#me and my brother are making a descendants au so

[empress-simps]

Line That Leads To You

Pairing: Sirius Black x Fem! Reader AU: Soulmate AU CW: Language, Genre: Angst with a happy ending (don't worry guys) Summary: You make Sirius realize that having a soulmate isn’t all that bad— that he too, will have his happily ever after.

Note: One of my favorite tropes to write, soulmate AUs! Sirius just needs love and affirmation. I love writing for this! Enjoy! Picture is from pinterest, credits to the owner!

You know, Sirius never really believed in those pesky soulmates stuff. It irks him to no end, and makes his head hurt.

The topic makes him snappy, bitter, and it leaves him feeling angry. To whom? The world— the one who’s responsible for everything that has to do with soulmates. He thinks it is a bunch of bollocks. It’s a pathetic little concept that everyone seems to be too invested in.

Sirius would be very much happy to tell you it doesn’t really end with a happily-ever-after.

“I’m telling you, Prongs. It’s just a bunch of crap.” Sirius tells James one time at the drawing room in the Potter Manor. James shakes his head, disagreeing with his best mate.

“It isn’t always like Walburga and Orion, Pads.” James gently tells him, eyes swimming with empathy for Sirius. “Just look at me, Lily and I are together, finally.” Sirius can’t help but scoff, shaking his head in a disagreeing manner.

“That’s because you were already pathetically in love with her before you even knew she was the one, Prongs. Same thing for Lily, but she was quite stubborn trying to deny what she felt about you. You guys are actually made for each other.” James lets out a laugh, the memories resurfacing making a love-struck smile appear on his face (Sirius gave him a disgusted look)

“That’s what soulmates are, Pads. You’re supposed to complete each other, balance the other person out” He pursed his lips and sighed, there’s no way Prongs could understand his opinion on the matter.

Complete each other, huh?

Then can someone give him a reasonable excuse on why his parents broke each other? One descended into madness; the other doesn’t really seem to care as long as the noble house of Black lineage will continue.

Sirius bites his bottom lip, deep in thought as he stares at his pinky, willing the connection to be seen; a red string that was tied into a bow that leads to Merlin-knows-where. It serves as a connection; the string that he and only his soulmate can see whenever they want. He tugs on it curiously, awaiting any reaction with bated breath. He almost scrambled away when he felt the other end also tug it. Sirius was utterly terrified, a shiver crawled up to his system, it’s foreign feeling for the Black’s eldest son. It made everything feel too real. A fact that he desperately tries to deny.

That night, before they returned to Hogwarts as sixth year students was the last time he ever willed to see the annoying little string in his pinky, not caring if his supposed other half was finding him or already found him.

Maybe it had to do with his twisted upbringing. He saw how his father cut the string tying him to their mother, the purple string that bound them together turning gray and withering away.

He saw how Regulus flinched, no one should’ve seen a scene like that, but they did. Someone severing their connection to someone who should’ve been with them through better or for worse, the one that fate intended for them. Their life got worse just after that, forcing him to flee and leave his younger brother behind at the deranged hands of Walburga Black.

“You should eat more, Reggie.” You turned towards the quiet and reserved Slytherin, pushing his plate closer to him, which made him wince. “I am quite full.” You raised a brow “None sense, all you did was sip pumpkin juice so you better do as I say or I’ll tell Evan and Junior.”

“Do you know that you boss people around quite well?” He grumbles, shoving a few spoonsful of dinner in his mouth as you hummed in approval, cracking a small smile. “I was told.” Your eyes flickered to the Gryffindor table, it seemed to gravitate you, pulling you in.

Looking down at your pinky, you willed the string to be visible to you. Seeing the red string attached to Sirius Black made your stomach churn; was it butterflies? Unease? You don’t particularly know, having mixed reactions to the string that leads to your other half.

You’ve known for over a year now, keeping it to yourself as you quickly figured out that he wants nothing to do with his soulmate.

“Reggie! Reggie!”

You exclaimed, slapping the poor boy’s arm as he was currently staying in the L/n Manor. He looked in your direction, quite annoyed, he was interrupted reading his book. “I’m reading, Y/n. You know, you should too. It’ll do you some good.” He sassed, trying to find which part he stopped reading. “My soulmate! They tugged the string!” You gushed, “They must be looking for me too, right?” You asked no one in particular, you can still feel the tingles you felt, how your heartbeat picked up, and how you felt like you were in could nine.

Quite the opposite from what Sirius felt, huh?

You never told him, never planned to. It was quite clear what his views are on the concept of soulmates when you saw him snogging different girls every week. It wrecked you; you swore you felt your heart stop beating every time you see him loving a girl other than you even just for a week. It sounds stupid and all, but you would give up everything just to know what it feels like; how he will look at you with love and adoration in his eyes, how his touch and kisses would linger on your body, and how his voice would sound like as his breath fans in your ear, whispering promises of love.

You looked at him from the Slytherin table; so close yet so far.

Regulus noticed, the all too familiar broken look in your face. His heart hurts for you, even if you do not tell him, he already knows. Seeing his brother’s indifference, Regulus’s gaze hardened. How could he have the guts to do this to his soulmate?

The memory of their mother's despair, the way she withered away after their father severed the bond, was etched into his mind. Regulus does not wish for anyone to feel that way, he does not wish upon it even in his worst enemies.

It was a pain no one should endure, a lesson that should have been learned.

Yet there sat his brother, laughing with his friends and willfully ignoring the pulls of his heart. The person who held the other end of this unseen tether, was beside Regulus. Your soul ached as you watched your soulmate. It was a betrayal of the heart's deepest connection, and it stirred a tempest of fury within Regulus that he struggled to contain.

“My brother is foolish. Eat.” He states, pushing your food and placing the cornbread on his plate to yours. She cracks a smile, chuckling. “Alright, Reggie. You’re lucky I love you.” You pat his curls, proceeding to eat the bread, smiling a little. Reggie never really shares his food with anyone, except for you. You’re the only exception.

“Padfoot.” Remus starts, looking out of the window as Sirius lays down lazily in his bed, looking at nothing.

“What, Moons?”

“If I say that I have an inkling on who your soulmate is, would you… look for them?” Remus asked cautiously. Peter and James perked up, eyes wide with shock. How could Remus possibly guess who his soulmate is? Unless… They’re also in Hogwarts?

“Don’t start with that crap, Moony.” Sirius sat up; a scowl displayed in his features as his grey eyes turned stormy.

“Don’t you even feel the slightest amount of guilt in your system as you snog other girls?” Remus frowned.

Sirius’s scowl deepened, his hands clenching into fists. “Guilt? For what, Moony? For not wanting to be chained down by some ancient magic?” His voice was a low growl, barely containing the emotions that surged within him. “I won’t be dictated by fate. I make my own choices, and I refuse to be bound by a bond I never asked for.”

Remus’s expression softened, the lines of concern etching deeper into his face. “It’s not about being chained, Pads. It’s about finding someone who complements you, who understands you in ways no one else can.” He paused, his gaze steady and piercing. “You’ve seen what happens when that bond is severed. You’ve seen the pain it causes. Is that what you want for yourself? For your soulmate who’s probably hurting somewhere?”

Sirius looks down, biting his lip and playing with the rings on his fingers. “I don’t plan on severing our bond, Moons- “

“Then what the fuck are you doing?” Remus spat, Sirius flinched, looking at anything but them. He knew deep down that Remus was right. He can’t deny he also wants to look for his soulmate. The only thing that was holding him back is that he’s scared. What if your story would end similarly like how Walburga and Orion’s did? Dread fills his system as he reflects on how he slowly realized he’s becoming like his father. Peter and James exchanged a glance, the weight of the conversation settling heavily upon them.

“I’m scared,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “Scared of finding her… Scared of repeating the same mistakes.” He paused, his gaze lifting to meet Remus’s. ���But you’re right. I can’t keep running from this. It’s not fair to them, and it’s not fair to me.”

James offered a supportive smile, feeling happy for his friend. Sirius stood up, his posture straightening as if shedding the weight of his fears. “I’ll do it. I’ll find her,” he declared, his voice steady. “I owe it to both of us to at least try.”

“That’s our Padfoot.” Remus breathes a sigh of relief as Peter nods encouragingly at Sirius.

The next daylight soon came. Sirius gulps, looking around the great hall, feeling quite overwhelmed at the number of students entering for breakfast, eating, or chatting amongst themselves. For the first time in a long time, he willed the red string of fate to reappear within his vision.

Ah, there it was. The red string connected to someone from the Slytherin table. Sirius felt his heart drop, seeing the end of the string connected to your pinky. “Y/n?” The name left his lips in a hushed awe, his heart skipping a beat as he saw the string connected to your pinky. You, who laughed with such ease beside Regulus, were the missing piece.

Whether it was some brotherly instinct, Regulus looked at him, shooting him a warning stare as if to say: ‘If you hurt her, you’ll never see the light of day ever again.’

Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise, knowing eyes set on his friend. “Found her, Pads?”

“Yeah. Found her, Moony.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” James chimed in, a grin spreading across his face as Peter silently cheers him on. “Go on, before you lose your nerve.”

Sirius took a deep breath, trying to shake off the weight of Regulus’s protective stare. It was a silent challenge, a vow to keep your heart safe from his brother. With a nod of acknowledgment, Sirius stepped forward, crossing the small distance between the Gryffindor table and Slytherin.

“Y/n,” he said, standing before you, the red string pulsing with a life of its own.

You stilled, slowly looking in his direction. Eyes wide with surprise, searched his for a moment before softening. “I was wondering when you’d come around,” you teared up, making Sirius’ heart ache.

Sirius extended his hand, the red string wrapping around both your destinies. “Let’s talk, yeah?”

And in that moment, as your fingers intertwined, Sirius knew that whatever the future held, he had made the right choice. For in finding you, he had found a new path that began to unravel, one filled with hope and courage. The buzz of Great Hall continued, but both of them felt time still, feeling the bond weave into their souls deeper.

Sirius’s and Y/n’s story had its flaws, but it was theirs, uniquely woven by the red strings of fate.

[momodita]

snapshots. [—millions knives]

TAGS / WARNINGS: trigun stampede verse, no crash       au, gender neutral reader, possessive behavior,       plant mating cycles (implied aphrodisiac       effect), jealousy, implied predator/prey WC: 1,000 NOTE: buff knives save me. save me buff knives.

✗ MINORS / AGELESS / BLANK BLOGS DNI.

“What do you think of Vash.”

Knives doesn’t ask questions—he makes demands. You’ve barely set the tray with his supper down before he speaks. This side of the ship is out of range of the hull’s lights. He’s facing away from the window, but even his reflection seems to stare. The air is noticeably sweet—almost unbearably so. Like honey.

“Good evening to you, too.” The tease comes first, reflexively. His nose wrinkles, expression testy. He’s confined himself to the ship’s residential sector all day: no wonder he’s extra irritable, you didn’t hear anyone else en route to his room.

“Answer me,” he commands.

You appraise him, pausing. His clothes are loose—as casual as he’ll allow himself. He looks no less ruffled than normal, but his body is poised: the eerily motionless outline of him stark against the midnight stretch of glass.

“We’re friends? I'm sure he would say the same.” You pull words with careful truth. Since childhood, Knives has stuck to Vash like glue. Rarely are they seen apart, except the occasions they fight and when duty pulls them to different sectors.

Vash is companionable and easy to approach; the same cannot be said for his brother. Yet over the years you’ve come to consider Knives somewhat of a close friend as well.

You tell him this—cheerful despite his mood—but he merely stares, expression pinched; unsatisfied. The honeyed air is so thick, you can almost feel the crawl of it in your lungs.

“You’re hiding something,” he insists, agitated. “That’s not all, is it?” He’s losing patience. You’ve no idea what inspired these questions, what he hopes to gain from asking them. Is he perhaps envious of his brother’s wide network of friends? In no lifetime would he care for tips on getting along with people. That’s how he's always been—a far cry from his personable, people-loving brother, but no less intelligent.

Head tilting, your confusion is obvious. “…What’s with the interrogation?” If you’d known he was in the mood to scrutinize, you wouldn’t’ve volunteered to bring his dinner.

“Answer me.” He steps forward, closing the short distance between you. Instinct tells you to flee, but it’s just Knives. He’s just Knives. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. How he dotes on you.”

Vash dotes on everyone. He supplies you snacks during long shifts, he cracks jokes that make you laugh, he listens to your worries, he keeps you company in the wee hours—but he does that with everyone. He’s let you nap in his room a couple times, but it’s closer than yours and you’ve been found dozing off in the kitchens. A bed is better than the floor.

“Knives, are you alright?” He’s got all the movement and concentration of a hunting animal. The kind you’ve seen from archived media. You take an instinctive step back.

He descends upon you like a wall. The years have been kind to his height and build: he closes the distance between you in just three strides. Fear blooms, unbidden and merciless—you think he’s going to hit you. But there’s a bruising pressure around your arm, his grapple like iron as his heaving chest presses against you—into you—forcing a hasty retreat until your heel knocks the door.

The movement pushes air from your lungs, and you realize late—much too late, far too late considering who you’re dealing with—that he is the reason for this sweet aroma. It fills your nose as he aligns your bodies together, all but squishing you into the cold steel.

“Stay,” he hisses. A wide, hot palm pressing into your hip. “Tell me what you think of my brother.” The hairs on your nape stand straight as he speaks against your temple. “All of it.”

(The other crew members had seemed apprehensive. One suggested to wait for Vash so he could do it. But it’d gotten too late. There was no guarantee he’d come back. They’d been apprehensive, but maybe… maybe not for the reason you initially thought.)

“You’re not for him,” he’s saying, sounding almost delirious. “You’ll never be for him.”

“I’m not for anyone!” Alarmed by his strength—his unwillingness to release you, struggling is an easy choice. “Knives, let’s think rationally—”

“I am thinking rationally.” He looses a rough, clipped breath. Nerves splinter a fierce trail down your spine when his face presses into the length of your throat.

“You’re not.” It’s useless to admonish him in this state: he listens to nothing. Not logic, not facts, not even Rem. “Knives, let me—let me get Vash. I’ll get Vash and we can—”

The teeth are a surprise. They scrape up your throat—a ragged breath flickers down your esophagus, fingers jumping up to fist into the material of his shirt. The heat of his body is unrelenting. The saccharine smell is so violently potent. It makes your knees oddly weak.

“You’re mine.”

…What?

You nearly go limp against him—the shock saps you of any fight. He’s acted this way a handful of times before. The memories are finally resurfacing: being easily aggravated, making impossible childish demands. It happens infrequently, but on a schedule. And this syrupy fragrance… you’ve experienced it before in a diluted form: years ago, when Vash had been red-faced and forced to tell you about certain cycles—

“Knives, this smell isn’t—don’t tell me you’re—”

“You came to me willingly,” Knives breathes, rough and low. His markings begin pulsing with light. His mouth is hot and wet as it moves over your rabbiting pulse. Hungry. “You knew.”

Oh. Oh no.

“I came to deliver your food,” you protest, muffled into his chest as his arms tighten, squeezing you against him. He looses something like a growl into the dip of your shoulder, rubbing his face there. “Knives,” you plead.

Distant thundering footsteps approach. His eager fangs are sharp—they threaten to break skin. And you, for all your struggle, cannot muster the coherence to protest.

[rottendollface]

Sons of Sin.

Request by: @bigtimesalt8196

Character: Childe Tartaglia | Ajax.

Warnings: NSFW; Little Red Riding Hood AU, different lore of Archons, werewolf yandere Ajax, narcissistic Aether with sadistic inclinations, female reader is a radical believer, Ajax was born from a different man, incest, crowd collapse, cannibalism, unwanted marriage, unprotected sex, creampie, breeding kink, oral sex, bestiality, fingering, knotting, slight lactation kink, planned murder, voyeurism, 18+.

W/C: 9388.

Art by: Pixart AI.

When the hunger awoke there was nothing more, but pain – pain of cracked bones and stretched out joints. Not a scream, but a feral howl could be heard, as Ajax experienced his first transformation in the deepest of the impenetrable forest. You woke up from the echoes of roar that made windows in your room rattle. You froze in your bed in fear, but curiosity took over you and you got up, coming to the window on your tiptoes. You looked out, and the yard was clean, no sign of someone's presence.

Without a candle you stepped into the darkness of the corridor and rushed to the nursery, where Teucer and Tonya lived. “It's me,” you whispered, opening the creaking door; you heard both of them sobbing and tried to calm them. “It's okay, little ones. That's our Patron Saint howling in the forest, foretelling the Blood Moon.”

You came to their shared bed. Both Tonya and Teucer curled in dread, hugging each other. Their bed stayed against the wall, so you took the unprotected side, hiding them behind your figure. Like a young gentleman he was, Teucer had always let Tonya sleep against the wall, as she was afraid of the dark. You felt Teucer clinging to you, and Tonya did the same, but to him. You reached your hand, trying to hug both of them at the same time. With you by their side, your younger siblings felt safe and finally relaxed.

“Sleep, my ducklings,” you soothed. ”There is nothing to be afraid of. Your older brother will do everything right. Have faith in him.”

Before the festival of the Blood Moon the oldest son of the head of the village had to step into the forest to present the gifts to the Patron Saint – Ajax was the chosen one, and you were praying for him to return from the mission safely. You knew he would be alright, yet you asked the Patron to have mercy on Ajax and bring him back home.

You were humming a chant until Tonya and Teucer fell asleep, then you got up and left noiselessly. In the corridor you saw a glimpse of candle light and Aether, your groom, appeared in front of you immediately after.

“Is everything okay?” Aether murmured, anxiety on his face. You sighed – no more frightened children for you tonight.

“Yes. Please come to your bedroom, Aether.” You patted him on his bare shoulder. “You shouldn't walk in a negligee. Someone could see you.”

“I'm sorry. You know, those sounds…” Aether became confused at how you raised your brows in mock and disbelief, so he coughed to change the subject. “May the rest of the night be good for you.”

“Same for you. Now, please excuse me.” You hurried to your room. Again, you peeked through the window to see at least traces of Ajax on the white snow, yet again you saw nothing.

Ajax was special to you. Frequent touches and an urge to do everything all together: it were the reasons father started searching for a husband for you. Father knew how a woman's charm could make a man's head clouded, and Ajax, who was born from a different seed, could fall for it easily. Father's concerns towards Ajax's and your relationship were vile, yet they were true – both of you fell for the same sin of incest. Ajax was the result of your mother's first marriage, so everyone in the family counted him as an alien, a descendant of a different breed, despite the fact that all of the family's children shared the same mother. He was treated with the same love and respect, but deep inside everyone in the house, except mother, thought of him as a stranger at home.

Mother's silent approval of your relationship with Ajax was the starting point of the communication turning into a love affair. For you Ajax's attention was something you craved for. Ajax was reliable, kind and brave. He was always on your side, ready to protect you from everything: Ajax could sacrifice the world for you, and you knew no one would treat you with as much respect and care as him.

Ajax understood his affection towards you was different from teenage years. Your figure and your facial features were much more elegant than other brothers' and sisters'. Your steps were imponderable, your moves were extensively gracious, and your presence was radiating with vitality and joy. Smile on your lips could make everyone's day brighter, and the tender gaze of your glistening eyes was the only thing every village man dreamed of seeing. You had a supernatural charm and used it instinctively, making everyone fall in love with you from just one sight. You were precious: hospitable and selfless. Everything Ajax admired in women was collected in you, making you the most desirable one, and the temptation of forbidden fruit made him lose his head over you. He knew you would be a perfect mother. Your love was a glory to him, and Ajax was dreaming about starting a family with you. He wanted to see you nursing his offspring, wanted to come home, and be greeted by your kisses and hugs from his children. Ajax was ashamed to admit to himself that he thirsted to see you breastfeeding his child. Once he saw mother doing that, and a scandalous fantasy appeared in his head, never wanting to leave. Just the idea of a child sucking on your swollen nipple and your breasts round, full of milk, made Ajax blush from arousal.

Maybe your beauty and virtue were the reason why Aether, the named prince of newly founded territories of Snezhnaya called the Abyss, agreed to marry you without hesitation. Both, Ajax and you, were shocked at the news of your approaching wedding. You rebelled: you didn't want to marry and wanted to spend at least five more carefree years in your family, not to serve some stranger. Father was sure he needed to send you out of the house, and the Blood Moon was the best time to do so. Father found a perfect man for you – Aether, an outlander from the capital who owned a business of search and excavation of minerals. He was a few years older than you, handsome and wealthy to be counted as a good groom.

Aether arrived at the village not so long ago, his horses were resting at the same stable with yours, and his carriage was staying in the backyard. He was welcomed, settled in the best room of the house and got surrounded by care from elders and waggish affection from children. Your family accepted him and tried to make him feel like home in your house, yet Ajax and you weren't sharing the same excitement from Aether's presence. You were acting demure and cold, while Ajax didn't try to hide his irritation and hostility towards Aether. Ajax hated the way Aether was walking around the house and eyeing everything with interest and confusion: unlike people from the Capital, you, the residents of the village in Snezhnaya's outskirts, had different beliefs and traditions that baffled outlanders. There was an altar with a self-painted ikon (it depicted a creature with a human body, but a wolf's head), surrounded by candles and flowers, on every door frame there were carved out runes, all the kids in the village were wearing bracelets of black tourmaline, and no bibles of Archons could be found in the whole village. The difference between Aether and your family was clear: he believed in the Seven, and you believed in the local God, which was branded as false and destroyed by the Seven. In the Capital you were called heretics, in the village Aether was called traitor. Ajax was a radical believer and outlander's ignorance made him furious. You could call yourself a radical too, but you had patience and didn't have problems with heathens, until they respected your faith.

Maybe the roots of miscommunication between Aether and you laid in the different background, maybe it was a fear of Ajax's fervent jealousy that made you avoid your groom. You knew for sure that you would never be able to betray your heart and chose Aether instead of Ajax. You didn't want him as your friend even: Aether's presence made you nervous, but you had to act like a welcoming person not to disgrace your family. From his side, Aether showed you signs of affection and seemed to be genuinely interested in you – it made you nauseous. You were tired of smiling at him and acting happy for the gifts he gave you, but you didn't need him and his trinkets. It was the bitter truth, but your father chose to stay blind to it. He made a good deal and didn't want to lose any profit from it: Aether's company got permission to extract minerals from the village's abandoned mines and sell them, but the half of earned money belonged to the villagers.

You got up earlier than everyone else and searched for Ajax. You found him in his bedroom, sleeping tightly from night events. You kissed him on the forehead gently – you wanted to ask him so many things but kept your curiosity tamed. You closed the door to his room and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the family. Aether came down when you were in the process of baking sweet buns. You tensed up, but couldn't do anything about it.

“Happy Blood Moon, Aether,” you gave him a wide smile. Today was the day of the festival, and you were looking forward to dancing, music and contests. “Give me a minute, please, and I'll serve you something to eat.” You placed buns into the oven and began to bustle around the kitchen.

“Aren't we supposed to wait for everyone else and eat all together?” His voice sounded deliberately uninterested. You opened your mouth to answer him, but felt his hands squeezing your hips, then his figure pressing to yours. It was easy to take you by surprise, as you were standing with your back to him. He bucked his hips into yours, making you put your hands in front of you to keep balance. Aether's warm lips brushed against your neck, his agile fingers were reaching under your heavy wool skirt. “We have plenty of time, and I know a faster way to pass it. With pleasure, of course.”

“No!” You clung on his wrists, clawing into Aether's skin until he hissed. “I don't want to!”

“Come on, don't be such a coy, I'm your groom after all. Not all the methods include penetration, if you are afraid of it.” He giggled, moving one of his hands to your breast. You tried to break free, but he just pressed you tighter between his body and the corner. “Didn't your mother teach you what is happening between man and woman?”

“I'm on my period!” You made one more attempt and this one was successful. Quickly, Aether got his hands off of your body and excused himself. He left the room so as not to embarrass himself and you.

You weren't so coy and shy as Aether thought of you. You laid with man and were no stranger for passion, but the only one who had access to your body was Ajax. Aether's touches made you disgusted, and the responsibility of sharing bed with him made you frightened. He expected to marry a virgin, while you were so experienced you could teach him the true art of carnal love. What would Aether do after convicting you of obscenity? You were frightened at this point. The only way for you to find an answer to how to hide your past was to confess to your mother and ask for help. You knew she wouldn't make trouble from it, yet you felt ashamed.

You spend about an hour alone in the kitchen until mother came; Tonya and Teucer ran ahead of her. Mother kissed you on the cheek first, then on your forehead. She was calm as always, it seemed like nothing could disturb her tranquility. Then father came along with Aether: they were chatting about something, both obviously pleased by the topic. Your heart dropped. You were waiting for Ajax, but it seemed he was too exhausted to get up so early.

The family took places at the table, and Ajax appeared at the doorstep. “Brother!” You exclaimed, happiness on your face and glint in your eye. You ran to hug him, when your arms grasped him tightly, you heard a silent groan. Ajax patted you back weakly. “How did it go?”

“Like it should. Perfectly fine.” Ajax smiled, yet on his tired face it looked poorly.

“Hail to the Saint Werewolf!” You raised your hands above your head and folded them in a prayer gesture. “May the Blood Moon wash the sins from our village and bless another year with a good harvest and enough prey.”

“Hail to the Saint.” Ajax repeated after you and made the same gesture.

Father gazed down, perturbed by your religious enthusiasm. He looked at Aether slyly, trying to find a shade of disgust or anger on his face, but Aether seemed confused only.

“It's good to remember about your roots, but we don't bring any religious manner to the festival anymore, dear,” father spoke to you loudly. Mother scoffed, and Ajax frowned his eyebrows immediately. “We should worship The Seven only, don't forget about this.”

“On our land we should worship our God, not the usurpers.” Ajax demanded. He pushed you back and stepped in front of you, ready to argue. “Everyone who comes into the village should obey its rules, or go away with their ugly gods. There is no other option.”

“He is right,” You took your brother by his hand and pulled back gently, shortening his temper. “We have a great history and shouldn't be ashamed of it. Shame is the first sign of vulnerability.”

You held your head high, irradiating pride in your brother and the strength of your beliefs, so did mother, smiling with the corners of her lips only. Tonya and Teucer were busy playing rock-paper-scissors and didn't care about affairs of adult life. Aether just shrugged his shoulders, as he didn't want the conflict to continue. Even for him it was clear that father, despite being in rule in the village, was treated with neglect and skepticism by his own family, but he seemed to be perfectly fine with it. Mother was ruling the family from the shadows and you took after her. You got control over Ajax, making yourself a second authority figure, and was in charge of solving minor problems. Since the first day here, Aether noticed that your older brother was following you everywhere like a dog and looking at everyone with a wolf's gaze, full of anger, when someone tried to communicate with you. Maybe it was the traditions of your community, but Aether didn't like it at all. Aether believed that a wife should be humble and afraid of her husband, and you were an untamed horse. He was looking forward to breaking your character after the wedding. It wouldn't be easy work for sure, yet there was something exciting in restraining someone so impetuous and mentally strong.

Breakfast went surprisingly peacefully. Hours were left until the festival, so children were playing in the living room, while Ajax, Aether and you were watching after them.

“So what great history is behind the festival's origin?” Aether asked, trying to start the conversation.

"In the festival we pay tribute to the sacred protector of the village – the werewolf." You explained with a merry voice, preparing yourself to tell the whole legend. "The legend says that long before Archons descended to Teyvat, the long forgotten God created the world. The God created human creatures, a man and a woman. To protect them, it created a wolf and assigned him guarding humans, but the evil rose from the underworld. The evil assured the God that his creations were too perfect and it would lead the world to imbalance – so to keep the sacred balance, the God's every creature should have a gift from the evil as well. The God agreed, and allowed evil to spill his gifts to his creatures. The wolf was gifted with envy, the man was gifted with hubris and the woman was gifted with fear. Once, when the God left its children without care, the man started treating the wolf with neglect. In order to make the wolf fear him and respect him, the man was beating the animal. The woman, afraid of her husband, was just watching the process with tears in her eyes. The wolf was watching how the man and the woman lived together, and he felt envy for what they had: the wolf, too, wanted a mate, but the God forgot to make one for it. That's why deep at night, when the man tried to beat the wolf one more time, the wolf attacked him and killed the first man in the world, and took his wife as its mate. After this night the Moon in the Sky turned red from the blood of the man, and the wolf hid in the forest with its woman, where she birthed him many children, half-human and half-wolf, and they founded many villages, where they passed their genes from one generation to another; they protected each other, as well as everyone else, who asked for protection."

“How can you worship the one who killed the first man? Why didn't your god punish the beast for that?” Perplexed, Aether recalled the holy scripture of Archons and found it way more fair.

“Because he deserved this.” Ajax grunted, clenching his fists.

“No one deserved nothing,” you hurried to make up for your brother. “It was the natural order of balance. Hubris took over the man and made him sin which led to evil imbalance. The wolf atoned for the guilt by protecting people and honoring his children to do so. The balance was restored.”

“Never should an animal have power over a man.” Aether shook his head. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Ajax clenching his fists.

“Our God was killed by Archons and Archons ordered us to forget our roots. They pursued us into the depths of the forest because our religion is different and they tried to rewrite our history. We suffered enough persecution, so don't start a fight over such a sensitive problem.” You blurted out, noticing Ajax's anger building up. One more word and he would sprang at Aether. “We want peace.”

Aether gave up. He switched his gaze to a burning fireplace, musing. You did as well, letting anxiety take over you. Historically, only villagers were allowed to participate in the festival. By inviting Aether, father did him a great honor, but Saint Patron could get angry at this. Was the wealth of the whole village worth the feelings of one man? If you were the one to rule, you would have never allowed an outlander to the festival. You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed heavily. Father was the only problem of your family. He led the village for twenty years, and during his ruling the faith was called into question. The movement of traitors, who believed in the Seven, became more popular with every year. Father tried to contain it, but gently, reluctantly even. You didn't know what to do. As an elder's daughter, you were acting the role of keeper of traditions. You finished the local church school and knew about dissent between priests, as you had seen it with your eyes while studying there. The village was falling apart slowly, and you were afraid the last day of it would come soon.

Before leaving for the festival, Ajax asked you to spare a moment for him. He waited until others left, then he took your hands in his, chattering indistinctly. Ajax told you he had to go and check for grandmother, then he pleaded you to be careful in his absence. You noted his hands were extremely warm and trembling, but Ajax assured you he was alright. He kissed you on your lips quickly and left. It was a simple kiss, yet you felt excited.

The celebration began after a solemn speech from father. Music filled the village, and the fair was full of delicious food, sparkling drinks and sweet pastries; on the main street a theatrical performance unfolded. Common happiness made the old grudges disappear. Aether was exploring bright intricate decorations with interest. Tonya cried to you to go to the contests, and you only managed to warn mother on where both of you were going.

Time passed quickly, but the festival was building up momentum. Tonya, excited after games, didn't want to go home and took you to the fair. Tired, you were following Tonya, who was running from one stand to another, choosing what to eat. She decided to have a slice of blueberry pie and a cup of hot tea. You paid for her, and finally took a place to rest. Tonya was full of energy despite hours of active games. After a short break she wanted to go see a performance on the main street. It was dark already, but lanterns of various colors and forms were lightened, making the atmosphere dreamlike – of course she wanted to stay for a little long.

Joyful, she finished her tea time. You returned dishes to the owner and took Tonya's little hand in yours. She was hopping and humming a song to herself. You stopped at the stage; actors were playing a scene from local myths: one of the actors was dressed in a wolf mask and fur, another had a red oblong devil mask. You weren't familiar with this story, so you focused on the performance. Tonya, who was waiting for something more funny, got bored. Skillfully made costumes and attention to details of the initial myth didn't impress her.

Performance moved to the conflict part: when the wolf-actor opened the mask's muzzle, a horrifying deep roar came out. Blood froze in your veins, at how naturally and loud the sound was produced. Actors stalled, both of them were confused and just looked at each other. You looked around and noticed an enormously big shadow approaching, but before you could do something, it attacked. In a moment a human howl of terror and pain covered the whole village, an uncontrollable panic started. Then followed frightened horses neighing and wailing of cattle. You almost managed to take Tonya up in your arms, and the crush started. Afraid, people from the front rows pushed everyone who was behind them; others, who were running to the main street were bumping into fleeing. You covered Tonya's head with your arm to protect it; it was hard for you to stay on your feet, as you tried to break out the crowd. Bodies pressed to you, didn't let you slip out, you got hit with elbows and the crowd was stepping on your toes. You were about to fall into hysteria, and Tonya's cry right near your ears made it worse. You pleaded to your God, and by attempt you slipped into free space, but you didn't run away for too long: the village fell in infernal chaos, the fair was engulfed in flames, and screams with running people made you lose your vigilance. Someone ran into you at full speed, knocking you down. You fell on your back, protecting Tonya, and hit your head badly. Your vision blurred, a piercing whistling going in your ears. You couldn't even understand the position of your body, but you felt how Tonya was shaking you, trying to bring you to your senses. You closed your eyes and her hands disappeared, so you opened them with great effort, yet it was so slow you saw only someone taking her away. You groaned and rolled over on your stomach, clenched into frozen ground and crawled. A bloody stain was left where your head laid.

You stood up on shaking legs, your head was pulsating with pain, making it more difficult to keep balance. In the distance you heard screams and roars. You looked down – snow was crimson with blood, and mutilated corpses with missing limbs and ripped out internal organs filled the street. The horrific scene made you feel uneasy at your stomach, yet it brought you back to a normal state, the pain didn't feel so intense anymore.

“Tonya!” You screamed, tearing your throat, but it was muffled by the deafening ringing of the church bell. You screamed again, hoping that she would give you a sign. You didn't care that you could attract the werewolf – it was the execution for sins, the fair end for non-believers and the retribution for the reckless deeds of your father. You were pure, but if in your destiny you were meant to die this night, you would meet your end with no fear. “Tonya!”

A shuffle started in the hangar and you rushed to check on it. Tonya looked from her hideout behind the straw bale. “I'm here…” she whispered and you fell on your knees in front of her, hugging her tightly. Tonya was shaking and crying, clinging to you – she was afraid that you died, but was too scared to go out and look for help. You were her last hope to keep her sanity clear.

“Hold on brave. Pray, Tonya. This is the only thing we can do.” You covered her ears, when there was a scream.

“What if Teucer, mommy?..” She didn't finish the sentence as tears made her throat spasm.

“We are pure, Tonya. Nothing will happen to us.” You cooed, caressing her back. Heavy steps behind the hangar made you strain. You stood up to check on what was going on and froze, when you saw a werewolf in front of you.

Tonya followed you and screamed after she looked from behind you back. For your whole life, you imagined a werewolf as a scary large wolf, but your imagination deceived you. It was a deformed ugly beast of a colossal size – it filled a big part of the hangar, making it impossible to leave. It had light fur, clumped with blood, its large mouth was full of teeth and long canines that protruded from the muzzle even when it was closed. Enormous paws were bigger than your head. Its blue eyes had no shine and looked wild, bloodthirsty. Its whole figure combined both features of human and beast in the most disturbing way: wolfish, yet still human muzzle with too sensible eyes and even emotions on it; beastly, yet humanly flexible body with long limbs. You made a step back, shielding Tonya.

“I know you want to save the faith, keeper of traditions.” The werewolf spoke to you, and you gasped in disbelief. For a moment you decided that it was a lie, an illusion of an inflamed brain, but it was true: the werewolf came closer, his muzzle up to your face, which made you back away in disgust. “Now it's time for you to perform your duty. You will go with me. I will be back in three days, waiting for you in a hollow. Keep silent about our conversation. Fail – and I'll kill everyone without mercy.”

Your eyes rounded and your breathing turned heavy. Did he mean you have to sacrifice yourself? You would do so immediately, if Tonya wasn't there… or was it just an excuse? You were exposed to death and nemesis that merged and embodied in the face of the Saint you worshiped, but you were filled with dread. You didn't want to die – only a look at ugly muzzle made tears pour down your eyes even though you didn't want to cry. It was an honor to die for your God, sacrifice yourself in order to save the whole village, but you weren't ready. Yet you nodded, and the werewolf roared, then retreated, moving his limbs like a spider.

Tonya clung on your coat, but you were standing frozen, trying to process everything that happened a moment before. Suddenly you regained composure, took Tonya up your hands and left the hangar. The whole village fell into dead silence: people were too scared to go outside and sat in safety, waiting for sunrise. The fair burnt out. By a miracle the fire didn't spread to the whole village and caused minor damage.

In the distance you saw Aether running from one house to another, searching for you. You wanted to scream for him, but couldn't – your voice betrayed you, letting out only a wheeze, so you headed to him, then your fast steps turned into running.

“By Archons!” Aether took Tonya from your tired hands carefully, his wide palm brushed hair fell on her face to check for wounds. “Are you both alright?”

The pain in your nape made you grimace. You were recovering from shock, and felt exhausted to the point of losing conscience. “Where's Teucer? And mom?”

“They are safe, hiding in the church with everyone else.” Aether shooed at Tonya, who started tossing and turning in his embrace, as she heard of another sibling. You looked at him with a gaze full of endless gratitude. “I… I wanted to say I'm sorry for my behavior. I've been vulgar… I just got too excited to know you better. I promise, I'll be a different man to you.”

“It's okay, Aether, everyone makes mistakes.” You didn't know what else to answer. His confession was so inappropriate, yet so sincere you couldn't let yourself break a rush of his soul. Maybe he was afraid he would die unforgiven and there was fear speaking through him at the moment – you didn't know, and you didn't want to know.

Ajax showed up on the street, bewildered at the scene in front of him. He bypassed corpses and puddles of blood, looking at it with interest. “What happened there?”

“A massacre!” Aether blurted angrily. “Where were you when all of this happened?!”

You looked at Ajax, then at Aether, not realizing the point of his outrage.

“He was at grandmother's. Why?” You shouted, a burning feeling in your chest, as you felt Aether tried to implicate Ajax in cowardice. Aether's eyes widened as he didn't expect you to snap at him.

“You chose the wrong time to fight.” Ajax stood between you and him, stopping the argument. “We have to carry Tonya home.”

Tonya pulled her hands to Ajax, and he took her from Aether with envy.

The night went like a fever dream and the morning after was even worse. From the earliest hour the mourning for the dead started and the whole village split in two radical opinions: old believers and traitors. The first demanded to send out the outlander and pray for forgiveness, then return back to original faith and worship the true God without looking back at Archons. Traitors claimed that the night revealed a true devilish nature of the former religion and recommended killing the beast and praying to the Seven. You took the responsibility and came to the crowd to declare the side of your family – as a keeper, you were wearing a red cloak with a hood, so people could see you easily. You tried to preach to the people, but most of them didn't want to listen to you. Crowd was screaming at you and calling you out to beg for forgiveness for every killed and explain why your family was safe and sound during the night. You were shocked to the point you lost your words, on which the crowd reacted with anger. Old believers, who were supporting you fully, started shouting insults at traitors; traitors lost their temper and started a fight. The brawl ended after Ajax took his rifle and made a couple of warning shots.

Even in one home there was a conflict of interests. Mother, Ajax and you chose the point of old believers, while father and Aether were insisting on the opposite. Aether was determined to take you and younger siblings to the capital, and father agreed with him. Father scolded you in front of all the family for your attempt to admonish the villagers, it was the first time he screamed at you. Yet it didn't last for long: Ajax jumped out from behind your back and seized father by the collar. You tried to pull Ajax back, but mother stopped you.

“He deserved this,” she whispered to you, looking at the scene with cold eyes. Mother had no pity towards her husband, her heavy hand was laying on your shoulder to prevent even a smallest attempt from you to stop Ajax: he was about to fight father, and for the first time father fend for himself and punched Ajax in his nose.

Aether tried to help father and in a moment the conflict changed its focus from religious controversies to jealousy over you. Madness that covered the village, made you fall on your knees and start praying, as there was nothing else left for you to do.

Disputes were lasting for the whole morning, until mother asked Ajax to go check on grandmother with her. You begged mother to go with Ajax instead of her – you loved grandmother dearly and didn't see her for ages. Despite her age she was lively, yet the way from her cabin to the village was too hard for her to go, so your family brought her provisions every month and visited her from time to time. Mother denied you, and they left the house.

Ajax and mother were coming through the dunes of snow and fallen trees in silence, as Ajax was depressed and only sniffed viciously, wiping away his nose the blood that was still flowing. Grandmother wasn't happy to see them together – it meant that something was coming off of the plan. She gave Ajax a long hug and a few kisses on his forehead.

“What happened to the boy?” Grandmother spat on the floor disgustedly.

“Stuck into a fight for the love of his life,” mother answered with a sneer, then clicked her tongue in irritation. “They're gonna drive me crazy. Everything goes wrong. Did you talk to her as a werewolf? What did she tell you?”

Ajax frowned. “Nothing. She was silent.”

“I don't think there will be any trouble with our dove,” grandmother squinted her eyes. “But with this capital's bastard, yes. I told you not to marry the village's elder. I hope now you understand why.”

“It was the only way for me to save Ajax after his father's death! There were times of hunger and stagnation, and he, as an elder, had always had a piece of bread at his table. How was I supposed to care for Ajax, hunt and birth other children for our plan?!” Mother cried. “And then I had to make them… fuck each other in order to save the bloodline! Do you think it's easy?”

“Yes, it is.” Grandmother stated, ignoring her daughter's roar. “I was able to marry a werewolf from another clan, but my sister had to lay with our brother, and she lived a happier life than I did. Unfortunately, after those seven usurpers appeared, they killed them all.”

“But she is half human… is it really going to work out?” Ajax said, finding his voice.

“You are worrying too much,” grandmother laughed at Ajax's perplexed face. “Yes, it will work after the ritual, dear. Just do it without thinking.”

“How can you say this?” Ajax was on the verge of tears. “Why does it have to be this way?!”

“Because this is the rules of our world. The world we inherited from our God. Keep your head up, Ajax. Don't worry about me and don't pity me. I lived my life here.” Grandmother laughed with a dry old voice.

“No!..” Ajax's hands started shaking. “What if she refuses… How is she supposed to react to that?!”

“Then we will kill her and wait for Tonya to grow up.” Mother stared intently at Ajax. Shivers ran down his spine at only thought of losing you and going through the same events again, but with Tonya.

“You are being too pessimistic.” Grandmother gave up on her and trotted to the cabinet. She took a vial from it and passed it to Ajax. “Three drops into her drink twice a day and she will be fine. Don't thank me.”

You ran away from the home and hid in the church, praying without pause. Blindfolded by your pride you thought of yourself as a holier than holies, when in reality you craved a vile sin of incestuous passion and hubris.

Aether tried his best to save his sanity, but he was on the limit. He was on the point of losing everything: starting with marriage and ending with his life – danger made him play reckless. Your presence was the only escape from that horror. He took you home from the church: you tried to stay, but Aether just grabbed you by your hand roughly and drew you out on the street. Aether felt that you were vulnerable – the perfect world you used to live in was falling apart, so his treatment became rough. From day to day you were more depressed and taciturn, you didn't react to his attempts to seek your affection and gave him meaningless kisses and hugs, lacking life and passion. Your despair drowned Aether in negative emotions as well, made him take love from you violently. He felt so useless, so unwanted here, it brought him so much pain he had never felt in his entire life. You were unfairly cruel to him – you made him burn with love and jealousy to your brother, who was basked in your care and support. Sometimes Aether thought that you loved Ajax like a man, but he didn't want to believe in it – Aether was so much better than him: Aether had power, money and glory; the fairest women from the capital were fighting for his attention, but he chose you. You should be grateful to him, you should fall on your knees and kiss his hands to express proper gratitude for his choice. You were no one, nothing, a descendant of some freaky family who worshiped a false God, yet you got arrogance suitable for a royal heir. Aether could do nothing with you, so he started to hate you. You rejected him – he would do even worse to you. He sacrificed so much for you, while you did nothing to please him back. Aether was done with it.

Despite the fact that you didn't want to escape, you were trapped in the village. Ajax made sure that you wouldn't be able to leave. Mother took care of Aether's horses – all of them were dead, and other horses in the village ran away or died in the Blood Moon massacre, cutting off all the possible ways of leaving. Clashes of believers didn't bother Ajax, but he had to participate in the religious processions to convince non-believers to return to their roots.

The night of the third day started. Tortured by his mind, Aether woke up and got to the kitchen to have a glass of water. It was dead of night, while everyone was sleeping and only chanting of priests could be heard from the street. Aether looked at the impenetrable darkness of the forest through the window. His vision started tunneling and he heard whispers. Suddenly Aether shivered and rubbed his eyes, then he heeded – and heard Ajax's voice. On his tiptoes, Aether followed the voice and happened into the corridor that led to the storeroom. The door was slightly open, so he peeked through the gap. He saw Ajax holding your face in his barbarian palms tremulously, and kissing you hastily.

“I don't care anymore!” Ajax snuggled to you, pressing you to his body like a doll.

“You know I will always love you. Why do you have to bring it now? We should go back… Ajax, please!” You pleaded, but he interrupted you with a desperate and impulsive kiss.

Aether froze, stunned, broken and disgusted. He didn't think of breaking your intimacy – Aether mercifully let you enjoy the last time you had Ajax in your arms. He watched Ajax rudely showing his hands under your skirts and destroy your fake shyness. Something made Aether stay and watch how Ajax was ravaging his bride. He wasn't gentle at all: Ajax tore your blouse so his hands could touch your breasts; pinching at your nipples, Ajax silenced your moans with his kisses.

Ajax knew Aether was watching. He smelled him long before he showed up in the corridor, but Ajax didn't care – on the contrary, he liked it. It was a simple way to show dominance to another male. Foreplay didn't last for long: Ajax was dying to have you, abstinence was mixed with approaching mating season, so he turned you to the wall and pressed on your back, to make you bend. Ajax unzipped his pants and put his fully erected cock inside you slowly, holding you by your hips. After making sure that you were okay, he took a fast steady rhythm. Ajax put all his frustration and desire to breed pounding into you. He needed to finish quickly not to wake someone from the family up, but he just couldn't have enough – he wanted much more than a quick fuck, his mind was clouded with wild arousal. Your wet cunt and shaky breaths mixed with his fantasies about you being pregnant with his children drove him insane. You were as needy as him, but the timing couldn't let you enjoy the moment the way you wanted. Your pussy was spasming around Ajax only to make him cum faster. Soon he came, filling you with his seed and fucking it further inside you. Aether left, while Ajax was helping you to clean yourself.

On the third day the village was covered with fights. No one could stay aside: fanatics involved kids even, so mother was hiding inside the house with Teucer and Tonya, while father and priests tried to calm everyone down. You looked at the crowd, embraced with fury, and doubted your decision of self-sacrifice. It would be better to destroy them, then build a new society from the ashes. Still, you said goodbye to Teucer and Tonya, gave a kiss to your mother, put on your red cloak and left the house, when the first star appeared in the sky. Ajax was absent for the whole day – you didn't want to go without talking to him, but you couldn't wait anymore. Immersed in your grief, you didn't notice Aether, who was following you with a shotgun behind his back.

You came to the hollow. Every step you made felt impossible and heavy, your heart couldn't keep a steady rhythm. When you were far away from the village, Aether took aim and made a shot. You screamed louder than he expected you to, and disturbed birds went up in the air with cawing. Aether grimaced – instead of killing you, he got you in leg. You fell on the snow, with your hand keeping pressure on the wound.

You looked back, and another shot followed, but it got into the tree, dangerously close to your head.

“Aether?..” You screamed in surprise. “Why?!”

“You know why.” Aether brought his gun up to his shoulder and pressed one the trigger, but nothing happened. He laughed maniacally and threw it aside. “You are a lucky one.”

“Werewolf will be here anytime! It'll kill us both!” Through pain and tears, you tried to come up with everything to save your life. Aether smiled widely and approached you.

“Archons, have mercy on her,” His voice thundered in between the trees. You tried to crawl away, but he stepped on your leg, piercing it to the ground, then kicked you in the chest, turning you over on your back. It seemed like Aether reveled in your scream, full of painful agony. “Do you know what they do in the Capital for incest? Execute.”

Aether sat on your hips, and grabbed your neck compressing it so hard your bones cracked. “Your father promised me a perfect woman, a dream of every man, and you seemed like one. Until I saw you and that bastard together.”

You tried to fight back, but it didn't help. Your vision got black and you felt that the pressure on your neck was unbearable. Just a little more and it would snap. His delirious rantings stuck in your head as a dull, repetitive echo.

A guttural roar sounded almost in your ear. Suddenly all the pressure was gone, your vision came back in unusually vivid colors. You closed your eyes, but unbearable pain and shortage of air made you open them. You breathed in avidly, gasping for cold air with your mouth and your chest felt like burning. You looked at the wound on your leg, it seemed like a bullet went through your body, making it even worse. An ugly torn mess of flesh and blood made you nauseous. Aether's scream made you search for him with your eyes, and you noticed his legs twitching under the werewolf’s body. Blood was gushing everywhere. Werewolf let go of the remains after his scream stopped and rushed to you. You looked at what was left and gasped: one of Aether's hands was missing, his lower jaw was torn off and all his body was covered in bites and lacerated wounds.

“Get on top of me,” it spoke to you and laid to aid you. You sat on the werewolf without wasting words, and it ran into the depths of the forest.

Soon you realized that you stopped at grandmother's cabin. You dismounted in disbelief and came closer to the door, then glanced back. Instead of a werewolf, you had seen Ajax in front of you. Puzzle in your head had formed into a whole picture, still you were taken aback. You would better believe that all of it was a delusion, a floating vision or just a fantasy.

“Why didn't you tell me?” You asked, but Ajax took your hand and walked you into the cabin.

“You chose the wrong time to ask. Sit.” Ajax was nervous, twitching. He put you on the chair and placed a bowl with something that seemed to be soup. “Eat this. Now.”

He sat in front of you and watched your every move with wide, insane eyes. You looked at the dish with suspicion and took a spoon unwillingly. It was too red, with pieces of lightly fried meat and boiled potato. You took a piece of the meat with a soup and some potato, and placed it into your mouth. The broth was impossible to eat, as it was too bitter and salty, and had a jellied structure. The meat was horribly tough and wiry. You felt vomit coming up to your mouth and wanted to spit that meat out, but Ajax ordered you to swallow in such a rough tone you shrugged and swallowed it in fear. You covered your mouth, trying not to puke, but you felt uneasy in your stomach and your throat started to spasm.

“Don't you dare do this!” Ajax jumped up from his seat and ran to you, pressing your hands to your mouth with his. “Don't waste it!”

His voice broke from deep to pitching, it was full of despair and resembled a lament.

“Why?! What is happening here?!” You drew his hands away, screaming, tears running down your face. “Where is grandma?!”

Ajax just gave you a blank stare, your face fell. You looked at him in disbelief, then another wave of hysteria covered you.

“Where is she?..” You went white at realization. The room fell silent for a moment then you cried out.

Ajax was confused. Grandmother promised that one bite would be enough, but he wanted to make sure and force you to eat more. All that was left of her was a bowl of soup, and you looked at it with dead eyes, as you tried to deny the truth. Ajax got you a glass of water with three drops of the potion. You drank it in one gulp and stared at the soup again.

“How could you do this?” You asked without looking at Ajax.

“Grandmother ordered me to do so. I had no other choice.” Ajax sat near you and took a spoon, then filled it with the soup. “Please, open your mouth. You need to finish this.”

Ajax couldn't look at you crying and being so broken. In one day you aged up on years from all the events that happened to you. Your wound wasn't treated yet and still caused you pain, but it couldn't compare with your storming emotions and grief. It was an inhuman and gruesome act of violence. You didn't even say goodbye to grandmother before she died in such a horrible way.

Slowly you started feeling tranquil. Your head clouded and all the senses dazed. Ajax managed to feed you the whole bowl. You watched him without interest and just sat in your place, before you fell asleep.

You woke up from a horrible dream, but found yourself in grandmother's bedroom. Your leg hurt, remembering you, that everything you saw in a dream was real. You just laid on the bed, looking at the ceiling and trying to accept what had happened. It wasn't easy at all and you didn't even want to leave the bed to search for Ajax. Was it planned by God? Was it your initial role you were created for? You got too many questions, but had no answers.

The whole week passed before you were ready to meet Ajax. You noticed that your sense of smell was keener and your hearing improved. You could hear Ajax walking in the house and detect in which part of it he was exactly. Bedroom was the back room of the house, so normally you wouldn't be able to smell freshly prepared food, and now you could smell it as if you were staying near the stove. To your surprise, your wound healed in a couple of days and left only a hardly visible scar.

Ajax gave you time for yourself and didn't bother you this week. Being alone did him good: he too let go of his worries and became mentally stronger. He wanted to explain everything to you and hoped you were ready to hear him. The story wasn't long: Ajax told you that mother and him were the direct descendants of the werewolf family that founded the village. Unfortunately, his father died and mother had to remarry to a human, hiding her true identity even from her children, as all the other werewolves were killed by Archons and their followers. To continue the bloodline, living heirs, you and him, had to inbreed, but your half-human origin was the sticking point: to awaken the werewolf genes and pass them to your kids you had to devour someone from your family, and grandmother volunteered. Yet you couldn't transform and had a limited number of abilities from being a werewolf.

You accepted the truth calmly, and your reaction frightened you. You didn't know was it normal or not. At least it made sense. You didn't want to think about it anymore and wanted to adapt to a new lifestyle quickly.

Ajax and you lived solitary, no one visited you, and you didn't come close to the village as well, leaving old life behind. It was hard to you to get used to Ajax's werewolf form, so Ajax tried to spend more time with you as a beast.

Ajax licked your face, and you giggled from the tingling. His tongue was nicely warm, yet covered in sticky saliva. It didn't scare you when he was this playful. When you were in the mood to have fun, you licked his nose back and hugged him, nuzzling into his soft fur. It wasn't rare for you to fall asleep on him, as his body was soothingly warm.

Intimacy became unusual due to Ajax's new size. Stroking his body, like you usually did, you were slowly letting your hand down to his cock. Kissing was strange: Ajax licked your lips and showed his long tongue inside, caressing the insides of your mouth with it. Your hand was stroking his cock gently, circling against the tip lightly and putting force at the shaft. Ajax was already leaking, so you broke the kiss and bent to his awaiting cock. Starting with licking the tip, you spitted on it, easing the slide, and took it inside your mouth. It was bigger, making it harder for you to suck him, but you tried to stroke other parts with your hands and rubbed on the knot to save the pleasure. Ajax felt his knot swelling, so he didn't let you to continue. His animalistic impulses told him to fuck you and he had no power to resist them. Ajax made you lay on your back, his tongue licked your pussy, prepping you for penetration. It swirled over your clit, sliding down to your hole, rubbing with pleasurable roughness. As a werewolf, Ajax scented your pheromones and your special smell, that busted his arousal. He noticed you biting your lower lip in anticipation and he didn't wait anymore. Ajax thrusted inside, your long moan made him catch a faster and rougher pace immediately. His beastly cock made you feel your insides stretching to accommodate the size. You were full of him and there was no escape from the pleasure, as your mind went blank, making you focus only on the sensation of being pulled on his cock. Ajax licked your face, and it ignited you, your moans became louder. You felt breathless in ecstatic bliss, every skim of the big tip of his cock through your folds made you move your hips for more. Your fingers reached down to your clit and you started rubbing it, as you felt that you were about to cum. Ajax made a powerful thrust and filled you fully with his knot just before he finished inside, groaning. Your pussy sucked him in fully, clenching and trembling around his cock. At the sensation of his hot thick cum stretching your womb you came next, your orgasm spurting around him. You were exhausted and breathed heavily, yet again you felt Ajax loading new portion of cum inside. He came several times, until your lower tummy bulged, only after that knotting ended.

During mating season Ajax didn't let you escape the bed. He didn't have enough of you both in human and werewolf forms, it was up to you to decide how you wanted to accept him. You were so full of his seed the bulge on your lower tummy didn't disappear for days and cum was leaking out of you whenever you didn't expect it to. Ajax made sure to give your pussy a relaxing massage, rubbing gently your insides and your clit at the same time. Curling his fingers he pressed knuckles against the most sensitive parts inside you, instantly felt your folds covering them. Ajax sucked on your nipples, licking them slowly, while his fingers penetrated your sopping hole. As a human Ajax was way more gentle: he gave you sensual kisses, lazily playing with your tongue, stroked the smooth skin of your belly, imagining it to be swollen with his pups. Ajax was the happiest man on Teyvat, as he had you by his side. The bond you shared with him was sacred, Ajax would kill anyone to protect you, the center of his world. Your embrace made him feel alive, he didn't need anything more, but to press his face at the crook of your neck and just inhale your sweet scent.

Ajax's dreams were destined to come true. Every time he was back home, his children ran to hug him, and you, pregnant with another kid, hurried to give him a kiss.

[bandgie]

The Spell of the Night

Huening Kai x fem!reader

synopsis: Being reunited with your best friend after years is an emotional trip. Everyone's gotten older and bigger with stories to tell, especially her little brother. Was he always that hot? anon ask!

warnings: MDNI 18+, age gap (reader is older), nonidol au, reader catches Kai jerking the ween, reader watches Kai masterbate, nipple play (m!), very brief over stimulation (m!), cum eating (f!)

3.3k words

It was exciting meeting your closest friend after so many years. College forced you two apart, and after finally establishing a career, you were able to see each other again. 

You were filled with excitement and some nervousness as you stood outside her front door. From what you gathered, she still lives with her parents. Not only would you be meeting her for the first time in almost 7 years, but her siblings. 

The door opened before you even rang the doorbell. Lea stood there with a huge smile on her face, already squealing from happiness. 

"That's my favorite noona!" She screamed before practically jumping in your arms. Your weight was thrown back before you collected yourself, hugging her back just as fiercely. Whatever nervousness you had felt when arriving completely dissipated into love. Complete adoration for your dearest friend.

It took a few good minutes for excited chatter and happy tears to simmer down. She, along with Bahiyyih, were making dinner just before your arrival. You took a seat at the dinner table while they cooked.

"It's so weird to see you cook Hiyyih," you tell the youngest sister. 

She looks back for a moment and smiles, "Is it?"

You nod, "Totally is. I remember me and Lea babysitting you whenever we hung out. We just put you in front of a TV and called it a day."

Laughter echoed in the house from the memories. "That's not my fault!" Lea protests jokingly. "You're older than me, you should've known better!" 

You roll your eyes at her jab, "I'm not that old. I still look 16."

More laughs tumble from your mouths. It feels good to be back, it feels right. The Huening family always welcomed you with open arms even if you were a few grades above Lea. You could recall spending countless nights at her place, eating the dinner her parents prepared. Reminiscing made you want to ugly cry in the best way possible.

"Do you mind if I use your restroom? I gotta tinkle."

"Of course!" Lea sounds shocked that you would even ask. "It's down the hall second door on the right. Make sure you wipe. I don't want to see any piss stains."

You playfully stick your tongue out at her before getting up from your seat. The house remains the same, save for the newer pictures that hang on the walls. You can tell they’re in chronological order as you descend further in the hall. What a beautiful family, you think.

It's strange seeing the Huening siblings grow into adults. They look the same, but so different all at the same time. It's a trip for you to watch the people you grew up with...grow up. 

It's even weirder seeing how Kai has aged. He still has the sideways smile, but he's definitely matured. A strong nose, jawline, and plump lips. It also seems like he's had quite the growth spurt judging by how he towers over his siblings in family photos.

You recall Kai being a little annoying. He always wanted to join what you and Lea were doing, no matter how much Lea complained. You didn't mind at first, you understand how younger siblings always want to copy their older one. But you started to notice how Kai wanted to stand next to you when sitting in a circle, he wanted to play the Dad if you were the Mom, he wanted you to look at all the cool tricks he could do even if he's shown you a million times. 

Lea would tease Kai about his crush on you, and you would awkwardly watch him deny with rose tinted cheeks. 

That very same boy is a man now, a handsome one at that. It intrigues you to see how he's turned out, but you have yet to see him tonight. You shove the thought away before turning to your task at hand. 

You reach the second door and twist the knob. Rather than seeing a toilet, you're greeted with Kai laying in his bed. A hand in his pants with vicious jerking movements. His head whips to see who entered his room unannounced. You only see the fear in his eyes for less than a second before slamming the door.

"Sorry," you quip before dashing back to the kitchen. 

Your quick footsteps prompt both Lea and Bahiyyih to look in your direction when you arrive.

"What's up?" Lea's first to question you.

I just caught your brother jerking off, I want to gauge my eyes out. But instead you say, "That wasn't the bathroom."

"No?" Lea's eyebrows come together confused. "The second door to the left?" "Left?" You question. "You said right." Lea purses her lips, "Oh shit. Did I?"

"You did," Bahiyyih interjects. She lifts the pot to see how the soup is boiling. "You dummy."

"Well you could have said something, but didn't. So, you're the dummy."

Their sibling banter is muffled in your ears. All you can hear is how your heart thumps in your heart, how sweaty your hands got, the way your mind keeps replying the scene over in your head. 

Dark hair over Kai's face, lips slightly parted from the silent moans leaving his mouth, the way his hips were slightly arched off his bed like he couldn't help but thrust into his own fist. It replayed over and over, until your conscience decided to throw an image of you on top of him.

You had to physically shake your head to rid the image. You felt like vomiting, yet the salivating in your mouth was far from grossed out. 

"Anywho, I'm so sorry about that," Lea frowns. "It's across that one, but dinner's pretty much ready. I don't know if you wanna wait."

Before you can answer, heavy footsteps make their way to the kitchen. A part of you wants to remain with your back turned to him, but Bahiyyih makes his presence known immediately. 

"There he is! Finally out of your hole huh?" 

Kai looks embarrassed, the familiar red twinge on his face as he tsks as his little sister. "Shut up."

"Kai," Lea leaves the kitchen to make her way to him. "You remember my friend don't you? She used to come over all the time. We used to dress you up, remember that?"

Kai turns a shade redder upon hearing the memory, one you had completely forgotten until now. Flashes of putting dresses on Kai, applying too much makeup, and making him do the catwalk go through your mind. You cringe and groan, burying your face in your hands. 

"Oh my god," you say exasperatedly. "I totally forgot about that. Why did you remind me?"

Since Kai's crush on you was so obvious, Lea and you tended to use that information to your advantage. Making him do little errands for you, making him do embarrassing dares, and spending his allowance money on you.

Even if Kai winces at the memories, he still would have done anything to see you smile.

Both you and Kai are a blushing mess. Given that you just saw him jerking his cock and forced to remember the humiliating past of your actions. 

"Yeah Lea. I remember." Kai finally breaks the silence, walking to the dinner table where Bahiyyih is setting the food. "Okay reminiscing is over and dinner is served! Come eat."

Dinner isn't as awkward as you anticipated. Yes, Kai is sitting across from you doing everything in his power to not look at you. And yes, everytime your eyes catch his hands you imagine them wrapped around his cock. And yes, you notice your underwear is slightly damp. Still, there's no tension in the air as you four laugh, talk, and gossip about your new adult lives. 

All of you help clean up, separating the chores amongst yourselves. It's around this time that you begin feeling sleepy, the jet lag catching up to you. Lea sees you yawn and suggests that you all take an early night. You want to protest and say you can stay up, but your eyes are burning from keeping them open. You agree.

Sleep does not come easy. Whether it's because of the jetlag or sleeping in a new place, you don't know. It must be past midnight now, and Lea is fast asleep on her bed when you peer from the futon on the floor. 

Quietly, you stand. You tiptoe your way to the kitchen for a glass of water. Coming out of the hall, you can hear the faint sound of the TV on. You slow your steps and look into the living room. The TV is on, and you can make out the black head of hair that sits on the couch. 

You take one more step and the floorboard creaks under you. Kai's head whips back to see you, surprise in his eyes. He lowers the volume quickly, "Sorry. Was it loud?"

You shake your head, "Not at all. I was just getting water."

He nods, turning his attention back to the screen. Now the air has turned tense. Despite being as quiet as possible, you feel as though everything you do is loud. Even your mere presence screams in the dimly lit kitchen. Kai doesn't feel much better. The scenes playing on the TV go unnoticed. He keeps looking from his peripheral vision to see what you're doing, straining his ears to hear your movements. 

You almost sigh in relief when you finish filling your glass. You want nothing more than to get out of this awkward situation. As you turn to make your way back to the hall, you realize that it's going to be this strained throughout your stay. It's better to get it off your chest now so you don't have to walk on eggshells when you're supposed to be having fun.

With a new purpose, you instead make your way to the couch. Kai notices this, but opts to keep his head focused on the TV until you speak. 

"Do you have a minute?"

He's sweating. His shaky eyes glance to yours before nodding, muting the channel. Kai wipes his palms on his sweats when you take a seat by him. "What's up?"

You tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear, setting the glass down on the coffee table in front of you. "I just uh, want to apologize...for earlier." His ears turn red. "I should have knocked." You continue. "I was just trying to go to the bathroom, but Lea told me the wrong side." There's a pause. "Anywho, that's my fault. I didn't see anything anyway, well, kinda but not a lot."

Kai nods again, eyes wide and lips parted. "No, it's my fault. I should have locked the door. No, I shouldn't have even been...doing that. It's disgusting I know, and-"

"Disgusting?" You interrupt him. "Sorry, I don't mean to cut you off, but I never said it was disgusting. I wasn't expecting it, yes, but I wasn't necessarily disgusted by it." Which is true. If anything, you were turned on by it. 

"Oh," his voice is small. "Sorry. But still, I shouldn't have if I knew you were coming."

His confession makes your eyebrow rise. "You knew I was coming and still jerked it? Hyuka I didn't take you for such a perv." You softly laugh while Kai looks down to hide his flushed cheeks. 

"I was just...excited..." Kai mumbles. 

Your laughter fades, now seriously surprised and somewhat interested in what he said. "Excited? What does that mean?"

Fuck, he shouldn't have said that. Kai's fiddling with his finger as he tries to think of something to say. "Excited like...to know you were coming back. My sisters didn't tell me you were coming until today, like just a few hours before you came. And I just...yeah."

You hum, pretending to understand. You do understand, but the concept is hard to wrap around your head. "So, do you normally jerk off at the thought of me?"

"Shut- Stop saying that!" Kai whisper-yells. His little tantrum has you giggling. You have to keep a hand over your mouth to keep quiet. Maybe it's due to the late hours of the night, but you're far from grossed out by the conversation. It makes you want to know more, to hear more, maybe to see more. 

"Can I ask why?"

Kai should say no. Tell you that he's actually delirious from lack of sleep. Instead, he nods. Maybe he's also under the spell of the late night. "It was pretty obvious when we were younger, but I was like...in love with you. Followed you like a dog, I honestly hate the memory sometimes. But I just liked you a lot back then, and when I heard that you were staying, it just kinda all came back. It was like I needed to get it out of my system."

After years of an unrequited love, Kai had finally confessed to you. Or at least confessed what he felt for you in the past. It's a lot to unpack, but you aren't that surprised. To hear it come from his lips though, it sends shivers down your spine. 

"And how about now?" You ask, dropping your voice a little lower. "Is it out of your system?" Now you're playing with fire. There's a little voice telling you to stop, but Kai's big eyes and red face are too cute to pass up. 

He gulps. "What do you mean?" 

"I think you know what I mean." You scoot closer to him, placing a hand on his knee while the other rests behind his neck. "I'll tell you a secret too Hyuka." You lean into his ear, letting your lips graze the shell of his ear. 

"I liked it."

That's all the convincing he needs to shimmy his joggers off. You move your hand so he can let the material pool at his ankles. He pulls his boxers down just enough to his cock to pop out. You hum approvingly at the sight, catching your bottom lip between your teeth. 

He's not all the way hard, but you can watch him grow in real time. Kai's cock literally comes to life before your eyes, his pale pink tip blushing from the attention. His hand travels down to grab himself at the base of his cock. You place your hand back on his bare thigh, running your fingers up and down his skin.

"Y-you really liked it?" Kai stutters. His hazy, hopefully eyes scan your face. It's as though he's trying to detect any lie from your expression. "Mhm," you confirm. "A lot. Made me so wet."

Kai quietly moans at your admission. He pumps himself slowly, letting the skin of his cock cover his tip completely before pulling it back down. You lean your head on his shoulder, watching how his hand drags up and down his dick. 

Should anyone come out from the hall, all they would see are the back of your heads watching the muted TV. In a way, you are watching a show. Kai is eager to put on a good performance for you, going as far as to lift his shirt so your hand could splay across his stomach. 

You turn your head so you could kiss and lick his neck, watching how he shivers at the sensation. Teasingly, you bite down on his soft skin. Kai gasps at the pain, a near sob on his tongue. 

"Don't. I'm sensitive there." He pleads with you. It makes you want to play with him more, to push him to where he can't possibly stay quiet. You obey him though, returning to your spot in watching him jerk off. 

He's completely hard now, breathing heavy as he strokes himself. Your pussy is weeping from loneliness, begging to be filled. Kai's cock looks perfectly made for you. It's slightly curved at the crown, a thick head that you know would be delicious stretching you out. You're already walking a thin line by watching him masterbate in the living room, it would be stupid of you to ride him here too.

So stupid, but that doesn't mean you can't think about it.

Your hand travels up his chest to tweak his nipples. They harden at your touch, and he moans at how your thumb rubs them in circles. "Can I play with these? Or are you sensitive here too?" You tease. Kai shakes his head, scared to give a verbal in answer in fear of moaning too loud. 

His hand speeds up when you pinch his nipples. Kai arches his back and squeezes his eyes shut. His chest is turning a blossoming pink from your rough touches. As an apology, you lean down and lick over his bud. Your warm tongue startles him for a moment. Kai relishes in the feeling of your soft tongue soothing him. How you kiss and suck his chest. You let your tongue roll over his nipple before sharply sucking it. 

Kai twitches and his hips stutter. He knew he was a little sensitive there, but not like this. It's even more evident when he whines as you place his bud between your teeth, gently pulling at it. You let it go with a soft smack sound from your lips.

Now it's swollen and red. His nipple looks so pretty decorated like this, it's a shame you can't properly reach the other one. You look back to his hand furiously stroking himself. Your thighs rub together at the sight. 

You lay your head back down on his check, kissing his chest. Your lips run over his nipple while your hand plays with the other. You're caught between wanting to watch him and keep sucking him. Kai's cock is leaking so much precum that you can hear every move, every stroke he does. 

"Fuck, noona. I'm gonna cum."

Immediately, you pick up your head. Kai softly whines at the feeling of his chest being abandoned, but your hand goes back down past his cock. You hold his heavy balls in your hand, massaging and squeezing it encouragingly. 

It only takes a few more pumps before his hips thrust upwards, white spurts being released from his tip. The first string of cum lands on his chest, mixing with his bruised pecs. The second one lands on his lower stomach and abdomen, and the final few spill over his cock. 

The beautiful sight that has you grinding against his thigh. Kai breathes heavily, soft mewls tumbling from his mouth and he slows his movements. You stop playing with his sack and take a swipe of his cum on your finger. 

Kai watches with tired eyes as you taste him. Your tongue swishes the flavor over your taste buds, mixing it with your saliva before you swallow it. Then you dip your head down to his chest, licking up all his release. 

"Wait! You don't have to. I can-"

"Shh," you silence him. "You're being loud. I know I don't have to, I want to."

Kai's stunned as he stares at you eating his cum. You make your way down to his soft cock, quickly popping it in your mouth just to get the last bit. His hips shy away from your hot lips, a clear sign that he can't handle another touch to his dick. 

You swallow the final strings of cum before reaching for your water. It's a pity really, all of this wasted when he could have finished inside of you. 

Turning back to Kai, you can see that he's completely spent. If you asked for him to play with your cunt, he most likely would. No, he absolutely would. There was no way in hell Kai would pass up the opportunity to touch you. Your better judgment catches up to you, as well as his post nut clarity. 

If you thought your stay was going to be awkward before, you can't imagine what it's going to be like now.

[nutmeg-mayonnaise]

hi meg!! i showed this au to my partner and they absolutely love it, but they had an interesting question: what is franziska up to? still hard at work with interpol? is she an auntie to the fey-wright-edgeworth kids? absolutely no pressure, totally blessed by what you've given us, but if you have any thoughts i'd be delighted to hear!! ❤️💙💜

Hello Dotty! I'm so happy to hear your partner loves the AU! That makes me very happy! (^///^)

Franziska is certainly still involved with Interpol in the AU so she's unfortunately a little too busy to be an auntie to all of the Fey kids and only met the girls once or twice when they're younger (with the horror that half of them are descended from that "Fool of a man Phoenix Wright").

However, she has a bit of a soft spot for the son of the aforementioned Fool and her little brother...

Thank you so much for the ask and the lovely, kind words! 💗💙💜

[kenobisanakin]

Deity Anakin Devotee Obi-Wan AU

au where Deity Anakin descends to the mortal realm to grant a boon to his devoted worshipper King Obi-Wan, and is extremely surprised when the King does not ask for wealth or fame, but for Anakin himself.

He has watched over Obi-Wan for a long time, he is the Patron God of Stewjon after all. The God of Balance, of Life and Death, of Wealth and Prosperity, of Harmony. He has blessed the reigns of Stewjoni Rulers who have been devoted to him well, but Obi-Wan had always been special.

The young prince had been taken with Anakin since the day he first saw his statue at the age of 4. Every day since then he'd spend an hour, early in the morning at Anakin's Grand Temple in Stewjon's Capital.

Anakin had found it endearing and sweet, had made sure to bless the prince for it. Obi-Wan would need it. One of 12 brothers as he was, he'd need everything in his arsenal to win the Throne after his father's demise. It was the way. Anakin considering intervening slightly to help Obi-Wan out.

But he didn't have to, ambitious as he was, Obi-Wan managed to ascend the Stewjoni Throne at the age of 25 all by himself, his hands stained with the blood of his brothers, older and younger.

(Anakin would never forget the way Obi-Wan had thrown himself at his altar and sobbed after killing all of his siblings.)

Then the wars began. It seemed the newly crowned King Obi-Wan had found the taste of his brothers' blood intoxicating, for he jumped into battle. Conquering kingdom after kingdom, turning his small kingdom into an Empire spanning continents. He did it all in Anakin's name.

Anakin could not bear to watch it all. The bright and clever child who used to study at his feet was no more, in his place was a warmonger, an Emperor, one who had built his name, one who had spilled so much blood that Anakin couldn't take it.

One who still fervently worshipped Anakin.

The people of Obi-Wan's new empire had begun to herald him as a God, as common mortals do with any great one amongst themselves, but much to Anakin's surprise, the Emperor had refused the title, praising Anakin instead, the deity of Stewjon. He had temple after temple was built for Anakin across the Empire, had found brought him so many devotees that Anakin knew not what to do.

(Anakin still couldn't let go of Obi-Wan. Every time Obi-Wan prayed to him, he would give him his blessings, wish him good fortune in his battles, wish him happiness in his life - though the last one never seemed to happen)

Anakin never had a devotee who had dedicated themselves so entirely to Anakin, who worshipped him so well, so religiously. So during the Huge Ritual Ceremony for Obi-Wan's 35th Name Day at the Grand Temple of Anahkeen in the Stewjoni Capital, Anakin appeared in front of Obi-Wan.

The mortal whose devotion was so great that he had managed to summon a deity to him, but Emperor Obi-Wan did not care for any of it as he fell to his knees, hands folded in worship, his eyes trained on Anakin and Anakin alone, ignoring the thousands gathered in the Temple Halls to witness the Rituals.

Anakin's glowed as he walked to Obi-Wan from the head of the altar, His golden curls bouncing, his golden wings folding back so as to not spill any of the offerings left for him. He bent down to look into Obi-Wan's eyes with a sweet smile, his hand tenderly caressing his cheek.

"You have attained a greatness beyond mortal reach. Yet throughout the years, you have held me in your heart and on your lips, you have not forgotten I. And I have not forgotten this. Make known your heart's deepest desires, and I shall grant it to you, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan gazed in reverence. The deity who he had loved and worshipped since he was a boy, the deity whose words and worship he had wished to spread across the lands. Who was as beautiful and ethereal as he had imagined. "My heart wishes for one boon alone, and that is you,"

Anakin had expected the man to ask wealth, land, good fortune for his descendants. But never this. Never Anakin himself. But Anakin can not bear to say no, so he grants Obi-Wan his wish.

He will give himself to Obi-Wan until they have a child of their own, a heir for Obi-Wan's empire who is half-god, and once Obi-Wan has the child, a child who is half-Anakin, he will leave. The Emperor accepts this with grace, kissing Anakin's divine feet and hands in gratitude, with a smile so bright and joyous that it stuns him.

He had never seen Obi-Wan this happy before.

[aboutchigiri]

the better brother

disclaimers: literally just a brothers best friend au and i had to keep their dynamic because i refuse to live in denial. kinda ooc but not really..

not proofread. brain too dead for that. will proofread later.

rin itoshi knew who you were. you were the only person that his brother brought home, sae's bestfriend.

rin had encountered you in the hallways or in the common areas of his childhood home and was polite, making sure to acknowledge your presence.

from your few interactions, rin found it odd that you actually enjoyed being around sae. sae was miserable and bitched at you, 99% of the time. rin never understood the dynamic.

one day as he walked past sae's bedroom, he caught wind of the conversation.

"i'm just saying, rin's the cuter brother." your voice sounded through the crack of the door, leaving rin stunned.

"don't make me hate you. those are fighting words." sae mumbled, his face scrunching in disgust.

"i'm just saying the truth. you guys are way more alike than you think. you created an extra emo, dramatic version of yourself. no wonder you can't stand him." you sigh, small grin coating your features.

"y/n, please. i can tolerate you and your attitude but this is just insulting." sae straight faces as he throws a pillow at your head. rin takes that as his chance to stalk off towards the kitchen.

'cute?' rin repeats in his mind, your words resonating with him for multiple reasons.

1. you thought he was cute?

2. him and sae being alike? yuck, rin would rather eat dirt.

3. he is not dramatic, nor extra.

so, it was safe to say that you were on rin's mind a lot heavier than you ever had been. however, rin had never interacted with you for longer than 2 minutes, so he had no idea of what you were like.

****

a week later, rin pulled open the door to see your face. you happened to be coming over to help sae train but rin was too busy studying your face to step aside and allow you in.

"earth to rin, i'm trying to come inside." you straightfaced, eyebrow raised as you stared at the blue-eyed boy.

"oh..my bad." he mumbled, stumbling awkwardly to the side and allowing you to proceed further into the house.

"'ts fine. sae out back?" you questioned as you slipped your shoes off.

"yea, he's waiting for you. i think.." he replied. "cool, thanks rinny." you chirped before bounding out to the backyard where your energy was flipped by sae who wanted to train earlier today.

"rinny?" rin mumbled to himself as he wandered to his room.

rin had finally gotten a good look at you. you were beautiful, he's never really been interested in anything other than soccer but suddenly, he had an infatuation with the one thing, he may never be able to have.

there was a pro to this situation. if rin successfully managed to 'woo' you and become your friend, or boyfriend, he would have successfully one-upped his brother and managed to get himself a (girl)friend in the process.

but to do so, rin needed a strategy. so, rin devised a plan to make you his.

***

step 1: get you alone.

rin decided that the most difficult step, would be to find time to pry you away from the leech, that was his brother. therefore, he decided to deploy his first plan.

"sae." rin knocked on the door, awaiting his brother's irritable face. as if on routine, sae swings the door open harshly, his hands crossed over his chest. you were sitting at his desk, spun around to watch the interaction.

"there's a package at the door for you." he answered before sae could reply with an irritable "what".

sae scoffs before turning back to let you know that 'he'd be right back', you shrugged it off and leaned further into the desk chair. rin moved to the side as sae strolled downstairs to sign for his 'package'.

rin watched carefully as sae descended down the stairs before his eyes focused on you.

****

step 2: talk to you.

"um...how are you, y/n?" rin asked, awkwardly as he plodded in the entryway.

"i'm fine. you?" you replied.

"i'm alright, i was just wondering...why do you hang around sae?" he asked, the question hung in the air for a moment while you thought.

"hmm...sae happens to be one of the few people with a personality like mine. so, i hang around." you answer honestly.

ever since you and sae were in highschool, you've heard your fair complaints about your nonchalant attitude and intense behavior when it came to your passions. but, there came a day when you met sae itoshi and you immediately argued with him. a day later, you approached sae with a lukewarm apology and the odd friendship grew from there.

"do you like him?" rin asked, his hands fumbling with the hem of his shirt.

"absolutely not. he's a drama king. if i was with him, i'd loose my mind but, why do you have so many questions?" you asked, your curiosity peaked as you slowly crept towards the entryway.

"just...curious. i'll leave now, sae 'll be back soon." rin rambled before stalking off to his room.

you were left confused by rin's sudden curiosity but this sudden interest piqued your infatuation with the dark-hair boy.

****

step 3: get closer with you.

"y/n, let's go to the convenience store." sae started as he laid off the edge of his bed.

"i'm not feeling great, actually. i'll rest for a bit, get me something healing, yea?" you asked, leaning into the corner of the bed, curled into yourself.

"hmm, you better not be getting sick. i'll run and grab some medicine for you. i'll start some tea and ask rin to bring it up for you." he muttered, sliding his body to his feet before slipping out the door.

sae hobbles downstairs before preparing a cup of tea and gathering his belongings before looking towards rin, who was sprawled against the couch.

"i'm going to grab some medicine, can you bring y/n this tea once it gets hot?" sae asks as he throws his coat over his shoulders.

rin hummed as he watched his brother walk out the door. the tea finished warming up and he immediately set out to deliver your tea.

"you alright?" rin questioned as he placed the tea onto the side table.

"mm, just feeling a little gross." you mumbled before slowly reaching towards the tea cup.

"hmm, sae 'll be back soon but i can stay with you until he gets back?" rin offered as he stood at the side of the bed.

"i dont mind." you mumble before sipping the tea, quietly.

rin silently sat in the room, watching you as you gently fell asleep. he reached out to feel the crook of your neck and you were warmer than an average, healthy person.

"you feel like you have a fever... you probably feel way worse than you seem." rin mumbled as he ran downstairs to grab a cold towel so he could help alleviate the heat of your body.

"rin, you're s' handsome." you mumble as he places the cold towel on your forehead.

rin's cheeks lit on fire at the unconscious compliment. it gave him a slight insight into how you felt towards him, despite the lack of interactions between you two.

"t-thank you. sleep... i'll be here until sae gets back." he answered hurrily, rushing his words.

"don' go." you mumbled. when you came to your senses, you were definitely gonna slap yourself for all this whining, you were exposing yourself and you didn't like it.

"i'll be here y/n. just rest, ok?" rin confirmed, smiling at you sweetly and brushing the hair off of the cold towel. making sure to keep a check on your health until his brother comes back and kicks him out from his room.

"all i said was bring her tea. not sit with her and play nurse. out!" sae quietly yells as he watches rin take his final glances at you before walking out.

****

step 4: confess? or attempt too?

"y/n, can we talk?" rin peeped his head into sae's room when he noticed him run to the bathroom.

"yea, what's up?" you asked, head hanging off the side of the bed.

"i was wondering..if you wanted to go-" rin started, hands nervously rubbing against each other before sae bursts into his room, staring at his brother and his best friend.

"why are you in here, rin and why do you keep bugging y/n." sae straight-faces, staring at his dark-haired brother.

"me and you both know he's not bothering me, sae." you reply, face deadpan as usual causing sae to roll his eyes slightly.

"your number....i was asking for y/n's number." rin blurted out, ignoring the side conversation that was seemingly about to begin between his brother and you.

"oh..." your head turns immediately, eyes widening slightly before holding your hand out, waiting for rin to hand it to you so you could enter ur number.

"but why do you need their number?" sae questions, eyebrows raised unnaturally high.

"none of your business." rin answers before taking his phone and walking towards the bedroom door.

"i'll text you..." rin mumbles as he catches your eyes in a quick glance before walking out of the room.

*****

final step: actually confess

you and rin had been texting and calling back and forth for weeks now, just taking time to get to know each other a bit more before the two of you had finally decided to meet up at a small cafe that was in the busier part of town.

rin was sweating bullets, now that he had taken time to learn about you and all the things you enjoyed doing. he fell even harder and let you into his life, even allowing you to call him while he does his daily mediation, sometimes.

you, were normally a very calm person. your crush on sae's brother had never been a problem until rin's sudden interest and now that you two were finally going out...alone. you were starting to feel a bit nervous.

sae was aware of the situation and contrary to what many would believe, he could care less. he thinks it'd be weird to see you happy to be around anyone, especially someone like his lukewarm brother but, at the end of the day. you're his bestfriend and despite how bitchy you get with him, he only wants to see you happy.

as you walked into the cafe, you caught rin at a table in the corner. conveniently looking disgusted to be there, as he normally did in public.

"hi rinrin!" you wave, even though you're right in front of him.

"hey...so i made you come all the way out here so we can talk but, are you hungry?" he asks, glancing away slightly. his ears we're currently glowing a shade of cherry red that could be perfect for a makeup pigment.

"not really but they have good smoothies. i think i'll order one....also, it must be an important talk for us to come all the way out here." you answered, flipping through the menu before choosing a smoothie flavor.

"i'll pay...don't worry about it." rin mumbles, sliding some cash on the table as you place your order.

"oh....thank you." your face warms slightly, you have to thank yourself for your lack of blushing.

"so...there's honestly no more beating around the bush. i'll be honest and say that i have a thing for you...a romantic thing. and don't feel forced to reciprocate...i understand if you're uninterested or don't want to ruin your friendship with sae." he word vomits, face a beautiful shade of pink as he stares into his water cup. your eyes widened, partially in disbelief and partially in awe.

"you've gotta be stupid if you think i wouldn't reciprocate. i've liked you for a while and sae knows, he doesn't care much. just finds it weird, i don't think anything could come between our friendship. i'm the only person who'll shag balls for him during his trainings." you reply, trying to control your excitement considering rin itoshi, just confessed to you.

the same rin itoshi that you've liked for a weird amount of time. rin, your bestfriends brother who doesn't really like anything except his self care and soccer...rin, who you thought hated you.

"that was actually way easier than i thought... i've been stressing about this for a while. since you had the flu, actually." rin breathes out, small grin gracing his features. "kind of surprised sae doesn't care, i thought this would piss him off." rin chuckles gently, running his fingers through his hair absentmindedly.

"wow, confessing just to piss your brother off? you guys are a new breed of haters." you laugh, savoring the small grin, knowing that you'll hopefully have plenty of opportunities to see this rare scene, more often.

"i really like you y/n...and i'd like to be your boyfriend." rin asks gently, allowing the laughter to subside.

"of course, rinrin. i'd love to have you as my boyfriend." smiles gently, reaching over the table to rub his knuckles softly.

a/n: love-hate relationship for this fic. but i must feed the rin stans. i'm determined to convert you guys into sae stans. accept he is the better brother 🤞🏿🤞🏿.

[yan-lorkai]

i've been thinking about something and i thought you should hear it too,

mc is lilith's descendant but they're also a creation of the brothers' hatred for each other. like how lucifer was feeling so much wrath he created satan, the brothers' hate for each other created a curse and gave mc life [let's assume their mother couldn't have a child for the sake of this au-]

so when mc learns this, they try to stay away from the brothers as much as possible. how do you think the broters would react? [btw you're my fav yandere blog, keep up the great work, ily take care of yourself <3]

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+ A/N: This is certainly interesting, darling. Got me thinking about tons of things that could happen if this was the case. Poor Mc though, they already deal with too much! I hope you enjoy! <3

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+ Warning: Yandere content, kidnapping, I think that's it? Let me know if I forgot a tag.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Assuming he didn't know this, Lucifer would feel stunned. Did the hate, agony and all the sadness they have felt for centuries culminate in one being? A being that also carries Lilith's blood? He remembers the first arduous days that followed after the war, he remembers how Satan behaved and screamed, how he felt everything at once without knowing what to do.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ And he knows that up to this point, you must have had a pretty rough time growing up, being haunted by memories and events that you didn't see or witness, being tormented by their suffering without knowing what's up with you.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ You want to pull away and run away when find out about your origins, and honestly he understands. Lucifer understands but he will not allow this to happen. Just as you fixed his family, he and his brothers will help you process and deal with all of this. Even if you're screaming and crying at them, trying to escape them, trying to disappear from their lives. It's all for your own good, he assure you.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Mammon is the most empathetic of the brothers, as well as being the one who spends the most time with you since the beginning of the exchange program. It was clear that he noticed that you had your moments of anger and bitter hatred or long periods of sadness, even without an apparent reason. And he tried to help you the best he could. When the cause of your problem was revealed, Mammon tripled his efforts to help you.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ You are family and families help each other. Even if your family is hysterical and trying to disappear because of the conflicting feelings they have. Memories can't be erased like that and yes, it's unfortunate that you are made up of all their suffering, but he won't let you get away that easily. So run, scream and fight with him, with them, Mammon will make sure that at the end of the night you are back home.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ For Levi, this is all a bad joke, the plot of a terrible anime. He remembers how he felt during each of the celestial wars, but most of all he remembers the war that caused his downfall. There was so much pain, so much suffering everywhere he looked. Heaven lost its brilliant children, his angel brothers would carry a weight in their hearts and a bitter memory of the events; the first time angels were cast out. As a general, especially after the fall, Levi had no intention of continuing to live anywhere other than the home he was given.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ His room was his safe haven, where he could cry and vent alone. Where he could exist without fear of judgment and the tragedies that haunted him. Knowing that you are the result of all this makes him immensely sad, despite this he doesn't know how to comfort you because everything he knows as comfort may not be enough for you. But he doesn't intend to give up so easily, even if in small steps Levi tries to look for ways to show you that you has no reason to fear, now that you knows about your origin, there's no reason to stay away. On the contrary, this could be worse now.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ It may not seem like it, but he knows exactly what kind of thoughts are running through his head and the heads of his brothers. A general knows how to read his opponent like his own hand and knows that having a focused and calm mind is the key to the situation. He knows that if he joined forces with each of his brothers, you wouldn't stand a chance. You are theirs now and forever.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Satan knows what it's like to exist feeling only one emotion, so he completely understands how conflicted your feelings must be and, while he himself feels conflicted between letting you go to mentally heal and processing everything, he also wants to keep you close.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ However, if you really want to leave then he will go with you and this is non-negotiable. The others are hunting you and only he can take you through shortcuts and open portals, you need him. He is someone who can support you in difficult times and rinse your tears, to cheer you up, get you out of bed and make you forget your problems, like he wished someone had done when he came into existence. Even though a part of him feels really smug for being the one who shares a strong bond with you; being created against your will through a feeling that does not define you.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Asmo didn't even know something like that could be possible, but then again he also didn't know that someone could feel so much anger and literally give birth to a new being. He is surprised, quite surprised by the revelation that you are kind of a creation with Lilith's blood but also with a little bit of his brothers, their feelings and thoughts. And he wants to help, but like Levi he's not sure how to help.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ So instead he spread word for his followers to keep their eyes wide open and if they see someone who reassembles you, then to tell him immediately. You can run away all you want but you can't truly escape him and his brothers, as many eyes are on your back wherever you are.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ When you're back he is affectionate as usual, kissing your cheeks and wiping your tears as you cry. Yes darling, everything it's too much and you need some time to process all those facts but you are gonna face it this with him and his brothers, you are part of the family after all.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Beel feels sad knowing that you were born surrounded by pain and the terrors of war they all felt, they got better through the years, overcomes their pain and accepted Lilith's passing. There's still some issues they have to fix, but each brother is doing everything they can to found you when you run away. And Beel goes around Devildom with Belphie to search for you on your favorite spots.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ He knows it may be painful to be near them right now but Beel can't let you go. He already let Lilith go because he couldn't protect her but he sure can protect you, even if he has to protect you from yourself. When he finds you, Beel throws you into his arms and hurries home, without carrying how you punch and scream at him to let you go.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Belphie knows that instead of thinking how you feel and how bad your life was dealing with their sorrow, it's the first to act. He knows you well, knows how you think, what you feel and how you react to thinks, more times than he should Belphie used to invade your dreams without you noticing just to watch you, to study you. Sometimes to come closer to you, to hold your hands and ask for forgiveness for how wrongdoings. You never remembered though, he didn't want you to remember he could do this.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ In all your dreams though you always had a particularly spot that you loved to go and hide when you needed some time alone. He take Beel with him when they go, he knows you're there, he can feel it. And when they find you, Belphie puts you to sleep with his powers. His brothers can comfort you with their words and affections meanwhile he could work with your unconscious.

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 13: Pike's Place

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia. 

Series Masterlist | Chapter 13 A03 Link

Word Count: 6.6k

Previously on As the Mule Falls: The Miller brothers had a heart-to-heart. Tio Frankie left Dallas and made his way back to Tampa by way of Atlanta (and met someone on his flight). The Neighborhood Watch descended upon a skating rink for some Star Wars-themed birthday fun. Frankie had to leave a little early for…reasons. 

In this Episode: Benny gets an earful from Cousin Joel. There’s a full house at the gym to help train Benny. The neighbors set up another party - cue a Neighborhood Watch group chat. The Pikes close on their house and move in. Obligatory corgi scene. Benny gets a bit flustered as we meet someone new.

Chapter Warnings: Marcus Pike comes with his own warnings - we get domestic!Marcus, dad!Marcus, wingman!Marcus, supportive brother-in-law!Marcus. (Can you tell I have a soft spot for him). Cousin Joel makes a cameo. A little flustered and shy Benny along with a distracted Fish. David being David. A few Spanish phrases are scattered throughout. While I try and keep all of the OCs somewhat neutral regarding physical descriptions (I’m still learning, so I’m not always good at this!), a new OFC will be described more specifically (especially in episodes to come). Two characters have V names. Marcus’ wife’s name is Victoria. Her sister’s name is Vanessa.

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

Sunday

Will had just poured himself a cup of coffee when he heard a soft knock at the door. He wasn’t expecting anyone over so early. Benny was still sleeping and it was too early for Santiago and Frankie to show up. He thought maybe it was Lucille stopping by with some treats, so he padded over to the front door, pulling a T-shirt over his head on the way.

When he opened the door, he saw Olivia with Diana balancing on her hip as she held a couple of gift bags in her hand.

“Hi Will, sorry I didn’t interrupt anything did I?” She smiled, trying to be discreet as she looked past Will and into the house.

Will cleared his throat, “Ah, no…just me. Hey there, princess,” he brought his thumb up to rub Diana’s cheek, eliciting a little giggle from the toddler. 

“Oh ok. Sorry, I don’t mean to disturb you. I kind of forget that other people aren’t up at like 5 in the morning every day like me,” she laughed softly. “Um, anyway, I meant to give you boys these,” she handed the bags to Will. 

“You didn’t have to get us anything, Liv. Thank you,” Will smiled as he looked through the bag of Star Wars-themed party favors, including some Lego mini-figures, stickers, and candy.

“You’re welcome. Don’t tell David, but I snuck a little something extra into your bag,” she winked.

He tilted his head to the side and peeked back into the bag, pulling out a couple of Polaroids. One was a candid of the four guys, laughing and having a good time. A small smile came over Will’s face; it had been so long since the guys all looked so carefree. The second photo was of Will with his arm around Katie’s shoulder. He looked at her as she threw her head back in laughter at Benny who was mid-story.

“Thanks, Liv, this was nice of you to bring over.” He murmured as he looked at the photos, his eyes crinkling as his smile grew wider.

Olivia regarded him for a moment, wanting to say more but also didn’t want to pry. “Well, I’ll leave you. I have to go deliver a few more of these. Got any fun plans for today?”

“Nah, just hanging out probably. I don’t know how you do it, Liv. I’m worn out from yesterday. You’re a superhero,” he laughed.

“I have my days, don’t let the cuteness fool you,” she motioned down to Diana, who played with her pacifier. “Say hi to the boys for me.”

“You girls have fun delivering your goodie bags,” he winked at Diana.

As he walked back to the kitchen to microwave his now lukewarm coffee, he plopped the gift bags on the counter. He pulled out the two Polaroids, looking at them before grabbing a couple of magnets and placing them on the refrigerator. 

Monday

“What do you mean you signed up for a fight?” Joel demanded, the tension in his voice palpable.

Benny winced, pulling the phone away from his ear before putting it back, “I…I just kind of did it on a whim,” he said weakly like a little kid being scolded. “Besides, it’s too late to get out of it now since we’re only a few weeks away.”

He paced around his kitchen, chewing his thumb as Joel continued to lay into him for making such a rash decision. After a while, Joel calmed down.

“Bean,” Joel sighed, “I wish you wouldn’t do this shit anymore, man.”

“Yeah. Sorry, I was just…mad and I wasn’t thinking and one thing led to another and I called Herb and here we are.”

Joel paused for a moment. “When’s the fight?”

“Middle of next month.”

“The actual date Bean, when is it?” Joel asked tersely. 

“Um…I think…hold on lemme go to the calendar, Will wrote it down,” Benny trailed off as he walked toward the refrigerator and flipped the calendar to the following month. “Why?”

“If I can swing it I’ll come.”

Benny stopped, a big smile coming across his face. “Wait, really? Y-You don’t have to do that man.”

“I’m not making any promises, we got a shit ton of deadlines and I’m waitin' on these goddamn permits to go through.” Joel pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Oh ok, sure…no, I get it.” Benny replied flatly, he didn’t want to get too excited about the prospect of Joel visiting. He couldn’t remember the last time Joel went on a vacation so he was tempering his expectations. 

Benny proceeded to throw out a bunch of dates, explaining his training schedule and what his plan was before Joel cut him off.

“Hey Bean - look I gotta go, I just got to the site. Send me a picture of the calendar so I can see all the shit you just spouted off. I’m not gonna remember everything you just said.”

“Yeah, you got it. Hold on…ok sending it right now. Hey J, no pressure or anything man, I know you have Sarah, but I’d really like it if you came.”

“I know Bean, I’ll try. Talk to you later, bud.” 

Joel hung up the phone as a text message came through. He opened the photo and zoomed in, cursing the fact that part of him knew he needed to get glasses. Rather than look at the calendar, his eyes were drawn to a photo stuck to a magnet on the refrigerator. Pinching the photo to further inspect it, the shadow of a smile came across his face.

“Where’s Fish, I thought he was supposed to meet us here,” Will looked over at Santiago as he, Benny, and Connor got out of Will's Jeep and walked up to the gym. 

Santiago shook his head and shrugged. “He’ll be here.”

“I thought he was usually done with his meetings by now, that’s why we picked this time. He’s good, right?” Will furrowed his brows.

“Yeah, isn’t it coming up on a year?” Benny followed up.

“Oh shit, you’re right,” Santiago brought his palm to his forehead. “Fuck…yeah it’s next week, we’ll have to figure out something to do for him. But no he’s all good. I promise I heard from him yesterday, briefly. Turns out that girl he met doesn’t live here. She was here for the weekend and flying back this morning.”

“So he’s going to be in a real great mood then huh,” Benny scoffed as he adjusted the strap of his gym bag on his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll be fine. He knows you need him. Plus, this will be a good distraction because otherwise, he’ll be in a pissy mood,” Will reassured his brother.

“Yeah and none of us want to be around a pissy Fish,” Santiago smirked. “You ready to go bud?” Santiago looked over to Connor, grabbing his shoulder.

“Yeah, happy to help however I can.”

David: Goooood morning! Anyone down for a 4th of July pool party tomorrow?

Megan: You offering? Have you asked Ty already?

Ty: Yes. All good. Figured we could do something kind of small. 

David: And we HAVE to invite the guys. It’s a pool party after all. Need to see some wet Frankie hair again 🫠

Olivia: 😂

Katie: OMG David. 

David: Oh come on, like you’re one to talk. Will in trunks isn’t too bad either. Hell, all of them. Alexa: Add one of each to my cart.

Ty: After the twins’ party I think I’m now Team Santiago 😉

Melissa: I can bring food, just tell me what I should plan for.

David: Damn ok. Wasn’t quite ready for logistics yet…I was still thirsty buuuuut anyway. I’ll shoot you guys over my thoughts later. I need to sit with my mood board for a bit.

Megan: It’s a Fourth of July party - isn’t that enough of a mood?

Ty: you know who you’re talking to right? 🙄

Lucille: Count on me to make whatever you want.

David: Love you Lulu ♥️ Katie - you’re in charge of texting Will so he can tell the guys.

Olivia: Why don’t we just add them to the group chat?

David: ARE YOU CRAZY?! This is my safe space.

Marcus was beaming as he bounced Mariella on his lap and watched Victoria sign the last in the giant stack of papers. 

“Well, Victoria….Marcus, congratulations, you’re the proud owners of 306 Mule Fall Court,” Ethan smiled as he got up and shook hands with the couple, giving Nicolas a high five. “

Once Ethan handed over the keys, the family posed for a quick photo for his Instagram and then made their way to their SUV. Marcus unlocked the doors as Nicolas hopped in, grabbing his tablet so he could go back to playing his game. Meanwhile, Victoria worked on buckling Mariella into her car seat. She handed the toddler her milk bottle and closed the door, surprised Marcus was right behind her.

“Baby, you can’t sneak up on me like that,” she smiled as Marcus cupped her cheek and leaned in for a kiss.

“Congratulations Mrs. Pike, you finally have your dream house,” he smiled against her lips, his thumb rubbing her cheek. 

“Hmm..well, Special Agent Pike,” she wrapped her arms around Marcus’ neck. “Our first night in the house is going to be a little bit different than our first place, huh?” She winked. 

Marcus chuckled, reminiscing about their first apartment together and the rather eventful night they had christening their first shared space. “Vanessa can’t get here soon enough so she can watch the kids, I need to take you out on a date. Speaking of, when is she getting in?”

“She texted she’s only a few hours away. Hey tomorrow, I figured we could maybe do a barbecue or something since we won’t have much of the kitchen stuff unpacked.” The corners of her mouth curled up as Marcus rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

“I guess that means getting the barbecue set up is among my first orders of business today then, huh?”

“Yes, and our bed,” she winked and then froze as she realized where she was. “The kids…fuck…the kids…it’s so hot Marcus, get in and blast the AC,” she abruptly turned around and opened the door as Marcus ran to the other side of the SUV to turn it on.

Katie was walking back to her office with her second coffee of the day. She figured now was as good a time as any to text Will and see if he and the guys wanted to go to David and Ty’s party. 

Katie: Hey! You boys have plans for the 4th?

Will: No, not really.

Katie: No?! Figured it was a big day for you all.

Will: It’s a complicated day.

Katie furrowed her brows at Will’s responses. He was normally curt, but he seemed especially abrupt.

Katie: Oh ok. Well, David is having people over and you guys were my responsibility on the phone tree to invite.

Will: Nice, ok yeah. I’ll check with the guys in a bit and get back to you? We’re at the gym.

She breathed a bit of a sigh of relief but chastised herself for not stopping to think that he may actually be busy.

Katie: Yeah sounds good.

Will: Get back to work Kat 😉

Frankie rolled into the gym about an hour late, having missed all of the cardio and weights.

“There he is!” Santiago clapped his hands as Frankie walked towards the ring. He came in for handshakes and hugs with all of the guys, including Connor.

“You good Fish?” Benny cocked his head to the side, taking in how Frankie’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Frankie cleared his throat, pulling his hat off and running his hair through his curls. “Yeah man, I’m good. Are you?”

“He’s better now that you’re here, Fish,” Will clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Now the fun begins!”

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Frankie went to put on some sparring gloves, not seeing the looks all of the guys exchanged. They were all walking a bit on eggshells trying to gauge Frankie’s mood. 

It turned out that sparring with Benny was exactly what Frankie needed; he was able to get out some of his frustration while giving Benny a worthy opponent. 

“C’mon Ben, you have to try and dodge me. The guy is going to be walking all over you if you don’t pick up your feet,” Frankie panted as he ducked around Benny’s punches. 

“Atta boy Benny, show that old man what’s up!” Santiago yelled with a cupped hand around his mouth.

“Fuck off Pope, I want to see your ass in here,” Frankie muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Can’t, doctor’s orders,” he called back, looking over to Connor with a wink. “Couple of neck surgeries and shit knees,” he tilted his head forward, showing off his scar.

“Aka he’s old,” Will smirked as Connor stifled a snort. 

Meanwhile, Benny locked in a decent combination, pinning Frankie to the ropes as he tapped out. 

“Good, Ben. Wanna take a break?” Franke huffed. 

Benny nodded and he and Frankie took off their gloves, sitting on the side of the ring as the other guys brought them water.

“Oh, since we’re all here,” Will started, “Katie said there was some Fourth of July party tomorrow. We’re all invited.”

Benny, Frankie, and Santiago looked between each other and then back to Will.

“D-do you guys not celebrate the Fourth?” Connor asked.

“It’s…” Benny started.

“Complicated,” Santiago finished as Frankie pointed towards him in agreement.

“Oh, so you guys don’t want like … a lot of attention or whatever?” Connor looked between the four men. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s really more of a pool party than anything else. Ever since that one year, Ty won’t let David shoot off fireworks,” he chuckled to himself.

“Are there…uh…other people who set off fireworks in the neighborhood?” Will crossed his arms in front of him as Benny side-eyed him.

‘Uh, yeah. I think Aria’s neighbors are the ones who do it now…but they live a few streets over.”

“But it’s still probably loud huh?” Frankie mirrored Will’s body language as he looked over at his friend.

Connor straightened up, sensing the tension coming off from the guys, especially Will. He was unsure what to say, not wanting to upset them.

“Ironhead isn’t one for loud noises, hell, none of us are any more,” Santiago spoke up, seeing Connor slightly relax.

“Oh, I hear ya. Ms. Olivia always gets mad because the twins get woken up….I dunno my mom and her always end up talking about it and reading what people are saying on Facebook,” he laughed. “I can ask Mom if she knows if anyone’s going to do fireworks. That way you guys know?” 

“That’s nice of you man,” Benny brought the boy in for a half hug. “We may decide to leave a little early but I think we’re all down for a pool party aren’t we boys?” He looked around and saw them all reluctantly nod. “Well that settles it,” he smiled.

“Alright Ben, let’s get back to it, you’re not done,” Frankie slapped Benny across the chest and then motioned toward the weights.

As Benny, Will and Connor made their way over, Santiago quietly pulled Frankie to the side. “Everything good hermano?” 

“I’m ok,” Frankie muttered as he took the tape off his hands. 

“You gonna see your girl again? Or was it just a weekend thing?” He brief smirk quickly replaced by a look of concern. “Sorry, Fish.”

Frankie sighed, “All good man. I’m going to see her again…at least I hope I can see her again. We uh…didn’t really talk a lot about it,” he let out a soft chuckle, rustling with the back of his hair where it poked out from his cap.

“Ah mano, I’m sure you didn’t,” Santiago winked, eliciting a reluctant smile from Frankie. “You don’t have to tell me all about it now. But seriously, how long’s it been? I figured after finally getting some you’d be less of a dick.” He dodged a playful punch from Frankie, who got him into a headlock.

“Nico, can you help me with that box?” Marcus pointed to the trunk of his SUV as his son eagerly nodded.

“Dada, I big helper too,” Mariella waddled over making grabby hands up at Marcus’ knees for him to pick her up.

“Ah muñeca, yes, you are a big helper too, here,” he handed the little girl an empty plastic bag which she happily took as she trotted up the driveway to her mother.

“Mama I’m a big helper!”

“Wow! Look at that!” Victoria smiled as the family worked on emptying the SUV with their first round of belongings. “Babe, when’s the moving truck getting here?”

“Should be any minute now,” Marcus checked his phone.

“Doggie!!” Mariella yelled as she started running down the driveway, with Nico on her heels.

“Hey, hey, be careful,” Marcus chased after them, scooping his daughter up and redirecting Nico away from the sidewalk as a woman and her corgi approached. “Sorry about that! They both love animals,” he called over.

“Oh, it’s ok! He’s friendly if they want to say hi,” she smiled, motioning down to her dog. 

Marcus walked down the driveway with Mariella on his hip and Nico holding his hand.

“This is Bucky, say hi Bucky,” she looked down at the dog who excitedly looked between all of the new people. “I’m Megan by the way….I live a few doors down, the one with the basketball hoop,” she motioned over her shoulder.

“I’m Marcus,” he reached out to shake her hand. “This is Mariella and Nico…my wife Victoria,” he nodded behind him as Victoria made her way down the driveway.

“Hi! Are you one of our neighbors?” Victoria asked with a warm smile. 

“Yeah, I’m kind of the unofficial welcome wagon,” Megan chuckled as Bucky looked up at her and whined. “You too buddy, you’re part of the committee too,” she winked at the couple. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt you all if you’re moving in. I’m sure you have your hands full.”

“Oh it’s ok, we’re waiting on the moving truck, and then my sister,” Victoria said as she reached down to pet Bucky, who rolled over on his back as the kids giggled.

“He hates attention as you can tell,” Megan laughed. “Hey, I know it’s probably a lot and you may already have plans, but we’re having a Fourth of July barbecue tomorrow if you all want to come. All the neighbors will be there. We just had some guys move in a few weeks ago, they’ll love to no longer be the new kids on the block,” she winked.

“That’s so nice of you, thank you,” Victoria smiled. 

“Yeah, here let me get your number,” Megan pulled out her phone and handed it to Victoria who eagerly entered her contact information.

“Hey, I'm thinking we can get started on Melissa and Danny's backyard the day after tomorrow. I wanted to swing by Home Depot, get a few things, and drop it off so we can just get started right away on Wednesday. Anyone wanna come with?” Santiago asked the group as they were walking out. Frankie was busy checking his phone and not paying attention.

“I, uh, I should get home. I told Lulu I'd help her with some stuff … I'm getting lunch out of it,” Connor chuckled.

“Damn, don't go eating all of the empanadas, she said she'd save some for me. And she probably made something special for you now that you’re back, Fish,” Benny laughed, his face scrunching up when Frankie ignored him. “Fish?”

Frankie looked up from his phone, “Hmm? Oh … ah yeah…sure,” he gave a tight smile.

Will furrowed his brows, looking away from Frankie and focusing his attention on Connor. “How about I drive you home and these three can head to Home Depot? It'll be easier probably with your truck Fish.”

“Hmm, sure yeah that's fine.” Frankie’s lips twitched as he checked his phone again.

“Okay,” Santiago cut in, trying to cover for the fact that Frankie was clearly distracted and had his mind elsewhere. “That settles it, see you back at the house Will.”

“Babe, I think Santi and the boys are going to drop off some stuff … you going to be around?” Melissa walked into the living room, putting on her earrings as Danny played a video game.

“Uh ok, cool,” he paused the game. “You not gonna be here?”

“No, I…uh…I have to go grocery shopping for tomorrow. I told David I’d bring something.”

“Ooo nice, what did you decide on?”

“Ah, I don’t know yet. I figured I’d go to the store and see what speaks to me.” 

“Any instructions I need to know for the guys?”

“Nope, they should be outta here before you know it,” she walked over to the kitchen counter to grab her crossbody and keys. “I’ll be back, love you!” 

“Ok. Hold tight, let me go check and see where she wants the stuff,” Santiago instructed as he jumped out of Frankie’s truck and bounded up the driveway.

“Looks like the neighbors are finally moving in,” Benny observed, looking at the passenger side window.

He recognized the family from the other day. The husband held onto a little girl while a little boy played with a plastic golf club set. He spotted the wife coming out of the house with one of the movers. 

“Yeah, that moved pretty fast, huh?” Frankie responded absentmindedly as he tapped on his phone.

“Fish, look, I don’t wanna pry or anything….but is everything ok? I've never seen you on your phone this much and it’s kinda weirding me out,” he laughed.

Frankie put his phone in his lap and took a deep breath. “I ah…I kinda met somebody,” Frankie looked up sheepishly.

“Well, that’s obvious Fish,” Benny smirked.

“It’s moving kinda fast,” Frankie twirled the curls sticking out of the back of his hat.

“It’s ok, fast can be good…well…not in some cases, but you know what I mean,” Benny snorted as Frankie groaned.

Santiago tapped on the passenger side window, motioning to Benny to roll it down. “We just missed Melissa apparently, but Danny’s gonna open the gate to the backyard and we can just set everything back out by the shed. We’ll figure it out later.” 

“Sweet. Let’s get to work, I wanna get home and take a shower” Benny clapped his hands, getting out of the car and waving to Danny. “Hey, man!”

“What’s going on guys? Lemme go open the gate real quick and I can come help!” Danny held up a key as he walked to the side of the house.

“All good man, take your time,” Santiago shouted back as he unlocked the bed of Frankie’s truck.

The guys started unloading a few things and followed Danny into the backyard, missing the arrival of another black SUV at 306 Mulefall Court.

“Tia Nessa!! Papa! Tia Nessa is here!” Nicolas’ face lit up as he saw his Tia Vanessa park and get out of her car. She placed her sunglasses on her head and opened her arms up for a hug.

“Oye mi corazón!” Vanessa knelt on the ground, bringing her nephew in for a tight hug. “Ah, I missed you. Everything going ok? You helping your mama y papa?”

“Si, Tia Nessa, I’m helping,” he smiled back, “I’m really strong…look,” he flexed.

“Ay dios mio, wow!” She laughed before turning her attention to her little niece. “Oh! Look at you walking mi chiquitita!” she clapped her hands as Mariella made her way over. She picked the little girl up and twirled her around.

“Hey Vandy,” Marcus greeted her with a warm smile followed by a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thanks, Buck, happy to be here,” she smiled, rubbing his arm with a tight smile. Even before he was “officially” her brother by marriage, Vanessa always had a soft spot for Marcus, the two sharing a sweet, unspoken bond. 

“I like your hair…in the light it looks…purple?” He reached towards the end of the hair sticking out of her claw clip.

“Thanks, had a bit of a crisis so I dyed it,” she chuckled. “Look at yours! I don’t think I’ve seen your hair this long in a while! And with this scruff?! Vic must be losing her mind,” she winked.

“Ha,” a slight flush washed over his face as he cleared his throat. “I’m gonna need you to take care of this before I go back to work on Wednesday,” he said as his hand ruffled through his curls.

“Please don’t cut it too short,” Victoria walked up with a pout before embracing her little sister with a tight hug and a huge smile plastered across her face.

“We won’t go as short as normal, right Buck?” Vanessa winked. “Just shape it up a bit.”

“Ah, I am so excited you’re here!” Victoria squeaked. She was about to bombard her sister with questions about the drive and what she packed, but she got distracted by some movement in the yard next door. “Oh, hi!” She waved at the group of men making their way towards a green pickup truck in the neighbor’s driveway.

Vanessa followed her sister’s gaze, checking out the group. She took a particular interest in the taller man in the bunch. He had a black backward baseball cap on and a T-shirt that fit snugly around his biceps. Their eyes locked briefly and she sucked in a breath as he gave her a lopsided smile. She then noticed his soft, kind eyes that were the prettiest shade of blue. She heard one of the other guys exchanging pleasantries with Marcus, who had walked over to greet the group.

“Damn, I didn’t realize the landscapers were gonna be so hot,” Vanessa whispered to her sister with a smirk. “You have any projects planned?”

“They aren’t landscapers,” Victoria laughed and pulled her sister close as she gave her the rundown of the men. “And the one in the black hat? That’s Benny. He lives a few houses down with his brother...who I don't see.” She side-eyed her sister, who was absentmindedly biting her lower lip as she watched Benny and the rest of the guys chat with Marcus. “Want me to go introduce you?” she waggled her eyebrows, playfully bumping Vanessa in the shoulder.

“No, Vic. Don’t make it weird,” she turned to face her sister. “We have unpacking to do and I am desperate for you to show me around this beautiful house!” 

“I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to help you unpack a box or two,” Victoria smirked.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and knelt to get to eye level with her nephew, “Nico, you wanna help me get some stuff out of my car and then show me your room?”

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” Nicolas jumped up and down, running over to Vanessa’s SUV as Marcus walked back over to his lawn.

“That must be the sister,” Santiago motioned over with his eyes as the guys grabbed another load from the back of the truck. 

Frankie noticed Benny try and steal glances behind him. “She’s pretty,” Frankie commented, looking Benny up and down trying to gauge a reaction. 

Benny nodded and cleared his throat before hopping up onto the bed of the truck to continue unloading. His eyes looked past Frankie, finding hers once again from a distance. It had been so long since he’d approached a woman and he felt uncharacteristically nervous. He shook his head to collect himself before jumping down from Frankie’s truck to help Santiago carry a bag of soil.

As they walked up the driveway, his eyes quickly cut over just in time to see her leaning into the backseat of her SUV to grab something. She was wearing workout pants and an oversized T-shirt and her hair was casually up in a clip. Benny’s eyes trailed down her body, lingering for a moment on her ass as she bent down. He felt his pulse quicken a little bit, a thrill he hadn’t experienced in a while.

“You into girls with dark hair now?” Santiago chimed in, pulling Benny’s attention.

“What?” Benny cleared his throat, his brows furrowed as he regarded a smug Santiago.

“Just an observation. She’s not your usual type.” He used his lips to point back towards the driveway next door. 

“What? I…uh…” Benny tried to play it off with a laugh, but Santiago exchanged a knowing look with Frankie.

“Psst, ven aquí,” Victoria whispered to her sister as her husband and son went upstairs to drop off some of the bags from Vanessa’s car. 

“What’s up?” 

“He’s hot, right?” Victoria asked with a smirk.

Vanessa furrowed her brows, “who?”

“Benny, silly. C’mon, you have to admit he’s like super hot, right?” 

“I didn’t realize you were looking, hermana. I figured out of all of them you’d be most interested in the curly-haired one in the hat who kinda looks like Marcus ow-!” Vanessa laughed as her sister playfully slapped her arm. 

“You know what I meant tonta.”

“Don’t give me that look,” Vanessa narrowed her eyes.

“I’m not giving you a look. I’m just surprised. He’s not your usual type is all.”

“Who’s not who’s type?” Marcus asked as he came around the corner.

“Nothing. It’s nothing. C’mon, there’s still a bunch of stuff in the trunk,” Vanessa turned on her heels as Marcus winked at his wife.

“Meddling already and I just got here,” Vanessa muttered to herself as she walked back outside to her car, stepping over some of the toys scattered on the front lawn. When she reached her car, she took a deep breath and collected herself as she waited for her trunk to open.

Moving in with her sister and brother-in-law wasn’t something she had on her mid-30s bingo card, but here she was. She was grateful to them for their generosity, even though it still made her feel inadequate and a bit like a charity case. For the past six months, she felt like she was floundering and was hopeful a change of scenery could give her the reset she so desperately wanted.

She stacked a couple of boxes, struggling a bit to carry them but she was determined to not drop them – especially since she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of the guys next door. Her mind was elsewhere as she walked up the driveway, cutting up into the lawn as her foot caught something. Then, everything felt like it was happening in slow motion.

“You gonna keep staring or are you gonna go and say hi?” Santiago peered over to Benny as he watched the woman walk back to her car. “She’s clearly going to be a neighbor, welcome her to the neighborhood,” he waggled his eyebrows as Benny shook his head and averted his eyes.

“Nervous to go talk to a girl? This is unlike you Benjamin,” Frankie smirked as Santiago snorted.

“Ha ha very funny,” Benny rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath and looking as she struggled with a couple of boxes she had stacked on top of each other.

His hands twitched, wanting to run over there and help her, but he also didn’t want to offend. Thanks to his ex, he second-guessed everything. Benny’s eyes again raked down her body as she walked with the boxes stacked high; he smiled to himself to see her determination. And then, it felt like everything stopped and happened in slow motion. 

She didn’t notice the golf club lying haphazardly in her path. Her shoe caught it and Benny instinctively took off in her direction, knowing he was too far to do anything. She stumbled, unable to recover her footing, and fell forward as the boxes tumbled, scattering their contents onto the lawn. 

“Vandy!” Marcus shouted as he ran out the front door. 

“Fuck,” she muttered to herself as she got to her hands and knees, hoping that no one else saw her fall. Then she heard a couple of heavy footsteps running up the driveway.

“Are you ok?” She heard an unfamiliar deep voice, noticing the Southern drawl.

She turned her head to see the man with the black cap towering over her. His eyebrows were knitted with concern as he bent down, offering his hand so she could stand up.

“Uh, y-yeah,” she gave a weak smile, mesmerized that his eyes were even more beautiful up close than they were from a distance. When he smiled at her, she felt her knees go weak, it was a miracle she was able to stand. “I…um…I’m usually not so clumsy,” she laughed nervously pausing when she looked down to see he was still holding her hand.

“Vandy, are you alright?” Marcus ran up in a huff and brought his hands to her shoulders to steady her. 

Benny dropped her hand and ran it down his mouth and across his jaw, finally resting it on his neck as he watched.

“Yeah, I’m ok, just startled me more than anything,” she reassured her brother-in-law. 

“Sorry, Nico had stuff everywhere, I should have had him put it all away…”

“Buck, it’s ok. I’m ok,” she smiled.

“Here, let me help y’all pick this stuff up,” Benny cut in, realizing he was just awkwardly standing there. He bent down to start collecting the items which consisted of a lot of knick knacks. 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Vanessa crouched down, embarrassed that the man is getting to see her Funko pop collection scattered across the lawn. But he was working so quickly to help that it brought a smile to her face.

Marcus observed this encounter with a smirk. It had been so long since he’d seen her smile like that and he was amused, even though he knew Victoria would chastise him for gawking. 

“Here, I can take this in for you,” Benny smiled as he picked up one of the newly repacked boxes

“Uh, t-thank you…”

“Benny. I’m Benny,” he smiled and Vanessa felt the butterflies erupting in her stomach.

“Vanessa.” Her eyes locked on his and she thought she saw the faintest blush coming across his face.

“Benny lives down the street Vandy, with his brother Will,” Marcus chimed in.

“Oh, nice,” she smiled tightly, hoping that Marcus wouldn’t make it awkward but she saw that glimmer in his eye. Bless him, he tried over the years to set her up with friends but it never quite worked out.

Benny cleared his throat, “Yeah, we’re just down that way,” he motioned down the street with his chin. 

Benny and Vanessa stayed looking at each other like time stood still. Neither was sure when they last took a breath.

Marcus, meanwhile, happily played the bystander watching the back and forth like it was a tennis match. When he realized neither of them was going to say anything, he cleared his throat. “So, Vandy you gonna keep us standing here holding your stuff or are we heading in,” he smirked.

“Shit, yeah, sorry. Ah, here I can take that.” She motioned to the box but Benny pulled it back.

“Nuh uh, I”ll take it. Lead the way boss lady,” Benny winked letting her walk in front. He couldn’t help how his eyes swept down her body and as he was admiring her ass his view was blocked by Marcus who stepped in front of him with a smile. Benny cleared his throat and got in line behind him.

“I was wondering where you all we-,” Victoria’s eyes widened as she saw her sister and husband walk back into the house followed by Benny. She crossed her arms and rested her weight on one foot, ‘Wow Benny, you’re just a jack of all trades aren’t you,” she winked as Benny laughed.

“Here Benny, it’s up this way,” Marcus nodded for Benny to follow him upstairs. 

Vanessa winced as she rubbed her knee, thankful she fell on grass and not the pavement. “You fell? Are you ok? Let me grab my kit real quick…” Victoria trailed off.

“Calm down Nightengale, I just tripped on the lawn,” Vanessa rolled her eyes, straightening up when her sister gave her that look. “Ok, I fell. But it’s not a big deal. I’m more embarrassed than anything.”

“So you pulled the whole damsel in distress thing to get Benny to come over, huh?” She waggled her eyebrows.

“You and I both know I’m not coordinated enough to pull that off…clearly,” Vanessa chuckled. 

Just then the sisters heard some laughter coming from the staircase as Marcus and Benny walked down the steps.

“Got another load or two maybe, you good to help?” Marcus looked over his shoulder.

“Oh you really don’t have to do that,” Vanessa started to follow before Victoria grabbed her by the arm.

“Can you stop? Let him help you.”

“I can do it myself,” Vanessa huffed.

“I know you can, but accept the help sometimes,” the deeper meaning behind the words was not lost on either sister.

A few moments later, there was laughter and commotion at the door as Marcus came back through with Benny and some additional helpers.

“Got the whole thing unpacked, Vandy. Look at how fast that was thanks to our neighbors,” Marcus winked as he made his way up the stairs. Benny was right behind and gave her a shy smile as he walked by.

A good looking shorter man with curly hair was next. He had an air of confidence and seemed like the kind of guy who would coax you into bad decisions. “Hi, I’m Santi…that’s Frankie,” he nodded behind him. The man with the baseball cap smiled as he followed the group upstairs.

When they were alone, Victoria snorted, trying to contain her laughter.

“Stop it,” Vanessa rolled her eyes. 

“Ok ok, I won’t say anything,” Victoria smirked. “But, how are you thinking of repaying him for his kindness ow-” she ducked as Vanessa threw a cleaning rag her way with a laugh.

“Uh oh, that can only mean trouble,” Marcus called down as heavy footsteps made their way down the stairs. “Can’t leave those two alone,” he winked at Benny.

“This is a beautiful house,” Santiago remarked, taking a look around.

“Thanks, I’m excited to make it ours,” Victoria walked over to Marcus, wrapping her arm around his waist and looking up at him like he personally hung the moon in the sky.  

Santiago looked at Benny, who readjusted his hat, looking down at the ground nervously. “You all coming to the party tomorrow?” 

Vanessa looked at her sister and brother-in-law with a confused look. “You guys have been here a couple of hours and are already getting invited to parties. Wow, that’s a record,” she smirked.

Benny snorted, his eyes meeting hers.

Victoria ignored her sister’s quip and looked at Santiago, “We’ll all be there. Will you?”

“Yup, we’ll be there, won’t we Benny?”

Benny cleared his throat, “Ah y-yeah, should be fun!” 

“It’s a…um…pool party,” Frankie offered, gesturing towards Nicolas who had just walked into the kitchen with his little sister holding his hand.

“Pool party?! Yeaaahh!” The little boy cheered as everyone laughed.

“Well, we look forward to it. Should be a grand ol’ time,” Marcus smirked.

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: We are headed to another neighborhood party - when you have David as your defacto neighborhood social director, expect lots of fun. The boys have some complicated feelings about being the center of attention because of the holiday. Prepare for some Will angst, some Pike smut, and more cuteness with Benny and Vanessa.

A/N: We’ve got a lot of storylines cooking now! In case you missed it, I made a Delta Landscaping Bingo card to keep track of all of the PPCU character references. Based on the plans I have for this series so far, you can make a “bingo” three ways. Not to add additional reading, but my little Frankie series Turbulence gives a bit more insight into what he was up to over the weekend. There is a part 4 coming out soon and after that the story will be weaved into DL. I’ve got a few other surprises up my sleeve 😉

Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story. 

I forgot to post a chapter mood board earlier this week, so here it is...

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @noxturnalpascal / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3413 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernbe / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings 

[whispering-radiance]

| Rc9gn AU : The Glow of Amber |

Hello everyone! I finally have some time to sit down and write about AU that’s been cooking in my mind for some time now. It’s a bit OC focused but I will walk you through it— Now, I invite you bellow : D

| Before we start |

I want to thank everyone for the engagement under my posts— I really appreciate all the love you’ve given to my drawings 🥹

I’ve created many stories before, but this is the first time I’m actually writing one down — I hope you can give me a chance 👉👈

I would kindly ask for not reposting my drawings or texts without crediting me ♥️

| What happened 800 years ago |

We should start with the past before we get to the present.

Our story begins with first Ninja. His life wasn’t easy— he learned how to hold the blade before he learned how to write. He and his clan fought with evil plaguing the land — Many have lost their lives, but the biggest tragedy was yet to come. They decided to rest in a small, mountainside city. It was a terrible choice.

That nigh, an enraged Tengu demon descended from its Mountain and rained fire on the town. In the morning, First Ninja was the only alive member of his clan.

He swore to avenge his fallen brothers and sisters. He was determined to slay the beast.

However, this duel almost became his last. The Tengu wounded him and threw him off the mountain peak.

He was sure that he was about to meet his end, but fortunately, someone had found him just in time.

Once he woke up from his injuries, his savior presented herself to him as Lady of Amber — She didn’t save him out of pity — But just so he would be able to apologize for making a mess on her sacred ground. Yet, there was something that made her curious about him. She couldn’t understand why he would fight with a Tengu demon—he was armed only with a sword and determination— what was the outcome that he expected?

While it was hard for her to understand this peculiar human — She decided to lend a hand.

They’ve faced the demon together— but this time Ninja had a plan, and a secret weapon.

Just before they ventured up the mountain, the Lady created an amber stone so perfect, and so powerful, that it was capable of trapping a spirit of a demon inside— and ninja enhanced his suit with some of the Tengu feathers that he happened to get from the first battle.

Tengu still had to be defeated, and that part of the job lied in Ninja’s hands

That day, the Tengu was killed, and his spirit was imprisoned inside the stone — Which gained the name “Eye of eternity”

It was hard for them to decide what to do next. But there was one thing they could agree on — The land needed a hero, and soon more evil would emerge.

The ninja suit was crafted and the stone secured— it was time to train and prepare for another battles.

Following the death of the Tengu — many other powerful spirits emerged from the shadows to avenge their fallen friend. Everything wanted the Ninja dead

Eventually a peace was achieved. The spirits were defeated, and Sorcerer was sealed away by the magic of the sacred stone — Though Amber lady stood by Ninja’s side during every battle— He couldn’t find her after their final battle together. Her fate is unknown.

| Silence before the storm |

Thought the fate of the Amber lady is unknown— Before she disappeared, she and first ninja managed to start a family. They were blessed (or cursed) with twins. A girl, whom they named Eiko, and a boy, Nomi (I apologize for lack of creativity, but I don’t want to make it more confusing by coming up with a new name for him)

They grew and did everything together — But eventually they’ve went their own ways— Nomi stayed with their father— he dedicated himself to writing down the ninja history and details about the ninja arts. He also became the master of the sword, he could replicate almost every move of his father.

Eiko on the other hand, traveled across the land, mastering the art of exorcism, learning from the spirits, and climbing the ranks until she reached the title of the best exorcist in the land.

The time for first ninja to step down finally came. He entrusted Nomi with the task of choosing the next ninja.

Not only was he tasked, he was also warned — That he shouldn’t, under any circumstances, be the next one to wear the mask.

Nomi was a good son. He always listened to his father’s request— but this one — He was sure that he would bring his father honor if he took his place. After he put the mask on — It took control over him and forced him to go on a rampage

Why? The material from which the suit was crafted —Before the tengu took his final breath, he cursed his feathers so that First Ninja's bloodline couldn't have all this power to themselves

Eiko was called to town to get rid of the rampaging beast— She didn’t know who she was fighting— Until she struck the final blow— She gazed in horror at the body of her dear brother— Wishing to save him, she sealed his soul in the book he wrote— The ninja Nomicon — This was the day that tome became magical

She saved the village and it’s people but the act of killing her own brother angered the gods she worked so closely with — They cursed her to suffer the eternal life until the Nomicon was destroyed or until the Heavenly forgave her sin.

Eiko travells the land, choosing the next Ninja and protecting the book in which her brother now resides. | The Present aka The season 3 |

The sacred stone went through a lot throughout the years — and finally, it reached its breaking point and snapped in half, loosing all its magical properties— The Tengu was given freedom again, but this time he chose not to possess any of the Ninja’s friends— Instead he flew high, away from the city, with a goal of recovering his past strength.

It’s summer vacation, and the last thing Randy wants to think about is upcoming doom.

The Nomicon is clueless on what to do about the broken sacred stone. Even Eiko was shocked by the situation. She doesn’t have any powers that would make stone magical again— For her it looked like a case of severely broken wine glass — you can fix it, but there’s no way it would ever hold wine again.

A new stone or other seal must be made— and it has to be done fast — With a Tengu roaming free, other formidable spirits might join him— if something isn’t done about this situation, the Norrisville might face a very possible destruction.

Eiko decides that all of them must go to the Old Norrisville, a very traditional, and a very old town located few miles outside the main city. There’s a chance that this ancient city might hold answers to their present problems.

—————————

[cyborg-franky]

hello!! I saw that you have requests open, so...

can i request scenario law x f!reader with ASL as her overprotective brothers? modern!au if possible!! I also don't know English very well, so forgive me if there are mistakes in the text(( you can ignore it if you don't like it!!

thanks in advance for your reply!! (≧◡≦) ♡

Oh this seemed fun so I decided to do it. I hope you enjoy but I don't do female readers <3 hope thats okay.

GN Reader X Law SFW

You had been dating Law a little while, a few weeks and it had recently started to become serious which meant it was time for him to meet your brothers.

Not by blood, but the three men always acted like your older brothers, always being over protective and keeping an eye on you.

You hoped Law would do well, pass their critical judgment.

“So, anything I should know?” Law asked as you stood outside the apartment door, you looked at him for a moment, you didn’t think anything would prepare him for how the three were and you also didn’t want to scare him off.

“Nah, just take your shoes off when you get in,” You saw the puzzled look on his face when you nervously chuckled and fumbled with the keys.

Once inside you saw the three. Luffy was at the counter stuffing leftover pizza into his mouth while Sabo made himself tea in the kitchen area.

Ace was flopped on the couch, watching TV.

Law soon found all eyes on him, like he’d stepped foot into a raptor enclosure.

He kept his cool, he didn’t falter under the gazes of all three.

“Tra-guy!” Luffy yelled, spitting out pizza as he recognised Law.

Law winced and you could tell his balls jumped back inside his body at the shrill greeting from Luffy, seemed they already knew one another and that was going to be a story for another day. One huge wall at a time.

“Ace, Sabo, Luffy, this is my boyfriend, Law.” You introduced as you slipped off your shoes, watching Law do the same as he eyed up Luffy with an annoyed expression on his face. Oh yeah, he for sure knew Luffy.

In a blink of an eye Sabo and Ace descended on him. Both slapping a hand hard and firm on each shoulder, giving Law a scrutinizing gaze.

“How did ya both meet?” Ace started the interrogation, looking down his nose at Law, or trying to. Law was taller.

“We both go to the same coffee shop and got talking.” You explained.

“How long have you known each other?” Sabo asked, making sure Law could see all his scars  along his face and neck, trying to come across as intimidating but to his credit, Law held fast.

“Like two months?” You replied and looked from Ace to Sabo and back at Luffy who was still eating.

“Tra-guy is a good guy, he won’t do anything to them, you don’t need to worry!” Luffy stood up for Law, whose shoulders sagged when Sabo and Ace looked over at Luffy, processing what he’d said, backing off a little.

“Really?” Both asked and Luffy nodded, mouthful of food.

“Alright, Law,” Ace said, sniffing and backing down, folding his arms over his chest, still trying to size him up as Sabo also backed down “But if anything happens to kiddo here, we will be the first to know.” Ace added and Sabo nodded. 

The killing intent behind the smiles that Ace and Sabo both plastered on their faces was enough to make Law agree to anything.

Once out the apartment Law sighed and looked at you.

“They were joking right?”

“Oh? Ace maybe, but not Sabo. My exe still doesn’t trust his breaks.” you said like it was nothing, taking his hand and pulling him down the hall.

“W-wait? What?”

“Don’t worry! Anyway, how do you know Luffy?” you simply got a groan in reply.

[the-24-7-lawlu-library]

What a wonderful library! I’ve been having a hard time finding good stories for these two fools.

I was wondering if you had any recommendations for fics that have family aspects? Like meeting the family type fic?

Thank you so much for this blog, it’s definitely a must have for fic readers.

Hi lovely anon, thank you so much! We hope we can make it much easier for you!

Yes, we got you! Here are some suggestions for you:

Menace by chenziee (T)

After finding out their sweet, innocent little brother is dating the creepy, dark, and mean Surgeon of Death, pure, honest dread descended upon Sabo and Ace. Someone was going to suffer in this relationship. And it sure as hell wasn't going to be Luffy.

All I want by betsib (G)

Luffy invites Law to spend Christmas with him and his brothers. Written for Truffyfest Secret Santa 2023

Calendars for the Doctor by Raiya (T)

„Ah, I almost forgot. Here that’s for you, Merry Christmas.“ Luffy grinned broadly and handed a flat, wrapped gift to him. It felt like a magazine. „We made that for work actually but each of us got a special one, Iva said we should give it to our special person, and with you saving my life and us becoming friends I thought it would be you for me right?“

Grandfather's love by chenziee (G)

"Why didn’t you tell us who your grandfather was?” For years, Law's lived his life alone without a family, only accompanied by his friends and crew. He was pretty damn sure he had no living family to speak of, and he most certainly had no grandfather.

How to get an A in Biology by Mischa_L (G)

Luffy convinces Law to come over to his place to help him study for his biology exam... chaos ensues. Modern AU.

Song for Someone by Dawn_Twilight_Harlequin (T)

It's now winter break at New World University, and many of the students are expected to go home. Law however, not really having any family, wanted to stay at the college dorms. But his roommate Luffy invited him to come over his house for the break. Well, there goes his peace and quiet.

-Mod Raiya

[lorethebookworm]

Instead of sleeping yesterday my mind came up with a really silly Aftg au

Imagine everything is the same but Allison is either Aphrodite in disguise (why? And why would she come to earth to end up with the foxes of all people? Playing exy???) ( Listen I never said this would make sense just let me explain) or she is a descendant of Aphrodite in some way and therefore she can feel when people are in love. SO I'm just picturing Allison being constantly hit by the unbelievable strength of Andreil's feelings for one another. I don't know you guys this made sense last night , just the idea of Allison loving love but at some point she starts to struggle because Andrew and Neil really can't get a grip, they are so gone for each other that if Allison is in the same room as them she can't really concentrate on anything and it's getting annoying. Also she's pissed because those two little fuckers manage to look completely normal and unaffected while she's fighting for her life trying to concentrate on anything but them.

( OMG IMAGINE IF IT WAS AARON

now I'm thinking about Aaron getting cursed ( maybe by Allison??) for one reason or another to feel his brother feelings for one day and everything is going good and Andrew is being chill and unaffected until NEIL shows up and Aaron feels like his heart is actively trying to get out of his ribcage to be with him

Aaron *completely baffled by this experience*: is this what you feel everytime??

Andrew: feel? I'm sorry brother dearest but what are you talking about? I've never felt anything in my life , my chest is a void where no such thing as these ~feelings~ you're talking about can thrive

Aaron with his heart POUNDING becase Neil just smiled at Andrew: OH SO YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT GOOD TO KNOW)

( I don't know how I went from Allison being Aphrodite to Aaron learning that his brother is not only human but also a pathetic lovesick loser but that's how it is sometimes)

[slafkovskys]

All of this start of the season Jack content is making me feel things!!! All I can think about is him and older Norris reader after the ring toss! What does he plan for the date? How does it go? What is everyone in their lives reactions to it? Does she go to Jersey with him? Jess your writing is so immaculate this AU has infiltrated my brain😂🥰

read part one here :)

as she hears his footsteps descending the steps, she thinks about how she wouldn't be doing this for anyone else, especially not on a first date.

her dress and heels were long abandoned in a guest room, instead exchanged for a pair of jack’s sweatpants and a too big t-shirt from her college days she had left at the hughes brothers’ house at some point during her many trips there over the past few weeks. her hair was now pulled away from her face, the fact that she had moved her wash day for the occasion be damned.

“so,” he lets out a big sigh before quite literally falling onto the l-shaped part of the sofa beside her. she’s got her legs tucked underneath her, a wine glass held tight in one hand, and her head resting on another on the back of the couch. the remote is resting on her thigh and all either of them had to do was press play on the third mighty ducks movie (“it’s better than miracle, jack. not even an argument,” and she quickly learned that jack does whatever she wants, so that was an easy debate to have before he retreated to shower) that had been queued on the screen for the past twenty minutes. instead, jack throws an arm lazily over her legs, gives her that stupid grin of his she’s become obsessed with, and nods, “tell me about y/n.”

“you know about y/n,” she states as though it was a fact, which it was. they weren’t strangers to each other in the slightest, having been somewhat background characters in each other’s lives for the last eight years.

“no, i don’t. i know about the y/n whose posts i see on instagram or whatever updates my mom tells me she’s learned from your mom. that doesn’t count,” his index finger traces the outside seam of the pants she was wearing from her calf, to just above her knee, and back, “i want to know about the y/n in front of me.”

“okay then,” she takes a deep breath, swirling her wine around in her glass before taking a sip, “i was born here in michigan, but moved to germany for a little while when my dad was still playing. before you ask me, no, the only german i can remember is my old address and how to tell them i was lost. when we moved back here, i picked up hockey for a couple of years before deciding to leave it to the boys-”

“you played defense, right?” jack interrupts, staring at her with such an interest.

she hums, “why do you think i always win when me and my brothers fight? i had potential, but it really just wasn’t for me.”

“is that so? because i remember a certain tipsy moment a few weeks ago where you said you quit because you didn’t like the colors of the uniform.”

“that may have been a contributing factor, but i was fourteen and very fashion-conscious. you can’t hold that against me,” she rolls her eyes. she catches sight of the wristbands on his arm and she can’t help but to reach down and tug on them as she resumes her story, “anyway, graduated high school, moved to minnesota for college. go gophers-”

“debatable,” he teases.

“got my degree in communications. thought that i met the love of my life in the backyard of a sigma chi frat house, which we both know how that worked out. moved down to florida, got engaged, called off the engagement, and now i’m back living with my parents. i have lived a life, jack hughes,” she sighs as she finishes off her glass. she didn’t miss the way that his face twitched at the mention of derek and how she just barely ghosted over what had happened. due to the movement, his damp hair had fallen over his eyes and she reached out to push it away, “it’s going to take more than one glass of wine and a first date to get into the good stuff.”

“but i already knew all of that,” he huffs, “tell me something that i don’t already know. tell me about something that makes you happy.”

“recently?” she quirks an eyebrow and he hums, “honestly, you.”

and jack’s world comes to a screeching halt. for as long as he had known her, she wasn’t the type to get sentimental, vulnerable, but over the last two months, he felt that he had seen more versions of her than he knew existed. from the first night she was home, to that plane ride to florida to get her things, to watching her toss her engagement ring into the water right outside his house, it wasn’t enough. he wanted, no he needed more of her. he needed to know every single version of her, every single story, every single emotion that she had to offer him.

her eyes find his and he squeezes her knee, a silent ask. he watches as her throat bobs and just as he goes to crane his neck up to meet her, an alarm sounds. that stupid fucking pizza.

after scouring the entire grocery store, they couldn’t find any pre-breaded chicken for chicken parm and neither of them wanted to bother with doing it themselves. so that’s how they found themselves snatching up a premade pizza with a reduced sticker on the front because its sell-by date was that day and even though jack insisted on getting one that was fresher, she only rolled her eyes and insisted it would taste the same. he, of course, let her sit it in the basket along with the thing of cookies she suddenly had a craving for the second she laid eyes on them. the way her face lit up made it worth the extra work he was going to have to put in later.

despite the insistent beeping from the stove timer, neither of them dared to make a move to go and pull the pizza from the oven. she blinks, “we should probably go and check on it…”

“i think that it can wait for a couple of minutes,” and yeah, it definitely could, because jack was leaning in and so was she. the second their lips meet it’s like nothing either of them had felt before. the build-up, the tension between the two of them over the summer was worth it as they melted into the kiss.

jack’s hand grips onto her thigh while her hand cradles his cheek. it was easy to get lost in each other, lips moving against one another’s like they’d been doing this forever. only when the need for air becomes too great do they pull away panting, still holding onto each other like either would disappear at any given second.

“we really should go check on the pizza,” she insists, swearing she can smell the cheese starting to burn.

he frowns, “can we do more of that later?”

“if you hurry back, you don’t have to wait that long,” she incentivizes and jack is all but scrambling towards the kitchen with the sounds of her laughter following behind him.

yeah, this was definitely something they could get used to.

(they never did hit play on the movie and the pizza didn’t burn, but it didn’t get eaten either. they were too lost in each other to even bother slicing through the crispy dough as it grew colder and colder on the countertop. oh well.)

[sl33py-day]

Imposter AU with a twist Part 2!

Tw: Swearing, a bit of yandere Albedo, Your friend is a horrible person and gets slapped on the face with some Karma and Trauma.

A/n: I didn’t want to keep saying ‘Your friend’ so I named her Bethany and Beth. Also I feel like this blog is more of a crackfic blog since there’s barely any serious writing. But hey it’s fun to write. Someone wanted it and I hope I met the expectations

Day’s and weeks and a single month has passed since you descended to Teyvat from the bottomless pits of hell. People are still after your head, the pick me imposter still has not been visited by Karma, and you got a yandere, kinda. I’m saying kinda because Albedo is possessive of you and that’s all…..for now.

During the month of being in Minecraft survival mode some more characters believed you’re the OG creator. That and they just can’t handle your friend, who I shall name Bethany. Sorry to all Bethany’s but Imma steal your name real quick.

Diluc is a good example of not handling Bethany. He has told you that she would cry when a man, his brother and five other men, don’t pay attention to her. She would tell Childe to get her the most expensive gift and throw it away afterwards. He finds her annoying and one point he told you “If I had to choose between Kaeya and….the girl. I would choose Kaeya right away. That’s how annoying she is.”

Now here comes the fun part of this AU. The finding out that the imposter is the OG creator. Like I said the last part Karma is gonna slap her face sooner and later, well Karma not only slapped her but gave her the ultimate shoe slap, with a boot and high heel.

In the Imposter AU the only thing to tell from Imposter and Real apart was the golden child blood test thingy. There is one way where I feel like would be more funny and that is the ‘accident’ way.

The accident way is probably the most funniest way of people finding out that they fucked up. Imagine this, Your walking back to where ever the failed experiment is to give him the flowers he needed. But along the way your arm got scratched by a random branch. This y/n is clumsy they bump into things a lot and whenever they do they just rub off the pain until they or someone else tells them that they’re bleeding. So back to the branch thing, you got scratched by the lonely piece of wood and kept walking. Only to cross a certain traveler and they’re somehow flying food.

They cross paths, Aether doesn’t bother looking and has a place to be. Paimon on the other hand saw the gold shimmering blood and was like “Wait a MINUTE!”

“You there! Paimon has a very serious question!” Paimon yelled out but you kept on walking ignoring her as if she’s a ghost. That was until paimon told Aether and Aether is now chasing after you. Like I know I need my daily dose of adrenaline but why it gotta be like this?

While running Aether was yelling and Venti being the little shit he is heard it in the wind. Don’t ask me how that makes sense he’s the god of air. Now venti is in front of you and let’s skip a hour or two after.

Scratch that make one hour turn into 3 hours of no stop arguing. Not between you and the worshipers or overly simps but between you and Bethany.

Bethany Heard that people found you and wanted to see you uh turn the bye bye life light on. So she came in the most ugliest dress ever in the mind of y/n.

While being surrounded by the archons as they looked at you with disgust. You were on the ground with a sword against your neck. The archons believe that you put gold glitter on your arm to get the chance of stealing their graces spot? Does glitter even exist in Tevyat?

“You go to such lengths to steal our graces spotlight?!” Yelled Zhongli still having the pole arm against your neck. You are just sitting there on the floor slightly terrified because my god scary archons are more scarier then your mom.

“Sir, I didn’t even have a choice to look like that Beth Meth girl. It’s called Genes. GEN-NET-ICS.” You called out making everyone yell out insults. All of a sudden Bethany comes walking down as the people spread out like the sea. Everyone bowed and said praises.

“You really wearing that dress? It looks like something that Carella Deville would wear and honey that’s not necessarily a good thing” and that sent the lighter to the bomb.

“Well at least I have more things then you do. I would have an entire world after you are dead.” Beth’s sassy ass said as everyone is just wondering if you two know each other. Not only are you two fighting but Diluc and Aether are having to hold back Albedo so he doesn’t do….bad things.

Back to Beth with the meth fighting match. The light you started finally reached the bomb having Bethany spill everything she has done, on earth and Teyvat out loud. My god she did more stuff than you thought.

“You are always in the fucking way! Nothing I do to you ever works! I had to take money from you so your parents would hate you so you would feel shitty because of them. I spread rumors of you so people hated you. Hell I even practiced make up so people would believe you hit me!”

That’s not even the tip of the ice burg and yet many many people are in a state of shock that they are frozen in place. Oh and albedo? Ya Diluc and Aether are having a struggle. With the bomb being set off nothing is stopping Bethany to say anything and everything she has done to you. What are you doing? Letting her scream and yell since Karma is coming closer and closer.

“Then when I was Teleported here people said I was a god! They treated me better than you! I got the attention I wanted! No one was gonna try and steal the spotlight if they did I would just send someone to kill them. I have men at my fingertips so if someone insulted me or I found the person annoying I would send them to kill the person. Easy Peasy just make up a reason and they’ll do it.”

After she said that many people gasped and a few people yelled “Is that why my son/daughter went missing/were found dead?!” Yeah what a shocker now. The once looked up god is now the imposter and committed more crimes then the Fatui. She was about to say more but you stopped her.

“You did all that? Dear you’re worse than the American government and the Fatui combined. I’ll tell you why people were nice to me and not you.” You stood up with you hands behind your back. No one stopped you they wanted to see what would happen. “I’m genuinely nice to people and they do it back but some don’t. Take yourself for example, I was nice to you. I checked up on you everyday to make sure you where ok but you did all this instead.”

Bethany’s face was more redder then Diluc and a tomato together. She was furious that you came an ruined everything. She started to shout nonsense as you backed away slowly. She didn’t notice so she kept throwing insults after insults while you were all the way in the back with albedo.

Some hydro slimes and cryo slimes were walking around her as they were just doing Slime things. But one electro slime made a mistake of walking in front of her and, by accident or not, zapping her feet slightly. She let out a screech and hopped from one foot to another. Since the hydro slimes were walking around her they made the ground slightly wet. Thanks to the cryo slimes they made the slightly wet ground icy and slippery.

So while she was hopping she slipped on the ice. Fortunately or unfortunately you guys were by a cliff of some sort. I think you know what happened, she fell down but survived as the cliff wasn’t that high. So yay?

After she fell you stood there for a few minutes before saying “Ah, Karma did give her a punch in the face after all……But that seemed planed.” You looked at the slimes with a suspicious face. The hydro slime just turned around and walked away while the electro slime was like “oh this Leaf on the floor is so interesting wow” what is the cryo slime doing? Looking over the cliff where Bethany feel almost mocking her. “Haha bish you slipped” is what the cryo slime is probably thinking.

[sapphickocho]

✴Muichiro and Yuichiro are traitors....✴

☾I finally began the multi-chaptered fanfic based off of my AU here.☀

Summary:

Kokushibo stumbles upon Muichiro and Yuichiro in the midst of a desperate struggle-one battling a demon with little but his bare hands, and the other on the brink of death. Kokushibo impressed by Muichiro's skills, and recognizing them as his descendants, saves them, and they perceive him as their saviour. Initially contemplating turning them into demons, Kokushibo convinces them that embracing demonic nature is superior to remaining human. Yuichiro, enticed by the idea of becoming powerful enough to protect his brother, readily falls for the deception. However, Muzan seizes an opportunity. He will only allow Kokushibo to turn them into demons unless they infiltrate the Demon Slayer Corps and reveal there secrets and where the Ubuyashiki family is hiding. As they infiltrate the corps and become the newest Hashiras, Muichiro excelling in ‘Moon Breathing’ and Yuichiro adapting with his own breathing style “Eclipse Breathing” and sabotage missions. Muichiro begins to feel torn between loyalty to Kokushibo and newfound friendships with the other slayers, and grapples with a moral dilemma as he uncovers the truth that had been hidden from him, all the while the threat of being revealed as traitors looms closer.

First chapter is out on ao3 so check it out here! Leave a kudo or even a comment (That would make me smile so much) if you enjoy!

If your looking be a beta reader for future chapters and projects message me on tumblr or in my ask box.