#if an author is struggling to finish something that little reminder that people like it and *why* can be *huge*

[sharkneto]

How long do you think it should take between chapter uploads on Ao3?

As long as the author needs

[htchnr]

★ gentle hands ❥ A. HOTCHNER.

➻❥ masterlist. ➻❥ patreon.

CW ➥ reader has issues with eating ⋆ very brief mention of an alcohol problem ⋆ mention of binge eating or not eating ⋆ sweet and sappy comfort fic ⋆ if i missed anything, lmk!

WC ➥ 1,3k. SONG ➥ chocolate mint , duster.

SUMMARY ➥ you've always had issues with food, you either eat too much, or not enough, or not at all. you've always struggled with it yourself, but now that you live together with Aaron it's a little difficult to avoid or hide. so when you tell him about your struggles, he comforts you. as requested by an anon, but i lost the ask 😭

AUTHORS NOTE ➥ i'm getting a little bit better! still feel like i've got the flu, but i've atleast been able to concentrate on writing a request! 😁 i'm gonna try my best to finish up the remaining Kinktober posts, those will at the very least be all done before the end of November!

★ - © 2023 HTCHNR. do not copy, share or translate my work to this platform, or any other! - ★

you rolled on your back, eyes glued to the ceiling as you tightened your jaw. the clock had briefly flashed 3:28AM when you moved. your hands clenching and unclenching at your sides.

the urge to eat something was so overbearingly painful. you weren't necessarily hungry, you just need something to eat. you've tried explaining it to therapists before, but it never came out the way it needed to. you've briefly talked about it with Morgan once, though ended up not continuing the conversation after you got a call about a case and left.

and you didn't want to bring it up with Aaron; he already worried about the smallest things, the tiny bad habits you had. Aaron was one of the best people you've met, but you felt like you only burdened him with your flaws. though if Aaron ever heard you say that, he'd crush you in a hug and force you to apologise. to yourself, for ever daring to think that you were a burden to him.

your fists clenched one more time before you sat up, rubbing your hands across your face in frustration. some nights food was comforting, other nights; like this night, it was a nuisance and it frustrated you so much, your self image took the bullet for it.

you carefully moved the blankets off of you, letting your feet quietly hit the cold wood floor of your bedroom. you glanced behind you at the figure in your bed; Aaron laid peacefully, the deep creases in his face looking more relaxed as he slept.

you brushed a hand through your hair as you quietly left the bedroom and walked towards the kitchen. you yawned as you pulled open the main cupboard where you kept most packaged foods like crackers, cookies, cereal etc. one hand holding the door, the other on the bare skin of your waist, you hadn't bothered putting anything else on beside the bralette and the pair of pyjama shorts you had worn to bed.

you hesitated, i should shut the door and just go back to bed, you thought to yourself. but your body moved on it's own accord, grabbing a box of cereal and two granola bars. your hold tightened around the bars, plastic crinkling in your grip before you set the items on the counter. you pulled open the fridge to grab the milk, and pulled out a rather large clean bowl from the dishwasher. you made a mental reminder to empty that out after you were done eating.

you poured the cereal into the bowl, hoping the sound didn't trigger Aaron and then twisted open the cap of the milk before pouring it in, the quiet 'crackle' of the cereal filling your ears.

you cracked open the dishwasher once more, grabbing a spoon and shoving it in the bowl, stirring and coating all the cereal in the milk. you took a bite, your tense form almost instantly relaxing a smidge as you chewed on the cereal. see? eating was a good idea. you stood facing the counter while you ate, stuck in your own headspace.

so much so that you hadn't noticed that Aaron had left the bedroom. you rather quickly finished the bowl of cereal, putting it down on the counter beside the sink. as you grabbed for one of the granola bars, a pair of warm, gentle hands slid around your waist and their fingers splayed across your stomach, followed by a pair of lips pressed against your bare shoulder.

"what are you doing up honey?" he asked quietly. he noticed the atmosphere the second he entered the kitchen. your hand tensed around the granola bar, before shoving it against the counter and letting it go. your frame was still tense, even against Aaron's warm body. you don't need the granola bar, you eat enough as it is.

you shook your head a second after Aaron's question. "it's nothing, i was just-" you paused. don't tell him, you'll just give him more to deal with. one side spoke. while the other side encouraged you to open up to him about this. "what's wrong? i can hear those brilliant gears turning. talk to me dear." he spoke endearingly, a slight tease to his tone, that left as soon as it came. you turned in Aaron's arms, your lower back now against the counter, the granola bars behind you as you faced Aaron's bare chest.

"it's nothing Aar, go back to bed.." you insisted, still not meeting his eyes.

Aaron's hold tightened a little on the swell of your hips before lifting one hand to tilt your chin up to face him. "i know when something's wrong, please just talk to me about it." he spoke in a tone a little higher than a whisper. he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss against your forehead.

"it's just that," you paused. are you doing this right now? "i," you suck in a breath. you couldn't seem to find the words now.

Aaron stroked your cheek. "hey, take your time." you encouraged you gently, a reassuring smile on his lips.

you nodded, looking down at your hands. do it, come on. "i have a problem with eating." there, it wasn't that hard, was it? Aaron nodded lightly, prompting you to continue. "i, i either eat too much or nothing at all." Aaron's hand returned to your waist, his thumbs rubbing reassuring circles into the soft flesh.

this wasn't as hard as you made it out to be. "some nights i feel like the urge to eat is so strong, that it eats away at me until i eat. though i'm not always even hungry, i just, have to eat. that doesn't make sense does it?" you chuckle sadly, leaning forward to rest your forehead against his warm chest, your arms still hanging at your sides. "and some days, i just avoid food all together. it's like the feeling of eating makes me feel so sick? not necessarily physically sick, but mentally." you continue, a slight crack in your voice.

Aaron's heart breaks at your confession. he knew something was going on, but not that it ran this deep. "and some days, i just drink all day. being drunk blocks out all the issues with eating. either i eat a normal amount, or i don't really eat at all, but it takes the bad feelings about each away." you mumble. this is embarrassing. Aaron lowers one of his hands down to one of yours, intertwining his fingers gently with yours. your thumb fiddled around with his thick fingers.

"i'm sorry i'm laying this all on you i know-"

"hey, don't." he speaks, his voice still gentle and quiet, but more assertive. you look up at him. "don't be sorry about something you can't control. as for not talking to me about it, i'm not mad at you, i just wished you'd come to me with these things more often. i know you're struggling, but i have no way of helping you, or even just being there if i don't know what's going on in that gorgeous mind of yours."

tears well up in your eyes. Aaron's thumb coming up just before a tear rolls down, gentle wiping it away. "come to me when you feel like this okay? come to me when you're having one of those days where eating pains you, or when you crave to eat the whole day. i'm here for you okay honey? i'm here for you, no matter what." he's here to help you, so let him.

you nod, licking a tear off your lips. he wraps an arm fully around your soft bare waist, the other one wrapping around your shoulder as he pulls you against him. your arms wrapping around his waist as you hold him tight. "thank you." your voice is muffled by his skin, but Aaron hears it. "i love you." you hold him tighter, pressing your face against his warm chest, the feeling of being held by him calming down any negative thoughts or feelings.

"i love you too." he whispers back, placing a firm kiss on the top of your head.

he pulls away, his thumb wiping away some tears. "do you want to eat something before we head back to bed?" he asks you, he had already spotted the granola bars behind you. you think for a second before nodding.

Aaron nods along, reaching for one of the bars behind you. he opens it, leaning away from you for just a second as he throws away the wrapper and hands you the bar. his hand wraps around yours as you take the bar from him, his thumb rubbing brief but gently against the back of your hand.

you eat the bar slowly, having Aaron stand in front of you calms the intensity of the craving. and when you're finished with the bar Aaron smiles. he leans down and captures your lips in a soft kiss. you wrap your arms around his neck as you lean into it. Aaron leans down, his warm gentle hand sliding down your waist and hips until they reach the back of your thighs, pulling you up and into his arms. you wrap your thighs around his bare waist and lean your head on his shoulder as he carries you back to the bedroom.

tonight might've been conquered, but there's still many more nights and days to go. though, now they don't seem as dark and daunting..

[pomefioredove]

new fav twst fic author just dropped lmao I love you sm 😂 💕

btw can I ask for an angsty fic abt reader being scared of falling in love w someone? yk like instead of butterflies in their stomach, it feels bad, demeaning and gross? like, in the end they don't realize they're in love bc of how afraid it makes the reader, but ends up sucking it up bc of a valuable friendship? yk, like love it-hate it?

but pick whichever character u want, feel like this would work out w a few of them 👀

thank you!! and OHHH I love this genre of angst... I'm very like this as a person. my immediate reaction was vil but I've done a similar prompt with him in the past so I'm branching out

summary: all is fair in love and war type of post: short fic characters: lilia additional info: ambiguously romantic, angsty, reader is gender neutral, reader is not specified to be yuu but kinda is?

Love and hate are emotions too close for comfort.

It's times likes these that remind you of why Aphrodite and Ares were always tangled in affair, why the hands of love and war fit so nicely together.

Red is the color of both romance and blood.

The heart doesn't distinguish between the heat of passion and the heat of battle, and there's really nothing quite pleasant about that feeling: it's sticky, uncomfortable, warm and wet, making a home in every divot of your skin. It dries on you like blood.

Sometimes, you wonder if being stabbed would be easier.

After all, physical pain, perhaps, is preferable to the dizzying sensation of a beating heart, so noticeable that you can almost taste it from the back of your throat.

...This unwelcome, intrusive feeling, a thief in the night, a sudden loud noise, something that no amount of deep breathing and waiting can seem to quell.

It's not so much longing as it is torture.

You resent yourself for feeling this way. For the way your stomach turns, as if sick, every time you see him.

For the way you can't seem to stop thinking about it, about him, about every little thing he does, about every little question he leaves you with. It's a form of obsession, though one you struggle to resist.

Some days you fantasize about interrogating him until he explains all that he is, so that you might understand why it's him, of all people, him.

But that would never work.

Lilia Vanrouge enjoys keeping the fine print to himself, always leaving you guessing, always leaving you hungry for more. He does it on purpose, he knows, but he enjoys playing this game of cat and mouse far too much to ever finish the kill.

...At first, you did see it as a sort of game. Now, it feels more like a trap, and one that you so eagerly and stupidly walked into.

And yet, still, you can't find it within yourself to resent him. You can't find a way to accuse him of sorcery, of bewitching you, because you know, deep down, that this is your own doing.

You were the one who set the trap. Who started the war.

It was you, you, who blindly ran into battle, armed with nothing but your wits and the pit in your stomach. You were destined to lose from the beginning.

This... feeling. The one that makes your stomach turn, that makes you dizzy, that poisons your mind and senses and turns you stupid and hungry and obsessive, it's your own doing.

And you could just as likely kill it off, swing your blade of reason down on its sickly, thin neck and just be over with it.

But you won't.

And that's the other half of the battle.

For as much as it haunts you, as it tortures you, as it makes you toss and turn at night fantasizing about answers and wars and traps, you want to lose. You want to play this game with him.

Now, it's simply a question of who will strike the final blow.

[strwberri-milk]

Hi hi! May I request Childe, Heizou, and Wriothesley (add anyone else if you want) with an Author!Reader who usually writes crime/detective, mystery, and horror? Reader is sometimes stressed and sleep deprived because of this and their writing space is a mess with papers everywhere too.

It's okay if you won't do this one! ^^

Childe absolutely finds it fascinating. He doesn't have too much time in between work to really dedicate to reading the books you've written but he does his best. He's got copies of your books lining the shelves in his office and when people ask he tells them they're yours and that he strongly recommends the books himself.

Sometimes, you shyly approach him to ask for some details that only he could provide to help make your books just a bit more realistic. It makes him very happy to hear that you need his help and when you show him the parts that he helped with he can't help but specifically mark those pages off to read over and over again, fascinated by how you turn his loose explanations into insightful prose.

He doesn't mind the mess you leave behind when working - in fact he likes to rifle through it - but he does hate how stressed and tired you are. No matter how often he finds you passed out in your work he'll always take care to put you in bed and clean you off so you can rest. He won't leave you alone which means you're forced to rest, falling asleep against his chest.

Heizou didn't realise he was a casual fan of your books until after you told him that you wrote some of the books he's got on his shelf. You were just making a simple observation, not wanting to keep your occupation a secret nor make a big deal out of it but he took the opportunity to pull down the most memorable one and ask you some questions he remembers having while reading the book.

He likes to pop in whenever you're really struggling on a scene, wanting to offer up his expertise whenever you find yourself in a particular difficult situation in your writing. You can hand off sections of your manuscript to him and he's more than happy to read through the pages. Most often he points out any discrepancies he can personally find and helps reconcile them when he can.

The two of you often end up accidentally spending the night working on your projects, trying to keep each other awake or trying to convince the other person to go to sleep. You both try to work in organised chaos so he's familiar with how to stack your papers before you fall asleep to prevent ruining your workflow. You try to complain that you've got too much to do but he won't take any of it, shoving you back into bed playfully to make sure you manage to sleep.

Wriothesley likes to come down from the day with his tea, snacks, and a nice book in hand. It just so happens he was recommended for your book and he recognised the pen name you said that you use when writing. Without telling you, he quickly finishes the book and starts on another, finding himself thoroughly excited to work his way through your work.

You like watching the people in the prison, finding inspiration from the passing stores people tell you or just things you happen to over hear. You've got a lot of little notes sitting around of things you might want to expand on but for now, you're never lacking inspiration.

He also loves watching you work. It's always fun for him to try and make sense of all the paper you leave around. It's like some sort of puzzle he work on as you ramble to him about some ideas you've got for the continuing of your story - something he also listens to very intently.

Whenever it looks like you're about to pass out due to exhaustion or stress he simply removes you from your work site. He'll make sure you've got something to eat or drink before tucking you into bed no matter what you tell him. He'll remind you you can't do your best work if your mind is distracted and your body is starving and considering how assertive he can be there's not much you can do, but you also don't mind.

[chiqelatasblog]

In the Middle of the Night 🌙

-> Ao3 link is here.

-> Part Five is here.

Pairings : Bi-Han/Sub-Zere x Reader, Kuai Liang/Scorpion x Reader, Tomas Vrbada/Smoke x Reader

Author’s Note : Hi guys! Sorry for the wait (again). I didn’t like how this chapter was going, so I changed and restarted writing halfway through. That’s why it took so long to finish. (It’s also my first time writing intimate scenes with four people at once.) I’m proud of this chapter. Thank you for your support and kind words! Hope you enjoy this chapter. 💕

.

.

.

FINAL CHAPTER : (READER)

Life after death never seemed so… chilly, a little bit cold but not enough to be uncomfortable.

And hard.

As you slowly and softly emerged from the darkness, the first sensation you noticed was the coolness touching your skin. You could tell you were in contact with something hard, but your body was so heavy and full of pain that opening your eyes seemed impossible. As you tried to make sense of your surroundings, a vaguely familiar smell reached your nostrils, out of place with the darkness you had just left.

It was the scent of fresh snow on a cold winter day.

Bi-Han.

As you struggled for clarity of your thoughts, everything became more confused. Why was Bi-Han here? Your heart fluttered nervously, barely mustering the strength to open your eyes against the throbbing ache that gripped your body. Gradually, as consciousness began to seep back in, a soft, yellow light danced at the edges of your vision. With furrowed brows, a feeble moan escaped your dry, cracked lips, the pain a stark reminder of your ordeal.

"Shh, you're not fully recovered yet, àirén," Bi-Han’s deep voice came from right where your head was resting. It took you a few long seconds to realize you were lying on his chest. You could feel the weight of the covers laid over you to keep you warm. You couldn’t understand what was going on; your vision was still blurry, and everything seemed like a big blur of colors and lights. If you were fully conscious, you would probably start to panic, thinking you had done something wrong and hadn’t lifted the curse at all. But all you could do now was try to keep your eyes open, which caused you pain even with the slightest effort.

“Keep sleeping, your body needs it.” Feeling Bi-Han’s cool hand on the top of your head, stroking your hair, made you feel safe and calmed the ball of panic and anxiety that was waiting for an opportunity to rise. “I am here, àirén. I will never let any harm come to you. Go to sleep now.” Bi-Han kissed the top of your head, his voice sounding softer and more protective than you’ve ever heard before, was all you needed to close your eyes.

Although you wanted to ask him where Kuai Liang and Tomas were, if they were safe, and what was going on, the questions left your mind one by one as you drifted back into the darkness. Your breathing became heavy, and you fell asleep again, your body relaxing under the steady beat of Bi-Han’s heart.

***

When you managed to open your eyes for the second time, it was evening. Colors and shapes became clearer, and as you looked up at the familiar ceiling, you realized you were in your bedroom. Darkness enveloped the room, with the soft yellow light from the bedside lamp providing the only illumination.

Your body still felt heavy, and you were in pain, although not as intense as before. Nonetheless, fatigue weighed heavily on you, and the ache seemed to penetrate your bones, making you feel ancient beyond your years. As you shifted slightly, you felt the weight resting on your waist and the warmth it emanated. This body felt so warm, without any covering, enveloping you in its comforting embrace. You knew immediately who he was.

Kuai Liang.

As you murmured his name with numb lips, unaware, his powerful body behind you shifted. His arm around your waist reacted instinctively to your voice, pulling you closer to him, and you felt his warm breath on your neck.

“You should get some more sleep, tiánxīn. There’s a little more for you to heal,” he said.

Heal? When you attempted to turn towards Kuai Liang to see his face, he anticipated your movement and assisted you. Despite the slightest motion, your body rebelled, eliciting a moan as Kuai Liang planted a kiss on your forehead.

“I know, tiánxīn, I know. You’ll be fine, everything will be fine,” he reassured you, his voice warm and protective.

As you managed to tilt your head back slightly to gaze at Kuai Liang’s face, even in the dim light from the lamp, you could discern the expression on his face. His handsome features were marked by strong lines, and his eyes held tender, soft emotions, melting your heart as he silently watched over you. It was as if he couldn’t bear to look away. Yet, beneath the tenderness, you noticed dark circles under his eyes and other details that had escaped your initial notice. Besides the fatigue evident in Kuai Liang’s appearance, stress lines marred his features, accentuated by the deep scar between his eyebrows and the tension visible from clenching his jaw.

Your lips parted to speak, but exhaustion weighed heavily upon you. Your tongue felt heavy, your mouth dry, and even moving your lips left you incredibly tired. Kuai Liang noticed your silent struggles and placed a loving, soothing kiss on your lips.

"We'll talk when you're better, I promise," he whispered, drawing you closer until there was barely any space between you, his chin resting on the top of your head, enveloping you in his protective embrace.

As warmth and the scent of summer evenings filled your senses, a profound feeling of peace washed over you, and within seconds, you surrendered yourself to the arms of sleep.

***

When you woke up for the third time, soft fur tickled your nose, accompanied by the sweet sound of purring filling your ears. Blinking against the weight on your chest, you realized it was none other than Ninja, positioning herself snugly under your chin, her tiny paws massaging your chest as she rubbed against you.

"Ninja, what did we talk about? You're not supposed to bother her until she's better," came Tomas' familiar voice, his large form filling your field of vision. In an instant, a myriad of emotions flickered across the silver-haired assassin's face, too quick for you to decipher. Tomas stood there, his pallor nearly ashen, resembling illness. His eyes, red as if filled with blood, were sunken, encircled by dark circles contrasting with his pale complexion. You couldn't help but notice the way his clothes hung loosely on him, indicating weight loss. It pained you to see him like this, prompting questions about how long you'd been confined to bed and how long Tomas had been in this state. If he looked like this, what about Kuai Liang and Bi-Han?

"Tomas, what's going on?" Your voice emerged dry and hoarse, scratching at your ears. With a controlled expression, Tomas gently lifted Ninja and placed her on her paws. Then, he helped you sit up, propping you up with your elbows, and handed you a glass of water from the nearby jug. Though you managed to grasp the glass, a dull ache lingered throughout your body, a throbbing sensation that made its presence known. Consequently, your grip was shaky and weak, easily noticed by Tomas. He sat beside you, placing his hand over yours, assisting you as you drank. The water soothed your dry throat like balm, prompting Tomas to break his silence.

"I'm so angry with you for what you've done."

The tone of Tomas' voice was starkly different from what you were accustomed to. It was stiff, cold, and tinged with a hint of snarl. Yet, when you met his gaze, his expression betrayed his true feelings. Despite the furrowed brows and the anger simmering beneath the surface, his light gray eyes reflected a profound sense of resentment.

"I... I can't understand what's going on," Your gaze shifted from Tomas to your hands resting on your lap. There, you noticed the scar on your left hand, a reminder of the methods you tried to lift the curse weeks ago. As your fingers traced the wound, questions poured from your lips, each one tinged with uncertainty. “Hasn’t the curse lifted? Did I fail? Is that why I’m alive?”

A sound akin to a wounded animal escaped Tomas' throat as he enveloped you in his embrace with a speed you couldn't comprehend, planting a kiss on the top of your head and burying his nose in your hair. You weren't sure how long you had been confined to this bed, but judging by Tomas' condition, it had been quite some time, and you were certain you didn't smell pleasant. Yet, Tomas seemed unfazed by it all.

"Don't you ever, ever try anything like that again."

"Tomas-"

"Let me finish," Tomas interjected, cupping your face in his palms. His thumbs stroked your cheeks tenderly and carefully, as if he feared you would shatter at the slightest pressure. His gray eyes, bright as the full moon, bore into yours with such profound love that it made you tremble inside. Tears welled in your eyes at the intensity of emotion reflected in his gaze.

"The curse has been lifted. Lord Liu Kang will provide the necessary explanation, but I can tell you that if it weren't for him... right now... you..." Tomas' voice faltered, his jaw clenched so tightly you feared he might break his teeth. "Your heart had stopped. There was so much blood, and you weren't moving, you weren't breathing..."

"Tomas, my love, look at me, shh," you interrupted gently. You kissed Tomas first on the lips and then on both cheeks, desperate to reassure him that you were here, safe in his arms. The details of your return to life were irrelevant at this moment; what mattered most was calming Tomas. You knew the depths of his despair, having lost his family, and the mere thought of him experiencing such despair and fear again drained the color from your face. “I’m here, I’m with you.”

A small, wet laugh escaped Tomas' lips, but it carried no joy, only pain and grief. "Look at me, when I should be the one calming you down, you're doing this," Tomas said, taking hold of your wrists with both hands. He kissed your palms in turn before pressing your hands to his face, inhaling your scent deeply. His actions betrayed a desperation to reassure himself of your existence, as if he needed constant confirmation that you were truly alive.

"Don't ever do that again. We can't bear to lose you. Neither I nor my brothers are strong enough to survive such a loss. You mean more to us than anything," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but if I ever have to make that choice again, just know that I'll do it without hesitation," you responded. Tomas' brows furrowed deeply, his mouth poised to object, but you gently silenced him by placing your fingers on his lips. "You mean the world to me as well, my love. I would gladly give my life for you. I only wish you hadn't witnessed that moment. I didn't want you to see it. For that, I'm sorry."

Tomas swallowed hard, bowing his head and closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead to yours.

"You're a selfless, sweet woman... I don't know what we've done to deserve you, but I thank fate," he murmured.

***

Exactly half an hour after regaining consciousness, you expressed a desire to take a shower first, despite feeling incredibly hungry. According to Tomas, you had been asleep for a week. It had become more of a necessity than a mere desire to rid yourself of the fatigue and grime, to reorient yourself a little. Your body still felt uncoordinated, as if your limbs didn't quite belong to you, and moving them as you wished proved challenging for more than a few minutes. Nonetheless, somehow, you managed to take a shower, albeit a brief one.

Once dressed, you leaned against the bathroom door, trying to catch your breath, drained from expending all your energy. As the towel you had loosely tied around your hair fell onto your shoulders, you squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for the dizziness to pass. You prayed silently that your legs would carry you to the living room, despite their violent trembling and the growing weakness that made it difficult for them to support your weight.

When you heard your name being called, you opened your eyes to see Bi-Han at the end of the corridor. With a few swift steps, he reached you and effortlessly lifted you into his arms, preventing you from falling.

"Why didn't you call us?" he asked, his voice laced with concern, as you rested your head on his shoulder.

"I was trying to manage on my own," you murmured softly.

A sarcastic grunt escaped Bi-Han, indicating his disagreement. "You look like you could faint at any moment."

You had no rebuttal to offer. You were exhausted, hungry, and, most importantly, you had returned from the brink of death. So you remained silent, relishing the comfort of being held in Bi-Han's arms. It felt miraculous to once again discern his scent, feel the coolness of his touch, and hear his deep voice, which never failed to make your heart flutter. In a way, that was all that mattered. Even though you were aware of everything happening around you, your brain still struggled to comprehend the fact that you had defied death and returned, unable to fit it into a logical framework.

Despite Liu Kang's best efforts, the sensation of the knife piercing your flesh, the warmth of the blood, and the searing pain that coursed through your body lingered in your memory. After experiencing it all, the mere act of breathing and moving felt like a surreal dream.

"I wanted to stay angry with you," Bi-Han said, pulling you from your reverie. Though his usual biting, harsh tone, it now held a hoarse quality, revealing a truth he seemed reluctant to admit. Even as you attempted to gauge his expression by turning your head, Bi-Han’s steely gaze remained fixed ahead. “If it weren’t for Liu Kang-”

"Tomas mentioned it," you interjected gently, not allowing him to finish his sentence.

"How could you risk your life like that? Did you think we would simply resume our lives as if nothing had happened?"

"I couldn't bear to see you return to that cursed life. You can ask me for anything, Bi-Han, but not that. I couldn't let you go back to that existence. If it had happened, do you think I could have lived happily?" The mere thought choked your throat and brought tears to your eyes. "I couldn't. Please don't be angry with me."

"I'm not, anyway," Bi-Han replied, taking a sharp breath. "When it comes to you... fuck." His gaze shifted from the living room to you. Despite his tightly clenched jaw, furrowed brows, and attempt to maintain a poker face, you could discern the faint pinkness that tinted his otherwise pale cheeks. "Do you even realize what you've done to me, àirén?"

"Àirén?"

Instead of answering, Bi-Han settled into one of the seats without releasing you from his lap. Moments later, Kuai Liang emerged from the kitchen with a tray in hand and joined you. When you glanced curiously at the contents, the pyromancer smiled and took a seat beside you.

"I've made some soup and bread. It'll be good for your stomach."

Your eyes widened in surprise. "You can make bread?"

"He's quite the bread maker," Tomas chimed in, joining the conversation as he entered the room with Ninja nestled on his left shoulder. "When Madame Bo first taught him how to bake bread, he became completely absorbed in it for several months. Despite his fast metabolism, he consumed so much bread that I recall our trainers, especially our father, complaining that he was starting to gain weight and slow down." Tomas chuckled, eliciting a small smirk from Kuai Liang.

"You can't blame me when Madame Bo's recipes are just too delicious. Even Bi-Han couldn't resist the ones with sun-dried tomatoes."

Bi-Han responded with a small grunt, prompting you to inquire curiously, "Who is Madame Bo? I don't think I've heard you mention her before."

"She was one of our former clan members. For a brief period when we were children, she served as our instructor," Bi-Han explained from behind you. His deep voice, coupled with the fact that you were leaning against him, sent shivers down your spine. "She excelled not only in fine dining but also in combat. As she grew older, she chose to leave the clan. Now, she runs her own restaurant in Fengjian, keeping herself busy."

"We definitely need to take you there! I'm sure you'll love her food," Tomas exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Madame Bo will adore you as well," Kuai Liang added, echoing Tomas' sentiment. "Now, come on, start drinking before the soup gets cold."

As Kuai Liang dipped a spoon into the steaming soup and brought it to your lips, your cheeks flushed, and your voice came out feeble.

"Kuai, I can drink it myself."

"You've just returned from the brink of death," Kuai Liang replied softly, yet his tone carried a firmness that brooked no argument. "You're still in the midst of the healing process. Let me help you. You've already exerted yourself enough while showering."

"I'm not too weak to drink soup," you protested again. However, no one took your objections seriously, and you had to drink from the spoon that Kuai Liang offered you, feeling your cheeks grow hotter and hotter. After a few moments, you came to the realization that the situation wasn’t as embarrassing as you initially thought; in fact, it was rather pleasant. The fact that these three men, each possessing frighteningly powerful and deadly abilities, were caring for you in this way made you feel extremely valued, special, and protected. It was impossible not to be swept up in this feeling.

The rich taste of the vegetable soup calmed your stomach, easing away any lingering nausea, while the sourdough bread infused with soft olives and thyme proved to be the most delicious bread you had ever tasted.

"This is the best bread I've ever had, Kuai Liang! You must teach me how to make it," you exclaimed, eliciting a chuckle from Kuai Liang. Grasping one of the hands resting on your lap, he placed a kiss on your fingers. "I'm glad you enjoy it," he replied, returning your smile as you tenderly stroked his cheek with your hand.

After finishing the soup in no time, the front door opened, and Sektor and Lord Liu Kang entered. As you cleared your throat and made a move to get up from Bi-Han's lap, he tightened his grip, preventing you from moving.

"Bi-Han, let me get up. Lord Liu Kang is here," you insisted, turning to him with a huff.

"Yes, I can see that,"

"How am I supposed to make eye contact and talk to him and Sektor while sitting on your lap? Bi-Han, please—"

"There's no need for that," Liu Kang's calm voice gently interrupted, filling the room. You turned your attention to him and Sektor, who stood beside him, both wearing understanding expressions. "It's quite understandable that they want to be as close to you as possible after what happened."

Your lips parted to respond, but before you could, Ninja wriggled free from Tomas's grip, darted towards you with a stressed meow, and leaped onto your lap, curling into a ball and burying her head. Sensing the kitten's trembling, your brow furrowed with concern, and you immediately began stroking her small, black fur in an attempt to soothe her. Your eyes scanned her carefully, searching for any signs of distress.

"Sweet girl, what's the matter? What happened all of a sudden?" you murmured softly.

"She's afraid of Lord Liu Kang," Tomas explained, addressing your question. "I think recent events have left her a bit traumatized."

"Oh, innocent baby," you cooed, continuing to stroke the trembling kitten in your lap. Liu Kang chose to remain in the middle of the room, as if to avoid further distressing the poor animal. An somewhat embarrassed expression flickered in his unusually bright eyes. As Ninja realized that the Fire God wasn't approaching, she relaxed slightly, though she remained pressed against you, clearly unwilling to move anytime soon.

As the kitten's tremors subsided, you turned your attention to the duo standing at a distance. After exchanging a brief nod with Sektor, your gaze settled on Liu Kang.

"Lord Liu Kang, why did you bring me back to life? I thought you couldn't interfere in such matters."

"That's correct. But occasionally, there are rare opportunities in life where I can grant people a second chance for compelling reasons. Your sacrifice due to dark magic was one such instance," Liu Kang explained carefully, his gaze unwavering on you. A warm, kind expression softened his strong features. "Your selfless sacrifice had a profound impact on the fabric of existence. Without the curse, none of this would have occurred. This provided me with a unique opportunity to intervene."

As Liu Kang continued speaking, you slowly stood up, carefully depositing Ninja into Bi-Han's lap, while attempting to muffle her protesting meows behind your back. Bi-Han let you leave his arms this time, making no move to hold you back.

"In return for your courage and compassion, I have bestowed upon you the flame of life. Thus, you are now under my protection and supervision, as well as that of the Lin Kuei," Liu Kang declared.

"I-I, uh-I don't know what to say, Lord Liu Kang," you faltered. The news of being under the special protection of a god was certainly unexpected. Hoping that what you did would not be perceived as disrespectful, you closed the distance between you and God in a snap and responded decently with a hug that showed your gratitude. "I don’t know how to express my gratitude, but thank you very much."

You could sense Liu Kang's surprise through the slight stiffening of his body. Though he was the God of Fire, his body felt strangely cool, though not as cool as Bi-Han's, and a distinct scent emanated from him. It was a scent that sent shivers down your spine, an otherworldly fragrance that seemed to hint at the presence of magic. It was a blend of raw, harsh wilderness and the smell of freshly extinguished ashes.

After returning the hug with equal kindness, the two of you stepped back. The Fire God placed his hands on your shoulders in a friendly gesture, a small smile gracing his face. "There's no need to thank me. I simply did what was necessary. Your sacrifice could not go unrewarded in the face of Quan Chi's curse. If anything, I should be thanking you," he replied.

"I would also like to express my gratitude," Sektor spoke up, taking a step forward and approaching you softly. As Liu Kang withdrew his hands, you turned your head towards Sektor. He made a fist with one hand and placed it over his heart in a gesture you had not seen before, then bowed deeply, bending his body almost halfway down.

"You have brought our clan back to us. As Lord Liu Kang said, even though you are under Lin Kuei's protection, I would like to offer my services to you as a token of our gratitude on behalf of myself and Lin Kuei," Sektor expressed.

Once again, you were silent for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. Then, to avoid stuttering, you cleared your throat slightly and touched Sektor's shoulder with one hand. "Please raise your head, Sektor. I appreciate your sincere words, but you don't need to offer me your service or anything as a token of your gratitude. There's no need for any of this," you said, turning your gaze from him to the trio, who had been quietly observing everything transpire behind you. Bi-Han wore a small, ghostly smile, while Kuai Liang and Tomas were clearly beaming with pride.

Though Sektor complied and lifted his head, his expression betrayed a hint of displeasure at your words. "There must be something I can do for you," he insisted.

"Well... we can be friends? I guess... I don't know if that's allowed in a clan that trains assassins, but—"

"You are a part of us now," Kuai Liang interjected, putting an end to any further debate. Rising from his seat, he quickly approached you with wide steps and planted a kiss on your temple, instantly filling you with peace. Despite standing near someone as powerful as the Fire God and possessing abilities that defied logic, being beside Kuai Liang, Bi-Han, or Tomas made you feel safer and more at ease. "Our home is your home too."

"I would be honored by that," Sektor agreed, right afer Kuai Liang. With a smile that stretched wide enough to make your cheeks ache, you felt a profound sense of happiness fill your heart.

***

It took you about three days to fully recover. Now, you could comfortably move around without needing to hold onto anything or anyone. Your body was completely free of pain, leaving behind three cut scars that stretched from your stomach to your heart. They stood out as old scars, paler than your skin color, as if years had passed since they were inflicted. Though the scars didn't bother you, each time one of the three men saw them, their expressions darkened, evident of the pain it caused them. To spare them this discomfort, you usually opted to wear clothes that concealed the scars.

Liu Kang had already left three days ago after bidding farewell to everyone. Sektor, on the other hand, had returned to China the day after that to make the necessary preparations in the clan. You didn’t know when Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, and Tomas would return, but you were sure that the time was near. Although you really wanted to go with them, they had been away from their clan and hometown for ten years, and although Sektor expressed that he had managed the clan as best he could during their absence, you were sure that they would have a lot of work to do and take care of when they returned. For now, you didn't want to be in their way while they sorted everything out.

Moreover, you had received a positive response from a job interview and were awaiting the second session and the review of your demo, marking the first step towards your dream. You refused to let the thought of being apart from them dampen your spirits. You had faith that everything would work out somehow. The worst was behind you, and the future no longer seemed as daunting. You could face it with hope.

"You have to knead it well, like this," Kuai Liang instructed, guiding your hands as he demonstrated bread kneading. His warm breath tickled your ear as his broad hands enveloped yours. Pinned between him and the counter, you struggled to maintain focus amidst the sensory overload of his presence—his powerful body, warmth, sound, scent—making it a miracle you managed to concentrate on this moment at all.

With the lifting of the curse, it had now transformed from a relentless, tormenting fire into a gentle whip that ignited your desire. As much as it felt great to revel in the details without the pain and intense pressure that once invaded your mind, you found yourself craving more. Yet, you were also afraid to cross that bridge because of their past. You didn’t want to do anything that might trigger them or that they wouldn’t like.

‘’I doubt she’s paying attention to what you’re saying, brother,’’ Tomas teased from the other side of the counter, his voice laced with amusement.

‘’She seem to have something else on her mind besides bread,’’ Bi-Han said, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. Caught in your momentary embarrassment, you shifted in place, aware of Kuai Liang’s knowing chuckle.

‘’I’m aware.’’ The pyromancer gently guiding you as you placed the bread in the container and covered it to let it rest for a couple of hours.

‘’So, you were teasing me, were you?’’ You quipped, turning to face Kuai Liang.

‘’Not entirely,’’ Kuai Liang chuckled, turning you to meet his gaze. ‘’Okay, maybe a little.’’

‘’The expression on your face says otherwise, Kuai,’’

‘’I enjoy the effect I have on you,’’ Kuai Liang confessed with his usual honesty. ‘’You can’t blame me for enjoying that—‘’

Before he could finish his sentence, you acted on impulse, rising on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his lips. In an instant, his lips parted, his tongue delving into your mouth, deepening the kiss into something passionate and fervent. Excitement coursed through you, as if your body had awakened anew, blooming like a flower receiving water.

The bronze-skinned assassin effortlessly lifted you, placing you on the counter with a firm yet gentle touch, urging you to spread your legs. Welcoming his strength eagerly, you couldn’t help but feel a rush of heat each time you witnessed his power. It was undeniably arousing, the way his muscles flexed beneath his skin as he maneuvered you into position.

As Kuai Liang leaned in close, his body pressed against yours, radiating warmth and hardness that sent shivers down your spine. You arched into him, craving the contact. A soft moan escaped your lips as you felt the delicious friction between your bodies. Your heartbeat quickened, and your body responded instinctively, hips moving in small circles to intensify the sensation building within you.

A low, guttural growl emanated from Kuai Liang as a respond. Gripping your legs, he drew you closer, the weight of his body pinning you completely. You could feel his length, firm and hard and burning hot, the heat seeping through the fabric of his trousers. Despite being confined, his thickness was unmistakable, pressing against you with a delicious weight.

‘’Fuck.’’ Bi-Han’s deep voice snapped you out of your trance. Turning to him and Tomas, panting with flushed cheeks, you noticed their arousal, evident as day with the bulges straining against their trousers. Bi-Han’s dark eyes seemed almost black with desire, fixed on you like a predator eyeing its prey. Tomas’s cheeks held a faint pink hue, his desire mirroring Bi-Han’s intensity. ‘’To the bedroom. Now.’’

When Kuai Liang, obeying Bi-Han instantly, lifted you up by continuing to grab you by the legs, you automatically wrapped your legs around his waist and tried to calm your rapidly beating heart. Although it took quite a short time to reach the bedroom, it was as if time had suddenly slowed down, a kind of excitement that you had never experienced before had taken over your body. Your heart was beating so fast inside, it was like it was going to jump out and leave your rib cage.

The moment Kuai Liang released you onto the bed, Tomas materialized behind you, his lips trailing kisses along your neck and shoulder, his teeth grazing your skin, leaving behind faint scratches. As Kuai Liang captured your lips once more, the kiss ignited with a fervor and urgency that consumed both of you. There were more teeth than lips as he nipped at your lower lip, his tongue sweeping through to soothe it before plunging deep into your mouth, as if he was trying to claim you with just that kiss.

All you tasted was him. You whimpered out loud, your head swimming with raw want.

‘’It’s alright, kotê. We’ve got you. You’re safe with us,’’ Tomas murmured against your skin, his lips traveling your shoulder to your neck, pausing at your earlobe. With a gentle nip, he whispered, ‘’Do you allow us to touch you completely, lásko?’’

Gasping, you pulled your head back to answer his question. “In exchange for me touching you too, yes,” you replied. A smile graced Kuai Liang’s lips.

‘’Everything that defines us already belongs to you. You don’t need permission for this, tiánxīn,’’

In one fluid motion, Tomas’s hand journeyed down from your rib cage to your stomach, deftly unbuttoning your trousers and pausing at the edge of your panties. With a gentle touch, he lowered it a little until they reached your wet heat.

‘’Shit, you’re already so wet,’’ Tomas exclaimed, his long fingers teasing just below your panties, eliciting a string of curses in Czech. ‘’I need to taste you. Now.’’

A ragged moan escaped your throat. Tomas’s voice was so thick with want that it made you clench your legs reflexively and imagining his words made you even wetter. Though being sandwiched between two bodies was exhilarating, the heat was becoming overwhelming. Sweat dampened your skin, and breathing felt labored in the rising temperature. Your chest rose and fell rapidly, almost painfully, as you struggled to maintain composure. Then, Bi-Han’s voice cut through the haze.

‘’You’re going to overwhelm her. Give her space to breathe, you idiots.’’

‘’Clothes—‘’ Bi-Han’s warning prompted the two brothers to withdraw, allowing you to gulp down sweet oxygen several times in quick succession. ‘’There are too many clothes.’’

‘’We can take care of that.’’ While Kuai Liang helped you take off your clothes, Tomas assisted you in removing your pants. You watched with bated breath as all three of them started to undress, moving in perfect sync. Their bodies were a sight to behold—beautiful and strong, like sculptures carved from marble. You could easily see the years of training etched into their forms, along with the pale scars left behind by their duties. When your gaze involuntarily shifted downward, you felt your cheeks grow warmer.

It wasn’t the first time you had seen them naked. The first time they emerged from the book, you were too afraid to focus on anything but their faces, and your feelings for them weren’t as intense. Although you could now look at them comfortably, it wouldn’t be a lie to say that their size intimidated you a little. The three of them were similar in stature, their impressively large members standing upright and stiff, all for you.

‘’Are you alright, kotê?’’ Tomas’s nose rubbed against your cheek gently. ‘’Don’t hesitate to share your feelings with us.’’

‘’Yes, tonight, the only thing we ask is for you to communicate your limits openly. If there’s anything you don’t like, you will tell us immediately.’’ Bi-Han said. With Kuai Liand and Tomas flanking you, he reached forward, planting a kiss on your forehead before tilting your chin up with his index finger, locking eyes with you. ‘’Are we agreed?’’

Swallowing hard, feeling your mouth dry up, you responded with a thick voice, ‘’Yes.’’

‘’Perfect. Now tell me, which one of do you want first?’’ Bi-Han whispered toward your lips before withdrawing back, leaving you to blink in turn at each of them. Choose? The decision weighed heavily; each brother held a unique allure—Kuai Liang’s passion, Tomas’s sweetness, and Bi-Han’s watchful dominance. They were all so different, yet equally special— ‘’I can’t choose.’’

‘’If it’s agreeable to both of you, I can go first,’’ Tomas offered, prompting silent agreement from Kuai Liang and Bi-Han as they withdrawed back, giving space to the silver-haired assassin. You couldn’t comprehend how all of you managed to fit in the bed, since it’s just for two people. But somehow, you made it work, moving in quite harmony.

‘’You are so beautiful,’’ Tomas murmured, his kiss tender and deliberate, suffued with compassion. ‘’Thank you for sharing this moment with us.’’

‘’I’m yours. Every part of me belongs to you, I accept everything that will come from all three of you.’’

Somewhere nearby, Kuai Liang uttered something in Chinese, and Bi-Han’s breath caught sharply. Meanwhile, Tomas, kissing you once more, guided you to lie down on the bed, his weight comforting rather than oppresive. Propping himself up on his elbows, he hovered over you, his short, soft silver hair a tousled mess, cheeks flushed against his pale skin, lips glistening, and silvery gray eyes shining like stars.

“You are very beautiful,” Tomas’s words a gentle caress against your skin. “I can’t get enough of looking at you; it tugs at my heartstrings every time.”

As his hand trailed over your throat, then down to the first scar, you observed his furrowed brow and darkening expression. When he leaned down to kiss the scar just below your left breast, a shaky breath escaped your lips. His kiss held not only tenderness but also an unspoken apology.

“I hate to see you hurt. I’m grateful that you’re with us; I just wish there was a way to solve what happened in a different way,” he quitely spoke against your skin, his voice laden with regret.

“It’s all right now, Tomas, and that’s what matters. Let’s enjoy the moment; we all deserve it. Don’t you think so?”

“You are right.” He showered your stomach with kisses, paying equal attention to each scar, while you glanced at the other two brothers watching you. Kuai Liang sat regally on a chair pulled close to the bed, like a king waiting for the perfect opportunity to conquer, his powerful legs spread wide as one hand leisurely stroked his erection. When your eyes met, his amber gaze sparkled with pleasure, a small smile gracing his lips.

“We will all take care of you in turn, tiánxīn. Do not worry,”

You gulped at this words, your gaze then shifted to Bi-Han, who sat at the end of the bed. His intense desire burned in his eyes, evident in the veins that stood out on his neck and the icy vapor that escaped his nostrils. It was the first time you noticed the freckles scattered across his broad, muscular chest, rising and falling with each controlled breath.

It was exhilarating to feel and witness their raw emotions so palpably. To be wanted. To be desired. There was a hungry part of you that craved more, yet you weren’t quite brave enough to voice it yet. Bi-Han caught your gaze, rising from his place with a growl, and captured your lips in a kiss that stole your breath away. Unlike Tomas’s sweet kisses or Kuai Liang’s burning passion, Bi-Han’s kiss was dominant, demanding, and deep enough to make your toes curl. As his tongue explored the depths of your mouth, you clung to his shoulders, trying to anchor yourself to reality amidst the flood of sensations.

“I want to mark you,” Bi-Han declared, his teeth grazing your lower lip with a hint of pain that only added to the pleasure. “I want to see my marks on your skin, to claim you as mine. Do you allow me, àirén?”

“Yes. Yes, please,” you gasped breathlessly, surprised at how incredibly hot and sexy his want sounded. Bi-Han’s gaze darkened even further, if that were possible, a predatory smile dancing on his lips as his minty cool breath washed over your face.

“Don’t beg. You never have to beg for us, àirén. As much as you are ours, we are also yours. Simply expressing your desires is enough for us to fulfill them.”

“O-Okay. You have not yet told me what the words you say in your own language mean—Ah!” Your head fell back as Tomas bit into the soft, delicate flesh of your thigh. The ache between your legs intensified, your body trembling with electric anticipation from head to toe. Another whimper escaped your lips as you desperately tried to shift your legs to alleviate the ache, only for Tomas to restrain you with a firm touch.

“I know, darling. I’ll relieve you in a moment. Don’t worry.”

Tomas kissed the sensitive skin of your inner thighs, each touch sending shivers down your spine. Sometimes his teeth grazed your skin, eliciting involuntary squirms from you. His once gentle touch was now more firm and strong, leaving you sure there would be fingerprints tomorrow. Meanwhile, Bi-Han redirected his attention from your lips to your neck, catching you off guard with a sudden bite that drew an embarrassing squeal from your lips.

While it stung, it wasn’t unbearable; instead, it ignited a tingling flame in your belly, spreading warmth throughout your body like a wildfire. Being claimed in such a primal manner felt undeniably hot and intoxicating, reaffirming your belongingness to them.

“Are you all right?” Bi-Han murmured as he gently licked the bitten spot, to which you simply nodded in response. “If it becomes too much, you’ll let me know. I trust you to do that, right?” Another nod from you earned a smile from Bi-Han. He pressed a kiss to your shoulder, “Perfect. Our perfect woman.

“The sounds she’s making…” Kuai Liang’s groan cut through the air, his voice deep and thick with desire that it was almost impossible to understand the words. “I want to hear more.”

“So do I,” Tomas added, his voice joining his brother’s. As if punctuating his words, his mouth closed over your aching core, surprising and rendering you breathless and causing your entire body to stiffen.

“Breathe, àirén,” Bi-Han urged, placing kisses on your neck and grasping the side of your neck with one hand, offering an anchor for you to hold onto, his thumb grazing your pulse. As you took a deep breath, the cryomancer nibbled on your earlobe. “That’s it. As for the answer to the previous question, àirén means ‘my love’ in my language.”

“Tiánxīn means sweetheart,” Kuai Liang said, his voice taking on a growl towards the end.

“And kotě means kitten,” Tomas’ voice was almost unintelligible, muffled by his actions. You moaned as his tongue curled over that little bundle of nerves, while Tomas let out an almost feral, uncontrolled growl that made your body tremble. “Fuck— your taste is amazing, I could get drunk on it.” Adjusting himself between your legs, he lifted them over his broad shoulders to get better access, ensuring your stability with his hands, pinning you down easily. “And lásko means love.”

You wanted to say something in return, but the words seemed to leave you. You were caught between Bi-Han’s bites of a mixture of pleasure and pain and Tomas’s deceptively moving tongue. When one of your hands went straight to Tomas’s hair and the other found Bi-Han’s, a groan went up from both of them, which made it clear that they liked it, and set your skin on fire. The sounds you made were completely primitive and loud enough to make you blush, when you closed your eyes tightly, you heard Bi-Han growling.

“Open your eyes, I want to see and watch the pleasure we’re giving you.’’

‘’There is nothing to be ashamed of here, tiánxīn.’’ When Kuai Liang appeared on your other side, you wanted to reach out to him, but it was difficult to move your hands. Fortunately, Kuai Liang had no difficulty reading you, so he leaned right over you and made you relax, leaving little kisses starting at the corner of your chin until they reached your lips. ‘’You are too beautiful for words, don’t hide yourself from us. Even looking at you is a pleasure in itself for us.’’

You felt a small laugh climbing up your throat. Everything felt so comfortable, easy and most importantly, safe. You had complete trust in them, and it was such a trust that it made it easier for you to put yourself in their control. You knew that they would never hurt you, the comfort and peace you felt from their presence came first.

Although your lips were parted to thank Kuai Liang, the words remained stuck when Tomas rolled the small nub with his tongue and closed his lips on it, sucking on. Stars, literally golden stars appeared behind the eyelids that you closed without realizing it, a long moan left your lips. Tomas was kind, but also cruel. He knew so well how to use his tongue and lips, where he should touch and at what speed he should move, that in seconds he managed to turn you into a tight ball just begging for more.

You heard Tomas chuckle; you didn’t need to look to see the proud expression that settled on his face, you could imagine it clearly. Bi-Han took a break from his assault, and you trembled with another wave of pleasure as he stepped away, just like Kuai Liang. Tomas’s tongue was hot and strong, and when that clever muscle opened your lower lips and dipped into your warmth, you both groaned at the same time.

Tomas pleasured you with his tongue in a way that left you unable to keep track of time. He used his mouth so skillfully that it should be considered a crime. It was as if he was a man lost in a desert who had just found water. His tongue licked your lips, sometimes teasing that small bud to make your breath hitch, and then easily slid his devilish tongue into your wet channel. He was literally devouring you, guttural sounds leaving his throat matching the sounds you were making.

While Bi-Han was cursing, Kuai Liang asked in a hoarse voice, “Can you bring her to peak like that?”

“Yes. She’s so wet and hot and sweet—My Gods, may they have mercy on us.’’

‘’W-Wait, ah- a minute.’’ As soon as you managed to somehow get the words out, Tomas obeyed you in a breath and stopped. The only thing you felt was his warm breath that touched your wet heat. Kuai Liang asked, stroking the top of your head, in a gentle and careful voice that you could call worried, ‘’Are you all right, tiánxīn?’’

‘’Yes, I just… I don’t want to come this way.’’ Even though your face was cut red, you continued. ‘’It felt so good. Just—Some other time, but not today.” Because if Tomas had continued for a few more minutes, you would have come easily without even needing to feel his fingers or his length inside, and you didn’t want this to happen the first time without feeling them inside.

“Of course,” Kuai Liang leaned down and placed a small, loving kiss on the top of your head. ‘’Thanks for sharing with us.’’

‘’But you’re letting me stretch you on my fingers, right? I don’t want to hurt you.’’ Tomas said, in a voice so deep that it made you shiver inside. When you turned your gaze from Kuai Liang to him, your heart misfired. Tomas’ lips and chin were completely covered with your juices, shining. His hair was even more messy than before, some of the short tufts had risen into the air, his gray eyes were dark, and the raw hunger lying there had accelerated your pulse, you almost couldn’t hear them because of the buzzing in your ears.

Remembering at the last moment what you were asked, you mumbled a ‘’Yes.’’ Chuckles poured out from all three men.

“Perfect. You’re so perfect and good for us.” As one of Tomas’ long fingers easily slipped into your wet warmth, a wave of relief washed over you, soothing the ache that had been constantly building up. “Next time, I want to see the moment when you come apart just on my tongue. Your taste is addictively sweet.” While Tomas peppered kisses on the inside of your thights, his clever finger moved back and forth with an ever-accelerating rhythm. It felt good, but it wasn’t exactly what you craved. You wanted to feel more—fuller.

“Use your words, darling,” Tomas said, sensing your desire through your squirming. Swallowing the urge to express yourself by closing your eyes, you met Bi-Han’s gaze and forced your lips to move. “More. I want more.”

Tomas smiled, and when he pulled his hand back, your eyebrows furrowed, and you let out a little desperate whine as if in objection. This was not what you wanted, what you wanted—just as Tomas returned to your entrance with two fingers, Kuai Liang’s fingers also began to stroke over the small bundle of nerves, causing you to see stars. As Bi-Han’s mouth closed over one of your hardened nipples, your body stretched like a bow. Every sensation felt overwhelmingly good, especially the tension building up beneath your belly, dragging you closer to the edge.

Bi-Han bit the delicate bud before sucking on it to soothe the pain, while Kuai Liang’s other hand kneaded your other breast. Callused fingertips left a trail of fever wherever they touched, and as Tomas’s fingers moved in and out, coupled with the pressure on your core, you were on the brink of climax.

Realizing how stretched your body was, all three of them ceased their sweet torture. As Tomas donned the condom handed by Bi-Han, you took a deep breath, desperate for the oxygen you badly needed.

“Are you ready, lásko?”

“Yes,” you answered in a flash. ‘‘I’m ready, Tomas…Please—I—“

“Shh, what did my brother tell you, darling? Don’t ever beg to us.”

As his length, bigger and harder than fingers, pressed at your entrance, your legs instinctively opened to welcome him in. Slowly, Tomas entered your molten hot depths, and you whimpered, clinging to his shoulders, trying to adjust to the incredible fullness.

“That’s it, you’re doing great, beautiful. Just a little bit more.” When Tomas’s groin met yours, the silver-haired assassin leaned in, gently stroking your cheek as he gazed into your eyes. A small, sincere, and happy smile adorned his face, sending a tremble through your heart. “Are you with me?“

“Yes.”

“Feeling all right?“

You nodded your approval, and Tomas chuckled, his thumb stroking your lower lip.

“I want to hear it in words, lásko.”

“Yes, very much.” Then, as you reflexively squeezed your inner walls, the overwhelming fullness made your head spin, and you both groaned in unison. Tomas surged inside you like a pulse, strong, hot, and hard, filling you completely, beautifully. His length reached every part of you, leaving no inch untouched. “How do you feel?“

“More wonderful than I’ve ever felt.” As Tomas leaned down further, kissing you deeply, you tasted your own essence on his tongue, unable to stop yourself from moaning into his mouth. It felt as though flames coursed through your veins, while your heart raced and the tension under your belly mounted. “Our woman,” Tomas purred, kissing you once more. “Ours.”

“Yours,” you gasped.

Tomas smiled, but his grin was feral and hungry, just like a hunter. As he began to move his hips, a gasp then a thin moan escaped your lips involuntarily. The pleasure coursing through you was indescribable, urging you to squirm for more. Wrapping your legs around Tomas, you tried to draw him closer. Tomas and Kuai Liang chuckled simultaneously, their laughter devoid of mockery, sweet as honey, warm and loving. Bi-Han planted a tender kiss on your temple.

‘‘Shh, he will give you what you want, àirén.’’

‘’Certainly,’’ Tomas replied, smiling. The rhythm gradually picked up pace, smooth yet intense, making it challenging to restrain the sounds of pleasure escaping you. The warmth emanating from Tomas, the flushed pleasure on his face, the sexual harmony… Everything felt magical and uniquely special, filling your heart with love.

In this moment, it was as if you existed only with these three brave and strong warriors, ready to fight and spill blood for you without hesitation. You were enveloped in a sheltered bubble where time seemed to stand still.

As Kuai Liang took your nipple into his mouth this time, Bi-Han’s hand trailed down your quivering stomach. When his fingers found that sensitive spot and applied just right amount of pressure, sharp waves of ecstasy mingled with the pleasure, eliciting helpless whimpers from you. The impending orgasm approached faster than you anticipated. All three of them made encouraging noises, pleased with the sounds you produced.

‘’Gods, your voice… Fuck,’’ Tomas breathed heavily.

‘’You moan so sweetly,’’ Kuai Liang remarked, joining in.

‘‘I want to see you peak, I bet you’ll look divine.’’ As Bi-Han increased the pressure on your mound, you moaned helplessly. Tomas swallowed the sound with a low growl, his lips never leaving yours. ‘’Let us see, àirén.’’

You were just barely breathing, unable to focus on anything except the white-hot pleasure coursing through you. Tomas’ hand found your hair, effortlessly tilting your head back to dominate your mouth as he pleased, while Kuai Liang’s fingers toyed with your sweetly abused nipple, sending sharp but addictive pain coursing through you. And when Bi-Han’s touch once again grazed your core, the world slipped away for a moment. The tension under your belly reached its peak, finally snapping. Shaken with pleasure, you couldn’t breathe—maybe you screamed, you couldn’t tell. Time, space, even your surroundings faded into oblivion for a fleeting moment.

It took a while for you to regain awareness, noticing Tomas’s hardness twitching inside you as he breathed heavily, trying to recover. ‘’Perfect, sweet lásko.’’ he gasped, kissing the tip of your nose. ‘‘You were wonderful. How do you feel?’’

Taking a moment to assess yourself, you realized you felt more than good—you felt great, alive, and fully satisfied. ‘‘I’ve never felt better,’’ you replied honestly. A bright, proud, and somewhat smug smile spread across his face as he planted a chaste kiss on your lips.

‘‘Can you go on?’’

‘’Yes, I trust you.’’

A growl of satisfaction emanated from all three at your response. As Tomas carefully withdrew, you took a deep breath, feeling a sense of emptiness after being full. While Tomas removed his condom, Bi-Han approached with a glass of water, and Kuai Liang helped you sit up. As you drank the cold water, surprised at your thirst, Kuai Liang peppered your shoulder with little kisses, while Bi-Han gently stroked the back of your head. If it weren’t for the lingering energy pulsating through your body, you could easily fall asleep like this. Their touches were gentle and caring, a stark contrast to the intensity before.

When you finished all the water in the glass, Kuai Liang asked, ‘’Would you like some more?’’

‘’No, this is enough, thank you.’’

Upon your answer, as Bi-Han rose to put down the glass, Kuai Liang arranged both pillows back to back, leaning them against the headboard. Then, he settled his powerful body against the prepared pillows and turned his amber eyes on you, bright as the sun. His sun-kissed body, rippling with muscles and adorned with a few scars, along with the flex of his scorpion tattoo on his arm, he was a sight to behold.

‘’Come here, tiánxīn.’’

Approaching him as instructed, you let Kuai Liang pull you towards him. His hair, usually gathered into a bun but now left in a ponytail, was scattered, its dark strands cascading over his broad chest, surprisingly soft to the touch. Kuai Liang effortlessly turned you over, making you lean against his chest, and you let out a shaky sigh as you felt his hard length, warmer than Tomas’, at your entrance. Though not as long as Tomas, Kuai Liang was certainly more well-endowed, the tip of his arousal flushed with red.

‘’Remember, if you don’t like anything, you’ll tell us. You are the most important thing to us, and we don’t want you to force yourself in any way.’’

‘’All right.’’ Turning your head to the side, you dropped a small kiss on the edge of his strong-lined chin. ‘‘Everything that comes from you, I already accept. There can be nothing that I will not like.’’

‘’You’re too sweet.’’ Kuai Liang returned the kiss on your lips. His hands slid from your waist to the back of your legs, parting them gently. ‘’Open up for me, tiánxīn.’’ As he pressed you down, his length entered you easily and effortlessly. Moaning softly, you rested your head on his shoulder, one hand curling up at the back of his neck while the other gripped the hand holding onto your leg.

‘’You’re perfect. You were made for us, tiánxīn. Wrapped wonderfully around me.’’

Kuai Liang, when he placed his teeth on the other shoulder that Bi-Han hadn’t marked, you shivered with another helpless moan. You’d never thought that pain could feel so sweet and good, or the happiness you’d feel when you woke up in the morning to see their claims on your body. While the pyromancer filled you inside with a strong and steady rhythm unlike anything you’d known before, Bi-Han came into view.

His hair was also disheveled like Kuai Liang’s, his black locks spilling over his chest, a stark contrast to his snow-white skin. From his perfectly lined muscles, your eyes trailed down to his painfully erect arousal, adorned with fine black hairs, and it didn’t surprise you that his size matched Kuai Liang’s.

‘‘You can always stop us,’’ Bi-Han said as he closed the distance between you. Without averting his gaze from you, one hand carefully descended, teasing your entrance with his fingers before slowly, very slowly, inserting one finger, eliciting a scream-like sound from you at the incredible fullness and stretching you felt. Kuai Liang licked the spot where he had bitten and reached towards your neck, while Bi-Han placed a kiss on the edge of your lip.

‘‘Are you all right? Is it too much?’’

“No. I’m good,’’ you said, gasping. Kuai Liang’s size was extremely endowed, and Bi-Han’s finger was definitely not considered small. Despite facing the kind of stretching you hadn’t experienced before, it didn’t hurt. Instead, all you felt was an indescribable pleasure that made you tremble uncontrollably.

‘’Can you take both of us?’’

‘‘Both of you… at once…?’’ As you responded to Bi-Han’s question with surprise, Kuai Liang planted a small kiss on your neck.

“He will prepare you carefully, tiánxīn. There will be no pain, only pleasure. Always pleasure. Don’t doubt it at all, but if you don’t want to, there is no problem in that. Whatever you want, we will fulfill it happily,”

All three of them carefully observed your every reaction, constantly checking your condition, trying to discern what you liked. ‘’I want to try,’’ you said in a voice that suddenly became shy. ‘‘I trust you. I know you won’t hurt me.’’

‘‘Never,’’ said Bi-Han in a harsh and sharp voice.

‘’We just want to give you nothing but pleasure, tiánxīn,’’ added Kuai Liang, joining his brother. Bi-Han leaned down and began showering your neck, collarbones, and breasts with kisses, occasionally sucking on your skin, while Kuai Liang continued his sweet torture on your neck and shoulder.

After a while, a second finger joined the first one. You didn’t know what you sounded like—a scream, a moan? It didn’t hurt, but it definitely burned now, the pleasure was overwhelming. You were sure you were scratching Bi-Han as you clung to his shoulders, drawing blood where you pressed your nails into his flesh. But you needed to steady yourself and do something with your hands. You moved as if you had lost control of your body, but under Kuai Liang’s grip as hard as steel, and with him impaling you, there was nowhere for you to go.

‘’That’s it. You’re opening so beautifully for me,’’ Bi-Han inhaled deeply while sucking on the spot where your throat met your shoulder. ‘‘Fuck, do you see how you’re sucking me in? So perfect.’’

You tried to babble something, his words making you blush hotly, but all that came out of your lips was a broken moan. You didn’t know if they could understand you, you weren’t even sure how you could still contain this much pleasure. As if you were about to fly away, your head fell to the side as the hot tension gathered under your belly spread in waves throughout your entire body once more, and you bit Kuai Liang’s neck, the only thing you could think of to suppress your uncontrollable moans.

Since Kuai Liang didn’t expect you to do this, his rhythm jerked for a moment, and an incomprehensible curses poured from his lips. As if it were possible, when his hardness, which was pulsating inside and burning like an ember, grew larger, you couldn’t stop yourself from moaning against his skin.

‘’I didn’t know you liked being bitten,” said Tomas, although his voice sounded close, you were not yourself enough to understand where it was coming from. You heard Kuai Liang take a sharp gasp.

‘’So do I.’’

At that moment, Bi-Han was completely focused on stretching you. His touch was gentle and extremely careful as he slowly pushed his fingers a little deeper each time, causing your whole body to tremble with it. After a while, when his third finger teased at your entrance, you tried to relax. Two fingers and Kuai Liang’s length were quite a lot, but you wanted this.

While trembling under Kuai Liang’s strong grip, you pulled your mouth back and gently licked the place you had bitten as a kind of apology, then looked at Bi-Han through your eyelashes. When his eyes, as dark as the starless sky, met yours, Bi-Han said, ‘’Breathe,’’ and then added his third finger to the others.

As you accepted him, all the air you could draw into your lungs flew away. You couldn’t scream, couldn’t even make a sound. When you opened your eyes again, which you hadn’t realized you had closed, you saw Tomas standing over you.

‘’Are you okay? Do you want him to stop?’’

‘‘No. I’m—I’m all right.’’ When you could breathe again, you continued in a weak voice. ‘’Just… Too full— oh, my god-too much.’’

‘’You’re doing great.’’ Tomas reached down and planted a kiss on the top of your head. “But if this hurts you-‘’

“No.’’ As Bi-Han pushed his fingers a little deeper, your eyes closed once again. ‘‘I’m all right.’’

The cryomancer growled, his fingers began to move back and forth a little faster and smoother as his grunts echoed through the room. After a while, you found yourself getting used to this feeling; to this fullness and the perfect harmony of hot and cold. When Bi-Han rooted his fingers and pulled them back without any warning, a confused, unhappy whimper poured from your lips. You wanted them back, just when you were used to it-

‘‘I know, àirén. I know, I’ll give you what you want.’’

When Bi-Han put on the condom that Tomas handed him and aligned his length, which was much, much bigger than his fingers, to your entrance, your heart started beating so hard inside that for a moment you thought you were going to faint. Kuai Liang leaned back a little more, pulling you along with him, while Bi-Han slowly began to insert his length through your entrance. Although you thought that Kuai Liang filled you too much and that Bi-Han would never be able to enter, Bi-Han carefully slipped into you within seconds, slow but sure, and—

You wailed, it was an absolutely overwhelming feeling, it was beyond fullness. But somehow, you stood up to it. It didn’t hurt, but it all seemed too much and too intense at once.

‘‘It’s all right, àirén. Shh, we got you. Breathe, yes just like that.’’

Bi-Han stopped when he settled down to the hilt, and while giving you time to get used to the feeling, he reached out to you and planted a kiss on your slack lips. Even though you tried to respond to him back, all you could do was moan and gasp brokenly into his mouth. Kuai Liang kissed you wherever he could reach, while whispering words of love and praise in your ear and caressing you with a broad hand that he slid over your belly.

When you finally managed to open your eyes, you came eye to eye with Bi-Han’s dark and hungry gaze.

‘’Are you ready, àirén?’’

“Yes.’’ You whispered.

When he bent down to kiss you with a feral smile that mostly bared his teeth, his long hair tickled your cheeks. Then when he started moving, you screamed and couldn’t stop yourself from putting your nails on his shoulders again.

Bi-Han snarled into your mouth, catching your lower lip with his teeth, as Kuai Liang also started to move, you completely gave yourself up to their control and mercy. Their movements were very harmonious, as if they were reading each other’s minds, one was on the way out, the other was inside, and they never left you empty. While Kuai Liang was warming your body from behind, Bi-Han was soothing you with his coolness with every part he came into contact with in front of you.

‘’Will you let us see you peak once more, beautiful?’’ Kuai Liang said as his hand on your stomach slid down. You moaned from where you were leaning your head on his shoulder, even the slightest movement was enough to make your eyes roll back. You didn’t think it was possible to survive such a pleasure if Kuai Liang touched you there—

‘’Kuai-’’ You said, gasping. Although it was foolish to hope that he would understand what you meant by voicing his name, you didn’t know at that moment how you could communicate otherwise. The hot tension in your stomach was so tense that you could have exploded at any moment. All you need is—

When Bi-Han, uttering a curse, grabbed your legs and placed them on his shoulders, burying himself deeper than ever, he touched a place in you that make sparks and stars appearing before your eyes, liquid hot electricity running through your whole body, making you tremble. As you contracted so hard that the two men took a sharp breath and snarled like predators. As Bi-Han pressed the same spot several times, his rhythm was smooth and relentless. All you could do was hold on to him. At that moment, Kuai Liang’s hand was resting on your mound, and you clawed his arm desperately, he stroked it once, twice, thrice, and then you came screaming. Your body stiffens, breath leaving your lungs, and your vision blurs into blinding white.

Although you don’t know how it happened, after a while, as your vision gradually clears, you find yourself curled up in Kuai Liang’s lap, gasping for breath. Your body still trembles with lingering aftershocks.

‘’Hey, there.” Kuai Liang gently stroked your cheek and kissed you. ‘‘Are you all right?’’

“Yes.’’ You said in a cracked voice. When Tomas appeared on the other side of you and brought the glass closer to your lips for you to drink water, you opened your lips with great satisfaction, grateful that you didn’t have to hold the glass because you were sure that there was nothing left in your body for strength.

You had some soreness, and after getting used to being full, you were feeling very empty now, it was a strange feeling. But other than that, you felt refreshed and great. A sweet tiredness that went down to your bones had settled on you, you heard Kuai Liang laugh when you yawned without being able to help yourself.

‘’Go to sleep, tiánxīn. You’ve earned that, we’ll take care of you.’’

With a sigh, you curled up on his chest, while sleep overtook you, you fell asleep in seconds because you had no doubt that you knew your men, that you were in the safest place on earth.

***

When you opened your eyes, the morning light filtered in through the window. With the fitness of having slept the best sleep of your life, you turned around where you were lying with the touch of a body behind you while yawning in the bed and met Tomas’s gaze, which was watching you with a pleasant smile. Under the morning sun, Tomas stood quite soft and relaxed, his eyes almost like shining stars.

He didn’t have a shirt on, so you could clearly see the marks you left on his skin—bruises and thin scratches scattered here and there. A faint heat flared in your belly at the sight of him, but you brushed it aside. It was early in the morning, and despite Tomas looking very handsome and enticing at the moment, you were incredibly hungry.

‘‘Good morning. Did you sleep well?’’

‘’More than enough.’’ You said it in a happy voice. Then, after taking a look around the room, you asked curiously. ‘‘Where are the others?’’

‘’They are in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.’’

‘’Both of them?’’

‘’Although he doesn’t show it, Bi-Han too, is a good cook. He just doesn’t like cooking very much.’’

‘‘I wonder why I’m not surprised to hear that.’’ You said with a chuckle. At that time, a meowing was heard inside the room, and then within seconds, when Ninja’s tiny body came into view, you pulled her to yourself with a hug.

‘’Good morning, little menace.’’ While placing a few kisses on the top of her head and scratching under her chin, Ninja let out happy purrs, then lying on her back, she exposed her round belly, which was obviously filled with food. You both laughed at the sweetness of the kitten, and when Tomas bent his head and tried to kiss Ninja’s soft belly, the kitten meowed and grabbed Tomas’s face with four paws, trying to gnaw and kick.

“Ninja, shh, we don’t show our love that way.’’ As you gently stopped the kitten and pulled her to you, you couldn’t help but laugh at the betrayal that appeared on Tomas’s face. “To touch the open belly of cats is a death sign, Tomas. Didn’t you know that?’’

‘’I thought she was getting used to us.’’ Tomas said with sad puppy eyes and a voice full of betrayal.

Some things are instinctive; don’t take it to heart.” After giving Ninja a bit more affection, as you straightened up to start the day, the cover slipped and landed on your lap. It was then that you noticed the array of purple bruises, bites, and fingerprints covering your body. To an outsider, you probably appeared as if you had been attacked. Tomas, with a quiet voice, voiced his concern.

“How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain anywhere?”

Finding his worries sweet, you kissed his shoulder instead of his lips, considering how awful your morning breath must have been. Despite sleeping deeply, your body, especially your lower half, was aching. However, it was a pleasant sensation rather than painful; you knew you would walk funny for a bit, but that was perfectly fine with you.

“I’m fine, Tomas, don’t worry.”

Tomas helped you out of bed and helped you get dressed after giving you one last worried glance. You made your way to the kitchen with Ninja trailing behind you, where you found Kuai Liang and Bi-Han arranging dishes on the counter in sync. The delightful smells instantly made your stomach growl, causing your cheeks to flush slightly. Tomas chuckled beside you.

“Good morning, my loves,” you greeted them softly. Their faces lit up as they turned towards you, and they each gave you a hug halfway and planted a kiss on both sides of your head.

Like Tomas, they also didn’t wear anything other than sweatpants to cover up below. Their skin bore your marks, and from the looks on their faces, they were proud of them, just as you were proud to display and carry their claim on you. It was primal, indeed, but it somehow satisfied something deep within you.

“It smells amazing in here. What have you cooked?” you asked as you approached the kitchen. Bi-Han handed you a mug of green tea, and Kuai Liang explained how they prepared a Chinese breakfast while you listened and sipped your tea with happiness.

The table was adorned with an array of dishes, from steamed buns filled with pork and vegetables to dumplings swimming in fragrant broth. Crispy fried rice cakes glistened with a sweet soy glaze, while golden brown pancakes dripped with honey. Fresh fruits adorned the table, adding a refreshing touch to the feast.

Soon, you started enjoying the breakfast laid out in front of you, accompanied by a lively conversation that had you laughing. The food was as delicious as it looked, and you couldn’t help but shower them with compliments. Bi-Han even stuffed a dumpling into your mouth at one point to quiet you, which almost made you choke with laughter.

As you took another sip of your green tea, a sound from your laptop caught your attention. Curious about the early morning email, you rose to investigate, careful not to trip over Ninja who was lounging nearby.

“Is there a problem?” Kuai Liang asked as he approached, reaching to take the kitten on his lap. Ninja immediately melted at his touch, her purrs filling the living room.

Opening the mailbox directly, when you saw where the message was coming from, your heart immediately began to beat with excitement. You held your breath, opened the message box with trembling fingers, and tried to read the message in a snap.

“Is everything all right? You turned pale in an instant,” Tomas said with a worried voice as he sat on the other side of you. A growl rose from Bi-Han. “Who do we have to kill? Give us the names.”

“Guys,” you blinked back tears of happiness, trying to steady your racing heart, “remember when I told you that the first round of the job interview went well?”

“Yeah,” they replied in unison, prompting a wet laugh from you, on the verge of tears.

“I passed the second round too! They liked the demo I sent them. They want to work with me! I got the job!”

When tears of happiness that you couldn’t hold back any longer started flowing down your cheeks, Tomas was the first to hug you. His huge body enveloped you, and he whispered how proud he was of you. Kuai Liang, who had dropped Ninja to the ground, hugged you in the same manner. He gently wiped away your tears and planted a loving kiss on the top of your head. Finally, Bi-Han didn’t hug you like the others, but he gave you a chaste, sweet kiss that lingered longer than expected. Then, with pure confusion evident on his face, he asked, “What the hell is a demo?”

“It’s a preview of the game that hasn’t been fully developed yet. I had been working on it for a long time, unsure about the storyline or characters, until I met you guys,” you explained, pulling up the files on your laptop to show them. Their curiosity piqued, all three leaned in to see the screen. As you navigated to the character screen, three names appeared: Smoke, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero, in that order, accompanied by their gray, yellow and blue appearances.

“Hey, these are our code names, and they look like us. Wait a damn second—” Tomas paused incredulously, and you planted a loving kiss on his cheek amidst his confusion.

“Yes, I know the graphics aren’t great, but everything will be improved. You guys have been my inspiration. Did you like it?” you asked, hopeful.

“This is incredible,” Kuai Liang said, eyes widening in amazement. “How did you manage to do this?”

“Well, I wanted to create a fighting game since highschool. My software was ready, but I was missing characters and a plot,” you explained.

“Are they fighting to the death?” Bi-Han asked, curiosity piqued. After your confirmation, he inquired further, “What’s it about?”

“Based on what you’ve told me, I might have drawn some inspiration from certain events. The main theme revolves around the power struggle between our world and other realms, with fighting tournaments organized to maintain balance,” you elaborated.

“This isn’t just inspiration; it’s reality,” Kuai Liang chuckled, trying to stifle his laughter.

“Why don’t you also call it Mortal Combat, to tie it all together?” Tomas suggested as a joke.

“Well, that’s not a bad idea actually,” you said at the idea Tomas had thrown out. ‘’I couldn’t think of a better name. But maybe with a K instead of a C, it’ll be more catchy,” you added with a smile, trying to read their emotions. However, as the silence stretched and they continued to stare at the screen, you began to feel apprehensive. “Are you… mad at me that I used the information? I can change it completely—”

Bi-Han was the first to drop his mask, a teasing smirk playing on his lips as his normally cold eyes held an amused glint. “Of course we are not mad. Military superiors, monks, and various criminal organizations around the world are already aware of the existence of Outworld and its tournaments. Making some changes in your game to avoid direct parallels won’t be a problem.”

“So you liked my surprise then?” you asked, glancing at them, and they responded with genuine happiness and pride. Tomas chuckled beside you.

“But you’ll pay us commission fees, won’t you? After all, we played an important part in this—” Before he could finish, you threw a cushion at his face, causing him to topple over. But just as he fell, he pulled you into his arms, laughing heartily before kissing you on the lips. “It was a wonderful surprise. Thank you for deeming us worthy of this,” he said, his voice warm and affectionate. “It’s a nice feeling to know that we are your inspiration.”

“Certainly,” Kuai Liang chimed in, joining his brother to kiss you on the shoulder. Bi-Han knelt down to get on eye level with you, lifting your chin slightly to plant a kiss on your forehead.

“We are so lucky to have you,” Bi-Han said sincerely, his voice calm and genuine. You closed your eyes with happiness, feeling content and loved. Everything felt perfect, and your heart was full of love and hope. Starting with Bi-Han, you answered back in a voice overflowing with pure happiness before kissing them each in turn.

“So do I.”

***

Author’s Note: You stuck with my silly idea and finished the story?! Thank you so much for reading it; I hope you enjoyed it!🥰 I know neither of them said "I love you" to the reader—I wanted to save that for an upcoming one-shot where each of them expresses their love to the reader separately. After that, I have a couple of interesting ideas where Quan Chi and perhaps Leilani will appear and have a plot in the next story. Hope you stick around! If you have any ideas, feel free to share them with me. Take care! 😘

[nekoooooo-p]

Demo: Yandere Hatsune Miku Headcanons

art by: yanderous on Tumblr

------------×------------

CW: internet stalking; (a little) gaslighting

------------×------------

This is a demo, which may become a full-fledged large text, written and with a plot. Keyword MAY-..it all depends on you guys, you just have to ask me!

This is just an attempt to distract from the Phosphophyllite headcanons, since there is text there for five seconds of free fast scrolling down... and that's not all...That's why I'm stupidly tired of this and I desperately need a distraction HAHAHA

BTW, VERY FUN FACT.

Based (mostly) on real events :)

Enjoy!

------------×------------

× You don't know each other.

× Do you know why?

× Because she's just a robot.

× Vocal synthesizer without identity.

× All that is known about her is known from fans and her design.

× Empty.

× ...

× She is loved.

× She's popular.

× And you also see her on community pages, like drawings, listen to music, and perhaps try to do something creative yourself.

× Of course, you didn't know just Miku.

× You knew other Vocaloids too. Rin, Len, Luka, Meiko, Gumi, Flower, Fukase - there were a lot of them, you didn’t know them all, but you heard about many.

× You began to notice that many people had a favorite. And you also decided to choose your favorite Vocaloid.

× The simplest and quite normal choice was Miku.

× But you decided to take someone else as your favorite, because loving Miku is banal.

× The choice has been made.

× . . .

× It doesn’t matter who you chose, but you dreamed about them

.

.

.

× You dreamed of them fighting with Miku.

× In an old school building, two people were strangling each other. Two vocal synthesizers. ×

× It seems that the thin fingers of the long-haired girl with ponytails were squeezing someone else’s throat an order of magnitude stro

.

.

.

.

.

× You woke up.

.

.

.

× The dream was strange, but in the end it was just a dream - you struggled with yourself for a long time, trying to choose one of the two - and you didn’t choose Miku. That's why you dreamed about some bullshit.

×

× ...

× Overall, no big deal.

------------×------------

× It is vital for you to finish the project, but instead you are interested in reading some article on the Internet.

× You read the article with curiosity and look at the comments.

× People share opinions there - nothing unusual....

.

.

.

× ...Until you suddenly see Miku in the book cover photo.

× You stare at this in surprise - the article was not about Vocaloids at all, just like the comment itself with the photo.

× You take a screenshot with a laugh, close the article and finally remember about the project. Haha, it was funny, Miku reminded you of your studies.

× You jokingly thank the non-existent character out loud and take out your notebooks.

.

.

.

× As it turned out, you had something to thank Miku for - you were called in during class and asked to answer with almost no preparation.

× Of course, such coincidences make you even a little scared - but only if they are repeated often. So it was just really funny now.

× You told your friends about this coincidence, you laughed together and celebrated the excellent completion of the project.

.

.

.

× It's funny, but one day you again came across a funny coincidence - the author of your favorite fanfic not from the Vocaloid fandom suddenly added Miku to the plot as a reference and a side character.

.

.

.

× Oh , how small the world is!

.

.

.

× The dream repeated itself.

.

.

.

× You began to have trouble sleeping - your dreams became strange and distorted. Once you even dreamed of some outright nonsense with Miku figurines.

× You were in your own room, scrolling through the marketplace. And saw strange, unfinished figures there.

× M i k u. ×

× At one point, one of the figures independently adds itself to the basket and you laugh. For some reason.

× Suddenly the second figure does the same.

× . . .

× Then the third. Then the fourth.

× This caused bewilderment, laughter and showed only the absurdity of a strange situation.

× And then you suddenly looked at the floor behind the phone... and saw there a whole bunch of scary, unfinished, broken, mangled toys and Hatsune Miku figurines.

× You back away - and the figures keep growing and growing in geometric progression.

× You are afraid that now they will fill the entire room, and you will suffocate in this huge pile of plastic - but as soon as your back hits an obstacle, you wake up.

.

.

.

× And what was that?

.

.

.

× Nothing changes in your life - everything is quite as usual, the same communication, the same activities, the same living space, the same environment. Everything is calm and as usual.

× You don't pay attention to the little things.

× You see Miku a lot of places - on other people’s badges, notepads, many people ask if you know her, ask you to tell her, you see her periodically in advertisements...And this is provided that Miku and Vocaloids, in principle, were not so popular in your circle!

× Sekai must have made Vocaloids more famous and that's why you started bumping into Miku so often.

×

× ..but why Miku?

× After all, during all the time you saw something definitely related to Sekai only a couple of times, while Miku in her various manifestations almost always. You even bothered to meet a cosplayer who wanted to cosplay as Miku.

× You communicated actively for some time, but then something went wrong and you quarreled.

.

.

.

× ...By the way, when you almost stopped communicating, you later found out that he refused to cosplay Miku for some reason.

× An interesting coincidence.

× Somehow there are a ton of them, don’t you think?

.

.

.

× One day you saw a badge with Miku on the bag of one person, with whom you later had to get to know each other better due to certain circumstances. You talked for a couple of hours out of necessity and you complimented their badge.

"What are you talking about? I've never had a badge with Hatsune Miku..."

× The confused face of your interlocutor unsettled you.

× But...but you saw!

.

.

.

× what the heck?

× And this happened several times. You even thought that you had problems with vision or memory...

.

.

.

× The frequency of appearances of the Vocaloid girl in your life reached the point of absurdity. After all, in addition to appearing in your feed and advertising, she was also in your real life - acquaintances, conversations, badges, other merch, unusual projects of classmates and even in fucking magazines.

× You bumped into her absolutely everywhere.

× And then at some point you decided to download Vocaloid.

× You found your favorite producer who used your favorite vocaloid, you listened to the music of this producer, and finally you wanted to make covers or songs yourself.

× You were looking for a pirated version because you didn’t have money, although you were ashamed, in a sense, to download a pirated version.

× The voice bank you found in the public domain was... Miku's voice bank!

× In general, you weren’t against it - you liked Miku, but she was somewhere in second or third place on the list of favorites.

× When you started making covers using her bank, a question arose - why do many people say that Miku is difficult for a beginner? You were great at tuning her voice. And people liked your covers.

×

× ...

× ....by the way, it’s strange that you no longer come across Miku anywhere other than your feed.

<----------×--------->

End of demo.

<---------×---------->

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

totally feel free to ignore but what are some tips you have for writing? I rlly want to write x readers soon but idk how to start

Write for yourself: write what you want, when you want, for whatever reason you want, and don't let it become an obligation. It's hard to gain traction on a site like tumblr so you don't want to get discouraged by a lack of feedback/notes: which will probably happen if you're trying to write for others instead of yourself. Gaining fame should be irrelevant to you: it'll make you happier in the long run and save you a bunch of self doubt.

Read a lot. It can be whatever you prefer: fiction, nonfiction, fanfiction, etc. It simply helps to remind you what proper grammar, sentences, and characters look like. If you ever find yourself struggling to word things, take a break and read something else.

If you're creating a new blog to write on, reblog things to it or make unimportant posts on it immediately upon creating it. They can be things you'll end up deleting in the future, it really doesn't matter, it simply helps your blog be seen in the tags you're looking to post in quicker. Tumblr; at least when I started, has a sort of authorization process (for lack of a better term) where a new blogs posts will not be seen in tags until they've made a couple posts/reblogs. It's a sort of "prove you're not a robot" process that ends quicker by doing the aforementioned things.

Tag things properly and learn proper fanfiction terms.

Rewatching/rereading is your friend. Sometimes it's necessary to watch clips back again to see the little things that you might have missed on your first viewing. Even the smallest of interactions can really help to flesh out a character when writing for them.

Watch other films. There's only so many different kinds of character archetypes out there and finding similar characters to watch can help you come up with ideas for the ones you want to write for.

Don't limit yourself. Experiment with different kinds of fanfiction and see what works for you. You might prefer one type of fanfiction over the other or you might want to write different kinds. (i.e. look into the difference between imagines, headcanons, blurbs, etc.)

Don't force yourself to finish something. If you want to write ten different things all at once, don't force yourself to complete the post you're struggling with when you could finish two different ones in the mean time.

Give credit where credit is due. Don't grab a gif from a random place and claim it as your own or steal writing from somebody else (even if it's just a small segment). Always tag or link wherever you've found something and respect peoples wishes if they don't want you to use it.

Being self indulgent is part of the fun but try not to let it cloud your judgement when writing for different characters; especially if you're trying to appeal to an audience. There's a fine line between writing fanfic and making an oc out of preexisting characters: both are fine but if you're trying to appeal to the masses and/or be accurate, don't force things to fit just because you wish they were so.

That's all I got off the top of my dome so I hope that this helps! Good luck!❤

[entomolog-t]

The Shadow We Cast

Author Notes: Content warning, but the CWs make it sound far scarier than it is. Unless you struggle with any of the topics its fairly lighthearted. 

Another finished a G/t July Prompt; Bird! This takes place after Sal and Mark meet for the first time (Loosely based on this comic that I will inevitably redraw) acting as a sort of Chapter Two. The Title for their story is still up in the air and I am more than welcome to suggestion. 

Word Count: 3184

Next Chapter: Chapter 2

CW: Adult language, mild gore (blood, hunting, animal death), derealization/questioning sanity

---

The warmth in the air was uncomfortably muggy. I could feel myself break a sweat and I’d barely started my trek to the outskirts of the property. It reminded me of whenever he got too close. The way he radiated heat… the way he seemed to use up all the air around me, leaving the air feeling used and wet with his breath. Stretching my arms skyward I couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of the strange human; The shared shock as we saw one another, the way he fumbled over himself to assure me he wasn’t a danger… and that hilarious scream he’d let out at the sight of my innocent little spider. I couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face. I’d never imagine I’d talk to a human, let alone spend the better part of an hour trying to get one to calm down!

The image of him, face flushed and sputtering had been comical. He’d been so embarrassed. Rightfully so. Why would a creature like him be scared of such a sweet little spider? Ridiculous. Picking up my pace, I began to jog towards the tree line, hoping those masked birds hadn’t yet found the berrying tree. Chewing on my lip, I found my mind being drawn back to the human. He’d called himself Mark. Once he’d calmed down he’d apologized up and down for his outburst. He was strange. I had sat down on his window sill as he asked question after question. What was I? Where had I come from? Why was I trying to get into his house?

His… Mark’s house had been empty for so long… was I not supposed to take my chance to see humans up close? There's something invigorating about even just being in the presence of people… When was the last time I’d even seen another being capable of conversation, let alone had a conversation? Sure, it's not like I planned on popping up directly in his line of sight, but … despite my better judgment, I found myself happy I did. I’d had my first conversation in years, and for some strange reason I was feeling as if it had left me bursting at the seams with renewed energy. Whether it was from the interaction or maybe from the strange food the colossal coward had given me… an Or-we-Oh? Was that what he’d called it? It didn’t really look like food… more like two disks made of soil with something unnaturally white between them. While it may have looked wrong, it had tasted far better than it looked.

My stomach growled at the memory. Whether it was the human food or the conversation, I’d made up my mind. I was going back. Though, not empty handed. These stupid tree-berries were always such a hassle to get. 

The trunk of the tree was thinner and smoother than what grew deeper in the woods making them profoundly annoying to climb. Worse yet, the stupid branches only really broke off in a convenient fashion after a sizable climb, and even then, they grew at an such an angle that I could never just stand. The lack of hand and footholds along the lower portion of the trunk always left me exhausted, but the deep red berries were, regrettably, worth the effort. 

Hand over hand and feet pressed firmly on the trunk I climbed up the tree, letting my weight hang downwards effectively anchoring my grip on the trunk. I grit my teeth. Climbing like this was always a pain. I could feel the muscles in my arms swell and ache as I made my way up the trunk. Better sore than hungry. I thought, as my hands finally gripped onto a branch. Hoisting myself up, I surveyed the scene. Those stupid birds had definitely gotten here before me, with one or two of them still darting on and off the branches. Even still, those smooth deep near purple berries were still relatively abundant.

Those stubborn pests ignored my shouts and attempts at shooing them away as I maneuvered along branch after branch, filling the sack I’d brought until it was nearly overflowing. If I had any hopes of trading that human for more of their strange food, I would need more than just a couple berries. 

I sat, letting my feet hang over the edge of the branch as I tied the mouth of the bag. This was weird, right? Wanting to see a human? To spend time with them? I shook my head, ridding myself of doubt as quickly as it came. Mark had been weird, sure, but he could talk!! An unwelcome thought seemed to bubble to the surface…

How long has it been since I’ve heard a voice other than my own? 

Yeah, no. Bad thought. No time for those. Rising to my feet, I heard the sudden flutter of wings as those pesky masked birds took flight, swooping away from me and deeper into the woods. Figures, they’d leave now that I- 

My thought was interrupted by a resounding screech.

Fuck. 

---

The sticky summer air struck like walking into a wall. I made my way out of the sanctuary of my air conditioned house, and into the frying pan my porch had become. Was this real? A tiny man... There had been a tiny man in my house. Sal… that was the name he’d given me. He was a rough looking creature, and I had no doubts after just one glance at him that he had been living outside. He had warm, sunburnt skin, and was covered in an unsightly layer of grime. I found myself wishing I had got a closer look at him, but there was no way in Hell I was getting within arm's distance of that creepy little spider he’d had accompanying him. I shuddered at the thought. The image of it crawling liberally all over him as we spoke made my skin crawl. 

He’d laughed at my reaction too, as if I was the one being weird. 

He’d told me he’d bring me back a treat in exchange for the Oreo. I’d half heartedly tried to tell him there was no need but… if I’m gonna be honest? I wanted him to have a reason to come back. 

I stared up at the sun. The strange little man apparently wasn't very familiar with the concept of hours and had told me he’d meet me when the sun was “around there in the sky” as he pointed vaguely at an angle that seemed to suggest sometime around noon? Maybe?? I took a seat. 

This was crazy. Was I crazy? I mean… a little man… a tiny yet full grown man had just pulled himself up onto my window sill? I ran my hands through my hair, my loose grasp on reality making my stomach knot. It had felt so real… but it couldn’t have been… and yet here I was, sitting on my front porch in this awfully muggy weather waiting to rendezvous with something, someone rather, straight out of a fairy tale. 

The minutes dragged on lazily, as if the muggy weather made time itself move sluggishly. Fuck, was I actually losing my grasp on reality? I mean, I had seen him, heard him, but I hadn’t touched him… I had no pictures, no proof to fall back on. I felt my brow furrow as I swallowed dryly. I’d fucking lost it. Staring up at the sky, I watched as a hawk circled lazily overhead. I’d go into town tomorrow and see if I could get in with a doctor. A solid two days away from the city and I’d managed to develop some form of cabin fever. Just fucking great. 

I closed my eyes and leaned back. Man, it was hot. Somewhere above, the hawk screeched, seemingly in agreement with my thoughts. I thought about going inside to get water… or better yet, a beer, but I couldn’t leave my spot. It was as if I was holding onto a shred of hope, desperate to prove to myself that the miniscule little man had really existed. 

The longer I thought about him, the more doubt seemed to surface in my mind. His voice, while relatively quiet, had been deep. Did that make sense? Surely someone that small would be pitched up? Thinking back, he may have had pointed ears, but everything else seemed perfectly human- 

A strange cacophony interjected into my rambling thoughts; another shriek from the hawk, although this time, much closer. There was the rustling of grass and the puffing sound from flapping wings. I cracked my eyes open and sat up. I knew they were skilled hunters but I’d never seen one in action, and although morbidly curious, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to see the aftermath of whatever poor little creature ended up in its… talons.

Poor little creature…

SAL. 

I sprung up. Reality be damned. What if… what if he really was real… what if he’d been- 

I pushed the thought from my mind as fast as it had surfaced. Don’t think. Just go. I ran down the stairs and out towards where I’d heard the sound, begging that the hawk had just picked off one of the little finches or waxwings that flitted about the property. 

When I saw rustling in the grass it was as if my heart was trying to crawl out of my throat. No. No. No.

Please be alright… My head spun with worry as I moved aside the grass, heart sinking at the sight. A red tailed hawk moved awkwardly on top of something… something small. No feathers were scattered about, no flapping of wings beneath its grip... 

Oh God… 

My throat felt tight. I lunged at the creature, hoping desperately that whatever damage was done wouldn’t be fatal. 

A yelp. 

I nearly fell back from the soft sound of shock that came from beneath the bird. Everything seemed to slow as my brain struggled to keep pace with what I was seeing. There he was. That tiny little man… Sal… Covered head to toe in blood. I felt as my own blood drained from my face, bile rising up in my throat. He was soaked. Oh God, was it fatal? What was I supposed to do? Who was I supposed to call for help? How could I-

He smiled. 

His teeth were bright white against the gruesome crimson that covered him. Why was he… smiling…? The limp weight of the hawk in my hand suddenly felt a good deal heavier. I looked from the hawk, to him and back to the hawk. 

Had he…?

“Well?” He said, placing his hands on his hips and craning his neck to look at me, “Fair trade?”

Things were moving too fast for my brain to keep pace. To start, I wasn’t losing my mind. The tiny man was real… and he had killed a hawk… a dead hawk which I now held in my hand. I swallowed the urge to gag. What had he meant by trade… Oh- Oh no. 

---

His face. Oh man, his face. That near death run-in was worth every cut, scrape and bruise to be witness of the realization dawning across that massive face. He turned his head back and forth between me and the redtail hanging limply in his grasp in rapid succession. He looked uneasy. I felt my smile grow even wider. There was disbelief in his eyes. I liked that. I wanted his gaze on me to stay that way. Looking at the bird in his hands I could only feel my pride grow. Fuck those stupid berries, now that was a meal fit for a human. 

“Don’t worry,” I chuckled, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the bird’s blood from my face, “I’m not that rude of a guest. I’ll prepare it for you. Can’t go bringing unfinished gifts, now can I?” 

I stared up at him, awaiting some kind of response. Wow Sal, that's incredible! Or Oh man, that's a pretty big bird, I doubt I can finish it all, or- 

“Prepare…” The colour drained from his face. I snorted. The last family that lived here hadn’t seemed to have to do much with their meat either. Sure, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience but someone had to do it. He crouched down, staring at me with a strange expression; his brow furrowed and his lips pursed. 

“Dude, that's gross. I’m not eating hawk?”

Oh. 

That simple remark seemed to puncture something in my chest. I felt deflated. My smile wiped away in an instant. Did humans not eat redtail…? Why... why was it gross? That strange expression on his face suddenly seemed to come into focus in my mind; disgust. 

Not wanting to look at that expression any longer, I busied myself with looking around the grass. 

“Ha, oh yeah, that’s… I had something else. Um,” I felt heat rise to my face. I didn’t get what was wrong with it? What was I missing? “It should have fallen around here somewhere…”

Fuck, I felt small.

I was all too aware that even as I cast my gaze downward, he could see every movement I made. His presence loomed over me. Small. What had felt like an insurmountable feat just a few moments ago was a dismissable nothing to someone like him.

A cruel voice seemed to rise from the ether within my mind. So are you. 

---

Shit. 

He had been really excited, hadn’t he? He’s done the equivalent of slaying a fucking dragon, and how do I react? By saying it's gross?? I mean, the idea of eating a wild hawk most definitely is gross, and questionably legal, but… My thoughts trail off as I stare down at the crestfallen little man. He doesn’t meet my gaze. That borderline uncanny confidence seemingly eviscerated by a single tactless comment. 

I chew my lip and groan, albeit, internally. 

“Sal…” he doesn’t look at me, but I catch him flinching at his name, “You know… Now that I think about it, it’s probably pretty similar to turkey.” His head snaps back to me, eyes full of hope. I offer him a smile. 

“I’ll give it a shot. Can’t let a great catch like this go to waste.” 

It’s as if a switch goes off, and suddenly he’s beaming, his cocksure grin even wider than before. It would be an adorable sight…  if not for the fact he was drenched in the blood of his prized catch. I cringed internally as I offered him my hand. He took a step back, as if unsure of what I was doing. 

“You can use my kitchen to prep the meat, but only if you wash yourself off first…” I paused, “Please.” 

His grin never faltered. 

“You got it, Tree-Top.” Despite absolutely dreading his meal, I couldn’t help but grin right back at him. 

He took a hesitant step onto my open palm, looking back and forth between my face and my outstretched hand as if asking if it was okay. I nodded encouragingly, repressing the urge to gag as I saw the tiny bloody handprint he left on my thumb. Gross. Gross. Gross. 

Instead I focused on the absolutely wild sensation of holding small… human…(?) in my hand. The sensation was beyond bizarre. Nothing like holding a small rodent or lifelike doll could come close to comparing. I could feel how intentional every movement was, as if I could sense the human intelligence behind each carefully placed step. The thought that I was quite literally holding a life in my hands was overwhelming, and I teetered back and forth between excitement and anxiety.  

I stood.  As he rose upwards in my cupped hand, he gripped onto my thumb with an unnerving amount of strength for a being of his size. Looking down at him, my own stomach lurched. With seemingly no instinct for any form of self preservation, he leaned over the edge of my palm on his hands and knees, watching with rapt excitement as the ground disappeared beneath him. He turned his attention to me briefly, shooting me a cheeky little cocksure grin, before going back to watching the ground pass by in awe as I made my way back towards the house. 

In those moments, I was all too aware of every item I had ever dropped in my life, and suffice to say it was more than a few. My heart felt as though it would beat itself out of my chest as he let himself nearly dangle off the edge of my palm. Slowly, I leaned my palm against my chest and curled my fingers inwards. Sal was unphased with the change in position, absentmindedly shifting to standing, his feet perched firmly on my pinky while he leaned precariously over my index finger.

His excitement only seemed to grow as we entered the house. His head was constantly on a swivel, taking in every detail he could catch. Which arguably wasn’t much as I hurried toward the kitchen counter, the sticky feeling of quickly drying blood on my hands leaving my skin crawling. Ew. Ew. Ew. 

“Stay right there.”

Placing him and the bird beside one another on the counter I hurriedly turned on the sink, letting out a deep sigh of relief as the rush of water cleaned my hands. The last thing I needed was a bloodied little man exploring the area where I made my food. I bit my lip, trying my hardest to keep the disgust from forming on my face, not wanting to upset my gruesome little guest. 

“Here,” I grabbed a table cloth and wet it, offering it to the little man. He didn’t hesitate to begin wiping himself down. As I went to lay out a cutting board, I paused, my stomach sinking. Fuck, I thought, am I going to have to … I grimaced. 

“Um, hey man, are you going to need me to-” He cut me off with a wave of his hand, shooing me away as he strode over to my knife block as if this were his kitchen. 

“No, no,” he said dismissively “I got it.” He smiled over his shoulder as he yanked out a serrated knife from the block. Nope. Don't wanna see this. I turned to leave, but a small shout made me pause. Sal stood atop the hawk, knife slung over his shoulder like an oversized video game sword, waving me down with his free hand. 

“Can you grab me a bowl?”

“Why do you-” he cut me off,

“Organs.” I gagged and silently prayed he didn’t notice. Right. Gross. I tried to hide the revulsion as I plopped a bowl down on the counter, averting my gaze from the carnage on the cutting board. I needed a beer. Or four. Not wanting to wait around in case Sal thought I could make myself useful I disappeared down the hall, now more thankful than ever that I had kept my college mini fridge as a beer fridge away from the kitchen. 

[harus-simp]

First impressions

-Zhang Hao x reader-

Warning:none

Author's note: A little something I thought of 🤭

Hope you guys like it:D

°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□

Zhang Hao didn't believe in love at first sight at all, but when you locked eyes with him he felt at your complete mercy.

Oh, the pressure the pressure. It was getting to a point where the trainees were having a really hard time on the camp as the eliminations and the 3rd mission were approaching.

Zhang Hao and team Overdose had worked really hard in order to make an amazing performance for their audience, however he had been struggling as a leader, doubting himself and his ability to carry the team on his shoulders.

So when they send them outdoors to do some activities it felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders, at least for a few moments.

When they heard that they would held a special event for star creators they put even more efforts in their games, really determined to get the best for their dear fans.

But, in spite of the fun moments they were sharing Zhang Hao still was anxious about their performance. And they had to now perform to some star creators beforehand? He couldn't even catch his breath, God.

He reminded himself that all his hard work would eventually pay off and bring a smile to star creators faces all around the world, so he kept trying as hard as he could.

.

.

.

The day finally came and they were decorating the place and organising it so that their fans could be comfortably watching their performances.

"How do you think they sorted out this event, like they won a contest or something?" asked him hanbin

He was throwed off by the question for a moment, he hadn't thought about that tho. Was it random?

"Well now that you mention it I'm not quite sure"

But he couldn't process further because they were told to go to the stage and wait for the star creators to arrive.

As he stood behind the curtain he felt really nervous for a reason? He didn't know why but he had a strange and suspicious feeling about all the event act in itself.

Hanbin and Gyuvin started their work as mc's reading the script they held on their hands in hopes of a response or a cheer from the other side, however they didn't heard a word coming from the people. How weird, they didn't even heard them gossip or talk between themselves. What was happening?

When the curtain fell off they were not met with some fans, no, before them stood (well more like were seated) their family and friends.

Yeah that was such an mnet thing to do, he should have figured it out earlier.

Each team performed for their family and friends flawlessly until it was overdoses team turn. They asked each person who had came to support them, but it wasn't until the turn of one of his team mates came that he couldn't stop staring at certain someone.

"Well jay, tell us who came today to support you" asked gyuvin already memorising the script

"Today came my friends y/n, f/n and o/f/n"

Zhang Hao was gobsmacked by your figure and your beauty, he felt like time stopped and it was only you he could see.

And then you both exchanged a glance, a glance that was prolongated by a lot. He literally had had like a chemical reaction to your presence, and let's just say that he wasn't the only one.

You on the other side was also captivated by his pretty face and his curious expression adorned by his sparkly dark eyes.

Oh, now he definitely had to work harder, he wanted to impress you with his dance and singing abilities, he wanted you to look at him specifically. Of course you would watch your friend, but he wanted you to focus on him in great part of the song. It felt like a kid looking for attention (new jeans pun intended 😀)

Once the performances were finished they were allowed to say hello to their relatives properly by coming off stage. In all the chaos that was formed he noticed how jay had approached him when he saw his parents couldn't make it, so he offered to introduce him to his friends. And how could he deny it, when all he had been thinking about till then was you.

"Hey guys, this is Zhang Hao, he was quite lonely right there, so figured out he could use some extra company"said jay

"Oh, your parents didn't come?"you asked curiously

"No, unfortunately they couldn't get here"he answered with a pity smile.

"Well then, from now on we will be representing your parents as well"

It was just the way you casually said it that made his heart rate speed to unimaginable paces. He smiled softly thanking you with a small laugh for your cute gesture.

"By the way, over me was amazing! You guys pulled the concept incredibly well!"

"Thank you"

All those compliments you were throwing him were making wonders to his face as his cheeks flushed in a deep crimson red tone. He swore he didn't believe in love at first sight, but you were making it too hard to not make it believable anymore.

Jay saw the little glances you were throwing to each other throughout the whole event and he kinda was determined to be a wingman over there, so every opportunity he had he let you alone with Zhang Hao (yeah you better thank him later 🙄).

When the event came eventually to an end, you were feeling kinda disappointed because you wanted to spend more time with this curious guy that had captured your heart as hard as him, but well that's what it is.

You bid goodbye to everyone you met, including jay of course,with only Zhang Hao left.

"Well it was a pleasure meeting you hao!"

"The pleasure's mine y/n"

And just like that you both parted ways, however jay wasn't gonna let this slip so he went to his friend and brought him to a corner to interrogate him.

"Hao, do you like my friend?"he asked directly.

"What? N-no I-"

But he fell silent as he couldn't find a proper answer.

"Yeah, figured out so, you guys can't keep your eyes of each other seriously"

In that moment he felt so embarrassed and shy for someone catching you both like that, it wasn't something intimate but it felt like it for him. Had he been that obvious?

"Well, you'll thank me later anyways, give me your phone"

"Huh? For what?"

"Oh c'mon trust me for once!"

He extended his phone towards jay not really sure about his intentions.

"Now y'all can be all lovey dovey without hurting my eyes, you're welcome"he said while getting away

When hao saw his phone he saw y/n's phone number as a new contact on his phone, yeah he was totally extatic.

He quickly typed a message and send it to you.

-Hey there, I'm Hao :))

-Hey hao ;))

-I don't know if you felt the same but this is the first time I've ever felt a strong connection with someone, so let me take you out sometime?

-I kinda felt something special as well with you ngl, so I'd really love that <3

He had a good feeling about this ;))

°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°

f/n= friend name

o/f/n= other friend name

[v3nusxsky]

Hello

Think you can do this, since April fools is coming up I thought you should write a lady lesso x female reader on where leonora pranks on reader saying she's breaking up with her but right after she's has a gift and red-spider lily flowers but reader was already gone, now she's searching for her in a panic, maybe almost teary eyes. She asks if one of her students had seen her and tells lesso that's she saw her on the way to the roof so she's racing up there to see reader about to jump off the top of the school for evil. Ends up catching her, idk a teary, lovely hug in the rain, and go back to shared chambers reading a book together 😊

April fools sucks

*Authors note~I have bad memories of April fools day so with this fic I want to remind you all that kindness should be given to everyone and pranks are all good as long as both parties enjoy it. Please be kind and happy April my loves <3 and my dear anon, I hope you don't mind me changing the flower, after researching I found out red spider lilys tend to signify death and farewell so I thought maybe a primrose flower would be more suitable as it signifies an undying and all consuming love*

Trigger warnings~ April fools pranks slight suicidal thoughts

Prompt~ see ask^^^^^

April fools has always been a day you didn't really enjoy, truthfully it was just a way people could hide behind acts that could possibly hurt someone's feelings. Truthfully, it was something you didn't want to participate in but you knew your girlfriend loved any way she could be Never like. But for you, you we're hoping she wouldn't prank you.

Leonora requested to see you in her office midday. That was slightly strange but apart of you hoped it was because she missed you, you weren't expecting what would take place here. "Hey you" you hummed hoping to see the smile she usually held just for you. But it never came. "I think you should sit" she suggested coldly gesturing to the seat in front of her desk, "I've called you here to inform you that we are no longer working out, and it's over. I no longer love you, you're way too clingy and desperate and so Ever like it's repulsive " she finished her little speech, shattering every corner of your heart as tears fell. "I Nora? I you what?" You mumbled confused. "Ugh you're really too dumb for to even realise I no longer love you" she stated and you felt the world closing in on you.

You couldn't control the tears, the thoughts or the way your chest felt impossibly tight, you stood up and fled the room immediately. If you would've turned around you would've spotted Leonora stood there with a banquet of flowers, knowing how keen you were on the meanings of flowers. And a book you'd been waiting to get your heads on for months which held a ring in the middle of the book. It was a well thought out plan to surprise you and show her love. However, when she tuned around to give them to you, you were missing. She managed to catch a glance of you fleeing round a sharp right corner and instantly followed you leaving the gifts on the table.

When she found you, you had taken yourself up to the roof tops where you stood on the edge. Rain hammering down on the earth with no mercy. Your limbs shaking, your breath struggling as you went to step forward. With her heart in her throat she reached out to catch the back of your clothing to prevent you falling. You were sharply pulled back tumbling into her embrace instantly. Your sobs wrecking through you as you balled your fists up weakly hitting her chest, "you don't love me, let me go! Let me die! Please I don't want a life without you!" You cried and only then did she see just how badly she messed up. "Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry darling. I was just trying to surprise you. You left way before I could show you love, please come off the roof let me show you baby. Your soaked sweetheart please" she murmured bringing her head to rub circles on your back.

Some how she managed to talk you down from the roof and back into her office where she had you sit with your eyes closed while she grabbed somethings. You quickly realised Leonora wanted to relocate to her chambers which truly you had no issues with. You were a mess, your brain struggling to process all this information. She loved you? She didn't hate you? It was all fake?

Once you were led to the bed you sat eyes closed as she rustled about the room. "Okay sweetheart, you can open your eyes now" she murmured to you.  There she stood with a wrapped gift and a banquet of the most beautiful flowers. You couldn't help but tear up once again. "Sweetheart, can I explain what they all mean, I know you probably already know but please?" She whispered and you nodded.

"Okay, so we have Primrose meaning eternal love, that's the purple ones, then we have white carnations meaning the pure sweet love we have, red chrysanthemums meaning I love you. I truly do sweetheart. Combined with some beautiful red and yellow tulips love and affection sweetheart." Her meanings were accurate and your heart couldn't help but beat a little harder just for the small act of love and interest, you'd never experienced anything like this before. She then gave you the book as you unwrapped it, a gasp leaving you, "Nora! How did you get this" you squealed throwing yourself into her arms. "I have my ways sweetheart. Open your book sweetheart." You did so and when your eyes fell on the small piece of jewellery you couldn't help but cry, "it's beautiful Nora I," your words cut off with a gasp as you saw her knelt down on one knee.

"Sweetheart, I know I scared you earlier and that wasn't my intention, so wanted to throw you off the scent here so I could ask you to be my wife for the rest of my life. To allow me to love you forever and cherish you with every second I breathe air. Will you marry me sweetheart?" Her voice trembled slight with emotion as she held her breath, "yes yes thousand times yes!" You explained coming to steal a kiss. Lesso finally let out her breath she was holding before slipping the ring onto your left ring finger. That night you lay cuddled up together, Lesso reading out loud to you as she knew how comforting you found her voice.

Word count~ 1143

[science-lings]

what’s some of your favorite loz/Lu fics of all time? :)

Most of my favorite LU fics are here

but what you guys may not know is that I'm also a big fan of botw and modern au Zelink fics, however, take heed, most of these get a little spicy

Like Real People Do by ScarlettStorm: one of the best post-botw fics out there, lots of pining, I absolutely adore how Link's experience with Gender is portrayed, how he and Zelda are both treated as equally traumatized, as sometimes it feels like there's always one troubled one and one caregiver and I can get that for shorter fics but this one is long and beautifully balanced in that aspect. It also gets real horny at the end and in my opinion, it's very tasteful.

Alone With You by @deiliamedlini: honestly this author has a bunch of bangers, I'm waiting for their pirate au to finish so I can binge it all and I reread their Zelink oneshot collection all the time, this one is their modern high school au where Link is kind of a bad boy who is secretly Fucked Up, and Zelda is a popular girl and surprise surprise, they both get along really well. Normally I hate anything that reminds me of high school but this is the only exception. I love how previous characters are included, like how Link knows ASL bc he's friends with Pipit who is deaf and how Revali is a bitch and I still want to strangle him. Also big sister Aryll is a treasure and this fic does such a good job portraying Link's mental struggles and PTSD and how Zelda is being neglected and I'm also a big fan of the overarching plot of medical issues and trauma.

The Calamity of Link's Cargo Shorts by @zeldaseyebrows: I don't understand how someone can make smut so funny and so focused on Zelda's own self-hatred. Seriously though, there's a lot to love with this fic and I adore Zelda's pov. Sometimes you have to have sex before opening up emotionally and that's okay. Also, it's a modern au too, I just realized how many of these are modern aus.

Strangers in the Night by @zeldaelmo: Another modern au, this time Zelda has a kid from a ons with Link and he doesn't know about it for a bit, I just love Link being a dad and how they both work for a museum and there's just something about the courtroom scene that makes me want to reread it over and over again. Sometimes it's hit or miss with family ocs but Tetra is my favorite zelink child ever. All the fics on this list are ones I reread a lot but this one is the one I'm currently rereading bc it's been a few months lol. I love the domestic but also a little dysfunctional vibes, it's definitely not the normal romcom type of thing but I think I like this more.

K.K. Love Song by @airplanned: Again, modern au, pandemic edition. This one in particular has a certain unexplainable soft vibe, like there's some long-distance, Animal Crossing online romance and idk why I like it so much, I guess I was one of the suckers that got pulled in by new horizons when it came out so there's some strange kind of covid nostalgia and it's nice to see how a functional government would deal with the pandemic. Also, Link's grandma is a treasure and there's something sweet about crown princess Zelda meeting some guy on animal crossing and accidentally making him a public figure by dating him. Honestly, this author has a lot of great fics that I reread a lot lmao.

Farore's Day and Windvane Lane by Jenseits_der_Sterne: modern thanksgiving au, Zelda is a quirky scientist single mom and Link is her neighbor. I love Link being a nerd and Zelda being a bit of a disaster. Like she accidentally almost blows up her kitchen and he's just looking on with heart-eyes, after helping her put out the fires of course.

tbh, I'm probably not the best person to go for fic recs as I just find a few really good ones and then reread them till the end of time and rely on other people to recommend me things to read lmao, I hope this was at least a little helpful anyway.

[cressida-jayoungr]

Only Dreaming of Peace

(Note: I am neither the original author nor the translator of this piece. It is a favorite post from my LiveJournal days. The original post, by LiveJournal user Lilan14, can be found here.)

I know I still have my vacation report to finish, but that will have to wait, as I saw this wonderful real-life story in one of my LJ friends' journal. It was originally posted to ru_cats, a Russian cat-lover comm, by a mystery book writer, and her style is just as excellent as the story itself. So, sit back and enjoy! Oh, and make sure you're not eating or drinking something while at it, for your own safety...

The translation is mine.

Only Dreaming of Peace...

I've been recently asked to post to LJ a story of uneven struggle of Man with Cat for the right to sleep where they want, without the risk of dying shamefully underneath a cat's butt. I am doing this and hiding it behind the cut. Let it stay here as a reminder to posterity and the desperate ones who will decide to get a Maine Coon and a bed with a wide headboard.

Part One

Dear ru_cats people, I am here asking for advice.

There's a cat. The cat weighs ten kilograms. There's a bed. The bed has a tall soft headboard 10 to 15 cm wide. There are also the cat's owners, who sleep on the bed.

At night, the cat leaps onto the headboard and walks on it. The cat has a night promenade. However, since the cat was a cow in the previous life and transferred certain peculiarities to his present incarnation, during his fourth or fifth go he loses his balance and plops down. If I'm lucky, the cat lands beside me. If I'm not, the ten kilograms of the cat land onto my head, and always butt-first, for some reason.

Question: how to make the cat drop the habit?

Have already tried:

duct tape spread on the headboard. (As a result, we spent half the night taking them off the crazed cat, nearly scalping him).

the cat's hated smell of ylang-ylang. (The cat didn't care it was hated).

tangerine peel in large amounts (The cat swept the peel onto my head in disgust, following it in the process).

What else can be done? I've already slept with spray under my pillow. The cat runs away, then comes back.

The cat's picture enclosed for realizing the scope of the problem:

Part Two

Two days ago, I posted this cry for help to the comm: http://ru-cats.livejournal.com/19218540.html Got a lot of replies. Two were used at once. Reporting as promised.

I like simple and easily implemented ideas. That's why the suggestions to attach a shelf to the bed, to the cat, to my head, so that it would be comfy for him to fall onto, were postponed.

First I took six balloons from the kid, inflated them and placed them between the wall and the bed. It all looked very pretty. Husband and I admired them and went to bed.  

In the middle of the night, there was a bang. In my sleep, I thought husband had shot the cat (even though the only weapon in our house is a water pistol). When the lights were turned on, the cat was sitting on the floor amidst bits of a blue balloon, squinting disapprovingly. He got kicked, the balloons were moved, and we went to bed again. This was our strategic error, proving how little we knew about cats.

He exploded two more balloons about twenty minutes later and ran away, making derisive sounds. Husband insisted that I take everything away and be done with experiments for the night. While I was putting the balloons away, the cat sneaked up to the largest one and smacked it with his paw.

Results: minus four balloons, minus two hours of sleep, minus eight meters of nerve fiber per two adults. Plus cat entertainment.

Then we went for Plan B. The entire headboard was covered with several layers of foil, so it would rustle loudly. I assured husband he could now sleep in peace: the cat would definitely be afraid to step onto the foil.

Well, I was almost right. The cat showed up a couple of hours later, when we were asleep. He jumped onto the foil from the wardrobe. The foil rustled, the cat freaked out, leapt into the air and fell onto husband.

Results: minus ten meters of foil, minus forty drops of sedative per two adults. Plus cat entertainment.

This is how he was looking at us in the morning, while we were trying to make breakfast with shaking hands.

I will try the shelf tomorrow.

Part Three

After the foil and the balloons failed, I started to think in a different direction: how not to let the cat into the bedroom at night.

First I used cat repellent. Unfortunately, the cat did not get it was repellent. However, husband did; he winced, sniffed and finally asked me to air the room. So I now have husband repellent; if anyone needs it, I can share.

The washbowl full of water turned out to be just as stupid. We placed it counting on the cat splashing in it and forgetting the bed (he loves water).

We had counted half-correctly: the cat did splash, but he didn't forget the bed. At night, he hopped back to us, shaking wet paws. In my sleep, I thought he had twenty-two of them. He used ten to step on my face, the rest to run on the sheets. Finally, he kissed husband soundly on the nose, nuzzling him with a wet face dripping with water.

After that husband said screw the interior, he agreed to the shelf.

In the evening, he brought a polished board, spent two hours with it, cursed the innocent bed, and, finally, attached it. I wanted to say that I preferred the cat rather than that thing falling onto us (no one would get from under it alive). But I looked at husband's face and decided to keep it to myself. Okay, I thought, so we'll sleep with it one night, and then I'll take it off.

In addition, the kid ran it before bedtime and left her toys on it. I waved it aside and didn't scold her, because I was thinking which relative to pick to raise our child, should we be buried under the shelf.

(I have to say my worries were silly: as it turned out, husband did a quality job with it.)

In the middle of the night, the cat stepped onto the shelf. He strolled nonchalantly halfway along the shelf and touched one of the toys with his paw.

It turned out to be an interactive Zhu Zhu Pets hamster.

From the touch of a cat paw, the hamster turned on. It cried out cheerfully "Abuzuuuuuuuuuzyyyyyy!" and ran toward the cat, glowing with love.

I would gladly tell you about what happened next. But I won't lie: we didn't see it. And we didn't see the cat until morning. The hamster reached the edge of the shelf and committed suicide lemming-style, jumping off a rock into the full washbowl.

Result: we took off the shelf. We have a guard hamster sitting on the headboard now. The cat does not go into the room. If he happens to notice the hamster through the open door, he swells to manul size and retreats in horror.

Here is our hero and rescuer:

[lagingersnapz]

Some Rain Must Fall - (Fallout Fic) Chapter 9: Punishing Road

Chapter: 9/?

In the past, the Ghoul does his best to continue pushing Lucy towards her breaking point.

In the future, a fresh tragedy on the road takes the group of survivors by surprise.

Characters: Lucy MacLean/Cooper Howard(The Ghoul), Dogmeat(CX-404), Original Characters

Word Count: 5817

Warnings: Violence, Swearing, Death

Author's Note: If I remember right, this is the longest chapter of the fic so far, so brace yourselves. Gonna be a few deaths in this chapter, so I'm sorry about that. Kinda. I saw a few of the people that liked the fic posts on here had gone over to Ao3 and gave me kudos over there. Thank you so much. I honestly didn't think anyone would be interested enough to move to the other site to keep reading, so I am incredibly grateful for that. I hope you continue to enjoy.

Previous Next

Ao3

~~~

Even though Lucy knew what she was seeing, her brain was having a hard time processing it. One minute Roger had still been there, about to share a memory about his mother with her, and the next he was a lifeless pile in the sand. Before she could even finish taking in that information, the Ghoul had holstered his gun again and trudged over, grabbing Roger’s corpse and rolling it on its back.

Lucy’s mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled to find words. “Wh-why’d you do that? He was sick!”

The Ghoul didn’t seem to pay her any attention, taking off his hat and plopping it down on a nearby stool so he could work easier. He was panting a little from flipping over the body, but didn’t stop him as he pulled out a few tools from his saddlebags and went to work checking the corpse. In Roger’s mouth he must have found something worth his time, because he took a set of pliers and with a sharp grunt he yanked out a tooth.

“Stop. Stop! Stop, please. I-” Words continued to fail Lucy as she watched the Ghoul turn the body over again so it was laying on its stomach, and he pulled up the shirt on its back, revealing the weathered, strange looking skin. “Now, I know it’s hard up here, but you don’t have to resort t-to-”

“What’d you say your name was?” The Ghoul paused long enough to cut her off.

“Lucy MacLean.” There was still pride in her voice. Whether the name meant anything to this surfacer, it still meant something to her, and saying it out loud reminded her of who had taught her the morals she was so adamantly holding to.

Now the Ghoul looked fully over his shoulder at her, and she could read a slight look of confusion on his face. “MacLean?” he asked.

Lucy couldn’t imagine why he might know the name, but somehow he seemed to. She nodded her head, a look of uneasy confusion twisting her mouth into a deeper frown.

“Huh.” He looked at her a moment longer, then sighed and turned back to Roger’s corpse. “Well, Lucy MacLean, it ain’t all canned peaches and marmalade left up here, Sweetheart.” He pulled out a knife and started cutting into the body. “Sometimes, a fella’s gotta eat a fella.” The Ghoul pulled away a strip of flesh, which squelched in a way that made Lucy’s stomach seize violently. Then he started sucking on it, humming in apparent approval like it was a Thanksgiving turkey.

Lucy gagged and looked away, trying to get her stomach back under control before she lost what little she had in it, while the sounds of eating continued from the Ghoul. How could she make him understand? Lucy was no stranger to difficult circumstances, but to resort to cannibalism?

“You know, my vault has endured hardship, too.” She focused her gaze back on him, refusing to look away again. “In the Great Plague of ‘77, everyone had to quarantine, they couldn’t work the farms together. People starved.” Her eyes dropped to the floor as she remembered the difficult time. “My mother included.” With a helpless shrug she struggled on. “My dad dropped to 128 pounds, and he still refused to do anything like this.”

To her disbelief, the Ghoul started laughing.

“What? What’s so funny?” That he could be laughing at her as she told him about one of the most difficult periods in the history of her vault made Lucy’s fear start morphing into frustration and anger.

The Ghoul paused his butchering to speak again. “Well, there’s what people say they did,” he looked at her again, “and what they really did.” He turned back to his task. “Well, I bet your daddy was first in line at the cook-out. I bet he had a bib with a drawing of his neighbor’s ass on there.”

Insults to herself were bad enough, but hearing the Ghoul insult her father was a step too far. “How do you live like this?” she asked, voice cold. “Why keep going?”

The sounds of cutting and flesh tearing stopped, and for a second Lucy wondered if she might have gotten through to him about how horrible what he was doing was. Then he stood up, turning to fully face her, and she saw from the look in his eyes that she certainly hadn’t done anything but make him angry. Not that that seemed to take much.

He started to stalk towards her. “Well, one good question deserves another.” Holding up the blade in his hand, a sick smile twisted over his mouth, and Lucy fell back a step. “Why the fuck am I doing all the work? Now, come on, Vaultie. Ass jerky don’t make itself.” He turned the blade a little in his grip so the blood on it shone in the dim light filtering through the shattered window panes of the room.

Lucy’s gaze darted between the knife and the Ghoul’s sunken eyes, but she couldn’t find any hint that he was joking. Of course he wasn’t. Why would he joke about something like this? Finally, when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to budge, Lucy reached out with her bound hands and took the knife from his grip. It occurred to her, however briefly, that she could try and use it on the Ghoul, but with her hands bound and him armed with guns, it would have been nearly impossible. So, instead, she took several deep breaths and wordlessly bent down to pick up where he had left off with the corpse.

Butchering a corpse wasn’t one of Lucy’s many practiced talents, and it wasn’t long before the Ghoul was next to her, directing her on what to do, and Lucy followed his instructions. It was easier if she convinced herself it was some sort of wild game, like a deer, rather than a man. Eventually he must have been satisfied that she had been put in her place, because he took the knife back and shoved her off to the side of the room to finish the job much more efficiently than Lucy could have, even if her hands hadn’t been tied together.

With the meat tied to his saddlebags to dry and any supplies left over from Roger collected, the Ghoul herded Lucy back out into the punishing sunlight, and the grueling trek continued. Lucy still had no idea what their destination was, or how long it would take to get there, and part of her was wondering if she would even still have a foot left by the time they arrived or if the burning sand would grind it down to her ankle.

As they walked, Lucy noticed that the Ghoul was starting to cough more often. Was this the beginning of whatever was happening to Roger before? His growls had been mixed with coughing. And what had been happening to Roger? The Ghoul had referred to it as ‘changing,’ whatever that meant. Obviously it hadn’t been a good thing, from how somber they had both been about it. Roger had even warned that the two of them should leave before things got worse. Would he have turned violent? There had certainly been an air of ferocity around him when his humanity would flicker away in his eyes during a growling fit.

The sound of Lucy’s Pip Boy RAD meter peaking again drew her out of her thoughts and she looked over to find some sort of old overturned piece of metal with a bowl shape in it. Inside was a puddle of alarmingly green water which was the source of the radiation. To her horror, Lucy realized she was contemplating drinking it anyway. She wasn’t even sure she still had a tongue in her mouth anymore, and her lips felt like they were made of sand themselves.

While she struggled internally over how bad it would be to have a little drink of the stagnant water, the Ghoul unscrewed the top of his canteen and cleared his throat, casually dipping it into the water for a few seconds before bringing it back up to his lips and sloppily dumping it into his mouth, dribbling as much down his chin as he did into his mouth. The entire time he drank he looked over at her, a smug smile on his face.

Droplets fell from the canteen into the water, tinkling tauntingly at her until finally her resolve broke, and Lucy stepped forward and fell to her knees next to it. The Pip-Boy on her wrist protested loudly, but she did her best to ignore it. With a final deep breath, Lucy dipped her hand into the water and brought it to her mouth. The taste of it had her gagging, and for a second she wondered if she was going to throw it back up. Stubbornly she pushed through it, taking another sip.

“Now you’re gettin’ it,” the Ghoul said smugly from above her.

Lucy did her best to ignore him, putting her full attention into keeping her stomach from rejecting the water, but the Ghoul was apparently determined to get a reaction from her, because he crouched down to put himself more on eye level. Lucy stopped drinking to look at him, and in her stare she hoped she conveyed the depth of hatred she felt for this man, which was more intense than she had ever known before, even for the Raiders that had invaded her home. At least with the Raiders it hadn’t felt personal, even when it was her own new husband she was fighting off. With the Ghoul it was most definitely personal.

“How does that Golden Rule jibe with what’s goin’ through your mind right now?”

Lucy was panting as she studied his face. “What… are you?” Her voice came out thick and unsteady.

The Ghoul cocked his head to the side. “Oh, I’m you, Sweetie. You just give it a little time.” He broke off into a smile that Lucy wanted to wipe off his face. Luckily for her, it didn’t last long, as once again the Ghoul broke down into a fit of coughing. Only this time it didn’t let up, and turned into full body heaving and hacking as he turned away from her, spit dribbling from his lips and spraying out into the air as he tried to get his breath back.

Knowing there wouldn’t be a better moment than this, and unwilling to continue to meekly accept his abuse, Lucy realized what she had to do. While he was still doubled over, she used the metal object to shove herself to her feet and took off running down the street. She didn’t know where she planned to go, or how she was going to free her hands, but she knew she couldn’t stand another moment where she was. Anywhere else had to be better than this.

***

The night had passed as sleeplessly as Cooper had thought it would. Half the time he was expecting more kids to come trailing out of the tents until he had the whole group of them piled up around him. Thankfully, nobody else came out. It was just Cooper, Lucy, Kelly, and Nate, with Dogmeat laying by his feet. Even so, Cooper felt more and more out of place. It felt like he was pretending to be someone else by letting these kids trust him this much. Lucy was one thing, she was a grown-ass woman and could make her own choices, but the kids wouldn’t have known any better than to trust him, would they?

As dawn approached, and his limbs fell asleep, another concern started to wriggle in his gut. If he was still outside with all of them curled up next to him, what would the rest of these people think? Most of them were other kids, and he hadn’t been cruel to any of them, but he had tried to keep his distance as best he could. If they saw him like this, would they start seeing him as being more approachable? What if Kelly wasn’t the only one that started following him around? Cooper was desperate not to get attached to these people. Their presence in his life was temporary, after all.

His fears of being discovered were realized just after dawn when Irene came shuffling out of the tent, the blanket that must have been Lucy’s clutched in her hands. It took her a moment to realize that the Ghoul wasn’t sitting alone, but when she did a frustratingly knowing smile spread over her weathered face, and she approached quietly. She draped the blanket over Cooper’s coat on Lucy before wordlessly squatting down to pick up Nate and move him back into the tent.

Cooper breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t said anything, then eased his arm out from under Lucy, tucking the coat and blanket around her so she wouldn’t be laying in the dirt once he moved away, then collected Kelly up and followed Irene, putting the sleeping girl down next to her brother.

Irene led the way back out of the tent and went to the firepit, which was still smoking, and started stirring up the embers. “You a coffee drinker?” She didn’t look up at him as she spoke.

Cooper was standing nearby, looking over at Lucy curled up on the ground. Dogmeat had moved to curl up next to Lucy, rather than following the kids back into the tent. Part of Cooper wanted to go back over there and pull her up against him again so she’d wake up leaning on him just as she had fallen asleep. It took more than he expected to resist the urge and stay by the firepit with Irene.

“You got coffee?” he asked.

“I may have squirreled a little away. Not easy to find these days, and the quality isn’t great, but I couldn’t just leave it behind.”

Cooper grunted. “Well, if you’re willing to spare some, I’d take a bit.” He wasn’t about to turn down a little coffee, especially after not sleeping the entire night.

Irene chuckled, glancing up at his face. “You know, I didn’t know if ghouls could have bags under their eyes, but you’ve answered that question for me.” She went about setting up an old coffee pot, and a little metal pot for their breakfast of oat mash.

“You really know how to charm a fella, don’t ya, ma’am.” Cooper flashed her as charming a smile as he could muster with his ruined face, and he dug through his saddlebags to pull out his inhaler. It was oddly routine at this point for him to wake up before everyone else to take a hit of medicine so nobody could ask him about it. It wasn’t that he cared if anyone saw him doing it, but he got annoyed when people would ask him what it was. Especially since he didn’t really know what it was. All he knew was that it helped slow down going feral.

“I’ll have you know I can be very charming, Mr. Wyatt, but at my age it just seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Why be charming when I can be honest instead? Being old comes with its perks, and being blunt is one of ‘em.” She grinned at him, and for a second Cooper got a glimpse of what she must have looked like as a much younger woman. “People just chalk it up to my mind going.”

The two of them sat next to the fire in surprisingly companionable silence for awhile longer, until the sounds of stirring behind Cooper let him know that Lucy was waking up. Her hand clenched and unclenched,  and she uncurled herself from where she was laying under the coat, rubbing her eyes and looking around in evident confusion. Dogmeat huffed and sat up when Lucy did, and Lucy’s hand came down to give her a thorough scratch on the ears. The ponytail she had worn to bed was mussed, especially on the side that she had rested against his chest.

“Mornin’, Darlin’,” he said, tipping an imaginary hat at her. Lucy looked around, spotting his hat on the ground where he had left it the night before, and she picked it up, plopping it down on her head so she could tip it to him.

“Morning, Sheriff,” she replied, voice soft from sleep. Then she proceeded to pull on the duster, pushing up the sleeves a little, and stood, stretching out the kinks she had definitely acquired sleeping the way she had all night. “Morning, Irene.” She smiled at the older woman and came over to sit between the two of them, though she kept the coat and hat on.

“Good morning, Lucy.” Irene gave the pot of oats a little stir. “How was your night? Get some good sleep?” She checked the coffee and took out a couple old mugs, pouring a cup for Cooper. Lucy smiled, glancing at him.

“Yeah. Nice and cozy.” She took off the hat and handed it to Cooper, who took it without comment and put it on his own head. The coffee was fabulously bitter and he drank it so hot it scalded his throat a little bit.

“Careful,” Irene said, “or steam’ll come out of your nose.”

“If he had one,” Lucy said, holding up a hand to turn down Irene’s offer of coffee for her. Irene laughed out loud, and Cooper was taken aback to hear her talking about what many people considered his most off putting feature so casually, playfully, even.

“Don’t worry, Wyatt, you’re handsome, even without a nose,” Lucy continued.

Shaking off the comment, Cooper laughed. “Trust me, it’s an improvement.”

Lucy shook her head, locking eyes with him, and he felt her gaze searching his face, and she didn’t look disgusted or like she pitied him. “No, I mean it. You look good, nose or no nose.” The intensity of her gaze didn’t falter, and in the end it was Cooper who cleared his throat and finished his coffee, handing the mug back to Irene.

“Ladies, I’m off to do a bit o’ scouting. Enjoy your breakfast.” He tried not to feel like he was running away when he stood up, but he ended up hurrying away so quickly he forgot that Lucy was still wearing his coat.

It wasn’t until late morning, just before they all left for the day, that Cooper returned for the duster, and he found Lucy still wearing it. As he approached she beamed a smile at him and shrugged it off, holding it out for him. Cooper wanted to ask her how she could smile at him like that, so openly and honestly, after everything he had done to her and everything she had been through. How could she trust him enough to curl up at his side at night and sleep soundly? Instead of asking, though, he simply accepted the coat back and put it on. Despite his own body temperature, he was pretty sure he could feel her lingering body heat on the worn leather.

***

The morning went as smoothly as the previous day had, and Lucy was starting to hope against hope that they would make it to Vault 4 without any major difficulties. Knowing what the surface was like, she knew it was unlikely to happen, but if she could just have this one thing, to get these people to the Vault in one piece, then when the Ghoul questioned her optimism she could at least hold this up to remind him that things didn’t always take a turn for the worse.

It wasn’t until they stopped for lunch that Lucy found out just how little her hopes meant. Something started to feel off, though she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was the sensation of being watched, though no matter how much she searched she couldn’t see anything around them. There were plenty of places someone might be hiding, and when she brought it up with the Ghoul he agreed with her that something didn’t feel right, and he left to look around.

It seemed prudent to keep the lunch short, and Lucy had them start packing up as quickly as she could without making it obvious that something was wrong. Privately she spoke with the other adults, letting them know what she was feeling and that the Ghoul was out looking around, but that they didn’t want to scare the children.

Irene took more of the kids than usual into the wagon with her. The canvas cover of the wagon was pitiful as far as protection went, but at least nobody outside could easily see the occupants to target them if they were about to be ambushed. 

The explosion took all of them completely by surprise. One moment they were all moving along as quietly and carefully as they could, and the next her ears were ringing and Lucy realized she was laying on her back on the ground, with bits of road raining down around her. At first she couldn’t even figure out what had happened. Turning her head she saw the wagon turned on its side, the brahmin freed from its ties and fleeing into the trees.

The first sounds to come back to her were screams, and it took a moment for her to pick apart the screams of fear from the survivors, and the screams of triumph from their attackers. Coughing, Lucy pushed herself to her feet, pulling free her gun as the first shots started ringing out. It was like she was thrown back in time to her Vault all over again. A group of Raiders started to swarm over them. It wasn’t a lot of them, but the explosion had crippled the survivors, and they were slow to pull weapons to defend themselves. Many of the kids were too young to wield weapons at all. Lucy’s thoughts turned to Kelly. Was the little girl okay? She was one of the ones they had reluctantly trusted with a gun after her help out in the swamp had proven she knew how to use it. Was she alive to fight back now?

A Raider was coming straight at her, and Lucy pulled up her gun and fired. The man went down and she realized too late that there had been another one behind him. Her next shot missed and the Raider tackled her, wrapping their arms around her middle and driving her to the ground. The air went back out of her with a grunt. The gun was knocked away from her hand and that’s when she saw the knife in the Raider’s other hand start to come down.

Reaching up, Lucy grabbed the man’s wrist with both of her hands, struggling to push the knife back. With a twisted grin, the man started pushing down harder, and it was clear to both of them what the outcome of this was going to be. Lucy needed help. The man was taking his time, clearly enjoying watching her struggle, but her strength would fail eventually. Was the Ghoul back? Had the explosion drawn his attention to them? If he was here, she needed his help, and the only way she could think of to get it was to call out for him. Not by the name she had given him, but by the name she had started to suspect was his true name. The name he hadn’t wanted to tell her. Drawing in as much breath as she could manage, Lucy cried out for him.

“Cooper!”

The Raider wasn’t phased by her call for help, but the pressure he was putting on her increased until she knew she wouldn’t be able to call out a second time without losing the strength to keep him back. The knife blade inched closer until she felt it pressed to the skin of her chest, and then started to press a little deeper. Lucy felt blood trickle from the small wound.

The man above her suddenly went still, looking confused for a second, but that was all Lucy needed to push the knife away and slide off to the side so it plunged harmlessly into the ground. The man fell to the other side, and behind him Lucy saw the Ghoul. His shoulders were heaving with his panting breaths, and he was looking at her with a swirl of emotions so frantic that Lucy wasn’t sure she knew what they were. Fear, confusion, relief… anger? Her doubts about his real name fell away with that look.

Without a word, Cooper strode forward and reached down to the fallen Raider, pulling a knife out of the man’s back with a sharp yank. With his other hand he reached for Lucy, and she put her hand in his, letting him yank her up from the ground in one fluid motion, bracing her body against his when she staggered. There wasn’t time to talk about his name now. Not until the Raiders had been fully handled. Cooper sheathed his knife and drew one of his guns, and Lucy retrieved hers, and the two of them went to work.

By the time Lucy got back to the fighting, it was almost done. Kelly was hiding behind a rock with her brother and another child next to her, and she popped out to fire off a shot towards one of the surviving Raiders, catching him in the shoulder, then finishing him with a shot to the chest. As the last of the attackers turned to flee, Lucy raised her gun, but Cooper beat her to it, and the retreating woman’s head exploded into a red mist.

In the absence of gunfire things were eerily quiet, save for the sounds of crying. Slowly the other survivors started coming out from their hiding places, all of them disheveled or injured or both. Bea and Sam went straight to the wagon and pulled out one of the young twins, Camille, who was bawling loudly and wordlessly, followed by another child named Eleanor who was in a similar state. Baby Anna was strapped to Bea’s back and was also wailing loudly enough that Lucy was hopeful the baby was okay. A silent baby would have been a much worse sign.

While Lucy was doing a headcount, Cooper ran for the overturned wagon, passing Bea as she moved away from it to try and calm Camille and Eleanor. He flung aside the remaining canvas covering and when his footsteps faltered Lucy felt her heart drop into her stomach. Immediately she started hurrying over to join him, but Cooper turned, seeing her approach. Holstering his gun, he moved forward to stop her before she could get close enough to see anything of the occupants, shaking his head as he did.

“Lucy, no,” he said, raising both hands to take her by the arms. Lucy tried to push past him and he tightened his grip, turning to put himself more between her and the wagon.

“I need to see,” Lucy panted, fear and adrenaline stealing her breath away. Again Cooper shook his head.

“No, you don’t. You don’t need to see it.”

“Let go of me, Cooper!”

The use of his name again seemed to shock him, and Lucy used the moment to tear herself free of his grip and run the short few feet between her and the wagon. Inside was a mess, and it was hard to tell what was what, but Lucy knew at least one thing: Irene was crumpled, staring sightlessly and wide eyed up at the opening Lucy was looking down through, and the stare felt accusatory. Several other bodies lay twisted and partially covered by their store of supplies, though what exactly had killed them Lucy couldn’t tell. Bullets, the blast from whatever explosive had been used, or something else entirely.

Lucy fell back from the wagon and turned, heaving, unsure if she was going to throw up; tears poured over her cheeks. She felt a small hand on her arm and looked to find Kelly standing next to her, looking sorrowful and scared and so very very young in that moment. Lucy sobbed once, loudly, then swallowed down the sounds, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

“Kelly, are you okay? Is Nate okay?” she asked, voice raw and hoarse. Kelly nodded her head, but she was looking past Lucy to the wagon, tears welling up in her eyes.

“We- We’re okay. But the wagon…”

Lucy shook her head and looked up to see Cooper had moved away and was checking who else was alive.

“I need you to stay away from the wagon, okay?” The meaning was clear to Kelly and she started to shake, but nodded, holding her brother a little closer to her side. When all was said and done, they had lost five more survivors, leaving one more child in the group freshly and fully orphaned. Lucy felt a little more of her will stolen away. Despite it all, she helped Cooper salvage what they could from the wagon. She wanted to bury or burn the bodies, but when she brought it up to Cooper he shook his head.

“Raider groups tend to be a lot bigger than what we saw. I think if we stick around any longer we’re gonna be seeing more of ‘em. Ain’t no time to bury them.”

Lucy nodded reluctantly at his words and didn’t offer an argument. Vault 4 was still at least a day away from them, maybe even a little more, and now they had no wagon to help transport supplies or children.

As soon as they had all they could salvage, Lucy picked up Nate, putting him up on her back and fashioning a long strip of cloth into a makeshift seat for him so her arms would still be free, and one of the other surviving adults, Sam, picked up their newest orphan, a four year old named Ben. The older children would have to walk. Irene’s blank stare sat in the back of Lucy’s mind, watching her long after the remains of the wagon had disappeared from sight.

Kelly stuck close to Lucy’s side, and neither she nor Camille complained about having to walk. Even after the sun had set and their punishing march continued. None of them wanted to stop. Nobody wanted to spend any more time out there than they needed to now. There wouldn’t be time to mourn until the rest of them were safe again. Every moment of peace they had had before felt like a mistake now. Every time they had stopped to rest seemed like an error made. If they had only kept going, maybe the Raiders wouldn’t have caught them.

The dark thought weighed as heavily on Lucy as all of the deaths. She thought a lot of Irene, who she had hoped could live out the rest of her life comfortably and unafraid in the Vault. With how old she had been, she deserved that much. Not to die in a wagon on the road between their old destroyed home and their new home.

The sun was rising again when Lucy saw the entrance to Vault 4 that she and Max had been sent out through a lifetime ago. Cooper had picked up Camille, but Kelly had refused being helped or carried in any way. Dogmeat stuck close to the girl’s side, and Lucy was grateful to the animal, because hers was the only support Kelly would allow, even if it was just her presence. Red stains still adorned Dogmeat’s muzzle and chest from their fight, and Lucy had no doubt she had done her share of fighting to protect them.

The group came to a stumbling stop outside the doors of the Vault, and Lucy went to the panel to plug in her Pip-Boy. It didn’t take long for a voice to crackle over the intercom at them.

“I thought we told you you were banished, Lucy.”

Lucy sighed with relief to hear Birdie’s voice, rather than that of the Overseer, who had not been as fond of letting people in.

“Please, it’s not for me. We found a settlement. They were attacked. We have children with nowhere else to go.” Lucy hated to beg, but if anyone would understand, it would be Birdie. There was silence for long enough that Lucy was getting ready to plead her case again, but then the door groaned and hissed and started to move. Lucy stumbled in relief, managing to catch herself at the last second on the console, though she felt a hand on her arm steadying her, and looked over to find Cooper at her side. In the early morning light it was easy to see the disgust on his face as he looked at the Vault door. Lucy was reminded that he had some sort of bad history with Vault-Tec, though they had never spoken about what it was.

Once the door finished opening, Birdie and a few other Vault-dwellers came out, casting their eyes over the disheveled group. Lucy saw pity in Birdie’s eyes, and the woman nodded with a heavy sigh. She looked to Lucy.

“You returned our fusion core to us after we banished you before. You won’t be offered a permanent place with us, but I can offer you a little time to settle your people in and recover. No more than a night or two. Then you’ll have to be on your way again.” She glanced to the side at Cooper, and for a moment Lucy thought Birdie was going to say something about him, maybe tell them he couldn’t come in at all, but then she nodded her head at them, and turned to lead them inside.

As the group started to move, too tired to be nervous, Cooper hung back, and Lucy looked at him. His face was twisted into a look of confusion and doubt.

“Come on. It’s just for a little while. I promise, Vault-Tec isn’t running this Vault anymore. Its survivors and surfacers.”

Cooper looked at the little girl in his arms, who was too tired to cry anymore but refused to go to sleep, and then nodded his head. Lucy saw him swallow hard, and when he lifted his foot to move forward it looked like it was made of iron and he struggled to lift it. But after another step he was at her side and the two of them entered the Vault, Dogmeat trotting along ahead of them with Kelly. Behind them, the gate screeched and groaned again, and the morning light started to fade until it was replaced entirely by the artificial lights of Vault 4.

[hutaosgraveyard]

“Your beauty never ever scared me”

A scaramouche x GN!Reader SMAU

Chapter 4: Christmas Lights

Previous | Next

Masterlist

———————————————————————

———————————————————————

You sighed in relief as Ayaka’s car pulled up, the air released forming a slight fog from the cold. You quickly opened the car door and hopped inside, the warmth enveloping you. “Sorry it took so long, I had to pick up more people than expected,” Ayaka apologized, starting to drive to the lights.

“No worries, I get it. This is all that tall assholes fault,” you reassured her.

You and Scaramouche unfortunately had to sit on the floor due to the lack of room in the car, as Ayaka’s friend Yoimiya decided to join you all a few days prior. You rested your head on Scara’s shoulder, struggling to keep your eyes open.

“Tired?” Scaramouche chuckled, seeing your drowsy state.

You nodded, “Yeah, I barely got any sleep, I’ve been trying to finish this stupid ass science project over the weekend,”.

“Is it done?”

“Yeah, I finished it an hour ago,”.

Scaramouche pinched your thigh, “You should have stayed home and gotten some sleep,”.

“I know, but I wanted to come, I like hanging out with you guys,” you explained, rubbing the spot you got pinched.

Scara sighed, “God you’re weird, I would’ve stayed home if I were you,”.

“That’s because you take almost any chance you have to avoid any human interaction,”.

“No I don-,”.

Scaramouche was interrupted by Yoimiya’s shouts, “WE’RE HERE EVERYONE! YAAAAAY!!”

You all got out, chuckling at how excited Yoimiya was. You then bought tickets to walk through the Christmas lights. There were some cuter ones, like little snowmen or elves hard at work, and then there was the beautiful forests of lights. Bright blues and whites glittering in an attempt to mimic snow. “I’ve always thought these lights are really impressive, can you imagine how long it must take to put this all together?” Kazuha commented, enjoying the view.

“I dunno, I just know that I don’t have the patience to put something like this together,” you replied, squeezing the hot hands you had in your pockets.

“You literally spent two and a half hours decorating the school Friday,” Scaramouche reminded.

“Well I’d imagine it would take a lot longer than two and a half hours to put this all together,” heizou chuckled.

You nodded, lightly elbowing Scara, “Yeah, what Heizou said,”.

After reaching the end of the lights, there was a small shop set up serving hot chocolate and other drinks. “Aw man, I only brought enough cash for my ticket,” you sighed.

“You seriously didn’t bring a card?” Scaramouche asked.

“Nope,”.

“Ugh, it’s fine. I’m already getting Kazuha something to, I’ll pay for your sorry ass too,” scaramouche said, trying his hardest to seem annoyed.

You smiled at this action, ordering yourself some hot chocolate. Then you all sat down, chatting away enjoying your drinks.

———————————————————————

———————————————————————

Authors notes:

•Ngl I kinda forgot these are college students who probably have a shit ton of school work until just now

•This is a pretty short chapter, and the next two will probably be short as well, but the chapters will get longer as Act 1 progresses

•Fun fact: the people present at this outing are the only people Scaramouche would ever really pay for in this AU 💀

———————————————————————

Taglist:

@mcryv @vcvoxu @chuuyaswifeeee @starfruiitzz @thenightsflower

If your tag is this color that means unfortunately I cannot tag you, please DM me so we can try to figure out why.

If you want to be added to the taglist just ask! I’ll happily add you ASAP.

[semper-legens]

124. Hollow, by B Catling

Owned: No, library Page count: 254 My summary: Saint Christopher is a dog-headed man. So begins a journey through a hellish landscape, as mercenaries transport a saint to a secluded monastery. Within, a young monk who has lost his voice to the last saint searches for truth under the tutelage of his mentor. In the nearby village, a woman missing her imprisoned son starts a revolution that nobody expected. And when chaos breaks, nobody will come out smelling of roses... My rating: 2.5/5 My commentary:

Ugh. Time and again I keep getting burned by books that looked cool but were ultimately kind of boring. I know, it's my fault, I shouldn't pick up a book purely because it has a great cover and the summary sounds interesting. (Then again, what else am I meant to go on here?) And so it is with this book, something that had so much promise and potential but was ultimately just…nothing. I don't care about it. It's been a couple days since I finished it and I am legitimately struggling to remember anything about the story. It just…bored me.

First of all, this book had a general air of pretentiousness that I really didn't like. It's all about Hieronymous Bosch paintings, and surreal, devilish beings coming to life. But it's also about prejudice and fear, and how fear can harm people in real life. And also, about religion. But it never seemed to be about any of these things enough to make a proper impact. Any commentary that was being made was washed away in a tide of obscurity, and also of the fact that the characters kept talking about Bosch every five minutes, as though the author really wanted to remind us what his inspiration was. I get that it was going for surreal, but there's a fine line between surreal and just obscure for its own sake, and I feel like this book very much fell into the latter category.

And then there's just the little things that annoyed me. Like, the mercenaries kept referring to each other using 'thee' and 'thou', except they were misusing it in really glaring and obvious ways. No, it's not 'thou is', it's 'thou art'. 'Thou' and 'you' are interchangeable in a sentence, so 'you are' becomes 'thou art'. And there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why they'd be using one over the other. It wasn't to imply familiarity, I'm guessing, because characters would use 'thee' and 'you' for the same person in the same sentence. Was it just meant to sound old-timey, with no research put into how the words were actually historically used? Because that's the only explanation I can think of. And I know, this is making a lot out of what is ultimately a tiny part of the narrative, but it's this lack of attention to detail that really bugs me. If you're going to use a narrative device, at least have the decency to research it and use it well. Otherwise you end up with…this.

Overall, the story and characters just didn't grip me. It was an ugly world, filled with grotesque people, and I never really felt I had enough of a reason to care about what was happening or if any of the characters achieved their goals. I'd give this one a miss.

Next, back into the world of comics, as a young girl becomes sidekick to a Villain.

[bookns]

You're on your own, kid PART TWO

I GAVE MY BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS FOR THIS. I risked my whole life to write. I am doing what I love but at the cost of failure and disappointing all I know. I know its stupid but to me its my lifeline. I cried god knows how many times because my soul was burning by the fury of my pen. I love what I do but I also know I bite my tongue anyone in my life asked me "what do you want to do with your life." I hold back my tears because they never take me seriously. I work so hard - each and every day to give way to my future. I work on nights where I can hear my brothers snore because to me, who cares if I'm tired if I finished something beautiful. 'something permanent' just like Annabeth Chase says. "I STARVED MY BODY like I be saved a perfect kiss" I struggle so much with the way I look that its almost comedic - this line made me emotional hearing it because yeah I did starve my body, trying to be skinny just so a boy could like me. I've gotten better but still that memory of a little girl (I was maybe 14) starving herself makes me saddened. (and yes, I do not have my first kiss). "The joke weren't funny, I took the money." I am the joke of my life for saying I will be a writer one day. I just don't fit in. I get made fun and laughed at for my views on life but when I become a professional author, I'll leave the cursed town and take my money. "My friends from home (they) don't know what to say" I love this line because I don't have friends that get me. I have people but those people have other people - but I got me. I LOOKED AROUND IN A BLOOD SOAKED GOWN AND SAW SOMETHING THEY CAN'T TAKE AWAY. to me. That is my I Made It Moment. I published my fanfic in my RED shirt (by pure coincidence) and I did in my blood soaked gown and people now know my name. This line is the header of this blog. It's something I worked hard and can't take away. It's my voice, though broken, it's here. "'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned' ' I lost so many people but somehow in this world, I just turned the page and started a new chapter by writing again, and again, and again. “EVERYTHING YOU LOSE IS A STEP YOU TAKE” those are words i live by. It’ll be okay - it’s just another rock in the road to your dream I say. “MAKE THE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS, TAKE THE MOMENT AND TASTE IT.”  one of my favorite lyrics because i made so many bracelets for my tour and in general i started a trend amongst my life where people now all trade bracelets. I even made barbie themed bracelets because to me that’s girlhood. That’s sharing my favorite song with everyone. With the two girls that reminded me of my best friend and I on the Era’s tour - with the little girl who screamed Barbie because MY bracelets were the coolest thing to her. This song changed my life. It made me complete. I was a swiftie without a favorite Taylor song - but as I recall “this is going to be my favorite” “We’ll see how long that’ll last.” (my best friend said the latter) - well, safe enough to suffice its staying. I have been on my own my whole life and something has finally put it into words. 

“You’re on your own, kid. You always have been.”