#in case anyones wondering on the way there i watched birds of prey

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

1/69

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

format: audiobook

6.5⭐/10⭐

(more detailed review under the cut.)

Entertaining enough, though i probably won't think much about it again (or if, certainly not in the way the author hoped sigh). I needed a bit to get into it at first (though to be fair the pieces have to be set before the action can begin), but especially the end was very juicy so good job there. Overall easy to read, though sometimes Foley's attempts at jump-scares were more comical than anything.

This is the book that showed me how hard it is to skim/skip scenes in audio format as it started playing an unexpected sex scene in the middle of a flight. RIP to me. It also features an (equally if not more unexpected) explicit cutting scene. Meaning I was subjected to self-harm without warning in the media I consumed on the flight THERE *AND* the flight BACK. Three cheers to me ig. What do people have against trigger warnings is2g ;-;

(also. under the *cut* lol. I'm so funny)

[clockwork-ashes]

All You Have Is Your Fire - Part XIII

Find all previous parts on Ao3 :)

Summary: 'I can hear your heart beating through the stone.' For the briefest of moments, Lucien wondered if his mate would know exactly when his heart’s steady rhythm came to a sudden stop.

Note: A huge thank you to the lovely @bettdraws who deserves all the credit for the post that inspired me to start writing this :) Another huge thank you to everyone reading! ALSO please look at this post, I gasped it's so lovely. All of @teddyhoneybear's moodboards are stunning <3

Tag List: @anishake / @nocasdatsgay / @mybestfriendmademe / @talibunny30 / @halfbutneverwhole / @wishfulimaginings / @goldenmagnolias / @emmers-bens123 / @cauldronblssd / @xirose / @rarephloxes / @thehighlordishere /

Lucien was glad that the night was finally over. 

The celebration had been too long, his emotions too forced, for it to have been enjoyable. 

The musicians had stopped playing, the courtiers had stopped dancing, and Elain was once again at his side. 

Lucien could feel Elain’s exhaustion mixing with his as she held onto his arm. Her grip was firm, perhaps a bit possessive, just the smallest suggestion of ownership as they walked towards the thick oak doors leading into the near empty corridor. 

Lucien had let his father know that he and Elain would be returning to their suite. He had made sure to tell the High Lord that they were both beyond grateful for such a warm reception and that they were looking forward to their fast-approaching wedding ceremony. 

Lucien had been lying through his teeth, the expression on Beron’s face suggested that he knew, the frown gracing his features had looked sincere as he had waved a hand lazily in dismissal. 

Other than the one interaction with his father, Lucien had managed to avoid his family for most of the night. He had not yet spoken to his mother, had not been able to catch her at a moment when she was alone, and he was careful to stay close to Eris so that Callum, Ronan, and Felix would resort to keeping their distance. 

Silent and watchful, Eris had remained by the dance floor’s edge for most of the night. Even in Lucien’s earliest memories, Eris had always asked very few of the court’s ladies to join him at such events, males were quick to shift out of his way as he walked by, and hardly anyone ever approached him first. 

Lucien had discovered as a child that if kept close to his eldest brother, everyone left him well enough alone. It had still come as a surprise when the same seemed to be true after all the time that had passed, that all the aristocrats still steered clear of their prince. 

In any case, Lucien was glad that staying close to Eris meant that most of the court was inclined to avoid Elain as well.  

No one had come to her, not when she was near the High Lord’s heir. Eris and Cora had remained by her side as Lucien had danced for a few more songs. Most of the females had been too young for him to recognise, although it had not stopped them from looking up at him through their lashes and blushing at his every word. In Autumn, it was always difficult for Lucien to tell which of them were actually charmed by him, or merely liked the idea of being near royalty.

Lethe had seen fit to join him for one of the more romantic dances, had practically bared her teeth at another young lady in warning as she saw her approaching. Lucien had not been able to stop the laugh that fell from his lips at the familiarity of Lethe’s behaviour. 

Like a bird of prey, as though she had heard the sound of his joy over the instruments, Elain had turned her head to glare at the back of Lethe’s head as Lucien had pulled the other female towards him.  

The weight of Elain’s slight annoyance as Lucien had twirled Lethe would be enough to get others talking about them, Lucien thought. Convincingly jealous, there was not a single doubt in his mind that the court had believed them. 

As Lucien and Elain continued to walk steadily towards the doors, he could see the same emotion in the eyes of every noble they passed. 

Mates and in love. 

Perhaps Elain did not understand the significance of such a thing, and he could not even blame her. To the fae, though, a mate was very nearly impossible to find, a treasure so rare, when you were only ever gifted with one. 

As he and Elain left the ballroom and the doors began to close behind them, Lucien had to hide his shock as he felt Elain rest her head against him. It was such a perfect final touch to their act, done just as the heavy doors slammed shut, offering those watching the smallest glimpse of affection. 

Lucien nearly scowled as they passed the guards, tired of the dangerous game he and Elain were playing. He placed his hand to the small of Elain’s back, all the warning she would get, as he winnowed both himself and his mate to their shared suite. 

The flames in the fireplace were dim, the torches had not yet been lit, and the only light in the space filtered in from the arched windows, moonbright. 

As if Lucien’s touch burned her, Elain let go of his arm suddenly. She instead gripped her emerald skirts tightly, knuckles pale, forcing distance between them. 

“That was…” She shook her head, Lucien watching as loose curls bounced around her shoulders. “That was humiliating,” she finished, embarrassment bringing a scarlet blush to her cheeks. 

Briefly, Lucien wondered what it was in particular that might have made her feel such a strong and negative emotion. “You’re a good actress,” he offered, hoping that none of his own annoyance at the night’s events leaked into his tone. “I’m very impressed.” 

Elain moved towards the vanity, pulling pins from her hair in a way that seemed to be painful. She tossed a few onto the wooden counter, and Lucien tracked each of her movements. “You seemed to have enjoyed yourself,” she said over her shoulder. 

Lucien scoffed as he slowly undid the golden buttons along the front of his jacket. “So glad it came across that way.” 

Elain hummed as she took the comb carefully from her hair. She kept the accessory in her hand and traced some of the pearls on it so as not to look at him, Lucien guessed. “Especially when you danced with Lady Lethe,” the title rolled off her tongue mockingly. 

Lucien raised his brows at her, although she still did not meet his gaze. It was with great effort that he did not joke about the statement with her, still treading carefully with his words in regards to Elain. Instead he took his jacket off and left it on the foot of the bed. “I’ve known Lethe all my life, I suppose I did enjoy dancing with her.” With a shrug, he directed a question at Elain. “Does it matter?” 

Elain did not turn around as she ran her hand over her face. “I shouldn’t have come here.” 

Lucien was surprised at the small spark of hurt that flared to life in his chest. “You really shouldn’t have,” he agreed, despite it. “Eris was wrong to ask this of you, and Feyre–” 

“I chose to come,” Elain snapped, whirling around to place the full weight of her heavy gaze on him. “But to marry you? I didn’t think...” Lucien watched as she paused to collect her thoughts, as she waved her hand in his direction, the weapon disguised as a comb flashing in the dark as she held it between her fingers. “I don’t think I can marry you.” 

Lucien looked at the panic evident all over her face, at the way her chest rose and fell as she took shallow breaths. He couldn’t help the short laugh that spilled from his lips at seeing Elain so dishevelled. 

“I’m being serious,” she hissed, taking a step towards him. 

Lucien raised his hands in surrender. “I know, I’m sorry,” he said, still smiling despite his effort to remain expressionless. “I was under the impression we’d both accepted the fact that we’d be married in less than a fortnight.”  

Elain’s lips raised slightly at the corner, her eyes a bit brighter, before she took a deep breath. Lucien felt some of her nerves ease, watched as her shoulders lowered in relief. “Lucien, what are we going to do?” 

Lucien undid the laces at his throat, noticing the way Elain’s eyes flicked to his exposed skin. “We should go to sleep.” At his words, Elain turned her attention back to the pins in her hair. “We’ve had a long couple of days, we can figure out what we want to do in the morning.” 

Elain nodded in agreement, seemingly content. “Alright.” She lifted her skirts, moving towards the bathroom for some privacy.  

“I think you should take the bed, though.” Lucien spoke even though her back was to him. He felt her unease at the suggestion. He wondered about the feeling, but decided to ask her at another time. 

“No, no, I don’t mind the armchair.” Elain faced him, lovely as ever. “We’ll talk in the morning?” 

Lucien figured a conversation between them was long overdue. He simply nodded, his heart skipping a beat as Elain flashed him a small but genuine smile. 

[iyumeu]

spirit guardian

You call forth spirits to protect you. They flit around you to a distance of 15 feet for the duration. If you are good or neutral, their spectral form appears angelic or fey (your choice). If you are evil, they appear fiendish.

summary: you've been trying to keep things under wraps but when the bullying escalated and you find your life in danger, your demon finds out and the results are... not pretty. warnings: gore, blood, violence, body horror, self-mutilation, the boys are a little dark in this one, i would say hints of yandere, im not that good of a gore writer though so like if you're super into gore please dont expect much, but please read the warnings before each segment thank you.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━✿ᏊㅇꈊㅇᏊ✿━━━━━━━━☆⭒

You didn't want to admit it, but you were being bullied.

You had always known that the demon brothers had their own responsibilities to deal with and couldn't be with you all the time. The sentiment stretched over to your problems as well. They definitely had better things to concern themselves with and you weren't about to bother them with your insignificant issues, especially petty issues that surfaced from demons' general dislike of humans.

It wasn't anything you couldn't handle, really; acidic words spat at you in whispers, torn books here and there, a subtle exclusion from classroom activities... Small, inconsequential things that made you amused on a good day and irritated on a bad one. Harmless.

Or so you thought.

When the foot swung into your stomach, you swore you heard a sickening crack and you were flung into the wall behind you. Blood gurgled in your mouth and you spat it out on the ground in front of you.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. After spending an entire year in the Devildom and making a pact with all of the demon brothers, you had gotten complacent. Believing your bullies to be merely harmless schoolyard types, you had followed them to a shady and secluded part of the R.A.D. because they wanted to "talk".

You had paid dearly for carelessness, completely caught off guard when one of them pierced you with a sharp jab of their arm. You remember feeling nothing but winded at first, shock numbing your nerves until you saw red trailing down their hand, dripping off the sharpened claws of their nails.

It was then that a scorching pain spread out from the gored out hole in your abdomen, spreading out to the rest of your body.

In hindsight, everything happened so fast. Before you knew it, you were slumped over on the floor and bleeding out. Even through your blurry vision the demons' malicious glee was clear as day.

"Not so proud now, are you?" one of them spat out. "Always looking down on us just because you were hanging off the arms of the Lords of Hell. Guess we're the ones looking down on you now!"

You were starting to shiver from the cold as blood soaked through your clothes, watching the demons advance while wondering if you were really going to die from as something as petty as this.

And then, one of your pact marks flared to life.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━✿Ꮚ´•̥̥̥ ‸ •̥̥̥Ꮚ✿━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Lucifer

cw: body horror

A single black feather slowly drifted down onto the ground before you. The rest of the world turned hazy as your gaze focused onto the feather, long and elegant and delicate, watching as it fell into a pool of your blood. A pair of polished black shoes entered your line of sight before their owner crouched down in front of you, uncaring of the blood seeping into and staining his clothes.

A gloved hand reached out to cup your cheek, a gentle touch against your skin, and you sluggishly moved your gaze up to Lucifer's face.

"MC," he sighed. His eyes were dark, a complete contrast to the tender look on his face. "Whatever shall I do with you?"

His wings stretched out behind him, a dark expanse of feathers that curled around the both of you, separating you from the world... and the world from you.

"Lucifer," you began, but he was quick to press his thumb against your bottom lip, halting your words.

"This isn't a one-off, I assume?" he asked despite already knowing the answer. You avert your gaze and he sighs again. "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to bother you," you said.

"I see." Lucifer's hand moved to pull out a black silk handkerchief, using it to clean the blood off your face. "Then it seems that I have failed you, if you believe that relying on me was not an option at all."

"That's not true...!" You were interrupted by Lucifer gathering you in his arms, while he took care to avoid your wounds as much as possible. With a gentle hand, he guided you to rest your head against his shoulder as he slowly shifted to a standing position, ready to bring you back to the House of Lamentations. His arms were warm around you, a comforting presence that made you feel safe and secure. You felt that, if you were by his side, you would never run into harm again.

It was then that you finally remembered your bullies, the ones who had put you in this state in the first place. Had they left the area, running off at the sight of Lucifer? That was most likely the case, you thought, but you still couldn't help but peer over Lucifer's shoulder and through the gaps of his wings, to check.

Your breath caught in your throat. Lucifer immediately placed a hand over your eyes.

"Shhh," he said. "Don't dirty your eyes with such a disgusting sight."

It was now that you were finally aware of a strange and disturbing cracking sound coming from behind Lucifer. A brand new chill settled down upon you, your body seizing up with fear. Suddenly, you wanted nothing but to put space between Lucifer and yourself.

As if he were aware of your thoughts, Lucifer shifted his hand from your eye to the back of your head, cradling you close to his body as he started to walk away from the scene. His wings were properly positioned this time and you were unable to peer through them.

Lucifer Morningstar. The First-Born. One of the strongest Lords of Hell. These titles hadn't meant anything to you before, but now they were are the forefront of your mind. The glimpse you had stolen before Lucifer turned your gaze away was now burnt into your retinas.

Your bullies' bodies hovered in the air with their limbs stretched impossibly long, curled up and tangled around their twisted bodies like a grotesque ball of yarn. Their mouths were torn open, jaws dislodged and handing horrible from their skull, eyes wide as they screamed silently for someone, anyone to put them out of their misery.

You knew that they would not die, not until someone found them and decided to kill them. And, considering the area they were in, it would take an extremely long time before someone were to chance upon them.

They had planned to use the remoteness of the location against you. They never could have thought that it would be used against them in the same way. This was something Lucifer had definitely taken into consideration.

Lucifer's arms were a cage around you; what was once comforting now felt suffocating.

"Lucifer," you managed to force out. You felt him lean down and press a kiss against your hair.

"It seems that I have to teach you how to be more reliant on me," Lucifer said in a tone as if he were speaking about the weather. "It wouldn't do for something like this to happen again."

"It won't," you were quick to say. "It won't happen again, I promise."

Lucifer looked down at you. You were the only thing reflected in his eyes as he gave a small, gentle smile that gave you a sense of dread that went down to your very bones.

"Don't worry, little lamb. For you, I will be a very forgiving master."

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━[ᓀ˵◇˵ᓂ]━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Mammon

cw: violence and a lil bit of gore

The sudden caw of a crow drew the attention of your bullies. You tried to take the chance to stand up and run but merely shifting in place caused the pain in your abdomen to flare up, white hot and blinding. You hiss through your teeth, swallowing your yelp of pain.

There is a second caw. You look up and see at least a dozen crows perched up on windowsills and tree branches, their heads tilted in the direction of your bullies and their dark eyes glinting with something that invoked a sense of unease within you.

"Why are y'all distracted by a bunch of birds?" the lead demon barked out. They were not doing a good job of masking their apprehension. "We're here to teach this pathetic human a lesson, not gawk at crows!"

"But aren't those..." another student began.

The flutter of wings echo all around. More crows land on nearby fixtures; ten, fifteen, twenty. You slowly look up and see more black shapes flying in the sky above, circling the area like vultures to their prey. You hear the sound of wings flapping once again, closer this time, and Mammon lands in front of you, wings spread and in his demon form.

"...aren't those Lord Mammon's crows?" the student finished weakly. The demons were looking pale now, realizing just what they had done. You paid their expression no notice, filled with relief now that your guardian demon is here. Mammon, who despite his reputation, was always your reliable protector. Mammon, who always went out of his way to ensure your safety in the Devildom. Mammon, who... who was holding one of the demons up by their skull, uncaring of their struggles and pleas as their hands scramble against Mammon's, their toes skimming the ground. The other two demons were already running off, uncaring of their companion but Mammon didn't seem to notice, his attention on the demon in front of him.

In the back of your mind, you noticed that the demon was the one who had stabbed you with their hand.

"Mammon?" your voice came out in a whisper. The demon's pleas turn into screams of agony as Mammon tightened his grip. "Mammon!"

Mammon turned to you, eyes bright and feverish.

"Don't worry, MC," Mammon chirped. "I'll be quick!"

Mammon didn't lie. Immediately after his words, there was a frenzy of feathers and caws and screams. Just as quickly as it happened, the crows dispersed and the body dropped to the ground with a sickening thump, an unrecognizable, bloodied version of itself.

Mammon was holding something in his hands and, after he made his way back to you, he placed it in your lap. The blood-soaked wallet seemed to weigh a ton, its blood further staining your uniform. Mammon was beaming, standing in front of you like a dog waiting to be praised.

"That's compensation!" he said in his usual, nonchalant tone. "You deserve it after what they put ya through!"

Another caw sounded out and you couldn't help but flinch violently. Mammon was immediately kneeling beside you, soothing you with his bloodied hands. The sickening smell of bloodrust grew stronger with his proximity and you fought the urge to lean away.

A few crows hopped towards you, dropping more bloodied items onto the ground beside you. Staring blankly at those items, you recognize them as the necklace one of the other demons had on, a ring one of the demons who had fled the scene had worn, a earring, a tooth, bits of gold-tipped fingernails...

You lurched to the side, uncaring of the pain that bloomed in your abdomen, and started heaving. Mammon gently pat your back, trying to comfort you. It only made you more nauseous, the scent of blood overwhelming your senses once again.

For the first time since you arrived in Devildom, Mammon's presence invoked a sense of fear within you.

"I should've stayed by your side," you heard Mammon mutter. "Shouldn't have allowed those bastards to get to ya."

"Mammon..." You could predict the trajectory of his thoughts and desperately wished you were wrong. "It's not your fault," you choked out. Please, please, please—

"But it was!" Mammon argued. "If I were always by your side, they wouldn't have had the chance to even touch you!"

"It was my fault," you begged. "I didn't want to bother you so I didn't say anything!"

Mammon frowned. "I didn't think you needed protecting even from yourself."

oh. oh no.

Mammon carefully scooped you up into his arms. This time you could not help your flinch, but Mammon didn't seem to notice.

"It's okay!" Mammon said cheerfully. "If you can't take care of yourself, I'll take care of ya! I'm your guardian demon, after all!"

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━⸜₍๑•⌔•๑ ₎⸝━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Leviathan

cw: drowning, but u watch it happen. doesn't happen to u

The demon suddenly froze in their step, their hands coming up to grab their throat. They curled over and started coughing, started heaving, out long and stringy bits of black and green matter.

No matter how much the demon vomited out it never seemed to end and soon it was strewn all over the ground, accompanied with the pungent scent of rotten fish and the salty tang of the sea.

You blink and Leviathan was suddenly standing beside you, sharp teeth bared in a snarl and long black tail whipping around in agitation.

"Levi...?" you spoke slowly. You had never seen him this agitated before

"They hurt you," Leviathan said. His voice was low with an eerie quality to it; it was like a reverb, an echo, and it brought to your mind stories of hallucinatory voices sailors often heard at sea, beckoning them overboard.

The demons were frozen in place as Leviathan stalked towards them, slowly circling around them like a shark around prey. Then, another demon started choking, doubling over and throwing up the same black and green mess the first one did. The smell of fish and the sea grew stronger and you suddenly realize that they were vomiting out seaweed.

"I was wondering what was so important to you that you forgot that we were going to talk home together but I see now."

The third demon fell to their knees, clawing at their throat as they started throwing up seaweed as well.

"All this time I thought that you finally realized that I was just a no-good loser otaku... but that wasn't the case, was it?"

Levithan's voice was smooth, calm, and still retaining that ethereal quality to it. It felt like it was being spoken directly into your head rather than coming from in front of you. It made goosebumps rise up on your skin.

"Levi—" you tried again but you were interrupted.

"I should have known better!" Leviathan laughed. "My Henry wouldn't do that to me! No, the fault lies with these interlopers, trying to take you away! Trying to kill you!"

The first demon's face was turning pale. They tried to gasp for air but a strange froth poured out of their mouth instead, followed by water, copious amounts of seawater splashing violently onto the floor.

"But it's okay!" Leviathan turned to you, smiling brightly. It was the same smile he gave when he got a new high score on the game and was eagerly awaiting your reaction, it was the same smile he gave when he ran up to you with a drink in hand while you were queuing for him in C.S., it was the same smile he gave when he managed to get two tickets to an event and brought you along as his plus one. "I'll protect you! And I'll get revenge for you too, just like the Lord of Shadows does for Henry! Like in Volume 17, when Henry was kidnapped by the Lord of Lechery's jealous ex-paramours, the Lord of Shadows showed up and summoned his familiar to rip them apart..."

Leviathan glanced back at the demons for a moment. All three of them were coughing out seawater now and turning shades of blue. Long, red gashes left behind by desperate nails ran down their necks as they tried, in vain, to claw for air. Seawater was also dripping from this nostrils, bubbling from the horrible breaths of air they were trying to take. There was a sneer on Leviathan's face but it was quick to disappear when he looked back at you. When he stepped closer, you noticed that the pupils of his eyes had turned to sharp slits.

"I can't summon Lotan here to punish them; Lucifer would be mad and more importantly you might get hurt! So I did the next best thing! I know that drowning is a very slow and painful way to die, especially if you fight against it, so I thought that it would be a suitable alternative for a punishment!"

He looked so pleased with himself. It was like killing people for revenge was on the same level of enjoyment for him as getting merch of a character he liked.

Without a care for the demons behind him, Leviathan quickly made his way up to you, making sure to be careful as he picked you up off the ground.

"See?" he grumbled, "this is why I say that staying in my room is so much better." He paused. "Ah, do you want to see them drown the entire way?" You quickly shook your head no. "Yeah, you're right. That'll take too much time. I'll bring you to Satan to get you wounds healed. Afterwards, don't think of even taking a step out of my room, alright! You've already seen how dangerous the outside world is!"

With that last sentence, he carried you away. You desperately hope that Leviathan was joking about it but something about the way his tail curled possessively around your ankle made you think otherwise.

In your periphery vision, you notice the demons lying on the floor, some of them twitching and some of them writhing around. You close your eyes, and look away.

⭒☆━━━━━━～>º˵)ニニニニ>━━━━━━☆⭒

Satan

cw: just. loads of violence and gore

There was a large, gaping hole in one of the demon's abdomens, directly mirroring yours. Except it was larger, more brutal, and much more horrible than the one they inflicted on you.

Satan removed his hand from the demon's abdomen with a loud, wet shlick. The demon fell to their knees, clutching at their open abdomen. Satan smiled a bright, close-eyed smile. For once his spiked tail wasn't curled around his leg, instead gently swaying back and forth as he reached forward to yank the demon's intestines from the hole.

Perhaps it was due to the manner of the wound or the force Satan used but it didn't take long for the intestine to snap and for Satan to hurl it to the side in annoyance.

"Can't even do one thing right," he sneered. He raised his foot only to harshly stomp down on the demon's back. It landed with a sickening crack and the demon collapsed onto the floor, spine bent at an irregular angle. They were still screaming in pain. They were still alive.

Your voice was trapped in your chest, your eyes wide open and unable to be torn from the horrific scene happening in front of you.

Satan moved onto the next demon, grabbing them by the hair and pulling sharply to the side. When the third demon tried to scramble away, Satan froze them in place with a simple flick of his fingers and an uttered spell.

With his attention now turned back to the demon in his grasp, Satan used his other hand to hold the demon's head in place as he slowly pulled at their hair until it started peeling off, a thin layer of skin attached to the base of the strands and holding them together. That wasn't enough for Satan, though, and he inserted his long fingernails into the demon's eyes, scooping them out with barely contained glee.

"This is what you get for thinking that you can even look at MC," Satan told the demon. He then dropped that one onto the ground as well, kicking them in the stomach and sending them skidding across the rough earth.

It was at this moment that you realized that this was the demon who had kicked you into the wall... and the earlier demon was the one who had stabbed you with their nails. The last demon, the one Satan was dragging towards you now, was the one who had called you out in the first place. The one who had put the entire bullying thing into motion.

Satan kicked the back of their legs, making them drop onto their knees in front of you. Now that you had a much closer, unwanted look at them, you notice that their lips had been stapled shut, the dull metal gleaming slightly in the limited light.

"Sorry for taking so long, kitten," Satan apologized to you in his usual, gentlemanly tone. "I might have gone a little bit overboard." When he directed his words to the demon trembling in front of you, he was much harsher. "What are you waiting for? Not going to apologize?!"

The demon made some muffled cries, completely unintelligible from behind his cruel gag. A nasty smile spread across Satan's face. "Oh, I forgot. You can't speak, can you? Well, it seems like you'll have to apologize in another manner."

Satan reached around and ran a finger down from the center of the demon's collarbone to their sternum. From this close you could see the sweat dripping down the demon's face, hear the whimpers from their throat, feel their agony as Satan peeled off the left side of the demon's skin, revealing their rib cage and organs.

"You can still apologize with your heart," Satan told the demon. "Can't you?"

"S... Satan." Somehow, you managed to muster up the willpower to speak. "Satan, I can't do this."

Satan's green eyes were on you now. He was confused for a moment before clarity entered them. You waited for him to move the demon away, but he never did. Instead, he dug his fingers into the demon's rib cage and pulled it out, like one would with a closet door.

The demon screamed from behind his gag.

"Of course, silly me. You wouldn't be able to reach his heart due to his rib being in the way! Well it should be easier now, yes?"

You were going to be sick.

"I don't... I don't want this, Satan," you forced out through gritted teeth. Satan frowned, but it was directed to the demon.

"Hear that? MC doesn't accept your apology." He discarded the demon to the side before kneeling down in front of you, offering blood-soaked hand for you to take. "I'd love to torture them for you some more, MC," he said gently, "but I don't think now's a good time. You need to get your wounds cleaned and healed."

You closed your eyes and looked away. Even though you were trying your best to block it out, the scent of blood was still strong in the air.

You heard Satan chuckle in front of you. "I know," he said in an indulgent tone, "but I'm serious. I read that humans are a lot more fragile than demons so I need to disinfect your wounds at the very least. We can always come back later; it's not like they'll be running away any time soon."

You tried to tell Satan that there was nothing more you wanted than to never see this sight again, but you couldn't open your mouth without throwing up.

"If you don't stop throwing a tantrum, I'll get angry," despite his words, his voice was more amused than anything. You forced yourself to speak.

"It... hurts," you ground out. "I can't... move."

"Oh." His voice was deeper now. Your eyes flew open to see him trembling with rage as he glared towards one of the nearby demons. "I see. It appears that I've been too lenient with them." His gaze went back to you and softened. "Don't worry, I'll make them pay their dues. Now, this might hurt but I'll try my best to be gentle."

Without giving you a chance to react, Satan scooped you up into his arms taking care not to aggravate any of your wounds.

"We'll return to the House of Lamentations first," Satan told you. "When I'm sure you're fine, I'll bring demons to you instead. How does that sound?"

Instead of answering, you leaned your head against his chest and pretended to sleep. You hoped the demons died before Satan came back to get them... for their sake.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━(=🝦 ༝ 🝦=)━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

sorry things are short from here on out. im tire. d

Asmodeus

cw: suicide

You hear Asmodeus gasp before he quickly placed himself between you and the demons. Relief flooded you at the sight of your friend.

"Darling! What happened to you?!" he bemoaned, reaching forward to wipe a smear of blood off of your face. You smile weakly at him.

"I just got a little hurt, that's all. Can you bring me home?" you asked. Behind him, you can see the demons backing away.

"Hurt...?" Asmodeus's eyes trailed down and landed on the horrid wound in your abdomen. You blink and suddenly found him in his demon form, wings twitching with agitation.

"Asmo...?"

Asmodeus abruptly stood up and turned to face the demons. You see them freeze in place and an eerie blankness washed over their faces.

"My darling is hurt," he whined. "Do you know who was the one who did it?"

The demons pointed at each other, neither of them willing to take the blame. You see Asmodeus cock his hip and rest his cheek against the palm of his hand.

"There's so many conflicting answers that I'm soo confused. Ah! I just had a great idea! I want you to kill that horrible, horrible person who harmed by darling. You can do that, right?"

In a blink of an eye, the demons turned on each other, ripping each other to shreds with the utmost of ferocity. Meanwhile, Asmodeus stood in front of them, calmly watching them tear each other apart whilst humming a cheerful melody. Soon, only one demon was left, bloodied and bruised, and they collapsed in front of Asmodeus.

"Wow!" Asmodeus cheered superficially. "Now, I want you to kill yourself!"

The demon faltered. Asmodeus grabbed them by the chin, long nails leaving angry red lines on their skin as he forced them to look into his eyes.

"I want you," he repeated slowly, "to kill yourself."

The demon's expression was completely blank and open as they nodded at Asmodeus before placing their hands around their neck and squeezing.

Asmodeus stepped back to stand by your side as the demon slowly suffocated themselves to death.

"Isn't it great!" Asmodeus asked you. You turned to look at him and noticed that his eyes were bright and feverish. "How obedient they are! They all do what I want them to do without question..." Asmodeus trailed off, disdain in his eyes as he watched the demon die in front of him.

"No it isn't!"

Asmodeus blinked. Confusion was clear in his eyes. "Why not?" he questioned. "I didn't have to dirty my hands, you didn't have to dirty your hands, and they all got what they deserved!"

"Death? Was death what they deserved?" You searched his eyes for any signs of remorse but you found none. Asmodeus was one of the gentlest demons you knew... you supposed that the keyword there that you had been ignoring the entire time was 'demon'.

"They hurt you, my dear. They sullied your beautiful form with their ugly selves, of course they deserved death! If I weren't worried about getting blood on my outfit, I'd have them draw it out, too!"

"This is wrong," you muttered to yourself. "This isn't right."

"Wrong? Not right? Honey, you're in the Devildom," Asmodeus cooed. He gently carded his fingers through your hair as he spoke. "Unfortunately, might is right here."

You shiver and curl into yourself. A frown graced Asmodeus' features and he was quick to try and comfort you.

"You'll get used to it soon," he said. "And even if you don't, you shouldn't worry! I won't let it happen again. How could I allow those tear stains on your pretty little face?"

His eyes were glowing eerily.

"Just... introduce all of the people you meet to me, alright? Then you'll never have to worry about anyone hurting you ever again♡"

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━₍ᐢ ̥ ̞ ̥ᐢ₎ ━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Beelzebub

cw: you know that thing in the mummy (1999) where the scarab beetles crawl under the person's skin and then eat them from the inside out? yeah.

You had never seen Beelzebub so furious before.

He held you in his arms as the demons before you paled at the sight of the sixth Lord of Hell.

"MC, you're hurt," he said slowly. His grip on you tightened for a brief moment before they loosened, Beelzebub clearly trying his best to control his strength so that you wouldn't get hurt.

There was a strange buzzing sound in the air. You assumed that it was coming from Beelzebub's wings.

"I'll be fine Beel," you try to comfort him. "It's just a flesh wound."

Beelzebub shook his head. "You're not fine," he insisted. "They tried to hurt you. They hurt you."

The buzzing was getting louder now. You touched Beelzebub's cheek and a warm fuzziness made itself known in your chest as Beelzebub leaned into your touch. "I'll be fine," you repeated. "I just need to get to the hospital, or a demon equivalent of it, and then rest up."

"I'll bring you to Satan," Beelzebub said. "But first, you need to see."

"See what, Beel?"

"Punishment," he said solemnly, directing your gaze towards the demons who were busy clawing at themselves. At first you couldn't tell what was going on but you soon managed to discern small little bumps moving around under the demons' skin.

The buzzing sound was louder, now.

One of the demons finally opened their mouth to scream and, to your absolutely disgust and horror, small black beetles crawled out of their mouth. As if it were a signal, insects started crawling out of the other demons' orifices as well, centipedes and ants and little white larvae, wiggling their way out before burrowing themselves into the demon's flesh once again.

The few seconds it took for the insects to eat away the demons felt like a lifetime, your eyes fixed onto the absolutely hellish sight in front of you. When the bones of the demons fell onto the ground, most of the insects scattered but some still dug into the bones, feasting on the bone marrow. You slapped your hand over your mouth, trying your hardest not to throw up while you were still being carried by Beelzebub.

"They hurt you," Beelzebub said. His voice felt so far away. "So I hurt them back."

You squeezed your eyes shut. The buzzing hum of insects did not allow itself to be tuned out.

"So... you have to tell me if people want to hurt you, okay? I'll protect you."

Beelzebub was no longer in his demon form, but the buzzing sound did not go away for a long, long time.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━ᙙᙖ━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Belphegor

cw: just violence i guess

The demon froze in their tracks, eyes staring straight ahead at something you could not see.

"What's wrong?" one of the other demons asked. They didn't seem to hear them as fear dawned on their face and they started backing away.

"Get away from me!" the demon screamed. They tripped over themselves and fell flat onto the floor, but they did not pause in their attempts to scramble away. "Get away from me! No! No! No!!"

"What's going on? Why're you acting like..." Another demon suddenly stared down at their feet for a moment before they started to heave. The last demon had a moment of sanity before they, too, suddenly started looking around them in fear.

"Ahhh! It's on me, it's in me, get it off, get it out!" they screamed, violently scratching at their skin. The first demon had stopped moving back and instead started waving their arms above them, fighting off an unseen assailant while the second demon was attempting to shove their entire hand down their throat. The third demon was scratching at their eyes, uncaring of how blood was now running down their body.

The first demon started clawing at themselves. The second demon slit open their stomach. The third demon clawed out their eyes.

Before you could see any more, a pair of cold hands wrapped around your shoulders, effectively drawing your attention away from the scene in front of you. A tail brushed against your face, blocking your vision entirely as Belphegor snuggled up to you from behind, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

"MC... Are you okay?" he asked.

"I... I'm fine, but those demons, they—"

"—hurt you, right? That's why they're getting punished right now." You felt his self-satisfied grin against your neck and realized that whatever they were going through right now was the work of the demon behind you.

"Belphie, what did you do?!"

"It's nothing much, really." He was proud of what he did. "I just gave him some nightmares. Or hallucinations, as some people call it."

You opened your mouth, to plead, to beg, you didn't know, but Belphie interrupted you before you could speak.

"Anyway, they're not important. You need to go to Satan, right? He has some healing spells that would be of use..." Belphegor slowly untangled himself from you. "Can you walk on your own? Or do you need my help?"

You didn't want his help but, when you tried to stand up, the pain rendered you immobile. Belphegor caught sight of the wound in your abdomen and flattened his lips. For a moment, you were transported back to the entrance of the attic, Belphegor looking down at you with loathing and rage in his eyes, but the moment quickly vanished and Belphegor reached out to pick you up.

"I'm normally the one being carried but I can make an exception for you," he said in a faux, lighthearted tone.

The demons' screams became louder. More terrified.

"You'll have to make it up to me, though," Belphegor continued, already walking towards the House of Lamentations. "When you recover, I expect lots of cuddles. I won't accept any rejections~"

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━ʕ -ᴥ-ʔ━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

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.

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hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this thing got away from me. well as the tags say i want to do a follow up to this but idk what sort of follow up it'll be. def yandere though. speaking of yandere, watch this space for the next yandere thing that gets churned out, because i like yandere a lot, anyway it's going to be yandere brothers x mc. all of them, at the same time. will mc survive? probably! will they be happy they did? probably not. :) anyway i hope to be able to do more yandere content in the future

edit: SORRY I FORGOT THE CONTENT WARNINGS FOR THE FIRST 3

edit2: inserted one (1) instance of satan calling u kitten for a friend

[lazarettta]

Misthios

Characters (Reader x Mother Miranda...?) 👀

Rating (T)

Word Count (2.8k)

Warnings (none, first half is has no dialogue, writing while high,)

Once her little warrior, always her little warrior.

I'm sorry if it's hot 🗑💀

The fire was finally the way you wanted it and you could finally fucking rest. You'd been hiking all goddamn day through the rain and snow, and you just wanted a minute to rest and to eat. The sun was starting to set and you still needed to set up your tent, but for the moment you were content to just sit on the log and get warm.

“Who'd ever think a Spartan would be in Rome looking for answers, hm?” it was ironic, how you would've been accused of being a traitor or something like that back then. Ha...back then?

Truthfully you weren't sure anymore where your life really started it's been so long, centuries really if you were being honest. Sometimes even your own secrets were too overwhelming for you to admit, and as the years continued to pass you by it was getting harder and harder for you to hold onto the same principles you once believed in. The wars you've participated in, two of them by choice...and as a favor for the third.

It shouldn't have been possible but it was for you, it was both a blessing and a curse because you were nothing special...you grew up with Spartan blood running through your veins, pushed at a young age to hunt and to protect, it was a common tradition for families then, especially for the oldest or only children. Your didn't ever recall your father, he died in battle before you were born but your mother was there, always. Even if her face was blurry after all of the time that has passed you by—you still remember her teachings and her technique. Your mother was the best hunter in Sparta, proudly.

But after...after her passing, the streets taught you how to be a mercenary at a young age...and then an assassin, not by choice but by necessity because you weren't a good person then, not really, and you still weren't now...but you still had the will do what was right, and so you did.

And maybe that is why the Gods did not let you die in the battlefield when you'd been caught off guard, for what is no longer relevant as it is now long gone, but the scar left through your heart would forever stain you inside and out by some random Greek bastard. You don't remember much of the dying part as much as you remembered how badly it hurt and how livid you were watching him stand over you with his bloody sword raised to the heavens. But just like your pain, that emotion was ebbed away as you laid there dying.

And die you did. And your body laid there for who knows how long but when you woke up, oh you sprung up ready to fight but there wasn't a fight left to be had...the war was over...but you didn't know that until you woke up the second time. Not realizing that your body was next to be burned in the ditch as the battlefield was being cleared of all the corpses from both sides. A gruesome chore performed by the prisoners taken by Sparta.

You had no idea why the Gods healed you and brought you back from the dead, you didn't deserve a second chance (at the time you didn't realize that it was a power). You were blessed by the Gods and that's all that it was, people looked at you with both awe and envy. Some gave all of their iron and dearest family possessions as a gift to the Gods in hopes that their wishes were granted. They hated you and you did not care. You were unstoppable, everyone wanted your attention and your skills—it made you arrogant and stupid for years. And when you caught a pretty nasty gash across your back from a werewolf that ambushed you and your horse, your leathers had been torn and bloody by the time you speared your way through four of those beasts. But while there was blood, there was no wound...the only evidence were the scars it left behind.

Snap!

You turned your head slightly, a few strands of your hair falling in front of your ever sharp (y/e/c) eyes. You stayed perfectly still, eyes scanning the forest surrounding you but there was nothing after several moments. Just as well...with a loud sigh, you finally got up to put up your tent for the night and probably for the next few nights too. You slipped your hunting knife back into your boot but kept it unhooked just in case.

You lived in a time where guns existed but you were always better with a blade. You may not be an active misthios now (mercenary in today's world) but old habits were hard to kick. You were too old and too wise now, even if you didn't look a day over twenty-eight.

The next morning...

You woke with a start your grip around your obsidian hunting knife so tight your knuckles your skin strained against bone. You didn't have a dream but something woke you up, and it wasn't those damn birds chirping literally above your tint. With the help of the morning sun you could even see the spot where one of them pooped. Great. You laid there for a few more minutes, finally relaxed enough to move. You checked your surroundings again, walking around your camp but that feeling of unease didn't go away but it wasn't as strong.

Today was clearer than it was the day before though you still had to deal with the snow and the cold, not that either really bothered you too much. Leaving your camp behind, marking the trees so that you had a way to find your way back through these unfamiliar woods, you set off to find breakfast. You came to an edge, a cliff's peak and you went to stand on the edge of it—to maybe see the rest of the mountain you were exploring but something caught your immediate attention.

When was the last time you ever saw a castle? Not...not those tourist marks they have all over Europe but a castle. The place was eerie but most castles always felt that way to you...but this was different? It was as if the castle was looking right back at you, mocking you. From your vantage point you could make out the edges of a lake through the thick trees, you couldn't see it very well but you could tell it wasn't small nor was it man-made.

It was a pleasant surprise to discover this as you assumed that your trip would mostly be you exploring this cold ass mountain without a proper guide but you didn't need anyone to know why you were really up here, your reasons concerned no one but yourself. That and you knew you'd end up leading your guide. You were better off alone. Or at least that's what you kept telling yourself that but those words stopped being comforting a very long time ago. Not like fate was giving you much of a fucking choice though.

Your stomach growled, reminding you of your hunt...you glanced down at the village below the castle curiously before turning away from the ledge, the heavy aura of the castle still on your back.

~~

Fat and full, that's exactly how you'd describe yourself at the moment. There were more predators in the area than there were prey it seemed but the rabbit you caught seemed plentiful enough. With winter kicking in, the most worrisome predator in the woods would be hibernating leaving nothing but the wolves and maybe a mountain lion for you to deal with if you're lucky. You hefted your smaller backpack onto your back and left your camp, deciding to check out the village to see if you could learn more about the castle.

You were both excited and curious, you'd spent a majority of your modern life exploring the wonders of the Earth and using the currency you've collected throughout your lifetimes to fund whatever myth caught your eye. In other words, you were bored but the thought of war and fighting no longer made your blood sing or your heart race. You've done so much of that already, and lost so much because of it.

“Get back! Get back! Agh—GET THE FUCK BACK!”

Your legs stopped moving immediately and your gloved hand was already wrapped around the hilt of your hunting knife, ears trained. You heard growling and barking not too far from where you stood, maybe two or three hundred feet to your right just through those bushes and that fallen tree. It sounded as if someone was having a bit of trouble with a pack of wolves. Which struck you as odd, you were still pretty high up on the mountains and you hadn't seen anyone else up here in a week, so it couldn't have been a local...could it?

The growling grew more intense and there were sounds of a scuffle and grunts but the man still sounded alive.

And it wasn't your problem. Your days of coming to the rescue were over. You allowed your hand to fall from your knife. You got maybe seven steps away before the man spotted you, he caught a glimpse of your fur lined hood and started screaming for you to help him just as one of the wolves snapped the branch he was holding in half, forcing his back against a tree. His time was counting down now.

He was yelling so loud, you were sure even the villagers could hear him now. There was no way you could walk away now.

“Fucking hell.” with a heavy sigh, you dropped your backpack and stalked in the direction of the soon to be crime scene. You didn't feel the need to mask your presence, you wanted the wolves to know that you were there and that ultimately saved that man's life. The wolves were honed in on you the moment you stepped through the bush but three shots echoed through the small clearing before any of them could pounce in your direction. The echoes faded away quickly, and you sighed again watching the white snow stain red beneath the furry corpses.

The only other sound heard was the man's heavy breathing as he leaned against a tree. You looked down at your gun before putting it back in it's holster on your lower back, you may prefer blades but it was always better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

“Thank...thank you,”

You looked at the man with furrowed brows...just by looking at him, you knew that he wasn't a native but the moment he opened his mouth only confirmed it. He was American...you spotted all of his gear nearby, torn to shreds and you scoffed.

“I don't think camping is for you.”

“I don't think so either,” He tried for a smile but it was only a grimace, the blonde man pushed himself from the tree and approached you, carefully stepping around the wolves bodies, “I'm uh a bit lost, I guess.”

“And I'm leaving.”

“Wait!” he rushed around you, stopping you and you could've gone through the man if you wanted to...you were taller than him by an inch or two, and you definitely had more mass than he probably knew what to do with, “Listen, I'm obviously not from here, but I'm trying to find my daughter okay, she's—”

“I'm not from around here,” you held your hand to make him stop while simultaneously telling yourself that you're not about to get involved in someone else's mess and derail your own mission, “I'm sorry about your kid, but I can't help you.”

He frowned at you obviously not happy with your answer but he was quickly reaching into his pocket and any normal person, especially someone who is armed, would've taken a step back but you weren't some ordinary person. You simply raised an eyebrow, because you knew that he wasn't going to attack you even though he was probably fully capable of doing so. You assumed that he was about to dig out a baby picture or something but it was just a sheet of paper with writing on it. You took it before he could shove the damn thing in your face and you looked down at it carefully, keeping your face neutral.

“I can't read whatever language that is.”

You glared up at him from beneath your lashes, “And you think that I can?”

“Can you?” he shot back, and you rolled your eyes...your attention back to the paper before shoving it back in his hands, “Well?”

You nearly scowled at his impatience, “It's a mix of Romanian, Serbian and Tatar. Whoever sent that clearly doesn't want anyone else to know what's on it.”

“So you can read it then?”

“Bits and pieces,” You said with a shrug, “I'm not expert but someone named Beneviento is demanding a shorter route for wine delivery from that giant castle.”

He stared at you then down to the paper, which was full from top to bottom, then back to you, “What...that's all? Are you sure?? No, that can't be all...there has to be something about my daughter here! Here, please, just try again slower—”

“That's all I could read.” you shouldered past him, throwing your hood back up and ignoring his calls after you. Your backpack was exactly where you dropped it, you shook off the snow and threw it back on your back not caring about the cool wetness on your back now—you just wanted to get away from this area as quickly as possible. You should've used your knife as those gunshots gave away your position.

“Amateur hour everyone,” you grumbled under your breath...you veered off the path slightly, just in case he tried to follow you (wouldn't be the first time someone tried to force you to help them).

You'd maybe walked for a mile or two down the mountain before you noticed the hairs on the back of your neck standing, you chanced a casual glance over your shoulder but there was no one there, no man nor animal. Licking your dry lips you turned back around but as you were doing so, you caught something in your peripheral. A dark figure, twenty feet away and that's when you noticed how fucking quiet everything was around you...you forced yourself to keep walking even as a feeling of dread began crawling up your back, like two sharp fingers walking along the ridges of your spine.

Pushing the hood from your head, you whirled around with your knife drawn at your side gripping it with the intentions to kill but there was nothing there except two large obsidian feathers fluttering gently down onto the snow at your boots. Feathers?

Cool breath touched the base of your neck when you heard soft chuckling directly behind you. You turned around sharply, easily flipping your knife around but the mass of darkness in front of you disoriented you for a split second and that was all this creature needed. Before you could plunge your knife into it's feathery belly, a pale hand shot out and caught your wrist in a bruising grip as another hand curled itself around your throat, sharp nails oh so slightly pricking your skin.

You were about to kick away when the creature leaned forward, and it's face came from beneath the hood...only it wasn't an it, it was a she, though her entire face was hidden by the gold headgear you could see her lips and...and her eyes.

A pair of eyes you'd never forget in any of your lifetimes. It felt like a millennia ago when those eyes alone had you on your knees covered in fresh warm blood and exhausted from tearing through small armies.

Despite yourself, you were trembling in her ironclad grip, your hand that wasn't still trapped fruitlessly came up to wrap around her wrist as if that was going to help you. You both knew that it wouldn't. She brought you closer until your feet were no longer on the ground and you could feel the tip of your blade pressing against something...no, her...and your nose was nearly touching her helmet.

“ο μικρός μου πολεμιστής...” (my little warrior...) her cool breath washed over your face, her eyes still boring down into yours so intensely you swore you felt the heat, even as her hand tightened around your throat making you choke, but you were fighting against her... “επιτέλους ήρθες σπίτι μου...” her chuckle fell on deaf ears. (you've finally come home to me...)

~~

You were supposed to run into Alcina first 😭, but Miranda works too...(save the best for last obvi) I don't know I am playing Odyssey while waiting for this game to drop and I went The Old Guard route too so then I just ended up writing some shit, and I wanted to try something that's not so maiden-esque lol so I hope it's enjoyable at least...I honestly might make this a WIP...

[extremelyblackandwhite]

ascendance - 04

PAIRING: mob!bucky barnes x reader

WARNINGS: abduction, age gap (reader is 23, bucky is 37)

A/N: hello!! i hope you enjoy this new chapter as i dive more into bucky’s past. italics in this work symbolise a flashback in case anyone’s confused. hope you enjoy it xx

> NEXT CHAPTER | MASTERLIST

The entrance hall of the Barnes household was pilled up with people. Between his mum barking orders left to right and caterers bringing food in and out, the once silent room turned into a busy crossroads which meant James had retreated back to his room. He was sat down in his bed, cashmere black suit on and hair pushed back, Dead Souls opened on top his legs. He was lost in between the small black letters printed on the yellowing paper, so lost that the sound of his window opening went by him until a loud thump woke him up from his literary daze. Bucky looked up to see his younger sister, sat on the floor of his bedroom by the window with her dress partially on and hair messy due to the windy weather outside. He sighed, closing his book and putting it off to the side.

    - Can’t you climb into your own bedroom? - Bucky got up from bed, leaning down to help her back onto her feet.

    - Yours is closer. - she brushed the dirt off her baby pink dress picked by their mother. - Shouldn’t you be downstairs?

    - Shouldn’t you be in your bedroom? 

    - Touche. - she pointed. - Can you not tell mum? She’ll freak out if she discovers that I went out on dad’s big day. 

    - Go on, I’ll keep mum occupied while you sort out that bird’s nest hair. 

    - Thank you! - she smiled, giving him a short hug. - What am I gonna do when you go to Princeton? Who’s gonna cover for me?

    - I guess you’ll just have to form an alliance with the maids.

Y/N and Bucky were silent, barely speaking to each other if even looking into each other’s eyes. She merely remained there in her operatic costume, the corset doing the best of jobs at enhancing her female features and almost making her look like a femme fatale out of a classical movie in rich red and green fabrics decorated with what he guessed where heavy metal gold pieces resembling precious jewels and golden rings. He did not know which production they were putting on, he hadn’t even heard her sing before but she looked like she belonged in that stage, like she would have been showered in praise the moment the spotlight grazed her. 

She paced around the living room not exactly sure what to do, the beads which made up her skirt and would suddenly peak to show her legs making a slight rustling noise as her eyes studied the book shelf which was filled with tons and tons of books from the classics to mere economy books. Maybe she could read them whenever the tension between of them wasn’t so apparent. She couldn’t help but sometimes look at the badly fixed window and wonder if she could make it, maybe when he wasn’t looking, maybe when he was sleeping yet looking at him; tall, muscular, fast, definetely much stronger than her, she knew that even if she managed to get outside, he would easily get her back. Her mind battled her positive side as she wondered if this was it, if this was home now. Suddenly, her old flat no longer seemed old and she would give everything away if only she could go back, back to being told to do errands that really did not concern her, to stepping on bobby pins laid on the ground, to way too strong makeup which looked ridiculous in proper daylight. She would give everything, if she could go back to what her life had been. 

The man whose name he hadn’t even dignified himself to tell her yet was sat on one of the high chairs by the kitchen with his eyes trained on her. She briskly turned around, arms crossed under her chest with an almost child like pout of someone who had just been punished. In reality, I’m the one who’s being punished here, he thought to himself.

     - You could tell me your name. - she said, not looking into his eyes, instead rubbing her worn out ballet shoes against his hard floor. 

     - You don’t need to know my name. - he was quiet yet imposing. Y/N could not deny he seemed to have a strong presence despite barely raising his voice. It was almost magnetic as if he was made to be looked at, yet she felt he didn’t want to be seen. 

     - What if I need to call out for you? 

     - I would know. There’s no one else here, is it?

Y/N did not reply to this, instead rolling her eyes and sitting down on the couch. There was not much to do in the small one bedroom apartment other than pace around, eat and watch television. Her hand flew over to the remote, pointing it at the TV to turn it on which opened on the news channel. She guessed this was the way she had of now knowing what was happening outside the four walls she was being held captive in. There wasn’t much happening and even if it was, all the local news could talk about was about the upcoming mayoral election. It was a circus with advertisements and rumours flying around about each and every candidate and while it was almost painfully enjoyable to see men over thirty acting like gossip mean girls in school, everyone knew who was gonna win. 

She’d always been told that behind every great man, there’s a great woman and in this particular election it couldn’t be anymore true. The favourite candidate to win, Robert Moore, also known as Bobbie, was married to an senator’s daughter but not just any senator, Senator Barnes. She was too young to remember his policies or even his public persona, yet from what she knew, he had been a very well liked and well respected Senator, coming from a prominent family and building an even more prominent family. Being married to Rebecca Barnes, now Rebecca Barnes-Moore, was a one way ticket to a good career in politics. The two stood in the television screen, side by side in an almost JFK and Jackie Kennedy fashion with sunny smiles looking like the picture perfect Americana couple. It seemed all his ads showed him, his wife and their new born baby. High school sweethearts, it seemed.

    - Are you gonna watch that the whole day? - she turned her head around, looking at his annoyed expression, whiskey glass in hand. 

    - They look good together. 

    - It’s a circus. - he snickered, sitting by her side. 

    - What are you? An anarchist? - those words flew out of her mouth without any filter, mostly out of nuisance. - Her father was a great politician and he is young and likeable.  

     - Young and likeable ... sounds like great political traits. 

     - What do you know about politics?

     - What do you know about politics? Do they have a crash course in politics at whatever company you were in? 

She rolled her eyes, turning the volume up to listen to the broadcaster tell the love story of the future mayor and his wife. Her face softened as she heard what was probably a highly modified version of the actual truth yet she couldn’t help but slightly smile at the idea of it. They seemed in love and as someone who had a degree in pretending to be in love while singing, it warmed her heart to see it. She liked that idea, the idea of Ms and Mrs Americana, the idea of having someone to lean in. Well, she liked the idea of someone. Sure, maybe the man whose name she still didn’t know and was starting to believe was never going to learn was right, it was a circus, all elections are but she couldn’t help but be pulled by the myth of it, by the we against the world mentality no matter how morally wrong it was. 

She continued to watch the coverage of the election run as the man next to her got up from the couch to pick up a phone call. Her hearing slightly moved towards what he was doing, mind always thinking of escaping but even though he was talking on the phone, his gaze was trained of her as if she were his prey. He mumbled something on the phone before turning it off and moving his eyes to text someone yet after that his eyes were on her once more. 

    - Try not to escape for the next hour.

    - Do you have a nameless anarchy convention to attend?

    - Billy is coming to watch over you. No funny business. 

    - Will. - she corrected him. - He doesn’t like being called Billy. 

    - As long as you don’t pull a mission impossible on him, I will call him whatever you want. 

Will didn’t take long to arrive, dressed in a tennis-like outfit as if he had been pulled away from tennis which sounded like something he’d do. Bucky exchanged a few words with him before leaving the two of them together. He trusted Billy, or Will, was smart enough not to let her escape or run away. God, he didn’t even want to think about what John would do to him if she escaped, much less what he would do to her if she escaped. He made his drive to John’s condo in fifth avenue, parking his bike somewhere before making his way up. The condo was always weirdly filled with chatter talk yet he could see no people, it was as if the ghosts of the people he had taken out followed him in his own home and Bucky couldn’t say he pitied him. After all, he had his own ghosts too. 

He looked into John’s office where he was sat in the couch, the coverage of the election run on the television on low volume. John’s eyes immediately found Bucky’s figure looming at the entrance, never really entering, just standing behind the line which separated the hall from the office. 

     - How’s the roomie? - he motioned his hand for him to come in. - Still pretty?

     - What do you need?

     - I just got an invitation to a fundraiser. Zemo’s going so I want you to go. 

     - I can’t, I have her to watch over Y/N. She’s not very keen on remaining in the flat.

    - Chain her up for all I care. It’s in two weeks and I’ll be damned if I’m there by myself with Zemo. Besides it’s your sister’s fundraiser, I always love to see Rebecca. 

    - She’s not gonna be there. - his jaw locked. - A fundraiser for the mob? It’s mostly free alcohol and networking with them not showing up. 

    - Maybe you should bring your roomie. She’s pretty and if anything I’m sure she can sing and if not maybe she can entertain in another form. 

    - The NYPD is probably looking for her, it’s not wise ...

    - Do you make the rules? - John interrupted him, leaning against the couch with arms crossed. - You seem to have forgotten who makes the rules, soldat. 

    - I just don’t think ...

    - You don’t think. - he interrupted him once more. - This election is important and since I do not have the right person here to get ahead, I will make do with what we have. I don’t give a fuck about what you do when you’re at your flat but she is mine. She is my get out of jail card. Are we clear, soldat?

    - Yes. 

    - You can go now. - he dismissed him. Bucky turned around, eyes open wide yet emotionless face as if he were disconnected from his own consciousness. He guessed it was for the best to remain disconnected, to not know what was going on.

He drove himself back home, standing alone at night looking at his flat; the window still broken while the lights were flickering. He thought about running off, starting his bike and running off into the night and just drive until the tank was empty but he couldn’t. He had strings, strings which kept him tied to where he was right now. He guessed that now she was another string keeping him here. 

Bucky sighed as he walked back to his flat, opening the door to a rather serene sight. Will was by the kitchen watching the football game while Y/N was laid across the couch, book in hand which he recognised as one of his old ones. Her hair was different, she probably had taken off her wig and for the first time since those few minutes in the costume room. It looked soft, framing her face and getting in front of her eyes as she herself got lost in the room. Will excused himself, leaving just as he noticed Bucky before he could be yelled at by using his television. Yet again, Y/N and Bucky were alone in that small flat. She looked up from the book and at him before returning to read.

He left her with the book, walking to his bedroom which was probably now more hers than his to grab one of trousers and hoodies before returning back to the living room. Still reading. At least she wasn’t trying to break any more windows. He put the hoodie and trousers by her side, turning off the television as more screams for the football match came through. 

   - You can change into those. - he pointed at the clothing, getting her attention as she closed the book. - Those beads can’t be comfortable. 

   - Oh 

   - The bathroom’s there. - he pointed at one of the few doors in the flat. - You can shower too, there’s towels. 

   - Thank you. - she grabbed the things he had put out for her before leaving him in the living room by himself.

And then it was just him once more, alone, tied to this city which screamed everyone’s name but his.

TAGLIST: @lookiamtrying​ @buckyswillows​ @blossomslibrary​ @juliesland​ @iloveshawnieboi​ @unmagically​ @red-head011​ @poisonous00​ 

[ymiwritesstuff]

Hi! May i request a fic or a headcanon for DIO in wich the reader is living near his mansion in Egypt and she starts to give petshop pieces of meat that the reader buys for her cat and after some time she just comes there to watch the falcon. When DIO notices her just sitting on a sidewalk talking to petshop while feeding him, he gets curious about her and thinks to himself that he could find out more about who she is (because if petshop isnt clawing her eyes out she must have intrigued him) as an activity to pass time while he's still adjusting to his new body and in the end he ends up liking the reader?

Sorry that this is so long😅 hope you safe and healthy 🥰

And thank you💞

Heyy thanks so much for the request, I’m incredibly sorry that this took so long :( I really loved the idea and I hope the finished product is to your liking, wishing you the best!!

Desire For Knowledge

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders

Dio x Female!Reader

Summary: The strange behavior of Pet Shop leaves Dio desiring to learn more about the person who the falcon had allowed to interact with him.

A soft smile pulls the corners of your lips upwards as the falcon takes the piece of meat from between your fingers as gently as a bird of prey ever could. To think that something as threatening as a falcon, would be so tame, as if he belonged to someone who called him their pet. It had been a similar day to this one when you first came across the falcon. The sun was about to set and he had been standing atop of a gate, guarding an impressive-looking mansion, which you assumed belonged to his owner. You couldn’t help but admire the bird, the way he valiantly protected his home, and just how majestic he looked, the sun shining on his brown feathers.

Over time you found yourself staying near the mansion, just so you could admire him further. It took a few days for you to get comfortable feeding him, but he eventually noticed the bag of meat you often bought for your cat and seemingly wanted a piece for himself. Since then, your visits had become more frequent and your curiosity about the falcon and his owner you never saw grew by the day.

Your eyes looked at the mansion, as they often did, your thoughts wandering. What kind of a person lived in such an expensive structure? The windows were covered with thick curtains that didn’t allow any sunlight through them. Never had you seen these curtains move away from the windows, nor had you seen anyone leave or enter the building. This made you wonder if it was abandoned, but then why would it be so fearlessly protected by a potentially dangerous animal? All this made little sense to you, yet you found yourself drawn to it.

Dio had noticed you feeding Pet Shop on multiple occasions, whether it was through a careful peek behind the curtains during daytime, or a look through the exposed windows at night. The fact that the ruthless falcon had not eliminated or shown any signs of hostility towards you despite the fact that you were dangerously close to his hiding place was something he couldn’t quite understand and led him to believe that Pet Shop didn’t see you as a threat for some unknown reason. This was strange and yet, it awakened a strange sense of intrigue in him. What caused Pet Shop to behave so differently with you?

A quiet caw from the bird snaps you out of your thoughts and makes you look at him. The day had gone by a lot faster than you anticipated. This often happened when you interacted with him and was a sign that it was time to head back home. You stood up and wiped the dust from the ground off your pants, before turning your gaze towards the animal once again. 

“See you around, I have to get back home and save some of these for my cat,” you said, lifting the bag of food slightly.

The falcon glanced at it briefly before flying back to its post. You smiled once more before heading towards your home as the sun finally disappeared, oblivious to a pair of sharp eyes watching with curiosity as you left the mansion behind.

His desire to know more about you grew the more he saw you looking or feeding the bird. It somewhat plagued him, yet he saw it as an opportunity to pass his time while he adjusted to his new body he so often admired through the mirror. Something about the way you gazed at Pet Shop with admiration in your (E/C) eyes made Dio wonder if you held something special within you. Were you a stand user? Or was the warmth in your expression that felt so alluring to him something else entirely?

Whatever the case, due to everything he had witnessed, he craved knowledge.

~

The sun had long set, coating the streets of Egypt in darkness. Today’s shift had been long, but you still wished to go past the familiar mansion to hopefully catch a glimpse of the beautiful falcon you had befriended. Even watching him brings you joy, though you aren’t sure yourself why he is so friendly with you. Perhaps you have a way with animals, considering how often your cat would snuggle up next to you. The thought makes you smile as you walk.

As the building comes into view your eyes immediately search for the bird and once they spot him, a smile makes its way to your face. With his sharp eyes, the bird notices you and immediately flies towards you, landing on the ground. You squat down to get a better look at him. 

“Hi there handsome."

Your voice is soft as you admire him, noticing how he is looking at you as if he is expecting something. You frown slightly. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any food on me this time. But I promise to bring you some tomorrow.”

To your surprise, he takes off and flies towards... a person standing in front of the entrance to the mansion. The bird lands on his large arm, his sharp talons holding on with the utmost carefulness. You immediately stand up, realizing that the man must be the owner of both the mansion and the falcon. His amber eyes look at the animal and then you before he speaks: 

“Quite interesting. Pet Shop usually isn’t too fond of humans.” The blond takes a few steps forward, allowing you to see him more clearly in all his glory; His light hair shines under the moon, his sculpted muscles frame him perfectly and his fiery amber eyes look into yours with such fire, you are not sure if they belong to a human.

“No need to apologize, dear. He is a lot smarter than he looks, though, I’m sure a sharp woman like yourself already figured it out,” He says, voice deep and fruity, accompanied by a smirk that stretches his lips upward that immediately makes your cheeks fill with warmth you failed to notice. “What is your name, my darling?” He asks.

“O-oh, I was just looking at him. He is just... Such a beautiful falcon.” You briefly glance at the bird before returning your gaze to the man who holds an intense yet warm flame in his own eyes. Their sharpness remind you of the falcon’s own eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything like him. Sorry if I’ve been trouble, I know I’m kind of taking him away from his protection duties.”

You bring your hand to the back of your neck sheepishly, laughing slightly but feeling a tad anxious about the owner’s expression you cannot quite read.

“I’m (Name). I live nearby.”

A smile of your own coats your features as you introduce yourself to the person you had been curious about for a long time. 

“Ah yes, that would explain why you are here so often.” His smirk grew as he noticed your eyes widening. 

“You’ve seen me?”

“I suppose so. Tell me, Mr-”

Pet Shop then left his arm and flew back to his post, leaving you with this unknown yet strangely alluring man. 

“I have indeed. I must say that a beauty such as yourself is rather difficult to ignore.”

His honeyed words are followed by a deep chuckle, his amber eyes locked onto you. You are taken aback by his words, but maintain your smile and let out a small laugh as well.

“Dio. There is no need for formalities or titles,” he says, keeping that charming tone in his voice. His demeanor is intriguing and you are not sure what you were expecting from the lord of the impressive mansion, but this was certainly... Something. 

“It’s very lovely to finally meet you, Dio.” You find yourself subconsciously taking a few steps closer to him, as if something about him is slowly pulling you in. 

With one final chuckle, he extended his hand towards you, his claws not going unnoticed by you as he spoke:

“Likewise, dear.”

His charming smirk is more and more apparent the more you look at him. Dio also notes just how stunning you look under the moonlight, how your pleasant smile decorates your features perfectly, and how your (E/C) orbs shine like gems. His curiosity has reached new heights as you seem to be far more than he expected. He now felt the same way as his falcon had and realized why you had interested Pet Shop so.

“Wonderful. There is a lot I wish to ask of you.”

“I would like to learn more about you, (Name). Would you join me for a glass of wine?” You looked at him, processing his question that came rather out of the blue.

The night was still young, and you would be lying if you said that this seemingly otherworldly man hadn’t piqued your interest. With yet another warm smile that strangely hits Dio, you accept his request and place your hand in the palm of his cold one:

“I’d love to.”

His grin grew at this as he slowly led you inside, leaving behind the darkness of the night he lived in.

[shorkbrian]

Ooh i’m so excited rn omg...what i need rn is more of aizawa and villian!soulmate reader. They just keep acting like a brat until aizawa takes them home and punishes them X3

Prelude - shoutout to y’all for being so patient with me! appreciate it so so much. Also, there was like one other ask that I wanted to include here but I couldn’t find it, so rip. Also, @bbygirlpastel ty for the “Villain? I’ll show you a villain.”

Pairing - Yandere Aizawa X Reader

Warnings - dub con, non con, NSFW, overstimulation, no actual penetration. Creepy Aizawa, vibrators, uhhh literally nothing good here. Dead dove man, if you look at a dead bird and KNOW it’ll taste disgusting and make you sick to your stomach.... DON’T FUCKIN EAT THE BIRD. listen to the warnings my dudes!!

Music -  https://open.spotify.com/track/6p8eEdiZLKJH8tcjGZuNTK?si=9r_2kgkoR56h9UkBCybxLw

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Maybe he wouldn’t be this infatuated, this utterly obsessed, this angry with you if you had just given in from the start.

You weren’t even a high-priority villain, just some desperate nighttime thug that preyed on innocent bystanders. Snatching wallets, causing a ruckus, stealing from thrift stores or gas stations a couple of times a week.  You were a nuisance, but not big enough to catch Aizawa’s attention - not until you stole a women’s watch right in front of him on the street while he was buying a snack from a food-cart before his shift started.

And yeah, Aizawa tried to keep a low profile, not flaunt his hero status in order to effectively capture and subdue villains, but surely you would’ve noticed the man clad in black, obviously sporting hero gear standing nearby. But you didn’t, and then he was grabbing your shoulder so he could drag you to the police station. Aizawa had been surprised when you wiggled out of his grip and took off, and damn, you were fast.

The game of cat-and-mouse had begun, and while the underground hero failed to catch you that night (and every subsequent night he saw you out on the streets) he was determined to do so. Well, maybe not /as/ determined. When it came to you, the man was easily distracted.

The clothes you wore were baggy, hid your form effectively. But if someone looked close enough, they could notice the curves of your body, especially as you ran, evading capture. Aizawa was loathe to admit at first, but it was tantalizing watching you flee from him.

He beat himself up over it. He’d always had a solid grasp of self-control, and usually he felt no attraction to his targets, even if they were wearing the skimpiest of outfits. One time he had turned in a villain wearing nothing but pasties over her breasts and panties (her quirk was seduction-based), and he hadn’t felt anything but utter boredom as he filled out paperwork at the police station while they found her some actual clothes.  It probably had something to do with the “soulmate” quirk he had been hit with once, but Aizawa had never really put much faith in it, nor thought about it extensively. He had always had a bit more self control than other men.

So for him to almost have feelings for some low-life idiot? It made his skin burn with irritation (and maybe something else, but he wasn’t ever going to address that). It didn’t make any sense. 

The fact that it didn’t make any sense did not stop his brain from plastering not-suitable-for-work thoughts about you whenever he ran upon you committing some minor crime. It was infuriating.

The satisfaction the man felt from finally pinning you down, taking advantage of a small stumble, tackling you down and pressing you into the cold concrete of the rooftop was probably unholy. It just felt so damn good, catching you, forcing you to submit, getting you underneath him. When he had flipped you onto your back, you wouldn’t look at him, just staring off to the side, almost as if you were ashamed.

You should be - stealing from anyone and everyone, being a brat, making Aizawa’s life difficult as you infiltrated every waking moment.

He had started to lecture you, starting out with his usual cool-headed, 

unbothered demeanor, but slowly getting more and more annoyed as you still refused to look at him. Pretending he wasn’t there, refusing to listen - Aizawa felt the urge to slap you, just to make you react.

He settled for harshly gripping your chin, forcibly turning your head so he could look at your eyes.  Eye contact was an important thing to Aizawa - it was the basis of his quirk, but he wasn’t prepared for the punch to the gut he felt when he looked into yours.

Words escaped him, mouth dropping open, his body frozen. There was - there was something going on. You took advantage of his pause, shoved the man off of you, took off running. Aizawa could do nothing but sit there, staring after your form with his own eyes wide and wondering. What had just happened?

He reflected on the moment for the entire rest of the night, musing over the strange feeling coiled in his stomach, the weird tug in his chest, his brain wanting and desiring and lusting and it was so distracting, he wanted it to stop, but at the same time, he wanted to indulge.

The realization finally hit him - the soulmate quirk he had been hit with, all those long years ago. 

Some lady had come up to him while he was shopping, smiling at him toothily before asking him wether he believed in soulmates. He had stared at her for a second, before blankly responding with a curt “no”, turning back to continue browsing the selection of applesauce packets. A hand on his wrist, a burning sensation from his arm to his heart, and then he was rounding on the woman, ready to drag her to the police station for using her quirk in public without a license. 

She had just cackled, citing something about soulmates and how he was going to believe now, he’d learn what it would feel like to find your true love when he looked into their eyes. Some sappy, romantic, crazy bullshit that he had ignored and promptly forgotten, before calling the police.

The lady had been deemed mentally ill, driven mad by the loss of her husband in a hero-based accident. Aizawa quickly forgot about the incident.

Aizawa didn’t believe in soulmates, and even if they existed, there was no way in hell that his soulmate would be a villain.

But apparently, the universe did not care about Aizawa’s opinions.

He tried to ignore it, turn a blind eye whenever he saw you sneaking around late at night, would turn and head the other way. But there was no denying the burning flame in his heart, the yearning to see you again, to talk to you, learn about you, what you liked, what you didn’t, where you had grown up, what your aspirations were. 

Aizawa hated it.

But he couldn’t ignore it.

The feelings grew and grew, festering in his body like an open wound, infecting his mind, crawling through his veins and slowly seeping into every aspect of his life, until all he could think about was you. The man needed it to stop.

The cat-and-mouse game was picked up again, except this time, Aizawa wasn’t going to give you any opportunities to get away.

You were able to sense the change, could see the rabid look in his eyes when he sought you out for the first time since the night you had slipped out of his grasp. There was something different, and it wasn’t good, it was dangerous.

You managed to dodge him for a time, and some part of Aizawa swelled with pride that his supposed “soulmate” was so clever. The other part of him wanted to break something.

He was almost frightened by the change in him, this volatile anger, the impatience and the lust. That wasn’t who he was, but ever since meeting you, looking into your eyes, it’s what he had become. Maybe if he tracked you down, got close to you, spent some time with you, this needy feeling would go away. You couldn’t run forever. 

Aizawa caught you during the daytime, when both of you were off-guard and not paying attention. It was luck, really, or maybe destiny or fate, that he had looked up to watch as passengers filtered onto the subway. You were wearing the same baggy clothes you always wore, hoodie over your head, earbuds in. 

There was a backpack slung over your shoulder, and Aizawa watched you sling it off to place it in your lap as you sat down before the doors closed. 

It was easy to follow you home, to the dingy little deathtrap you called your own, on the first floor of an abandoned, moldy motel building. It was even easier to follow you inside, through the broken window , his footsteps undetected through the blare of music in your earbuds.

It was less easy to subdue you, with the desperate fight you put up, trying to kick and punch and scream as soon as Aizawa’s thick arm circled around your throat. Still, the man had been subduing unruly villains for a while now, and it wasn’t hard for him to keep his hold on your smaller from, no matter how you thrashed in his arms. 

When you finally passed out from the lack of air in your lungs, Aizawa gently followed you down to the floor, staring at you for a moment (god you were pretty, how had he not noticed how pretty you were?) before looking around the room. 

It looked like a regular motel room, except there was no TV, there was signs of rot dotting the walls, and the air smelled decidedly unhealthy. He wrinkled his nose as he took it in - you would be much better living somewhere less unsavory. 

Which, Aizawa’s home was perfectly capable of hosting an unwilling guest. Aizawa wasn’t naive enough to think you’d be happy waking up in an unfamiliar room, but he figures it would be better than jail. Like hell was he going to hand you off to the police, not when the ache in his chest was subsiding in your presence, the burning need for something lowering to a slow simmer. Justice be damned, Aizawa was going to be the judge, jury, and executioner in this particular case, and he had yet to decide your fate.

----

“You are insufferable - if you would just give in, everything would feel so much better. Holding out like this is illogical.”

He was tired. Tired of your stubbornness, tired of your refusals, tired of your insults, tired of the way his skin itched and blood boiled every time you spat at him or knocked over the plate of food he brought to you. 

When he was met with silence, Aizawa sighed. This was getting old. It had been a month since he’d brought you under his roof, a month of holding back, a month of playing nice, a month of letting you “adjust”. But you hadn’t adjusted, hadn’t even tried, and he was tired.

“You’re only hurting yourself by acting like this.“

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to act like this if you hadn’t kidnapped me.” You spat, glaring daggers at the man.

Aizawa paused, almost humored by your spiteful response. “You would rather I have turned you over to the police? The prison system isn’t kind to pretty little things like you. No matter how tough you pretend to be, you’d be broken in less than a week.”

You scoffed, pulling at the chain that held your ankle to the wall. “As if this is somehow better. You’re a sick man, I hope you choke on your next meal and /die/.”

Aizawa gestured to the room, his patience wearing thin. “I could make it worse.” 

And he could. He could take away the thin mattress you were sitting on, shorten your chain so you couldn’t reach the bare-bones bathroom, he could stop feeding you, or make you eat scraps like a dog. Of course, he could make it much better too, but only if you’d stop fighting him at every turn.

“I don’t even know what you want. You’re just an old pervert, you’re no hero. You claim to be good and just, but you’re no better than the villains you put behind bars.”

Within a second, Aizawa was crouched in front of you, gripping your chin, yanking you forward until you could feel his heated breath across your face, could see the tension in his eyes.

“I want you to behave.”  He ground out. “I’ve treated you with nothing but civility so far, but if you’re so determined to see me as nothing but a villain, then fine, I’ll show you a villain.”

Aizawa was at the end of his rope. It was uncharacteristic for him to exhibit such anger, such impulses and wild feelings, but when it came to you, Aizawa felt like he was an entirely different person, ruled solely by his instincts. 

With a push, you were sprawled onto your back on the mattress, quickly trying to scramble upright, ready for an attack. But Aizawa just watched, letting you panic before you realized he was going to stay put.  Well, stay put for a time.

 There were some things he needed to go get, to show you how good he had been to you, to prove that he had been nice and accommodating. But if you wanted to play dirty, then Aizawa could play dirty.

He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets, keeping his eyes locked onto your face. You were such a shy thing, barely able to hold eye-contact, always blushing and stammering and fighting when he made you look at him. It wasn’t his fault that your eyes were enchanting, drawing him in like a spell. If he could, Aizawa wouldn’t mind spending a few hours just watching you, watching your eyes take in the world. Of course, that was an illogical desire, but the man found he was having a lot of those these days.

You huffed as you felt him watching you. “You’re a creep.” The man didn’t answer, and you deflated, voice coming out small “Please…. let me go. I won’t like, steal stuff anymore, alright? Just let me go.”

Aizawa could bet that you were scared - after all, you were nothing more than a common crook. It’s probably the first time you’ve ever been held hostage, the first time you’ve been immobilized. You were probably used to intimidation, maybe even abuse - someone living in a rotted, abandoned motel and living off of what they could steal each day probably didn’t have a good story to tell about what had happened to them. 

Either way, Aizawa didn’t really care.  If it wasn’t for the tearing sensation in his chest when he was away from you for too long, he’d definitely have handed you over to the police by now. It was driving him insane, how he couldn’t focus, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think, couldn’t live now that his mind was constantly occupied with thoughts of you.

When he went out at night, he worried that you would hurt yourself, or escape - get away from him somehow. When he was at home, trying to do the “right” thing and give you space, not touch you, not invade your space, he was bombarded with the single-minded desire of holding you, feeling the warmth of your body against his chest.

It had to stop. He didn’t know how to make it stop. 

Aizawa had tried everything, from leaving you alone, to spending time watching you from the other side of the room - the man had even tried to erase the supposed “soulmate” quirk he was infected with by using his own quirk in the bathroom, staring into the mirror. Nothing seemed to help.

He had tried to be nice, he had tried to be good. But there was still the tugging in his chest, the itch he couldn’t scratch when it came to you. He wanted to do so much, but he wasn’t a villain, he wouldn’t force you.

But there lay the problem.

Aizawa wanted to.

He closed the door behind him as he left your room, the “torture chamber” he had said once, deadpanned tiredly in an attempt at a joke. You hadn’t laughed. 

The man supposed that this last month had really just been him warring against the dark, whispering corner of his mind that urged him to just take. To do what he wanted, to lay waste, to ravage you in every carnal way he so desired. To force you to lay by his side at night, force you to give him long, loving kisses, force you into domesticity.

Aizawa knew it was wrong. He had tried to ignore that part of him, push it down, focus on the logical solutions he could think of, the ones that kept his actions pure and heroic. But at this point, with you resisting so strongly? How you called him a villain, a pervert, a creep? Why not let the villain inside take a moment in the spotlight.

That’s what he was thinking as he gathered items into his arms from his room, spending hardly any time picking out what he wanted and needed. He’d had so many dreams, so many thoughts of what he would do to you once you finally submit to him. The man had plenty of ideas, especially now that he was deciding to throw his inhibitions out the window. 

The fact that you most likely weren’t going to be willing merely meant that Aizawa added a spreader bar and an extra set of cuffs to the growing pile in his arms. 

Stepping back into your room was almost thrilling, seeing your eyes snap up, to the bundle of items he held, then at his face. They were so wide, scared, panicked. It was a good look on you honestly, one that Aizawa didn’t mind seeing more often. He was done being the nice guy.

“This is entirely your fault, you know that (Y/N)?” He mused as he strode forward, crouching to set down a towel on the ground, slowly laying each item down onto it. Might as well build up your fear and anticipation.

“If you hadn’t provoked me so, I would’ve been able to be continue holding myself back.” He could hear your breathing pick up as each item was set down, had to fight down a mocking smirk. “You had to be a brat though, egg me on like that. Well, if it’s not apparent by now, you’re probably going to regret that.”

“Please, please, oh god, this-you don’t need to-you-there’s-“

“Didn’t you just accuse me of being a villain? I’m just trying to live up to your expectations here, isn’t that what you want?”

Aizawa finished emptying his arms, then headed towards you, holding the extra pair of cuffs in his hand. He caught your eyes, watching you beg, try to push yourself back into the wall, away from him. There was no doubt that you were terrified, practically having a panic attack as you hyperventilated, eyes darting between Aizawa, the cuffs in his hands, the items on the towel behind him. 

It was easy for Aizawa to grab ahold of your already-bound wrists, pulling them down to the ground, right above the top of the mattress. Quickly, one cuff was attached to your wrist, the other cuff slipped through a small, recessed metal ring in the ground. 

After you had…. “moved in”, Aizawa had done some renovations. The angle he had you trapped at now kept your arms stretched above your head, immobile and unable to move more than an inch in any direction. It’d be uncomfortable if you were left like that for too long, but Aizawa was still planning on being somewhat merciful today. 

You were still babbling quietly, pleading with the man. “You don’t need to do this, please, please please please please-!” You sobbed out the last “please”, trying to wrench your arms free.  Of course it was useless, and you were doing nothing but tiring yourself out, but Aizawa didn’t mind.

It was easy to attach the spreader bar to each ankle, despite the way you cried and kicked, ankles slipping out of his grasp a couple times before he could finally pin them down. Aizawa felt eerily calm, patient, but at the same time seething, excited, almost foaming at the mouth for what he knew was to come.

“Struggling won’t achieve anything, but feel free to do so.” He encouraged, shuffling backwards on his knees to look at you, stretched out body on display.

You were still wearing clothes, a thin t-shirt, a pair of loose basketball shorts - all Aizawa’s.  He had immediately told you to leave your old clothes outside the bathroom door when you showered the second day after he had captured you.

 You had resisted at first, but quickly relented when the man raised an eyebrow, shrugging his shoulders before advancing towards you menacingly. You had gotten the message loud and clear, immediately backing down, agreeing to wear the clothes you were given.

Aizawa retreated to the towel, swiping a pair of scissors off of it. Brandishing them, he snipped them twice in warning. “You might want to be still for this part. I don’t actually want to cut you, so if it happens, it’ll be your fault.”

And then he bent over, carefully snipping the clothes off of your rigid body. 

As soon as the last shred of fabric fell away, you breathed in air, immediately letting out a loud, tearful wail. Aizawa felt a twinge of regret, but the quickly-growing bulge in his pants currently outweighed any other feelings he might be having.

Putting the scissors safely out of reach, the man let himself rest back on his heels, surveying your body the way one surveys their food before taking a bite. And oh, was he going to eat you up.

You were writhing, tears falling from yours eyes, still babbling out nonsense as you begged for him to stop, to reconsider, to think about what he was doing. 

“I’ve thought about this plenty. It’s called fantasizing.” He murmured, before gently resting his hand against your naked hip. 

You spooked like a wild horse, thrashing the second his hand made contact, crying and wailing, shying away from his touch.

Aizawa was glad he had the foresight to bring a gag.

You were so worked up, you didn’t even notice him grabbing it, didn’t register his hand clamping around your jaw, wrenching it open and shoving the ball gag past your teeth. You quickly fought against that too, outright screaming, trying to shake your head, pull away from the hands fastening the strap around your head. But Aizawa was quick, and good with his hands, and your screams became muffled, nothing more than desperate background noise to the defiling of your body.

Resuming his exploration, Aizawa cradled your head in both hands, pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead. “If you relax, it won’t be as stressful for either of us.”

With another muffled scream, you turned your head, tear-filled eyes glaring at the wall. 

“Or you can be a brat.” Aizawa laughed, a sound he wasn’t used to making. “Either way, it’s not gonna change what’s happening.”

Returning to the towel, Aizawa picked up the next couple of items, turning back to see you watching him through teary eyes. He presented the items in his hands, showing them to you. If you were curious, might as well let you see how he was planning to take you apart.

The second your eyes fell onto the lube, the bullet vibrator, the skin-safe tape, you wailed again, closing your eyes in horror, shaking your head. Aizawa breathed out his nose, humored at your terrified reaction. Not so tough when you were tied up, at the mercy of a man, were you?

Your legs were already held apart by the spreader bar, and no matter how you squirmed when Aizawa kneeled next to your hip, you couldn’t close your legs. When Aizawa’s warm hand ghosted over your stomach, you cried behind the gag, and when his hand made contact with your soft pink folds, you absolutely bawled, the sound loud and pitiful even as muffled as they were.

Aizawa wanted to tease, to feel all around, rub against your labia, tickle your clit, skirt around your opening. He let himself indulge a little, before pulling back, squirting out a dollop of lube onto his fingers. When the cold wetness touched you, there was barely any reaction, the way you were already panicking essentially making you loose all feeling.

That was alright, Aizawa knew that would change soon.

He let his hand wander around your entrance, massaging the lube into your skin, taking special care of your clit, your inner labia, the puffy folds. The man got lost in the sensation of your warmth underneath his fingertips, eyes slowly falling shut, a low hum coming from his throat in a natural attempt to soothe you. 

The man didn’t know how long he stayed like that, gently massaging wetness onto your skin, humming, but by the time he opened his eyes, your weeping had essentially subsided. You were making cute little sniffling sounds, trying to calm yourself, your own eyes closed, limbs almost relaxed, as if you’d accepted your fate.

When Aizawa took his hand away to reach for the bullet vibe, you barely moved. When he pulled back the lips of your labia, nestling the small, ovular vibrator against your clit, you only flinched. He pinched your labia lips almost painfully, hiding the vibrator underneath them as he pushed it hard onto your clit, before taping thick strips over your skin. When he was done, the vibrator was firmly in place, immovable, covered almost completely by your labia, which in turn was held over the vibe with the skin safe tape. 

The vibe was turned on, and Aizawa swore that your back arched so fast and hard he heard it pop. You writhed on the thin mattress, pulling at the chains binding your hands to the floor, trying to turn onto your side, bucking your hips, jerking and twisting this way and that at the overwhelming sensation. Aizawa had never used the bullet vibe on himself, but he’d felt the strength of the vibrations against his hand as he decided on a setting for you, feeling the tingly sensations through your skin through the tape, before kicking it up a few notches. 

You were screaming behind the gag - Aizawa guessed you weren’t used to toys, but he felt no remorse. He put a strong hand on your hip, holding you flush to the mattress as your hips moved about wildly.

“This is what a villain would do. They’d tie you up, assault you…. Tear you down and exhaust you until you turn into a broken little cockslut. Aren’t I so much nicer? At least I plan on taking care of you after. Plus, I’ll still lo-“

He cut himself off, grimacing at the words that had almost slipped out. Aizawa wasn’t ready to admit that to himself just yet. He wanted to hold onto the allusion that he could resist you, that he didn’t need you, that you weren’t unequivocally important to him

Not like you were listening.

With a sigh, Aizawa sat back, content to watch you writhe as you wiggled your hips, the movement making your breasts jiggle slightly. Aizawa groaned internally, his erection straining, throbbing inside his pants.

“You’re so beautiful, your body is…. Indescribable really.” The man mumbled, eyes trained on your form. A sheen of sweat was covering your skin, making you shimmer, making you slick. Aizawa’s hands itched as he looked at you, wanting desperately to wrap around your waist, to hold you close as he rut against you. But he wanted to prove a point. He wanted to show you that he could be nice, that he had been treating you good, that you shouldn’t be a childish brat and shout insults at him every day.

But god, was it hard to just sit back and watch you.

He unzipped his pants, reaching past the waistband of both pants and boxers, hissing as he took his erection in hand. He was wet, leaking precum, but did he expect anything else? You were laid out in front of him like a feast, delicious.

You were so overwhelmed by the vibrator strapped to your pussy, you didn’t even notice Aizawa beginning to jerk himself off. It’s probably better that way, he figures - if you realized what he was doing, you’d probably have a fit. Your cries faded into tearful whimpers, long whines, which then morphed into guilty moans, enjoyment that you couldn’t hide. When you came the first time, Aizawa was watching your body, stroking his cock in time to the way your hips jumped against the vibe. 

When you came the second time, hair a mess, Aizawa moaned your name a little, his own cheeks flushed with embarrassment and desire as he squished his thumb against the tip of his cock.

The third time you came, screaming out muffled nonsense, Aizawa couldn’t take it anymore.

He leaned forward, quickly undoing your gag, having to let go of his cock to work on the straps. When the plastic ball was free from your mouth, drool slicked over your chin, gulping breaths being taken, Aizawa surged forward, pressing you back into the mattress as he kissed you hungrily. 

You whined into his mouth, naked chest pressed against his shirt, crying in overstimulation as the vibrations between your legs didn’t give up.

“Mhm, you taste-“ The man had broken away from your mouth, only to dive back in again for a quick taste before speaking again. “-so damn good.”

“Aizawa-Aiz-aah! Aah!” You keened, a fourth orgasm washing over you, leaving your nerves tingling, buzzy. 

“That’s right, that’s who’s making you feel so good. You feel good, don’t you?” He pressed, crowding closer to you. He was in the process of pushing down his pants, his boxers, kicking them off.

“No, no no no, can’t-can’t-it hurts! Mmmfh-!” You moaned, back arching again.

“Don’t lie. Listen to yourself, you sound like a whore.” Aizawa chuckled breathlessly, turning you slightly onto your side. He was feeling hot, flushed, feverish. He wanted to do so many things - fuck you stupid, cuddle you close, give you warm hugs and kiss your pussy until you ground against his face.

“No I…. I don’t!” You yelped, the way he was positioning you pushing the vibrator into a different position. “Aiz-mmmm, Aizawa! Please-oh god, oh god-oh, please, st-OP!”

A kiss shut you up, Aizawa licking inside your mouth, feeling your saliva smear against his stubbled chin, felt you fighting against your bindings again. Where did you get all the energy? 

He didn’t break the kiss to look down, to take himself in hand and guide his cock into the tight plushness of your thighs, right up against your dripping, messy cunt.

When he pushed forward, his mouth fell open. There was so much /pleasure/, he felt dumb, thick-headed and cotton-mouthed. You were so warm, so wet, and the vibrator was still buzzing away happily,  pulsating through his cock as it rested against your pussy. 

He wanted to cum, right then and there. 

Feeling his thick cock pressing between your thighs, you wrenched yourself away from the kiss, whimpering as he pressed his cock up to chase the buzzing sensation, increasing the pressure of the vibe against your skin.

“Wait, ah, wait! Please, no more-mhmm! I’ll-I’ll be gO-od!” You whined, hips bucking again as the feeling built up again. 

Aizawa thumbed at the wetness covering your face, trying to wipe away the tears, but simultaneously forcing you to look into his eyes.

“Shh, it’s okay. Let it out, I won’t look, there’s no need-fuck-no need to be embarrassed sweetheart.” 

He reassured, knowing you were close to humming again. This time, he didn’t want you to have to finish alone.

With another gentle caress to your cheek, Aizawa grabbed your hips, before smoothly sliding his cock through your thighs, fucking right against your pussy. It felt incredible, better than anything else he’d ever experienced in his sex life - hell, in his entire existence.

Aizawa tried to hold himself back from humping against you, pumping his hips wildly, but he couldn’t stop himself. Not when he was so worked up, not when you were moaning and gasping in his arms, shaking towards another orgasm.

“That’s it, almost there, just a little longer.” He reassured, voice strained and almost cracking in pitch as he neared his end.

“I can’t, I can’t, don’t make me! Don’t-aaah! No, no, plea-SE!” 

Your muscles tensed, Aizawa could feel it, your body pressed so tightly against his own. Then you were gone, eyes rolling back, mouth open in a silent gasp, brows furrowed as you were forced into cumming again.

It made Aizawa burst, feeling your thighs tense around his cock, your cunt convulsing, body trembling. He came easily, covering the inside of your thighs with his sticky seed, before quickly pulling himself free. 

He had just had an earth-shattering orgasm, but he needed to get you cleaned up. After all, you had just had /several/ earth shattering orgasms.

The vibe was turned off, the tape gently pulled away You flinched at every tug, skin burning with sensitivity, all of your nerves fried and overstimulated. 

Tape off, Aizawa reached up and unbound your hands, quickly throwing the vibe and extra set of cuffs back towards the towel (he hoped - his brain wasn’t working well enough to know if he was accurate or not).

Aizawa felt... good, warm inside. He didn’t want to acknowledge the feelings swirling around in his chest, the contentedness that came from just holding you, but he couldn’t exactly deny all of it either.

The two of you sat there, you lost in your own headspace (subspace? Aizawa didn’t know the terms.. but for you, he’d be willing to learn).

“You did so well, look at you.” The man breathed, looking down at your body. Fuck him, even covered in sweat and cum and fluids, you were still the most enticing thing he had ever seen.

You didn’t respond, just occasionally blinking at the ceiling, still as a mouse. 

You were submissive and compliant for the time being, not struggling when Aizawa gathered you into his arms, cradled your head to his chest. His heart soared at the physical contact - you hadn’t let him do so much as look at you without yelling or snarking some mean insult. This was progress.

Aizawa kissed the top of your head, noting that the two of you would need a long shower in a bit. 

You were so fucked out, Aizawa almost felt a little bad at your disheveled state.

At least he had been merciful this time.

[legobiwan]

Alright, back from seeing Black Widow, my first movie in an actual theater since this whole Covid nonsense blew through. (For the record, the last movie I watched in a theater was Birds of Prey.) Thoughts below.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

You have been warned.

This movie should have been released 4 years ago. Considering everything that has gone down with Infinity War, Endgame, and the TV shows (specifically Falcon & the Winter Soldier), it was somewhat jarring to slingshot all the way back to the period just following Civil War.

On the whole, the action was...okay. Marvel, for me, has always been about the characters more than the boom-booms, and while it was great to see Natasha and Yelena kicking ass all over the screen, it didn't quite have the same immediacy as the hand-to-hand fight sequences in Winter Soldier, which I personally hold as The Standard for Marvel fight choreography.

The best parts of this movie came in the quiet moments, which there were a surprising amount of, considering some of the pre-release criticism had excoriated the film for weighing down the scales on the action side, which I didn't find to be the case at all.

So, chemical subjugation as opposed to straight-up brainwashing. We didn't get too much background on this, beyond Melina's pig experiments, but I'd be interested to see if they expand on this concept (and the antidote) in future media.

(And imagine if that chemical were combined with the serum - Zemo (and Bucky) would have apoplexy. I know there hasn't been much Winter Soldier/Red Room crossover in the MCU thus far, but that would have...legs, I think.)

Speaking of super-soldiers, Red Guardian was fantastic. I laughed. A lot.

Now, he does boast in prison that he fought Captain America in the 80s. Obviously, this was not Steve, as Steve was still doing his best frozen dessert impression in the Arctic at that point. Two possibilities come to mind here (and yes, I realize he could be bullshitting but let me run with this): firstly, (and this is the one I think would be most accurate for MCU projects going forward), is that this might have been Isaiah Bradley. The timeline fits and he's had a solid enough introduction in FatWS that it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination. My second idea (which is admittedly a lot more fan fiction-y and something I posit solely for the angst angle) is that this "Captain America" was actually a Bucky/Winter Soldier who had been dressed up in some approximation of a Steve costume and made to act as "Captain America" for propaganda/training/observation purposes with the Red Guardian, Bucky's handlers knowing he would be able to emulate Steve's fighting style and vocal cadence, especially with the right manipulations. (Yup, there's a story in there which I will not be writing but would totally read.)

Also, along the line of super-soldiers - what is Red Guardian doing in 2025? Because Zemo would have probably wanted to have a word or a bullet or two.

So Dreykov's plan was to take over the world at his leisure through brainwashing and global assassins? Ehhhhh...didn't love that part, it really felt like Vanilla Hydra-esque World Takeover Mambo #9.

This being said, the scenes with Natasha and Dreykov were some of the best in the movie outside the family shenanigans. ScarJo got to show some real range there and it worked.

And this leads to the social commentary about women in the film. It's funny, because I feel that it was both very well-done (Natasha/Derykov, the forced hysterectomy conversation on the helicopter) but also wholly hamfisted (basically everything with the nameless mass of other Widows and Dreykov's far too pointed, Ebeneezer Scrooge line about controlling the "excess population" of women). The film, as a totality, did well by its female characters, allowed them to be messy, to kick massive ass, didn't touch any kind of forced romance, and definitely communicated how men can exploit women (and young girls). But Marvel (at least in the films - the TV shows tend to be more nuanced) is still not quite getting that balance right and have a habit of tipping into the "tell" (more like instruct from a soapbox) not "show" messaging strategy.

Taskmaster was...okay. Her introduction and first few scenes were cool, as was the way she emulated many familiar fighting forms (I caught Bucky's knife flip, Hawkeye's shooting, and Natasha's whole...thing), but in the end, she was a generic villain of the week, kind of like Ghost in Antman and the Wasp. I really didn't care one way or the other what happened to her.

Anyone else feel like we didn't really get much of an explanation re: Bucharest Budapest even though we kind of got an explanation about Bucharest Budapest?

More of a general cinema comment, but I've been watching all my streaming with captions the past year or so (which has helped me immensely, because sometimes the mixing in these is just not good) and I missed having them here, as a lot of characters tended to deliver lines somewhat sub rosa, and it wasn't always easy to track what was going on.

The family dynamics and Yelena's character were highlights. Gotta find that "cool" away to die.

Interesting that Yelena is already working for Val in the post-credits. Wonder what kind of organization she's setting up there. (Gods, I love Val.)

I will say that Natasha had a lot of wonderful character moments in this film, and it really bridged the gap between the Captain America movies and her Endgame character.

I'm always a sucker for a found family trope. No complaints there.

On the whole, great character moments in the quiet sections, forgettable action (although I'm still figuring out the whole nerve/bashing your head on the table thing), decent meta-commentary but far too removed from its real-life timeline. 7/10

[wolverinesorcery]

In celebration of the equinox and to give offerings to my land-ancestors, a friend and I went on a hike across Penwith. We picked our places in advance and tried to stick to them with minimal wandering - it's rough terrain with plenty of mine shafts to disappear into.

In order we tried to get to - Madron Holy Well, Lanyon Quoit, Lanyon Tea Room (we needed refreshments!), Bosilack Barrow, the Men-an-Tol, Mên Scryfa and the Venton Bebibell holy well, before hiking over to Morvah to get the bus back home. I took a baked lavender loaf along to leave a bit in each place as an offering to ancestors and the land.

5:30am start for me - thankfully I slept well enough that I didn't crash immediately. Breakfast and out into a misty street which felt especially appropriate for the day. Our travel before we actually start the hike took two hours via bus, but it was nice to sit back and watch rolling Cornish fields go by!

Once we got off in Madron we started the walk - the footpaths are well worn into the ground and none of them were paved (aside from loose rocks...but that doesn't quite count). It was fairly easy between the bus stop and the Chapel, it was still a bit of a trek across fields and a very humid trail to the chapel. I threw the first off the loaf deep into the flora, letting the Piskies know it's all theirs as a gift. We found the chapel and sat with a snack and a drink, and enjoyed the incredible peace that we found there. There was a very funny bird call - sounding like a whistle for our attention. In retrospect it was likely a blackbird! What a wonderful thing to hear during a day of transition - from the last of summer into true Autumn, AND a day full of magical occurrences. We headed back along the trail but unfortunately we could only hear the well, we couldn't get to it because of an awful lot of mud and brambles (my legs look like they did as a child on adventures)! My friend and I tied up some cotton muslin (biodegradable - it'd be disrespectful to leave something polluting there) and made our wishes.

After trying (and failing) to get closer to the Holy Well, we decided to stop squelching about in the mud and head up and out towards Lanyon Quoit. We trekked up a very buzzy right of way, I squealed about a Cornish Cross in the verge, got slightly turned around in a field full of cows (and I lost a button getting over the wall), and ended up with wet feet before we finally got to the Quoit. It had a very "homey" atmosphere - like walking into a close relatives house while they've got a party with all the familiar ancestors. We elected to eat the majority of our lunch there under the quoit, sharing bread and coffee with the ancestral spirits and chatting quite openly between both ourselves and any unseen hosts.

Back across the stile and off down to Lanyon Tea Room to get a coffee and a sit down (and use a toilet!). The most beautiful little spot in the middle of nowhere and well worth a visit if anyone visits the area. All along our hike we saw birds of prey - beautifully circling and hunting. They were the most wonderful and direct signal from Annown that ancestors and spirits were watching and guiding us today. After our little coffee stop we doubled back up the path to Bosiliack Barrow.

It was a rougher hike to it and we didn't realise how close we were until we were on it. It was a much more sombre and unsettled energy, a tomb forgotten and crying and lost in a landscape that became unfamiliar to the ancestors there. The barrow is a neolithic tomb with a Scillonian entrance - it aligns with the rising winter solstice sun. I sat with my back against the stones, letting the energy settle and it truly felt like someone resting their hand over mine. I left a large chunk of the bread and burning incense there, and have made a promise to myself and them to include space on my altar for the unsettled ancestors to seek peace.

There was a mild case of getting piskey-laden while trying to make our way to the  Mên-an-Tol - every gate was like the wrong gate until pockets were turned inside out and a very firm "please stop!" was yelled into the land. It was still a struggle after that though for different reasons - the path was incredibly overgrown with brambles and thistles and all kinds of grasses and I came out very cut up and my friend had a panic with how close and bug-y everything was. It didn't last long - only five or ten minutes - and then we were on a much more established path that runs from Ding Dong mine through to the Mên-an-Tol. We went past more than a few caved in mine tunnels - the whole land beneath us like swiss cheese.

Once we got to the Mên-an-Tol we took it in turns to wriggle through the holey stone, now neither of us will get rickets, and admire the landscape around us. We also took a moment to have a few snacks and drink some water, coming up the last of our hike stops before we headed down to Morvah. The Mên-an- Tol still has ancestral energy but it's vastly different - Lanyon Quoit and Bosiliack Barrow were homes and tombs, but the Mên-an-Tol is a ritual site! A place of ceremony and celebration! It was relaxed and welcoming. Quite a few people had left gifts of their own there, so it's nice to know our own gifts are in good company.

After the Mên-an-Tol we walked up the incredibly easy track to Mên Scryfa - a carved standing stone. I left bread on the very top of it as a gift to the ancestor it marks - Mên Scryfa translates to "Stone with Writing" and commemorates Rialobranus son of Cunovalus (Wikipedia and other sites go into much more detail about it). It was a very open energy - Madron Chapel & Bosiliack Barrow were both closed, intense energies while Lanyon Quoit, the Mên-an-Tol & Mên Scryfa have open inviting and relaxed energies (along with the rest of the land's sprowl). It was wonderful to see it. Afterwards we tried to find the Venton Bebibell holy well but unfortunately while we heard and just saw the bottom, it was incredibly overgrown and unsafe for us to get too close too (not for lack of trying)!

After hiking down to Morvah, bothering the most beautiful cows and waiting for the bus back, google maps totalled our walk to 8.3 miles (I'm not sure if that includes going up hill & down dale though). Tiring, rewarding, a chance to reenergise with sprowl and imbue my wiggly ritual knife with the serpents energy. I've already started planning a trip back to the barrow on the winter solstice to pay respects and care for the ancestral soul there, next time I won't get my socks wet in the first few minutes though!

Also posted on pysksos - https://pysksos.blogspot.com/2021/09/autumnal-equinox-hike.html

[mysoftboybensolo]

The Alienist and the Soprano

Chapter 8: The Confusion

A/N:  This was inspired by Laszlo’s love of opera and my thought on what if he fell for an opera singer. Multi chapter. Canon divergence, there is no Mary Palmer here (I loved Mary and Laszlo, so I don’t feel like I could have her here and have him be with another woman). A mix of show and book canons. No Y/N, OC named Evelina Lind.

A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32029150

Pairing: Laszlo Kreizler x Fem OC!

Summary: The last thing Laszlo Kreizler ever expected while investigating the death of children was to fall in love, and with an opera singer no less!

Warnings: Age gap, angst, kidnapping.

The next few days was one of the most tense anyone in the group had ever had. Unlike their other cases, the person they were on the look out for hadn’t done anything note worthy to the police and therefore not worthy of police involvement. So, it was left up to the team to handle this themselves. It was Laszlo who came up with the plan, each of them would take turns going to the opera with Evelina was a guard, and Sara would protect her from the safety of her home. It was agreed upon, particularly at the insistence of Evelina, that no one at the opera would know, as it was seen to be for the best, for if they knew, it could arouse suspicion and possibly frighten Winston away.

The first day Lucius and Marcus watched over her, and though they would have done whatever was needed to be done to help, they were glad that they were replaced by John. Out of the three men, John was the more intimidating one, and if any scuffle were to happen, he’d be the better fighter. It escaped no one’s eyes when they noticed John at the opera, and the rumors slowly grew of his reasons why.

These rumors had yet to reach the ears of the doctor, who during the day kept an eye on both his children and Evelina, then in the evening visiting her and Sara, checking in for any signs of disturbance. Sara got to see firsthand the kind of meetings that Evelina and Laszlo have had when she’d go to his office, and she began to wonder. Is it possible that a soprano and an alienist would be a love match? It seemed silly at first, but she couldn’t help but to wonder.

After four days of no sign of Winston, John and Laszlo wondered about what to do, and Laszlo decided that he would talk once again to Roosevelt and if he couldn’t move him, then he himself will go to the opera with Evelina and see if it will lure Winston out. Somehow, Evelina found out and after the rehearsal the next day, Evelina hurried to John and asked, “John, is it true that Laszlo is going to watch over me tomorrow?”

“Well, yes.”

“Why?”

He looked at her confused, “To watch over you.”

“No, I mean…John, please convince him not to. I am sure that Winston is very jealous of him, and I fear that if he sees Laszlo with me, something dreadful will happen.”

“But perhaps it will do us good. If Laszlo is what triggers him, then it will mean an end to this.”

“Not at the risk of Laszlo’s life. Oh, please,” she asked, her hands gripping his jacket desperately, “Convince him not to!”

He looked down at her amazed. “If it really means that much to you.”

She released her hands from his jacket, looked away and blushed. “I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

He nods, then says, “Listen, why don’t we get a little lunch? I think it’ll do us both some good.”

He takes her to a small café where they enjoy a cup of tea and cakes and begin to relax a bit. “Oh, I think that was terribly romantic, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” she says, after he tells the story of how he tried to woo a girl from his college years.

John chuckled, then said, “Laszlo calls me a hopeless romantic, sometimes as if it is a hopeless flaw.”

“Then it is a flaw we share.”

“Funny, we both…” John stopped short, a quick glance of fear of revealing too much, then distracted himself with a sip of his tea.

Evelina smirked and finished his thought. “Two romantics, in love with cynical people.”

John looked at her and a wash of relief overcame him. At last, someone he could speak of his feelings on the subject to. “How could you tell?”

“You’ve hidden it quite well, but I’ve seen it in your eyes, they just glow when she comes into view, or even the mere mention of her name, you light up.” She bit her lip, then asked, “How could you tell with me?”

“Oh, at first, I hadn’t been sure, but then when I saw that you hadn’t run off after his probing, I only thought of two things, either you are a mad woman, or a woman in love.” They chuckled, then John, very seriously asked, “Do you think that there is any hope for me? I mean, is there in any way, I might be able to win her over? She never seems interested, and yet she is.”

She takes a moment to consider her words, then she speaks. “I think perhaps Sara is worried what it will mean. To her, love and independence cannot mix. It must be one or the other, but she doesn’t realize that she can have both. If the man loves her enough to understand her need of freedom, he will earn her eternal love, and I think you could be that man.”

“And I think you could very well be the woman to bring happiness to Laszlo. If he allows himself to have it.”

She couldn’t help but to smile at the thought. Yes, John thinks she could make Laszlo happy, but he did not confirm whether Laszlo felt the same. But nevertheless, it gave her some courage and thought she might do something about it.

Sara and Laszlo walked around the park, hoping to catch a glimpse of this man. Evelina gave a detailed account of her brother; age 27, tall and slender, dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, sharp features, and full mouth. The most distinct feature, she said, was faint scars down the left side of his face from where she scratched at him when fending him off. They walked around the city every day and didn’t seem to be any closer.

“He is around here, I know it,” Sara said, “He would never be too far from where she could be.”

“Yes,” Laszlo agreed, “The predator never loses sight of his prey.”

“I better return home; Evelina said her rehearsal is half today and I should be there to meet her. What time is it?”

Laszlo reached for his pocket watch, but out fluttered was a handkerchief and he quickly snatched it back, as if hoping it would not be seen. But Sara saw and her mouth fell open at the sight. It was a white handkerchief with lace edging and embroidered blue bird. That was where it went, and Sara had read plenty of stories to know that such a gesture was always fueled by romantic feelings. Laszlo was in love with Evelina. Of course, it makes so much more sense now. Of all the times he spoke of Evelina, how awkward and unsure he was around her, which he never was around anyone else, for he was perhaps one of the most confident insecure men she ever knew. And yet, around Evelina, Sara could see his wall slightly lowered for her, which he never did unless someone took whacks at it at first.

“I um,” Laszlo stumbled with his words, “I have to go, meeting Roosevelt now. Goodbye.” He hurried off, avoiding any words with Sara. He heard his heart pounding in his ears knowing that Sara will put the pieces together. To help distract him, Laszlo hurried to his meeting, hoping to convince Roosevelt to help in their case. Theodore Roosevelt is a good man, but he is also a practical man. “My friend, there is barely any proof that this man is after her, or rather that there is any man after her. Any one from her building could have taken her knickers, it may not even be her brother. With her profession, it is not hard to see her dealing with this kind of thing. And if I were to assign an officer to every woman who has been accosted by a man, I’d have not only no men left, but I’d have to hire more!”

“But regardless, whether it is her brother, suitor or some pervert off the street, she should not be intimidated by anyone and feel frightful of stepping out of her door. Please Theodore, I am just asking for some protection for her.”

He thinks about it, but he shakes his head. “I am sorry. Give me some concrete proof and then I’ll see about assigning someone. I appreciate that you are doing this as a favor to John, but even he must know my limits.”

Laszlo looked at him confused. “John?”

“Yes. I mean after all, for all the times they spent together, it’s clear he has an interest in her. And I must say, what a handsome couple they make,.”

Laszlo stared at him, feeling a twinge of pain in his chest, and gulped. “Do they?”

“Of course! You can tell she clearly favors him above all others. Why, as I was heading over here, I saw them at a café, and you should have seen how they were laughing and going on. It does make sense, when you think of it; both are artists, he with a pen and she with her voice. It is a good match, I think, and he better make the proposal soon if he doesn’t want to lose her.” A knock at the door interrupted them, and Theodore sighed. “Well, I better be going. Good day, Laszlo.”

Laszlo barely acknowledged Theodore as he became lost in his thoughts and insecurity. Walking back at the institute in a daze as he thought over everything. He had been terribly mistaken, as it seemed to be his curse, in matters of the heart. He had felt certain that her frequent visits were because of growing feelings, but it had to have been because she wanted to be kind to the old man who saved her from abuse. Yes, that had to be it. And he was the fool to allow his heart to be taken by someone too good for him. This heartbreak was awful, and once in the safety of his office, he grabbed a pillow and screamed a painful aching sound into it.

Sara worked at her typewriter, working on the paperwork of this case, when she felt a presence. Turning in her chair, she sighed as she saw Evelina sitting on the couch, a pensive look on her face, as if it was a matter of life and death. “I didn’t hear you come back.”

Evelina jumped at the sound of Sara’s voice, but relaxed and offered a small smile. “I only just came in.” She bit her lip, then asked, “Sara, may I ask you a question?” She patted the spot next to her, allowing Sara to sit beside her. “Have you ever been in love? I mean, really and truly in love?”

Sara was stumped by the question. Unsure of how to answer that question. “I-what do you mean?”

A slight smiled appeared on her lips as she continued. “I only ask because, well, because I need some advice. I am in love. You see, at first, I thought it was just a little infatuation, that perhaps because he rescue me, I had developed feelings that weren’t really there. Then as I got to know him better, I found that he is brilliant, brave and good. Oh, I know he isn’t perfect, he has his faults and everyone knows it, but deep down, he is a fine man, one of the finest men I have ever known. He cares a lot more than he lets on and I know it comes from a place of hurt so that is why he shields his heart. But it didn’t stop me from loving him. I know I do. What would you do, Sara? What would you do if you were me?”

Hearing her words, Sara felt convinced of who she spoke of, and pushed down her own feelings of disappointment and pain. Then her thoughts shifted to Laszlo. Poor Laszlo. He no doubt will be crushed to find out her true feelings, but like the gentleman he can be, he’d never say anything if it means another’s happiness. “If you truly love this man, you must tell him. And I am sure that John will be happy to hear of your feelings.”

Evelina looked at her puzzled then shook her head. “Sara, I am not speaking of John. Oh, do not get me wrong, he is a fine man and a good friend, but how could I even think to have feelings for him when it is clear he adores you and you him?”

Sara shook her head. “Um, that is not, we are not…No.”

Evelina chuckled and gave her a look. “Keep telling yourself that, Sara.”

Sara then gave a puzzled look and said, “Forgive me, but if it is not John, then-” she stopped herself and remembered who else was there to save her that night. “Laszlo. You love Laszlo!”

Evelina nodded. “I know that to many it is a peculiar match, but they don’t know him as I do. He is brash, closed off, and such a dear!” She says the last words with such adoration.

Sara tried to bite back a smile, but she couldn’t help it. “Has Laszlo ever said anything to you?”

“No. I think perhaps he sees me only as a friend, but I swear, I’d see him looking at me in a certain way, says a word, or perhaps touch me in a way that makes me wonder if he feels the same as I do. But I think it’s only my vain desire for him to reciprocate.”

Taking her hands, Sara smiled and with confidence said, “Evelina, I can safely assure you, you are not wrong. Laszlo does feel the same, I know he does.”

“Has he said so?”

“Not in the exact words, but everything else he does and says have told all I could ever know. Whenever someone mentions you, his eyes just have a certain glow in them, and I’ve never seen him be so at peace with himself and the world until you came.”

Evelina’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Really. And I think you should tell him now. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste another second and let it all out. And I guarantee you, he will do the same.” Sara ran a friendly finger down Evelina’s face and smiled. “You two will be very happy, I know it.”

Sara walked Evelina out and hailed a carriage, watching her get in and instructed the driver to stay until Evelina returns back to the house. Evelina popped her head out of the window, took Sara’s hand and smile. “Would you like to know something Sara? When you said about his eyes having that glow? I noticed the same in John’s eyes when he sees you. Just thought you’d like to know.” And with that, the carriage raced off to the institute.

He had not expected to see her, for the plan was for her to go from the opera house back to Sara’s and if she were to ever go out, it would be accompanied by another. And yet, here she was, standing in his office, looking radiant, excited, and happy. She looked so happy, why wouldn’t she? She just spent the afternoon with John Moore, handsome, charming, able bodied John Moore. What more could a woman want? And he felt his heart crack at the thought, and he silently began to berate himself for daring to hope that he could be loved, for once in his life, to have someone love him back. Such a foolish hope, really, a waste of a dream.

“I presume you had a pleasant day with John.”

“Yes. Today has been enlightening, to say the least.”

“Yes, I am sure.” He fiddled with his bad hand, then suddenly became insecure and covered it with his good left one. “Evelina, I feel that as we have gotten close in a few short months, I feel safe in saying this.” She looked at him with such tenderness and joy that it sent a quiver through his heart and he thought he couldn’t go through with it. “John is a good man, can even be a great man with the right kind of woman beside him. He has some rather unfavorable habits, the brothels, the drinking, and gambling, but he would gladly give it all up. For you.”

He did not notice her hopeful expression turn to confusion, then hurt. Why was he saying all this? Was Sara wrong in her assumption?

“I think it would be a rather nice match, truly. And I can only see a promising and bright future for you both.” The next words he had to turn away, for this was the hardest part. “And I am sure that with everything in your life, you’ll not be able to see me as much. Oh, we will see each other at parties and at the opera, but I think that it would be best that you do not come to see me as much as you did. Certain professions leave rather damaging marks on those through association and it would be best that before any damage is done, that we agree that we should not see much of the other in the capacity such as this.”

Evelina stood, blinking to hold back the tears. “I see. Well, thank you, doctor, I shall take your advice. And you needn’t worry anymore of seeing me. In fact, I may even let you know when I shall be performing, so you need not bother coming. Good day.” She hurried out before he could say anything and once out of the house, she began to cry. She cried through the carriage ride back to Sara’s house and then ran in and up the stairs, sobbing terribly.

“Evelina?” Sara and Tessie looked at each other and hurried up the stairs, finding Evelina across the bed, sobbing into a pillow. “Evelina, dear. What happened?”

“He doesn’t feel the same! You were wrong, Sara. He doesn’t feel the same at all!”

“But what did he say? Evelina?” She continued to sob, and Sara turned to the maid and asked her to make a strong cup of coffee. As she waited, Sara continued to try and soothe her friend and figure out what happened. She tried to encourage Evelina to drink, but she nearly destroyed the cup when she pushed it away. “Evelina, please, tell me what happened.”

Evelina looked up and managed to say through the tears, “I went to tell him what I felt, but all he did was go on about how John and I would be a good couple and tried to warn me of his bad habits. Then,” fresh tears appeared but Sara continued to rub circles on her back, trying to calm her, “He said that we should not see each other anymore. He said that certain professions can be damaging to others.” She threw her fist down on the bed in hurtful anger, “He was talking about me! My profession as a singer is damaging to him! I bring shame to him but won’t even say the words! He couldn’t even look at me when he said it! He doesn’t feel the same, if anything, I think he hates me! Oh, God, how can I bear it?”

Sara looked down in shock. No, she was certain that Laszlo felt the same, Evelina’s handkerchief was the definite proof. Why would Laszlo say such things to her? “Evelina, I know I am not wrong and I shall get to the bottom of this.” Removing herself from the bed, she turned to Tessie and said, “Stay with her and try to calm her down. I’ll be right back.”

“What shall you do, Miss?” Tessie asked after her.

“I am going to knock some sense into that man, even if it means I must do so literally.” And down the stairs she went in a flash.

Laszlo had been holding this book for ten minutes, staring at its pages. His eyes looked over the words, but his mind couldn’t register their meaning. He replayed the interaction, trying to find the mistake. Perhaps it was the truth that made it difficult for her to accept, or perhaps it was how he said the words, but he couldn’t quite understand why she made that comment of warning him ahead of time when she would perform. She never struck him to be a volatile person, so if she was angry, she could have said so.

A powerful bang resonated in the room, making Laszlo jump and look up. It was Sara, the door swinging back from the force she gave it, her face a calm fury.

“Sara, what is the matter?” He got up, setting the book aside, and moved closer, “Are you hurt?”

“I am not here for myself but for another. Someone who is hurt and therefore I share her pain.”

Laszlo removed his glasses. “I am afraid I do not follow.”

“What happened just now with Evelina?”

“Um, I tried my best to encourage her pursuit of John, but I supposed I over shared of his past as she was solemn as she left.”

Sara shook her head. “Oh, men! How on earth did we ever allow you lot run the world? You hurt her terribly! The poor girl has been a sobbing wreck. I only managed to get her to calm down enough to tell me what happened. And even when I left, she was still a mess.”

The thought of her being hurt because of his carless words broke him and he cursed himself for his bluntness. “My intentions were never meant to hurt, but to encourage and to warn. I would never dream to hurt Evelina, it pains me now to think my words made her even shed a single tear.”

Sara took a deep breathe, as if to try and calm her fury, then spoke. “Laszlo, do you know why she came to see you?”

“Because of John.”

“Because of you! If you weren’t so filled with self-loathing and pigheadedness, you would have realized that she is in love with you!”

Laszlo wasn’t sure if what he heard was correct, he couldn’t be. Evelina in love with him? “What would make you say such a thing?”

“Because she told me so herself. When she did, I encouraged her to tell you, as I know you love her. No, don’t deny it,” she quickly cut him off, “I’ve seen it in your eyes, in your voice and manners, and if that wasn’t enough, I saw that you carry her handkerchief over your heart.” Laszlo’s hand instinctively reached up to the spot where he had safely tucked the material, and he felt his face grow warm at being caught. “Admit it, you love her.”

“Yes,” he softly admitted.

“Deeply.”

“More.”

“Then I beg you, come with me and let us clear this all up.”

“No. Even if what you say is true, she deserves someone better than me. She’s young, beautiful and entire life ahead of her. I’d only weigh her down.”

“Laszlo, do you realize that you are about to give up a chance to find happiness? Here is someone who loves and adores you and yet you refuse to believe it. Even if you refuse to think of yourself, think of her! She thinks you not only do not love her, but that you don’t want to be associated with her anymore due to her being in the opera. She thinks you outright despise her and that she brought shame to you by mere association.”

Laszlo was mortified beyond belief. So that was why she made that comment and stormed out of here. His words were never to imply she brought shame to him, but rather the other way around, that he would bring shame to her. “Yes, I must fix this.” He slipped his jacket on and followed Sara out the door, thinking only of Evelina. He tried to rehearse what he’d say to her, the proper words to correct his mistake. He just hoped that he was not too late.

When they arrived, Sara climbed out then froze. Laszlo looked out and was going to question Sara’s hesitation, but noticed that her door was ajar. Pulling out her pistol, Sara and Laszlo carefully entered the house, looking around. In the den, Sara noticed Tessie laid across the floor. Laszlo went to her and took her pulse. “It’s alright. She’s unconscious.”

“Evelina was in her room last I saw her.”

Laszlo felt a surge of panic as he ran up the stairs, skipping a few steps, and barged into the room. “Evelina? Evelina!” The room was empty, but there clearly was a fight as the sheets were pulled off the bed, a vase was shattered and scratch marks on the doorframe.

“Laszlo!” He hurried down the stairs, hoping that Sara had found her, but instead, he saw her holding up a note. “It’s addressed to you.”

Curious, he took the letter and nearly torn it in half opening it. He recognized the handwriting, the same that smashed through his window.

Dear Dr. Kreizler,

Though we have never met, you and I have a score to settle. You see, we both have something in common and that tie is Miss Evelina Lind. I urge you to meet me in the cellars of the opera house, in the prop rooms. I expect you alone, for this is a party of three and it would be dreadfully rude to invite others.

Sincerely,

Miss Lind and I shall be waiting eagerly of your arrival.

Winston Lind.

Laszlo felt his blood run cold. He has her. And it was his fault.

Tagging: @monsieurbruhl​ @flutterskies​ @sokoviandelights​​, @cazzyimagines​, @rumblelibrary​​, @fictionlandslanddreams​​, @violetmuses​​ and @barnesxnobles​. If anyone else would like to be tagged, please let me know!

[evolutionsvoid]

I feel that the creatures of the volcanic deserts (AKA obsidian deserts) are a group that is hardly known by the outside world. You get a lot of talk about the beasts that live in jungles, or the monsters that live in the vast labyrinth of the Underworld, but not a lot of people mention these creatures. I would be interested in knowing how many people are even aware they exist! I feel if I asked anyone what a Shockscale or Flab Rat was, they would think I was either talking about a magic thing or an insult. Volcanic deserts are rare biomes, but there are other uncommon ones that people seem pretty knowledgeable of! So why don't people talk about them? Well, one theory is that volcanic deserts frequently get confused with other volcanic deserts, by that I mean dry land plus volcano. So when folk hear about them, they are confused which is which. Or in some cases, they may go visit it to see what the excitement is about and just find an arid piece of land by a lazy smoldering mountain. Not really all that interesting. Or it could be that people don't think deserts have anything in them, as that often happens with regular ones! I have surprised a lot of people whenever I prattle on about all the creatures that live in deserts, as they assume it is a barren wasteland! So perhaps they feel the same for volcanic deserts. These are legitimate theories, but I would like to submit my own! I would say that no one really talks about the flora and fauna of volcanic deserts because those ecosystems are absolutely awful to visit and nobody in their right mind would ever set root in one! Grating sand! Razor stone! Nonstop wind and lightening! It is a nightmare! Every sane explorer would turn back the second they watched a dune explode into a black shower of bladed chunks and crackling energy! They would see the utter misery this landscape brings and think "why not try the next one?" Sadly, not all who explore are levelheaded, and not all who seek knowledge are smart. By the way, have you guessed where I am writing this entry? I got to have something to do while I cower in this obsidian tube and wait for the apocalypse to ease up outside.   My gripes aside, it is a darn shame that these creatures get overlooked. This biome, harsh and cruel it may be, has created some incredible species and the world deserves to know their presence! By writing this down and informing others, I also do the service of granting this knowledge so others don't have to suffer like I did! In most cases, I would encourage my readers to go out and see these incredible sights themselves, but here I am fine with them reading it in a book and looking at all the pretty pictures. So, with that, get a nice drink, find someplace cozy and not full of sand to sit, and read on! This entry is on a rather peculiar beast of these horrible lands: the Shockscale Urchin! The Shockscale Urchin (or just Shockscale) is a terrestrial version of those spiny little balls you find in the ocean, preferring the sandy places that have a whole lot of fire and lightening. Like sea urchins, they do look like a moving mound, though they are decked out in scales instead of spines. This image is possible because the underside of the urchin is where their feet are, hidden under all those beautiful scales. Down below is also where its mouth is, so its topside is really a featureless looking pile of scales. This simplicity, however, has its beauty, which can be seen in its magnificent scales! Mixes of purple and black on these sturdy, metallic scales! While many are small, they grow larger and thicker as they move down and away from the body. Anchored in special muscles, these outer scales sweep out from the body and form structures that seem more fitting for birds! Metallic wings and a fanning tail are formed from these scales and controlled by muscles.  Despite their appearance, they cannot fly, as they are too heavy and not built for such an action. They don't so much flap but sweep and flow as the Shockscale moves and dances. With such beautiful and hardy scales, one would most certainly want one as a souvenir! Finding such a memento would seem rather thrilling, and easy too! If you are ever in a volcanic desert (first of all, have you listened to nothing I have said?) and wander the dunes, you would find some of these scales left in the sand. In some cases, you may watch a Shockscale crawl along and shed some of these scales as they navigate the chaotic terrain. At first glance, you would think yourself lucky! Here is a pretty trinket, let me just reach down and grab it! If you find yourself in this situation, pray that you have a smarter friend nearby ready to tackle you away from this enticing treasure. Hopefully you aren't wondering why I would say this, because I feel the name of this species should give a whole lot away.

  Just like the landscape, which is constantly ravaged by violent storms, the Shockscale harnesses the power of lightening! Special organs within their bodies are capable of producing some series shocks, which means they don't have to rely on absorbing lightening like the Elmis Spire. This means that they cannot run out of this energy, as long as they have the strength to use these organs! By putting them at full charge, the Shockscale is capable of creating a shock that will knock you off your roots and fry your leaves! This effect is powered up because they are coated in these metallic scales, making it so much easier for them to zap you! Thankfully, though, this can only happen if you touch or step on one, right? Good news for them and bad news for us, the answer is: No! The amazing thing about the Shockscale is that they are able to weaponize this electricity in a rather ingenious way! The scales they shed are not lost by accident, they drop them on purpose! That is because these scales are really conductive and practically pull the electricity in. If the Shockscale releases its energy near these fallen scales, the lightening will jump from its body to these lost pieces! That means if you grab a scale while one of these urchins are nearby, there is a chance they will fry you! Like I said, these dropped scales are not by accident, the Shockscale actually uses them! These creatures tend to have territories they stick to, and here they do their hunting. They will sweep their "wings" in a circle and leave a ring of fallen scales. Moving to the center, they will bury themselves in the black sand and wait. When prey blunders through this practically invisible circle, the Shockscale will start zapping! Caught between the source and the energy-hungry scales, the electricity will flow through you while it makes its journey! The power of this shock is enough to drop a full grown human, as it messes with your nervous system and muscles. If you watch prey get caught in this shock trap, you will see them suddenly convulse and drop to the ground. They will twitch and writhe as the energy flows through them, as falling over unfortunately causes one to absorb even more of this shock. In most cases, the prey is killed by this powerful effect, and the Shockscale will emerge to claim its meal. The urchin will crawl atop its prey and use its hidden mouth to devour them. While Shockscales tend to fry smaller creatures, they are quite opportunistic. Anything that wanders into their territory is fair game, and the hungrier they are, the more likely they are to take risks. Even if huge creatures stomp through their circle, they will still shock them despite the fact they know it won't kill them. This is more of a deterrent, as the Shockscale would prefer not to get stepped on. I imagine this sudden way to go is part of the reason this ecosystem is believed to be cursed. How else would you explain someone suddenly convulsing and then dropping dead? Demonic possession? A smiting from the gods? Or perhaps a hungry echinoderm...     In most cases, the Shockscale uses its scales to create this deadly perimeter for both offense and defense. Here it can lay in safety as it waits for food to arrive. However, there are some instances where the Shockscale will use its scales in a different pattern. When traveling, the urchin will be without its special circle. In this state, a predator may try to attack them, assuming the creature is without its usual defense. Since its takes time and precision to properly set up its trap, the Shockscale will be caught off guard. In some cases, it might just hunker down and rely on its own electric body for defense. Some have seen, however, times when the Shockscale "flees," which is odd because they don't move that fast. The urchin will try to run for its life, but the predator will have no trouble keeping up. Obviously, the beast will not jump right in and take a bite, as the urchin will just fry them. Most attackers would tend to hang back and wait for a vulnerable moment. Stalking behind the fleeing Shockscale, they will wait for the right moment to strike and then suddenly drop dead. Turns out, the Shockscale wasn't running. When they "retreat," they are actually dropping scales behind them as they move. They know that their abilities work by proximity, and most predators won't get close enough to zap. So by leaving a breadcrumb trail of scales, they are setting up a devious trap. The predator will be lured forward with the idea that they have the advantage, causing them to walk atop this line of scales. By releasing its energy, the lightening will chain itself through these scales and fry the attacker. Pretty clever! With this defense, there isn't much that can really mess with this species! The only predation I have witnessed so far was by a pack of Flab Rats, whose rubbery hides offer protection from most shocks. Even then, they have to be sure the Shockscale is dead before they take a bite! All the insulation in the world doesn't matter if you jam the lightening bolt into your mouth! Same goes for knives, you little monsters. Though they are quite dangerous, there is elegance to found in these incredible creatures! The beautiful wings are for more than just dropping scales, they actually use them for dance! When mating season comes around, the males will begin to wander the dunes. They do not seek a spot to congregate, rather they seem to move in different directions. I have heard that they are influenced by the sun, moon and stars, using them to guide their way, but I have not fully confirmed that. As they wander, they will let their wings out to the full span and spin around. There is some kind of pattern and design to this dance, as they thrash back and forth or twirl, but no one has truly decoded it. What we do know is that this moving ballet leaves behind something quite gorgeous! Their movements and wings create patterns in the obsidian sand, and their trail is formed from this delicate art! If you are walking the dunes during the breeding season, you will see entire swathes of the landscape turned into a magnificent canvas! These artistic trails are for the females, who are also moving about. When a female crawls over these paths, they can feel and detect its pattern. It seems they can learn a lot about the male from the art he leaves behind, and this will decide if he is worthy or not. If the design is lacking, she will move on, but if it is a masterpiece, she will follow it. Since she is not slowed by the need for dance, she will soon catch up with the twirling male and the two will undergo the next step of courtship. The trail he left behind was meant to get her in the door, now this part is how he gets her to stay! Together, the two shall dance and spin around each other, with the male seeking to impress and the female silently judging. The male must perform the right moves and hit the right timing to have a chance with her. If he bungles it, she will leave and search elsewhere. If he succeeds, the two will mate and part ways. She will go off to lay her eggs deep within the dunes, while he will continue his dance and search for other females. The thing that always gets me with this particular way for attracting mates is how delicate the whole process is. They are doing all this communication through sand art, despite the fact this landscape is ravaged by storms at an almost constant rate. A powerful gust of wind will easily erase all traces of this act, so how do they make it work? One solid theory is that Shockscales breed during seasons when the storms are at their slowest (which I think means they come every six minutes rather than five). This gives them longer times to let their art survive and catch attention, before it is blown away and they have to start over. Others say that the Shockscales also leave scented scales or pheromone along their trail, which the female can still follow if the patterns are erased. Whatever the reason, they somehow make it work! Though the Shockscales are not mentioned a lot by everyday folk, just like a lot of fauna from volcanic deserts, there is something about them that has made it to many shores. In many places, you can hear superstitions and creepy tales about a land covered in darkness and ravaged by the wrath of the gods. This place is almost like purgatory, covered in lava and black blades. What makes this place even creepier are the "symbols" and "runes" left by some unknown culture. Those who have entered this inhospitable land have mentioned grand designs etched into the dunes, patterns and symbols that are alien to many eyes and tongues. All of this, and yet not a single soul is seen! Despite this, the patterns are blown away, but then suddenly remade! How can this be?! Is there some kind of civilization hidden within this terrible world, writing these alien words in the sand? Or is it the result of spirits and demons, roaming the world of fire and lightening? Perhaps it is something more confusing and frightening. You see, these patterns can reach such amazing sizes and intricacy, yet you would struggle to fully appreciate it on the ground. A mural carved into the landscape can only be viewed in one way: from above! Are these symbols made for or by angels? Are they the markings of entities high above our heads? What do they stand for? What do they mean? There are many tales and theories about these bizarre patterns, and I have heard them all! Truly bewildering stuff! I have had people talk my ears off about these crazy conspiracies, and all I can think during these lectures is: "Is this what its like?" The real bummer of it all is that whenever I join in and add my theories, everyone gets all sour. They spin an endless yarn about symbols of angels and the writing of the gods, but then I offer the translation of "Heeeeey, ladies! Wanna dance?" and suddenly I'm the nut job. Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian   ----------------------------------------------------- A creature design brainstormed between my friend @james-silvercat and me! I can't remember how we started on this, but at some point we were talking about my volcanic deserts and shingle urchins! Wound up being a really cool creature and a really cool design!  

[buferfliz]

Little Firefly

This is a sequel to my other story Little Birdie which can be found here.

Thank you to @silentprincessofhyrule​ for the awesome banner.

This story is for people 18+ only.

Please read the warning list, there is some darker stuff in this.

This isn’t a kinktober fic but it might as well be with all the stuff in here. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: 18+, swearing, smut, stalking, kidnapping, light voyeurism, predator/prey, yandere behavior, restraints, violence, injuries, breeding talk, cockwarming, hickeys, unwanted kissing and groping, attempted noncon, oral sex (receiving), vaginal sex, some angst, and some sappy fluff.

         It had been about a month and a half since your encounter with Hawks. You hadn’t heard from him which you thought was for the best anyway. You had only done what you did because Dabi had asked you and although it was fun, it was not something you wanted to do again. You only wanted one man in your life and that man was not Hawks. He seemed liked a nice guy and you still felt a little bad about what you did but you did it to help your love and that was all there was to it.

You entered your apartment and threw your jacket and bag onto the couch before stretching and heading to the fridge for a drink. It had been another long day of work for you and you were glad to be home. Now if only Dabi would come home too. But you knew that there was a chance you wouldn’t see him tonight because he was busy doing some mission. He just better stay safe, you think to yourself as you take a gulp of your drink before placing it onto the counter.

You walk over to the windows and begin your nightly ritual of closing your shades and curtains when movement from the roof of the building next to yours catches your eye. You strain to see what might have been the cause but it was very dark and the light of the moon was being blocked by some clouds. You shrug your shoulders. Probably just a shadow, you think as pull the shade down and the curtains over to hide your home from any prying eyes that might be trying to see in.

You head into your bedroom removing your sweatshirt and leaving yourself in your tank top as you make your way over to cover the window in here as well. You begin pulling the shade down when your vision is once again captured by a movement on the roof along with the glint of the revealing moonlight off of something. You furrow your brow. There has to be something up there, you think to yourself as you feel a shiver run down your spine and a wave of unease wash over you. You quickly pull the shade and curtains into place.

Lately you had begun to feel as though somebody was watching you, following you wherever you went. You had yet to see any indication of that being the case, however, and so you dismissed it as paranoia. But now, after this, maybe you weren’t being as paranoid as you thought. You sit on your bed and rub your arms trying to get some warmth back into your chilled frame.

         A couple of hours later Dabi found himself opening the door to your apartment with his spare key, fully expecting to see you on the couch watching TV as usual. He had finished the pointless mission he had been sent on much sooner than anticipated and had been eager to get home and to see you. He might not really say it much and he would never admit to it but he loved you and he was always at his happiest when he was with you. He sees that you aren’t in your usual spot as he closes and locks the door behind him. Hmm that’s odd, he thinks but tries not to read too much into the situation and instead goes to look for you.

 The expression on your face as you were sitting on the bed was not something he expected to see. You looked genuinely unnerved, something he had never seen from you in all of the two years you have been together. Nothing seemed to freak you out. So why were you sitting there like you just saw a ghost? Dabi comes in through the doorway.

 “Hey, what’s the matter my little firefly? You look like you’ve just seen the devil.”

            Hearing Dabi snaps you out of the trance you had been going in and out of. You look up and meet his beautiful blue eyes before getting up and hugging him close.

 “I’m so glad you’re home. The strangest thing just happened.” You say to him.

  Dabi wraps his arms around you and rubs your back soothingly, the slight waver of your voice not escaping his notice.

 “It’s ok. I’m here. What happened?”

 “I was closing the shades like I usually do, when I saw something move on the roof across the alleyway. At first, I thought it must have just been a shadow or something because I didn’t see anything there. But then I came in here and was closing the shade when I saw it again and this time the moonlight glinted off of something. Someone was up there and I think they were looking into the apartment. I couldn’t see who. It was just the briefest of glimpses.”

Dabi furrows his brow. “Are you sure it was a person?”

 “Well I’m not certain, it’s dark. But it gave me the creeps, especially since lately I feel like someone has been following me and watching everything I do.”

            That statement grabbed Dabi’s attention.

 “What was that?” He asks you as he walks you over to the bed where you both sit and face each other.

 “I know I sound paranoid. I haven’t seen anyone, that’s why I didn’t say anything. But after tonight, I don’t know, maybe someone is.”

 “How long?” He asks you. “How long have you thought someone was following you?”

 “The past three weeks or so. Should I be worried?” You ask with concern.

 It couldn’t be, he thinks to himself, though I knew it seemed suspicious.

 “No, it’s ok. Don’t worry. You know I’d always come find you if anything happened. Well, if you didn’t kick the person’s ass first yourself.” He says with a chuckle, eliciting a little laugh from you as well.

You throw your arms around him once again and bury your face into his chest as he wraps his arms around you and holds you close. As he returns your hug, he furrows his brow once more, concern for you washing through him. I’ll get to the bottom of this, he thinks.

 “Alright, let’s get some sleep. Nothing will happen to you now.” He assures.

 “I know, I always feel safe when I’m with you.” You say as you both settle into bed.

What an ironic statement considering I’m a villain, he thinks, but it is true. You snuggle into him as the two of you drift off to sleep.

            A couple of days had passed since the ‘incident’ as you were now referring to it as. You’d checked the past two nights and had seen nothing and you were starting to wonder if you were losing your mind.

You were unable to shake the uneasy feeling since then and you were on high alert, observing everything that went on around you as much as you could. You were even more uneasy because Dabi had been sent on another mission and you didn’t know when he’d be back.

Concern for him and concern for yourself at the prospect of being watched had left you frazzled. You were wondering what else could possibly happen next as you made your way home after another long and exhausting day.

Maybe that was why for all your increased vigilance, you hadn’t noticed you were being followed.

            The lock opened with a soft click, before the man quietly opened the door and slipped into the apartment. Well that was easy. Lucky for me she didn’t lock the deadbolt but also incredibly dangerous. She’s lucky it’s only me. The man thought to himself as he carefully closed the door behind him. Just more reasons why she needs my protection.

He took in the familiar surroundings of your apartment with a smile on his face as he cautiously made his way into your bedroom. The sound of running water alerts him to your whereabouts. He goes over to the bathroom and peers through the small gap of the partially opened door and sees you in the shower in all your naked glory.

 Even better than I remember, I can’t wait to bring you home and show you how much I’ve missed you, he thinks as he licks his lips and continues to watch you.

            You get out of the shower and dry your body with a towel before wrapping it around you and then use another to dry your hair a bit. Once done you secure your hair into a bun using some hair pins. You walk into your bedroom and throw the towels into the laundry basket before putting some clothes on.

 “Hey there baby bird, you’re looking as beautiful as ever.”

You nearly jump out of your skin at the unexpected voice behind you and quickly pull your shirt down. You spin around to where the voice came from and watch as the number two pro hero, Hawks, emerges from the shadows.

“Holy shit Hawks!” You say in a startled tone as your hand goes to your chest. “What are you doing here? How did you even get in?”

 “Oh come on now, I told you what to call me last time.” He says with a devious chuckle. “It was easy. You should really be more careful, you know. The deadbolt is there for a reason so you should use it.”

 “What the fuck? Did you pick the lock?”

 “Yeah, you’re so reckless. What if it had been someone else who came in? They could have hurt you, It’s ok though, I’m here now.” He says confidently.

You furrow your brow. “What are you doing here Haw—“ He gives you a bit of a glare. “I mean Keigo.” You finish.

 “See, that’s better. I’ve come to bring you home of course.” He tells you matter-of-factly.

 “What? I am home. This is my home.” You say.

“Oh no. You deserve much better than this dump and then I’ll be able to properly protect you from any threats.”

 He gives you a smile but it feels off somehow. You break out in a cold sweat as you slowly inch towards the door, never taking your eyes off of him. Hawks sees where you’re moving and rushes over to you, pushing you against the wall next to the doorway and caging you in with his arms.

“Where are you going, lovebird?” He sweetly asks.

Lovebird? What the fuck? I think he’s lost it, you think to yourself.

“Just going to get a drink. Would you like one?” You coolly ask as you try to maintain your composure. Fuck. Think. I have to get away from him, but how.

 “No thank you, we really should get going. You don’t have to pack anything, I’ll buy you whatever you want.”

You decide that you need to make a move, if you could get out of your apartment then maybe you could alert one of your neighbors.

“That’s very generous of you.” You say with a smile before shoving him with all of your might and running for the door. You knock things over and throw stuff at him as you go.

 “Aww come now lovebird, that’s no way to act.” You hear him call as you run.

 Almost there, you think as you pass the couch, arm outstretched for the doorknob.

All of the sudden you are hit by a solid mass and get sent crashing into the couch, knocking it over in the process. The wind gets knocked out of you as you hit the ground, Hawks on top of you.

“Let me go!” You yell out as you frantically kick, hit, and scratch at the pro hero atop you.

Continuing to struggle, you manage to squirm away from him and kick him in the chest causing him to fall back. You scramble to your feet, overturning the end table as you try once more to reach the door. You’re just about to grab the doorknob when Hawks grabs you by the upper arms and slams you hard into the door. You hear a sickening crack and feel a sharp pain as something warm trickles down your forehead before the darkness overtakes you.

            Your eyes flutter open and you groan as you are hit with a wave of pain from your head. You go to touch where the pain originates when you realize you are unable to because of the handcuffs shackling you to the headboard. The previous events come rushing back to you as you begin to panic. You look around the room as you pull at the handcuffs.

 How long was I out for? You think when you see daylight streaming in through a window. It had been night when Hawks had come to your apartment. You look around for the man in question but don’t see him.

“Where the fuck am I?” You say out loud to yourself as you continue to look around and pull at your restraints. You can feel pain in your wrists from your struggle but continue to do so regardless, no matter how futile the attempts are.

“You’re home lovebird. This is our bedroom. Once you get settled in, you can decorate however you want.” Hawks says happily.

 “Settle in? You have me shackled to the headboard!” You bitterly reply.

 “Oh, well that was for your own safety. Can’t have you running and hurting yourself again. I had to patch your head up after the last time.”

 “Yeah because you slammed my head into the door.” How the fuck was he just trying to act like it was an accident or something. He’s fucking delusional, you think as you glare at him.

 “I’m sorry about that baby bird but you were acting crazy. Why were you trying to run from me?” He asks with a straight face.

 “Is that some kind of joke? You’ve kidnapped me for fucksakes, Hawks.”

“What did I tell you about that name?” He says darkly with a menacing look on his face.

 “What the fuck? Aren’t they both your names, Keigo?” You say putting emphasis on his name.

“Yes, but you’re the only one I’ve told my real name to and I want you to use it. My love should call me by my true name after all.”

“Your love? Haw—Keigo, we barely even know each other. You never even contacted me. So how the fuck are you in love with me now?” You ask in confused exasperation.

 “Well I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night. I just knew that you were the one for me, so I started looking after you to make sure you were safe. Every morning at 8:45 when you leave for work until you go into the building at 9:00 and then I come back at 12:30 to make sure you’re safe on your lunch break and then again at 9:00 when you head home. There are a lot of dangerous people out there, you know. Then I watch your apartment until you close the shades because you usually go to bed an hour after that.” He says all this with a big smile on his face, proud of the way he’s been ‘protecting’ you.

You look at him with a horrified expression as he tells you all this. You had been right, you were being followed.

 “So you’ve been stalking me?” You ask in disbelief, wondering if that meant he’d seen Dabi coming to your place as well.

“No, I haven’t been stalking you. I’ve been watching over you like a guardian angel. It really isn’t safe for a beautiful woman like yourself to be all on your own.” He clearly explains.

Ok so I guess he hasn’t seen Dabi, you think as you continue to stare at him in disbelief. He really is delusional.

Hawks walks over to you and sits beside you on the bed before leaning down and kissing you. Having been caught off guard, you let out a little gasp and Hawks takes the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth. You struggle with your restraints more and let out noises of protest, neither of which deter him. You bite down hard on his tongue to get him to stop.

“Ow fuck!” He exclaims as he pulls away from you. “That wasn’t very nice lovebird, but then again you always have been a feisty one.” He smiles at you seductively as he trails his fingers lightly down your neck and over your clothed breasts, down your stomach, and briefly over your pussy.

Your eyes go wide at his movements and your mind begins to race. What was he planning on doing to you?

“I know, maybe you would just prefer it if I kissed you elsewhere. What do you say baby bird? Do you want me to devour that sweet pussy of yours? You enjoyed it last time.” He smirks. “Or maybe what you really want is for me to plunge my fat cock deep into that tight little cunt.”

Your eyes grow wider and you let out an audible gasp.

“So what? You’re just going to take me against my will then?” You ask in a terrified tone.

There was no way you could fight him off, not with your wrists cuffed to the bed. Hawks lets out a mocking laugh.

“No. I would never do that to the woman I love. I’ll wait for you to ask me for it because I know you will.” He says with absolute conviction.

“You’re going to be waiting a long time then.” You tell him causing him to laugh once again.

“Such a stubborn one. I know you love me. If you didn’t then you would have brought someone else home with you by now from one of your nights out. But every time you come home alone. You’ve probably been thinking about me just as much as I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah? If you’re so sure, then why didn’t you just call me and ask me to hang out?” You ask hoping to break him out of his delusion.

“I couldn’t run the risk of you rejecting me because you’re too stubborn to admit your feelings for me. And it looks like I was right, since you still don’t want to admit it even though I can see it in your eyes, lovebird.” He says with a triumphant smile fully believing in his deranged thinking.

           A couple of days had passed since you’d been kidnapped and a routine had been established. You were only allowed out of the handcuffs to feed yourself, use the bathroom, shower, do your hair, and only while Hawks watched you. Any other time you were allowed unchained, Hawks kept a hold on you one way or another. His favorite being holding you in his lap whenever possible.

You had hoped that he would have to go to work and you might be able to escape, but he must have taken vacation because he never seemed to have to go anywhere. At least he had kept to his word about waiting for you to ask before doing anything sexual to you. The most he would do is let his hands wander when he was kissing your neck and leaving some marks along the way. At night you would be chained up again as Hawks slept beside you and used you as his own personal body pillow, wrapping his limbs and wings around you.

On night three of your captivity you lay awake, wrists bound as usual as Hawks cuddled you close, softly snoring.

Fuck, of all times for Dabi to have to go on a mission, who knows when he’ll be back. I know he’ll come find me but who knows how long that will take either. If only this bastard would roll over and let me go. Maybe I could pick this lock and make a run for it before he woke up. You think to yourself.

At that, Hawks did just as you wanted, he turned over and let you go. You waited a few minutes to see if he’d turn back or wake up when you once again heard his soft snores. You manage to grab one of the pins you always wear in your hair and proceed to attempt to pick the lock on the handcuffs.

You struggle with it for a good twenty minutes constantly checking to see if Hawks was stirring, trying your best to hurry before he did. Just as you were about to give up, you hear a soft click and the cuff on you left wrist loosens. You almost cry with joy but stop yourself from making any noise.

Quietly and carefully you pull the cuffs from the headboard. Your right wrist was still secured in the other cuff but you were free and had no time to waste trying to unlock the other one. You slowly raise yourself from the bed and silently put on the only footwear you have, your slippers.

You cautiously make your way to the door and undo the locks, thankful that the hero hadn’t seemed to think a security system was necessary. You close the door behind you and run for the stairs, unsure of just how long you’d have before he woke up and noticed you were gone. You briefly consider banging on someone’s door and asking for help but realize that even if someone did open the door, they would just call the resident pro hero for help. They would never believe you if you told them he was your captor, so down the stairs you go as quickly as possible.

By the time you get to the bottom, you are breathing heavily and your legs feel painful and fatigued. You couldn’t take time to rest, however, it’d taken too long already to get down those stairs. You run out the door and into the cool night air that felt refreshing against your heated skin. You weren’t even sure where you were but you continued to run ducking out of view whenever possible. After all when he came to look for you, and you know he will, he would be flying with a perfect view of the area. You weren’t sure what you were going to do. You just wanted to get as far away as possible and find a place to hide before your legs gave out on you and by the way you were feeling that was going to happen sooner than you’d like.

“Oh little lovebird, where are you?” You hear Hawks call in a sing song voice.

Shit, he’d almost caught up to you already. Panic begins setting in as you run into a wooded area hoping the trees would provide you with some coverage. You make your way slowly through the woods looking out for any holes or upraised roots that could cause you to fall, all the while trying to stay as quiet as possible. You hear a twig snap a little ways off and duck behind a tree.

“Smart and beautiful, I knew I chose the right woman. Very clever of you coming in here knowing that I wouldn’t be able to just fly around and find you.” Hawks calls out as he searches.

You try to make your way through as silently as possible when you spot a nearby thicket that you can hide in. Just as you reach it, however, you fail to notice a small hole and twist your ankle in it. You bite back a curse as you crumble to your knees, pain surging in your injured ankle. Luckily you are close enough to the thicket to crawl your way inside.

           Hawks chuckles to himself as he walks through the woods searching for you. Did you really think you could outrun him? The fastest man around? It was very clever of you to come in here though, the tree coverage was just dense enough to block an aerial view. Still, it was just a matter of time before he found you.

“I didn’t know you liked to play these sorts of games, lovebird. But what do you suppose is going to happen once I capture my prey?” He calls out knowing that you can hear him.

There was no way you had gotten very far.

“I’m not sure what you were thinking though. You know I have the advantage. I’m a hawk after all, a bird of prey. This sort of thing comes quite naturally to me. It is a fun little game though.”

He hears a noise to his right and makes his way towards it.

“I knew you’d come around, setting this little game up for me, though it was a bit of a shock to wake up to you missing.”

Hawks sees the thicket. Ah so you’re hiding there, he thinks as he smiles and makes his way silently over.

          You find yourself holding your breath, dread growing every time Hawks says something, hearing as his voice grows louder. He’s close, you think as you try your best to keep an eye out for any sign of him from your position in the thicket. Please just leave, you silently plead.

Suddenly a face drops into your view.

”Gotcha.” Hawks says with a smug expression.

Your face falls in defeat. You tried your best but you failed and now you were done. Hawks pulls you out of the thicket and you wince in pain when you put pressure onto your injured ankle. It does not go unnoticed.

“You hurt yourself? See this is what I’ve been saying. You need to stay with me so you don’t get hurt. I did enjoy this little game though.” He says before his face grows dark. “I mean, that’s what it was, right? You weren’t trying to leave me, not after everything I’ve done for you.”

Despite wanting to cry, you hold back. You have to stay strong. You put on the best smile you can muster to appease your captor.

“Of course it was a game. I just thought you might want a little fresh air after being indoors for so long.” You tell him in a placating manner.

Hawks smiles. “That’s what I thought but although this was fun it was also dangerous and you got hurt. Next time we’ll just play monopoly.”

“Right.”

He scoops you up into his arms and walks out of the woods before taking flight heading back towards his place, the sun just beginning to rise.

         “Shit the sun will be up soon.” Dabi says to himself as he runs a hand through his hair.

It had been three days since he left on yet another waste of time mission, but as hard as he tried he hadn’t been able to duck out any sooner. He was tired and wanted nothing more than to cuddle up with you. It was times like these when he realized just how much you meant to him, how lucky he was to have you even if he didn’t deserve you. You were an angel and you deserved much better than a demon like him.

He shook his head as he climbed the stairs to your apartment, no he shouldn’t think that. You didn’t like it when he said things like that. You would always tell him that you decided who was deserving of you and that he was the only one who was, that he could never be a demon and not to call himself that, and if he refused to listen, well then, he was your little demon. He smiles to himself as he takes his key out and unlocks the door.

“Hey babydo—“ he stops in his tracks at the state of disarray within the apartment.

Couch and table overturned, things knocked over and scattered all around. What the fuck happened while he had been on that mission?

“Babydoll!” He shouts out as he checks the bedroom and bathroom for you.

The fact that he hadn’t found your lifeless body somewhere was a small comfort to him. You were gone. And he had no idea what could have happened or where you could be unless… His thoughts drift off as he tries to get the hammering of his heart under control. He pulls the GPS tracker for the device you had placed on Hawks that night from his pocket. Regret hits him at the memory of what you had done for him. He never should have dragged you into his bullshit and now what if something had happened to you because of it. He would never be able to forgive himself if he lost you.

Standing there in the living room with his emotions at war within, he begins to turn on the device when he hears someone’s voice.

“Excuse me, but you’re her boyfriend, right?” An older lady questions Dabi.

He looks at her, instantly growing uneasy at the situation.

Had she heard him? Now that she sees who he is, will she go call the police or heroes? He really didn’t want to have to incinerate her, she was your neighbor after all. Let’s see what she has to say and then I’ll decide, he thinks to himself.

“Yeah I am. Who wants to know?” He says severely.

“It was the hero with the wings, Hawks. He took her. I saw him carry her out and she looked unconscious. I heard a lot of noise and I went to see what was going on. I called the police but they wouldn’t listen to me. They just kept saying: he’s a hero, why would he kidnap someone.”

“Tch, of course they did.” He responds with malice in his voice.

“I know who you are too.” The lady says.

Dabi snaps his focus back to her.

“Is that right? Then why are you helping me? Shouldn’t you be calling the heroes?” He cautiously asks, ready to dispatch her if necessary.

“I have no intention of calling anyone. I’m helping you because she’s a nice girl. She always checks up on me and she’s always talking about how wonderful her boyfriend is. I see why she never mentioned your name now.” She chuckles a bit. “She loves you very much and always worries about you. And I can see that you feel the same way.” She smiles warmly.

“You think so, huh? You sure about that?”

“Of course. I heard you shout for her. Your voice was full of concern and I saw the panic in your eyes when I first came in. If you didn’t love her then you wouldn’t have cared.” She plainly tells him.

Dabi sighs and relaxes his posture some.

“Hmph. When did this happen? He asks.

“It was three days ago. I don’t know where he took her.” She replies.

“Shit” He curses to himself.

If only he had just not gone on that stupid mission like he wanted, he would have been here and that fucking pigeon would never have gotten you, he thinks. He knew something wasn’t right and after you said you thought you were being followed, he knew for sure. The GPS had Hawks in and around the vicinity of your apartment and job. At the beginning he thought it might just have been that he was doing his ‘hero’ work there but then it was happening at the same times every day. When you told him your suspicions, he knew. There’s no such thing as coincidence. Still he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want you to worry. He didn’t think the bird would do anything, he had a heroic reputation to maintain. He should have known better. But the question was, why had he taken you? Had he found out what you did and now wanted to interrogate you or get revenge? All he knew was he had to find you and get you back as soon as possible.

He is snapped from his thoughts by your neighbor’s voice.

“You might be a villain, but to that girl, you’re her hero. Good luck. I know you’ll save her. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him from taking her.” And with that she retreats back into the confines of her own apartment.

Dabi stands there thinking to himself. Hero, huh? That’s one word I never thought I’d be called.

He turns on the GPS device and checks to see where Hawks, and therefore you, could be. Unfortunately there was no longer a signal being registered.

Fuck, it must have broken, damn it. All hope was not lost, however, he pulls up the location history and begins scanning it. Although it lacked the pinpoint accuracy of an active signal, it still listed a general area. Too bad the location that showed up most frequently, and was likely where the winged bastard lived, had many apartment buildings located there. Dabi curses under his breath. He couldn’t just go there and sneak into every apartment building looking for you.

“I really don’t want to have to do this.” He says to himself “But there’s no way I can let him get away with this, he’ll pay for what he’s done to her.” He takes his burner phone from his pocket just as sunlight begins to filter into the room.

          “There. All done.” Hawks cheerily states as he finishes wrapping your injured ankle.

Once again you find yourself shackled to the headboard, though this time you were also naked. When you had gotten back Hawks had cleaned you up, confiscated all of your remaining hair pins, and bandaged your raw bruised wrists and injured ankle.

“Don’t I take such good care of you, lovebird?” He asks with a dangerous twinkle in his golden eyes. He gingerly places your now bandaged ankle onto the bed before moving up next to you. “I know how grateful you must be.”

He leans down and begins peppering kisses along your jaw and then down onto your neck. You squirm trying to push your body down into the mattress and away from him, feeling vulnerable due to your state of undress. He continues his procession of kisses down to you cleavage and then onto one of your bare breasts as his fingers begin to slowly stroke your slit.

“Wait!” You call out, causing him to momentarily cease his actions. “I thought you said you wouldn’t do anything unless I asked?” You frantically say.

“True, I did. But it’s ok baby bird. I know that you want to thank me for all that I’ve done for you, I can see it in your eyes. I think it’s cute that you’re embarrassed to say so.” He replies with a twisted smile.

“No! Don’t!” You cry in a pleading tone. “Stop it! I don’t want this!”

“Don’t stop? See I knew that I was right and that you’d come to see things my way. And because my sweet little lovebird is so eager maybe I’ll just skip the foreplay.”

“What?! No! I don’t want any of this. Stop it Keigo!”

Unfortunately your pleas are falling on deaf ears as Hawks climbs in between your legs and spreads them wide. He removes his phone from his pocket and places in on the bed next to him before freeing his hardened cock from the confines of his pants. He takes hold of it and begins to line it up with your entrance.

“You’ll be all mine after this. Mine forever. Maybe if we’re lucky, I’ll put a little chick in you too. I’d like to be a dad and I know you’ll be a great mother.” He smiles down at you.

Your eyes widen in horror at his words and your face goes pale, a cold sweat breaks out over your body as your brain frantically tries to think of a way out of this. You thrash and pull at your restraints and then your stomach drops at the reality of the situation, a few tears escaping your eyes. This is it, no one can save me now, you think.

“You’re so excited by the thought of having my baby that you’re crying tears of joy. That’s so sweet. It’ll be wonderful, we’ll have our own little family.”

He leans down and captures your lips with his own as more tears slip down your cheeks. He rises back up and guides his cock to your hole, but before he can bury himself inside you, his phone comes to life next to him. He stops and leans back away from you. He looks at the caller ID.

“Fuck.” He looks from the phone to you and back again, a conflicted look on his face as he tries to decide whether or not to answer it.

Oh god, please let that be an important call, you think, your last chance at salvation resting with it.

“This fucking bastard has the shittiest timing.” He looks at you. “I’m sorry lovebird, I have to take this. I won’t be long so don’t go anywhere.” He tells you, chuckling at his own joke before answering the phone. “What do you want? I’m kind of busy right now.” He walks into the other room.

You let out a sigh of relief and can only hope that he won’t be able to continue with his plan. His voice grows louder as he comes back to the room.

“Fuck man. Why now? Alright fine. This better be worth it.” He enters the room as he ends the call.

A wistful sigh escapes his lips as he gazes at you naked and shackled form.

“I’m really sorry baby bird, I know you were really looking forward to me making love to you but it seems as though that will have to wait for a little bit. There’s something I have to do but I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He walks over and presses a kiss to your lips before saying seductively into your ear, “I can’t wait to bury myself deep inside you and fill your little womb up with my seed.” He smiles devilishly and throws a blanket over you before leaving the apartment.

You begin to sob after you hear the door close behind him. That was too close, you think. Whoever had been on the phone had just saved you without even knowing it.

            Hawks lands in front of the small abandoned building and enters through the door. He walks a few feet in before stopping and appraising his surroundings. The space was small, dark, and musty with ceilings too low to allow him to freely fly around. The only light was streaming in through a handful of dirty windows, too small for a person to fit through, that were scattered around the space.

I don’t like this, I’m at a disadvantage, he thinks to himself, lost in his evaluation.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t notice when someone emerged from the shadows and placed himself between the hero and the only way out,

“Hawks,” a deep voice says in a serious tone.

Hawks stiffens slightly in surprise before relaxing once more. Shit he got behind me, he thinks as he turns around and faces the icy cerulean gaze of the man.

“Well this place is dark and depressing, very on brand for you Dabi.” He snidely says. “So what was so important that I had to come here right away?”

“Where is she?” Dabi asks with hostility.

Hawks furrows his brow in confusion, unsure of what he’s talking about. He surely couldn’t mean you. How would he even know you?

“Where is who? I’m not sure who it is that you’re referring to.”

“You know who I’m talking about. Now tell me, or it’s about to get a lot hotter for you, little birdie.” Dabi says with a smug smirk and a deadly look in his eyes.

Hawks stiffens and his eyes go wide at hearing the nickname you had given him on that magical night fall from Dabi’s lips.

          “See? I told you. I can see it all over your face, you know exactly who I’m talking about. Now, last time, tell me where she is.” Dabi demands with a lethal glare, blue flames sparking in his hand.

“How do you know about that? How do you even know her?” Hawks questions in disbelief.

Dabi ignores his questions and asks one of his own. “Why did you take her?”

“I just bought her home where she belongs, not that it’s any of your business, she’s my lovebird. So why the fuck do you care?”

“Wow, you’re fucking delusional. It is my business. She belongs to me and no one is going to take her from me. I’m going to save her from you.” Dabi says with finality. Hang on my little firefly, I promise I’ll be there soon, he thinks to himself, his concern for you growing.

Hawks lets out a somewhat crazed laugh.

“Now who’s the delusional one? Do you think you’re some kind of hero now? Because you’re not. That’s my job. You’re a villain, you can’t save anyone.” He says mockingly.

Dabi lunges for Hawks as he lets out more crazed laughter. Before the winged man can move, Dabi punches him hard in the face, a satisfying crunch beneath his fist as blood pours from the hero’s nose. The force of the punch knocks Hawks to the ground.

“Yeah I might be a villain to society but not to her.”

He sends a stream of fire at the hero who narrowly dodges. Hawks sends out some feathers in defense as he stumbles to his feet. Dabi incinerates the feathers and sends a barrage of blue flames at Hawks who continues to dodge but ends up getting burned in a number of places as some of the flames graze him. Dabi doesn’t relent until he’s forced Hawks into a corner. He wraps his hand around the hero’s neck, pinning him to the wall.

“How much do you value your life?” Dabi asks. “Tell me where she is now or I’ll kill you. Fire is your weakness after all.”

“Ok fine.” Hawks chokes out from the strong grip around his neck.

Dabi only eases his hold enough for him to speak, never fully releasing him.

“She’s at my apartment.” He says before telling him the location of the place as well.

Dabi stares intently at him. “Never come near her again or next time I’ll kill you. I should just do it anyway.” He says before slamming the hero’s head into the wall rendering him unconscious.

He releases his grip and lets Hawks fall to the floor out cold. With one last parting glare of disgust, Dabi turns and leaves the building.

She better be ok, he thinks to himself as he heads to your location, otherwise he’s a dead bird.

           You lay on the bed with your back to the door looking at the clock once again. It had already been two hours since Hawks had left and with every passing minute your dread grew. How much longer before he gets back and picks up where he left off?

Despair washes over you and you feel yourself begin to cry once more. You hear a loud bang come from the other room.

Fuck, I guess he’s back.

           Dabi kicks the door to the apartment open and looks around. Not seeing you, he heads through an open door. He stops in the doorway, slightly winded from rushing over, and spots you. Your back is to the door as you lie on the bed, blanket covering you, hands shackled to the headboard, and your body trembling.

“Babydoll,” he says gently, concern lacing his voice.

You quickly turn your tearstained face in his direction.

“Dabi?” You question, uncertainty on your face.

He rushes over to you and uses his flames to release your wrists from the handcuffs, freeing your hands from their current position. You sit up causing the blanket to fall down, revealing your nude form. Dabi’s eyes grow wide at your current state.

“Are you ok?” What did he do to you? He thinks as his anger surges. “I knew I should have fucking killed him. Did he ra—“ He stops, unable to complete the question, fearful of what the answer might be.

You instantly respond. “No. He almost did but then his phone rang.” You pause for a moment. “Was that you who called?”

He nods. “I’m so sorry my little firefly. This is all my fault. I never should have asked you to help me.” He says with a pained expression.

“No, don’t do that. You aren’t responsible for his actions, it’s not your fault. There was no way you could know that this would happen. I don’t think anyone would believe he was capable of doing something like this. Besides, you saved me by calling when you did.”

You throw your arms around Dabi and bury your face in his chest. He pulls you close to him and holds you as he places a kiss on the top of your head and then rests his cheek there.

“Ok little firefly, I promise that from now on I won’t let you out of my sight.”

You raise your head and pull back a bit to look at him.

“Why do you call me that?” You ask with a tender smile. “You’ve never told me, there must be a reason.”

Dabi smiles warmly at you.

“I’ll tell you when we get home.” He says with a sly smirk.

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He tells you before removing his jacket and putting it onto your naked body. “Let’s get out of here.”

You nod and pull his jacket around you to cover yourself before standing up. You wince as pain shoots through your injured ankle. Dabi frowns at your reaction as he looks down and sees your bandaged ankle.

“What happened?” He asks.

“I twisted it during my escape attempt.”

“You tried to escape from the fastest hero there is?”

You nod. “Of course. I had to get back to you after all.”

Of course you would try, he thinks as a look of pride comes across his face and he smiles.

“That’s my baby.” He says as he carefully picks you up. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you now.”

           Dabi opens the door and carries you into the apartment.

“Ugh, what a mess.” You say as you look around at the chaos, a frown coming to your mouth at the memory of how it was created.

“It just shows that you put up one hell of a fight.” He says to you as he carries you into the bedroom and gently places you down onto the bed before sitting beside you.

“So tell me. We’re home now.” You say.

“Tell you what?”

“You know what.”

“Oh. You mean why do I call you my little firefly? I don’t know babydoll, if I tell you it would blow my whole bad boy image that you love so much.” He smirks.

You pout and playfully hit him in the chest.

“You’ll always be my bad boy, no matter what. Besides you know that isn’t why I’m in love with you anyway.”

He gives you a loving smile. “Yeah I do know that.” He says as he reaches out and tucks some stray hair behind your ear.

His face becomes serious as he gazes tenderly into your eyes.

“You’re my little firefly because you’re the spot of light in my life that shines when I need it the most. Thanks to you, I know love.”

You feel yourself get a bit teary eyed at his touching words.

“Oh Dabi, I love you so much.” You say before pulling him into a loving kiss.

He wraps his arms around you and returns your kiss. You pull away after a couple of minutes as you try to catch your breath.

“Does that mean you want me to show you how much I love you, my little firefly?” Dabi asks with a mischievous grin.

“Yes.” You say without hesitation.

He looks into your eyes. “Are you sure?”

It’s a simple question but you can feel his concern for your wellbeing after what you had just endured.

He doesn’t want me to push myself, you think as your heart swells with love for your beautiful man. You give him a smile filled with love and adoration.

“I’m sure.” You say confidently before affixing your lips to his once more in a steamy kiss that he eagerly returns.

As your need for oxygen grows, Dabi removes his mouth from yours and begins brushing kisses along your jaw, the column of your neck, down one shoulder as he pushes his jacket off, across your collarbone, and down your other shoulder removing the jacket from your otherwise naked form.

He takes off his shirt and tosses it to the side before pulling you closer. He places a loving kiss to your lips before descending upon your neck where he sucks and nibbles the sensitive flesh leaving a scattering of dark marks in his wake. You let out a low hum at his ministrations and allow your fingers to trace over the taut muscles of his chest and abdomen beneath his unmarred skin. He gently lays your back onto the bed as he begins to kiss from your neck to your breasts.

“You’re so beautiful, babygirl. I want to kiss every inch of your soft skin>”

He places a few kisses to the tender flesh of your breast before swirling his tongue around your hardened peak and taking it into his mouth where he begins to suck, his hand kneading your other breast and rolling your stiff bud between his fingers. You let out a moan as Dabi tends to your breasts, his free hand tenderly caressing up and down your side. You wrap an arm around his back as your other hand finds its way into the hairs at the back of his neck. As your desire increases, you begin to squirm beneath him, mewls of pleasure escaping your lips.

After thoroughly tending to both of your soft mounds, Dabi begins to kiss down your stomach and onto one hip and then the other. His adoring gaze meets your loving one as he begins to kiss down your inner thigh.

“I should burn my name into your skin, then if anyone tries to do anything to you they’ll know exactly who they’re going to have to deal with. I’ll never let anyone take my little firefly from me again.” He smiles and kisses his way up your other thigh.

You smile down at him as he spreads your legs and looks at your pussy glistening with the effects of your arousal.

“All ready for me, I see. Good. I could use a drink.” He smirks and places a kiss on your lower lips before spreading them open. “I’m going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, like the angel you are.” He tells you with a loving smile. He licks a stripe up your folds to your clit. “Mmm, you taste so good.”

You let out a gasp at the feel of his tongue as a spike of pleasure goes up your spine, you moan louder than before.

With one hand on your thigh and the other on top of your lower abdomen to hold you in place, Dabi swirls his tongue around your sensitive bundle of nerves. He flicks his tongue against it a few times before dipping his tongue into your drooling hole. Like a cat lapping at water, he drinks your arousal sending you ever higher into ecstasy.

“Ohh fuck, that feels amazing. Ahh Daaabi, mmm.” You breathily moan.

“Oh babygirl, I love the way you sing my name. It the sweetest song I’ve ever heard.” He says, sending vibrations to your core, intensifying your rapture, sending you ever closer to your peak.

You let out another loud moan and weave a hand into his raven tresses, the other gripping the sheets as your body writhes from his treatment of your sex. He replaces his tongue with one and then two fingers, the other hand keeping you firmly in place. He slowly pumps his digits in and out of you, hooking them so he can caress that spongy spot inside you.

He locks eyes with you and smiles watching all the delightful expressions that cross your face as he continues to pump his fingers.

“Ah Dabi, fuck. Daaabi, uhh.”

“That’s right, keep singing my song babydoll. Don’t hold back. I want the whole fucking building to hear who it is you belong to.”

He smirks and then latches his mouth onto your slit and sucks hard, his fingers never ceasing their motions. You shriek in response to the forceful suction and fist the sheets, feeling your orgasm quickly approaching. At the first clench of your walls around his fingers, he moves his mouth down to your opening.

“That’s it babygirl, cum for me, flood my mouth.”

The added vibrations of his words send you crashing over the edge. Dabi’s name along with some incoherent words fall from your lips as you ride your high, your juices pouring into his mouth and coating his chin. He swallows all you have to offer and wipes his face with the back of his hand. He rises onto his knees and smiles down at you.

“Mmm, you’re fucking sweeter than any nectar, babydoll.”

He pecks your lips as you catch your breath before removing his pants and freeing his erection. Reclaiming his place between your legs, he grabs ahold of his impressive cock and slaps it against your tingling pussy a few times eliciting a groan of pleasure and anticipation from you.

“Are you ready for this cock?” He asks as he rubs the head up and down your still dripping slit.

You bite your bottom lip and look from his face to his cock and back again and nod.

“Always love. Fill me up with that glorious cock of yours.” You give him a playful smirk.

He responds with a light chuckle and a smirk of his own to your words and begins easing himself into your depths. A blissful groan escapes his lips at the feel of your walls clamping down onto his cock and sucking him in.

“Fuck, you’re so tight. So perfect for me, my babygirl.”

A loud moan is ripped from your mouth at the feeling of him simultaneously stretching and filling you up. He lifts your legs around his waist and you hook them together at the ankles, too lost in a world of pleasure and love where only the two of you exist, to acknowledge the painful protest of your injured ankle. You pull him in closer to you and he bottoms out deep inside you.

He stills and leans down. Capturing your lips in a passionate kiss, he begins thrusting inside of you. You swallow each other’s pleasurable sounds as you continue to kiss deeply, tongues engaging in a sensual dance as Dabi thrusts deeply into you at a steady rhythm,

He detaches his mouth from yours, leaving you breathless as he begins to kiss and suck on your neck, marking up any skin he missed earlier before descending to the juncture where your neck and shoulder meet. He bites down hard and you feel a warm drop start to roll down before it’s licked up by Dabi. Your pussy clenches around his cock at the sharp sting of the bite.

“Oh fuck babydoll, if you keep clamping down on me like that I’m not going to last much longer.”

He rises back onto his knees, moves your legs onto his shoulders, and begins slamming into you. This new angle allowing him to hit your sweet spot with every thrust, his cock going impossibly deeper, the tip of it kissing your cervix each time. Dabi starts moving faster, pounding you into the soft mattress and causing you to shout out.

“Fuck Dabi! I’m gonna c—“ You are unable to complete your thought, as a guttural moan rips from your throat.

“Do it babygirl, cum all over my cock. Milk me dry.” A rumbling growl rises up and spills from his lips.

You pull him down to you, your knees pressing up against your chest, and capture his mouth in another deep kiss. He continues pistoning his hips and driving into you as he returns your kiss. A few strokes later and you fall over the edge once more, his name a litany flowing from your lips. Dabi gives a few more erratic thrusts before reaching his own climax, rope after rope of his hot cum filling your womb.

“Fucckk!” He shouts as you milk his cock for every last drop.

He collapses on top of you as your legs fall onto the bed, his softening length still buried inside of you. Wrapping your arms around him, you hold him close as you both catch your breath.

           After catching his breath for a bit, Dabi props himself up on his elbows and pushes the hair stuck to your forehead out of your face. He gazes into your eyes and what he sees there is a look that no one before you had ever given to him. It’s a look full of admiration, adoration, and unconditional love and with your hair fanned out around your head like a halo, you look exactly like the angel he knows you are, his angel. He feels warmer inside than usual and starts brushing his fingers through your hair as the emotion bubbles up within him.

“Marry me.”

Your eyes widen in surprise.

“You really want to marry me? But you’ve never even mentioned it before.”

“That’s because I never considered it before. I didn’t think I deserved that kind of love. But then an angel came to me and I’d be an idiot to refuse heaven.”

Tears prick at your eyes and you pull him down into a sweet kiss.

“Of course I’ll marry you then, I love you.”

Dabi feels the happiness radiate through him, something he only ever feels with you, and gives you a devastatingly beautiful smile.

You smile back at him before saying, “I’m not sure what’s gotten into you with all these sweet words today but I do love it.”

“I could have lost you and I would never have been able to forgive myself if I did. So I just really need you to know how much you mean to me since I know I don’t say it very often.”

He removes his cock from inside you and rolls onto his back, pulling you onto his chest. You let out a little groan of protest at the loss and he gives a little chuckle at your response.

“Just don’t tell anyone about it, I have a reputation to maintain.” He says with a smirk,

“Don’t worry, I want to keep that part of you all to myself, no one else gets to know about it.” You reply with a slight chuckle at his words.

“Well it’s all yours then, along with the rest of me.” He kisses your forehead and pulls you closer as he absentmindedly drags his fingers up and down your arm. “We’re going to have to disappear, at least for a while. You know that, right?” He looks at you regretfully.

“That’s ok. As long as I’m with you I’m home. It doesn’t matter where we end up.”

He smiles and kisses the tip of your nose.

“Alright we’ll leave at first light tomorrow then. Now try to get some sleep. I’m right here so nothing will happen to you.”

You nuzzle into the crook of his neck.

Still smiling, he kisses your head. How he had gotten lucky enough to find you, he wasn’t sure, but he was grateful that he had and he would make sure to keep you safe and happy.

“I know it won’t. I’m safe in your arms.”

“Always, my little firefly. Always.”

            Hawks returned home to his empty apartment after waking up on the warehouse floor. He gingerly rubbed the painful knot on the back of his head. He couldn’t believe that burnt bastard had knocked him out.

I guess I shouldn’t complain too much though, it could have been a lot worse, I could be dead, he thought to himself as he made his way into the bathroom.

Taking out his first aid supplies, he began tending to the burns he had sustained in the fight as he glanced into the mirror. His nose was swollen and had dried blood around it but at least it hadn’t been broken like he first thought. He winced from the sting of the antiseptic as he thought back to the warning Dabi had given him before his world went dark.

How dare he tell him to stay away from you? You were his and he knew that you knew it too. Why did you have to be so damn stubborn? No matter, he thought, I’ll just have to get her back.

“I’m just going to need to heal up a bit and a much better plan. After all this did just get a whole lot more dangerous for me.” He pauses. “But it’ll all be worth it once I get my baby bird back here where she belongs. I’ll do whatever it takes.” He says to himself as a disturbing grin stretches across his face.

[anxiouslyfred]

Calm Down Stories

Summary: Remus wishes his telepathic link with his soulmate helped him calm Virgil down in ways beyond telling stories, but it works. Today he tries helping a stranger in a music shop at the same time by talking about a CD cover to them, and sending his words over the telepathic link.

/\/\

'Can't do this. Too loud, too busy. Can't, can't can't' Remus wished that he knew how to help, really help Virgil, especially when these repetitions began to echo through their connection. He'd tried looking up what helps anxiety, methods soulmates had used before meeting in the past.

Virgil had only panicked more when he'd tried using them, terrified that he was harming or annoying Remus with his fears, worries, everything.

Later they had spoken about it, covered that Remus had only wanted to help, support him since he couldn't take the anxiety away but also that he hadn't sounded like himself to Virgil while following those methods. Besides as soon as he knew it wasn't helping Virgil, he'd returned to his usual method of trying to help with his soulmates panic, imagining stories, and adventures he'd gone on, or thought sounded fun.

Remus knew that was all just distractions though, nothing that actually helped long term. Their telepathy thankfully hid his wishes to do more, even just talk through the struggles Virgil had when overwhelmed so he projected stories about his day, and compliments, so many compliments about the things Virgil let slip through in his thoughts.

'You somewhere safe to calm down in? Or still stuck among the madding crowd?' Remus asked, already heading into the nearest shop. It was always easier to come up with a story if he didn't have to worry about walking into strangers constantly. Their yelling could filter through to Virgil and make things worse if he did walk into them.

'Music Shop. Can't move, can't hide, can't can't can't cope, all too much, going to have people staring at me.' On one hand Remus could start trying to come up with some distraction story, on the other, if Virgil was already worrying about getting stares that usually meant he needed someone actually with him to calm down alongside the thoughts Remus could send to him. They'd already mentioned this morning that they were both out picking up some new accessories and clothes alone today.

He glanced around the shop hoping for something he could twist into a bizarre story, more confusing than a surrealism painting and realised that he was in a music shop too, with plenty of CD cases to take inspiration from and a guy in a hoodie clinging to one of the shelves as though the world was ending...

A guy looking like the world was ending could probably use a distraction just as much as Virgil needed on too so Remus had a focus and a way to start chattering away. The display the man had stopped at had some weird album art on it.

“Hey Fella, can I get to those CD's in front of ya?” He asked, trying to pantomime reaching around him without breaching any personal space the man might need.

He got a panicked look and a stumble out of the way for that, but picked up on of the cases anyway, raising an eyebrow. “Are you breathing there, Honey? I would help more but have been told I suck at leading breathing patterns. Or rather that I'm too impatient to count slowly in whatever way they need.” Remus just let any thoughts that crossed his mind and would be okay for Virgil to hear while panicking be said. He knew that quite often if he spoke things they'd get sent over their bond as thoughts too, and really didn't want to make either his soulmate or this stranger worse.

The man did attempt to take a deep breath at his words though, so Remus classed that as a win and waved the CD case up. “You know, Fella, I always wonder what the story could be behind album art like this. Seriously half of music nowadays is all love, sex, money, or escaping to nature. I bet none of the songs even mention a bat, let alone an octopus so why put them on a cover.” Really he could have found a worse cover to talk about, but this would do.

Virgil was quiet, no repetitions of 'Can't' to be heard for the moment and the panicking man was just nodding, clearly still upset, but definitely trying to breathe to some pattern Remus couldn't fathom.

“Then again, why would a bat even be flying over the ocean? It doesn't seem like something they'd do. I mean sure, birds migrate, and there's gotta be some bats that live in seaside town. Literally enough books and films set in England mention bats that it has to be like a given some are near the sea. That island is tiny.” Remus now had to get the CD if only so he'd remember to look up ocean bats later on. If they existed he wanted to know everything, including the weirdest things they eat. Can bats prey on fish?

“Some in Mexico migrate and hunt at sea.” The man breathed out, sounding shaky and half terrified of actually joining in with Remus's conversation.

He nodded in thanks, now frowning at the other animal on the screen. “Still, pretty unrealistic for an octopus to be that vibrantly yellow in the middle of the night. Practically all cephalopods have some ability to change their colour and that bright near the surface. It's basically putting up a sign saying ' I'm here, hunt me' to any predators near the surface. Although maybe it's more trying to get the gift delivered to it and would go to darker shade as soon as that box is actually in its grasp.”

“Why would a bat be taking presents to an octopus anyway?” Remus blinked at the question. It was one he'd expected to have thought at him, if Virgil was starting to calm down at least, but instead the stranger had asked it.

Mentally he thought threw bringing the bat bombs he'd read about once up, but shook the thought away, shrugging and carrying on wriggling. “Could be any reason. Perhaps bats are the animal worlds equivalent to Santa, only instead of one man in a sleigh you have hundreds or millions of these fluffy little friends flying around trying to give presents on like midsummer or something. Can't have a winter celebration for the animals when tons of them are hibernating.”

“Would be more animals on the picture if that was the case. Could just be the octopus and bat are friends.” Remus looked at the man again, staring for a moment as he spoke. There was still a shake to his breaths but they were slow again, and his hands weren't tensing for something to grip onto.

“Well now I just want to know how a bat and an octopus would become friends. It can't be easy given one lives literally under the sea and the other in caves or treetops and flies everywhere.” He exclaimed, getting a snort, before focusing on his thoughts. 'Hey Virge, You've gone quiet there. Are you calming down or has something happened?'

The man he'd been helping to calm down at the same time smirked, “Who are humans to limit what friendships animals can make? I'm more curious over what gift they would share.”

“Well that's easy, things the octopus couldn't get normally but might like to eat. Some other types of insects or whatever.” Remus suggested, now frowning as he still got no response.

“Is something wrong? I thought your story from this CD cover was going really well. Have I upset you trying to join in with it?” The man asked, worried again as he watched Remus.

He shook his head, “No, your ideas are brilliant, awesome actually. I just, well my soulmate was upset too so part of the story was for you, partly for him, but now I'm not getting any response.” Remus tried to wave away the concern, already thinking again 'Virgil, please just a random I've been knocked out and thoughts aren't awake response would be wonderful right now.'

The man frowned too, “That could just mean you've... Give me a moment to try contacting my soulmate cause you're right. He'd normally have been telling me some weird story but instead you were here talking and I don't think I've heard from him for a bit.” Remus didn't need to ask what the broken off sentence meant. He'd have lost the telepathy if he had met his soulmate, and the only person that would qualify for that was this man.

He waited for a moment, watching as the man closed his eyes, before staring at him again. “So is your soulmate called Virgil?”

“Is your soulmate called Remus?” He countered, beginning to bounce in place again.

“Yes, oh bloody hell, you accidentally managed to find me, mid panic attack and still decided to help me calm down? You're insane, what if I was dangerous or something?” Virgil exclaimed, shoving at Remus's chest lightly.

Remus just started laughing, grabbing the arm that shoved him to pull Virgil into a hug. “Somehow I don't think anyone dangerous would be frozen clinging to a display in a music shop. Come on, You need food and hot chocolate after that freak out, and I need as much sugar as I can fit into a drink. There's a cafe a few shops down.”

He didn't release the hug while making that decision, and only snickered when Virgil half heartedly attempted to pull away. “If we're going there you need to let me go, and pay for that CD.”

“Hmm, maybe in a bit. I've wanted to wrap you up in hugs when you're upset for all our lives so you can enjoy the longest hug ever before we move.” Remus declared, tightening one arm while the other came up to pet Virgil's hair.

Perhaps he wouldn't normally have helped a stranger calm down but he couldn't be more please that he had today.

[develation]

SCP AU

So @emeraldtrainer1 (Ao3), @writingforfunandbecauseboredom (Ao3), and DarkstarWolf53 (<-Dunno if they have Tumblr) did an SCP AU three-way Convo fic some months ago. I really enjoyed the outline and concept and asked if I could expand on it. With their permission and about a month of research into what the actual SCP Foundation is (and holy cow there is so much, no wonder people are all over this) I've finally managed to get a start on this. There is a decent amount of things that are different from their original Convo (via their permission) but it will basically follow the same storyline that they created. Please go check their Convo out, it's a very long and fun read with a lot of good fluff and Angst mixed in.

I will hopefully be drawing some of my designs soon but for now, writing seems to be the way to go. Here is a link to it on Ao3 -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/33213928/chapters/82464553

I'll also have it below in case you would like to read it on Tumblr instead.

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

Error: (The End Of All But Me.) There are too many unworldly traits that spiders have that I couldn't just not give to Error, so I've kind of combined their Puppetmaster concept to my design. He has 4 arms with clawed fingertips, his tail is prehensile and his jaw can split open. He has 5 tongues still, 2 of them are spear-like, and can shoot out and impale victims. The saliva produced under the tips of the barbs on the two tongues can liquidity a prey items insides so he can drink them up (still a clean freak, using the skin as a cup and drinking up any mess leaving a skin bag behind). His other three tongues are prehensile and can extend to an unknown length, they are barbed aswell but do not carry the venomous saliva. Strings wrap along his bones from his eye sockets, which he uses to create a nest atop the ceiling of his cell.

SCP-002's (Apollyon class) cell is a blank room (it ask for a TV later on) that goes up vertically 2 floors. The top half is required to be shrouded in darkness as it likes voids of either white or black. It has filled the darkness of its cell with a nest of strings that it spends all of its time in, even when feeding. It does not attempt to attack staff, when asked why it replied with, "Not yet." Personal have not been able to decipher what it means by that statement. In an interview via speakers and mics within containment cell, it was asked why SCP-002 stares off at seemingly nothing for extended periods of time and never touches the ground. Subject responded with, "Busy." When asked what it was busy doing- "Watching." When asked what it was watching- "The world. Everything." Due to this experience, it can be concluded that 002 can view any place in the world and perhaps beyond via "screens". These "screens" are unviewable to anyone but 002 and 001 as the latter SCP had called them so, hence their given name. SCP-002 has a strange relationship with SCP-001 and it can not be determined if 002 likes or dislikes 001.

Ink created Error on accident. In the beginning, Ink didn't know what he was doing, and the brutality of Earth's natural forces of destruction were uncontrollable. If he wanted to bring life to his chosen planet he needed a way to control the chaos. And so through the storm, a new force was born. And even if Ink didn't create it, he did wish for it.

Error is a ticking time bomb for extinction. He waits and watches until he decides it's time for a "spring cleaning" and starts his work. The Ordovician, Late Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous mass extinctions were all him. He deemed the human race ready for a "cleaning" a long time ago and Ink agreed with him, ready to see and make something new. But Nightmare threatened the both of them by stating that he would make the earth forever inhabitable and they would have to kill him before he stoped his rage. Nightmare fears that if another extinction event were to occur he'd lose his boys.

Ink: (God doesn't care about what's right or what's wrong. God just wants to watch interesting things happen.) His form is always changing, different traits from different animals and organisms he's created. Ink is basically Gaia. Born when Theia crashed into Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, he made everything that ever existed. Since he's made A LOT of organisms he has a ton of favorites and the traits from them are what mostly show up when he mutates. Sometimes it's Kaprosuchus with belonged snout and fangs. Sometimes it's Tylosaurus with its marine reptilian posterior. Sometimes it's Chital Deer and their antlers. More often than not though, his tail has consistently stated having bristle-like hair at the tip of it, which is basically his brush. The concept of paintbrushes is pretty new to him since the human race has been around for a short time compared to other species, so while he does have one, his tail is his broomie. If his next from doesn't have it then he just uses his hands and his blood.

Ink can't be contained. It's that simple, he just can't. He just sticks around because it's interesting and hilarious to see his creations so intelligent but so stupid. (remember how humans are still young in terms of Earth's age, so the fact that they're so smart... on a thought level that could almost match his own is so very interesting to see and watch. even if there ruining his planet.) The SCP foundation just has to let him do his thing and hope that he doesn't override 003's and 004's decision to not have an extinction event.

His cell is basically a mini-ecosystem, with all of his favorite organisms living within whether they are extinct or not. He loves his little sample of the world and it keeps him in his cell for a good amount of time so the foundation let him have it. If any of them even touch what is HIS without permission then he rips them apart and feeds them to the baby Rhamphorhynchus. Don't touch his babies.

...Cross though... he can touch his babies... and Dream... and maybe Error... That's it though!

SCP-001 (Apollyon Class) is a being older than all living things, despite his toddler-like mannerisms. Even more infuriating, within an interview, 001 openly admitted to being the cause of all SCP's and their anomalous effects. It stated that they were all just mistakes and/or experiments, testing the limits of their own abilities. 001's quoted response- "You don't get it do you? I made everything here! All of your little "SCP's" are just of my creation as all of you. Sure there all mistakes but, it just proves my point that it's time to start over again. A clean slate y'know? Pfft- wow you look mad! If it makes you feel any better, I don't like most of them either. They were cool at first but... it's like flicking black paint over a finished painting. Sure, you can try to get over it but eventually, it will just bother you so much that you just can't stand it! Well... I do kinda want some of them to stay... If I could just convince Ru..." -shows evidence to this conclusion. Termination trials were approved by the 05 Council, though have not been able to start since 001's creation of a barrier around its cell, preventing entry of anything that tries to pass.

[Note: Error, Dream, and Nightmare are not included in what Ink views as "mistakes". Y'know when you're trying something new and you don't know what you’re doing, yet it works somehow. That's them, happy accidents. Ink adores them.]

Ink finds the attempt of Termination trials on him to be absolutely hilarious. The fact that humanity's insecurity about their lifespan and control is so great that they'd try to KILL HIM. Amazing. He can't believe he's managed to make the simultaneously best and worst organism ever.

Dream: (When day breaks.)  Again he was accidentally created by Ink’s actions in an intense solar storm. The flare drifting over the earth in combination with Ink’s magic still working to bring life brought him to existence. Dream’s design is almost harpy-like, with beautiful golden, sun-like wings with a small feathery crest atop his skull. Two tail-like feathers sprout from the crest that can rise up and down depending on expression and mood. He also has bird feet and legs, and a tail.

Dream adores all life, his is the warmth and growth of the sun (original form being a ball of light and plasma that literally looks like a mini sun). He is basically like a piece of the sun on earth. His cell is kinda like Ink’s, only in the fact that there are just a couple of animal species. Some deer, birds, and insects mainly. Ink obviously just appeared in his cell one day and made it for him. While Dream could be considered to be a Safe SCP, his ability to damage or completely ruin the planet if inraged prevents that classification.

SCP-003 (Apollyon Class) has proven to be a relatively docile creature. It is elegant in nature (like that of a bird) and shows greater empathy towards all life in general. Unlike SCP’s 001, 002, and 004 who view it as more interesting and admirable, more like a pretty crystal than an actual being with its own consciousness. 003 can not be fully contained and has shown the ability to travel through light rays. Its aura has also shown to be some form of anesthesia, and exposure for prolonged periods causes victims to feel more at peace and calm. 003 does have the capability to travel through the “dreamscape”, what exactly that in tails is unknown.

Dream doesn’t agree with the extinction event thing because the Holocene period hasn’t lasted for nearly as long as it should. On the other hand, he does distaste humanity/monsterkind for all it has done to the planet. Even so, he feels like they deserve more of a chance.

Nightmare: (Does the Black Moon howl?)(Death) Complete with the theme of being Dreams opposite, Nightmare was born from a black moon and the combination of Ink’s magic bringing life to the earth. He isn’t an evil force or anything, just the night to the day. His design is pretty true to OG nightmare, although his legs and feet share the same digitigrade format. His tentacles are more ghostly than slimy and they drip upwards instead of towards the ground. His bones also have a ghost;y wisp to them, but it isn’t that noticeable. Instead of only having a turquoise glint in his magic, there are sparks of purple aswell. (His original form being a black sphere of what looks like smoke).

His cell is basically an entrance to a cave system that Ink had made for him. Inside is a galaxy of crystals and gemstones that glow and sparkle like the night sky. A small stream runs through, the light refracting off of the water, adding to the glow effect. It is a nice calm place for Nightmare to just chill in, his separate own little world.

Nightmare is kind of mysterious, in the realm of Error in which he likes to watch things happen. Just lurking in the shadows, a quiet observer. Though, he wasn’t as fascinated by life as the others. So to prevent his boredom Ink made him a present- Killer. Nightmare hated the little thing at first but it didn’t take too long to grow fond of the little guy. Not too long later Ink pronounced his joy in watching Nightmare sigh in frustration by sending 2 more bundles his way -Dust and Horror- and Nightmare had to threaten Ink to stop before any more joined the fray.

SCP-004 (Apollyon Class) is an entity whose intentions are completely unknown. A mysterious being that chooses to dwell in the cave system 001 made for it. The entity refuses to interact with personal unless in interview. And when it does respond, it does so in riddles and metaphors. It seemingly takes joy asking more questions than the interviewer, turning the conversation in its favor. On such question that has been repeated multiple times - “Does the Black Moon howl?” has puzzled personal. Though 004 states that if answered correctly and explained why, then it will share its secrets with that person and that person only.

004 proves to be uncontainable like its counterparts, able to travel through shadows. SCP’s 012, 032, and 024 seem to be “followers” of 004, and regularly go missing from their cells. Most likely 004’s doing.

[Ink created Killer, Dust, and Horror during the era where dinosaurs were still alive, so they have some traits from them.]

Killer: (War) Was created by Ink for Nightmare to keep him entertained. Killer was born as a baby in Ink’s very hands, a little skeleton with curved blades for hands and digitigrade legs and feet (and little quills on his back). Growing up under Nightmare’s care was an interesting experience, but he thought Kill’s everything he needed to know.

-[SCP-012, Keter]-

Killer is fast, very fast. And he enjoys killing things (what a surprise). He’s pretty much the same cocky boi as always. His more SCP side is that he doesn’t seem to ever feel pain and the black liquid that leaks through his eyes. That can be used as a type of venomous toxin to whatever he pleases.

Dust: (Pestilence) You know Epidexipteryx and Therizinosaurus? Those are Dust hands, long with even longer claws. He can also turn into literal dust, more of a phantom or wraith in nature. He can walk through walls, and turn others to dust and grow himself if he wishes.

He and Horror could be twins since Ink made them both at the same time. Holding his little creations in his arms as they wriggled and whined in confusion at suddenly being alive.

-[SCP-032, Keter]-

Dust is pretty quiet and tame. He has his episodes but he stays pretty much the same as bookwrym’s, writing’s, and Dark’s Dust.

Horror: (Famine) Since Horror is a vent crawler I based his design on that. Horror’s second set of arms are like a praying mantis with an extra joint, hands serrated blades almost like Killer’s. He used to sit in trees and wait for prey to walk underneath him, plucking them from the ground with his long arms and eating them alive.

Same thing when in vents, just waits over the openings and plucks a person off of the ground and into the vent (if personal don’t keep up with his feeding times)

-[SCP-024, Euclid]-

Other than his design Horror is pretty much the same as bookwyrm’s, writing’s, and Dark’s concept.

Outer: [SCP-044, Safe] His stardust makes him have luminescent galaxy and star patterns on his bones. He floats regularly without control over it and can sometimes make other objects float, in rare cases people, aswell. Ink made him a jacket where pieces of its hood and aglets float off like a sort of fluffy foam. The pieces orbit him like planets to a star before joining back, making a continuous cycle.

(And yes writingforFUN, he will still keep his anime sparkling eyelight’s).

Cross: [SCP-00X, Thaumiel] Was created by Dr. X to help contain and terminate Keter SCP’s. Being forced to kill his brother when he turned Keter, not completely in control of his actions. Dr. X’s “programing” making him see his brother no longer as such, just an object to be eliminated. When Cross became uncontrollable Dr. X put wiped his memory without the 05’s or administers permission and an MTF was sent after him that came back empty-handed. Cross was brought back soon enough and had his memory wiped.

They bring him back in as a staff member and that’s when the story kicks off, mostly following bookwyrm’s, writingforFUN, and Dark’s original outline/convo.

(I apologize for any typos)

[chikoriita]

A couple months ago, I commissioned the very talented @rosekasa​ to visualize Emrys, one of the main characters of my original writing. She did an amazing job, and I wanted to introduce Emrys to you all. I’ve spent the last few years tinkering with the idea of publishing. This past year has helped me realize that it could be a possibility. 

I’ve put a small excerpt under the read more, and I’d love to see what y’all think.

The early morning’s sun shone on the water, reflecting the clear sky above. All was calm on the surface of the Samundhar save for one boat gliding through the water. The sole passenger, young Emrys Gale, watched the slow waves splash against the side of the ferry. Few people traveled the routes between the isles this early on a Sunday morning. On a normal day, the chatter and din of noblemen traveling from their homes on the outer islands to their destinations toward the center cluster would overpower anyone’s thoughts. Emrys wished it was the case that morning. Unfortunately, all was calm except for her stomach. It began to twist and twist in on itself in anticipation.

This morning started with Maryl, the Galewind majordomo, angrily knocking on her door. She opened the door to find the irritated old man holding a summons with the Minister’s seal. He gave her a look last given when he found her playing in his precious garden. He dropped it in her hand and left muttering about retirement. As if it were her fault the Minister of Lyria summoned her to the capital for an important meeting. That day. By noon. Without delay, Emrys readied herself and caught the first ferry out to Dweeparaj, the capital city of Lyria.

The Lyrian archipelago was located in the Samundhar, a sea between the two halves of the Millennium Coalition. Made up of close to one hundred islands, winding ferries connected them to one another. Legends claimed that once, many eons ago, all the islands stood together as one large island of Lyria. A calamity broke the land apart, tearing the Lyrians away from their kin and countrymen. To remain one with their people, they built the boats to keep their country as one.

Centuries later, Lyrians continued these traditions on the decks of boats sailing on the wide sea, between the islands and beyond. Every islander remembered their first time visiting a neighboring island, standing above the open water and free as a bird. Emrys treasured the memory of her first sail to Dweeparaj. Her father took her with him on the ferry to the capital as a treat. At the time, no one trusted the new ferry system, but now it was the largest infrastructure improvement for the archipelago.

The ferries were an elaborate system of close to one hundred routes built on the Lyrian core value of punctuality. The phrase ‘Time is of the essence’ was the national motto. Clocks lined the walls in every building and boat. Hurricanes could hit, but still at least one boat kept each route alive. Of all of the routes, the Capital Ferry stuck to a strict schedule. Not once had Emrys seen the ferry deter from its schedule. Not until this morning that is. Today, Emrys’ ferry took its time at each stop, delaying the route.

The captain and the attendant were not worried. After all their years of ferrying, they could take a small break on a Sunday morning. After all, the Senate was in recess, and no one regularly went to the capital during these weeks anyway. Their only passenger seemed to be low maintenance. The attendant did not hear one grunt or grumble on this late morning. But his poor eyesight missed the murderous glares that passenger sent his way. Even one as easy going as Emrys Gale was at the end of her tether.

With every stop, her stomach tightened a fraction more. What did the Minister want? Her father was set to return any day to Lyria. His business could wait, could it not? She pulled out the raggedy pocket watch her father gifted her. The ferry should have reached Dweeparaj almost an hour ago.

Why were they not moving fast today of all days? Unlike her fellow citizens, she did not require punctuality at every juncture. In fact, her daily routine was quite flexible. Her days could be stopped completely for all she cared. But not this day, not with the summons in her pocket. Emrys tucked the watch into her shirtwaist pocket, tugging at the string. No one was too careful on the main island. A large city like Dweeparaj crawled with pickpockets and hustlers waiting to prey on unsuspecting young girls. Her hand slid along her dupatta to her aunt’s dagger.

Maya gifted it to her once she began traveling to Dweeparaj on her own. “Pacifism and non-violence are excellent morals, but if it is your life on the line, you will need violence.” She understood her aunt’s sentiments but secretly wondered if she gave it to upstage her father’s pocket-watch gift. What twelve-year old preferred a watch to a knife?

“Do not worry, wrongdoers will carry my mark if they target me and live with that forever,” she joked, dragging the handle down her cheek.

Her aunt did not appreciate her humor.

She twisted the crumpled summons in her hands. Anxiety only wrinkled it further. A small bump jarred Emrys from her thoughts. They had finally reached the city. The ferry swayed side to side as it glided onto the station dock. The frazzled attendant finally registered the delay they faced and stood to quickly escort her off the ship. Emrys hesitated. If she stayed on the ferry, four stops later, she would return home. Staying on the ship could mean safety in ignorance. But it would be a short-lived respite. The Minister was not a man to ignore. What did he want with her of all people?

"I need you to get off the gangplank, madam!” Emrys blinked. Had she already reached the end? Her feet decided for the rest of her - all of her will see the Minister today. After all, what was so urgent that she needed to come that day to Dweeparaj? We serve at the pleasure of our country, thought Emrys as she stepped off the plank.

[hauntlikeaghost0]

drowning | d.m

summary: you are draco’s lifline.

warnings: little bit angsty but in a fluffy way

a/n: wrote this on my phone so ignore weird spacing but i think i really like it?? idk hehe

༒༒༒

draco’s life was falling apart. slipping and tumbling, crashing down around him faster and faster as time went by; and there was nothing he could do but watch. watch as the rubble buried all his friendships, all his confidence and innocence, all his happiness. and all he could do was prey and beg and just hope that people will forgive him when it was all over. hope and beg and prey that despite seeing his face on the opposite side, despite seeing him next to the people that tore down their home, they won’t see him as the enemy. they won’t see him as evil. but just the battered and broken boy that didn’t have a choice. the battered and broken boy that couldn’t lose anymore.

as he looks out over hogwarts from his place in the astronomy tower, he mulls this over. no, not mulls, he grapples, he obsesses. mind racing repeatedly over how hopelessly fucked his life is about to become. he wonders desperately how he could have possibly let it get this far, he wonders what would have happened if he’d had just said no. surely his parents would be dead now, possibly himself, maybe even you.

now, himself and his father, he could deal with, he could accept. karma’s a bitch and boy did the malfoy men know how to anger her. but his mother, she was the only person to ever make him believe in love, in care, in hope. she would do anything for him, despite him knowing he could live a hundred lives and never deserve that. and you, oh god you. the only person to ever make draco feel as though he was lovable, not worthy of love, as he is convinced he never will be, but somehow, by some sort of miracle, you loved him. you were stubborn as hell and drove him insane but, praise merlin, did you care for that boy so fiercely and so passionately that he almost believed you when you told him he was a gift. he had some bumps and bruises, some scars that would take time to heal but he was precious and beautiful. irreplaceable.

the school grounds were bathed in darkness, stars littering the deep navy sky, reflecting off the black lake as though it were a mirror and dancing around before draco’s eyes. despite the late hours, a few lights still remained, glowing warmly from scattered windows around the castle, inviting the boy to dive into their saftey. an invitation he ignored. although his entire life was constantly casted in shadows, draco still finds a strange comfort in the darkness. the idea of going unseen but still being able to see it all, and, he supposes, it’s just all he’s ever known. he finds darkness at home, darkness at school, darkness in his mind, even some darkness in you, as no one can truly avoid it.

he drags his cold hands over his face, pressing them into his eyelids and watching as patterns appear and swirl beneath the pressure. the only thing that calls his attention away is the familiar sound of your pattering footsteps, climbing the old creaking stairs behind him.

“draco?” you call out as you reach the final step, catching a glimpse of the instantly recognisable platinum hair, only made harder to ignore in the silvery moonlight.

“over here.” he replies, not moving from his position of gripping the metal railing. you instantly recognise the tension in his shoulders and the stiffness of his neck. his mind is elsewhere, lost in what if’s and worst case scenarios.

you take a deep breath, heart already breaking for the boy infront of you, begging yourself to keep it together for him. to be the solid shoulder for him to lean on while everything feels so unstable. “i see you” you breathe out and make your way closer.

you arrive at his side but his eyes stay fixated right ahead, so many emotions swirling in his icy blues that you wonder whether there’s anyone there at all. his hands still grasp the bar infront of him so tightly his knuckles are white and all you can think to do in that moment is lay your, slightly smaller, hopefully warmer, hand atop his.

“you are the best thing that ever happened to me.” you speak out, mirroring his position and fixing your eyes upon the silhouettes of two birds dancing and twirling across the ever darkening skyline. “you know that right?”

you feel him turn his attention towards you, vision locking intently on the side of your face as though trying to discern something so impossibly complicated.

meeting his eyes, you raise your brows. not in a teasing way, but almost so as to open up more of your face to him, to put on display all of your emotions for him to read, desperate for him to find complete sincerity. he only shakes his head.

“i don’t deserve you.” is all he says, eyes glassy but the ghost of a smile appearing on his lips.

rolling your eyes, you reply: “do you think i give a fuck about what people deserve?” there’s a playful tint in your voice, only barely disguising the complete seriousness. draco lets out a short laugh at this, turning to lean his elbow against the railing, finally allowing some lightness to return to his features.

“draco fucking malfoy,” you jab a finger into his chest, “if i could, i would hand you the world with three tiny finger holes in the top and let you use it a fucking bowling ball, me being each one of the ten pins. i would let you repeatedly crush me with the world, which you hold in your hands, because i feel that’s what you deserve.”

“now, i feel that’s a bit rash.” he says, gaze softening even further and a more solid grin making its way upon his face. there’s humor in his voice and it adds a warmth to the night.

“it’s not up for debate.” you snap back, keeping up your serious facade for another two beats until draco rolls his eyes, chuckling to himself quietly.

the sound of his laughter and the beautifully curved grin on his lips brings a sort of joy to you that you can’t quite understand. a sense of pride, not at the fact you managed to make him smile, but at the fact he still can, after all he’s been through. when that beautiful, damaged boys face lights up in the way it just had, everything feels right in the world, nothing can go wrong, nothing can harm you, because draco is happy, draco is happy. it may only be for a moment, a brief second in a lifetime, but it gives you hope, it makes you warm. and you did mean it when you said that boy deserves the world, he truly, truly does.

a silence settles between the two of you and your attention shifts back to those same two birds, now sat comfortably atop one of hogwarts many spires, pressed up against eachother, keeping eachother warm.

“can i have a hug?” a timid voice speaks up from beside you. it’s such a weak and frail sound from someone who appears so casually strong that your heart clenches in your chest, turning your attention towards the delicate boy to your left. you smile up at him as warmly as you possibly can and slowly place a hand on his pale cheek, dusting your thumb lightly over the soft skin and relishing in how it heats slightly beneath you touch.

you only nod in response, dropping both your hands over his shoulders and drawing him into you, so closely and so tightly, he wonders if you’ll ever let him go. he decided he definitely hopes not. instantly, draco is wrapping his arms around your waist, holding you just as securely and somehow managing to bring your body impossibly closer to his, hips and chests flush together. you feel the butterflies fly wildly in your stomach, a sensation not uncommon when being around draco, as he nuzzles his head into your neck, inhaling deeply and making goosebumps shoot up across your body at the feeling of his soft breath against your skin.

“you deserve the world, draco malfoy.” you breathe out softly, sincerity laced thickly in your words, begging for the damaged boy to hear it and willing for him to finally believe it.

draco only grips you tighter, no words escaping his lips but an almost silent sniffle coming from his place snuggled into your shoulder. again you feel your heart in your throat and, in order to fight back your own set of tears that are balancing so dangerously close to falling, you begin to move from side to side, swaying oh so gently like branches in the wind. you cling onto draco and he to you, realising what you’re doing and moving just the same. you place a hand softly on the back of his head, sliding your fingers into his hair and drawing a hum out from the back of his throat that makes your knees buckle slightly.

you continue to sway for a few more moments, draco grasping you like the lifeline he saw you as and you holding him tenderly, savouring the feeling of his closeness as though it were the last drop of oxygen you’d ever receive. he begins to sway you in a circle, turning the pair of you around until your back was against the cold metal railing. you flinch slightly at the feel of the icy iron through your thin bed shirt, followed by the loss of draco’s weight against your neck, however the coldness is soon replaced by a flooding warmth when your eyes lock on his. the amount of emotion seeping from them brings a lump to your throat. there’s still the ghost of the hopelessness that always resides in his steely blues but right now, as he stares and you so intensely, all that can be seen is love. suffocating and overwhelming, soft and beautiful, completely overflowing, powerful love.

it takes everything in you not to scream, yell from the astronomy tower that you could never be more happy because he fucking loves you and you fucking love him and everything’s shit but you’re both in love. so intensely and passionately, in love.

and then he opens his mouth and the words spill like silk from his lips, curving around your heart and tying a beautiful bow atop it. a name tag hanging from the ribbon reads his name and you are sure it will never say any other for as long as the pair of you live, and even then after:

“i don’t want the world, dear, i only want you.”

then the tears spill and his lips meet yours. there’s fire and passion behind the kiss that has him pinning you to the balcony, hands tights against your waist. fire and passion that has you curving into him, hands lost in his hair. but the tears dancing between both your hot lips brings a sorrow to the kiss that makes your heart clench, a neediness that comes only from a broken boy, clinging to you with lust and simultaneously hopeless desperation. draco nips on your bottom lip lightly causing you to gasp softly which he takes as permission to begin the dance between your tongue and his own. each time you go in for more he treats it as receiving another breath of life, the love you’re presenting him with, filling his lungs and quenching his thirst better than anything else ever could.

finally, you pull back, gasping for air and running your tongue over your lips, weirdly addicted to the taste of draco mingled with both of your bitter, salty tears. he does the same, signature smirk adorning his features before he gently leans his forehead against yours, dropping a kiss to your nose that makes you’re heart swell.

“i love you, (Y/N), endlessly.” he breathes out, hand coming up to run his index finger delicately along your bottom lip.

“i love you too draco, endlessly.”

and in that moment, draco smiles. really, truly earnestly, smiles.

his world may be crumbling around him, he may be drowning in the darkness that spills from every person and every crevice of his mind; but, right now, on this balcony, with you in his arms and him in yours, it’s not the moon or the stars that’s keeping the astronomy tower alight. it’s you. it’s you and the love that you allow him to feel, the love that, when he’s with you, seeps from his very bones, pouring out of him and drowning the both of you.

and what a beautiful way to die.

𝐹𝑖𝑛