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zaebeecee · 2 months

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Blitzø’s 13 ••

Written by @fletchingbrilliant and ZaeBeeCee

Chapter 6: The Technician, the Informant & the Wild Card

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•••

CW: assault kind of?

This chapter is very long, but hey, the gang’s all here!

•••

It only took a few days after their first meeting for Blitzø to realize exactly how little Alastor cared for technology in general. Their list was officially quite short: a tech person, an informant, and a wild card were all they had left, and the Radio Demon had strongly implied he was on the last two.

The tech person, though? That was, apparently, going to be Blitzø’s problem and Blitzø’s problem alone.

It was nearly midnight when he picked up his phone and went to Millie’s contact, tapping her picture and really, really hoping he wasn’t waking her up. Three rings in, she picked up, yawning as she said, “Somebody’d better be on fire.”

“Not exactly,” Blitzø said, holding his phone between his head and shoulder and shuffling through papers on the coffee table. “I was hoping you’d be able to throw me a name or a direction. We need a tech person to deal with all the computer shit. You know the system. Sorry for waking you.”

“Ah, geez,” Millie muttered. She yawned again, and he heard her getting up. “Nah, wasn’t asleep quite yet, s’all good. Uh… yeah, actually, there’s a… there’s this sinner in Pentagram City. A wannabe-overlord that inspired Vox t’ really beef up th’ Palace’s security, not that he’d admit it. Findin’ him’ll be your job, though, I don’t got a clue where he is ‘cept that he’s somewhere in th’ underground.”

“Gross,” Blitzø muttered. “Never been, but I haven’t heard good shit about it. How do I even get down there?”

“Couldn’t tell ya. You’ll prolly need t’ talk t’ someone in th’ Pentagram City mafia, or someone with ties t’ it.”

“…right,” Blitzø said. “Cool. So what can you tell me about this guy?”

Ten minutes later, he hung up with her, finishing up his notes. Okay. Cool. If this works—and I dunno why it wouldn’t—we’ll probably be up to eleven.

He raised his phone back to his ear. “Hey, Moxxie. What would I need to bribe you with to get you to come to Pride, like, right now?”

•

“It is late, Blitzø. It is so. So late. And I am so. So tired. You promised a good reason why I'm here right now.”

Moxxie adjusted his bow tie while he glared at the other imp, stifling a yawn.

“So why am I here?”

Blitzø placed his palms together, giving Moxxie that smile he wore that was so obnoxious and somehow still got him what he wanted so often. “I told you, I’ll make it up to you. But, okay, here’s the deal. I need to get into the underground of Pentagram City and I know you know how to so don’t even try to play dumb, you’re already here.”

“You want me to—” Moxxie stopped before he gave himself a headache, pressing his fingers into his temple. “Okay. Great. I can do that. But… why? What are you looking for that you can only get through the sinner underground?”

“A sinner,” Blitzø said like it was obvious, before he sighed, holding his hands up. “I need a tech genius, and apparently, there’s a guy who’s so good with it that he made Vox increase his security. But he’s basically impossible to find unless you go to him, and that’s where he’s set up shop.”

“He’d better be worth it!” Moxxie said, his voice pitching up. “Do you have any idea how bad a sinner has to be in order to operate outside of the dubious legal structure of Pentagram City??”

Blitzø reached out, wrapping his arm around Moxxie’s shoulders before he could back away. “And do you know how hard it is to find someone who not only can, but is willing to hack VoxTek while Vox is in the building? We need shady, Moxx, unless you’re willing to do some manual overrides.”

“There’s no way I’m trying that shit on my own.” Moxxie rubbed his temple with the hand he could actually move. “I’m with you, Blitzø, I just… wanted to let you know that this is about as stupid as everything else you’ve ever done.”

“I mean, I really just need to get in,” Blitzø said. “If you’re too scared and wanna go home and go to bed once I do, don’t let me stop you.”

Moxxie turned a withering stare onto Blitzø. “You need me in order to get in, yeah. You also really, really need me to actually get anywhere without running into trouble that’s just gonna waste your time. So come on.”

He seized onto Blitzø’s wrist and dragged him off, determined to get this taken care of as quickly as possible and ignoring the way Blitzø actually skipped a few steps as he followed along behind him.

They wound through the narrow streets of Pentagram City’s slums, Moxxie not knowing exactly where he was going, but there were signs that those ‘in the business’ could understand. He had released Blitzø’s hand several blocks ago, and was now focused on the walls of the buildings around them, the demons milling about and what they were wearing, and especially the placement and details of every sewer grate.

Blitzø seemed to be ignoring everything around them, but Moxxie knew him too well; he was looking at everything, and probably planning to extrapolate a lot of information from all of it once he got any details at all from the other imp. “We’ve got to start picking nicer places for our dates.”

Moxxie actually let himself laugh at that. “You know, this kind of thing is both easier and more difficult in Pentagram than it is in the rest of Hell, even just the Pride Ring.”

“Oh yeah?” Blitzø asked, unable to hide the fact that he clearly was actually interested. “Is it because of the sinners, or what?”

“Basically,” Moxxie said, catching sight of a particularly scuffed grate. He crouched down, and saw it had been bolted shut. Previously used, but abandoned. Great. He kept moving. “The sinners have a hierarchical system that runs completely separate from the rest of Hell. Since they can’t leave the Pride Ring, and most hellborn would rather live literally anywhere else—and of course Pride leadership hasn’t exactly been active lately—everything is run completely by the overlords. They gather power, acquire soul contracts, take over massive swaths of the city… and anyone who doesn’t manage to reach the title of overlord has to look to other means in order to operate with any semblance of power and control.”

“That makes sense,” Blitzø said contemplatively. “Never been able to figure out the details of that overlord shit, anyway. Humans make things so fucking complicated,” he grumbled. “…so I’m guessing the non-overlords in charge down there are pretty choosy about who gets in and who doesn't.”

Moxxie nodded, turning another corner and finding what he was looking for. “And not only that, but the Pentagram Underground is the only operation of its kind that actually has to operate, quite literally, underground. Because of the way territory is handled here, it’s the only place they can properly operate without being under the jurisdiction of someone who’s gonna take over their efforts with less than a thought. Here we are.”

He gestured for Blitzø to follow him into a space between two buildings that could only generously be called an alley. They had no choice but to walk single file, Moxxie taking point.

“Cozy.” Blitzø kept close to Moxxie but, surprisingly, was actually minding his hands for once. “So is this a… ‘only people who need to know about this place know about it’ kinda situation, or more of an ‘overlords would probably love to get their hands on it but don’t know how to get in’ kinda situation?”

“Definitely the second one by this point,” Moxxie said, climbing over a large crate that blocked the passage. Everything was so much bigger in sinner territory. “But I'll bet even the Vees underestimate just how much some of these guys can pull off.”

They reached the point where another wall cut off the alley, and Moxxie pulled Blitzø to stand beside him.

“Stay close. I'll get us inside.”

He pulled out his monogrammed utility knife, flipping the blade out and taking a steadying breath. Gritting his teeth, he drew the blade over the back of his wrist, just deep enough to bleed. He flexed the skin a few times to encourage the bleeding, then dipped his finger in the blood and began to draw a sigil onto the weathered stone wall.

Blitzø whistled softly. “Damn,” he murmured. “They’re really not fucking around down here. …didn’t know you were familiar with blood sigils and shit like that.”

Moxxie looked over his shoulder, smirking at Blitzø and feeling his cheeks warm. “It's just a little, you know, dabbling. The family uses them too, so…”

He finished the seal, then looked at Blitzø, cleaning the knife and offering the hilt to him.

“You're gonna have to put a bit of your own blood in the center if you don't wanna die when the door opens.”

“Hey, that sounds relevant to my interests.” Blitzø took it and easily sliced his finger open, touching the center of the seal where Moxxie instructed. Moxxie held back a gasp. There was something about Blitzø that was just so… so…

In an arc around where the sigil was drawn, cracks formed around the wall. As this happened, a dull glow emitting from the cracks, the blood that made the seal soaked into the stone and vanished. With a small nod to Blitzø, both imps stepped inside, the door closing with a dull thud and sealing behind them.

All that lay before them was a staircase that vanished into a dark pit, no clear indication of just how deep it went.

“Ready, sir?” Moxxie asked.

Blitzø smirked. “More than.”

They headed down the steps, descending further and further into darkness. The smell of Pentagram City was particularly pungent down here, but as they went, Moxxie began to smell something else: burning herbs, perhaps, or spices, that could have been someone doing magic as easily as simply someone trying to combat the stench. The base of the stairs led to a narrow and short stretch of stone floor, at the end of which was a door with a vertically slatted window providing the only light they could see.

Blitzø opened it, and they stepped through into a strange sort of sinner’s marketplace. A wide, tall hallway of empty space had been carved out of the ground, branching off in different directions much like the tunnels beneath an anthill, and those tunnels were completely loaded with stuff. Most of the stuff were wooden stalls full of questionable goods or offering suspicious services, sinners and Hellborn alike haggling over items or discussing the terms of agreements that Moxxie didn’t want to overhear. There were those without stalls who instead had blankets laid out on the ground, shouting at passersby to try and draw their attention. At least one sinner was busking as they passed, and a few imp children were weaving through the crowd in a disorganized pack, clearly attempting to pickpocket people. Blitzø smacked one in the head without looking, and they proceeded to avoid the both of them.

Blitzø kept his hand fisted in Moxxie’s jacket to keep them from being separated, looking around as they walked. “Architect… architect… maybe that’s it,” he said, pointing at what seemed to be a doorway carved into a wall and covered by a ratted curtain. Beside it was a wooden sign bearing the carved words: ‘ARCHITECT OF DESTRUCTION, D.C.L.’

Before they could open the curtain, it opened on its own, and Blitzø pulled Moxxie back as a little… thing… waddled up to them. It looked like a very large egg, wearing a black and gold pinstriped suit and a top hat with a red hatband. Two glowing golden eyes peered out from a cracked hole near the top of the egg, and another crack formed what looked like a smiling mouth. “What the fuck,” Blitzø whispered.

The egg cleared its throat before spreading out its spindly arms and speaking in a voice that sounded like a boy deep in the throes of puberty. “Halt! No one gets in to see the Boss without an appointment!”

“…uh-huh,” Blitzø said. “An appointment?”

“Yes!” the egg declared. “Anyone trying to see the Boss without an appointment will immediately meet a terrible and horrible fate of everlasting, eternal doom! Do you have an appointment?”

Blitzø looked at Moxxie, then shrugged and looked back down. “Uh, yeah, sure, why not.”

“…oh. …okay then!” The egg lowered its arms and turned, scampering back through the curtain. “Boss! Your appointment is here! They’re short!”

Moxxie frowned. “I… have no idea what’s going on. You sure this is the right place?”

“No, not even a little,” Blitzø said as he winked at Moxxie, then pushed his way through the curtain and followed the egg, leaving Moxxie no choice but to either enter as well or just stand completely alone in the sinner crime underground.

The room beyond that curtain was somewhat like the interior of a real workshop, if lacking in windows. A long wooden table separated the front of the room from the back; where they stood was almost like a lobby of sorts, with an intricate rug and gas lamps in the walls. Beyond was a scene of organized chaos, work benches and tables and shelves covered in tools and metal scraps and wires and all manner of engineering projects. There were more weird eggs running around, carrying various objects back and forth with no clear destination in mind.

Blitzø and Moxxie stepped up to the front table, and Blitzø drew breath, when a giant serpentine creature suddenly surged up from the other side of the table and towered over them, cowl spread and fangs bared. He was almost twice as tall as either of them, and looked like he could easily swallow them whole. “WHO ARE YOU??”

Moxxie felt a deep, intense fear seize him, and he shrieked, diving behind Blitzø and grabbing onto his coat. Blitzø just leaned backwards, putting some of his weight on Moxxie by necessity. “I’m Blitzø. The O is silent. This is Moxxie.”

“The O?” the sinner snarled over them in a high, hissing tenor. “There is no O in the word blitz!”

“Yes. You get me. Thank you. I’m sorry I lied to your egg about having an appointment.”

“You imps should have thought twice before entering the domain of Sir Pentious, Architect of Destruction! I could destroy you a thousand times over with the machines that sit at my fingertips!! Explain yourselves or face your doom!!”

Blitzø turned his head just enough to mutter to Moxxie. “Have you heard of this guy?”

Moxxie let himself shift his gaze to Blitzø while not moving a muscle. “Honestly sir, I have no idea.”

The sinner slowly lowered himself down towards the table’s surface, still keeping his sharp red eyes narrowed and flicking between the two imps in undisguised, paranoid suspicion. Blitzø nodded slowly. “Okay. Sir Pentious,” he began, placing his hands palm together and pointing forward with his fingers. “I was given your name by a contact of mine at VoxTek.”

Sir Pentious’s eyes, if possible, grew even more narrow. “VoxTek…? What could one of the minions of the Vees possibly have sent you to me for, if not death?”

“Well, actually… she tells me that your work in the field of cybersecurity, specifically fucking that security up, made Vox himself paranoid enough to beef up his digital defenses just so you wouldn’t be able to get in.”

Slowly, Sir Pentious’s eyes widened to large and shining red discs, his cowl drooping around his shoulders; it was somehow one of the cutest things he had ever seen. “Vox had to increase his security measures because of me…?” His face lit into a grin and he spun to look at the eggs, his arms outstretched. “Do you hear that, my minions?! My work is being acknowledged! The Vees can no longer claim they have never heard of me!”

The eggs, who all possessed identical voices, answered with a chorus of, “Good going, Boss!” “We knew you could do it!” “You’re the best!” “I found a bologna sandwich in the vent!”

Sir Pentious spun around, placing his hands on the table and leaning towards them. “I have no interest in working with the Vees any longer,” he hissed. “I will only be spurned so many times!”

“Twelve!” an egg supplied brightly.

“BE SILENT!!”

“No no no,” Blitzø said, visibly suppressing his laughter in the face of the clearly unstable sinner. “The reason we’re here is because Vox is wary of your abilities. He’s currently running security at Lucifer’s Palace, and we’re going to need someone who can get around VoxTek’s security systems. Interested?”

“The Vees and King Lucifer…?” Sir Pentious straightened up, cupping his chin in one hand and looking intensely thoughtful. “I may well be, depending on what sort of shenanigans you plan to conduct.”

Moxxie stepped out from behind Blitzø, feeling it was probably safe enough now that the sinner had become more amicable. “So, are you aware of Princess Morningstar’s upcoming debut?”

When Sir Pentious shook his head, Moxxie patiently explained. “Alright. You at least are aware of how strange things have been, the mystery surrounding the Morningstar’s homestead ever since the, ah… the Queen Lilith Incident?” Thankfully, he didn't need to go into depth about that messy scandal and its bizarre fallout. “King Lucifer has maintained permanent residence at Morningstar Palace since before… that, and has hardly been seen by anyone in decades. Princess Charlie was away for her studies, and training under her mother. Now she's been with the King for a while, and they've begun sending out invitations for her ‘royal debut.’”

“The Princess is making her debut with her father?” Sir Pentious asked, one eyebrow raising. It was then that Moxxie noticed the eye on his hat was moving, and at the moment, it kind of looked like it was frowning. “Strange, I had heard that Queen Lilith… never mind,” he said, holding his hands up and shaking his head.

Blitzø nodded slowly. “So that’s what it’s for. …yeah. The guest list makes sense now.” He looked at Moxxie. “Do you know if Lucifer’s actually coming out of hiding, or seclusion or whatever the fuck? Or is he… passing on his throne or something?”

“That's the crazy thing,” Moxxie said. “Nobody knows for sure. All anyone seems to know is that Princess Charlie is making her official entrance into Hell's political landscape, and that something is going to be revealed on the seventh night of the whole week-long affair. The invite list is long, and it's expected that all of the Deadly Sins will not only be in attendance, but will also be presenting special festivities one by one, each night with a different sinful theme. The night of Pride is the final night.”

Blitzø clapped his hands together. “Badass. So, Sir Pentious, the deal is this.” He turned back to the sinner. “We’re getting a group together to rob the palace during the week of the debut. It’ll screw over Vox’s reputation if we’re successful, and it’ll piss off the ruling class. Interested?”

Sir Pentious squinted in thought. “…let me get this straight,” he said with a hiss. “If I assist you in this, I will be able to publicly humiliate Vox in one of his own fields, best a Deadly Sin, and get paid? Is this your proposal?”

“In a nutshell,” Blitzø said. “Plus, if you don’t agree, I’m gonna have to rely on a recommendation from the Radio Demon and I don’t think he knows shit about this.”

The serpent’s cowl spread again. “Alastor?!”

Blitzø hesitated. “…you’ve met, I guess?”

“Alastor is my sworn enemy!!” Sir Pentious yelled, shaking his fists at the ceiling. “I will not permit him to ignore my abilities again!”

“…I… don’t think he—…”

“I WILL DO IT!!”

“…oh.” Blitzø blinked again. “…well. That’s… good, I’m glad.” He handed Sir Pentious something that was probably his phone number. “Here. Text or call this number so I have yours. I’ll be getting in touch with you soon.”

“Of course! You have nothing to fear, my little imp friends! I, Sir Pentious, shall tear down the walls of Lucifer’s Palace like the stones of Jericho, tumbling from the sky to crush our enemies! GRIND THEM INTO THE DIRT LIKE THE FILTH THEY ARE!!” Sir Pentious swiveled around to his eggs. “Egg Bois! We have much preparation to complete and very little time in which to do it! GET TO WORK!!”

“Okay, Boss!”

Blitzø took the opportunity to usher Moxxie out of the little room, exhaling as soon as they were back in the hallway-like tunnel. “Would you believe that he isn’t the weirdest guy I’ve recruited so far?”

Moxxie cast his wary eyes from the door back to Blitzø. “That both doesn't surprise me, and really, really frightens me, sir.”

•••

Informant. Wild card.

That was all that was left.

Blitzø sighed as he sank into the couch, spreading his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling. “How the fuck do I find an informant?” he grumbled under his breath. Usually, he was the guy who knew things, or at least the one who went to get his own damn information. He’d never had to deal with someone else who collected information.

He was pretty sure he hated it.

Loona was out of the apartment—working, she said, but for all Blitzø knew she could have been on a date or something and he really didn’t need to be thinking too much about how little he knew about Loona’s personal life—and Blitzø felt a little bit lost. He was still keyed up from visiting the Pentagram underground, and Moxxie had been worked up enough that even Blitzø could tell propositioning him to blow off steam wouldn’t end positively.

“Fuck,” he muttered at the ceiling. “I need to get laid.”

But, since that wasn’t happening, Blitzø found the remote and turned the TV on. The screen immediately lit up with that weird VoxTek telenovela about that Gabriella chick and that Alejandro dickwad. “…haven’t watched this in ages,” he muttered, trying not to think too much about the last time he had actually sat through any of it.

He always fucking loved this show. Made me watch six seasons with him.

It was obvious that Gabriella was letting Alejandro get away with way too much bullshit again, and Blitzø found himself completely caught up in the unnecessary yet utterly captivating drama. Zoned out, very close to comfortably numb, he was able to tune out the rest of the world.

This meant that he didn't hear the window open in Loona’s bedroom, nor the door opening and closing with the subtlety of a practiced assassin. He was unprepared, then, when the intruder swept one long arm around Blitzø’s neck from behind the couch. He could hardly put up any resistance when his attacker forced him forward off the couch, splintering the coffee table and sending its contents to the floor.

Blitzø was pinned on his chest, a long and lithe body pressed against him. Knees dug into the backs of his legs. His breath was completely restricted, and the stranger used this opportunity to offer his greeting.

“Hey, Boss. Long time no see.” Something cold and sharp was touching his cheek, offsetting the feeling of hot breath.

Panic wasn’t something that Blitzø felt often, and this was as close as he ever got. His chest burned as he struggled to draw breath, but he wouldn’t show that he was thrown off. He couldn’t. Not to this guy.

His voice was strained, but level, as he managed a smirking reply. “Hey, Striker. Miss me… so bad you… couldn’t knock?”

“Don't be cute, Blitzø,” Striker said, but Blitzø could hear him smirking. “Wanted to make sure I had a chance to make my case. Heard you got out. Heard you're planning something big.”

“Word travels… fast,” Blitzø answered. He managed to turn his head in an attempt to catch a glimpse of his roguish assailant with his better eye. “Not really… making me want… to hear you out, though.”

He caught the glint of Striker’s glittering gold tooth and the sharp narrowing of his eye, one of the features that raised questions throughout Hell as to the demon’s origins. He also saw the dagger he was holding toward his face.

“That's why I figured this was the best way to make sure you listened. Hardly anybody’s got any clue you're going after Lucifer's Palace, don't worry. I just got my ear to the right doors.”

The tip of the blade touched Blitzø's cheek, not quite hard enough to cut just yet.

“I want in.”

Blitzø raised one eyebrow, tipping his head away the bare centimeter that he could. If only he wasn’t laying on his fucking gun… of course, for now, cooperating was his best bet. “I don’t… need an assassin,” he said, baring a few of his own teeth in a sharp grin. “But… you probably already know… that. So what services did… you come here to… offer?”

The way Striker smiled, Blitzø could sense that he'd felt a sense of victory. “I know you ain't got no ears with the blue bloods anymore. But I do. You wanna know what those rich fucks are thinking, what they're planning, their movements… I can get you that.”

Blitzø’s raised eyebrow furrowed slightly at that. “…huh,” he half murmured, half wheezed. “Okay, you wanna… talk, we’ll talk, get off,” he said, rolling his shoulder into Striker. “Unless you just… like this… position that much.”

Striker grunted angrily and shoved back against Blitzø before getting off of him, muttering under his breath, “fuckin’... perverted…” and other irritated complaints. But Blitzø had felt what a hypocrite the hybrid imp was being. “Alright. Weapons up. Let's talk.”

Blitzø snickered, pressing his hands against the broken coffee table and flipping himself onto his feet on the opposite side, facing Striker. He held up one hand, then pulled out his gun from his coat, holding it barrel up with his finger off the trigger. Striker got the idea, and they both leaned down simultaneously, not taking their eyes off each other as they laid their weapons on the broken table and then straightened and backed off.

“So,” Blitzø began, hooking his thumb in his pocket and scratching his cheek with his other hand. “You’ve still got all your… connections,” he said, drawing the word out just a little. “Obvious question first: why offer your services to my possibly doomed little excursion when you could sell me out and probably make a mint doing it, depending on how you handle it? We didn’t exactly part on friendly terms.”

“That's one way of puttin’ it.” Striker laughed, folding his arms, leaning back on one foot with a heavily performative sense of casualness. “But I've only been keeping up those connections in order to make sure it's worth all this ass-kissing to those wastes of flesh. Y'all's people ensured I haven't been able to cash in yet. But I guess it was somethin’ of a blessing in disguise, seein’ as now I'm in the perfect position to do what I really wanna do to those uppity sacks of shit. Money ain't worth nothin’ compared to finally getting even.”

Blitzø shrugged; that checked out. “I can respect that,” he said. “So, other obvious question second: the fuck should I trust you for?”

“Because, Blitzø, we're on the same side. You know that.” He gestured at himself, his expression softer than Blitzø knew it could be. He couldn't tell if Striker even knew how he looked. “I know I look out fer myself above anything else. But so do you. You don't need to really trust me, you just gotta trust that I hate those blue bastards way, way more’n I want their money.”

Blitzø considered Striker in silence for a long moment. He then raised one shoulder in a shrug, closing his eyes for a second. “Well, can’t really argue with you there, I definitely believe that,” he said, looking at Striker again. “Fine. But two things. One: I’m in charge, and as long as you stick to the fucking plan and don’t fuck with anyone else, you’ve got your autonomy here. And two: if my backer decides he doesn’t like you, I can’t really stop him from acting on that.”

Striker gave a large shrug of his own, wearing that cocky smile that was both infuriatingly douchey and infuriatingly sexy. “Sounds fair to me. I ain’t about to fuck with the hand dolin’ out the feed. Not this time anyways.”

“Good,” Blitzø said, folding his arms and looking Striker over slowly. It would be obvious to most anyone else, but with Striker… who the fuck knew? “Gonna be weird working with you while knowing what a sonuvabitch you are. But I guess having all the bullshit out of the way from the word go should make things go smoother, shouldn’t it?”

“My thoughts exactly, Boss.” The taller demon tipped his hat upward. “S’far as I'm concerned ain't nothin’s transpired between us can't be washed away with new bloodshed.”

Blitzø scoffed quietly, but he smirked, tilting his own head back slightly. “That works just fine for me.”

If Striker was telling the truth—and frankly, Blitzø hoped he was—he would be an invaluable asset. He had resources and connections that even Blitzø himself couldn’t understand, and as much as he hated to admit it, the other imp was very good at making the most of what he had.

And if Striker was lying… then he’d be close enough for Blitzø to put a bullet in his head, hopefully before Striker put one in Blitzø’s first.

•••

The large and surprisingly cozy club room was full, nearly a dozen people having gathered over the course of the last twenty minutes or so. Fizzarolli was early, the clown well trained to make sure he was at every engagement before anyone else, whether he made his formal entrance late or not. The address Blitzø had given him was… peculiar, to say the very least. In fact, calling it an address was being generous to what some strange hand had scrawled on a scrap of old paper. It was more like a set of arcane instructions. He was to go to the northern point of Pentagram City, then continue north outside of the city limits, until his cell no longer picked up a signal from any VoxTech towers. There, up a barren hill that dropped off in a sheer cliff on the other side, he had to knock on the empty air. The rhythm he had to knock belonged to some human melody he was unfamiliar with. But it worked, and after he successfully knocked, a massive house manifested before his eyes. It was angular and strange, defying the eyes to figure out how it was staying upright. An old manor house would be the best way to describe it, all dark grays and dull deep wine reds, the colors of dried blood. All the fireplaces and lamps glowed an eerie green, not like Greed hellfire. There were no visible flames, and they gave off no warmth.

The club room was full of antique-looking armchairs and lounges and side tables, the bar fully stocked but all the bottles looked like they hadn’t been touched in decades, totally covered in dust. Fizzarolli had waited by the front door for Blitzø to show up, unwilling to brave the creepy house alone, since no host came to greet him. Blitzø was far more blasé about the arrangement, but of course, Blitzø was a terrible gauge for whether something was creepy as fuck or not.

Fizzarolli stayed close by Blitzø as the others arrived, observing each member of the motley crew his best friend had assembled for this insane plan.

Blitzø hadn’t been alone, arriving with Loona, who immediately found a chair disconnected from the rest of the room and curled up in it with her phone. He stayed close to her, but stood beside Fizzarolli as he went through what looked like a file folder on his cell. “Not worried about being trapped in a room with a bunch of sinners, are you, Fizz? You’re known in Pride too, y’know.”

Across the room, the door opened again, and another imp with white hair stepped in and held said door for a female. She said something to him, and somehow, the male imp managed to smack himself in the head with the already open door. He then looked through the doorway again and practically scuttled out of the way as two sinners came in after them; one was incredibly tall, pretty, and all white and pink, dressed in the bleeding edge of casual high fashion, the other shorter and in ripped clothing, one large eye taking up the majority of her face. The two of them were talking animatedly, and they clearly already knew each other.

“I… I can handle it. Totally.” Fizzarolli watched the sinners enter, trying to force himself not to grab onto Blitzø’s coat. They were so tall, even the shorter woman. “Where the fuck did you find these guys, how do you know them?”

“Uh… well, I adopted Loona— ow,” Blitzø hissed, as Fizzarolli immediately elbowed him in the ribs. The taller imp chuckled quietly. “Sorry, sorry. Those two, I’ve done jobs with,” he said, gesturing subtly between the other two imps. “Most everybody else, through solid tips.”

Another Hellborn entered; he was very tall, and he looked like an imp… but he couldn’t be a full-blooded imp, not with those features. And then, three more sinners entered: a woman with long gray hair who was quite short for a sinner but still taller than them, a winged man with black and white fur who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, and a man who was mostly a very long snake with eyes on both the hood on his head and his actual hat.

Blitzø was muttering under his breath, counting off. “…good, everyone’s pretty punctual. Money’ll do that.” He patted Fizzarolli on the back and gave him an easy smile before he stepped forward and positioned himself so the whole room could see him. “Hey, what’s up, fuckers, glad to see none of you got lost,” he said, loud enough to be heard in the entire room as people settled either in chairs, on couches, or standing in various locations. “As soon as our most gracious host arrives, we’ll get started.”

“Hey, B~” one of the sinners, the really tall one with all the arms, trilled in a very male voice. Blitzø winked at him, but otherwise, actually seemed to be behaving himself.

Fizzarolli shifted, his arms folded, suddenly beginning to feel overwhelmed, and maybe a little crowded. It wasn’t really that many strangers, all things considered, but it took a lot less to freak him out when he wasn’t in character. When he didn’t have the pressure of Mammon’s heel at his back.

Thankfully, it didn’t take very long for something to distract him from his mounting anxiety. A particularly large fireplace sat opposite the bar, also disturbingly empty yet glowing that eerie green light. That light sank into nothingness for a few moments, and the entire group was left in total shadow for several moments before the light returned, and the only thing that had changed was that they had been joined by one more sinner. Fizzarolli shuddered when he saw him. He was smiling just a little too wide, standing in front of the fireplace with his hands perched on a staff fashioned into an old looking microphone. This was definitely the Radio Demon.

“Why is he making a big entrance? I thought this was your party.” Fizzarolli muttered to Blitzø.

“Because he’s a fuckin’ drama queen,” Blitzø muttered back. “Besides, it’s his house.”

The silence had an odd quality. Some people clearly recognized the Radio Demon and were not happy to see him. Some people seemed to have no idea who this weird red sinner was. And one person…

“ALASTOR!!” the serpent sinner exclaimed, surging upwards.

“Shit,” Blitzø muttered before moving forward. “No no no, stop that,” he said, actually climbing onto some furniture to get high enough to grab the sinner by the shoulders. “Sit the fuck down, I’m not going to wait for blood feuds to play out.”

“Blood feud?” Alastor blinked several times, utterly nonplussed. His head tilted dramatically to one side. “You need not worry about any blood feud, dear Blitzø, I have no idea who this fellow is!”

“What— you dare insinuate we have not done BATTLE?!”

“For fuck’s sake,” Blitzø muttered, shoving the serpent down before he crouched over him on the back of the chaise, his tail lashing the air behind him. “Pentious. Siddown. If nothing else, you have to know it isn’t appropriate to murder someone when they’re hosting you.”

The serpent made some kind of noise that was trying to be words, but Blitzø ignored him, placing his hands on the arm of the chaise and flipping off of it. He then turned to face all of them.

“Right. Thank you for the demonstration of the first rule: don’t fucking do that. We’re going to be working together until the end of the party. You can try to kill each other later. Now.” He cleared his throat, then gestured to himself. “You all know me, but in case of head trauma or some shit, I’m Blitzø, the O is silent, and I’ve called you together so that we can go over the plan, you can familiarize yourselves with each other and what skill sets you have at your disposal, and we have time to gather whatever you’ll need to do your jobs. First, you need to know each other, so introductions.”

He gestured to the other side of the room. “I trust you’re all familiar with the Radio Demon, by voice if not by face. Alastor is not only our host this evening, he’s also our backer, which means he’s paying for everything you fucks might need, so play nice.” The female imp made a high pitched tea kettle sound through the hands over her mouth, and Blitzø waved her down.

“I’m truly looking forward to seeing what each and every one of you is capable of!” Alastor said, tossing his microphone from one hand to the other before twirling it and stamping it back onto the ground. “And I’m looking forward to seeing just how spectacularly you all fail!”

“Thanks, buddy,” the tall pink and white sinner said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Blitzø shrugged, smiling easily. “I guess you have another incentive along with your pay: proving the Radio Demon wrong. This”—Blitzø gave Fizzarolli a look that clearly said ‘Fizz I am so sorry, I’m getting this part out of the way’—“is our Face, Fizzarolli. He’ll be your go-to if you need someone to schmooze their way into places you shouldn’t be and can’t discreetly break into, distractions, social cover when operating, that kind of thing.”

It’s okay, buddy. We all do what we gotta do. Fizzarolli stretched his false limbs in high arches over the few people in front of him and landed with a spin and a flourish. It wasn’t much, but he wasn’t being paid (forced) to do anything more.

“Hey, hey, how’s it going nice to meet you!” He waved with his best meet-and-greet smile.

Several people murmured something, a couple of people clapped and looked rather impressed, and the apparently very talkative tall sinner muttered to his one eyed companion, “He’s even cuter in person.”

“Hey, so are you,” Fizz said to the complete stranger, snapping and winking at him.

The sinner blinked large magenta eyes and looked at Blitzø. “Hey, you said no fightin’, but can we fraternize?”

“Knock yourself out,” Blitzø said, gesturing to the female imp as the sinner blew a kiss at Fizzarolli. “This is Millie. She’s the head of security at Lucifer’s Palace and is working alongside Vox for the event, and will be the contact for blueprints, guest lists, room assignments and layouts, and any last-minute changes that might possibly fuck us up. She’s also, functionally, our bruiser, so if you have someone who has shit that you need beaten out of them, she’s your woman.”

“Yer so sweet,” Millie said in a very thick Wrathian accent, waving Blitzø down.

“You’re a bruiser?” the one-eyed sinner asked. “Fuckin’ aces!”

Millie smiled, her bright and charming expression enhanced by the gap in her teeth. “I grew up on a farm out in Wrath, honey, I’ve tossed steers bigger’n some’a yer cars here in Pride.”

Fizzarolli grinned too. Oh man, if I wasn't gay as fuck… He did notice that he wasn't the only one thinking something similar. The small male imp was watching her from a little ways back with huge wide eyes, and he was muttering something over and over again.

Blitzø seemed to have noticed that, too, the way he was smirking as he gestured to the muttering imp. “This here is Moxxie, our pickpocket. Hi, Moxx~” he said with a grin as he managed to get the other’s attention. “Someone’s got something they keep on them and you need it, he’ll get it. Keys, ID cards, phones, rune breakers, anything like that; if you can’t get a key through Millie, you find out who has it and get it through Moxxie.”

“Just don’t ask me to do anything… unnecessary and we’ll be square,” Moxxie said, folding his arms and clearly trying to look and sound more impressive. He even threw in a raised eyebrow and a curt nod at the end.

“Loona is going to be our bodyguard,” Blitzø continued, gesturing to her. “She’s mostly going to be sticking with me, but in the event that any of the rest of you need her services, that can be arranged. Also, she’s my daughter, so if any of you pull any shit with her, I’ll shoot you through the eye if she doesn’t break your neck with her teeth first.”

Loona said nothing, just adjusted her position. She seemed irritated that there wasn’t any phone signal in the Radio Demon’s house.

Blitzø was clearly considering something; when he made whatever decision it was, he indicated the final Hellborn in the room. “Striker is our informant,” he said. “Mostly, it will be information from the Goetia, but since most of the contingents of the Deadly Sins will consist of Goetia, that’s fine. If you want to know who’s going to be where, who has what valuable or key in their possession, where they’ll be keeping them, who their family is, who they hate, who they’re fucking, whatever. Striker will get it for you.” He gave Striker a fairly intense look, but whatever that look was supposed to communicate, he didn’t say.

Striker, who was leaning against the far end of the bar, gave a deep tip of his hat to Blitzø. It made Fizzarolli shudder. “Don’t mistake this for any kind of friendship on my part, mind. I’m probably gonna hate y’all near as much as I hate the bluebloods. But I’ll get the job done, no mistake.”

Someone muttered something Fizzarolli couldn’t hear, but Blitzø responded, “Oh, that’s downright chipper for him, don’t expect better.” He clapped his hands together. “And speaking of who’s fucking whom, Angel Dust here is our acrobat. He’s your go-to if you need someone to get anywhere that requires… flexibility, extreme climbing, tight spaces, all that. I also have it on good authority that he’ll seduce anyone you need seduced.”

“I charge extra for women,” Angel Dust said, pointing at Blitzø. “I ain’t most of their type, anyway.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t make you play straight, I doubt you can,” Blitzø said. As Angel Dust cackled, Blitzø continued, “Cherri Bomb is our demolitionist. Blowing safes, doors, walls, causing distractions, anything that can be achieved with an explosion you get through her.”

“And if you piss me off, I’ll blow you up with the target,” Cherri Bomb said, grinning as she and Angel Dust exchanged a low five.

Blitzø snorted in amusement. “You don’t get paid double if you’re blown in half. Keep that in mind. Husk is our on-floor croupier,” he continued, gesturing to the winged sinner. “He’ll be providing observations from the gambling floors, running tables, and will be able to get in very close proximity both physically and conversationally with any high-value target. He’ll also have the easiest access to information on any winnings in the casino areas.”

“Don't mess with my table and we'll get along just fine,” Husk said. Of everyone gathered, Fizzarolli was certain that the croupier was the most miserable about the arrangement.

“I’d listen to him, I watched him temp-kill like sixteen sinners with a pack of cards,” Blitzø said. As several people glanced at Husk with a new sense of both awe and trepidation, Blitzø continued, “Sir Pentious is our technician. He’ll be handling overrides of the Palace’s systems, anything you need hacked, and the more mundane security around the loot. If you need specialized equipment built, talk to him, he’s a skilled inventor and fabricator.”

“I cannot wait to destroy the safeguards Vox foolishly believes will be good enough to prevent me from accessing his network,” Sir Pentious hissed, apparently to himself but loud enough for the whole room to hear, rubbing his hands together and looking… well, unstable.

“You do that, buddy,” Blitzø said. “Vaggie is our angelic expert.”

The moment he said that, several people murmured, and everyone turned to look at the gray-haired sinner. Angels were always a sensitive topic in Hell: there were very few ways to learn about them, save straight from an actual angel, and anyone who was able to gain that kind of knowledge wasn’t to be trusted.

Blitzø whistled sharply and snapped. “Eyes up here,” he instructed. “All of you have knowledge and skills that you got from places you don’t wanna go into. You want to grill Vaggie, you will start by divulging your sources for everything off-color you know.” No one said anything, so he continued, “Lucifer’s Palace may be just a resort with a fancy, overblown name, but it does belong to Lucifer, and in case any of you have forgotten, he is a fallen archangel with knowledge of all kinds of Enochian seals and protections that most of us have never even heard of. So, yes. We have an angelic expert who will identify, analyze, and dismantle those protections. And, if anyone has a problem with that, they’re welcome to personally deal with whatever seals are present in the vaults that, for all we know, came from the Metatron herself. Am I clear?”

There was murmured assent amongst the gathered lot. It didn't sound especially enthusiastic, and Fizz couldn't really blame them. He too was eyeing the sinner with some trepidation, as she scowled at everyone, head ducked and arms crossed. What did a demon have to do to acquire that kind of specialized, deeply protected information?

“Beautiful.” Blitzø looked around. Everyone had been introduced, but he gestured at Alastor again, like he was making a separate introduction. “You told me to let you worry about the wild card, Mister We Need Thirteen Or My Plan Is For Naught.”

Alastor clapped his hands together. “And I meant it, my enterprising friend!” He strode up to take the spotlight once again.

“For any scheme to have some chance at success, you need to take advantage of every possible opportunity to throw your opponent off balance. And may I say that there is nothing more unbalanced than my favorite little… nifty.”

Before anyone could think much about what that nonsense could possibly mean, Alastor made a few bizarre gestures, then reached one hand into a tiny portal that appeared in the air. From the swirling black and green void, he extracted a small demon. A very small demon. She was shorter than even the shortest imps gathered there, with spindly black arms and legs. She wore a red maid’s uniform, her white apron splattered with what looked like fresh red blood. And one huge eye overwhelmed her face even more than Cherri’s did. Alastor was holding her up by the scruff of her dress, where she hung blithely, limbs dangling and a big smile on her face.

“Ooooooh, Alastor, look at all the bad boys!” she trilled in a high voice that started manic, and ended deranged.

“That’s… very convenient,” Blitzø observed, tilting his head and squinting at the tiny demon.

“Aww, she’s cute~!” Angel Dust cooed.

“What is it?” Pentious asked, sounding skeptical and incredulous.

“This… is nifty,” Alastor explained. When everyone just stared, he rolled his eyes as though they had somehow missed the most obvious thing in the world. “N-I-F-F-T-Y. Niffty.”

He released the tiny sinner, and she immediately started scurrying around the room. Fizz lost sight of her immediately, but tracked her movement by how the others all jumped at her approach.

Finally he saw her when Sir Pentious yelped and hissed at once, because Niffty was crawling up his body in a spiral. She wound up face to face with him, clutching his lapels and grinning wide.

“I think you're the baddest boy here!” she said with delight. “Aren't you, oh dark master of the deepest shadows?”

“I— yes! What?! I have been accosted by the small one!!”

Blitzø, who had been giving Alastor a withering look ever since he released their newest member, crossed over to Sir Pentious and pried Niffty off of him. “Ooookay, you can bag yourself a bad boy after the meeting is over,” he said, turning the sinner to face him. “Niffty, I’m Blitzø, and you’re gonna help me rob Lucifer’s Palace. Sound like a good time?”

Niffty’s face, first bewildered, broke into an even more deranged grin. “That sounds like a really good time, Mister Blitzø. I’m very good at following instructions, you’ll see. A very good girl for the very bad boys. Everyone will see.” She kicked her feet in the air in an excited little dance.

“Right, uh, speaking of robbing Lucifer’s Palace,” said Moxxie, raising a finger in the air, looking very much like he wanted to divert this topic as quickly as possible. “Just what exactly are we supposed to be stealing, sir?”

Blitzø went from smiling at Niffty, eyes half-lidded and forked tongue sticking out from between closed lips, to blink at Moxxie. “Hm? Oh, right. Of course.” He set Niffty down, then motioned to Millie, who nodded and hurried over to Sir Pentious to start whispering with him over her tablet. Blitzø watched them for a second before he clapped his hands and looked around the room. “Who here knows what Lucifer’s Palace is, first and foremost?”

“It’s a resort,” Angel Dust said, kicking his feet over Cherri’s lap and crossing his legs. “Real bougie shit. Ain’t been fully open for a few decades at this point, but people talk about it like it was the Vegas of Hell. And it’s like a museum or some shit too.”

Blitzø pointed at him. “Right. So, Lucifer’s Palace has a shitton of valuable artifacts, some of which are older than Hell is itself. And while I don’t give a shit what you all take, as long as you find your own fence, we’re after one artifact in particular. Millie?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” she said, waving at him and setting a tiny projector on the table in front of Sir Pentious. He did something on her tablet and the projector flipped on, casting the screen up on Alastor’s wall. “Thanks,” she whispered, taking the tablet from Pentious and stepping up next to Blitzø.

With a few taps, she brought up an image: it was the same that Fizz had seen that night Blitzø had first come to him with this harebrained scheme, but in much better detail. It was very obvious now that it was made of two different woods, and the twisted groove between the two looked like it actually had blood resting deep inside it.

Blitzø gestured to it. “This is the Bastinade of Life and Knowledge. The story goes that Lucifer, during his fight with Mikael, was thrown through both the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, destroying both. When this happened, wood from both trees got caught in the chains made by the Metatron that lashed him to Hell. After arriving in Hell, breaking it into the Rings, blah blah blah, he created this staff out of that wood.”

“…what does it do?” Cherri asked.

“Fucked if I know, and honestly, I don’t really care. But this is the jewel of the Palace’s collection, and if we can get it, there’s a guy who’s willing to pay enough for it that I consider a thirteenth of his price more than worth the risk. Your cut will come from that, as well as whatever you can steal from the Palace and get away with cleanly.”

“Wait. We’re stealing the most valuable thing in Lucifer’s entire collection?” Moxxie stammered, his hand on his forehead. “Are you completely insane? How in all of Hell are we going to get away with that? Who hired you??”

“Honestly, I’m with the little guy on this one,” Vaggie said, suddenly not appearing to sulk anymore. Instead, she looked like a cat that just got spooked by a cucumber.

“Hey hey hey,” Blitzø said, waving them both down. “Chill. I’ve got it worked out for all of you to have deniability if shit goes sideways, and anyway, it’ll be a while before anybody notices it’s gone as long as we don’t trip any alarms.”

He looked at Millie, who pulled up a blueprint of one of the floors of the Palace. “This is th’ basement level of th’ place,” she said, gesturing as she spoke. “The basics of how everything’ll go is like this: Lucifer’s Palace keeps artifacts on display for the public, like the Bastinade, Queen Lilith’s glass harp, and a handwritten book of magic from the library of the first Goetia, Bael. Y’know, a lot of priceless and dangerous shit. They’re basically impossible to get anywhere near, normally; they’re extremely visible and guarded at all times. But during big events, like th’ one comin’ up for Princess Charlotte, everything gets taken off th’ floor and placed in storage, where they’ll remain for th’ duration of the party and for th’ following season while th’ Palace is restored to its usual state. As long as no one is alerted, it’ll be a minimum of three months before anybody even notices shit’s gone.”

“And who will be the first to take the heat for this, under those circumstances?” Blitzø prompted.

“VoxTek,” Millie said promptly. “Every aspect of security, ‘cept Lucifer’s own safeguards, have been turned over to them. Plan is that, when VoxTek looks into it, we won’t give ‘em anythin’ to go on. With what we’re targetin’, and with th’ angelic seals, they’ll be way more likely t’ suspect the culprits are a contingent of Adam’s that fucked with th’ systems and spirited stuff away to Heaven than they would a ragtag buncha sinners and Hellborn.”

Moxxie was looking between Blitzø and Millie, and Fizz couldn't help but notice how he was biting his lower lip, the way his cheeks started to flush. His gaze ultimately landed on Millie, and Fizz smiled to himself.

Good. You don't wanna fall for Blitzø.

Trust me, pal.

“That's… brilliant,” Moxxie said at length, with awe in his voice. “If we don't all die horribly, this will be the greatest heist in all of Hell’s history.”

“That's a pretty big if,” Husk said.

“How are we even going to get in?” Cherri asked. “I mean, this is an invite-only shindig, and most of us aren’t exactly high up on Hell’s food chain.”

Millie nodded. “We got that covered, s’long as Alastor agrees,” she said, looking to the Radio Demon for just a moment before quickly looking away. “Obviously, I’m employed there, and so’s Husk. Fizzarolli has a VIP entertainer’s pass as a headliner through Mammon, and Angel Dust also has a standard entertainer’s pass through Valentino. Moxxie’s got an invitation as part of his father’s—” She looked at Moxxie, apparently noticed him looking at her, and gave him a somewhat awkward smile, “…but… uhm. Oh, uh, and Striker’s was given on request from House Belial of th’ Wrathian Goetia. Alastor, obviously, has an overlord’s pass, which comes with the option for an Overlord Cohort, which grants invites tied t’ th’ overlord in question.” She turned to Alastor again. “If you’re cool with naming Blitzø, Loona, Vaggie, Cherri, Pentious, and Niffty as your cohort as a formality, I can get them passes, bury th’ paperwork, and lose just enough of th’ records if Pentious can help me orchestrate a brief crash.”

“Trivial,” Pentious said dismissively.

“It would be my absolute pleasure,” Alastor said smoothly. “I know you're all suitably honored to be members of my entourage.”

Loona moved closer to Blitzø, giving Alastor a very strong side eye.

Vaggie just scowled. “I'm exactly as honored as I should be.”

“Lovely!” Alastor trilled with just as much enthusiasm as he had for the course of the entire meeting.

“Alright, then,” Blitzø said. “We’re going to go over the plan. Pay attention, because you’re not going to have a lot of time to gather everything you need, and once the festivities start, you’re going to have to work with what you’ve got.”

Fizzarolli made sure to stay close to Blitzø, and resolved to do so as often as possible as long as they were having to work with these terrifying demons. Every one of them looked like they could tear him in half with little effort, each in their own terrifying way. He was no fighter, not by any stretch of the imagination, and knew how fucked he would be if he got on anyone's bad side.

How was he going to get through this without someone to look after him? To make sure he didn't make a misstep, to tell him it was okay to be scared? The only ones he'd ever imagined taking on that role were impossible to reach. And yet, both of them were going to be in attendance at Lucifer's Palace.

He wondered if it was too late to back out.

•

That had gone a lot better than she had expected it to.

The plan was… complicated. It was really, really complicated, to the point that Millie was almost sure she saw almost every single person taking notes at some point. Once he was done, Blitzø had instructed them to make arrangements with each other, and now people had split off into different groups to discuss individual plans.

Millie went to her bag, put her tablet away, and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. Steeling herself with a slow, deep breath, she straightened her spine, put her shoulders back a little, and crossed the room. Don’t be nervous. It’s fine. You can do this. Easy. You deal with overlords all th’ time. “Um… s’cuse me, Alastor?”

Alastor, who was standing alone while the others mingled, turned his head around nearly one hundred and eighty degrees. Then he tilted it down when he registered someone small had approached him.

“Ahh! The tiny security imp. What can I do for you, hmm?”

“Wow,” Millie whispered, her eyes wide, before she quickly gathered herself and offered the paper up. “This is th’ thing for you t’ sign, for yer cohort assignment. I already filled most of it in for you, so it just needs your signature before I can process th’ passes.”

“Oh, I see.” His body rotated to line up with his head and he took the paper delicately from her. His brilliantly glowing eyes scanned the page. He spoke as he read. “So you're the one who detests that new-fangled clout chaser? I have a feeling we'll get along especially well.”

“Y’mean Vox?” Millie asked, putting as much derision into the statement as she could. “I don’t see how anybody could work for him and not hate him,” she said, crossing her arms and gesturing with one hand. “Blitzø basically won me over just by sayin’ it was a good way’a fuckin’ over the Vees. He, uh, kinda lost his shit when he found out th’ Princess was insistent on you gettin’ an invite, so I’m glad you’re gonna be there.”

Alastor's eyes flashed, and his smile widened in a manic sort of way. “Did he now? Poor thing, still bitter after all this time.” He held up one hand, summoning a wicked looking fountain pen from thin air, then scrawled a scratchy yet elegant signature in violently green ink. He offered the paper back to Millie. “...You say the Princess requested my presence specifically?”

“Mhm, she did,” Millie said as she took the paper back, leaving it unfolded while the ink dried. “Pretty sure you’re th’ only one she did specify, actually.”

His brows raised. “Well, I'll just have to make a point to thank her personally… though that does raise a somewhat peculiar request I'd like to make of you, my dear.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Peculiar requests’ve been my whole life th’ past couple’a months. Shoot.”

“In light of Princess Charlotte's request, I simply must present myself to her. However, I would also prefer it if my presence went more or less… unnoticed to the rest of the guests, in particular your employer. As a matter of fact, if you could report that I sent my contingent in my stead, I would be most grateful to you.”

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Millie said, holding her hands up. “I don’t really wanna deal with Vox’s hissy fit anyway, I ain’t above misleadin’ him. S’long as I don’t get my head literally ripped off if he ends up findin’ out you’re there, of course.”

“No need to worry about that, my dear,” Alastor said smoothly. “If he uncovers my presence, he will be far too distracted to consider how I went undetected. Just stay out of the line of fire, and you'll be just fine.”

Millie couldn’t help giggling at that. “Stayin’ outta th’ line of fire’s gettin’ t’ be my specialty. Thanks, Alastor,” she said, checking the signature before folding the contract. She almost turned to go, but stopped herself. “…also I’m sorry I’m sure you get this all the time, but… it’s really great t’ meetcha, I am such a huge fan of yer program.”

Contrary to anything Millie could have expected, the Radio Demon froze at her words. His grin was stiff, frozen on his face save for the sporadic twitching in his left cheek. “You— Why— Well, I humbly offer my appreciation, dolly. You're a real gem.”

He swept down, scooped up Millie’s free hand, and gave a chaste and fleeting kiss over her knuckles. Millie might have been imagining it, but it almost seemed like his ashen cheeks were just a little flushed. Then again, maybe it was simply because her own face was feeling so warm and she was projecting.

Unsure of what else to say—and since, for some reason, Alastor also seemed a little uncertain—she gave him her best smile as she excused herself and went to put the contract up. She then went to her tablet again, pulling up her own lists and scanning through them real quick to remind herself of anything she needed to do while she had everyone here.

Tapping one of the items, she nodded to herself, then tucked it away again. She skirted around Cherri Bomb, who sounded like she was antagonizing a very flustered Sir Pentious about parts for explosives, and approached her target. “Moxxie?”

Moxxie jumped, blocking his face with his arm. “Hwaaa—! MILLIE! It's Millie, right? Hi.”

Millie blinked a few times. “Um… yes,” she said, working to keep herself from frowning at such an odd reaction. He didn’t seem to like her very much, but why, she couldn’t figure. Was it because she was Wrathian? “Sorry, I ain’t gonna take up mucha your time. I just wanted t’ ask… when your dad’s assistant contacted us t’ make arrangements, they said you’d ‘find your own accommodations’ when we asked about room assignments. That didn’t make no sense, so I figured I’d just ask you: d’you want your own room?”

The color drained out of Moxxie's face. “...oh. Uh, no… no, that's alright. It's— it's fine, really.”

Millie raised an eyebrow at him, placing her hand on her hip. “…if it’s a weird rich people problem with your family I’m too poor t’ understand or somethin’, I can putcha on th’ Pride floor with everybody else in here, ‘stead of th’ Greed floor. They won’t know about it.”

His eyes widened. “Are you sure? My dad, he's… really well connected.”

“I’m sure. And, since you’ll be on th’ Pride floor, if he does find out it’ll be easy for us t’ call it an overlooked detail or computin’ error,” Millie said with a shrug. “And he’ll have t’ take it up with Vox, anyway, so if he wants t’ try and strongarm an overlord, that’s his business.”

“That would be absolutely amazing,” Moxxie said emphatically, his eyes glittering. Then, quite suddenly, he grabbed Millie's free hand with both of his. “I don't know how to thank you!”

“…!” Millie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t pull her hand away; did this guy have any idea how adorable he was? “I— uh, y’don’t… gotta thank me for it,” she said with a small, awkward laugh. “Just make sure he doesn’t find out I did it, that’s enough.”

Moxxie froze, his cheeks glowing a soft pale blue. He pulled his hands back immediately and rubbed the back of his head. “Right. Yeah. Not a problem, I can handle… all of that. Still. Thanks, Millie.”

Millie cleared her throat and clapped her hands together, smiling at him a little. “Sure. Uh, anythin’ else you need, just lemme know. Oh, here.” She took him by the wrist and pulled a pen from her jacket pocket, writing her number on his hand. “Sorry, I only got my work number on cards and I don’t answer that outside’a work hours unless it’s my bosses. But y’can always reach me here.”

His hand was really warm. All of him was warm; it was practically radiating all over her. He held onto his wrist and looked at the number with a silly little smile crawling up his cheeks. “Uh, yeah. That's— good. I mean, I like it— I mean thank you ma'am.”

Millie felt her own face heat up, definitely at least turning purple. “Oh— uh— yeah, sure, I mean—!”

She wasn’t sure what else she was going to say, because Blitzø manifested out of absolutely nowhere, wrapping his arms around their shoulders and leaning on them as he glanced between them. “Do you two require a private room?”

“Blitzø what the hell!!” Moxxie sputtered, but Millie couldn't make out his expression past the taller imp’s head.

“Blitzø, y’got two seconds t’ remove your arm from my shoulders before I remove it from yours,” Millie said, raising one hand and covering her face with it.

Of course, Blitzø seemed put off by neither of these things. He did, however, release them, smiling smugly between the two as he put his hands on his hips. “I’m sorry to interrupt such an adorable moment—”

“Blitzø!”

“—buuuuut I need to talk to you,” he continued undaunted, pointing at Millie. “Just logistics shit, won’t take that long.”

“Okay, okay, fuck’s sake,” Millie said. She managed a smile, looking at Moxxie again and hoping he didn’t find this too unbearably awkward. “Just shoot me a text’r somethin’ so I’ll know it’s you, okay?”

Moxxie had backed away, and was still blushing furiously. But he nodded, and smiled again, so very awkwardly. “Yes ma'am! I mean, yeah. I'll do that.”

As Blitzø steered her off, Millie gave him a small wave and immediately wondered why the fuck she did that, but put it aside to worry about at a more convenient time, like when she was trying to fall asleep. Blitzø glanced back at Moxxie, then leaned down to Millie. “You two should bang, he’s better than your current beau.”

“Blitzø!” Millie punched his shoulder, and he actually winced, grabbing where she hit him. She didn’t feel even a little bit sorry. “I ain’t takin’ relationship advice from you of all people. Whaddya want?”

Millie almost thought she saw a different expression cross Blitzø’s face, but he smirked, and she knew she had imagined it. “Room assignments,” he said. “I want to make sure we’ve got people positioned properly, suite access between people who need that, whatever. Also, Loona will not want to room with me but I don’t want her rooming alone.”

Millie raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re goin’ all protective dad on me?” He shrugged, his eyebrows lifted like he was all innocent or something. “Okay, fine. C’mon over here and we’ll get people settled.”

She sat down and pulled out her tablet, and Blitzø plopped down beside her, one arm cast over her shoulders again as he leaned over to watch. While her lists loaded, she listened to the other people around the room, talking and discussing personal plans, even laughing with each other.

Maybe this was going to be okay.

•••

Next chapter

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disease-danger-darkness-silence · 2 months

Text

Amazon Affiliate Listicle, but with my ADHD and propensity for swearing

So I'mma do a listicle of Amazon affiliate links just like every other place is doing for Prime Days.

I'm just gonna tell you ahead of time that I'm doing it for money and the sense of incredulity I feel about... Amazon as a whole.

🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

A Backbone, probably the most ridiculous gaming accessory I've ever seen. Yes, I'd like to use my phone as a controller for $35 more than a normal PS5 controller costs and have almost no other functionality!

I am ALL ABOUT BIDET ATTACHMENTS, okay, but this brand is so fucking overpriced. I'm not paying $77 to launch high-powdered water up my chocolate starfish, and I'm definitely not paying the normal $110. I WILL say that I've used this brand and it was good, but... Dudes. It's a stream of water to make wiping your ass easier. How much is that actually worth? This is a much better price for the exact same functions.

When I saw this set of movies, I didn't see that it was James Bond. Daniel Craig is wearing like a sweater, but I also didn't realize it was Daniel Craig. All I saw was CRAIG. This is, for some reason, absolutely fucking hilarious to me.

Instant Pot for $65, need I say more?

Okay I'm not even joking, this is just a pretty fucking decent price ($84) for a 1.5 TB microSD card.

If you have a 3D resin printer, today is the day to stock up: AnyCubic has some really good resin deals going on! I personally love the plant-based resin, but I've heard amazing things about their water-washable stuff. I wanna try the ultra-tough resin, though. (Note: this is UV resin so you don't have to actually use it in a 3D printer. You can use it in a mold too.)

Let's spend $50 to make a single cup of coffee at a time when I can make better coffee using a disposable tea bag. 🙄 The hatred I have for single-use coffee makers knows no bounds.

What you do is take about two regular spoons full of coffee grounds (another half a spoon if you like it harsh, half a spoon less if you like it light), put them in the tea bag. Put any other spices and flavorings you like in the bag too. Close it, and tie it closed really well (I wrap the strings around the top of the bag and tie them again when I've tied it.) steep for 5 minutes in a mug full of hot water (doesn't matter how it got hot), and then add milk or creamer depending on your preference. It will have less of an acidic bite and a better flavor profile.

I'm super into the idea of bleaching my tooth enamel until it rots away and my teeth are super white but extremely sensitive! Give it to me, Crest! Yeah Daddy!

If you DO want the tooth-brightening shit, you'll probably want to invest in a few tubes of Sensodyne. Trust me.

Oh, you eat Tide pods? Cool, cool, if you Wan a be like 2021 about it. I'm a dishwasher pod kid. Snack time.

OK no sarcasm, this shit will clean your washing machine so fuckin good. My daughter gave me some and suddenly none of us smell like Satan's asshole anymore. Fucking amazing.

Okay look, if you wanna get special pimple patches, go ahead, they're on sale today and they DO work, but they're just hydrocolloidal bandages. I get the regular ones bc I can cut them to shape.

Okay fullstop, I love the power mops Swiffer makes and this is a GREAT deal. Anyone wanna buy me a new mop? 😂

Oh shit, they have Naked mini-palettes for 40% off. That's $21 omg why am I a poor with expensive makeup taste??? WHY? (They also have the Stila liquid eyeliner on sale somewhere.)

Yes, sir? I'd like the biggest, widest computer monitor to ever exist. I'm a gamer, you see. A thousand dollars today, you say? What a deal! I'm a gamer! (Look, I have a gaming computer and a pretty big monitor but there's a fkn limit, Samsung. There's a line and you've crossed it.)

I almost didn't click on the "pet products" tab because I miss Ziva SO MUCH. But I do love pampering my pets. In that vein, WHO WANTS TO BUY A SHOCK COLLAR?

If you've ever needed 900 poop-scooping mini garbage bags... Today is your day. Time to shine.

Aw fuck, I found a pretty damn good deal on a cat tree.

If you don't have a 3D printer, you have to buy Settlers of Catan like a peon and it's on sale today.

I'm actually disappointed in myself how much I want this.

TICKET TO RIDE FOR UNDER $40.

If you wanna train your pet to talk these things are on sale.

For the low, low price of $98, you too can let your child kill themselves by improperly using a Zipline kit.

EXPLODING KITTENS FOR $10 AND I MEAN THE GAME NOT ACTUAL KITTENS BUT I GUESS HE HAS A SHOW NAMED THAT TOO?

As a general rule Raven and I don't buy Nerf products because they're owned by Hasbro and we're boycotting them because of the whole Pinkertons thing. Plus, in the world of foam dart guns they're actually doing the worst when it comes to innovation and performance. But! We will get them on clearance or secondhand. I consider Prime Day to be clearance, so have this multipack for a kid's party that I wish I'd had for Raven's birthday party last month.

Also, this translucent blaster.

I love this style of shorts (although I got the viral tiktok ones) but omg this one has POCKETS.

Today I discovered that there is a brand called THE GYM PEOPLE and they make really boring clothes.

Hey plus-sized ladies! Want yet another ugly beige bra? Look no further!

I have one of these mandolin slicers. Highly recommend.

Get your kids used to corporate surveillance with an Amazon Echo made just for them!

THESE ARE THE ONLY PENS I USE.

Amazon putting these under "off to college" is absolutely fucking hilarious to me.

I'm actually really bummed I don't have the money to get this Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Amazon knows what's up when it comes to kids: a five-pack of identical pants. I think it's for uniforms but like. Let's be real, kids just go through clothes like that.

Every time I see a Skullcandy product, I remember when I was at a Skullcandy booth at the Warped Tour and I asked the booth babe how they compared to Sennheiser or even Audio-Technica. She looked at me, and in a snooty voice, said, "I've never even heard of Sennheiser before."

#shopping #amazon #prime day #affiliate program #I'm tired

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darklydeliciousdesires · 1 year

Text

The Dream - Chapter Six.

Happy Monday, besties! So, I thought I would treat you all to another double update today, just to try and get this story moving along a little better. The last one was really well received, too, so we’ll do as last time and split the 40 notes unlock over both chapters. Enjoy!

Previous chapters - Prologue One Two Three Four Five

Tag list - In the comments, please DM to be added/removed (note: those not engaging will be automatically removed from the tag list, FYI)

Words - 2,614

Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

“So, did you tell him about all this then, your stepdad?” Angel asked, when Keri had spoken briefly of her family dynamic, revealing that she was actually much closer with David than she was her mom, on account of his laid-back nature. Meryl Watkins was nothing short of a little tightly wound at times.

“No not yet, but I probably will. David's cool, much more open minded than my mom so if it's anyone I tell, it'll be him. Only a few of my friends know so far. Frankie and her girlfriend Jaime as you know, and my other girl, Rachel. I didn't tell the boys yet, I have no idea how they'd react to it!” Just the thought set off a soft alarm in her head, the teasing she was likely to receive, especially from Aaron.

Angel could definitely identify with her. “Yeah, I know that feeling. There's only two people who I’ve told, EZ and his wife, Sharise.” Jamming his cell under his ear, he poured himself a drink, tequila and a splash of soda. “So are your mom and dad divorced or something?”

“No, my dad died when I was nine, sadly. He was sick for about a year before he went, he had colon cancer and there was nothing they could do. He was so miserable towards the end that I think his death was a blessing to him. It's really hard to lose a parent, you have to grow up so fast,” she revealed, with Angel nodding heavily in agreement.

“I understand that. My mom died when I was twenty-seven, she was killed in a robbery gone wrong. It was fucking rough, losing her like that, but at least I was an adult when it happened. I can’t imagine how shit that must’ve been for you, to only be nine years old when you lost your dad.” She could barely believe it had been thirteen years, sometimes.

“Oh my god, Angel,” she gasped after hearing of his own parental loss. “That’s tragic, I’m so sorry.”

“Could have been much worse, I could have been a little kid still, like you were,” he reasoned. “But thanks, though.”

“Even though I was just a little kid, my mom never shielded me from any of it. I knew he had cancer, she explained to me gently in a way I could understand what it was doing to his body and all the treatments he had to go through. The chemo, the radiotherapy, the eventual removal of half his colon and bowels. She always said it was pointless hiding from me and trying to make it look less bad than it was, that she wouldn’t insult my intelligence by doing so.

“She's always been a great believer that children understand much more than we give them credit for, and she was right. I guess that if there was an upside to his death, it was that gave me a lot of strength, losing him when I did. I learned how to process grief very early, deal with all those emotions, too. Mom really helped me through that, as well. She was my rock in the aftermath.

“I remember the night before he died, he was so sick and so weak, but he hauled me up onto the bed and sat and talked to me for hours. He told me that because I was just like him, I'd go far in life, and no matter that he wouldn't physically be there to see it, he'd always be by my side.” Her explanation faltered a little, her voice quivering as she remembered her beloved father. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start blubbering there. Here's me going on about how strong it made me, right before I start crying.”

Angel was quick to reassure her. “Even the strongest people in the world cry sometimes. It makes you human. Are you okay?”

She took a breath, getting out of bed and going to her drawer to pull out her cigarettes, needing a little calming hit of nicotine. “Yeah, I just get upset sometimes when I talk about him. He was amazing and I miss him so much,” she sniffed, the tears still gushing from her eyes as she flung the window open, lighting up, watching the snow beginning to tumble down. Again.

“It's totally understandable, you know. I feel sad when I think about my mom and how much I miss her, nothing can fill the void you feel when you lose one of the people that brought you into this world in the first place,” he empathised. “Damn, I wish we were asleep right now.”

Flicking her ash, she took another drag on her cigarette. “Why?”

“So that I could hug you, you sound like you need one.” Oh, how cute?

'I do, and I need some sleep too, now you come to mention it. I have to be up and out of the house again in five hours to catch the sunrise and take photographs for a little commission I have. Someone I work with at the chocolate shop wants a nice picture as a going away present for their friend, who is leaving for Nebraska at the end of next week.”

“Sounds like we could both do with resting our heads, then. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon?”

She smiled, feeling a little buzz of excitement. “Yeah, here’s hoping.” She took another drag on her cigarette before flicking it out of the window, going to wash the smell from her hands and brushing her teeth too, returning to her room and spritzing the air with her pillow mist before climbing into bed. “I want to dream of him, I want to see him.” She repeated in her mind, until eventually, she drifted off.

“Yo, dumbass. I’m right here.” he called to her as she looked around the busy city, people bustling along the sidewalk and cars racing by quickly. She turned to see him sat on a low wall, smiling that beautiful smile at her.

“You don't know me well enough to call me dumbass yet.” Her scold was playful, her smile sweet, happy to see him there. As she approached, all the cars and people suddenly vanished, and it was just them. Like an A-bomb had gone off, and they were the only two survivors.

“I know you well enough to do this when you're upset, though.” Jumping down, he folded his arms around her, making her feel instantly safe and warm.

“In that case, I think I'll let the dumbass comment slide.” Kissing his chest, she felt the hard muscle press against her cheek, drinking in the moment there with him. She could feel the lines between reality and dreams starting to blur with every dream that passed. It was scary, it was strange, but most of all it was exciting.

It thrilled her to see where their dreams would take them next, and still wonder the one resounding question; why? Why did they act like lovers in dreams for one thing? It was something Keri was too afraid to ask, yet she thought about it constantly. Were her dreams trying to point her in his direction? Could he possibly be the one she belonged with, and this was her way of finding him?

Was the answer she searched for truly that simple?

“Whatcha thinking about, tiny?” he asked, unfolding his arms from around her and holding her hand as they began to walk up the deserted street. Tiny she was, compared to him. He was almost a foot taller than she.

“Why I'm here, with you, night after night. What's the meaning behind it all?” she mused, looking up at him as they walked.

“I've been asking myself the same thing,” he revealed, squeezing her hand softly. “My brother had an interesting theory. He thinks that at some point, our paths are gonna cross in reality, and all of this is just a way of letting us see it's gonna happen.”

“Well, they kind of have, haven’t they? We’ve been messaging, and speak on the phone now, don't we? That’s us crossing paths, in a roundabout sort of way,” she commented.

He gave her a soft shove in the shoulder as they rounded the corner, walking onto the next empty street. “I think he meant something a little more significant, like us actually meeting one another.”

“Is that something you’d like, then? For us to actually meet?” She felt a little sick with nerves, waiting on his response, because she knew, she knew for herself that she very much wanted to meet him. Suddenly, though, she felt something begin to pull at her, grasping his arm tightly. “I want to stay asleep. I want to stay here.” She whispered, feeling Angel wrap his arm around her.

“Maybe this'll help keep you here.” Leaning to her, he kissed her softly, Keri wrapping her arms around his neck. It did keep her there, but not for long, the dream beginning to spiral completely out of her control. When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by nothing but pitch-black darkness, straining her eyes as she spun around, trying to gather her bearings. Suddenly, a light came on, Keri turning to see Angel smiling at her.

“Look at you, being my light in the dark,” she commented, smiling as he reached for her hands.

He pulled her close, resting his forehead to hers. “Something tells me you’re gonna be my light in the dark, you know.” He kissed her head, smiling down at her. “And yeah, I do wanna meet you in real life. Might have to see what Utah is like at this time of year.” Her heart almost beat clean out of her chest, the happiness of the moment waking her, Keri blinking a few times into the darkness of her room.

‘It would be fantastic, to actually meet you x’

With that message sent, she closed her eyes and drifted off back into slumber. Not enough slumber for her liking either, up and awake four hours later, watching the sun come up with her bestie.

“Here, I made it extra strong.” Passing her the second cup from her Thermos, Frankie then handed over the foil wrapped breakfast she’d prepared too, halving an omelette and putting them between a bread roll each, Keri’s favourite of her creations.

“Thanks, homeslice. I need it!” she replied, as they sat down on a fallen log to take a break. It had just turned 5.30am, and both still felt half asleep after their 4am start. Frankie had agreed to come out with her to add to her portfolio, not having enough nice sunrise pictures in there for her liking, since she was the very antithesis of a morning person. “Guess who called me last night?”

“Hmmmm.” She made a show of looking thoughtful, but of course, it wasn’t that hard to guess. “Big Latino dude with lots of tattoos and a huge motorcycle, per chance?” At seeing Keri's smile widen, she put her arm around her, thinking it very cute, how into him she seemed, now she’d settled into the idea a little more of what was happening between them in her sleep. It was nice, not to bear witness to her being so freaked out by it that she was crying and throwing up.

“We talked for about two hours, and we found we have quite a bit in common. It was good, settling, made it all feel a little more normal when in truth, these mutual dreams we met through are anything but.”

Frankie smiled widely through her mouthful of sandwich, chewing quickly so she could reply. “That’s cute!”

“Yeah, yeah he seems really nice. After the phone call, we mutual dreamed again, and he told me that he wants to actually meet me, he mentioned coming up here. So, I guess I have a new friend there, or whatever.”

“Or whatever,” she snorted in disbelief, rolling her eyes. “He’s into you.”

Keri scoffed a little. “Doubtful! I mean god, look at the guy. He has a hoard of women all over his Insta, they’re always leaving him comments about how gorgeous he is, and he flirts back with them. Nah. What would a thirty-six-year-old with plenty of female attention want with a twenty-two-year-old student who lives over seven hundred miles away.”

Frankie stared at her with incredulity. “Oh, you sweet, summer child, Keri.”

“What?” she laughed softly. “I mean, he’s flirty with me, and I am with him too, but really? Me? When he has an abundance of women around him already?”

“You never see yourself for how desirable you are, do you? Both in looks and personality.” She gave her an up and down look, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “If you weren’t like a sister to me, I’d hit it.”

She all but choked on her coffee. “Dude!”

“Face it, beets. Angel not only desires you, but he wants to meet you because he likes you. Why would he be prepared to travel over seven hundred miles when, as you state, he has a hoard of women he could get his dick sucked by right on his doorstep, if there wasn’t something else special about you, hmm?”

Keri shrugged softly. “I guess there’s validity in that, but...”

“But you always downplay yourself because you get all nervous with guys.” Again, valid.

“I do, I know!” she wailed softly. “And he’s like, an actual, proper man! It’s scary!”

“Oh, don’t talk crap!” Frankie snorted. “I mean, I don’t speak from personal experience, but men aren’t that complicated, are they? If you have good game with the cock then it should be fine, and from what you’ve told me about that sex dream you had, it sounds like you have that already. Mans wants himself the real thing. Harness it, baby girl. Reel him in!”

“I still feel nervy,” she spoke, Frankie knowing that of course, she would. Keri was quite shy around guys, and she always had been. It took her a while to settle into things whenever she met a new one.

“Well, you could get over the nerves. I mean, these dreams you have with him, think of them like a practice run to what I suspect will follow after you have actually met up?”

“I still feel embarrassed then, when we’ve been like that in sleep!” The look on her bestie’s face had her giggling, draining her coffee as she stood up, starting to tinker with her camera. “However, I guess I do hear what you’re saying there. He told me that it’s only a dream, so just go with it, but he’d back off if it made me feel uncomfortable.”

Frankie poured herself another coffee, smiling with surprise. “Even when asleep, he’s got respect for you in a moment that isn’t even happening outside of your combined imaginations. I like this dude. I guess if it does go well, he has a hell of a reward for his nocturnal patience, though. I mean, you are somewhat of a sex fiend when you get comfortable with a guy.”

Her grin said it all, Keri having her in fits, especially with the rapid, suggestive double raise of her eyebrows. “I do like the D, this is true.”

“From the gay standpoint, ewww, but you have at it, girly,” Frankie laughed. As they went about their early morning photographic endeavours, Keri began to think on her friend’s words, about liking the sound of Angel, acknowledging how much she did as well. As their dream lives began to all move very much in one direction, she found that liking doing nothing but escalate, too.

#angel reyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes smut #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes x ofc #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #mayans mc #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc smut #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic

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lostacelonnie · 6 months

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Truly. School festival? Wild i dont think ive ever been to one of those. Not sure mine ever had them but im glad you had so much fun! Its not completely finished yet i get that done next week but its very cool i love it. I have like. 12 piercings now with still more i want. They were a slippery slope from getting two to all the ones i have & want but i hope you're able to get some in the future. I think i like my eyebrow & lip piercings best. Thats a wild difference damn. Its been sunny mostly cool days right now but we keep going from warmer days to rain/snow warnings here. Oh hell yeah congrats! Strange but positive is the best combination to have honestly. Id also love to check out carnivale if that still happens in italy or mardi gras over here down in louisiana if i had time. Just love the idea of big celebration with cool stuff. Oh sparkle is quantum support with action advance & crit damage (?) boost. She's real good for seele or many teams really. I got archeron! Just need to get her light cone but damn was she cool in the 2.1 story. Not gonna spoil if you havent played through yet. Congrats on your archeron pulls! I think i might save for topaz now & get adventurine later? I do like how he plays but ill grab him later i don't think i have use for him yet. Swarm is so annoying i gave up on it for now terrible fuckin enemies. Mood what set are you usin on archeron? I love her talent too just. Insta enemy kill what a time saver. Really did give her a great & interesting kit. Hm ill have to continue & see how complex she is. Been busy with other games & like. Cosmodyssey & the bartender event in star rail. Oh thats fun i love it keep doin that. Ohh congrats on the writing energy!

yeah school festivals are also pretty rare over here but [thanks to a complete coincidence, i didnt even Know we had those] i ended up in a school that actually organizes one JSDKFJG. would tell you what it is but i feel doxxing my school on tumblr.com is not a terribly good idea. AND HEY THATS AWESOME!!! also yeah i heard it Really Is Like That with piercings shdjfg all my friends said so at least. tbh the only reason i dont have any yet is bc when i was the age when everyone gets their first one [around 8-9 among my peers] i was very physically active and didnt wanna deal with the whole healing process while trying to not get the shit beaten out of me in aikido. so thanks!!! i REAAALLLY wanna get snake bites theyre So cool. AND FOR REAL LIKE???? can the weather Please decide what it wants to do with its life. it was literally raining the whole day today and yesterday i cannot keep dealing with this. esp since today was my first day back to school after the easter break so waiting for my bus was just. miserable. And my classbestie didnt come to school today so i guess i cant have nice things. Oh Well. and for real for real im actually so glad my school doesnt seem to have a single normal person in it because everything is just so much more. chill. and the gossip is Insane i tell you. ever since this year i befriended a bunch of cool alt girls my life had been so much more interesting because they know like everything about everyone. and oh good luck with all that!! i totally agree, tho i definitely have to be mentally prepared for such occasions. Due To The Autism. but yeah theyre SO fun. and oh that sounds like. a very good kit actually. might get her in the future but ahh i still cant quite decide who im gonna pull for next..... only time can tell i suppose. CONGRATS ON GETTING MEI #3!!!!! i maxed out her talents already [thank god for how little time that calyx takes] so i just need to get relics for her now. Auugghhhg. but i decided im just gonna wait for the triple drop event to save myself some sanity and am currently focusing on ruan mei's talents rn since i run her with acheron <- guy who has no welt and his pela is lvl 50 not built. ah thats understandable!!! i was initially Completely uninterested in aventurine but used his trial as a march replacement in my clara team and it all fits together so nicely. speaking of which i literally got clara TWICE yesterday, one pull apart, without pity on standard. the universe loves me i guess. so shes e4 now. FOR FUCKING REAL but at least using acheron in sim uni lets one skip the non boss battles so thats a massive timesaver and also makes dealing with the swarm a lot less problematic. since you only have to deal with the big guy at the end and not trouble yourself with the occasional encounter on the way. seriously tho acheron is so cracked in sim uni. she let me get the achievement for finishing every battle with all allies at 100% hp. im currently using band of sizzling thunder + inert salsotto [LOL] on her!!! as i said. scuffed but does the job for now. but im gonna get her pioneer diver of dead waters + izumo gensei and takama divine realm since i heard thats whats best on her. and yeah her kit is super fun!! and have fun with that!! honestly fair, tho im just stuck in my holy trinity of hi3 - hsr - noita. also i love the bartender event a lot both story and gameplay wise. very very cool. and thankies!!!!!!!

#me? answering in under two weeks? equilibrium has been restored #asks #pen pals

0 notes

mostspecialgirl · 7 months

Text

beast tower.

oc rambling under the cut

I ATE THIS SHIT UP !!!!!!!!

ahem. Sorry. I meant. I think i did a good service to iris’s team. or, i guess, Novekhrys’s team, but WE KNOW WHO’S PULLING THE WEIGHT AROUND HERE !!!!!

okay. There’s actually a bit i want to say about cementing these designs.

Gráinne was an easy design to nail. i’ve wanted her to be loosely sparkledog scene adjacent from the get. and that’s what i did. i dunno if i’m satisfied with her color scheme but she canonically dyes her hair something completely different every so often like ramona flowers so it’s cool to just. Have this for now. i’ve been dying to use that pinterest hairstyle i saw a few weeks back and i finally got a nice opportunity to use it. also i gave her a name. she’s gráinne now. because i used to want to call her diarmuid. any fenian cycle fans in the chat

IRIS!!!! she’s the same as last time i drew her properly BUT like Oh My GOD she looks pretty here i was blown away by my own ability. iris is like. one of my first relicverse oc’s to be made in mind with the fact that the Relicverse Is A Thing so she’s always sort of been a benchmark character for me even moreso than demi or any of the sinai have been. i’m glad to have fully assembled a picture of her leg of ninestrike today seeing as i’ve been teetering back and forth on who exactly should lead it, and who’s fitting for her to serve under. novekhrys should have been the obvious choice from the start and i have no idea how i never saw it

like, are you seeing this???

and MY GOD. this is one of those times SETTING 1000 LOOSE THREADS pays the FUCK off because i needed one more admin and OBVIOUSLY it ONLY MAKES SENSE for it to be Kumbhakarna, seeing as Ravana has long been serving under Novekhrys (shoutouts to ravana i dont draw him enough but hes genuinely one of my favorites to write) and the two of them have always gone through cyclical incarnation hell together. i can’t break up the band. AND. Because of course, Ravana’s contract with Novekhrys making him into the Nameless Asura… That means Kumbhakarna must also have entered a similar deal. but i can’t call them both the nameless asura! sure, i can call him the nameless rakshasa instead BUT !!! BUT !!! I HAVE BEEN IN NEED OF CHARACTERS WHO HAVE INHERITED THE ROMAN GOD TITLES POST-DEVILS MANNER !!! and so, of course, he is MORS!!!!! why is that? of course, because of kumbhakarna’s curse… and because of the Somnus Title… what does that mean for Somnus…? Only time shall tell !!!!! Kuahahahahaha !!!!!!

lastly. of course. novekhrys ainzbury. demiurge’s son-in-law. husband of astaphe and father of lucille. I’M EVER SO GLAD TO BE ABLE TO START LOOPING HIM BACK INTO RELEVANT LORE!!!!!!!!!

I FUCKING LOVE THIS MAN!!!!! I’VE EVEN REINSTATED HIS STATUS AS A DRAGON!!!!!! FUCK IT!!!!!!! GIVE HIM THE WORLD!!!!!!!!

previously, in novekhrys’s lore, he existed at a time where magic was a very contentious existence for me in relicverse lore. and if i’m really coming down to it, he was technically the first proper magic user. it completely slipped my mind until literally like a few weeks ago that i realized he’s a tower master within the mage society. i often find myself forgetting astaphe exists, much like everyone seems to forget about the much less powerful children of the demiurge. But voila. my problem was solved. who better for iris to work under?and obviously, who better to be the much needed FREAK of the unraveling division than the FREAK tower master of the beast tower, the very man who fucked demiurge’s only daughter and had a child with her.

letting the pieces slide together was the most satisfying shit in the world. This is why i write. I live for these moments where all my loose threads come together. Good lord. Good fucking lord. And good god man does him being the beast tower master ever serve as such a great rational support to ravana’s existence. I KNOW my ass was not thinking about that at all back then. But like. Fuck yeah dude.

i tried to base his design off of demonic sect leaders in those cultivation novels combined with his draconic origins and it all worked together nicely. he looks better than ever! or maybehe just has long hair. I love long haired men. And horns. He’s lost a little of his signature “pathetic disheveled shell of a man” but i’ll be sure to draw plenty of that when he ISNT posted up for a beauty shot with his admins.

ALSO. holy HELL has his relationship with hana slotted in PERFECTLY. she’s always received funding from an unnamed tower master, and of fucking COURSE having it be novekhyrs the disciple hunter would only make sense. she’s a rare deviant species. his FAVORITE. and it’s never really made too much sense why hana would ever take any particular interest in expanding her leg of ninestrike and joining the union BUT IT ONLY MAKES SENSE IF IT WAS NOVEKHRYS WHO DRAGGED HER INTO IT. bringing in the Small Rewrite that the beast tower was built upon the remains of Hermes’s NinthSpire, and with enough bullshit backstory on the fly lore drawing inspiration between the old lore links between him and Father and BOOM!!!! he’s got his own ninestrike invitation with absolutely zero conflicting changes to established lore!!!! Oh my god and this is why hana takes the name of ninestrike as her own after novekhrys tells her about the history of the science tower

AND i get to write him again. It’s like christmas morning for me. This is nonsense to you all but this is PURE genius at work. This is why you leave everything 85% done because the remaining 15% will come to save your ass in the future. God Bless the Mage Society !!! Long live the Phenomena White Tower !!!

okayi. Have to sleep now. Seriousky. Im insnae

I have to do eight more drawings in this style cor eaxh division now

#leastspecialgirl #mostspecialgirlarttag #oc art #oc #ocs #relicverse #ninestrike #mage society #novekhrys ainzbury #gráinne #dr iris #nameless rakshasa

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casliveblog · 1 year

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Custom Toonami Block Week 135 Rundown

Spy X Family: The time of the big interview has finally come and the Forger family descends on it with military precision despite this school being the most uppity fucking place in the world. These guys are failing people based on the way they fucking walk up to the place and are trapping people into messing up their clothes by staging a trapped messy kid and they also have an escaped wild animal stampede but Yor can TKO a cow like nobody’s business so it’s fine. They also play the gag that they’re stupidly prepared and brought TWO sets of changes of clothes which is freaking hilarious but also like they just kinda appear right where they were in the new clothes like no time has passed so did they just get changed right there or what. Like the implication is they went off to change but they’re like ‘oh you guys can go get cleaned up’ and Loid’s just like ‘That won’t be necessary’ and they just fucking appear in new clothes. It’s really fucking funny honestly. Still the actual interview happens and they’ve got a dude that’s just trying to do his job, an angry bitter asshole, and the dude that’s been screaming about elegance the whole time and is basically already on their side. The questions are pretty typical and Anya gets through it by reading Loid’s mind and Loid basically tells the truth but makes it sound like they’ve been a family for a lot longer than they have. Also they do bring up the fact that the school is looking into the possibility of fake families but I guess they’re just really shit at it and nobody talked to Yor’s friends that definitely know she wasn’t married last week but okay. But yeah Asshole Mcdouchebag asks Anya who she loves most between Yor and her old mom and that activates Anya’s tragic backstory alarm and everyone is ready to beat the shit out of him but luckily restrain themselves just enough though Loid still breaks the table (just a note on that I’m pretty sure Loid doesn’t have Yor’s super strength and was just THAT pissed off so he’s just like a sneaky dude that hulked out for a moment). But luckily elegance guy takes to heart all the great things Loid was saying about the school and decks the asshole after they leave, it’s kinda nice they gave this fancypants guy a character arc about really believing in the values the school puts a show of upholding. Still the Forgers don’t know they’ve already passed so they get to sweat it out for another episode while Loid’s just having a BSOD like ‘uhhh maybe they like people that break their tables?’.

Inuyasha: This episode is kinda weird in that it’s the intersection of two types of filler gimmick episodes and a stock gimmick comedy plot. So we meet back up with the old filler lady monk who doesn’t have any power and Inuyasha and Shippo are fighting so it’s also a Shippo episode. The monk lady enlists their help protecting a bunch of village houses that have been broken into lately and comes up with a sutra that lets Shippo use his fox magic to turn invisible because we wanted to give Shippo a new power but have to make it conditional so he can’t use it outside of filler. So we have some shenanigans of him and Sango being invisible but it only lasts a few minutes so the gag is when Sango stalks Miroku he can see her almost right away and when Shippo goes to peek on Kagome’s tits or prank Inuyasha they just brush him off/beat him up like that episode of Rugrats with the vanishing cream. Shippo just thinks Inuyasha sniffed him out but Sango figures out the spell didn’t last long and… doesn’t tell Shippo because she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings I guess? But when Shippo’s guarding the house alone and is very visible to the demon Sango realizes this was a terrible idea and he’s prolly gonna die. The demon himself is pretty cool and appears as a paper thin man that can become fat when he sucks in air so he Paper Mario’s his way into the house to steal shiny stuff but Shippo’s able to kinda just steal it back and run away before Inuyasha can sniff them out and beat the guy up. Feel like they wanted to do more with Inuyasha and Shippo’s relationship in this episode since Kagome equates them to bickering brothers but aside from briefly acknowledging each other when fighting the demon nothing really comes of it. It’s another gag episode that’s not quite as funny as the last one but it’s alright I guess.

Yu Yu Hakusho: So the Goblin King game continues and the first bit is Gamer Girl Genkai absolutely wrecking shop at a helicopter game which I guess makes sense because it’s probably hard to make that look exciting. Gamemaster’s like ‘well cool we got her win out of the way so I don’t have to fight her’ which is probably fair like most of Genkai’s one on one fights are hilariously onesided unless you’re Toguro. Yusuke gets the easiest beat-em-up in the world and still almost loses but he manages to pull out a win so they only need to beat the Gamemaster himself once to claim victory. I vividly remember watching this as a kid because the way they make a quiz game such a display of shonen asshole one-upmanship is kind of spectacular. Kaito knows all the game’s questions and can pick them up based on the first syllable and their given answers but Gamemaster lets him do the first five questions so he can get the sequence of the code and by then he knows the complete order of the game’s RNG sequencing to know the questions before any part of the question actually pops up. That’s like some Death Note level of “I’m even geniusier than you’ shit. Kaito gets sick of losing so just guesses on a bunch of the questions and gets his three strikes before Gamemaster can get his tenth question, better to lose than be beaten I guess. Still Kurama figures out that with the game’s arcade Continue nature, they aren’t playing an elimination game but just a stalling game so they won’t die if they lose they’ll just keep playing the final boss over and over which theoretically would be great because they get infinite chances but also means Gamemaster’s confident enough that he’ll be able to keep whipping their butts for hours until the tunnel’s completed. The preview of this episode also has Kurama poetically wondering if he can morally kill a child in a way that really infatuated my edgy teenage soul back in the way with him talking about doing something he regrets like ‘I pray that I won’t but I know that I will’ like fantastic edgy teen anime OC gold man, fantastic job.

Jujutsu Kaisen: It’s time for the group’s first real mission and Gojo is out of town so there’s no saving them, this is basically the ‘Naruto and Sasuke vs Zabuza’ moment. Speaking of which our resident Sasuke Megumi is in the spotlight this time around since Nobara has like kind of an idea how things work and Yuji was legit thrown into this with zero training so yeah they go into the spirit’s Witch Labyrinth from Madoka and within like two minutes the kid they came in there to save is dead, Nobara’s captured by a bunch of mask trolls and Megumi’s white wolf is dead and there’s a naked flexing guy that cuts Yuji’s hand off. They also have a brief moral quandary that the place they’re in is a juvie center so all the kids there are kinda dicks so Megumi doesn’t want to go out of his way to save any of them but Yuji met the kid’s mom so he wants to help anyway and it’s a neat little conflict. But yeah Yuji wants to call out his Hollow side but Sukuna’s like ‘yeah bro I’ll kill your evil spirit for ya, and your friend and maybe you I don’t care like we got like 10% of my power max riding on this’ so Yuji wisely decides against that and sends Megumi to go save Nobara and get the fuck out of dodge so he can hulk out without anyone in the area. He fights the naked spirit thing for a bit and gets more appendages ripped off and does briefly figure out how to use a minor amount of Cursed Energy but it’s like some dude rocking up to Mike Tyson with exactly one move they got from a youtube tutorial. Still Megumi saves Nobara via frog and Yuji’s able to let Sukuna out and honestly this guy is a boss like he’s so entertaining to watch. He’s smart about it and wants to lead the spirit out so they can team up on Megumi to piss off Yuji but the spirit is piss scared of Sukuna and not all that smart and doesn’t wanna leave his stoop so Sukuna’s just like ‘fine guess I’ll do the thing’ and fucking wrecks this dude’s shit five ways to Sunday before using Tsukuyomi or some shit to bisect him fivefold and take his finger back. By then Sukuna’s like ‘yeah yeah I did your stupid shonen evil side bullshit lemme switch back now’ but to his surprise Yuji doesn’t come back out, presumably because he can’t switch back right away at this point.

Chainsaw Man: Just when we think it’s all over and Denji’s saved Power and Meowy, his fucking arm gets ripped off before he can grope her like some 18+ version of that Twilight Zone episode where the dude breaks his glasses. Turns out the Leech Devil was boning the Bat Devil and is the Miss Piggy to his Kermit and wants to kill whoever killed him as I assume Miss Piggy would in the 18+ version of The Muppets. Still she’s apparently very vain and willing to let Denji off for being bishie enough but he has boobs to protect so he stays and fights. Still after all that he can only get his chainsaw like half a foot out of his head and has to swing his head around like Zabuza killing people with just the kunai in his mouth. It’s really funny how he’s just like ‘yeah if my dream’s so stupid then kill me and prove it’ and that’s a really badass thing to say when everyone around him has a better reason to do the things they’re doing but he actually loses so the series itself is like ‘yeah second base is a stupid dream bro’ but yeah this series really is paralleling Jujutsu Kaisen because we ALSO have our Sasuke surrogate with wolf powers coming into the spotlight this week. Aki summons his wolf devil thing using some skin and bites the Leech Devil in half. So yeah, problem solved but Power and Denji are still in trouble for running off the second they got ten feet of freedom so Aki’s just like ‘bro get some manners and two braincells to rub together or I’m gonna kill you’ and Denji’s just like ‘suggestion noted’. And they let Power go since Denji doesn’t tell anyone about her trying to kill him and I guess they don’t have enough evidence to go on or something. We get a nice little look into Aki’s life how he’s so particular and has even chilled out a little with Denji as a roommate and they’re at least not fighting constantly, though of course things need to get even CRAZIER so Power joins the apartment for a traditional Asuka-style NGE shakeup of the living arrangements. And turns out Power’s just like the worst roommate imaginable like it’s like trying to room with Tom Hanks after castaway and you have to re-train him how to use toilet paper and get him to stop talking to your volleyballs and bathe more than once a month but luckily for Denji he has absolutely no problem switching from digusted to horny when Power offers to give him his due gropes (god I kinda envy that like if someone so much as farts in front of me I’m not thinking of that person sexually for a little while).

Ranking of Kings: So turns out the titular Ranking of Kings isn’t just a metaphor but is like an actual literal thing like a committee comes out to judge everyone and the top one gets a divine relic that makes the king disappear or drives them crazy… why does anyone want that? Like yeah ‘magical god item’ sounds cool but if literally everyone who’s gotten one got fucked up why would you go so hard to get it? Like shoot for number 2, you still get a good kingdom and your king doesn’t go crazy/missing and wreck everything. Turns out Daida is still on the kill Bojji train to make sure there’s not a rebellion from his supporters (like I get the idea but wouldn’t people still revolt if you made him a martyr? Idk feels like a no-win situation and keeping him alive to accept his position might be better). But yeah Daida isn’t as good at fighting the giant magic golem from the committee as his dad was so they bump the kingdom down a few ranks. Meanwhile Bojji’s errand/quest is kinda not going well since after giving a street performer more than they make in a year he gets his bag with the letter from his mom in it stolen. Luckily it just kinda… shows up again outside the town with nothing taken and no explanation, hope that gets explained later. Also there’s a scene where Bojji falls down a hole and is briefly adopted by an underground king man who teaches him about the giant cloud anus in the sky that reincarnates animals every night for people to eat and he’s just like ‘wanna see it firsthand?’ and pulls a sword on Bojji before Bojji runs away and never mentions it again, like this episode is just like three or four big lipped alligator moments strung together which I imagine flowed a lot better when this was a chapter-based story. Meanwhile Domas and other dude are reflecting on orders and Domas is just like ‘yeah rich people got it rough so I’ll do what they say no matter what’ and other dude is thinking about when he was crying over his dead parents and met Bojji who was also crying over HIS dead parents so they kinda bonded over that. Meanwhile they find a village with a literal gate to hell and Domas just fucking pushes Bojji into it while flashing back to training him as a kid and he’s like ‘bitch I said I’d do anything’ so… Bojji’s dead now I guess, short series damn. Also Daida’s having dreams about how Bojji’s the only hope for their kingdom so his first thought is to dig up his father’s corpse to suck on his zombie muscle juice and get strong I guess idfk.

Vinland Saga: So Thors is legit wrecking Askeladd’s crew and even tosses Bjorn and his Mario Mushroom ass over to the second ship to join the fight over there. Thors is pretty sure he can probably take all the guys in the other boat too but it’d get messy with Thorfinn there and there’s still a bunch of archers ready to shoot them up top so really they only have the illusion of victory at this point unless Thors can scale a fjord before they can fire. So he challenges Askeladd to a duel so there’s not a bloodbath on both sides. Askeladd’s basically a Kenpachi Zaraki type and just wants to fight strong anime dudes and Thors is the only strong anime dude around so he’s like ‘sure bro’ and they fight and it’s pretty fucking cool cause Askeladd’s fast as hell (so like even if Thors could fight off the thirty dudes they had I don’t think he could fight them AND Askeladd plus the archers so there wasn’t much chance) and the duel is pretty grounded but still has some cool setpieces and strategies. But Thors of course comes out on top but isn’t willing to kill Askeladd and Askeladd’s like ‘bro we’re still pirates’ and they take Thorfinn hostage because Askeladd just wanted to fight tough guys but he wasn’t gonna let Thors get away all the same. Understanding the situation Thors spares Askeladd’s life knowing there’s no way for him to survive but if he goes quietly Askeladd will owe him and the shred of pride he has means he leaves the others alone. We also get the ‘A True Warrior Needs No Sword’ line because Thors wants to be the kind of person that can settle things without lethal force but he’s just too damn good with the sword. So yeah Askeladd quietly agrees to Thors’ terms and has the archers kill him and lets the others go, with Leif agreeing to bring Thors’ head to their king so they can be like ‘nah bro he’s not AWOL again he’s legit dead see’. They paint this as Thors being kinda cheated and losing because he was protecting everyone but like between the archers and everyone else they were at Askeladd’s mercy the whole time there was no way Thors was leaving even if they hadn’t taken Thorfinn hostage and cheated a bit. Since Thors was doing half the rowing on the ship by himself they just give the ship to Askeladd’s crew and leave on Leif’s ship but Thorfinn stows away on the old ship and has adopted his trademark dead soulless angry eyes at this point screaming into the storm about how he’s going to murder all the adult pirates who are now his only means of staying alive. Man this really is an Attack on Titan backstory arc. Askeladd says to just leave him as he’ll probably be dead soon anyway since it’s one kid on a ship by himself. I gotta wonder how did Leif’s crew not notice Thorfinn was missing? Like this is the SECOND time he’s done this in two days, the first time they assumed he was back in Iceland sulking somewhere so yeah that makes sense they didn’t necessarily check the ship for him but at this point there’s only like ten guys they have to keep track of and only so many places they can go on the ship how did no one in Leif’s group think to check for the sobbing kid whose dad just died?

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Spy X Family #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Jujutsu Kaisen #Chainsaw Man #Ranking of Kings #Vinland Saga

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dumbfinntales · 2 years

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I recently beat Callisto Protocol and yeah. It’s not very good. But it’s not down right awful either. The term “disappointing” is the right way to call it, and honestly that makes it worse than just being bad. You’d rather play a bad game than one that is so promising, but just fucks everything up later down the line. Spoilers below.

When I started playing the game I didn’t get the hate at first. I loved the setting and the atmosphere was superb. Some monster designs really reminded me of John Carpenters The Thing. The melee combat was a bit odd with the dodging system and once I figured out how it really worked it became brain dead. They had a neat idea with the melee combat, but completely fumbled it turning it into glorified quick time event without prompts on the screen. The enemy variety was also sorely lacking and most enemies are dealt in the same exact way. But despite all that, I still enjoyed the game. I got into the rhythm and thought “not so bad, could be better though”.

But then I got to the second half of the game. Four waves of enemies that kill you nigh instantly spawn and is followed by one of the worst fucking miniboss encounters I’ve ever seen. The miniboss has only one attack which of course is a melee swing, and every one of its attacks one shot kills you. The devs knew they designed a simple as shit boss and thought it’d be more “balanced” if the miniboss one shot you. Then they decide to repeat this piece of shit four times within two hour period. On future encounters enemies spawn during it, so have fun getting one shot from the behind as you’re focusing on the enemies. I had to memorize the enemies spawn locations. Real great stuff.

The final boss isn’t any better. It one shots you too and has an annoying ranged attack that I could not figure out how to avoid. Those exploding crawling enemies also spawn during the boss fight. The final boss doesn’t even look visually pleasing. He literally feels like every other enemy in this game, but just bigger. Dead Space had so much enemy variety and here they designed one (1) single enemy and just gave it a couple different designs. They’re all humanoid creatures standing on two legs, they run and they swing their arms at you. The only enemies I really liked were the ranged split face enemies and those weird crawly human spiders. Don’t know exactly how the describe em, but they’re gnarly.

The ending was also the biggest “fuck you buy our DLC/sequel” nonsense I’ve ever seen. The game ends in an awful jump scare and the credits roll. Fucking great. And we know story DLC is on the way thanks to the season pass. Callisto Protocol had so much promise and looked really cool. But somehow it ended up being half a game and far worse than the game it tried to succeed, Dead Space. It’s not a completely awful experience as I did get some joy out of it, but by gods don’t waste 70 bucks. If you’re big into survival horror get it on a sale, or used. Or just pirate it. Although the PC version was apparently bad. I’m not even gonna give this game a joke score. I’ll give it a real one, it’s a 4/10.

#the callisto protocol #a review type of deal #The game is also very short #spoilers

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xsugarysweetsx · 2 years

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queen reader riding king Levi while on the throne . Knight apprentice eren walks in and catches them

notes: I’m so sorry this took so long!

Warnings; smut/sex, some fluff, semi-public sex, dirty talk...I think?, getting caught, MDI!

Please enjoy~

************************************************

Your husband and king had left bed without you even knowing. You had woken up during the night to find his side empty and you knew exactly where he would be. It was a very busy and stressful day having to deal with trades from neighboring kingdoms. Whenever he was stressed or needed to think things over he would go to the throne room at night.

You come out from under the thick sheets and expose your legs to the cool night air. You grab your night robe and head out to find Levi. There was a candelabra outside in the hallway and you grab it to light your way. After some walking through the castle with the cold floors against your bare feet you finally find him and sigh. There he was, contemplating everything he said yes and no to. You walk towards him and say

"Levi, it's late come back to bed" you set the candelabra aside on a small table and stand in front of him. "I know today was stressful but staying up late won't do you any good," you say as you cup one side of his face. As he melts into your touch he sighs and takes your hand in his pulling you towards his lap

"We will, let's just sit here a bit." you decide to entertain his idea and took a seat with him. Your arms wrap around his neck and you’re fingers find themselves combing through his dark locks. He then puckers his lips asking you for a kiss. He usually asked this way when he was stressed or just wanted comfort. No words needed just a simply sign was app that was needed.

“Come on, what’s on your mind,” you urge him

“Nothing, just business shit as always. You think The kingdom would okay if we just up and left without a word?” He asked

“Well then things would rlly go to shit here. I know it’s stressful but you’re a great king and leader Levi” you kiss his cheek “but don’t forget that I’m always here for anything you need” you embrace him and take in his scent

“You’re too good to me,” he sighs cracking a small smile

“I mean it, a massage, a day off, maybe your favorite tea or…other things” you smirk gazing into his silver orbs as your hands travel from his shoulders down to his chest. His muscles tense from the stress but it just stirred something inside you to feel how strong he was.

“What would that be your highness?” He asked as his own hands glide from your bare knee up your nightgown to rest of your hip “I am at your every command”

“I was thinking maybe…we could go for a ride to relive the stress?” You adjust yourself to straddle his lap, his hands still on your hips with a slightly tighter grip from before. He gazes up at you as the large stained glass window behind you gave you a heavenly aura. The moonlight peering in perfectly to surround your form, almost like he had an angel on his lap.

A goddess to call his wife and queen, how lucky of a man could he have been to have been married to you? To have you rule at his side? Not only was he graced by your unbelievable beauty but you intelligence and your caring nature and just yourself all around.

One of his hands stays on your hips while the other comes to the small of his your back and brings you closer for a passionate a kiss. A kiss filled with lust, passion, love and desperation. Close wasn’t close enough when he held you like this. You wanted to be closer, to feel each kiss, every sensation, every breath-anything and everything in that moment with him.

“Mmm Levi,” you shiver as you feel his breath tickle your neck “I need you”

“Yeah? You want me..to take you right here, in…the throne room?” He said between kisses to your shoulder and neck “what would the people think of their Queen if they new how dirty she became?…no less in the throne room” he chuckles moving good hands to remove your underwear…only to find nothing

“Oh so someone was ready for this Hmm?” He teases you

“Oh Levi this isn’t the first time we’ve done something like this” you slap his shoulder “now come on before someone sees” you giggle fiddling with his pants to get things going.

Of course he helped you get them half way down but he did enjoy seeing how much you wanted it and that you were thinking the same thing. His cock comes out hard and ready for action. You rub yourself against his shaft spreading your juices along him. You bring yourself to hover over him and slowly lower yourself on to him. No matter how many times you have done this the sensation and the fullness you felt is always something magical.

The slight stretch, the fullness you felt the warmth it was enough to make you moan and practically cum right on the spot. Many may criticize the king for his lack of height, but only if they knew where all that height was sent to instead. You’d sometimes liked to joke about it with Levi just to get on his nerves. However most of those times ended like this, with a passionate night.

“Fuck, Levi..” you moan

“Ooo such a foul mouth, and on the queen no less.” He teased sitting back in his throne as his hands massaged your breasts, the nightgown falling from your Schilder exposing the skin to the night air. You bounced on your husband, his shaft slipping in and out, the friction was bliss and you couldn’t help but moan out. Your moans filled the the empty room nearly echoing. The sound of skin slapping filled the room making it all the more erotic.

Creating a rhythm with each bounce Levi met you half way with a thrust upwards. Your breath bouncing in his grasp. He came forward to take one of your nipples into his mouth to lap and bite at.

“My queen, so beautiful, so perfect..ugh so tight Damn it,” he groaned a slight twitch in his cock sent shivers through your body like a current. “Wanting to fuck in the throne room of all places,” he’d huskily whispers into your ear “last month it was…mm the library, and before in the stables…now here? You must want to get caught huh?”

With how much he was talking and bringing up past events such as this you could feel yourself edging closer to your end

“Mmm L-levi, please,” you moan as his cock rubbed again your sweet spot

“Yeah, that good, then how about, this” your pleasure doubles as his runs your clit in a circular motion. You tighten more around him feeling a knot form in your stomach and tighten. You were coming so close to the edge, so close!

“Ah! Levi I…I please! Going to..ah!” You cry out

“That’s right baby, cum all I’ve your kings cock. I’ll make sure to give cum nice and deep inside” he bucks his hips more aggressively to get you both over the glorious edge. Your eyes roll back, you back arched and your core throbbed and ached for its orgasm……until-

“Who’s there?!” A sudden voice enters the room “You’re trespassed into the- AH! YOUR MAJESTIES! IM SO SORRY! I HEARD NOISES AND DIDNT THINK YOU WERE IN HERE!”

Right when you were about to cum one of your newest guards, Eren Yeager had come into the room. Of course he was only doing his job but he just had the walk in in this of all things. And Levi didn’t think about him doing as he is supposed to but more of,

“AVERT YOUR DAMN EYES BRAT BEFORE I HAVE YOU THROWN IN THE DUNGEONS!” he yelled as he wrapped your night robe tightly around your figure. He didn’t care about himself but he wouldn’t let another man set eyes in your the way he did

“RIGHT AWAY SIR! IM SORRY SIR!” He apologized and left as fast as he could and didn’t look back. The poor thing was as red as a tomato. You could honestly say the same for you. You cousins believe you had been caught and no less by a new recruit. Other knights and officials in the palace knew that if you both were in a room one thing or another was happening.

Then again why would you be in the throne room at night……either way you both were interrupted and the mood had sadly depleted. You both picked up your things along with your dignity and made your way back to the bedroom. There Levi laid on your chest a revived some of your special pep talks. However he did feel terrible for not having you finish.

In return he gave you a very special speech that brought you over the edge-twice! And unfortunately for Eren…..he also heard that on the same night.

Levi would be sure to set some new rules first thing in the morning

************************************************

Again I’m sorry for this being delayed so long!

#levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman #attack on titan x reader #attack on titan #snk #aot #levi x reader #king Levi x queen reader #anime #anime x reader #fanfiction #levi smut #levi ackerman smut #aot smut #snk smut #aot royalty au #king Levi Ackerman

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obaewankenope · 2 years

Text

Yesterday, my mother and I were discussing Liz IIs death, who'd take the throne, and blah blah about it all (including me informing her that the 3mil funeral cost is because of Victoria's redesign of state funerals blah blah) and she asked me:

Okay, hotshot (I shit you not, she used that word), if you know so much about all this (waving her hand and indicating... Idk... Monarchy shit I guess??) stuff then why did Edward (VIII) have to abdicate the thrown to marry a divorcee if they're letting Charles be King now with her (meaning Camilla)?

And like, I had to stop a minute and think about this all because wow, memory and Monarchy ugh. So! Buckle in y'all its gonna be a great ride!

In 1936, the King of England (and the Commonwealth) was Edward VIII. He caused something called the "Abdication Crisis" because he wanted to marry a divorcee Wallis Simpson but this was a Big No No for a Royal to do.

Now, the thing is, this is what is generally Known about it all. But what my mother (and probably a lot of other people) didn't know is that Eddie 8:

was a Nazi sympathiser

met Hitler in 1937

got pictured performing the Nazi salute

gave German intelligence info on France's military set up that was used to invade France in 1940

and then ended in Portugal after he fled France being invaded where he and his wife rubbed shoulders with German agents and Nazi sympathisers etc etc.

See, the thing is, the Abdication Crisis was what was Publicly Known at the time and made a great Public Excuse for Eddie 8 to leave the throne to his younger brother Albert (George VI) who wasn't a fan of Hitler, the Nazi's or any of that shit.

There's actually a documentary about this darker history of Eddie 8 aired by Channel 4 (Edward VIII: Britain's Traitor King) and I'd recommend giving it a watch because the evidence used by the historian Andrew Lownie is literally decades old. Its from the Royal Archives!

Winston Churchill actually had Eddie 8 removed from Europe all together by making him the Governor of the Bahamas when he was in Portugal and, honestly, the fact that Eddie 8 was also given a Dukedom after adbicating is just Royal Bribery bs to keep him sweet because, afterall, he was a Royal so couldn't have it be known he was a Traitor To The British Empire And Its People blah blah.

The Abdication Crisis was literally a cover up to prevent the common folk from discovering that a King was a Nazi loving bastard and isn't that just a stark reminder of how revisionist history is.

I have known about this for years but for my mother it was a revelation. She had No Idea Eddie 8 had been a Nazi lover, or any of the rest. She, like most, assumed he had been kicked off the throne because he wanted to marry a divorcee but...

Like... That's literally never been an issue for the Royal fucking Family. Like, sure, it was only in 2002 that the Protestant Church of England allowed people to marry divorcees but literally Henry the Fucking Eighth had how many divorces etc etc? It wasn't an impossibility to happen in the first place. But it made a nice smokescreen to oust a King who favoured an enemy nation at a time of great upheaval.

Especially since, ya know, World War II was happening and all that. Yeah...

So yeah, there's some history on the bullshit British Royal Family and how the Public knowledge is carefully curated hogwash by PR managers and Buckingham Palace™ to protect the "image" of the Royal Family and whatever Ruling Monarch there is at the time.

Cool right?

#Uk #UK history #Royal family #Edward VIII #Nazi #World War 2 #Europe #Modern history #The Royal Family is a cesspool of cover ups criminals and more #That gets a sanitising for public consumption lmao #Relevant to the current news rn bc #Well #Don't want anyone thinking Lizzie II was the biggest problem of the Royal Family in the past century lol lol

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hispipsqueak · 3 years

Text

Model Behavior

Mammon x F!Reader - NSFW WC:2K

Summary: Mammon and MC get roped into a photo shoot that gets a little bit spicy TW: unprotected sex, creampie. semi-public, oral (F receiving) A/N: AHHHH are you guys as hype for the OM anime??? VIP gets it this Friday and I am HYPE!! Can’t wait to see all my beautiful boys. Also, I’ve been writing this for like a month and finally finished it today since I forced myself to stay awake til it was over. I’m sleepy. I hope you enjoy.

"Hurry up MC! These fashion types always get pissy when I'm late." Mammon tugged your arm, dragging you behind him.

"Calm down! We'll be there on time." You said, but sped up anyway. Mammon was dragging you along to one of his photo shoots. You had to admit you were a bit excited, though you were trying to play it cool. The ivory-haired demon was already super attractive, but these photoshoots made him look incredible. You may have had a couple of your favorite magazine covers and ads of him hidden in your room.

But he didn't have to know that.

"I'm here. Let's go!" Mammon yelled out as he slammed the door open. He lifted his shades and tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair.

"Ah Mammon! Fashionably late as always...ah, but who is this?" A glamorous looking older witch peered at you over her eyeglasses. She reached out and gripped your chin. turning your face to either side.

"Hey, hands off the human!" Mammon suddenly tugged you back behind him, much to the witches amusement.

"A human? And so attractive at that...SCRAP THIS! I have a new vision! We are going to go BOLD, daring, sensual! Get them both into wardrobe!" she barked to two frazzled lesser demons, who pushed you and Mammon down a hallway. Mammon tightened his grip on your hand.

"Wha-Oi! Keep yer hands where I can see 'em!" Mammon threatened one of the demons as they pulled off your jacket. Another frazzled demon came in and handed you each a garment bag, pushing you both towards two curtained off dressing rooms.

"Um, I'm not really a model." You called out to nobody in particular.

Mammon sighed and you heard the rustling of fabric as he dressed.

"It's no use MC. Once she gets a vision, it's gonna happen. Hurry up and get dressed."

You unzipped the bag and your eyes widened at the little amount of fabric. You heard the witch yell out more directions in the distance and you pulled the dress on.

Either she really gauged your size quickly or the outfit was charmed. because the dress fit like it was tailor made for you. The fabric hugged your curves and fell in all the right places. You looked in the mirror in front of you and gasped. The dress had cut outs along the sides and a keyhole cut, showing off ample cleavage. How the hell were you going to walk out of there in front of everyone in this?!

"Ya done, MC?" Mammon called out. You took another look at yourself before swallowing down your nerves and sliding on the attached heels.

"Uh...yeah." You pulled back the curtain.

"Let's g-" Mammon's words trailed off as he glimpsed you in the revealing dress. Your face felt hot as you could see his eyes roam down your body, taking in each slit of the fabric and down your bare legs. Your hands wrapped around yourself.

“I look ridiculous Mammon! I can’t go out like this!” You whispered, unsuccessfully covering yourself with your arms. Mammon, who hadn’t closed his mouth since earlier, finally snapped back.

“Ya look…” he never finished the thought, because you both were being shoved back to the set by the pair of demons from before.

“Ahh! Marvelous! This is going to be the TALK of Devilgram!” The witch clapped her hands together. She squinted and started positioning the two of you.

“Mammon, darling, wrap your hand on her waist, yes just like that. MC, is it? Turn your head to Mammon’s neck. A little closer…”

You were pressed against Mammon, your lips practically attached to the soft skin of his neck. You could smell his cologne and were hyper aware of his hand splayed on your hip. She adjusted you both slightly, arching your back more and repositioning Mammon’s arms. Finally she stepped back.

“Perfect! Now look into each other’s eyes.”

You looked up and met Mammon’s golden eyes. Maybe it was the cologne or the fact that you were tangled in his arms, but your heart raced as you stared into each other’s gaze. Flashbulbs went off around the two of you and you could vaguely hear the witch making orders to the photographer, but the two of you were consumed with each other.

“Your heart’s racin’ MC. Must be because you’re next to the Great Mammon after all.” He whispered, a grin threatening to spread on his face.

“Shut up, I’m fine.” You hissed through your teeth, though you could feel your skin heating up. Damn photo lights.

“I need something that will push this over the edge. Something...that exudes sexiness…” the witch muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Hey MC, ya trust me?” Mammon asked and you nodded, confused. One of his hands splayed on your lower back and he pressed his lips to the sensitive spot right below your ear. His hand pushed you close to him, arching your back and the flashbulbs went off rapidly.

“Perfect!! Sensual and daring! I can feel the animalistic ferality!” the witch cried out.

You were at a loss for words and your eyes closed as Mammon slipped his tongue out to lap at your skin.

“Shhh…” He breathed into your neck. From the outside, the two of you looked like professional models, albeit in a suggestive pose. Inside though, your heart was jackhammering in your chest as he nipped at your ear lobe. You felt something poke your thigh and looked down.

“Mammon! Are you…hard?”

“Ya think I could control myself when you look like that? Fuck MC…” the rest of his words were muffled as his breath tickled your neck and you tried to maintain your composure. After what felt like an eternity, the director cut the shoot for the day.

“Great work Mammon, Y/N!” The witch barked out, turning to discuss something with the crewmates. Mammon ushered you towards your dressing rooms, but pulled you into a dark office in the back of the building.

Immediately, he latched himself to your neck, pressing kisses down the column of your throat.

“So fuckin’ hot MC. Fuck it took all I had to keep from fuckin’ ya right there.” He panted out as he bit hickeys onto the tops of your breasts. He tugged down the dress, causing it to rip open.

“Shit! Mammon, that was probably a million dollars!” You wailed, eyes widening.

He continued his assault on your chest, unfazed. “Fuck it. Shouldn’t have looked so fuckin’ good, babe.” His fingers ran down your skin, now freed from the dress and he squeezed at every inch of your curves. You shivered as his fingers trailed down your hips, pulling you closer to him.

“Mammon, someone might see us! We can’t do –”

You lost your words as he continued to kiss down your tummy, feeling his warm breath inching closer to your heat.

“Fuck...I wanted this so damn long. I wan’a taste every inch of ya, babe.” He whispered into your skin, tugging down your panties. Immediately, he buried his tongue inside you, lapping at your soaked folds. His painted nails dug into the flesh of your thighs, as he strained to explore every bit of you. Biting your lip, you tangled your fingers into his snow-white hair, gently tugging him closer into you. A low whine escaped his lips and the vibration had your body trembling.

“Fu-fuck Mammon...don’t stop, please…” Your words were strained as he slid his fingers across your skin and teased your entrance. The cool tiles on the wall pressed against your back as you gave into him, letting him devour you.

His tongue moved in a frenzy as he plunged two fingers inside you. Your vision blurred and your grip on his hair tightened, feeling as though if you didn’t hold on, you would float away in a euphoric rush.

“That’s it babe...ya gonna cum for me? Cum in my mouth baby, lemme taste it.” Mammon panted as his fingers curled inside you, his lips enclosing around your clit.

You cried out as you felt your body release on his lips. Groaning into your cunt, he slid his tongue up your folds, attempting to drink every drop from you. Your body twitched with sensitivity.

“F-fuck…’s too much.” You panted out. He slowly pulled away, his dark skin glistening with your juices and looked up at you. His gleaming eyes met yours as he stood up and pulled you into a tender kiss. You could taste the sweet tang of yourself on his tongue as he pulled you impossibly close.

Finally breaking apart, you looked up at him with hazy eyes. The two of you looked drunk on lust and wordlessly you pulled at the buttons on his shirt as he undid his belt. Your fingertips traced the muscles on his chest, down his abdomen and you shivered at the hungry look he had on his face. You could see the tent in his boxers and he looked down at you, as if to ask you for consent.

Nodding, you pushed down the waistband of his boxers, freeing his cock. A prominent ridge ran across, separating the tan shaft from the reddish tip. Precum glistened on the tip and you could feel your cunt clench at the idea of him inside you.

Mammon, the normally blabbermouth brother, seemed lost for words. His cockiness was gone, replaced with a softness for you, the vulnerable side of him only you got to see. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you pulled him into another kiss.

“I want you so bad Mammon...please make love to me.” The words pressed into his neck like a fiery brand and he growled before lifting you onto the table and pushing himself into you. You hissed. Though he had prepped you, he was still thick and he slowed, searching your face for any discomfort. With a slight nod, your eyes fluttered as he bottomed out in you.

“You feel so good, my beautiful girl. Perfect baby…”, he whispered praises as he shallowly humped into you. You could feel the drag of his cock on your walls and you rocked to meet his thrusts. He had one hand on your lower back, the other propping the two of you up on the table and the feeling of being surrounded by him, as he gently fucked you on his cock had you gripping at his back muscles.

“Yes...right there. Faster, ohh.” You breathed out as he plunged deeper into you, speeding up his rhythm at your request. The wood of the desk creaked and you knew if anyone was outside the door they would be able to tell exactly what the two of you were doing. But you were drunk on lust, dizzy in Mammon and he was infatuated with you, staring down at your heaving breasts as he pounded into you.

Your nails dig into his skin and his grip on you tightened as he pressed his lips to yours, swallowing your moans. You could feel the sweat plastering his hair to his skin and with every thrust, his body seemed to scream your name.

“Not gonna be able to...hold out much longer babe. You’re squeezin’ me so tight, fuck…” He panted into your neck, licking at the salty skin and leaving soft bites. You could feel the coil in your belly tighten as your body began to tense up. Wrapping your legs around him, you forced him into you deeper. Whimpers fell from his mouth as you bit on his shoulder.

“Fuck, fuck Mammon, I’m–” You cried out as you gushed around his cock. With a few more thrusts, Mammon yelped and pulled you against him as he spilled his seed into you. You could feel his cock throb inside you and he let out a low groan as he slowly pulled out, the mixture of the two of you spilling onto the desk and your thighs.

Your body felt wobbly and he gently laid you back on the desk. Your eyes closed and soon you felt a cloth cleaning you.

“Mmm...you’re such a sweetheart when you wanna be…” you smiled before looking down at the demon. Your eyes widened.

“MAMMON ARE YOU USING THE MILLION DOLLAR DRESS AS A CUM RAG?!”

He shrugged.

“Looks like we’ll just have to book another gig to pay it back, babe.”

#obey me #obey me smut #mammon x mc #omswd smut #mammon smut

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sunmoonandeddie · 3 years

Text

and he kissed me right here

pairing: modern!bucky barnes x reader

word count: 6,100

summary: I've always been sure that all I ever wanted was a glamorous life.

warnings: Cuss words, mentions of the Afghanistan war (Bucky is a veteran), angst, happy ending, cheesy romantic confessions, age gap

a/n: This is based on the song 'Stars and the Moon' from Songs for a New World! It's the first one shot in my musical series! This is written in first perspective, but there is no physical description or use of a name in this!

Twenty-Two

I sighed as I tossed a few more dirty plates into the dish window, wiping my brow. After a shitty dinner rush and an even shittier rush around two in the morning consisting only of drunk ass college kids looking for some sort of carb to suck up all the alcohol in their systems, I was ready to go the fuck home.

“Sweetheart, you head on home now,” the head chef insisted as he watched my head nod slightly as I tried my best to fight off sleep. “Ain’t nobody comin’ in before Melissa gets here. No point in you staying on your feet any longer.”

Louis was a godsend. At sixty-seven years old, you’d think he would rather be anywhere but a diner at almost four in the morning.

“Nah,” he had said when I’d asked him a few months after I’d first started. “My Ginny died a few years back, and since she’s been gone, I don’t really have the stomach to sit around that house all alone.” He had laughed, but there’d been a deep sorrow that had come over his deep brown eyes. “Kids are worried, but… Sleeping the day away is better than laying up at night staring at her side of the bed…”

“You sure, Lou?” I asked even as I headed for the back room where all the employees clocked in and kept their possessions in their own little cubbies. I did my checkout in view of the security camera, just like always. I didn’t want anyone to be able to say I stole anything.

Everyone who knew me knew that I wouldn’t, but I’d worked at two many places where the girls tried backstabbing each other and sabotaging everyone else to get them fired.

Though people were a lot nicer in Louisiana than any of the other places I’d lived.

Louis chuckled as he set a to-go box in the window, nodding towards it. “Mmhm. Long as Buck is getting you home safe.”

I gave him a joking eye roll as I took the to-go box gratefully, grinning at my name written in all caps with green Sharpie on top. “You know you don’t have to make me dinner every night.”

“Yes, I do,” he said, shooting me a look. “How else do I know you’re getting enough food in you, huh?” He pointed his rag at me. “Now you go ask him to get you home. Tell him I said he can clock out, and that he’s supposed to text me when he sees you safe inside. You better not say you’re gonna ask him again just to walk yourself home.” The old man shook his head as I headed for the back door, muttering to himself, “Damn girl thinks I’m gonna believe she’s feeding herself good enough when she’s risking her damn ass walking home alone.”

Despite the fact that I’d put off asking for Bucky Barnes’s service, I really did appreciate how fiercely Louis cared about me.

It had been a real long time since anyone had cared so much.

I hesitated at the back door of the diner, my hand resting against the cool metal.

What if he said no?

Granted, he most likely wouldn’t. But what if he said yes, and he secretly thought me some dumb little girl that couldn’t take care of herself?

What did I care if he thought that?

“I don’t care what he thinks of me,” I huffed as I straightened my shoulders, holding my chin a little higher.

“Stop talking to yourself and get going!”

I jumped in surprise, before shooting a glare in the direction of the kitchen. “Stop listening in on my private conversations!” I demanded before storming outside with new found vigor.

Only to freeze when Bucky looked up from where he was sitting on the curb, smoking a cigarette.

God, he was handsome.

“You okay, doll face?” He asked, his New York accent a sharp contrast to the southern drawls you were used to.

“Um… Y-Yeah,” I said faintly, glancing back at the door that I’d come in from. “Um… L-Louis wants me to ask you… Can you walk me home? Or give me a ride? I don’t… I don’t know if you drive…”

“I do drive.”

“O-Oh. Okay. Great.”

“But I don’t have my car on me.”

I peered at him curiously. “Oh. Um… I can just walk by myself. I don’t wanna… I don’t wanna be a nuisance…”

He stood up, tossing his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. “Don’t be ridiculous, darlin.’ Come on. I’ll walk you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he began to head for the street. “Besides… It’s a real nice night.”

“Oh…,” I said in surprise at how ready he was to be of service. “Okay. But only if you’re sure.”

A faint smile graced his lips as he glanced at the ground, letting out a faint chuckle that rumbled deep in his chest. “I’m sure, darlin.’ But you gotta lead the way.”

I was surprised by the rapid pitter patter of my heart beat as we walked side by side down the street, the chorus of ‘Yellow Brick Road’ getting stuck in my head on a loop.

Bucky was an enigma that I found myself wondering about more often than not, but I always ended up talking myself out of going there. After all, he was an older man. A much older man. At least fifteen years older than my own twenty-two years, or something along those lines, not that he looked it. The man looked like some kind of rugged Greek god. Like Hades if Hades was born in the eighties. His dog tags clinked together under his shirt as we walked, his metal prosthetic glinting in the moon.

“So how did you end up in NOLA?”

It took me a moment to even realize that he was talking to me, my heart skipping a beat and my face going hot in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked.

His bright blue eyes flickered over to look me over. “How’d you end up in New Orleans?”

“I actually don’t know,” I snorted, avoiding his eyes as I kicked at a few broken up pieces of asphalt. “I just… Picked a bus ticket and ended up in one of the Carolinas. Then I picked another bus ticket and ended up in Minnesota. And then I picked another, and another, and another, and then I actually just… ended up here.” The months I’d spent alone on those Greyhounds felt both so long ago and also like it was just yesterday. “The diner was the first place someone recommended for food that’s good but cheap, and as I was eating my mountain of cheese fries, I saw the flyer that said they were hiring. So here I am now…”

“Huh,” he said, his brows furrowed. “I didn’t take you for the type of person to run off on your own… riding buses all over the country…”

Head tilting to the side, I gave him a long look. “You didn’t? What kind of type did you peg me for?”

Bucky gave me a long look, a single brow raised as though silently telling me that I jumped to conclusions. “Just that jumping from place to place can take a lot outta someone,” he said slowly, his voice low and soothing. “Hell, if you were my girl—” He broke off as his cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink, his long hair falling in his face.

I swore my heart had stopped inside of my chest, and I swallowed thickly around the lump in my throat. “Oh?”

He rushed to try to correct his wording. “I-I just mean, a lady should be comfortable. And if I had a g-girl like you, well… You’d never want for anything,” he stammered, stumbling over his words like a flustered school boy. “Hell, I… I’d give you the stars and the moon…”

I was shocked into silence, staring up at him like he was the sun itself. “Bucky…”

“No, no, don’t say anything. I… I know that was a lot,” he insisted quietly, unable to meet your eyes as he stared up at the shitty apartment building you called home. “Hell, you probably don’t want a gross old man hitting on you.” His metal hand, glinting in the low light of the street lamp, reached up to brush against my cheek for just a moment before it quickly dropped. “Just let me walk you home each night so I can make sure you’re safe, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I breathed out, unable to take my eyes off of him as he took a few steps back.

There’s a somewhat playful smirk on his lips as he watched me stumble up the steps, continuously glancing back at him. “Goodnight, baby doll.”

“Goodnight,” I said, barely audible before I finally headed inside.

Bucky kept his word. He walked me home every night, and honestly, there wasn’t a moment that I wasn’t thinking about what he had said, about if I was his girl.

What if I was his girl?

But… with that meant I’d have to give up the life I’d dreamed for myself. I wanted luxury, to never worry about bills or where I was gonna get my next meal or if I could afford to buy the nice work shoes or if I could only get the cheap ones that would fall apart in three months and then I’d just be right back where I started.

I wanted the life that celebrities lived. Hell, I wanted to go to parties on the same yachts the Kardashian-Jenners did, even if I couldn’t fucking stand them.

And with Bucky… I wouldn’t have that.

“So why’d you go on the run anyway?” Bucky asked one night as we sat on the curb, eating ice cream in the Louisiana heat. “I know you told me how you got here, but you’ve never told me why.”

“You’ve never told me how you ended up here or why either,” I shot back, nudging his shoulder with my own.

Somehow the age difference seemed non-existent as we sat there. Honestly, I felt like we were just a bunch of dumb teenagers, shooting the shit and enjoying each other’s company.

Bucky took in a deep breath, his shoulders sinking in a way that made it look like he had all the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I was over in Afghanistan for a long time,” he admitted quietly. “When the war first started, I was 19. I had no idea where my life was going and I had no options except my dad’s mechanic shop. So I enlisted with my best friend, Steve. The one I told you about.”

It’s completely silent except for the sound of an occasional car horn off in the distance.

“Neither one of us knew what we were doing. We realized very quickly that we had no reason being over there, but… but there was nothing else,” he said, swallowing around the lump in his throat. The ice cream he was holding was melting in his trembling hands. “I didn’t know how to do anything else, so I stayed. Steve moved up in the ranks, but I stayed pretty low… I didn’t mind. Kinda liked being the older guy all those young kids could talk to, could rely on… Because they were just like me, getting into a fight that wasn’t theirs because they had nothing else.”

My heart was shattering inside my chest as I scooted a little closer, my knee knocking against his as I tried to give him some sort of silent comfort. He’d been through Hell and made it through.

Bucky let his head rest against mine, his eyes closing as he breathed in the scent of my perfume. “They eventually moved me to some kind of specialized team… Called us the Howling Commandos. I found out that Steve was heading it and he picked me to be part of it. That’s how I met Sam, because he was on some sort of similar team with the Air Force, except it was just him and his friend, Riley,” he continued, taking a bite of his chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. “I am proud to say that I didn’t kill a single person while I was over there. I just couldn’t. Hell, they’re people just like me, terrified and unsure of what’s going to happen.” His lips pressed against my forehead, letting it linger. “But then about five years ago, I was on a mission with the Commandos, Sam, and Riley, and… this bomb went off while we were playing a game of soccer. I wasn’t even in a fight. That thing took my arm and it took Riley.”

Tentatively, I let my fingers find his, holding his hand and squeezing reassuringly.

“Sam decided to come home with me.” There was a forlorn look in his eyes, as though he was right back at that game of pick-up soccer. “After losing Riley… he couldn’t find a reason to be over there. And then Steve decided to stay, and hell, he’s still over there, leading that fucking team…” Glassy baby blue eyes finally found mine, the both of us doing our best to not cry. “I couldn’t face my family for a long time, so Sam asked me to come stay in Louisiana with him and his family, and I haven’t left since.”

“Have you gone to see your family?” I asked slowly, almost like I was scared I’d frighten him if I spoke too loudly, like a wild animal. “Let them know where you are? That you’re safe?”

He turned to look at me, his baby blues shining. “You worried about me, baby doll?”

“I can’t help it,” I said honestly, unable to tear my eyes away. I hadn’t opened up to someone like that in so damn long. “I can’t help but worry about you.”

The way that I felt about Bucky absolutely terrified me, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. It snuck up on me, like a train coming around a bend.

I hated it.

“What do you want out of this life?” Bucky asked on one walk home, his arm linked in mine. He’d become so much more… tactile. If anyone took a moment to look at us, they’d think we were a couple on a romantic stroll.

Perhaps we were.

But I couldn’t help but grin as I looked up at the sky, taking in the warm air. “I wanna live like how the movie stars do… I want a big house on the beach and twenty cars and a yacht and… and…”

He looked at me long and hard. “And you never wanna have to worry about where your next meal is coming from, if you’re gonna have a place to sleep at night…”

For some reason, I’d felt a bolt of panic over whether or not he’d understand. Whether or not he’d think differently of me, but I should’ve known that he wouldn’t. Hell, he knew me better than anyone else.

“You understand,” I said quietly, my hand squeezing his bicep gratefully. “I want to live how the other half lives for once. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

A small smile graced his features as we shuffled along. “There isn’t. But… What about love?” He asked.

“Love?”

“Love.”

Love.

Could I even have love? Did I want it?

“I don’t know if there’s a lot of room for love in my plans,” I admitted after a long moment. “In my experience, love has always just been a lie. A word used to manipulate and eventually abuse.”

Letting out a snort, he let his fingers tickle down my tricep until his fingers intertwined with mine. “I’d show you it’s not… I’d show you what real love is,” he said. “I’d give you every part of me, give you all my strength to help you grow into who you wanna be, even if I don’t particularly care about being famous or rich…” He brought my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “I’ll give you a love story, a life, that’s a million times better than any recycled Hollywood plot… I’ll give you the stars and the moon, if you would just let me.”

I hated the way that he made my heart beat faster, the way my breath hitched. “Jamie,” I breathed out quietly, the two of us having stopped in our tracks to just… take each other in. Live in each other’s presence for a moment. “I…”

“You want a big life… one a lot bigger than little old me,” he said simply, shrugging. His blue eyes were so honest, so loving. So warm. A warmth I hadn’t ever experienced before. “I know. But that doesn’t change that I’m in love with you. And if you ever change your mind…” Bucky reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, pressing it into my free hand. “This is where you can find me. I figure it’s time for me to go home.”

We’d come to a stop in front of my building, and I was shocked at how tight my chest felt. My eyes watered as I stared at him long and hard. “Jamie, please… I⏤”

“Don’t say it. It’s okay,” he insisted as he cupped my cheek, letting his thumb run over my skin as though he was memorizing it. “I just want you to be happy, darling. You got that?” His lips pressed to my forehead, letting it linger. “Go get that life you’ve been dreaming of.”

Twenty-Three

I left New Orleans the next day, grabbing a bus ticket after throwing all of my belongings into my old duffel bag. It was time to move on.

But God, did it hurt.

I didn’t stop crying for weeks, fighting the urge to go right back to Louisiana and tell Bucky to take it back, to get him to beg me to stay with him.

But what kind of life would that leave me with? Working in the diner day after day? Never getting anywhere?

But you’d have James, a voice inside my head reminded me snarkily.

Then again, he most likely wasn’t even in New Orleans anymore, if what he said was true when he gave me the business card of his father’s mechanic shop. Was he really planning on going home to New York City?

A few months later, and I’d worked my way all through the southwest to Santa Fe, where I met Pietro.

My heart was pounding as I pressed in the familiar numbers, having memorized them from the business card now soft and faded from how often I held it in my hands like a lifeline. “Come on… Pick up… Pick up…”

“Barnes Tires and Motors, this is George,” a man said in a gruff voice when he finally picked up. “How can I help you?”

“H-Hi, is James there? James Barnes? Bucky?” I stammered out, hands trembling so bad that the old payphone was almost rattling.

There was a pause, and then muffled talking away from the phone.

And then I heard it being picked up. “This is Bucky,” he said.

It felt like the wind had been knocked right out of my lungs. How had I gone so long without hearing his voice?

Breathing in sharply, I tried to figure out the words to say. But my throat was dry and it was like I’d suddenly forgotten the entire English language.

That was all that it took for Bucky to realize it was me. “Baby doll? Baby doll, is that you?” He asked quietly. “I…” He took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “You don’t gotta say a thing, sweetheart… But just know that if you’re in trouble or you need help or… or anything at all, you better call me…” His voice wavered, as though he was fighting tears just like I was. “God, I miss you so much, baby doll. I love you.”

I love you, too.

I hung up before I could actually say the words. “God, I’m so fucking stupid,” I whispered as I leaned back against the wall of the gas station I’d found myself at, rubbing the heels of my hands into my eyes.

My dumb ass had decided to wander from the bus station, and I’d walked over a mile away. Unless I was staying in Santa Fe for a bit, I’d need to start making my way back.

“You okay?”

In my distress, I hadn’t even heard the rumbling of the motorcycle or noticed the handsome man making his way to me. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I said even as I wiped my nose with a pathetic sniffle.

He eyed me for a long moment, his eyes roaming over my figure. “You hungry? I know a great little place nearby. My treat.”

And well, I was never one to turn down free food.

Even if that ‘little place’ ended up being a food truck.

“You know, when you said it was a little place, I didn’t picture it having wheels,” I said teasingly, licking salsa off of my lower lip. “Though, it is the best food I’ve ever gotten from a food truck before.”

“Oh, come on. This is the best food of all time!” He laughed, shaking his head.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” I snorted, finishing off my flautas.

Pietro looked at me long and hard. “So, are you gonna tell me what the hell was going on to have a pretty girl like you all teary eyed?” He asked, his head tilting to the side.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Was this your plan all along?” I asked. Wiping my hands off on a napkin, I did everything I could to avoid his eyes. “Get me all fed and then question me?” But at the same time, the thought of being able to finally talk to someone about it was so appealing… After a long moment of hesitation, I finally gave in. “I fell in love with a man, and he let me go because he knew that I want a life he can’t give me,” I said. “And I was a bitch who didn’t even tell him I love him back when he said it to me.”

Pietro took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out. “Damn. You really are a stone cold bitch, aren’t you?”

“Hey!” I indignantly threw a chunk of tomato at him, glaring. “I just opened up my heart, you dickwad.”

“Dickwad?!” He said, blinking at me in shock. “No one’s ever called me a dickwad before.”

I raised a single eyebrow at him. “Maybe not to your face, but they definitely have.” He gave off the vibe of a fuckboy, of a really, really bad fuckboy.

“Well, since you’re running away from your feelings, how about you spend a week or two with me on the road?” He asked with a grin.

I couldn’t help but blink at him in shock. “What?” I let out a laugh, pulling one of my legs up to my chest. “Do you throw that line out to every girl you meet? Or am I just special?”

Pietro threw a chip at me, and I barely managed to dodge it. “No, I don’t. But… You remind me of me. Needing adventure. A life bigger than four walls and a fence.”

Instinctively, I wanted to snap back that sometimes, four walls and a fence could be an adventure, could be the biggest life there was, as Bucky’s face flashed across my mind.

But I couldn’t do that. Not when I wasn’t ready to face the truth myself.

“Come on, sweet cheeks,” he teased as his foot hooked around mine. “Just think of it. The open highway, a rhythm beneath your feet… Nights full of passion and days of adventure…” Pietro’s voice was deep and husky, as though he was trying to lure me in. “No strings… just warm summer rain soaking us to the bone before we find some cheap motel to huddle down in…”

Plastering on a smile, I stood up and brushed myself on. “Thanks, but… I’d rather be drinking champagne, and the quicker I get to LA, the sooner I will be.”

He let me go with a kiss on the cheek and his cell number pressed into my hand, with a promise to come and pick me up the second I rang.

And despite how sweet he was, how wild and funny and charismatic, there was only one man I wanted to call.

Twenty-Four

I sipped at my martini as I sat at the rooftop bar, absentmindedly watching the television that was mounted on the wall as people droned around me. I’d been in Los Angeles for a year, and I’d spent my time finding the best places to find a husband who could give me the life I dreamed of.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it took connections to build a career, and the best way to get a foot in the door when nepotism was so rampant was by marrying someone in the industry.

My silk dress was the most expensive thing I owned, something I’d saved up for months for, had skipped meals for. And fuck, was it worth it. I could feel the stares, the lingering gazes on the little bit of thigh that was exposed by the slit in the dress.

I’d already turned away several men, able to tell just from their expensive watches and cheap suits and shoes.

It was amazing how all the up and coming finance bros thought they fit in with the truly big dogs.

“Well, hello, gorgeous.”

I turned to see who was speaking, my heart skipping a beat when I realized who I was speaking to.

The world famous (or infamous) director, Tony Stark.

“Hello, handsome,” I said smoothly, my lashes fluttering innocently as I took a sip of my horrible drink.

I fucking hated martinis. Always had.

But ordering a martini was more sophisticated than ordering a frozen strawberry margarita.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked as he motioned to the empty bar stool right next to me, even as he was already sitting down. “Let me buy your next round.”

“I can’t think of anything better,” I said, feeling as though my dream life was already in reach.

Twenty-Eight

“Tony, where are you taking me?” I laughed as I let my boyfriend lead me to the private dock at our Malibu mansion.

Well, his mansion. I just happened to also live there.

It had been a whirlwind of a year since I had met Tony, and he’d bought me that second round. He’d taken me all over the globe, anywhere my heart desired.

But I made sure to avoid New York City, though he never understood why. I would never tell him.

Not when I was so close to my dream. I could practically taste it.

“Come on, come on. I have a surprise for you,” he said, keeping his hands over my eyes. He was sure to keep me from tripping and busting my ass, thank god.

The ocean waves were so comforting as they hit the shore, a sound I’d gotten used to over the past year.

He finally brought me to a stop, quietly telling me to keep my eyes closed. “Okay,” he said finally. “Open them.”

My eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the bright light of the California sun. But I was more shocked by the sight of Tony on one knee in front of me, holding out a box with a sparkling diamond ring in it. “Tony?”

The ring was the size of a fucking meteor. It was easily the biggest ring I’d ever seen.

“You know, I never thought I’d meet someone like you,” he said quietly, his dark eyes shining. But his voice was steady. “Someone who understands me, who doesn’t expect me to change into someone I’m not. You accept me as I am, and that’s why I want to give you the world.” He couldn’t help but grin as he nodded to the right. “Starting with that yacht you’ve always dreamed of.”

I hadn’t even noticed that there were two yachts at his private docks instead of just the one. The new one had SS Princess emblazoned on the side, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh… Tony…”

“So, what do you say?” He asked, bringing my attention back to him. “Will you be my wife?”

“Yes.”

Thirty-Two

Swallowing nervously, I looked down at the business card in my hand for the millionth time, the stock paper soft from how often I’d looked at it in the past ten years.

Hell, just how often I’d looked at it in the past six should’ve made it fall apart by now. Not that I didn’t have it memorized.

I’d finally ended my marriage after being miserable for so long. I’d gotten my yacht, my fancy houses, my career, all the jewelry that I could dream of, and none of it made me happy. Tony and I… never grew. And I never dreamed. Every day was the same, and every day was torture as I realized that I didn’t have the one thing that actually mattered.

The garage in front of me was busy, music blasting and the sound of men shouting to each other as they worked.

Suddenly I felt absolutely ridiculous wearing a Chanel dress and Gucci heels, an Hermés bag on my arm.

BARNES TIRES AND MOTORS was lit up along the top of the shop in bright red letters, though the lights in the ‘r’ of ‘motors’ were out.

I felt like a fool. I had wanted the life I had so desperately that I gave up everything for it. I got the movie star life, my name on billboards and my face on magazines.

But it wasn’t ever enough.

My heels clicked against the blacktop as I slowly made my way towards the front area of the shop, bells clinging above my head to let them know someone was there.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” A man asked as he came around the corner.

He looked so much like Bucky, it punched the air straight from my lungs.

“H-Hi. I’m looking for James Barnes. Is he here?” I asked after a long moment of hesitation. There was no way that the man was Bucky, but I didn’t doubt he was related.

The man raised his brows, wiping his hands on a rag. “My son’s in the shop. I’ll take you to him.” His full head of hair was white, his thick facial hair matching. Even with all the wrinkles on his face, he was a handsome man. Holding open the door for me, he led me into the loud shop, some eighties rock song blasting over the speakers.

I couldn’t help but smile as ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ by Scorpions came on. It was one of Bucky’s favorites back when we worked in the diner together.

“BUCK! YOU GOT A VISITOR!” The man shouted, causing several people to look our way.

My cheeks felt hot as I avoided their gaze, hoping they wouldn’t recognize me. I didn’t want to be a famous movie star anymore, a celebrity that had to beg for scraps of privacy.

My mind went numb, my heart stopping inside my chest as he stepped around a gray Ford Escape another man was working on.

He was even more handsome than he was the last time I saw him.

“Can I help y—” He broke off, his blue eyes going wide when he realized that it was me. “Hi.”

All of a sudden, everything I’d planned to say flew out of my head. All of the eloquent words I’d strung together were gone. And I just proceeded to word vomit.

“Did you know that, uh, when you marry someone you’re not in love with, you won’t… you won’t grow into it?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Um… I married a man who could give me a life I thought I always wanted, and he just… sucked.” Eyes stinging, I fought back against tears. “And I thought that all I ever wanted was the life I have now, was the life movie stars and the Kardashians lived. But… But I hate it. I hated every second I was away from you.” I let out a weak laugh, unable to stop the tears. “I wanted to turn around the second I got on the bus in New Orleans, but my stupid stubborn ass didn’t. I should have. I should’ve gotten off and just run right back to you because I… I love you, James. I always have.”

The garage had gone almost deadly quiet, and my heart sank when I realized Bucky looked almost frozen in shock.

“I know that I shouldn’t have showed up like this,” I scrambled to say. “But I… I’ve been trying to get my divorce finalized for two years and I finally did, and I kept telling myself that once it was done, I’d never hold myself back from what I really want ever again. From who I want. If… If you want me.” My face felt like it was on fire, my hands shaking. I shook my head as I took a step backwards. “What am I thinking? There’s no way you’re not married. I… I’m so so—”

Before I could finish the word ‘sorry,’ Bucky had closed the distance between us, his hands cradling my face so gently. He held me like I was made of fine crystal as he kissed me. He kissed me like his life depended on it, like I was the one source of oxygen.

And I kissed him back just as fiercely. “I love you. I love you so much,” I breathed out in between kisses, unwilling to let him go as my Hermés bag fell into the dust and oil on the concrete below.

Bucky smiled into the kiss, his arm wrapping around my waist to keep me pressed to his chest. “I love you so much, darlin.’ God, I’ve missed you…” His nose nudged against mine as we finally broke for air, both of us breathing heavily.

My knees felt like Jell-O as I held onto him. His grip was the only reason I hadn’t fallen to the ground already.

“I’m sorry I was a dumb twenty-two year old,” I said, snorting as he stole another kiss.

“No… Don’t be sorry,” he insisted, his fingers massaging my scalp as our foreheads pressed together. It was like he was scared to stop touching me, like I would disappear at any second. “You were young… You had to go out and make your own mistakes… I’ve just been waiting for the day you were ready.”

All the years apart melted away and all that remained was the two of us, two souls so intertwined that there was no way to truly separate us.

Our lips were half molded together as I said, “I’m never leaving you again. I promise I swear on everything…”

My heart almost stopped inside my chest as I heard someone clearing their throat, looking to see Bucky’s father staring at us with his arms crossed over his chest. “M-Mr. Barnes, sir…”

He gave a crooked smile that was so reminiscent of Bucky that I couldn’t help but grin back. “The Mrs. will wanna know if you’re staying for dinner.”

“Yeah,” I said as I looked up at Bucky, toying with a strand of his hair. “That sounds perfect.”

Later that night, Bucky and I laid in his bed, a mess of bare limbs as his fingers ran up and down my back soothingly. “What do you want from this life, baby girl?” He asked absentmindedly.

Humming, I traced shapes on his bare chest, sometimes pressing a kiss to where his prosthetic met his shoulder, on the tender scar tissue. “You.”

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, despite the already mischievous look on his face. “Really? Not even the stars and the moon?” He asked teasingly.

I knew he’d give it to me anyway, give me all that he could. But I was sure now that the only thing I wanted from this life was his love. “Not even the stars and the moon.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes reader insert

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watchmegetobsessed · 3 years

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a/n: omg! it's been so long since i last wrote something for harry so it feels a bit weird but in a good way to be back. i've been spending more time offline so writing hasn't been going that fast like before, but im working on a few other stuff too! just please be patient with me, im trying my besti swear! so now enjoy this oneshot of two oblivious and stupid roommates who start sharing a bed...

pairing: Roommate!Harry x reader

word count: 8.1k

masterlist

Living with three boys has its perks but also a lot of downsides too. It’s not how you planned, you were set to move in with one of your friends from second year, but she bailed on you last minute, leaving you with no place to live when most of the houses were already taken for the next at least one year. You were bracing yourself to sleep under a bridge or something already when your heroes came along.

You went to high school with Harry Niall and Louis, but you weren’t exactly in the same friend group, just knew about each other. Then you ended up in the same Lit class freshman year with Harry and he was basically your pass into their little group. You hit it off pretty easily and you always wondered why you didn’t become friends before college. Later you had two more classes with him in the second semester and it was just all a coincidence that he found out about your living situation.

“Why don’t you move in with us?” he prompted one afternoon when you were studying together in the library.

“I’m not sharing a room with any of you, Harry,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“You wouldn’t have to. We had a fourth mate living with us but he dropped out about a month ago. You could take his bedroom.”

“Are for real? You should talk about it with the boys first, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind it. They like you too and if I’m being honest, the place could use the touch of a woman,” he smirked and you just rolled your eyes, but you were incredibly thankful for the offer.

So after talking with Niall and Louis about it and once they gave their amens on the situation, you officially moved in with the three of them.

You’d be lying if you said there hasn’t been times when you thought about choosing the bridge, living with boys is not exactly a dream. They are messy, sometimes loud and oblivious about certain things women do and need. You’ll never forget Niall’s face when you packed the shelf above the toilet with your tampons and pads. The horror in his eyes as he examined all the different sizes and types.

“But why so many? I don’t get it why you need the large ones and the mini ones too,” he huffed.

“Because I vary them according to the strength of my flow.”

“Bless you,” he scoffed and just walked away.

They tend to leave their clothes around the house and they don’t always realize when it’s time to let some fresh air into the place either. Harry has a sixth sense wanting to use the bathroom when you’re in and Louis always forgets to get rid of his spoiled food from the fridge. Tini things that surely got you thinking if it was a good idea to move in with them. But then there are times when you can’t even imagine sharing a home with anyone else than these three idiots.

The way Harry always leaves you a cup of coffee on the counter when he has an early class on mondays and wednesdays, how Niall always waits for you to get home after your night shifts at the restaurant you’ve been working at, but he always just says he was watching Supernatural on TV. You love that Louis goes out of his way to get you your favorite pastry for breakfast on sundays when he goes for his morning runs. But the absolute best is that you never feel alone or bored with these three around. Something is always happening and they make sure to involve you in everything, making you feel like part of their little pack.

Tonight is Thursday and Thursdays are movie nights in your home. It’s been a tradition since the first week and you haven’t missed any of them. Sitting on the couch at your usual spot, you laugh as Niall growls in annoyance when you suggest to watch another rom-com.

“Not again!” he protests, sitting on the floor by the coffee table you and Harry thrifted a few months ago after the previous one was broken at a smaller party held in the house.

“Why? I bet Harry would love it!” you grin, glancing at the guy in talk who is now entering the room with a big bowl of popcorn.

“Of course he would, because he is a pussy! And the two of you always team up, dragging Louis with you so I can never watch something I enjoy!” Niall whines as Harry sits next to you, not too bothered by his friend’s cries.

“Come on, I bet you enjoyed Crazy, Stupid Love last week!” you laugh, remembering how he whined for the first part, then fell asleep at the end.

“Love, if you think that was enjoyment, I wouldn’t want to be your boyfriend,” Niall scoffs and you gasp at his reply.

“Hey!” you snap at him, but can’t help laughing. This is how it always goes with you and Niall, the non-stop bickering can sometimes drive Harry and Lou insane.

“Okay, so what do you want to watch?” Harry asks, throwing some popcorn into his mouth as he gets comfortable, an arm resting on the back of the couch behind you, the other one busy with the snack in his lap.

“There is this new horror I’ve been dying to see!” Niall’s blue eyes light up right away, but you’re fast to break that shine.

“Nah, no way. I’m not watching a horror movie.”

“Why not?”

“Because I fucking hate them and they scare the shit out of me.”

“That’s like the whole point!” he protests, but you shake your head no again.

“What are you fighting about again?” Louis asks, walking into the room after his quick shower, the smell of his body wash filling the room for a few moments.

“I want to watch a horror movie, but Y/N is a little baby and she doesn’t want to.”

“I’m not a baby! I just don’t enjoy watching people get killed or demons sucking the life out of someone!” Niall just rolls his eyes at your response.

“But it’s always what you or Harry wants to watch, why can’t I choose just this once?”

“That’s not true, we watch movies you like too!” you retort, but Niall gives you an unimpressed look. “We watched that crime thing, that was your choice!”

“That was three months ago, Y/N,” he sighs and as you do some quick math you realize that he is right.

“Hey, he has a point. Let’s just watch what he wants this one time, yeah?” Harry curls his arm that’s been on the back of the couch around your shoulder and he pulls you to his side, squeezing you gently.

“But I hate horrors,” you pout, knowing well that it’s already kind of settled, you lost this battle.

“It’s just a movie. And if you get scared in the night, you can sleep at mine,” he offers with a wink that surely makes your heartbeat fasten a bit.

If you’re being honest, you’ve always had a tiny crush on Harry, even back in high school, when you didn’t really know him. He was the cool guy, but not the douchebag type, more like the one that was nice to everyone and earned their respect and liking. Getting to know him just proved that he really is a great guy, but you figured he would never feel the same way about you. These three guys only saw you as their sister and that was in a way kinda worse than being friend zoned, but there’s nothing you can do about it, so you just decided to come to peace with your situation. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get flustered when you see him wander around the house in just his boxers or when he gets a little touchy with you, which happens a lot, because that’s just how he is. Hands on your shoulders, a little squeeze on your hips, the gentle touch of his fingers on your back, they happen all the time and they get your pulse up every time. You can only hope it’s not that noticeable.

Niall finally gets what he wants and you agree to watch that stupid horror movie. It doesn’t start off too bad, but it quickly escalates and makes you shudder every time the screen gets a little darker or the music is foreshadowing that something is about to happen.

“Jesus fuck!” you jump a little when the killer appears out of nowhere in the scene.

“You alright?” Harry asks, peeking down at you.

“I fucking hate this dude,” you mumble, rubbing your face with your hands, to get your shit together. Harry chuckles lightly next to you, his arm pulling you to his side close and you gladly sink against him, the warmth of his body giving you some comfort and a sense of safety.

Your eyes are on the screen, but your mind is dancing around how his fingers are delicately running up and down your arm, drawing circles and little shapes on your skin. It could put you to sleep easily, even with the woman screaming on the screen after seeing her husband get killed.

“Just imagine the guy with a funny mustache,” Harry murmurs, leaning closer to you so he doesn’t bother the other two guys with his comment. “Or maybe in a ridiculous outfit.”

“Like… in a onsie?” you ask, squinting your eyes at the screen.

“Could be, yeah,” he chuckles quietly. “Just imagine him running through the woods in a onsie with bunnies all over it.”

You can’t push your laughter down, covering your mouth with your hand so you don’t bother the others. Harry just smirks, giving you a squeeze as you’re still melted against his side on the couch, legs pulled up to your chest, while his are spread out in front of him.

“Definitely not that scary,” you giggle and Harry hums in agreement.

“Would you mind getting a fucking room, you guys? You have two, in fact!” Niall snaps at you playfully, when you start laughing again.

“Sorry, sorry!” you clear your throat, your cheeks heating up at the comment, but luckily it’s dark enough to hide your embarrassment. Niall is always quick to make dirty jokes and tease you in a way that makes you nervous, especially when it involves Harry as well. He has made plenty of comments about you and Harry since you’ve moved in, implying that the two of you sometimes act like a couple or that you should hook up. Harry is always quick to shake them off, that’s how you know he couldn’t even take the thought seriously.

At the end of the movie you feel like it wasn’t bad, not with Harry holding you close at least.

“Will you be screaming tonight, Y/N?” Niall teases you, making you roll your eyes at him.

“Either way it’s gonna be your fault.”

“I can live with that!” he laughs, bidding his goodbye before he shuts the door of his bedroom behind him.

You do your usual evening routine, get ready to bed and by the time you’re done in the bathroom all the boys have retired into their rooms. The hallway stands dark in front of you, only a tiny bit of light coming from your bedroom since you left your bedside lamp on in there, but you still can’t help the eerie feeling that washes over you. That movie didn’t sit right with you and now you have to face the aftermath of it.

Switching the lights in the bathroom off you sprint into your bedroom, pictures from the movie flashing in your mind of the killer just jumping out of nowhere. You shut the door and lean your back against it for a moment, taking a deep breath. Tonight is going to be long.

No matter how hard you try, you just can’t fall asleep. You’re way too alerted, opening your eyes at the tiniest of sounds around you, which is unfortunate, because your window is looking over the main street, unlike two other rooms in the house, that are facing the small backyard. Harry and Louis have the luck to have those rooms.

Every time you’re about to fall asleep something from the movie sneaks into your thoughts and you get scared to death. Soon, you realize you won’t be able to sleep on your own tonight.

Sitting on the edge of your bed, you wonder if Harry really meant that offer that you can sleep with him or not. Part of you is convinced it was just a joke, but when you hear someone shouting down the street you push your doubts aside and you quickly find yourself making your way to Harry’s room.

You knock on the room lightly, not wanting to wake anyone else up. The last thing you need is Niall seeing you go into Harry’s room in the middle of the night.

No answer comes from inside, but you won’t just leave it at that. Opening the door you’re facing another dark room, barely making out the furniture, but you already know the route by heart. Making it to the bed your eyes finally adjust to the darkness and you can see Harry lying on his side, sleeping peacefully. Squatting down you place a hand to his shoulder and give him a tiny shake.

“Harry?” you call out quietly, but his answer is just a huff. “Harry, it’s me,” you try again, squeezing his arm. He furrows his eyebrows before slowly blinking his eyes open, finding you in his sight.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” he asks in that groggy, low voice you love hearing in the morning so much.

“I can’t… Did you mean that I can sleep here if I’m scared?” you ask, afraid that he might just have a good laugh and send you back to your room. For a long moment, he just blinks at you before nodding his head and you feel relief washing over you.

“Sure,” he hums.

“O-okay then I’ll bring a blanket and take the floor and--”

“Shut up, you are not sleeping on the floor,” he growls, grabbing your wrist and pulling you into bed with him as he scoots over, making you space on the mattress.

It’s a bit weird at first, lying in bed with Harry, especially because it’s just queen sized, so there’s not much space between the two of you, but it seems like Harry doesn’t mind it so why should you?

Your nerves are a lot calmer with Harry next to you, but maybe it’s still because of the movie or because you’re a bit anxious about the whole situation, you just still can’t relax enough to fall asleep.

“Y/N, no one is gonna kill you here,” Harry speaks up surprising you because you thought he has already fallen back asleep.

“I know, I know,” you whisper, trying to sound convincing, but you can’t fool anyone, especially not him.

He huffs deeply and before you could realize what’s happening, Harry’s arm is curled around your waist, pulling you against him, spooning you from behind, the warmth of his body wrapping your figure almost entirely.

“If a murderer comes, they will have to fight me first, alright? Now sleep,” he mumbles against your hair, squeezing you gently. All at once, you couldn’t care about killers and dark shadows around you, because Harry was right there, holding you tight and there was nowhere you wanted to be more than right there.

You slept like a baby. Harry’s closeness kept every nightmare away from you and the morning came with ease. Harry’s phone wakes the two of you up at eight, because he has a morning class at 9.30. The two of you are completely tangled up in each other, lying on your side facing each other, Harry’s arms are wrapped around you, while yours are hugging his waist. Groaning at the sound of his alarm, he rolls to his back to reach for the phone on the nightstand and then he finally turns it off. It’s bright outside, the darkness of the night finally long gone. You’re still groggy when Harry rolls back, his arm coming back around you like it’s the most natural thing in the world and in a sense, it feels like that. But as you both slowly wake up, you realize that you might be a little too close. Slowly but surely you let go of each other, rolling to your back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Hope I didn’t kick you in my sleep,” you smile at him, peeking over at him, hoping to break the awkwardness of the situation.

“No, don’t worry about it,” he chuckles, rubbing his eyes, before pushing himself up and off the bed. You follow him with your gaze as he steps to his dresser and grabs a pair of clean underwear. “I’ll put on a coffee while I shower, want one too?” he asks, though you know he could make one for you anyway.

“Sure, thank you,” you nod and he nods back, yawning as he walks out of the room, leaving you lying in his bed, a bit confused and kind of aching to be held by him again.

Two days pass by, everything is going as per usual, neither you nor Harry brings up that you spent the night in his bed that one particular time. Now it’s saturday and you all were planning to go out, but a sudden storm has cancelled your plans, so the evening turned into a cozy, lazy hangout instead of a wild party at some frat house.

Louis decided to work on a paper that’s due in two weeks, Niall has been relentlessly swiping on Tinder while you and Harry are spawled out on the couch, watching some shitty action movie that was on TV, since you both were too lazy to choose one and put it on. Deep down you’re a little happy you don’t have to spend the evening in a crowded, smelly house, drinking cheap alcohol.

Harry gets up from his seat to grab himself a drink just when Niall growls in annoyance.

“What is it?” you ask.

“They keep unmatching with me after we’ve talked a little!”

“Have you thought about the reason?” you smirk at him, knowing well that Niall probably isn’t the easiest to talk to, he surely takes it too far too soon.

“Well they probably don’t like that I ask them if I can go over,” he shrugs, making you laugh.

“You’d go over in the pouring rain?” Harry asks, returning to his spot on the couch. He puts his drink to the coffee table and instead of sitting into his previous position, leaning against the arm of the couch, he lies down, laying his head to your thigh, making your breath hitch for a moment.

“Of course not!” Niall rolls his eyes. “But I thought it would make them think I would do anything for them.”

“It makes you seem desperate,” Harry retorts, earning a questioning look from his friend. “What? It does!”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Yes it does,” you nod in agreement. “Going over in the middle of a storm just to fuck? Sounds like you’re having a hard time finding someone.”

“Women are so fucking complicated, and for what?!” he growls, before storming off to his bedroom, like an angsty teenager, leaving you and Harry alone.

He doesn’t move, his head stays on your thigh using it as a pillow. His curls are tickling the soft skin on your thigh and you have to fight the urge to play with his hair or scratch his scalp. You stay like this for the rest of the movie and when he gets up you almost want to pull him back.

“Alright, I’m fucked, I’m gonna go to bed,” he yawns, stretching his arms out into the air as he heads into his bedroom. “Good night, Y/N.”

“Night, Harry!” you call after him as you watch his frame disappear down the hallway.

Sighing, you slide down on the couch, cursing under your breath that you’re still so hung up on Harry. You really thought that you had it under control, but lately those damn butterflies are acting up in your stomach at everything he does.

“I’m pathetic,” you mumble under your breath just as the sky rumbles outside with a blinding lightning, making you jump with a squeak. “Shit,” you huff, already knowing that falling asleep will be a pain in the ass. Again.

You’ve always hated storms, they make you think that something bad is about to happen, a tree is about to fall into the window or a lightning will blow up the building. It’s kind of stupid, you know it, but you just can’t help it.

Tossing and turning, you jump every time a lightning flashes somewhere outside and a few seconds later the thunder rips through your whole body, almost making you fall off the bed.

“Oh God,” you let out a shaky breath. You have no idea how long it is until the Storm finally stops and you’d really like to have a good night's sleep. So pushing your anxious thoughts to the side, you get out of bed and head over to Harry’s room once again.

It’s such a deja vu from a few nights ago, as you gently knock on the door you wait again, but this time you actually get an answer.

“Yeah?” you hear him call out from inside and you slowly open the door, peeking your head inside. Harry is lying in bed, his head propped up against the headboard as he is scrolling through his phone. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” he asks, putting the phone aside as he sits up.

“I just, I-I know it’s stupid, but I was thinking… I don’t know--”

“Y/N, just tell me, alright? Come on in,” he gestures for you and you slip into the room, closing the door behind you before sitting to the edge of the bed next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep during storms…” you admit, looking into his eyes, hoping he gets the hint where you want to head with it. He stares back at you for a moment before he scoots over, lifting the covers up, giving you the green light to join him.

Relieved, you climb over to him, making yourself comfortable as he wraps the blanket over you, his arm immediately coming to cradle you, this time pulling you to his chest so your head is laid upon his shoulder, a hand gently placed onto his hard chest, probably right above where his butterfly tattoo is adorning his abdomen.

This is now easily your favorite place. Safe and tight in Harry’s arms, protected from anything and everything, like you’re in a little bubble as soon as you get on his bed.

Lightning strikes outside again and you shiver a little. Harry probably notices it, because he tightens his hold around you, as if it’s his way telling you that he is here and nothing bad is gonna happen. Eventually, you’re able to shut the outside out and only focus on Harry’s warmth, the touch of his hand on your arm and his even breathing. And then finally, you drift off to sleep.

This morning is different from the previous one you spent here. There’s no alarm since it’s Sunday, neither of you have anything in particular to do, so you wake up feeling rested, the Sun shining through his half drawn in curtains, no trace of last night’s storm can be noticed from where you’re lying in bed, the sky is as clear as ever. Sometime during the night you got tangled in a way where Harry is the one now cuddling you, his head lying on your chest, hugging you as if you were a giant teddy bear, his leg thrown between yours, lightly snoring against your sleep shirt. You can only see his mop of hair and the urge to play with them is back, but this time, you give in.

Leaving one hand on his back, you move the other one to his unruly locks, gently playing with one before you comb your fingers through it, lightly scratching his scalp. Harry hums in pleasure, shifting from his dreams back to reality, but he doesn’t move, just keeps humming as you massage his scalp.

“It’s not a good morning, it’s the best,” he mumbles groggily, making you chuckle at his words.

One of his hands is flat against your ribcage and the damned butterflies start dancing when you feel his fingers gently stroke your side as you keep playing with his curls. This feels so idyllic, as if you’ve been like this forever. You wish that was true.

Groaning as he stretches, Harry rolls to his back, making you instantly miss his body pressed against yours. He rubs his eyes, sighing deep as he blinks up at the ceiling a few times, then he turns his head to the side, looking at you.

Just when he is about to say something, outside his door it sounds like someone just broke a pile of plates and it’s followed by Niall’s usual annoyed growl. You both get out of bed to go and check what happened, not even thinking about how it might appear that you both are coming from Harry’s room in the morning.

Harry flings the door open and there is Niall, collecting pieces of a plate from the floor, his breakfast scattered down the hallway as well while he curses under his breath.

“What happened?” Harry asks, picking up a bigger piece from the plate.

“Fucking tripped,” he growls back, glancing up just for a moment, then back down, but then he processes that you’re standing behind Harry, in his room, in the morning. “What the fuck are you doing in Harry’s room?” he bluntly asks, quickly forgetting about the mess he just made.

“What?” you ask nervously, your pulse quickening in an instant. Harry stands up, seemingly not too bothered by Niall’s question.

“You slept in his room?!”

“She did,” Harry answers, leaning against the doorframe.

“Wait, are you two fucking?” Niall’s eyes widen, snapping back and forth between you and Harry.

“Just because two people sleep in the same bed, doesn’t mean they are fucking, Niall,” Harry chuckles, seemingly amused by the situation that’s got your stomach knotted. Louis’ door opens and he walks out, his hair a little messy, but already dressed, a mug halfway filled with coffee in his hand.

“Wha’s this circus out here?” he asks, looking around, his eyes scanning over the mess on the floor.

“Did you know these two are fucking?” Niall asks him and Harry lets his head drop back at his words.

“Are you?” Louis simply questions and you shake your head no.

“We are not. Y/N can’t sleep in a storm so she came over to mine.”

“Funny, she doesn’t come to me when she’s scared,” Niall scoffs.

“I never came to you because you don’t understand that sleeping together doesn’t mean sex,” you retort, though your ears are practically burning from the rising anxiety inside you.

“Wait, whoa. This wasn’t the first time you two slept together?”

“She was scared after your stupid horror movie too,” Harry shrugs.

“Wow, so are you guys a thing now or what?”

“Niall!” Harry growls and you’re not entirely sure what bothers you more. Niall’s shock and interrogation or the way Harry seems so cool and unbothered, like it’s no big deal. Maybe because for him it really isn’t, it’s only about the sleeping, nothing else, even though the cuddles are a little beyond the lines of friendship.

“What? I’m just asking the important stuff! Am I not allowed to tell dirty jokes to Y/N because you’ll cut my prick off?”

“You shouldn’t tell those anyway,” Louis chimes in and you nod in agreement.

Seeing that the conversation is just getting more and more awkward with each passing moment you decide to pull yourself out of it. Pushing yourself past Harry you mumble an excuse me before rushing back into your room, the three boys eyeing you curiously as you shut the door behind you, finally putting a physical barrier between you and them.

You shouldn’t be this offended, it’s not like any promises were made and you should have known better and not fall for him more than you already did. It was silly of you to think that there was anything more behind these nights spent curled up against each other, or when you woke up tangled and melted together. It was never what you hoped it to be.

Then and there you decide it’s better if you distanced yourself from him, or at least go back to how it was before. No bed sharing, no cuddling and preferably no bitter feelings.

It all goes well, because you have a pretty busy week after that day, you always have something to do and it’s not like you spent the night with Harry randomly, so it was evident that you stayed in your room so far.

But about a week later another storm was threatening to strike. The sky was gradually darkening all afternoon and now it’s only five o’clock, but it feels like eight. It’s Sunday, you’re quite exhausted since you were working until three. Niall was out somewhere with some of his coursemates and Louis went home for the weekend, won’t be back until Tuesday. It’s just you and Harry, who’s been sprawled out on the couch in only his sweatpants while you’re making yourself an early dinner so you can go to bed soon and have a good night’s sleep.

It doesn’t take long for the rain to start pouring, you’ve just gotten out of the shower when the first thunder rips through the place, making you gasp in fear. Harry’s head snaps around, looking in your way where you’re standing at the bathroom door, a questioning look in his eyes, but he doesn’t say a word. Ignoring his gaze, you just make your way into your bedroom, not even thinking about what could be on his mind. Is he thinking about whether you’ll ask to sleep with him again or he doesn’t care about it at all?

By the time you are ready to go to bed, the storm is fully raging outside, making your insides tremble every time you see a lightning or the thunder breaks the quietness in the house. You make one last trip to the kitchen, finding Harry leaned against the counter as he eats an apple.

“Going to bed early?” he asks as you pour yourself some water.

“Mhm,” you nod, avoiding looking at him.

“Everything alright?”

“Sure, I’m just tired,” you force a small smile onto your face just when a thunder rumbles outside, making you jump. Harry is watching you curiously and kind of expectantly, but you’re doing your best ignoring it. Instead, you just grab your water and head back to your room. “Good night.”

“Night, Y/N,” he calls after you, and you can feel his burning gaze on your back right until you close the door behind you.

Your plan to sleep a good ten hours goes right out the window. It doesn’t seem like the storm is about to calm anytime soon, so you’re stuck to suffer through it on your own. You’ll be damned to go to Harry’s, that would be an instant heart break and you just can’t take that right now. Long, torturous hours pass by with you lying awake in bed and part of you wants to go running over to Harry, but you force yourself to stay. It’s not happening tonight.

You fall asleep sometime after two in the morning when the thunder and lightning have stopped. Unfortunately, you need to wake up early in the morning, so when your phone’s alarm shakes you out of your sleep, you feel like absolute shit. Dragging yourself out of bed appears to be the hardest thing right now. As you make your way out, you are met with an all too familiar figure sitting at the small dining table, two cups of coffees in front of him, one obviously made for you.

Harry’s eyes snap up at you curiously, taking in your terrible looks as you head to the bathroom.

“Morning,” you mumble under your breath.

“Good morning’,” he nods in your way and though he doesn’t say anything else, you can tell he has a few thoughts about your current state.

Once you’re done with your morning business in there you join him at the table, barely able to keep your eyes open.

“Rough night?” he asks, eyes examining your face.

“Kinda.”

“The storm?”

You don’t answer, just nod your head. He remains silent, but you can feel that he is dying to ask another question.

Why didn’t you come over?

You’re glad he doesn’t actually asks you, because you wouldn’t be able to give either a normal answer or say anything without starting to cry. Instead, you just grab your coffee and head back into your bedroom to get ready for the day.

That week on Friday all four of you are invited to a party. At first you want to cancel, but some of your friends from classes will be there too and it’s been ages since you’ve been to a great party, so you decide to tag along with the boys.

For the first half of the evening you go your separate way, spending time with people you don’t actually live with and see every day. One drink follows the other, though you make sure you don’t go farther than getting tipsy. You’re not in the mood to deal with a nasty hangover in the morning.

Sometime after your third or fourth drink you run into Niall and he pulls you into their little circle that also involves Harry. When he sees that you’ve joined them, his eyes light up and goes out of his way to get next to you.

“I haven’t seen you in ages!” he whines, slurring his words as he wraps an arm around your shoulders to keep you at his side. He is definitely drunk, that you’re sure of.

“It’s been just about two hours, Harry,” you roll your eyes, but can’t push your smile down. You’d be lying if you said you’re not enjoying having him so close. Your dynamic hasn’t been the same since you stopped sleeping in his bed. Not that it was such a regular activity, it only happened two times.

“But I missed you, I feel like we haven’t… haven’t talked in so long!” he huffs, knitting his eyebrows together. “Have you been avoiding me?” he asks leaning closer, so your conversation can somewhat be private.

“That’s silly. Of course I haven’t!”

“But it feels like that,” he pouts with glossy eyes. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

“Sure,” you nod, the bitter taste of lying filling your mouth.

“Alright, cool,” he smirks and pulling closer he kisses into your hair before he engages with the rest of the group again, keeping his arm around you as if it wasn’t a big deal.

For the rest of the evening you simply don’t leave his side and not because he doesn’t let you, but because you don’t want to. Harry is not the only one missing the other, this week you’ve noticed that even though you’ve been keeping yourself busy, your thoughts always took you back to one particular, curly haired boy. Despite everything that’s been going on, he is your friend first and foremost who you love spending time with and talking about anything and everything.

Both of you are intoxicated, Harry a bit more than you, but you’re having a blast playing beerpong or ruining Niall’s chances with girls he is trying to pick up. You’re genuinely having an amazing time and it wouldn’t be the same without Harry.

Arriving back home your little group splits, everyone using the bathroom after the other and you’re the last one in line, because you always take the longest. By the time you’re finished, Louis and Niall are both locked up in their rooms, but Harry’s door is still open, some dim lighting illuminating the hallway. As you approach it, you find him throwing his dirty clothes into the hamper, but his head perks up when he sees you.

“Good night, H,” you sigh, quite tired and in need of a good sleep, but before you could head into your own bedroom, Harry grabs your wrist and pulls you into his. “What is it?”

“Sleep here,” he simply prompts, already leading you to the bed.

“Why?”

“Because I want you to.”

“I-I… I don’t--” you stutter, feeling flustered from his offer.

“Come on, you can’t say no,” he tells you, already crawling under his covers and then he holds them up as the invitation.

Taking a deep breath you follow him and make yourself comfortable in your almost usual spot. Harry’s arm falls over your waist in an instant, spooning you from behind as he hums pleased. But a few moments later he lifts his head, looking at you with concern in his eyes.

“You know you can say no, right? I was just joking.” Looking back at him you give him a small smile. Even drunk he makes sure you aren’t doing anything you don’t want to, but how could you not want it? You’ve been aching to sleep next to him all week, especially after the last storm when you suffered alone in your room.

“I know, Harry.”

“Alright, okay,” he nods, his head dropping back to the pillow. “I missed this,” he mumbles with a sigh.

“Yeah?”

“Mm, sleeping alone sucks,” he hums and in a split second, your heart breaks.

Harry didn’t want to sleep with you, he just wanted to sleep with someone and you were the one there. It has nothing to do with you.

You want to blame him, you want it to be his fault that your chest is now aching, knowing that it truly doesn’t mean the same thing to him it does to you, but you know you can’t. It wouldn’t be fair, so once again, you’re left with a sinking heart wrapped up into Harry’s embrace that suddenly feels burning.

“Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Harry.”

When the morning comes Harry is still sleeping deep beside you, an arm thrown over your waist, puffing warm air against the side of your head with every breath he exhales. Seeing him so peaceful warms your heart, but then you realize everything that happened last night, how he only used you because you were available and not because he wanted you.

You don’t want to wait for him to wake up and face him, your emotions would surely bring the best out of you. So carefully, you unwrap yourself from his hold and sneak out of his room, back into yours.

There’s no way you can face Harry right now, so before he could wake up you leave, planning on spending the day in the library, working on your assignments, hoping the school work will take your mind off of how badly you’ve been friendzoned.

Sometime after eleven Harry actually texts you asking where you went and you just tell him you have a shitload of school stuff to deal with. He asks if he can join you, but you tell him you’re with a group of your classmates, even though you’re sitting in an almost entirely empty library. He luckily doesn’t push it and leaves you to be. Hopefully he’ll be fine when you take another step away from him for a while to get your head straight and sort your emotions out.

You get home quite late, but not late enough, apparently. Because walking into the house you find the boys clearly getting ready to watch a movie.

“Just in time!” Niall beams. “Join us, Princess!” he laughs, grabbing himself a cola from the fridge.

“Oh, no, I have some things to work on--”

“Come on, you’ve been in the library all day, you can have a break!” Louis tells you and you know you won’t be left alone, they are just so persistent.

So you join them in your usual spot, which is of course next to Harry, though you’re trying to avoid his gaze that hasn’t left you since you arrived and by now you’re certain he knows you’re avoiding him. There’s a reason why he asked you last night if you’ve been doing it lately, he is not stupid, but this is not the time to deal with it.

With your inner crisis bubbling inside you, you completely forget to ask what you’re watching. A few minutes into the movie it becomes quite clear however.

“Is this a fucking horror movie again?” you ask, snapping at Niall, who just starts laughing.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Harry will gladly let you sleep in his bed tonight,” he teases, making your whole face heat up at his comment. Harry slaps his chest before he turns to you with concern filled eyes, but you pretend like you see nothing, turning back to the screen with your jaw clenched.

You’re fucked.

The movie is a fucking shitshow and leaves you traumatized. When it’s over, you think about why didn’t you just stand up and go into your room when you realized it’s another horror. For a change, this one was filled with demons and monsters that hide in the shadows, just what you need before going to bed. In the night. In a totally dark room.

Exiting the bathroom you’re already planning on watching something lighthearted and cheerful in your room, hoping that would make you forget the movie you just saw and give you the chance to actually sleep.

Walking past Harry’s room you see that it’s still open and you catch him expectantly looking at you when you appear in the doorway as you walk down the hallway, your eyes meeting for just a split second before you disappear from his sight and shut your bedroom door without a word behind you.

No matter how many random videos you watch on YouTube, some scenes from the movie are just imprinted into your mind and they have you trembling in fear. Every shadow looks like a demon or ghost, hiding in your room, ready to haunt and kill you and you’re on the verge of actually crying. It might not be only because of the movie, more like everything else that’s been bottled up inside you, added to the fear the movie has brought to you.

Shutting your eyes closed you try to take deep breaths and for a bit it actually seems to help, but that is until you hear the door opening. It gives you an instant heart attack and you can’t keep your tears back anymore.

A whimper leaves your mouth as the door opens and you can only see a shadow entering the room, totally not recognizing Harry in the dark.

“Y/N, hey, it’s just me! It’s okay!” he quickly clears, seeing how shaken up you are. He rushes over to the bed, one hand cupping your cheek, the other one finding your hand and before you could think, you grip it hard.

“You scared the living hell out of me!” you cry out, sobbing.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to check on you.”

Silence sets between the two of you that’s only momentarily broken by your shaky breaths as you try to calm yourself down.

“Why didn’t you come to mine after the movie if you were so scared?” he then asks, surprising you with how straightforward he is.

“I didn’t want to bother you,” you mumble, blinking the remaining of the tears away as Harry stares down at you intently.

“Why would you think you’d bother me? I like having you there.”

“But it’s… Doesn’t matter,” you sigh in defeat, but it just concerns him even more.

“No, tell me!”

“Harry, just go back to your room. I’ll be fine.”

“You definitely won’t and I’m not leaving until you don’t tell me what’s going on,” he protests firmly and you lose your patience to keep lying to him.

“You just wanted someone to sleep with yesterday, okay? You didn’t need me. And… I don’t want to depend on you more than I should.”

Harry stares back at you with a blank expression and you feel like this is going to be the end of your friendship. You have to come clean about your feelings and he’ll tell you that he doesn’t feel the same way. But then he speaks up and the tables turn faster than ever.

“Y/N, I wanted you to sleep with me last night. Not just anyone. You.”

“What?”

“I really thought we have been on the same page, but apparently, we’re not even in the same book,” he sighs, confusing you even more. “Wasn’t it suspicious how things have been between us lately? The way we slept, the mornings, did you think these are normal things to do?”

“I-I thought that… it didn’t mean anything to you.”

“Well it did,” he replies and you breath hitches in your throat. “I was trying to take it slow, see how you’d react to everything and I thought you were feeling the same way. But then last time you didn’t come to my room when there was a storm and I thought that was your way of telling me that you want to pause whatever’s been going on.”

You’re just blinking in shock, listening to his words. This is nothing you expected.

“But then you seemed like you opened back up last night and you agreed to sleep with me, thought we were back on track, but then you were nowhere to be found in the morning, avoided me all day and now you would have rather spent the night crying here alone than to come over to me. What did I do? Just tell me, because quite frankly, I have no idea what we are doing anymore, Y/N,” he sighs, clearly tired of this insane game you’ve been playing without even knowing.

“So… you did all of this, because… you…”

“Because I like you, Y/N. But there’s a possibility it’s already way more than just a strong liking,” he admits with a soft chuckle that melts you in an instant.

“Oh god, I could cry again, but not out of fear this time,” you tell him, making him laugh as you scoot closer to him on the mattress. “I feel the same way, Harry,” you softly tell him, your hands finding the base of his neck while his hands have wandered to your waist so now he is pulling you towards him until he ends up in his lap. His face is now so close, and even in the dark, you can see the cheesy smile on his pink lips.

“You’re not saying this just to keep me here because you’re scared to be alone, right?” he asks, clearly joking, earning a wholehearted laugh from you.

“No, but I guess that would be a major benefit of it.”

“I’ll protect you from all the demons and killers under one condition,” he smirks, his face already inching closer, his nose is already touching yours.

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“I get to kiss you.”

“Deal.”

You barely say this one little word, his lips are already on yours, kissing you in a way that almost knocks all the air out of your lungs. You press yourself up against him, his arms curling around you, holding you tight as if he is already protecting you from everything that scares you, though you can’t really think about the stupid horror movies now that you’re kissing Harry.

He pulls you down with himself making you lie on your back as he holds himself up above you, his lips parting from your just enough so he can look into your eyes.

“How about I kiss you every time you feel scared?” he prompts, pecking your lips gently as you pull your legs up and his hips settle between your thighs, while your hands dance down his back.

“Alright, I’m in,” you smirk at him and for a moment he just stares back at you, smiling wide, in complete awe that it’s finally happening. Then he cocks his head to the side before speaking up.

“Are you still scared?”

“Very,” you nod. “I’m shaking.”

“Good,” he grins before his lips press onto yours again.

Thank you for reading! Please like/reblog if you enjoyed!

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limitlessgojo · 3 years

Text

Going to a Private Onsen with Gojo

NSFW Gojo Satoru x F!Reader, established relationship

Type: One shot. This is around almost 4k words.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW content, Voyeurism, exhibitionism, daddy kink, squirting, overstimulation, praising, dom!Gojo, breeding kink, slightly manipulative/ Yandere Gojo, degradation

Notes: finally got to finish this fic, my motivation just dropped halfway lmao. The inn house has rooms with private hot springs. Not shared like the communal ones in public bath houses. This is half fluff half smut.

The private hot springs per room are separated by bamboo trees and wooden walls. (With holes. So you know what's gonna go down👀💦💦💦)

You and Satoru finally get the chance to have a 2 day 1 night short break from work. He takes you to an inn, checking in a tatami room with a private hot spring (onsen) included. The place smelled fresh, and you could smell the flowers outside.

"We can see the hot springs from here love. What do you think? It's gorgeous isn't it?" Satoru wiggled his eyebrows at you. You both set your luggage down, making yourselves at home. The sun is still high up, it is only 2:00pm and the hot spring is steaming, the sunlight making the water shine and glitter.

"It's not bad at all; the room is quite big as well." You smiled. Despite knowing that you're only stroking his ego, you let it go for once. Just this once because it is a special break after all. He internally pats himself on the back, beaming at you. “Glad you like it. Let’s take a walk around the area and then come back for dinner.”

“Fine with me”. Both of you changed into traditional clothing first. Gojo into a Yukata and you into your kimono. He helped you tie your obi and do your hair up. "Look how pretty my kitten is." He practically purred out as he cinched your waist beneath his large hands. His hands felt like fire on your waist.

You flushed, softly calling out his name. "N-not now." You stared at his profile. All lean and muscular. Knowing his physique hidden under the blue fabric did nothing to help.

"Not now." He agreed. But the glint in his eyes said otherwise. Still he held himself back.

So you both set out, exploring the town. The stalls were bustling with people. You both bought souvenirs for the students as well as omamori (charms) for various purposes.

You visited the temple and just tried to relieve the pent up stress from the last few weeks. “The air is so cool and it smells really nice here.” The flowers were all in bloom, as it was spring as of now. Satoru, however, kept his eyes on you for most of the time instead of the scenery around him.

“Yeah, it’s real pretty isn’t it? Wanna take some photos?”

“Good idea! I need a new lock screen pic of us Toru!” you smiled. Your smile unfortunately dimmed upon noticing other women staring at Satoru and batting their eyelashes at him (ignoring the fact that you were right beside him).

You’ve always known that he was a gorgeous person, just thanking your lucky stars that he actually came around to reciprocate your feelings. “Hey”, Satoru cupped your face and turned it to face him. He was pouting. “Focus on me love. This trip is just for us.”

You gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, sorry about that. AH! I wanna have a picture by that Sakura tree~”. You tried to be more enthusiastic and engaging, blocking out any jealous and negative thoughts.

Seriously, it's not like you didn't trust him. Just that your insecurity gets to you sometimes. You quickly bat the thoughts away. Your thoughts came to a halt when you felt something soft on the corner of your lips.

"Love you." Satoru murmured against your cheek. You turned to see his eyes under his drooping sunglasses just an inch away from yours. You couldn't help but sigh in admiration. Of course he knows how you feel. "I love you more Toruu~ Now let's go." You gave him a genuine and bright smile. Walking over to a shaded area near the lake, surrounded by tall grass.

He leaned down to press his cheek against the top of your head and placed one arm around you. His other hand was holding up his phone for a selfie. After you took some pretty and funny photos, he surprised you by bringing out a polaroid.

"Eh?! Since when did you bring that with you?" You asked him. Satoru gave a sneaky smirk, "Well. Since you talked non stop about loving the vintage aesthetic recently, I thought it would be good to make a small scrapbook or photo album of this trip."

".... who are you and what have you done with my husband..."

"Hey! That's rude. I'm always nice and sweet." He pouted and widened his eyes, using a finger to push down his shades. "I knowww~ Just kidding Toru, I love your ideas. I'll help you with it then."

"Of course you will pumpkin." He squeezed you against his side, not caring about anyone who might be looking at both of you being overly affectionate in public.

He took pictures using the polaroid camera every now and then. Taking your hand and leading you around, Satoru did not give your thoughts a chance to move away from him. He didn't hesitate to tickle you when your guard was down and poked at your cheeks with the most annoying grin.

After that it was just you and him. Enjoying your precious time together, undisturbed by anyone else. By the time the sun was setting, you dragged him over to an Izakaya. "Should we have dinner here?" You asked him.

"Ooooh! Looks like they have good meat and eel. That's fine with me." He replied. You both enjoyed dinner and had a bit of sake. Satoru always looked cute with flushed red cheeks and that big stupid smile of his. "Well you look cuter than me for once Hun." He quipped back.

You smiled as you wiped that teriyaki sauce off the corner of his mouth for him. It was a really peaceful day.

Walking back to the inn, you noticed a shadow moving quickly just by the corner of your eye. This is why you don't think about work during your free time. Feeling chills run up your spine, you turned to see a curse, staring straight back at you. "Ah shit I left my sword back in the inn."

Not even having finished your sentence, you watched as Satoru flicked his wrist and took down the 2nd grade curse in an instant. "I told you not to worry darling. I'm not going to let anything hurt you." He tutted and booped your nose playfully, eyes shining.

"Heehh~" you pretended not to be impressed but by the look on his face, you knew you didn't do a good job of hiding it. He just chuckled and wrapped his arms around you. "Toru I can't walk like this."

It was like trying to lug a 190cm tall clingy infant. "I'll protect you with my infinity from all sides love." He looked really happy, just prancing around with you in his arms as you both made your way back to the inn.

💜💜💜

You both settled back in and got ready to take a bath. It was a really good day and everything went smoother than you thought it would, knowing your chaotic and unorthodox doof of a husband.

"Dinner was so good. This was a great idea Toru, thank you." You smiled up at him. He smiled back, so soft and gentle with you. The way he never is and never will be with anyone else.

"Now then, I'll be taking my payment from you." You looked up at him, confusion evident on your face. Your husband of 5 years still confuses you until this day. "I'm sorry?" you felt affronted as you asked the question. You had no problem paying your share of the bills, heck you earn a lot as a 1st grade Jujutsu sorcerer yourself.

But Satoru spent about over a month pestering you about wanting to treat you to a short staycation with him. "Yes", he replied slowly making his way towards you, towering over your shorter frame. You stood your ground and craned to look up at him.

"Thank you for the meal sweetheart. You will be my dessert." He removed his glasses and threw them aside to showcase his bright blue eyes. You shivered from the intensity, and his lips turned up in a smirk. His words were somewhat funny, but his tone was dead serious.

He wasted no time, leaning down to suck down on the juncture of your neck and shoulder, after he pulled one side of your kimono off your shoulder. "Sa-Satoru!!, hah- ", his grip on you was way too tight.

"Baby, I am so sorry I can't wait any longer. Won't you be good for me?" Satoru asked as he took a step back and cupped your cheeks in his hands.

It's true that this man has no self-control, always palming your ass down the hallways at Tokyo Jujutsu High. But you rarely see him as desperate as he is now, that it was actually endearing to you. So you relented, earning a grin from the man.

He helped you out of your kimono, littering small kisses on your forehead and cheeks, before he started biting on one ear.

Unclasping your bra, he reached down to grope your breasts. You stared at him as he suckled on one nipple while toying with the other. His eyes opened to meet yours, and you could feel the growing wetness between your legs.

You also reached up to pull his Yukata off, undoing the tie on his waist. "I love it when you hair is done up darling. I can bite as much of your neck as I want." He growled out against your shoulder, biting and sucking wherever he can.

Your mouth watered upon seeing the outline of his hard-on straining against his boxers. On the other hand, Satoru stared unashamedly as you pulled down your panties, keeping your legs together to keep your slick from dripping down your legs.

Impatiently, you reached up and ran your fingers through his locks. "Satoru~" you whined. He only smirked in response. In one quick movement, he gathered you into his arms and brought you over to the small washing area with the soap and shower-head.

He was still in his boxers however. You just stared at it, drawing closer to press your hand and rub the outline. He let out a long moan, which led to you to quickly look up and snap out a hush. "The neighbours might hear us Toru." You whined.

"Tch, Let them hear. They can't touch or experience us anyways. And I want to show off my lovely little wife." He leered down at you, finally removing his wet boxers and throwing it onto the ground.

His hard cock sprang up and slapped against his abs. As if moving by some force, you immediately dropped to your knees. Rubbing soap onto his waist, thighs, and finally pumping his cock with your soapy hands. You looked up to him as you "cleaned" him off with innocent eyes.

Satoru wasn't impressed. "Don't tease me baby or you'll regret it." He pulled you up and brought you into a deep kiss. You both gathered more soap and started washing each other off.

With his hands moving slowly down the sides, Satoru didn't hold himself back from touching every nook and cranny of your body. From your neck, to your shoulders, down your breasts, going to your thighs and legs. His hands were rubbing at your skin, inching nearer and nearer to your cunt. Until he suddenly pulled away, making you cry out at the loss of contact.

"Be good for me and let me clean you first kitten." He whispered.

No other words were shared as you both rinsed and washed each other off before moving to the onsen.

"You know, I've always wanted to fuck you in a hot spring." Satoru smirked as you both dipped into the water. You sat on his lap and clasped your hands behind his neck, straddling him. His hands gripping either side of you waist tightly.

"No I don't know." You turned away from him as you rested your head against his chest. He hummed. Both of you resting for a bit. You were both in the same state, antsy for action, but trying to enjoy the hot springs at the same time.

For a while you both just stayed soaking in the hot water. Until you started grinding down against him. He just stared down at your figure. Breasts spilling against his chest, the slope of your s line with your ass under the water. But you refused to meet his eyes.

Satoru didn't really like that very much. He pinched your thigh hard. "Ow!,' you yelped. "Toru what was-" you finally turned to look up at him, but faltered and stopped moving. His eyes were bright and his expression dark. "I thought my baby was going to be good for me tonight. You don't wanna beg me later just to come right? Or does daddy have to make you do just that?"

As soon as he said the word daddy you felt your insides clench around nothing, thighs quivering. He looked down towards your body, grinning at your response. He pulled you out of the water, sitting down on the ground beside it.

"Suck me off baby and I'll consider making you cum."

You crawled over on all fours towards him. You kissed him first, then trailed downwards, licking off the water and sweat on Satoru's abs and the outlines of his hard muscles. He groans while staring at you, pupils blown so wide his bright blue eyes actually look dark for once.

You can see the carnal lust raging behind him as you squeeze your breasts together while kneeling and licking his abs. You leave small butterfly kisses as you slowly make your way down to his aching member.

But, he groans as you skip past it and suck love marks into his lower thighs. "Pumpkin, please -UNGH, p-please don't tease so much." Satoru groaned. You smirked up at him, meeting his eyes while sticking your tongue out and licking one of his balls. Sucking it into your mouth and covering it with your spit.

He reached down to lift your chin up, thumbing your lips as he watched the saliva trickle down down side of your mouth to his fingers. The current sight of you is so lewd and dirty that Satoru almost came on the spot right there.

You decide to humor him and move to licking the head of his dick, while grabbing a hold of the base and slowly pumping it up and down. Satoru threw his head back. He looked up, seeing the night sky and the stars twinkling while feeling hot pleasure run through his body. He felt like he was floating.

You tried deepthroating all of him in one go, but he was just too big. "Baby, your mouth is too small for daddy's cock isn't it?". You whimpered in response. Trying to swallow as much of him as you can while using your hand for the remainder of his length.

Quiet mewls escaped the sides of your mouth as you opened your aching jaws wider. Tears started running down your face. You didn't stop as you relaxed your jaw and took more of him, swallowing what you can while pumping. He bucked up without warning, causing your gag reflex to react. Then he pulled you off.

"That's enough for now. I wanna make sure I stuff every bit of cum I have inside of your pussy baby." He pulled you up over him, this time with his back to the floor as he spoke.

"Lemme eat you out, I've been waiting for this all day." He was salivating at the sight of your pussy, positioned in front of his face. You lowered yourself onto him slowly. Impatiently, he tugged you waist down, smashing your lower lips against his mouth. You let out a loud yelp followed by heavy breaths and mewls as he ate you out.

Thrusting his tongue in and out of your walls. He loved the taste of you, always thirsty for more. You tried to grind your pussy against his face. But he held your legs in place with one arm, wrapping around your behind. The other hand was playing with your clit.

In no time at all you were sobbing and cumming all over his face. Satoru didn't spare you one second of rest. He pulled away and lined himself up, pushing into you during your orgasm.

He immediately started fucking into you earnestly, grabbing a hold of your waist and lifting it to pull you on and off his cock. "Toru, it's too much for me, I can't-" You could barely get the words out of your mouth as you slurred them out with your eyes shut.

"Yes you can. I know you can. Because you're made for me and only you can do a good job for me like this love." Satoru grunted as he pumped into you like there was no tomorrow.

He loved it when your walls clenched and squeezed against him tightly. Especially when your whole body shook during an orgasm. Whenever you open your eyes all you can see are the stars blurring due to your movements. You both came like that, with your backs arching. His cock stayed hard, twitching as it spurted and filled you up.

He suddenly felt the sensation of eyes on him. As the user of six eyes, his senses were wide alert at ALL times. He looked to the side of the wooden wall, and saw dark eyes staring back at him.

He didn't stop thrusting. You whined and mewled as you ground your hips against his. "Fuck, such a slut for me. Love it when you cry and make those noises babe. Just look at me. I won't look at any other person, man or woman. I'm yours as long as you're mine." He growled out.

He pulled out to reposition you. Dragging your body on top of his. Your back against his chest. "Daddy, I want you. I want more!" You whined out. You positioned his cock at your entrance.

"Daddy will give his baby what she wants. You've been so good to me after all love." He smirked inwardly pushed back upwards into you, thrusting at a fast pace. (Satoru chose the position because he knew you were both being watched. He loves to make other men so jealous of him having you).

You could only squeal and try to hold yourself up against him, putting your palms against the floor. But it was no use. He grabbed your thighs and kept fucking up harder and harder, making it hard for you to hold onto anything.

"Yes just like that baby. You're so good to me. You don't need to think. I'll make it so that you don't have to do anything else. You only need to feel my cock yeah? My doll is the best when she is crying on my cock." He moaned out.

The man on the other side of the wall was joined by a few other men. Satoru used his ability to see through the wall following the movement of their cursed energy and saw that they were touching themselves to you.

"Daddy, please more. Daddyyy~" you were slipping further into subspace. Soon you couldn't speak clearly anymore. Just babbling nonsense while bouncing on Satoru's lap and staring hazily up at the sky.

"I think we have company." He laughed out. You snapped out of your haze to see peeking eyes behind the bamboo sticks. Satoru just thrusted harder. "Let's give them a show of their lifetime hmm? I spy old men wanting some action. But they won't be able to touch you baby."

He reached up with one hand to grope your breast and the other stayed below to play with your clit. Sex to him was almost like an art form. He knew exactly how to play with your body to bring you to your strongest orgasms.

You tried to cover your body up but he pulled your arms away. "Don't run away baby, daddy's here to protect you. It will be okay."

At the end of the day you trusted him and his six eyes, so you let go. Pussy clenching harder at the thought of being watched by unknown strangers.

"That's it, my angel. So good for me. You're leaking far more than normal slut. You like it when people watch you get fucked?"

He reached up with his cum stained hand to spit into it. Then shoved his fingers in your mouth. You obediently suckled on and cleaned his fingers for him. He continued to grope you as he pounded away.

Satoru wasn't too worried about the spectators next door. He can see them clearly. Several middle aged men (probably sharing a larger room) messily jerking off to both of you. He saw the way their eyes travelled across your breasts and cunt, which was oozing with his cum.

He hit a hard deep spot inside of you which caused you to squirt hard, a large amount of liquid spraying out. Satoru quickly put his hands over your clit and furiously rubbed at it, wanting to prolong your squirting. You were crying out loud at this point. It was just music to his ears.

One man groaned out, causing you to tense and tighten and Satoru to moan out.

"You love putting a show on huh baby? We should do this more often if it gets you tighter and wetter around me." He snarked out while you drooled and asked for more.

He didn't stop thrusting until he came a few more times inside of you, changing positions.

The men watched as you rode him, your breasts bouncing up and down, while you placed your palms flat on Satoru's chest. They stared at the cum flowing out of your pussy, being fucked back into you by Satoru. The way you both groaned as you clamped down tight and milked his cock.

Soon you found yourself laying on your side with one leg up with Satoru spooning you from behind. What was frightening was his stamina and power.

His thrusts never lost strength and soon you just felt like his cock was drilling a space inside of you, just for it. You felt so boneless in his hands when you both finished, laying down on your sides.

"Babe…. You okay? We need to clean up." Satoru whispered against your shoulder.

You could only mumble incoherent noises. Squeezing around his softening length, still plugged inside of you to keep his cum inside.

Satoru gave out a soft sigh. Then gathered you into his arms and took you away from prying eyes. He just turned and smirked at them as he walked away with you, butt naked.

The watchers were disappointed that the show was over. Satoru then cleaned you both with the shower head in the washing area and wiped you down with soft towels.

You stayed silent the whole time. Your head felt like it was in the clouds. Just letting Satoru do his way with you like a doll. "You were really good for me tonight angel. Nobody else can touch you but me." He chuckled darkly.

You just listened to his simple commands such as putting your arms up when he dressed you in your nightgown. 'I always love fucking her dumb.' He smiled to himself as he settled you into his arms in bed.

"Next time I'll be fucking you in the water." He whispered. He brought you closer to him, tucking your head against his neck. Kissing your forehead and patting you to put you to sleep.

🎇🎇🎇

The next morning you were absolutely horrified to see people staring at you, when you both left your room to check out. 'I bet they heard us last night. And who were the ones peaking at us?!?!' you frightfully thought to yourself.

Satoru didn't really care. Smiling brightly at the attendants and thanking them for your amazing stay at the inn.

"Toru I really enjoyed my stay, but it's hard to be happy now knowing that we did it at the expense of our neighbours stay." You whispered, hitting him. "Darling I'm pretty sure they enjoyed the show." He winked at you, shameless as ever.

Suffice to say, you decided not return to said hot springs for a while out of shame.

End notes: 🙈 this fic started because I just thought of Satoru's abs wet with steam and sweat but it evolved during the last edit. Hope you guys enjoyed! Reblogs and comments are very much appreciated 💜

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