#might just be wishful thinking on my part too that not all of the rat grinders are horrible people

[istayawakereading]

I don’t know if it’s just me reading into things, but the way Ruben reacted to Wanda asking about Lucy Frostblade makes me feel like he didn’t want to see her dead. He comes across as desperate for information not to gain insight into what the world knows about her death, but more so to actually just have knowledge of what happened.

Like it hasn’t been confirmed that the rat grinders killed her, but that’s been my belief so far. BUT what if it was just Bitchface Copperkettle who killed Lucy, and she somehow blackmailed or coerced the rest of the party into keeping quiet about it, and that’s why Ruben wants to know what actually happened? Because it was just Copperfuck working alone who murdered Lucy, and so none of the other party members know exactly what happened, but they know to keep quiet to stay out of trouble with Kipperpettle.

The next episode preview with Ruben having blood just SEEPING from his mouth also makes me think that is somehow Lilyshit Kettlekippy’s fault, and it might be a consequence of him maybe spilling info??

[arolesbianism]

I'm starting to see ppl talk abt updating their artfight pages and at first I was like what why it's still months away and then it hit me that by months it was two months and now I'm just silently sweating as my anual side project to remake the eternal gales refs and give them all icons comes back to haunt me

[thelostconsultant]

Secrets

pairing: Lestappen x reader

summary: Charles convinces you to join his relationship with Max.

warnings: Well, not much, except for mentions of sexual activities, unprotected sex (wrap it, guys) and pregnancy.

note: Just little snippets stitched together to give you a glimpse into their life.

The plan began to form in Charles’s head when it was announced you would become his race engineer from the 2024 season. As you got closer and got to know each other better, he began to flirt with you, making it quite clear that he wanted something from you, and when he kissed you for the first time, feeling it in his bones that he got you, he finally told you the truth. 

“There’s something you should know,” he told you softly with his hand resting on your cheek. “I’ve been in a relationship for a good… three years now, but me and my partner are looking for someone to play with, someone who would be willing to be a part of our little secret.”

“Why do you keep it a secret?” you asked him, flashing a curious look at him. 

Charles let out a long sigh as he thought about what to say to that. “We are trying to avoid a scandal.”

“So it’s someone people know. Hmm… If I was held at gunpoint and they told me to name one person you might be in a controversial relationship with, my first guess would be Max, but–” When you came to a sudden halt, he knew his expression gave away his surprise that you figured it out on your own. Well, he wasn’t that good at keeping a poker face after all. “No way,” you said slowly, your voice suddenly dropping. 

He smiled at you after shaking off the bad feeling he had. You wouldn’t rat them out, he could tell, but now he was worried you would say no and it would change the way you work together. “Now you know, but please, this has to stay between us.”

You nodded your head a few times. “Sure, I won’t tell a soul.” There was a short pause, but then you looked back at him and said, “So how long have you been looking for a third member for this relationship?”

“We weren’t actively searching. When I met you, I found you attractive, then I got to know you better and realized I like your personality too. Max heard a lot of stories about you, and he was also attracted, so we just came to the rational conclusion that we would love to have you,” he explained. 

You agreed pretty easily. Sure, you did point out that it was only a pilot period, you wanted to see if this could even work, but that was more than enough for Charles. And soon enough you fell in love with them the same way they fell in love with you, and being together in this relationship became the new normal for you.

During race weekends the two of you could spend a lot more time together, easily slipping into his driver’s room to have some fun, but times like this you usually put extra effort into showing Max how much you loved him when you got him in your company again.

Charles was in an extremely good mood in the evening, and when Max finally arrived, he was immediately pulled into a hungry kiss, his back pressed against the now closed door. “Good drive today, pretty boy,” the Dutchman praised him as he placed kisses along his jawline. “Wish we could talk a little more.”

“We can talk now,” he said before letting out a short laugh and slipping out of his grasp to move towards the kitchen. 

Max shook his head with a smile as he glanced into the living room. “Where’s our princess?” he asked with a confused look as he followed the other man.

“Left to take care of something. Actually, it’s good that she’s not here, because I need to talk to you,” Charles said as he passed his boyfriend a glass of soda, who seemed much more interested in what he was about to hear. Rolling his eyes, Charles reached out to take his hand. “Hey, don’t give me that look, I’m not planning to break up with you. I was thinking about why she wanted to go on a date. Do you think she wants to leave us?”

“No, I don’t think so. But… I don’t know, I once overheard a conversation she had with a friend or relative, and she was trying to explain to them why she hasn’t been in a relationship for a while,” he admitted. 

As he sat on a barstool, Charles let out a thoughtful hum. “It’s a good thing you mentioned this, because my idea could actually help this issue,” he began, earning a questioning look. “Maybe it’s time to make things official for our sake.” Max shook his head, but before he could say anything, he went on. “Not us, dummy. I know we agreed to keep it a secret for a few more years. I’m talking about you and her. Just hear me out. I can be seen in her company because she’s my race engineer and we’re friends as far as people know. But you? You’re on a different team, people think we don’t like each other. So if she was dating you, you wouldn’t have to feel left out even on race weekends, and I could jump over to meet her, even if she’s with you.”

With a thoughtful hum, Max rested his forearms on the kitchen island. “That’s… actually… not a bad idea,” he said slowly. “Have you told her about this?”

“No, not yet. I was waiting for you,” came the response. 

Nodding, he moved to stand behind him and wrapped his arms around his body. “Are you sure about this?” Charles let out a confirming hum in response. “Well, if she’s on board, I say let’s do this,” he replied before placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

Max woke up to the sound of you vomiting in the bathroom. He quickly jumped out of bed to see what was up with you, and when he opened the door, he saw you sitting on the floor with tears in your eyes. With a worried look, he kneeled next to you and kissed the top of your head. “Stomach flu?” he asked you softly. But you shook your head at this, carefully avoiding his gaze. “Tell me, what’s wrong? You’re hiding something.”

“What’s going on?” came Charles’s groggy voice from the door. When Max looked over at him, he saw the way he was rubbing his eyes, but then he focused on the two of you on the floor and quickly woke up. “You okay?”

You groaned, then flushed the toilet and went to the sink to wash your face. “I’m fine,” you replied defensively. 

“What are you hiding from us?” Max pressed on, knowing you well enough to sense there was more to the story. 

A minute or two passed in tense silence while they waited for you to finally speak up. Charles moved to be by your side as support, but he was stopped right away. He meant well, but this wasn’t the time to play nice. Max wanted answers, and if he had to be harsh to get them, he was willing to do it. And his strategy worked, because you finally took a deep breath and turned around to rest your hips against the sink. 

Your eyes moved back and forth between the two of them as you said, “I’m pregnant.”

Charles gasped next to him, barely able to hide his bright smile, but Max was hesitant. You had been with them for almost a year, and you had been publicly dating him for a while too, but this? This he wasn’t expecting. It’s not that he wasn’t happy, because he was. But you looked scared and maybe even ashamed, and this was killing him. So he quickly rushed over to you to cup your face with a smile on his face. 

“Are you sure?” When you nodded, he kissed your forehead. “I love you, sweet girl.”

“You’re gonna be a great mom,” Charles added as he joined you and put his arms on your shoulders. “So… I’m gonna ask. Who’s the father?” he wondered out loud with raised eyebrows. 

Shrugging, you looked down at your hands. “I don’t know. I’m on the pill, but both of you doofuses tend to forget to use a goddamn condom, so it could be either of you,” you mumbled. 

Max looked over at his boyfriend as he bit on his lower lip, feeling guilty since they had agreed at the beginning not to do this. But based on the look on Charles’s face, he wasn’t the only one thinking about this. Of course, this was nothing new for the two of them, they had discussed their preference to fuck you raw countless times, but they never explicitly told you about this. But you weren’t stupid, you just probably loved them enough to let them do what they wanted as long as you all tested yourselves on a regular basis. 

“Are you mad at us?” Charles asked cautiously, but you just shook your head. “Then what’s wrong? I can see there’s something else you’re not telling us.”

“That’s not how you wanted to become parents,” you eventually told them. 

The sentence made Max’s heart clench, and he could tell Charles felt just the same based on the look they exchanged. They had told you about their plan to one day either use a surrogate mother or adopt a child depending on how things stood in their lives. Adoption seemed to be the winning option at the time as they couldn’t decide whose biological child should it be if they chose the surrogacy option. 

But things had changed since then, a lot of things happened and their feelings also changed. Once the Monegasque nodded, Max took a deep breath and prepared to tell you what they were both thinking about at the moment. 

“We love you. Yes, we did have different options in our heads at the time we talked about this, but now you fully belong to us. Our gorgeous and smart girlfriend is pregnant from one of us,” he said with a smile as he tipped your head to make you look at him. “It’s so much better than anything we could dream of. You should be happy now. We’re here, we love you, we’re going to support you the whole time.”

On his side, Charles let out a quiet chuckle, then kissed your temple. “You’re not getting rid of us, baby, don’t even think about it.”

note2: I just wanted a little glimpse into their lives. I don't know if I should write more about them, little snippets or text or idk.

[hayleythesugarbowl]

spencer agnew where his partner is visiting shoot day and Spencer flirts with reader in his chosen outfit 🤭

I Choose You || Chosen!Spencer Agnew x reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist  ⋆˚｡⋆୨୧⋆

summary: when you come to visit smosh, where your boyfriend spencer works, he surprises you by showing you one of his favorite characters

word count: 1.1k

warnings: none

a/n: ahh i hope you enjoy this my love 🤭 this worked perfect for a short lil fic and i hope it’s what you wanted

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     “Can I ask why you’re wearing a jester hat?”

     You looked up at the woman in front of you.

     “This?” She said, “It’s part of my character. Though what character I don’t exactly know yet.”

     You shrugged. It wasn’t the weirdest thing you’d seen since you arrived at Smosh.

     You’d just arrived a few minutes ago, finally making your way to the right studio. Spencer hadn’t given you exact directions and you’d had to ask multiple people which way it was.

      “So are you new here?” The jester-hat woman asked. “I’m Amanda, by the way.”

      “No, I’m just visiting,” you gestured to your lanyard, “I’m (Y/n), Spencer’s partner.”

      Amanda cocked her head to the side. “Huh, so you are real. There goes my 20 bucks.”

     You chuckled. “Yeah, Spencer invited me to come watch the shoot today. He said he wanted to show me something, but I don’t know where he is.”

     “Found him,” Amanda said, pointing in the direction of Spencer 

     You watched as he walked towards you. You took in his attire. He was wearing a black wolf-themed t-shirt, khaki shorts, and dark sunglasses, a sword at his hip.

     “Oh boy,” Amanda patted your shoulder, “Good luck with that.”

     She stepped away leaving you alone, before Spencer arrived in front of you.

     “Hey Spence,” you said. “I—

    “So,” he interrupted. He put on a voice, completely in character. “You must be the new visitor here at Smosh.”

     He indicated the visitor’s lanyard you wore around your neck. You were only confused for a moment before you realized. This must be what he wanted to show you—a character. You decided to sit back and see where this went. 

      “This studio is a freaking hellscape,” he continued, “If you wish to survive here, you must listen to these instructions, and listen carefully.”

     You raised an eyebrow, stifling a laugh. 

     Spencer pulled his sunglasses down, breaking character for a moment “(Y/n), this is serious. Never laugh at the Chosen.”

     “The Chosen?” 

     “Yes,” Spencer said, becoming the character again, voice and all. “The Chosen. Master of wit and combat. Downfall of all my enemies.”

     “Right,” you nodded your head, an amused look on your face, “Got it. Continue.”

     “As I was saying,” Spencer—the Chosen—kept going, “listen up if you want to have a rat’s chance at walking out of here alive.”

     “Number one. Never ask Angela about the chronology of any important historical events.”

     “Hey!” The woman who must have been Angela shouted in outrage, overhearing.

     “It’s ok, Ange,” Amanda consoled her, “I get my ones and elevens confused too.”

     “Moving on,” Spencer continued. “Number two. If you ever need to coerce Shayne into doing your bidding, use a La Croix. Some might say it’s his life force.”

     You nodded, playing along with the bit.

     “And finally, there are many aesthetically pleasing males here. More aesthetically pleasing than I. An epidemic, if you will.  However, even though you may be tempted, pay no attention to any of them under any circumstances. They are all intellectually my inferior, trust me.”

     You giggled, rolling your eyes at your boyfriend.      

     “I doubt that,” you said.

     “I am always correct. And I assure you, my IQ is that of an—”

     “No, I meant you know I think you’re the most attractive one here.”

     “Have you heard of the warrior known as Damien?”

     “Doesn’t matter,” you smiled, wrapping your arms around Spencer, “Because I only have eyes for you.”

     “Well in that case, I’m not going to argue with you.”

     “I thought you were always right?” You shot back. 

     “Ah, I see you’ve unlocked my one weakness: beautiful people.”

     You blushed, placing your hands on his chest. “You have a weakness?”

     “I know, surprising. But even Hercules had his own form of kryptonite.”

     “Let me guess, you fought with him,” you teased, taking a step back. “What is it, clubs? Anvils? Some mythical monster?”

     “No, it was Megara’s love. Did you even watch the Disney movie?”

     You laughed. “So, beautiful people, huh?”

     You looked into Spencer’s eyes. “I seem to have that weakness too.”

     “Then you’ll know how serious it is,” he said, “And you’ll know what the only way of defending yourself against its hold is.”

     You looked at him expectantly.

     “We must kiss.”

     “Only if it’s absolutely necessary,” you played along.

     “Very,” Spencer mumbled, leaning in to kiss you.

     Your lips met his and you wrapped your arms around his neck. He pulled you in, his hand tight around your back.

      “Spencer!”

      You pulled apart slowly and both looked in the direction of the voice. 

      “Make out on your own time, we need you on set!” Amanda called.

     “Well,” Spencer said, turning back to you. “It seems I must begin another mission—one with significantly less hot babes.”

     You rolled your eyes at him.

     “I’ll see you later then,” you kissed him gently, “I’ll try to survive as long as I can.”

     “Best of luck. And remember, I may be the Chosen,” he said, “But I choose you.”

     He bent down and kissed your hand slowly, before tipping his non-existent hat to you and walking back to set. 

     You sat down on a chair towards the back of the room, reflecting on the interaction you’d just had.

     You loved Spencer so much. It was things like this that reminded you why. 

     You watched the whole shoot, enjoying seeing some of what Spencer did as a living.  You knew he was talented and funny and dedicated—but watching him work just renewed that knowledge.

     You were more in love with him than when you got there. 

     The shoot ended and Spencer walked over to you, wrapping his arms around you and giving you a quick kiss on the forehead. 

     “Well, what’d you think?” He asked, back to himself.

     “I thought you were incredible,” you answered, trying your hand at the Chosen voice.

     Spencer smiled, “Not bad, babe. But maybe you should leave the Chosen-ing to me.”

     “You are the master,” you saluted.

     There was silence for a moment.

     “So,” you began, tracing your finger along one of his arm tattoos, “Do you think you could, um, bring some of that Chosen stuff home?”

     “Really?” Spencer raised an eyebrow.

     “Yeah, I don’t know,” you said, “I think it’s kinda sexy.”

     “You do?” Spencer looked shocked and a bit flustered before clearing his throat and covering it up.

     “I mean,” he said, his voice deeper, “Of course you do.”

     You laughed, beginning to walk towards the door, grabbing Spencer’s hand as he followed you.

     “So,” he said, putting back on the Chosen voice as you giggled, “You’ve become enamored with the Chosen?”

He paused.

     “Impressive.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope y’all liked this one. stay tuned for more spencer fics coming soon 🫶

[heartfullofleeches]

Loser Reader and Melan, my Girlfailer Jester Gal Yan. Loser Reader could give less of a damn about Melan's clumsiness or the bodies that pile up as a result of her blunders and doing what she must to keep her biggest fan around. Their brain kinda short circuits seeing this tall ass jester monster girl and as the established monster fucker in my stories, Loser Reader will let Melan do whatever she pleases as long as she answers the age old question for them.

-

"I-I'm really really sorry about your friend! I was just doing knife practice again and I saw you both walk by and I started to panic and the blade just slipped from my hands and-"

As the freakishly tall woman rambles on, your eyes briefly flicker from the bells dangling from her collar down to the lifeless body of your coworker. Blood drains from hole in his back roughly the length and width of a small throwing dagger seeping the lining of your sneakers. It has to be the saddest part of this ordeal - you really needed those shoes for work tomorrow.

You're more worried about this odd woman than him. It's his own fault for spending the gas money you gave him on cigarettes again. If she keeps on apologizing without paying to take a breath, you'll have two dead bodies to deal with. Does she even need to breathe? She doesn't exactly look all that human now that you've gotten a better look at her.... Some type of clown....or jester. It's probably nothing, but her appearance coupled with her height leads you to believe otherwise. Did you genuinely happen to stumble across a jester girl throwing daggers at a wall past midnight? Your thoughts begin to wander away as you stand there. A process some unfamiliar with your way of being might find troubling if they happen to catch ear of what your mind spews out.

"Do they....honk?..."

In the midst of tripping over her own words, the sudden slip of your tongue nearly sends the woman tumbling over oversized ends of her sleeves. She stands upright, balancing her weight on trembling legs as she mutters a meek. "Does..what honk?"

Crap, did you say that outloud? "Hm? Oh, nothing... I was just thinking of some thing I heard about clowns. I can see you're more of a jester, but that falls under the same number right?"

The woman stares down at her shoes. You think so, anyway - it's hard to tell where she's looking with her hat blocking fourty percent of her face. "I...I guess? If you're talking about my nose then uh it does... sometimes"

"I was talking about your chest."

You could've sworn she popped a blood vessel from how her pale face turned tomato red.

"You.... HUH?"

You raise your hands in defense, however your guilt ends there. "Sorry! My brain has a mind of its own. If it makes you feel better, I say dumb shit all the time. If it clears up my mistake entirely, you were pretty sharp with that knife throwing."

The blush of her face dims. Less fiery and more...warm. "You .. you really think so?"

"Yeah. You could probably even avoid casualties if you lift that hat off your eyes.... Listen, I really don't want to be around when people find this guy and I'm not a snitch either so you don't have to worry about me ratting on you. He's your problem now. See y'all!"

Squeezing past the jester, you sprint off into the direction of your apartment - meticulously dodging the glow of street lifes to keep your bloody shoe prints unnoticed till dawn. Alone in the alleyway, Melan reflects on the events that just occurred. She... just killed someone. That alone should terrified her, but every thought in her mind cycles back to you. You're strange. A bit perverse, but you spoke your mind about her.. Was everything you said to her true too?

Dragging the body behind a dumpster, Melan wishes that just maybe you'd become another one of her problems.

One that would follow her through her improvement as a performer.

[shakingparadigm]

I always kind of wondered why Hyuna went out of her way to save Mizi in round five out of like anyone else. I originally thought it was just because she was up against Luka but that didn't really make sense because of round 4. You saying that she did it because she personally say herself in Mizi makes everything much more clear!! I was to busy look at the rescue from a more political standpoint against the aliens (which it still is) that from a more emotional one

I felt that too, honestly. When I first saw Mizi's rescue in ROUND 5 I found it confusing that Mizi was singled out as someone worthy of saving. Could Sua have been saved by the rebellion too? Why her and not anyone else? It's not just because she was up against Luka, the green-haired Durian girl went against him in ROUND 4 and there had been no effort to save her. It can't be just be her violent outburst, either, because Till acted out in ROUND 2 (and many instances before that) yet the rebellion remained unmoving.

So out of all people, why was Mizi saved? Since ROUND 5, I've settled on my own interpretation of things.

(The first one is more of my own speculation, while the second is more in line with canon, backed by Hyuna's info from Patreon)

1.) Why doesn't the Human Resistance Force save any other human from ALIEN STAGE? How do they increase their numbers in the first place?

I don't think it's common at all for the Human Resistance to interfere while ALIEN STAGE is ongoing. They must be well aware that it's one of the most dangerous moves they could ever pull. They can't afford to save every single contestant, and even if they could I still don't think they would've. Many human pets are raised to revere death as some kind of honor. Some of them are just happy enough to die, unfortunately. It's risky to try and convince someone who's loyal to the system to come to your side, as they might resist or rat out the whole rebel operation when pushed. You never know which humans actually want to be saved and which ones wish to live and die in the system.

Written on the walls beside Hyuna's wanted poster are messages by the rebels themselves. (Roughly translated) the one on the left reads:

Recruitment of Human Rebellion

Qualification: All human beings who hate segyein

Provides accomodation / residence / basic food, clothing, shelter

If we continue to live like this, we will die

We are better than your master

The Rebellion relies on humans to come to them, encouraging others to make the conscious decision to save themselves and switch sides. The rebellion can't save just anyone, a human has to prove that they don't want to be a part of the system, they need to show signs.

It makes sense that they didn't save Sua. In front of the cameras, she played her part of "the perfect pet" too well. She showed no signs of resistance and even smiled as she was shot dead.

Though still rebellious, Till had purpose in ROUND 2. Even if they came to save him, he wouldn't budge if it meant leaving Mizi behind. Plus, Till's performances usually call for an increased amount of security and guards to pin him down in case he loses control like they expect him to. Increased risk for a rescue mission that might amount to nothing.

Ivan in ROUND 3 played his part just as perfectly as Sua (it was only during ROUND 6 where Hyuna, most likely spurred on by Mizi's attachment to them and the successful rescue in ROUND 5, decided to push forward with saving both Ivan and Till).

After ROUND 1, Mizi lost everything. She lost her joy, her willingness to participate any further in the competition. Anyone watching ALIEN STAGE can tell just how despaired Mizi is, how she no longer wants to go on because of Sua's death. Furthermore, ROUND 5 was delayed because Mizi refused to participate. Maybe it was within this period of delay that the Rebellion began their plan of action.

Mizi openly showed her despair and refusal to participate in the competition any further, she provided the rebellion with a timeframe to execute the rescue mission, and her violent outburst at the end of ROUND 5 not only further proved her anger and disgust, but also nearly killed her. She needed to be saved at that point.

That's the best way I can try to explain the Resistance's decision for Mizi's rescue from a logical standpoint, but as we know, the true reason for Mizi's rescue is far more personally motivated.

2.) What does Hyuna see in Mizi that reminds her of herself? What drove Hyuna to save her?

Hyuna may have an older, tougher edge, but overall she and Mizi are the most genuinely extroverted and outgoing of the cast (or they were, at least). As children, they both shared a bright and sunny personality that positively affected all the people around them. Even their long hair and the way they styled themselves as children is strikingly similar.

Before Hyunwoo's death and whatever went down in the 49th season of ALIEN STAGE, Hyuna was most likely just as excited to compete as Mizi was. Although their motivations differed, they both shared a love for performing. Cheerful, optimistic, and painfully naive.

Hyuna seemed much more innocent and "pure" back then as well, taking a lonely Luka under her wing and caring for him together with Hyunwoo just as she treated every other child in the Anakt Garden as her little sibling. Hyuna seems to retain this sisterly instinct, shown by taking in more humans into the Human Resistance and looking after them, providing shelter and other basic needs for those who wish for a safe refuge. However, she's much more cautious with who she allows to come close. Hyuna in present is incredibly jaded behind her cheery facade, and has lost all her naiveté. She adopted her righteousness from Hyunwoo, who seemed to hold strong positive beliefs from the beginning while she herself held a more realistic and somewhat pessimistic outlook. Hyuna believes that all humans are inherently selfish, and even the most altruistic of people possess this selfishness in their nature.

Plagued by all the past events and the trauma that heavily affected her way of living, Hyuna allows herself to fall into vices such as smoking and drinking, which she indulges in so often that it's stated as her "likes" on her official profile. These not only serve as a coping mechanism for her past hurt, but also as a way to further distance herself from segyein culture, which prefers their pets to remain prim and proper. Although years have passed, it's apparent that Hyuna still hasn't moved on from the death of her brother. While her intentions for an uprising are for the benefit of all human pets, seemingly altruistic, Hyuna herself states that people are selfish, and she is no exception.

It seems that Hyuna is in pursuit of vengeance or justice. Her motivation for rebelling is fueled not only by her wish for freedom, but also by the urge to make up for Hyunwoo's death. She wants to be freed from the shackles of past, and it is through Mizi that Hyuna hopes to accomplish this.

Mizi, much like Hyuna, has experienced the devastating loss of someone who has been with her for almost her whole life. Someone who meant the world to her is now splayed out on the ground, blood spilling out of their lifeless body. The horror in that wide-eyed stare, paralyzed in shock... It's all too familiar.

To add fuel to the flame, the person who further perpetuates Mizi's misery is Luka, tormenting her with memories of Sua and stepping uncomfortably into her space, leading her like a puppet. It's established that whatever connection Hyuna had with Luka is now cut. She no longer holds a fond protectiveness over him, now viewing him as a threat that must be eliminated or brought to justice, hence the dagger held over his head. Whether or not she can find it within herself to actually bring the dagger down... we'll have to wait and see.

Hyuna sees much of herself in Mizi, and she hoped to console her own pain by saving and helping her, almost as if she were helping another version of herself.

Near the end of All-In, it's Hyuna's turn to become paralyzed at the sight of someone that might as well have been dead to her. Re-entering ALIEN STAGE grounds inevitably presents one with Luka's image, and when Hyuna recalls her memories with him, she freezes up. She and Mizi have now switched places, with Hyuna as the one in need of saving and Mizi as the only one up to the task. When Mizi fired the gun and saved her, Hyuna felt more "healed" than before. She felt a sense of satisfaction and peace due to Mizi's growth and slow but steady recovery.

Hyuna's rescue of Mizi ended up serving the both of them. Mizi learned to stand on her own two feet again and gained strength, while Hyuna was able to put herself at ease.

At present, Hyuna is the person Mizi confides most in. Mizi finds herself similar to Hyuna in many ways, especially after hearing about her past.

[yuurei20]

Strange question but!! Yk how the villains are treated as heroes? How on earth did the heroes stories work if they, uh, yk, dont have the villains? Like i briefly remember TWST!Jafar hijacking Aladdin’s plan to fake being a prince, so theres not rlly any more “aladdin” story, but im curious how other stories went if u know! Are the OG heroes still treated as heroes, etc etc, that fun stuff

Hello hello! Thank you so much for this question!!

The different interpretations of history that seem exist in Twst are fascinating, and one of my favorite things is the part in Book 6 where Lilia seems to insinuate that the Disney stories that we know might not actually be what really happened, because history is written by the victors:

These "classic" stories--were they, too, twisted to suit an agenda? Is the truth closer to what is taught as history in Twst, or is it somewhere in the middle? It is so interesting to think about!

For the most part it seems that the heroes from the stories we know are not turned into villains in Twst, and the deeds that are attributed to them were actually done by multiple characters from different folklore:

For example, Harveston has stories about miners and customs based on "a young lady who made a wish at a well," a "traveler" who cleaned a stranger's home and then a tale about "some princess who wished to fall in love right away," as if the young lady, princess and traveler are three separate people.

While basing their traditions on the miners, the lady and traveler, they also deify the Fairest Queen, as if they are all independent individuals with no overlap.

One of the more interesting parts of the Fairest Queen's history, in particular, is that there is actually a "dastardly villain" in Harveston folklore that stalks a woman who is then saved by forest creatures.

The huntsman is--just like the queen--not a villain in the Twst universe. Who was who, and what really happened? 👀

For the Scalding Sands, it seems that the unnamed princess and the sultan from local stories are just as revered as the Sorcerer of the Sands himself, with the sultan known to be the person who named the Sorcerer as his vizier and retaining their connection from the story we know.

Much like in Harveston, the history of the Scalding Sands seems to attribute what we believe to be the history of just one character to multiple individuals: Kalim talks about the Sorcerer saving his country from a street rat, who was a swindler/charlatan/usurper who tried to trick the sultan and princess, in a rare case of a "hero" being vilified.

But they also have folklore about "a poor but kind-hearted young man" who shared his food with children, and whose marriage to the beautiful princess they celebrate every year with a festival.

Whereas the Disney movies make the charlatan and the kind man into one person, in Twst's history it seems they were two different people.

Diasomnia is very big on the Thorn Fairy, and they also talk about the human king who feared her, the princess whose birthday she was not invited to (Silver: "Was their king raised in a barn?") and the three presents that the princess received.

Lilia talks about a trio of fairies that were not able to break the Thorn Fairy's curses and also put an entire kingdom to sleep, while Silver comments on how Lilia is consciously, intentionally emulating the three fairies from that tale with his cooking.

Silver and Malleus discuss "some faeries" raising a child for 16 years without magic, but they do not seem to know why they did so, and it is unclear if they believe that those faeries and the three faeries that put the kingdom to sleep are the same or different people.

Heartslabyul seems to separate Alice into two different characters as well, referring to a 1-km-tall giant that the Queen of Hearts tried in court and a child that got lost in the castle as if they were two people.

The only reference we get of the "heroes" of the Lion King tale are Jack referring to the King of Beast's "rascal of a nephew" and Leona mentioning that he deposed his brother "to build a better, wiser kingdom."

While the characters seem similar to the stories we know it's possible that the timelines are slightly different, with the rebirth of the pridelands being attributed to the King of Beasts himself rather than his nephew.

The history of the Sea Witch in Twst might be the most fascinating: the characters reference the Sea Witch taking someone's voice for a contract and making a shapeshifting potion to facilitate love between a mermaid and a human, but also turning herself into a human and being proposed to by a prince the next day, with no acknowledgement that the human from the first tale and the prince from the second might have been the same person.

They also talk about the eels flipping over a boat and a mermaid princess who had trouble walking on land, but there is no mention of the princess being in the boat in the eel story.

Octavinelle even acknowledges that the Sea Witch once made herself huge and sunk a ship with a whirlpool and "some even labeled her a monster," saying that she was later lauded as a compassionate figure after turning over a new leaf. (While the less-than-pleasant deeds done by the Sorcerer, the Fairest Queen and the King of Beasts in the stories that we know are never mentioned.)

Silver's tale from Halloween seems to be an exception to this rule. Everything done by the "hero" in the tale we know is still attributed to the hero in the story that Silver knows, and the enemy army is still the enemy army.

To the initial question: it seems that the heroes from the histories that we know are still being regarded as heroes in Twst (though they tend to get separated into multiple people), while the characters that we know as villains are also highly regarded. This sometimes includes their pasts (in the case of the Sea Witch and the Queen of Hearts), being separated from their pasts (in the case of the Hunter) or with no mention of their pasts (the King of Beasts, the Sorcerer of the Sands, the Fairest Queen, the Thorn Fairy).

(Not a lot of information about the King of the Underworld when compared to the others! Idia mostly just talks about how charismatic he was. Ortho suggests something about "the truth" about him being closer to Idia's own situation than they have been taught, but Idia is not convinced.)

Also: there is a reference to a hero rescuing his ladylove from the Underworld in Book 6, so it seems the hero in that tale remains a hero in Twst as well!

[deedala]

🍃weekly tag wednesday🍃

hello yes do you remember me? shits been crazy but i think i can finally focus for enough consecutive minutes to complete WTW this week!! thank you Kat @mybrainismelted for the game and for tagging me!! + ty @suzy-queued @gallapiech @energievie @lingy910y @catgrassplantdad @spookygingerr @mmmichyyy @thepupperino

Name:  deanna

Location:  not chicago 😔

Age: noel~

You have an unexpected extra day off work or school!  What are you going to do? oohh maybe i can make some gifs!!

What is your favorite way to spend a summer day?  inside somewhere cool and out from under the sun 💀

What is your favorite way to spend a winter day?  uhhmm...also inside and somewhere warm but not too warm cuz i wanna be in fuzzy socks and a sweatshirt and maybe even my fuzzy robe

What do you do to unwind at the end of the day?  go the fuck to bed and read a fic until i pass out

Do you play any sports?  i do not

Other than fanfic, what is your favorite genre to read?  i dont understand the question 🤔 (i guess mainly i've read YA girl protag adventure series books other than fic... oh and some dragon age novels, but is that just official fanfic? 😆)

What is your comfort movie/tv show?  many and it depends on my mood but some of them would beeee... vampire academy, new girl, everybody wants some, shameless, gallavich scenes (its two different vibes okay? lol), bob's burgers, edgar wright movies, star trek voyager, palm springs, okay i gotta stop....

Do you write or draw?  i do like to draw

What other arts or crafts do you do?  uuhhh gifmaking?

Describe your perfect breakfast:  dunkin donuts coffee with french vanilla creamer and oatmilk and an omelette and hash browns (the food part of that happens maybe once a year tho i wish i could live such a life lolol)

and now i'll tag some nuggets who might want to play too! <3 @too-schoolforcool @michellemisfit @darlingian @celestialmickey @sleepyheadgallavich @jrooc @blue-disco-lights @crossmydna @wehangout @gardenerian @gallawitchxx @heymrspatel @palepinkgoat @the-rat-wins @sam-loves-seb @creepkinginc @softmick @callivich @loftec @burninface @rereadanon @vintagelacerosette @sickness-health-all-that-shit @whatwouldmickeydo @spoonfulstar @howlinchickhowl @captainjowl @iansw0rld @y0itsbri 💖

[willowmosby]

I have over the last 5 months watched all 15 seasons and the immortality special of the original CSI. I have no plans to watch the reboot anytime soon so I thought I would info dump my thoughts, and if love to know how others feel. I will now present a very very long post with breakdown some quick thoughts on the seasons, more thoughts on most of the characters and a few ships.

Tldr: I really enjoyed CSI as a whole and I'm sad to say goodbye to a formula and some characters I've really grown attached to. ( And If there is a good Nick Stokes written into immortality fic please lmk)

Seasons:

I do think the early seasons the most fun/ light hearted, which feels weird to say when it literally opens with Sara investigating Warrick for negligence. I kinda wish I had blogged along or something so I could be more detailed in my response about them.

Like a lot of shows I think it really hit its stride in the middle seasons. If I had to pick a few seasons to watch it be 5-7. It also helps that I had finally gotten used to the lighting.

I think the 9- 11 stretch is too serious, don't get me wrong there were some bangers but overall not great

12-15 they were better and back to a little more fun, and I think the series kept its footing pretty well in its final innings. It was no golden era and I felt really bad that Catherine got demoted but I really enjoyed it. ( Well ok I really wasn' a gig harbor arc fan)

Immortality was a fine special, although I don't really feel like it stuck the landing. Part of that will probably become obvious when I talk about my character and ship takes but I also just felt the case could have been better. It's the freshest in mind, obviously, so I will say I really loved having Catherine and Grissom back and if anything I felt like it gave good closure for them and to a lesser extent Sara.

Characters( kinda in the order of their exit):

The lab rats: Bobby, Mandy, Archie icons every one of them. There is a world where Wendy, Hodges and Henry get their own sections but I feel like they would appreciate being in this group. Never pushed into too much melodrama their characterization, always great at their jobs. I would love to grab drinks with any of them

The cops: Brass will get his own sections but to summarize my feelings on all the others. They did their job and I love that for them. They almost never overstayed their welcome but they also aren't the reason I'm watching this show. The only two I would want to get drinks with are the should have been lesbian Sofia Curtis ( she almost got her own section but then i got lazy) and the best uniform in the business, the man, the myth, my man officer Mitchell.

Warrick Brown: My smooth talking gambling king. He was definitely missed after his death. While I didn't love his characterization in the greda Arc, I usually really enjoyed his dynamic with the team and his drive to the job. His death was the closest I came to stopping my watching. His skills with kids are underrated ( probably cause Nick and Catherine are so good) and I do have a say on top of all his intelligence and skills at the job he is so handsome. I think he might go a little too hard for me to enjoy getting drinks with him but I would still do it.

Gill Grissom: My second favorite Dr. Bug ( sorry no one can beat Jack Hodgins) he really is the smartest person on the show. You can always feel his passion for science which is lovely. While sometimes out of touch or oblivious he is usually incredibly kind. I liked his tie to the deaf community. You can pull the fact that he is Demi from my cold dead hands. In a lot of the ways he was the heart of the show and it definitely shows when he left. His relationships with Catherine, Warick, Nick and of course Sara were well developed. I would kill to get a drink with him just to listen to him talk science.

Riley Adams: she gets a section as it is rude for me to not mention a character who was in the credits but she's fucking white bread milk toast. Would not bother getting drinks.

Raymond Langston: I love his relationship with Robbins and I think he's incredibly smart. But I just think the show gave him way way too much too quickly. I mean just compare it to the fucking effort Greg put in to reach CSI or that as new CSI 3 there was a long stretch where Nick didn't get his own cases. I appreciated his complex background but he brought with him the Haskell arc which was just too fucking long and serious. I would get a singular glass of wine with him.

Catherine Willows: What a girl boss. And I mean that is all the best and worst ways. I really love her at her best but man some of her lows are just.. no fun. She is absolutely vital to the show's success and 9/10 times she is out there taking no prisoners and careing for her team. Just you know wish she hadn't shown her daughter a dead body or faked a crime scene with a new guy to name some examples. She could drink me under the table no doubt.

Jim Brass: While never my favorite character I always appreciate seeing him on my screen. Competent enough to hang with the scientist and still be a good cop. I appreciated how dedicated he was to his daughter but Just not personally my vibes. I would get a drink with him but uhh maybe make it non alcoholic cause it's unclear if he needs sobriety help.

Julie Finlay: She's sweet and very very good at her job. If she had come earlier on she might be one of my favorites just my top 3 was already filled. She brings a good balance back to the team, and she has a weird level of breaking and respecting the rules that I enjoyed. She very quickly had such a good dynamic with all the returning favs that there are moments I forgot she was so new. She's got big Bi & Poly energy. I know the actress wasn't coming back but I would've paid to see her interact with Grissom. Sad that she died off screen but also kinda glad they didn't end 15 with her completely dead. I would absolutely get drinks with her, probably mimosas despite my dislike for them.

Morgan Brody: eh shes fine. I feel like despite everything she still comes off as naive. I love her relationship with Eklie and Hodges but overall she left something to be desired. Nothing that I super disliked but I do kinda wish some of her screen time went to Sara or someone else.

D.B Russell: he was honestly a breath of fresh air, well until he wasn't. I think I just love Ted Dansion for one but also I felt like Russell was a beautiful balance between caring and professional. It was nice to have a supervisor who was actually kinda good at politics. I love that he actually cares for his kids and loves his wife ( although I was informed by my mother that he is divorced in Cyber). I do kinda wish the kept the bit where he laid on the ground as a body but mostly cause I found it way funnier than it is. I really hated the gig harbor killer arc and I felt like a large reason is it made him too serious. I would get a drink with him, but honestly I'd love to have a full meal with his family

Super Dave: what a lovable but weird dude. Genuinely a great example of how you can blend strange comments with kindness and consistency to create a great character. I would love to grab a drink with him.

Doc Robbins: What an honest man and in the running for the best M.E ( up there with Ducky and Cam). I'm glad he mostly stayed out of the drama and appreciated that he was always thorough, even when people were occasionally questioning his own work. Not kind to a fault but definitely empathetic. I would 100% grab a drink with him.

Now to the top 3, the best of the best, the ones who were in for the long haul.

Nick Stokes: Whether it's the sweet Texas accent and big bown eyes or the fact that he's the longest running main cast member I do think he is my favorite. Empathetic and kind, almost to a fault, he is also a man's man who can hold his own against the worst criminals. The show put him through the absolute fucking ringer but he still leaves with a smile on his face. Even when he clashes with other characters I feel like he resolves the problems better than other people. He definitely could have benefited from good therapy but I still love him anyway. His skills with kids are so nice and grounded in his backstory. Loved that he became the new big guy. Occasionally they try and paint him as a bit of a player but given he sleeps with like 2 women over 15 seasons it doesn't super add up. This is definitely the queer in me talking but he gives huge repressed Gay energy. Like a lot of his early arc is about graining confidence in himself. Not to mention,his relationship with Warrick and Greg are so filled with undertones and honestly let that man get fucked and some of his problems might go away. Anyway. So I guess more power to the actor for not coming back for even a cameo but I really really felt the lack of him in immortality. So If anyone knows a fanfic where he's there lmk I would read that shit in a heartbeat. Would get drinks with him, would die for him.

Greg Sanders: I love rave going lab rat Greg. I love the new CSI trying to prove himself to Greg. I love mob history author Greg. I mean he's got to be one of the most intelligent characters on the show- he's good at science and history- and it never makes him come off as rude or entitled. I think his shift from lab rat to CSI, whether intentional or accidental, is well built. He is criminally oh I mean so so so criminally underutilized in immortality. I dislike when he's angry and there are certainly episodes where he feels off but overall he's just so lovable. Disgusting hair choices but hey at least that was a consistent trait. His relationship with Nick and Sara throughout the whole show are really great and after 15 seasons they really do feel like they've been a team for 15 years. He gives Huge Bi energy so I would take him to a gay club for drinks and dancing.

Sara Sidle: You can call her a problematic fav all you want but she's a bad bitch and everyone should love her. She is so great at her job and she never lacks humanity. The show kinda lost track of her exact backstory at some point but I don't care too too much as she stays strong willed and passionate the whole show. Her will to never quit and iconic smirks will stay winning forever. I have thoughts on her relationship with Grissom but bottom line she knew what she wanted and got it. Her friendship with all the main cast, particularly Greg and Nick, is really lovely and shows how she has grown and changed over 15 seasons. Because I actually care about continuity I would not get an actual alcoholic drink with her but non alcoholic drinks aplenty would be had if I could meet her.

Ships:

Listen I don't have a real finger on the pulse of what ships are popular as this show finished airing 10 years ago and I was trying to not be super spoiled.

That being said

GSR: I'm not super into Grissom/ Sara ( side note I know the Internet was a different place 20 years ago but who picked GSR as their ship tag), but I'm also not against it. I think they have a big "match my freak" energy which is nice but. I don't know I just feel like by the end of it Sara could do better. Like she gave up the lab director for the guy who asked her for a divorce. I still think it's better than some other options just you know not like my otp. 8/10

Catherine/ Warrick: I think that the flirting was all fun and games and then if became too much. Let's be honest neither of them are built for committed relationships. Probably would have been better then whatever the fuck was happening with Warrick and Tina. 5/10

Catherine/ Vartann: its canonical and like they were fine I didn't hate it didn't love it. Probably better for Catherine in the long term than any other of her potential ships 6/10

Nick/ Greg: idk if this is super popular but it's my otp for the show. They seem like they bring out the best in each other. Nicks more clean cut natural could balance out the more chaotic ature of greg. Obviously with the era the show was made in I don't think that there tension was intentional but it's still there. From the name that chemical compound game to working together until the end of really think they would be great. 11/10

Nick/ Warrick: I had to mention for the just two dudes who have homoerotic tension energy but ehh Warrick dose really read straight to me in every other context. 3/10

Wendy/ Hodges: ehh they give straight white couple who should have just talked about their feelings. 4/10

Hodges/ Henry: is this a real ship? idk man, But it's an friends to enemies to lovers I would love to read. 6/10

Morgan/ Greg: ok part of this is the my ship bias( see above) but I did not like them together. Their flirting is not good, his anger at her kidnapping too extreme, idk I Just really feels like they operate in different levels. 0/10

Morgan/ Hodges: I actually thought this was really sweet and was super said they went with the parents dating thing. I think they understood each other on a really fun level and that they brought out the best in each other. I loved how supportive they were of each other even in seemingly poor decisions. 8/10

Finn/ D.B: I would assume that this is the popular het ship for the them but uhh D.B is so happily married and Finn ( much like Warrick and Catherine) doesn't really give monogamous relationship. 0/10

Finn/ Sara: 100% queer women projection but uhh just imagine post divorce Sara figuring out her identity with Finn and they try friends with benefits but then need more. 6/10

If you made it this far thanks so much for reading and id love to hear others thoughts as I do a deep dive into this show. I Will be reading plenty of fanfiction and may start CSI: NY to appease the new hole in my heart.

[saintarmand]

a stray cat from a toy shop

while i'd noted it before, this post by @iwtvfanevents gave me a title for the cat painting in claudia's room: The Kitten's Art Lesson by Henriëtte Ronner-Knip. (if you enjoy being insane like me go read the artist's biography at the link, but keep in mind that just because you CAN draw parallels doesn't mean they were necessarily intentional. but they ARE delightful.)

let's take a look at the kitten's art lesson!

the kittens are studying under the watchful eye of the adult cat, who seems disappointed by the lack of decorum. the kittens are in a playful mood! one of them has torn through a painting. another is clinging to the art board with tooth and nail... just playing or trying to hold on after nearly falling? a couple are in a half closed drawer—almost like they could be trapped inside at any moment. one has actually found a paint brush but doesn't seem to know what to do with it. the teacher is not impressed.

i can't help but note the one staring towards us from the drawer looks awfully familiar:

the art teacher and students aren't the only cats in claudia's room; there's also a cat statuette on the mantle (click to see the closeups in full.)

above the cat painting, there's a blurry painting of what looks like some women sitting, and one of them looks she might have a cat in her lap, though that might be wishful thinking on my part. the bottom of the painting blends in so well with the wallpaper that at first glance i actually thought the painting had been cut into, which sent me on a wild train of thought but yeah that's not actually true lol. but the effect is interesting regardless. the cat on the mantle definitely evokes the idea that it escaped from the painting nearby, and could flee at any moment—and in episode 6, it's no longer on the mantle or anywhere else that i can see.

i wonder if it broke along with so much else in the house at the end of episode 5, or if claudia moved it somewhere. fellow insane people keep an eye out, a kitty's gone loose!

so... why cats?

there aren't many cat references in iwtv compared to other animals, but the ones that are there speak volumes. in episode 3, we see louis bite into a black cat as a substitute for the human blood he craves. later in the evening lestat says he "fears for the feline population of new orleans" (after comparing louis to fish and birds). when louis reaches a breaking point, "rats, cats, dogs, would no longer suffice." so what he really wants or needs is something else?

in the next episode, claudia delivers the punchline:

“I used to [live around here] too. I remember there used to be a toy shop a few doors down by there. They used to keep stray cats in boxes for people to take.”

claudia sees herself as a cat. louis took her in like a stray—a helpless little kitten in need of rescue—and he took her (took for free because no one else wanted her) from a box at a toy shop—a place where you find things to play with.

but cats love to play and they love sleeping in boxes so this is fine actually!

...right?

claudia knows herself much better than anyone else in this show. she is a cat in a kitten's body.

the thing you always have to keep in mind about cats is that they are not docile and subservient by nature. they don't do things because they are told but because they choose to. a cat's fur may be pretty and soft to touch, but don't forget those sharp teeth and claws! it's not that they don't like to be pet at all, you just have to get permission first. and even if you do, they might just change their mind, as is their right.

cats do like good company but they also like their independence. they prefer to come and go as they please; not to be locked up inside, and not to be kept on leashes. they like boxes because they feel safe in there, but they also like to jump out for play time: hunt! catch! kill!

they may be small and cute and soft but they're still predators, and brutal ones. if they don't get to hunt for their food in your care, you better find them another outlet or they'll go for your ankles. they developed that instinct to survive, but hunting also happens to be fun! cats love to play with their food.

if you manage to earn their trust, they'll make for wonderful companions—but do not make the mistake of assuming you can ever own them... or you'll have to sleep with one eye open like they do. they're quick and clever but also patient, and they know how to move without a sound. let them out of your sight for even a second, and you won't know what hit you until it's too late. and they'll relish the kill!

no matter how others may speak of her, claudia is not a lap dog, nor a bird in a feathered nest. lestat is not a beauceron herding sheep, and his last name does not make him a lion. the three of them are not fellow dogs either. from the very beginning, claudia knows she's a cat. and by the end, she realizes what lestat let slip in the pilot: he's just an overgrown fucking rat. and while “a cat and a rat” rhymes, that does not mean they're the same thing.

[givemeonereason]

Meditations: First Meeting

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Rating: cotton candy

Dragon Ball Masterlist Givemeonereason Masterlist

Plot: Can a green alien teach you to meditate? Or better yet, shut your mouth?

A/n: okay, okay, okay OKAY! Hear me out…I don’t see a lot of love for this green guy. I actually adore him as a character. He really grew on me while watching DB. I think he needs a little love and appreciation.

I think it has to do with the fact he doesn’t look like a regular human, and honestly I get it. But he could get it. And he should.

I will keep writing for him because Piccolo has such great fic potential that no one is utilizing.

Your lesson: we can’t judge books by their cover. It could just be the best book you’ve ever read ;) and that particular book might just be tall, handsome and green. You never know.

╒══════════════════════╕

Meditation.

This wasn’t something that you were particularly skilled at.

You tried a few times to do a guided meditation with that popular app that was complimentary thanks to your company on your lunch breaks. After several attempts you just gave up. The cricket sounds were relaxing though.

Such poise.

He sat on the hillside every day crosslegged, eyes closed, faced out towards the valley.

What exactly he was thinking about you could not have guessed.

Even if someone paid you one million Zeni to guess, you still wouldn’t have got it right.

He just seems so peaceful, his cape flowing in the light breeze.

Probably one of those basement rats who work on software towers. You thought to yourself. Makes sense he would try and catch some sun during his break.

“Umm, excuse me?”

Your hands nervously fiddled with the hem of your shirt. You’ve heard the rumors about the people downstairs, however you were curious. And walking up the hill to speak to him had your nerves all over the place.

“Hmm?” It was if he broke out of trance.

The man looked over his shoulder in your direction, putting his feet back down upon the grass when he saw you standing several feet away.

It was easier now to take in his full form. He was large and green. Such an odd appearance, you think. Nothing like anything you’ve seen before.

No sunlight…

It was a lot to take in at once. Your eyes glanced over him. You didn’t imagine he’d be this tall. He practically towered over you.

He blinked a few times before you spoke up. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I was just…” You voice trailed off as well as your courage. You turned on a heel to walk down the hillside you treaded up.

“Is there something you need?” His strong voice stopped you in your tracks. Of course, a voice that strong, and that deep would come from someone like him. It should almost be expected due to his size. But the tone alone was comforting to an extent. It didn’t enact fear in you.

You turn back around to look at him once more. Trying to find something to actually say that has real meaning. “I, uhh, see you from my window most days and I just wanted to know what you’re looking at?”

He looked down into the valley below. The blue of the nearby lake shined under the hot sun. Trees blowing in the humid summer breeze. “I wasn’t looking at anything.”

“No?” it seems your courage finds its metal and you walk up beside him, looking down into the same valley. “This is a very beautiful view, though. I would’ve never come up here, save for my curiosity.”

You backed away from the edge, remembering that you have a fear of heights. “Again, I’m very sorry that I bothered you. I just…”

There you go again.

He takes a seat on the ground near where he was before, crossing his arms against his chest. “I was only meditating. You are welcome to join me if you wish.”

Unmoving from where you stood and just above a whisper, “I don’t think I know how. I tried with the company sponsored app and it’s just too much.”

You heard him take a breath in. It was long and deep, and filled his chest.

“I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about. However, take a seat here.” He pointed to a patch of grass near him. You obliged sitting down on the spot he designated.

His eyes were closed, his head tilted down towards the ground, relaxing.

“It’s your decision now if you wish to think or not.”

You looked over at him, his form unchanged. “Think of what?”

“That is what you must choose.”

“Do you work for my company? I don’t think I’ve seen you in the building before. I only see you on this hill.”

“I do not work for anyone.”

Your hands relax in your lap. “Oh, so you’re a freelancer then. You might make some good money, but no benefits is shit.”

“You are making little sense now. Clear you mind. Or keep your thoughts to yourself.”

You sat quietly for sever moments. You were watching him, taking in the strange details of his silhouette.

But you broke the silence again.

“Are you Yoda?”

“I’m Piccolo.”

“Is that your ‘Yoda’ name? Your like Yoda, but your name is Piccolo….Piccolo like the instrument.”

He took another breath this time it resembled more of a deep grown. His brow is furrowed with confusion and almost frustration at this point. His hand are gesticulating when he raises his voice. “I do not understand what you’re saying.”

What should have frightened you made you smile cheerfully. There is nothing you love more than to talk about one of your favorite things, Star Wars.

“Okay, so there’s this movie called Star Wars and there is a character in that movie called Yoda. Yoda is a small green character and he has pointy ears.” You looked over at him pointing, “Oh, yeah, kind of exactly like your ears.”

You look back out at the scenery, shoulders, relaxing, and the tone of your voice, so joyful. “And he talks so formal and it’s almost as if he speaks in riddles. You kind of remind me of him, though you’re not small like Yoda.”

Again, you look to him. But his eyes are open and he’s staring into the air blinking blankly. You went silent, then. Fear of irritating him once more. Your eyes darting between him and your fingers in your lap. “I’m sorry…I…listen, I have never met anyone like you. I can only compare you to what I think I know. However, I know that’s only fiction. I don’t mean to be rude or a burden.”

He’s floating several inches off the ground, his eyes closed.

You turn sitting on your calves now. “Piccolo, what are you exactly?”

“A Yoda,” he said very serious, his tone almost booming.

Your obvious confusion broke him as he began to chuckle.

“I am an Namekian.”

“A Na-mek-ian,” you said repeating the title, annunciating the syllables. “So you’re an alien.”

“Yes.”

“Yes? Well, I guess I kind of figured you are green and everything.”

That made him turn to look at you. But you looked right back at him matter-of-factly.

“It is kind of odd, you know, the whole green skin. What are these rigid parts on your arms?”

That confused look painted his face again. “My skin?”

“Yeah, these parts.” You touched the and quickly retracting your hand. It was soft like your own skin. For some reason you imagined it’d be sticky or at least moist. “I did not expect it to feel like that.” You squinted your eyes looking at his arm again. “It’s like you have a worm in there.”

“A worm?” It sounded like a question, yes, but it was really just a confused statement at best.

“It’s like the ridges that a worm has….”

He’s not even listening, his thumb and forefinger pressed again the bridge of his nose.

Shit.

I’m talking to much again.

“I’m sorry…”

You waited for his harsh tone to sting your ears again.

But it only came out in a calm, collected way.

“Perhaps, that is enough for today.” He put his feet on the ground. He faced away from you. “Farewell miss.”

That’s when he blasted off from the hillside into the air.

Only Superman can do that. Maybe only Clark and Namekians?

You couldn’t stop yourself from thinking.

Gosh, if Yoda could have done that then the entire plot of films would be different.

What if Yoda could fly, and we just didn’t know it.

Shut up!

You just spoke with a green alien, named Piccolo, who can fly.

A green alien.

Named Piccolo….like the instrument.

Who. Can. Fly.

╘══════════════════════╛

©2023 givemeonereason

Don’t steal other people’s works! Respect creators!

Reblogs and likes appreciated :)

[butterfly-writer]

Hello! Can you do a part two to the Aizawa fic where the merchant reader accepts and moves on, and then a few years later he barely recognizes aizawa when they see each other again? Thank you!

Troubles Coming Back

Street!Rat!Aizawa x Merchant!Male!reader [Aladdin AU] Summary: Years went by without a hitch. Y/N had gone his separate way, forgetting Aizawa and getting caught up in all his traveling and selling work. When he came back from a long trip after his quarrel with Shota Aizawa 5 years ago, he was unexpectedly robbed. Who’s the robber?

★☽A/N: Oooo! This will be interesting! I didn’t exactly plan to have this to have a part two so I will try my best!

Contents: SLIGHT ANGST - FLUFF

════❖════

“Y/N! It’s so great to see you!” A black-haired woman greeted the H/C-haired man with a smile and open arms. Y/N smiled gleefully and embraced Jasmine in a tight hug. “It’s been too long! You didn’t even write a letter!” Jasmine laughed.

Y/N also laughed in response. “I know, I know! I’m so sorry!” He apologized. The rest of the day was spent talking about their life while the other was gone.

The 36 year old man was shocked to hear that Jasmine had married Aladdin, a streetrat. But it made sense to him after she explained the whole story from her perspective and from Aladdin’s. He had to admit, the topic about Aladdin made him think about Aizawa…

He couldn’t believe it… He missed him?

The memories of how they ended things flooded his mind. He had shivers down his spine just thinking about it. He wished he hadn’t said all those things to Shota.

Though, it was too late to go back from what he said all those years ago.

════

He was taking a stroll in the marketplace. He wanted to buy some things that he needed for his next trip next year, like ink and paper. It was safer to prepare objects such as that since it might increase in worth when it is less in stock and more in demand.

Y/N had lovely talks to familiar faces who were glad to see him after all those years. He was quite shocked that they still remembered him. L/N had a bad reputation as a kid, always running around and giving people death glares.

The only people who actually liked him when he was still a child and teenager were the old librarian, the king, Jasmine, Aladdin, and…

Shota.

He stopped in his tracks.

He couldn’t believe he was thinking about Aizawa again. After all these years, he didn’t expect himself to think back to his quarrel with the black-haired man.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The H/C-haired man did not want to think about the man anymore. All he wanted to do was to work on his work and not to work on his past broken relations. Everything that happened 5 years ago, should stay in the past, not in the future and bothering him with guilt.

“Y/N!” The man turned to find Aladdin, dressed in much more cleaner clothing than he last saw him in. He couldn’t help but snicker. “Can’t believe you’re wearing cleaner clothes! Hah!!” He laughed. Aladdin laughed along, patting his back like he used to do.

“Now, that’s just mean!” He laughed back.

The pair ended up talking about their lives when the other wasn’t present, just like Y/N did with Jasmine. Suppose the two of them were too loud, because some passersby looked at them with strange looks.

Later, Aladdin had to do something else so he said his goodbyes to Y/N and walked the separate way.

════

Finally, he ended up finishing up his shopping and got what he needed. It was all in his traveling bag.

He was walking past the alley, bright with street lights. Y/N definitely wasn;t expecting his bag to be taken away from his bag in one swift move by a passing person. But he was quick with his instincts and grabbed the bag before it was out of view.

His action caused the robber to stumble back and fall to the ground. Y/N wore his bag again and bent over the fallen robber. He wanted to memorize the face and dragged the robber to the police to report him for the thief.

He took a closer look at the face and entire look.

Long black messy hair, half of it was tied in a messy bun. Sharp cat eyes with dark circles under, black eyes staring right back at him. A dark scruffy goatee on his chin that seems to be maintained well. A single scar across his right cheek, underneath his eye.

“Shota..?” Eyes widened and mouth agape, he looked over with shock. The dark-haired man was also shocked to see a familiar face. “Y/N! I didn’t realize it was you–” Aizawa rushed to say his words, trying to pick himself up.

Y/N gave him a hand and pulled him right back up. “I nearly didn’t recognize you! Your hair gotten longer!” Y/N smiled. He didn’t even realize how much he missed his hoarse voice. He always found it annoying back then, but now… he had a whole different feeling about it.

Aizawa blushed at his comment. “Yeah… It’s a bother to cut it..” he answered, twirling a strand between his fingers. He couldn’t believe that he was seeing Y/N again! Last time he saw him, he looked messy. Now, Y/N looked much cleaner. He looked mature and wise.

The two of them just stood there in silence. In their heads, they had no idea how to talk to each other. Afterall, they end things in a heated arguement.

With a deep sigh, Shota turned to Y/N with a frown on his face. “Look,” He took a step forward. “I’m really sorry for how things ended. I know it’s too late to say this, but– I love you and I’m so sorry I said all those words to you. I never mean to say them, they just came flooding out-”

He was suddenly pulled into a deep and passionate kiss. His eyes wide and his back arched as he was pulled into a kiss by his past lover. His eyes closed and his hands rested on the side on his neck and on his hip.

The two of them pulled apart, a long string of saliva connecting the two of them, their faces flushed and colored a deep red. Shota didn’t realize Y/N was crying until a few drops of water feel to the ground. He looked up at Y/N’s pitiful face.

His eyes were staring at the ground, tears flooding his vision and falling to the ground like rain. His whole body was shaking and hiccups and sniffles could be heard from the older man. “Hey, hey–” Aizawa lifted his head with his hand, revealing his bloodshot eyes from how much he was crying.

“I’m so sorry we ended things like we did. I didn’t want to say all those things– I swear, I-I didn’t mean to!” Aizawa slowly shushes him with a soft smile. “You shouldn’t apologize. I know life must’ve been hard on you.” He pressed his forehead against L/N’s, trying to soothe him.

The two of them ended up staying in that position for a long period of time.

Both relieved the other still loved them just the way they are. Just like old times.

════❖════

★☽A/N: HAHA, I’m not so good at making endings!! Let’s just hope this one goes well!

[wepsi]

Are you trying to entice me dear?-Barbatos(smut)

(Not my art! Go follow @ alyss_why on Instagram!)

Female reader

Cw: fingering, tail

Scenario: What started out as a innocent punishment of having Barbatos serve you all day, turned out to be the greatest reward.

Barbatos was usually a very calm and reserved demon, but he could never back down from a competition. Unlucky for him it was a scaring contest and Mammon was playing dirty with a rat. The loser had to obey the winners wishes for the whole day, and lucky for you , you won! But maybe this wasn't all a coincidence, you've been eyeing up the butler for a while now. Asmo was the one who noticed how head over heels you were, and gathered everyone to orchestrate the whole thing.

Not wasting the chance, all day you do seemingly normal things like shopping and baking, but trying to give him flirting touches and glances. Despite your efforts it seemed futile, Barbatos was cool as a cucumber and professional as ever. Getting desperate that the day was ending, you scheme up something bold.

"Barbatossssssss could you draw me a bath please, I want to relax after this long day."

"Absolutely master."

You close the bathroom door but didn't lock it. stripping yourself naked and step into the water, it was perfect temperature water how did he even do that? Trying to put on your sexiest pose, you yell for Barbatos, putting a hint of worry in your tone as if you were in trouble. Barbatos rushes in the bathroom thinking that you might be hurt, just to see you in a silly pose.

"Will you help bathe me Barbatos? The punishment is you have to do all of my request."

"Y.Yes master"

Barbatos looked a little shocked for a second, then come over to you with a smirk. Taking off his gloves and rolling up his sleeves (which was so hot) kneeling down next to the tub, he dips his hands into the water.

"Do you have a sponge or a towel master?"

"Oh I don't, that's too bad you're going to have to use your hands."

"Are you trying to entice me dear?"

Instead of answering, you grab onto the edges of the tub to lean in and give him a kiss on the lips as a yes. He grabs onto your body wash to lather his hands, and start washing you. He surprisingly starts with your neck, which felt really gentle and sweet. He washes your arms rubbing both his hands around them. Then he washes your stomach, back and legs. Growing disappointed at him avoiding all your intimate parts, you grab onto his wrist and put his hands square on your breasts.

"Ansty aren't we?"

He grabs onto your chest and squeezes, earning a eep from you. His touch still gentle but it felt, different... He lathers the soap all over your chest, and slightly pulling on your nipples. He had the same calm smile but there was a sinister vibe to it. Seeing how much you wanted him, he finally travels his hand down to your sex. He plunges his hand in the water, feeling up your thigh and ending up at your folds.

He runs his hands up and down your folds, while inching his face closer to yours. He massages the hood on your clit, before pulling it back to stimulate it directly. Whimpering against his hand, you needyly grind on him, wanting more. His hands move back to your chest, making you whine at the lost of pleasure. Do not worry, because you see Barbatos antlers start growing from his head, and you feel his tail slithering into the tub.

You lean forward once more, trying to kiss him again just for him to tsk you away. Wanting to get a full view of your face as he enters his tail in you. His tail slithers in, and enters into your needy hole. Though it wasn't thick it was so long, easily probing your womb, the scale also adds extra texture. He precisely uses his tail to hit all the right spots in you, and just when you think it can't feel any better, the other tip of his tail delicately circulating your clip.

He finally accepts your lips, gently sucking on it and your tongue that you keep trying to push down his throat. He chuckles and find it cute how thirsty you were despite being surrounded by water. You open your eyes slightly to see him just to find his emerald eyes staring back at you, closing your eyes out of shyness you try focusing more on the way he is pleasing you.

You hear the water slightly swishing from his tail, and your building moans into his mouth, you really wanted to hear his moans too. His hands were massaging your breasts, occasionally rolling your hard buds in his fingers and pulling them. His tail steadily plunging into you, and the other one teasing you from the outside. The pleasure now slightly overwhelming it was hard to stay up and maintain the kiss, the first time you pull away Barbatos forcefully grips your chin and pull you back on his lips.

Just when you were about to climax, all the activity stopped. Barbatos pulls away from a very confused looking you. He calmly rinses you off, and drain the bath water. Helping you up and out, and pats you down with a towel as if nothing happened.

"Why did you stop? Keep going Barbatos!"

"I cannot comply with that order master, because I am going to please you to the best of my ability."

He finishes drying you, and picks you up princess style buck naked, to walk back into his room. With you clinging onto him blushing like mad hoping no one else is around.

to be continued...

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[taybatwo2]

Lenore Loomington Review Part 1 of 2

I already did a preliminary post on here where I compared her price point to other Monster High dolls and delved into some head cannon to try and tie down her design choices and give her personality (I want to pretend she’s worth $81.95 by getting really attached to her….)

Here she is in box! She came in really quickly. Her box has some really bright hot pink and teal and has a plastic slip cover with more teal designs on the outside. Good news: she already looks better than her promo pics, but her shimmery skin is a bitch to try and photograph.

Box photos and accessory break downs under the cut:

Trippy. :) The right side of the box. I like the effect, I just wish that the colors or the imagery tied more in with the character’s design.

The left side of the box has her name in a nice, specialized font.

The back has a poem on it saying that Lenore followed a light to a spooky garden full of strange creatures and plants, decided to stay (with some “persistence”) and she died, becoming a ghost. Well, that’s a start of something. The artwork on the back is fine too. The most interesting thing from this art is seeing the color differences in the art vs the doll (especially the shoes; seen here as a more lavender/duller color vs the brighter magenta that is seen on the doll).

A close up of the poem, the signature, and a bit of the artwork. The more I look at what I thought were vines on her accessories, might all be dewy spiderwebs….?

You can actually make out the detailed sculpting on the flowers better in this artwork than the actual pieces themselves (which is odd as I usually think that Mattel has the better sculpts when compared to competing companies).

The top of her box is also decorated.

Okay, now let’s rip this bad boy open.

Here’s the Certificate of Authenticity, taped to the back of the inside sleeve the doll is strapped to. They got specialty textured paper for this, but it feels thinner than the usual paper-board thick ones.

Here is the inner sleeve. It actually looks a bit menacing and it reminds me of looking at photo negatives.

Here’s a cute little rat, hiding in the corner, and the poem is also written in parts on the right hand side of the sleeve.

And here she is out of the box and after I ran a metal comb through her hair. Her hair is soft saran and is a bit fuzzy on the ends.

Let’s look at what she comes with…

Here is her unnamed spider pet….? Captor?? Accessory maker…? The candles are not removable, but at least it’s a different sculpt than the other spider pets of Monster High.

(Webby from G2; credits to Serendipity Doll Boutique for Memphis Longlegs and BuzzyLittleBee for the G3 Tarantula pic).

She also comes with a very tall, sparkly stand….and I get why it’s tall (so she can float) but it makes her hard to fit on my shelf, the bracket wants to bunch up her dress and my doll sinks farther down the stand once she is clipped onto it.

Here is her major “purse-akin” accessory. It has some cute detailing on it and it’s made of a really light plastic. Actually most of the plastic accessories feel like the really light plastic found on cheaper toys. I was expecting the plastic to be heavier and/or more rubbery (like the chains used in the Haunted Line). The spiderwebs are removable and the candle glows in the dark (which is a really nice detail).

Okay, her earrings!

They have the eyeball pansies on top (they’re kinda hard to make out). And dripping candles under it. Sadly, their flames do not glow in the dark.

Here is the head piece. It’s connected to a headband and it also doesn’t glow in the dark (booooo). It’s an odd size and I feel like the spiderweb should have either been much bigger or much smaller (like stopping at the inner spoke of the spiderweb).

Everyone (me too, not going to lie) was giving her crap for having hot pink, blobby looking shoes. And honestly, that’s because the photos for it were meh and the color was also….a choice….but I ended up liking them more than I thought I would.

The eyeball pansies shoe clip-on remind me of the Bloom and Gloom shoes (see Jane’s shoes? that hibiscus POPS in comparison to the mold Lenore was given)….but not executed as well. The sculpt on the flowers are really flat and blend in with one another. :/

Okay, now what shoes sculpt is hiding behind there???

Look at that hidden detail! The buttons have little button holes, all the little frills and stitching and all that filigree detail on the back of the boots….if only it was PAINTED….

The spectral waves on the bottom of her shoes are reminiscent of Art Class Draculaura’s paint shoes (credit for image: CoyoteCrowCollectables).

From her boots that I was pleasantly surprised with, to my least favorite piece from her: her belt…chest thing…

Again, the flowers don’t really pop out in the sculpt and it sits really baggy on her in random spots, it just doesn’t seem to lay well on her and needed a few more tweaks.

Now that her accessories are looked at, the next part of my review will focus on her dress(s) and comparisons to other Monster High dolls.

[writing-till-i-am-dead]

The Sun Says Hello - Omori fanfic - Part 1

Part 2

Kel walked past Sunny’s house everyday. He’s been doing it for the past 4 years. 

Was it silly? Hopeful wishing? Yes. 

But he didn’t have to give up hope. Hope that Sunny might just.. peak his head out.. even for just for a moment..

But it never happened. 

Every day. 

Every morning, every afternoon, every night. 

When it rained, when it snowed, when the sun was beating down. 

Kel never gave up hope, even when he knew all hope should be lost. 

“You know that house down the street?” Whispered a group of kids, Kel’s classmates. “I hear the kid who lives there is actually a ghost! And every night he leaves the house to stall around. And he eats cats! And rats!”

Kel’s nose scrunched up at the gossiping kids. The story sounded like it was pulled straight from To Kill A Mockingbird. Kel would’ve laughed at how ridiculous it was if it he didn’t have any sense of empathy.

“Hey!” Kel exclaimed. “His name is Sunny! And he’s not some creepy ghost!”

The kids jumped in surprise. “You know him, Kel?”

“Yes! Well.. I did. When we were kids!”

The kids raised their eyebrows. “I heard he killed his sister!”

Kel stood up quickly. “You shut your mouth! Mari.. she..! THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!” 

And Kel ran off with tears in his eyes. He ran to Sunny’s house and leaned against the forever closed door and quietly prayed that Sunny would open it. Of course, the moon never came out to comfort the sun.

That was 2 years ago, when Kel was 14.

Kel found his reaction to have been overdramatic now that he’s older. He knew he should’ve just corrected them and told them it’s not cool to gossip. But Sunny was his friend. How could he have not defended him? Especially since Sunny was so.. traumatized. Lonely.. 

Kel was making his usual trip around Sunny’s house, but he felt his heart drop down to his stomach. 

A For Sale sign sitting at the front lawn.

Sunny.. is moving? No, he couldn’t be.. not when he’s been waiting for so long for Sunny to come outside.

Kel saw Sunny’s mom on the driveway and he ran over to her. “Mrs. Sunny’s Mom!” he exclaimed. 

She turned and smiled. “Oh, Kel! It’s so good to see you!” She pinched his cheek. “You’ve grown up so much!”

“Oh, haha.. yes, it’s good to see you too.. um.. is it.. are you.. are you moving?!”

She looked at Kel in surprise and she smiled sadly. “Yes. I.. I think moving will do me.. Sunny.. some good. Start new! Get away from this house..”

Kel clenched his fists and looked down, doing everything in his power to avoid hyperventilating. 

“Can.. can you maybe get him to come outside? So we can.. hang out?”

She gave him a sympathetic look and sighed. “I can try. But Sunny.. he just stays in his room all the time, asleep. He’s usually unresponsive. He most likely won’t listen to me if I ask him to.”

Kel looked down to hide his disappointment. 

“But..” she said. “I can perhaps try to encourage him. Here.” She pulled out her flip phone and dialed in a number. She put it to her ear and began to leave a message. 

“Kel saw our for sale sign and came by,” she said, winking at Kel who quickly straightened up. “He wants to spend time with you. I think it’ll do you some good to say goodbye to everyone.”

She hung up and turned to Kel. 

“You’ll just have to wait and see. I’m not even sure if Sunny even checks my voicemails, ha!”

“Do you.. ever actually talk to him..? Or do you just leave voicemails?”

Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away, almost guilty. “Kel, I don’t think that’s really any of your business, sweetie..” She paused and inhaled, forcing a smile. 

“I do hope Sunny comes out and you two can hang out. Like the good old days!” She squeezed his shoulder and got in her car and drove off. 

Kel watched as her car left and he turned to look up at the second story window. The window that belonged to Sunny’s room. 

Just behind those curtains was his best friend. In his room, alone, like he’s been for 4 years.. Kel’s heart hurt at just the idea. What was Sunny doing up there all the time, all alone?

Kel didn’t dare let his head drift off to the paranoid thoughts. He couldn’t think the worse! Letting his thoughts drift to ideas like that would only make him feel even more miserable and guilty. 

Don’t worry, Sunny.. he thought, clenching his fists. I’ll keep waiting for you to come outside.. and when you do.. I’ll make your last days here ones to remember!

Divider credits @firefly-graphics

[ace-of-zaun]

The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time: Pt. 7

Silco x f!reader - 8k words - SFW

cw: fluff, soft silco, jealous/possessive silco, kissing, tiny bit of angst, suggestive themes, innuendos, self doubt, the author is an idiot

a/n: how has it been eight months? What the heck have i been doing for eight months??? i genuinely thought it’d been like four months since i last updated this fic, i am so sorry. To make up for it, please take a very indulgent, fluffy chapter featuring a whole lotta kissing with our favourite rat man ♡

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 8

It’s just shy of a week later when you find yourself in Silco’s office, sitting beside the man himself, resisting the urge to play a cheeky game of footsie with him as your legs share the space beneath his desk.

Neither one of you have labelled whatever this new development in your relationship is, but given that you spend a considerable amount of time kissing each other until you’re both breathless, you’re not in any particular rush to hurry things along. 

You’re just happy that you can finally taste those luscious lips on a daily basis. 

Having just finished a tear-jerkingly boring meeting with a client who had droned on and on in the most monotone voice you’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing, you’re more than happy to escort him out of the office. 

Silco saunters after you, following your tense form as you all but shove the client out the door, ensuring you keep your tried-and-tested ‘customer service smile’ plastered across your face.

Whilst you might want to wring the client’s neck for torturing you with boredom, it would probably be bad for business if you actually did… Then again, you’re pretty sure Silco wouldn’t mind. In fact, if he was as bored as he seemed for the whole meeting, you think he might even endorse it. 

What’s the point of being king anyway if you’re not going to make it illegal to bore you to death?

The door is finally shut with a resounding click and you’re given approximately three seconds to turn back to face the stained glass window, before you’re being pushed up against the door, Silco’s lips moulding to yours instantly.

You’re startled for a very brief moment, but you soon find yourself sighing into the kiss, instinctively winding your arms up and around his neck until you can gently tug at the ends of his slicked-back hair with each movement of his lips. 

At this point, you think you might be addicted to the way Silco kisses you like he’s trying to devour you. Every single time. Without fail.

His fingertips deftly move from your hair down to your waist, roaming your body as if he can’t decide his favourite way to hold you. 

Far too soon (although, some might argue not soon enough by the way you’re starting to feel dizzy from rapidly running out of breath), Silco reluctantly pulls himself from your lips, resting his forehead against yours.

His good eye flutters shut whilst the corrupted one is trained on where his arm is snaked around your waist, holding your body firmly against his. It’s like he’s utterly drunk on you, breathless from your scent. 

“I wish we could do this forever,” you whisper happily, using your thumbs to lightly trace circles on the delicate skin behind his ear. 

Silco smiles for a brief moment before he dips his head down to give you another quick peck on the lips. He stays close to your lips, almost as if they’re magnetised. 

“As do I, my darling,” he murmurs, his other hand coming up to rest on your hip bone. “Unfortunately I must attend to an incident at one of the docks. Would you mind taking care of this afternoon’s meeting for me?”

Immediately, you tense up at the mention of going to a meeting alone, a flood of anxiety rushing through your body.  

“Um, actually, I can’t,” you say nervously, your eyes dropping down to your shoes.

Silco lifts his head and pulls back slightly. You can feel him looking down at you with a confused frown.

“You can’t?” he repeats. 

“Nope. Sorry, I’m super busy,” you emphasise, looking absolutely anywhere but his face.

You know that if you even glance at those beautiful eyes for just one sliver of a second, you’ll crumble. 

“Busy with what?” he probes, undoubtedly giving you The Look, as his voice drops to a concerned rumble. 

You employ the classic hide-and-seek technique and refuse to meet his gaze. You can’t see me if I can’t see you.

“I’ve got to see a man about a dog!” you blurt out in response, your panicked mind spitting out a ridiculous phrase instead of an actual reason.

“I beg your pardon?” Silco asks incredulously. 

“Yep. And now that I think about it, I’m starting to feel a bit sick, so actually I might have to go lie down for a bit. You know, before I go see the man about the dog,” you ramble, your brain switching off in the face of panic. 

Then, you subtly attempt to wiggle out of his hold, planning to flee into the streets of Zaun in the hopes that you’ll somehow end up at a pet shop, (the idea of getting a dog incredibly appealing at this particular moment in time), but find it a difficult task given how Silco is currently pressing you into the door, hips pressed solidly against yours. 

He gently grasps your chin between his fingers and pulls you into meeting his gaze. His eyes search your face intently. Then, only a few moments later, he appears to have found something because suddenly he is taking your hand in his and wordlessly leading you over to the couch.

You allow yourself to be herded over to the plush seat and resign yourself to your fate when he sits you down and moulds you into his side. 

A large hand soothingly runs up and down your waist. You melt into him, pulling your legs up so your knees rest on his thighs. 

“Why are you trying to avoid this meeting?” he asks, his voice low and soft. 

Of course, your first instinct is to lie. But you’d promised to tell him the truth about your worries all that time ago on the pier and you weren’t in the business of going back on your word. 

You sigh heavily and begin to fiddle with one of the buttons on his waistcoat. 

“I’ve just… I’ve been really nervous about going to meetings again,” you admit, fidgeting to hide your embarrassment. “I mean, this is twice now a client has tried to kill me and, I don’t know… I’m just worried one day they’ll succeed.”

Part of you feels ridiculous. 

He’s a crime lord, for Janna’s sake. He runs a cut-throat, criminal enterprise - what were you expecting; sunshine and roses? 

Silco is clearly upset by your confession given the way he sighs and holds you tighter, his arms wrapping protectively around your frame.

“Oh sweetheart,” he mumbles into your hair. “I should have prepared you better.”

It sends a pang ringing through your chest. You didn’t mean to make him feel bad. 

“It’s fine, Sil. Honestly,” you insist, wrapping your own arms around his waist. 

Silco pulls back from the hug and looks down at you, his brow furrowed. 

“It’s not fine, darling. You have every right to feel worried.”

One hand lets go of you to snake up your body until he’s holding your cheek, thumb tracing your cheekbone in a gentle caress. 

“I promise I will keep you safe," he tells you, and you completely believe him. “And I will see to it that I personally train you in the basics of defence." 

You throw your arms around him again, squeezing him tightly as you press your face into his chest, inhaling his scent. 

“Okay,” you nod against his chest. 

Honestly, some training sounds like a great idea. You’re not quite sure how you’ve gotten this far in living in Zaun without knowing at least some basic defence moves. Your tactic so far has just been to, you know… run.

Which had honestly worked a treat right up until the point you were hit on the back of the head with a shovel and tied to a chair…

But, then again look how that turned out. Working with and kissing the cutest crime lord in the whole of Zaun? What more could a girl ask for?

Well, now that you’re asking, maybe a-

Zaun’s-Cutest-Crime-Lord breaks your train of thought before it can run away from you entirely. 

“I won’t force you to go to this afternoon’s meeting; Sevika can cover for you.”

“No, no, I can do it,” you say, sitting up to look at him once more. 

He appears unsure, his eyes narrowing slightly as if it’ll help him suss out any lies. 

“I’ll be alright,” you reassure him. “I just need to channel my inner you and stare at them menacingly until they spontaneously combust.”

You even give him a demonstration to further ease his concern. 

Silco rolls his eyes dramatically, but his fingers betray his true feelings because they begin to trace worried little patterns on your knee. 

Your heart aches for how caring this man can be (if, and only if, you’re an ex-kitchen-utensil-salesperson or a sweet little girl with blue hair and a morbid fascination with weapons). 

Completely unbidden, a cheeky little idea pops into your head and you find yourself purposefully putting on a serious face. 

“But now that I’m thinking about it… I guess there is one more thing that you could do, you know, to help me feel better about the meeting,” you say in a small voice, goading him into turning to face you fully. 

“Anything, my dove,” he answers solemnly, his brows furrowed in concentration. 

You climb into his lap and weave your fingers through the dark strands of his hair.

“This.”

Your lips crash into his for the umpteenth time this morning. 

And boy, does it make you feel better about your meeting. 

-

Surprisingly, the meeting goes better than expected, with no obvious hitches and definitely no murder attempts (from either party). Maybe your newfound meeting success is due to you finally perfecting Silco’s trademark death stare after practising it in the mirror for a whole two minutes. 

Or maybe it’s because you’d had your best buddy Sevika standing just over your shoulder the entire time. And whilst her style may be different from your lovable rat man’s, there’s no doubt that Sevika can be intimidating. 

Perhaps you should be learning from her instead of Silco… 

Is it all in the dangerous glare?

Or is it all in the cloak?

You make a mental note to ask her the next time you spot her in the bar. 

Before you know it, the week has flown by, and you’re almost back into the groove of things. Sure, meetings still make your stomach feel like it’s on the world’s longest rollercoaster. But you’re definitely gaining a bit more confidence with each one. 

Just before leaving for today’s meeting, you’d kissed Silco at his desk, biting down a smile when he leant forward slightly in his chair in an attempt to chase your lips when you pulled away. 

It had almost felt… domestic. Like you’re an old, married couple (without the constant bickering, of course). But you’re none of those things. You’re definitely not married, not really an official couple, and even though Silco might be an old codger, you’re not going to be the one to tell him. 

And you don’t want to potentially ruin things by asking him to put a label on your relationship if he isn’t comfortable with that. 

Besides, you know right now you need to focus on your work, not the intricacies of your relationship status. 

When discussing the newest client with Silco, you had learned that he was a businessman named Isaac and that he was looking to become another distributor of Shimmer. And your job was to find out exactly what he wanted out of this deal, so you could begin to draw up a contract that benefited both parties.

Isaac had requested a specific address for you to meet which Silco had recognised as a café along the Promenade, one he’d visited before with Jinx. And since neither your partner-in-crime or your best buddy could join you on this outing (both being called to deal with another ‘meeting’), you immediately felt better that you’d be in a public place rather than a shady warehouse or dock. 

Even better, the Promenade’s closer to the bridge, which meant you were less likely to run into any questionable individuals or people who might wrongfully mistake your identity, knock you out, and tie you to a chair. 

Of course, you’re beyond nervous about going to your first meeting alone since the knife incident. But you’ll have guards with you and plenty of witnesses in a busy café on the off-chance that anything does go wrong.

But when you finally arrive at the pre-arranged address, you’re surprised to find a large building that is clearly undergoing renovation, instead of a bustling café. The sign has been removed and the large windows are covered with big cloth sheets, likely protecting them from the fresh coat of paint on the walls surrounding them.

Before you can question whether your driver has gotten lost, you spot a finely dressed gentleman outside the building, looking down at his pocket watch, one hand leaning on an intricately designed cane. 

He’s definitely older than Silco, given that his hair is more salt than pepper. And there’s a sharp look about him. Like he’s constantly evaluating and making mental calculations on how he can use any and every piece of information to benefit him. 

With the carriage parked further down the street, you approach the man with your guards trailing behind you, studying him as much as you can to gather any clues about him. It never hurts to have a little profile on exactly who you’re going to be dealing with. 

“Isaac?” you say, when you get close enough for him to hear. 

The man turns to look at you, his eyes trailing up and down your frame like he’s drinking in every single detail. Truthfully, it’s a bit unnerving. Like he can see into your mind. 

(You hope he can’t. It’s filled with Silco’s thighs, pizza wheels, and the constant question of who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark.) 

“You’re the delegate sent by Silco?” he responds with one eyebrow raised, his voice smooth and low.

By now, you’re used to people being surprised that you work for Silco. You still don’t really give off that scary crime lord vibe that he seems to exude so effortlessly. 

You look down at yourself and then back up at him, smiling just a touch too brightly.

“Yep! Last time I checked.”

Isaac gazes at you in amusement until you tell him your name and hold your hand out for him to shake. 

Instead, he smirks and takes your hand, only to bend down to kiss your knuckles.

“Enchanted,” he says. The low, smooth tone coils around you, making you shudder slightly. 

Honestly, it makes you feel a little bit gross considering you don’t know him, but you reason that he’s probably just doing it to raise his margin of profit. Besides, it’s better to play along and get on his good side, if only for the sake of the deal.

Plus, it sure as hell beats people trying to stab you in lieu of a proper greeting. 

“Likewise,” you respond. 

“I hope you don’t mind if my fan club quickly checks you for any weapons,” you tell him, gesturing to the three guards standing by you. “We’ve had some trouble in the past.”

“Of course,” Isaac responds, with a graceful nod of his head.

And while the guards search him, you suddenly realise that the building before you is definitely not open to the public. If you go inside with this man, you’ll have no witnesses like you were hoping. But you do have three massive bodyguards, which ought to be enough.

Right?

Once the guards give Isaac the all clear, you glance up at the building in front of you. 

“I was under the impression we would be meeting at a cafe,” you say, trying to keep your tone even to hide your nerves. “My-”

You catch yourself, unsure of how you were going to complete that sentence. 

Your what, exactly? 

Boss? Boyfriend? 

Man-you-annoy-on-a-daily-basis-until-he-kisses-you-just-to-get-you-to-shut-up?

(Only 2/3 of those are correct and you categorically refuse to acknowledge which one is untrue.)

“Silco told me he’s visited before,” you settle on. 

“Ah, yes. I believe the previous owners used the space for that purpose,” Isaac replies, following your gaze. 

That catches you by surprise. 

“Oh, you own the building now?”

“And the one next door,” he says with a look that borders on smug. “I’m in the process of joining the two spaces to create a luxury lounge bar for exclusive clientele.”

Now, that is not what you were expecting. A luxury lounge bar sounds far too fancy for Zaun. An establishment much more suited to the residents of Piltover. 

Your astonishment must be evident in your expression because Isaac chuckles, low and full of mischief. 

“Would you care for a quick tour before we begin?” he asks, holding out his arm for you to take.

You glance up at his inviting expression and decide that you wouldn’t mind a quick tour, if only because you’re damn curious how a street café is going to be transformed into a high class lounge bar. 

A polite smile crosses your face.

“Sounds lovely, lead the way.”

True to his word, Isaac had given you a brief tour of the newly joined building, showing you the main bar lounge as well as the myriad little side rooms that you can just picture housing rustic leather sofas and antique fireplaces. 

Isaac had continued his flirty demeanour throughout, offering you an exclusive, black card membership when the bar’s ready to open, drinks on the house every time you visit - the lot. 

Of course you’d humbly refused it all, but you kept playing along, allowing him to lead you from room to room with your guards silently following after you, sizing up each room and Isaac’s every action. 

Now, sitting in the main lounge at a table that is half booth seating, half chairs, (no prizes for guessing where you’d chosen to sit), you begin to discuss the arrangements of a contract. 

Isaac tells you that he’s looking to sell high grade Shimmer in his bar, all the while making slightly passive aggressive and insulting comments about night clubs, including, but not limited to, the very one you call home. 

You’re just about to ask him about the number of clientele he’s expecting to handle each week when a commotion at the door causes you to look across the room, only to find yourself looking at a very familiar face, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. 

You struggle not to grin at the sight of him, and though his own face remains passive, you can spot the slight changes in his body language that reveals how pleased he is to see you again.

Gods, is this boy obsessed with you or what? Mans follows you about like a lost puppy. 

“I hope you’re treating my negotiator well,” Silco says, his voice a rumble that makes your stomach do flips no matter how many times you hear it. “She’s a very valuable…asset.”

A glare is shot his way for having the nerve to call you an asset, but Silco ignores it. No matter, you’ll get him back for it later. 

Luckily, Isaac appears to be unperturbed by the intrusion. 

“I can assure you, she’s been treated like royalty,” he says, a little hint of… something in his voice. You can’t quite tell. 

Silco joins you at the table, sliding in beside you on the plush booth seat, making sure your thigh rests flush alongside his.

Assuming he finished his meeting much more quickly than expected and wanted to make sure your own meeting was going well, you continue discussing the contract with Isaac as you had been before.

And Isaac continues to make casual flirty comments, which you laugh along with to maintain the banter and rapport you’d already build up over the course of the meeting. You don’t mean anything by it, but sometimes a bit of flattery is beneficial in this business.

So you laugh at Isaac’s jokes and you smile at every over-the-top compliment.

In fact, you barely even notice the man beside you (who has been uncharacteristically quiet since crashing the meeting), until you make the mistake of leaning across the table to casually touch Isaac’s arm.

All of a sudden, Silco’s hand grips your thigh under the table, not too tight for it to hurt, but tight enough for you to snap your head to look at him in shock. 

But he doesn’t even glance at you, his piercing eyes glued onto Isaac. 

You immediately worry you’ve done something wrong and you’re about to ask his input on the deal when Silco speaks, his voice far more steady than you were expecting given his intense demeanour. 

“I apologise for the interruption, but I require a moment alone with my negotiator.”

Isaac appears just as surprised as you are, but he recovers quickly and clears his throat. 

“Of course. You’re more than welcome to talk in the room next door, if you wish.”

He gestures to a door that you remember leads to a little side room. 

Silco nods and quickly slides out of the seat to stand. You follow him, sending a quick, apologetic smile to Isaac in an attempt to hide your concern. 

Once you’re standing, Silco turns to acknowledge the man still seated at the table. 

“Do excuse us,” he says courteously. 

Isaac nods and with that, you’re being gently herded to the door, your anxiety increasing with each step.

Did you say something wrong?

You enter the sparse room, going to stand by one of the tables that is covered in a dust sheet. 

Silco shuts the door behind you (waving off the guards who try to follow) and you worry that he’s upset with the way the deal is going, even though from your perspective, it had been going quite well until Silco had interrupted. 

You turn to face him with a worried frown. 

“Are you not happy with the terms?” you ask him gravely. “I know we didn’t really-”

Silco crosses the room in a few, long strides and grabs you by the waist, picking you up so he can seat you atop the nearest table.

You gasp in surprise and Silco’s lips collide with yours. 

He kisses you with a searing amount of passion, standing between your legs until there’s barely any space between your bodies. His hands switch from running through your hair to grasping at your waist and when his teeth nip at your bottom lip, you cry out, allowing him to slip his tongue into your mouth.

You match his movements eagerly, if not a little bit bewilderedly. 

When he finally pulls back for breath, the both of you stare at one another, panting.

“What was that for?” you say breathlessly, your chest heaving against his. 

“You’re mine,” he responds in a low rumble that shoots heat straight through you. 

He begins to trail wet kisses across your neck and you struggle to think straight with your heart pounding.

What does he mean? Of course you’re his, why is he-

It suddenly dawns on you the reason for this sudden bout of possessiveness.

He’s jealous. 

You place your hands on his chest, trying to stop him for a moment. 

“Wait. Do you think I’m flirting with this guy?”

“You are flirting with him,” Silco all but growls, his hands landing on your lower back where he jerks you forward on the table until you’re flush with him. 

“To get a good deal!” you protest. “I’m just preten-” 

A sloppy kiss on your neck makes you jump when his teeth sink into your skin, surely leaving an obvious bruise. 

“Silco!” you cry out, trying to keep your volume as quiet as possible. 

“Pretend or not,” he grumbles against your neck. “I don’t share.” 

You breath catches and Silco leans away from you just enough to look you in the eyes, a delicious hint of lust betraying his intense expression. 

“I want you to be mine and mine alone.”

Your eyes widen when your distracted brain finally catches his meaning. 

“You- you want to be with me? In a relationship?” you ask in a daze. 

Part of you feels silly for asking but you need to be sure. 

“Yes.” he replies emphatically, returning to his previous ministrations of kissing along your collarbone. “If it were up to me, you’d never leave my side again.”

You think your heart might have just filled up and popped like a balloon. 

He wants you to be his girlfriend. 

Those pesky feelings are bubbling away inside you, almost to the point of being overwhelmed, so you resort to your tried and true method of coping.

Being a shitlord. 

You gasp dramatically, tightening your grip on the strap at the back of his waistcoat, reaching up under his coat. Then, you let your voice drop to a hushed, conspiratorial whisper. 

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

Silco slowly leans back and narrows his eyes at you in suspicion. 

“Dare I even ask what you think it means?” he inquires sceptically. 

“Are you asking me to… be more than just your kitchen utensil salesperson?”

The change in emotion is rapid and entirely theatrical. Silco rolls his eyes and sighs heavily, his whole body joining in the motion. 

“I think I’ve changed my mind,” he comments flippantly. 

Despite your grin, you grip onto him even tighter and wrap your legs around him like a koala. 

“Nuh-uh, mister, no takesie backsies,” you say, smushing your face into his chest. 

Silco’s head drops back to look at the ceiling, his hands falling to his sides in mock exasperation. 

“Dear Janna, I fear I’ve made a grave mistake-” he begins. 

“Oh?” you interrupt loudly. “Well, in that case, I think my new friend Isaac is more than up for a little bit of lip service.”

You let go of him and start to shuffle away from him so you can climb down from the table, but Silco immediately grabs onto you again and pulls you back against him, effectively trapping you in. 

“Not on my watch,” he grunts in your ear, the delicious rumble going straight from his chest into yours. 

Truth be told, you’re not entirely sure who initiates the next kiss, but before you know it, Silco has his hands in your hair again and is surely bruising your lips with how hard he kisses you. 

Eventually, (reluctantly), you manage to convince him you need to finish the meeting, but with the promise that you can continue your endeavours the very minute you get home. Silco only agrees after you seal the deal with another quick kiss. 

Finally straightening each other up until you’re more presentable, and with a lot of reassurance from Silco that no-one will be able to tell that you’ve basically spent the past five minutes snogging each other, you return back to the main lounge where Isaac is patiently waiting. 

Isaac makes no mention of your extended ‘chat’ and you get right back into the meeting, this time with a much happier kingpin by your side. 

It’s incredibly difficult not to show how giddy you are for the rest of the meeting. And it definitely doesn’t help that Silco decides to deliberately stroke up and down your thigh the whole time.

But you finish the meeting, promise Isaac you will send him a draft contract to review, and just about refrain from skipping out the door to the carriage where home and Silco’s gorgeous lips await you. 

-

Once you’d finally arrived back home, your plans had been slightly waylaid by the fact that Jinx wanted to spend the rest of the evening with you both, which meant you’d had to postpone any plans made in Isaac’s bar. 

Of course, you’d enjoyed the evening, as you always enjoyed spending time with Jinx and Silco. But you were also secretly pleased when Jinx had finally dropped to sleep in her bed after reading her no less than nine stories from her storybook.

The child had far too much energy. 

On the way back to Silco’s office, you had quickly stopped by your bedroom, brushing your teeth and getting changed into your pyjamas so you could relax after such an exhausting day. 

By the time you’d reached his office, Silco was already lounging on the sofa, his waistcoat and tie gone, looking just as tired as you felt. 

But neither of you had wanted the evening to end just yet, so you’d climbed onto his lap and kissed him so gently, he couldn’t help but let out a content little sigh. 

The two of you had quietly talked, with Silco’s long fingers softly carding through your hair until you’d found yourself falling asleep against him. Somewhere in the haze between sleep and awake, Silco had murmured that you should sleep in his bed, mumbling something about not wanting you to wake yourself up by walking back to your own bedroom.

You’d sleepily agreed, allowing him to gather you up in his arms and carry you to his bedroom (pointedly ignoring the fact that if he was going to carry you anyway, he could have just carried you down the hall to your own bedroom…)

But you much preferred the alternative. 

Silco had laid you down on the soft sheets of his bed, disappearing for a few minutes to get himself washed and changed, and reappearing just as quickly to join you under the covers. 

In the darkness of the room, Silco holding you in his arms like you were the most precious person in the whole world, you’d kissed slowly and deeply, like two lovers discovering each other for the first time. 

Relying only on the feel of Silco’s lips and the quiet sighs brushing your cheek, you’d kissed him until you felt your body pulling you under, down into the murky depths of sleep. 

He must have been able to tell that you were fighting it, because soon enough, he’d rested his forehead against yours, breaths intermingling in the tiny space between your lips, and whispered into the darkness of the room. 

“Sleep, my lovely. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

For the first time in your life, you fell asleep with a tiny smile on your face, wrapped in the arms of a man you adored with your whole heart.

It was the best sleep you’d ever had.

But now, as low streaks of light begin to pour through the windows, you feel your body awakening, a slight ache in your limbs from your extended rest. 

You blink yourself properly awake and soon become aware of the position you’re in. Silco is pressed with his chest against your back, a strong forearm slung around your waist, holding your body close to his. 

Your legs are tangled together and you can feel each warm exhale of his breath on the back of your neck, tickling the fine hairs on your nape. 

Still asleep. 

Carefully turning in his hold until you’re facing each other, you admire how beautiful Silco looks when he’s asleep, all the tension that usually lines his face completely melted away. 

If only he could be this relaxed all the time. It suits him. 

You lean forward and delicately kiss his cheek, causing him to sigh and hold you even tighter. 

Gods, you could honestly stay here forever. 

Eventually, the bathroom calls, and you manage to pry yourself from his arms without waking him, completing your morning ritual in the little ensuite and even finding a spare toothbrush in the cupboards to freshen your mouth.

When you return to his bedroom, your feet padding softly against the wooden floorboards, you find him flat out on his back, snoring lightly with his mouth hanging open.

You grin and resist the urge to fetch a camera, instead picking the slightly less evil option of snooping around his bedroom.

Predictably, the furniture is dark and woodsy. And everything is neat enough. But not too neat that it doesn’t look lived in. 

But the one thing that immediately draws your eye is the little writing desk placed in front of a tiny, stained glass window that looks out on the streets of Zaun. 

You approach the desk quietly, your eyes ticking over the myriad little trinkets that are dotted over the surface.

Of course, there’s some notebooks, and fountain pens, and bottles of ink. But there’s also a few little boxes filled with their own treasures. 

One contains a pair of reading glasses that almost make you squeal on the spot. (You are definitely forcing him to wear these at some point.)

Another houses lots of little curios that you’re certain will all have a story attached to them if you were to ask. Some pretty shells, a broken little toy, a stamped coin you don’t recognise. 

But when your eyes land on the smallest trinket box, you don’t even look inside because you’re completely distracted by the items that lay beside it.

A pizza wheel and a set of measuring spoons. 

Your heart nearly bursts in happiness when you recognise them as the ones you’d sold to him from your stall all that time ago.

He hadn’t thrown them away like you’d thought when you couldn’t find them in the kitchen. He’d kept them in his bedroom. With the rest of the items he treasures.

Clutching your hands to your chest to stop yourself from breaking out into song, you look up, and as if you thought your heart couldn’t be anymore full, you spot the portrait of him that you’d painted in the Topside art studio resting against the sil of the window.

Your hands drop at the same time your expression does when your eyes jump from the kitchen utensils to the painting in repeated succession…

He has a shrine to you in his bedroom. 

He has a shrine to you… in his bedroom!!! 

Your hands slap over your mouth in giddy joy and you giggle as silently as you can, dropping down onto the little seat in front of the writing desk, not caring for one second that they’re still your mortal enemies. 

You carefully pick up a notebook, checking that the pages are easy to rip out and won’t ruin the notebook if you do. Turning to a fresh page, you grab a pen and begin to write a silly little limerick about you and Silco, the words coming to you surprisingly easy as you write. 

there once was a kitchen utensil seller, 

who fell in love with a silly, old fella- 

The moment you read back the words on the page you freeze in horror.

You’ve just written down that you’ve fallen in love with Silco… in one of his own notebooks. 

Your heart begins to race as you descend into panic. 

Fuck. 

Fuck!

What are you going to do? He can’t see this! 

This can’t be the way he finds out how you feel about him. What if he doesn’t feel like that yet? What if it’s too early?

Shit. Are you in love with him? You’ve only just officially started dating. Literally, yesterday. 

Your mind becomes a whirl of spiralling thoughts and in your panic, you look down at the notebook and start to make a plan that, almost concerningly, resembles a murder cover-up. 

First and foremost, you need to get rid of the evidence. Then you need to get an alibi. Then-

Before you can even think about running to your bedroom to hide the notebook - Sod’s law - you nearly jump out of your seat when a gravelly, morning voice speaks from behind you. 

“Whilst I treasure waking up to this view, sweetheart, I must admit,” Silco’s voice somehow drops even lower, almost tantalisingly so. “I’d much prefer for you to come back to bed.”

You freeze for a second, resisting the urge to snap the notebook shut in fear of looking too suspicious, and take a moment to clear your face before turning to look at him over your shoulder.

The smile that pulls your lips is automatic as you observe him lying in bed, propped up on one elbow as he gazes at you hungrily, his dark hair all tousled and his lips dry.  

Gods, he’s honestly never looked better. 

You bite your lip and Silco smirks, a devilish little thing, as he crooks one finger to summon you back to bed. 

But you can’t go back to bed, you have to cover up your crime before he can notice what you’ve done. 

So you decide to grill him on his obsession with you. 

“But if I come back to bed, how am I supposed to admire your shrine to me?” you ask in a way that you hope sounds innocent (but in all honesty doesn’t at all), vaguely gesturing to the kitchen utensils and painting behind you. 

Silco heaves a dramatic, heavy sigh like you’re the most exhausting person ever. 

“Of course you think it’s a shrine,” he grumbles under his breath. 

He throws back the covers and starts to get out of bed, and now you do slam the notebook shut as your eyes widen. Luckily, Silco takes no notice and saunters into the bathroom, leaving the door open as he disappears through it.

You jump at the opportunity to grab the notebook and shove it behind his dresser, along with the pen you used and all his pencils, because in your paranoia, you assume he knows how to dust for fingerprints and will no doubt use the pencil trick if you just rip the page from the notebook.

By the time he returns, you’re sitting back down at the desk, mindlessly spinning the blade of the pizza wheel, trying to look like a picture of perfect innocence and not like you’d just stolen half of the stationery from his writing desk. 

Silco glances over at you in surprise when he finds you in the same place he left you (and pointedly, not back in bed) and strides over to you with purpose.

You look up at him with wide eyes until he reaches your side. He carefully plucks the pizza wheel from your hands so you won’t hurt yourself on the blade, and suddenly picks you up, throwing you over his shoulder with ease.

You squeal in surprise and start to wiggle on his shoulder as he carries you across the room and over to the bed. 

“Help! I’m being kidnapped by the Eye of Zaun!” you jokingly cry out. 

Silco gently chucks you onto the bed and you wriggle away from him until your head hits the pillows, unable to hold back a smile the entire time. 

He crawls onto the bed after you and cages you in with his arms, leaning down to whisper in your ear once he hovers atop you. 

“Now be a good girl and behave.”

His lips descend on yours and you easily melt into the kiss, wrapping your arms up and around his shoulders, pulling him even closer to you. 

When both of your lungs are burning from the lack of air, Silco regretfully pulls back and rests his head in the crook of your neck. Your hands run up and down his spine for a few blissful moments until you finally break the peace. 

“Sil, we need to get up for work.”

“No we don’t,” he instantly mumbles back, lips resting against your neck with every word. 

You smile up at the ceiling before gently pulling on the back of his loose shirt. 

“We do.”

Silco ignores you completely, lifting his head to place a series of kisses along your neck. You drop your shoulders and relax into it completely, up until the moment that you feel him start to suck a bruise into your skin. 

“Oi!” you say, weaving your hands into his hair to pull him away from you. “Stop it, you’re going to get me in trouble with my boss.”

At this, Silco leans back up until he’s hovering over your lips, his eyes full of mischief. 

“Oh, darling, I’m afraid you’re already in deep trouble with him.”

You can’t help grinning at him as he dips down to kiss you again, making you even more late for work. 

-

It’s early evening when Silco lets out a deep, heady groan, the sound reverberating around the tall, empty space above his office. 

“Yes, right there, darling,” he says, his timbre making it sound like he’s experiencing nirvana. 

So, you concentrate on that place and bite back a grin when he stifles another, whinier moan. 

Currently, Silco is lying flat out on the floor, his face smushed into the rug as you try to get the knots out of his old, decrepit body with a back massage. 

Honestly, how many times have you warned him that hunching over his desk all day and night will give him terrible back pain? You think you’ve lost count at this point. 

Still, you’re kind enough to help out your little himbo even when he doesn’t follow your advice. 

“Why can’t you get a chiropractor to do this?” you ask, straddling his back as you try your best to ease some of his pain, rubbing your hands into the space just below his shoulders. 

“Because you are far less expensive,” he mumbles gruffly into the rug. 

You smack his clothed arm and glare down at the back of his head. 

“Wrong answer.” 

“Because you’re the only person I want touching me, darling,” Silco tries again, this time in a much sweeter voice.

He’s probably realising that it might not be such a good idea to offend the person currently trying to help him. 

“That’s what I thought you said,” you say, digging into his back a little bit harder.

You continue to massage his back, following his directions of which areas to focus on, all the time wondering why the richest man in Zaun doesn’t just hire an actual professional, instead of getting you to give him a massage.

Is it just because he’s a stubborn old man? Or does he actually not trust anybody else to touch him like this?

Now that you know more of Silco’s past, you wouldn’t be surprised if he has difficulties with touch. But apart from that first time you’d tried to hold his hand in the warehouse, he’s never seemed reluctant to touch you.

Maybe he-

In the middle of your internal debate, two things happen at once. 

First, you clearly hit a sweet spot in your massage because Silco groans in pure relief. Loudly. 

And second, Sevika walks in through the office door completely unannounced. 

There’s a millisecond of a pause before she scoffs. 

“Fucking hell. Can’t you two do that somewhere else?”

Your head pops up over the desk in surprise, only to find her grimacing, looking up at the ceiling in disgust. 

Your eyebrows burrow in confusion, wondering why Silco’s office would be an inappropriate place for a back massage when you suddenly realise what she thinks is happening. 

“Wait, no! We weren’t doing that!” you call across the room in horror. “I was just giving him a massage!”

“Gross, I don’t wanna hear the details, just lock the door next time,” she groans, sounding like she wishes she was anywhere else but here. 

Immediately your eyes widen as you realise your accidental double entendre. 

“Wait, I didn’t mean-”

But she’s gone before you can finish your sentence, the door slamming behind her.

You sit for a moment in shell shock before glancing back down at Silco, who has turned his head sideways to look at you, his face resting on the backs of his hands. 

“You don’t think she’s gonna tell people that we were… you know…” you trail off, making a vague, indecipherable gesture with one hand. 

“Sevika’s not one to gossip,” Silco reassures you. 

You inhale and exhale, pushing yourself up so you can go and lock the door, not wanting any more interruptions. 

By the time you’ve made your way back to the desk, Silco is already sitting in his chair, facing towards you in a clear invitation to sit in his lap.

You don’t.

Instead, you plonk yourself down on the edge of the desk, facing towards the window, and bite your lip, painfully aware of Silco staring at you from the corner of your eye. 

He waits a few more moments before rolling his chair closer to you and taking your hands in his. 

“If you’re truly worried about it, I can speak to Sevika for you,” he says gently, trying to catch your gaze. 

“No, it’s not that, it’s just…” you finally meet his eyes, worry painting your expression. “I have a feeling you don’t want to tell anyone.”

He sighs quietly and of course, you hate making him upset, but it’s something that needs to be addressed. 

“For your safety, my dove,” he says pleadingly. 

“I know,” you agree fervently. “I understand, Silco.”

It makes complete sense that he doesn’t want anyone to know. Anyone known to be close to the Eye of Zaun is much more likely to become a target than someone who just works for him.

But it still hurts. 

You want to tell everyone. The whole world!

You want to tell your old boss at the stall down in the market.

You want to tell the old lady you used to live next door to.

Hell, you even want to tell the man who served you at the coffee shop everyday for three years, and every single day called you by the wrong name, until the day he visited your stall and saw your name badge, forcing you to find a new place to get your drinks from…

Then again, maybe not him. 

“I just wish I could show you off. Have my own little stall in the market,” you tell Silco, nervously playing with his hands. “Maybe you could have a kissing booth… except I’m the only one who gets to kiss you,” you add with a frown, eyes snapping up to make sure he knows how serious you are.

Silco chuckles and his lips pull into a mischievous smirk. 

“Do you think I’d get many customers?”

You stare at him hard. 

He would. 

“I’ve changed my mind,” you say, pulling on his hands so he rolls forward in his chair, closer and closer to you. “I’m going to keep you locked up in this office forever. These lips are mine.”

Your fingers raise to slowly trace his lips, forcing Silco’s own hands up since they’re still entwined with yours. You watch in fascination as his eyes darken until he suddenly pulls you downwards, landing heavily in his lap. 

He lets go of your hands and manoeuvres your body until you’re straddling him, his lips resting on the shell of your ear. 

“The rest is yours, too.”

You gasp as a shudder rolls down your spine, allowing him to grab your waist as your own fingers slide into his hair, bringing your lips together in a heated kiss.

You’re just starting to feel flushed at the promiscuous position and the heat flooding through your body when a loud bang echoes from behind you.

You scream and nearly headbutt Silco, who is forced to grip onto you tightly to stop you from toppling off the chair.

Whipping your head around, you’re met with the sight of Jinx, standing right in the middle of Silco’s desk like she’s just dropped down from the ceiling. 

Since when did she start doing that?!

“I knew it!” she yells excitedly, her face lit up as she points at the two of you. “I knew you were secretly doing the kissing thing!”

Both you and Silco groan in tandem, and you can’t help but slump forward to rest your head on his shoulder, exhausted from Jinx’s grand entrance. 

Well, so much for keeping it a secret.

PART 8

a/n: y’all better believe the next chapter will include silco-training-reader-how-to-defend-herself shenanigans 😈 

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