#lovecraft fluff

[giggly-squiggily]

Just Tell Her, You Fool! (Cupid Parasite)

Heyo! Cupid Parasite has a chokehold on my heart and my GOD do I love these characters! Today I bring you a fic I wrote on a whim cause yes :3 I hope you like it!

Summary: Gill's got it bad for Lynette but struggles on actually telling her how he feels. Allen and Raul decide to help in unconventional ways.

“Wahhahait, wahahhait wahhahahahahahaihihihihihit guhuhuhuhuys!”

~~~About five minutes earlier~~~

“So- when are you gonna do it?” Allen asked out of nowhere, propped up on an elbow as he smirked in Gill’s direction. It was one of those rare evenings where he, Raul and Gil were free- thus leading to their impromptu movie nights. What started as them actively watching quickly melted into background noise as they grew to enjoy each other's company.

“Eh…do what, exactly?” Gill- who had been half watching the movie, half typing away on his phone, met Allen’s gaze with a quirked brow.

“You know. Tell her.” The dark haired man smirked more, amused as he watched the other blush scarlet. “Come on- it’s not exactly a secret you love Lynette.”

“Huh-I- what- how-” Gill stammered, wide eyed and flustered. Raul, the only one still watching the movie, quickly turned his attention to the new developments around him.

“Who’s in love?” Seeing Gill’s red cheeks and Allen’s playful gaze, he whistled. “Wow, I never thought you two would be a thing. Oh, it’s like Achilles and Patroclus! History said they were best friends, but we can clearly see-”

“Not me, you twit. Lynette.” Allen threw a pillow at him, shutting up Raul’s ramblings. “He’s in love with Lynette!”

“Not so loud! She might hear us!” Gill cried back, taking the pillow Raul discarded and hiding his face in it.

“Isn’t that a good thing? You like her- why wouldn’t you want her to know?” Raul pawed at the pillow until Gill’s eyes were visible. “Heh, you really were hit by Cupid’s arrow, huh?”

“Shush. Of course I want her to know- it’s just..it’s been 2 years! She never noticed my feelings before, and she isn’t going to notice them now.” He groaned pathetically in his pillow, laying back against the red of the sheets. “She’s just not into me, guys.”

The two grew quiet as they thought it over. Then..

“Did you ever tell her?” Allen asked, poking his arm. “Like- directly, I mean.”

“Erm..”

“Oh my god! You never told her outright!?” Raul gasped in shock. “I’m no romance guru, but even I know if you want a girl to like you, you gotta let her know your intentions! It’s like that one story in mythology with-”

“You never flat out told her? No wonder you’re the lovelorn parasite.” Allen laughed, no real malice in his voice. “That can change, you know? You just have to tell her now. Make it clear to her what your feelings are.”

“You're just saying that so you can steal her away.” Gill glared mildly at the other, irritated when Allen lifted a shoulder. “Even if I did, there's no guarantee she’ll feel the same. I’m…scared of rejection. What if she says she wants to be friends? Or tell me it’s too late? What if- what if she hates me after and tells me to leave her alone?” Tears burned behind his eyes, much to Gill’s embarrassment. “I can’t…I don’t want to face that…”

Raul and Allen shared a look over him, conversing with their eyes. Then..

“WHA!” Gill yelped when his pillow was yanked away, vision filling with Allen’s form as he threw himself on top of him. “Allen- what are you-” His hands were quickly grabbed by Raul, strong and stubborn as they were pressed into the sheets above. “What’s happening?”

“Scared, eh? Looks like we’re gonna have to help you get over that.” Allen grinned down at him, dripping with devious intent. “Right, Raul.”

“Of course! Get ready, Gill- this is for your own good!” He flexed his fingers, sending shivers of anticipation up the trapped man’s back as he realized just what was about to happen.

“Wait- waahhahahahahhahait!”

~~~Current time~~~

“Wait nothing! The longer you hold out on telling her, the sooner she’s gonna fall in love with someone else. She won’t wait for you forever, Gill.” Allen chided, fingers flying over Gill’s stomach with ease.

“Maybe not, Allen-there’s a chance! You're the Penelope to her Odysseus- in the tale, she waited 20 years for him.” Raul sighed some in romantic swoon, one hand keeping Gill’s wrist trapped as the other dug into the crevices of his neck- making him squeal. “That’s some serious dedication. Of course- you’re not going to war and there isn’t a whole array of suitors waiting for her to give in; your odds are still rather thin.”

“I knohohohohow thahahahhahat! Aheahhahaha, cohoohohme ohohohohon! Leheeheht mehehe uhuh-EHEHEH!” Fingers digging into his lower ribs made Gill all but arch off the bed- nearly sending Allen flying. “AHAHHLEHEHEHEHN!”

“Yehehehs?” The brunette mocked him with a grin, delighted by the reaction.

“DOOOHOHN’T NOOHOHOT THEHEHEHHERE!” Gill pleaded, kicking his feet against the mattress as he squirmed and thrashed beneath both of his friends. “PLEAHHAHSE!”

“Hm…alright. I suppose I can stop tickling here.” Allen did as requested, giving Gill a second to breathe. “How about…here?”

“Al- wahIIHIHIHIIHIHIIHIHT!” Gill all but cackled as one of his armpits were attacked, his laughter renewing by tenfold. “COOHOHOME OOHOHON!”

“Oo, he’s so ticklish!” Raul giggled from above, moving from his neck to the other armpit, further driving the other boy up a wall. “Coochie coochie coo! A coochie coochie coo!”

Gill could feel his soul threatening to leave his body- a death by tickles in a home that didn’t even belong to him. At least he was surrounded by good friends.

Sure- they were the ones causing his demise but like- good friends.

“Are you gonna tell her?” Allen asked, dropping his hand to his upper ribs. Still a tickle spot, but the feeling of immediate demise started to fade.

“YEHEHEHEHS!”

“Promise?” Raul asked, going back to his neck. “We’ll be asking her questions to follow through if you don’t.”

“YEHEHHS I PROHOHOMISE! I PROHOHOMISE!” Gill cried back, eyes wet and cheeks bright red as he swore his word to finally confess. The tickles came to an end, leaving him to curl up and gasp for breath as Allen and Raul laughed. “Goohohd, you two are tehheehrrible.”

“Nah, we’re necessary.” Allen ruffled his hair as Raul giggled in his hands. A water bottle was pressed against his cheek at some point, the chill much needed against his warm face. Before long, he was able to sit up once more, stuck between his two friends as he nursed the icy drink. “Feel less scared now?”

“Honestly..not really.” Gill admitted, flinching when they poked his sides. “Dohon’t- I’m not done!” Raul and Allen laughed. “Ugh. What I’m saying is- I’m scared, but…I’ll go for it. I’ll tell her.” He nodded firmly to show his resolve, suddenly too scared to look at either man. “Even if she breaks my heart…I have to tell her.”

“That’a boy.” Allen patted his back. Raul cheered and ruffled his hair. Gill smiled in his drink.

He was grateful to have friends like them.

Thanks for reading!

[gloomysarchive]

sumn random

ʚ🩸ɞ type: mini something

ʚ🩸ɞ includes: fem miguel ohara (her name is miguela)

ʚ🩸ɞ summary: social withdrawal

inspo

She's crawling through a cramped space inside one of the big engines in the headquarters. It doesn't need to be fixed, she's just tinkering to keep herself occupied.

She's alone in the engine room, though she isn't lonely. Her back rests against a cool wall, and she's idly chatting to the machine spirits of the engines on one side of her. She seems happier, more herself. The engines hum and glow with a soft amber light, and they seem to speak to her in a whisper. She likes the the solitude. This is the only place where she doesn't have a to be a leader, a hero, or a mentor — it's just her and her machines.

Reality starts to set in along with the dark circles beneath her eyes. She rubs them with the back of her hand. She wipes the sweat off her head, wrench in one hand. “Mierda...” She huffs. She smells like metal, sweat, and oil. Her hands are grimey and scarred with bits of singed flesh from mishandling a welding tool. She chews her nail idly in thought.

Her excellent hearing makes up for her lack of spidey senses — she wouldn't have noticed your entry. She stands up immediately, tired eyes straining harshly as she prepares to face the intruder.

“How did you get in here?” She questions, her voice firm and accusatory.

“The door was open,” you reply, but you're lying - LYLA had let you in, though she was instructed to restrict any and everyone's access to the sub-level.

“Do you need something from me?” She wants to get you out of here as quick as possible. She doesn't want to, but she has to be boss for at least few minutes so she can get back to her voluntary isolation.

“I just wanted to check on you...” This, isn't a lie.

Her face softens ever so slightly. Someone came to check on her? “...Gracias.” She rubs her eyes again, this time out of a bit of guilt for being so defensive. “Perdón. I'm just... tired.”

“You're... (y/n), right?” She asks. She tries to at least remember the first names of her recruits, but there's just so many. Too many. You nod in confirmation and she feels a prideful smirk tug at the corner of her lips. She didn't forget.

You two chat for a few minutes. Miguela didn't even think she'd be ready interact with people again; she intended to avoid everyone for the rest of the day, shut herself in her office, skip dinner, and work until LYLA forced her consoles on lockdown. This is... refreshing.

She says with a slight smile, “Thank you.” The corners of her eyes crinkle with that last bit of emotion her smile couldn't convey.

“...You're welcome... for what, exactly?”

She just smiles again.

err for da lesbian miguel ohara likers (me)

[frankenjoly]

bram and aya +

“I think they’re staring at you.”

“What do you recommend?”

or the word ‘royal’! up to you how many to do alsjfkfj

aaaanddd i combined them :3

“What do you recommend?” Bram asked, letting Aya lead him to a table she had called her usual spot upon entering the cafe. It was a small and colorful place near her school, mostly filled by other students with their friends, but in some cases their parents too. Would that mean no one would deem him as out of place? Unlikely, given how a handful of heads had turned to follow them with little to no regard for acting inconspicuous.

Most of them thought twice when meeting Bram’s best ‘mind your own business’ gaze, though.

“Hm.” Aya tapped her chin with her index finger, clearly considering all the options, since there was apparently nothing the vampire couldn’t straight up tolerate from the place’s menu. Sure, it wouldn’t feed him either, but that had been a given since the start. Not like it bothered Bram much, not when he could still taste food. “All the cakes are absolutely wonderful, but if I had to pick just one, maybe the apple pie? Or ditch those and go for the mochis. And for drinkin’...” She stopped for a second, glancing in the same way Bram was proceeding to look at. “Oh, yeah. I think they’re looking at you.”

“Have I not done enough to…” It was now his own turn to make a pause, properly choosing the words. “... appear fairly common-looking by modern standards?” 

The clothes he was currently wearing, if maybe more fancy than the usual while looking at everyone else, were appropriate to the times and weather. He had styled his hair so his pointy ears wouldn’t stand out much. And there wasn’t much he could do about the scars crossing his cheeks but those weren’t that strange either.

So what was the issue? Was it simply because he was a newcomer there? Would people who were familiar with Aya’s presence find off-putting that she wasn’t accompanied by her actual, biological father? Or--?

Speaking about Aya, her first reaction towards the question was giggling.

“I think they don’t have any problem with your looks, but the other way around.” The giggle turned into a big, amused smile. “Don’t be too obvious if you wanna take a peek, but for example… one of the ladies over there’s downright blushin’ and all.”

“Excuse me?” To be completely honest, Bram had understood what she meant. He just needed a few minutes to process the whole situation. Or hours.

“What? Bet they’re gushin’ as if they just found one of their fave romance novel main dudes just turned out to be true. Which kinda checks out, since you’re from ages ago and have that royal vibe thing goin’ on.”

Bram opened his mouth for a second, then closed it, then opened it again.

“You know I am no literal royalty.” Plus, calling her his princess was more about devotion and endearment and… yes, maybe a bit based on fantasy stories too, like the ones he had told another certain little girl back then. But still.

“I doubt they think that either.” Aya shrugged. “Anyway, whatcha gonna do with that sudden wave of popularity?”

“I--” Bram, meanwhile, let out a brief sigh. “Honestly, I have no interest in acknowledging those.”

“Why? Already got a sweetheart and whatnot?”

“You could say so.” He had barely finished speaking, when Aya’s jaw dropped.

(Also on ao3.)

[shuaflix]

my guardian demon sucks at his job (not clickbait)

❝ look, i accidentally summoned jeonghan from my statistics textbook the day before you met him at the olive garden. ❞

PAIRING ▸ demon!yoon jeonghan x fem!reader

GENRES ▸ smut, fluff, humor, angst, supernatural, demon au

WARNINGS ▸ not so biblically accurate, profanity, slowburn, found family, inspirations from mythology and h. p. lovecraft, lots of banter, alcohol consumption, sexual tension, teasing, dirty talk, oral (fem. receiving), fingering, palming, unprotected sex (wrap before you tap), mc is painfully horny, ft. demon!shua and demon!wonwoo 

SUMMARY ▸ just when you thought your luck couldn't get any worse, you accidentally manage to summon an ancient demon prince named jeonghan out of a scrap of paper from your statistics textbook. now, you're tasked with figuring out how to return your so-called "guardian demon" back to where he came from before he can stir up more trouble.

PLAYLIST ▸ our dawn is hotter than day by seventeen • cruel summer by taylor swift

WORD COUNT ▸ 23,610 words

TAG LIST ▸ @byunfirstlady​ @90s-belladonna​ @knucklesdeepmingi​ @xlovette​ @variety-is-the-joy-of-life​ @hatesbutlovespeople7734​ @goquokka​

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ i had so much fun writing this so i hope you guys enjoy this one!! thank you so much for supporting my works ♡ lmk what u think!

TO BE FAIR, YOU REALLY DIDN’T EXPECT THE SPELL TO WORK.

You initially thought the scrap of paper you found in your statistics textbook was someone’s torn-up Latin homework. You borrowed the copy from the library earlier in the day, realizing that the only way you would pass your midterm would be if you actually studied. Wedged between the pages of Chapter Three - Linear Regression was the dubious piece of paper.  

You thought nothing of it at first. You turned a blind eye to how it was yellowed due to age, thinking it was just left behind by accident. It didn’t even cross your mind about how strange it was that someone left their Latin homework in a statistics textbook.

There was no real reason why you read the words aloud. You thought it could act as some sort of good luck charm—something that could manifest good grades on your exams—but you ended up with the exact opposite.

The paper started glowing, but it wasn’t bright light; a void of pitch darkness emitted from the scrap instead. Mind you, it was nearly the middle of the night. It was already dark, but your room was starting to look like you had opened up a schism in space.

You dropped the paper in the middle of the room instinctively, hissing lightly at how it nearly froze your fingers off. Your room’s temperature dropped by several degrees, and if you weren’t internally freaking out about the random black hole in the middle of your room, you would have curled up in your blankets.

This was one hell of a karmic retribution for slacking on your work for half the semester.

You could hardly see the paper, but you could see faint smoke coming from the middle of the source. It seeped along your bedroom floor, and you contemplated calling your roommate for help before realizing that you, in fact, had no roommate and lived alone.

From there, the paper seemed to crumple up and dissipate into thin air. Instead, a shadowy figure emerged from the smoke. You were not religious by any means, but you felt like this was probably the best time to start praying to whatever higher power was out there.

Light returned to the room once the darkness and smoke faded away. You could now make out the entity’s figure more clearly, noting how it towered over you with sharp horns sticking out from its tuft of hair. Once you could see well enough to make out its face, you were met with what you thought was a human, though the horns and red eyes were throwing you in for a loop.

Humans often had four different psychological responses to traumatic or stressful experiences:

Fight: facing any perceived threat head-on.

Flight: running away from the perceived threat.

Fawn: resorting to appealing to the perceived threat to avoid potential conflict.

Freeze: being unable to move or act against the perceived threat.

Being the absolute weapon of survival you were, your body chose to freeze.

The thing just stared at you until its mouth stretched into a lazy smirk. “Hey, I’m—”

In seconds, your body moved on its own. As soon as you heard the smallest sound come from the being, you grabbed your backpack that was leaning against your bed frame, and you started swinging at the entity with it.

You chose to fight.

You were no longer useless.

“Ow!” the thing winced, shrinking back with each blow. You were slightly worried about breaking your laptop inside, but you were currently prioritizing your life more. “Cut it out!”

You got a better look at this thing. He was clearly attractive with his strong jawline and dark, sleepy eyes—assuming he was even a dude in the first place. You still kept your guard up around Pretty Boy, though, considering he had just Harry Potter’d his way into your bedroom.

“Who—what are you?” you spluttered, holding your backpack up in a (hopefully) threatening way.

“Me?” Pretty Boy grinned. “I’m your demon.”

What in the Wizards of Waverly Place was this man talking about? You stared blankly at the guy before taking a careful step backward. Of course, there were far too many supernatural elements packed into the last minute for you to completely shut down the idea, but it sounded downright crazy. This was something that only happened in books and movies, and they weren’t supposed to be hot!

“A… a demon? From Hell?”

“Yes, that’s usually where demons tend to be from.”

Great, this “demon” was a smart-ass, too.

“What’s a demon?” you asked. It took you a few moments to realize that you had, in fact, asked an extremely stupid question. Of course you knew what a demon was; you didn’t have to be a religious studies major to know about all the Jesus and Satan lore.

“I’m glad you asked,” said demon started, although he didn’t seem to be glad at all. “There are demons that should be summoned, and there are demons that should not be summoned. Can you guess which one I am?”

“Uh…” You deliberated carefully. “You’re a demon that can be summoned.”

“Wrong!” Pretty Boy answered. “I’m a demon that shouldn’t be summoned, so I need you to explain how on Earth you summoned me.”

“I—I thought you said you were my demon.”

“I am,” he said, “because most demons can only be summoned by their designated human, which you did, but I, of all demons, am not meant to be summoned and trapped in this realm! How in Lucifer’s name did you summon me, human?”

You held up a hand to keep him from charging forward at you. “First of all, my name is Y/N. Shouldn’t you be familiar with your own human’s name? Second of all, what do you mean by ‘designated human’?”

Pretty Boy sighed. “I’m supposed to be your assigned demon.”

You frowned. “Supposed to be?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’ve kind of been neglecting you. Totally forgot your name and everything.” He hummed inquisitively. “Remind me of it again?”

“Y/N,” you repeated carefully, slightly offended. “What the hell is an assigned demon?”

“If I tell you,” he started in a somber tone, and you hung onto every word, worrying at your lip and fearing something dreadful would happen, “then it’s no fun.”

He had to be fucking with you.

“No fun?” you questioned. “Are you kidding?”

“I happen to be very serious,” he answered, “and I’m getting the feeling that you’re a bit of a kill-joy, human.”

“Listen,” you spat, “I have a stats midterm tomorrow, so you better start talking before I get back to studying and ignore you.”

“Fine,” he complied. “Think of it, like… a guardian demon.”

“Damn.” You looked up at him with wide eyes. “If I give you my soul, can you help me pass my midterm?”

“That’s not quite how it works, and I may be a demon, but that’s a pretty stupid request in exchange for your soul,” he deadpanned. “Okay, now tell me how you summoned me.”

Your gaze dropped to the spot on the floor where the black void opened up. You recalled the slip of paper disintegrating into thin air once the demon appeared. You were certain that was the key to this bizarre merging of two realms.

“Uh,” you said, “there was a piece of paper with some Latin written on it. You appeared after I read the words out loud.”

And after turning your room into an arctic tundra.

Pretty Boy’s face fell upon your words. You were shocked that the demon looked so crest-fallen all of a sudden, and it was making you feel a bit guilty for dragging him out of Hell.

You decided to ask, “Are you okay?”

“I am not okay, I am Yoon Jeonghan, one of the seven princes of Hell,” he started angrily, causing you to take a cautious step backward. “I am Greed, the creator of alchemy, forger of the Twin Blade, constructor of the—” The demon cut himself off when you held up a fist to your mouth to keep yourself from laughing. “W-what? What’s so funny, human?”

“I’m sorry,” you apologized quickly, accidentally letting a giggle slip from your lips, “but there’s no way some pretty face like you is a demon prince.”

“I emerged from an opening in the ground, and you still refuse to believe I’m a demon?”

“Well—”

“Human, do you know why a ‘pretty face’ like me is a demon prince?” Pretty Demon Boy a.k.a Jeonghan inquired, stepping closer until you were backed up against your desk. “The King of all demons himself was once considered the most beautiful of all angels. Why?” With three fingers, he tilted your chin up enough for you to take a good look at him—at the swirling dark red in his eyes. “Because demons represent temptation.”

“Temptation,” you echoed, embarrassed that your voice came out more strangled than intended. “Yeah, well, I’m really tempted to kick your ass back to Hell right now.”

You supposed he was onto something, in a sense. Maybe Jeonghan was telling the truth because you couldn’t focus on anything else but how his lips were nearing yours. It was as if your senses had completely clouded over.

Upon your words, however, he dropped his gaze and pulled away from you. Jeonghan looked saddened, which was a sight you had not expected from the smug-faced demon. You weren’t educated on demon lore or anything, but you were quite surprised that they were capable of feeling such human emotions.

“There are ways demons can be summoned,” he said in a somber voice. “If we are summoned by our names, then we can appear and promptly return to Hell. Incantations, though, are tricky; with negligence, there is a possibility that I’m stuck here.”

“Stuck here?” you asked, raising your voice. “What do you mean? You can’t go back?”

“Well, do you remember the words on that piece of paper?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t have a way of going back, dumbass.”

You huffed. “I didn’t know a demon prince could have the vocabulary of a middle school boy.”

“We can speak any language on this planet and adapt to modern slang,” he explained. “I can also speak dolphin. Wanna hear?”

“No, let’s circle back to getting you back to Hell,” you shut him down before he started using echolocation. “There has to be some other way, right?”

“We have a few options, actually,” he said, sitting on the edge of your bed. You cringed at the thought of the intruder making himself at home, but you supposed you were the one who got him in this mess, anyway. It wouldn’t be smart for you to boss him around, especially since he could overtake you easily. “Either you remember the incantation, or… actually, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“So, we only have one option?” you clarified. “I have the memory of a goldfish, so I think you’re fucked.” You scratched your neck in thought. “Can’t you call one of your demon buddies to bring you back?”

“Demon buddies?” He laughed coldly. “We aren’t exactly buddy-buddy down there.”

“Then why do you wanna go back so bad?”

“This materialized human form of mine will not last me very long,” he replied gravely, though you weren’t quite convinced the horns and red eyes were doing him any favors. “Normally, I could be up here for as long as I want, but my powers are weak right now. I will eventually perish like this, unless…”

“Unless?”

“Unless I kill an angel.”

After your morbid conversation with Jeonghan, you decided you would deal with the issue after your midterm. The demon insisted that he would not be able to leave your side since you summoned him, so that led to him sleeping on your floor. To your horror, he was pleasantly satisfied with this sleeping arrangement, claiming it was “better than being boiled alive in oil.”

His bedroom in Hell didn’t sound very cozy.

The next morning, you woke to an email notification that your midterm had been canceled. Something about your professor falling sick out of nowhere.

You wanted to rejoice, but you couldn’t help but feel that this was because of Jeonghan. This was probably the whole “guardian demon” thing, but he was causing chaos and disorder to get you what you wanted. It left an uneasy feeling, but, regardless, you were satisfied with not taking an exam.

Anyway, why was Jeonghan, self-proclaimed prince of demons, assigned to be your guardian? When you turned in your bed to see him sitting at your desk and staring at your textbook, you asked him the question that was bugging you.

He scoffed and replied, “I don’t know. Luck?”

You narrowed your eyes. “Is it really lucky that a demon prince was assigned to me? Sounds a little unnerving.”

“That just means you have a powerful demon on your side.” He smirked and leaned in to ask, “Were you happy to see your midterm canceled this morning?”

“So it was you!” you exclaimed. “Look, I appreciate it and everything, but you can’t just make people sick to help me out.”

“I can’t?” He looked surprisingly innocent when you reprimanded him, like a seven-year-old being told not to color on the walls. “I didn’t even murder him or anything.”

“That—that’s also pretty bad,” you stammered. “Let’s not do any of that, okay?”

“But that’s no fun.”

“This isn’t about having fun! These are people’s lives. How would you feel if I harmed one of the other demon princes for fun?”

“That’s hot. I’d probably cum in my pants.”

“Okay, maybe that was a bad example,” you grumbled. “Is there anyone you care about down there?”

“Not down there, not up here,” he replied. “I’m a demon, remember? There’s no one who cares for me, so I don’t care for anyone either.”

“Wow,” you said. “You could be the poster boy for 2012 Tumblr angst.”

“I’ll pretend I understood that, human.”

There was something bothering you, though. Jeonghan’s words last night about killing an angel were parroting in your head. You couldn’t shake off the guilt that he could potentially die on Earth because of you, but it felt immoral to kill an angel to return to his prison in Hell. On the other hand, you couldn’t bear to see him perish because of you.

“How long do you have?” you asked. “You know… to live.”

“Hm… I’d say about 718 years?”

“Oh, what the fuck? You’re chilling.”

“In Hell time.”

You frowned. “How long is that in Earth years?”

Jeonghan’s gaze flew to the ceiling as he tried to calculate the math in his head, using his fingers to count off. “That’s about half an Earth year, so, like, six months.”

“Oh no,” you replied in absolute dread, “and you’re still planning on killing an angel?”

“If that’s the only way to save me—yes.”

“Well, how do you even find one?”

“I can sense their presence,” he said before standing up. “Come on, human. You’ll have to show me around your world so that I can remember the mortal way of life.”

“I guess, but first”—you stopped him by raising your hand—“you’ll have to get rid of those horns.”

Once Jeonghan concealed his horns and changed his eyes to a more socially acceptable color, you gave him the green light to go outside. He looked good like this, but he was attracting too much attention. The demon simply had too big of an ego to tone down the attractiveness, so you were stuck walking around with a chick magnet.

“You’re a demon,” you whispered harshly. “You’re telling me you don’t have any ugly forms?”

Jeonghan sighed. “That is the unfortunate curse of a demon. We can’t help that our beauty is so blinding.”

You wanted to punch him. The boiling oil prison bed wasn’t a curse, but this was?

“Well, people are staring, and it’s making me uncomfortable. I’ve never been the center of attention—or, well, around the center of attention.”

“Then would you like me to gouge out their eyeballs with a dagger?”

“No!” you yelled. “No, there will be no gouging of eyeballs!”

You started going off on your Murder Is Normally Socially Unacceptable And Wrong tangent up until you realized that Jeonghan was no longer next to you. Fear shot up your spine right before you spotted him standing in front of an Olive Garden that you two had walked past earlier.

“Jeonghan, what are you doing?” you asked, frowning. “Let’s keep walking.”

“Human,” he said, clearly ignoring your words, “take me into this restaurant.”

“You’re hungry?” When he nodded, you sighed and complied, saying, “Alright, then, I’ll pay.”

You were worried that the demon wouldn’t behave properly, but, to your surprise, he stood to the side and let you do the talking. You found his shy smile strangely endearing, especially when he tilted his head after the waitress asked if you two were a couple.

“Yes,” he answered before you could shut it down. “We’ve come in a pair.”

You forced a laugh, glancing at the waitress to make sure she didn’t think you two were absolute nutjobs. Well, you supposed it had no effect on you if your psychotic demon was perceived as one, but you were 100% normal across the board. Thankfully, the waitress laughed it off and asked if either of you wanted anything to drink.

You smiled. “Just water, please.”

“Do you have any blood?” Jeonghan asked at the same time.

Your head shot up to see his furrowed brows as he tried to decipher the Italian dishes on the menu. At this point, you were mortified and could positively say that you were not taking Jeonghan outside after this. You’d rather be stuck in his boiling oil prison than be put through this torment.

“B-Bloody Mary?” the waitress asked.

“Oh, is this Mary providing the blood? I don’t really care to know who exactly she is, but I appreciate the—”

“Yeah, he meant a Bloody Mary,” you cut in loudly, putting on a sugary sweet smile for her. You turned to the demon with a warning look in your eyes, but you kept up the playful act as you chided, “Jeonghan! I told you to quit with the pranks here!”

“Oh, you two are so funny,” the waitress gushed. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“Thank you!” you chirped. When she was out of sight, you dropped your fake smile so you could kick the living crap out of the demon’s shin. He winced and raised a brow at you. “What made you think you could ask for blood at a restaurant?”

Jeonghan scoffed. “I’m a demon.”

“Oh, really? I wouldn’t have guessed from the hundred times you’ve mentioned it.”

“I can’t eat this food.” Jeonghan put the menu down and ran his fingers down the list of options. “Well, I suppose I could stomach it for sustenance, but it won’t satisfy my hunger.”

“Then what do you need to eat?” you asked, expecting to hear something morbid.

“Well, human blood or flesh would help,” he said. Just as you thought—morbid. Then, after a moment of thought, he added, “or… I’d need to have sex.”

“S-sex?!” you exclaimed. You tried not to choke on air, which failed about five seconds later. Never in your life did you expect hellbound demons to be so lecherous. Well, it made perfect sense, but it was still odd to think about. “You’re telling me the only way you can be fed is by cannibalism or sex?”

“Cannibalism is a strong word.”

“Cannibalism is the only word for people who eat other people!”

“I’m not a person,” he defended. “I’m a demon. I believe you humans call this ‘the food cycle,’ am I right?”

You leaned back in your seat to groan into your hands. “I guess we’re just gonna have to find a way to get you back before you get too hungry. How long can you go without food?”

“Probably forever if I was in Hell,” Jeonghan said, “but I feel really hungry.”

“Is this some ulterior motive to get into my pants?”

Jeonghan barked out a laugh. “Human, do you know who the Seven Deadly Sins are?”

“Sort of? I’ve seen the anime.”

“They’re the seven human vices, and I’m Greed,” he explained. “Other than me, there’s Lust, Wrath, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, and Pride. Many say that Pride is the worst of them all, but I am destructive at every level. Greed is what breaks a person down and then brings them to destroy the world around them.”

His voice was pitched deeper when he continued, “Greed is the sin that can never be satisifed.”

“O-okay,” you said carefully, “so why are you telling me this?”

“I’m telling you this because you’re pretty naive for someone who summoned a demon as powerful as I am,” he replied calmly. “I’m Greed, so of course that was an ulterior motive to get into your pants.”

Oh.

Awkward.

You weren’t sure if you were blushing because Jeonghan was hot or because no man had ever been so direct with you. For what it was worth, you were positive that the warm feeling in your chest wasn’t because you were flattered or anything. Being asked for sex in the middle of a restaurant wasn’t hot in the slightest bit, and especially after he proceeded to mansplain how he was a manipulative, conniving bastard.

“Don’t feel pressured,” he said.

Although those were the words that came out of his mouth, you could feel the impatience seeping from him. However, it had you thinking that this could become some sort of transaction. You would surely feel used if you let him get what he wanted so easily, but you would definitely be swayed if there was something in it for you. Plus, Jeonghan was unmistakably attractive, which was probably simply the devil’s temptation getting to you.

“If I let you satisfy your hunger… um, sexually,” you started, “then I want something in return.”

A mischievous glint flashed in his dark eyes. “Oh? You’re making things fun, human.”

You felt something hot roiling deep inside your core, making you nearly lose your breath for a moment. The effect he had on you was otherworldly. (You supposed this checked out considering he himself was otherworldly.)

Before you could lay down your guidelines, a voice called from behind, “Sorry, your previous waitress had something come up, so I’ll be taking your orders for your meal. My name’s—whoa, Y/N?”

Your eyes widened. “Seokmin! Oh my god, you work here?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said, laughing lightly at your surprise. “Is this your, uh, boyfriend?”

You met Jeonghan’s stare with an awkward smile. “N-no, we’re just friends.”

Seokmin beamed at the demon, who, to your dismay, made no effort to reciprocate. “Nice to meet you. I was in one of Y/N’s classes last semester. Where are you from?”

Jeonghan reached out to shake the hand that Seokmin held out. You knew he was blunt, but you really didn’t expect him to respond by saying, “Hell.”

You were stabbing metaphysical pitchforks into Jeonghan’s side, fighting the urge to groan into your hands. Seokmin let out a stilted laugh, pausing for a moment to give Jeonghan time to clarify. When the demon didn't, however, Seokmin probably determined that Jeonghan was messing with him.

“You’re funny,” he praised with a grin. “Anyway, can I get you two started on anything?”

Seokmin had the brightest smile you had ever seen. In fact, he seemed to glow brighter just by showing his teeth. You were almost blown away for a moment, just looking up at him and trying not to stumble over your words as he set your drinks down.

“Um,” you started after regaining your composure, “I’ll take the stuffed ziti fritta, please.”

Seokmin turned to Jeonghan, who nodded in your direction with a distracted look on his face. “Yeah, I’ll get the same.”

“Great! I’ll bring those over soon.” With that, Seokmin took both of your menus and walked off.

You smiled to yourself. “What a small world.”

“I have to kill him,” Jeonghan muttered at the same time.

“Excuse me?” you nearly cried. “Jeonghan, are you crazy? You can’t just say things like that in public!”

“Why not?”

“People are gonna think you’re a homicidal maniac! Which you are, but… at least pretend to be normal.”

“Whatever, we’re alone now.” He rolled his eyes. “Your little friend has angel blood in him.”

“What? You’re crazy.”

But then, when you took a moment to consider his words, the lines were starting to draw themselves. It was starting to make sense in your head, with Jeonghan randomly stopping in the middle of the street, as if he was drawn to the restaurant. There was also Seokmin, who almost had an aura of light radiating from him.

Of course, there was the possibility that the demon was speaking nonsense and trying to get in your head. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to deceive you, but there was no reason for him to lie. Jeonghan needed an angel to live longer, so he wouldn’t waste his time dealing with those who weren’t of use.

You asked, “How can you tell if he’s an angel or not?”

“I’m a demon. I can sense these things,” he answered, “but I’m sure you can see some of it, too. You saw how he glowed a bit? Maybe even made you feel a little happy out of nowhere?”

It was true that Seokmin’s smile made you forget all of your worries for a second. You thought his radiance was just contagious, but this sort of made sense now that you were semi-familiar with the supernatural. If angels were able to make people feel contented, though, did that mean demons had the opposite effect?

That could probably explain why Jeonghan got on your nerves so easily.

You leaned over the table a little, whispering, “Wouldn’t he know what you are, then?”

“Doubt he knows it himself. He’s a Quartarion—quarter angel. I bet he doesn’t even know he has wings.”

“So… you can’t use him, right? You need an angel, and he’s mostly human.”

“No, I could kill him, actually,” he replied. “I just need to kill an angel-blood. In fact, killing a Quartarion instead of a pure-blood would make my job a lot easier.”

You felt trapped. It wasn’t like you were in any position to argue about Jeonghan’s decisions, considering it was your fault he was in this state. However, you felt sick to your stomach over getting blood on your hands because of him. Even if you weren’t the one killing Seokmin, it was indirectly your fault.

“You are not killing him,” you said firmly.

“What?” Jeonghan almost sounded like a child. “Not even a little?”

“You can’t kill someone a little.”

“Well, maybe if I sliced his—”

“Okay! Be normal, be normal, be normal,” you chanted, trying to get him to hone in some morals. “No murder, no cannibalism, no—”

“Two stuffed ziti frittas!” Seokmin chirped, shutting you up effectively. You swallowed thickly as he set the plates down in front of you and Jeonghan. “Can I get you two anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” Jeonghan spoke up, a sly grin spreading across his face, “are you free this week?”

Poor, poor Seokmin, you thought miserably.

Jeonghan managed to sweet-talk Seokmin into hanging out with you two later in the week. The very idea was absurd, considering you and Seokmin have only spoken about five times. You thought the demon used some sort of demon power to get Seokmin to comply, but Jeonghan later told you that he was just naturally charismatic.

You decided to deal with the Seokmin issue later, though. Now, you had another problem at hand: the proposal you initiated earlier.

Currently, Jeonghan had you pinned up against your door, his head dipping low so that he could look into your eyes despite your efforts to avert your gaze. Jesus, you knew this was a terrible idea, but every nerve in your body was telling you to just go with it.

He hummed. “What was your offer?”

“This isn’t very guardian demon of you,” you squeaked out.

“I just can’t kill you,” he said. “Sex is still on the table.”

This piqued your interest. “Wait… you’re not allowed to kill me?”

That just made you feel like he would’ve murdered you already if he had the chance.

“I could try, but I physically can’t harm you. I can harm others for you, though,” he said. “Now let’s go back to that offer you were going to make.”

“Let me clarify,” he continued, “it’s not the act of intercourse that feeds me, it’s your taste.”

He was basically saying that he needed to eat you out. You would be lying if you said you were opposed to the idea. You weren’t sure if it was the whole devil’s temptation thing or whatever, but you found yourself wanting to just let Jeonghan have his way with you.

You sucked in a sharp breath. Back at the restaurant, you weren’t ready to lay down any guidelines for the exchange. However, it was clear to you now.

“I’ll agree as long as you don’t kill Seokmin.”

The demon pulled away from you, frowning. “Why can’t I kill him?”

“He’s my… friend,” you tried.

“He appears to share a deeper connection with me, a complete stranger, than he does with you, an established acquaintance.”

Okay, ouch. That stung.

“Okay, he’s not really my friend,” you admitted, “but it’ll make me feel really guilty if you kill him. I know you need to kill an angel-blood to get back, but there has to be another way, right?”

Jeonghan’s voice was pitched lower when he said, “I don’t know about that.” Silence hung heavy in the air for a few moments before he spoke up again, “Fine. I’ll accept your offer. I won’t kill Seokmin for now, but I can’t promise that in the future if I’m left with no other choice.”

That was probably the best you were going to get out of him, so you nodded in agreement. “Deal.”

Before the demon could reply, you shimmied down your shorts, kicking them off your ankles, and then you sat back on your bed. You pressed your thighs together, waiting for him to come forward and take the lead.

Jeonghan just stared at you, jaw gone slack.

“What?” you asked with a frown. Slowly, embarrassment started to heat up your cheeks. “You don’t wanna do it anymore?”

“Human, I feel a bit strange doing this with the stuffed animals lined up on your bed.”

“I just had to convince you not to murder my classmate a minute ago, and you draw the line at this?” You sighed in exasperation. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

Jeonghan just moved closer until he was right in front of you. He pushed your legs apart, surprisingly gentle, and he reached his hand between your legs so that he could prod at the thin material of your underwear at the apex of your legs. You shivered instantly at his touch, grabbing his sleeve when you felt your core ache for more.

“I don’t know,” he murmured, observing how wet you were getting with his gentle touches. “You seem to enjoy bickering with me a little too much, human.”

“T-that’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” The question sounded genuine, but the smirk on Jeonghan’s face was unmistakable. You swallowed hard as his free hand traveled up your thigh slowly, inching further and further until he tugged your underwear down past your thighs. You kicked it off your ankles while he started to position you properly on your bed. “What’s ridiculous is having these adorable playthings watching us.”

You turned your head to see your Sanrio MyMelody Squishmallow staring at you with its big, empty eyes and mocking smile. It almost felt like you were being judged by your own plushie.

Okay, you were starting to get why it was capable of freaking a demon out.

You propped yourself up on your forearm and rose up enough to grab your Squishmallow by its bow and turn it around. Now that it was facing the wall, you strangely felt more at ease.

“Okay, now you can go,” you said with a grin.

Jeonghan scoffed, amused. “Thanks.”

“You’re wel—oh,” you moaned, pressing a fist to your mouth when you felt Jeonghan’s tongue work its way between your folds. “Give me a warning next time, damn.”

He paused for a moment to look up at you, mischief twinkling in his dark eyes. “You’re already thinking about the next time, huh?”

“Just shut up and keep doing your thing.” When he raised a brow at you, you added a frantic, “Please?”

This moment may have been the first time Jeonghan had complied so quickly. He got to work right away, gripping your hips and licking a stripe along your cunt. You arched your back once you heard him groan at the taste of your arousal, and the demon had to push you back down to make sure you weren’t fidgeting too much.

You turned your head to the side, digging your chin into the mattress as Jeonghan’s tongue rolled around your clit in torturous motions. You were fighting the urge to cry out in pleasure because you knew you would never hear the end of it from him. Eventually, though, the feeling overtook your pride, and you let yourself moan for more.

Jeonghan was insatiable. That probably came with being a demon, especially when he represented the sin of greed.

But, the thing was, you didn’t expect him to be so mind-blowingly good.

Your sounds must have spurred him because Jeonghan gripped your thighs harder and ate you out with more fervor. It was a back-arching level of pleasure, but he forced you down every time you tried to squirm. When his tongue snaked past your folds, flicking against the walls of your cunt, you truly understood the sheer power of temptation.

Jeonghan didn’t neglect one inch of your core, flattening his tongue so he could cover the surface completely. He switched from plunging his tongue into your cunt to licking long stripes along your slit so quickly that your vision was starting to curl at the edges. You felt like you were going crazy when you grinded your hips against his tongue and felt his smirk.

No man had ever made you feel this good—no, you were positive that no man could ever make you feel this good. Even Jeonghan’s nose brushing against your clit made you feel like you were combusting.

He brought you to the edge so quickly, and you wondered if you had even made yourself orgasm so fast before. The sensation left your legs shaking around his neck and your head turned to the side in a desperate attempt to hold back your moans. You managed to let out strangled whimpers that left Jeonghan chuckling once he pulled away.

You didn’t know what you were expecting, but you felt a touch disappointed when you looked up at him. There was absolutely no hint of a boner tenting his pants.

“I’d ask,” Jeonghan started with a smirk, “but I can already tell you liked it by the way you were moaning for me.”

You raised yourself onto your elbows, huffing a little. “What about you? Are your powers back now?”

“It doesn’t exactly work like that.” Jeonghan patted his stomach, satisfied. “I’m full, though.”

“Interesting.” You left it there, not wanting to divulge further into his demon diet. “So, you don’t ever have sex for pleasure? Just when you’re hungry?”

“I don’t care for pleasure all that much.”

“Figured,” you mumbled. “Anyway, I’m going to sleep.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, I’m tired. Wake me up in a few hours if I’m not already up.”

“Sure. I’ll go do human things and not kill people.”

“Keep up the good work.”

When Jeonghan left your room, you pulled the covers up to your chin and let out a long sigh. The feeling was fleeting, but long enough for you to take notice. A gentle quickening of your heartbeat and a warm feeling in your chest.

You pushed it down as a brief moment of confusion.

Living with Jeonghan felt like having a guard dog that you kept off its leash.

Not only did you have to stop him from attempting murder on several occasions, but, on the flip side, you also had to warn him about being too nice to make up for his twisted imagination. Jeonghan was far too attractive to be human, and from the numerous times you went outside with him, you realized that he drew too much attention. You were left standing to the side idly while he was chatted up by the umpteenth random girl that wanted his number.

Over the past week, you ended up explaining a lot of things to the demon. Going into depth about the criminal justice system was your favorite because Jeonghan looked flabbergasted by the levels of punishment they had.

(“A six month sentence for theft?” he asked with a frown. “That’s absurd. I got eternity in Hell while being boiled alive in oil!”

“Well, what was your crime?” you asked.

“Uh…”)

Once, you even found him staring at the TV screen with a somber expression on his face. You had never seen Jeonghan so visibly upset, so you asked him what was going on, only to be even more confused when he explained that his pet died. You suspected the demon’s pet to be a hellhound or something. Never did you expect him to pull up a picture of Mount Fuji.

(“His name was Doljjong,” he explained sadly. “He was only 1,359 years old when he erupted for the last time.”

Apparently, Mount Fuji was now extinct. In Jeonghan’s crazy demon lingo, that meant it died.

“You basically had a pet rock, dude.”

“He was more than a rock in my heart.”)

You also had to adjust to living with another man in the house. Thankfully, Jeonghan wasn’t messy or as disgusting as you had expected, but you still had to adjust to some of his living habits that took you by surprise.

For one, Jeonghan preferred showering in scorching hot water. This would not bother you if you hadn’t been dragged into the shower with him on one occasion, which he didn’t seem to think was improper at all. While you were trying not to look at his (beautifully-chiseled) naked body, he was urging you to help him turn down the cold water. As soon as your skin made contact with the water, though, you couldn’t stand the scalding heat.

Strangely enough, although the thought of having a demon in your house terrified you, it was kind of fun to live with him. You liked having someone around that could keep up with your antics, someone who challenged your thirst for argument. Jeonghan was the perfect match for you, and maybe that was why he was your assigned demon.

You finally decided to give him your old phone. It was supposed to be a hand-me-down for your younger brother, but your parents ended up getting him a new one. Since Jeonghan was pretty much ancient, you figured he wouldn’t mind an old phone.

“I want an iPhone 14 Pro Max.”

“What?!” you exclaimed as he took the used iPhone 8 from you, inspecting the home button with a frown. “How do you even know what that is?”

“I wasn’t born yesterday, human.” He scoffed. “I don’t care for outdated possessions.”

Oh, right. Greed.

“Well, if you’re gonna live in my house, then you’re gonna learn to be grateful for what you’ve got.”

“Wait.” Jeonghan paused, looking between you and the phone about three times before he asked, “Can I contact Seokmin with this?”

“Uh, yeah, but—”

“Give me his number,” the demon insisted.

“Jeonghan! You said you weren’t going to kill him!”

“I never said I was going to kill him,” he said, “but I did invite him to hang out, so I should follow up on the offer. Didn’t you tell me that keeping promises is important?”

Ah, right. He was using one of the rules from Y/N’s Guide To Being Human against you. You saw this coming, though; you were no stranger to Jeonghan’s manipulation tactics by now.

“Keeping promises are important, but leading someone on is also wrong,” you chided. “Do not text him if you plan on hurting him in any way.”

He let out a petulant whine before agreeing, “Okay, okay, I won’t.” He thrusted the phone in your direction. “Give me his number, though.”

You bit your lip before you complied. “Fine.”

A few days later, when you had just gotten back from getting lunch with your best friend, Park Sooyoung, you entered your apartment to see Seokmin sitting on the couch.

“Oh!” you exclaimed. You were so startled that you couldn’t even process how furious you were with Jeonghan for inviting him without informing you. “Hey, Seokmin. What’re you doing here?”

The older boy flashed a kind smile. “Sorry to intrude. Jeonghan invited me. I think he’s in the bathroom right now.” He pointed in the direction of where Jeonghan went, and then he said, “I had no idea you two were roommates!”

You recalled last week when you asked Jeonghan if demons had to use the bathroom like humans did. For some reason, you couldn’t imagine it at all. The demon answered that he didn’t have to do such things in his own dimension, but his body was subjected to the same biological system as humans on Earth.

“Ah, yes. Roommates.” You forced a laugh, trying to not sound bitter. So that was the narrative Jeonghan cooked up. Honestly, you were just glad he said something normal. “He didn’t tell me you were coming over.”

“Ah, speak of the devil,” Seokmin said.

Meanwhile, it was just Jeonghan. Well, on second thought, he was kind of right.

“What’re you doing at home?” the demon asked, sounding more accusatory than welcoming. “I thought you were getting lunch with your friend.”

“And we finished lunch,” you answered. “What’re you and Seokmin doing?”

“We were gonna watch a movie,” he said. “The Notebook, I think?”

Your anger fizzled. Now, you felt like you were interrupting something.

“Do you wanna watch it with us, Y/N?” Seokmin asked, voice all sugary and light.

You found it way too hard to refuse him, so you sat down on the couch next to Jeonghan. Every time Seokmin spoke, you felt your nerves ease up. However, coupled with Jeonghan’s presence, you were undergoing a never-ending state of easing and tensing up again.

“By the way, why’d you guys pick The Notebook?” you inquired.

“Oh, ‘cause Jeonghan hasn’t seen it yet,” Seokmin replied, looking distracted as the film started playing.

Jeonghan hadn’t seen a lot of movies. It wasn’t like there were limited options to choose from.

Thankfully, the lights were off while the movie played, masking how bored you looked for its duration. You were convinced Jeonghan wasn’t enjoying it either considering he started up about ten different conversations unrelated to the movie. Seokmin, being the sweetheart he was, responded to him enthusiastically as he watched. You, on the other hand, were sulking on the other side of the couch and praying for this to be over because you felt like a third wheel.

You almost didn’t notice the mood shift when the kissing scene came up. Seokmin seemed to feel a bit awkward, so he laughed and made lighthearted remarks throughout the scene. You had stiffened up and lowered your gaze, remembering once again why this was an odd choice for a movie night.

Jeonghan, though, turned his gaze to you for the duration of the scene. You could feel his eyes drift to your lips, and it made you hyperconscious of every little movement of his. Your heart was pounding so loudly that you were praying no one else could hear it, and the blood rushing in your ears drowned out the audio from the movie.

The demon dipped his head to whisper in your ear, “Frankly, human, I’m enjoying your reactions more than this movie.”

You had no idea why, but you felt something unsettling in your chest. Your heart felt like it was going a hundred miles a minute, but not in a good way; the organ twisted painfully in your chest.

You had no idea why.

Seokmin came around a few more times over the next four weeks. You found yourself feeling less like a third wheel over time, and you were finally comfortable hanging around the both of them. Movie nights became more common, although The Notebook seemed to be so traumatizing that Seokmin and Jeonghan only watched horror and sci-fi movies now.

You were honestly surprised that Jeonghan hadn’t made any moves to kill Seokmin, but you were happy that he honored your agreement. The two of you had gotten closer—or, well, as close as a demon and a human could get. He still called you “human,” but you were banking on him calling you by your name at least once. Moreover, Jeonghan wasn’t completely convincing just yet, but he was starting to learn how to act like a proper human. (There were the occasional murder threats that you had to fend off, though.)

Jeonghan found himself between your legs nearly every other day. You feared that you would get too comfortable, but he still made you orgasm every single time. It was strange, to say the least. You knew demons weren’t capable of feeling anything remotely romantic, but your heart was still acting like a fool, twisting painfully whenever he pulled away.

Today, Jeonghan had followed you to the library. He met your friend, Sooyoung, who kept gushing earlier about how she was dying to meet your new “friend.” The rest of the day went smoothly, save for Sooyoung asking you and Jeonghan if you’ve ever made out. (You shut her up with a smack upside her head.)

Back at home, Jeonghan, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, leaned his head back to look up at you. You found it strangely endearing, resisting the urge to run your hands through his soft hair.

“Did I do good today?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said, “you were like a proper human—no weird demonic antics or anything.”

Jeonghan lifted his head up again, and then asked in a quiet voice, “Human, could I perhaps try something?”

The demon was asking you for permission? Strange, but you went along with it.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Let me try kissing you,” he said. His words were so clear that you couldn’t even pass them off as something you misheard. You only managed to let out a few incoherent stammers before he added, “Move your laptop. I’m getting on top of you.”

“Y-you didn’t even ask me!” you stuttered, although you were putting your stuff to the side as you spoke. “Is this about what Sooyoung asked? About if we’ve made out?”

“I’m asking you right now: yes or no?”

You frowned. It was as if all your nerves were cut wire, electrifying every limb in your body. Even though you couldn’t comprehend what came over Jeonghan and what possessed him to ask, your brain was screaming at you to just accept his offer.

“Fine, go ahead,” you murmured, feeling your face go hot when he smirked right after.

“Good,” he said. “Thank you for being my experiment.”

You couldn’t ask any further questions because Jeonghan already started moving on top of you, straddling your lap and placing his hands firmly on either side of your face. You stared up at him, wide-eyed, until he leaned down and brushed his nose against yours experimentally.

He was so close. So close that you could feel his hot breath fanning your lips. So close that you could see the gold flecks in his dark eyes.

You shuddered. There was that twist of your heart once again.

You swore you could hear his breath hitch, and you almost called it out before a crevice started opening up in the center of your living room.

“What the fuck?” you shrieked, scrambling back against the arm of the couch and holding up one of the throw pillows to defend yourself. Jeonghan had gotten off of you and stood up, eyebrows knitted into a frown. It looked like he knew what was going on, so you asked, “What is it, Jeonghan?”

It was the same void of darkness from before—the same one that Jeonghan came from. The room was freezing this time, too, and the windows had iced over. You swallowed hard, wondering if this was one of your mistakes again. You hadn’t said or done anything this time, though, so it must have been someone here for Jeonghan.

From the wisps of smoke emerged the most beautiful man you had ever seen. Or, well, second after Jeonghan.

“Mammon, you bastard.” Second-Most Beautiful Man scowled. “If this is one of your conniving plots to escape Hell, then you will face punishment worse than being boiled alive for damnation.”

You looked to your right to see Jeonghan with his arms folded across his chest. Smiling.

“Asmodeus,” your demon greeted with coldness in his tone, “you planted that scrap of paper in my human’s book, didn’t you?”

Asmodeus’ glower slowly morphed into a wicked grin. “You don’t leave any room for entertainment, do you? I came here to drag you back, anyway, so don’t be so bitter.” His red, beady eyes shifted to you. “This must be your precious human.”

Jeonghan’s voice was deeper when he warned, “Don’t you dare lay a finger on her, Asmodeus.”

“Or what?” he mocked. “What could you possibly do to me in that pathetic human body of yours? Have you gone soft already? Your powers have weakened, Mammon. Face it. You’ll die out here—no, you’re already dying.”

“What do you want?” Jeonghan snapped. “If you want me dead, then you have no need to be here.”

“I need you alive,” Asmodeus muttered, “in your true form.”

He scoffed. “I’ll just die and be reborn.”

Reborn? You straightened up at Jeonghan’s words. Why didn’t he tell you he would be reborn? Here you were, like an idiot, worrying over his possible death.

“The other five princes are requesting to see you, so—”

“Oh, why should I give a damn about the other princes?” Jeognhan fussed. “They only care about using me for their trivial schemes!”

“Jeonghan,” you spoke up loudly, and both of the demon princes turned to you with shocked looks on their faces. “If I’m interpreting this correctly… then aren’t you being offered an easy way to get back? You should take it, right?”

“Human—”

“Oh, I forgot you go by your human name here,” Asmodeus said with a chuckle. He walked toward you and reached his hand out, smiling so wide that his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Nice to meet you, Y/N. You can call me Joshua, if that’s easier. I’m the demon prince of lust.”

“How do you know my name?” you asked, cautiously shaking his hand. You looked toward Jeonghan with a scowl. “Wait, how does he know my name and you didn’t?”

“My bad.”

“You’ve truly gone soft, Mammon,” Asmodeus observed. “You’re on Earth entertaining a human girl instead of doing your job back in Hell. Aren’t you the one who told the rest of us to be happy with what we’ve got in Hell?”

“My job,” Jeonghan corrected, “is rotting in Hell. My other job is taking care of my human.”

“Your allegiance is with the princes, Mammon,” Joshua hissed. “This human is insignificant—”

“Do not speak about my human with that filthy mouth of yours, Asmodeus,” Jeonghan interrupted sharply, his eyes darkening. “Tell me what you want from me and leave this place at once.”

“Pythius wants a seat with the Seven Princes.”

Jeonghan raised a brow. “He wants to rebrand to the Eight Princes? Doesn’t have as nice of a ring to it.”

“No, you idiot.” Joshua groaned. “He wants to overthrow one of the Seven Princes, which is why you need to come back. Greed must have a seat at the throne room of sins.”

“Tell him to go ahead. He can be boiled alive in my place.”

“You’re still on that? That was eons ago.” Joshua sighed. “Don’t be a fool, Mammon. If you die on Earth—sure, you’ll be reborn in Hell again, but you will still waste your time by dying on this planet.” He continued, “Think about how disastrous the situation would be if Pythius actually takes your place. You will be stripped of your title, your powers will weaken, and greed will no longer be one of the Seven Deadly Sins.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad, honestly.”

“Mammon,” Joshua growled. “Take this seriously. You’re acting like Belphegor with that flippant attitude of yours.”

“Ah, Belphegor.” Jeonghan turned to you with a light laugh. “I think you’d like him. He goes by Wonwoo here. Seriously, such a—”

“I will slice up each limb of that mortal body of yours, Mammon,” Joshua warned. “You’re not understanding the severity of this situation.”

“I understand it well enough now,” he replied. “So, you can leave. I’ll figure out what to do on my own. Either way, Mammon will be reborn as usual. Happy? Good, now get lost.”

Joshua sighed, frustrated. “Do you even have a way to get back, you fool?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Then I’ll be on my way,” Joshua said before his body started to tessellate out of existence, vanishing piece-by-piece into thin air. “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Mammon.”

You were the first to break the silence once the demon of lust disappeared, asking, “You’ll be reborn? So you never even had to worry about dying?”

“Demons can be killed, but they can’t die.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks. Really cleared things up for me with that.”

“Let’s just drop it.”

You couldn’t just drop it, though. “You weren’t actually imprisoned in Hell, were you?”

“I was. Sort of.” He paused. “Haven’t been for a while, to be honest.”

“Then why didn’t you go with Joshua? It doesn’t sound like he wants you back to throw you back in the lake.”

“I don’t want to be a pawn in their silly games anymore,” Jeonghan muttered darkly. “It’s infuriating.”

“Then what are you gonna do? That was the easiest way for you to get back!”

“I have time, human.” Jeonghan didn’t seem to want to be pressed further, so you backed off. “Don’t worry about me.”

He walked into your room and slammed the door shut, so you settled back into the couch and hugged the throw pillow to your chest. How could you not worry? You couldn’t understand Jeonghan at all, and although you wanted to respect his decision not to go back with Joshua, you were at a crossroads; staying here was killing him. He had far too much pride to think rationally.

Plus, the longer he stayed with you, the more it stung when you realized time was running out. Fast.

The next day, Jeonghan appeared as if he was back to normal. It was odd, though, given how he was brooding yesterday. You made a conscious effort not to mention Joshua, but you knew the topic was still weighing heavy on his shoulders.

(He was insatiable once you were awake and sitting up in bed, prying your legs open and begging you for a taste. Although you had several questions for the demon, your carnal desire overtook whatever curiosity you had.

“Feeling better?” you asked cautiously.

“I’ll feel better soon. Anyway, good morning,” he purred. “You’re dripping already, human. I haven’t even touched you yet.”

Your chest felt hot. “Yeah, yeah, just get to it.”

“My pleasure.”)

“Hey,” you called out later during breakfast. “I’m going out with Sooyoung tonight. Are you gonna be okay being alone at home?”

“Where are you going?” he asked instead.

You paused between your spoonfuls of cereal. “Uh, just a party.”

“I love parties,” Jeonghan said. “Will there be human sacrifices?”

You grimaced. Although your guardian demon was making impressive improvements on his transition to human life, there were still some flaws in his way of thinking. On the bright side, though, he made sure to pass his morbid comments by you before he tried them out in front of others.

“No, it’s a college party,” you replied. “The most deadly thing there will be alcohol and Old Spice.”

“Boring,” he mused before getting up from his seat and heading to the living room. “Well, be safe.”

You nearly choked on your cereal, completely forgetting to respond to his words. Did Jeonghan—Mammon, manifestation of greed, one of the Seven Princes of Hell—just tell you to be safe? You had to be hearing things.

Or, your heart offered, maybe some part of him cares about you—deep, deep down.

You pushed down the thought entirely, forcing yourself to think of other alternatives. After all, there was no possible way for a demon to feel those sorts of emotions.

It was almost midnight and Sooyoung was passed out on the couch.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” you said in dismay. “We literally just got here.”

“That’s tough,” Kim Mingyu, president of Sigma Omega Nu, replied sympathetically. “At least her boyfriend’s here to take care of her. That means you need to drink more and get on her level.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“Hey, that’s what college is for.”

You whined when Mingyu handed you a new cup of jungle juice. Normally, you didn’t accept drinks from strangers; Mingyu was harmless, though, and you two were well-established friends for a few years now. However, you were on your third cup of juice by now, and, if you kept it up, you were probably going to end up like Sooyoung. Since she was the one who drove you two here, though, you had to stay sober enough to find a ride home. No matter what happened, you were determined to not fall asleep on the musty frat house couch.

(It already happened once last year. You woke up the next morning to Kwon Soonyoung yelling, “Someone take a picture of Y/N sleeping on the couch I got laid on!”)

“I can’t get drunk,” you insisted. “I have to get home.” To make sure my pet demon is behaving, you wanted to add.

Mingyu let out a snicker. “Call someone to pick you up or I can ask one of the sober monitors to drop you off.”

You pondered for a moment. Technically, you could call Jeonghan. Now that he had gotten the hang of using his phone, you saw him texting Seokmin every once in a while. You were sure he would be able to pick up a call, as well.

“Fine, whatever. Hand it over.” You took the red solo cup from him and downed its contents—just under ten seconds, counted by Mingyu himself. “I’m gonna go call my friend before this starts hitting me.”

You walked out into the backyard where the music wasn’t as loud. The cool air hitting your flushed skin made you feel like you could breathe properly again, but you still weren’t walking nearly straight enough. With careful hands, you searched up Jeonghan’s number in your contacts.

Your phone rang three times before he picked up.

“Human? Are you dead?”

You frowned. “If I was dead, how would I be calling you?”

“I was hoping I could keep your soul around as my pet in Hell,” he said.

You must have had some sort of degradation kink by this point because that comment was not supposed to make you feel butterflies in your stomach. It was time for you to consider therapy.

You cut straight to the point. “Can you come to the party?”

“What? No.”

His refusal normally would’ve stung, but you were too tipsy to back down now. “Please? Sooyoung already passed out and her boyfriend’s taking care of her. I’m getting drunk all by myself now.”

Sort of an exaggeration. You were going to use every card up your sleeve.

“Then walk home.”

“I can’t. Home’s too far to walk.”

“Then sleep over at whoever’s house you’re at.”

“It’s a house full of frat boys. Their living conditions are probably worse than yours down in Hell.”

“Then sober up.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be my guardian demon?!”

“If you want an angel to come rescue you, I would try Seokmin’s number.”

You let out a groan and crouched down, letting your head hang between your knees. This was fruitless; Jeonghan was stubborn as a mule, and you were getting nowhere with this conversation.

But this wasn’t just about getting someone to take you home. You certainly had other options, so you could hang up on Jeonghan right now and find someone else to drive you back. However, you just didn’t want to admit out loud that you wanted to see Jeonghan. You wanted him to come over and take care of you, even though that was impossible for the demon.

You were just foolish.

“Fine, Jeonghan,” you snapped. Your head started to feel fuzzy, and you were quickly losing control over your own tongue. “I’ll get home all by myself. I’ll walk home in the cold, dark night, and hell, I’ll even walk on the road if I feel like it. Maybe I’ll lay down and take a nap if I get really tired, and if I can’t even make it to the door, I’ll just sleep in Mingyu’s bed—” You didn’t realize you were pacing until you hit a solid surface. “Ow—wait, what the hell?”

Jeonghan, in the flesh, sighed heavily and hung up the call in front of you. “Human, you’re really such a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“H-how’d you get here?” you asked, your cheeks starting to feel hot. “Did you teleport or whatever again? Didn’t you say that eats up your power? Are you—”

The demon clamped a hand over your mouth. “I materialized here, and yes, it eats up the little power I have left,” he whispered harshly, “but you wouldn’t stop running your mouth, so here I am. How could you get intoxicated so easily?”

“Well… I’ve been here for about an hour,” you defended. “It doesn’t take that much for me to get drunk. I’m pretty lightweight.”

“How much did you have?”

“Like, three cups of jungle juice.”

“Jungle… juice?”

You snorted. “This one’s got vodka, rum, and fruit punch. It’s pretty good.”

“Three cups?” Jeonghan asked with a scoff. “I forget that humans have such weak tolerances for alcohol. I can drink eight bottles of wine without getting drunk.”

“Oh yeah?” you challenged. You dragged the demon inside the frat house, not giving him the chance to take in and process his surroundings. You poured him a cup of jungle juice in the kitchen and handed it to him. “Drink up, then.”

Jeonghan raised a brow at you before chugging down the liquid like water. He handed it back to you with a light smirk playing on his lips.

“Are you sure there’s even alcohol in this concoction?” he asked, barking out a laugh. “Human, you’re too cute. This is nothing for a powerful demon like…” he trailed off, looking down at his feet and letting out a soft exhale. “My chest feels hot.”

Your hand flew up to cover your mouth, stopping yourself from bursting out into laughter. This sight was absolutely priceless. You didn’t think you would ever be able to see Jeonghan so vulnerable.

“Are you drunk off one cup of jungle juice?” you asked, and, at this point, you weren’t able to stifle your laughter. “Oh my god!”

“Shut up, human,” he grumbled. He blinked a few times and held onto the edge of the counter. “I’ve never felt this way before. My body isn’t used to having a human’s biological system.”

“Whoa, this guy is fucked,” Lee Chan retorted, showing up out of nowhere. “He’s talking like something out of I, Robot.”

You rolled your eyes at his pop culture reference, but Jeonghan didn’t seem to follow at all. For all the movies he and Seokmin had been watching, you were surprised that they didn’t get around to this one.

“Robot,” Jeonghan mumbled, moving to lean against you. You grabbed his arm and tried to hold him steady, but he just wrapped his arms around you and let his head rest on your shoulder. “I feel like I’ve just been expelled into the Outerverse with Yog-Sothoth. Ah, fuck, those guys owe me…”

You had to get Jeonghan out of here fast. Before he started speaking crazy demon lingo again.

“Are you sober monitoring tonight?” you asked Chan. “You think you could drive us home?”

“Yeah, sure,” Chan agreed with a smile. Gauging that Jeonghan wasn’t responsive enough to answer any questions, the frat boy decided to ask you, “Did you bring a friend from another school, Y/N?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” you mumbled. “This is Jeonghan.”

Chan ducked his head to get a good look at Jeonghan’s face. “Nice to meet you, Jeonghan.”

“Hi, Robot.”

“No, my name’s not Robot.”

Jeonghan’s biggest weakness wound up being seatbelts.

You and Chan had to fight him down to get him to sit down properly in the back seat. Since he was fussing too much, you decided to sit with Chan up front, letting Jeonghan moan and grumble incoherently in the back.

(“Unchain me, human,” the demon kept whining. “I refuse to be imprisoned in the mortal realm.”

When he was stopped at a red light, Chan threw a glance over his shoulder before telling you, “I think your friend watches too much anime.”

“He’s going through a phase,” you lied.)

While you made light conversation with the frat brother, you felt like your guardian demon was glaring daggers at the poor boy. You wanted to smack him upside the head for his rudeness despite Chan’s generous act.

You craned your neck to look back at Jeonghan, shooting him a warning look. He simply scoffed and looked the other way, although he ended up resting his head against the window once he realized his world was still spinning.

“Come on, Jeonghan,” you murmured once Chan parked the car in front of your place. “Get up.”

“Don’t wanna.”

You tugged the sleeve of his shirt impatiently. “What? Why?”

“Not going back with someone who ignores me.”

Your jaw nearly went slack. Was he jealous? Yoon Jeonghan, Prince of Greed, was jealous over frat boy Lee Chan? Over something so miniscule as you sitting in the passenger’s seat? This was definitely something you were going to hold over the demon’s head for as long as you could.

“I’m not ignoring you, okay?” you tried. “Come back home with me, and you’ll have my full attention.”

Jeonghan hesitated before he let out a begrudged grumble. “Fine.”

You and Chan hauled the drunken demon to his feet, taking one of his arms and throwing it over your shoulders so that you could help him walk. Chan assisted you by slinging Jeonghan’s other arm over his shoulder, but you still found it hard to walk properly with Jeonghan’s head lolling to the side. His face was so close that you could feel his hot breath against your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

“You smell so good, human,” he murmured. Jesus, he was saying all this while Chan was still here? You were glad that Jeonghan couldn’t tell how flustered you were, but it was probably evident to Chan. “What perfume is that?”

“This guy sure does call you ‘human’ a lot,” Chan observed with a light laugh.

“Uh, yeah, inside joke,” you explained quickly. “Let’s just get him to the couch.”

Once you and Chan let Jeonghan’s heavy body drop onto the couch, you walked the frat boy to the door. He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets, a shy smile playing on his lips. He looked at you expectantly, like he was waiting for a tip or something. You were considering handing him the crumpled-up five dollars you left in your back pocket.

“We should hang out sometime, Y/N,” he started. “I feel like I barely see you around the house anymore.”

“Oh, yeah, I haven’t been in a partying mood lately,” you explained, “but I’ll try to drop by more.”

“Alright. I’ll see you around.”

Before you could respond, a voice from behind you loudly interjected, “Bye.” With that, Jeonghan slammed the door shut with one hand.

“That was rude,” you said.

“Can I gut him like a fish?”

“That’s even more rude. Please don’t.”

“Whatever.”

You looked back at Jeonghan, who had one hand against the door that was right beside your head. “What’s your deal? He was nice enough to drive you back and help you to the couch.”

“Why do you keep ignoring me?” he asked, proceeding to ignore you at the same time.

“I-I’m not ignoring you!” you stammered. “I’m the one who helped you get back to the apartment!”

He had you backed up against the door, looking up at him with worry knitting your brows together. Jeonghan let his head drop to lay on your shoulder, leaving you frozen in place. You figured it was the alcohol rushing to his head, but you couldn’t help the fact that your heart was pounding in your chest.

“Human,” he mumbled against your collarbone, “why can’t you just stay by my side?”

“Huh? But—”

“I wanna be human, too.”

The words sounded strange coming from him. Almost like he was at his tipping point. Tender. Raw. Vulnerable. You were absolutely dumbfounded by what you had just heard. With no coherent response coming to mind, all you could do was raise your hand to gently thread through his soft strands of hair.

“Let’s get you to bed,” you replied softly, letting the demon stay in your embrace as you walked him back to your bedroom. He looked up at you quizzically when you sat him down on the edge of your bed. “It’s about time you stopped sleeping on the floor. I’ll take the couch, so—”

You cut yourself off when Jeonghan wrapped his arms around your legs and pressed his lips to your thighs. “Stay here with me.”

You stared ahead, straight at the wall, a dull ache throbbing in your chest. “What are you doing, Jeonghan?”

“What?”

“Why are you doing this to me?” you asked. “You only have months left to live. You should’ve just gone back with Joshua.”

He stiffened. “I didn’t want to.”

“Yeah, I guess you’ll just be reborn, anyway,” you muttered. “You never had anything to worry about to begin with.”

Jeonghan suddenly pulled away from you, his eyes cold as ice. Since he was always docile around you, there was never any reason for you to feel scared around the demon. However, the look he was giving you left you backing up slowly from him.

“I’d rather stay dead than be reborn,” Jeonghan said, “and I wouldn’t feel so agonized about it if I didn’t have to meet you.”

Tears pricked your eyes. You felt a lump rising in your throat, and you felt the hot, salty tears hitting your feet before you even realized you had started to cry. It took all of your willpower to keep the waterworks at bay. The demon’s cruel words were never supposed to get under your skin this bad. You held him at arm’s length for that very reason.

Maybe, all this time, you had been pulling him closer unintentionally.

“You think nothing hurts for me just because I’m a demon,” he continued, “but it stings every time you try to chase me away.”

“I’m not trying to chase you away.”

“Then why do you keep pushing me to go back to Hell?” he asked. You couldn’t exactly read his expression, but it was clear that Jeonghan felt tormented. The pain in his eyes was telling of that. “Why did you want me to go back with Asmodeus?”

You huffed. “I really don’t understand you. You don’t want to die and be reborn, but you don’t want to go to Hell either? Aren’t you going to die if you stay here?”

“You don’t get it.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be reborn because I lose all my memories of the mortal world. I lose all my memories of you.”

“And you don’t want to go to Hell because…”

“The only reason you summoned me was because of Asmo—I mean, Joshua’s—need for pointless entertainment. Surely, with what’s been going down in Hell ever since I left, they won’t let me leave again until Pythius is quelled. That could take hundreds or thousands of years.” Jeonghan scoffed, shaking his head. “Pythius… one of the most fearsome and hideous demons. There’s no telling what he’d do for a seat with the Seven Princes.”

“I’m sure if I go back, he would try to kill me over and over again,” he continued, “because he detests me the most. That group of them—the Malebranche—they might be more sadistic than Lucifer himself.”

You frowned. “What’d you do to him?”

“Why do you assume I did something to him?” Jeonghan scowled.

“Because you’re the demon prince of greed,” you replied. “I’m sure you pissed him off somehow.”

He snorted. “Pythius rules the eighth circle where frauds are punished. He hates nothing more than the greed that consumes those humans. Of course he’d loathe the demon that represents the very sin.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you act that greedy here, though. Are you different when you’re down there?”

The dark glint in Jeonghan’s eyes nearly went undetected. You only managed to catch it because of the way his smile dropped in tune. His normally easygoing expression was replaced with the same serious look he wore when Joshua was around.

“I haven’t been this greedy in eons, human.”

You tried to think back to when Jeonghan had acted in such a way. Sure, there were the multiple times he gave you (mind-blowing) head and the time he asked you for the newest iPhone, but those didn’t seem as drastic to you. You expected the very demon of greed to be more selfish.

“Really?” You forced out a stilted laugh. “I think you’re about as greedy as a toddler, like, in a bratty way, but that’s it.”

Jeonghan stood up.

You took notice of his broad shoulders before, but now you felt swamped under his gaze. He towered over you with ease, looking down at you with a storm brewing in his eyes. There were no words exchanged at first, but one look at the demon told you that whatever he was experiencing was far too human for him to understand fully.

“I’m so greedy that I would let the hierarchy in Hell fall to shambles because of you,” he started. “I would abandon my seat and let Pythius take control just so I can stay here with you. I would rather wither away on Earth instead of going back to Hell where I can’t see you again. I would let Alastor, the chief executioner, torture me over and over again until the ache in my heart finally goes away—the ache you caused.”

His next words were no louder than a weak whisper when he grabbed your forearms and said, “I’m so greedy that I wanna just give up everything for you, Y/N.”

With that, Jeonghan muttered something about sleeping on the couch before he walked out of your room and shut the door. That was the first time he had ever called you by your name; yet, it didn’t even make you feel happy. The first salty tear hit the floorboards, then the next, then more. You could only watch the demon leave in silence, finally letting yourself cry once he was out of sight.

Crying because you didn’t want him to leave. Crying because your feelings were already running too deep.

Crying because you knew a botched confession when you heard one.

Just as you were about to settle in bed, burrow yourself in the sheets and sob until you fell asleep, you heard Jeonghan’s footsteps coming back from the living room. You had no time to regain your composure when he flung open the door, his eyes stony and his lips pulled down in a frown.

“I can’t sleep if you’re crying like this,” he murmured, walking over to cup your face with his large hands. “That’s foul play.”

He kissed you.

The motion was swift—a gentle grab of your jaw and tilt of your chin, and Jeonghan was kissing away your disquiet with surprising tenderness.

Temptation.

Temptation was the utmost desire that demons could draw from mortals, but you weren’t quite sure this was it. Jeonghan’s kiss felt different—more intimate. His lips moved against yours with hesitance at first, and he only deepened it once you reciprocated. It felt like he wasn’t trying to pull you closer; rather, he was waiting for you to find him.

Once you two were lost in desperate kisses and heavy breaths, Jeonghan jerked away with a light gasp. You stared at him, dazed, before he grabbed your wrist and pressed your hand firmly against his chest. At first, you weren’t quite sure what he was having you do, but the realization was a slap in the face.

A heartbeat.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

It was fast, like he had just run a marathon. You looked up at the demon quizzically, but he was already pulling away. Your hand hung in the air before dropping to your side, registering too late that he had already let go.

“You think nothing hurts me,” he mumbled. This time, he had his own hand flat against his chest. “I torture myself every day like this because I know, deep down, there’s no happy ending for us.” The demon’s eyes, normally masked with golden brown irises, glowed a dim red.

It started drizzling outside. Soft pattering of rain that drowned out the silence.

Everything would fall apart—slowly, gently, inevitably. Jeonghan, too, would eventually become nothing but a ghost of a raindrop that once streaked your window.

Post-party hangovers always called for breakfast at The Veranda. It became a tradition between you and Sooyoung to go there after a night of partying. That, or you two would skip straight to lunch and get pho. There was no telling when either of you would wake up the next morning.

Today, however, Sooyoung texted you early enough.

“We should get cocktails,” she suggested while looking down the menu.

“You already blacked out last night, you crazy bitch.”

To be frank, you had ulterior motives for this outing. For one, you wanted to get out of the house because the tension between you and Jeonghan was making you suffocate. The other reason was because you wanted to consult Sooyoung with your problems.

You started with, “So, there’s this guy,” and your best friend was already at the edge of her seat. Once you finished giving her the rundown (which only concluded after you ordered your food and were halfway done with your herb roasted chicken sandwich), Sooyoung paused to think, which stretched into about five minutes. More than enough time for you to finish your sandwich.

“I don’t get what the problem is,” Sooyoung finally said, tilting her head curiously. “If you two like each other, then just ask him out.”

If only it were that easy, you thought to yourself, but you couldn’t spare her the details of how impossible the situation was. You weren’t in the mood to hear “if he wanted to, he would” when you were dealing with a guardian demon who was literally dying in the mortal world.

You hesitated. “Let’s just say that he’s not exactly available right now.”

“He has a girlfriend?” Sooyoung asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. She looked ready to start telling you off for being a homewrecker, so you had to clarify immediately.

“No, no, he’s single,” you said. “He’s just not… emotionally available to date.”

“So, he’s been getting all close to you without wanting to date you.”

“Uh, not really? He’s just—”

“Cut him off, Y/N.”

“What?” you asked, eyes widening. You figured the situation sounded bad from an outsider’s perspective, but there was no way for you to break it down without explaining that Jeonghan’s your guardian demon from Hell that ended up being trapped on Earth because of your statistics midterm and demonic intervention from Joshua, the other oddball from Hell. “I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can,” Sooyoung replied. “It’ll hurt at first, but you’ll get over it eventually.”

“But he’s…” you trailed off, wondering how the fuck you were going to defend a demon prince of greed. You settled with saying, “He’s funny.”

“So are clowns, Y/N. You don’t see me asking out Ronald McDonald.”

“Okay, it’s not that simple, Sooyoung!” you cried out. “It’s more like… he doesn’t have that much time left here.”

“Oh.” She sounded lost at first, but the confused look on her face was slowly replaced with somber understanding. “I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“No, you’re good. I didn’t know how to say it.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” she said, “why don’t you just make the most of the time you have left with him?”

Sooyoung’s words hadn’t left your mind ever since breakfast. Even after she dropped you off at your apartment, you were still replaying the conversation in your head.

You thought about it in the shower.

You thought about it while doing your homework.

And you continued to think about it when Jeonghan was spreading your legs apart later that day.

“Didn’t we just fight?” you asked, your voice unnaturally high. Despite your words, you came to realize that you were sort of feral when it came to your sex life. A little fight was just a chip on your shoulder.

“That was a fight?” Jeonghan asked. “I’ve been in fights before. They’re pretty gruesome. Usually some heads roll or someone gets disemboweled.”

“A verbal fight,” you clarified.

“I’ve been in verbal fights before, too. They usually end with someone getting stabbed.”

“Okay, well, that’s not a verbal fight.” You sighed. “I mean, aren’t you upset with me? You were acting like being around me was hurting you.”

Jeonghan looked down and went completely silent.

“Hello?” you called. Did you break him?

Jeonghan looked back up. This time, his cheeks were tinged scarlet red. Your eyes went wide at the sight of the demon fully blushing over your words. You were definitely adding this bullet point to the Blackmail on Jeonghan folder you kept in your Notes app.

“I let my emotions get the best of me, okay?” he mumbled. “Let's just drop it.”

You, however, were brimming with questions. “Hey, but you let me feel your heartbeat last night,” you started. “Did you always have a heart?”

Jeonghan pulled away to look at you with distaste dawning on his face. “Did I always have a heart? Of course I’ve always had a heart, human. How would I be giving you the head of your life if I was a corpse?”

Your demon was gradually evolving to develop a filthy mouth. You weren’t sure if this was improvement or regression.

“You have a human heart and you can feel human emotions,” you said. “What makes you and I so different, then?”

Jeonghan opened his mouth, but before he could speak, there was a knock at the door. You glanced at Jeonghan suspiciously, wondering if he invited Seokmin without your knowledge, but even he looked clueless. There was no one you were expecting, so you wondered if it was just the UPS guy dropping off a package.

When you opened your door though, it was indeed Seokmin, and he was pissed.

You had never seen him like this, with his nostrils flaring and his skin flushed red. It was almost as if steam was coming out of his own ears. But there was something very glaring about Seokmin that had you gawking at him.

His wings were on full display.

Snowy white wings fanned out behind him. You could hear a low, angelic hum faintly resounding from the feathers. You were in shock for a moment, unsettled and overwhelmed by the heavenly light that Seokmin was bathing in.

It seemed to have an even worse effect on Jeonghan. You noticed how he flinched at the sight, backing up slowly.

“Get back, Y/N,” Seokmin ordered. “I know this is gonna sound crazy, but your roommate’s dangerous.”

You wondered if he had some unexplainable power over you because your actions were going against your words as you found yourself stumbling away from the two. “Seokmin, don’t do this,” you begged.

He frowned. “What?”

But Jeonghan got his words in before you could. “Looks like the both of us figured it out before you did. You just found out you’re a Quartarion, huh?”

He was jeering, like he was taunting the angel to attack him. You couldn’t understand what the demon was thinking when he was clearly overpowered right now. Even if Seokmin wasn’t a pureblood angel, Jeonghan’s powers had considerably weakened ever since he entered the mortal realm.

“How…” Seokmin was shocked for a moment, straightening up and glowering down at you. “How did you know?”

“You found out recently, didn’t you? Mommy or daddy told you they were half, which meant you’re quarter—weaker than them,” Jeonghan pressed. “They kept it from you all this time, huh? Because your angelic presence wasn’t strong enough to be a threat, but then you started glowing brighter.”

“Jeonghan, enough!” you yelled, trying to mediate whatever was happening. You had no idea what Seokmin was going to do, but it definitely didn’t seem like he was here for another movie night.

“Mammon,” Seokmin said through gritted teeth. “That’s your real name, right?” Suddenly, the angel turned on you with an accusatory stare. “And you—how did you know about all of this? Did he tell you?”

You gulped before starting slowly, “Look, I accidentally summoned Jeonghan from my statistics textbook the day before you met him at the Olive Garden.”

Seokmin tilted his head, looking utterly puzzled. None of those words were in the Bible.

“I knew he was a demon,” you continued, “and he told me you were an angel. He could sense it, or something like that.”

“Oh,” Seokmin replied rather sadly, as if he had just discovered he had been the brunt of a joke all along. “Well, I’m sorry you were caught up in this Y/N, but I have to kill your roommate before he hurts anyone else.”

“Whoa, hold on—he hasn’t hurt anyone!” you cried, holding onto Seokmin’s shoulder to keep him from charging at Jeonghan. “You’re an angel; you can’t kill him!”

“Technically, he can,” Jeonghan noted as he just barely avoided the angel grabbing him. “Some angels are specifically assigned to keep demons away from humans. I think Seokmin’s just mad, though.”

“I’m not just mad,” Seokmin spat, although he was visibly seething. “I just feel stupid that I befriended someone who was trying to kill me this whole time!”

You turned your gaze to Jeonghan, who held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll admit I might have had murderous intentions at first, but come on! You would be dead by now if I really wanted to kill you.”

“You can’t kill him, Seokmin,” you repeated in a desperate attempt. “You owe him!”

Now the angel was lost. “And how exactly do I owe him?”

“Remember when your card declined, and I bought you that croissant on campus last week?” you tried. As soon as the words came out, you heard a loud groan from Jeonghan, and you were sure he was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. “You owe me, who owes Jeonghan, so you owe Jeonghan!”

Seokmin was even more lost. “What?”

“Transitive property of equality: A equals B equals C, so A equals C.”

“There’s no way you’re actually applying the transitive property of equality to this situation.”

“And what exactly do you owe me for?” Jeonghan chimed in, equally as confused.

“Yeah, I can’t believe I’m agreeing with him on this one, but he’s a demon, Y/N,” Seokmin said. “If you feel like you owe him anything, it’s likely you were manipulated by him.”

“No, I wasn’t!” you protested before the demon could object himself. “I owe him because…”

You trailed off, wondering how you were going to string your feelings into comprehensible words. They were all a mess of jumbled vowels and consonants in your head, holding no significant weight until you thought long and hard, feeling it get heavier and heavier on your tongue.

The angel raised a brow. “Because what?”

Letters unfurling in your head. Piecing themselves together. You felt like your head was going to explode until you blurted out, “Because he showed me what love feels like.”

You looked over at Jeonghan to see him staring at you like a deer caught in headlights. He looked helpless at the moment, wild with pain, like he had let down all lines of defense at your declaration. A scarlet red blush stained his cheeks, and it was perhaps the single most human expression you had ever seen from him.

Seokmin moved forward, and an agonized scream tore itself from your throat before you could even think. His sudden movement chilled your blood, and all you could think about was how you needed to protect your guardian demon before he was struck by the angel.

And so you did.

Confession time: you kicked an angel in the balls.

You were pretty sure that was a one-way ticket to Hell.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” you kept repeating to a defeated Seokmin, who was now laying on the couch with pain drawn all over his face. “My fight response has been kicking in a lot more lately.”

“I wasn’t gonna hurt him,” he explained weakly. “My foot was just cramping up.”

“So you won’t kill Jeonghan?” you asked, brimming with hope.

“I… I don’t know,” he answered. “Jeonghan’s a demon, Y/N. Just because you have feelings for him doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of manipulating those emotions out of you.”

“He’s as good as human, Seokmin.”

“Y/N,” Jeonghan started, but you shook your head.

“I’m right!” you insisted. “Jeonghan has a heart, and it beats; I’ve felt it myself.” The two men were silent, so you continued, “He can’t handle alcohol at all; he’s more lightweight than I am. He likes building lego sets. He likes the rain, and he said it’s because that means an angel’s crying, but it’s really because he loves the way the Earth smells after rainfall. He likes coffee, but he always pours me some first before he takes any. You think he’d have the vocabulary of a Victorian man, but he knows more slang than I do. He… Jeonghan wants to be human. Isn’t that enough for you?”

Silence hung in the air. You wondered if you overstepped for a moment, aired out too much of his business, but then you could visibly see Seokmin at war with himself. You could see the internal battle in his eyes, fighting to believe in whatever the angels had instructed him to do.

He narrowed his eyes at the demon and asked in a calmer voice, “You swear you won’t kill me?”

“I swear on God.”

“You’re a demon. Swear on something else.”

“Um, okay… I swear on, uh, Y/N.”

“Please don’t swear on me,” you muttered, looking at your feet nervously as if the ground was going to swallow you whole.

Seokmin closed his eyes, exhaling loudly. “So, when did you stop wanting to kill me?”

“Y/N and I had a deal that I wouldn’t kill you in exchange for—”

You slapped a hand over the demon’s mouth immediately, successfully muffling the next words that decided to slip from his lips. It felt like your face was burning from how embarrassed you were. While Jeonghan shot you a confused look and tried to lick your palm to get it to budge, you exclaimed, “That detail isn’t important!”

“Anyway,” Jeonghan continued once you finally removed your hand, “I guess… part of me started enjoying those movie nights. Kinda hard to discuss the endings after you kill your friend, right?”

You could see Seokmin visibly soften, the fondness returning to his eyes. “You’re telling the truth.”

“Yeah, I am.”

“You can tell?” you inquired, wondering if it was some sort of angelic ability he had recently acquired.

“Yeah, I’ve always had some sort of sixth sense about these things,” Seokmin said, although you weren’t quite sure about this because you and Jeonghan had lied to him on numerous occasions. “I was only able to tap into it after I saw my wings for the first time.”

You then wondered if the longing etched bone-deep in Jeonghan’s face was also real.

It took a couple of hours for you and Jeonghan to explain everything to Seokmin, from beginning to end. You had to start from how you accidentally summoned him, which seemed to entertain the both of them, and you had to scold them both to take the situation seriously. Then, Jeonghan explained his side of the story, detailing how he didn’t have much time left because his mortal body was weak. 

“What do we do now, then?” Seokmin asked, sitting up straight now. “You’re gonna die if you stay here, right?”

“That’s why he wanted to kill an angel,” you said, “but now we don’t have a game plan.”

The three of you sat in silence for several minutes, letting the situation sink in. Your nerves were still buzzing from your earlier confession, still unanswered by Jeonghan, but you knew it wasn’t the time to dwell on that. There were more important matters at hand, but no one knew what to do.

Jeonghan sighed. “It’s fine. I’ve already accepted that I’m going to die here and be reborn in Hell.”

“You think that’s fair to Y/N? Or me?” Seokmin burst out. “You’re basically telling us to watch you die, dude.”

“You think I wanted this outcome?” he snapped. “No, I didn’t think I was going to actually enjoy living in this realm! I didn’t think I was gonna fall in love with my human! I didn’t think mortals had such excellent marketing strategies!”

Seokmin’s eyes went wide. “You…”

“Jeonghan,” was all you could say, and his name came out no louder than a whisper.

“What?!”

“You said you love me.” 

You looked toward Seokmin for confirmation, who answered with a quiet nod—an indication that not only had you heard it correctly, but Jeonghan was telling the truth.

To be honest, you were quite embarrassed that this was all coming to light in front of Lee Seokmin. He seemed very out of place in this otherwise tender moment. Yet, you were filled with inexplicable happiness and absolute dread simultaneously.

Once the grief settled, you were born again. Newfound confidence rising up your throat. You were determined to do whatever it took to mortalize Jeonghan.

“Oh, right.” The demon sounded nervous—enough to make you nervous. He simply stared at you for a moment before brushing the proclamation off with a wave. “Anyway…”

“Jeonghan!”

He shot you a withering look, glaring you down with every fiber of his being. “Seokmin is right there. Do you really wanna do this right now?” he whispered in an exasperated tone, turning his back to his friend so that he could converse with you. Although Jeonghan was lecturing, you were enjoying the way his blush rose to his cheeks. “We can talk about this after he leaves.”

“Okay, fine,” you agreed. “Why’d you have to blurt out a confession while he was here?”

“You did the same thing!”

“I can still hear you guys,” Seokmin reminded unhelpfully.

Somehow, Jeonghan took this as an opportunity to continue to chastise you. “See? This is all because you can’t keep quiet.”

“I can’t keep quiet?” You knew this was not the time nor place to bicker with your guardian demon, but he was an expert at getting on your nerves. “You’re the one who speaks in crazy demon lingo wherever we go!”

He scoffed. “I don’t speak in crazy demon lingo, human.”

“Yeah? Tell that to Chan. Poor guy had to witness your drunk ass going on about the Yog Sloth owing you or whatever.”

Jeonghan stammered and did a double take, looking at you like you had just kicked him square in the chest. “Wait… what did you just say?”

“Uh, Chan—”

“No, the other thing.”

“The Yog Sloth?”

“Yog Sloth,” he echoed, and then something clicked. “Yog-Sothoth? Wait, the Outer Gods—oh my god! They do owe me!” he all but yelled, grabbing you by the waist and pulling you into a bone-crushing hug. “Y/N, you’re a genius!”

Seokmin’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “What’d she even do?” he asked, and you were glad you were on the same page as him.

“Yeah, what’d I do? Who the hell are the Outer Gods?”

For the next thirty minutes, Jeonghan went on to explain how billions of years ago, the most powerful beings of all creation, that rivaled even God Himself, were ruling over the universe. Before space and time was Azathoth—chaos. Azathoth even tried to disrupt the beginning of God’s Creation by starting a war. Each blow delivered from both God and Azathoth caused a rippling effect, creating infinite multiverses that were birthed from the clashing between darkness and light.

There was a period in time when the angels and demons had to side together for once to seal away the Outer Gods. Although they were no match for these cosmic beings, God was able to lock them in the Outerverse, where they have been slumbering ever since.

The key that locked away the Outer Gods had been missing for several millennia, but it happened to end up in the hands of Mammon and Belphegor. Mammon had the clever idea of reshaping the artifact into a human hand and hiding it in a fiery lake in Hell. It was called the Right Hand of Doom, but it hadn’t been touched ever since its reform.

“You reshaped a key of cosmic importance into a hand,” you summarized in disbelief. “That key has the power to doom all of our existences, and you turned it into a human hand.”

“You know, Belphegor had the same reaction after I created it,” Jeonghan said. “Actually, let me give him a call to fetch it for me.”

“Wait!” Seokmin exclaimed. “That key could wake the Outer Gods from their slumber. What are you planning on doing with it? Are you seriously considering using the Outerverse?”

“No, Seokmin, I’m gonna use it as a back scratcher.”

“Don’t get me wrong; I do want you to stay here, but this is extremely dangerous. It’s a really selfish decision, Jeonghan.”

“I’m literally the Prince of Greed.”

“Jeonghan, no matter how much I want you to become human and stay with me, this is just… it’s just crazy,” you said. “What if it goes completely wrong? What if you’re trapped in the Outerverse and killed by the Outer Gods?”

“Listen,” Jeonghan started. “When I first created the Right Hand of Doom, I was contacted by Yog-Sothoth himself—Azathoth’s grandson.”

“How did he contact you if he’s imprisoned?” you asked.

“These gods have their ways the same way demons do,” Jeonghan explained. “It’s kept on the down-low, but there are numerous worshippers of theirs that seek out ways to release them. None of them are ever successful, though.”

He continued, “Anyway, Yog-Sothoth isn’t as cruel as the others. He’s actually quite generous when he deems someone worthy, and I guess he thought I was that person when I refashioned the Right Hand of Doom. Millions of years ago, I helped the Outer Gods out by bringing them sacrifices to empower them, so they’re in my debt.”

Seokmin's face soured. “Why’d you bring them sacrifices?”

“Dunno. I was bored.”

“Let me get this straight,” you spoke up. “So, you’re gonna risk your life over the slight chance that you could be turned human?”

Jeonghan’s dark eyes pierced yours, as if he was saying, Look at me. Look at how far I’d go for you.

“Relax.” He cracked a smile. “It’s not like I’m going to the Outerverse myself. I just need the Right Hand of Doom to communicate with Yog-Sothoth across our realms. Even if he rejects my bargain, I doubt he’d try to crush me to a pulp from his prison.”

“If that’s all there is to it,” Seokmin started, a smile creeping to his face, “then I don’t see why we shouldn’t try.”

Jeonghan left the room momentarily to contact Belphegor, Prince of Sloth. He hadn’t exactly disclosed how he was going to summon the demon, but he returned with a scowl on his face, shaking his head as he explained that Belphegor was too lazy to retrieve the Right Hand of Doom at the moment. You and Seokmin asked when he would return, but even Jeonghan didn’t have an exact answer.

“Give me a call whenever he decides to show up,” Seokmin said before he went back to his apartment. You could tell that he was still shaken up from finding out that his friend had been a demon all this time, but you were glad that they were both being civil for now.

However, there were now other issues at hand. As soon as Seokmin left your apartment, you realized that the tension between you and Jeonghan couldn’t even be cut by a blade. To your surprise, your guardian demon was the first to mention it.

“You love me,” he murmured, more to himself than to you. It was like he was trying to wrap his head around the concept, trying to make sure it was real.

“I do,” you said bravely, “and you love me, I think. Seokmin seemed to believe it was true, and he’s an angel, so…”

“I think I do.” He looked pained. “These feelings are really confusing. I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes. You have a way of making me feel like I’m at the top of the world sometimes, but sometimes I feel like I’ve hit rock bottom.”

You understood that completely. When you and Jeonghan had your good moments together, you felt like you were soaring. However, when you were reminded about how little time he had left on Earth, you wanted to shut out the rest of the world and hide.

“We can figure it out together,” you told him, reaching forward to grab his hand and squeeze it.

Jeonghan’s eyes always looked different to you, like melted amber. They held many millennia of age and experience, so it felt like Jeonghan was unfazed by most aspects of life he encountered. Nothing could make the man falter.

But now, with evident panic in his eyes, newfound confidence surged through your blood that compelled you to get on your tip-toes and press a chaste kiss to his lips. It was a seemingly tame sign of affection, so you were thrown off when Jeonghan quietly slid a finger past the hem of your jeans. With his head dipped, the demon looked at you through his long, feathery lashes.

“Are you… are you hungry?” you stammered out.

“No,” he mumbled, raising his head to meet your eyes with his expectant ones. “Two people who like each other… Normally, this would lead to dating, wouldn’t it?” When you nodded, he continued, “How about it, then?”

“How about what?”

“Let’s go out.”

Your mind went blank for a moment. With how straightforwardly he said it, you would have thought Jeonghan was messing with your head, trying to push your buttons by teasing you. But his face looked determined this time, like he actually meant it. You could see the red glow of his eyes as he waited for an answer.

You blinked. “Like, as boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“Yes, as boyfriend and girlfriend,” Jeonghan confirmed, exasperated. He gripped your hand tighter, as if he was getting his feelings across with a gentle squeeze. “Like Hallie and Noah.”

“It’s Allie.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He scoffed, surprisingly tender in the way he cupped your cheeks and pulled you closer. You were still a bundle of nerves, but something about Jeonghan made you feel secure. Quite the opposite of how you theoretically should feel around a demon. “Hey,” he tried again, his voice no louder than murmur, “I wanna kiss you.”

You smiled. “Then do it already.”

And so he did.

Jeonghan had kissed you before, but it was nothing like this. It seemed so urgent before, like you both knew you were running out of time. This time, though, he was slow, taking his time to memorize the shape of your lips as he moved his mouth against yours. You felt his long lashes tickle your cheeks, and it almost made you giggle, so you had to pull back to regain your composure. Jeonghan looked down at you, chest heaving even though the kiss was nothing but gentle.

“Again,” you pleaded.

Immediately, his current expression turned cocky. The corner of Jeonghan’s mouth lifted in amusement, and he kissed you not-so-gently this time. He pulled your body flush against his, and you reciprocated by wrapping your arms around his neck. The moment he slid his tongue past your lips, you heard a soft groan from Jeonghan that made your knees buckle under you.

Jeonghan held your waist with one hand and the back of your head with the other. Even though you were still standing on two feet, you were sure that he could hold you up, anyway. He gripped you like he never wanted to let you go.

“You taste good,” he mumbled against your lips.

“You taste like… coffee.” You made a face and let a giggle slip.  

“Well, it’s a good thing you like coffee.”

“Not when I’m tasting it secondhand.”

“You know, a minute ago, I wanted to fuck you properly,” he said. “Now, I’m just miffed. Slightly turned on, but still miffed.”

“Fuck me properly?” you asked, sort of embarrassed by how high your voice got. You inched closer, allowing Jeonghan’s finger to toy with the waistband of your underwear. In return, you placed your hand flat against his abdomen, moving it down slowly until you reached his crotch. Jeonghan hissed when you pressed against his growing bulge. “You mean…”

“With my cock, yeah,” he finished bluntly.

It was silent for a moment. You removed your hand, swallowing carefully after realizing that your guardian demon was hard.

Jeonghan wordlessly slid his hand down your pants, maintaining direct eye contact with you. His hand cupped your clothed cunt, and although you tried to resist, you couldn’t help but throb for more contact. You wondered if he just wanted to see your reactions, and you confirmed this by watching his smirk form when you whimpered.

“Oh,” you breathed out.

“Yeah, you like that?”

His voice was heavy, ragged. You felt like you could get drunk off it, so, naturally, you backed up with him until the back of your legs hit the bed. You made a sound of agreement when he hummed, prompting you to answer his question. You couldn’t even form words when all you could think about was being under him. Jeonghan’s palming grew more intense, and you were having a harder time staying upright.

Then, he was occupied with your neck. Jeonghan dragged his soft lips along the flesh, nipping and biting where he pleased. You let out a soft whine when he sucked on that one spot that turned your brain into mush.

“I’m gonna lay you down,” he said, although it felt like a question with the way he was looking at you. His eyes were careful, like he was holding onto your every word before following through. “Am I doing this right?”

You laughed, delighted as he set you down on your bed and got over you. You looped your arms around his shoulders and asked, “What do you mean?”

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Am I going about this the right way? I don’t really do this sort of thing.”

You were surprised at his sudden meekness. Judging from Jeonghan’s overwhelming confidence from your past hookups with him, you expected him to carry on with the same arrogance. You never thought he would be so hesitant all of a sudden.

“You’re doing perfect,” you reassured with a chaste peck to his lips.

“Right.” He did one of his breathless laughs, easing your nerves with his grin. “Just tell me if I’m screwing up, then.”

Jeonghan dipped his head again to pepper kisses across your collarbone, working his way back up to the column of your neck. He worked on your sweet spot, biting and sucking until he had successfully left a bruise. You squirmed underneath him the entire time, tugging your hands through his hair and begging for him to fix the ache between your legs.

The demon only chuckled darkly in response. As he bit the shell of your ear, he removed your jeans and underwear swiftly, which you aided by kicking the garments off your ankles. He prodded your cunt with nimble fingers, grinning wider when he saw the desperation in your eyes.

“You’re so wet,” he commented in a silky voice. “All for me, huh?”

“Shut up,” you grumbled, “and take your clothes off already.”

Jeonghan rose up to sit back on your thighs, staring at you the entire time he pulled his shirt off and discarded it to the side. You couldn’t help but ogle at his figure; he was absolutely gorgeous—sculpted by God Himself.

“Don’t do that,” he said gruffly when you reached out to poke his stomach. You deduced that Jeonghan was most definitely ticklish and trying to hide that weakness from you.

“But your reaction was cute.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled, his hands moving to tug at the hem of your shirt. “C’mon, your turn.”

“H-huh?”

Even when Jeonghan gave you head in the past, you always kept your shirt on. He, too, had never stripped down in front of you like this. Surely, you were expecting this to happen, but the thought of being fully naked in front of Jeonghan was intimidating. It felt like you two were reaching a level of intimacy and closeness that you thought was unattainable months prior.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I already know you’re not wearing a bra. You've gone braless for, like, almost a week now.”

You raised a suspicious brow at him. “You were staring at my tits?”

“No comment.”

Jeonghan placed his slender hands on your waist, squeezing your sides comfortingly as you pulled your shirt off over your head. He watched you with marvel in his eyes, eyes trained on the swell of your breasts. He leaned close to press soft kisses against the skin, whispering praise as he did so. You didn’t peg the demon to be so romantic, but you weren’t complaining.

You heard gentle pattering outside your window while Jeonghan kissed down your chest.

“It’s raining,” you whispered. The two of you broke apart for a brief moment while Jeonghan hastily got rid of his pants and boxers. “An angel’s crying.”

You looked to the side, and you nearly had to look away before Jeonghan could notice how flustered you looked. The demon stood in all his glory. You had seen naked men before, but Jeonghan was, of course, a creature beyond human comprehension. He was the most gorgeous being you had ever come across.

And, strangely enough, for the first time, you didn’t feel that uncontrollable tug of desire when you looked at him. You weren’t compelled to drop to your knees and submit to the demon. Your attraction felt innate, much like how the rain falls so naturally from the sky. Not that Jeonghan ever had you under a spell or anything, but it almost felt like he was becoming more human.

Whether that meant he was losing his powers or was growing accustomed to living as a human, you had no idea.

“You’re beautiful,” he admitted, looking down at you like you were the stars in the night sky.

“Thanks,” you replied shyly.

“That’s your reaction?” He beamed, amused. “Well, whatever. I’d rather you save your voice for when I make you scream, human.”

You thought it would be impossible at this point, but your cheeks grew even hotter. Yet, you couldn’t even chide the demon because he was already getting over you, promptly attacking your neck with more kisses.

You were a soaking mess already, so Jeonghan’s fingers slid into your cunt with ease. You were taken aback yourself by how effortless it was, but you figured two fingers couldn’t hold a candle to the girth of his cock.

You propped yourself up on your elbows to watch how Jeonghan fingered you. Both of you stared at the spot where his fingers disappeared in you, and the sight only turned you on even more. For once, Jeonghan was pleasuring someone else without the favor being returned, yet you had never seen him so satiated. He was thriving off of your moans and cries, like the sounds itself were feeding him.

A moan escaped your lips, fragmenting off into broken whimpers as Jeonghan’s fingers sped up. You felt your thighs start to shake—the preamble of your orgasm building up. Heat bloomed under your skin, and you dug your nails into the demon’s shoulders to warn him.

The warning only spurred him to move his fingers faster—in scissoring motions this time. His thumb found purchase on your clit, circling the ball of nerves slowly. Finally, you fell off the edge, crying out in ecstasy as boundless pleasure tore through your body. Your mind went blank, thinking about nothing but how good you felt. It was like you were bathed in heavenly light.

“I got you,” Jeonghan murmured, kissing the spot under your ear.

If you had half the mind to kick him in the shin, you would. Pretending to comfort you while torturing your swollen clit throughout your orgasm was pure evil. You expected no less from a demon.

“Will you do me a favor and fuck me already?” you asked, exasperated. For good measure, you flattened your palm against his stomach and slid your hand down his abs.

“Alright. Beg for it.”

You balked. “W-what?”

“You want me to fuck you that bad? Then beg for it,” he said with an air of haughtiness. You couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but the man didn’t budge. “I’m waiting.”

“I am not begging you, that’s so—” You paused. Jeonghan raised a brow, prompting you to continue, so you admitted, “It’s embarrassing!”

He shrugged. “I think we’re both past the point of being embarrassed in front of each other, human.”

You sucked in a sharp breath. “Okay, fine. You want me to beg? I’ll beg.” You laid back down, looping your arms around Jeonghan’s neck once more and pulling him close. “I’ve been waiting months for you to fuck me, so please make me feel good and I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” The mischievous glint in his eyes was unmistakable.

“I’ll be good.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” you whined, the agitation growing in your chest. “I’ll be a good girl, okay? I’ll be really, really good.”

“Alright, I’m sold.”

Jeonghan pressed a kiss to your forehead, letting out a light laugh before his demeanor completely shifted. His easygoing smile turned into a proud smirk when he practically folded you in half, throwing one of your legs over his shoulders so that he could line himself up to your entrance. He hummed, teasing your folds with the head of his cock.

You wanted to cry out, to push at his chest and beg him to just fuck you already. All of the teasing had you at your tipping point, and you were about to complain until you felt the tip of Jeonghan’s cock enter you slowly.

Your breath hitched. He hadn’t even completely entered you, and you were already throbbing at the thought of his cock inside you. Jeonghan used one hand to hold your hips down, pushing into you slowly but surely. You could tell he didn’t want to rush or hurt you, so he kept his eyes trained on your face the entire time, gauging whether to proceed based off your reactions.

“Sorry,” he apologized, placing a kiss against your stomach as he continued pushing his way inside you until he bottomed out. Your eyes nearly rolled back once he was fully inside, and all you could do was clench around him until he growled. “Hold still.”

“Keep going,” you begged, holding onto him like he was your anchor. If you let go of him, you were sure you would fall apart.

Jeonghan simpered, looking quite delighted as he started rocking his hips slowly. It seemed as though he was waiting for you to get adjusted to his size. Despite all, you were still clenching around his cock occasionally, leaving him holding onto you tighter and groaning into the crook of your neck. Jeonghan sped up his thrusts and left a bruising grip on your hips.

“You like that?” he asked, and, lord, you nearly came for the second time just by his words.

“Jeonghan!” you cried out, nearly gasping the words. “I… I want—”

“Want what?” he cut you off smoothly, smirking down at your disheveled appearance. He punctuated his words with a sharp thrust. “What do you want, princess?”

You whimpered. “I do wanna be your girlfriend.”

He froze for a moment, stunned. Apparently, that wasn’t the route he was expecting you to take.

Then, the demon’s shock wore off and was replaced with a warm smile. “Yeah?” he asked, leaning down to meet your lips in a sweet kiss. He pulled away to look into your eyes. “I’d be honored to be your boyfriend, Y/N.”

It was like clockwork—the way your orgasm hit you at that very moment. You tightened around him uncontrollably, the sporadic motions causing Jeonghan to cum as well. He pulled out right before his climax, ropes of cum spilling onto your stomach. You watched it pool together with hazy, unfocused eyes, still dazed from your orgasm and sudden confession.

Jeonghan was your boyfriend now.

“I see why mortal men are such fools for women,” Jeonghan said once he collapsed next to you. “If sex is always this good, I would start wars, too.”

“You’re a demon prince. You’ve started wars, anyway.”

“Oh, right.”

Afterward, you taught Jeonghan a thing or two about aftercare. The concept was completely foreign to him, so you informed him that good boyfriends took care of their girlfriends after sex. When Jeonghan told you to just grab a tissue and call it a day, you had to scold him to get him to clean you up.

To your surprise, Jeonghan did a satisfactory job. You half-expected him to do the absolute bare minimum, but you could definitely see that he was trying his best.

So, you bestowed upon him the highest honor: allowing him to sleep with you in your bed.

Jeonghan got under the sheets beside you, wrapping an arm around you once you cozied up to him. It was strange how comfortable you felt with him, especially considering he was your assigned demon. In some parallel universe, you and Jeonghan might have been normal people with normal lives, and you two probably felt the same level of closeness as you did right now.

Neither of you could sleep right away. Jeonghan traced patterns along your arm and you told him countless stories about your childhood. He smiled fondly, intently listening to the life you lived before him.

Later, he kissed you, and, between bated breaths, whispered promises of forever. And eventually, the soft trickling of rain lulled you both to sleep.

You woke up freezing.

At first, you thought Jeonghan had stolen the blanket. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for the Prince of Greed to be, well, greedy. However, considering your limbs were entangled with his, that didn’t seem to be the case.

The feeling was awfully familiar. It was the same sub-zero temperature you experienced when Jeonghan appeared in your room the first time. However, it was brief this time, dissipating as soon as it started.

Although you couldn’t identify the strange man who materialized in the center of your room, you had a good idea of who it was.

“Oh, Belphegor,” Jeonghan greeted without a care in the world, confirming your suspicions immediately. You were amazed that the half-naked demon was completely unfazed by his demon friend coming out of nowhere. Maybe this was just a regular morning for their kind. “About time you showed up.”

Belphegor made a noncommittal sound. “Yeah, well…”

“I can’t believe it took you centuries to fetch the Hand.”

“I was going to do it,” he said, “but then I didn’t want to.”

Jeonghan groaned. “You idiot.”

You gathered up the bedsheets, making sure to cover yourself fully before turning your attention back to the two demons. Maybe if you acted like everything about this situation was normal, it would distract from the fact that you only had a blanket to cover your naked body. The stranger seemed to have no interest in you whatsoever, so you figured he wouldn’t think anything of you and Jeonghan sleeping together.

“Jeonghan!” you hissed, glowering at your startled boyfriend. “It wouldn’t kill you to wake me up?”

“Oh, Y/N,” he started, seeming pleased with himself. He gestured toward the demon next to him, who looked like he had just rolled out of bed himself. “This is Belphegor, but you can call him by his human name: Wonwoo.”

“Nice to meet you,” you said cautiously.

“Hi.”

There was clearly no room for conversation between you two.

“Anyway,” Wonwoo continued, shooting Jeonghan a curious look, “what’re you gonna do with the key? You’re not opening the Outerverse, are you?”

Jeonghan shook his head. “I’m not gonna release the Outer Gods, I’m—”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Wonwoo cut him off, clearly uninterested in the conversation. “Now that I know you’re not trying to kill us all, I’ll get going.”

“Yeah, okay, good talk.”

Later in the day, you sat on the floor of your living room with Jeonghan and Seokmin. Jeonghan was giving him a rundown of Belphegor’s visit, which didn’t take very long considering he was there for a grand total of nine moments. You almost made an offhand comment about how Jeonghan didn’t give you any time to get dressed, but that would have exposed what went down between you two last night.

Neither of you had even mentioned to Seokmin about sealing the deal.

“Alright, so,” the Quartarion started, “how does this work?”

Jeonghan pulled out a ten dollar bill, a deformed-looking Twinkie, and a tiny bottle of bath salts from the pocket of his sweater. He laid them out carefully around the Right Hand of Doom before looking up at you and Seokmin. A smug grin spread across his face, but you and the angel were flabbergasted.

“A Twinkie?” you asked.

“He likes sweets,” was the extent of Jeonghan’s explanation.

“Primordial Outer God of space-time likes Twinkies. Good to know.”

“And the ten dollars?” Seokmin asked.

“He likes money, too,” Jeonghan said. Before either of you could question the bath salts, he pointed to the bottle and added, “These are just for the vibes.”

Nice.

“Anyway,” Jeonghan continued, “these types of invocations usually require human sacrifices or something along those lines.” Seokmin and him glanced in your direction at the same time, and you shot them each an icy glare. Jeonghan coughed into his fist. “We’re obviously not sacrificing you. I’m just saying he’s more likely to answer me because I’m a demon prince.”

Seokmin looked on edge. “So… are we starting?”

“I don’t want Y/N in the room,” Jeonghan answered.

“What?” you asked, shocked at the sudden dismissal. “Why?”

“He’s so powerful—even knowing of his existence can drive some mortals insane,” Jeonghan muttered darkly. “Seokmin should be fine since he’s an angel, but there’s a chance you’d go mad if you heard his voice, so stay back until I say so.”

He didn’t have to tell you twice. You were already starting to get to your feet the second he mentioned mortals going insane.

“I’ll stand in the hallway, then,” you decided, far too curious to lock yourself in one of the rooms.

You watched as Jeonghan and Seokmin took each other’s hands quietly and exchanged a silent nod of understanding before closing their eyes. Jeonghan then started reciting some strange incantation that was far more complicated than the one you used to summon him. It seemed to drag on for close to a minute before the air around them went still. It was as if they were trapped in a time vortex, suspended in space while all you could do was wait for them to be released.

You took careful steps backward until you were against the wall, and then you sank down to the floor. As much as you tried to calm your nerves, you were riddled with anxiety. You had to physically hold your thigh down to keep it from bouncing.

Jeonghan didn’t tell you how exactly this would go. Hell, he probably didn’t know himself. Because you were so unaware, though, you weren’t sure if what was happening right now was normal or not. The two men weren’t even twitching or breathing; they were like still images.

Minutes stretched on. You weren’t sure how long it had been, but each passing second felt longer than it should have been. There was nothing you could do but wait. Stare at the motionless air around the two boys and wait.

It had probably been around half an hour when Seokmin’s eyes shot open with a loud gasp. You scrambled to your feet immediately, badgering the poor boy with questions to find out what happened while he was just trying to catch his breath. Jeonghan, on the other hand, looked the very image of tranquility when he opened his eyes.

“What is it?” you kept asking. “What happened?”

Seokmin had a strange, distant look in his eyes. He tried to speak several times, but no words came out.

“Could you get him something warm to drink, Y/N?” Jeonghan asked. “I think he’s in shock.”

“I’ll—I’ll make some tea,” you stammered, stumbling over your feet before you could start walking properly. “How about you? Are you—” You stopped yourself once you saw the hint of fear in Jeonghan’s eyes, and it chilled your blood. You couldn’t even fathom what they had just gone through. “I’ll get you a cup, too.”

It took two hours for the two men to recover—slowly but surely. You brought them tea and gave them time to process what they had just been through. It mainly consisted of you sitting to the side and keeping yourself from asking any questions. You figured they’d tell you if they wanted, but you weren’t in any position to press them.

Jeonghan seemed to feel bad for letting Seokmin tag along. He kept glancing at the angel with sad eyes, seeming remorseful. Then, he turned his attention to you. To your surprise, he walked over to where you sat on the couch to sit next to you and lay his head on your shoulder.

“Hey,” you called softly. “Are you feeling better?”

He nodded, although he didn’t look you in the eyes. “You should probably go to your room. Yog-Sothoth told us he’s thinking about my request, so he could be making up his mind any minute now.”

“You’re going back?”

“I guess. It was more like my consciousness was transported there instead of my physical body.”

He said it like it should have been no big deal, but the two were clearly unsettled by their visit. You weren’t sure how to feel about them going back. It could break Seokmin for good. Even though he was an angel-blood, he didn’t have the power that Jeonghan had.

“The fact that he listened to Jeonghan’s request means that he’s considering it,” Seokmin spoke up after a period of silence between you three. “It’s a good thing you didn’t go, Y/N. The Outerverse is the most terrifying realm I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been to Alabama.”

You smiled a little. At least he seemed to be feeling more at ease now.

“They say Yog-Sothoth exists beyond our reality, so he can possibly see other streams of reality that aren’t connected to the branches of Creation,” Jeonghan explained. “That sounds insane, right? When you’re in the Outerverse seeing those pockets of different realities… it can make you go a little crazy. I mean, I’d give Hell a five star Yelp review over the Outerverse.”

Seokmin tucked his head in his folded arms. “I never wanna go to that place again.”

“Well, I’m not exactly planning to have my next birthday party there.”

“Mammon,” a voice boomed in your ears, and the sound itself was weird.​​ There were undertones of echoes in its words, and you couldn’t even tell if the voice was in your head or not.

You didn’t have to ask who it was because the fear in Seokmin’s eyes was unmistakable. Jeonghan straightened up, panicked, but you assumed it was because you were still in the room because he swiftly placed his hands over your ears in an attempt to muffle the sound. You weren’t sure it would help, but you did feel safer that way.

“God of Time, I appreciate your presence.”

“I’ve decided to accept your offer,” Yog-Sothoth said. His voice sounded louder, even with Jeonghan’s hands over your ears. “I’ll help you.”

There was a way.

He removed his hands from the sides of your head, and you sat up straight again. You never thought those four words would light up so much hope inside you, but here you were, beaming like an idiot next to your demon boyfriend. There was a hope for a future between you and Jeonghan—hope that you two could live out the rest of your lives as humans. More importantly, there was hope that you two could live out the rest of your lives together.

For a moment, you were filled with doubt. There was so much at stake for this decision, and you couldn’t fathom someone loving you so much that they would give their world up for you.

“Jeonghan,” you murmured, “are you sure about giving up immortality?”

“I’d rather live a short life with you than spend the rest of eternity longing for what we could have had,” he declared with a fire blazing in his eyes. “I don’t want forever if it’s not with you, Y/N.”

His soft words coupled with his fierce gaze only sent butterflies to the pit of your stomach. You were hopeless when it came to Jeonghan; whatever he said left you like putty in his hands.

“Jeonghan,” Seokmin whispered, looking fearful. He was pointing at the makeshift summoning circle. “The Twinkie’s gone.”

So, the primordial Outer God of space-time was helping Jeonghan out because of a Twinkie. You decided against questioning why the all-powerful being was about to manipulate the fabric of reality over an over-glorified sponge cake.

“But,” Yog-Sothoth’s voice echoed in your ears as he spoke, “for this exchange, I require a sacrifice.”

“A sacrifice?” Jeonghan asked, frowning. “The Twinkie—”

“No, Mammon, not the Twinkie. I want you to bring me a loved one; an eye for an eye.”

You frowned. Jeonghan could split his soul into two—one residing in his demon form in Hell, and the other residing in his human body here—but he had to sacrifice someone he loved? You couldn’t understand how this was a fair exchange; he was already giving up a part of him for this ordeal.

“Sacrifice a loved one in exchange for what I want,” Jeonghan echoed, a faraway look in his eyes. “I’ve seen this before.”

“You have?” Your eyebrows narrowed. “When?”

“Avengers: Endgame.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Dude,” Seokmin chimed in, and you were starting to think you were the only one who understood the gravity of the situation. “This is literally Thanos sacrificing Gamora for the Soul Stone.”

“Stop embarrassing us in front of the Outer God!” you whispered harshly.

“Well,” Jeonghan started, his tone growing serious again, “I’m sure you know my choice.”

“Yes, I do.” Yog-Sothoth hummed, and something about it seemed calculative. You wanted to interject and ask Jeonghan what the hell he was talking about, but you felt like you were immobilized. “Very well, then.”

You looked at Seokmin to see if he understood what was going on, but he seemed just as confused as you were. Jeonghan just stared ahead, refusing to look either of you in the eye, and panic rose in your throat. You wanted to trust him, to confidently know that he wasn’t choosing you or Seokmin, but you really didn’t know who else it could have been.

Like Jeonghan told you before, demons didn’t care about anyone or anything. Only you and Seokmin were able to crack him open.

That was why horrifying realization was drawn across both of your faces. Jeonghan was choosing either you or Seokmin, and considering you were the reason he wanted to be mortal in the first place, you were terrified he was going to sacrifice Seokmin. And it seemed like Seokmin was terrified of that possibility, too.

You stood up and grabbed his shoulder. “Jeonghan, you—”

But before you could get any words out, you were sinking and the ground was swallowing you whole.

Everything went dark, and then silence followed.

You had gone under anesthesia once in your life. It was back when you were thirteen and the doctors had to perform an appendectomy on you. Being sedated didn’t feel like sleeping at all; it felt like closing your eyes and then waking up to a weird jumpcut in your memory. You remembered being extremely disoriented at first, not even realizing what had just happened to you.

Now, as your eyes fluttered open, you felt the same way.

You were tucked in your bed, which had to have been impossible because you were in the living room when everything turned black. You sat up to gather your bearings. Your head was a mess for a second, unable to focus on one thing at a time.

Jeonghan. Seokmin. Yog-Sothoth. Twinkies. Sacrifice.

The words etched themselves in your bones until you felt dread seep in. If you were still in your bed, completely unharmed, that meant Jeonghan had gotten rid of Seokmin. You looked down at your hands, and you realized they were shaking before you could stop yourself.

“Jeonghan!” you yelled, furious. Before he could hurry to your room, you stormed out, fighting back tears. Just as you thought, he was rushing down the hallway to see you, but you weren’t in the mood for a happy reunion. “How could you?!”

He looked confused. “Didn’t… didn’t you want this? I’m human now, Y/N.” A bright smile broke across his face. “Yog-Sothoth split my soul, so Mammon’s back in Hell where he belongs, but I’m here to stay as a human.”

You punched his shoulder. Hard.

“Okay, ow,” he complained. “Y/N, I—”

“Don’t,” you warned. Your voice was wavering and you could feel your throat closing up. “I don’t wanna hear it after what you did to Seokmin. You promised me you wouldn’t kill him!”

As if on cue, the angel-blood, who was supposed to be dead, peaked into the hallway from where he was in the living room. He had a bowl of ice cream in his hands, shaking his head at you repeatedly.

“I’m not dead,” he clarified, even though you could very clearly see that. “I’m alive.”

“Oh.” You had to take a step back because now, you were more confused than ever. “You’re alive.”

“You sound disappointed. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna steal your boyfriend.”

“I’m not! I’m… really fucking confused—wait, you found out we’re dating, too?” You turned to look up at Jeonghan. “Wait, so who’d you sacrifice, then? What happened after I blacked out? I feel like I’m so in the dark right now.”

Jeonghan looked down at his feet, suddenly glum. “I sacrificed my pet.”

“Mount Fu—I mean, Doljjong? I thought it was dead already?”

“No, my other pet.” He showed you his phone screen, which was on an article about Mount Vesuvius going extinct. “Jjongddol.”

“Oh, another rock.” You tried to sound sympathetic, but it was hard to feel bad for a volcano. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“He’s not even sad about it!” Seokmin argued, pointing his spoon at Jeonghan in an accusatory manner. “He gaslit the Time God!”

Jeonghan huffed. “I am sad, okay! Just because it took me a while to remember his name doesn’t mean I don’t have fond memories with Doljjong!”

“Jjongddol,” you corrected.

“Oh, right—Jjongddol!”

You smiled, taking his face into your hands. “You know what this means, though?”

Jeonghan looked at you, eyebrows lifting in pleasant surprise. “What?”

(“Oh, Christ, they’re gonna start making out,” Seokmin muttered and hurried back to the couch. “I’m gonna look for movies on the TV, Jeonghan!”)

“It means we finally have all the time in the world to ourselves, Yoon Jeonghan.” You got on your toes to press a chaste kiss to his lips, which he reciprocated almost immediately. “I’m a little sad I don’t have a guardian demon anymore, though, even if he sucked at his job.”

“Hey, I didn’t suck!” He pouted a little, which you laughed at. “Now, though, you get to show me how to be a proper human.”

“Oh, shoot. We need to find you a place to live since my lease only allows one person, and then we need to figure out getting your documents in order, and then—”

Jeonghan cut you off with a laugh. “I’m on board for all that, but I’d really like to celebrate my new life right now by watching a movie with my best friend and girlfriend.” He slung an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer, and you couldn’t help but giggle. “And then tonight I’d like to—”

“Alright, alright!” you interjected, feeling your face go hot. “You know, the demon part of you might be gone power-wise, but I don’t know about personality-wise.”

“You love it, though.”

“Jeonghan, let’s watch Superbad!” Seokmin called from the living room.

“Okay!” Jeonghan turned to you and held out his hand. “Come on. I heated up popcorn and even put in some jalapeños for you.”

“Hey.” You stopped him, and you weren’t exactly sure why, but you felt so overwhelmed by your emotions at the moment. There were so many forces against you two, yet you still managed to fight the odds. A constant storm you both battled to stay together, and only now you felt like you could finally breathe. So, when Jeonghan looked at you, the words came out naturally. “I love you.”

He looked at you for a moment, before his face broke into one of those heartbreakingly beautiful smiles again. “I love you, too, Y/N.”

Now it was your time to smile and grab his hand. “Let’s go watch that movie.”

“Oh, is Y/N watching with us?” Seokmin asked.

“This may come as a shock, but this happens to be my apartment, Seokmin.”

And, as you three watched the movie, you and Jeonghan kept your hands interlocked, unwilling to let go. You thought it was beautiful how two hands could touch and forge a bond like no other. It must have been why you and Jeonghan had made it past every obstacle that came hurtling your way.

In some parallel universe out there, some stream of reality that didn’t branch from Creation, you and Jeonghan were probably normal people who found each other naturally. In that world, neither of you had to go through all the pain and suffering to find each other, to finally end up in each other’s arms. 

But you would choose this reality over that one every single time. You would go through all the trails and tribulations for Jeonghan however many times you needed to because, at the end of the day, the love you two had for each other couldn’t compare to any other reality out there. 

And you would never admit it out loud, but he was right; your guardian demon didn’t totally suck at his job.

[kimetsu-chan]

~with great power, comes great need to take a nap~

A/N: Was inspired by this playlist :3 credits to them for making it and giving me the idea!^^ (tagging @zenitsustherapist and @saffron0v0)

~Sypnosis~

Napping + corruption aftercare with Chuuya as he recovers because I said so

TWs ⚠️: GN!Reader bc we include everybody 👏😌 Dazai is low key a jerk- Chuuya is in pain, but it’s just mainly tooth rotting fluff. Might not be paced well, I apologize for that-

Spoilers for the cannibalism arc!

You weren’t expecting Lovecraft to be this strong, strong enough to need Chuuya’s corruption.

It was fascinating to watch the way he moved freely and destroyed anything in his path. It was a little terrifying, yes, but you knew you were safe since you were not on the receiving end of that power.

As always, Chuuya was able to strike down the enemy with remarkable speed, and Dazai was able to nullify his ability when he was done.

You watched in amusement at Dazai’s blatant lie about taking care of him, knowing the man would just walk off without a second thought about Chuuya.

Well, you didn’t mind caring for him, not in the slightest.

It was a little bit of a struggle to haul him back to his apartment after he had passed out, but you managed to get him on your back.

Thankfully, you knew where he kept his spare key and quickly unlocked the door. You kicked it shut behind you and trudged to his bedroom where you set his slowly awakening body down on his bed.

He slowly blinked his eyes open and groaned as a throbbing, nauseating pain enveloped his head. He lifted his body into more of a sitting position and his eyes landed on you taking his shoes off.

Realizing it was just you, and not just some random stranger, he fell back into a laying position with a huff and scowl.

You smiled as you tossed his shoes somewhere else in his dark room and walked to disappear into the bathroom.

You soon emerged with supplies to clean the blood from his face and skin and he peeked his eyes open ever so slightly to see your form walking towards him.

He exhaled loudly as he closed his eyes again, shivering slightly when a cold washcloth made contact with his face. He slowly relaxed into it, and was even snoring lightly by the time you were done.

When you were about to step away, but his hand shot out to grab your arm. He pulled you closer and eventually on the bed with him.

He scooted back and took the washcloth from your hand, tossing it on the bedside table before wrapping both arms and legs around your body.

“J’st… stay still, will ya…”

Well, you weren’t going to object.

Your arms wrapped around him and your fingers found their way to his scalp, massaging it gently.

He sighed loudly and snuggled into your embrace, falling asleep just as quickly as he did the first time.

A/N: THE ENDING SUCKED SO BAD- OMG IM SO SORRY-

Reblogs would be greatly appreciated! :D

I hope you enjoyed! <3

[wizardfrog69]

'•.¸♡ First kiss ♡¸.•'

Fluff

Masterlist

Enjoy!

Feat. Fukuzawa, Yosano, Atsushi, Kunikida, Ranpo, Chuuya, Kouyou, Arthur, Akutagawa, Gin, Ango, Poe, Karl, Lovecraft, Mark, Hawthrone, Fyodor, Nikolai, Sigma, Jōno, Tetchō, Natsume

Yukichi Fukuzawa:

He definitely had his first kiss before, maybe in his twenties.

He wanted to save his first kiss for someone who would want to be with him forever, but they unfortunately left him.

He would kiss someone after at least a couple of weeks of being together. He prefers to know whether that person wants to marry him or not.

Your first kiss was at his office when you were doing overtime, and you wanted to keep him company.

He's okay at kissing.

Akiko Yosano:

She had her first kiss when she was young, in her teenage years.

Your first kiss was either when you two were on a coffee date or when she was taking care of you (and you weren't under the influence of any medication)

Also she's a very good kisser.

Atsushi Nakajima:

He never had his first kiss and is really nervous to kiss someone.

The first time you kissed he was sweating a lot.

His lips were soft.

Your first time kissing was when you were sitting on a bench or on a wall watching the sunset. (You asked, obviously)

Doppo Kunikida:

He never kissed someone and also wants to wait to kiss someone.

He wants to be with his ideal partner and kiss them I'm the ideal way (just a peck on the cheek or something)

Your first kiss was when he was saying goodbye to you by your door, and he kisses you on the cheek.

Cheek kisses count as proper kisses for him.

Ranpo Edogawa:

He had his first kiss in his early twenties/late teens.

The first time you kissed you were cuddling together.

He tastes very sweet and sometimes he's chewing on sweets while kissing you.

Chuuya Nakahara:

He didn't have his first kiss yet.

You two kissed after a mission you had together.

He tastes like expensive wine and cigarettes.

Kōyō Ozaki:

She never kissed anyone before.

When you first kissed, she was a but surprised that she liked it so much and wanted to kiss you more.

She has really soft lips and she smells like flowers.

Arthur Rimbaud:

Hes just cold.

He did kiss some people in France, and he didn't meet anyone while outside of France.

The first time you kissed was by a fire.

His lips were really cold.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa:

He's not kissing anyone, ever.

Gin Akutagawa:

She didn't kiss anyone before.

The first time you kissed she was a bit shy but got comfortable quickly.

Sakunosuke Oda:

He's dead sorry 😞

Ango Sakaguchi:

He's too busy for relationships.

But when he found you he couldn't keep himself away.

You first kissed in his office.

Despite never kissing anyone he was surprisingly not bad.

Edgar Allan Poe:

He had his first kiss before, but he was really shy, and he only kissed someone once before.

The first time you kissed him, he froze from shock, and he was just so nervous.

His lips are a bit cracked.

When he got less nervous, he would kiss you back, but he was way too shy to wrap his arms around you.

If karl saw him, he would cry.

Karl:

Karl deserves a little kiss on his cute little forehead.

He gets plenty of them from Poe, but you are gonna give him one aswell cuz he's so adorable.

Howard Lovecraft:

He never kissed someone before.

When you kissed him, his lips were surprisingly cold.

He isn't the worst or the best kisser in the world. He's okay

Mark Twain:

He had like 3 girlfriends in high school, of course he kissed someone before.

He's really good at kissing (he had plenty of practice)

The first time you kissed was he got you ice cream.

Nathaniel Hawthrone:

He never kissed anyone and isn't planning on kissing.

Fyodor Dostoevsky:

He never kissed anyone before and he never really planned on kissing someone.

When you first kissed him, it was a simple peck on the lips, but to Fyodor, it was very special. He never dared to say anything about it, though.

His lips are cracked and dry.

Nikolai Gogol:

He has definitely kissed someone before.

He's a good kisser and very touchy, especially while kissing.

The first time you kissed was in a hallway, his hands were moving all over your body.

He tastes like cotton candy and pastries.

Sigma:

He never kissed anyone.

He was really shy when you first kissed.

You kissed at/after a café or coffee shop, so he tasted like coffee. Or, while at a garden, he tasted like cookies and tea. It was just a small peck on the lips, but it was still really nice, especially because his lips were so nice and soft.

Saigiku Jōno:

He had kissed before but not a lot, like 1 or two people.

He is a good kisser but he doesn't kiss you often.

Also, he likes touching you while kissing you as well.

Tetchō Suehiro:

He never kissed anyone before.

When you first kissed, he tasted like the weirdest mix of flavours ever.

Sōseki Natsume:

Kitty meow meow =^..^= :)

He gets kisses on his forehead when he's a kitty from me.

I love cats <3

༺♡༻ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 ⋆ 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 ༺♡༻

I wrote everything in one go! Hurray! Now I'm tired from thinking.

Have a wonderful day/night and enjoy the day or evening.

-love. Az

[the-orange-tabby-cat]

A Lesson In Nature

Dieter Bravo x fem!reader

Summary: A hike with your handsome co-star made you believe two things: 1. Your agent would be fired as soon as you got signal, 2. Dieter was a full pain in the ass. Forget about having the starlet breakout of your dreams, you were about to murder whoever cast you both together. But first, you need to survive this.

read on AO3 | masterlist

Rating: Teen - no allusions to sex, just fluff

Warnings/Tags: enemies (but not really) to lovers, fluff, soft!Dieter, co-stars, power imbalance, mention of irritated skin and that's all, No use of y/n

Word count: 4,2k

Tabby note: Part of the Summer Lovin' 24 Challenge by @pedgito, under the hiking category. It was so much fun! 🧡 I wanted to write a Dieter fic for so long and it was the perfect opportunity. Go ahead and check the other works too! 🐾

GIF by @miguelo-hara

You were certain of two things: 1. Your agent would be fired as soon as you got signal, 2. Dieter was a full pain in the ass. Forget about having the starlet breakout of your dreams, you were about to murder whoever cast you both together.

Your dismay started when you found out about a script that would be directed by an awarded director: two astronomers stuck in the middle of the Atacama desert, unable to fully leave the lab region after a strange meteor affected the nearby community in a modern adaption of The Color Out of Space by H. P. Lovecraft. It was a serious project and you wanted to be seen as a serious actress, not only fit for a romcom.

After convincing your agent to make a call and book an audition, you got the job and shed some relief tears.

God forbid being 30 and still cast as a teenager, there was a limit on how many times you could look like a 17 year old and the clock was ticking. This is why you still accepted the part even after being told that the chief astronomer, an older and tortured man who avoided intimacy with his younger partner at all costs, would be played by Dieter Bravo.

“He isn’t as bad as it sounds, you know? Met him at a Vanity Fair party a few years ago, harmless. Just stay out of his way and you’ll be fine,” your agent guaranteed as you analyzed the studio offer.

Fuck it, this was your moment: you said yes.

You were excited about many things as the pre-production started. Being in Chile for a few months, getting to see the ALMA observatory out in the desert, and proving yourself to the director and executives. Fuck, even acting with Dieter was something that you were looking for.

However, you felt something off during a meeting with the production team.

“For most of the story, it will be only you two. I know we still have some time before production starts, but I need you to get used to the harsh conditions of the desert.” The director said on a Zoom call with the executive producers, HR, Dieter, and you.

These calls were a regular thing, even more so when discussing working conditions. And yet, Dieter looked a little scared.

“What exactly are you proposing, Alan?” He questioned while scratching his beard, his sunglasses hid most of his stare.

“A hiking. Nothing too intense, enough for you to get used to the lack of humidity. The producers believe that will help preview how your body will react to the extreme conditions; this way we can prepare the set better for the real thing.”

Dieter just nodded, still a little zoned out. You pondered about it, he hadn’t spoken a word towards you since being cast, except a “congratulations, doll” on the email announcing it to the studio. For someone known as a party animal, he seemed worn out.

“And when will we be hiking? The Atacama weather will be pretty mild when we arrive there, right?” You frowned just to gain a chuckle from one of the producers.

“We’ll be shooting during South American spring, in a few months. We must do all pre-production until then: get all licenses, the costumes, the usual. We can’t wait for a similar weather, you’ll go hiking this week.” His hands were typing something on his phone, a smuggle smirk on his face. You fought the urge to roll your eyes.

Unless they were able to recreate the driest place on Earth, you doubted that it would help that much. A hike? With quiet and problematic Dieter? A nightmare. You and him, however, weren’t able to say anything as the meeting continued. 

“Also, if you allow me: the director has a special request for both of you. It isn’t mandatory in any way, but it would be nice if you could consider and give us an answer by the end of this week.” The HR manager smiled in a silent plea, catching Dieter's attention.

“In the script, the astronomers have known each other for years, they can communicate with just their eyes. They have a high level of intimacy that has been constructed over time. It would be fantastic if you could share a room when we arrive there.” You and Dieter opened the mic to reply, but he put his hand up in a quick motion asking to finish his proposal. “The room will have two beds, of course. We have an intimacy coordinator in the set as required, I don’t want to create any stress, just allow you to get closer so these characters can show up better on screen.”

Dieter huffed and you got offended. You were the weakest link here, he had an Oscar and a name in the industry, this was your first big role. Why the hell did he huff at the idea of sharing a room with you for a few weeks?

“Again, no need to give us an answer now. Just food for thought.” HR was getting under your skin, but fine, you could discuss it later with your agent.

“Whatever, what about the hike?” Dieter asked as he lighted up a cigarette and played the asshole so well.

And this is how you ended up in the Sonoran desert on a Saturday afternoon, you and your co-star. The sun was unforgiving, the air so dry that your lips were about to get chap if you didn’t reapply the balm now and then (if this was unforgiving, imagine the real thing). 

You wanted to prove to the studio you were star material so you kept to yourself every possible complaint as the van crossed the desert. Dieter seemed a little happier, a sweaty mess of curls. Inside the van, you caught him staring at you a few times.

Because you were sneaking glances at him too. How could you not? His broad shoulders on a tight t-shirt that got loose around his waistline, his neck glistening from sweat. God, you wanted to bite him there and taste his skin. Acting like a gentleman, he was carrying the backpack the studio provided for you two in an unusual kindness.

As you left the van and walked out, you felt the dust filling your lungs and hated yourself for accepting this absurdity. Dieter immediately put on his sunglasses, trying to shut down his discomfort. Great, at least you weren’t the only one suffering.

The fitness coach for the production team gave you some instructions as he put a map and a satellite radio in Dieter’s hands.

“Pay attention ‘cause I’m only gonna say it once. Your task is to do this hike as smoothly as possible without much equipment. The trail is marked on this map, see that mountain over there? We’ll be waiting for you behind it. The radio is for emergencies only. Any questions?”

Of course, why not make it in fucking Survivor style?

“How much time do we have to complete it?” Checking your surroundings, you could see mostly flat surfaces with eventual rocks and yellowish green, mostly cactuses and small shrubs. The mountain was rocky in an orange undertone, you could do it without much worry, even if you were pissed off.

“Four hours. Good luck!” And just like that, the coach jumped back on the van and left you and Dieter alone.

You were still incredulous at how the studio cared so little for your well-being by pushing their cast like that. Why the hell would a simple hike take four hours? Looking at the man, he seemed so fucking lost at how the trail was marked.

Scratching the nape of his neck, his eyes trying to make a way out of his map-reading skills. His mouth was slightly open, the tongue placed in a corner. You could be turned on a little by the sight, but instead noticed that the map was upside down.

Without much patience, you got from his big hands (not without gaining a little “hey!” as a response) and put it in the right direction. A muttered “oh” came from him and you started to walk.

“That was impressive,” he tried to get chatty following your step, eyes still on the map.

“Identifying the right side of it?” His cheeks got warmer and he nodded, you were starting to believe that maybe he was just shy.

The truth is that you never paid much attention to Dieter Bravo. You knew that he got an Oscar a few years ago, that he did a horrible blockbuster franchise that later turned into a cult classic winning documentary, and that TMZ loved to tease about his drug addiction.

His bigger than life persona seemed so fake after meeting him in flesh and bone. Your agent told you that Dieter had been clean for longer than it seemed by the public eye — hadn't used again since the rehab post-divorcing a woman who was 20 years younger than him. That for sure would be enough to wear anyone out.

“Do you want to keep it? You’re clearly better than me at it,” he tried with a soft voice after a few seconds of silence. A hand offered you the map while his eyes avoided yours.

“Not really. C’mon, show me the way,” you smiled trying to be friendly.

Trying, that’s the word, because the second he saw your smile he scuffed again. In a second, he started marching down not waiting for you to follow.

Something was off, maybe he wanted someone different for the role? Perhaps an actress more known by the public? Maybe a friend? It didn’t matter, you wouldn’t allow him to get under your skin.

A few feet into the track, there were no words between you. A scorching day, way too hot for your taste, and he was the one carrying the backpack with your water bottle.

“Stop.” You hissed, the angry tone getting out before you could diminish it. He immediately dropped everything and turned around to you with round eyes. “Could you pass me the bottle, please?”

“Oh, sure. Sorry.” 

His big hands opened the backpack quickly in a clumsy way, as he found the bottle you extended your hand so he could carefully place it there, his fingers caressing a little yours (or that was what you imagined).

“Why did you say sorry?” After a big gulp, you asked without thinking, just curious.

Dieter, on the other hand, was panicking a little bit. Scratching his beard, poking his tongue out as he processed his answer. 

“I-I don’t want to invade your space,” he sounded genuine, waiting for a response from you but your only reaction was to shoot your eyebrows, “I mean it. I was once too fresh meat and the studio executives are vultures.”

With sunglasses down his nose bridge, his eyes twinkled beautifully and you felt your knuckles relaxing with the conclusion that he wanted to say something more, but wouldn’t. He swallowed dry waiting for your response.

“It’s fine. We’ll be shooting together soon and this is the first time we’re talking. Can’t we just start over?”

Dieter had a dimple, a cute one even that only showed up when he smiled lopsided. In the first minutes after your proposal, you found out that he wasn’t exactly shy, he was talkative.

You don’t know how he was doing it, with the dry weather and the relentless heat. And yet, he had one hand holding the backpack strap and the other moving in the air as he explained the benefits of doing yoga with baby goats.

“And they are so, so fucking soft! Have you ever touched a baby goat fur?” His eyes got bigger as you shook your head, incredulous even. “That’s it! I’m booking us a session when we arrive at the set! Trust me, it's the best thing ever!”

“I don’t know if it’ll be that easy considering we’re shooting in the middle of the desert,” you chuckled and he nodded very seriously.

“You’re right, I might need to fly them there. Should have put it on my contract…” He replied lost in a train of thoughts that made sense only for him.

“Uhm, Dieter, haven’t we walked by here before?”

Either the sun made your mind play tricks or you were sure that you got lost. The mountain wasn’t any closer, the vegetation around was in a similar pattern too… Oh fuck.

“Let me see the map, please,” he pouted as if you didn’t trust him.

And damn right you didn’t, the map was upside down again.

“We’ve been walking all this time in the wrong direction! You said you could show the way!” Snapping at him, you raised your voice and immediately felt guilty looking into his puppy eyes.

“I told you that you were better than me at it!” He didn’t shout or raise his voice, simply pouted sadly.

Grumply, you defined a new route and got quiet once more. Dieter followed you a little shyer than before, you pounded his words in the back of your mind, “I don’t want to invade your space” and realized that the same way he hadn’t spoken with you properly, you weren’t treating him courteously.

“I’m not mad, fyi. Just angry with the heat, that’s all.” Without lifting your eyes from the paper, just nodding your head in his direction.

“Thank god, ‘cause I couldn’t take the silence anymore!” He sighed dramatically dropping his head like a diva after a minor occurrence. “You’re really good at it, what’s your secret?”

“Not a secret, I grew up in a road trip kind of family. I’m the shotgun.”

That and being a girl scout, but you were terrible and it was a long time ago, he didn’t need that information. Even more when his deeply furrowed eyebrows confirmed that he had enough food for thought.

“What is the strangest thing you saw on the road?” No teasing in his voice, he was an oddball.

“I don’t know. Oh wait, I do know: a cookie cutter museum.” His face lightened up immediately.

This is how you learned, again, that Dieter is a chatterbox. The difference is that you also learned that you liked to hear his deep voice so close to your ear. Sometimes he would get so excited that he would bump into you, the first time you got goosebumps, but now you were craving his body heat.

He was slowly showing you his true colors. Milk chocolate was his favorite. The triangle tattoo on his arm was an inside joke with his dad who used to say that his mind was lost at the Bermuda Triangle. He painted in his free time, it relaxes him and he would love to make a portrait of your orange cat after shooting.

For someone so inside his head, he also enjoyed learning about you. What was your first word? Are you a salty or sweet kind of person? If the world ended tomorrow, what would you do for the last time? Do you think technology will eventually kill us all? Where do you want to eat after the hike?

You don’t remember the last time someone wanted to know you as a whole. Dieter almost fell as you walked because he was too busy bumping his shoulder on yours and looking into your eyes whenever you opened your mouth. Clingy and adorable.

“I’m getting hungry, can’t believe that the studio didn’t pack food. SAGA must have a rule against it or something,” he mumbled as you traced a plan for crossing the mountain.

The terrain was rockier than you imagined, a little too risky for his clumsiness. If you were to go by the sides, it could take longer than expected. You decided to go little by little up the rocks, at least you wouldn’t have to climb it.

“Dieter, eyes here,” you pointed to yours and he happily obliged, “we’re going up this mountain. You can’t slip, alright? Mind your step.”

He nodded quickly and did his best following you closely, watching where you walked by. It was quiet as he tried to concentrate, contrasting to the constant rambling from minutes ago.

Step by step, you go up the mountain getting dizzier. Your nostrils on fire, your throat getting raspier as you started to breathe with your mouth. Stopping for a few seconds, you signed Dieter to stop walking.

For someone in recovery, he was surprisingly in better shape than you. In his clumsy way, he opened the backpack to grab you water (without you having to ask, he learned your signals) but got the zipper stuck.

“Damn it, hold on,” he mumbled, cutting you before telling him to stay out of the border. He wasn’t fully looking at where he was and you had less than a second before he almost fell.

Right there, at the path border. Up high. He was about to become one with the desert, if not for your grip on his hand pulling him towards you.

His chest was up close to yours, you could smell his sweat mixed with expensive perfume. His hands were displayed on your waist by impulse, but it didn’t matter, you could feel all his fingers in your body. His eyes were no longer covered by the orange-tinted sunglasses, they were instead boring into yours.

“I told you, be careful. Do you have a death wish?” You whispered like a small prayer, not moving.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered back, putting pressure on your waist before you realized that the backpack was no longer with him.

“Dieter, where is the backpack?” His eyes got bigger, his eyebrows shot up.

“It felt. It rolled down the mountain. Sorry.”

Shoving his body from yours, you took a look at the mountainsides and couldn't find a single trace of the damn backpack.

“No, no, no… Where is the map? And the water?” You looked at his hands that were caressing your body so sweetly seconds ago with anger. “DIETER!”

His face was a deep shade of pink.

“You were so tired, I wanted to give you water, but the stupid zipper wasn’t working an-” you screamed and he shushed.

“How are we supposed to cross this fucking mountain now? Huh?” He shrugged self-consciously as you scratched the top of your head. “Fuck. Fine, pass me the radio, I need to talk with the studio.”

His face was a deeper shade of pink.

“Are you kidding me? Oh fuck, I can’t believe it!”

Taking a deep breath, you looked at the sun's position and tried to force any memory of what you were supposed to know from the scouts. You could see your shadow, your body proportions were almost right, which means it was pointing to the east, right? How the fuck people count the hours with shadows?

Your dilemma was over as soon as you noticed Dieter wasn't anywhere near you. Where the hell was the man? Did he just leave you alone and try to find the way by himself? Worst, did he fall and you didn’t notice?

 This is the exact moment when you decided two things: 1. Your agent would be fired as soon as you got signal, 2. Dieter was a full pain in the ass. Forget about having the starlet breakout of your dreams, you were about to murder whoever cast you both together.

Maybe you already murdered Dieter, who knows!

In a pure panic, shouting his name to the four corners of the wind, you hear a muffled sound coming from the shrubs. You scan the area until you see there, at the bottom of the mountain, a big hand waving the radio at you. So not dead, just stupid, that’s better.

“No! Don't... Touch that, for fuck’s sake!” You yell at him once you think you recognize the type of plant he was just now. He is oblivious to your concern, laughing mischievously as he finds a way out of the shrub that you are sure to be some kind of poison ivy. “You have a minute to come up here!”

It takes more than a minute, but his clumsy feet find its way to you. His skin looks fine, you never claimed to be a good girl scout, below average in fact. He is smiling big with the backpack in his hands. You want to scream at him, but he shoves the water bottle in your hands.

“Drink it, then you can yell at me,” he says with a smirk, the dimple showing up in its glory.

“I thought you fell! You need to tell me things!” You shout angrily but drink the water anyway. Your eyes never leaving his, as if he would disappear once more.

“Don’t be dramatic, I made a mistake, I fixed it. You’re the brains, c’mon, look at the map!”

His hand is anchoring you to the ground, thumb casually caressing your shoulder. You melt into his touch before finding your exact position. Okay, not that bad, still on time. Deciding it was good news, you look at Dieter’s face and panic once more.

A rash was slowly appearing on his tanned skin. From his neck to his arms, like a new tattoo. Dieter managed to make you worry more times in one day than the whole previous year by yourself. Not a great moment to feel proud about your girl scout skills.

“Please tell me that you looked around that shrub before recovering the backpack,” you urge looking closer at his skin, he huffs, but now in good humor.

“What do you me- OH FUCK, NO!” You show him his arm and he emits a guttural howl surprising you. “DO SOMETHING!”

“Who is the dramatic now, huh? Calm down, we just need to finish this mountain first. We are stuck, remember?”

His breathing is irregular, he is holding tight to your hand. His face screams discomfort. Your heart breaks a little. Thinking fast, you decide to act a little silly just like him.

“If I kiss it better, will you go up this mountain so we can get into the van AC?”

The twinkle from his eyes is back, the shyness too as he nods and moves his head towards yours. Before you can process it, Dieter Bravo is giving you a sweet kiss. The type of kiss that makes you thankful for bringing a lip balm with you, because his lips are so soft on yours. His hand holding your jaw delicately like you are fine china, his mustache tickling your skin deliciously. Fuck, his taste is addictive.

“Finally! I couldn’t wait any longer,” he confess on your lips still.

“What do you mean? You couldn’t even look at my face until I proposed a truce,” you question and he rolls his eyes before putting a little more space between your bodies, but still holding your face.

“Have you ever heard about being professional? I wanted to kiss you since I saw your audition video. You were the best by far, it was an easy choice for casting, but terrible for everything else.”

He knows you are about to complain about what he means with “everything else”, so he kisses you once more and continues as if nothing happened.

“You are a talented actress, didn’t want to make you feel like you haven’t earned your place by shameless flirting with you. Even if you made it really hard by being so nice and hot.”

“For context, “kiss it better” was about kissing your hand.” His smile drops as his eyes get bigger, now it is you who kisses him before he can say something. “But I like your version better, though. And I’m not nice, I yelled at you at least three times today.”

“Oh, sweetheart. You are such a type A. You have no idea how much I enjoyed that,” he smirks and you huff, but pleasantly.

If before he was clumsy and clingy, now he is double and you don’t mind at all. After roughly three hours and half, you arrive at the studio van, just in time to see Dieter explain awkwardly how the radio got broken to the fitness coach, who is putting some kind of lotion on his rashes.

You follow your co-star to the van’s seats, sitting by his side as he opens his phone and puts all his focus there. Maybe you wouldn’t fire your agent, just ignore the next time he says something is harmless: Dieter is a walking hazard and a pain in the ass, but a very enjoyable one.

“Ha! They don’t have a baby goat yoga class, but I found a duck one. I’m gonna book it. It’s a duck farm, you can even hold the babies, look!” He is shoving his phone in your face and you must admit, the babies are indeed cute.

“We have months until the shooting, wouldn’t be better to wait until we arrive there?” Shoving his phone back in his pocket, he looks very seriously into your eyes. You shiver, thinking it might be the AC in your sweaty heated skin, but knowing it is Dieter being sure that he will still want your company down the road.

“Let me be the shotgun this time. You point the direction and I plan everything else, have you already decided where do you want to eat? ‘Cause my only plan is to follow your lead.”

You have no idea about where to eat tonight, but you are sure that the two beds the director promised won’t be necessary once you and Dieter get a shared room.

[awakentrashpanda]

I feel like doing some smiling critters voice acting, so please put requests in my inbox 

I will do

🌈SleepyDay, LoveCraft, StarStudent, & FastFood

🌈Silly skits

🌈Angst

🌈Covers of YouTube or TikTok skits if you can supply the link for it 

🌈Fluff

🌈Mildly spicy things, or dirty jokes, but not explicit NSFW 

🌈Incorrect quotes

🌈 OCs as long as you can give me a voice claim, or some sort of description of what they sound like 

🌈Dubbing artwork (as long as it’s your own)

🌈Mostly (adult) cartoon universe, but I’m willing to accept BBI request 

🌈Songs

🌈AUs

[bones4thecats]

Can I request Aku x eldritch!Reader headcanons (fluff or angst)? Like reader travels with Samurai Jack because they are interested in the Earth and they do not perceive Aku as a threat or something serious(He literally cannot harm reader) and at the same time Aku got a puppy crush on reader

Aku Crushing On Eldritch! Reader

Character: Aku Requester: 👹Anon A/N: You are now 👹Anon, since that is the emoji I use for Aku and you did request him alone. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. By the way, the Reader is inspired by Hastur from the H.P. Lovecraft mythos! ⚠️ Spoilers/Trigger Warnings for: Mentions of death, trauma and blood ⚠️

••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●••●•

»»—————————————-　  Aku 　—————————————-««

👹 When he awoke after a little nap, Aku felt a sudden heavy presence somewhere on his planet. And it angered him far more than the mere mention of Samurai Jack's continuous attacks on him and his rule

👹 Every one of his minions strayed away from the angry demon, in fear of if he were to snap at them, they might perish

👹 Lifting his hand to stroke his fire-beard, Aku watched through a small portal as the foolish man stood in front of a rumbling crack in the surface of Earth, before it emerged a beam of light, blinding all, including Aku, who saw it

👹 Once the light faded, the sound of Jack's gasp made Aku snap up and look in both shock and wonder at the sight

👹 Emerged from the Earth's below was a large black-shape, one that formed a tall androgynous figure dawned in a long yellow clock, one that was tattered on all ends, from the hood to the extra fabric that laid down past its feet

👹 As the hood of the unknown being blew in the sudden gust of wind, Jack readied his sword as a tentacle came up from underneath the cloak, wrapping around his sword and retracting back to the apparent eldritch's pale-skinned clutches

"Who are you?" Jack demanded.

"I am... Y/N, the Ruler in Yellow... and the Deity of Shepherds. Why have you... Samurai Jack... come to my homeland?"

"I mean you and your home no harm, Ruler in Yellow. I merely have heard stories of your ability to locate magical objects, including portals to travel in time. Do you perhaps have that?"

"Samurai Jack."

👹 Jack looked behind him as the large-and-in-charge Aku stood behind him with all his might. A long claw broke free from his side and began to rush towards the human, and when he flinched he heard a loud thud, making him open his eyes slowly, revealing a long tentacle laying in front of him while the Shogun of Sorrow laid on his behind many feet back

👹 Standing in shock, Jack looked back at the being, looked back at you, and he smiled gently. In which you nodded and moved in front of him, handing him his sword back before pulling your hood back as Aku yelled in demand of your name

"You already know mine... and I your's... Aku, the Shogun of Sorrow. But there is one thing that you are not... certain of. And that is... which of us is stronger."

👹 Raising your hand from underneath your yellow-cloak, you summoned a large yellow beam-like spear, its head aimed towards Aku's worst spot, his chest. And as your raised your face out of the shadows, a smile of sharp and piranha-like teeth emerged, which caused Aku to laugh

👹 As the sound of the item slicing through Aku's chest rang out, he screamed and retreated in pain. The samurai merely questioned you, to which you chuckled and gave him a formal introduction

»–•–«

👹 Over the past few months, you have traveled alongside the titular samurai. And during those months, you gained a mutual friendship, and you defended the human from all attacks from Aku and his minions

👹 And while it would be understandable for Aku to despise you for harming his rule and treating his strongest warriors like tiny, little ragdolls, he somehow couldn't put his mind to the side of pure and demented rage when it came to you

👹 Instead, Aku seemingly would observe the many attacks on Samurai Jack and you, and getting pissy whenever one of them tried attacking you. And instead of his subordinates questioning him on his misplaced anger, they would stay silent as he would spend almost all of his free time observing you and Jack. More specifically, you

👹 He had, what humans would say, a puppy-crush on his mortal enemy's best friend

[ooogai]

ooc

hihi hello friends i have decided to start a fluff event bc im always bored in some form and there is a lot. of angst. as of late. [thursday-monday, 5 days, enjoy <3]

in basis, similar to the last fluff event it’s everybody going someplace

aaaand you lucky people, that! place! is! america!!!!!

[mostly bc i saw an interaction between lovecraft and kenji about a particular biden fanart and found it hilarious and laughed whenever i thought about it for a week]

sooo pack your characters into some planes and explore everything the great americas has to offer. does somebody board the wrong plane and offload in new york instead of florida home alone 2 style? who gets caught in tourist traps? who’s about to threaten the crying baby on the plane? who’s stopping them from killing the baby? who is the crying baby? et cetera!!

also! pls use the tag #bsd america trip [very creative, i know] so we can all interact w/ eachother

ill make the post introducing and starting the event tommorow, probably 7am est. but that doenst need to stop you, anyways feel free to start now if you want i’m not stopping you <3

also reblogs to spread the word are great ty <33

[dokk-fukuro]

so reader is already Lovecraft wife and says she loves all of him

Which leads to him turning into his true form and loving her

Fluff to smut

Not of This World [H.P. Lovecraft x f!Reader]

TW: SMUT, Minors DNI, afar reader, mention of using abilities, reader has ability too, mention of tentacles, she/her pronouns, mention of female genitals POV: You're the owner of an incredibly powerful ability that scares the inhabitants of your small town. And they decide to use you as a sacrificial bride for the Great Old One, because he haunts sailors on the water A/N: This is also the job I told you about, lol Word count: 3 821

The sacrificial bride. Sounds like a verdict, which isn't far from the truth. You, reconciled to your fate, are preparing for your “wedding” with something that will not leave a small town with outdated traditions alone. Surprisingly, they use quite modern technologies, but are forced to “please” small gods and creatures from outside, bringing them the gift of what they want.

You look at yourself in the mirror. You are not particularly happy with this outcome. You are only sixteen years old, and you are already forced to become a victim to please the Great Old One. And all why? And the answer lies in your shadows, with which you were “gifted” once, which now seem to you a curse. They're alive. They sometimes talk to you, tell you about what they have heard, what they have seen, what they have reached.

So you once found out that the head of a small town, a lustful old man, is ready to “marry” you to a monster from the depths of the sea, near which the city stands.

“We need him to leave the city alone. Even her parents don’t need this girl, and I’m sorry to give away others,” is what the shadows brought you. And since then, you have been preparing for what awaits you. The shadows that evening were ready to tear the headman to pieces for those words. It is true that your parents were cold towards you, loving only your younger sister and older brother.

"Smile, child, it's not every day that you get a chance to be a bride." It sounds from somewhere behind, and from this you want to grimace. Yes, not every day, but it would be better if there were never such moments in your life, and therefore the words spoken by an elderly woman who straightens her dress and tightens the corset at your waist seem like a mockery.

Your hair is only partly tied up. A pair of small strands are woven into braids that frame the face. Your eyes are on the people helping with the preparations like you're going to curse them. Oh, if you really could. You only seem paler when you look at yourself.

You hate them all, but slowly you accept the inevitable.

A whole procession accompanies you. A cloth is draped over your head so you can't see where you're being led. And only by the sound of water, which is only getting louder somewhere down there, you understand that this is a cliff. How you want to curse them all for eternal suffering. His father, mother, brother and sister, let alone the whole town. They tie you by the hands to a lonely tree standing on a cliff, but the canvas is not dragged off. The procession departs in silence, leaving you to wonder.

How much time you spend in this position you do not know, but your hands are numb, moving your fingers is already unpleasant. At some point, you laugh under your breath. To sacrifice you as a bride to some monster at the bottom of the sea. Ha! They just want to get rid of you because of your ability to control shadows. Even if there are gifted people like you among the residents, their abilities are clearly less dangerous to others.

A rustle is heard somewhere behind. Your whole body tenses up, you try to freeze so as not to show signs of life, it’s even scary to breathe. It could be anything… or anyone.

“How young you are, child." You hear, and you can’t understand what’s going on. It is so unusual for you now to hear human speech that it seems almost a hallucination, but no less terrible. A cool hand touches your chin under the canvas. Something or someone clicks their tongue. “White dress and… moving shadows. They decided to give you to me as a sacrificial bride, yes, Y/N?"

In response, silence. You are afraid to answer. Where does this something or someone know your name? They tear off the canvas from your head and raise your head, holding it by the chin. What appears before your eyes is not a monster, as you have been described.

This is a man about thirty years old with slick, black hair almost to the waist. His skin is pale, slightly greyish, his cheeks are slightly sunken. Dark gray eyes seem to look into the very soul. You are almost paralyzed with fear. It's not what you expected to see before your eyes. You swallow nervously.

"Are you scared, child?" the man grins, and your heart is already ready to go to the heels. You yourself do not understand whether you are scared or very much surprised by what you see. Your wrists are free from ropes. The man looks at his wrists and frowns a little. They're a little rubbed, but it'll pass. To your silent question, the brunette tilts his head slightly to one side.

“Since you are my sacrificial bride, consider me your future husband. Call me Lovecraft. I am that Great Old One you were given to."

And the last time you could be seen on the cliff.

Howard prefers to live away from people, spending most of his time relaxing underwater. You live in his house, learning to take complete control over your shadows, which learn to feel you too.

So the years go by. You are no longer a sixteen-year-old girl, you are a young woman just over twenty-five. Lovecraft does not change at all outwardly, as if he is not really a person, and you begin to catch yourself thinking about this more and more often. If earlier you would have reacted with skepticism to what you heard on the cliff on that fateful night, now you have no doubt that Howard Lovecraft is the Great Old One.

Late at night, when he didn't come back to the house after a while, you, scared to hell, rushed to find him.

You call out to him, look around everywhere, check all the woods, forests nearby, until your feet bring you to that very cliff. Lovecraft is standing there on the very edge, looking at the shining full moon, the reflection on the water of which gives the sea a mystical glow.

"Master Lovecraft!" Your eyes are filling with tears. He's been so kind to you all this time, teaching you new things. And all he asks in return for this is your loyalty to him, explaining that this is the fate of the bride. You have also had nights of love in which Howard is gentle to you, even very much.

The man slowly turns to you. It's so beautiful in the moonlight. His thoughtful gaze, in which one can see almost the hardships of the entire universe, is filled with increasing anger for the first time. But Howard is still reserved, even smiling a little at you when you run up to him. You throw yourself into his arms, nuzzle his solar plexus. The cool palm of the Great Old One rests on the top of your head. The wind ruffles his black hair.

"Y/N, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." The man is serious. The question he wants to raise is important. He looks at you in silence for a while before deciding to speak. "I want you to marry me. You will be my wife, and I will accept no other answer."

Your heart freezes. You look at your master Lovecraft, blushing deeply. He confronts you with the fact that you have no other choice but to become his wife. And for some reason, you don't mind at all. However, Lovecraft can also be understood. You sleep together, live in the same house, spend time together. A man is too attached to you to let you go to someone else. On top of everything else, you were named his sacrificial bride, which he also takes extremely seriously. However, with some amendments. You're not his first sacrificial bride, but you're the first one he hasn't killed.

"I agree." You smile, looking at Howard, as if mesmerized. He is so beautiful when the moonlight falls on him.

Lovecraft does not expect another answer, he knows that you will not answer in any other way. His cool hand strokes your cheek, goes under your chin and lifts your head. His dark gray eyes look into yours as he leans closer; your lips are separated by a miserable couple of centimeters. Howard kisses you gently, dryly, chaste, when you close your eyes, wanting to remember this moment.

"I will never let you leave me, Y/N," the man whispers, gently pulling away. You're so cute when your eyelashes flutter. You slowly open your eyes and gently smile at your new husband. You've become so attached to him over the past few years that you don't know what it's like to be alone. He treated you like a human being, not like a damned one.

Your warm hand touches his slightly sunken cheek, and Howard clings to the warmth like a lost cat who can't find his way home and asks for love from passers-by. He likes your touch, Lovecraft wants it to last as long as possible.

"I give you my word that I will never leave you alone…" You hesitate a little before continuing with a slight tremor in your voice and a blush on your cheeks: "my dear Lovecraft."

A smile suits him very well. It's a rare emotion you've ever seen. Usually Howard is always calm to the point of trembling, which is scary. At first, you were very afraid of this, because you didn't know what to expect from such a calm person. But now you're ready for anything, it's in your eyes, and Howard likes it.

He holds you in his arms, slowly covers your face with kisses. And this is the Great Old One, the very being before whom they shudder, whose appearance they are afraid of, because this does not bode well. You know him quite differently.

You are standing on the cliff where your fateful meeting took place a few years ago, looking at a small town in the distance. You're restless. Something has to happen. But it's not worrying about the worst. This feeling is more like waiting for something.

A huge wave is moving towards the city. No one will be left alive. You don't doubt it at all, but you don't care. The whole town agreed that it was you who should be left as a victim to Lovecraft, which means that no one deserves a chance to survive. Those houses that are closest to the shore are demolished first. The part of you that still retains at least some amount of compassion for those who live in the city wants to stop the man. However, his look alone makes it clear: he will not forgive the city that gave an innocent child as a sacrifice so that the Great Old One would leave everyone alone and not interfere with the sailors.

"This is my wedding gift to you, my love. They sacrificed you to save their own lives, and now they will lose them." People are fleeing from their homes in panic. There are screams, crying pleas for an end to this madness.

An ominous silence reigns. Neither voices nor cries of pets are heard anymore. I can't hear anything else. The sea is calm again, as if nothing had happened. You are looking at all the horror that the elements have created literally before your eyes. It was as if the city really did not exist. Those houses that remained intact are now abandoned. You have nothing to do with the ghostly place anymore. And you, surprisingly, feel a sense of relief. You are free and free to go wherever you want as long as Howard is with you.

Picking you up in his arms, Lovecraft walks with you along the path away from the cliff. The path you keep is back to the house where you live. Already in the house on a big bed, a man looks at you, admires you, as he has always done for several years. And if before, until you turn twenty, he did not dare to touch you in any other way than in a fatherly way, now nothing prevents you from loving each other as husband and wife.

"We need to set some rules in our lives," Lovecraft gently kisses you on the cheek. He's determined in what he's going to say. "From now on, I will be absolutely faithful to you, listen to your words, I will be your support in everything, but I expect the same from you."

You listen to him carefully, not daring to interrupt while the man takes off your clothes. This is your first time as husband and wife, so out of nowhere there is a slight shyness and awkwardness.

"I give my word that I will be faithful, I will listen to your opinion and I will support you in everything. You mean too much to me in this life for me to betray you," you pause before saying what is bursting out. "And it's not that those people gave me to you as a sacrificial bride. I won't betray you because I don't want to."

You touch his cool cheek with your hand, look into his eyes deeply, choosing the words you want to say in response to the question about your feelings for Howard. Initially, you had a completely different spectrum for him. When you first met Lovecraft, as his sacrificial bride, you were a little afraid of him, completely not knowing what to expect from him. And it was only after living with him for a long time that you began to understand that you loved him for his way of thinking, for his lack of emotion, for his manner of speech, even though it was strange, for calmness, education, awareness and responsibility.

Your shadows never liked noisy people, they were afraid of them. Next to Lovecraft, you found what you wanted. Home, love and a sense of security.

"I also find your ability quite charming. My shadows don't stand anywhere near." You nod, looking at how Howard undresses in front of you. A snow-white shirt fits neatly on the back of a chair nearby. A man's trousers remain on when he starts stroking and caressing your body, touching you as if in a gesture of acquaintance.

You pull him to you for a kiss, feeling a little cool and slippery tentacles begin to wrap around your body. One grabs gently by the wrists and presses them to the bed, the other two stroke the hips, sometimes wrapping around them. Howard drops kisses on your neck while his tentacles rush to touch your body wherever they can. His eyes are more like two Abysses than something human, but that doesn't scare you.

You gasp loudly every time the suckers on the tentacles leave reddish traces in the form of circles, some of them are very bright; they will definitely linger on your body for a couple of days.

"What do you feel now?" The man's voice is threefold, gives off a slight echo, and in principle it already sounds creepy, but he does not see fear in your eyes under it. Lovecraft sees genuine adoration in his direction, and this surprises him a little. "Do I disgust you?"

"No, not at all." You shake your head, feeling slightly embarrassed. You're pouting a little, subtly hinting that the man is still wearing his trousers. "Your tentacles. They are cool, a little slippery, move as if they have their own will and consciousness. But… I like it. I love you, Howard, and I will love you no matter what. After all, I am also not deprived of a small feature."

You giggle softly and let your shadows do whatever they want. They get to Lovecraft's trousers without any delay, take the form of women's palms and hurry to rid him first of the belt, and then of the unnecessary detail of clothing. The man only chuckles softly at this. His new wife is so sweet and charming when she tries to help him.

Howard again clings to your lips with his, kisses deeply, with tenderness and desire, listening to the muffled moans. This is the first time he uses his tentacles, but you are clearly not afraid of them, and he is incredibly happy about it. You accept him as he is. This is more than enough for him to experience a strange feeling inside, which bubbles like champagne, filling him with strange energy and the desire to joke and laugh stupidly. Is this… happiness?..

You both dissolve in love for each other, exchanging mutual caresses and kisses. You touch Lovecraft with your shadows, feeling everything they feel, even if it's not the same as your own hands. A man touches your chest with his cool hand, which causes a shiver down your spine. You let out a soft moan when Howard's lips descend first on one nipple, then on the second, paying attention to the previous one with a small tentacle.

You squirm under the strong but gentle grip of the tentacles of the Great Old One, breathing heavily, but asking only for one thing: that Lovecraft does not stop. The man looks furtively at the shadows and grins:

"Your shadows look agitated. Is it because of me or understanding what will happen next?"

"Both," you honestly admit, looking at your new husband with completely black eyes. This is the peculiarity of using the ability to control your own shadows. That's another reason they called you a monster.

While the shadows caress Lovecraft, he spreads your legs with his tentacles. They move smoothly in a spiral up and down, paying special attention to the inside. Your body is trembling with impatience and unusual sensations. They may well become your habit. And you understand why the body reacts like that.

Touching something unknown, unseen before. The same effect is produced by touching your shadows to someone. A person can lose his mind from the pleasure that the touch of shadows brings, or from fear. Your moans caress Howard's ears as he continues to deftly and effortlessly manipulate his tentacles, getting a little lost in the sensations from the touch of shadows. This is the first time he feels them, and it gives him goosebumps. Howard exhales convulsively through clenched teeth.

The tentacle that caresses your left thigh stretches out a little, and its tip touches your crotch. You arch in the back, being exposed to the kisses of the Great Old One, which only enhances the feeling of the tentacle touching the sensitive bundle of nerves. The tentacle moves along with small amplitudes up and down, then large, touching the folds and teasing the entrance to the womb. You moan uncontrollably, almost going crazy from what you feel, and kisses with glimpses of light bites add fuel to the fire.

Howard stretches his neck to be able to cover your body with kisses, suppressing his moans when he feels more tangible touches of shadows on his body. They stroke his shoulders, neck, chest, torso and climb lower.

"You are gorgeous, my love," the man whispers close to your skin, breathing heavily. And yet he breaks into a low, quiet moan when he feels the shadows squeezing his bulging penis. Lovecraft's heart is pounding in his chest like mad. The man is filled with passion and love for you under him.

He tentatively penetrates the tip of another tentacle inside, while he continues to attack the clitoris with the tip of another, making you almost scream. Your body is straining, then relaxing. You're begging Lovecraft to take you, whimpering with desire and lust. Leaving a short kiss on your eyebrow, the man kisses you on the lips when the tentacle penetrates inside in one smooth, slow motion.

The tentacle twitches in your pussy, touches all the most sensitive areas inside while it moves. Howard pulls away from your lips, listening to loud moans fill the room. He moans uncontrollably himself, feeling through the tentacle how tight it is inside you, how wet and warm it is.

And the thrill is added by your shadows, over which you lose control. They themselves move through his body and tentacles as they want. The room is filled with vulgar squelching, your moans and guttural male growling when the Great Old One increases the speed of the tentacle movement inside you.

You scream his name in outright ecstasy, almost losing all connection with reality. You're stuffy, hot. You feel good.

"I love you, Y/N. I will love you until the end of time and even after," Howard growls, looming over you. He wants to remember this moment of love that you share as spouses. How beautiful is his sacrificial bride, now his wife. You moan, whimper and whine from the sensations, fidgeting and asking not to stop. You are close to the climax, and when you reach it, the body only becomes more sensitive. All the caresses of the tentacles on your body are felt more clearly, the pussy is squeezed around the tentacle inside. The bundle of nerves is swollen and now susceptible to even a fleeting touch, but Howard continues to move the tentacle inside you, increasing the pace, almost going crazy from the intoxicating touches of your shadows, whose caresses are becoming more insistent.

After the second climax, your mind is clouded. All you can say is your husband's name. Your moans are now screams of pleasure. The third orgasm is coming, however, Lovecraft is also very close. You feel it with your shadows.

"Come on, love, let's do it together," his speech falters when Howard covers your body with kisses again, licking salty sweat. After the deafening groan of the two, silence reigns, which seems as uncomfortable as possible. Your breath is whistling, you're trying to catch your breath when the tentacle leaves your body. My vision is blurry and a little double, but my body feels so light, like someone else's. You smile wearily at your spouse when he gently kisses you on the cheek.

There are no more tentacles; there are only his big palms with long, thin fingers that take your weakened body and carry it to the cool bathroom. There, Howard helps stop the blood flowing from your nose — a side effect of controlling your shadows, which you are used to.

"I love you, Howard," you wheeze and smile wearily. Lovecraft gently takes your palm in his, brings it to his lips and kisses each finger.

"You're so beautiful now, Y/N. My Y/N," the man kisses your palm, calming all your feelings.

Thank you, my Queen. Thank you for your love.

[thebatshitcrazyfangirl]

Sleep Of The Corrupt- Morpheus x Goddess!Reader

Hello all! Sorry for not posting in a while, I had some health issues and struggled to get back into my writing schedule. But I am back now!

Summary: “Sleep Of The Just” AU. While searching for your daughter, Elaina, you’re summoned and imprisoned by Roderick Burgess. Mistaking you for Death, he demands the resurrection of his son and other unworthy gifts. Instead of fulfilling his demands, you make him realize his horrific mistake.

TW: None really. Cosmic horror (heavily inspired by H. P. Lovecraft). Some fluff, some angst.

WC: 8.4k (Oof…)

Divider by: @firefly-graphics​

“Ellie!” You shouted down the palace corridors and in every room, frantically scouring from top to bottom for your little girl- only to come up empty.

This wasn’t like her. Your daughter never ventured beyond Fiddler’s Green and the House of Secrets. No matter where she wandered, Elaina was always under the trusted supervision of dreams, while you and Morpheus tended to your realms and responsibilities.

An irritated huff heaved from your lips as you strode down another corridor. This stressful game of hide and seek was beyond exhausting. Alas, you and Morpheus have no choice but to play.

The abrupt sound of a slamming door clapped through the air like thunder, ascending into the rapid approach of Morpheus’s footsteps.

“Any sign of her?”

He shook his head. “None. The dreams and nightmares have found no sign. Even Jessamy has had little luck.”

“We’ve been searching for hours. How have we not found her?” You huffed in distress, wringing your hands as your thoughts spun in overwhelming worry.

If she was nowhere to be found, then wouldn’t that mean- No. Elaina couldn’t leave The Dreaming on her own… Not unless-

Your heart sank, crumbling into lifeless dust at the horrific possibility. Stressful tears glazed your eyes, lighting your nerves ablaze in a dreadful panic.

“Love, we’ll find her.” Hands warmer than sunshine caressed your shoulders in soothing circles. He pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you in a comforting embrace. Effective as always, your body slowly relaxed in his arms; against all maternal intuition blaring like an alarm, begging you to search for your daughter. “It’s likely she just wandered off farther than usual.”

“Beyond a dream’s reach?” You muttered dejectedly into his coat. “What if she’s not even here?”

“That shouldn’t be possible unless she had an escort. Besides, where would she go if she had the chance?”

Your eyes grew wide. There was a realm Elaina was highly affiliated with, one she loved to visit every chance she could.

Your birthplace. The Waking World.

“How did we forget?” You grumbled, suddenly pulling yourself from the embrace.

“Forget what?”

Unlike Morpheus and his siblings, your divinity was gifted to you nearly two decades ago, after the former Goddess of Chaos passed her crown and abilities down to you. The succession ultimately stripped you of most of your mortal life; all except your loving parents.

“If she could go anywhere, would it not be The Waking World? To my parents?” You asserted, turning down the corridor in bolting strides.

You both knew how much your parents adored Elaina. Since the day she was born, they were instantly wrapped around her little finger. They spoiled her rotten and treated her like a princess, showering her with new toys and pretty dresses every chance they could.

There was rarely a weekend or holiday where they didn’t invite you and your family over for dinner, or offer to keep Elaina for sleepovers and day trips. (Perhaps to give you and Morpheus some ‘alone time’; hopefully resulting in more grandchildren, you theorized.)

“It’s a valid theory, but an unlikely one,” Morpheus argued as he caught up to your hurried pace. “My dreams are always watching over her. They would’ve noticed her leaving with an escort.”

“Maybe, maybe not. It’s still a possibility, and far more favorable than others.” You paused your pace and spun to face him; already expecting the heavy skepticism gracing his features.

“One hour. Allow me one hour to search my old home, while you continue the search here. Please,” you negotiated and pleaded with a desperate look in your glistening eyes. “For the sake of my sanity. Before we consider the very worst.”

Morpheus sighed in thought, considering every outcome of your plan.

As much as he loves and adores you, you were still the embodiment of Chaos. He couldn’t deny the potential havoc your mere presence could wreak on The Waking World. Even with your totems, which stabilize and hinder Chaos’s effects, it was still risky. Especially during a world war.

However, if you remained true to your word and wore your crown and pendant, an hour in The Waking World would hardly cause any impact.

“One hour, and not a moment more.”

You smiled in victory, launching yourself to the tips of your toes, and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“I won’t be long.” You promised, before disappearing in a whirlwind of black fire.

You stood before your parents’ home, dark and eerily quiet; not a soul to be found.

Must be out at the tavern, or visiting a friend, you reckoned. An irritable groan rumbled in the back of your throat as you strode down the road with tears brimming in your eyes.

Every hope you had crumbled into dust. Your worst fear has come to fruition. Your little girl was missing; only protected by the Fates’ mercy, wandering whatever realm in careless adventure.

What if she’s hurt? What if I’m too late? What if-

Breathe.

You halted your feverish pace; standing in the gentle trajectory of a cool breeze. It whipped through the sleek satin of your crimson gown in flowing waves, effectively cooling you down.

It was oddly refreshing; recollective in a way. Your thoughts slowly simmered down into a hushed calm, refined to focus on your next move.

“Ellie!” A child’s voice echoed in the distance.

Your vitals halted, skipping several beats as your eyes bulged out of your skull. It couldn’t be, could it-

Your feet moved on their own, taking off into a violent sprint through poorly lit alleyways and side streets.

With every step, the distant, delighted giggles grew louder and clearer, filling the crisp air and echoing into the inky night. You rounded every corner frantically, chasing after the laughter like your life depended on it. Please be her, you prayed. Please be her…

The series of small streets led you straight to the laughing culprits- two young girls swinging on a swing set in a park. Of tangled midnight and sunshine tresses you could instantly pick out of a lineup.

You could finally breathe, praising all the stars in the sky that your daughter was safe. You should’ve known Shivering Jemmy was watching over her, upholding her role as Elaina’s self-sworn protector. The little Lord of Chaos has never left her side since she was born, destined to be her partner in crime from the very beginning.

“Where did you find this place? It’s amazing!” Jemmy exclaimed, thrusting her legs forward to swing higher.

“My grandma brought me here when I stayed over last week,” Elaina said, kicking a rock with her filthy slipper from under her lavender nightgown, thickly caked in mud and grass.

The little vein on your forehead was about to pop. You and that nightgown are getting scrubbed with a brush when we return home…

As quietly as you could, you approached the girls and leaned against the swing set’s A-frame with your arms crossed.

“A bit far from home, are we now?” You said suddenly.

The girls nearly jumped out of their seats. Jemmy dragged her bare feet against the gravel, sputtering to a halt. As white as phantoms, they slowly turned to face your impending wrath.

“H-hi, Mommy…” Elaina greeted in uncertainty with large (E/C) glossed over in a silent plea as her lower lip jutted out in a quivering pout.

“H-hello, Your Grace…” Jemmy muttered quietly with a bowed head.

“Are the play gyms at home no longer to your liking?” You asked with a stern edge to your tone.

“N-no, no, it’s not that!” Your daughter exclaimed, flinching at her loud, impolite tone. A solemn frown fell over her face. “It’s just… I had so much fun when Grandma brought me here, I wanted to show Jemmy. I won’t do it again, I promise! Please don’t be mad, I’m really sorry…”

A small, sad smile twitched on the edges of your lips. You should be angry, you know. You should scold her for disappearing from The Dreaming. You should forbid her from leaving the palace for at least 10 years; solely for the stress and upset her little adventure sparked.

No, you were far too relieved to be angry with her. Jemmy, on the other hand, was a different story…

“I’m not mad.” You shook your head as you settled in the empty swing beside your daughter, swaying back and forth in a gentle rock.

“However, you cannot wander off like this again, Ellie. Not even with Jemmy. Realms like The Waking World are not like The Dreaming, it’s very dangerous to be alone here. That’s why it’s important that someone like me, Daddy, Grandma, or Grandpa are always with you when you’re here. Do you understand?”

Elaina’s dark brows furrowed at your warning. “Why is it dangerous here? Are there monsters?”

Your gaze shifted, falling on the amusement gleaming in Jemmy’s eyes. Oh, if only Elaina knew the irony in her interest…

As products of Chaos, you held the ability to bend Reality itself to create unspeakable horrors and magnificence alike. Powerful in every sense, it struck fear in those who knew the vast scale of your prowess.

Because of this, you’ve been called a monster more times than you could count. Shivering Jemmy even more so. Often by those who were more monstrous than you could ever be, ironically.

“In a way… Most beings are friendly and kind, but some are cruel and monstrous. Some that wish to hurt others…” You said with caution, not wishing to scare her. “That’s why you always need to be careful here. Alright?”

“Okay.” She nodded through a yawn. “Can we go home now?”

“Of course.” You smiled as you stood, holding a hand out to her. “It’s far past your bedtime, sweetheart-”

Here in the darkness…

Here in the darkness…

A chant echoed in the recesses of your mind, growing increasingly louder with every step you took. You froze, suddenly paralyzed by excruciating pain unlike any other. It felt like you were being ripped apart-

Here in the darkness…

Here in the darkness…

You fell to your knees, eyes glistening in fresh tears, choking and gasping for air. What’s happening?

“Mommy! What’s happening? What’s wrong?” Elaina cried, crouching beside you, watching in complete terror as grainy smoke slowly engulfed you.

Here in the darkness…

Here in the darkness…

It took all you could not to scream. The smoke was like a torrential current, pulling you under with unbridled force. You don’t know how much longer you can hold on…

With the last of your strength, your eyes locked with your most trusted Lord of Chaos. “G-get Mor-phe-us!”

You let go- suffocated in unfeeling darkness.

Here in the darkness…

Here in the darkness…

“I give you a coin made from a stone.”

‘What is this place…?’ You stirred in the void.

Here in the darkness…

Here in the darkness…

“I give you a knife from under the hills, and I give you the blood from out of my vein…”

‘Ugh…’ The void lightens in a crimson hue.

Here in the darkness!

Here in the darkness!

“I give you a song I stole from the dirt, and I give you a feather pulled from an angel’s wing for you to lift up into the heavens…”

Slowly, you ascended from the depths, towards a growing light.

Here in the darkness!

Here in the darkness!

“I summon you with poison!”

You choke; your floating body contorting in unbearable pain.

HeRe In ThE dArKnEsS!

HeRe In ThE dArKnEsS!

“I summon you with pain!”

‘Yes. Very much in pain…’ You screamed silently into the void, thrashing against its soul-crushing depths.

HeRe In ThE dArKnEsS!

HeRe In ThE dArKnEsS!

“I open the way, I open the gates…”

‘Let me out!’ The light grows brighter, blinding and burning…

HERE IN THE DARKNESS!

HERE IN THE DARKNESS!

“I summon you in the names of the old lords. Namtar, Allatu, Morax… Maborym calls you. Horvendile calls you. We summon you together. Come!”

Cold and hard as Reality’s forge, you fall from your otherworldly prison onto stone tiles with a sickening thud. Your ruby crown slipped from its place atop your head, and your matching ornate pendant smacked harshly against your jaw and clattered into your tresses from the brutal impact.

A pained hiss huffed against the stone faster than you could stop it- a sharp ache erupted on the side of your skull in strong, harrowing waves. Faintly, you could feel blood seep in thick rivers from the fracture’s wound, tangling your disheveled strands and staining the tiles below.

You winced at every sharp shift of jagged bone mending back in place; slowly subsiding into a dull throb beating in sync with your pounding heart.

Had you retained your mortality, you would be lucky to be alive, or hindered with severe mental impairments. It was a wonder you were still conscious, even with your godliness rushing to your aid.

The room erupted in hushed whispers and startled gasps. You peeked under the strands of hair slipping over your face. Archaic summoning, based on the binding circle and sigils used. Black robes and hoods? Occult perhaps? Cold stone floor and no windows that you could see. A cellar?

“Alex?” The caster’s voice called out. You slammed your eyes shut as a shadow loomed over you. “Alex!”

You cracked an eye open, as small, timid footsteps slowly approached beside the caster. His face was hard to see, but from their stature, they were young. Perhaps five years older than Elaina, if you were to guess.

“Get that crown for me,” the man barked. “But be careful. Don’t break the binding circle.”

Heedful hands reached forward and gently untangled the woven strands around the crown’s ornate frame.

“Hurry, boy!” The boy gasped in panic, ripping the last few strands free with a sudden tug, and handed it to the man.

“Hmm. Gold and rubies.” The caster inspected it before handing it off to one of his disciples.

You repressed the urge to smirk. They must not know who you are, or the true purpose your jewels served…

“Now the jewel. There.” The man pointed to the dazzling gem around your neck. The child reached forward and snatched the ruby. “Good.”

Fools, you nearly broke your façade.

“Well, let’s see what other treasures you have for us.” The caster said with beaming eyes, as he reached forward and grabbed the neckline notch of your fiery bell sleeve.

“What barbarity…” Your amusement loomed through the air with the cold, harsh sting of venom. The grip on your sleeve was abruptly released with shaken gasps and scuffling footsteps. You couldn’t help but laugh, rolling over with a triumphant grin aimed at your captor. “Disrobing a vulnerable woman? What a disgrace you must be to your lover and mother.”

The man smirked, an unspoken equal to your taunting quips. “Awake, are we?”

You nodded, shifting to your knees under your crimson skirt. “I’ve been. Your spell work is impressive, however, flawed.”

His smirk fell with disdain, rousing your own. “Though, I suppose it performed as intended… Somewhat.” You rose to your feet, radiating the very essence of power- of a true goddess. “So, what do you want?”

“I captured you under the laws of magic. Therefore, I command you, Death, to return my son Randall, who died in the Gallipoli Campaign. If you give him back to me, alive and well, I’ll release you from this binding circle. A fair deal, wouldn’t you agree?”

You chewed on the inside of your cheek, suppressing every mocking quip running through your mind.

Oh, this is rich!

“Barbaric and benighted… I’m afraid your demands are impossible to fulfill.” You smiled, enjoying the fallen look plastered on his face. “Death cannot revive the dead. Especially souls long passed on and corpses reduced to dust and bone. Your efforts are fruitless, Summoner.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, nor the entire truth. There were other ways one could revive the dead- albeit at an extravagant cost, often a life for a life, or paired with severe consequences. Something he may have considered, given his talent in magic. Perhaps he refused to get his hands dirty or aimed at cheating the age-old rules of magic.

“Resurrect him,” Your summoner pressed with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “If you wish to regain your freedom, you’ll answer my command.”

Your jaw clenched in your simmering irritation. “Do we speak in different tongues? Death leads souls to the afterlife, not back. Therefore, your request demands what cannot be done. No matter how untimely, Death makes no mistake. Your son was destined to die that day, and you cannot change that!”

Your summoner reeled back in disbelief, abhorred by your words.

Calm down…You sighed deeply, recollecting yourself from your burst of anger. “Please forgive my harsh words, it was incredibly insensitive of me. You have my condolences, I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child. But death is never the end. When your time comes, you shall be reunited with your child on the other side. That’s the only solace I can provide.”

“So, what can you give me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Since you refuse to fulfill my request, I ask this in compromise: If I were to let you go, if I promise to give back your jewels… Power? Wealth? Immortality? Is there anything you can offer me?” The caster asked with a supercilious smirk.

Your lip curled in disgust. He’s demanding ransom for your tools now? Divine rewards for your freedom, for your totems’ theft, for ripping you away from your daughter?

“All I will offer is my word not to curse you and your followers.” You snarled in rising fury. “Release me and return my belongings and I shall forget this encounter ever happened. You’ll live out the rest of your days in peace, so long as you never cross paths with me or the Endless again.”

His eyes hardened at your harsh tone, visibly dissatisfied with your offer.

“Take the deal.” You hissed through gritted teeth. Your totems’ absence was taking its toll. Chaos’s full effect ran rampant in your veins like pure adrenaline, fanning the flames of latent corruption and masked madness, engulfing all semblance of morality and sanity in mayhem’s blaze. “It’s my most generous offer, given the circumstances. Consider yourself fortunate. Had you summoned any other member of my family, they would not be as kind.”

“Well, then. Make yourself at home in your binding circle. Until you are ready to comply, I’ll enjoy the gifts you’ve already given me.”

A cold, dark cackle echoed throughout the room, sending devastating chills down the followers’ spines. Many glanced at the exit, ready to sprint from your sinister presence at the drop of a hat. “You truly believe a chalk drawing will contain me?”

Scarlet lighting pricked along your fingertips and sparked the surrounding air ablaze in midnight cosmic fire. With each flicker, your power spun hazy tapestries of bleeding crimson stars and humming supernovas, emanating a horrific sense of fear your summoner had never experienced.

What fools they were, they realized too late.

This wasn’t Death. The caster realized in horror, unable to look away at the eldritch magic spinning from your fingertips in glowing waves. “W-what a-are you?!”

“Reality’s nightmare, so to speak.” You smiled darkly, watching the flames of Chaos roll from your fingertips in curling wisps. “You should’ve taken the deal, Magician. All this could’ve been prevented…”

With a twist of your wrist, the golden binding circle floated from its stone canvas and twirled around you at waist level. The gold cracked in a ruby-red glow, streaking slowly around the ring in lightning-like divots.

Your summoner stumbled back with eyes wide in disbelief, watching in horror as weeks of preparation fell effortlessly on the verge of destruction.

A devious, taunting smile curved across your lips, savoring the fear in his eyes.

With a flick of your wrist, the binding circle shattered.

“Why is it that when something goes awry in this prison, I’m somehow to blame?” The Corinthian huffed in disinterest, twirling his bloody blade while rocking lazily in his chair. His mud-covered heels propped up on the library table, dragging sludge in crusty streaks across the grain.

Lucienne wrinkled her nose at the mess, glaring daggers into the nightmare’s skull.

“Given your rogue nature and hatred of me, it’s hardly unreasonable to question your potential involvement.” Morpheus nearly growled from across the table.

The search in The Dreaming resulted as you predicted: Elaina was nowhere to be found. 

Evidently, the Corinthian’s whereabouts were a bit of a mystery. Morpheus was aware of his murderous escapades in The Waking World; kidnapping, amongst other horrific crimes, was hardly beneath him.

Morpheus gritted his teeth and dug angry crescents into his palms. If possibility became reality, if the Corinthian hurt Elaina in any way, he wouldn’t hesitate to condemn him to fate worthy of his monstrosity. Morpheus already had more than enough reason to destroy his creation, why not make him beg for his demise?

“You really think so ill of me?” He chuckled, tapping the tip of his knife against his smiling lips. “See, if I truly hated you, I would’ve found some way to be rid of you once and for all, and kill that spoiled little brat. As for that powerful beauty you call a wife, I might keep her around for my entertainment… I’m certain she’s a screamer in more ways than one.”

“Do you wish to be unmade? Watch your tongue if you value your existence.” Morpheus hissed through his teeth as his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

A mocking laugh fell from the nightmare’s lips. “Is that your favorite threat? You’ve over worn its impact long ago. It’s just another one of your empty threats-”

“Enough!” His voice boomed in a burst of sinister rage, reverberating in powerful, poignant waves. The library shook with an earthquake’s wrath, toppling magnificent chandeliers and infinite bookshelves to the floor into crashing heaps.

“I’m in no mood to play games, Corinthian.” He warned in a dangerous tone. “Did you harm my daughter? Yes or no?”

All amusement fell from the nightmare’s face, slouching in his chair with a huff. “No.”

“Did you abduct Elaina?”

“No, I didn’t take your kid.” He asserted with an aggravated sigh as he lifted his feet off the table. “As much as I hate to rat myself out, I wasn’t in The Dreaming much today. If you don’t believe me, there are eyes all over your domain, right? Ask any of them if they saw me today; especially before your kid disappeared.”

“Where do you claim to be when Lady Elaina disappeared?” Lucienne inquired.

He smacked his lips together in thought. “Out.”

“So, The Waking World then? Indulging your bloodlust, no doubt-”

“My point is, I had nothing to do with Elaina disappearing. It may come as a shock, but the brat is terrified of me. Every time our paths crossed, she’d dart in the other direction. She’d never let me anywhere near her without screaming her head off.”

He chuckled to himself. “How ‘bout that… The King of Nightmares’ kid is easily frightened. Heh. What a treat...”

Silver eyes scanned the nightmare’s demeanor in harsh scrutiny. All taunting remarks had vanished (mostly) and his inflection felt genuine (for once!). Though he was a brilliant liar and skilled manipulator, Morpheus felt inclined to believe him.

And it drained him of all hope.

Perhaps he was too confident in the Corinthian’s involvement; too focused on ending this heartbreaking search.

He just wanted his little girl home; safe and sound.

“Daddy!” A child’s voice screamed at the top of their lungs, as the pitter-patter of tiny feet rumbled through the library.

Morpheus’s sunken heart leaped in his chest- whipping his head around with enough force to snap his neck.

Please be her…

Please be her…

Instant relief washed over him in icy waves; darting across the piles of strewn books and broken glass, with tangled midnight tresses, and speckled from head to toe in a thin layer of grime, was his missing daughter.

“Ellie…” 

He fell to his knees with his arms extended wide in welcome, careless of the glass shards cutting through his pants. Tears streamed down the young girl’s face in trembling rivers. She sprinted as fast as she could into his outstretched arms, waiting to engulf her shaking frame in a bone-crushing embrace.

He could finally breathe, as mountains of stress and worry dissipated into thin air.

His hope was restored.

Elaina was home.

“I told ya it wasn’t me…” The Corinthian remarked snidely, shifting back in his seat with blatant disinterest and boredom written on his face.

“‘I’m sorry! I’m s-s-so sorry!” She sobbed in breathless heaves against his shoulder. 

“Darling, you’re safe. That’s all that-”

“No!” Elaina cried, ripping herself out of his arms. “There-therewasthisstrangesmoke-and-and-Ididn’tknowwhattodo! Thisisallmyfault! WehavetogosaveMommybeforeithurtsher!”

“Take a deep breath and calm down.” He said in a soothing voice, wiping her streaming tears away with his thumb. “Now, tell me what happened-”

“Ellie!” Another child’s voice called from outside the library. “Where are you?”

Jemmy?

Ragged blonde hair scurried through the entrance. Her wide, mischievous eyes now shimmered in odd distress as they fell on the scene. Without a thought, she sprinted over the scattered mess at a frantic pace and latched a relentless grip on Morpheus’s coat sleeve.

“Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go! We gotta help her!” Jemmy exclaimed, tugging on the sleeve and dragging him towards the door.

Confusion distorted his handsome features. Never had he witnessed these girls behave so distraught and hysterical.

“Girls, tell me what has happened!” He demanded, tugging his arm out of Jemmy’s grasp.

Elaina sniffled. “S-Something took Mommy…”

And just like that, all sense of relief lit furiously ablaze once again.

He froze; stunned and dumbfounded, with wide eyes shining in panic. A deity’s capture was unheard of. Cosmic divinities, such as the Endless and unique gods like you, made virtually impossible prey; even by magical means.

Your captors were either formidable foes or fools graced by dumb luck.

A forced smile curved across his lips; despite his worry and rage crashing over his being in devastating waves. Despite every compelling desire to hunt your captors down like animals and inflict a hell worthy of their actions. (If you hadn’t already). Despite everything, the need to protect you and Elaina took precedence above all else.

“Elaina,” he called out softly. Her tearful (e/c) eyes gleaming with guilt and panic met his own, sending a twinge of pain straight to his heart. 

“Don’t believe for a second that you caused this. In no way is this your fault. Dry your tears, darling. I’ll bring her home.” His hand wiped the lazy streams rolling over her cheeks and tucked her dark locks behind her ear.

“Alright.” The Corinthian huffed as he emerged from his seat. “You got what you wanted. The brat’s safe. Can I leave now?”

“You may,” Morpheus grumbled, glaring lethal daggers at the nightmare. “Leave The Dreaming again, and I will uphold my every threat. Remember, my dreams are always watching...”

The Corinthian rolled his eyes beneath his glasses; falling on Elaina with a sinister smirk. 

The young girl squeaked in distress and cowered into her father’s chest. Morpheus wrapped a protective arm around her in a makeshift shield, glaring a look of a thousand threats at the nightmare.

An animalistic growl rumbled from The Lord of Chaos like ominous thunder; quick to root herself between her best friend and The Corinthian’s vile gaze like a defensive wall.

“Heh. See you around, kid.” He laughed as he sauntered out of the library.

In slow shifts, Morpheus relaxed; only daring to drop his arms from around the frightened girl when every trace of the nightmare’s presence had vanished.

The theatrics of his departure consumed more time than he’d liked. There was no telling what sort of torture you were enduring; or inflicting. He needed to leave soon. Your safety and Reality’s stability depended on it.

“Darling,” Elaina lifted her head with a frown at his gentle tone. “I want you to stay with Lucienne until I return with your mother. Alright?”

With a sniffle, she nodded; throwing her arms around him in one last hug. “Be careful, Daddy.”

He smiled, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “Always.”

Pain. Infinite agony.

Swallowed whole by the corrupted dark and vast emptiness, Burgess crumbled to his knees under the pressure of dreadful despair and maniacal lunacy. The vast abyss resonated in a tormented cacophony of his followers’ frightful screams and deranged cackles. Some begged for death, while others wreaked in its promise. What horrors could warp their minds to such a degree?

“How does it feel, Summoner?” your voice echoed beyond the distorted cosmos.

Burgess stared into the abyss with panic; all rational sense failing to comprehend this cruel reality.

“Confined in an endless cage of my creation…”

This shouldn’t be possible… This cannot be possible! How did it come to this? He followed the grimoire’s instructions down to the punctuation! How could the ritual mistake the Angel of Death for a Chaos Goddess?

With what little strength remained, he lifted himself to his feet. In his hurried desperation, he stumbled- trampling over his writhing followers, either falling into Death’s welcoming embrace or shoving them to their untimely end.

An extended hand shot out instinctively to catch his fall, colliding with the barrier’s edge. Burgess smiled, reveling in the faint glimmer of hope coldly brushing against his fingertips.

So even reality-manipulating deities have their limits, the man mused. How pitiful.

With the wall as his guide, he lurched into a sprint.

“Is this not the fate you designed for Death?”

Boom…

Boom…

Colossal footsteps rumbled like a devastating earthquake. His teeth chattered and knees wobbled under its violent intensity, he clung to the invisible wall for dear life.

“Had you been competent enough to catch her?”

Burgess shuddered at the brutal chill in your taunts and ridicule. What had he done to be punished so harshly? He only sought after what any grieving parent dreamt of achieving by any means necessary. Any entity with a shred of decency or compassion would recognize this!

No, he supposed a chaos demoness like yourself could never understand. Your monstrosity was beyond mercy and reason.

“Ignorance is bliss, my foolish summoner…”

Boom…

Boom…

Intense tremors reverberated in such ungodly strength, Burgess was surprised the vibrations didn’t shatter his bones. He needed to move; he knew. Your footfalls were drawing near, albeit at a sinister snail’s pace. Staying put was suicide, running away guaranteed grave injury in his old age.

As the rumbles died, Burgess bolted. He gritted through the strain ripping at his joints, desperate to get away. If he could somehow evade your wrath and wait out your patience, perhaps he had a chance of escaping with his life and sanity-

BOOM!

BOOM!

His balance rocked and wavered in a fatal stumble; stomach clenching in surprise, quickly throwing a hand out to catch his fall. But found nothing.

With a screech, Burgess fell.

The inky darkness faded into a spectacle of roaring colors and freezing devastation. He screamed, twisting and contorting in an oscillating tunnel of blue and purple clouds twinkling in stardust, plunging into the heart of the universe; the soul of reality.

“Wandering blindly into the dark unknown, far beyond this vast and magical reality…”

Fearful eyes widened as the screech of rushing comets and planet-sized meteors whistled past him in blazing intensity. Stars around him buzzed and blazed in a sweltering dance of dust and light, raising thick beads of sweat on his brows.

Burgess couldn’t move, barely able to shield himself from the bursting blaze of dying stars. Fiery cinders seared like blazing bullets through clothes and bones alike. His cries of excruciating pain and babbling pleads fell on deaf and uncaring ears.

Utterly helpless, an unfortunate victim of reality’s wrath, he plummeted further into the maddening dark.

“Stranded before otherworldly truths and horrors mankind was never meant to witness…”

Swirling galaxies and glittering supernovas warped into a scarlet hollow faintly cracking in thunder’s roar. It emanated a heinous stench- something akin to burning brimstone and rotting meat. It seemed to loom in thick, noxious billows, weaving through the bloody chasm with strange sentience.

A living creature this far down?

Through watering eyes and bile burning his throat, he observed the strange fog dancing in helical patterns through the void. They seemed to move with purpose; for what, he did not know. Besides spreading its horrendous funk.

An improper omen, Burgess realized quickly; a vague warning of what waited in the darkness below. Nothing could’ve prepared him for what real horrors lingered beyond the shadows of time and space.

His eyes widened in their behold, witnessing firsthand the unholy creatures of madness and nightmares.

Beyond misty trails and beats of thunder, the raucous, high-pitched cries of a thousand broken flutes blared in a toneless tune. It was deafening- maddening; ringing in his eardrums like amplified tinnitus.

To his right, short humanoid creatures with pale gaunt faces and fibrous bat wings swarmed a twister-covered islet. They flailed in a strange dance, almost mindlessly, to the blaring broken wail. The rampant vortices easily swept their fluttering bodies in their currents- even that failed to hinder their ridiculous dance.

To his left- may the gods have mercy- colossal tentacles coated in thick scales and blister-like pustules emerged from the dark in sluggish sways. Their scale was incomprehensible; one languid swipe could destroy planets! The godless beast could swallow entire star systems, he feared.

“Lest what semblance of sanity rots into chaos and madness.”

Burgess’s eyes fell forward, to his sanity’s dismay.

Before him was the center of it all. The creator of beasts. Primordial madness.

It was an eyeless cyclopean entity; a bloated and unsightly mass of bulbous knots covered in leathery tendrils and mucus-like sludge. Rows of razor-sharp teeth lined the infinite orifice masking its featureless face; ready to devour any careless creature that fell into its jaws.

Much like Burgess.

His lips peeled back in a hopeless grin under his powerful sobs, cachinnating in a crazed chorus under the flutes’ insipid tune.

So this is the truth behind madness? Behind reality itself? He wondered in chortling delight, falling straight into the jaws of fate.

Oh, he couldn’t wait to tell Randall of this wondrous truth! Of all the majestic, abominable marvels lying dormant at reality’s edge!

This truth… Reality’s glorious truth! It was far superior to power or wealth, beyond the hollow values of humanity and sanity’s restraints.

Here, he was a tiny insignificant speck about to be swallowed by a cosmic leviathan, and never felt more doomed and freed.

***

You hummed with a smile, hovering above the crafted reality with amusement in your fiery eyes. The nonsensical ramblings of madmen never ceased to amuse you. Especially those driven to the brink by your own hand.

A low chuckle spilled from your lips. Oh, how you missed this! Basking in chaotic corruption was such an invigorating thrill! You couldn’t remember the last time you felt so free; so unhinged.

Fiery darkness danced at your fingertips in weaving flicks, fabricating every twinkling star and horrid monstrosity alike. This reality is becoming one of your favorites, you think. It was inspired by the terrifying dreams Morpheus had created for an aspiring writer in America. You were captivated by the concept of unfathomable deities from the depths of the cosmos, able to influence sensitive minds through dreams and evoke chaos and madness with their presence alone.

You wonder what inspired the idea…

Screams of pain pulled you from your thoughts. You glanced into the void- oh, how wonderful! Your summoner impaled himself on a colossal tooth in the monster’s gullet.

You laughed in sadistic delight, watching him wriggle and writhe in his last heaving breath. 

Well, that’s no fun…

With a jerk of your finger, Burgess slid off the tooth in a sickening squelch as the gaping cavity in his chest laced back together like a corset- just enough to keep him alive a little while longer.

Much better! Now then, what else could you inflict on your pompous captor-

“Love, that’s enough.”

You froze; paralyzed by a voice softer than silk. All baleful thoughts halted in their fiery rant, instantly snuffed out by calming tidal waves.

A gentle hand slipped past the cosmic flames’ flicker and curled over your own- silencing every violent and vengeful desire Chaos had spurred in an instant.

His joy clashed with your rage. His hope battled your despair. His light defeated your darkness.

Regretful tears rolled in rivers down your face and fell into the corrupted reality below. How could you have strayed so far? How could you abandon all the goodness that he taught you?

How could you let yourself become the monster so many believed you to be? Including yourself…

You gripped his hand as tight as you could, clinging to the warmth of his touch, terrified of letting go. Of losing control again.

Guilt washed over you with a hurricane’s wrath. Your actions reverberated like a torturous echo; the screams of terror, the pleas for death, the horrific pain your rage created…

What have I done?

In resisting flickers, the blazing black flames slowly suffocated into a dying hush, compelling Reality’s unravel.

***

“Argh-” 

THUD!

“Ugh…” Burgess stirred in the bone-shattering pain coursing through his body. He groaned into something cold and hard like concrete- The belly of the beast? The bottom of reality?

He lifted his head with a sharp jerk, his forehead gleaming in a sheet of sweat and eyes wide with madness- darting in hyper dashes all over the room.

How odd… Wherever he was, it took the likeness of his cellar. No- that can’t be right! Perhaps his new surroundings were so unfathomable, his mind replaced its nonsense with memories.

His thoughts cackled as he rolled onto his back in a careless flop. How curious… The clarity of his memories was exquisite! Insignificant details seemed to burst off of the constructed reality his memories painted. Every speck of dust and cobweb beamed with undeniable certainty; even his (surely) deceased followers writhing and groaning in their stupor beside him seemed too real.

“Love, it’s alright,” Morpheus whispered softly over your muffled cries.

“I-it happened a-again… It’s a-all m-my f-fault…”

A furrow creased Burgess’s white brows; he didn’t recognize that voice. This was a memory! He was certain! Who was this man? How did he get into his head?

Burgess turned his head towards the voice with a twitch in his neck and sparkling paranoia in his eyes. The man was tall like a tree with a face paler than snow and dressed in a black darker than the night sky. He nearly towered over a woman dressed in red, wrapping his arms around her in a protective embrace and holding her close to his chest.

Another entity perhaps-

That woman! The ethereal goddess of Reality’s truth! Is she an alternate version of the other deity? Was this still a memory, or did she submerge him into another reality? One with secrets that demanded to be explored?

No! No! No! His mind still spiraled in the truth of his former plane of existence!

His sanity would surely combust if he faced another truth!

“…let’s go home,” Morpheus said, and you pulled from his embrace with a sniffle. 

“M-my totems…” Your tearful eyes glanced at Burgess with strange sorrow. 

What for? He should thank you! Praising you, worshiping the ground you walked on for opening his eyes to reality’s wonderful truth!

The man’s steel eyes followed yours, hardening instantly with contempt.

“I’ll handle it.”

Burgess jumped back with a trembling hiss like he had been burned by the entity’s searing stare. His eyes of steel seemed to pierce far beyond flesh and bone, beyond the blood pumping erratically in his veins, and the fluttering ventricles beating out of his chest. He pierced something much more hallowed and precious. Cold and relentless, it intended to punish several lifetimes over.

Billows of fine sand suddenly engulfed the entities into a grainy vortex. His trembling arms were quick to shield his face from the sand’s whipping wrath. 

As quick as it appeared, the wind died down- and the entities had vanished.

Burgess did not sleep that night.

He couldn’t- he wouldn’t. No- they’ll be waiting for him in his dreams! Those eldritch monsters beyond reality’s veil, lingering in the chaotic dark… Waiting. Biding their time for God knows what.

To swallow the universe whole? Wreak chaos and destruction to every plane?

He paced his study in a hysterical flutter. The pleas of his followers and physicians, even the desperate cries of his son couldn’t reach him. Their voices were all drowned out by the blaring sound of cracked flutes.

It was stuck in his mind, playing on a relentless loop like a tortuous record. Ear-splitting and harmonious, a monotonous symphony!

No! He refused to let his guard down. The dark couldn’t be trusted!

Burgess halted in his pace; dashing to his desk and grabbed a pen from its well.

Godless. He sprawled messily over a loose page. Those abominations were far beyond any god’s reach. Perhaps they were gods themselves…

“How could I be so blind? Randall-” He spun from his desk, facing a cheerful young man in military attire sitting comfortably in an armchair across the room. “My boy, don’t you see? Those monsters must be gods! Everything- molecules, elements, magic!- it all stems from them somehow-”

Meow…

For one blissful, merciful moment of clarity, the consuming madness within him froze in dead silence. A small sense of rationality glimmered in his eyes like diamonds, turning cautiously towards the subtle mew.

Black as night, sat a cat in the lurking shadows just beyond his study’s threshold. Its slitted eyes shone like a freshly minted sixpence in the moonlight. What a magnificent little creature.

Burgess approached the dark feline slowly in cautious measures. His canines pierced the thin delicate tissue of his lips with more force than he knew. Faint crimson streams trickled undetected down his chin in lazy rivers, too immersed in the creature before him to notice.

With a lithe leap and a skip of the man’s heart, the mysterious feline pranced with grace down the corridor. Burgess stuttered in his dash, nearly tripping over the ornamental runners striping the hardwood as he staggered into the hall.

The cat seemed to wait for him; patiently perched on the ornate curtail of an iron-wrought spiral staircase. How odd…

“Wh-what d-do yo-you want?!” The feline only blinked its moonish eyes; unfazed and uncaring, it ascended the staircase.

Every few steps, it would cast those strange eyes over its shoulder, as if it was assuring he followed into the attic space. A sweat broke over the old man’s brow, he heaved in anxious whimpers as paranoia hindered his every step. It was impossible to think; the thunderous pounding of his heart muffled his thoughts, fanning an overwhelming sense of fear like a rousing fire-

Perhaps this was an envoy of sorts from Reality’s Protectress; perhaps to open his eyes once again.

What was there to be afraid of? He knew the Truth; the Goddess protects the Truth; Therefore, She will always protect him!

Anticipation outweighed anxiety; he dashed up the stairs behind the cat with a maniacal smile smearing his face.

His eyes locked on the cat’s back, watching in wild mania as it strutted towards a black ornate chair seated in the corner of the circular attic. It hopped and circled the cushion, sitting powerfully tall in its center; somehow radiating the elegant essence of a king. The feline flashed its silver-slitted eyes in its rest, blinking at Burgess in a torpid blink.

“Hello.”

A dark voice suddenly called out, inciting a surge of fear and dread within the madman. His eyes grew wide and tumbled back in shock, mumbling incoherent huffs and babbling nonsense. Sitting before him sat a shadowy man with eyes of angry white stars burning into his skull.

The man from before, the one that comforted the Goddess. The one that embedded unwavering fear into his soul.

 “N-no…” The man shook at the shadowy man as tears of terror rolled down his cheeks in trembling streams. “Please! Have mercy! I beg of you!”

“Have you any idea what you have done? The torment you inflicted on your own mind and to her?” The dark deity asked calmly, with striking eyes sharpened in rage. He rose from his black throne to his full intimidating height, slowly approaching the whimpering madman sobbing on his knees. “Can you even fathom the damage you could’ve done to your world?”

Those eyes… Colder than ice and sharper than a knife. Utterly relentless in slashing his delicate soul into ribbons! What had he done wrong to deserve his wrath? She gave him a gift! The gift of sight, of freedom, of Reality’s Truth- the glorious Truth!

Burgess cackled through his tears; all fear dissipating under the blissful warmth of this bestowed knowledge. This painful, burdensome, unholy knowledge.

“It was a wonderful mistake! I sought the Angel of Death- instead I gained something much, much more valuable! That woman- that Goddess! She opened my eyes and showed me horrors I can never unsee! They live in my mind now and feast on my brain- how incredible! It hurts! It hurts… Her reality is too cruel, too monstrous to bear. Please, have mercy on me!”

Morpheus frowned at his ramblings, cocking a brow in confusion.

What Chaos ravaged his mind? What reality had you created for this man?

“If her Reality is too cruel, perhaps my Dreams will be kinder.” The deity said as a sudden gust of wind whipped through the room. Through wide, fearful eyes, Burgess watched as wisps of dark thundering clouds emerged from the attic’s shadows, splitting the air in storming light.

The man shrieked as the looming storm drew closer, throwing his arms over his head in panic.

“Don’t fret. Your punishment shall be a gift…” Morpheus reassured, lowering himself before the cowering madman. “I give you this… The gift… of eternal… sleep.”

A hand unfurled before the entity’s lips, blowing sparkling waves of golden sand across Burgess’s eyelids.

Eyes of lead drooped in slumber’s dark embrace, screaming in a nocturnal silence that stirred his raging mind. With no fight left, Burgess surrendered to his nightmarish fate.

***

“Father! Father! Please wake up! Please!” A hysterical child cried, shaking Burgess’s arm as he whimpered and thrashed in his sleep.

“Doctor, what’s wrong with him?” A blonde woman asked, dabbing the chilled sweat from the man’s wrinkled brow.

“Blood pressure is normal, lungs are clear, no fever, no signs of trauma… His coma has no apparent cause, I’m afraid.”

Morpheus loomed like a shadow in the bedroom’s threshold with a cold glint in his eyes as they fell upon the sleeping man. His punishment was kindness; entrapped within the darkness of sleep, he was free from the Chaos that ravaged his mind, unable to hurt or capture another soul ever again.

For targeting Death, for ripping his wife from the arms of their daughter, all in the name of a reckless endeavor- this was the most compassion he could muster for this horrid man.

Neither in Dreams, nor in Reality, will you ever know peace again, Roderick Burgess.

He slipped down the corridor like a thief in the night, set to reclaim your stolen jewels.

Luminous moonlight streaked The Dreaming’s sky in pearlescent radiance, shining brightly in harmony with twinkling stars on the midnight canvas. Most nights, the cosmic brilliance elicited a sense of wonder and happiness; even more so when wrapped in Morpheus’s arms.

But tonight, it felt cold and empty; a terrible reminder of the horror you conjured.

You leaned on the balcony’s stone rail, bathed in the silver light with a cheerless frown aimed at the stars. Harsh thoughts swarmed your head like berating bees, slowly eating you away into an emotionless husk, numb to everything around you.

“Love?” A warm hand brushed over your shoulder, hardly shaking you out of your thoughts.

“Did that man lose his mind?” You asked in a sorrowful voice, eyes still pinned on the vale below.

“He did.” Morpheus said reluctantly as a sad frown claimed his features. “However, from what I gathered, grief and obsession has taken a drastic toll on his sanity. Madness was destined to claim him with or without your hand.”

“And what of the others?” Your question quivered over a lump in your throat.

His hand fell from your shoulder, gripping your fidgeting hands, and tracing soothing circles into your skin. “Flustered. But they’ll recover. They’ll only remember what occurred as a harmless nightmare.”

Your brows twitched in a brief crease, a faint twinkle glossing over your eyes, but only for a moment. So distinct, but unmistakable under his observant gaze; the faint embers of hope flickering in Chaos’s torrential gale.

“Here.” A hand slipped into his coat pocket and retrieved your pendant, glinting in gilded opulence under the silver moon. A sigh of relief fell from your lips with a thankful smile. Morpheus stepped behind you, looping the necklace over your front and fastening the clasp behind your neck.

You closed your eyes as the pendant fell over your heart, basking in the waves of relief flooding through your chest, washing away every speck of dread and despair weighing you down.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, (Y/n). After all they’ve done, they were more than worthy of your wrath.” He said, spinning you around to face him as he pulled your crown from his pocket. “In this instance, your corruption was just.”

He gently placed your crown atop your head with his hands falling to cradle your cheeks. He placed a loving kiss on your forehead, sealing it with his own.

Your eyes fluttered shut with a smile, as all turbulent thoughts fell in peaceful silence. Numbness and despair melted away into joyful warmth, as all you could feel now was Morpheus. 

Your light in the darkness. Your hope in despair. Your Dream in this chaotic nightmare.

Feedback is always appreciated. I hope you enjoyed!

[tachimichishrine]

"the cat came back"

⫭◦⨝◦⫬

h. p. lovecraft x fem! natsume's daughter! reader

lovecraft is canon afraid of cats! now you know >:)

warnings: uncontrollable fluff ; that was a joke idk how to fluff ; made him ooc af womp womp ; i want to eat lovecraft ; just a little nom nom is that too much to ask; tentacle hentai (reader eats his hair) ; fishing boats (derogatory) ; intended lowercase

moonlight was his favourite time of the day.

his eyes peeked out from the rippling surface of the water, hair floating and spanning out like branches of a tree. he was sleeping a short while ago, until...

"shh!! it's the middle of the night, someone's gonna yell at us for doing this!"

disinterested eyes glanced at a boat. a fishing boat. he shuddered; it appeared like two adults were sitting down on it, giggling mischievously at each other while the motor grumbled loudly, scaring away the sea life from the secluded corner along the coast.

"bah, it's not a big deal," the other person responded, sporting a confident smirk. "we're out in the middle of nowhere. who are we going to disturb, the little mermaid?"

another round of giggles. the couple bickered about something else, something he didn't care to remember, then ate each other. lovecraft watched curiously as their lips met, then sighed. he wanted to sleep.

he reached a tentacle from under the surface of the water and capsized the boat.

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another week, another goddamn boat. he just wanted to sleep: ever since the guild had fallen apart, he didn't have to do anything, and he enjoyed it very much. he'd occasionally leave the comfort of the sea for some ice cream, but the looks he'd get while out in public made him anxious, so he'd stopped doing that a long time ago.

"I heard the spooky sea beast lives around here..." a voice said lowly, holding a flashlight out to the murky waters. "some say it's the kraken, others that it's the soul of the deceased..."

he didn't like to be disturbed. lovecraft flipped them over.

the next night, it happened again.

by the end of the month, it seemed he had become a local folklore story. he wasn't particularly interested in hearing all the stories about himself, and what was worse is that he found himself at the center of attention. gross.

he would keep flipping boats until they would leave him alone.

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"[_____], come on, get in the boat! you're such a scaredy cat!"

"yeah, I am!" the woman yelling from the shore exclaimed. she was watching a few of her friends get into a wooden tub of death and paddle in the direction of a sea creature that had been terrorizing their city. it wasn't a myth, as everyone who doubted would go and find themselves thrown into the water promptly. the question was mostly as to what on earth was doing this. "you know I hate getting wet, and I don't want to get eaten by a sea beast today, thank you very much!"

the friends pouted, pleaded for her to come along, and the only agreement they came to involved the woman following them from land. she watched them as her boots squelched into the damp earth in the same direction as their path, and they spoke from a far distance.

which woke up lovecraft.

he grumbled, displeased. this was never fun, and it was getting even worse now. the top of his head peeped out from the water as he got a look at the young adults laughing and joking from their fishing boat, and he flipped them with one movement.

they all yelled out as they splashed into the water, arms desperately gripping onto the upside-down boat as they looked around fearfully, then at each other with chuckles.

"told ya it was real!"

"gahh, my shirt is soaked!"

"dude, your entire body is soaked."

it was all a game to them, he seemed to notice. they thought this little escapade and mission of disturbing him was all for fun. he didn't have time to feel annoyed about it, because it was time to sleep. on the verge or disappearing back into the abyss, he felt a pebble bounce on the back of his head.

he turned his head around, his neck contorting as he saw a young woman looking at him, eyes wide.

they stared at each other for a few moments.

she let out a yelp, and her entire body compressed down to that of a calico cat.

he saw the cat and yelled out in response, tentacles sprouting, bursting out from various parts of his body.

the cat ran away and nothing was said. the group of friends were still laughing as they had gotten back into the boat and began paddling to shore, not seeing the iceberg underneath their feet that was the body of a real sea monster.

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the next day, lovecraft was out of the water, in the middle of the day nonetheless, simply to dry up a little bit before he went back into the water. somehow, this logic added up to him.

all was fine until he saw the woman again.

she was leaning against a rock, not quite sitting but not quite standing. she looked nervous, glancing around her everywhere as if she was expecting to get attacked at any moment. her eyes darted to the water, where she saw nothing, then back to her surrounding. back to the water. back the the surroundings. her foot was tapping the soil incessantly and her lower lip was being abused by her teeth as she nibbled to distract herself.

this time, she saw him.

they looked at each other again, but it was much more tamed than the previous time. she didn't turn into a cat, and he didn't turn into a natural catastrophe.

her mouth seemed to open, but lovecraft didn't hear any words from out of her. she just creased her brows together, then sighed. "um... hi, hello. I'm... I'm [_____]. you're howard phillips lovecraft, aren't you?"

he hovered at the surface with only his dark eyes and long hair visible, maintaining blank stare.

she extended her hand out to him, then realized it was stupid to shake hands with someone who was several meters away, several meters deep into the water. laughing nervously, she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I didn't... I didn't mean to scare you the other day, you just caught me off guard. you see, I'm in the business of keeping track of the ability users in yokohoma, and you never came up on my radar. so I asked around," and here she kicked a rock with a chuckle to herself, "actually, I just asked my dad, and he told me about the guild."

still no reaction. lovecraft had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

she crouched down, grabbed a pebble, and flicked it onto his forehead. heavy eyelids raised for a moment.

"would you be willing to uh... get out of the water to speak with me, for just a moment? I can... well, I don't really know what to offer you."

she babbled on, face flushed and looking at the ground and her feet as she kept speaking, saying things that neither of them understood, and it was only when he got close that she took notice the tall, dripping wet figure looming over her. he was wearing clothes and everything, even had was appeared to have been a nice jacket in the past before... whatever tore it apart. she met his eyes.

"thank you! it just makes this... whatever... easier... ahh, forget about it. could we... walk and talk? I don't want to lure you away from your... your home?..."

"I'm hungry," he proclaims, a statement more than a request.

"sure!" she nodded, although a little confused and uncertain, leading the way as she walks through the rugged terrain of the trail before arriving at her car and opening the passenger door for him, waiting for him to hop inside.

now, he looked confused.

"is there food inside?"

this was going to be a long discussion.

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[_____]'s job was simple: she had to keep tabs on all of the ability users in yokohoma. know who they worked for, their relationships, their dreams and aspirations. when you can turn into a cuddly ball of fur, it isn't particularly hard to gain information.

she had no clue what was going on with this man, though.

rumours had sprung up about the sea monster. she knew, of course, there was no such thing, but in the spirit of the approaching holiday she indulged her friends in a trip.

seeing a man living in the water was not what she had expected, much less to surprise herself by getting flustered enough to accidentally use her ability and turn into a cat. it was just her luck that cats seemed to terrify the man.

speaking was hard too, since he didn't really seem to know much about the ways of the world. she knew he was from america, but common courtesy of not trying to eat someone's car for dinner was likely the same there as it was in japan. likely.

it was cute how ice cream was the secret to taming him.

"lovecraft," she snapped her fingers in his face as he zoned out for what could be the seventh time in the same sentence, "look, I don't mean to take your entire day. I was just hoping you could lay low on the boat flipping for the time being."

"I am laying low," he stated blankly, a smudge of chocolate cream smeared across the corner of his lip, like a child. she chuckled warmly and pointed it out to him, but he just shrugged and kept licking the frozen treat. "the boats keep coming."

"because you've become a horror attraction," she retorted. something deep within her caused her to run her thumb along the edge of his lip to clean him up, partly because she knew he wouldn't do it himself, partly because she thought she'd go mad over the messiness. "leave the boats alone and they'll leave you alone. it's as simple as that."

he wasn't paying attention again. he'd gotten tired of licking and dislocated his jaw just to swallow the entire cone in one bite. the paper wrapper and napkin around it were still not removed, too, but he didn't seem to care as he pushed his jaw back into place and kept walking by her side, as if it were nothing.

she decided it was easier to not comment.

they made their way back to the vehicle, and she dropped him back off at his corner of the water, verifying multiple times that he didn't want help looking for a place to live. a slight pause and hesitation; she wanted to give him her phone number in the event he needed something, but she quickly realized he probably doesn't even have a phone, let alone one he uses.

another ability user to add to her list. what a bunch of weirdos.

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boats kept coming.

this time, they were getting louder, more intrusive. some people brought diving gear and headlights, eager to explore the water for the sea beat. lovecraft was not pleased.

it was hard at first to take the advice of the strange woman. then, when they put on loud speakers and played blaring music during their expeditions, it became impossible to ignore them. a blizzard of tentacles and otherworldly monstrous body parts ravaged every boat on the lake.

[_____] showed up a dozen minutes later, not pleased.

no one was injured, but news reporters had gathered and were making a bug fuss out of it all. they dispersed after some time, and she was the only one left. she tossed pebbles into the water, hoping for him to resurface for them to talk.

"I specifically told you to do one thing," she grumbled, glaring into his sleepy eyes that peeked up. "now the whole town knows there's something going on here."

he briefly racked his brain for past interactions with his former partner, steinbeck, and realized this was the sort of situation where he was supposed to apologize. she looked at him with distrust when he did (quite blandly), but ultimately sighed and shook her head, saying it wasn't a problem.

"maybe you just need to get out of here," she proposed. "if you're not in the water when the tourists arrive, you won't have to endure all of it. do you have someplace else to go in the meantime?"

a shake of his head signaled he didn't, but also that he didn't seem to care. of course he wasn't picky about where he lived, he was currently residing in what amounted to a swamp.

"would you like to stay with me until this whole thing goes away?"

lovecraft shrugged, "okay," as if it weren't a big deal for either of them. she scolded herself for being baffled at his nonchalant reaction, which was to be expected.

she insisted he dry himself up this time before getting in her car, though.

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lovecraft made himself at home by eating just about everything she had in her pantry, then trying to eat the pantry.

a smack on the back of his neck with a rolled up newspaper, and he was set straight. she indicated that he could sleep on the couch for the time being, just as long as he double-checked with her that it was okay before eating anything, emphasis on thing.

"I'm not around most of the time," she told him as she put on a coat while near the entrance, eyes darting around to make sure she wasn't leaving any valuable around in the event that they magically disappear upon her return. "so, the place is yours. are you sure you don't have anyone you want to stay with? I was told you had a partner when you were in the guild, a young lad named steinbeck. I can track him and the remnants of the guild down, if you'd like."

"no."

not a trace of anger, disgust, or even any emotion from his response. he simply wanted to be left alone, she realized.

her expression softened and she put the coat back down, walking up to him.

"how about this, would you want to go get some ice cream again? I can pay, of course."

money didn't seem to cross his radar, so the final comment went through his head. she wanted to understand him, as was the task her father had delegated onto her to know all ability users, but it was proving a lot harder than she'd thought.

that's how she found herself, a disgusted look on her face as she watched lovecraft jump into a small pond near the ice cream shop, the treat still in his hand. the ball of frozen cream floated on the surface of the murky water, and he opened his mouth to eat it like a koi fish.

"there's... there's so much wrong with what you're doing right now," she frowned, watching him happily ruin the clothes she'd just bought for him by swimming around in them. again. "howard, you're going to have to take it easy on my wallet, I don't have an infinite supply of clothes to get you."

he vanished under the surface and did not come back up for an entire minute.

she couldn't handle water - she retained quite a bit of feline features even in human form, after all - and there was no way in hell she was going to jump in to save him if he were drowning. he wasn't drowning, of course, he'd just made his way along the floor and chomped down on unsuspecting sea-dwellers. since she'd said she can't pay for everything, this was free. at least, he thinks it is.

when he came back up, she sighed with a tired smile on her face, leading him back to the apartment.

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"how does your hair never get tangled?"

she was watching him curiously as he spread his lanky limbs across the sofa, bones breaking and body distorting to make it more comfortable for him. he didn't seem to hear her question until fingers raked through silky locks.

"why would it?" he raised a brow, eyelids still shut. after a few weeks, he'd gotten better at conversation, but the horror fanatics were still invading his little corner of the sea. besides, he liked it better here.

"oh right, I forgot that you don't have the problems the rest of us mortals have," she said jokingly, but realized she wasn't even sure if it was a joke. she started having doubts that he had an ability and wasn't really just a sea monster after all. fingers combed through obsidian streaks. "ahhh... it's so soft..."

she stood up in front of him, and made her entire body visible. "I'm going to turn into a cat, now."

they agreed to make it clear to the other before doing anything that scared the other, and that involved using their abilities. she liked being a cat, most of the time, as it was more pleasant to nap and lounge around in that form. however, it still caught him by surprise, and he nearly shattered the entire apartment once when he went into the kitchen for some food and caught her sleeping in a bread basket.

grey eyes watched the calico cat pounce up from the floor onto the sofa, hobble along the edge of his body until it twirled around itself and slept in the waves of hair.

he was already asleep by then, so he didn't mind when little cat teeth nibbled on the strands. they tasted like sea water, to no one's shock. paws stretched out with a yawn, then went back to snuggling themselves under the warm body of fur.

maybe this arrangement wasn't so bad.

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he was getting much better as weeks turned into months. the craze over the yokohoma sea monster died down, but he found himself attached to someone for the first time in his existence. he didn't know how to describe the feeling other than warmth and that of a full stomach.

giggles exhaled in clouds of fog as she walked on the empty streets at night with him by her side. she was cold, and so was he; the only difference is that she felt it whereas he simply didn't care.

"can we go home..." he grumbled, albeit glad for the absence of people in the vicinity. they made him uncomfortable, all except for her. he didn't know why his lips were tugging upwards as she took his hand in hers.

"you're freezing," she remarked against icy flesh. "I'm sure there's a café or something nearby, if you want to warm up before headi-"

his other arm wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her against his frame, face buried deep enough in his chest to cause her to suffocate. her feet were kicked upwards behind her, body no longer touching the ground as he carried her entire weight with his one arm.

"you're cold too. this will help."

"MFMFMFMNMNMF!!"

he took her muffled cries for confirmation that he did the right thing, and walked them home in just about the most awkward position possible. she managed to crane her neck to the side, gasping for breaths, but just laughed to herself at his peculiarities.

he was right, it did help.

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she remained curled up against him even as they got inside, slipped under blankets and were laying on the couch. not that she had a choice; he didn't seem keen on letting go anytime soon.

"my limbs don't bend like yours do. could I..." she squirmed, grateful that he seemed to get the message and loosened his hold on her. she repositioned herself then curled back up into him, rubbing her head in slow circles against his chest from feline instinct. she muttered a thanks into his slowly warming shirt.

everything felt so uncomplicated in his presence. even as a horror movie played in the background, she nearly fell asleep on him, and he had long gone into the realm of dreams. they were both snoring softly when a dramatic scream emanated from the television, jolting him awake.

her eyes were still closed, and he just took a look at her face for a few moments before having what was more of an urge than an idea.

he ate her mouth.

this sprung her wide awake as she pulled away from shock once she'd realized he was biting her lips.

"what are you doing?!" she shrieked, hands pushing on his chest to lift herself up and off of him. "you can't just... what... why would you... ?!!!"

he looked at her with a dull expression, a sliver of confusion revealing itself on his long features. "I saw... I saw people do this when they're content. I-"

"oh my god," she let out a breath of relief as she understood that his actions didn't align with his intentions, even chuckling softly as she let herself fall back onto him, body now completely on top of his. her face was hovering on top of him, and she kept a gentle smile. "people do that when they're in love, howard. it's called a kiss."

again, confusion and a grumble. "oh. what does that mean?"

she squinted, almost as if looking for the answer to his question in the backrooms of his irises. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's what people feel when they're really happy around each other."

"I feel like that," he stated blankly, watching as her face flushed in embarrassment.

"you can't just say that like it's nothing," she managed to croak out without combusting on the spot. "love is a very big thing. you have to mean it."

"why wouldn't I mean it?"

her lips parted as she tried to respond, then realized just how simple everything was with this man. lovecraft didn't care about the specifics, and maybe she shouldn't either. she exhaled through her mouth slowly, then brought her hands to his cheek.

"okay, fine. I'm going to kiss you now, alright? don't do anything like try to bite my flesh off, just... just let me kiss you. can we try that?" the words felt silly as they spilled out, but he nodded. if it didn't involve him doing anything, that was even better, he thought.

his eyes were open as lips met again. he took notice that hers were closed, but he couldn't quite understand why. it was nothing like what he'd tried earlier: she was soft and slow about it. he could feel her chest fall and rise in sync with the gentle breaths she let out. it was clear she wasn't sure about what she was doing, but after a few moments, she leaned in closer and he could taste her on his tongue. she rubbed her lips on his, and smirked once she felt him trying to reciprocate by copying her movements. fingers slid from his cheeks to his hair, and she pulled his face deeper into hers.

she let out a soft yelp as his tongue dipped further into her, now an addict of her taste. he tried to be careful, he really did, but his teeth bit down into her tongue a little harshly as he tried to get the hang of this. as soon as things got too messy, too fast, she slowly pulled away, his lower lip flicking back upwards as her own let it go. her eyes fluttered back open, and she found herself giggling as she saw that his were open the entire time. of course they were.

"that," she whispered with a smile, fingers stroking his hair and weaving through them at his scalp, "that is a kiss. how did that feel?"

his face literally melted and he became a gooey mess of tentacles and monstrous shapes as he felt his entire body explode internally.

watching his version of being flustered be to turn into his alternate form, she was tempted to giggle at how adorable his reaction was. however, she quickly found herself projected across the room as he accidentally threw her out of panic.

she chuckled, back slumped against the wall while sitting on the floor on the opposite end of the room, a hand on her head feeling for any bumps or cuts. "I take it that means you liked it."

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a hand around his hips, a hand holding a cup of hot chocolate.

a hand on her waist, a hand gripping five different ice cream cones all at once.

they sat on a bench in the dead of the night, which was really the only time she could get him out of the apartment. during the day, she would go out and work while he stayed home and slept. during the night, they would occasionally go out, then come home and sleep. it was quite the schedule.

she took a slow sip of her hot chocolate, head tilting to the side in order to rest on his shoulder. in order to not disturb her, he contorted his neck at an angle that would make anybody call on for a higher being's protection, and tossed all the cones into his mouth in one motion.

"want a sip?" she offered her drink, unfazed by anything he did anymore. "not the whole cup, just a taste."

his eyes met hers, and he shrugged yes. she smirked and kissed his lips, the chocolate flavour lingering even as she pulled away.

thankfully, as they were in public even though there was no one out at this unholy hour, he just blushed and did not morph into an enemy of the state and humanity. she liked it when he blushed; his sharp features softened and glistened under the moonlight. another kiss to the high of his cheekbones paired with fingertips sliding along his abdomen, and the red deepened.

"m'just messin' with you," murmured against his skin. "want to go home now?"

it was a stupid question: he always wanted to go home.

only, his home was no longer a place, but a person.

[frankenjoly]

"I've never seen much good come from looking to the past." + bramcraft? 👀

“I’ve never seen much good come from looking to the past.” At the same time those words got to him, Bram felt Howard resting his head on the vampire’s shoulder from behind. “I cannot tell you to simply stop, nor I will, though.”

“Understandable.” Of course he wouldn’t; who better than his partner, his dear old pal, to know how it wasn’t just as easy?

There had never been a deadline in which grieving would end, and even after quite the amount of centuries and having finally started to heal… Bram hadn’t exactly forgotten, not to mention how he doubted he ever could. And it wasn’t like he had to forget per se, but he was still a bit of a long way towards fully forgiving himself for all the things he had failed to prevent back in the day. He wasn’t, though, going to undermine having gotten new chances at happiness either. 

Less when one of the reasons was right there with him, wrapping his body with two arms turning into a myriad of tentacles.

“How glad I am to have you with me.” Bram simply said, softly, lifting up one of said tentacles in his hand to press a bunch of kisses over it as if to further prove his own words. “Then, now and forever.”

“Then, now and forever.” Lovecraft repeated, reciprocating to the kisses by leaving some on Bram’s cheeks, like the start of a promise when the reality was slightly different: those vows exchanged were anything but new, and they would remain through time.

(Also on ao3.)

[kxyera]

How the Ghouls spend time alone (SFW) <3

All fluff, first time i've ever wrote something like this :)

Aurora

I know for a FACT this girl can draw. She can sketch, paint, reference, shade and draw in multiple art styles. She's incredibly proud of her art (AS SHE SHOULD?!) and always draws little sketches of the other ghouls when shes bored or alone. She sometimes rips the pages out and gives it to the ghoul she drew, they always fawn over it and thank her multiple times.

Cirrus

She's a doomscroller. Enough said. She has a screen-time of over 10 hours and is not ashamed whatsoever. She also loves online shopping, she spends at least half her time scrolling to buy things she cant and will probably never afford or wear.

Cumulus

THIS. GIRL. CROCHETS. SHE IS A CROCHET QUEEN. She especially loves making stuffed animals and makes the ghouls little stuffed animals for anti-christmas and their birthdays. They're always personalised and is colour-coded to the giftee's element (EG: Fire = Red wool, Water = Blue wool, Air = White/grey wool, Earth = Green/brown wool, Quintessence = Purple). She loves the time and effort spent in making crochet projects, and absolutely adores seeing the other ghouls' face light up when they're gifted one of her projects.

Sunshine

I feel like she'd just enjoy the alone time. She'd go on walks by herself, skipping and listening to music. She just loves everything and is literally a walking ray of sun. literally.

Swiss

He definitely plays loud music and sings along to it. Other ghouls either love it or hate it, depends on what time of day/night it is. He once woke up Sodo at 2am from it. DEEPLY regretted it. Has always stopped playing music at exactly 10pm after that incident.

Sodo

Depending on his mood, he'll either practice his guitar or go on walks. He almost always practices his guitar as he thinks its the only thing that will keep him focused in on something. He plays to get his mind off of whatever happened and he'll only goes on walks when he knows he needs to properly clear his head.

Mountain

He'd be a gardening boy. His room is full of plants and he knows the exact name of every plant in his room. He'd go out to the ministry gardens and sit underneath one of the trees reading. He's a calm boy.

Rain

You bet your ass if its a rainy day he's out there running around in it. Heavy rain? He loves it. Storm? No problem. Thunder? He'll jump at the large crashes of thunder, but find it to be music to his ears. He takes daily showers and the water has to be cold. He loves cold water (especially in the mornings) and he absolutely has a rainfall shower head. His spare time is spent damp.

Phantom

This little gremlin is a walking pile of chaos. He once baked with the ghoulettes when he was bored. Its safe to say he's now officially banned from the kitchen. Everytime he has spare time alone, he instantly goes to find someone to mess about with. He also plans elaborate pranks to pull on the other ghouls in the future. Yes, he has a notebook with all these plans.

Aether

He’s the type of guy that reads a lot of old novels, always has a book on him. He *loves* H.P. Lovecraft, especially ‘Call of Cthulhu’ and could talk about it for hours by a cozy fire if he had someone to listen

[mrsrookhunt]

Hey!!! How’re you? Anyways no rush on this because I know how busy you are, with school work, and the requests and I know it’s a lot so no rush on any of my requests, but here’s a new one.

Ango, Sigma, Nikolai, Lovecraft and Mushitarou with an s/o that LOVES thighs, like any kind of thighs. (Pretty sure we had a conversation about this ☠️) and they constantly hold their thighs, touch them, kiss them, bite them, MAN EVERYTHING, I LOVE THIGHS.

Anyways thanks again, and no rush, I love your writing and you should continue doing what you do. Have a good day/night bye! <3

BSD Men with an S/o who Loves Thighs

Fluff, crack

Warnings: Suggestive

Ango Sakaguchi

Ango's more embarrassed than he's willing to let on that you take such interest in his thighs.

He doesn't see them as anything special, being on the thinner side and certainly at least average.

When you first express your love for his thighs, he's confused by it, and slow on the uptake to realize it's not specifically sexual, either. He's flustered when you shyly ask him to allow you to put a hand on one when you're sitting together; it's not something he ever thought of, but he doesn't mind it after he gets used to it.

He loves your enthusiasm about his thighs; he won't admit it but it makes him feel just a little bit more special in your eyes.

Sigma

"My... thighs? Is that a... fetish or something?"

Poor baby he's so flustered

He doesn't like his thighs; he says they look too unprofessional for a casino manager, but you beg to differ.

"They're a natural part of you, how can they be unprofessional-?"

He grows to like your fixation, however. It's endearing. He may not be one to indulge it often out of his own low self esteem, but if you're both alone and you're stressed out or overthinking, he may put your hand on his thigh and give it a little squeeze, hand-over-hand, to remind you he's here for you, whatever you need.

He blushes like mad if you ever bring it up but you do appreciate his subtle affections and gestures of love for you.

Nikolai Gogol

He laughs like a madman when you 'confess' this to him.

"Of course you love my thighs, who doesn't? They're everyone's dream~~"

You nearly smack him when he uses his ability to rest one right on your shoulder while he cackles.

It's true, he's proud of those thighs of his. He knows their immense worth.

Now well-aware of your fascination with them, he often makes a point to plop one on you as much as possible, demanding rubs and cuddles for his 'oh-so-sore' thighs.

Something about all that weight making them ache

You start playfully biting his thighs when he gets them too close for comfort.

He doesn't seem to mind, snickering each time you do and giving you a soft kick to the chest.

"Aaaaah, my doveee--- I can't help it-- it's my reflexes!".

Nikolai's thighs are a 10/10 experience

Howard Phillips Lovecraft

His... thighs? You... like them?

What thighs--

His emaciated form is skinny and gaunt; he doesn't expect you to become enamored with the practically skin and bone thighs he bears.

He's not really surprised. He doesn't care much at all; you have free reign over touching and playing with them, he doesn't mind. So long as you're not disrupting his sleep.

Once, after a particularly long time 2 days away from him, he puts your hand lightly on his thigh, and when you hesitantly squeeze, he makes a mild noise of contentment. However, that's the most he's ever indulged you.

You like to lightly smack him on the thighs sometimes when he annoys you. It's just the best spot, in your opinion, and a great way to let him know he needs to dial down the eldritch horror again--

Overall, you can do practically anything with his thighs. He doesn't find it endearing or sweet, but he does appreciate your affections.

Mushitaro Oguri

You never tell him; you never get a chance to. By the second month of dating, he insists on holding your hand on top of his thigh at any possible opportunity, and is more than thrilled when you show them any special attention.

You tested the waters by going in for a kiss on his lower thigh once, a sweet one that made him flustered and red, but in the best way.

You never took him for a thigh man but he very clearly loves when you play with his and enjoys playing with yours too, if you'll allow him to.

He loves how you just lock onto his thighs for cuddles, laying in his lap and resting your head between them, like your own personal body pillows. He'll rub your head and give you kisses the whole time. This is 200% your favorite way to watch movies on the couch together.

Pay attention to his thighs. It's a major center of his affections.

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May 23rd, 2023

-Kaori