.

Once he was freed, Xinyi slowly sat up and wiped the sweat off his face, pausing to look at his mutilated hand. He stared at it for a long time, occasionally flexing the remaining fingers, before putting his legs over the side of the bed to stand. His body shook and swayed unsteadily as soon as he was on his feet, looking like he might collapse at any moment.

Xingchen stepped towards him and put a hand on Xinyi’s shoulder to steady him. “Xinyi…?”

He met the priest’s gaze, staring back silently. Seeming to consider the man’s presence for a moment, he slapped Xingchen’s hand away and weaved his way to the door. He pulled it open and started to step out into the hall, pausing for a moment before turning back around to look at Sizhui with tired eyes.

“I’m gonna go pack my things.” He said, the calm in his voice sending ice through everyone’s veins. “Can we leave soon?”

“O-oh. Of course.” Sizhui stuttered out, still a little shaken.

Xinyi nodded and disappeared down the hall, leaving the four men gaping after him. Slowly coming back to themselves, they faced each other with dumbfounded expressions.

“Sizhui… What do we do?” Jin Ling asked finally.

Sizhui shook his head slightly, as though shaking himself out of a daze. “Tell everyone to pack. We’ll take everyone home today.”

“Is that safe?” Jin Ling looked at him, wide-eyed.

He shook his head again, shrugging his shoulders slightly. “I’m just as unsure as you are. But we can’t stay after everyone saw what happened in the courtyard.”

~X~

“A-Xin, what happened? What did they do to you?” Chen asked as soon as Xinyi appeared at the door.

“I’m fine. They didn’t do anything to me.” Xinyi replied, kneeling down to start packing his things away into his bag. “They cleaned up my hand and asked what happened with me and Song Lan.”

“What did happen?” QianHua asked, sitting down in front of Xinyi.

“Nothing. It was just an accident.”

“That didn’t look like an accident.” Chen said, sounding a little irritated.

Xinyi paused his packing and looked up at Chen, smiling reassuringly at him. “We got too caught up and I got distracted. It was just an accident.”

“Hey, I know you were too busy bleeding on the ground to see it,” QianHua had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. “But Song Lan didn’t stop when he cut you, Xiao Xingchen had to take over the fight. It looked like he was really trying to kill you.”

Laughing lightheartedly, Xinyi went back to packing. “Maybe he did. It doesn’t matter now.”

Chen grabbed Xinyi’s shoulder and pulled him back, looking at him with dismay. “How can you just brush this off and- and-... what are you even doing, cleaning the room? You almost lost your hand- For fuck’s sake, Xinyi-”

Xinyi touched his uninjured hand to Chen’s face, gently stroking his thumb over his cheek. “I’m not cleaning, I’m packing. We’re going home. Can you please go pack, too, and give me some space to process what just happened?”

Chen blinked a few times, feeling guilty, and put his hand to Xinyi’s, holding it in place against his face. After a few seconds he let go, nodding his head as he turned to start packing his own things. QianHua silently did the same and, before long, the borrowed room was cleared of all the clothes, books, and other various belongings that had spent the past five days strewn across the floor. They pulled their backpacks on and opened the door to return to the courtyard, only to find Xiao Xingchen on the other side, his hand frozen in the air mid-knock.

“Don’t bother apologizing for Song Lan. I’m not going to try to get revenge.” Xinyi said quickly, pushing past Xingchen.

“That’s not why I came.”

He paused, turning around to look at him. After a moment of consideration, he gestured to Chen and QianHua to go on without him. They hesitated, giving Xingchen suspicious looks, before giving in to Xinyi’s directions and went on down the hall ahead of him. Once they were gone, a small smile cracked across Xinyi’s face.

“It was fun, wasn’t it?” Xinyi asked, a hint of his old wild look gleaming in his eyes. “Playing with me when I didn’t know who you were… It must have been nice, having our roles reversed like that.”

Xingchen frowned. “I wasn’t thinking about it like that.”

“Weren’t you?!” He shot back, laughing. “I’m actually impressed! I never thought you’d become cruel enough to watch someone suffer like that.”

“Xinyi, I-”

“Oh, drop that bullshit.” He crossed his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes. “The cat’s out of the bag, you can call me Xue Yang again.”

Xingchen looked down, furrowing his brow. “ Xue Yang. I wasn’t getting joy out of seeing you in pain like that, I wasn’t trying to make things harder on you. I’m not…”

“Me?” Xue Yang asked, laughing lightheartedly. “That’s what you were going to say, right? You’re not me? I agree with that, actually. What you did was very different from what I did. I actually tried to keep my identity a secret. You dangled it in front of me. Like a cat toy.”

Xingchen lifted his gaze incredulously. “You kept your identity a secret so you could trick me into killing people! How can you possibly compare the two?!”

“True, I did do that.” He replied, smiling innocently. “You know, Xiao Xingchen, I think you’ve lost your mind a little bit after all these years. You remember what I did, but weren’t you kissing me just this morning?”

Xue Yang paused, touching his fingers to his lips, looking away as though recalling the memory fondly. When he turned his gaze back to Xingchen, he drew his tongue over his bottom lip slowly before breaking out into laughter again.

“You seemed so desperate for it.” He continued, taking a step towards Xingchen, looking at the man’s lips while he talked. “Did you miss my taste that much?”

Xingchen shoved him back abruptly, tears stinging in his eyes. “If I missed you, it’s just another monument to your cruelty. You didn’t have to lure me into a relationship if your goal was to watch me kill innocent people. Why did you have to pretend to love me?”

“Pretend?” Xue Yang’s expression fell, watching Xingchen with careful eyes.

Tears spilled out over Xingchen’s cheeks, ruining his perfect skin with red blotches. “In Yi City… Why did you pretend to be in a relationship with me? What was the point?”

Xue Yang’s eyes glared holes through the man. “How many years have passed since then?”

“8,000. Give or take.” He replied after a pause.

“8,000 years…” Xue Yang considered the information carefully. “8,000 years have passed, you’ve had all the time to think about what happened, and you still don’t understand what happened.”

“Explain it to me then.”

The smile returned to Xue Yang’s face and he replied through vicious laughter. “No! I don’t think I will! Why should I have to spell it out to someone so determined to misunderstand it?”

Xingchen stepped forward, closing the gap between them and grabbed Xue Yang’s sleeve. “You owe it to me! After everything you put me through- with the existence Song Lan and I are condemned to because of you- the least you can do is answer this one question.”

Xue Yang frowned, his face twisted with anger. He slapped Xingchen’s hand off him, turning to face him head on, and glared up at him. Meeting the man’s gaze, the smile slowly returned to Xue Yang’s face. His eyes gleamed wildly and he let out another vicious laugh.

“Maybe because I was bored! Maybe I wanted to see you figure out my identity all on your own so I could watch your reaction! Maybe I was hoping your hand would brush over mine and you’d have the sinking feeling of terror, finally realizing who I was after all those years, while I had you bent over the table with my cock in your ass.”

Xingchen stumbled away from Xue Yang, looking as though he might vomit from his words. Xue Yang grabbed his wrist and reeled him back in, using his bandaged hand to wipe the tears off Xingchen’s face.

“That’s what you wanted to hear, right?” He asked quietly, staring at him blankly. “You wanted a perfectly gift-wrapped explanation for why I tricked you so you could finally make peace with your feelings and go back to hating me. Right?”

Shaking in his grasp, Xingchen tried to pull away, to turn around and run and not have to see his face ever again, but Xue Yang tightened his grip on Xingchen’s wrist and pulled him back.

“You know, it’s funny.” Xue Yang continued, cracking a small smile again. “By the time Song Lan finally showed up… I actually kinda thought you figured out who I was… We’d been in a relationship for two years, how could you not? ...Xiao Xingchen. You feel like I didn’t actually love you?”

He let go of the man finally and took a step back. “How do you think I felt when you stabbed me?”

Tapping his fingers along the straps of his backpack, Xue Yang kept his eyes glued to the floor, listening intently to Xingchen’s silence. When he felt satisfied, the smile returned to his face and he shrugged at Xingchen before turning to walk away without another word.

On his way back to the courtyard, Xue Yang made one final pitstop in the temple. He circled back around to the west corner, slid open the door to the artifact room, and slipped inside. From the expansive display case spanning the entire wall, Xue Yang knelt down and retrieved JiangZai. He strapped it to his back under his bag and continued on the front entrance, letting his attention fixate on how it felt to have the sword back where it belonged.

[lost-inthedream]

What happened in the night club - part I

Anon request:  Could you please create a suggestive scene with the members of SF9 in a night club???

Summary: Three different readers, Three different scenarios, One club.

Pairing: hyung line x female readers

Note: It’s less suggestive than I planned. Still sensual though.

Playing: Joe Hertz - Stay Lost  

Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistake that you find.

Youngbin:

Playing: Joe Hertz - Stay Lost (feat. Amber-Simone) (Cabu Remix)

All that nights spent in that loud and sparkly ambients never fail to amuse him but he can’t say anything was lacking. At least one girl every time that he hits there wasn’t bad, however, they were always different girls and he felt like he gave parts of him to way too many different people. He felt a bit wasted. That night he was at that cool club only for the sake of the music, he promised, just to lose himself on the beat flow.

You spotted him first, the grave face guy sipping on a drink that you suddenly wanted to taste. From time to time he closed his eyes after sucking a bit from the straw. This time he opened his eyes to notice you inert on the dance floor. The highlighted. You scratched your neck and went towards him. “Which drink is this?” You pointed to the glass in his hand.

“They call it mojito” he explains. It's my first time drinking this one but its so refreshing.

“Is this a mint leaf?” You lifted his hand to see better.

He nods.

“It seems like I’m gonna like it but I’m not sure.

Noticing your half fake doubt, he handled you the glass and encouraged you to try it. You put your lips on the straw and sip the liquid without taking your eyes off of his. He feels like you’re introducing him to your own night kingdom through your gaze, feels like he could give you not only parts of him, but a complete version. It’s a bit scary but also intriguing, stimulating.

“It’s good, refreshing exactly as you said.” You pushed the glass back to him.

“Since I gave you something to prove, can’t you offer me something I want as well?” he leans to you just a bit, you two are already very close.

“I’m not sure if I have something delicious for you”.

“You have your lips and a bit more if you feel like presenting it to me.”

Inseong:

Playing:  Monsta X - WHO DO U LOVE? ft. French Montana

You went out of the indoors part of the night club to take some fresh air in the balcony. It happened to not be as fresh as you expected, there were some people smoking there. You didn’t like the smell of cigarettes, but they looked so at peace while liberating smoke on the air that you stayed there observing. Your head was still spinning thanks to that damn cocktail you wanted to try.

In the meantime Inseong is inside the building having flashs of his girlfriend with another guy at each snap of fingers sound in the current song playing. He couldn’t say he was surprised by her cheating but he was sad. Now he had the face of her once myterious affair stuck on his mind. He ran out from her apartment right to the night club but it doesn’t look so appropriate to forget everything anymore. He needed fresh air.

You didn’t see him coming but felt someone leaning on the parapet next to you. He fulls his lungs with night air and you find it funny for some reason.

“The air is not pure here” you said discreetly but giggling.

He made an effort to smile at your drunk cute face. “You’re right. The pollution is a thing in this city.” He contampletes the view beyond the balcony.

“No. I’m not talking about this...” you tryied to explain.

“I know” he interrupted you and winked. “they look calm, i should try a cigarette too.”

“Are you nervous about something?” you didn’t refrain the urge to touch him, a really fine man.

“I was mad when I came here, I was upset just now, but now that you’re asking me, I don’t really know.” he answered feeling your hand on his shoulder blade.

“I’m so sorry. Can I help you?”

Inseong couldn’t help looking at your pretty lips.He said without thinking much “my girlfriend is cheating on me for months but I didn’t want to accept it until today.” he turns his body to you.

“Why don’t you cheat on her back?” you naturally ask in a way that you would never do if sober.

“Then would you be my cigarette in this balcony?”

Jaeyoon:

Jaeyoon:

Playing:  My Name (Feat. Talksick) - Jimmy Clash , DJ H.ONE

Everything about The guy you were dancing with screams that he was a lady-killer. his flawless hair styled to the side, the two open bottoms of his shirt, the collar dangling against his sweaty chest. But you were okay about being the lady losing her soul for that night. Just a night. He wasn’t an average lady-killer, he had that classy aura as he had been on magazine pages. Why not? Actually you wouldn’t search for his name on social media, you wouln’t even ask his name.

You wiped the sweat from your forehead taking some hair away from there with the gesture. He worried that you needed to drink something because it can get very hot in the middle of so many people. “Let’s take a break” he mouthed. 

You nodded and followed him, who opened a path in the crowd to the two of you pass through. You noticed his hands were soft and he held yours tight as he thought that you could escape from him. In fact, If you get lost from each other, you were not sure of how to find him again. Nothing was fixed up, you didn’t have any meeting point. 

And that was okay. Right?

Once you breathed out the crowd, he smashed a peck on you and said you two needed to rehydrate. You blinked surprised to the sound of his voice, being able to hear it clearly for the first time. It was actually sweet and pretty, he sounded like a singer. You were so silly feeling already enchanted by a cheap Romeo. You knew he was anything but cheap but you had to repeat it for you to not wait for him to ask for your phone number. You knew he wouldn’t.

“I need water. I’m really dry” you said.

You noticed that his hand is still holding yours when he shifted his hand position to tangle his fingers with yours and walk by your side towards the bar. Also, he looked very pleased to see you drinking from your bottle like you were in the desert for days. A trickle of water escaped from your lips as you drank, you felt it running down your throat going to find its fate between your breasts.

The handsome boy wiped your chin when you were done of drinking. He took a look at your cleavage but raised his eyes to your face in a second.

”Won’t you say your name?”

[thirdbasedumpsterfire]

Voicemail

TW: Murder, Death, Mourning, Mention of suicide, Violence, Language

Jay mourns his loss

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26712880

The wind rustled the leaves gently as they fell from dying branches. Beneath them sat a boy holding his phone. His face was laden with silent tear tracks dried then rehydrated ten times over. He was so tired. He wanted to go home. He didn't go home. Instead he sighed and played the voice message again.

“Hey Jay, I know you’re asleep right now, but I wanted to say goodbye. Tell my dad that I love him, okay? And don’t worry, this is going to be really cool when it hits the news. I don’t know -Third Base- if I’ll come back, but if I don’t you guys have to win the season for me, alright? Thanks man, bye.” Looking to the horizon all jay could do was think.

He heard about the fire almost immediately. It was practically all over the news! “Local woman found dead of unnatural causes after housefire! Foul play suspected!” All the local stations were talking about it. There wasn't a person in town who didn’t know. The funeral was scheduled in a few weeks. He didn't plan on going. He was a little surprised anyone was. Surprised? Angry? Relieved? He wasn't honestly sure anymore. People were giving him a lot more space lately. Usually his parents would be on him about going out and socializing. He’d have to try to talk to people more often and act more outgoing. In that moment though Doby had changed everything.

He learned a few things in the aftermath of it all. People gave him more space to grieve than he expected. There were people who actually liked Karen, at least enough to go to her funeral. Doby’s dad was one of them. Even after everything he cared enough about his ex-wife to rsvp to her wake. He learned the way death really rattled small towns. He’d never considered his town too small but the whole community was reacting to what happened. it was rare anything like this happened and when death did occur it was always the elderly. There would be community wide mourning for them but nothing’s quite as bone shaking as murder.

It was definitely murder. Everyone in town knew it. Sure house fires happened, but there were no screams. There were rumors of a robbery but as far as anyone knows nothing was stolen. The body was also strange. No photos were released to the public but small towns find a way. There were leaked stories of serious head trauma, even rumors of decapitation! He wasn't sure about all that. It sounded too fantastical to be real, but he knew there was something up for sure.

He sighed playing the voicemail again. “Hey Jay, I know you’re asleep right now, but I wanted to say goodbye. Tell my dad that I love him, okay? And don’t worry, this is going to be really cool when it hits the news. I don’t know -Third Base- if I’ll come back, but if I don’t you guys have to win the season for me, alright? Thanks man, bye.” Third base. Baseball practice was cancelled for a while while they while they tried to find a replacement for... Third base...

He had said that. Why did he say that? He always had his tics, that was one of them, but why then? Why would that be his tic? Why in that moment would he be thinking about practice? Why was he thinking about Jay?... Why was the last thing he thought to do before doing the unthinkable... call Jay?

Head in his hands he played it again. “Hey Jay, I know you’re asleep right now, but I wanted to say goodbye. Tell my dad that I love him, okay? And don’t worry, this is going to be really cool when it hits the news. I don’t know -Third Base- if I’ll come back, but if I don’t you guys have to win the season for me, alright? Thanks man, bye.”

It’ll be cool. Jay choked back a fresh wave of tears. His eyes were already red and puffy. He didn't want to cry anymore. He had to have run dry of tears but he could feel them sliding down his cheeks yet again. they pooled in his hand as he sobbed. How could it be cool? Why would he think this was cool? Why? why? why? why? why? why?

Emotions flowed through his as random as the current of the river. He’d be flooded with anger, the sadness, then loss, then numbness, then he’d be crying again. Still listening to that message over and over again.

It’s not cool. It’s not cool. It’s not cool. It’s not cool. It’s not cool! This wasn't cool! Seeing Adam Lambert in concert was cool! Going to the odities museum in New York was cool! Hanging out after practice and play Smash Bros was cool! This was so, so wrong!

He wasn’t even sure what he was more angry about. Was it the fact that he killed his mom? Was it that Doby was gone? Was it that he never asked for help? Was it the tone of the message just being so damn casual? Was it him thinking to tell Jay in the first place? Jay knew he did it. He wasn’t sure if the police did but he knew for sure. The message that had been in his pocket since that night was all the proof he needed. Doby was a fucking murderer!

His eyes glazed with fresh tears and he leaned back against nothing staring skyward. He just wanted to sit in the woods, as far away from the baseball field as possible, and think. Really he didn't even want to do that. He just wanted to stop thinking and fade into nothingness, but that wasn't an option. So he sat on a log far enough off the trail that he wouldn't have to deal with hikers but close enough that he wouldn't get lost.

Part of him wanted to though. To run into the woods so far that he would never be found again. It was a pull, a need! He needed to be one with the trees and the mountainside. He needed to disappear. He needed to fade away. Not even to die. He just wanted to fade. Unfortunately with a will he was sure existed he stayed put exactly where he had been seemingly since that night.

Sure he may have gone about his day. He may have slept in his room and gone to class. He may have been in town but he was never really there. He walked among them a ghost. His soul was only whole, only real, there in there woods. He wasn't even sure why but ever since that night he kept coming back to the woods. he’d just sit from after school to sunset and all day over the weekend. He sat and played the message again.

“Hey Jay, I know you’re asleep right now, but I wanted to say goodbye. Tell my dad that I love him, okay? And don’t worry, this is going to be really cool when it hits the news. I don’t know -Third Base- if I’ll come back, but if I don’t you guys have to win the season for me, alright? Thanks man, bye.” He never told. He knew he should. The police may not suspect Doby but if they knew what Jay did they would. Doby was officially reported missing a few days after. His dad was really torn up about it. If Jay had any handle on his emotions he’d try to help the poor guy. He just lost his entire family. He even seemed torn up at Karen’s death. Mr. Doggers planned to move away after the funeral. No one could really blame him. How would he feel if he knew his son was a murderer?

Jay didn't want that to happen. He knew it was wrong, even illegal to hide evidence like this, but he just couldn't do it. Doby had lost so much and now Jay had lost Doby. He was already gone so why ruin what was left of him? Why ruin Doby’s name? Why ruin the fact that they were best friends?

He looked to the ground and tried his best to breath through his stuffy nose. Of course he missed Doby it went without saying. He missed their close bond. He missed playing baseball together. He missed the way his freckles would move around when he smiled. He missed getting teased for how easily he blushes. He missed the way Doby’s eyes lit up and his hands flapping when he was excited.

That was the Doby he remembered. That was Doby. This message wasn’t Doby! It just couldn’t be! Doby was better than this! Doby was... Jay sighed looking to the tree top he noticed the stars revealing themselves for the night. It was time to go inside... Moving slightly he took a breath let the tears flow down his face and hit play again...

~ Mod Vilet