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mazikeenhyde · 26 days

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Oh Baby... Pain is Pleasure - Part Four

POLY JUDGMENT DAY X READER (WRESTLER)

Y/W/N – Your Wrestling Name

WARNING – THESE WARNINGS COVER ALL PARTS OF THIS FICTION- THEY MAY NOT BE SPECIFIC TO THIS PARTICULAR PART!-

WARNING – SMUT, POLY RELATIONSHIPS, BDSM, SPANKING, VIOLENT REFRENCES, BLOOD, INJURY, ABUSE (CONSENTUAL) KIDKNAPPING/ABUDCTION

Tag List - @babybatlover

Oh Baby…Pain is Pleasure – Part Four

What felt like an eternity laying on the cold floor of the van was, in reality, just a few minutes. My senses were all a mess, you see it all the time in films; people counting the number of turns and times to travel a distance, well I could barely keep myself focused on the situation in hand. I worried to much about the others, they would be getting so worried, Rhea was a little… over sensitive when it came to our safety. If any of us were late home, sick, injured or all the above she was like firecracker at new year’s. Fussing and fretting in every direction and over every little thing. Sometimes it was a little overwhelming, but I loved her for it.

Out of nowhere, the vans brakes hit hard as it skidded across the country lanes gritted road into a near lay by. I felt the cold chill flood the inside of the van as the backdoors flung open and someone grabbed me by my ankles, dragging me out. I could of screamed, but what was it going to do? How would it have made a difference? At least when I scream at home, I get some enjoyment from it.

I guess when you consider all the bondage nights we have shared together, Priest and Finn being the ever instigators and professionals when it comes to BDSM, you learn a thing or two about ropes…

About knots…

and how to untie them.

These hooded fuckers had no idea I had loosened my bindings the second the van doors closed, but I was intrigued to see where this was going. Whether they liked it or not, I knew who they were. The side road abduction seemed more like a game then an actual threat. Call it the kinky side of me if you like, I was into it.

I felt my feet leave the floor as I was thrown over someone’s shoulder and they were quick to make a fast pace walk away, abandoning the vehicle. The stale straw smell filled my nostrils, like an unwashed scarecrow left out through a winter night, the sun now baking off the morning dew that hung heavy on their hat. Hearing a heavy set of what sounded like old rickety wooden doors close behind me I was thrown backwards into a chair, my face still fully covered by a hood and those scarecrow style footsteps that had bought me here slowly backed away.

A softer style gently made their way forward, pulling off the hood that covered my face and glaring back into my soul. I was quick to scan around the room.

An old worn-down barn, torn apart and battered by many harsh winters with barley a solid wall intact. Opposite me stood a woman, dressed in a tattered white dress, and fractured China mask, her hair unwashed and unkept. She made not a single sound as she crooked her neck in my direction. Next to her, a few steps back stood an ever-growing atrocious figure, caught in the shadows of this ruin you could just make out the rabid fur across the ears.

Then, out from of the corner of my eye, from the darkness he stepped forward. The bone across the creature’s face glistened in the bask of the sunset. Leaning down into my face it grinned, and I, in turn, smiled back.

“Hi Dex…” I offered as he removed the mask and tutted his finger in my face.

“tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk…. Y/N Y/N Y/N” He repeated, beginning to pace around the seat I was thrown on, his voice faking a cheerful tone.

“Where you been girl, you didn’t forget about us did you? You didn’t forget… about little old us?” He stood in front raising his arms as the other two stepped forward. “You didn’t forget…” He lowered his head adjourning a menacing toothy grin as he looked back up directly into my eyes, “About your deal?”

“What is this, Dex? What’s with the whole Kidnapping routine, it’s not very funny” I stated, shuffling in my seat as I tried to free up my hands from behind me, stuck on the final hitch in the knot.

“You. Didn’t. Answer. The. Question. Y/N.” Dexter’s voice was low, monotone, and full of spite. “You made a deal…”

“A deal’s a deallllll” a higher pitched voice came from behind him, her face still emotionless but her voice full of entertainment at the situation I was caught up in. I’d always been a gambling girl, but the odds were not in my favor here.

“I didn’t make it with you though? Did i!” I spat out my words as I managed to free my hands. Pushing myself up and off the chair seat I went to leap up toward the three of them, but two hands clamped tightly onto me, one around my forehead and the other across my mouth, keeping my silent.

Shit.

That leather smell was all too familiar, that, that green and blue tinged skin tone, that cackling laughter of misfortune. My eyes filled with terror as my air supply became limited and in turn, pulling me back into the chair; my hands had been locked in place by my own body weight. I felt…his…breath against the nape of my neck, warm and humid as he laughed under his words. That indescribable laughter, the true stuff of nightmares.

“A deal… is a deal y/n” His words were mixed in with absurdity as he leant in to smell the distress painted across my body in sweat, my whole form nervously shivering where it sat.

“And a debt…is a fucking debt. Dead or alive. The price must be paid… and we are here to collect.” He released his grasp around me as his hands snaked back through the chair and I found my hands had been re tied behind me, only better this time. There was no escape.

Moving into full view for the first time, in an awful long time, there he was.

Uncle Howdy.

Pacing around in a circle he twirled his wrists as he laughed mechanically to himself, by his feet perched in the dirt was Huskus too, ever as creepy as the others. Yet always seemed to be a little pet to his master.

“Let. Me. Go!” I spat out each word in both fury and fear. “My deal, wasn’t with you either Howdy!”

Before I could catch my breath back, Huskus almost threw himself backwards to be nearer the other two as Howdy ran straight at me, grabbing the tops of my arms and pushing the chair back onto its edges, as he closed the gap between us to leave millimeters between my face and his. His voice was enriched with the fury of an army and every word filled with hatred.

“YOU FORGET YOUR PLACE Y/N” He spat through gritted teeth. “HE MAY HAVE LEFT THIS REALM BUT DON’T FORGET WHOSE WORLD YOU LIVE IN!” His eyes looked down and I followed, only now realizing just where I was sitting.

“Even in death, he lives on. Even in the living days of now, the ghosts of our past come back to haunt us.” Howdy smiled once more returning his gaze to meet mine as he began pushing the infamous rocking chair back and forth. Throwing my head to the side at the sound of a matchstick strike I glanced at Abby, the witch, light that haunting lantern and the atmosphere in the room felt very dark in the split of a second. Dexter leant into the glow of the dim light and smiled, snatching his face to stare back at me.

Howdy’s hand then came up to mine as his fingers turned my chin back to face him.

“He… set the price. You agreed to the terms, The dice were cast, and you got what you wanted.”

“But I will lose what I have…” I offered my plea, but it fell on deaf ears.

Uncle Howdy stood, straightening himself and shrugged his shoulders.

“We don’t choose the cards we are dealt y/n, but we decide how to play the game. It’s a gambling world full of sinners, either win or lie to succeed, and we pay our debts to the ferry man on the way out. But you never cheat. There’s always… Witnesses.” He looked back at me at winked.

“It was you… it was from you” I recalled that text.

“Did you work it out yet?” How is Miss Morgan” Uncle Howdy smirked as his little friends walked forward to lurk at his side.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Work what out?” I played the fool, in regards to Liv anyway.

Howdy snapped his fingers and his little witch stepped forward, scribbling with her chalks across the dirt floor with the words ‘LOCKER WITNESSES’, looking up to me and smiling she was quick to run her hand over and rearrange the letters.

L.O.C.K.E.R W.I.T.N.E.S.S.E.S

……............................................................................

S. K. L.

E. N. I.

C. O. E.

R. W. S.

…...................................................................................

I couldn’t believe it, how had I not noticed that before. It was a fucking anagram, it was her, Abby, she had sent me that message just after Liv had text me while I was training with Finn.

“Our secrets birth the lies that entangle us, until we suffocate, they restrict our souls with their never-ending depths of deception until we choose to reveal them. We set the truth free…” Howdy smiled, knowing full well I would never let that happen.

“So here’s your choice Y/N… reveal your secrets to those you love most, set those lies freeeeeeeee….” He laughed as his words fell into a whisper by the end, that laughter was torturous and never ending.

“Or… pay your debt” He stopped, arms stretched out wide, stating the terms blankly.

“How…?” I questioned.

“WrestleMania… The witch cashes in, you throw the match.” He put it out there, plain and simple.

“I can’t…” I whimpered, “It would break them, they’ve all worked so hard to get me there. Ive worked ridiculously hard to get myself to this point! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!” My heart was breaking as i screamed... "Please..."

“Secrets don’t stay hidden forever y/n… those are the terms. That is the price.” And with that Uncle Howdy grabbed the lantern and blew it out, his laughter was the last thing I heard before something caught me around the side of the head, I felt myself crash onto the dirt floor in a heap before everything went pitch black.

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

My eyes fluttered in a daze as I could hear the sound of panicked voices around me, the ground had returned to the normality of the grit on a public road. Though everything surrounding felt like a jumbled mess and nothing sounded quite right, but I recognized those voices. Those soft, loving, gentle voices.

“Mi Amor..”

“Lass? Can you hear me?”

“Bunny? Bunny!?”

“Mi Vida, estás bien?

It was all a bit like a dream as I sat up, had it really happened? Was I just dehydrated? My head hurt for sure, maybe I could just pass it off as dehydration. Then they wouldn’t worry so much, but I was struggling to ground myself and form a real sentence. Without hesitation, Damian had scooped me up into his arms and taken me inside.

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

That night I lay in between them all as they slept, wide awake and full of a million questions and a thousand more fears on top. I had no idea what to do, what was going to happen and how I was going to escape this mess. It was my mess, and they were right, secrets don’t stay hidden forever.

Speaking of secrets, I pulled out my phone from under my pillow and turned my head to see Damien’s face, gently breathing on me as he slept. God how I loved him, my gentle giant in all his glory. It pained my heart to think of the hurt that was headed their way, because one way or another someone was going to get hurt. But I’d sooner die before I let it be them, and they can never find out. Not about her.

I opened up my messages seeing the one I now knew was from Abby and closed it, to open instead the one from Liv. Taking a deep breath, I replied to her…

“The Wyatts know…” I clicked send, but as if like fate met fortune, like the nightmare needed its finishing touch, my gentle giant spoke…

“Know what y/n?” Damian locked eyes with me, and my face gave it all away.

Now… I was well and truly fucked.

He sat up, pulling me up with him.

“What are you playing at, you don’t go around messing with the Wyatts…”

I was frozen on the spot, how was I going to get out of this.

Damien pulled me in to close the gap and with a tight grip around the back of my neck he was plain and clear with his words.

“What the fuck have you done…?”

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Part 5??

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spaceless-vacuum · 2 years

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Fandom‧˚｡ﾟ･° ｡✎ Legend of Zelda

Pairing‧˚｡ﾟ･° ｡✎ Yandere!Four x reader

Word count‧˚｡ﾟ･° ｡✎ 1109

Summery‧˚｡ﾟ･° ｡✎ I found this list of prompts and decided to write some things for them. this is number 3 from this list.

Misc‧˚｡ﾟ･° ｡✎ first person pov, kidnapping, being tied up, yandere behaviors and themes, dub-con cuddling

“Where did you learn to do this?” I looked up at my arms that were held above my head with rope. I couldn't find any wiggle room and there wasn't any way to untie myself. Not with both hands and feet bound to the bed frame. I would have been more worried but Four had already assured me that he wasn't going to do anything weird. It had taken some time but after what felt like an eternity of back and forth, with four doing most of the talking, he finally took the gag out of my mouth after I promised not to scream.

“Learn to do what?” he asked. Turning his head to the side as a sign of confusion. His voice sounded worried and I knew he was concerned about what I was thinking about. He had been here and knew he had to wait and see how the chips would fall. This moment could make or break their relationship with their darling. Either way they would have you, but they also wanted you to be comfortable.

“The uh-” I tugged my hands some more “-rope thing.”

“Tying you up?”

“Yes…” I hedged. I wanted more information but more than that I wanted the chance to mess something up and escape. Even if I didn't manage to make it out, being able to try something would help. Four moved from his spot leaning against the wall next to me. He walked to the opposite side of the bed and settled down next to me. He smiled and leaned over to place a kiss on the top of my head.

“It’s nothing special, just an average knot, frankly i'm surprised you haven’t tried to break out yet.” he laid his head down on the pillow next to mine. I wanted to say something to him but I was distracted by the fact that he was just laying right there. Without a care in the world he just made himself comfortable while I was tied up next to him.

He looked like he could just about explode with happiness and I wanted to move away but I was unable to do anything but wiggle in my spot. He moved closer and I tried to move regardless. He laughed as instead of getting anywhere I just writhed in place. Throwing my head back I tried to get a better look at my hands one more time. I still didnt know how to get myself out.

“I’m just kidding, you know, there's no way for you to break out of that.” he sounded so happy and proud of himself. As a rule I tried to avoid people who enjoy others suffering but I couldn't avoid this. The only reason I hadn't screamed was because I knew that no one would be around to help. His house was on the outskirts of town and even then the gag was still sitting on the bedside table. It was helpless and I couldn't even cower away from his touch.

“I just cabt risk loosing you. Now that I finally have you safe by my side i cant ever let you leave. Sorry for lying like that buttercup.” He cupped my face in one of his hands and gave me a kiss on the cheek. The use of my nickname made me want to crawl out of my skin. I always enjoyed being called that by him before but now after seeing this other side of him shine all the way through it made me feel sour. He wasn't allowed to call me that name while I laid helpless because of him.

He moved closer to me. Wrapping himself around my body I could feel his heartbeat rise as he moved closer. He buried his head into my shirt and could hear him take several deep breaths. Inhaling my scent and pushing himself closer as he leaned into me. He was half laying across me and half sprawled put on the other side of the bed. He ran a hand along the side of my face and stroked my cheek. His hands were warm, incredibly so. He was probably working the forge before he heard me wake up.

“I’m just…” he nuzzled his head into my body and moved himself ever so slightly further on top of me. “I'm just so happy you're here with me. I hope you don't mind the stay, I've already had everything planned out for a few weeks but I just couldn't keep putting it off. Truth be told, I was planning on doing this only if you rejected me but I guess I couldn't help myself.”

He looked up and gazed into my eyes. He had a huge grin on my face and something in those eyes told me he saw me as a delicious meal rather than a worried friend. I looked at the wall rather than give them any satisfaction. He cupped my chin in one of his calloused hands and pulled on my chin. Turning my head down to look him in the eyes.

“You can't even pull away from me.” he muttered. “And you're just so adorable, like a scared little mouse, I could just eat you up.” I wriggled underneath him and it did nothing to shake him off. Rather it seemed to spur him on, he laughed again and this time moved on top of me all the way. Straddling my hips with his he sat on top of me and I could see the wide eyed look of his that he was exploding with some sort of tormenting happiness.

This contact made me blush a bit and I looked away from his face. Finding the wall behind him or the bedside more interesting than the man on top of me. Not that I wanted to think of him like that. It was a little more intimate than I was used to but nothing to completely freak out over.

“What an interesting expression, would you care to explain what you're thinking about for me.” he leaned over and placed both of his arms on either side of my head. His hair fell down and brushed the sides of my face. I turned my head to the side and he placed a kiss on my cheek. Then my jaw, and lightly he trailed a line of kisses from my jaw to the lobe of my ear. Lightly biting here and there as he made his way up to the tip of my ear. I whined slightly as he made his way back down.

“You're finally mine.”

#eye write #four x reader #yandere legend of zelda #yandere link #kidnapping tw #cw manipulation #link x reader #yandere link x reader

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misunderstood-muses · 2 years

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Promise (Part 12)

“So, you turn your hand like this and pull the rope this way and there you have it.”

He showed me his perfectly done knot and we both looked down at mine, making me frown at the jumbled mess. I heard a snort from the quarterdeck and turned to send a glare towards Mingi who looked away, ears turning red.

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

Wooyoung untangled the knot and had me try a few more times. The last result was better, but nowhere near good. Throwing the rope down, I propped myself up on a barrel.

“This is impossible. We’ve been at this for three days.”

“Nothing is impossible. You ran an entire Inn.” He said, laughing and running his hand down my arm.

“That was making beds. Not making knots in a rope meant to save my life.”

“Technically, this one is for the sail so that it…”

“It doesn’t matter!”

He stepped up closer to me and pushed some of the hair falling from my red ribbon San had gotten me behind my ear.

“How is your water thing going?”

I looked back at him, confused, “What?”

“With Yeosang.”

“It’s…better. I think I could probably stand in a small puddle at this point.”

“So it’s better now? When before you couldn’t even bear to see it?”

I finally caught on to his point.

“Stop being so insightful.” I said, pushing his arm away playfully and he just grinned, wrapping his fingers with mine and tugging me forward into a hug.

“I know you’re scared of heights, but that can get better too. Practice okay. I know my Sunlight would never give up.”

“Sunlight?” I asked, pulling back from him and raising a brow.

“Yeah. Because you’re my sunlight.”

“Well then. You’re my moonlight. Since you’re just as pretty as it I guess.”

We both looked at each other before erupting into giggles. Despite the cheesy moment, I felt like this was something that was going to stick.

“Alright. Practice a few more times and then you can go help Mingi drive this thing.” Wooyoung said, pecking me on the lips before running off. I could feel my blush creeping up. Despite everyone on the ship now knowing about our very weird relationship, I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it being so out in the open.

Cursing Wooyoung under my breath, I did practice making the knot a few more times before heading over to Mingi. I wasn’t really planning on steering anything, but Hongjoong suggested that I learn a little bit about it. He had pointed out that it was always good to be prepared.

Mingi and I talked for most of the time, and he did let me steer once, with his help. It was weird feeling the pull of the ocean through something else, but for that one moment I felt something different. I felt like I had power on the ocean that most often made me feel powerless. Maybe there was something to this pirate thing after all.

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

That night I was reading one of the navigation books that Yeosang had let me borrow.

Truth be told, it was boring and I could already feel my mind wandering. So it didn’t take much convincing to pull me away from my room when Wooyoung showed up, his finger over his mouth, beckoning me to come with him.

When we started down towards the galley, he made me close my eyes until we reached the bottom step.

“Okay, open.”

The darkness of before was now illuminated. Many lanterns hung around a table in the middle and lit candlesticks showed a table with food laid out.

“Wooyoung?”

“I figured we wouldn’t get to have a proper date any time soon so…”

I grinned and let him lead me to a seat.

“This is really great, but…”

“Hongjoong said I could use the food since we’re heading to Ineon next. We can get more supplies for cheap.”

“And you cooked all this?”

He smiled widely and nodded.

“Alright, then let’s dig in.”

We talked while we ate, laughing at the situations the crew members had gotten themselves into over the last few days. Wooyoung complimented me on my latest try at the knots and I threw a piece of bread at him, which he tried to catch in his mouth but it smacked him in the eye instead causing another laughing fit.

After a while he was quiet and staring instead.

“What? Is there something on my face?” I asked, brushing it self consciously.

“Just looking. Now that I don’t have to hide it anymore, you better get used to it.” He stood up slowly and came around the table. His hand lifted and lightly grazed my cheek, “And get used to this.”

His hand moved to wrap around the back of my neck, and he brought his lips to my forehead, “And this,” He kissed my nose, one cheek, the other, “And most definitely this.” He added before placing his lips on mine.

They were slightly chapped from spending so much time up in the wind of the rigging, but I was still just as breathless as the first time.

He pulled me up by his hand on the back of my neck and I followed willingly. My wobbly legs carried us to the wall of the galley with his direction and soon my back was pressed against it, Wooyoung’s body pressed against mine.

When both of us needed a breath, he leaned back, trailing his lips across my jaw and down my neck, pushing the shirt I was wearing aside.

“I like it when you wear my clothes.” He said, whispering just below my ear, “But it does make it so difficult not to do this every moment of the day.”

I whined a little as his tongue ran over my skin and his hand skimmed under the shirt and over my bare side. When he started to pull it up I grabbed his arms.

“We can’t…not in here?” I wasn’t sure why it came out as more of a question. He only laughed.

“There’s the storage room.”

“You want to…do this where all the food is?”

“I want to do this out on the deck, atop the main mast so that everyone knows that you’re ours,” I inhaled quickly at his words. “But, I guess my room will do.”

He grabbed my hand and dragged me back up the stairs.

“Where are you two going in such a hurry?” San asked, seeing us practically running, Wooyoung running and me being manhandled along behind him.

“Sannie, good timing. I’ll clean the barrels if you go put out all the candles and things in the galley. Great, you're the best!” Wooyoung yelled as we ran by.

I just smiled apologetically before he was out of sight and I was being pushed into Wooyoung’s room. I heard the door shut but wasn’t paying attention. I had never been here before, but I was a little in awe.

Paintings and drawings decorated the walls around the room, including a huge one of Marh behind the bed that was actually raised up on a platform.

“This is amazing.” I said, admiring all of the trinkets and instruments as well.

“Yeah. Well…”

“How’d you manage a bed off the ground?” I asked.

“I like to be high up I guess. I sleep better like this.”

“And you have an entire painting of Marh? It’s really beautiful.”

He started turning red, “Yeah well…I wanted to be reminded of the other beautiful thing in my life. Every night when I go to bed, I would be able to look at this and think about you here.”

I swallowed thickly, not sure why I felt like I was going to cry. Stepping forward and cupping his face, I kissed him deeply. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto the bed, dragging us both up to the top and I straddled his thin waist as we kissed.

His hands skimmed under his shirt on me again and this time I let him remove it.

“Beautiful.”

“This is hardly fair.” I said, reaching for his shirt.

“Wait.” He said, keeping my hands from moving any further. He rubbed the back of his neck, hands straying to his shoulder and I realized the reason for the discomfort on his face.

“Wooyoung. I like you for your insides and your outsides. Your scars are beautiful to me. They show that you were strong, that you endured. They make you more beautiful to me. But I also know the toll they take on you. So if you want to leave it on then I don’t mind. I just want you to know that you are safe with me.”

He bit his lip, taking in my words before seeming to make up his mind, sitting up to take it off and tossing it aside before flipping us over as I let out a small shriek.

His lips worked down my neck and then to my collar bone where I felt his teeth nibble at the skin as his hand grazed my breast. I lifted my hand to my mouth to stop any noises as he took one in his hand and squeezed. He kept massaging as he traveled lower, kissing my stomach before I felt a touch on my leg, my skirt slowly sliding up, shift and all. When it was finally bunched around my hips and I lay exposed to him, he smiled, coming back up to kiss me again.

The first touch of his fingers had me bucking into him and he sighed into my mouth.

“So long. I waited so fucking long. I’m going to do this every day.” He said, sliding his fingers between my lips and groaning at the wetness pooling there.

“Y-you’ll have to make sure that’s okay with Seongwha and Yeosang.”

“Who says? They can be there too. I won’t stop them.”

“Fuck.” I let out, moaning slightly at his words and the fingers that were now circling my clit.

“It’s okay. I like that idea too.”

He picked up the pace, and I tried not to cry out. To retaliate, I reached down to touch him through his trousers.

“Shit.” I laughed slightly and he grinned as well, before sliding a finger inside me, and then another when there wasn’t much resistance. We stayed here for a bit, just feeling each other, him stretching me while we kissed.

“Can I please have you now, my Sunlight?”

“Yes. Please. Now.” I whimpered and helped him remove his pants. When they were off and thrown somewhere in his room, he gripped my legs and pulled my knees towards him.

“A bit forceful there.” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“You gonna stop me?”

I reached up and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him down to me, “You gonna try to stop me back if I do?”

“Oh, I like this game. But I’ll also tell our beloved First Mate. I’m sure he would like to know that his little siren is a troublemaker.”

“Takes one to know one.” I said, sticking out my tongue at him.

“Goddess, I love you.” He said, causing my heart to skip a beat, “Now please let me fuck you. Please.”

His forehead rested against mine.

“Okay.” That was all the go ahead he needed.

It didn’t take either of us long to reach our peak, both of our bodies seeming to have wanted this for a long time. We lay there after he had gotten a towel to clean us up, him caressing my skin and pressing kisses to my hair every now and then as I traced the scars on his shoulders and back. We didn’t talk much. A comment here or there. We were more than content enough to just enjoy each other's presence before a thought crossed my mind.

“What you said earlier…was it just..the moment or?”

“I love you.” He said, no hesitation in his voice.

I looked into his eyes, searching for anything that might show he was being untrue or just lost in the moment but found nothing.

“You can sing at me, make me tell the truth if you want, but I’m being honest. I love you and I have for a long time.”

“No. I believe you and…I..I love you too.”

We both lay there grinning until falling asleep.

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

Mingi and I were facing each other again.

Two long sticks in our hands. He twirled his a few times.

“Alright, come at me.”

“Haven’t we done this before?” San asked, sitting on the railing nearby. There was a small crowd gathered to watch Mingi and I fight it out again.

“Shut up, San.” Mingi said, motioning with his stick for me to go. I knew he would be more prepared this time so I had to be smart.

I took off towards him and he readied himself for the defense. The sticks made sharp sounds as we blocked each other. I thanked myself for putting on the pants that I had borrowed from someone (probably Seonghwa) as I ducked, sliding across the deck and using Mingi’s legs and my momentum to pull me through, tripping him as I went with the stick. Almost face planting, he was distracted enough that I was able to bring my stick down and tap him lightly on the back of the neck.

“She wins.” Jongho says and Mingi splayed out the rest of the way in defeat.

“I can teach you what to look out for.” I said, helping him stand, “Then you can try again. Maybe you can get in a hit once and a while.”

“San,” he said, turning to the other weapons master, “Think you can beat her?”

“Probably not. And I think we’d be too evenly matched which means it would go on for a long time. However…” He looked behind me, “Captain?”

I turned my head, seeing Hongjoong making his way over.

“I’d rather not.”

“Because you know I’ll win? It’s okay. We can accept that.” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Bad move, baby.” I heard Yeosang say with a slight laugh.

Hongjoong held up his hand and Mingi tossed him the stick, “I’d rather not but…”

He paused his words, bringing the stick down hard, much harder than I was anticipating and it caught me off guard, the vibration ringing up my arm. We parried for a few moments and he sidestepped and I thought I had him then, putting my own stick out to trip him but he turned quickly the other way and used my momentum now to continue to spin me around and then into this chest, pulling the stick up around my neck and holding his hands on either side, the wood just barely touching my throat.

“But I guess I do need to show off why I’m the Captain sometimes.” He said in my ear, voice barely loud enough to carry to the others. I tried to control my breathing as he let go of the stick and backed away, “Not bad though. You have the skill but you’re rusty. Training lessons with San can be added to your day.”

My jaw dropped as he smirked and walked away.

“Speaking of training, time to go up today.” Wooyoung said, pulling me towards the main mast.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. The knots…”

“Are much better. Yeosang, you’ll come too right?” Wooyoung said, smiling back at him over his shoulder.

“Fine.”

“See? He’ll go up first and I’ll be right behind you.”

I was halfway up when I started to sweat. I clung to the rope ladder and tried not to look up or down. WIth small encouragements from Wooyoung and Yeosang, I finally reached the top. Bracing myself against the platform of the crows nest.

“Aleah, stand up and look.” Yeosang said, his hand coming into view.

“I think I might be sick.”

“I promise. You’ll be okay.” I reluctantly took his outstretched hand and stood on shaky legs.

“Look.”

I did as he asked and gasped a little at the sight. The sun was just starting to set, huge and orange on the horizon line, the sky a vibrant pink above it. The water slightly reflected it and I could see much more of it from here. The wind was wilder up here, but it only made me feel refreshed.

Fingers intertwined with mine and I turned to Wooyoung, who was staring again.

“What do you think?”

“Amazing.”

“Just like our girl huh?” A voice said from behind us and we turned as Seonghwa pulled himself onto the platform.

“This is all so weird but somehow…right.” I said, looking at all three of them.

“There are many texts about tribes where there are multiple people in relationships and they flourish. If you read about the…”

“We get it smarty, we can be perfectly normal.” Wooyoung said and Seonghwa smacked the back of his head lightly. I stuck my other arm through Yeosang’s and squeezed it to me.

I felt Seonghwa move closer, pressing his familiar body to my back and resting his chip on top of my head.

“Weird but happy.” I said.

“Weird but happy.” They all agreed and we watched together until the last rays of the sun fell beneath the sea.

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gojous-exbabymama · 3 years

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random headcanon about some of the jjk boy’s during sexy time

warning: smut, 18+, mdni, aged up characters, daddy kink, size kink, anal sex, crying, oral(f/m), unprotected sex, fluff, slight angst if you squint, loss of virginity, and injury to reader but nothing serious

——————————————————————————

gojou saturo

“that time you sneezed” + “caught a cramp so bad he almost passed out”

- sex with gojou is always fun

- hate to admit it but it’s true

- it’s unpredictable yet super exciting

- don’t tell him that tho or else he’ll never shut up

- your back was arched against the sturdy kitchen table with your legs bent and pushed to your chest

- gojou was thrusting into you just right, hitting that spot deep inside you that had you screaming

- “yes, yes. right there d-dont stop!”

- “right there princess? am i hitting your special spot?”

- “you don’t have to answer that, i know i am~”

- “go on, scream louder for daddy, let em’ know just how good im making you feel”

- if you weren’t too focus on cumming you would of told him to shut the fuck up but he was making you feel good

- and you learned a long time ago that he doesn’t need to hear it from your lips to know, your body spoke for you

- the knot in your belly was growing tighter

- you were so close, your cries letting him know

- gojou glances down at you, watching your tits bounce with each thrust as your face twisted in pleasure

- “aww y/n-chan, i wish you could see the faces you’re making”

- gojou grips a hand to your face, squishing your cheeks together hard

- “soo cute princess~” he coos mockingly, watching as your face scrunched up, eyes going watery and nose twitching

- you felt it right then, the small tickling sensation in your nose that had you breathing picking up

- mustering up all your strength, you pulled your face out of his palm and turned away

- before he could say anything cheeky, you were letting out sneeze, after sneeze, after sneeze, after sneeze-

- if gojou wasn’t so balls deep inside you he would of thought it was cute

- but no, your body tensed and jerked with each sneeze that it had you clenching so tight around his cock he couldn’t even move

- the loud whine and groan pulls you out of your sneezing frenzy as you watch gojou’s body shaking, all movement coming to a halt was he tilts his head back

- that’s when you felt it, rope after rope of his hot cum painting your walls

- followed by a loud, painful yelp coming from him as he pulls out swiftly, gripping the back of his thigh

- you sat up quickly but was forced back down from his body weight alone as you feel him go slack against you

- “saturo?” you tapped him but didn’t get a response for a few moments until he shot his head up

- “oh my god, i just came so hard i got a cramp and almost passed out!”

- you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing at that as he pouts a little, hands rubbing up and down your sides

- “it wasn’t my fault you were squeezing my dick so tight I couldn’t stop myself”

- “am I hearing the great gojou saturo has no self control?”

- you were only teasing but he took that as a challenge as he gripped your legs, pulling them up and onto his shoulders, his dripping tip rubbing against your folds

- “gojou wait, i need to-need to clean my nose!!”

- he waste no time and pushes his length back inside you, ready to punish you for thinking he was weak

- “leave it, you look cute with a runny nose anyways princess~”

- your face was covered in tears, snot, and his cum by the time he was down with you

—————————————————————————-

megumi fushiguro

“cumming way to fast” + “that time he accidentally got it in your eye”

- being a sorcerer was stressful asf

- he was exhausted literally all the time and getting injured left him bed bond for most days

- megumi barely had time to even relax

- but that’s what you were there for

- your weren’t one to brag or anything but you thought you were good at sex

- and megumi always made sure to tell you just how good you felt

- weather it’s your pussy squeezing him or the tight feeling of your throat wrapped around his throbbing length

- so to say that you felt a wee bit cocky the first time he came just seconds after bottoming out of you would be an understatement

- but you made sure to comfort him when you notice the pout and frustrated look on his face

- “that’ll never happen again” he mumbled out before cleaning you up

- but it does happen again

- about three more times actually

- and every time he grew more and more pissed at himself

- he was stressed! you knew that so you didn’t knock him if you didn’t finish

- you would tell him that it was ok

- “these kind of things happen gumi’”

- “you’re working yourself too hard baby :/“

- “let me help you relax, pls”

- expect he was never relaxed after cumming so quick inside you

- honestly, you were surprised that he could still get it up from all the stress he carries around

- finally done with finishing first every time, megumi made it his mission to get you right

- which is why he was kneeling between your legs, skirt lifted up with your panties stretched and pulled to the side as he feast on your cunt

- and you were a mess because it has been awhile since you got off and only megumi could make you see stars

- he had you spread wide for him, licking and sucking on your swollen clit that had you moaning just for him

- “ahh megumi please~” you don’t even know what your begging for but he does

- thick fingers thrusting in and out you had you gripping the sheets while your thighs tremble

- tale tale sign that you’re about to cum so he takes his fingers from out of you

- before you could whine at the loss, he’s soon thrusting his tongue inside your weeping pussy, ready to catch everything you give him

- “gumi i-im gonna cum for you!”

- “do it, cum for me kitten, cum right on my tongue”

- your body shook as you cum around the stiff muscle of his tongue, thigh squeezing around his head as you grip and pull on his hair hard

- he lets you come down, pressing kisses along your thighs before he stands up, stripping himself out of his clothes

- switching spots, you kiss along his stomach before reaching for his throbbing cock

- giving small licks against the tip to catch his precum dripping as he groans

- your mouth waters and you don’t wait a second longer before you took him in your mouth

- bobbing your head up and down, moaning when you feel him thrusting slowly in your mouth to match your rhythm

- you were just getting started when your eyes meet his right as you take him to the back of his throat

- big mistake

- the hand that has a grip your hair grows tight as he cums down your throat with a loud groan

- it caught you off guard and you didn’t have much time to prepare for his large load

- you pull off his length with a cough, he’s cum dripping from your lips as his load finishes on your face

- megumi hearing you gasping loudly brings him back to earth when he sees your head slight bent with one of your eyes squeezed shut

- “y/n?” calls as you hiss, shooting him a small glare is when he sees why

- “your cum got in my eye megumi.”

- “i-im sorry ba-“

- “dont just stare get me a towel!!”

- after cleaning you up and feeding you, megumi laid on top of you as you cuddle him closer

- he apologized more than enough you’re gonna have to give him kisses to settle him down

- “it’s ok honey, i still thought it was hot.”

- megumi could only groan, pouting as he watch you grin

- “you could say that i didn’t see it coming, huh huh?”

- megumi groaned once more as he buries his face into your neck

- yeah he definitely wasn’t going to let that happen again

————————————————————————————————————————itadori yuuji

“that time it was your first time” + “was that a mouth on the side of his cheek?”

- bby boi

- you can’t really say what sex is truly like with yuuji

- since you’ve never had it with him because you were a virgin

- and he was fine with that, he’ll wait for as long as you liked

- the first time it almost happened was back in him dorm during his 3rd year

- you both talked about it and agreed to have your first time be together so a week later, yuuji had the perfect night planned for you

- he really pulled out all the stops

- we’re talking warm scented candles, rose petals, soft music playing in the background and your favorite take out

- it was actually really romantic ngl

- after dessert you found yourself laying back on his bed, making out with such passion it left you feeling buzzed

- everything was slow, both your movements gentle when taking off each other clothes

- giggling and kissing the nerves away

- yuuji reached for you bra, getting it undone with easy

- his eyes in your body from your breast down to your thighs rubbing together, pretty pink panties covering center

- “you’re so beautiful baby” he whispers

- it was moment were you took each other in before you reached for his hand, bringing it up to where you wanted him to touch you first

- your eyes closing shut once you feel his warm hand squeezing and caressing your breast, gasping softly when you feel his thumb brushing over your nipple

- his lips leaving yours before kissing down to your neck had you feel needy

- the room filling with sounds of your pleasing sighs and his heavy breathing

- all of it cut short by the sound of a low rugged voice

- “what are you waiting for? just fuck her already”

- your eyes shot open and you couldn’t stop the loud scream from your lips

- because why the fuck was there a mouth on his cheek and an eye under his eye??!?

- once you pulled the sheets over your naked body did yuuji realize what had happened

- he slaps a hand over his cheek so hard he knocked himself out of bed

- ok so maybe he didn’t tell you everything about why he was at the academy and in hindsight, he probably should of told you everything before he had you naked

- after calming you down and getting a ice pack does he tell you about how he ate an ancient cursed finger and now there is a very powerful curse living inside of him

- it was definitely hard for you to wrap your head around this information because you weren’t a sorcerer, you didnt see demons or cursed things or even knew about those kind of things

- so yeah, you were a bit freaked out, a little upset and needed sometime to think so you left

- yuuji understood and gave you as much time as you needed but he was literally dying on the inside without his baby

- he was mopey, quiet, and just overall sad to be around because he missed you so much

- finally after a few days you reached out and invited him over to your place

- tear was shed and yuuji apologizing profusely

- “im sorry y/n i love you so much, i dont want to lose you”

- “you’re not going to lose me yuuji, i love you to much for that to happen just promise me no more secret mkay?”

- he agreed with a kiss that quickly turned heated and you were back in your room

- “he’s not going to..ya know?”

- yuuji quickly shutting it down because “nope, him and i have a deal, he won’t be coming out when it’s just us, i promise”

- that’s enough to put you at ease and soon enough, clothes were thrown off and you two were finally connected

- yuuji thrust were gentle, making it easier for you to get used to his size

- his fingers rubbing circles on your clit left your body shaking and your pussy clenching around him

- and when you both cum at the same time, you’re gripping and holding each other tight

- yeah he may have shedded a tear or two when he came it was just that good

- aftercare king where he cleans you up and cuddles, whispering ‘i love you’s and soft kisses

- “promise me you won’t die yuuji”

- there’s a pause before you feel his lips kiss your forehead

- “im not going anywhere baby, i love you”

- he promised no more secrets but right now he can’t tell you what will happen the day he finds that last finger

- but for now, he’s content with just holding you until then

———————————————————————————————————————

aoi todo

“that time you slapped him” + “he literally blew your back out”

- the time you’ve seen todo first time was shirtless

- you were terrified and turned on because what the fuck?

- no seriously, what the fu ck¿!

- dude is massive

- like was it even legal to be that massive?

- and when he dropped his pants for you the first time, you straight up walked out the room because there ain’t no way in hell

- “that thing is not going anywhere near my pussy”

- “please babygirl, just the tip?”

- it took a very, very long time before you even allowed that

- not even when your mouth watered or your pussy went purr

- his cock was just too big

- but after awhile you kinda got used to him once you realize all your insides were still in tact

- you’ve had some sex mishap, that was much was a given since this is todo we’re speak off

- you slapped the shit out of him one time when you heard him moan some idols name while he had his dick down your throat

- you didn’t let him touch you for almost a month

- he learned his lesson quick tho

- or that time he was fucking you standing up

- legs hanging over his broad shoulders while his hands held a tight grip on your ass bouncing you up and down on his thick cock

- you were three rounds in, body hot and covered in sweat

- the room filled with sounds of your moans, his deep grunts and the sickly wet squishing sound of your pussy

- todo was abusing your whole, having just made you squirt all over his cock had sent him into a frenzy, his pace picking up at a new speed

- until he took a step forward, his foot slipping out from under him, sending him falling back but he was quick enough to reach out to grip the dresser behind him

- but not quick enough to stop the stacks of manga from falling on top of you both

- one word to describe sex with this beefy man: passion

- everything he did in bed was always him trying to show just how much of a man he is and that only he could satisfy you

- whenever he was done with you, your limps were sore and achy

- it felt like you ran a marathon then swam six miles and back

- meanwhile he barely broke a sweat

- todo always made sure you were left spent and satisfied

- no matter when or where

- and he saw you bending over, getting a small peak of the underside of your perfect ass, he had to have you

- so that’s how you found yourself in a small closet, it could fit two people comfortably

- but todo made up at least three on his own so there was barely any room but that doesn’t stop him from fucking your ass

- you held your upper half up by gripping onto the shelve in front of you as his large hands grip and squeeze your plush ass

- “thats it babygirl, doing so good”

- it felt so good taking him like this, his heavy balls slapping against your soaked cunt while he pounds his throbbing length in and out your ass

- hands slapping each cheek before leaving you spread open to watch him fuck you

- “f-fuck so tight!” he thrust harder, pushing your body forward “you love when i fuck you with this big cock don’t you?”

- you move a hand back to try and slow his movement but he only grabs it and keeps his held to your back

- “too much d-daddy..s’ too big!”

- but he keeps going, grinning wildly when he heard that

- todo stretched you out good for him and it was still to much cock for you

- your cries and moans bounce off the walls, your grip on the shelf growing loose the faster he went

- he sends another hard spank against your ass before his fingers found your needy clit

- pinching and rubbing quick circles around the bud had you gushing

- “oh fuck yeah, you filthy girl cumming from getting your ass fucked? so dirty”

- your body shakes as you tongue rolls out your mouth, panting and whining like a bitch in heat

- “fucking needy, perfect girl just for me” he growls, his hips picking up speed as he chases his high

- “t-to..slow..down”

- you could barely get any words out, your brain slowly turning to mush as you become nothing but a toy for him to cum inside

- he was going feral, loving that he can turn you so dumb from just his cock alone

- the sound of wood cracking catches your attention before the shelf you’re gripping breaks, sending the front of your body forward down

- the scream you let out make todo halt all his movements, his big hands and large arms holds your middle to keep you up right as you start to sob

- “w-what’s wrong?”

- “can’t move…it hurts!!”

- white hot pain shoot through your back as you body goes stiff

- five hours later you’re being wheeled out the hospital with strict orders to not leave the bed

- you made todo swear not to tell anyone about this and swore on takada’s life that he wouldn’t tell

- but when yuuji comes to visit and ask what happened, here comes this big guy

- “it was my dick, my dick put her in a wheelchair brother!!”

- please slap him again sis

————————————————————————————————————————

2K notes · View notes

taggedmemes · 3 years

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SENTENCE MEME ⟶ WILDERMYTH / The Sunswallower’s Wake - Part 3 always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

‘unless... you’re too chicken?’

‘you know it’s a bad idea when i’m the voice of reason.’

‘just so you know, i’ll be spitting in your food.’

‘so what’s your favourite monster?’

‘alright, taking bets-- which gives out first, my lungs or my legs?’

‘don’t die without me.’

‘tunnel? right here, right n-- oh! oh, you mean you found a tunnel?’

‘i don’t know, i’m romanced by this tunnel, all of a sudden.’

‘you can’t find a tunnel, then not go in the tunnel.’

‘can’t do more than throw a few badly aimed stones, myself.’

‘we’re popping out of the wardrobe?’

‘can’t pay you in anything but fish.’

‘i remember finding half-remembered fragments of that tale in all kinds of places.’

‘i was bold and reckless in my youth, if you’ll believe it.’

‘i said the same thing myself.’

‘we’ve done enough wandering. there’s a battle waiting.’

‘we have a plan, right? besides standing around and getting shot at?’

‘enough yammering. you gonna fight me, or what?’

‘don’t run off and start a new life together! we've still got a job to do!’

‘oh no. that... wasn’t my granny. but i’m sworn to secrecy.’

‘did you just say ‘magical bread’?’

‘i’ve seen grim things, and i’ve seen them more and more.’

‘you’d better be quick to learn, or you’ll be quick to die.’

‘if you don’t want me messing up, teach me well.’

‘he wanted to make us suffer, make us grovel.’

‘why must you bury your dead? you’d rather feed the worms?’

‘just how old are you, anyway?’

‘no lesser magic would mend you.’

‘my body wobbles as if it were formed of jelly.’

‘the sun shall restore me to what i was.’

‘i know you will never betray me.’

‘it’s just as the saying goes: clever birds make quick work of knotted ropes.’

‘i’d like to pop the pair of them right here.’

‘it’s not where i would choose to live, if i was some skyclimbing rich guy.’

‘there’s no telling what’s beyond the gate. the legends are vague.’

‘don’t worry! if i croak, just make sure you bury me with the birdguy!’

‘cute throne.’

‘we should’ve maybe just brought him. that tooly fellow.’

‘you’ve surely come a long way. faced horror and death.’

‘stubborn old bird.’

‘could bring these walls down.’

‘humans! fruit-guzzling doggens! lanky-limbed pinstrels! wrecking what they want, when it can’t be had!’

‘they mean to entrap me. entomb me.’

‘put the knife down. you can’t possibly believe a fight would go your way.’

‘while an ember survives, i linger.’

‘you closed your eyes. you alright?’

‘do we kill it?’

‘you see all this? this’s your mess.’

‘i’m... just talking to a bird, huh?’

‘thought i was somewhere else, for a second.’

‘it’s said that those we lose live on in our stories.’

‘life has no lord, the wild no master.’

‘the sun is free, and all things beneath it are free.’

#BASED ON / VIDEO GAME.#KIND / SENTENCE.#KIND / IN CHARACTER.#wildermyth #magic sentence starters #sentence meme #queue.

105 notes · View notes

1dmonthlyficroundup · 3 years

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1D Monthly Fic Roundup

Hi, and welcome to the 1D Monthly Fic Roundup for July 2021! Below you’ll find One Direction fics that were all published this month in the order they were submitted to the blog. We hope you’ll check out these new fics! If you would like to submit your own fic, please check this post on how to submit or visit our blog @1dmonthlyficroundup.

Happy reading!

Game Changer by @neondiamond

[Harry/Louis, 6k, Mature, tumblr post]

“Did the doctor say what was wrong with you?”

“He thought I was pregnant,” Louis scoffs. “Told me to go home and take a test, a pregnancy test, Haz. Can you imagine the nerve it takes for him to even think that?”

Harry looks lost in his thoughts for a few seconds. “Did you? Take a test, I mean?”

“Of course I didn’t.”

OR: A couple months before playing in his first long-awaited World Cup, Louis finds out he’s pregnant. Harry’s there for the ride.

(I Was Broke) You Healed Me by @fallinglikethis

[Harry/Niall, 12k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

Niall Horan is an unmated pregnant omega living on his own after his alpha boyfriend leaves him. Far from his family and friends in Ireland, Niall is stuck living in a complex for Alpha/Omega bondmates, terrified every day of being found out by his landlord.As if that isn't enough, he's suffering from touch deprivation. Luckily, Niall's doctor can at least help him with that part: she prescribes Niall some cuddle sessions. It's only a little weird that the person she's prescribing him is her brother. Or maybe that's actually a little bit perfect.

The Only Pain in Pleasure is the Pleasure of the Pain by Layne Faire / @laynefaire

[Liam/Zayn, 10k, Explicit, tumblr post]

Liam had followed InZaynity, an artist's Instagram, for ages. Not only was the artist incredibly talented, his voice poured over Liam like warm honey on a winter's night, and his hands were the stuff Liam's wank dreams were made of. However, having Zayn unexpectedly arrive as the newest artist at his best friend's tattoo shop brought Liam's fantasies and reality a little too close for comfort.

Zayn Malik met his boss' friend on his first day at Fine Line Tattoos, and felt an instant attraction. Unfortunately, given Liam's unwillingness to even hold a conversation with him, Zayn was certain the feelings weren't reciprocal. Or were they?

When Liam's new tattoo design falls outside the scope of Tommo's talent, and he recommends Zayn do it, Liam reluctantly agrees. Surely he could manage to spend hours in Zayn's company without revealing his biggest secret, right? Right?

Blow Me Away by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

[Louis/Liam, 6k, Explicit, tumblr post]

Louis likes giving blow jobs.

He doesn't exactly get off on it – he's been with people who properly loved it, and he's not quite that into it – but he doesn't mind the feel or the taste and he really, really likes watching his partner lose it, so getting down on his knees regularly is a no brainer.

Which is why it's a bit frustrating that every time he does, Liam hauls him back up again.

Why Didn't We Make Out the Night We Met? by @berzerkshires

[Louis/Harry, 52k, Explicit, tumblr post]

Louis and Harry meet in an alley outside the hotel Louis is staying for the weekend. Harry introduces himself as Ed, and Louis is completely clueless. They have a relationship through text messages, phone calls, shared pictures and Facetime calls. Is a cell phone being the only source of communication enough? Will Louis ever learn that he's really talking to an international popstar? And what happens when the world is shutdown due to a wide spread virus?

I Love This Feeling (But I Hate This Part) by @lululawrence

[Harry/Louis, 7k, Not rated, tumblr post]

“Stand up.”

Harry stood up from the couch, not a moment’s delay.

“Oh my god, is that what that’s like?” Harry turned to Louis, surprise on his face. “I really thought they were somehow exaggerating, but it really is an automatic response with absolutely no thought from me behind it whatsoever.”

Louis sighed again. “You really wanna keep doing this? Have me use my alpha voice on you so you can work on resisting it?”

“Yup,” Harry said, clapping his hands and smiling. “How else am I going to be able to have any chance at reducing the power an alpha voice has on me?”

I Said It Wrong, But I Meant It Right by @lululawrence

[Liam/Nick Grimshaw, 4k, Not rated, tumblr post]

Nick was a bit of a disaster, but she was used to it.

Or so she thought. She had never known how much she could struggle just to function until the new fire lady goddess angel person winked at her.

Oh, Those Summer Nights by cherrylarry / @beelou

[Louis/Harry, 1k, General, tumblr post]

“Are you okay?” He kneels down to inspect where Harry still has his hand pressed against his head.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m fine.”

“My name’s Louis. Can I buy you dinner or something to make up for hitting you in the head?”

Harry crinkles his eyebrows. “Me?”

Louis chuckles. “Yes, you. If you’d like?”

“Yeah. That would be nice.” Harry smiles so that his dimples show. “I’m Harry.”

“Harry, it's a date, then." Louis grins.

An extended scene of the beginning of the movie Grease as a larry au

people fall in love in mysterious ways (maybe just the touch of a hand) by @vintageumbroshirt / 28sunflowers, @justalarryblog / Bekita, @bluecolouredlou , @beelou / cherrylarry, @thedevilinmybrain / devilinmybrain, @hershelsue / docklands, @foreverfanficaddict,@idolizingthelight / idolizingthelightt, @inlockets / loveroflou, @perfectdagger, @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed / we_are_the_same

[Louis/Harry, 13k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

Set in a world where meeting your soulmate causes a literal spark, Louis Tomlinson has no time for fate. He knows all too well the heartbreak that having a soulmate can bring and he'd rather avoid the whole affair. But, when a chance meeting with up-and-coming popstar, Harry Styles, causes the biggest electrical surge the world has ever seen, Louis must confront the truth that sometimes destiny knocks when you least expect it.

Somehow, Someway by @zanniscaramouche

[Louis/Harry, 16k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

Louis Tomlinson has everything all figured out for a smooth post-graduation sailing into the perfect career in the music industry. A canceled class, a high school play, and a disarming set of dimples were not part of the plan. (Especially when they belong to a boy wearing someone else’s jacket.)

Featuring: A punk with the worst timed crush in history, that moody art kid that never shares cigarettes, the cutest pastel-pink wearing boy on the planet, and his unfortunately nice bottle-blond jock of a boyfriend.

Forts & Fortunes by @neondiamond

[Louis/Harry, 2k, General, tumblr post]

It’s finals week at uni and Harry is struggling to find a healthy balance between studying and tending to his needs. Lucky for him, Louis is there to help him out with that.

One way to reduce tension by @neondiamond

[Harry/Louis, 1k, Explicit, tumblr post]

Harry knows of a few ways to help Louis get rid of some pent up stress…

We Got a Call by @greenblueish / bluegreenish

[Louis/Harry, 24k, Mature, tumblr post]

“Fisher from St Peter hospital, hello. Is this Mr Tomlinson?”

Louis’ eyebrows furrow in concern. Why is the hospital calling him? Has someone he knows been in an accident? “Uh, yes?”

“Great. Your results are in. Congratulations, you’re pregnant!”

“Pregnant?” he chokes, the word almost getting caught in his throat.

“Yes, without doubt,” the woman from the hospital confirms, her voice neutral but somehow chirpy. “I recommend promptly booking an appointment with your ob/gyn to discuss how to proceed.”

"I...Yeah, I’ll talk to my … partner.”

or, the one where Louis and Harry Tomlinson are married and Louis accepts a phone call that was definitely meant for his husband.

How Long Will We Fall (Before We Can Climb) by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou

[Louis/Harry, 860 words, General, tumblr post]

Louis' faith in Harry is unbreakable. When they get caught kissing and he is thrown out of his home forever, he has to learn to have faith in himself.

Rope, Leather and Lipstick by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou

[Louis/Harry, 552 words, Mature, tumblr post]

Something about ropes around wrists, and tinting skin the colour of strawberry ice cream, tender and kissed by dark lips. Smudging sticky red lipstick across the slight blue shadow of veins, and assuring hands tightening knots.

Lies & Liability by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou

[Louis/Harry, 34k, Mature, tumblr post]

Harry Styles has only three wishes when he leaves River Dane Manor to go to Town for his first season: that his sister has rented a townhouse that will provide him as many of the comforts of the country life he has grown accustomed to as possible, that he will not trip and fall when he is presented to Her Majesty the Queen, and that he will enter matrimony out of true love, no matter how favourable the match with any which alpha may be.

Sugar at Night by @brightgolden

[Harry/Louis, 33k, Explicit, tumblr post]

With a year left before he completes his degree, a wonderful fiancé, and a baby coming soon, life is going exceptionally well for Harry Styles.

But, the truth always has a way to unravel itself, doesn’t it?

So, what do you do when the person you fell in love with is not the person you thought they were?

I got myself in a mess (and without you I'm in more) by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed / we_are_the_same

[Zayn/Liam, 9k, Mature, tumblr post]

It’s not desire that has his synapses firing. It’s not the urge to jump him that makes him feel jittery.

It’s the fact that everything about this man - a nice, unassuming guy on Tinder, who studied IT and who seemed like a safe choice - screams danger. It’s the fact that Zayn has been absently touching his necklace for what feels like half the night now.

The necklace. Thank God for Lou, honestly. He’d laughed a bit, at first, when Louis had given it to him, when he’d explained all about the app that it was connected to, the emergency contacts that would be notified and sent his exact location “if you just double tap the back of the charm, see” because Louis was that friend, the mom friend, but right now? Right now Zayn will gladly take the gentle ribbing from Louis if it means he won’t have to spend another moment with this guy.

I don't care if the world knows by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed / we_are_the_same

[Louis/Harry, 6k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

Harry is fourteen when she buys her first binder. She’s been doing cosplay videos on Tiktok for a while at that point, and it seems like the logical choice. Not that there’s anything wrong with cosplaying characters of the opposite gender and not wanting to fully look like them, she’s seen plenty of wonderful creators put their own spin on characters in a way that transcends the source material, but when it comes to her own cosplays -

She just likes it to be accurate.

She likes her chest to be flat, not soft and curvy, when she’s wearing her Crowley cosplay, or when she’s transformed herself into Loki.

It’s all about the aesthetics.

∞

Over the course of a few years, Harry explores and comes to terms with gender identity.

It’s Probably Because I’ve Got a Big Lesbian Crush on You by yeah_alright / @uhoh-but-yeah-alright

[Louis/Harry, 6k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

Harry's never really concerned herself with being part of the popular crowd. But as the new girl in school the second semester of her junior year, she finds herself unwittingly competing for Queen Bee status against high school royalty Louis Tomlinson. Maybe there's more to their rivalry than it seems.

A not-quite-Mean Girls AU

Going Green (so fucking green) by yeah_alright / @uhoh-but-yeah-alright

[Louis/Harry, 5k, Explicit, tumblr post]

Harry just really loves being used, and Louis really loves Harry. Who is he to deny him?

Or: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle but make it BDSM

the next bit was spanners to my plan by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

[Louis/Nick Grimshaw, 6k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

The first time was an accident. The second time was an accident too.

Or: Louis and Nick end up shagging on the sly, everyone sends far too many emojis and far too few words, and eventually they're going to have to sort themselves out.

Trust Me Tonight by @vintageumbroshirt / 28sunflowers

[Louis/Harry, 10k, Explicit, tumblr post]

After Harry’s eighteenth birthday, his father calls him into a meeting to say that he is to be married to Prince Louis of France in just over a week.

Harry is excited, of course. The arrangement is better than any he could’ve hoped for, with such a young, handsome and kind husband.

There is just one issue: Harry doesn’t know what happens on his nuptials, or how to get pregnant to give Louis the heir that he needs.

Can we make it any more obvious? by LouStylesHTommo / @smolhilariousbeans

[Louis/Harry, 6k, Explicit, tumblr post]

Five times the boys accidentally walked in on Harry & Louis plus one time they did it on purpose.

Aka Niall, Zayn, Liam being supportive of Lou&H sexy shenanigans.

darling just dive right in by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed / we_are_the_same

[Zayn/Louis, 5k, Teen and up, tumblr post]

Louis can’t think of a worse place to be than at the Malik estate, attending his ex boyfriend's wedding.

Shining just for you by ThoseFookin_Avacados / @hlhome28

[Harry/Louis, 1k, General, tumblr post]

For a clumsy person, Harry danced with quite the grace- spinning around Louis, billowy light robes brushing against his firm darker ones. Despite his slightly smaller build, Louis was decivingly strong, his grip on Harry's waist tight as they performed their steps in sync. Like two opposite halves of a whole, like ones reflection in the mirror, like the sun and the moon.

Part 2 of the Prompt Generator series

crown me with your heart (your love is king) by @perfectdagger

[Louis/Harry, 41k, General, tumblr post]

The universe must’ve had a field day when it decided to plan Harry’s life. There was no plausible explanation for anything that happened in his life anymore. Try as he may, he would never be able to control his life nor predict what would happen next. What were the odds that the one person he was sure he had fallen in love with but had completely let him slip out of his life, already resigned to the fact nothing could ever evolve between them due to Harry’s future with Eroda, happened to be the same person who had Harry’s future in his hand?

A The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Wedding au in which Harry is the Crown Prince of the small island of Eroda and Louis’ uncle is trying to take the throne from him, with a slight a/b/o twist and some more.

#trackinghappily #1dsource #tracksintheam #trackinghome #28th appreciation #july 2021 #one direction fan fic

84 notes · View notes

poormeowmeowcollector · 4 years

Text

Let me give you my life

Pairing: Loki x Tesseract

Warnings: Major Character Death, Mourning, delusions, mental illness, alcohol, Original Character Death, Odin, fantastic racism

Summary: After Frigga's funeral, Loki starts hearing a voice. It changes their life completely.

Chapter 4: Bridge and Chorus

Chapter summary: the aftermath

Chapter warnings: Odin, Major Character Death, suicide

Chapter note: this chapter is dedicated to @lucywrites02 because she pretended to be a bad bitch yesterday.

Previous chapter AO3

No masters or kings when the ritual begins

The shackles sing as Loki walks towards the throne, fighting back a grin. Odin, on the other hand, sits on his high quality chair, believing to be intimidating.

"You have committed a grave crime against the-" Odin tries to speak, but Loki chuckles.

"I know what I have done, Odin. No need to repeat yourself," they interrupt, using a voice they've been hiding in their throat since they learned how to speak.

And it has so much to say…

"Has your mother taught you no respect for your king?" They yell, their favourite way of speaking to Loki. In all these years, Loki cowarded away at this voice, scared of a physical expression of the anger. This time, he laughs at it.

"Not my mother, and I have no king but myself," they smile, watching a new wave of anger flashing in the old charlatan's face.

"Silence! You never knew how to shut this mouth of yours!" Odin raises his voice, hoping to see the now natural cowering of Loki. The only answer is another laugh.

"Do you really want me to start speaking, Odin? To see who is truly guilty, with all these good dicks and whores listening?" Loki asks, a glow in his eyes as he gestures around as wide as the shackles allow. The harshness of their tongue makes the nobles who watch the "trial" gasp.

"Who taught you this language?" The old man spits, narrowing one eye.

"Apart from your anger? And that old warrior you ordered to teach Thor and me how to survive in a forest? And there are the guards, I can name a few but stitching is a worse crime than murder…" he mutters, acting if like he's chatting with a cup of tea other than being on a trial for murder.

There's no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin

"Enough with your games! Why did you murder Lord Gæirasson in cold blood?" Odin asks the "big question", as if the right answer will lift the charges from Loki's name.

"Because… one, because he was a racist and offended me, to which the punishment is death. Two, because he started a war-"

"You started a war, Loki," Thor interrupts, taking Odin's side, like every time.

"A war had been started. Let's not blame people, Thor. Now where were I? Oh, yeah, at how Gæirasson started a war. Also, he refused to pay his taxes and you know how seriously I took my responsibility of being in charge of the palace's finances. Did war crimes against my people, father would be proud the son of a bitch is dead. And lastly, but definitely not least, a dreadful sense of fashion. Have you seen what his grooms wear? I think I threw up in my mouth when I saw it…" they finish with the rumbling, not even thinking of answering seriously. Odin will execute him anyways, would some fun be so bad?

"I said, enough with the games!" Odin basically screeches, their face going red.

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene

"For the murder of a lord, cause of a war and disrespect towards the throne, I Odin Allfather sentence you to a life in the dungeons," he decides.

"Dungeons? Not axe? Did Frigga's ghost or this moron talk you out of killing me?" Loki questions, taking their turn to narrow their eyes.

"If you keep talking, I might change my mind," Odin sighs, rubbing his temple.

"And get rid of this perfect pawn to hold King Laufey from the balls? A shame, really," Loki poutes and shrugs, pretending awfully that he cares.

"I will not stand your disrespect any longer! I had granted you your life, Loki, more than once! You will learn to respect me for it! Take them to the dungeons!" Odin speaks the final order. Four guards grab the chains that lead to Loki's shackles and push him away, forcing him to walk with them

Only then I am human / only then I am free

On the way to the dungeons, Thor stops the guards and demands to speak to Loki.

"Just tell me why, brother. Please. What didn't we give you to make you care so little?" they ask, grabbing Loki's shoulder, just like they always used to do.

"A family. That's what you didn't give me. And that's what I've earned," Loki answers, staring right into his no-brother's eyes, the blue in them and the pale lines that resemble his lightning. They know they won't see Thor from this close ever again, and they deserve a proper last memory.

"Then, I'm sorry. It's late, I know, but remember this, please… I shall visit, whenever I can, Loki. I swear. You shouldn't be in prison all alone," Thor promises. Loki gives only a nod, enough to make Thor dismiss the guards and let them keep walking Loki to his future and last chamber.

The only sign of emotions they allow themselves to show is a sigh, only out of sympathy.

For he knows that his freedom just begins.

Take me to church / I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies

The moment the guards put Loki back into the white vacant cell and take their eyes off them, they cast an illusion of them settling on the floor and staring at nothing. The real Loki is walking up and down the room, waiting for the Tesseract to speak.

"Now?" he asks, feeling it close.

"Now, you need to learn who your family is. Not Odin, not Laufey, your true family, Entropy," they answer.

"What with this name? After all this, can't you call me by my name?" Loki groans.

"I am. You have many names. Entropy, the Chaos Stone, the Death Stone, the Knot… the last one, actually, is the name you're most familiar with, translated to Old Jötunn tongue," they speak, all matter-of-factly.

"You're lying, the Chaos stone is a myth," Loki brushes off the answer.

"It does exist. A black gem, created by billions of ropes, strings and threads tangled together. The hardest one to wield and command and impossible to find. The Jötnar had found it and worshipped it. And when Laufey found out that his son is nothing but a dead baby, he sacrificed the infant for the infant. And Odin found the baby crying in the altar, the gem gone,"

"So I own my life to an imaginary stone, apart from an old piece of shit. What a surprise…" Loki throws their hands in the air.

"No. You are the imaginary stone. In order to give life, the Chaos gem entered your body and never left. You are the flesh of a corpse and the mind of an infinity stone. And it's time to leave the corpse and join us,"

The aimless walking stops, and Loki's heart skips a beat

I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife

"You made me kill a man, for this?" he asks, glaring at nothing. They don't answer.

"You made me kill a man! Just so I could die!" boiling hot tears streaming down their eyes and slither into their shirt as burning red eyes stare at the empty room for something. "I trusted you! You promised me a family!" he yells between his sobs.

Their feet cannot support them, and they kneel down, turned into a crying sobbing and yelling mess. A hand, created by mist, grabs his shoulder, trying to provide comfort.

"I hate you," they spit, flaring their nose drills as they stare into the blue eyes of the illusion they use to pretend they're close to them.

"I'm sorry, hurting you was… if I could prevent it…" the stone says and gives him a small squeeze. And they mean it. If there was a way to do it without any pain, they would. But it's too late, Loki is already hurt…

Offer me that deathless death

Loki throws themselves into the tightest embrace they ever had, weeping like a baby. "I don't want to die. Please, I don't wanna die. Anything but this, anything, please!" he whispers, diving his head into their shoulder without a thought of holding back the tears.

"Shhhh, you won't die. Not truly. Your mind is the stone, as long as it exists you exist. And the body will stay intact until you need it again. You will be fine, I promise," they whisper, hoping of making them feel better.

"I'm scared, Tessie. I'm so scared, I can't," for a prince, Loki sounds so small, almost like the small child they used to be. Tessie starts playing with his hair, hoping to calm him down, even for a bit.

"It's alright. Everything will be fine, no matter if you do it or not," they shush them.

"If I do it or not?" Loki repeats, sniffing quietly and breaking the hug only to look at the misty blue eyes of Tessie.

"I… you're in so much pain… if you decide that you had enough, you'll be left alone," they explain. Loki nods, still quivering from the crying, but determined.

"No. We got so far. I-I-I'm not giving up," he lets his voice get louder, and then stands up. "What do I do?" they ask, collected once again.

"Get comfortable in a position. And once you're ready, make the ropes appear and let them wash over you," Tessie explains, holding this sympathetic voice. Loki nods and sits back down against the white wall, moving to get comfortable.

Then, with just a thought, the ropes appear and fill him with this calming sensation. Tessie walks closer and cups their cheeks. "See you on the other side, Loki," they smile and kiss their forehead before vanishing.

Loki takes a deep breath, and looks around the cage. He remembers a field day he had when little, a good day. Odin was sleeping on a bench and Frigga was yelling at them and Thor to not get into trouble as Thor dragged Loki, who was just above six, on an expiration of the forest around a castle in Vanaheim. Of course, they returned after the sun was down, with scraped up knees and dirty clothes and Loki had traces of tears in his cheeks because a bug scared him. But it had been, and still is, the best time they ever had with Thor.

He holds tight into the memory as he lets the ropes cover him and closes his eyes.

Good God, let me give you my life

The guards don't know how this happened. One moment, Loki was gazing at nothing and the next…

How does one say this to the Allfather?

The healers walk out of the cage when Thor storms in the dungeons, on the verge of panicking. "Is he alive?" It's all they ask.

The healers won't answer, it's enough to know.

Thor walks in and sits beside what used to be Loki, holding their cold and deformed hand and letting tears run down his face.

Loki doesn't respond, how could he?

He's a statue, as if made from black stone, and his hands covered in stone black ropes, with a faint glow where his heart should be being the only sign that there was once life there.

Loki's face doesn't have the signature smirk, and there's no gleam in their closed eyes. But he does wear a peaceful smile. A smile Thor regrets he had to see this body in order to know that his brother knows finally peace.

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lilyharvord · 4 years

Note

i need some marecal fluff please help

hehe, ask and ye shall receive. Here, have some older Marecal. (((:

Grace

I don’t remember when I stopped looking like myself.

Maybe it was after Coriane. I’m doubtful of that conclusion. She was a tiny baby, and I had bounced back into my uniforms at a pace that Farley had grumbled about for months. I was convinced that I would be able replicate the process almost five years later. My pregnancy with Shade had been a whole different beast though.

It had to be after Shade then.

I turn to the side, and twist my lips at my image in the mirror. No amount of training had been able to remove that pouch between my hips. Nothing could get rid of those stretch marks that crept up the sides of my stomach either. Sara had told me they were beautiful when I mentioned quietly how I felt about them. They’re a testament that you carried two babies in there, and they’re a reminder of that wonderful process, she had told me as she spooned applesauce into her second son’s mouth. She had adopted him out of a war torn Piedmont family, and she adored him as if he came from her own body.

I didn’t need reminders of that process. I had two reminders already, running and shrieking in my house, waking me up at ungodly hours by tapping on my cheek, or driving me up the wall with their antics. I was fine with just having that, I didn’t need the reminder on my body too.

I just didn’t look like myself anymore.

Running a scrutinizing eye over the rest of my body, I feel my lips pull down into an even deeper frown at what I see. My hips are wider than I remember them being a few years ago, and my breasts are definitely two different sizes. I blame Shade and Coriane for that. My son had refused to stop nursing, and my daughter had been terrible at nursing in general. I have more scars than I remember, and those thick branching ones on my back seem to get a little wider every month.

Mare Barrow of the Stilts would be shocked to know what her body would like at 35. She knew she might look like her mother someday, thin and wispy, with a little more chipping off like old paint every day. She probably hadn’t pictured what would happen after countless battle injuries, living more comfortably than she even could have imagined, and two children though. I bet if I went back in time to tell her what she would become, who she would become, she would laugh in my face and spit at my eye sometime between throwing insults.

“Mommy.”

Snapping my robe closed with my heart pounding in embarrassment, I glance over my shoulder to spot one part of my musings. Standing there trying to do his little tie, Shade shows me his tangled up fingers with a pout.

I chuckle softly at his expression and beckon him to me. He hurries across my bedroom so I can crouch down in front of him and untangle his hands.

“Why didn’t dad help you with this?”

 “He’s busy on a call from uncle Kilorn. I told him I could do it myself.”

 “Uh huh.” I nod with mock seriousness as I start the knot over. He’s only seven, but he’s got an independent streak that puts him in some tight spots that Cal and I have to rescue him from more often than not. He watches my hands with narrowed eyes as I work, probably trying to memorize the movements. When I finish, I ask, “What is Cori doing?”

“She’s done getting ready. She’s in the family room reading.” Shade shrugs as I tighten the knot just a smidge more and adjust the collar of his little suit jacket.

“Did she brush her hair?”

 “I dunno.”

“Does her hair look like a lion’s mane?” I tease and he throws his hands over his mouth to hide his smirk, his only tell when he lies. At least he inherited his father’s complete inability to lie. Coriane on the other hand could lie her way to the moon if she wanted, and I blame my parenting for that. I taught her young how to get out of things, I regret that now.

“Did she tell you to lie to mommy and say she brushed her hair?”

He shakes his head quickly but doesn’t take his hands away from his mouth. Raising my brow at him, I wait for him to break completely.

He sits in silence, his eyes darting left and right. Eventually I notice his face progressively getting redder and redder.

“You can’t hold your breath and pass out to get out of this.” I snort before rising from my crouch, deciding to let him off the hook. I hear his rapid exhale and inhale as I leave my room and head downstairs.

Sure enough, my daughter is curled up in the window seat, her nose buried in a book. She’s dressed in the nice pants and shirt Gisa made for this occasion. Unfortunately, her hair is hastily tied back into a ponytail. It looks more like a bush attached to the back of her head than hair.

“What have we talked about?” I ask her as I approach. Her shoulders pull up to her ears at the sound of my voice, and she glances at me with a sheepish smile.

“I’m almost done though; can’t I just finish?”

“We’re going to be late if you don’t get your butt upstairs and brush your hair.” I admonish, as I hold my hand out for the book. Her face falls, before it shifts dramatically into that pleading face she knows gets her anything she wants.

“Just one more chapter? Pleeeeeeeaaaase?” She bats the thick, long lashes she got from Cal and although a part of me still melts at the sight, I’ve learned my lesson. Give her rope, and she’ll walk for miles.

“No, no more one chapter. You stayed up until two reading.” She blushes red, and she opens her mouth to refute my words. “Don’t even try. Dad went to bed then and saw the light on in your room.”

Her lips twist to the side, and she chapters her book off before handing it to me, begrudged. I take it as she slides out of the window box, a knowing smile touching my lips. Giving her a little nudge between her shoulders blades when she hesitates and gazes longingly back at the book, I say, “You can have it back at the dinner tonight. And I’ll even let you bring a second book to start.”

Her eyes light up and she takes off, her feet pounding on the stairs as she goes. Setting that book down on the side table, I follow her. As I enter the hallway, I can hear Shade in her room, chattering away. I can almost picture the layout of her room perfectly. He’s perched on her bed, kicking his heels and playing with the fringe on her blanket. Coriane sits at her little vanity, brushing her hair so quickly she’s probably pulling it out in chunks, while nodding along to whatever he says.

My children remind me so much of Shade and myself that it makes my chest ache somedays. I’m sure it reminds Cal of Maven too. We have yet to truly discuss that with our children. I wonder if I’ll be able to tell them what truly happened. We’d have to do it sooner rather than later though. Coriane is starting higher school soon, and when she does, her history classes will start to turn toward the Nortian Civil war. She’ll need to understand what the names on those pages mean.

I pass my bedroom, and lightly knock on the ajar office door. Cal’s eyes dart up from the papers in his hand when I open it further and stick my head in. I give him a fake smile and hold my hand up to tap my wrist. He rolls his eyes and gestures to the phone he’s balancing in his ear. Huffing at that, I storm across the room before pulling it away from him.

Pressing the receiver to my ear, I try to ignore the look Cal throws my direction. “Kilorn, the speech sounds fine. You’ve had ten different people read it, including me.” I glower at Cal then, who simply shrugs in response. “Now if you don’t mind, I do need to steal my husband so that he can handle our children because I’m not dressed yet, and I don’t plan to be late to my best friend’s inauguration.”

Kilorn is quiet on the other end before saying, “It’s going to be good right? I’m not going to sound too… wishy washy?”

“If you sounded wishy washy, I wouldn’t have voted for you. I’m hanging up now, we’ll see you at the ceremony.” I press the receiver down before he can reply and drag a hand down my face.

“You gave him a much needed confidence boost there.” Cal teases as he sets Kilorn’s speech aside and rises from the chair. His shirt is still unbuttoned, and he’s missing his jacket. I grab at the shirt and start buttoning it up, ignoring the teasing smile he gives me when my cheeks flush slightly.

“You should have done exactly what I did and then helped Shade with his tie. He got his fingers all tangled up.” I admonish before patting the finished buttoned-up product. He tilts his head down to smile before sliding his fingers under my chin and lifting my head a bit more. “Plus, I had to corral Coriane who definitely did not put her conditioner in last night, so we’re going to have to deal with that mess before we leave.”

“They’re going to look fine. Besides, no one is going to be looking at us. This is all about Kilorn today.” He murmurs before pressing a light kiss to the tip of my nose.

I sigh in exasperation at his words. “People will look, they always look.”

“And we’re going to look just fine.” He presses one kiss to my temple, and then turns my head to press one on the other side.

“You’ll like fine; you always look fine.” I close my eyes at the feather light touches, melting just a bit.

A kiss gets pressed to one of my eyelids. “You are always the most beautiful woman at these things, you know that.” Another kiss lands on my other eye. I scrunch up my nose in distaste and open my eyes. He slowly pulls away to tuck my hair behind my ear in response.

Sliding a hand around my waist he pulls me up so that our bodies are flushed against each other. He hasn’t changed much over the years. At 38 he still looks like he’s pushing 24. All those good silver genes that have been passed through the generations. There are laugh lines starting to cut around his mouth, but that’s hardly a fault. I hope Shade ages like him. I don’t have to worry about Coriane, she looked like Cal the day she was born, and she’ll look like him for the rest of her life. She has the same amber eyes, and the same jet black hair. My features are hidden, but they’re there. In the shape of her nose, the hint of honey brown in her hair, and her smaller size. Everything else is her father though.

He guides my arms up to wrap around his neck before sliding his hands down my body to rest on my waist. With a smile that has always coaxed me back into bed on mornings when our children are still sleeping, he whispers, “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and will ever see.”

“Now your pushing it.” I grumble as I try to escape his embrace. He pulls me up against him though so that I have no hope of getting away, and presses a kiss into the hollow below my ear. My eyes close involuntarily and my mouth falls open in a soft exhale at the sensation.

He presses another kiss against my neck and breathes against my skin. “You are, and always will be.”

I can feel my entire body responding to him. Damn, if he’s not careful I’m going to drag him down the hall to deal with this properly. We’ll definitely be late to the inauguration then.

“You know I’m not who I was when you first fell in love with me,” I whisper that thought quietly against his jaw. It had been nagging at me for days, and this morning it had really come to the fore as I stood in front of the mirror. He could say I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen all he liked, but that didn’t mean I had to believe it.

His hands trail along my back and he whispers into my hair, “And I’m not the same either. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Don’t lie. We both you know look the exact same as you did when we first met.” I grumble, earning a little laugh from him.

“Do not. Besides, what does it matter what you look like now?” He pulls away enough to bring a hand up and trace his thumb along my lower lip. With another gentle smile he tips my chin down to press a kiss to the space between my brows. “You’ve brought two beautiful children into the world, and that still hasn’t stopped you from running head first into battle. You are still the force nature I feel in love with.”

I can’t help the smile that creeps to my lips as he presses soft kisses down the ridge of my nose. When he reaches my lips, I hug my arms a little tighter around his neck. “Careful, if you keep talking like this it might be three children.”

His eyes light up, and he presses the ghost of a kiss against my lips. “I would not be opposed.”

“Ew.”

I pull away from the actual kiss to glance over my shoulder with a light laugh. Shade stands in the doorway with his sister, looking every bit as disgusted as he sounds. He makes a face and pretends to gag in the hallway. Even Coriane looks a tad more disgusted than usual. Her lips twist to the side as she looks at us. “Are you two going to make out? Cause that’s gross.”

“Bleh.” Shade makes another pretend gag sound in the hallway.

“It’s hardy bleh.” Cal teases before sweeping me to the side and into a dip. “Your mother is beautiful and I plan to kiss her as long as I can.” I gasp at the sensation of falling backwards before smirking as he presses another kiss to my lips.

“Gross!”

“Yuck!”

“You guys are so gross!”

“Yuck, yuck, yuck!” They sprint down the hallway on the tail end of Shade’s words, both of them making gagging sounds that were comical no matter how unreal they sounded.

“That certainly got rid of them.” Cal smirks as he pulls me back up to my feet. I smack his shoulder playfully in response.

“If they heard what I said, I am not going to deal with the fallout of that.” I adjust my robe that had fallen open slightly and push my hair into some resemblance of order.

“I’m sure they know where babies come from by now, Mare. Coriane is twelve, and kids talk.” He passes by me, but not before hooking the top of my robe and pulling it away from my shoulder to press an open mouthed kiss there. I push his face away and wrestle my robe closed.

“Later, you pain in the ass.” I tease at his back. He doesn’t even give me a response. Instead, he calls down the hallway for the kids, already telling Coriane to get in the bathroom so they can fix whatever else she’s done with her hair. I hear Shade shriek with laughter a heartbeat later which means he must have chased him and caught him.

Smirking, I slip out of the office and close the door behind me. Immediately I can hear Coriane in the bathroom whining that there’s too much conditioner, which Shade immediately laughs about too. Pacing along the wall, I glance over the pictures we have hanging there. Tracing the one of Coriane holding Shade the day he was born, I let my fingers hover over that one the longest.

Another loud protest from Coriane draws my attention back to the bathroom and I glance inside at the scene before leaning against the doorway. Coriane pouts at her reflection while Shade perches on the edge of the bathtub watching the whole thing. Cal continues to thread his fingers through our daughter’s hair through her protests, taming the curls as best as possible. Even when his fingers get caught on a particularly nasty knot and she pulls an ugly face that makes Shade howl with laughter.

Yes, Mare Barrow from the Stilts definitely wouldn’t have been able to guess that this is what she would be watching on a spring day in her future. But in some ways, it’s better than anything she could have imagined.

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themanicmagician · 4 years

Text

Shipwrecked [2/4]

[AO3]

Summary: When Redd’s boat crashes upon the shore of Bastion Island, Tom reluctantly takes him in while he recovers. Tom despises Redd for his past deceit, but when he has no choice but to spend time with him, Tom is reminded why he fell in love with the wily fox in the first place.

Tom felt a knot loosen in his chest. Relief washed over him. Redd was awake and lucid, and feeling well enough to quip.

But then Redd kept talking.

“This is your bedroom?” Redd shifted, leaning his back against the mattress. He scanned the Spartan room, and his nose scrunched up in distaste. “It’s so....basic. Not your style at all.”

Tom hated the small speck of him that still yearned for Redd’s approval. He crossed his arms. “You’re hardly the expert on what I like.”

Tom’s words landed—he saw Redd wince—but the fox brushed it off, and changed tack.

“Where’d you sleep, then? Futon?”

“Couch.”

Redd patted the bed, and leered. “Could’ve shared with me. It’s plenty big enough. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Enough, Redd. You’re only here in my home because I possess common decency. Nothing more. As soon as your arm is healed, you’re gone.”

Redd clutched at his chest with his good arm, in mock agony.

“Oh babe, you can be so cold!”

Tom ignored him. “What possessed you to attempt to sail a ship, of all things? You don’t have any experience.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was simple enough to figure out.”

“Obviously it wasn’t.”

“Hey, the storm wasn’t my fault.”

“You could have died—and for what? Another stupid scheme of yours, no doubt.”

“I resent that remark. Scheme! Scheme, he says. I’m out here because I’ve developed a new business venture. The art on my boat is real.” Brief alarm skirted across his face. “Wait, what happened to my things?”

“They’re in Blathers’ custody.”

“That featherbrain can’t keep them. They’re real, you know. I had this whole plan. I was going to go island to island. Animals are so suspicious these days. They actually want to inspect the merchandise before they buy, can you believe it?”

“I don’t want to hear about this.”

Redd plowed on, as if Tom hadn’t spoken. “—and once they placed an order, I’d say oh, you can’t take it right away. I have to ship it to you.”

“And you’d mail them a fake.”

“I’d mail them a replica. The copies that I paint myself are flawless,” Redd bragged. Greed and delight glinted in his eyes. “You’d never be able to tell the difference. I’ll wager you 5,000 bells your pal Blathers wouldn’t, either.”

“I can’t believe you,” Tom snapped. “You haven’t changed one bit.”

“Why tamper with perfection?”

“You—ugh!”

Tom stomped out of the room.

Timmy and Tommy were right outside, evidently listening in. They jumped guiltily as Tom caught sight of them, and tried to look busy; Tommy folded a blanket and draped it over the back of the couch, as Timmy collected up used cups to put in the kitchen sink.

“I’m going out for a bit.” Tom told them, as he pulled on a jacket. “Stay here, and make sure he does too.”

The Nooklings chirped an affirmative.

May was cold and rainy this year, and today proved no different. Tom zipped up his jacket to ward off the worst of the chill. It was misting out, but not badly enough to justify an umbrella.

Tom didn’t have a destination in mind, exactly. He wasn’t going to Resident Services today. Isabelle was certainly capable of taking the reins for a day or two. Tom just needed fresh air, just needed to clear his head.

Redd hadn’t changed at all. He hadn’t grown, he hadn’t learned anything. He was still the same as he ever was—greedy, selfish, conniving. And utterly, absolutely, insufferable.

There had been moments, before, when he had lived on the mainland, when Redd frequented his town. He’d considered reaching out. But he’d never scraped up the nerve to do so. It wasn’t his responsibility either, he’d reasoned at the time. Tom was the wronged party. Redd should have been the one to approach, not him.

And now the decade-long silence between them was shattered at last, and Redd acted as if there had never been a massive fracture in their relationship, as if nothing at all had changed. No apologies, no remorse, not even a thank you for the rescue.

“Mr. Nook!” Flurry trotted up to him. “I’ve heard the news. How is your friend doing today?”

He supposed there was no hope of keeping it quiet. Any speck of news spread through Bastion like wildfire. Isabelle, bless her heart, was an incorrigible gossip.

“Redd is doing much better today, thank you.”

“I wanted you to give him something from me. Just to borrow, powderpuff!” She took out a book from her pockets and handed it over. It was an old leather-bound book, a collection of fairy tales. It was worn with age, but evidently well cared for. “I don’t know if it’s to his taste or not, but I always read it when I’m sick and it cheers me right up!”

“Thank you, Flurry. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” Redd wouldn’t, but Tom would never let the sweet hamster know that.

He continued his walk, and soon found himself on the beach. He followed the shoreline around the island until he reached the outcropping of rocks by Del’s and Lucha’s houses.

Tom knew what to expect, but the sight was still jarring. The hull of the boat was gouged on the rocks. Half of the vessel gaped open. The mast was snapped off at its base, and the sail, long lost to the tides. Tom stepped on the rocks to get a closer look. The remains of the boat had been secured to the rock by rope; Alex and the others, presumably, had been the ones to anchor it.

Tom peered inside the exposed hull. The boat was tilted at an angle. Barrels had rolled to one end of the ship. Several had smashed apart in the impact. Tom winced. How badly had Redd been thrown in the crash? Had he been above deck, or below?

There didn’t appear to be anything of value left inside the ship. The villagers had done well removing all the fragile artwork.

Enough of the boat remained that they wouldn’t have to build Redd a new boat from scratch, at least. The boat would have to be patched up for Redd to travel. The seaplanes weren’t built to transport someone from Bastion all the way out to the mainland.

Tom swept a critical eye over to the wreckage. Yes, they could rebuild it in several weeks, once the necessary supplies were gathered. He resolved to speak with Alex about it. If she could gather the needed materials, he’d reduce the price for her attic expansion as compensation.

He returned home with the intention to cook breakfast for the Nooklings and their guest. But as he removed his shoes in the entryway, he overheard Redd’s drawling voice. And the twins were conspicuously absent from the living room. He padded quietly over to the threshold of his bedroom.

The first thing Tom noticed was that Redd was now wearing one of his spare shirts. The floral patterned green and white flattered the fox’s fur. It was a size or two too large on him, and not his usual type of outfit. Something warm and possessive tightened in his stomach at the sight of Redd wearing his clothes.

Redd was back in bed, propped upright with the support of pillows. Timmy and Tommy were sitting on the bed as well, listening raptly to their guest. Redd was in his element as entertainer, gesturing enthusiastically with his unbroken arm as he spoke.

“...it was our third pitch of the day. Tom had persuaded me to paint wallpapers for high-end clientele, so the meeting was at this real swanky place. Very stylized lobby we waited in, minimalistic in style but in an expensive way, you know? Your Uncle Nook was sweating so much his fur looked a shade darker than normal. We were sitting there, waiting for half an hour after our appointed meeting time. And finally, finally, someone shows up. It wasn’t even the investor! It was some scrub, some assistant of an assistant. Tom was so nervous, he promptly bent over and spewed his lunch all over her expensive shoes.” Redd laughed.

Tom flushed. It hadn’t been his finest moment.

“But then, do you know what your uncle did?” Redd whispered, conspiratorially.

“What, Mr. Redd?”

“...Redd?”

The boys leaned in closer, eager not to miss a single syllable.

“Tom still managed to salvage the situation. He went right from wiping off her shoes to pitching her a new concept—scented wallpaper. Smells like lemon, pine. So if something like this happened again, at least no one would smell it!”

“Wow! Did they invest?”

“...vest?”

“Even better—they bought the concept and patent from us. All the reward, with none of the work!”

“Boys, wash up for breakfast.” Tom broke in.

The twins broke into beaming smiles at the sight of him. They sprang off the bed to crowd Tom, both talking a mile a minute.

“Uncle Nook, is it true that you won a manufacturing contract by arm wrestling the CEO of Cozy Couches?”

“—did you really start a new city fashion trend wearing your scarf as a belt?”

“—have three drinks named after you?”

“Redd likes to embellish.” Tom explained, exasperated. “Don’t believe a word he says.”

Redd pouted.

Once the boys reluctantly filed out of the room, Tom shut the door. He crossed over to Redd and offered him the book of fairytales.

“For me? You shouldn’t have.” Redd inspected the book. He grimaced at the faint mug stain on one of the pages. “Not a first edition. Far from excellent condition. You really shouldn’t have.”

Tom grit his teeth. “It’s not from me. A villager has loaned it to you. If it goes back to her with so much as a dog-eared page…”

“Alright, sheesh. Just messing around.” Redd set the book on the bedside table, evidently uninterested.

“Listen to me, Redd.” Redd looked up in surprise at Tom’s low, serious tone. “You cheated me. You deceived Lyle. But if you think—”

“Hey, Lyle wasn’t—”

“If you think,” Tom spoke over him. “For one second, that I’ll allow you to manipulate Timmy and Tommy, you’ve got another thing coming. I have resources now. More bells in the bank than you’ll ever see. If you ever hurt them, I’ll make you regret it. Are we clear?”

The boys were guileless, innocent. He would not stand for Redd swindling them.

Redd deflated, his previous energy visibly dimmed. His ears flattened back on his head. He looked away from Tom, and nodded.

~*~

“Where are we going?”

“Like I told you the last twelve times you asked, it’s a surprise.”

“I’m going to trip on the sidewalk and break my nose.” Tom grumbled.

“You won’t.” Redd promised, with a rumbling laugh. “I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It had been six months since their first meeting, in that sketchy motel. Ever since, they’d hardly left each others’ company. Tom’s ambition was to build a furniture and home goods store. It would be unique in its approach, in that stock would be limited, and rotate daily, so animals would feel compelled to go to the store every day, just in case there was something they needed. Redd, an entrepreneur himself, was on board. But before they could begin such an enterprise, they needed bells, and loads of them. They’d taken the past half a year to build up their finances together. They’d done so not through conventional jobs, but through countless pitch meetings, patent sales, and even art commissions. They’d amassed enough now that their dream was looking more achievable by the day.

Tonight Redd had tied a black bandana around Tom’s eyes and led him from their apartment. Tom’s heart was doing somersaults in his chest throughout their entire walk. Redd had been furtive, secretive the entire past week. He’d been planning something, and Tom had a big hunch on what it could be.

“We’re here.” Redd announced, at long last. He unknotted the bandana. The cloth fell away from Tom’s eyes, and he gasped.

It was an older two-story building, wedged in between a pair of larger, newer ones. It was built of ruddy red brick, with floor to ceiling windows for display purposes. Tom glanced around. They were in a nicer part of town. Not the wealthiest neighborhood by any means, but one fairly busy, that had animals with bells burning holes in their pockets.

“It’s ours.” Redd withdrew a keyring from his pocket. “If you like it.”

“You—how?”

Redd winked. “I have my ways.” He held out the keys and gave them a shake. “Why don’t you do the honors?”

Tom took the keys with reverence. He felt as if he were drifting through the clouds as he glided to the door. The front door key was newly cut, firm in his palm. Tom unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

“The register could go here.” Tom circled around the corner of the back wall, nearest the door. He paced around the cavernous empty room, imagining as he went. “Heavier furniture in the back as well. Some eye-catching, lighter things near the front that can be rotated daily. Things like wreaths, tapestries—oh, and what if we hang strings of lights from the ceiling? It’d create a real welcoming, homey look.”

He turned back to Redd for his input. His face was flushed with enthusiasm.

Redd had been watching him from the doorway with a complicated, unreadable expression.

Tom’s grin faltered. “Redd?”

The strange look fell away from Redd’s face, replaced by his customary smirk. He sauntered closer.

“Your instincts are excellent as always, Tom. I was thinking of a mural, too, for the back wall.”

“Oh, that’d be great! What are you thinking? A city skyline? Or something more nature-inspired?”

Redd’s arm slid around Tom’s waist with easy familiarity. His paw squeezed Tom’s side. Tom barely muffled his squeak. They’d been together for five months of the six, and Redd’s casual displays of affection still flustered him. Back home, no one had ever looked twice at the plain, chubby raccoon.

Redd’s muzzle brushed his ear. “We can hash out the details later. This calls for a celebration, don’t you think?”

~*~

The doorbell jingled overhead as Tom stepped inside the Able Sisters’ store. Sable took a single look at Tom before she was bustling him into the back room of the shop.

“Keep an eye out for customers, Mabes.” She called over her shoulder.

Mabel mock-saluted her eldest sister.

“Sit.” Sable all but pushed him into a rocking chair. He remembered this old thing from the sisters’ first home. The quilt draped over the back of the chair was familiar too, if a bit more threadbare than he remembered. Tom was struck by a wave of gratefulness that all of his dearest friends had been so amenable to picking up their lives and moving to Bastion with him.

Sable placed a gray kettle on the stove, and retrieved two mugs from a cabinet. The mugs were lumpy things, rather sloppily painted. Mabel had made them by hand when she was young. Tom had his own original Mabel creation stored in a cabinet back at his home.

“I wanted to speak with you as soon as I heard, but I had too many shirts to sew, I couldn’t get away. I know that’s not much of an excuse, though.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m handling everything just fine.”

Sable raised one eyebrow.

“I am.” He insisted. Redd had been subdued after Tom had warned him off about the twins. He ate the food Tom cooked without complaint, allowed Tom to check his injured arm without any protest, save the quiet hisses of pain he couldn’t quiet. They’d lived together in uneasy harmony for a week, now. Redd spent most of the day in front of the TV, or idly flipping through the book Flurry had lent him.

“How have you been?”

“Fine. Redd hasn’t been putting up too much of a fuss.” She was staring at him, too keenly. “What?”

She took a moment to muster up the words, paws twisting in her lap. “Tom...I don’t want to see you like that again.”

Tom waved his hand, as if to banish the ghost of that awful moment. “You won’t. He can never hurt me again.”

Sable’s doubt was palpable.

“I don’t care about him anymore. I don’t. And I...I used to hate him, I admit it. I used to loathe him. But I’ve moved on. I don’t trust him, and I pity him, but I don’t feel anything strong for him, hate or love, anymore.”

“You don’t sound as convincing as you’d like to be.” Sable said.

He was saved from having to respond as the kettle whistled. Sable rose to fetch their tea. She added the sachets, a drizzle of honey to her cup, three lumps of sugar to Tom’s—after all this time, she hadn’t forgotten how he liked it—and carried the mugs over.

Tom held his mug between his paws, waiting for it to cool enough to be drinkable. The pleasant scent of Earl Grey wafted up to his nose. He inhaled.

“If Redd tries anything, I’ll punch him in the nose.”

Sable, gentle, demure Sable, spoke with such a steely assuredness that Tom started. She smiled shyly at him.

“I mean it.”

“You’ll have to get in line. I have first dibs.”

Sable giggled.

~*~

Tom headed back home, feeling lighter than he had since this entire thing started. He and Sable swiftly left the topic of Redd behind them, and spent the better part of an hour catching up.

The boys saw him through the front window of the Cranny, and waved enthusiastically. He returned the gesture, albeit with less energy.

Tom then climbed the stairs and let himself into his home. Redd was no longer where Tom had left him that morning, slouched on the couch. The TV was shut off, the house almost eerily silent.

“Redd?” Tom eased open the door to his bedroom. The fox was absent, but the bed was neatly made. He checked the twins’ room, the bathroom—both empty.

Redd was gone.

#reddnook #ac #animal crossing #tom nook #redd #animal crossing new horizons #my fic #sable is the best #timmy and tommy continue to be adorable

223 notes · View notes

oftenderweapons · 4 years

Text

The Conversations - part 3/3

Characters: Hoseok, Taehyung

Wordcount: 2.2k words

Genre: slice of life, discussion of NSFW topics, conversation

Rating: suggested 18+

Hello readers! I’m back and I bear gifts!

This is the final installment for The Conversations. In this piece Tae and Hobi discuss their relationships with their girlfriend, Lace -- Tae’s gf -- and Giggles -- Hobi’s --, sharing some spicy details and offering each other advice. Since I consider them the “freakiest” among the guys, do expect some TMI.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: so much BDSM I had to read a handbook, impact play and dedicated objects, bondage and restrictions, themes of domination and submission, use of safeword and mentions of subspace. Voyeurism and exhibitionism, adult clubs and dungeons, public sex, masturbation and oral sex. Blindfold, powerplay, roleplay. Mentions of a sextape... :’) (also hints of a possibly angsty Namjoon future fic, I had to.)

Wordcount: 2.2k

And here is my masterlist :)

Enjoy!

“Hey hyung, sorry for last night.” Taehyung said, sitting beside Hoseok at the lunch table in the common room.

“It’s okay, no biggie.” Hoseok already had a bright smile on, warm and honestly unbothered by the event.

“I didn’t knew Giggles was at your’s.” Taehyung opened his lunch, starting to analyse the various boxes and cups.

“Yeah,” Hobi’s ears turned reddish. “It was a surprise for me too.”

“How is it going?” Tae cheered as he found the main course. Beside him Hoseok stirred his noodles.

“It’s great. She’s fantastic. How about Lace?”

“She’s doing great. We’re doing great.” Taehyung looked around a little to see if anyone could possibly overhear. “We experimented with a riding crop. Best decision of my life.”

Hoseok laughed out loud, smashing his free hand enthusiastically against the table. “Glad to know. Giggles prefers the paddle. Or my hands. But yeah, Lace gives crop vibes.”

“She’s a huge freak.” Tae took some kimchi, mixing it with his rice. His mouth still half full, he muttered. “But I guess I am, too.”

“As long as she likes that there’s nothing wrong.” He too took a bite of his own food. “Wanna share?”

“What? No.” Tae filled his mouth some more. “I mean, I have to ask Lace first.”

“I mean the food, you pervert.” Hoseok bent over his dish, “though I guess nor Lace nor Giggles would oppose.”

“God, Lace is such an exhibitionist.” Tae said, motioning to his side dish and inviting Hobi to take what he liked.

Hobi also put his smaller boxes in the middle. “And you’re a voyeur, which works just fine.”

“Match made in heaven. Does Giggles like it too?”

“She likes it enough. But, she’s not that visual. She prefers focusing on other senses.”

“I kinda reckoned.” Taehyung remembered the previous night, when he’d endlessly knocked on Hobi’s apartment door only to have his hyung come to the door half undressed, faux leather pants on, his forehead sweaty. Behind him, Tae could recognise a woman -- well, Giggles -- fully naked, sitting on a chair, wearing nothing but a blindfold. And several feet of rope.

“Freak.” Deadpanned Hoseok.

“What about you, freak?” Tae also stirred his noodles, enjoying the steam coming from them together with the heavy smell of soy sauce and fried peppers.

“Do you want me to say I enjoy having her at my mercy, nothing but a blabbering mess, incapable of getting away or understanding what’s going to happen to her?” Hoseok was overly descriptive on that. “Because yes, I do.”

“So not only blindfolded but also tied up?”

“If she’s not behaving, then yes.” Hoseok suddenly looked stern.

“I bet she doesn’t behave much.”

“At all.” Hoseok smirked. “I think I should change her punishment to something she enjoys less.”

“Lace hates not touching me.” Tae fits a huge meat roll in his mouth.

“Giggles is not bothered, as long as I’m touching her. She needs to feel some sort of an anchor, a safety line, so to say.”

“Well, I’d need one too if I were tied up and in the dark.” His mind wandered back to one of his first times with Lace, when he’d let her cover his eyes with a thick silk scarf tied behind his head, his body at her mercy, as she observed him and touched him without him knowing where she’d land her attack, without his intense gaze following her every movement and making her flustered. She had confessed feeling free, unjudged. Not that he would ever judge her, but he knew that he would feel conscious too if he were the one in the spotlight, were the roles to be reversed. He knew he would feel freer without his lover looking at him, analysing where his attention gravitated. But this happened at the beginning, when they were still learning. Now their most pressing need is watching each other.

“Well. Once it got bad. She got into subspace. Only time she used her safeword. That’s why we don’t use handcuffs anymore.” Hoseok’s face was instantly dull. He still tortured himself for what had happened that one time. The look in Giggle's eyes as he let her wrists free, the angry red marks on her skin showing the indentations of the metal. The way she had seemed so broken, so lost. And the heavy tears falling on his chest as she hid in his form, clinging to him.

"Just once? Me and Lace had to use them a couple times. Both of us. Sometimes she's not in the right mindset and she asks me to stop and cuddle her. Sweetest thing in the universe." His eyes turn dreamy. "After her taste, obviously."

Hoseok laughs and punches him lightly. "TMI, bro."

"Come on, if Giggles tasted that sweet you would boast too."

"I'd rather keep that honey all to myself."

"Greedy." Taehyung poured himself some cola, watching it fizzle before downing it in one go. "By the way, do you have any good role play suggestion? I'm thinking of surprising her during the weekend but I'm so tired I can barely think."

"Strangers at the hotel. Book a room, meet at the lobby and then go upstairs to fuck like bunnies?" Hobi said it without even thinking.

"Done that."

"It's a classic. Giggles loves it. She fucks me like a slut." He snickered softly, nothing but dark mischief in his voice, but also undying fondness for his beloved.

"And that's TMI." Tae quips.

"You asked."

"Yeah, fair."

"Maid and master. Or butler and madame. You pick." Hobi drank some Sprite directly from the bottle.

"Cliché." Taehyung tutted and proceeded with his meal. “I don’t know. Not really.”

"Artist and muse? I don't know man, you're super picky." It came out with his typically whiny intonation, his tone a rollercoaster as he got deeper into thought.

Taehyung stayed quiet for a few minutes, mulling over the possibility. “Could do.”

The other man slurped in his noodles, finishing them and sipping the soup. “So, roleplay, uh?”

“It makes me feel freer. Like I’m not V from BTS. Like I’m just a boy who loves his girl.”

Hobi nodded. “You don’t know the incredible amount of places I wish I could fuck Giggles.”

Tae clapped his hands and laughed. “Like that one time at the restaurant. Damn, you disappeared for half an hour.”

Hoseok stood up to discard his container, then sat down again. In the meantime he reminisced. How Giggles had smiled mysteriously at him, holding his hand and carefully taking him away from the main scene, into a corridor and then to the restroom. He remembered how she’d palmed him heavily, how he’d cum in her mouth after five minutes of her devoted ministrations. He remembered how Giggles had fingered herself as she was sucking him, waiting for him to be done so he would crouch down, bunch up her skirt and eat her out until her eyes crossed and her legs quivered, lost in ecstasy.

“Sometimes I wished I could just get lost somewhere like in an alley or drive off in the countryside and get it all loose.” Hoseok huffed quietly as he cleaned after his meal, grabbing an half empty tube of ice cream and setting it on the table, again sitting beside Tae. “Make her take off her panties while we’re out for dinner. Do her against the mirror in the elevator.”

“The one back at the dorms...” Tae arched an eyebrow, nodding knowingly.

“Yeah. Or like… Go to a club and just finger her on the dancefloor. Or in a dark nook.” His eyes crinkled shut.

“I get it. People knowing you sucks sometimes. Lace and I wanted to go to one of those... dungeons? Or maybe like an adult club. One of those places where you can perform in front of a crowd. Try some real exhibitionism. And some serious bondage.” Taehyung finished his own meal, discarding the finished cups and plates and grabbing a spoon to share the ice cream.

“Like, shibari?” Hobi asked, making eye contact with his friend.

“Yeah, why not.” Tae shrugged. “Lace would be interested. We’ve done mild things before and she enjoyed, but those are things you need to learn with an expert and just thinking of all the things that could go wrong makes me shiver.” He took a big mouthful of ice cream, almost freezing his brain in the process.

“I took an online course. Kinda fun.” Hoseok smiled and turned a bit shy. “Giggles was ecstatic. We learned some extra knots together, from a book our teacher recommended. She’s a keen student. Very dedicated.” He exploded in bubbly laughter.

“Would you let her tie you up?” Tea asked.

“I don’t know if she wants to, but I would let her.” Hobi blushed. “I wouldn’t mind. She’s talented. And disciplined. Very careful and diligent. I know I would be in good hands. What about you?”

“I’ve already let Lace tie me up.” Taehyung was absolutely confident, his voice neutral. “I enjoy letting her manhandle me every now and then.” He shrugged again, blowing his cheeks and rubbing at his chin. “She can do that. Honestly, she did take some lessons and taught me a few things. We explore a lot together.” At this, his eyes moved to the floor, a bit flustered. Lace knew his body like no one else in the world. He had spent years living in it and getting to know it, but his girlfriend had put body and soul into exploring him, memorising every small tell, every little quirk and sweet spot. Lace had unravelled him in a couple weeks, studying his anatomy with a maniacal precision. And when he allowed her to take control of him, her knowledge showed. Her fingers could draw endless pleasure, keeping him on his toes for hours and then making him explode like fireworks. But the most important thing was the way she had learned to soothe him, to care after him, her affection like balm to his bitter moods and darkest nights.

“Glad for you.” Hoseok gave him a pat on the shoulder, drawing him in for a hug.

Taehyung was getting ready to leave. “I got to talk to Namjoon. He’s giving me feedback on some lines in English. By the way, have you heard of him and Vixen?”

“What?”

“Had a fight. He’s hell-bent on making it up to her.” Tae scrunched his nose. “Guk sorta walked in on them in the studio the other day. I don’t know if they made up.”

Hoseok pouted. “Joon temper’s sucks. Boy got some pent up pressure and he’s gonna blow a fuse someday or other. Plus Vixen’s no saint.”

“She holds him accountable for his bullshit. Takes good care of him. Plus, man, she’s a keeper.”

“Truly.” Hobi thought back to the sparks between her and Namjoon everytime they’re together. If that wasn’t love, then he didn’t know what it could ever be. Probably it was the way Giggles searched for his hand when she was afraid, the way she always looked at him when she found something funny, or that small breath she held every time he said her name. Or even the way he needed to bury his nose in her neck when he needed to rest. How he always put his hand on the small of her back when he needed her at his side, when he looked for support and protection.

Taehyung already had his hand on the handle of the kitchen’s door when Hoseok stopped him. “How do you store your… stuff, with Lace?”

“You mean what? Toys? Porn? Pics?”

The older huffed. God, he’s really shameless. “Your vids?”

Taehyung’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. That stuff. I assume you’re not hiding it from her?”

“I was thinking of shooting something. I need safe storage.” Hoseok rubbed at his forehead, crossing his arms.

“Avoid phones. Worst thing. Get yourself a good camera and a decent memory card. Like 72GB. Keep all the stuff in the memory card or pen drive. Lace and I have it in our bedside table. Never keep stuff on the phone or in cloud.” He pointed a finger towards Hoseok for emphasis. “I would recommend an action camera, which is practical like a phone but safer. But if you do use a phone, no connection, no wifi, nothing. Just a phone used like a good ol' camera. Move all the stuff away as soon as you’re done.”

“Yeah, that was sort of a given..” Hobi nodded. “So, a camera? Suggestions?”

“Depends? Handheld or tripod?” Taehyung asked, checking his phone.

“You know me. Hands on my girl, and I like shifting a lot.”

“Tripod. Definitely. I’ll send you some links for reference tonight. Enjoy.”

#bangtan sonyeondan #bts smut #bts scenario #bts imagine #bts reaction #bts headcanon #kim taehyung #jung hoseok #hoseok imagine #hobi imagine #hoseok reaction #hobi reaction #taehyung imagine #taehyung reaction #hoseok one shot #taehyung one shot #bts conversation

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gryffindorcls · 4 years

Text

My Thoughts Exactly: Part 1

Hello, lovely readers!

This was written for an AU swap on Discord. I decided to take a little bit of a different take on the traditional soulmate AU. It's not love at first sight, but these two definitely have a budding romance blossoming between them.

(Let's just say that there is A LOT of fluff coming in the next chapter.)

---

Next ----> (Coming Soon)

AO3

FanFiction

Marinette climbed onto her balcony and did her best to focus on the task at hand. Her arms were jelly and her stomach was in knots.

I’m no superhero, her mind screamed, I’m just a normal girl.

Tikki had told her so many things, but everything was a jumble. All she knew was that somehow she had to defeat Stoneheart and make Paris safe again.

As crashes continued to sound in the distance, she took a deep calming breath and grabbed the yo-yo on her hip. “Okay, I have special powers, and apparently this amazing super yo-yo thingy?”

She tossed the yo-yo onto a building, pulled the wire, and went flying into the air. While she did her best to land gracefully, she quickly found herself in a tangled nest with what appeared to be a boy with…

Are those cat ears? She thought as she arched her back in an attempt to move away from the person caught in her snare.

“Nice of you to drop in!” The boy laughed. “And to answer your question, yes, they are! I think they look rather claw-some!”

“Excuse me?”

“You asked me about my ears.”

“Oh my gosh, did I say that out loud?” The feeling of his chest against her own created a buzzing sensation throughout her body. “I’m messing up everything today, aren’t I?”

She sighed. Ugh, I’m such a failure!

“No, you’re not!” His voice was bright and cheerful. “I’m still learning the ropes, too, and if you also got chosen for this, something tells me that you’re not a failure.”

The boy’s eyes met hers and filled her with an unusual warmth. She’s kind of cute.

“Wait...did you just call me cute?”

Please tell me I didn’t actually say that. The voice speaking in her head definitely didn’t belong to her.

Marinette’s heart pounded against her chest. Does that mean he can hear me, too?

Oh my God, I can hear your thoughts.

How are you inside my head?

What is happening?

They both screamed.

An involuntary twitch of Marinette’s wrist retracted the wire holding them together, sending them careening towards the ground. She landed in a heap but was surprised to find that nothing had been broken. Her yo-yo thunked the boy on the head, causing him to recoil.

After taking a moment to rub his injury, he looked up at her with a panicked expression. “What the heck was that?”

She grabbed her pigtails and began to pace. “I-I have no idea! That’s never happened to me before.”

“Is mind reading your power?”

“No. Maybe? I don’t know. Tikki was talking so fast, I may have missed something.”

“Tikki?” He cocked his head to the side. “Who’s that?”

“She’s my Kwami. You have one of those, right?” Marinette was desperate for answers. “From the look on your face, I’m guessing yours didn’t say anything about this either.”

“Plagg? Uh, he told me how to transform and that I have special powers, but not much else. However, he did mention that I would have a partner, and I’m guessing that’s you. It’s nice to meet you. I’m...Chat Noir! Yeah, Chat Noir.”

His answer only left her with more questions. “Well, this is just great. We have no answers, and I have a partner who obviously has a better grasp at this whole superhero thing than I do. Did you come up with that name just now?”

“I did.” He looked proud. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What’s your superhero name?

“It’s...I don’t know. This is all so much to take in, and I haven’t thought about it.” Her breathing quickened as her hand clenched around her yo-yo. “How can I be a superhero if I can’t even think of a name for myself? I’m not cut out for this. I should probably just go.”

“Hey, it’s okay! There’s no rush. It’s just a name, and I don’t want to do this without a partner. You don’t need a fancy name to be a hero.” The softness in his voice sent her reeling.

It should be illegal to be that adorable. Marinette caught herself before continuing the thought. No, now’s not the time. FOCUS.

She took a deep breath. “Think, Chat Noir! Are you sure your Kwami didn’t say anything else to you? He never mentioned telepathy?”

He scratched the back of his head and chuckled. “I, uh, may have transformed before I let him finish explaining everything. I got a little excited. Sorry.”

“Wonderful. Between my stunning lack of short-term memory and your fabulous listening skills, it sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for us today. This isn’t going to be a disaster at all.”

Well, at least he’s cute.

“My thoughts exactly.” He chuckled.

Panic rose in her throat. “Wait, can you still hear what I’m thinking?”

Please say no. Please say no!

He shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. Can you hear my thoughts anymore?”

They fell into a tense silence. With bated breath, she waited for the second voice to appear in her mind.

If you can hear me, blink your eyes three times. She scanned his face for a reaction but was met only with his unwavering stare.

“Were you thinking something just now?” Her partner’s voice pierced through the quiet.

She nodded. “Yeah, I was, but you didn’t react to what I said. We’re you thinking something?”

“Yes, did you hear it?”

“No.” “Well, that’s a relief!” His hand landed on her shoulder, and he shot her a dazzling smile.

His touch felt like a million microscopic bursts of electricity on her skin.

Good thing I don’t have to worry about that anymore. The boy’s lips remained still as his voice echoed all around her.

I think you spoke too soon. She watched as his face turned white.

Your voice is in my head again.

And yours is in mine.

What do we do?

I don’t know.

While their voices eventually grew quiet, Marinette could still feel herself swimming in a sea of thoughts and feelings that were not her own. No longer consumed by the initial shock from before, she was able to feel the invisible connection between them. It crackled like static and pulsed to the beat of her heart.

As his consciousness continued to seep into hers, she wanted to fear the invasion of privacy but ultimately found herself being soothed by the presence of the boy she’d just met. Marinette didn’t want it to stop, and she could feel that he wanted to continue, as well. Overcome by her curiosity, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall deeper into his mind.

To her surprise, his mind was a safety net. Marinette found nothing but the purest intentions and an overabundance of kindness. He had a good heart, and while she knew almost nothing about him, she knew that she could trust him with her life.

Wanting more, she continued to explore. Even when the light inside him began to fade into darkness, she didn’t stop. Her desire to dig deeper and Chat’s willingness to share drove her to peel back every layer she encountered.

Without warning, Marinette came to a crashing halt when she was struck with a profound loneliness that punched the air from her lungs.

She was suffocating.

She was trapped.

She was in his world, and she hated it.

Unable to move, a sorrow that was not her own gripped her soul, causing her to cry out in pain. Chat pulled his hand away, and they both collapsed.

“I’m so sorry.” She clutched her chest and sobbed for the anguish that was buried deep inside her partner. “No one should have to feel that way.”

“It’s okay.” The gentleness behind his words surprised her.

“No, it’s not. What happened? Is someone doing that to you?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter now.” He held up his clawed hand and smirked. “This ring gave me a freedom I’ve never had before. My life changed today, and I plan on using this for good.”

His sincerity struck her heart. “Wow. I don’t know if I’d have the strength to still be kind if something happened to make me feel that way.”

A distant crash shook the ground, snapping her back into reality. Chat Noir shot her a desperate look as he nodded his head towards the commotion and waved his arms in the air.

“What are you doing?” Marinette crossed her arms. “You look like a bird. I thought you were supposed to be a cat.”

“We have to go save the day. Didn’t you hear me think that?” He threw his hands into the air before letting them fall to his sides.

“No, I guess it stopped again.”

“How is this supposed to be a useful power if we can’t control it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s something that takes practice?”

A second crash and a chorus of screams pierced the air.

“It’s getting closer. Come on. As much as I’d love to stay here with you, we’ll have to figure this out later. Let’s go save Paris!” He unsheathed his baton and vaulted across the rooftops.

“He’s right,” she mumbled to herself, winding up her yo-yo and tossing it into the air, “Trust yourself, Marinette. If he can do this, you can do this.”

With a tug of the string, she soared over buildings and landed on the stadium wall. However, her sudden burst of confidence evaporated as she watched her seemingly fearless partner take on the rock giant by himself.

Chat slammed his baton into Stoneheart and stood horrified when the monster doubled in size. “Where are you, partner?”

She covered her face and tried not to cry. “Oh, I can't. What was I thinking? I’m not him! I can’t do this!”

Stoneheart grabbed a soccer net and flung it towards the field’s entrance. Marinette watched the net arc across the field and nearly kill Alya before being stopped by Chat’s baton.

At least Chat was brave enough to save her. She tightened her grip around her yo-yo. I’m useless.

“What are you waiting for, super red bug?” Alya’s voice cut through her self-deprecation. “The world is watching you!”

“Please, I need you!” Chat’s cried out in obvious desperation. “I know you’re scared, but you can do this.”

He believes in me. Her mind sang. Come on, Marinette. You have to at least try!

Mentally steeling herself, she swung into the action and landed next to her partner. “Sorry it took so long, Chat Noir. I’m here now.”

The smile that spread across his face melted away the remaining fear that still clouded her thoughts. “I knew you’d come. I never doubted you for a second.”

“Thank you, Chat.” She sighed. “But if we’re being honest, the only reason I’m here is because of you.”

“That’s not true.” His smile evaporated, leaving a frown in its stead. “You need to stop doing that.”

“Stop doing what?” The disappointment in his tone made her wither.

When I got a sneak peek into that head of yours, I saw what kind of person you are. Stop doubting yourself. You told me that you admired my strength, but you keep selling yourself short. You and I were both chosen for this. Just trust your instincts.”

“That’s what Tikki said to me.”

“It sounds like she knows what she’s talking about.” Using his baton, he pointed at Stoneheart. “Besides, I really need your help. Like you, I have no idea what I’m doing. Would you like to learn how to do this together?”

“But...what if I make a mistake?”

“Then we’ll figure it out.”

“Together?”

He nodded. “Yeah, together.”

“Okay.” Soaking in his words, she straightened her back and stared down the Akuma. “Let’s do this!”

Defeating Stoneheart proved to be a challenge. Chat used his power to early, and she discovered that her Lucky Charms were anything but straightforward. Nonetheless, they eventually found their footing, and somehow managed to break the Akumatized object.

As she watched the purple butterfly disappear into the sky, she finally felt herself relax.

“You were incredible, miss...uh...Bug Lady,” Chat exclaimed, “You did it!”

Marinette shook her head and laughed. “No, we both did it...partner.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He held out his fist. “Pound it?”

“Pound it.” She tapped his hand with her fist and was once again consumed by a wave of foreign emotions.

An unseen force crackled against their point of contact, pulling her deeper into the connection. Before she could react, a shrill beeping caused her to jump and yank her hand away, dissipating their bond.

A residual tingle danced on her knuckles. Confused, she rubbed her hand and looked at her partner.

Then, it hit her.

“TOUCH!” she screamed, “Our hands just touched. You touched me!”

He held his hands up in surrender. “S-sorry. If you don’t like it, we don’t have to do it again.”

“No! That’s not it at all!” She grabbed his arm, restarting their mental connection.

Whenever we touch, we can hear each other’s thoughts. She smiled at him.

A burst of giddiness coursed through him and into her. That’s amazing, and you figured it out. You’re so smart!

His ring beeped again.

Marinette took back her hand and sighed. “You have to go.”

“Why?” The sadness in his tone threatened to break her.

“Because that beeping means that you’re about to transform back. We’re not supposed to know each other’s identities.”

“How are we supposed to keep that a secret if we can read each other’s minds? The truth will come out at some point. I don’t think I can keep my identity hidden in the back of my mind forever.”

“You’re right.” She groaned and slumped. “But there are people here. Let’s meet tomorrow and talk about it. I’ll call you on your communicator.”

“Sounds good.” He picked up her hand and placed a feather-light kiss on her knuckles, filling her with the crackling warmth that she was starting to love. “Until we meet again.”

“I can’t wait.” She whispered to herself as he vaulted away from the stadium.

She spent the next few minutes comforting Ivan but ultimately found herself being bombarded with questions from her new classmate.

“Uncanny, amazing, spectacular!” Alya pointed her phone at Marinette and beamed. “Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive Ladybug? Oh, I've got a ton of questions to ask you, uh, Miss…”

Marinette did her best to suppress her rising panic as she searched for the perfect name. You can do this. Just don’t overthink it. Chat called me Bug Lady. No, that won’t do. What about…

“Ladybug,” she said triumphantly, “Call me, Ladybug.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfiction #ladynoir #fluff #a tiny bit of angst #soulmate au #origins au #discord exchange #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #my fic #my thoughts exactly #part 1

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silvysartfulness · 4 years

Note

Writer meta asks: 3, 19, 20

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

I already answered this one in another post - there’s no special such scene; if I want to write just a standalone scene I’ll do it as a one-shot and imply context and set-up in-writing. But there are scenes I look forward to writing; for the Roadtrip, a lot will go down and shift perspectives all around in the arc I mentally call the Mountains of Mist arc. That’s definitely a bit I have high hopes for!

... Technically the scene I’m supposed to be writing right now has also long been one of the “oh yeah, I’m really looking forward to this one!” bits, except now that I’m actually about to write it, I’m finding myself a bit frozen. Hopefully I’ll be able to push through this block and make it as good as I previously envisioned it...

Oh, no wait! To be honest - there are a few scenes I haven’t managed to find a good place for in the Roadtrip timeline yet, but have been very entertained by in headcanons, and that’s a fair number of WWX and XY interaction scenes!

I don’t know if I’ll manage to work things out enough in the story to make any of that fit, but I have a vivid image of WWX and XY literally bumping into each other at the market street of a random town while departing a liquor stall and candy stall respectively. XY is delighted by the chance meeting and toothily compliments WWX’s reflexes in catching the falling bottles, WWX is mostly “wtf how are you still not dead??” about things. If I can get the timeline to allow for it, it’s a scene I’d still love to write, but we’ll see.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

Ahaha. I suspect if you do a word count in my writing, you’ll see the word “pain” repeated at somewhat alarming frequency?

I like to describe body language, especially what people are doing with their hands. And eyes, I pay a lot of attention to eyes.

As for tropes, just stamp me with the “redemption arc” stamp and move on. I love, more than anything, characters who have to face their mistakes and go through a painstaking journey of sorting messes out, setting things right. Sometimes willfully, out of a genuine desire to make things better. Sometimes reluctantly or even trying not to, only sullenly agreeing in the end for one well-founded reason or another.

I love to write messy characters, greyscales, heart wrenching situations where both sides are equally wrong and right. Am also absolute sucker for “hard, cold-hearted character, absolutely coming apart at gestures of care and kindness”. That gets me every single time.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Uh-oh. You've done it now. I'll place the rest under a cut, because I can and will talk about this at length.

I already wrote in a previous post about the layers of meaning in my chapter titles, so I'll leave that aside for now.

I love using symbolism and allegories in my writing. There are some obvious ones at first glance – I often refer to Xiao Xingchen as the moon himself, especially from Xue Yang’s point of view (the moon has been one of the few proxies for Xiao Xingchen he’s had for a long time) His inner light, something with beauty and integrity but also phases of both light and dark and the ability to shift inbetweeen, unreadable. The same way I will often use ice and frost to describe Song Lan - ”he realized with frostbite clarity” is a sentence I remember that I liked writing for him.

Xue Yang isn't as clear cut; his themes shifts depending on the pov character – Song Lan thinks of him as serpent-like, and there's a wolf-theme coming up as well. But my main subtle motif for Xue Yang in this story is the tiger. Drawn partly from the obvious angle of him being able to create a Yin Tiger Amulet of his own, as well as wearing clothing with a leopard-spot like pattern in Yi City, and finally Wei Wuxian's comment of ”releasing the tiger back to the mountain” when learning Xue Yang escaped punishment for the Chang massacre. In Chinese animal symbolism, the tiger is the king of beasts, something very powerful and clever, but also unreliable, prone to lash out.

In one of the first chapters, Xue Yang is described as being ”bound with enough ropes and knots to subdue a tiger” and there are many references to the Yin Tiger Amulet throughout. I drew him and Song Lan as shishi statues in the illustration for chapter 7, feline guardians of the dead that can be interpreted as lions but also tigers. So that's a semi-secret theme. :)

Another layer of symbolism is the Daoist philosophy sprinkled throughout. Sometimes directly, through outright quotes, but often more subtly in how Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan relate to the world and other people.

”Take action by letting things take their course, he reminded himself. The more he hurried, the longer it would take to get where he was going. He could be patient. Would be.”

”He smiled again, grateful for the understanding, for the simplicity, patience, compassion.”

“An empty patch on the ground,” he signed. “We'll make the future a spot where nothing is yet growing.” “An empty spot, where the Universe may plant a seed,” he finished. Song Lan nodded, made the softest hum of agreement.

“Now, now - haven't you heard, Song-daozhang?” he giggled, unsteadily, hauled along in unceremonious jerks. “Treat those who are kind with kindness, but also treat those who are not kind with kindness, only thus is kindness obtaine-... ow.” ← Xue Yang is not above throwing their teachings in their faces for his own benefit, either.

Another thing I enjoy writing is how Xiao Xingchen will very easily fall into familiarity with both Song Lan and Xue Yang when he interacts with them, but they're two very different kinds of familiarity, and he's often not at all aware himself that he's doing it. (They are. Especially the party not currently being interacted with, glaring daggers at the other.) He often just... assumes they'll do a certain thing, and they'll automatically find themselves doing it.

They are both utterly dedicated to him, though they may not realize it themselves, and he certainly doesn't. He doesn't want to take anything for granted with Song Lan, and he doesn't dare trust Xue Yang, but in the little moments of thoughtlessness, they'll just accidentally fall into old familiar roles of attachment, and then blink awake, surprised and disturbed at the ease of it. ♥

I also find it delightful how Xue Yang absolutely despises Song Lan, but is still ready and willing to rope him into herding Xiao Xingchen when necessary - and Song Lan will grudgingly follow his lead, to a point. They may not like it, but they do have a goal in common in keeping their person safe.

There is a certain point to the fact that Xue Yang mostly only mentally refers to a-Qing as ”the girl” in his mind. Nothing quite as strong as actual remorse, but it's a slightly chafing subject he does avoid thinking about. She wasn't supposed to die - hurt, yes, be punished for her perceived part in the destruction of their happy home, but not die - and now that Xiao Xingchen is back, it is odd, at times, that she isn't there as well.

Finally - have some teasers for future written chapters! The apples of the merchant in Tanzhou will make a reappearance, as will the beggar girl by the gate. Xue Yang will write Song Lan a heartfelt poem in an upcoming chapter. Song Lan is made to promise to write a couple of old ladies letters. Xiao Xingchen performs emotional manipulation so badly it offers the other two an unexpected moment of bonding. Xue Yang slips and does an unprompted Good Deed and instantly regrets it. (it does help when Xiao Xingchen smiles at him.)

There are more themes of foreshadowing in there, but I also don't want to spoil things, so I'l leave it at this for now.

As always, if anyone has any specific questions about the Roadtrip, please feel free to ask! I may evade if it's spoilery, but 99.9% of the time, I'll happily flail for hours about this story – and it helps keeping me inspired and writing, too! ♥♥♥

#asksilvy #the happy songxuexiao roadtrip story #untamed artfulness #nagisachan1

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polyamorous-selfinserts · 4 years

Text

case #0091104 - almost dead

trigger warnings: mentions of death, drowning, suicide, cutting, explosions, fire, depression

jon finds a tape in the archives that looks familiar...what will he learn about the archive’s resident teenager?

tagging @astralshipper @shippin-in-the-rain @grimms-heart @ghostlyvenus cause i’m super proud of this!

this takes place during season two, but there’s not any major spoilers. just jon being paranoid, plus mentions of michael becoming the distortion.

Recorder clicks on

Jon: Found this tape under a box in the archives. It’s, uh, it looks like one of Gertrude’s tapes, but the handwriting....that’s Charlie’s I think. I guess I knew sh- they were here before I was, but…

Jon: Could they have killed Gertrude? I suppose it's possible. They would’ve been, what? Thirteen, fourteen?

Jon: I found this about a week ago, and I’ve been watching them. They spend a lot of time in the archives. I don’t think they go home. Come to think of it, I don’t even know where they live. I tried asking Elias - I couldn’t find the information in any of our records - but apparently they don’t work at the Institute. Which is, uh, alarming, to say the least.

Long exhale

Jon: God, I…

Recorder clicks off

Tape player clicks on

A low voice with an American accent. Probably 16-25, female?

Voice: Uh, hello? This is Charlie Finn. I uh...well I guess I’m kind of an archival assistant? Not officially though. Over my dead body, Elias.

Exhale, snort of laughter

Charlie: I’m uh, I’m making a statement, I guess? I think I’m already in more of these than Ger- uh - Gerard, but uh, I’ve never actually made one so…

Rustling of papers

Charlie: Statement of Charlie Finn, regarding...um, their life, almost-death, and subsequent paranormal existence.

Deep inhale

Charlie: So, uh, I uh, I tried to kill myself when I was eleven. Jumped into the Thames tied to a cinder block. Guess I should’ve tied the rope tighter, or maybe skipped swim team, cause the knot came undone. It was cold. Late February. When you’re drowning, you go into a panic - but there’s this point, at the end, where it’s so peaceful...you can almost see it - the end. I don’t remember not dying. I had almost reached that point, where I just...wouldn’t be. And then I was breaking the surface of the water. I - I tried again. Tied the rope tighter. But my hands were shaking so much. I couldn’t tie it fast enough, and dawn was coming. People had started to wake up - I guess one of them saw me jump in this time.

They take a shaky breath

Charlie: I could barely see - the edges of my vision were going - but I fought against his hands. He was an EMT, going in for the early shift. White guy, college age. When he pulled me to the bank of the river, I realized he’d - uh - (humorously) he’d pulled the cinderblock up with him. Couldn’t get the knot undone, I guess, so he just pulled me out, and the block came with it. I think he gave me CPR - not sure, I was kinda out of it. There was a crowd around me when I came to - of course there was, but, uh, they looked so concerned - (huff of laughter) - the ambulance arrived, and they asked all the questions - finally it came to the one I was dreading - my parents.

Charlie: I guess I should back up a bit. Some background info. That’s how these usually start. Um, so my parents are both teachers - we had moved to London when I was maybe ten? Not long before this happened. I hated changing schools, but my parents got really good jobs at some schools - my mom was offered the principal position at a private school - and my dad was offered a position as a child psychologist at some elementary schools. My sister was too young to really get it, but I hated my new school. All the kids were rich - and honestly, I preferred American homophobia. Anyway, this school was maybe five blocks from the Magnus Institute. Or, is. (humorously) It’s not like it’s just gone and disappeared, now is it.

Charlie: Peter Lukas doesn’t like me that much.

Charlie: So, um, yeah. My relationship with my parents has never been great. My mom’s downright emotionally abusive, and my dad...well he just… he doesn’t really have a backbone. My mom’s always been high strung, and I know she wants the best for me, but...the best to her isn’t something I can do. My dad tried his best to defend me against my mom’s criticism, but, I mean, he had his own critique for me.

Charlie: I’ve uh….I’ve never been the skinniest of people. And I’ve got narcolepsy - which means I sleep a lot. My dad - he’s one of those people who, just, well. He doesn’t understand disabilities. Like, I mean, he understands them, obviously, but he doesn’t really get that sometimes, I just can’t do stuff. So he pressured me a lot into exercising and not eating a ton.

They take a shaky breath

Charlie: So, I um, I was depressed, obviously. And therapy in central London isn’t exactly easy to come by. I was cutting, but that was - that wasn’t because I wanted to die. It was more for control. I could control that. (inhale) I um, I made the decision when my friend, um - I had a crush on him. His name was Nathaniel. He um, he stopped talking to me, just after my birthday. He just...never texted me back.

Charlie: I somehow got it into my mind that he - um, that I’d like, done something? To make him leave me. Which, I mean, I think that’s dumb. Sometimes people just leave, but my brain decided it must be my fault. So I, um. I jumped into the Thames.

Charlie: So yeah. Um, the ambulance people asked for my parents phone number and I just - I couldn’t deal with that right now. I just - (humorless laugh) - I told them my parents were dead. They didn’t know how to respond for a second, but they asked if I had someone else to contact. At this point, I’d visited the Institute a few times and met Gertrude. I was doing a school project on, like, local businesses, and I thought it would be cool to do the Institute. Gertrude had helped with a bit of the project - she was head Archivist after all. Looking back on it, I think she probably did it cause she has this sixth-sense about people who’ve been marked. I probably walked in that first day marked up to the wazoo for the End, and she took an interest in me.

Charlie: Whatever it was, I knew she would at least cover for me. So I told the ambulance staff to call the Institute, ask Rosie for Gertrude Robinson. They looked alarmed, but maybe half an hour later, I was sitting in a hospital room, Gertrude Robinson acting like she was my grandma.

(laugh)

Charlie: She’s rather convincing, when she needs to be - had a whole act about being a kind old lady. She was all (imitating an old woman) ‘my sweet little Charlie’ (laugh) Knowing what she’s done now, I’m not sure if I should’ve been impressed or afraid…

Charlie: Probably afraid.

Charlie: Anyway, she got me out of there real quick. Since we were in Chelsea - and my parents lived and worked in central London - I wasn’t much afraid of them finding out. It wasn’t in the news - (sarcastically) lucky me - and as far as I know, they never found out. Gertrude walked me home, which was...nice? I don’t know why she did it. Maybe she was actually worried for me. Probably not though.

Charlie: I stopped really going home after that. Or to school. I told my parents I’d got a job, and I was living with a friend. Both sort of true. I emailed my teachers, told them I was in a ward and I would pick up the work I needed to do at the beginning of the week and drop it off on Fridays. People aren’t exactly keen to pry into that sort of stuff, and as long as I got the work in, no one really cared. So I effectively moved into the attic of the Magnus Institute. Elias said it was fine, as long as I wasn’t disruptive. I became a sort of assistant - I took statements, filed them - I was one of the only ones who could understand Gertrude’s system - and looked into some cases for Gertrude. But my real job was in artefact storage.

Charlie: I know people don’t love it there, but I’ve always been interested in them. Gerard says it’s stupid teenage curiosity, but...he’s not my mom. Even if he was, I wouldn’t listen to him. Anyways, my job was to look into the objects that really messed people up. Not gonna go into super specific detail, cause the really bad ones are technically, like, classified or something, but lets just say there’s a reason I hate bugs.

Charlie: This was all fine, and I kind of fell into a routine for a few months. But I started to notice something. When people came in to give statements, I could, kind of, feel something about them. Like they were still going somewhere. The statements I took were always unfinished somehow.

Charlie: It got to a point where Mikey had to stop an interview because I wouldn't stop asking the woman if she was sure that was everything. I didn’t know what was going on, until one day I was walking home from the store - there’s no real food in the Institute fridge so I lived off of microwaved meals mostly - and I felt this pull. It wasn’t, like a literal pull. More like - (sigh) - you know when you’re walking back to bed in the dark and you feel like something’s about to get you, so you, like, throw yourself into bed and pull your covers up. Yeah, well, it felt kinda like that, except...except I was the thing in the dark. I don’t know how long I walked for, but it was after midnight by the time I came to an apartment complex.

Charlie: The women before, who I had been interviewing. She said there was something wrong with her gas pipes, but whenever she asked the landlord to check it out, they said there was nothing wrong. But she kept smelling gas. I could certainly smell it, as I walked up the stairs in a daze. I came to a door, 407. The door was locked, and when I put my hand on it, it burned. But I didn’t flinch - instead I turned the nob and I could hear the lock snap.

Charlie: Inside the apartment looked normal. I walked into a side room and the woman was asleep in her bed. She looked terrified. She asked me why I was here, was I going to kill her?

Charlie: I shook my head. No. I wasn’t going to kill her. But she was going to die. And -

Charlie: And the building, it exploded.

Charlie: I don’t know why I didn’t die, but she certainly did.

Charlie: (laugh) Jude was pretty pissed about that. Said I ‘took’ her sacrifice. Like everything doesn’t already belong to death.

Charlie: It doesn’t happen a lot, anymore, but I could tell when it would happen. I don’t know why the deaths are important. It didn’t happen when (shaky) when Gertrude left Mikey. Though I suppose he’s not really dead...is he.

Charlie: I don’t know. There’s a couple statements that mention me, but I don’t like to read them. It makes me feel guilty. I guess it’s not really my fault - they would’ve died anyway, but…

Charlie: Yeah, so. Um. Statement ends.

Tape player clicks off.

Recorder clicks on

Long, shaky exhale

Jon: Well, that’s, enlightening. I’m going to be honest though, I have more questions than answe -

Door opening

Charlie: Jon! Hey, I’ve got a question about this case, I think you might’ve misfiled it cause Martin said -

Jon: Um, actually I was -

Charlie: Oh, are you recording right now, sorry! What’s this statement about?

Footsteps, sounds of shuffling papers. Charlie’s voice is much closer to the recorder now.

Charlie: Is that a tape? One of Gertrude’s? I thought the police had taken them all?

Jon: (fumbling) No, um, it’s -

Charlie: Wait, is...is that my tape Jon?

Jon: I mean - well - yes - but I - oh god - I just, I didn’t think -

Charlie: (cruelly) No, you didn’t think, did you Jon. (voice breaking) I hope you’re happy, now you know. I defended you, you know. Tim’s been so pissy and I - (voice cracks) I wanted to believe you weren’t that type of person but…

Jon: Charlie--

Charlie: No. I’m… don’t talk to me Jon. I don’t want to hear it.

Loud footsteps, door slams

Jon: Shit.

Recorder clicks off.

#tma spoilers #tma statement #self insert #self shipping #self ships #you're dead and i'm punching eldritch gods #jonathan sims #the magnus archives #what i hath wrought upon thine eyes

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dommikechangjr · 4 years

Text

On Ice with a Twist

Tagging: Mike Chang & Faith Hudson ( @faithhudson )

Date: September 13

Location: Mike’s Suite, Campus

Summary: Mike’s Squares of Breakfast in Bed and Temp Play Cold. Faith’s Square of Predicament Bondage

Mike

Mike was interested to see how this scene with Faith would go. She had been upfront about the fact that she didn't have a ton of experience with things, but he was hoping that he would be able to get to to enjoy herself. She was bare before him as he went about beginning the bondage. "You let me know if anything feels too uncomfortable. If it's pinching or you feel like you can't feel your fingers or toes, I need you to let me know immediately, Faith."

Faith

Fae was, to coin a phrase, shitting bricks just a little as Mike began to work. This sort of scene was way outside what she knew, or had experienced before, and it would require effort from her that she hadn't had to put forward in others. "Yes, Sir," she nodded, swallowing hard. "If you could call me Fae, though, rather than Faith, I'd appreciate it very much." Fae could put up with her legal name if he wanted to be really insistent, but for comfort's sake it would be easier if he could use the one she preferred.

Mike

"My apologies, Fae. I can absolutely do that." Mike said with a nod, appreciating the way that she had been straightforward but also hadn't been rude about what she needed. That gave him some faith for how the rest of their day would go together. He continued to work, tugging lightly on the knots as he moved about, making sure that everything would feel snug and would work to get her into the position that he wanted her to be. The plan was to have her on her tippy toes. She had to choose between the pain of that and or the pain of something tugging on her nipples and ice beneath her feet if she dropped down.

Faith

"No need to apologize, Sir - my name's listed as Faith in the school records so there's no way you could have known. I appreciate it, though." Staying still and steady for her was more of a challenge than it might have been for most submissives in her position after the years of drinking had messed with her fine motor control, but she did the best she could all the same. Mike seemed meticulous and careful as he worked, and that was all she could ask for.

Mike

He adjusted her body so that it was in the position that he was looking for and then nodded his head. "Everything looks good. Is anything pinching you?" Mike questioned, wanting to know before he went about setting up the last few things to ensure that the predicament bondage was going to work the way that he wanted it to.

Faith

Fae tested the ropes, moving as much as they allowed to be sure that there was nothing that was going to dig into her skin. There would be enough purposeful discomfort from the bondage that they didn't need extra getting involved as well. "I don't believe so, Sir, it feels okay."

Mike

"Very good." He toyed with her nipples and then added the clamps so that they would pull if she chose to move in a way that he didn't want her to. He then headed to grab the ice and placed it under her feet. "Now if I just let you stand here, it would be much too easy, don't you agree?"

Faith

Fae hissed softly as the clamps were attached - this was something new, and she wasn't quite sure she liked them, but that wasn't the point. The ice was damn cold, which definitely was the point, and she hissed again at the cold. "We'd hate for it to be too easy, Sir," she agreed with a soft laugh. "Let's make it complicated."

Mike

Mike was pleased by the chuckle that came from the submissive and pulled out a feather. "I'm glad we're on the same page. Now I'm just going to play around and have some fun with you. All you have to do is try your best. There's no punishment to melting down the ice, the punishment will be the cold on your feet and I think that's enough." Mike explained to her, wanting her to know that she didn't have to worry about something else coming at her.

Faith

Fae was grateful that she could focus on what was happening rather than the spectre of punishment that might be waiting further down the line. She knew that she'd likely end up melting the ice because she wasn't steady enough, but as long as Mike understood that then she was okay. "I understand, Sir, thank you." The sight of the feather made her laugh, and she prepared herself for what was to come. "Do your worst."

Mike

He waggled his eyebrows at her when she laughed. He was excited to just have some fun with this one. It would be sexual, but that was more than okay with Mike. He was well aware that not every scene needed to be sexual in order for the scene to be worthwhile and good. He started by dragging the feather along her arms, and towards the very tips of her fingers.

Faith

Fae did her best to stay on her toes - that, after all, was the point. Not just for her own comfort but for Mike's sake as well. The better she could follow orders, the better that she made him look as a Dominant, right? That lasted, of course, until the feather was dragged toward the tips of her fingers. "Shit," she giggled, pulling against the bondage and only causing herself to lose her footing. With the pressure on her nipples, though, and the ice under her feet, she quickly forced herself back to her toes. "Sorry, Sir," she smiled. "Didn't know that was a ticklish spot."

Mike

He laughed softly when she responded to the feeling of the feather on her fingers. "You don't have to apologize, Fae. It is an interesting place to be tickled. I'm just going to enjoy my time figuring out which places you are ticklish the most. It's turned out to be quite enjoyable already." Mike teased lightly. "Take a moment to compose yourself and we'll start again." Once she was settled, he brought the feather back down her body.

Faith

"As long as you're enjoying yourself, Sir," she nodded. The whole point of the experience was to be enjoyable, and she did want the Dominant to have just as good a time as she did. Nodding at his instructions she stopped and took a breath. Despite the pain she settled on her feet for a moment before getting up on the tip of her toes once more. The next few spots he hit made her flinch, but she managed to stay mostly on her feet and Fae was grateful for that, especially for the sake of her nipples.

Mike

It was a calming situation to be in, simply letting the feather move around her bare skin. He watched the way that her muscles trembled and clenched in response to where the feather touched. "Have you done anything with ice before this?" Mike questioned, curious about the experience of the Switch before him. She had let him know that she hadn't done a lot, but that didn't mean ice hadn't been involved.

Faith

Fae shook her head, trying to focus on the conversation even as the muscles in her legs trembled. "No, Sir. Most of this is new to me - I've done a bit of bondage, and some very minimal work with gags, but I don't scene a lot." She didn't sound regretful about it, because she wasn't - it was rare to find people who would put up with her, much less people she wanted to scene with.

Mike

"Well, then it's very fun to be your first experience with ice then." Mike responded with a nod. He moved around to her back so that he could let the feather move along skin that he hadn't touched just yet. "How was your experience with gags?" Mike questioned.

Faith

"I'm glad you could be, Sir. I liked your idea a lot, and I'm enjoying myself so far." The feather made her gasp again as it brushed her lower back and she slipped. cursing softly as the clamps pulled at her. She did what Mike had asked last time, though, getting back to her feet and taking a breath before she went on. "I like them, actually. I don't shut up very often so it's nice to be forced to."

Mike

"Interesting, but I think that that makes a lot of sense." He teased gently, letting the feather move across her ass and then tapping it lightly against each of her cheeks a couple of times. "Which classes are you taking this semester? Has anything been really interesting for you so far?"

Faith

Fae snorted softly. "I'm glad you see my point, Sir." She knew her mouth ran a lot, and she wasn't at all surprised that Mike had noticed it as well. The little taps surprised her, but she managed to mostly stay on her toes. "Rewards and punishments, sensory and bondage, Sir. Not...really, to be honest, but I have a hard time with classes."

Mike

He hummed and nodded his head. "I don't think class is where everyone excels. So I wouldn't worry about that too much, Fae. You're putting yourself out there for this event and that's pretty great." Mike let the feather move along the backs of her legs and then along her feet. He could see that the ice had almost melted and so he wanted to make it a bit more challenging for her until it was done.

Faith

Fae tried not to shrug - they were having an honest conversation and she didn't want to dismiss his words at all. "It's...I'm sure the classes are good, but I have a hard time learning like that." Which as as much of her sob story as she probably needed to know. The back of her legs wasn't a big deal, but her feet - damn. Fae jumped repeatedly, landing on the ice and squealing as the clamps pulled at her nipples.

Mike

The squeal from the girl at the tickling that led into the pulling of her nipple signalled the end of their scene. He set aside the feather and then stood up to start removing the bonds from her body, leaving the nipple clamps where they were for the time being. "You did very well. Once you're all untied, I'm going to give you a look over to make sure that everything is alright. And then I'm going to make you some breakfast and bring it to you in bed. Is there anything that you like the most when it comes to aftercare?"

Faith

She hoped that she hadn't caused things to end early, but Mike didn't seem upset as he put the feather down and began to untie her. When he spoke he confirmed that for her and Fae was a little bit relieved - she'd tried really hard, and it would have sucked if she'd done poorly. "Thank you, Sir. I'm glad I did." The clamps were sore as hell and her calf muscles felt like she'd walked a half a mile, but she still had a smile on her face. "That sounds good, Sir, thank you. I don't really have a routine for aftercare yet, but if you've got some nice strong coffee and wouldn't mind sitting in bed with me to share a cup that'd be nice."

Mike

He smiled softly and nodded his head. He finished untying her and then took the clamps off of Faith's nipples. He stood there to ensure that the girl was doing alright and then nodded. "Go get comfortable in bed. I'll be right over when breakfast is done. And if you would like to get dressed, that's alright as well." Mike made his way into the kitchen and easily went through making a nice meal of bacon, eggs, and some fruit. He also made the coffee and put everything on the tray. He walked it into the bedroom and then set it down carefully.

Faith

Faith yelled as the clamps came free and blood rushed back into her abused nipples, but it was actually less painful than she’d expected. “All good.” Fae shot him a playful thumbs up, heading for the bedroom and crawling under the blankets once she had permission for that. She stretched out and got comfortable as she waited, glad she’d agreed to the scene. “Wow.” The food looked phenomenal and she quickly sat up to eat. “That smells delicious, Sir, thank you.”

Mike

"You're very welcome, Fae. Thank you for choosing to do this scene with me today. And I hope that it manages to help you succeed and get some points too." Mike settled in to eat some of the food and the coffee, happy to spend time with the Switch until it was time for her to leave.

#bingo20 #post: para #para: faith hudson #para: faith hudson 1

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juleskelleybooks · 4 years

Text

Star Still Fall: Worldbuilding Pt 2

I found a snippet in my Stars Still Fall worldbuilding file and built it out a little bit last night. Again, this probably won’t go anywhere in the final draft; it’s just for me to have when I’m writing the main story, which takes place a few years later. Anyway, the first part is here: [Link] (Content advisory on the post).

This follows very closely afterward. Content advisory for: PTSD, remembered death of family, coming to terms with new disability, severe depression in first-person POV.

***

“…was really very nice of her to offer you this job. She didn’t have to, you know. Make sure you tell her thank you.”

Aunt Pauline’s voice barely broke through the distance that was always in my mind now, like I was observing my life from very far away. It was only when she said, “Lilly, tell her thank you, do you hear?” that I managed to mumble, “Yes ma’am.”

One of Aunt P’s church friends, Caroline, was the customer service manager at Piggly Wiggly and had offered to give me a job as a cashier there since I’d dropped out of high school for now. There had been some discussion and self-satisfied agreement between them that it would help give me a feeling of normalcy if I had some structure in my daily life.

“Something more than just moping around the house,” Aunt P had said. I don’t think she knew I could hear her.

And despite everything, I hoped they were right. I was as tired of being trapped in the house with Aunt P as she was of being trapped in the house with me, and it would be nice if this worked out. Maybe I could get to know some people. Maybe it would take my mind off things. Maybe I could save up enough money to move out of Aunt Pauline’s house. Maybe – and it was a wild, breathless dream of a thing, but I couldn’t help it – maybe I could save up enough that I could move out of Gideon. Maybe not as far as I wanted, but somewhere new. Somewhere people didn’t know me, didn’t pity me, didn’t whisper about me. A knot of guilt started up in my stomach at the thought that I was trying to forget about everyone, but I shoved it down. Cole would understand. He’d know that just because I wanted to live without people thinking of my family’s tragic accident every time they looked at me, it didn’t mean I wanted to leave my own memories behind. Right?

I could never forget you, Cole, or Mom and Dad. Don’t be mad at me.

When Aunt P put the car into park, I realized that we were at the door. She was dropping me off.

“I’ll be back to get you in a few hours,” she said, and the bright note in her voice surprised me for a moment. It was the first time I’d heard her sounding anything except cautious – at first – and then more and more dour and disappointed as time went by and I still had to be reminded to do basic things like take a shower or eat food. I didn’t even try telling myself that she was just happy for me that I was finally “moving on.” No; she was thrilled at the prospect of several hours when I was someone else’s problem.

The feeling was as close to mutual as it could get for someone who couldn’t feel anything.

And for a while, it was all right. I felt awkward and self conscious, having to figure out how to grip the items to scan until I mostly relied on my left hand, using my right hand to punch in numbers on the computer screen. I ignored everyone’s cautious glances at my missing fingers the few times I fumbled their cash and focused on their voices, which were mostly warm and welcoming and supportive.

“It’s so good to see you, Lilly Ann.”

“We’ve missed you. It’s good to see you’re all right.”

“We’ve been praying for you, sweetheart.”

No one minded that I was slower than all the other cashiers, slowed down even more by everyone stopping by my line to say hello in their own way. It was a little overwhelming, and I kind of wished they would just let me learn the ropes, but they meant well.

After only an hour, though, my body ached and my patience was beginning to fray. Was I really that frail? I could hear Aunt Pauline in my head. It’s been a year, Lilly. Are you ever planning to even try?

I couldn’t ask for a break after just an hour. I wasn’t that special. Getting this job was already a favor; I couldn’t abuse Caroline’s good will like that. And besides, if I couldn’t work, then I couldn’t save up any money, and I’d never get out of Aunt P’s house, much less out of Gideon. I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until the pickle jar slipped. It bounced off the scanner pane and rolled onto the floor, shattering into a mess of glass and vinegar, and through the ringing in my ears, I heard someone asking if I was okay and the song warbling over the speakers in the ceiling.

—So hard to find my way, now that I’m on my own

I saw you just the other day, my you had grown—

The tinkle and crunch of glass made it hard to breathe, and I pawed at the warm slickness on my face, confused when my hands just came away wet instead of bloody.

“Lilly Ann!”

“Somebody help her—get her to the office.”

Sometimes I’m overcome thinkin’ bout

By the time I could process anything, I was in a metal folding chair inside the manager’s office, someone’s sweater wrapped around my shoulders like a blanket, and someone was coaxing a styrofoam cup into my left hand.

“Here, sweetie. Drink some water, okay?”

You’re my brown-eyed girl

“Are you all right? Did it cut you?”

My brown-eyed girl.

“I’m sorry I made a mess,” I managed to whisper, the styrofoam creaking under my grip. I reached for it with my right hand, forgot for a moment that I couldn’t grab it the same way I used to, and fumbled it, splashing water into my lap before I caught it.

“No, no, don’t worry about that,” the woman said. I finally focused on her face. Barbara. She’d been bagging the groceries that I was scanning. “It happens all the time. Last week, the bottom fell out of a bag and four two-liters sprayed Dr. Pepper across the whole front end. What matters is that you’re okay.”

I nodded, but then I felt my lower lip trembling and desperately tried to stop it, pressing my tongue hard against the roof of my mouth. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t you dare cry—

“Do you want to go home?” Barbara asked softly, and I nodded again. This time I couldn’t have stopped the tears even if I had tried. But I was out of energy for trying.

I wished more than anything that I could have gone home—but the only home I had anymore was Aunt P’s guest room. That’s what Barbara meant when she said it. That’s what everyone would mean. Not the brick three-bedroom on Hough Street that I’d grown up in, that had been emptied out and sold, with only a few boxes of things packed up for me, but the floral print guest room with the porcelain angels lined up on top of the antique cherry wood wardrobe where Aunt P had her winter clothes stashed.

I wished someone would put me in a box and stash me in a wardrobe too, and see how long it took the moths to eat me.

#novel: stars still fall #oc: lilly ann guthrie

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