#like I'll do this tag blind and it's more or less at the same rate

[medicinemane]

Sometimes it's like... is this person just... a very slow typist... or are they really choosing their words and adding and deleting a bunch of stuff

(this is obviously about seeing people respond on discord and then seeing the message they typed compared to when they started typing it)

[babyybitchhh]

Shigaraki x Reader 18+

Title: Crybaby

Rating: Explicit/R-18+

Words: 12,290

Warnings: I'll be honest and say I'm not entirely sure how to tag some of this so proceed with caution. Infantilization, forced age regression, mental age regression, non consensual regression, ageplay, mentions of baby bottles and pacifiers, coercion, general noncon and dubcon, diddling, vaginal fingering, involuntary urination, wetting, mention of forced third party bathing, diapers, penis in vagina sex, unprotected sex, creampie, excessive use of 'Tomu-nii', mention of sex slaves, a brief but explicitly violent death mention towards the start, overall very questionable decisions from both me and Shigaraki

A/N: I will not be taking any questions at this time, thank you.

( @tomurasprincess)

♥♥♥♥

There was a fine line between a gift and a burden.

A new video game, for example, is something people were generally happy to receive and there was no obligation to slave over it at all hours of the day, unless you wanted to. A puppy, on the other hand, came with a certain amount of responsibility that couldn’t be side lined until Tomura decided to deal with it. There was no save button, no coming back to it later. He had to be vigilant to some degree, mindful of the life that was now in his hands, and that wasn’t something he was accustomed to by any stretch of the imagination. He couldn’t stand it. Didn’t even really possess the vernacular needed to describe exactly how much it pissed him off that he was suddenly expected to take care of someone - something else.

It was bullshit.

Standing over your prone form sprawled out on the cluttered floor he thinks, not for the first time, about ending it right here and now. It would be easy, surely. One touch of his hand and you’d be gone. Disintegrated to mere dust and nothing more than a vague, unpleasant memory in the back of his mind. You deserved it by simple virtue of being such a damn inconvenience but, just as every other time, he hesitates.

Not because you don’t even realize the danger you’re in as you innocently kick your legs back and forth in the air, all your wide eyed, dopey attention locked on the tv screen. Tomura is not so soft as to consider a sneak attack you don’t even see coming an insult to his pride. He would’ve been showing you mercy, actually, because if he didn’t fear upsetting All for One so much he’d have preferred to wrap his hands around your scrawny little neck instead. Give you a good throttle or two. Squeeze until his knuckles were a stark white against your purpling blue skin. He could almost envision what you would look like, all bloated and full of blood from burst capillaries and reddened eyes rolling into the back of your skull.

His cock stirs in his pants and his hatred for you grows with it. He couldn’t stand you or what you represented, a sudden addition to his life that he never asked for but couldn’t get rid of, and the fact he was getting stiff from his morbid fantasies was certainly your fault too. Everything was your fault. Right down to the most minor of inconveniences, you were to blame - even if it happened before you were dropped into his lap with all the to-do of a posh, overly indulgent birthday present. It was you. You, you, you, you you you youyouyouyouyou -

“Tomu-nii?”

With a jolt, he snaps out of it. The haze lifts and his blown out eyes focus in on your tubby little face, now turned over your shoulder to glance back at him. Tomura isn’t sure when you realized he was looming over you like some horrible, sickly wraith and he knows even less how it is that you show no fear towards him. Were you really so stupid that you couldn’t sense his desire to not only kill you but make you suffer? So blind that you didn’t see the way his bony hands fisted at his sides with a purpose and not in idle reflex?

No. It wasn’t that you were as unintelligent as a brain dead sheep happily trotting off to slaughter. Rather, it’s because that was what All for One had designed you to be.

Tomura wouldn’t claim to understand how, exactly, his mentor had gotten these results but he knows enough to recognize the signs. You’d been stripped of everything in a way that far exceeded mere surface level nudity. All for One had gone even deeper than that, past flesh and bone and right into the heart of what made you you. The brain.

He had no doubt that a quirk had been used, the specifics of which he couldn’t even begin to fathom, but the tinkering and rewiring had done its job exceedingly well, in fact. While your body was that of a young adult woman, early to mid 20’s if he had to wager a guess, your mind was something like that of a toddlers. You could speak just fine but the enunciation was sloppy, your words childish and limited to small, easily communicable sentences. You picked up on things surprisingly fast, perhaps even a little too well if the way he’d heard you let out a soft, half hearted ‘fuck’ earlier was anything to go by. But you slipped up just as easily and he was getting real tired of making sure you went and sat on the toilet instead of pissing all over his (no doubt already smelly) carpet. Living in his own mess was one thing. Living in someone else’s was another matter entirely.

Nothing about this was in error, though. You were exactly what All for One intended for you to be - little more than an animal for him to look after but with arguably higher stakes involved - and he’d had enough. It’d only been a single day, a full 24 hours since you were dropped into his room, and he was already at the end of his patience.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like that stupid cartoon I put on for you?”

You actually had the audacity to pout at him, jutting your lower lip out and puffing your cheeks as if that was supposed to make him feel anything other than an even stronger urge to take you out of this world. “S’not that. Mm’ just bored. You’re no fun.”

Tomura very nearly lunges at you with outstretched hands, All for One be damned, but your next words stop him in his tracks.

“I thought maybe you were coming to play with me.”

Play with you? He would’ve laughed if only he could find even a sliver of real humor in this situation. This was a joke, if not because of the absurdity of it all then at least because he wanted to play with you alright. He wanted to play a game that started with you screaming in shrill terror and ended with a chilly body laid out on his bedroom floor. That sounded like more fun than a barrel of kittens.

He stills himself, though, and snobbishly peers at you down the length of his nose. “I don’t play games with brats. Sorry.”

That only makes you pout even more. “Meanie.”

“Watch your fucking cartoon,” Tomura grits out through gnashing, angry teeth, unreasonably irritated by your persistent refusal to cooperate. “Before I make you.”

He isn’t even really sure if that threat makes any sense at this point, so thrown off by your mere presence in what should’ve been his space that he can barely make heads or tails of his own thoughts anymore. But the dramatic way you squawk in displeasure and throw yourself out flat on the floor placates him somewhat. You were easy to rile up, and he would have been a boldfaced liar if he’d said he didn’t get a kick out of that. Tomura had never felt quite so cruel, so much like an adolescent bully looking to make his problems someone else’s as when he was working you up into a proper fit.

It was easily the most enjoyable aspect of this arrangement so far, and he watches with nothing short of smug satisfaction as you pound your hands on the floor in pent up frustration. It was laughably easy to picture what they’d look like, well groomed after a manicure and with a fresh coat of polish on the nails. You looked like you’d probably been the sort of woman who would go with reds. Fierce and bold, as much a statement as your pretty face, which was currently scrunched up and pressed tight against the carpet in front of his tv. Those same hands were plain and unadorned now, squeezed into tight little fists that were about as harmless as they could get. Tomura probably would’ve considered a turtle more of a pressing threat than you right now.

“Crybaby.” He spits the word out like it’s poison. “Does that make you feel better? Huh? Throwing a tantrum just because you’re not getting your way?”

“Mm’ not a crybaby!” You scream into the carpet. The contrast between your plushy figure and your behavior is disturbing on some very real, intrinsic level and that only seems to add fuel to his fire.

“Hah! That’s funny. You certainly look like one, you know that? What would you even think of yourself if you were in your right mind, I wonder.”

“Mm’ not!” Your incessant screeching rises in pitch and Tomura is almost positive you aren’t even really hearing him anymore, but he decides he doesn’t care.

“Embarrassing. Maybe I should have Kurogiri bring me a bottle since you want to act like a baby so much. Or would you like a pacifier instead? Hmm? Would that make you feel better, princess?”

“Nooooo!”

Your feet start kicking the air again, violently rather than in placid distraction, and the motion draws Tomura’s gaze to the seat of your onesie. Pink and humiliatingly infantile for a grown woman to be wearing, he’d looked at it with nothing short of contempt up until now. But the (no doubt exhausting) flex of your legs bunches the loose cotton, making it gather around your upturned ass and in turn emphasizes the convenient button flap across the back. Now that he’s actually looking at it, he’s almost positive it was wide enough to expose your entire rear to the world with little more than a quick snap of his fingers. Maybe even wide enough to expose other things too …

Tomura jolts with all the force of a sudden electric shock when you cry out his name or, rather, the ridiculous moniker you’d given him. He’d like to know who’d planted that particular seed in your head - if it was All for One’s idea of a twisted joke or if Kurogiri had really thought being called niichan by a woman who may or may not actually be older than him would make Tomura feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It doesn’t exactly matter now, though, because the wet quality of your voice makes his cock spring up in his pants. He’s mildly horrified with himself, far more comfortable with his earlier fantasies of killing you, but there’s no helping it anymore. Not when you say his name like that. Not when the tears he’d initially thought were crocodilian at best were so thick and heavy in your throat that the syllables come out garbled and almost incomprehensible.

He’s not sure what he intends to do, but he shuffles closer.

You’ve started to tire out now and the kicking slows before stopping all together. He watches your ankles cross over one another in the air, as if you were trying to self soothe on some level by physically keeping yourself together, but it doesn’t seem to do much in the way of good. Your shoulders were still trembling with the lingering traces of your fit, and he can hear you mewling into the abrasive carpet like a wounded animal. It was clear that you were hurting because of him - and not just as a result of his teasing. After the complete and utter deconstruction of your mind, you were probably scared without even really knowing why. Confused, but too lost in the quirk induced stupor that had left you in this sorry state to seek out answers.

He hadn’t bothered to test this theory yet, but Tomura would have been willing to bet good money that All for One left you with very little inside that thick skull of yours. It just made sense, after all. For what good was a doll with memories of her past life? What would he have possibly gotten out of playing house with someone who fought him every step of the way, either out of embarrassment or repulsion towards him as a person?

No. You were a blank slate in the strictest sense. His to mold however he deemed fit and with no recollection of who you were, who you’d been or even who you’d wanted to be, he was free to do whatever he damn well pleased.

There was still raging contempt for you burning within his chest, certainly. You were an annoying, unnecessary burden on him and there was no getting around the fact that he still wanted you gone. But the spark igniting his gut is even stronger and, for better or worse, it momentarily overrides his better judgement.

So he sinks down onto his knees, directly behind you, and reaches out to tentatively palm the swell of your ass. Pinky held away, so as not to disintegrate you, which surprises him somewhat given how vivid his fantasies of killing you had been. He doesn’t get to linger on that for very long though, because you grow still at his touch and your pathetic sniveling quiets to a soft, almost hopeful sniffle. Tomura bites back a crude snort, just barely managing to catch himself before he backpedals and hisses another insult at you. He could probably take what he wanted with any given method, he didn’t have to be nice about it, but somehow the alternative just felt wrong. Physically you were an adult, but with the mental state of a child it felt a bit like taking advantage of an innocent and he wasn’t a complete monster.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, the word foreign on his tongue. “I shouldn’t have been so mean. Will you forgive me?”

You squirm and push your face further into the carpet. “Mhm.”

He doesn’t smile. But he does take that as an incentive to push forward, and he starts caressing your backside with slow, cautious circles. “Do you really want me to play with you that bad?”

“Mhm.”

Hesitating, Tomura considers his next words very carefully. “Fine. I’ll play with you. But I get to choose the game.”

You don’t immediately respond and he starts to wonder if he’d made a mistake. Overestimated his ability to be diplomatic and conscientious - which wouldn’t exactly have come as a surprise. But then you shift on the floor, tension draining from your body as you turn your head so you aren’t suffocating in the carpet anymore. “Okay.”

His brows lift in surprise only to then knit together. It was that easy? He’s not so sure he trusts it but, dropping his gaze back down to your ass, he gives the doughy soft flesh an experimental squeeze. Your only response is a soft, faltering sigh that seems to help you relax more. This, too, seems a little too good to be true but he keeps going anyway.

When a few minutes of kneading your defenseless backside does nothing to upset you, Tomura starts to get bolder. He slowly brings his opposite hand forward and latches onto the other cheek with four fingers, massaging both sides in tandem. He’d had the unfortunate luck of seeing your bare ass late the previous evening, after you’d emptied your bladder all over the blanket he’d tossed you to sleep on which had resulted in an aggressively administered bath for you and a frustrated headache for him. He hadn’t paid too much attention at the time, far too angry to be horny, but he knew enough to realize that you were unexpectedly voluptuous under that onesie.

The garment itself was so oversized it hid even the smallest hint of the womanly figure underneath. He probably would’ve forgotten all about it, pushed to the back of his mind in favor of more pressing matters (like getting rid of you) but now that he’s got his hands on your butt it’s all he can think about. The way your full tits jiggled when he’d non too gently manhandled you into the tub. The frustratingly cute lower belly pouch that bulged when you sat down, crying, on the porcelain surface. The way your thighs molded to whatever position he’d yanked them in so he could hose you off like a filthy stray. He’d actively avoided looking at what was between your legs, in fear of what he’d see as much as stubborn refusal, but looking back on it now he isn’t sure how he hadn’t given in to temptation.

Now, however, he was suddenly more interested than ever in finding out what your pussy looked like and, hooking his long index fingers into the flap, he starts to unlatch it one button at a time.

You make no move to stop him. Don’t even protest or question what he’s doing. It’s almost as if just having his attention on you is enough, and Tomura’s mouth pulls back in a sneer at the mere thought. You were so damn stupid for trusting him like this, completely oblivious or uncaring about what his intentions were. He could be as violent with you as he wanted. He could erase you from this existence with the briefest touch. But you just lay there, your shoulders slowly rising and falling with each even breath you draw, and he can’t decide if that feeling clawing at the back of his throat is hatred or guilt.

But there’s no real reason to stop now, so he carefully peels back the flap of fabric once he’s got it completely unfastened. Bare skin greets him, a perfectly exposed strip of swelling flesh that seems all the more enticing with pink cotton framing it so nicely. He pauses long enough to lick his dry, cracked lips. The weight of his stiff cock strains against the inside of his zipper, twitching eagerly when he reaches out to hesitantly touch your back side again.

The sensation of a real, living person under his fingertips makes his breath come a little faster. Still, you don’t move though and he picks up right where he left off, roughly groping your ass cheeks with barely contained excitement until he gets so vigorous that you whimper.

“Shh. I’ll try not to be so rough.” Tomura shushes you, throaty and barely more than a murmur.

You settle back into place, thankfully, and he takes that chance to spread your cheeks open. He gets a brief glimpse of the puckered hole hidden inside, white hot static racing straight to his groin, and he lets out a rumbling groan. His fingers squeeze into flesh again and he pulls, baring you entirely to his voracious eyes. The tight muscle twitches, winking at him, and his attention drops to the smallest satiny peak of your slit. He can just barely see it, mostly hidden behind the pooling fabric bunched under the swell of your ass, but it’s more than enough to make him feel dizzy.

“Shit,” he sounds winded even to his own ears. “You’ve got such a nice body.”

To his surprise, you actually perk up at that. “Really?”

Tomura almost snaps at you on impulse, so irritated by the sound of your voice that he nearly forgets what he’s trying to do. Quelling himself, though, he tugs at the bottom half of your onesie until he can see the plushy soft lips of your pussy. You look so inviting, so warm and real he can hardly even stand it.

“Really.” He croaks. “How old are you again?”

You seem to think about that. “Mm, I dunno’!”

He frowns. Contemplates that for a long beat. But the coarse hair curling around your slit seems answer enough, for him at least. You weren’t actually a child. You just sounded like one, acted like one, dressed like one. That wasn’t what was getting him so painfully hard though. It was the fact you were a woman, physically, and he’d never gotten to see one up close and personal like this before. Why hadn’t All for One just given him a proper sex slave instead of one that threw tantrums and cried at the drop of a dime? Was this really what his mentor had intended for him to do with you?

“Tomu-nii?”

Drawing a sharp breath, he brings his attention up to bark at you to be quiet but the words catch when he finds you looking at him over your shoulder. He can feel his cheeks starting to warm, suddenly embarrassed.

“What?”

“Why’re you looking at me like that?”

He flounders for a moment. Then, awkwardly clearing his throat, he decides to fall back on his original excuse. “This is the game I mentioned earlier. You wanted to play, right?”

You nod your head, but you don’t look entirely certain about that. “I do but … aren’t games s’posed to be fun? This is boring!”

His mouth presses into a thin line. It hadn’t occurred to him that you might not be content to just idly sit by while he molested your slutty little body, but if it was fun you wanted then he could certainly give you that. “This was just the warm up. Roll over and I’ll show you how to play.”

The way your eyes light up almost makes him regret this decision. It’s too late though, you’re already twisting over on to your back with your elbows braced on the carpet so you can stare up at him. Stupid and expectant.

He clicks his tongue.

Reaching out to grab your wide set hips with only eight of his fingers, he inelegantly drags you closer so that you were nicely slotted between his knees. Your legs curl up as you regard him with nothing short of intense curiosity, lips parting in a silent ‘o’ that very nearly sends him over the edge. You were too pretty for your own good. Much too beautiful to be wearing a pink onesie and acting like a baby. This was such a waste, and he almost feels bad for what All for One did to you.

But he shrugs it off, forcefully, and his delicately poised hands descend on your zipper. Zrrrrrt, straight down the length of your body. It stops directly above your crotch and he reaches up to reverently push the cotton out to the sides and expose the rest of you.

Your tits were even better than he’d initially thought. They were full and heavy, dotted with the most perfect little buds for nipples. Soft and smooth. Tomura’s mouth waters in anticipation and he doesn’t realize how roughly he’s jerking your arms out of the sleeves until you wail dramatically that it hurts.

He’d like to tell you what really hurts is his cock, unbearably hard and trapped inside his pants, but he refrains. Instead, he huffs out an insincere apology and keeps on yanking. He can’t get you undressed fast enough, mesmerized by the way your breasts jiggle and bounce every time he pulls on you. There’s something inherently wrong about this, he knows. It’s so damn obvious you’re not right in the head, that you aren’t of sound enough mind to even understand what he’s doing to you, but he can’t bring himself to stop. Not when you were so willing and pliant under his shaking hands.

Finally managing to wrest the blasted onesie off your kicking feet, Tomura tosses it off to the side and he eagerly sets his sights on your naked body. You should have looked seductive and coy, spread out in front of him with a devious smile curling artfully painted lips as you invite him to have his way with you. Instead, you fitfully squirm, neither seductive nor shy. It’s clear that you have no sense of shame, your artificially infantile brain completely void of the concept and even less aware of how inappropriate any of this was. You just keep looking at him, waiting for the explanation he’d promised to give you.

Oh. That’s right. The game he kept talking about. Perhaps he could still salvage this after all.

“The rules are simple,” he says slowly, scrambling to put together a decent excuse to keep going. “I’ll touch you for a little bit and if I can make you feel good then I win. After that, it’ll be your turn. If you make me feel good, you’ll win. Understand?”

Your expression pinches in confusion. “So we both win?”

“Only if we make each other feel good. What’s wrong? You don’t want to play with me anymore?”

Much to his relief, you quickly bob your head. “I do! Please play with me, Tomu-nii!”

The way his cock jolts at that makes his entire body ache. It’s much too late to turn back now, he was well past the point of salvation, and he haltingly drags his attention down to your chest. Your petite nipples had stiffened in the cool air but it’s as if you don’t even notice. Wasn’t that something a grown woman would be conscious of? He thinks so, or at least he’s pretty sure it is. Apparently it isn’t the sort of thing a dumb baby brain even registers, though, and he reaches out to curiously flick at one.

You gasp, eyes widening slightly. Misplaced hope sears his veins and he watches you intently, holding his breath, but you don’t seem to understand what it is you’re feeling. Your brows furrow as you glance down at yourself and bring a hand up to cover your nipple.

“Oww …”

That certainly wasn’t the reaction he’d expected. Or at least it wasn’t the sort of reaction Pornhub had taught him to expect, but it was still something.

“Baby.” He grumbles, reaching for the opposite tit.

“Mm’not!”

“Are too. Didn’t that feel good?”

“No!”

“Then you’re winning, aren’t you?”

Confusion marches across your face for a moment before understanding dawns. You look quite pleased now as you track the movement of his hand as he carefully pinches your puckered nipple between thumb and forefinger, gently rolling it between the pads. He doesn’t get an immediate reaction out of you but the longer he does it the more your lips start to purse. It’s as if you were holding back, determined not to show him that you might be enjoying it and risk losing the game, but it’s enough to embolden him.

His ministrations pick up and he gives your delicate little teat a mild twist. There’s no malice or cruelty behind the action. He just wants to see what you’ll do. And you don’t disappoint, the way you jump and your mouth flies open as if to squawk making his stomach clench with something perverse. You catch yourself at the last second though, teeth clacking together as your gaze flits up at him to see if he’s looking.

He is, of course, and you forcibly swallow the sound you’d almost let out. Tomura is a bit disappointed, sure. He’d wanted to hear how pretty you’d moan for him but there were still plenty of other chances for him to coerce at least one out of you.

Hunching over your prone body, he brings his other hand up to latch onto the opposite nipple, the one he’d previously flicked. You wince at the contact but make no move to stop him, biting down on your lower lip to keep quiet as you watch him play with your fat tits in petulant silence. It was ass backwards in so many ways. He’d thought, despite everything, his first time with a girl would be somewhat normal. Maybe not picture perfect or all that good when everything was said and done, but at least relatively mundane. This was the farthest thing from that though. He couldn’t conceive of a more wildly abnormal scenario even if he’d tried, nor did he recall ever seeing any porn with this hyper specific set up. But there was still some sick, twisted part of him that was deriving pleasure from this decidedly unorthodox encounter with the opposite sex, and that feeling only grows exponentially the more he keeps going.

Kneading, pinching, squeezing, tugging. He doesn’t let up until your nipples are flushed dark and straining hard, the glistening hint of tears at the corners of your eyes telling him beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was getting somewhere. The urge to call you a crybaby swells in his chest again but he doesn’t want to risk another tantrum. He wasn’t so sure his cock could handle it, particularly not when he’d positioned himself over you in such a way that one solid kick would put him out of commission for the foreseeable future. No, this was a delicate situation that required the utmost care on his part and, gathering his nerves, he swoops down to cover one of the stiff buds with his mouth.

The heated gasp that bursts out of you in a great woosh has him groaning into the meaty swell of your tit. You shudder underneath him, involuntarily twitching as he traces your areola with the tip of his tongue and laves it in warm, wet attention. He can tell that you’re not sure what to do so he waits with bated breath, reveling in the fleshy nub pinched between his lips. There was no reason for him not to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment he could get out of this while he could, after all - but then your hands find his hair, threading into wavy locks, and he throbs for you.

“Tomu-nii …”

He practically sinks into you, damn near suffocating himself in the plushy swell of your breast. His mouth opens wide and sucks more of you past his lips, suckling enthusiastically just like the infant you were programmed to be. This particular role reversal doesn’t even seem to register in your mind though and he seethes when you tug at his hair, trying to pull him off.

“St-aaahp …. I don’t like it!”

Tomura comes up off you with a wet gasp. “Bullshit.” He practically growls, narrowing his eyes at your dopey, flustered expression.

“It’s true! I don’t!”

“Oh? Should we check then?”

Your face scrunches and you draw a breath to question him, but he doesn’t give you the chance. Going back up on his knees, he plants one hand against the meat of your inner thigh and shoves it wide. His other darts between your legs before you can react, spindly digits finding your bare cunt and prodding at your folds with rough fingertips. You jolt at the contact but it’s too late. He barely has to touch you to feel the slick oozing out of you and he lets loose a harsh bark of laughter.

“My ass. You’re fucking soaked. You shouldn’t lie, you know.”

“I didn’t!” You gasp, clearly offended by the insinuation. “You’re just a fucking meanie!”

That gives him pause.

Glancing up at your face, Tomura regards you carefully as he tries to figure out his next move. On one hand it was his own fault for saying that word around you so much and it’s not like it was any of his business what you did or didn’t say, but on the other … there was something uncomfortable about hearing that come out of your mouth with such a childish inflection. It lacked any and all bite, not even a hint of impotent aggression to be found. You were just parroting him, that’s all, but for whatever reason he didn’t really appreciate it.

“Don’t say that.” He huffs, turning his attention back to your pussy.

Tomura had wanted to leave it at that, but of course you have to fight him every step of the way.

“Why not?” You ask rather flippantly.

“Because i said so. If you want to get smart, be my guest. I know how to handle bratty little girls like you.”

He’s a bit surprised when that actually shuts you up. Apparently, he was starting to get the hang of this but he still has to sneak a quick peek at you just to make sure. The fact you actually look contemplative, as if you were turning that over in your empty head, almost makes him laugh.

“Do you still want to play?” God, he sorely hoped you did.

You hesitate though, unwilling to give your acquiescence just like that. “When is it my turn?” You ask warily.

“Soon. I’ve got one more chance to make you feel good and then you can try.”

“Mmm … okay. But I’m not gonna’ lose!”

He’s almost certain you would have already lost if you weren’t such a petulant little thing, but he keeps that to himself. Instead, he once again turns his attention to the spot between your legs. Your puffy slit was noticeably wet, the faint sheen of fluid glistening slightly in the overhead light, and he takes a moment to gently part the curls there. Just as he’d thought. Damp to the touch and only getting wetter. He really was going to have to talk to you about lying especially since, in this particular context, you were cheating. This was a far cry from his video games but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

Swallowing his reprimand for the time being, though, Tomura carefully presses two fingers into the doughy softness of your labia and spreads them apart. He can see now that you were practically drenched in slick arousal, thin threads of discharge stretching across your petal soft folds before snapping. He gulps down his nerves. You really did have the prettiest pussy he’d ever seen and the fact it was all his for the taking very nearly had him creaming in his pants right then and there. It was almost obscene how bad he wanted to fuck your tampered brains out but he didn’t want to scare you into noncompliance. He wasn’t going to fight for this if he didn’t have to.

Slowly, so as not to startle you, he brings his other hand close and prods at where he thinks your clit should be. He’d certainly seen them in enough triple X videos to have some idea of where to look, but when all you do is let out a soft sigh he knows he’s mistaken.

His teeth gnash in high strung irritation as he walks his finger lower and then higher, feeling a bit like a blind fool searching for buried treasure. There were so many fleshy ridges and folds that he couldn’t pinpoint the right spot from memory alone, so he has to take his time feeling around instead. He thinks he’s found it for a split second when you shift underneath him, but then he realizes you were simply getting fussy - no doubt bored with all his incessant pawing - and that only angers him further. It shouldn’t have been this damn hard to find!

Impatient now, Tomura roughly swipes his finger up the length of your slit and surprise washes over him when you jolt as if he’d electrocuted you. Your head comes up off the rug and you stare at him, wide eyed, but it was much too late. He’d finally gotten the reaction out of you that he’d been hoping for, and he leans into it with nothing short of devilish delight.

Knowing precisely where to look helps a great deal and it immediately occurs to him that the reason he’d struggled so much is because your clit was still hidden behind its protective hood. But he’s got the advantage now, and he ever so carefully pinches at satiny soft skin until he can ease it back and expose the sensitive little bud nestled inside. You whimper slightly as he does it, squirming awkwardly on your back as if you could instinctively sense that you might be in a bit of trouble now. It was kind of cute, if he was being totally honest.

“I don’t think I like this game …”

“You will. Trust me.”

Clearly not believing him, you start to open your mouth to complain but he stops you cold with a quick flick of his finger. Your engorged clit jostles against the indelicate contact and you blurt out such a startled sound that he actually glances up to make sure you’re okay. Unsurprisingly, you look a little more flustered now and the panic edging your expression is almost enough to make him reconsider this.

Almost, but not quite.

“What’s the matter?” He goads, dropping his gaze back down to your pussy again. “I thought you didn’t like it.”

“I … I don’t …”

“Really? I’m not sure I believe that.”

He does it again, gentler this time. Just a brief tap against the meaty little nub, but it’s enough to make you twitch and try to close your legs from him. Tomura won’t let you back out so easily though and he shifts even closer so he can wedge himself between your thighs to keep them spread. You issue a frustrated, huffy sound that he could only describe as babyish as you try to push up on your elbows, no doubt intending to scuttle away from him. He had to give you credit for being so hard headed even in this infantile state but he was far too invested to quit now.

Letting up his hold on your labia, Tomura directs his fingers lower and wedges three of them into your slit. You freeze, momentarily stunned, and he takes that split second opportunity to feel around for your entrance. It’s not hard to find. Much easier than your clit, at any rate, and he wastes no time wriggling a long digit up inside your body. The penetration is smooth, your guts such a slippery mess that it almost startles him.

You really were a liar.

He suddenly realizes he’s panting. At the same time, he realizes that you don’t appear to be breathing at all. Your expression is about as dumbfounded as it could be, and he dully watches the way you sway in your half upright position. Shellshocked would probably be an appropriate descriptor, and he wets his lips in anticipation.

“Well? Do you like it?”

Your legs flex around his arms and you shake your head. “Nuh … no …”

“If you don’t stop lying to me,” he grumbles. “I’m going to get mad.”

You stiffen, clearly drawing yourself up to challenge that statement just like he’d known you would. It was embarrassing how predictable you could be.

He’s had just about enough of this back and forth though, and he roughly curls his finger upward in search of the spot that would finally shut you up for good. But his efforts only make you more fussy and his patience quickly unravels when you try to twist away from him, wailing in displeasure. He hated that sound and, if you weren’t careful, he’d go right back to hating you too

Grunting, Tomura abandons your clit in favor of latching his hand onto the swell of your thigh and he digs his blunt nails in to keep you still. You actually have the audacity to kick out at him but he puts a stop to that quickly enough by shoving a second finger into your sticky cunt. Just like the first time, it makes you hesitate and he watches your warbling mouth drop open in what he thinks might be pleasure. It’s frustratingly hard to tell with you but, having no other choice, he decides to take it at face value.

Your pussy clicks loudly when he starts pumping into you straight down to the knuckle, the wet squelch almost deafening in his ears. It’s unreasonably hot though, his mind running a mile a minute as he tries to commit every little detail to memory. The way your face screws up with a stuttering gasp, the way you squeeze your eyes shut and try to brace against the pressure of his digits driving into you again and again. The way you moan, even when you try not to, is particularly enticing, especially since it’s just as pretty as he’d hoped it would be. The way your legs shake and you threaten to double over, the way he can see you clutching the carpet in a death grip, the way you just seem to get even wetter for him. There was too much to take in all at once but it was also far too erotic to look away from. He really was going to cream his pants at this rate.

Somehow, your honest reaction appears to make up for all the trouble you’d given him up until now and Tomura can feel the wet spot bleeding through his boxer briefs start to grow. He was positive he’d never been harder in all his life. Animalistic and practically slobbering like a rabid dog, he hunches further over your quaking body and pistons into your cunt so vigorously his arm starts to ache. You were wailing for him to stop, crying out for Tomu-nii, Tomu-nii, Tomu-nii, but he doesn’t even slow down. He can’t.

Your cunt just keeps sucking him in deeper on every plunge, gummy walls pulsating around his no doubt pruning fingers so enthusiastically that he’s sure you’re going to cum. He can practically taste it. Tomura wasn't going to stop until you did and, realizing he doesn’t have to hold onto you any longer, he reaches out to roughly shove you down on your back again.

“Are you going to cream for me, princess? Huh?” He grits out through savagely bared teeth. “Is that what you’re going to do?”

“No! Please, Tomu-nii … it hurts!”

Even in the heat of the moment he can’t stop himself from clicking his tongue in irritation. “No it doesn’t, you big baby. You love this. I know you do. I can see it written all over your stupid, pretty face. Go on. Tell me exactly how good you feel. Do it!”

Wailing, you peer up at him through heavy lashes with a look so imploring it very nearly gives him pause. “I - I can’t! I’m … Tomu-nii, I’m gonna’ … I’m gonna’ pee!”

“No you aren’t. That just means your clo - -“

Tomura cuts himself off when you do exactly that. He’s almost too stunned to react and all he can do is watch as the steady stream of urine bursts out of you before dribbling down his wrist to soak into the carpet underneath. It’s only now, when you’re pissing all over yourself as well as him, that he finally has the decency to slow his pumping to a staggered halt. For a fleeting moment he actually considers the notion of keeping at it. There wasn’t much else you could do to ruin this for him, after all, but one look at your expression immediately quashes that idea.

He’d be lucky if all he could manage was to stop you from dissolving into ugly, heaving sobs, let alone worry about getting himself off. Dammit. You really were nothing but a pain in his ass.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” He deadpans, slowly withdrawing his fingers from your cunt now that he was thoroughly coated in warm, smelly piss. “To be honest I was kind of tired of that rug anyway. And these clothes, too.”

You hiccup so sadly that what little bit of anger had sparked inside him immediately dies out. He couldn’t even be mad at you for this no matter how much he may have wanted to blame you for everything. You’d tried to warn him.

“T- Tomu-nii … mm’sorry …”

Tomura sighs through his nose, hard enough to make the split end tips of his hair shift. “Don't be. That was my fault. Just - let me find something to clean us up with.”

“Do I have to take another bath?” You ask so meekly he almost misses it.

Pausing halfway through the motion of rising to his feet, he glances down at you again. It occurs to him quickly enough that it wasn’t the accident you were so upset about but, rather, the looming possibility of another aggressively meted out trip to the bathroom. Interesting. He’d almost think he was mistaken, it had only happened once, after all, but the way your lower lip wobbles tells him everything he needs to know. Apparently you were more scared of him than you’d let on.

“No, not right now. I think I can get you clean enough with a wet rag or something. You’ll have to take one later but,” Tomura scoffs, hating that he was actually trying to be nice after you’d peed all over him. “I’ll try not to be so rough next time. You just made me mad last night, that’s all.”

You nod slowly, looking like you don’t quite believe that, but still too naively trusting to press the matter. “Okay.”

Nodding once, Tomura climbs to his feet. The inner seam of his pants from the knee down is absolutely soaked and he makes it only three steps before deciding he didn’t like them all that much to begin with. Dropping his hand to the rough denim, he brushes all five fingers across the thigh and they dissolve into nothing without a second thought to the matter. He can faintly hear you ooohing behind him but there were much more important things to worry about than how easily impressed you were.

His half flagged cock throbs hopefully inside his boxer briefs and he reaches down to delicately adjust himself. God, he’d be aching for the next week thanks to your uncontrollable bladder.

An idea pops into his head with that thought. You weren’t the only thing he’d been saddled with yesterday, and he turns to regard the thick gym bag he’d previously thrown against the far wall in anger. It’s where he’d gotten your pink onesie after you’d similarly soiled the first pair of clothes you’d been wearing. He hadn’t bothered to look through all of its contents just yet, but he felt relatively confident he’d find what he wanted in there.

Circling back around, Tomura squats in front of the bag and yanks it open. He can feel your eyes watching him from your spot on the floor but he pays it no mind. Digging inside, he pulls out a few more articles of clothing, far too cutesy for his tastes, and then a book on child care that he knows for certain was put there in jest. Over his shoulder it gets chucked, and he digs deeper. Down at the very bottom he finds exactly what he’d been looking for.

But in addition to the baby wipes there are two other items that catch his attention. He outright balks at the very notion - however, realistically speaking, it could very well be the answer to his problems. At least the most pressing one, anyway.

The idea that All for One knew he’d likely run into this issue but still decided to dump you on him anyway bothers Tomura a great deal and he frowns even as he looks over the packaging. Diapers and pull ups. What was the difference? He’s not so sure there is one, and he feels almost certain that they serve the same purpose. But further inspection proves him wrong. One was for a total lack of control and the other was for the potty training stage, so not as thick or absorbent. That’s what the packing said but, at any rate, they definitely weren't the plain adult brands he was looking at here.

These were bright and colorful, and he can’t help but cringe at the thought of putting you in either of them. But he was still left with a very real concern that he simply couldn’t overlook. The fact he even had to make this decision at all was ridiculous but he couldn’t very well have you pissing on every available surface in his room. And given your track record of absolutely drenching whatever you happened to be sitting on at the time …

Hesitantly, Tomura takes out the diapers and shuffles towards his unkempt bed. The print on the back wasn't particularly clear about what to do with them. He’d probably have to look up a tutorial later, when he wasn’t feeling quite so downtrodden and his balls weren’t aching, though that would certainly put him on a few watch lists. Not that it really mattered.

He sighs and tosses the package on top of his sheets before tearing into the baby wipes. Taking his time, he methodically scrubs his wrist and his legs clean while he contemplates his next move. It wasn’t going to be pretty. It certainly wasn’t going to be sexy. It was still probably the lesser of two evils, though. Far be it that he wanted to go this route but did he really even have any other choice at this point?

“Tomu-nii …”

Your soft whining draws him back to reality and, abruptly realizing you’ve been sitting in your own piss this entire time, he turns to look back at you. For a split second, he seriously considers just killing you right then and there. It would save him a lot of trouble and you wouldn’t even realize what was coming. You were so stupid you’d probably think he was going in for a hug or something asinine like that. He’d be doing you a favor, really, because as far as he was concerned, death was certainly preferable to wearing diapers but … the urge fizzles out almost as quickly as it had appeared. He wasn’t going to let you slip out of his hold until after he’d gotten to bury himself in that tight, pretty little pussy of yours.

Decision made, Tomura makes his way over to the carpet again. You look cold, which doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, and he bends down to grab the meat of your upper arms so he can drag you up to your feet. “Come on. I think I’ve got a solution.”

Your brows furrow slightly. “Salution?”

“Close enough.”

Steering you over to the bed, he makes you bend over the mattress so he can take a baby wipe to the backs of your thighs and ass. Luckily, depending on how you looked at it, the urine had run down rather than going every which direction so it was pretty easy to clean up. The way you tremble and shift your weight back and forth makes it a bit more difficult than it needed to be but he manages, somehow.

Tomura straightens after a long moment, finally deeming the back of you good to go. He’s not so sure he can get through this next part when you were fidgeting so much, though, and he briefly considers the clothes in the gym bag. The thought of putting you in another girly, saccharine sweet garment repulses him almost as much as the thought of putting you in a diaper. But he was going to have to pick and choose his battles here and, reaching back, he delicately tugs off his t-shirt.

“Turn around.”

You slowly comply, teeth chattering the whole time.

“Arms up.”

At this, you hesitate. But at his expectantly bland look, you do as you're told and raise your arms up in the air. The lift of your heavy tits almost successfully distracts him and it is with a great deal of self control on his part that he pulls his shirt down over your head, yanking it a little too forcefully into place.

“There.” He practically hisses, watching you clumsily work your arms through the sleeves. “Is that better?”

You think about that for a moment, eyes scanning across the front of his shirt, and he briefly wonders if you’re going to say something derisive about the worn video game logo stretched across your chest. But then you smile, nodding your head a little too enthusiastically.

“Mm! It smells like Tomu-nii!”

He really couldn’t stand you.

“Good. In return, I’ll need you to cooperate with me here. I’ve never done this before, you know?”

You blink at him quizzically. “Done what?”

Tomura rolls his eyes, feeling grumpier by the second. He couldn’t wait to get this over with and have you situated so he could run off to the bathroom for what probably wouldn’t even amount to five minutes of desperate jerking. “Never mind. Just do what I tell you, okay?”

You nod your head again, but he has some very real doubts about that. Even when you were pretending to go along with whatever it was he wanted you still found some way to fuck everything up for him. If this scheme somehow backfired because your brain was so scrambled you couldn’t even follow simple directions, he was not going to be happy.

Mentally bracing himself for the worst possible outcome, he reaches for the diapers. He rips the bag open almost violently and pulls one out, but it feels even more wrong in his hands than he’d thought it would. A strange sense of scandalized affront warms his chest, making him reconsider this choice for the upteenth time. If Tomura was being completely honest, he felt embarrassed for you but a quick glance in your direction proves that you don’t share quite the same sentiment. You really couldn’t have cared less, huh?

Right. Baby brain.

He grumbles under his breath as he non too gently snaps the diaper open with a loud crinkle of plastic and lays it out close to the edge of his bed. Motioning you closer, Tomura awkwardly helps you get seated on the damn thing and then instructs you to lay down. You genuinely don’t seem to have a problem with this as you recline back, just placidly peering up at him with your little fists balled in the hem of his shirt, but now that he’s gotten this far he’s not sure how to proceed.

At a loss, he takes another baby wipe out of the package and inserts himself between your bent legs. “I’m going to clean you some more, okay?” He's not sure why he’s telling you that, especially when all you do is nod your dopey head in understanding. Just buying time. That’s all he was doing.

But it gives him a chance to think and for that he’s grateful. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to figure out what All for One’s intention with all this had been. ‘A splendid birthday present for my favorite pupil’, he’d said, as if there were any others. But what was the reason? Surely you weren’t actually supposed to be a sex slave for him. Not in this sorry state. His battered onahole did a much better job on that front and it wasn’t prone to tantrums or crying, and it certainly didn’t pee on his stuff. It also didn’t require more than a perfunctory cleaning every few months. He couldn’t very well shove you into his nightstand and forget about it until the next time he was in the mood to rut into something.

All that was true, yes, but … his onahole also wasn’t warm to the touch, and it didn’t have soft, curly hair framing its abused slit (he really should buy a new one) nor did it self lubricate. It didn’t squeeze him quite the same way your pussy had squeezed his fingers, and it didn’t even really feel like an actual vagina now that he had something to compare it to. You were soft and squishy, pliable in the way only flesh and blood could be, and although he had no way of knowing if this had been All for One’s plan or not, he was certainly self aware enough to recognize that he’d screwed up somewhere along the line.

Tomura absolutely should have turned you to dust while he still had the chance.

Licking his lips, he drags the wipe through the seam of your cunt much more slowly than he needed to. You don’t even stir on the bed, and he thinks you must be starting to doze after … all of that. He’s not quite ready to leave well enough alone yet though, and he gently presses down on the spot where he now knows your clit is hiding. Still using the moist towelette as a pretense to keep touching you like this, he circles the sensitive little bud with it and genuine surprise washes over him when you let out a soft, pleasant sigh.

He glances up at your face but you aren’t even looking at him, lashes fanned out against the apples of your cheeks. It’s hard to tell if you were actually asleep or just pretending so you could lull him into a false sense of security, yet he doesn’t particularly care one way or another. You were his so he could do whatever he wanted to you, right? Besides. You kind of owed him after pissing all over his hand like that.

Discarding the baby wipe, Tomura bends closer and carefully spreads your labia again. He could see your little hole weakly palpitating, beckoning him to pick back up where he’d left off, but he drags his gaze a bit higher instead. You were so velvety soft and smooth it bordered on insane, so much more inviting than he ever would have thought possible.

He briefly hesitates before throwing caution aside and sealing his lips around your clit, gently mouthing at it. Your plushy thighs twitch around his head as you shift on top of the mattress, letting out another breathy sound that rushes straight to his cock. It almost hurts, the way it so eagerly springs back to life after being denied something as simple as release, but he can’t find it in himself to complain. You were giving him another chance, knowingly or not, and he wasn’t the type to squander such an opportunity.

Tomura takes his time lapping at you over the next few minutes until you’re almost as wet as when he’d started. You taste heavenly even with the artificial flavor of the wipes clinging to your folds and he entertains the notion of eating you out until you cum all over his face. There’s something he wants even more than that, though, and he sighs in relief when he finally straightens up so he can fish his cock out. It was almost painfully sensitive to the touch, and he could feel it throbbing potently in his hand. He knew this probably wasn’t going to last long but he didn’t care.

Guiding himself to your waiting entrance, he slowly pushes in one fraction at a time, damn near blowing his load the second his glans disappears into your body. He holds back though, struggling to maintain his composure as he seethes through gritted teeth. You finally seemed to realize that something was going on and your pretty eyes flutter open, immediately searching out his face.

“Tomu-nii …?”

“Be quiet. I’ve got you.”

You accept that in lieu of an explanation surprisingly fast, at least by his standards, and without another word you sleepily glance down at the juncture where your bodies were connected. A slow inhale makes your chest rise, mouth falling open as if to groan. He couldn’t take it anymore.

“Fuck,” the sound rattles out of Tomura’s chest as he slides in right down to the base, toes flexing against the floor. “I’m not even gonna’ get to enjoy this.”

Brows knitting together, you let out the softest mewling sound he’s ever heard and it makes him dig his carefully poised fingers deeper into the meat of your hips. He can’t even bring himself to move, so overwhelmed by how soft and wet your guts are. It felt like you were massaging his length, involuntarily or not, as your pussy suckles at the tip like he’s almost positive your mouth would.

Softly wheezing, Tomura drops his chin to look at where the two of you were stuck together. His pelvis was so flush against yours that your pudgy cunt was molded to the front of him, squishing under the pressure, and his silvery pubes were tangled with your darker ones. He hadn’t expected such a sight to be so damn erotic and it has him twitching, fighting back the orgasm he’d gone through hell and back for.

He’s almost scared to do it but, slowly, he eases back. The way his cock gradually reappears, glistening obscenely now, very nearly sends him over the edge. He isn’t sure how he hasn’t ruptured yet, his ballsac drawn so tight and throbbing that it leaves him feeling lightheaded, but through sheer force of will alone he manages to sink back into the inviting heat of your body without spraying your insides white. His self control was tentative as best, hanging on by a mere thread, but you felt far too good to waste on a quick nut.

“Goddamn … you’re so tight, baby. So fucking tight.”

You fidget underneath him, fussily tugging at the hem of his shirt. “Mm’ not a baby …”

Your pouty little response is enough to make him bark out a clipped laugh, more breathless than amused. You could insist you weren’t a baby all you wanted but, even putting aside the cruel, infantile reprogramming of your brain, it was hard to think otherwise when you were spread out on top of a diaper. It’s stark white, cottony lining was an almost unsettling backdrop to the perfect view he had of his cock stuttering in and out of your slick cunt. Even when he was barely moving, it crinkled softly underneath you with each rocking motion of his hips and he couldn’t quite forget it was there no matter how hard he tried.

Tomura wasn’t sure what he would ultimately do with you and he knew even less why he was even entertaining this wildly absurd situation to begin with, but there was no denying that you did have some use. The clinging grip of your pussy, for starters, and if he could get that bratty mouth of yours under control he might even some day find your company bearable. He still didn’t particularly like you but it wasn’t so farfetched to think that he might be able to tolerate you, with enough effort.

Hissing through his teeth, he drags one of his hands down to spread your puffy lips apart and get a good look at the way your petal soft folds clutch to his cock. It was a mesmerizing visual in the worst possible way, especially when accompanied by the soft, wet clicking he pulls from your body. He could have watched this for hours on end but, realistically, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer, and he gives his wrist a brief twist to bring the middle finger down on your clit.

You twitch at the contact but Tomura takes a much more gentle approach this time, sedately drawing circles around the swollen bud. He doesn’t get much in the way of a reaction for his trouble so he just keeps at it, rubbing you in tandem with his staggered thrusts. The thought of making you cum around his cock is almost disturbingly enticing, but he isn’t so sure he can accomplish that. Not when so much of his focus was devoted to simply biting back his orgasm - but then, to his throbbing surprise, you draw a faltering breath.

“Tomu-nii … feels good …”

It’s as if the air had been punched right out of him. He isn't so sure he even believes his own ears, the blood suddenly pounding inside of them making it hard to hear much of anything. He groans though, thick and heavy as he slides his other hand up across your stomach to push at the bottom of his shirt. Your grip on the soft cotton momentarily tightens, still fighting him at every turn, but you give in almost immediately and allow him to shove it over the swell of your tits.

They’re moving, jiggling ever so slightly with the push and pull of his narrow hips as they quietly slap against the backs of your thighs. Tomura heaves, practically doubling over you with another throaty moan that rises in pitch at the tail end. His palm descends on one of your breasts, squeezing hard enough that the pliable flesh bulges and spills out between four of his fingers. You just stare up at him the entire time, face pinched and flushed while your glistening eyes dreamily watch him with a far off sort of quality that he’s sure must be - has to be pleasure.

He’d never seen anything sexier in his whole life, and that thought alone is far more terrifying than he could have ever guessed it would be. There was something wrong with you, yes, by All for One’s design. But there was something even more inherently wrong with him for getting off on this so much and without the added bonus of quirk tampering to excuse his behavior. You were so sweet and unfairly innocent despite your seductive figure, the sight of you naked save his bunched up t-shirt driving him absolutely wild. It was like you belonged here, with him, in his bed. It wasn’t that he no longer wanted to kill you but that he couldn’t.

What little bit of self control he’d still been clinging to up until now shatters, and Tomura snaps his hips into your upturned ass: once, twice, three times. The sticky squelching between your bodies increases in volume, echoing inside his skull like a ricocheting bullet as he watches your face screw up at the sudden force. It doesn’t even matter though. He’s long since reached his limit and, with a wounded grunt, he slams into you one final time, lurching over your prone body.

The sound that comes out of his mouth as he shudders and violently paints your pink guts is, frankly, embarrassing. But he’s riding a high too great to care, clinging to you hard enough to make his joints ache and you whimper in discomfort. He can’t stop though. He’s cumming so hard, pulse after pulse, that it feels like his soul actually slips out of his body for a worryingly long beat before returning in fragmented pieces. The same, but also somehow different. Like he’d experienced rebirth in the warm, comforting clutch of your drenched cunt.

He wheezes as if he’d been stabbed in the chest when he finally eases his softening cock out of you some time later.

Tomura was completely spent, both physically and mentally. His wobbly legs could hardly support his weight anymore but, with a strength of mind he hadn’t even realized he possessed, he directs a shaky finger to your clit again. You squirm in response, huffing after that rough treatment, but he soothes you with hushed words and a gentle touch to the delicate little pearl he barely even needs to brush against to have you shaking for him.

“Relax. You feel good, don’t you? Let me hear those pretty sounds again, baby.”

Obstinately, you purse your lips together to deny him even that one simple request. Tomura heaves a tired sigh, wishing you weren’t such a brat, but he doesn’t let up. The gentle circles he rubs into your clit with the pad of his finger slowly brings you around though, grudgingly, and he can’t quite deny the satisfaction that sparks in his throat when your mouth warbles open to let loose the sweetest, tiny moan he’s ever heard.

“Nngh … Tomu-nii …!”

“Don't fight it. I want you to feel good too, yknow.” He pauses, tongue glancing over his dry lips. “Will you cum for me, sweetheart?”

You shake your head, eyes screwing shut, but the way your body continues to tense up seems to suggest otherwise. He could tell you were practically thrumming with it, burning from the inside out even as his milky white discharge slowly oozes down your slit to pool in the seat of the diaper. It was unexpectedly exciting to watch, disproportionately naughty given how utterly unappealing the crinkly plastic was at first glance, and he picks up the pace of his rubbing.

“I think you’re lying again. You liked how it felt when I was inside you, right? This will be even better, I promise. You’ll love it. I know you will.”

Weakly writhing on top of his bed, you crack your eyes open to peer up at him again. “T - Tomu-nii … I can’t … ahh. Ahh. Ahh! I … I’m … ahh! Tomu-niiiii!”

You suddenly jerk, tossing your head back against the sheets, and he watches in rapt fascination as you quake so hard it nearly catches him off guard. It wasn’t the seductive, rolling tremors he was used to seeing in porn videos but, rather, a full bodied spasm that had you twisting as if to get away. Your thighs try to clamp shut around his hand but he elbows them apart, refusing to let up until he’d milked your orgasm as thoroughly as you’d milked his.

And you looked so pretty, too. Caught up in mind numbing pleasure so intense he couldn’t even begin to fathom what you were feeling. Even his own earth shattering release seemed to pale in comparison to this, and it takes you much longer to start coming down from it than it did him.

Your hair is a mess by the time you’re done, matted in some places and sticking to your damp forehead in others. For a fleeting moment, Tomura can almost see the adult woman you should have been when your face goes slack in ecstasy and your flushed lips were parted to suck in as much oxygen as you could get. He imagines you were probably no stranger to pleasures of the flesh, not with that body and those looks, so the thought that he could make you feel this good was a bit like a pat on the back for him. It was probably just beginners luck, but that didn’t stop him from feeling any less proud of himself.

Slowly, he takes his hands off you and steps back. The spot between your legs was absolutely covered in fluid, your sticky, copious slick mixing with his spunk to make a truly viscous concoction that clung to your damp curls. He thinks that he should probably clean you up again and reaches for the baby wipes, but stops himself short.

The idea that crosses his mind is very likely foul, perhaps even more offensive than anything else he’d done til now, but … a quick glance at your sloppy pussy proves too great a temptation. There was something inherently erotic about making you walk around with his semen dripping out of you, even if it was only going to be absorbed by the diaper, and he shuffles close again with his heart in his throat.

Tomura hasn’t the slightest clue what he’s doing and it takes him a long moment to figure out the tape tabs on the sides. He gets frustrated halfway through the process, struggling to make sure the crinkly plastic was secure enough around your waist, but by some miracle you stay relatively still through all of his fumbling. He isn’t quite sure how he got so lucky but he doesn’t stop to question it, hawkishly focusing all of his attention on the task at hand.

At length, he straightens to admire his work. It’s not perfect by any means but he’s pretty sure the damned thing wasn’t going to fall off as soon as you stood up so there was that. The diaper itself was just as obnoxiously girly as everything else in the gym bag; a soft, lilac purple with a flowery, cartoon bunny design on them. He didn’t mind the rabbits so much, and it was certainly preferable to the onesie, but he still thought you’d look nice in something a bit cooler.

The realization that he was thinking about this in such quaint, fuzzy terms chills Tomura to the bone, and his gaze flicks to your face so he can ask what you think of them. Even if only to distract himself from his own uncomfortably perverse change of heart.

But you were already asleep. He probably should have expected as much, and he could tell you were actually snoozing this time by the shallow, even rise and fall of your chest. A strange sense of embarrassment washes over him and he reaches out to delicately take the hem of his shirt between thumb and finger so he can tug it back down into place. You only snuggle further into the mattress though, getting comfortable, and further cementing the notion that he had, indeed, fucked up.

He’d never be able to get rid of you now.

Grumbling under his breath, Tomura leans over you with one hand braced on the mattress. The other slips between your legs, unable to squeeze shut now with the bulk of the diaper between them, and ever so carefully cups his palm over your crotch. It was cool to the touch, but if he pushed down hard enough he could feel the warmth of your body bleeding through. You let out a quiet huff in response, petulant towards him even in your sleep, and he can’t quite stop himself from laughing. It was absurd. It was strange. It was strikingly, unequivocally weird, but he was almost glad he hadn’t disintegrated you or strangled you to death.

This wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind when he’d wished for a woman he could do with as he pleased and not have to worry about her running away, but … it was close enough, he supposed.

[awkwardgtace]

Lilith Meets Your (Good) Roommate

@chasing-starlights @alarcomet

In general if anyone likes my stuff enough to want tags lemme know and I'll do my best to keep up with it :)

TW: Depictions of kidnapping, torturous murder i think is how to describe it, broken bones. lemme know if i missed anything

This is yandere do not read if you aren't ok with it.

What if you had a worse roommate?

Lilith Meets Your (Good) Roommate

You wanted to leave town after everything that happened that day, but your company talked you out of it. They set you up in an apartment with one of your soon to be coworkers, a giant just to be safe. They said that this Lilith girl had caused problems for other humans and a giant would be a better defense for you. Of course you were reluctant to believe it, until you met your roommate who was twice the size of the giant Lilith killed. You agreed to give it a year before completely jumping ship, they didn’t have to know you were desperate for this job too.

It was only a few months since your agreement and you dreaded going home daily. Every night your roommate would pick you up with no warning and treat you like a doll. They would keep you in their hands unless you specifically requested to be put down. They usually used their shoulders for you when they were eating. Of course that didn’t make it easy on you. There were a lot of fairy tales about giants eating humans before the two realized they were the same, just different sizes. Hearing one eating with you so close to their mouth tended to make you a bit scared and anxious. At least they tried to eat when they weren’t manhandling you more lately.

You sighed as you opened the door, sure your roommate would be on you in seconds. The dark room that met you was foreboding. They always left a light on because the first human height switch was pretty far from the human door to the apartment. You pulled out your phone and turned on the flashlight. You were a bit concerned by how quiet things were, but it was likely just a power outage. A fuse probably blew and your roommate was the only one who could fix it, you were in the dark until then. You shivered as you walked in telling yourself it was from the cold. The lights turned on blinding you as you reached the center of the room.

“Love, it was so hard to find you,” you heard a voice say. You spun around and felt your heart rate spike as you found red eyes locked on you. It was her, the girl from the park...Lilith. She found you, she must have been one of the escaped prisoners the news talked about. She had waited until she could block your way out to present herself. You started to back away, fearful of the look in her eyes.

“H-how did you?” you asked. She crept closer and you ran as fast as possible. You were relieved by the amount of spots you could hide thanks to your roommate. You found the smallest place possible, squeezing in with minimal effort. There’s no way she could find you hidden in here, too many options. At least you were sure if you stayed quiet you could stay hidden.

“Oh darling, I love games like this, how did you know?” she crooned. She swallowed thickly trying to calm your heart. You slapped a hand over your mouth to try and hide any sounds you may make. “Well first I went to your old apartment, I was sad you had left. I tried to do things politely, break into the office and find a forwarding address or something. You left no traces behind, not even a bill transferred.”

You shook as her heavy steps came closer. She couldn’t know where you were, she could probably reach in and pull you out if she found you. You tried to squeeze further back in the crack you’d found. Anything to keep her from finding you. You were terrified of what she might do if...no when she found you.

“So I had to take some less fun methods. I found your office first. It was so much easier since you were still going there every day. Then I followed you back here. After that I waited for you and that awful awful roommate of yours to leave. I snuck in after that, so easy too. Neither of you took care of the windows dear. I’ll make sure they are all locked tightly in our new home.”

You could see her shadow from your hiding spot now. She had to be stomping her feet, the booming steps making you shake. You had no idea she even knew where your office was. She had appeared and been taken away before you had your first day. They hadn’t sent you any mail before you moved again either. Her shadow had stayed where it was for too long, you held your breath in a vain hope it would hide you better. It was only a second before she had leaned over slightly and her black hair blocked the entrance to your hiding spot. Oddly you were focused on the fact the purple must have been dyed last time.

“I bet you’re curious how I found your office,” she giggled, if she wasn’t hunting you it would have almost sounded cute. You screamed as her red eyes met your own from where you were hiding. “Well I followed your scent. Honey and roses alone was too much, but then a lasting hint of fear made it intoxicating.”

You tried to make yourself smaller. Anything to keep her from grabbing you. Sadly your attempts were a failure. She reached one large hand in and grabbed your shirt. She pulled you out and held you up to her. She pulled you right to her face and breathed deeply. Her pupils dilated, you were sure you were staring at a predator at this moment. She looked euphoric as she took in the scent that you apparently had. You tried to struggle out of her grip but she just hugged you tighter.

“You know love, it was hard to find you even once I reached your office. You were covered in another giant’s scent. I just barely caught that honey and rose smell before I thought I’d have to go after the one who hid you. I assume they’re the one that has you in such a sham of a home. Once your oaf of a roommate gets home and I’ve dealt with them, we’ll be on our way. I’ll make sure where we go is much more comfortable for you darling,” she purred. You panicked as she held you against her chest.

“H-how are you going to deal with them?” you said. You had a feeling you didn’t want to know her plans. She giggled before pulling a dagger from behind her back. She was in a prison jumpsuit. How did she even have a weapon?!

“Oh love, I thought you hated the bloody details. I can't believe you changed so much. Well first I’ll cut their Achilles tendons so they fall to the ground. Then I’ll cut their tongue out just like the last one,” she bopped your nose like it was something cute. “Then I’ll cut the nerves in their wrists, I hope that doesn’t kill them though. I want to gouge out their eyes before I finally leave with you. This may not be enough punishment for them though. They tried to take what’s mine and should pay dearly for it.”

You were terrified. As much as you tried not to, you could see your roommate bleeding out on the ground. They may be annoying, but they were nice. You didn’t want them to die. You stared into her eyes, you were sure there was no warning you could give to stop her plan. She’d thought it through and even had a blade already. You watched her carefully slip it behind her once more, you couldn’t ignore this.

You were smart, you could figure out a solution. If they told you about the scent thing you would have been more careful. The giants in the company had to know...they did know. That’s why they had you live with another giant. That’s why your roommate was always grabbing you and keeping you close. They all tried to hide you from Lilith. You wanted to hate your roommate right now for hiding the scent thing, but they put themselves at risk for you. You would make sure they didn’t die for it.

“W-why don’t w-we leave n-now?” you asked. Her eyes narrowed and her grip tightened to a painful level. She must know you’re trying to protect them, you had to think of a good excuse. “I-I just d-don’t want to see that a-adorable face hidden by b-blood again.”

Lilith’s grip went slack and you fell unceremoniously to the floor. She just stared at you with wide, almost innocent eyes. You had no idea what happened, but needed her to snap out of it quickly. You heard your roommates voice from down the hall, and Lilith’s eyes dilated again in an instant. She wasted no time grabbing you and running to the window that she’d broken to get in. She held you close as she jumped out, her hand covering your mouth and hiding your scream.

She moved silently, it felt like the two of you were invisible. You tried to hold back your tears as she continued towards the edge of the city. Someone would save you, your roommate would notice Lilith's scent and tell someone. There’s no way she’d be able to keep you. You were losing the sliver of hope you clung to as the sounds of normal city life continued to surround you. It was minutes before she was walking out of the city, your fear finally winning.

“Don’t worry, love, I’ll make sure you can always think of that word with me. I’ll keep my face clean. It’s only fair when I’m gifted with someone smart, beautiful, pretty, cute, talented, gifted, kind, careful, selfless, caring,” she paused leaning her head down to speak directly in your ear, “then of course there’s the delectable smell you carry I could never live without.”

Your tears finally fell from your eyes. It made you flinch when she licked one off your cheek. She licked her lips and smiled down at you with a mix of hunger and adoration. You were desperately hoping the hunger was lustful rather than anything else. She held your face to her chest, no longer letting you see the world as she walked. Somehow you’d get home, you’d be safe right?

She kept walking for who knows how long, you stopped trying to keep track. It was almost a blessing when she let you see the world around you again. Almost because you were somewhere far from the city with a house that seemed to be built for Lilith. She smiled at you as she crossed the threshold, that hunger still there. She held you tighter as she shut the door, showing clearly the only doorknob was one she had to reach up to use. She had you trapped.

She took you to a room upstairs before finally letting you off on a bed. It was sized for you, which made you more hopeful. She must bring the human she grows attached to here each time, which means they can find you. She went around the room, checking the windows were properly locked, all too high for you to reach. She’d planned this well.

“I spent so long setting this up after they took my dearest away last time,” she said. “Now you stay right there, no one should have any idea where we are so we have all the time in the world.”

You felt your heart race as your fear grew again. She smiled wider in time with your growing emotions, she enjoyed this. She left and you were alone, you quickly ran to the windows, panicking as you realized the glass was thick. There were no chairs or tables you could move to reach the top. There was no easy way to escape from here, and if this was really new how would they find you?

You heard the door slam as she walked back in, you backed up into a wall. She approached with a fiery anger in her eyes. You were shaking as she finally grabbed you and dragged you back to the bed. She held a large hand covering most of your leg. Your eyes went wide as you stared at her solemn face. She tightened her hold on your leg slowly, the pain growing over time. You started struggling, desperate to avoid the outcome she apparently wanted. It was a few more seconds before the snap rang out in the room and you screamed, tears streaming down your face.

“I’m sorry love, but until you’re used to living here I can’t have you running around. You’re too important for me to risk you getting hurt trying something foolish,” she said. Her voice was harsh, she would make sure she kept you here. She left again and you stared at your leg bent oddly from her actions.

She was back quickly again, cloth and wood in her hands. She sat down on the bed, it creaked loudly from the giant’s weight. She picked up your leg causing a whimper, she patted your head in sympathy. She carefully wrapped your leg, setting the bone she just broke and making you scream again. It was a few minutes of pain and whimpers before she put your leg back on the bed. She leaned forward, placing her large hands on either side of you and looming overhead. There was a small blush creeping up her face, and you realized somewhat belatedly she had changed into a new outfit.

“H-how do I look?” she stammered. You wanted to laugh in her face. She just broke your leg and was now embarrassed to ask what you thought of her clothes. You took a moment to take in the full outfit. She dressed like a maid, her long black hair tied back in a low hanging ponytail. She had a small ruffle headband on her head as well. You were tempted to call her awful, insult her and scream to be let go, but you knew better. You knew what she was hoping for and, after your leg, you weren’t taking risks again.

“Adorable…” you said.

[justice4harwin]

Light's Corruption- Chapter IV

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Summary:With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty

Rating: 18+

Click here for chapter 3

Tags are in the comment section. If you dont wanna be there or wanna be added please let me know 😊

Anyways, I hope you like this one. I'm really excited over a particular scene 😏😏

Chapter 4: golden butterfly, black rose

Alina woke up with a new purpose: to observe and listen.

She hastily threw the blankets and sheets off of her and put on her kefta as she realized she might be late for breakfast.

Running down the stairs, hair a mess, the Sun Summoner smiled and greeted everyone on her path.

Some replied. Others just stared oddly.

She entered the hall to find that, as usual, Marie and Nadia had left a seat empty between them. Alina gingerly took it.

"Good morning!"

They gave her smiles as they reciprocated the greeting.

"You're in a good mood today." Nadia noticed, taking her spoon.

"I slept like a baby." she lied. She hadn't gotten that much sleep -Genya must've gotten even less- but she felt good that day.

Just the day before, she had been able to summon on her own for the first time, and she had to stay positive if she wanted to accomplish her new mission.

She engaged more in the chatter with the grisha women that day, venturing so far as to reply with questions of her own to get to know them better.

"I didn't know you had a brother, Nadia." she said, genuinely surprised as they made their way to Botkin's stables.

The woman nodded with a half-annoyed, half-endearing smile.

"He's grisha too. A few years younger, so he's still at school. His name's Adrik."

"Is he a Squaller too?" 

Nadia confirmed that he was, because of course, the little rat had to copy everything about his older sister.

Alina laughed at that.

"The little girl seems very happy for someone who's about to get into a fight?" were the words with which Botkin received her.

Alina fought back the need to recoil. The only time she had won so far had been against Zoya, …if one could consider that a win given what happened right after.

"Maybe I'll be lucky today." she beamed at him.

Botkin seemed almost surprised.

"Positivity is fine, little girl, but you need to focus during a fight. But first." he clapped his hands twice, immediately getting all the attention. "Run around the lake. Twice. The last one to get back here will help the stable hands for the rest of the day."

Alina really ran like never before that day.

Her side hurt, and she almost felt like she wasn't getting enough air; but after the first half, her legs didn't burn so much anymore, and she felt almost as good as she did when walking.

"Damn, Starkov." she turned her head to see that Michail, a heartrender with a hard-shaped face and kind, green eyes, was easily keeping up with her. "When did you get this fast?"

"Practice." she said, a little breathless but feeling nice with the cold air slapping against her face. "Besides, I really don't wanna end up in the stables."

He laughed at that.

"That makes two of us. I hate those animals."

Alina frowned. She just didn't wanna clean up their shit, but other than that, she could find nothing wrong with horses.

"Why?"

"Those long faces," he said, gesturing over his own. "they're scary."

"You're scared of horses?!" she asked, disbelieving. 

"Why don't you yell it a little louder?" he asked, looking around at the disperse group, but he was smirking. They weren't at the front, but they weren't slagging at the back either.

"Sorry." she leaned in. "I'll keep your secret if you help me not to be the last."

"I don't think you need my help," he laughed. "but sure."

She got knocked down on her ass by a short Inferni woman with dark blonde hair, but Alina laughed it off, hiding her embarrassment, and stretched out a hand. The Inferni rose an eyebrow and then helped her up.

"Thanks." she told her, dusting off the back of her kefta.

"For kicking your ass?"

"Hey, I think I did learn a thing or two." she winked. "Next time I'll be ready."

"Oh, so you want a rematch?" the woman asked, amused, as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"If you're up for it." Alina shrugged.

"Deal." they shook hands. "But it'll have to wait until we're done with him." she said, nodding towards Botkin, who was busy making rounds, watching the others. "I'm Natasha, by the way."

"Alina."

"Oh, I know. Everyone knows." she smiled once more before retreating to a small group of Inferni that had reunited by a corner.

As she passed by the lake in her usual route to Baghra's hut, Alina got startled by the damage she had done to the perfectly green grass. Gardeners were still at work getting rid of the black mass she had left in her path, going so far as to dig into the earth. They saw her passing and glanced up, some frightened, others definitely not amused.

"I am so sorry." she whispered frantically, before hurrying her steps.

"Don't let the heat out!" was all the greeting she got from the ancient woman.

Alina closed the door and hurried to the chair that awaited her. She was smiling.

"I don't think that will be a problem." she said, proud of herself.

She scoffed. "So I have heard. Show me." she said, hitting her in the arm with her cane.

"Ouch!"

With a nasty frown, Alina placed her palms in front of the others and called the light that she had rejected for so long. So eager to answer, her power rushed through and out of her, and she was almost puzzled by its intensity. She focused on keeping the orb small.

"Uh. Well, it took you long enough."

"A 'Congratulations' would be nice."

She got hit again. Her light wavered and then solidified again.

"Congratulations? What? Do you want a parade thrown in your honour as well? For what? Doing what you were supposed to do your entire life? Shut up and expand the orb. Make it encompass the entire place."

With deep breaths, both to concentrate and control her anger, Alina steadily expanded her light, making it fill the hut.

"Bend it to its shape."

Carefully, she tried to do as she was told.

"You were right, about being held back." she uttered as she tried to shape her light to blend in with the walls.

"I know." the woman said, petulant. "Now call it back and repeat until there is no effort to it."

Alina tried, and tried again, but as eager as her power was to explode, her body was eager for a long, long nap. There had been so much repression, so much denial for so many years, that it was as if the light wanted to just explode out of her body and consume it all.

It scared her a little, but she focused.

The Darkling had told her she was magnificent, Alina remembered, and he had made it sound like she was capable of anything.

The way his grey eyes shone with such intensity, like he wanted to engulf her into his arms and have her all to his own, the way in which his hand felt against hers, or how just even being next to him made her want to lean into and over him like a lazy, overly clingy cat. 

She'd lay on top of him all day if she could.

Alina wondered what would've happened if Genya hadn't arrived at the moment she did. Would The Darkling had kissed her? What would his lips taste like? How would his beard feel against her skin? Just exactly how good was he with his tongue?

Alina blushed. The light flickered, as if excited at the mere idea of the man.

She had kissed a few people before, but him, there was something about him that told her that if he should kiss her only once, she'd spend the rest of her life running after the very same sensation and more.

"Dreaming about your dark prince again?"

She looked at Baghra.

"What?" looking around, she noticed that her light had expanded farther than the hut and she was glowing.

Alina snapped her hands, and everything was dark again. Her fingers tingled with power, her eyelids closed with exhaustion.

"I-I wasn't-" she blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the new environment.

"Stupid, stupid girl. You need to focus on your task."

"I'd concentrate better if I wasn't being hit every five min-OUCH!"

"Do not make excuses with me. You are lazy, easily distracted, you do not know what you are getting yourse-"

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be such a great teacher, I've still got to see some actual teaching." Alina snapped. "All you do is yell at me, hit me and belittle me; yet one conversation with The General I can finally summon." the brunette spat, each word more angrier than the previous one. "So don't try to blame me for your shortcomings."

Baghra was silent, nostrils flaring. When it looked like she might raise her cane and hit Alina right in the head with it, she opened her thin lips instead:

"Out." she uttered, almost inaudible. "Out! And do not come back!"

"Gladly!"

Alina stood up and marched for the door, her steps almost as loud as the insults the old woman was throwing after her.

"Stupid girl! Unconscious! Just another pawn of his! You never learn! Lazy! Stupid! Blind!"

 It was a good thing the old crone couldn't see the tears of frustration and shame in her eyes.

She was on her way back to the Little Palace, trying to decide if she should bathe or go to the library first.

Baghra’s words still rang in her head.

Maybe, if she was quick, really quick with her bath,...but then again, she was getting too used to such a luxury, that once in there it was quite difficult to leave unless the water turned cold.

But if she went to the library, she’d be there until the words blurred and her eyes burned.

On the other hand, there were other grisha in the library, and she couldn’t afford to walk in there smelling like-

"Alina?"

General Kirigan's smooth voice had her turning on her heels, hand still massaging the spot on her arm Baghra's cane had so harshly landed. She had managed to hold back the tears, but the woman's word still stung.

"Moi Soverennyi." She greeted but forgot to bow.

He looked at her arm.

"How was your lesson?"

"I spent months with her and nothing; five minutes with you and I can summon." She basically spat, still bitter at Baghra's harsh words. "I think that speaks for itself."

He smiled, almost.

"Give the old woman some credit. She is good at what she does."

"Terrorizing isn't teaching." she replied, and then, with her head high, added: "She didn't get me to summon."

"No." The Darkling agreed, taking a step towards her. All engulfed in his black cloak, he almost seemed to float. "You did it. It was all you." He said it with such reverence that her breath became shallow.

She didn't look away from his eyes. The storms swirling in there were magnetic. There was so much going on in there at the moment, yet it all sped up through those grey orbs so fast she couldn't make sense of it.

"Why don't you teach me?" The words slipped from her tongue before she could think better of it.

He rose an eyebrow, taking another predatory step towards her.

"I serve the King. I run an entire army. I do not have the time to train everyone personally, nor would I want anyone to think they are favoured above others." 

He was so close to her now, she had to crane her neck to look up.

"You once said there was no one else like us; who could be a better teacher?"

In truth, she also wanted to see him more often. Glimpses as he passed through the Little Palace or left Os Alta, and the occasional conversation weren't enough for her.

"You flatter me, Miss Starkov."

"I only state my opinion." she took a step, shortening the distance, like he was a magnet calling for her.

Mirth shone in his eyes. It made her smile. 

"I will be going away for a few weeks." At this, her smile fell, and his formed as he tilted her chin up with his gloved fingers.

Alina stared up into his eyes, dark with something.

"I'll miss you." She whispered, foolishly, without thought. 

"Will you?" He asked, almost perplexed for a moment.

She found herself nodding.

"I know we don't get much chance to talk, but I like talking to you." She confessed, a knot in her throat. "You understand all,...this." she flickered her fingers and a tiny orb of light formed above her hand.

His eyes followed suit, almost fascinated, like he still couldn't quite believe her power was real. And when he looked at her, it was like he couldn't believe she was real.

His hand rose and shadows swallowed her light. Alina watched them dance, entranced by his power, and noticed it taking shape.

"For you." The Darkling said, handing her a black rose, from the base of its steam to the very last petal. "To remember me by while I am gone."

Disbelieving, she reached out and gasped as she touched the shadow. There was a little bit of gold in there, her own power hidden within, shimmering weakly here and there.

"I don't have anything to give you." She said, lamenting.

He leaned down, his beard rough against her soft cheek.

"Trust me, Alina," he whispered, her name on his lips against her ear making her tremble. "I could not forget you if I tried."

There was the whisper of a kiss against her cheek that seemed to linger for the longest moment, …and then he was leaving, cloak flipping behind him as he left the sun Summoner holding onto a small piece of shadow and a piece of her heart gone with him.

Click here for chapter Five

[khoicesbyk]

A/N: I'm officially obsessed with Wolf Bride and what does one do when she's obsessed with a certain book? She writes an AU about it! 😁 So, Talley Ho! *in my Sherlock Holmes voice*

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: Roman (LI) and Naia Evans (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and certain original characters, created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 3,680 words. (more or less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

Song And Story Inspiration: In The Still Of The Nite-Boyz II Men | Give Me One Reason-Tracy Chapman | Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here-Deborah Cox

Tag List: @shewillreadyou @choiceslady @queenjilian @bebepac @txemrn @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @hopefulmoonobject @lucy-268 @pixie88 @otherworldlypresents  @choicesficwriterscreations

TW: kidnapping. Read at your own discretion.

Chapter 5.) In The Still Of The Night.

In the still of the night.

I held you.

Held you tight.

'Cause I love.

Love you so.

Promise I'll never.

Let you go.

In the still of the night.

As she slept peacefully in her new bed, Naia dreamed that she was running through the forest. She felt strong. She felt invincible. She could feel the wind on her face as she ran. It was exhilarating. She felt free. When she came out of the woods, she was a wolf. And when she looked up, she saw him. It was the wolf she had seen in her dreams before. It was him. When he howled she did the same.

That’s when she woke up. She sat up in bed, panting with her heart thundering in her chest. She looked around her room in order to get her bearings. That’s when something compelled her to look out her bedroom window. And when she looked out the window she saw a wolf staring up at her. When she shook her head, the wolf was gone. The image of the wolf was still in her head when she went back to sleep.

After waking up later that morning and taking a good hot shower, Naia couldn’t get Roman out of her head. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped her again. He was seductive and mysterious and she wanted more. She could still feel his warm breath on her neck and the closeness of his body to hers. She thought it was insane but never actually questioned why she thought that way.

When she went to the kitchen for breakfast, she noticed a note on the counter. It was from her uncle.

“Good morning. Gone fishing. Be back later. Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge. Uncle Z.”

When she opened the fridge, she grimaced because there wasn’t much in there to begin with. When her stomach rumbled she knew she had to change that.

“Okay well since a home cooked breakfast is out of the question. I think I’ll try the breakfast place I saw when I drove into town. Also I’ll do some grocery shopping while I’m at it. Because this right here ain’t hitting on nothing.” She thought to herself.

With keys and wallet in hand Naia set off for town. After shopping at Banner’s Family Market, she was just about starved and stopped by Tucker’s diner.

After getting a table she sat down and looked over the menu. As she looked over the menu, someone was watching her. Or so it looked that way.

I remember.

That night in May.

The stars were bright above.

I'll hope and I'll pray.

To keep.

Your precious love.

At another table, Trent was eating breakfast with a few members of his team when Naia walked in. He felt a pull towards where she was sitting.

“Yo T! What is it?” Jenkins, one of his team members asked.

“I don’t know. Something weird just happened. Like she just walked in.” He replies shaking his head.

“Man! Please tell me that you’re not talking about that so-called dream girl again!” Sergei said to him.

“If you must know, yes I am.”

His crew collectively groaned.

“Dude it’s been almost a whole 2 months! Let it go already!” Hugo told him.

“As I’ve told you idiots before: I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t? Which one is it T?” Jenkins asked him.

Trent never answered. He just sipped his coffee. Even though he’s blind he could feel her presence. After going over the menu for a solid 20 minutes, Naia decided on the Lobster Eggs Benedict and a sweet tea. Just as she was about to put her order in, Layla walked in.

“Layla! Over here!” She called out to her new friend.

Trent nearly dropped his cup of coffee. Hearing her voice in real time both scared and excited him.

“You almost dropped your cup. You okay man?” Jenkins asked him.

“Huh? Yeah! I’m…I’m good.” Trent replied, while trying to hide the crack in his voice. With his hearing being better than most, he tuned into her conversation

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Layla asked Naia as she sat down across from her.

“Since my uncle has gone fishing, I decided to do some grocery shopping and I was starving so here I am. What are you and the little one up to?” Naia replies.

“The same thing as you. Have you ordered yet?” Layla asks.

“Just about to. What about you?” Naia replies.

“Oh girl! They already know what I want. A pitcher each of cranberry juice and ice water, their triple berry cheesecake parfait, double blueberry pancakes and a ham, spinach and swiss omelette.” Layla replied.

Naia’s eyes went wide.

“You’re actually gonna eat all of that?!” She asked.

“I mean…I am eating for two, ya know?” Layla replied, rubbing her belly. The two shared a laugh as they continued their conversation.

Trent turned his attention back to his team just as the twins came strolling in. His boss Bernard Sayre is a blowhard who only cares about 3 things. Making money, being powerfully unstoppable and his twins Dylan and Tyler. The twin terrors as they’re known around town, just love getting their way no matter what they do or say. And although it annoyed Trent, he was powerless to stop them.

“Heyyyyy boys!” Dylan called out to Trent and his team. Her voice sounded like banshee screech.

“And here comes daddy’s two brats…” Jenkins groaned as the twins approached.

“So what are you guys up to?” Tyler asked.

“We’re eating. Why?” Trent asks.

“Because we were hoping that you’d join us at Buck’s for the Friday night sing a long and pool.” Tyler replies.

“You’d have to ask Layla if we’re allowed back in. Especially after what happened the last time.”

The twins groaned.

“Well she’s sitting at a table with some girl. So I guess it’s worth a shot.” Dylan said with a sigh.

Naia watched in amusement and shock, as she watched Layla polish off everything she ordered with ease.

“I can not believe that you ate EVERYTHING!”

“Told you!” Layla replied as she swiped her finger on the inside of her parfait cup.

“Uhhhhh Layla…”

“Huh?” She asked.

“It’s all gone! Put the cup down!” Naia replies.

The two laughed as the twins approached.

“Hiiiiiiiiiii Layla!” They say in unison causing Layla to groan.

“Ohhh and hi Layla’s friend!”

“What do you two want?” She asked the twins.

“Weeeeeellllllllllll…we were hoping you’d let us have Friday sing a long and pool.” Tyler said in a cloyingly sweet voice.

“After the shit you pulled the last time? NO!” Layla hissed at them.

“Come on Layla! Our dad paid for the damage!” Tyler whined.

“Yeah he did…after I threatened to sue his sorry ass!”

“Please!” The twins begged.

Layla rolled her eyes then replied, “fine! You can come tonight.”

“Thank you!” The twins squealed.

“Whatever. Go away!”

“You don’t have to be rude!” Dylan said.

“Which would you rather: me be rude or me ban you two from ever stepping foot into MY bar?” She asked them.

The twins stood stuck.

“I thought so. Now again: go away!”

The twins turned on their heels and stomped away. When they were far enough away for her pleasure, Layla turned her attention back to Naia.

“Sorry about that.”

“Who are they?” Naia asks.

“Tyler and Dylan Sayre. Their dad Bernard owns Sayre Energy and Power. They’re a public nuisance.” Layla replies.

“They look harmless to me.”

“That’s because you haven’t been around them when they’re drunk.”

“Touché.”

“I guess since they’re having Friday sing a long and pool, you should come too.���

“Me?” Naia asks.

“Yes you! It’ll be fun as long as those two aren’t drinking.” Layla replies.

“I don’t know about all of that.”

“Also there’s normally a $1,000.00 cash prize for first place.”

“Why didn't you lead with that?!” Naia asks.

“Because Dylan normally wins because no one wants to challenge her.” Layla replies.

“Well as someone who’s still paying off student loans: Count me in!”

So before the light.

Hold me again.

With all of your might.

In the still of the night.

So before the light.

Hold me again.

With all of your might.

In the still…of the night.

That night at Buck’s the party was in full swing. People were dancing, drinking, playing pool and mingling amongst themselves. Naia stuck close to the bar and Layla as they watched the crowd. And like clockwork, Dylan was drunk and ready to sing her heart out.

“Alright you party animals! Let’s get this sing a long on the road! Now all of you know the rules. First place gets $1,000.00! And since that first place is always me I have nothing to worry about! So hit the music!”

“Ohhh God…” Layla groaned.

“What?!” Naia asks.

“Little Miss Banshee is about to assault our ears and sing Deborah Cox Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here.” Layla replies.

“It can’t be THAT bad, Layla.”

“Wanna bet?” She asks just as Dylan grabbed a mic.

After clearing her throat, Dylan began to sing. Sorta.

How did you get here?

Nobody's supposed to be here.

I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

I've spent all my life on a search to find. The love who'll stay for eternity. The heaven sent to fulfill my needs. But when I turn around, again, love has knocked me down. My heart got broken, oh it hurts so bad. I'm sad to say love wins again.

So I placed my heart under lock and key. To take some time to take care of me. But I turn around and you're standing here.

How did you get here? Nobody's supposed to be here.

I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

This time I swear I'm through. But, if only you knew how many times I've said those words. Then fall again, when will I ever learn? Knowing these tears I cry, this lovely black butterfly. Must take a chance, and spread my wings. Love can make you do some crazy things.

So I placed my heart under lock and key. To take some time to take care of me. But I turn around and you're standing here.

Standing here…

When Dylan got to the bridge, Naia thought her ears would bleed out.

No, nobody, no, no, no, no, no, no, ooh!

No, no, nooooooooo...

How did you get here? Nobody's supposed to be here I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

How did you get here? Nobody's supposed to be here.

I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

When she was done, Naia was ready to run out the door screaming.

“Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyyy God! That was fucking horrible!”

“Told you.” Layla deadpanned.

“She has to be stopped! What other songs are on that karaoke machine?” Naia asks.

“Hundreds! So if you’re gonna sing, pick one and make it good! That way ears will stop ringing.” Layla replies.

Naia left her seat at the bar and walked over to where the karaoke machine was and went through the list of songs. Doing so, caught the ire of a very drunk Dylan.

“Ummmmmm what do you think you’re doing?!” She asks.

“Picking a song obviously.” She replies over her shoulder.

Dylan huffed.

“You actually think you can beat my melodious voice?” She asks.

“A dead horse can beat your voice. And just like that I found my song.” Naia replies.

“Good luck beating me!” Dylan sneered.

“Watch and learn young grasshopper.”

Naia took the mic and began to sing Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman.

Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. Said I don't want to leave you lonely. You got to make me change my mind.

Baby I got your number. Oh and I know that you got mine. You know that I called you. I called you many times. You can call me baby. You can call me anytime, you got to call me.

Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Said I don't want to leave you lonely. You got to make me change my mind.

I don't want no one to squeeze me. They might take away my life. I don't want no one to squeeze me. They might take away my life. I just want someone to hold me. Oh and rock me through the night.

People started to gather around Naia as she sang. When she looked towards the bar, she winked at Layla. Layla mouthed the words “next drink is on the house.”

This youthful heart can love you. Yes and give you what you need. I said this youthful heart can love you. Oh and give you what you need. But I'm too old to go chasin' you around. Wastin' my precious energy.

Give me one reason to stay here. Yes and I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Give me one reason to stay here. Oh I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Said I don't want to leave you lonely. You got to make me change my mind.

Baby just give me one reason. Oh give me just one reason why. Baby just give me one reason. Oh give me just one reason why I should stay. Said I told you that I loved you. And there ain't no more to say.

When she finished the applause was thunderous. She had everyone on their feet. When she looked out on the crowd, she saw a visibly angry Dylan. Naia smirked and winked at her, which further infuriated her.

When Naia walked back to the bar, she got the feeling someone was watching her but she didn’t know who that someone was.

“Soooooo…how was that?” Naia asked Layla as she reached the bar.

“AMAZING! Now if you can beat her brother at pool, the bar is on the house.” Layla replied.

“Sold!”

“Well get to it girlie! Because you’ve been eyeing that bottle of tequila over my shoulder since you got here.”

Naia snickered then took off towards the crowd gathered around Tyler. As she went to WB w the crowd was she got the same feeling that she was being watched. And she was indeed being watched. Trent was tuned into her movements even through his blindness.

“Well this looks like fun!” Naia says as she reaches the pool table.

“Go away! Nobody wants you here!” Dylan hissed.

“What’s the matter princess? Scared I’ll beat your brother like I beat you?” Naia teased.

“You can’t beat me!” Tyler huffed.

“Wanna bet?” She asked him.

“Sure. How much are you willing to lose?”

“Since I beat your sister:  $1,000.00.” She replies. She didn’t think he’d take her seriously.

“You’re on! Best 2 out of 3?” He asks.

“Then you’ve got yourself a game.” She replies.

Once the balls were lined up and it was up to her to break. She got stripes while he got solid.

“Let’s go!” She tells him.

The two were evenly matched with the first game going to her and the second going to him. And it all came down to the last game. Naia had an impossible split. Or so that’s what Tyler and the crowd that was gathered around them thought.

“I’ll make you a deal new girl. If you bank this shot, I’ll up the bet from $1,000.00 to $3,000.00.” He said to her.

“Deal!” Naia replies.

Naia tucked a hair that out of place behind her ear, lined up her shot and sank both balls. Beating a very stunned Tyler.

“TAKE! THAT!” She squealed.

“But! But! I…we…” Tyler stammers as he goes pale.

“You lost just like your sister? Yeah I know. Now pay up!” She told him.

That’s when Dylan jumped into Naia’s face.

“You cheated!” She screeched.

“No, your brother ran his mouth and lost. And now he has to pay up. So give me my money!” Naia yelled back.

When Dylan reared back to slap Naia, Trent caught her hand.

“Hey! Let go T!” Dylan yelled.

“We’re not doing this again. Now Tyler pay the lady her money. You know you have it.” Trent said in a stern voice.

There was something about him that caught Naia’s eye.

“My dad will kill me if I pay her!” Tyler whined.

The twins looked at Trent with puppy dog eyes. But he didn’t budge.

“You’re no fun, T!” Tyler whined.

“Don’t care. Now pay her!”

Tyler groaned as he pulled money out of his pocket then handed it to Trent.

“Here!” Tyler pouted.

Trent took the money and handed it to Naia. When their hands touched, it set off a spark inside her. The same kind of spark she felt with Roman.

“Sorry about those two. They don’t know how to lose gracefully.” He said to her.

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks for getting my money.” She replied.

Trent turned to the twins then said, “beat it you two! We don’t need anymore trouble.”

The crowd dispersed after the twins huffed then walked out. And Naia found herself back at the bar gushing with Layla.

“Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyyy God! Look at this! I just won $3,000.00!”

“I can't believe you did that! No one has ever beaten the twins. Their dad will be so pissed that they lost that kind of money.”

“In the words of T.I. ‘it ain’t tricking if you got it!’”

They two laughed.

“Okay but in all seriousness, thank you! It’s about time that someone brought those two out of the clouds. So here’s your brand new shiny bottle of tequila!” Layla said as she gave Naia the bottle.

“Thank youuuuuu!” Naia squealed.

Just then Trent called out.

“Layla! Another round?”

Layla groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Who is that?” Naia asked.

“That’s Trent. He works for the twins dad.” Layla replied.

“Is he their bodyguard or something?” Naia asked.

“No but he’s always around when those two cause trouble. Let me go fill their orders.” Layla replies.

“Okay. I’ll be here with my brand new bottle.”

Layla shook her head and headed off towards Trent and his crew. Naia couldn’t help but look the same way. Her eyes instantly went to Trent. He was beautiful and there was something about him that stuck with her.

He enchanted her and what she didn’t know was she did the same for him. After the bar closed, Naia began walking back to her uncle’s house. She got halfway down the street when Trent caught up with her.

“Hey!” He said to her.

“Hi! How are you?” She replied.

“I’m good. You must be new in town. I’m Trent.”

“I know. Layla told me your name. I’m Naia.”

“It’s nice to meet you Naia.”

“Likewise. It’s nice to meet another friendly face outside of Layla and my uncle.“

“It’s dark out here. Mind if I walk you home?” He asked.

“Sure. Especially when I’m not sure which way to go.” She replied.

“Where does your uncle live?” He asked.

“Just outside of town. His house backs up to the woods.” She replied.

Even though it was nighttime, he flashed a smile at her that made her heart leap. As they walked they talked about what their lives were like growing up, what college life was like and past loves. She had just met him but she felt she knew him her whole life. When they got to her uncle’s front door, they weren’t ready to say goodbye.

“So this is me…”

“So it would seem. Thank you for letting me walk you home.”

“No thank you. Because I probably would’ve gotten lost and would’ve wandered around the woods for days.”

“I think you would’ve found your way home.”

There was a magnetic pull between them that neither could deny. Before either knew what they were doing, they kissed. It was a slow, sensual and deep  kiss. And when it ended both were desperate for more.

“Wow!”

“What you said.”

“I better get inside.”

“Will I see you again?” He asked.

“Of course. I’ll be here for a while.” She replies.

“Good. Have a good night Naia.”

“Goodnight Trent.”

When she went inside her heart was racing. And she wanted more. She wanted him. This was the exact same way she felt when she kissed Roman.

The next morning after showering, she was in the kitchen fixing herself breakfast. 

Her uncle still hadn’t returned from fishing. She had just sat down to eat her breakfast when the front door swung open. It was a man and a woman. They were two of the people she’d seen with Roman.

“Come! The ceremony awaits you!” He commanded.

“1.) no. 2.) WHAT THE HELL?!” Naia replies.

“We’re wasting time! Come now!” The woman demanded.

“What the hell? Get out!” Naia screamed.

When the woman went to grab Naia, she danced out the way. That’s when the man grabbed Naia and threw her over his shoulder. He dragged her out of the house, with her kicking and screaming.

“Let me go!” She screamed.

She struggled to get free but he was way too strong. She was thrown in the back of a van and a hood was placed over her head. Naia had no idea where they were taking her. And she was terrified of finding out.

[medeafive]

Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov Characters: Natasha Romanov (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Clint Barton, Nick Fury, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Sharon Carter (Marvel) Additional Tags: Vampires, I only write AUs now don't ask, Vampire Hunters, Going for dark and gritty here, Set in Prague because I love it, Suicide mentions, Late 90s Summary:

She's good. Really good. She's done this longer than almost anyone else and no one tracks vampires down better than her. That's the only thing that matters. Hunt and kill. He has white eyes and a black cloak. He's either an impostor or, judging by the color of his eyes, the most dangerous vampire she's ever met. And he's not going to leave her alone.

He's in and out. She got him to the place, his place, not much different than one of her apartments, but he hasn't opened his eyes since. She pulled all the curtains already, before the sun even comes up, and now she's sitting at the bedside, staring at the gray skin of his face dissolving.

No, she has to. She takes the knife and cuts her finger, holding it over his mouth. He twitches when the first drop of blood hits his lips. The second drop and his tongue darts out, licking it up. She presses out more. "James? You hear me?"

He groans, licking up more. "Blood."

She lowers her finger so he can lick it, then puts it into his mouth. His tongue darts over the cut again and again. "I can give you more," she whispers. "Just say it."

He nods weakly, sucking on her finger. She breathes in and takes the blade to her palm. Stings. He laps it up eagerly. His skin still looks awful, red blisters, open wounds, gray colour.

He's careful not to suck too much but she can tell he's hungry. They sit there until the sun goes up, until the cut in her palm starts closing. His head drops back, eyes closed. She should tell the others where she is, before they get worried. She texts Clint that she's fine but she won't be back soon.

He really looks bad. She's worried. She grabs a water bottle, finds she's thirsty herself and drinks before nudging his head up to do the same. Spills a lot but they work it out. "Better?" she asks quietly. "Do you want more blood?"

He groans, head dropping back, swallowing. "Don't wanna- don't wanna hurt you."

"I'm fine," she assures him. "I've got enough blood."

His nostrils flare. She takes the knife again, cutting her other palm. He laps it up greedily, tongue sliding over the wound again and again. His skin is not getting any better. Damn, she should stop worrying. When he's done, she gives him more water. He closes his eyes, head resting on the pillow, slurring his words. "I'll sleep. Don't- don't worry."

He's out so quick. She goes to the bathroom, drinks more water. No food in the apartment. She drops the blinds on the window where the sun is indirectly streaming in. She's hungry but also sick with worry. He's totally asleep, not even breathing. The skin comes off in big chunks. She dials.

"Hey?" Bruce asks. "Natasha?"

She sighs, walking over to the kitchen and closing the door behind her. "Hey. It's me."

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, yeah." She rubs her eyes. "Me, yeah. But he- he got hit with a UV light and his skin is literally falling off and I don't know what to do."

"Is he dying?" Bruce asks.

She groans. "I don't know. Do you- do you have any idea what I could do? To help him?"

"I don't know anything about vampire medicine," Bruce replies hesitantly. "Do you have- could you do a blood transfusion? With vampire blood?"

She has some left, but that's hidden in her room in the tower. "No. I gave him some of my blood. And water."

"Be really fucking careful with that," Bruce advises. "Your health comes first. Are you at his place?"

"Yes," she replies, not thinking about the implications of whether it's really his place.

"Check whether he has any specific chemicals around," Bruce orders. "He'd probably know. Formaldehyde has been a theory of mine."

She digs around. There are some syringes in the fridge. Checks the label. "Yeah. Formaldehyde solution."

"You could try injecting him that," Bruce suggests. "Maybe ask him first. Is he awake?"

"Not really," she mutters, closing the fridge. "Okay, I'll try. Thank you, really."

"No problem, Natasha," Bruce replies.

She hangs up and walks over into the bedroom. His eyes open. "Oh. Found it."

She sits down on the bedside again, careful with the syringe. "Does this help?"

"Yeah," he rasps. "But I'll be fine anyway."

She snorts, staring at the skin peeling off. "You don't look fine."

"If you could-" He closes his eyes. "That would be great. Neck."

He turns his neck carefully, where the skin looks less bad. She breathes in, leaning over him. Puts her hand on first, to warm him up. He hisses slightly when the needle punctures his skin.

She caresses his hair. Her stomach's still churning. He closes his eyes. "Mhm. I'll sleep again. Don't worry, really."

He's fast asleep almost immediately. She pulls all the blinds, flooding the room in darkness, and returns to the kitchen, putting the empty syringe back. She's really hungry but she can't go out like this. Fighting suit. Vampire blood on it. She locks herself in the bathroom, dousing the suit down, then climbs under the shower herself. Tired. She's tired. Low battery. Stays under the shower really long.

She slips into the dark bedroom, trying to find a stash of clothes of some kind. Doesn't have night vision, though. She bumps into something that drops to the ground noisefully. Fuck. The bedsheets rustle. "Mhm. Hey."

"Hey," she replies. "I'm looking for clothes."

"Left," he says. "Lower. Yeah, in there."

She pulls out something that feels like a shirt and something that feels like tactical pants. "Got it. I'll head out to get something to eat. Are you going to be okay here?"

"Yeah," he replies. "Thanks. Don't worry."

"You keep saying that, it's not really reassuring," she remarks, making her way through the darkness back to the door. "Should I get you anything? Not food but… anything?"

"No, don't think so," he states. "Maybe water, but not really."

"You still got almost a dozen bottles," she agrees. "Okay. Sleep, I'll be back soon."

The shirt is too big, which was not really a problem but looked kinda weird, and she rolled the pant legs up and tied them around the waist with her garotte. The woman in the bakery looked very suspicious of her but when she ordered with a nice fangless smile, it was okay. Kids these days. She wonders whether she looks young still.

She eats two rohlíky before she's even back, and it feels great. The bedroom is still dark. She opens the door, indirect light streaming in. He's asleep. She grabs another rohlík and sits down on the bedside. His eyelids flutter. "Mhm. Oh. You're really back."

"Where else would I be?" she asks, chewing. The skin is still coming off in gray flaps the size of her thumb, which is not very appetizing, but she's hungry. "You don't look better."

"It's better," he insists, pulling one of the skin flaps off, the new skin beneath still rosy and thin but intact. "Just have to shed the dead skin first."

"Urgh." She shudders. "I could swear I was hungry just a few seconds ago."

"Sorry." He sits up slightly. "I should let you eat. Uh, one thing though."

"I'll go over into the kitchen," she says. "Yeah?"

"When you came over, before you went out," he starts. "Did you not think I would wake up or did you just not care that I can see in the dark?"

She shrugs. "Didn't care."

"Okay." He leans back again. "Feel free to go eat. I'll… I'll deal with this."

"Thanks for reminding me," she chastises, getting to her feet. "Just what I wanted to hear before my meal."

She eats two koláčes, too, and drinks an entire bottle of juice. The cuts in her palms have formed scabs. She hears him go to the bathroom at one point but doesn't pay attention to that. The sun goes down again. He's back in bed when she returns, most of the gray gone from his skin, though it's still open at some points, crusting with dark blood. "You're really tired, aren't you."

"Yeah." He shakes his head. "You know, you really don't have to stay. I'll be fine."

"Come on," she replies, pulling the blinds up. "Like I'd be super busy otherwise."

"I should probably sleep some more," he states.

"Yeah." She walks back to the bed, sitting down. "You look better, though."

"You were really worried, weren't you?" he asks.

She snorts. "Yeah. Of course. You idiot."

"Prime chance to get rid of me," he remarks. "And you missed it."

"Didn't just miss it," she specifies. "Hit it on the head with a hammer. Smashed its skull in. Tore its heart out."

He grins, fangs peeking out. "You got him, right? The second one."

"Put a silver bullet in his skull," she says. "That usually works."

"Yeah," he agrees, head dropping back on the pillow. "Usually."

The skin is still coming off in places. She doesn't want to tear on it, though. His eyes are red and swollen. She strokes over his hair, which is remarkably soft. "You really had me worried there," she mutters. "Don't die on me. I've already lost too many."

"Won't," he whispers, pressing against her hand. "Promise."

She leans over and kisses him softly, lips cold at first but warming up quickly. Strokes his face. His fingers come to tangle in her hair, she feels the claws. She bites his lip carefully, making him groan. She swings a leg over, his hands come to her hips, she presses her entire body against him to turn the cold block of stone into a living, breathing human. It becomes hot very quickly. She likes how his body responds to her touch, how he comes alive, it arouses her. She kisses him heatedly.

He pulls her in, strong, against him, arms wrapping around her. She feels the cold metal parts. That and the fangs. Everything else is human. She rocks against him, open-mouthed kisses, he groans again, rumbling in his throat, breathing her in constantly. His fingers dig into her back, release before the claws come into play. She pushes up slightly, catching her breath, looking down at his face. "You're not going back to Schmidt," she whispers, caressing his cheek. "You can't go back to him."

He groans, pressing her hips down against him. "I don't wanna go back. Ever."

"Come with me," she purrs, pressing little kisses to his jaw. "Join us. We'll figure it out together."

"Figure what out?" he asks. "They'll only try to kill me."

"They won't," she replies. "I promise. Please. We could get rid of Schmidt."

"He's too strong," he says. "They are too many. We'll all get killed."

She sits up. "I'd rather die than watch you go back to him."

He sighs, rubbing his eyes. "I can't ask that of you."

"You don't have to," she replies. "I'm a hunter. I already signed up for hunting vampires until I die."

He snorts. "Right. Great."

"They're better than you think," she says. "And if there's a chance we can get Schmidt… Everyone in their right mind would take it."

He closes his eyes. "I'm too tired for this."

"Sure, sleep," she agrees, moving off of him. "I should maybe go home, before they really start worrying. That is, if you don't need anything."

"I'm good, really," he replies. "Go home. I can take care of myself."

She pecks his lips again. "Get well soon. I'll see you."

"We're going for a run," Pepper announces. "Do you want to join us?"

She's no good at running. "Yeah. Sure. Just a second, I'll change."

Running in the evening has to be well-planned in order not to go over sundown so most people run in the morning, especially in summer when the sun comes up around four or five a.m. Still not many people, though. You can do without a lot of things when they're risky.

Sharon and Pepper look way more professional when she comes down onto the street, stretching and talking. "Oh hey," Sharon says, ponytail whipping around. "There you are. Is by the river fine?"

"Sure." She shakes her hair out, tying it together, ignoring the nervousness.

"I have to say, I quite like Prague," Sharon remarks, running off. "Everything I've seen so far."

"It's pretty run-down, though," Pepper objects. "Not like Munich, I imagine."

"I mean, it would be even nicer if they renovated some houses and the plaster wasn't peeling off everywhere," Sharon acknowledges. "But still, it has flair. History. Just the powder tower, I really like that sort of thing."

"Then it's good that you're here," Pepper concludes. "So, Nat. Bruce said you had to play nurse."

She hates running and talking. "Oh. Yeah."

"The UV lights are getting more and more common," Pepper remarks. "Especially in the wealthier neighborhoods. Maybe that will turn the tide in the long run."

"He looked burnt," Natasha breathes.

"Oh yeah," Sharon agrees solemnly. "Those UV beams are really effective. You have some in your suit, Pepper, right?"

"Yes," Pepper confirms. "Though they are a little too slow for a fight. There are many around the tower, though."

"Traps," Natasha remarks.

"I mean, I'm sure it's not great for him," Sharon relents. "Do you have a name for him, by the way?"

"Winter Soldier," Pepper supplies. "But nobody actually calls him that."

"James," Natasha feels compelled to whisper.

"James," Pepper repeats. "And I understand if you take his side on the UV lights but we just have to keep us safe."

"I'm not taking his side!" Natasha protests.

"Yes, you are," Sharon says in the most friendly annihilating tone. "And that's okay. As long as it's not endangering us."

Natasha groans, slowing to a walk. "Could we- just slow down a bit?"

They drop in line with her, hardly increased breathing. Oh, this is worse. "You clearly have a special relationship," Sharon points out. "Unheard of. And that's very useful, potentially."

She really doesn't like this. "But your safety is still more important," Pepper stresses. "All of our safety. Don't take this the wrong way, but in the end, he's… still a vampire."

Natasha comes to an abrupt halt. "You know what, I'm going back. Not feeling well."

They exchange a knowing look, which is the worst. "Are you sure?" Pepper asks.

"Yes," Natasha returns, turning on her heel. "Don't mind me. Enjoy your run."

She doesn't react to the first knock. The second knock either. "Are you okay?" Clint's voice asks.

She groans loudly, staring at the ceiling. "Can I come in?" Clint asks.

"Just a second," she calls, blinking as if that would help. "Okay. Come in."

The door opens. Clint leans in. "So."

She groans again, sitting up, rubbing through her hair. It's a mess. It's all a mess. "You think you're making a mistake," Clint observes.

As if it were that easy. "Maybe. I don't know. Just- I think I care too much. I shouldn't. I really shouldn't."

"Yeah, well," Clint remarks. "Can't exactly turn that off."

She scoffs, pulling the sleeves over her palms, hugging her knees into her chest. He walks in, pulling the door closed. "You cut yourself, didn't you."

"He was dying," she hisses. "Well, maybe he wasn't, but he pretty much looked like it."

"And now you're defensive about it," Clint points out.

She groans again. If only he were wrong. "What about it?"

"Look, this job is merciless," he says. "And this world is merciless. So when it gives you something nice for a change, no matter how twisted… maybe you should just take it. Carefully, but take it."

"I had nice things," she remarks. "They all died."

He snorts. "Let me tell you, life is too short to let nice things pass you by. Too short not to get attached. Learned that the hard way."

"I'm sorry about Bobbi," she states.

"Don't be," he says. "I fucked that one up. Thoroughly. Not getting another chance. So don't fuck yours up, too. You don't want to end like me."

"Great advice," she remarks sarcastically. "Was there anything you wanted, other than moping?"

"We're having a strategy meeting," Clint explains. "I mean, if you wanna. It's just the fate of the city. If you'd rather mope."

She groans for the last time, swinging her legs off the bed. "Coming, coming. Gimme a second."

"Oh, yeah," Clint remarks. "You should take a second to fix your hair, too."

"Wilson and Stark spotted a hunting party around the Rieger park," Fury states, pointing on the map. "Here. Three vampires, all male. There must be a hiding place somewhere."

"Yeah," Tony interrupts, drawing a circle around. "Somewhere in this area."

"We should run recon," Pepper remarks, twisting her earlobe in concentration. "Before we engage. If we engage."

"Obviously," Fury states. "Three trained killer vampires is a big deal. We're not moving in before we've shined a light up their asses from all directions."

"The television tower is here," Clint points out. "Here's the School of Economics. Train station."

"It's really close," Sam remarks, rubbing his neck. "It bothers me we didn't spot them earlier."

"Maybe they moved," Sharon suggests. "Hunting parties do that every once in a while, to draw less attention."

"Romanoff," Fury demands. "Are you up for it?"

She doesn't feel up for it. "Yeah. Sure."

"Take Carter with you," Fury orders. "And either Barton or Wilson. You'll stake out there every night until you know their habits in and out. Don't engage. Hide your scents-"

A door slams closed somewhere above.

Everyone tenses up. There's steps, almost silent. They're hardly armed, though. The steps come closer. The black cloak sweeps down the stairs, slowly, carefully.

His skin looks better, though still crusted and red in places. He stops after the stairs. Nobody moves. His eyes hitch on her briefly, then move on around.

"Hello," he says. "I'm afraid I need your help."

[redcrossroads]

With You I'll Stay As You Allow Me To Remain

Summary: Mana’s suffering from nightmares. Allen decides to do something about it because the man’s misery is contagious.

Nightmares are a common occurrence. A constant companion of Mana’s much like Red—Allen, he’s Allen now, he reminds himself, hoping it will stick soon—himself is. Every other night ends up with Mana whimpering and crying. Stricken beyond belief from something that isn’t even real or at least nothing but a mere memory.

It pisses Allen off.

Like a bad reminder of the time he spent in that hellhole of a circus, he finds himself scowling and frowning more often as days pass. He recalls going out at night to catch the man sitting by himself in the cold, curled into a ball so small and full of misery even Red couldn’t help the tug of pity inside his chest.

Unlike then, he can’t justify ignoring the obvious anguish of the man with the excuse of him being a stranger.

As convenient as it would have been to be in denial, Allen isn’t a liar, no matter what that Bastard Cosimo insisted upon, so there’s no point in denying the inevitable. Seeing Mana upset makes his insides twist into a tangled heap which makes him lose all appetite.

Allen loved eating more than anything, yet remembering Mana’s shaking, the wideness of his eyes, the haunted expression on his white face turns his stomach inside out and he finds the thought of eating whatever they decided to eat on that day revolting.

He blames it all on Mana’s weirdness. The way he smiles like a lunatic most days, trying to think of new tricks to practice and babbling on about things Allen pretends to listen to even if he understands nothing of what is said. How he would try to keep his hold on Allen’s hand, ignoring the bristling and the curses while swinging their joined hands with the joy of a kid on Christmas morning. It was all so irritating, Mana’s patience, the kind words he had to spare for everybody. But the man took him in despite the rough edges and foul language he so dislikes and Allen still finds it hard to believe he’d gotten to tag along at all, much less to find the man trying to take care of him.

So, it’s unacceptable for Mana to be sad and try to hide it when Allen can do something about it.

“You can’t stay up all night long, Allen!”

“Watch me.” Allen says with a snarl, because even half blind, the dark circles underneath Mana’s eyes would have been visible like bright bold letters written across his forehead. Not a stranger of exhaustion, Allen doubts he’s ever felt tired like Mana had these past few days.

“It’s not healthy.” Mana chides, voice soft and in the dim-light of their fire, he looks so old. Wrinkles prominent in his face, lips pursed into a weak parody of a half-assed smile, he looks into the fire with unseeing eyes.

“It’s not like I could sleep with all the ruckus ya make while yer sleep.”

Allen wrinkles his nose, giving the man a dirty look as he crosses one arm over his chest. Mana blinks, startled if the sudden alertness of his gaze means anything and he actually turns to look at Allen now, instead of dozing off inside that head of his.

“Pardon?”

“Don’t act all innocent,” Allen glares, because the ache in his chest burns when he thinks back to the tremors wrecking Mana’s body in the night and how long it had taken him to calm down after shaking him awake. He’s no fan of waking up to terrified screams.

“You’re havin’ trouble sleeping. With all your turning and yelling it’s not like I can sleep either, so I might as well be useful if I have to stay up all night.”

He expects Mana to brush the issues off with a joke, to say it’s no problem, silly Allen, he’s being harassed by bed bugs lately, he has no reason to worry but it’s cute he does in that cooing voice of his, which never fails to make Allen flush to the shade of his hair as he hurls one insult after another at the man for daring to embarrass him.

The reaction he anticipates isn’t the one he gets.

Mana laughs, a sudden sound full of amusement and warmth, and it makes the shadows disappear on his face like sunlight chasing away rainy clouds. Shoulders shaking and eyes twinkling as his lips quirk up Allen gapes for a moment, speechless at the turns of events before he explodes.

“What the hell is so funny, stupid Clown!? Are ya laughing at me?”

Jaw and fist clenching as his heart sinks to the bottom of his ribs, heavy as lead and dropping like a stone, he glowers at the man sitting opposite to him.

Stupid! So, stupid. I should’ve known caring would bring me nothing.

“Stop laughing! It ain’t funny!”

He’s ready to throw a rock at the man, when he stops and gets his chuckling under control. Mana directs a soft gaze at him and the smile spreading across his face is genuine and gentle.

The suffocating rage crawling up his neck fizzles out like a matchstick fire in the downpouring rain, leaving behind the smell of burnt wood and smoke drifting off into the air. Wavering in the face of such a loving expression, Allen twists his face into a scowl, kicking out at the burning wood of their fire place.

“I wasn’t laughing at you, Allen.”

“Huh uh.” Giving the man the cold shoulder, he mourns the absence of a stick for poking the flames.

“But I wasn’t!”

Mana insists and Allen may be stubborn, but Mana’s persistence combined with his begging was on a whole other level of thick-headedness. Knowing when to cut his losses, but still sulking Allen squints at the man from beneath his bangs.

Seeing he’s caught Allen’s attention, Mana perks up on his seat, arms resting on his knees, he leans forward, his face gaining a healthy dose of color from the glow of the fire. It brings out the gold in his eyes, another one of Mana’s odd features, and instead of shrinking away from the tall figure looming over him or pushing out his shoulders to seem bigger, Allen sighs, raising a brow to complete his picture of a reluctant listener and leans back.

“What?”

He asks, when the silence continues to drag on. Mana’s habit of staring isn’t as creepy as it used to be but still unusual enough to make him squirm and dig his heels into the floor.

“Nothing! It’s just…I’m happy you care so much.”

Continuing, like Allen isn’t spluttering on his protests, Mana hums, eyes crinkling at the corners as he slaps a hand over his heart.

“Allen used to snap at me quite a lot, always so mean and grouchy, but now you’re being so kind to me, worrying over me it truly warms my heart! I’m so happy I could cry.”

“Don’t even start with that!”

Allen makes a face, because Mana’s dramatic antics are a sign, he’s feeling better, but it’s late and having to deal with them when he knows there’s a good chance Mana could be crying later sets his nerves on edge.

“Listen, if I stay up, I can wake you if you start getting uncomfortable sleeping. There’s not much else I can do to get you to sleep better.”

Mana gives the idea some thought, scratching at his chin and Allen knows from the gesture alone, the man is only doing it to humor him. He ends up being right when Mana shakes his head.

“Thank you for your kind offer, but I couldn’t possible accept this generosity my boy. If you watch over me while I sleep, you’ll not get the sleep you need to grow.”

Oh, bloody hell—

“Well, what am I supposed to do then!? Either you sleep or I won’t.”

He regrets those words leaving his mouth as soon as they’re out because Mana snaps his fingers, grin stretching from ear to ear like he’s got the best idea and Allen knows from last time, the next thing Mana will suggest is going to be utter nonsense.

He’s still holding a grudge over the man forcing him into that stupid clown costume and forcing him onto the walking globe for a show. Falling from that height had hurt.

“Allen could sing me a lullaby!”

“No way.” Short and merciless, he rejects the idea without batting an eye. Not to mention there might be a chance he’ll end up crying if Mana gets him to hum that familiar melody, he’d taught him. Which would happen over Allen’s dead body.

Head falling at the harsh refusal Mana sighs. “I guess you’re still too shy, but we’ll work on that. I’m afraid then there’s nothing you can do.”

Bullshit. Allen thinks, but doesn’t say. There must be something he can do! If he has to take another day of Mana clinging to his blanket like a scared child afraid of the horrors of the dark, he’ll end up pulling out all his hair or he’ll starve to death at this rate.

He’s come too far to give up, so he tries to come up with a way to get Mana to sleep.

Absently rubbing at his eyes, he watches Mana put out the fire to get them ready for their beds. They’re camping inside an abandoned run-down house which is more of a ruin than an actual house with the half-broken roof, but it shields them from the cold and keeps what little warmth they manage to create inside long enough for them to fall asleep comfortably.

Throwing the man, who rolls out their sleeping matts with care a glance, Allen chews on his bottom lip.

“It’s time for bed, Allen~.”

“Alright, stop nagging me already.”

Standing up, Allen kicks of his shoes and pulls off his jacket. The rustling of clothing tells him Mana’s doing the same, of course, neater and actually folding his clothes to put them aside. Risking another glance between his sleeping matt and Mana’s, Allen comes to a decision.

Oh, to hell with this.

Reaching down to lift his sleeping matt, he drags it over to Mana’s, dumping it right beside him before getting his blanket. The stare drilling into his skull is uncomfortable and makes his ears burn. Sitting down on his matt to arrange his blanket, he pulls it up to his shoulder and rolls onto his side, daring the man to comment with a sharp look thrown over his shoulder, he waits for Mana to settle down next to him.

“Isn’t this a nice surprise—”

“Don’t make this weird!”

Allen bursts out as Mana lays down next to him, his shoulder and side brushing against Allen’s back and he knows he’ll regret this in the morning because Mana seems like a person who cuddles like a leech but if this gets him a night of undisturbed sleep it’s going to be worth the mortification. Trying to relax now that Mana’s laying down next to him, knowing he wouldn’t have been sent away hadn’t put a rest to the feeling of anxiety crawling up his spine, Allen closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep.

“If you roll on top of me, I’ll suffocate ya with a pillow.”

“Of course,” Mana’s hushed voice is soothing in the night. The smell of burnt wood, smoke and paint helping him get comfortable in the chilly room. The heat the man emits like a furnace helps to keep himself warm and cozy. “Sweet dreams, Allen.”

“Night.” He mumbles, feeling the edges of sleep drawing him in. He hears Mana’s steady breathing, feels the phantom caress of a hand stroking his hair and the gentle hum of a melody and lets himself fall into embrace of sleep.

The next morning, he wakes up to Mana’s quiet snoring, an arm thrown over his waist resting on his back with his cheek pressed to the man’s clothed chest, his head carefully tugged underneath the man’s chin. It’s a lose but comfortable embrace Allen hesitates to pull himself out of. He decides to let Mana sleep a few extra minutes and denies any snuggling having taken place with vigor.

Mana’s nightmares don’t stop, but they do lessen, so Allen keeps their sleeping arrangement and is thankful for what rest Mana manages to get during the night.

At least, he can enjoy his food again, now that Mana’s nightmares have become manageable.

[runnerfangirl]

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 6390

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV)

Relationship: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood

Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Valentine Morgenstern, Jace Wayland

Additional Tags: Episode: s02e15 A Problem of Memory, Magnus Bane’s Cat Eyes, Warlock Marks (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst

Summary: Magnus didn't know how it happened that fast. One second, he was standing beside Alexander, hands intertwined tightly; and a second later, he was almost killing Valentine by lashing out with his magic.

This was not how Magnus had planned his night going, and most importantly, this was not how he had planned to show Alexander his warlock mark.

When Salted Tears Won’t Dry, I’ll Wipe My Shirtsleeves Under Your Eyes

Alec stood at the back, next to Magnus, as the other Shadowhunters bound Valentine into the chair. The same chair he had tied Magnus and almost let the Inquisitor kill him, in the same room he had pushed Magnus against the wall and didn't believe him.

No, Alec thought, now is not the time. He had to clear his mind and be there for his warlock, now.

Jace was inside the cell with others to make sure that Valentine wouldn't try anything. But Alec had a feeling that no matter how many Shadowhunters were next to Valentine, they were never safe with that murderer in the same room as they are. Alec resisted to the urge to take Magnus into his arms and go back to their home to cuddle with his boyfriend, to keep him as far as he can from the harm's way.

The hazel-eyed Shadowhunter turned his once-again drifted gaze back to his adopted brother and the man who had raised him. It seemed like Valentine was speaking to get to the Jace's nerves as always. Alec wished nothing but his brother to strangle the man to death. A small, satisfied smirk appeared on his lips when the blond boy pulled his arm back, only to punch Valentine square in the face. The man's face turned sideways with the force, and Alec dreaded his brother's actions only when Valentine's eyes locked onto the warlock beside him.

Magnus stiffened and took in a sharp breath when he saw Valentine's eyes trained on him, the same eyes he saw when he had looked for his reflection on the glass, just weeks ago. Memories flooded into his mind when their eyes met and anger enveloped Magnus' whole being. He felt like he could burn the world down if it meant that the man would be dead. He noticed someone had taken his hand in theirs, and then Magnus turned back from his train of thoughts.

The warlock flinched slightly and Alec instantly regretted reaching for his boyfriend's hand. He didn't want to be the reason of Magnus' distress -any more than he was already- but holding his hand was the first thing that came to his mind when Alec saw orange and red sparks coming out from Magnus' trembling hands.

Relief overpowered the regret in the boy's mind when Magnus turned to him and gave the tiniest of smiles.

"It's going to be okay." Alec mouthed and squeezed their intertwined hands as if to say the unspoken words. I'm here.

When the warlock turned his gaze back to the cell Alec followed the motion. Jace was now strapping Valentine's forehead tightly to the headrest of the chair. Everyone in the cell had one of their hands on their blade's hilts, ready to attack the second something went wrong. One of the guards started to wheel Valentine's chair out of the cell and Alec squeezed Magnus' hand instead of talking. It was now his turn to open a portal to Idris. The warlock nodded slightly and flicked his hand, which was not intertwined in Alec's, and the Shadowhunter only felt the whoosh of air before a portal opened with the view of Idris undulating in it.

When Alec was looking for a warlock to open a portal for Valentine's transport, calling for Magnus hadn’t even crossed his mind as an option. After everything that had happened with Azazel's summoning, Alec, as the Head of the Institute, forbade everyone from asking something from Magnus. He was searching for another warlock, but once he told his boyfriend about sending Valentine to Idris, he was not able to talk him out of opening the portal. Alec didn’t want to push Magnus much into anything; it was his decision as the High Warlock of Brooklyn. (And maybe, he also needed to do this as Magnus Bane.)

The second Magnus agreed to help them with Valentine, Alec started to consider everything that could go wrong with Valentine and Magnus being in the same room. Even if he was the most authorized person in the Institute, Alec never left Magnus' side through the whole transportation, as he had planned. The hazel-eyed boy had his seraph blade tucked in his thigh-holster, and there was another dagger hidden in his boots. His bow and quiver were also strapped to his back, already glamoured. Jace was always close to Valentine, partly because he had told Alec that he wanted to be the one closest to him in case he tried something, and partly because Jace was the only person Alec trusted enough to help him protect Magnus if something happened. Almost half of the Institute was in the room of the cell, just as Alec had told them to be; and most of the Shadowhunters were standing between Valentine's cell and Magnus, just as Alec had placed them to stand. All the doors in the room were locked with Alec's stele, and the elevator was shut down. The only way out of the room was through the portal, which would lead them to Idris.

Alec had precautions for every single thing Valentine could do. If he tried to escape, if he tried to fight back, if he tried to hurt Magnus... He hadn't, however, thought about Valentine talking to them.

In his consciousness, Alec had probably thought that someone would gag him to prevent him from talking to anyone. When he saw Valentine being wheeled out of his cell, his eyes locked on the spot between the portal and Magnus with a dangerous smirk on his lips, he was both swearing to himself and the other Shadowhunters for not thinking about gagging the prisoner. Alec was watching Valentine cautiously, ready to strike any second, and he was still holding Magnus' hands to encourage both himself and his boyfriend.

Nothing happened until Jace brought Valentine's chair in front of the portal, but the second they came to a stop before Alec and Magnus, the boy detested every single second he hadn't used to prevent Magnus from coming to the Institute. Valentine blinked at the portal with a smirk, as if they weren't sending him to his death, and then turned to Alec with a wider smirk on his lips.

"Alexander Lightwood," said Valentine, in a tone you would tell a tale. "Robert and Maryse's eldest child. Now, the Head of the Institute, as I see. Lightwoods have always been so loyal..." He let out a sigh. "I have no idea how their son came out to be a fag who's dating with a filthy warlock. Much less, how he became the Head of the Institute."

"Don't you dare," Alec growled and his hand reached out to the hilt of his sword. He squeezed Magnus' hand, and unconsciously, he pushed the warlock behind him. "You don't get to talk about him."

Deep down, Alec knew that was what Valentine wanted. To get him angry, to get onto his nerves... But he couldn't care in that moment, he wasn't going to let that psychopath talk about his boyfriend. Valentine turned his gaze towards Magnus before he started to talk again.

"Disgusting warlock," he spat out. And in the same moment, Alec took his blade out and Jace pulled Valentine's bindings tighter with a growl. "Shut up!"

Valentine continued, not caring about the blade Alec pointed at him. "Useless creature... In need of a weak Shadowhunter's protection to survive. I'm so glad that I'm out of your hideous body. I'd never rather be a half-demon, even if it gives me my freedom."

Alec was tempted to kill Valentine right there, right now. He was about to tilt his sword and rest it right under the man's chin, but he stopped when Magnus' hand abruptly left his.

"Don't you dare..." Magnus took a few steps forward. "...talk about that." Another step.

"Why? Are you scared? Are the memories chasing you?" said Valentine with a smug smirk. He lowered his voice as he continued. "Do you still remember how it was to be stuck between four walls? When no one believes you? Are you still haunted by the memories of your boyfriend not recognizing your soul in another body? How he almost let you get killed-"

"Enough!" Magnus shouted, and a ball of magic expanded from his hands through the whole room. Alec was blinded by the blue light for a second; when his vision cleared he saw Valentine struggling to breathe, and dark red sparks of magic swirling around Magnus' fingers. All the Shadowhunters were looking at the two with surprise and horror, some with disgust, but Alec was too busy watching Magnus' encounter with Valentine to notice.

"Are you... going to kill me? Huh?" The prisoner snarled. He didn't seem to be bothered by the warlock cutting off his airways. "In front of all these Shadowhunters? In front of your boyfriend?" He spat out the last word as if it left a horrible taste in his mouth. "Go on, kill me! Show them what a demon you are!"

Magnus thrusted his hand out, palm facing Valentine, and made the man's back smack to the chair. Alec heard a sharp intake of breath and when he looked ahead, he saw the Shadowhunters across the room looking at Magnus with fear in their eyes. Now, Valentine was struggling too hard to form coherent sentences, but the fear Alec saw wasn't caused by that. There was something else.

"Magnus," Alec called out and reached for his boyfriend's hand. In another condition, he would have let the warlock to kill the man without a thought; but now, he had a mission and it was to transport Valentine to Idris, in one piece. "Magnus, stop." The Shadowhunter let his hand rest on the warlock's shoulder, but his boyfriend didn't even seem to be aware of it. "Mags, please, stop." he muttered, and squeezed the man's shoulder lightly to bring him to awareness. When it didn't work either, Alec took a step next to his boyfriend and turned to look at him in the eyes.

His breath hitched, and suddenly, Alec understood why the other Shadowhunters looked so frightened.

Magnus' cat eyes were fully on display and trained on Valentine. Golden eyes were shining with anger and hatred, looking even more dangerous with the red sparks of magic reflecting on them. Alec lowered his hand from Magnus' shoulder to hold his hand and gripped tightly. He let the blade in his hand drop to the floor, and rested his now-empty hand on his boyfriend's cheek, turning his face to look him in the eyes.

"Mags, you have to stop. Please." His words finally seemed to bring the warlock to awareness. Magnus dropped his hands and let his magic vanish into thin air, leaving a heavy-breathing Valentine after him. He took a few steps back, pulling away from Alec's touch. When the Shadowhunter looked into Magnus' unglamoured eyes, he saw pain and fear before his glamour came back up, hiding the warlock's feelings behind two brown orbs.

Magnus opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Noticing his boyfriend's struggle, Alec tightened his hold on Magnus' hand in reassurance and started to draw small circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. "It's okay," Alec muttered, only for Magnus' ears to hear, and gave him a small smile before turning his attention back to Valentine. Without letting the man utter a single word out, he ordered to the closest Shadowhunter.

"Gag him." The guard nodded and walked into the cell, turning back with a rag in his hands. Jace hold Valentine down in case he tried to move or talk again, as the Shadowhunter gagged the prisoner, retaining him from talking. "Take him to Idris," Alec looked at Jace in the eyes. "And make sure that he's in a cell where he cannot escape."

Jace only nodded as an answer. In seconds, he, Valentine and some other Shadowhunters disappeared behind the portal.

The second they were gone, it felt like relief was flooding in the air of the room, making every person let out a heavy sigh. Once Alec made sure that everything was in order, he turned to his boyfriend who was closing the portal, and everything else was now pushed back in his mind.

"Hey," Alec breathed out, not sure how to approach Magnus after what had happened.

"Hey," muttered Magnus back, but he looked like his mind was at somewhere else. The Shadowhunter was about to ask him whether he wanted to go back home with him, however, the warlock didn't let him talk. "I think I'll go home, now. I'll call you later."

By the time the muttered words registered to Alec's mind, Magnus was already gone, leaving him staring at the blue sparks that came out when the portal closed.

~

Alec was pacing in front of the door to Magnus' loft for what seemed like hours. His heart and his mind were having an inner battle, while his feet were dragging him along the carpeted floor. The logical part of his brain was telling him that maybe Magnus needed some time alone, maybe he wanted to be away from Alec for a while; but deep in his chest, he had a feeling that he should be there for Magnus right now, more than ever. A dark part of Alec's consciousness was whispering him that everything was his fault, that he should have been wiser and must have convinced Magnus to stay away from the Institute; but in his gut he knew that it wasn't all his fault, Magnus was the High Warlock, he would have been in the Institute if he wanted and no one could stop him. Alec knew that being boyfriends meant that they should be next to each other, no matter what, and that they should be each other's rock to lean on during hard times. Therefore, he was going to be with Magnus during what he was going through, and would let the warlock lean on him.

Finally, -when it seemed like if Alec took one more step, the carpet would set on fire- the Shadowhunter stopped in front of the door. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a second to gather up his courage, and turned the handle.

First thing he noticed was that the loft was dark, darker than he had ever seen before except for the times the warlock was sleeping. But as he slowly walked inside the loft, he noted that the living room was dimly lit. There were a few candles burning on the shelves and the coffee tables, illuminating the room along with the moonlight. Even though Magnus owned enough lamps to enlighten the whole New York, none of them were turned on, leaving the candles to be the only ones to brighten the night. When Alec got a closer look to the candles on the tabletop, he realized that they were the scented ones Magnus had mentioned before. Aromatherapy and- Alec's thoughts cleared away when he saw his warlock sitting on the navy-blue couch. ...something.

Magnus was sitting with his hands clasped tightly, his elbows resting on his knees. His shoulders were hunched, his head low as if he was trying to hide away from the whole world, but his gaze was locked on the plain wall across the room.

"Mags?" Alec whispered. He had a feeling that he could scare the man away if he spoke loudly. "Mags? Are you okay?"

Of course, he's not, a voice whispered in his mind, but Alec silenced it quickly. He walked through the room until he reached his boyfriend, but not even then Magnus turned to him. The Shadowhunter kneeled in front of the warlock, and with his tall figure, he finally managed to look at him in the eyes. The small triumph he felt, however, vanished when Magnus lowered his head even more and turned his gaze to the floor.

"Magnus. Talk to me, please." Alec cradled the warlock's head between his hands, and nudged his chin lightly to raise his head. He barely managed to hold back the gasp escaping his lips when he saw tracks of tears on Magnus' cheeks. Curling his fingers under the man's chin, Alec pushed down his sleeves on his other hand and gently wiped them under Magnus' eyes. His heart broke when new tears fell down and left trails on the skin he had wiped seconds ago. "Tell me what is wrong, Magnus. Tell me what you're going through..."

Not sure if he was pushing his boyfriend into something he didn't want to talk about, Alec continued to wipe his shirtsleeve on Magnus' cheeks, catching the tears that were falling down the beautiful brown eyes. "I'm here, Magnus," he assured the man. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise..."

Magnus opened and closed his mouth a few times, without letting out a word. Alec didn't say anything and let him take his time to form sentences in his mind. When he heard the warlock's voice though, Alec knew there were tears forming behind his eyelids as well.

"I've never wanted you to see this... terrible, ugly side of me."

"Magnus..." Alec breathed out, trying to blink away his own tears. Once again, he placed both of his hands against Magnus' cheeks and raised his head to be able to look him in the eyes for the first time in that night. He gave himself a few seconds to put his words in order before speaking. "There's nothing ugly about you."

When the Shadowhunter sensed that Magnus was about to shake his head to deny his words, he neared closer to him and placed a quick kiss on his nose. "Believe me, Mags. There isn't a single thing about you that is not beautiful. I don't care what other people think about you, I don't care if they think you're anything but a gorgeous warlock. What I care about is what you think of yourself. And I can't- I won't let you think that there's a terrible side of you. Maybe... Maybe it'll take some time, but I'm here for you. You've always been on my side when I had to go through hard times, and now it's my turn to help you. To convince you, that every single part of you is admirable. Your hair, your glitter... Your body, your soul... Your clothes, your style... Your make-up, your eyes... Your blood, your mark... Everything about you is beautiful, and I love all of them, without an exception. They make you you, and I love you."

"Alexander..." Magnus looked like he was at loss for words.

"Shh, shh..." Alec caressed the warlock's cheek and lowered his left hand to hold his hands that were clasped on his lap. "You don't have to say anything, Magnus. Just know that I'm here, next to you. Whenever you want, I'm here to listen."

Magnus squeezed Alec's hand and looked at him directly in the eyes, as if he could see the Shadowhunter's soul through them. (And Alec sometimes believed that he could.) "I love you." he whispered, and it was enough. Magnus didn't have to say anything else. His boyfriend could hear the meaning behind his words, he knew that there was a hidden thank you in them.

"I love you, too."

Silence fell over them. No one said a word, nothing made a sound. There was just Magnus and Alec, comforting each other with silent gestures, hiding from the cruel world in their cozy home. Candle lights illuminating their eyes, casting a soft glow on their skins. Alec was lost in the warm brown of Magnus' eyes that had captivated him the second he saw them, but... but he also wanted to see the golden, radiant cat-like eyes. He wanted to see Magnus' real eyes, the ones that were the real part of him, the ones that sparkled with specks of green and looked so beautiful, even when they were full of anger.

"Mags?" Alec whispered, his mouth letting out the words without thinking. "Can I see them?"

Confusion was written all over Magnus' face, but Alec knew that deep down, the warlock had an idea of what he had meant. It turned out that his brain-to-mouth filter was still not working. "Your eyes... Can I see you real eyes?"

Too many emotions appeared and disappeared on the man's face, too quick for Alec to figure out all of them. But one look into his eyes before they were turned away, Alec knew he had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry. Shit… I'm so sorry, Magnus, I shouldn't have asked." He grasped Magnus' hands tightly in his until the warlock lifted his gaze to him.

"You don't have to-"

"No," Alec cut him off. "No, I'm sorry. I should not ask that from you. I told you, I'm here and I'm willing to wait, for however long it takes. Even if it takes years, even if you do not ever show them to me, it's fine. They are a part of you, a part of you I think that is beautiful nevertheless, but it's your choice to reveal them or not. I'm so sorry, I never want you to feel enforced into anything. I should have thought before talking. I'm sorry, Magnus."

"It's okay." Magnus whispered, his voice raspy from his earlier crying. His lips broke into a small smile, drawing out an equally sincere smile from Alec. The Shadowhunter pulled at his hands and urged him to stand up.

"Come on, let's go to bed."

Magnus gave a weak nod, feeling satisfied with Alec's hand wrapped around his torso, his thumb drawing small circles on his skin as they walked towards their bedroom. He raised his hand and flicked his wrist, making the candles die out as they passed them and turning on the lights through the hall with a soft, pink glow. From the corner of his eye, Magnus saw Alec's lips curl into a small smile at his choice of color.

They walked to the room in silence. None of them made a sound until Magnus was sitting on the side of the bed and Alec was kneeling before him, just like he was doing minutes ago. The Shadowhunter reached out to take off Magnus' necklaces when he didn't make a move to remove them. His action snapped the warlock out of his daze.

"You don't- You don't have to," he whispered.

"I want to." Alec told him. "Let me take care of you, Magnus, please."

He waited for his nod of approval to take off the jewellery. When all the necklaces were on top of the bedside table, he grabbed Magnus' hands in his and took of his rings one by one, leaving a kiss on his knuckles after his every move. After he was done with the rings, Alec rested his palm against Magnus' cheek. His thumb gently caressed the warlock's cheekbone while his long fingers worked to took off his ear cuff. A warm smile made its way to Alec's lips when Magnus let out a sigh and he leaned into his hand.

They stayed like that for a while, until Alec stood up to leave the jewellery on the vanity. Before he turned back to Magnus, he grabbed a t-shirt and pajama pants from the wardrobe. He sat them on the bed and reached up to undo the buttons of Magnus' red shirt. His hands stilled on the soft fabric, and he looked up to Magnus to see if he was okay with Alec taking his clothes off. When the warlock nodded again, Alec forced his eyes to leave Magnus' loving gaze. He slipped off the shirt from his boyfriend's shoulders, and quickly pulled the t-shirt over his head in case Magnus got cold from air suddenly hitting his naked skin. He did the same with the warlock's pants, while he was watching Alec with love in his eyes, but his mind drifted to somewhere else.

Alec wasn't disturbed by Magnus’ lack of focus on him. He was content with taking care of his boyfriend, with being the one next to him, with being the one comforting him.

After he changed all of Magnus' clothes, he quickly took of his gear and put on a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. He turned off the lights and settled next to his boyfriend on the bed, pulling the covers up until it reached their shoulders. Alec knew it was childish, but he couldn't help feeling save from the outer world when they were lying under the protection of the blanket.

Hesitantly, he brought his hand up and rested it against Magnus' cheek oh, so lightly. The warlock's eyes, which seemed to be locked on a spot between Alec's throat and shoulder, lifted with the motion and brown eyes met with hazel ones. Alec's lips formed a small smile, which only got brighter when Magnus smiled back at him. It wasn't a full smile, only the corners of his mouth were lifted up; but it was enough for Alec, for them.

"I love you, you know that, right?" He whispered, but his voice echoed around the room, breaking the silence.

Magnus nodded without wasting a second. He lifted a hand to hold Alec's wrist, his thumb rubbing small circles on his skin. "I love you, too."

"Va… I'm..."Alec stammered and Magnus could see the conflict in his beautiful eyes.

"What is it, darling?" He whispered, trying not to strain his sore throat.

"It's not... It's not really important. We can talk about it tomorrow."

"No, it's fine. It's obvious that something is bothering you. Tell me, love." Magnus tightened his hand around Alec's wrist in encouragement.

The Shadowhunter seemed to think through his options before he let the words slip out.

"It's... It's about Valentine." Regret filled Alec's eyes when he saw Magnus flinch at his words, but it was too late to stop once he started talking. "Jace had sent a fire message before I came here. He's at the Gard, in Idris, and Valentine is locked up in a cell with dozens of Shadowhunters guarding in front of his room. He'll be accused for his crimes: murdering the Shadowhunters, slaughtering the Downworlders, performing experiments on Jace and Clary, capturing an Angel, dealing with Azazel and..."

Alec let out a sigh and grabbed Magnus's free hand in his, squeezing it in comfort. "And for invading the High Warlock of Brooklyn's body."

"Alexander..."

"No, no, Magnus. I know I keep repeating the same thing, but I'm sorry."

"Why?" Magnus asked, but Alec was not aware of his confusion.

"I-I didn't know if you wanted the others to know about... the incident. Angels, of course you don't. I was just- I requested it to be on the list when they would execute him, because he had brought so much pain to you and I couldn't- I don't-"

"Alexander, listen to me, darling." Magnus leaned in closer to him, making sure all his attention was directed on Magnus. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. I know you did it for me, and for that, I'm grateful more than anything. I'm not sad or angry at you. On the contrary, I want to thank you for it, for thinking of me."

"Of course, I would. I love you, Magnus."

"And I love you, Alexander."

They were both smiling to each other, their smiles brightening up their room, their hearts, and their whole night. Alec's hazel eyes drifted to Magnus' lips before they settled back on his eyes with blush forming on his cheekbones. He leaned in closer to the warlock, but his hesitation was clear as day. He didn't want to do something that Magnus wouldn't like. If he had to wait, then he would for Magnus. But there was no harm in making his intentions clear.

The warlock let out a short chuckle as he lifted his head slightly, closing the small gap between their lips. The kiss was short, only a gentle press of lips against each other; but the meaning was clear.

It was a promise made without using words. It was a promise to stay with each other, to love each other, no matter what. It was a promise to cherish each other even with their flaws, instead of overlooking them.

Even after they parted, they didn't let go of each other. Magnus rested his forehead against Alec's, rubbing his nose against the Shadowhunter's, drawing out a happy smile from him.

"Oh, did I tell you about what I had learned from Isabelle?" Alec's voice broke the silence that had settled around them. He continued when Magnus shook his head, the warlock's curiosity increasing with the new-found excitement in the Shadowhunter's voice.

They talked for hours. (Mostly it was Alec who was talking and Magnus listening, but the warlock was content with that.) Maybe it was because the silence would overwhelm them the second they stopped talking, or maybe it was because they were scared of the nightmares that would chase away their happy dreams.

The topics they were talking about were so random that it made Magnus chuckle, which caused a smile of triumph appear on Alec's lips. On second, Alec was talking about Isabelle's choice of make-up a few days ago; the other, he was talking about how a cat followed him all the way to the Institute for three blocks.

Alec was talking about funny and weird facts to keep Magnus' thoughts away from what had happened earlier that day, and the warlock was fully aware of it. It was making his love for Alec expand, and causing him to feel like he was going to drown in his feelings.

When Alec had told him in the living room that he'd love Magnus no matter what, the warlock believed him with the deepest part of his heart and soul; but after four hundred years of heartbreak caused by revealing his mark, it was hard to overcome his fear and doubt.

But Alexander was different. Magnus knew it, and he trusted the boy with his life. All he had to do was to gather up his courage and reveal his true self to the Shadowhunter.

He could do it. Magnus could leave all the heartbreaks and the years of division between Downworlders and Shadowhunters behind himself. He just needed to trust the boy, and he was already the person Magnus trusted the most.

Magnus closed his eyes, a bit too long which made Alec worry, and when he opened them again, golden colored eyes with cat-like pupils were standing instead of the brown Alec had gotten used to.

"Magnus? Are you oka- Woah..."

The silence that they were so desperately trying to avoid settled in the room and Magnus couldn't help the doubt starting to grow in his chest. Was it a mistake to show Alec his real eyes? Maybe the Shadowhunter had changed his mind. Maybe he thought Magnus' eyes were disgusting when he finally saw them this close. What if he left Magnus after he saw his warlock mark? What if he left Magnus because he was reminded once again that he was half-demon whilst Alec had the blood of Angels? What if-

"Magnus. Hey, come back to me, love."

It was only when he felt Alec wiping away the wetness on his cheeks that Magnus noticed he was crying. In another circumstance, he'd tease the boy endlessly for using a pet name, but now he was trying to collect himself and hope that Alec wouldn't leave him.

"You don't have to cry, Magnus." said Alec and continued as if he could read Magnus' thoughts. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise you. I'm not leaving. I love you, and your eyes. I told you that they are beautiful, and my opinion didn't change. If anything, I think they are even more beautiful up-close."

"Alexander... No one-No one have ever told me that. Thank you." Tears were still falling down Magnus' cheeks, but this time, he knew they were happy tears.

"You deserve to know that, Mags, and I'd be happy to be the one to remind you that every single thing about you is beautiful, gorgeous, exquisite, magnificent, admirable, and all those words that doesn't come to my mind right know."

A deep chuckle left Magnus' mouth and he pressed a chaste kiss to Alec's lips, pulling away too soon for his liking. The Shadowhunter smirked with a mischievous look in his eyes before he suddenly turned on the bed, and in seconds Magnus found himself lying on his back with a certain gorgeous Shadowhunter's body covering him as a blanket.

Under the playful look Alec had, Magnus could see the uncertainty and self-doubt. He nodded lightly, hoping it would reassure his boyfriend and Alec seemed to get the message when he crashed his lips against the warlock’s.

As they kissed, Alec wiggled a little on top of Magnus to find a comfortable position. He was pleased when finally, he balanced his weight on his elbows which were resting next to the either side of Magnus' head, twirling the man’s black locks between his long fingers.

"Do you know what I was thinking?" asked Alec with a husky voice when they finally parted. Magnus would be lying if he said that he didn't like that tone of Alec's voice. The warlock shook his head and waited for an answer, but Alec kissed his forehead instead.

"I was thinking..." Alec started after the kiss, and pressed his lips to the corner of Magnus' eye before continuing. "...that your..." Magnus felt Alec's hot lips on his cheek. "...mark is..." The Shadowhunter finally kissed Magnus where he wanted him the most, and mumbled quietly against his lips. "...pretty hot."

Magnus felt a shiver run through his spine with Alec's words, and he suddenly had the urge to hug Alec and never let him go. Maybe he could lock him up, keep the boy in his loft, and never let anyone near him. Maybe he could be selfish once and keep the Shadowhunter all to himself.

Alec slowly pulled away from the kiss. Magnus instantly noticed the blush covering his face and the shy look he had.

"Magnus... Can I-Can I ask you something?"

Magnus lifted his hand to Alec's face, his thumb caressing the soft skin, the golden pair of cat eyes looking for any sign of discomfort. "Anything, darling."

"Do you... Can I... Uh, I just... I've seen some other warlocks with-with more than one mark. And I was just... I was thinking... Do you have another one?" Magnus felt Alec's feather-like touch against the corners of his eyes. "Other than your eyes?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I do. It’s just... not as obvious as my eyes."

Alec noticed that Magnus had turned his gaze away involuntarily. He placed his hand under the man's chin, gently turning his head to look at him in the eyes like he used to. "What is it?" Alec whispered, his voice lower than before. "You know I'll love it, just like I love your eyes."

Magnus nodded, but there was a silence for a moment before he revealed his second warlock mark. "I-I only have two marks. One of them is my eyes and the other... My other mark is my belly button."

"Why? What is different with it?" Alec seemed intrigued, and Magnus noticed how careful he was with using the word 'different' instead of 'wrong'.

"It's not... different. Actually, my mark is the absence of it."

Alec's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "You don't have a belly button?"

Magnus shook his head instead of giving a verbal answer. He felt his shirt riding up and soon enough, Alec's warm fingers were touching his skin. As always, the Shadowhunter was waiting for Magnus' approval before doing anything. The warlock gave a light nod and with a few blue sparks he unglamoured his mark.

Alec's eyes never left Magnus' while the pads of his fingers trailed around the warlock's abdomen, caressing the smooth skin before stopping at the spot where his navel should have been. The Shadowhunter's thumb rubbed softly against the second warlock mark for a few seconds, and then he shifted down Magnus' body until he settled around his hips.

Gently, Alec lifted his shirt further up and rested his hands sprawled on the sides his chest. He leaned down slowly, only breaking their eye contact then, and placed an open-mouthed kiss on the spot where Magnus should have had his belly button. He felt the warlock shudder when his lips touched the warm skin and when he looked up to give him a small smile, he saw Magnus' cat eyes shining brighter than before with unshed tears.

Warmth made its way to Alec's chest and he tilted his head back down, leaving light kisses on Magnus' torso. He kissed each side of warlock's hips, his belly, his abs, his pectorals... And for the last kiss, Alec pressed his lips on Magnus' chest where his heart was beating strongly under the skin.

He pulled down the warlock's shirt slowly, and got off from his hips. He turned to lie on his side next to Magnus, as Magnus turned on the bed to face him. Alec guessed that he had blinked away the tears before they could fall, because there wasn't any trail of tears left on his cheeks. With a smile, he grabbed the Shadowhunter's hand and held it tightly in his.

They didn't exchange any words after that, and this time, they weren't afraid that the silence would drown them. They didn't need the words now. The small squeeze the warlock would give to the other's hand and the existence of his cat eyes without their glamour were an unspoken “I love you.” to the boy. Alec's hazel eyes looking into the golden ones with pure adoration and his thumb gently caressing the skin where Magnus' belly button should have been were whispering the words back. Their actions were speaking louder than their words, and both of them were content with lying under the protection of blankets, wrapped around each other’s warmth as they were confessing their love for each other over and over again without uttering a word.