#momolady monsters

[momolady]

Art the Orc

If you live in a small town, maybe you'll know this place. It's a little art store run by the same family for ages. It's not changed in all that time either. Picture it, feel it, you know it's the only place that sells that one supply you like. Now, imagine an orc behind the counter. Female Reader x Male Monster

The visage of the old place looked like it had once been a gas station. There was one of those big metal awnings and signs that gas pumps had once been outside. But everything else looked like the art supply store it was. The window was painted, done up with flowers and a flourishing font, but it hadn’t been touched in ages and was chipping and weathering away.

The old place had seen better days, you could tell. But you were excited to tackle such a special project with your own two hands.

Inside the place had a familiar smell of paint thinner, book pages, and coffee. You looked around the front as the bells on the door chimed. The old floor had seen better days and was worn out where you stood, even the welcome mat was hard to read.

“Welcome to Greengold Creative Station,” the deep voice came from behind the front desk where there was an open door. ‘I’ll be out with you in just a moment.”

“Take your time,” you replied. You continued to look around, noting the mismatched shelving and thrown together renovations dotting the place.

A moment later, a large orc came from the back. He was wearing thick glasses and had on a corded cardigan that covered a paint splattered t-shirt.

“Can I help you find anything?” He asked as he adjusted his glasses.

You approached the front desk again, extending your hand to him. “Hi! You must be Mr. Greengold, I’m from Regency Renovations.”

There was a surprised look upon his face as he shook your hand. “You’re the renovator?”

You smiled, half expecting some reservation based on your appearance. “I specialize in business and storefront renovations. That is what you wanted, correct, Mr. Greengold?”

He fumbled with his words for a moment, stuttering, touching his glasses until he spoke. “Call me Art, please.”

You held it in, but he knew where your mind went.

“It’s short for Arthur, but it's also my dad’s name so my mom calls me Art. Yes, I know, ha ha, very fun. A man named Art runs the art store.”

“It’s an easy target.” You tried to squash your giggling but a few came out.

He sighed and shook his head. “So, you’ll be handling the whole store. I want it updated completely. It was fine for my parents, but I need to bring in a new generation of artists and online shopping is destroying us.”

“It’s a common issue, Art,” you didn’t look at him as you said his name. “I already have some ideas brewing and I would be happy to discuss your thoughts for the business with you.”

He sighed heavily, gazing out at a store that was once his family’s legacy. “I would say I would like to keep some of what my parents did to this place, but I don’t think any of it is salvageable.”

“Well recycling is a thing.” You replied. “Like some of these old shelves, the wood can be reused to create a rustic facade for the front desk here.” You patted the worn out formica top. “And the vintage signage out from can be reused and framed, hung just right behind you there.”

Art made a face. “You can do all that.”

You returned his face, adding a smug smile to it. “I can do lots of things, Art. My father was a carpenter and my mother was a viper. Be careful of what you inflict about me.” You patted your chest proudly. You knew you were small and chubby, not many people expected much out of you, but your work spoke for itself. And that was how you told people off.

“Sorry,” he sighed. “I have a lot riding on this so-”

“So you hired the best. That I can promise you. Now I know you said you didn’t have a lot of funds, but I already have my plans made for how to help you with that. I plan on doing most of the work on my own, but for heavy lifting and other things-”

“I don’t mind helping with that,” he said with a shake of his head.

You had planned to bring in your brother for help, he enjoyed the destruction part of your job and he worked for free food. “Well uh…if you’d like Art, I wouldn’t say no.”

“I wouldn’t want you getting hurt on the job. It would be best if I helped out,” he said.

You couldn’t tell if he was being kind or underestimating you again, so you brushed it off and continued. “I would also like to film the process of the renovation. Stuff like that will help reach your new audience.”

He frowned, and his thick brows pinched together. “You must be joking.”

“I am not. You’d be surprised what the kids these days are watching.” You smirked up at him. “I know what I am doing, Art. Have some faith.”

His face read: easier said than done.

Discussion and planning was always the hard bit. You had to convince your employer of what needed to be done. Art was hesitant about some things, after all it was a family business and a place he had grown up in. But for the most part he was willing to go along with some of your ideas.

Art started the clean up process by first putting away his stock and setting most of the mismatched shelves outside. Once that was taken care of you began ripping up the old carpet and ancient linoleum.

“I remember when my dad put that stuff down,” Art said from behind you.

You looked up, eyes covered by goggles and mouth surrounded by one of those thick industrial masks. “Oh really?”

Art gave you a look. “Is all that necessary?”

“You’d be surprised.” You stacked another chunk of the linoleum to the side. “Lots of debris and who-knows-what is under these old floors. Decades of dirty shoes, dust, skin, and life are stored here.”

Art’s grimace deepened. “Skin?”

“Oh yeah, we shed like mad,” you laughed. “If you have dust in your house you can be assured it came from you!”

Art looked perturbed by this revelation but he continued in moving stock to the back and other store property outside.

Once the flooring was removed, you accessed what was underneath. It wasn’t marble or granite, but it was some type of stony tile that had existed when it was a gas station.

“Mom said it was inhospitable.”

You used a dust cloth to clean off a bit of the flooring. “But it’s easy to clean, and it’ll make the whole place appear brighter and bigger.” You turned and looked back at him, taking off the goggles. “It’ll be so much better in the long run. Plus! You won’t have to buy anything new except maybe a rug or two if you wanted.”

Art’s pinched brow was becoming the norm to see, but you could tell it was because the gears behind it were working so hard to process everything going on.

Once the tiles were cleaned and all the old flooring was hauled off to the dump, you started working on the walls, taking down slapdash shelving, and anything else hanging up. The old paint job, or jobs really, were layered on so thick and hadn’t been properly done. They had painted over the trim and electrical outlets, all of which needed to be replaced. The holes in the walls needed fixing too, and there were a few dents and scrapes from the years.

“You’re not hiring a painter?” Art asked one day.

You zipped up your coveralls and turned around to face him. “Not unless you want to shell out twice the money. Besides, I’m a good painter. A great painter even! Maybe not Rembrandt or anything, but I can handle a roller better than most.”

Art looked over your paint supplies. After days of you working on freeing the electric sockets and scraping the excess from the trim you could finally start working. You were painting the wall white, but you had found cheap sticker tiles to create a great accent wall, which could then be used for photo opportunities and special displays. Then another wall would also be painted white and used to display local artists and projects from the art class that Art taught.

“Mom always wanted to put wallpaper up,” Art murmured. “But said it wouldn’t be practical with everything we needed to hang up.”

There was a melancholy to Art’s face and tone as he said this. “What kind?” You asked as you poured your paint into the tray. “We could always find something close to what she had in mind for the office.”

Art glanced over his shoulder then shook his head. “I doubt I could afford it. I tried looking already.”

You put the roller into the paint, sliding it back and forth until it wasn’t too soupy. “Was this place your mom’s idea?”

“Yeah,” he murmured, his gaze going all about the store. “I can’t believe how empty it is now.”

“It’ll be full again in no time.” You gave him a reassuring smile when his amber eyes returned to you. “Do you have any pictures of your mother you would want to hang up?” you asked. “I can plan a special place for it.”

He huffed, seeming put off by this suggestion. “Excuse me. The smell of this paint is giving me a headache.” He walked off, stomping his feet a little as he went.

Art came back by the time you were finished with the first coat of white. You were sitting in front of the checkout desk, leaned back against it so your foot propped the door open. He stepped over your leg and looked at your work.

“The white really makes this place look…different,” he murmured.

“Don’t worry, there will be some color back soon enough,” you sighed. “Is your headache gone?”

Art nodded, leaning against the desk. “Sorry if I’ve been…obstinate.”

You waved it off. “I’m used to you.”

He shook his head. “No. I’ve been questioning and judging everything, all because I never really wanted to do this.”

You tilted your head up to look at him. “Then why are you?”

He let out that heavy, burdened sigh again. “Because it was in her will.”

You clicked your tongue. “Oh.”

“She left me money, but only if I used a portion of it to renovate the old store. She said it was mine after all, it deserved to reflect the new generation. Even in death she was still hinting I get married.” He scoffed at this, but he still had a smile on his face.

“Sounds pretty motherly.” You stood up from the ground, standing beside him. Not feeling much taller than you did sitting beside his great size. You motioned to the front window. “Did she paint that?”

Art laughed. “No. I did. That’s why she kept it so long.”

Your smile beamed. “Really? That’s pretty adorable.”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “For years upon years I’ve looked at that painting and wished every day she would wash it off and do something different. But I suppose her sentimentality was far too deep for that.”

“It’s a good painting,” you offered.

“I never thought she’d keep it so I barely tried,” he grunted and crossed his arms against his chest. “Boy, was I wrong.”

“Would you like to paint the new display? I was planning on just hanging a new sign and leaving the window clean.”

“I don’t know,” he muttered.

You patted his arm, and his eyes darted down to your hand, his brows unpinching for that one moment.

“I’ll wait till you decide then.” You stepped away from him, but his eyes still lingered on where you had touched him.

A few days later, as you were working on putting the sticker tile onto the wall, Art came from the back and offered you a ticket.

“A friend of mine has a gallery showing tonight. He gave me two tickets so I thought-” He hesitated and cleared his throat.

“How fancy is the affair?” You asked.

“Nothing too fancy. I mean, dress up, but not like black tie event or anything.” He cleared his throat again. “I was going to get dinner at my favorite restaurant since it was close by if you wanted to come.”

It clicked and you looked up at him. Your cheeks flushed and your mouth started to go dry. “Oh. Sure.” You tucked your hair behind your ear. “If that’s the case, maybe we should go in together. You know? Save the earth and stuff.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Smart idea. How about I pick you up tonight. Say…around six? Since the gallery is at eight?”

You nodded, biting down on your lip. “Yeah. Perfect. That should give me enough time to get ready after work.”

Art turned awkwardly away then back towards you. “Oh I uh, I guess I should get your address.” You traded info and the rest of the day went by in a jerky, tense sort of way.

That evening you waited in your living room until you heard from Art. You were wearing your favorite dress, and had even gotten your next door neighbor to do your makeup. You got his message and went downstairs to meet him at the front door.

Art was dressed nice in a dark purple suit and he had his long hair slicked back and tied into a bun. He didn’t have on his glasses, which surprised you. His eyes lit up when he saw you.

“Wow, you look great!” He said, a touch breathless.

You blushed and smiled. “Thanks. You look pretty great too. I’m not used to seeing you without your glasses.”

“Yeah, contacts tonight,” he said shyly. He then took your hand and led you to his car.

The restaurant was nice, the two of you had a clumsy start to it, but eventually you both started having an in depth conversation about color. From there, you both laughed and joked around, having a good time with great food and even better wine.

From there you walked to the gallery, meeting his friend then roaming through the show. Her artwork was lovely, but you noticed Art’s pinch brow had returned.

“A lot more nudes than I expected,” he whispered.

“I think it’s nice,” you replied. “I can see what her intent with the motif is. How it’s classic, it's natural, but also subversive.” You turned to Art, noticing him fidgeting and adjusting himself.

“Yes. I understand what she is doing,” he muttered. “I must have had just a little too much wine I think.”

You smiled at him, chuckling as your cheeks grew warm.

The car windows were fogged over, and in the dark all you could do was touch. His kisses felt rough but intimate. His tusks brushed against your skin, making your shiver. Every so often the darkness was halted by the motion light of the parking lot turning on. You’d still for a moment, then continue on with your youthful antics.

“We should stop.”

“We should.”

“Why aren’t we?”

“It’s hard.”

“Very hard.”

You kissed Art and breathed, looking into his eyes while you clasped your hands around his face. Maybe it was the wine or the nudes on display, maybe it was weeks of working so close and holding back so long.

“It’s hard.”

“Very hard.”

You smiled at him, kissing him again while his hands moved below. Your panties were pushed aside, his zipper brushed against your thigh. Big. Oh my god it was big!

You gasped softly and he stilled, watching your expression. You eased over him, taking as much of Art as you could stand. You pressed your palms to the roof of the car for balance, his strong hands kneaded into your thick thighs.

“Aren’t we a bit too old for this?” he breathed.

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we.” Your laughter turned into moaning. Maybe you were both a bit too old for this, but you’d never had so much fun before! He pressed deeply inside you, and his hands couldn’t stop touching your body. He roamed over the soft curves, and plump form, his desire seeming to grow the more he did.

The next morning you came into work, seeing Art standing in the middle of the room. You held your breath, wondering if it was all a wonderful dream. He turned and smiled, his thick glasses back in place.

“Hi” he said breathlessly.

Your smile bloomed. “Hi.”

Art motioned to the desk. “I brought coffee.”

“I see that.” You smiled and took a cup he offered.

He sighed then laughed and you laughed. “So uh…last night.”

“I liked your friend’s gallery. It was very nice. I also liked your favorite restaurant.” You took a sip of the coffee, testing it before you added anything.

Art nodded, his gaze drifted until it fell back onto you. “Is that all?”

You smiled over your coffee cup. “No. Just barely.” You looked into his eyes. “I wasn’t sure if it was an appropriate work topic.”

“Not exactly but uhm…I just wanted to check.” His eyes darted over you. “Were we really too old for that?”

You laughed and cupped your hand over your mouth. “A little. But I’m not too sore. Are you?”

“No. But I would prefer somewhere much comfier next time.” he leaned in close and you closed your eyes, accepting his kiss and the touch of his tusks against your cheeks.

“Yes, it would be nice.” You saw he had paints and brushes set on the front desk. “What’s this for?”

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “I thought I’d paint the window. I got a bit of inspiration last night.” He grinned your way. “Plus, I think mom would like to see how I’ve improved.”

You grinned. “I’ll be very excited to see how you work. Outside a car at least.”

[woelfin-sheeps-clothing]

Bo the Qilin by @momolady ! If you haven’t read it before and love monster romance, go check it out!

As always, this started as an exercise in simplifying shapes and a faster process, and then next thing I know I’m working on this piece over the course of a few weeks. So much for that exercise! But it was a great excuse to do a lot of pinks and purples, which I don’t use all that often in my pieces.

[monstersandmaw]

Got my little Cthulhu buddy out with me on errands today! Even eldritch horrors need to keep cool and hydrated!

From @momolady who has an amazing range of stickers and goodies on her Ko-fi and Patreon. Check it out if you love all things monster!!

[thecandywrites]

Monster March 2023- Day 20- Humanoid Cat/Cat folk- Part 1

What to Bring to a Table

Ok, so we've all heard the saying that in relationships- 'What do you bring to the table?" Right? And the older I get, the more I realize, that metaphor is, as archaic as it is, still has a good point.

It's not really about what you can bring to a table, but it's about the table itself. Or its what you as the individual are and have made yourself into. Is the table well made? Is it purely decorative or is it dual purpose or is it rough or just slapped haphazardly together? Is it too high for anyone to reach? Is it so low that it's barely off the ground? How big should it be? Or should it fear that another will come along and saw it and break it apart and rebuild it to suit them? Or worse yet, look at the table that you've built and stacked and stocked for yourself, and think they're entitled to eat everything on it, leaving you with table scraps and a tale full of dirty dishes?

And it should also be a of note, that each dish that you may try to put on the table itself, may have been a labor of love and you may have put a lot of work and effort into it. But if all that hard work is not recognized or praised or noticed, but if anything, taken for granted or demanded, then why do it at all?

And I was totally listening to Labour by Paris Paloma while I was writing this and it shows. And while that song did unlock thousands of years of feminine rage, for guys to recognize that it is a lot of labor and that they should count themselves privledged to even be invited to take a seat at the table and come to the table with some support, and praise and recognition of all the hard work that went into the table and be willing to do the same and willing to join their own table to yours, not to feast and then walk away, but to help make both tables better and stronger for it and willing to cook for the food and clean up after too.

Also, I was severely injured last week and it's thrown yet another monkey wrench into my life. And then my grandmother's caretaker, went off her meds, got 51/50'd into the psyche ward for homicidal tendancies so I, even as injured and in as much pain as I'm in, have tried to help in facilitating her rescue and escape and get her safely to my Mom, only to find out, only hours before we were supposed to go that my parents both got Covid. And then I immediately tested myself, at the time, I tested negative. So it was up to me to clean/disinfect and sanitize my parent's van that just got an oil change and brand new tires so that two of my three sisters could take it down to AZ to pick up my grandmother and bring her here to Ohio. And guess what? I woke up sick this morning myself. Which, honestly, is no surprise for me. I just hope my injury continues to heal and I don't have to be hospitalized for it. Because i'm at risk for MRSA, Staff, Sepsis, and Gangrene. Murphy's Law might as well be my middle name.

Anyway, my first exophillia stories, were actually with rakshasa. So this is going...all the way back to the beginning and then reworking this and rewriting this was really fun for me. I forgot how much I missed this story and these characters. And this was actually fanfiction of @momolady 's Ruby Empire, that I got her permission to write, way back when.

Thanks to @borealwrites for their Monster March 2023 prompts. I know it's April now, but I only have 11 more prompts to go. And when I'm done, I'll put them all in a masterlist like I did with Kinktober.

Monster March 2023 Day 20- Humanoid Cat- Rakshasa

Zakira and Sulaimon

Part 1

Commander Sulaimon Ahusharaht stood stoically by as he waited for the envoy from Willow to come. Willow, was the newest prefecture and protected city state of The Ruby Empire. And his friend, Lomi, and his wife, who was from Willow, asked him if he could serve as an escort to some members of the envoy. She even offered to pay for him to do so. But Lomi and Zara-Joy were his friends and he gladly accepted the request, no payment needed. From that moment, Zara-Joy had told him all about who she wanted him to protect, her best friend, Zakira Ukani and her daughter Zeeanna, while they would be in The Crown City of The Ruby Empire. They were a small ethnic group from Masraiem, before the War of the Pharaohs tore The Old Kingdom from the top down and rebuilt the The New Kingdom of Masraiem a new, and a new dynasty to go with it. And thankfully the people of Willow were thankfully spared. But not for long. And before Willow knew it, it was pulled into a war, it had lost the knowledge and training to fight in the first place. Masraiem while demanding soldiers- did not offer the protection they once promised. Which was why they sought out the Ruby Empire instead. 

According to Zara-Joy, Zakira was descended from the Old Dynasty Royalty. Granted it had been an affair with one of the pharaoh’s many sons. Thankfully she left with her illegitimate heir and kept them safe from The War of The Pharaoh’s and from being killed off as being an heir period, because they were out to take out any and all remnants of the Old Kingdom to set up The New Kingdom and the New Dynasty. However, the reason she still held the title of Mushrief was because her family had otherwise been the heads over the pharaoh's kitchens and especially the banquets. And those traditions got passed down to the point that Zakira was hands down, no contest- the best cook in all of Willow. Her family had planted the most amazing vineyards, growing many kinds of grapes, making the best wine. Olives for olive oil. And figs and palms for dates. Along with leeks, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and other herbs and especially spices. The most prized being saffron of course while her own family were also from the kitchens but were responsible for the desserts. Thus all the marshmallows and other confections, with figs and dates and pomegranates and other fruits. 

But while all the talk of food had made Sulaimon very, very hungry. Zara-Joy stressed that he needed to use extra care and caution with her. Zakira was widowed. Her husband and love of her life, practically since infancy, had left for war, and not returned. Along with her own father and brothers. And she was the only daughter of her family. And so before the men went off to war, they all got hastily married, even though Zakira and Zahir had been planning on getting married anyway. But, instead had to share their wedding night with all the others. And she was one of four who got pregnant. And none of the fathers to the new babies had come back. Either a family got either a father, or in rare instances, a son back. But never both. Nearly all of the men of Willow had gone, except for the lame and very old. And only a handful had returned, and were never the same. 

But Zakira’s father, nor her brothers, nor her husband came back. Her mother died of grief. And she nearly lost herself and her baby to grief several times. To the point, many of Zakira’s friends simply moved in with her to help her care for herself and at least nurture her own pregnancy. And Zakira had not moved on. She refused to wear white, because she refused to accept the deaths of any of them. And instead, had only worn black ever since. Even if the weather was good for it or not. 

Sulaimon, being a black jaguar rakshasa himself, could empathize. He was naturally dark, so the sun was always shining most fiercely over him. And all he could hope was that for Zeeanna’s sake, she too would not be dressed in black either, for fear she would overheat. But Zara-Joy assured him that Zeeanna was now the only thing Zakira was living for, and she was the most loved, cherished, and spoiled rotten baby in all of Willow. Where Zakira would always make sure she was bathed, clean and well fed. So that Zeeanna would never have a reason to cry in the first place. Which worried Zara-Joy, who by now, was expecting herself and she worried that Zeeanna was going to grow up- never hearing the word “no” and know what it meant. And that the reason Zara-Joy specifically asked Sulaimon, was because he had a lot of experience with babies, since all of his siblings had them of all ages and he was used to watching them to give his siblings and their mates breaks and “date nights”. And that she was hoping Sulaimon would give Zeeanna, the gentle, but firm correction and loving discipline, she would no doubt need since she was fast approaching the terrible twos, despite only being about a year old. 

But that, was what gave Sulaimon pause, because most parents were usually pretty protective over their kids and didn’t like “strangers” telling them how to parent their kids. Especially when he didn’t have any himself. So, he would just have to wait and see how this meeting with Zakira and Zeeanna would go. 

But that fact that he was even willing, was a huge relief to Zara-Joy, who then, gave him a “gift” to exchange to Zakira since Willow was known for it’s customs and traditions of trading gifts. That he would give this bottle of perfume to her once they got to meet in person. And she’d give him a flower necklace that would match the one she would make for herself and the flower necklace would serve like a name badge so she would be able to tell him apart from the other escorts who were also called in on this. 

Sulaimon watched as his comrades were happy to meet their person in the envoy to escort them while they were here, visiting with Zara-Joy and her husband. 

Sulaimon waited and waited and waited as the envoy that never seemed to end, as he realized, it was practically one huge group of young women, all Zara-Joy’s age, with a few families, being in the mix. They all came in and greeted Zara Joy first before she pointed them to their escorts and protectors. And soon, all of his friends and comrades on either side of him and all around him were pulled to their intended protectee- while in the Crown City. 

Finally, the last person in the envoy came through the gate, leaving Sulaimon to assume that this must have been Zakira Ukani. She was, indeed- wearing all black, although it was embroidered with gold thread as an accent. But she was clutching a small baby to her chest, wrapped in still damp white clothes to keep her cool in the heat. Which fit the description Zara-Joy gave him. So he figured that was his cue to finally go up and introduce himself at least. 

But the closer he got, the moment she pulled her black hood back, to reveal a river of black and sun lightened brown hair, he was suddenly mesmerized and then slowed down to a stop as his pupils dilated as wide as they could be while his focus was suddenly solely on her. She had to be the most beautiful human looking woman he had ever seen before in his life. The Crown City had all sorts of species of people. So he was used to seeing all manner of them. But to see all of these very pretty girls come in, his friends were suddenly very pleased with the “assignment”. 

But once she embraced her friend and then Zara-Joy pointed to him, her face changed to that of one of weariness and apprehension but she seemed to try to push that down as she purposefully came forward to at least meet him halfway before his feet soon did the same. 

“Mushrief Zakira Ukani?” He greeted hopefully as he came over to her. 

“Commander Sulaimon Ahushrat.” She greeted back cordially as her voice still had a thicker Masraiem accent. And he had heard tales of queens of the Pharoh’s being handpicked from the beauties of Masraiem to serve in his harem when he wasn’t, of course, fucking his own sisters to keep a “pure” bloodline, that is, well, at least, according the rumors anyway. 

“I believe this is for you.” He offered the gift of the bottle of perfume. 

“Thank you, and this is a gift for you.” She offered as she handed him the flower necklace whose blooms were the darkest reds and purples and practically black themselves, but their scents were heady and heavy but divine. 

“Thank you.” As he took it from her and put it on himself while she put the bottle of perfume away into the bag that hung at her hip but hung across her own chest, over her mother’s sling, where her baby was nestled against so that her own mother’s breasts could serve as pillows when she would sleep. The baby still had milk on her face. This was probably why she was the last in, she wanted to feed her baby right before and was probably hanging back to do just that. 

“So this must be little Zeeanna.” He gestured to the baby at her chest before said baby turned at the sound of her name from clutching at her mother to look him over curiously. And if Sulaimon thought that Zakira was beautiful, this little baby had to be the most adorable baby he had ever seen before in his life, his own nieces included. 

But after Zeeanna looked him over, she seemed to make up her mind about him and pulled away from her mother and leaned towards him and started cooing and babbling at him and reaching out with her chubby little hands. 

“No, Anna.” Zakira immediately pulled her baby away from him and tried to wrap her up even closer in the mother sling she had her daughter in. 

“I wouldn’t mind holding her.” He offered. 

“No, she’d hurt herself on all the weapons that are strapped to you.” Zakira sharply turned him down as she tried walking back to her horse while also trying to contain a now very wriggling and bawling baby in her mother’s sling. 

“Here, I’ll take them off.” Sulaimon offered before he took off the straps across his chest where his daggers were and put them around his hips instead so his arms and chest were disarmed and open. 

“Your armor’s most likely burning hot in the sun, it would burn her skin.” Zakira added as she tried to continue to excuse as she tried to walk away but with each wail of Anna, she got more upset and distressed, as did he before he took that off too and handed it all to a friend to keep for him. 

“There, I’m not wearing anything that’ll hurt her or harm her. I can hold her.” He offered as Anna was trying to climb up her mom’s chest, and over her shoulder and cried and still reached out to him and Sulaimon didn’t care if he’d strip down to bare fur if he had to -because her cries were hurting him more than any burning arrow could. 

Finally, Zakira turned around and noticed that he had taken off his chest armor and his daggers and even the swords on their belt at his waist before she begrudgingly and reluctantly got Anna out of her sling and then nervously handed her baby over and watched him like a hawk as he took her and held her securely in his arms as she instantly stopped crying and settled down as Sulaimon instantly started soothing her and cooing to her in turn. 

“Well it’s nice to meet you too. So Anna huh?” He assumed as he looked at her as she smiled, showing off four, tiny little teeth in her otherwise bare gums. Sulaimon made sure his claws were otherwise deep into his fingers as he oh so carefully wiped the tears from Anna’s eyes and her cheeks and began to purr to put her at ease which helped her settle down more and relax and get comfortable. 

“Everything ok?” He asked Zakira as he looked up from Anna to see Zakira standing there, watching him hold her daughter as she was frowning in confusion at the scene. 

“She…she usually doesn’t like anyone but me to hold her.” Zakira reluctantly admitted. 

“Zara-Joy said that she and Lomi got to when they came to visit Willow last.” Sulaimon recalled. So at least he wasn’t first rakshasa Zeeanna had ever met before. 

“I…I thought it was a fluke.” Zakira allowed. 

“Well, Zara-Joy is a very sweet person and her husband was always a remarkable guard in the Palace Guard and is a very good and honorable man. Babies have good senses about people.” Sulaimon offered before he reached up to brush Anna’s thick curls from her face before Anna reached out to grab his hand. 

“Oh, Anna don’t…!” Zakiria immediately rushed to pull his hand out of her daughter’s grasp. But was not fast enough. 

Because with lightning fast speed and surprising strength, Anna grabbed his hands, one hand on his thumb, and the other on his pinky and shoved the back of his first finger into her mouth and bit down. Hard. 

Sulaimon impressed himself by not roaring out in pain but his ears pinned back as his gasp and grunt of pain while his tail nearly snapped like a whip. He just instantly clenched his jaw and let out a low growl as his face scrunched up in pain as his eyes snapped shut before he heard Anna let out the most evil little giggle as Zakira gasped in horror at her daughter’s actions. 

He took a few calming breaths and opened his eyes and fixed Anna with a softened but still firm look of disapproval. 

“I’m so sorry, she’s a biter. I should have warned you.” Zakira offered apologetically as she tried to pry his hand from her daughter’s mouth. 

“No Anna! No biting! Biting bad!” Zakira chastised her baby and popped Anna in the mouth once she had freed Suilaimon’s hand from Anna’s grip and her daughter’s mouth, but that only sent Anna into hysterics again before she rolled in Sulaimons’ arms and sought comfort in Sulaiman's arms and chest and rolled away from her mom to avoid her look of disappointment and anger. 

“Anna, you need to listen to your Mama ok? Biting for the fun of it is bad. If you’re biting to defend yourself, that’s one thing. But biting just to be mean is bad ok?” Sulaimon offered as he moved her to lay over his shoulder and rubbed soothing circles into her back as she then tried to climb into his shirt, like it was another sling before he opened up the top of the vest over his shirt to make a pocket to put herself in. as she was happy to do that. 

Then she gave a huge burp and Sulaimon’s ears went back again as he could feel her milky spit up spill down his back. That this heat only amplified the scent and the feeling of it soaking into his clothes and going down them too. 

“I am so sorry!” Zakira apologized again as she grabbed a cloth from her back to try to wipe it up and off of him before it would soak into his clothes too much. But then Zakira was happy to simply sigh in relief and then nuzzle her head into the crux of Sulaimon’s neck and shoulder and reach up and grab a fistful of his fur in her fist and then promptly, fell soundly asleep. 

Zakira tried to clean it up only to look up and softly gasp at the sight again. 

“What’s wrong?” Sulaimon asked as his ears trained on Zakira behind him. 

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong, she’s…she’s asleep. She hasn’t slept hardly at all this whole trip. She has been incredibly upset and restless since we left home. And…she really needs it. I’m sorry she made a mess of your clothes. I can try to wash them once we get to..” She tried to offer. 

“No, it’s fine. Babies are messy. I know. I don’t have any myself but all of my siblings do. This is not the first or the last time this vest and this outfit will have gotten spit up on it. And it’s pretty easy to clean too, no worries. There’s more than enough soap and fresh water to wash it, and I can wash it myself if need be.” Sulaimon calmly reassured her. 

“Well, thank you, very much for understanding that and being so gracious about this.” Zakira offered. 

“Thank you for trusting me with Anna.” Sulaimon offered in kind as they seemed to finally catch gazes and really see, each other, for who they really were. Sulaimon could just see that she was a young widow, trying to deal with immense grief and loss and motherhood all at once and all on her own. And he could empathize with that. And she could see that, while he may have looked rakshasa, there was still a very good man in there, underneath all that handsome fur. 

“Well, you’re right, babies can tell things about people. And if she likes you enough to play with you, even though she did that by biting you. And if she is comfortable enough to fall asleep in your arms, and you’re willing to forgo your weapons and armor to just hold her. Then I’m sure I can entrust her into your care for now.” Zakira offered, with the shyest of smiles, it was small, but still precious before she noticed the others were getting back up on their horses. 

“Do you need help to get back up on your horse?” Sulaimon asked. 

“Uh, no, I’m fine, I got it.” She quickly dismissed.

“Yeah, I know you do. Just, let me at least, offer you a leg up. Here, put your foot on my knee, and you’ll get up on your horse easier.” He offered before he knelt next to her stallion, while still keeping Anna on his other shoulder and securely in his other arm. 

“Thank you.” She thanked him as she took his free hand and used his offered knee to jump up onto her stallion and let him lead the stallion with the others as the group went to Zara-Joy’s palace with the others where she had many guest rooms prepared for her guests from home. 

“Joy! You didn’t have to go all out like this.” Zakira said as she appraised the suite of rooms that her friend showed her to and the many gifts all around it. 

“I can, so I did. Plus I mean look, won’t Anna look so pretty in these?” Zara-Joy asked as she showed Zakira the matching mommy and daughter outfits she had gotten Zakira, that progressed include other colors other than black, trying to tempt Zakira out of her prolonged mourning. Slowly, but surely. 

“Yes, they’re very beautiful. I don’t know how I could ever…” Zakira began to say. 

“Do not cheapen my gifts by trying to think of how much they are worth or how much trouble they were to acquire. Please, don’t steal my joy, accept them. And if you can bring yourself to wear even a bangle, I’ll be happy. I know it’s been hard grieving, but you’re here, enjoy it. They have an entire Spice District here in the Crown City in the Market Square, I’m sure you’ll have fun playing around and finding new ways to mix them together to make anything you wanted. My chefs would be eager to watch you work and try to copy down all those secret recipes your ancestors brought over from the old country being the exquisite Mushariefs they always have been. Your kitchen has always had the best food in all of Willow. Find something new and create something or put a twist on the old. Or even honor the old ways if you really want to. In the meantime, I know you’re anxious to get cleaned up from all the dust from the roads, come, this palace has it’s own private bathhouse.” Zara urged her friend before Anna woke up from her nap and looked around. 

“Just in time, come on Anna, lets get you and Mommy and the other women cleaned up ok?” Zara-Joy said before Zakira took her daughter back from Sulaimon. 

“Joy got you some special oils Sweetheart, come on, let’s get cleaned up and we can let Commander…” Zakira began. 

“It’s just Sulaimon or Sully if you really want to be casual, you don’t have to use my rank or anything.” Sulaimon invited.

“Oh, well then it’s just Zakira for me then, excuse us.” She said as she simply grabbed the closest set of bathing robes, scooping up undergarments under them as she did so and put them with the basket of bathhouse supplies. 

“You can use the other side of the bathhouse, and obviously, get your shirt and vest cleaned at least.” Zara-Joy urged Sulaimon as she went with her friend and urged all the women to join her in “the ladies” side of the bathhouse. 

“Why did you choose Sulaimon to escort me around?” Zakira asked her friend once they disrobed and stepped into the ever hot and gently floating water. While the other women were already giddily talking about how much they liked and were attracted to their escorts. 

“Because, when he’s not in “Commander Mode”, he’s surprisingly quiet yet gentle. He comes from a large but very good family. He’s always been single because the military has always been his career and he’s always saved his wages living in the barracks. And once all of his siblings got married and started having kids, suddenly he found himself on more blind dates because everyone always wants to play matchmaker with him. And he is very guarded against that sort of thing. As I know you have been since you lost Zahir. This way, I figured you’d both get the break from the pressure, even if it’s only for a visit.” Zara-Joy casually explained as she tried to hide her scheming smile as she helped wash Anna and wash her hair while Zakira washed Anna’s body and thought that over and did feel a sense of relief to learn that.  

“Has he ever had…” Zakira began to ask but her emotion cut off her voice. 

“No, he’s never been married, but according to Lomi, he did like one girl. But she couldn’t wait for him to even get out of basic training and was already six months pregnant by the time he came back from his training that takes a year. And the worst part was that she cheated on one of the idiots who got kicked out of basic training because it was too hard for him. And apparently had been having an affair with the other one before he even left for basic training. So ever since then, he’s just…thrown himself into his military career and training more cadets and making sure they are well trained, and very well equipped.” Zara-Joy answered.  

“I wish Willow had had something like that.” Zakira muttered resentfully. 

“I know. But now that Willow is an ally of The Ruby Empire, no more will the men of Willow be led to the slaughter and I’m sure Sulaimon would be the first to volunteer to teach such things there, so that Willow will no longer be vulnerable or at the mercy of anyone or anything, other than the weather itself.” Zara-Joy insisted as Zakira nodded but still fought back tears. 

“Not that there’s many men left.” Zara practically hissed.

“The war took too much from us. From you especially. That’s why I chose the best soldier in King Amit’s army as your escort. Because even if he was without weapons altogether. He would and will find a way to keep you and especially Anna safe, even when you’re not inside your home or inside mine.” Joy soothed Zakira as she put conditioning oils into Anna’s hair. 

“Where will he be staying while I’m here?” Zakira asked. 

“In the next room over from you. And there is a private entrance from his quarters into yours so you don’t have to go out into the hallway if you don’t want to. But there’s a lock on all the doors so no one will have access to you or Anna without your permission and consent.” Zara reassured her friend. 

Zakira got redressed in a bathrobe and took Anna back to her room so she could give Anna a proper massage and a chance to nurse again, since she did spit up quite a bit, and hopefully, fill a diaper or two before she would get dressed and then put Anna into her new outfit, because Zakira did not want Anna to make a mess of such a precious little outfit. 

Then there was a knock on the door that Zara-Joy had told Zakira led to Sulaimon’s guest room. 

“Yes Sulaimon?” Zakira asked. 

“Dinner is almost ready. Are you ready or do you need help with Anna or anything?” He asked through the door as he finished getting redressed himself in clean clothes and had washed himself. So that he too would be fresh and clean for dinner. 

“No, I’m…” Zakira began before Anna immediately popped off from nursing and began to babble and call out to Sulaimon and began crawling on the large bed to get towards the door while Zakira huffed and pulled the robe around her tighter once Anna got to the end of the bed and actually slid down from the bed to the chaise lounge at the bottom of the bed and then slid down safely to the floor and was crawling as fast as Zakira had ever seen Anna move before. 

“Ah! Anna!” Zakira tried to lunge to catch her daughter before she slid from the bed and then got up to try to catch her before she fell from the chaise lounge at the end of the bed. 

But Sulaimon, upon hearing Zakira yelp at her daughter broke the door down and open to get to her but only came in to see Anna there, sitting up on her feet on the other side with Zakira trying to reach for her as Anna smiled happily to see Sulaimon again and closed the distance between herself and him and climbed to stand up on his legs while babbling and reaching for him. 

“Oh, I’m, I’m so sorry, I heard…” Sulaimon quickly apologized as he quickly scooped Anna up into his arms only to be met with the sight of Zakira in only a robe that had come a bit loose in her attempts to get her daughter up off the floor. 

“Sorry to worry, you, obviously, she’s…she’s just fine, I just didn’t think she could move that fast.” Zakira tried to excuse as she looked at the way the wood broke in the door itself as the lock was still in the other half of the lock in the wall. 

“Nor did I think you’d be that strong, unless that door is especially flimsy.” Zakira offered as she gestured to it before Zara-Joy and her husband Lomi came in to see the scene. 

“What happened?” Zara-Joy asked as she looked between her friend and Sulaimon as Sulaimon’s ears pinned back sheepishly. 

“I heard Zakira cry out for Anna and thought they were in danger, and I uh, I broke your door. I can uh. I can either pay for its repair or replacement.” Sulaimon offered. 

“Wow, don’t worry about it. You were just doing your job.” Lomi reassured his friend as he appraised the door before he unlocked it and the other half of the locking mechanism fell onto the floor once it was released as Lomi picked it up.

“That’s quite impressive.” Lomi praised. 

“Zakira, if you want to be moved I have another spare room available.” Zara-Joy offered consolingly. 

“No it’s alright. I think if anything, it just proved that you chose a good and protective escort for me. To the point he’d break your house at the thought of Anna being in danger, it’s fine. I was going to unlock it and keep it unlocked anyway.” Zakira offered. 

“Well, we can still get it replaced while we have dinner. But um, we would just need to put away your gifts for when the repairmen come to install the new door, but first you might want to get dressed.” Zara suggested before she helped Zakira get a set of clothes and into the bathroom before she put the gifts she had gotten her into the dressers and other places in the room before Lomi left to seek out a new doorman. 

“Great first impression.” Sulaimon muttered to himself as he simply got Anna dressed in the matching outfit that corresponded to the one that Zakira had grabbed and got Anna dressed at least. 

“I thought it wasn’t half bad.” Zara- Joy shrugged. 

“Why’d you pick me as her escort? Why not Rhyad? He is a composer and you told me that Zakira was too. At least they would have that in common.” Sulaimon asked Zara as she continued to put all the jewelry that she knew Zakira probably overlooked before she pulled out a different necklace that didn’t match the style of any of the jewelry that was common in The Ruby Empire, much less the Crown City. 

“I could have. But even though they both love music, they have very different views about it. Rhyad and his music is all about the big performance, the large, complicated and intricate workings. Zakira believes in the simple but profound and authentic music. That even if all you have, is your own voice, than that is all the instrument you really need to make good music. And using the natural sounds around you to set the pace and the rhythm. But otherwise, when Rhyad is not a composer, he is a pushover. And that’s not what Anna needs. Anna is a stinker through and through. Aren’t you- you cheeky rascal.” Zara-Joy cooed to Anna as she sat on the bed next to where Anna was being laid down so Sulaimon could dress her, after he checked her diaper to make sure it didn’t need changing. 

“You have a great capacity to give Anna the gentle firmness in structure and discipline that she’s been missing so far. Honestly, I think Anna only does most of the naughty things as more of a joke and to get a laugh, which is why she’s the first to laugh, hoping her mother will too, or at least, just to see Zakira smile. Because all Zakira could do once Anna was born, was cry to see so much of Zahir in her. I’m surprised she just didn’t outright name her Zahini instead.” 

Zara-Joy admitted in a low murmur as Zakira eavesdropped while she got ready. 

“Too much like tahini or zucchini.” Sulaimon noted which got Zara-Joy to snicker a laugh while Zakira made a face. 

“Yeah, that’s what Zahir had said before he left too. He liked the name Zeeanna, his little Anna - Banana. But not his little Zee, because there’s always too many little Zee’s in Willow as it is. It’s hard enough that I share my name with three others. You saw Zara-Grace and Zara-Hope already. So little Anna it is. And she does like bananas, ripe ones anyway. Which I thought was great, a way to finish off the Z’s and get back to the other letters of the alphabet.” Zara-Joy admitted with a bittersweet smile to Anna once Sulaimon finished dressing her before Zara-Joy put the distinctly Mizraim piece of jewelry onto Anna, coiling it around her chubby little upper arm as Zakira leaned against the door and fought back tears of the memory of Zahir talking about Anna-Bananna and how Zakira had laughed at how profoundly stupid that would be to name a daughter that as Zakira smiled bittersweetly at the memory and wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall down her face and tried to regain her composure. 

“There, like proper Khandi.” Zara-Joy cooed to Anna once she finished putting the arm band around her upper arm. 

“Why did Wennet lead your people out of Mizraiem when she did?” Sulaimon asked. 

“Because in Wennet’s temple, it’s a place of peace, understanding and clairvoyance. Wenet could see there was going to be feud between who would be next to be Pharaoh over Mizraiem. And she could tell it would be futile. Princes were already trying to pit the gods themselves against one another in the pantheon. And Wenet didn’t want any part of it. So she led her most loyal of followers out. And led them to Willow. A valley, surrounded by tall mountains that look like just another arid wasteland on the outside. But such mountains held treasures for us. And she wanted to enjoy such treasures in peace, without anyone coming to conquer and take them away. That is why if you ever get to go to Willow, it looks like a piece of Mazraiem plucked right out of the Mizraiem Delta and plopped right into the Willow Valley. Because that’s what Wenet did for us, or at least, according to the ancestors. She at first, only transported her temple to Willow. And then, as more and more of Mazriam was taken up by the sands when the Old Kingdom of Mazraiem fell when there was the war of the Pharaohs, and thankfully she got to save some of the better houses and transport them to Willow for us to live in. Now granted the houses were made for the Mazraiem Delta, we’ve made them our own and to suit the weather and conditions in The Willow Valley. She even had all of the priestesses and priests and loyal followers put all of their most precious possessions into the temple itself so that they could flee Mazraiem with only food and clothing and tents for shelter, saying they needed to go out into the wilderness to go on a pilgrimage, and not be stopped. Which, according the ancestors, worked.” Zara-Joy recounted. 

“And then once they were safely out of Mazraiem, Wennet led them to the Valley of Willow herself, where she had already moved all of their houses and their gardens and even made off with one of the Pharaoh’s seed storehouses and his livestock. So for once, we could have our animals, breed and raise them with love and care, slaughter them as they got old to feed ourselves, but not before. Seeds and saplings and vines, so we could plant and grow our own food. And work for no one but ourselves. No more pyramids to build, no more elaborate burial rituals of the pharaohs and other nobles. And no more slavery, no more sacrifices to feed a never ending need to outdo the previous pharaoh before them. Just a place to worship in peace. To not toil under the sun and harvest food for the noble’s table while we were simply given bread and fish and oil, without having to brave crocodiles or hippos to get the fish in the first place.” Zara-Joy recalled with a fond smile. 

“The reason Zakira has the title of Musharif was because her ancestry came from the pharaoh’s household of servants, Musharif was the title held by the head of the banquet feast, making sure every dish that came out of the kitchens, whether it be served to pharaoh or one of his nobles, or guests, would be met with pleasure. And that has not been forgotten. The foods from Zakira’s house since Willow’s founding, have always been the best in all of Willow. She elevates simple, humble ingredients and elevates them to dishes worthy to be used as food offerings to any and every god worthy of them.” Zara-Joy praised. 

“Oh like your own confections do not deserve the same praise?” Zakira offered as she came out of the bathroom redressed in the outfit Zara-Joy had gotten her as Zara smiled while Sulaimon’s breath was practically pulled from his chest. Because Zakira was even more breathtaking. Which he didn’t think could be possible. But here he was, sitting down on the bed with Anna in his arms and smiling in awe while Anna giggled with glee to see her mom’s bashful smile at Zara-Joy’s praise. 

“Sometimes. It depends on the humidity.” Zara-Joy shrugged. 

“Here, I got you…” Zara said before she reached behind her and got out a special Masraiem style arm band that doubled as a bracelet and offered it to her friend as Zakira took it and smiled fondly at it before she put it over her wrist but refused any other makeup or jewelry. 

“Thank you for indulging me. You look beautiful.” Zara-Joy praised. 

“Agreed, very beautiful.” Sulaimon praised with a proud grin and realized as an afterthought that the teal on his own dress clothes matched hers and that made his heart beam with pride and happiness. Zakira spared Sulaimon an appreciative smile and decided to wear the perfume you had gotten her after all, just a small line down the center of her chest. 

Sulaimon tried to hide his deep breath in when he smelled the perfume but Zakira caught it and grinned to herself before she put a couple of the toys into her bag along with a few extra cloth diapers and things into it. 

“Well, dinner should be ready any time now.” Zara-Joy encouraged. 

“Here, let me get that.” Sulaimon offered as he reached out for Anna’s diaper bag to put on and wear for her, so Zakira didn’t have to carry it herself. Zakira got her own flower necklace on and dupatta before leaving with him, taking his arm as he escorted them back to the dining room. When they arrived all the girls and young women gasped softly and reached over to grab their friends, cousins and sisters as they shared an excited look and bright, excited smiles. 

“You look beautiful!” They all told Zakira as she walked by. 

“Thank you, a gift from Joy.” Zakira answered. 

“Aww!” They all fawned before reaching out to feel the silk of her skirt as she passed them. When she was done passing them they looked to Zara-Joy and gave her an appreciative smile for finally succeeding in getting her to wear a color other than black, even if it was just a skirt, it was still a small victory. 

Zakira and Sulaimon sat down at the very long table, and towards the end that had the other young mothers and widows as Sulaimon’s friends were practically doing the same thing he was, holding the daughters of the women they were escorting while they were in Willow. 

Although he could already see and feel all the romantic chemistry going off like fireworks among everyone else while he felt awkward because Zakira was not giving him any indication of any interest in him, other than platonic friendliness, as he felt more resistance than anything. But while he was attracted to her, he would respect that unconscious choice she had made and not pursue anything. But the conversation that Zakira engaged in was telling. She was proud of her home, and she was proud of her orchards and her vineyards and was very much looking forward to the harvest this year. And Sulaimon realized why she was resistant. She didn’t want to give up her freedom, independence and control up, which he could sympathize and empathize with. Because that’s why he had been resistant in the past, because he didn’t want to give up the lifestyle he had learned to like and appreciate up either. He liked his own freedom, independence and control over his own life, and his own finances and while he liked to come home to his family for the family dinners, and while the invitation was always open to move into the large suite of rooms that doubled as a home within his parent’s much larger home, he had liked his bachelorhood. Not that he would go out and stay out all night like he used to as a young cadet and soldier. But, that the option was always there. He liked having the ability to take on any assignment at the drop of a hat because he had no other obligations than his own work ones without a second thought about anything. 

“You’ve been quiet.” Zakira noticed when she noticed that Sulaimon, other than eating and listening to the conversation, didn’t add too much to it. 

“I’m just listening.” Sulaimon offered. 

“And you’re brooding.” Zakira realized. 

“I don’t mean to be.” Sulaimon replied apologetically. 

“No, you’re thinking, I can practically see and hear the gears in your head turning from here. What do you think?” Zakira asked. 

“About what?” Sulaimon asked. 

“Any of it? All of it? Something in particular that’s catching your attention?” Zakira asked. 

“How similar we are.” Sulaimon answered which got Zakira to blink in surprise as a small smile soon spread on her lips. 

“How so?” She asked. 

“You have a home that’s been in your family for generations since Willow’s founding, taken right from Masraiem. Your family, in that time has built up a lot. And you have a responsibility to all of it. To keep it safe and protected for Zeeanna. In Willow, you have full and complete control of everything. Your home, your fields, your vineyards, your orchards, your gardens. And traditions you feel you need to keep alive that have been passed down. And on top of that, you’re raising Anna all on your own when you thought you’d be sharing all of that with, with Zahir. Now you have to do it all by yourself. You’re a stronger person than most. You’ve strengthened your shoulders for such burdens, all while grieving. Most would have crumbled and been crushed by such things. And while you carry those burdens well, doesn’t mean that they’re not heavy. And it’s very admirable.” Sulaimon praised in a low murmur. 

“So how are we similar in that respect?” Zakira asked. 

“I’m the youngest Commander. I’m up for the position of being a General soon. And if I get it, I’ll be the youngest one to do so. It’s a lot of responsibility. And a burden that very few can comprehend, let alone wrap their heads around. You have a family legacy that you are doing everything you can to keep alive. And I can sympathise with that. Where you have fields, and orchards and vineyards, I have entire troops to care for and attend to myself. And I take that responsibility very seriously. And I’ve traded a “traditional” life for the one I have now. I moved out from my parents home as soon as the army could let me. I moved into the barracks and I never moved out. Granted I’ve moved around in the barracks, but other than my uniform and armor, I have all this freedom and independence to do what I want when I want, well, when I’m not following orders myself that is. And so far, I haven’t wanted to give that up for anything. And I don’t know how much Zara-Joy has told you about me. But because I’m a bachelor, I’m always getting set up on blind dates and all they see is decorated soldier, or they see my family’s legacy that everyone else in the family is keeping alive and building and adding onto, but me, because I wanted to have something of my own. And it came with a lot of responsibilities that I’ve had to strengthen my own shoulders to bear too. But I chose this and I chose my path and my job and my career. You haven’t. You haven’t had a choice in taking it all on and doing so all by yourself. You’re officially the strongest person I know.” Sulaimon offered as Zakira’s eyes got glassy but her smile was so sweet because she finally felt seen and felt sympathized and empathized with. 

“It’s a lonely life isn’t it?” Zakira noted.

“It is. On one hand I see all my siblings married with kids and have families. And I know that marital union can bring a lot of happiness. But it can also come with a lot of strife and a lot of problems and complications and obligations. And all my siblings see me and my singleness, and they see my freedom and independence and they get jealous…” Sulaimon confessed. 

“But they don’t see the responsibility and the burden and the loneliness.” Zakira finished for him. 

“Right. Exactly.” Sulaimon nodded. 

“Zara-Joy told me that you get set up on blind dates a lot. And that it’s always with girls who are privileged. And who are either after the glory of your military career, or your family’s status and wealth and think all they have to do is seduce a soldier and then never have to do much of anything else and that all their problems are over and that your family will take care of them. Which is why none of them have worked out. Because you don’t want a girl looking for an easy way out.” Zakira surmised. 

“Right again. Because the older I get, the more I realize that there are huge differences between a girl, a young woman, and a mature woman. The girls always have their heads filled with fairy tales and are looking for the whole, love at first sight, soul mate, perfect match kind of thing, which is honestly setting themselves up for failure. The young women, they are looking for security and looking to use their own beauty, or wealth or influence to get whatever they want, thinking that if they say the right things, do the right things, dress the right way, look the right way, it will come to them. But it’s the mature ones, who realize that if they want a life they want to live and do so happily, they have to build it themselves or someone else will build it for them and they may not like how it’s built for them by someone else. And if they’re going to share what they’ve built with someone, they want it to be the right person who appreciates them and sees the value in what they’ve built and appreciates the work it took to make it that way.” Sulaimon noted as Zakira was impressed that he was mature and smart enough to put that together. 

“I’ve always heard the saying “what are you bringing to the table”. And when I was younger, I thought I had a lot to bring. The older I get, the more I realize that it’s the table itself that’s the most important part. Is the table well made? Is the table made with good and sturdy materials? Was it built with time, and careful effort and planning and actually hand crafted? Or was it just slapped together at the last minute and wonky and unstable and the moment you put anything on it, it’s all gonna slide right off or fall apart at the first test of how much the table can hold. And so far, I like to think I’ve built a decent table for myself. Granted some of the materials used were from my family and the style is similar. But I’ve had to build it none the less. And then once it was built, I’ve had it stacked and piled high and sometimes, feels overflowing and cluttered, when it’s not bare or being rebuilt to handle more and more weight and loads in the first place.” Sulaimon tried to illustrate. 

“Exactly. And if you’re going to join your table with someone else’s, you want the table to be the same height as your own. And you want it to be just as strong and just as well made and just as sturdy as your own. You want help to keep it decluttered, but you don’t want to shove everything you have onto someone else or have everything on someone else’s table shoved onto yours so theirs is cleared for lavish meals while yours is piled high with work.” Zakira surmised. 

“Yes! Exactly right.” Sulaimon practically laughed and beamed because finally, finally, someone understood it. 

“Well, then you’re right. We are very similar and have a lot in common. I always thought my table, was the family’s table. And then when there was no family. Suddenly, I had to take ownership of it. And then realize what was broken, what was needing work and realizing that it’s just too big of a table to handle by myself, when I always thought I’d only be taking up a chair at the end of it. Not the one at the head of it. And the head chair at the head of a big, long table, that’s had generations of crap put onto it, it’s cluttered and disorganized and overwhelming. But if I’m going to adjoin my table with anyone else’s I’d want help with it. And not simply hand it all over so that anyone else can do whatever they want to it, or break it apart and use it for firewood.” Zakira confessed. 

“Or use it as a cutting board. Or take a hacksaw to it and cut it and resize it how they want it, and not realize it’s built that way for a reason. Not for the looks, but for function.” Sulaimon muttered. 

“Or think that it’s all for show and it’s meant to be embellished with fancy engravings and set up to look like it’s always full with a feast, but all the dishes are empty. And it’s never meant to be used or eaten from, always meant to be ornamental.” Zakira murmured back. 

“Exactly. Because, while those fancy and elaborate tables are pretty. That’s all they are. They have no strength, integrity or function besides being looked at for how pretty it is, but the moment you put any kind of weight on it, it’ll fall apart and break.” Sulaimon nodded in agreement. 

“Or one that will look at the feast you’ve made for yourself on that table and help themselves to it, and pull up a chair without an invitation and without bringing a dish to add. And then once they’ve eaten, won’t even help wash any of the dirty dishes or help clean up after either.” Zakira added. 

“Or worse yet, assume that they should sit at the head of that table that you slaved over, making every dish delicious and think they should eat first and eat their fill and leave nothing for the person, who actually made the food in the first place, when in reality, if you’re hungry, work, get ingredients and learn how to cook it yourself. Because the first thing I teach my soldiers is how to cook for themselves and how to forage for themselves and how to tell what is good and safe water or not, or how to clean the water in the first place. Let alone, how to cook. I see more and more incompetence and that incompetence being weaponized because such work is “beneath them”. Which is frankly, stupid. Because if one is hungry, they have two hands, they can make it themselves. And if they still depend on their mothers for such things, they might as well still be in diapers and sucking on their thumbs and not in my army, let alone my platoons.” Sulaimon professed and Zakira’s jaw was practically on the floor as her smile of delight was like sunshine. Because if she had thought Sulaimon was handsome before, he was practically the sexiest man she had ever laid her eyes on since Zahir for having that attitude alone. And she practically had to stop herself from grabbing him by the whiskers and kissing him right there at the table. 

Oh, when Zara-Joy said, that besides, Lomi, Sulaimon was practically the best man in the Crown City, she was not kidding. 

“What?” Sulaimon asked as he looked at her as she seemed to have something turn alight in her.

“I…wow. I completely agree. I want to meet your mom and thank her for raising one hell of a good son. Because I realize you’re a grown man. But yes! A thousand times yes! You have no idea how infuriating that can be! Everyone in Willow, ever since we settled there has always gone on and on and on about how great the food at our home was and always praised my mother for her cooking skills when it wasn’t that at all. My parents were equals in the household and always did everything together. It wasn’t my mother that was doing all the cooking and cleaning. It was both of them doing those things together, both of my parents were always in the kitchen with everyone else, everyone learned how to cook, everyone, once they were weaned, learned how to keep their room clean and then learned how to help make the rest of the house clean. How to mend clothes, how to cook, how to judge whether something was ripe or not. What to look for in ripe or unripe foods and how to pick your spices and how to blend them and grind them, and usually the more delicious the food, the more preparations went into it and how satisfying it is to do the work and then all come around and share a meal that everyone had a hand in making. And doing so as a team that made their marriage and every marriage before, a success. Because that’s part of why Wennet had us break off from Masaier, because she saw how it was the women that did all the work but the men got all the fruitages of their work and assumed that because they worked outside the home, that that exempted them from doing anything in the home. Wow. Just…wow. I’m astounded that we have that much in common. Good for you for figuring that out, and if going through military training is a requirement, I hope you get to teach every man here and far beyond that lesson. Cause that lesson alone will bring them so much peace and pleasure and satisfaction, not only in their tents but especially when they get home and really see how much labor goes into those things.” Zakira praised. 

“Well I mean if you really want to meet her, I can let them know. I’m sure they’d love to meet you and you could exchange recipes if you wanted.” Sulaimon offered. 

“I would love that.” Zakira smiled happily as she finally seemed to lower the last of her guard and for once, ate to her own satisfaction and enjoyed all the flavors of all the various dishes as Sulaimon walked her through the traditional favorites as they bonded over food, and how to cook said food. And especially how to do laundry. And especially about how to be a self-sufficient adult. 

After dinner, there was a series of games played, the biggest one being ‘cahoots’ that after the second round, Sulaimon was quick to catch on what the key was before Zakira let him whisper what he thought it was into her ear as she nursed Anna on a nearby couch, using her dupatta to maintain some modesty as Sulaimon was happy to sit next to her and help tuck it around her and between them so that Anna could nurse in peace and Zakira could do so with some modesty, which Zakira really appreciated. 

“Yup. You got it.” Zakira smiled happily that he caught on that fast as his whisper sent a delightful shiver down her body. 

“Sorry, whiskers.” Sulaimon apologized when he saw her skin break out in gooseflesh. 

“It’s ok.” Zakira waived off as now she really just enjoyed the sound of his voice as her imagination of how his mouth would feel on her skin while she felt a bit guilty about the thought and fantasy before she hissed a gasp and clenched her jaw before she pulled the cover out to fix her daughter with a look. 

“You bite- you’re done.” Zakira threatened Anna who didn’t seem to like that her view of Sulaimon was obstructed as she looked from her mother to Sulaimon. 

“Anna, no biting Mommy. You bite her, you’re not gonna nurse. Mommy’s body worked hard to make that milk. Don’t bite her.” Sulaimon repeated as he peeked in and locked gazes with her too. 

Anna’s eyes got a bit wide as she then looked from him to her mom with a look of shock. 

“Yeah, you need to listen. We mean it. If you’re hungry, eat. But if you’re gonna bite, you’re not gonna nurse and I’ll just wean you early. I’m not having you bite me on the one of two places you can get milk from.” Zakira leveled before Anna seemed to take a minute to think it over before she picked up nursing.

“Thanks for backing me up.” Zakira thanked him. 

“Of course, always. A mother knows best right?” Sulaimon offered with an easy smile. 

“Yeah, but it’s always great to have back up and support. You have a really nice balance between soft but still firm and authoritative tone to your voice.” Zakira praised. 

“Comes with years of practice and imitating my brothers and brothers in law and my dad.” Sulaimon chuckled softly. 

“Oh, so not something you learned in the army?” Zakira gently teased. 

“No. I learned many things in the army. And I’ve fought my battles. But I’ve also watched my nieces and nephews and it was practically mutiny, because it was just me against at least a dozen of them. I was outmatched and outnumbered and they knew it and took full advantage at first. Thankfully my brothers and brothers in law and my dad have helped me since as well as my sisters and sisters in law. How to be firm, but not harsh. How to be patient but not a pushover. How to be kind but not do them the disservice of spoiling them to the point that they think they’re the masters and thinking they’re in charge and you’re their servant to do their bidding. That doesn’t work. That the parent, or in my case, the adult- and uncle was. I can command a legion of a thousand soldiers, no problem, and lead them head first into battle, no sweat. A dozen kids all at once? It’s a juggling act, only you’re juggling swords that are all out of balance, and on fire and everything is made of paper. A disaster in the making. Just…chaos. No order, all anarchy and mutiny. Well, at first. The more I do it, the better I get at it. Now, it can get a bit hectic, but not as chaotic as it was at first. It was a lesson in humility, I’ll tell you that. I thought I was pretty hot stuff when I made Captain and had my own troop of a hundred soldiers. But that was nothing, those kids brought me to my knees and practically begging for mercy and trying to turn myself into a eunuch just so I wouldn’t have any myself.” Sulaimon readily confessed which got Zakira to laugh. 

“Did you succeed? Did you actually go through with it and chop your own balls off?” Zakira asked in that same teasing tone which got Sulaimon to grin and grow just a bit bashful.  

“No. Tempted. But no. But once I learned how to be the adult in charge and how to wield my authority over those kids without making all of them cry and sob for being too harsh or sharp in tone with them, it got better. And then once I showed them, I was in charge and proved I was in charge and that they could scream and cry all they wanted, I wasn’t going to budge and give them an inch because I knew they could take a mile, and got to talk it out and help them use their words instead of their mouths or claws to express themselves, then it got much better. I’m pretty sure half my battle scars are from them anyway.” Sulaimon revealed. 

“Well at least for Anna’s sake, you’ve learned that much at least.” Zakira offered before Anna drained that breast and began to climb to the other. 

“Ok, ok, hold your horses.” Zakira placated as she put one breast away and readjusted herself to put Anna to the other breast to nurse as Sulaimon tried to help her change her dupatta to keep her modest. 

“Would you mind putting your arm up and around my shoulders?” Zakira asked before he readily lifted his arm simply had her lean into his side before he, oh so gently and slowly let his arm settle around her shoulders before she seemed to relax and use his arm as a head rest as she led her head rest over his well muscled arm as her eyelids got heavier and heavier. 

“Do you need to lay down?” He asked. 

“Nah, just…I get tired every time she nurses.” Zakira admitted. 

“The night is young. Once everyone figures out cahoots, then it’s on to…psh…any number of games. It’s when I’m waiting for Bullshit.” Zakira smiled as her eyes closed serenely. 

“Excuse me?” Sulaimon asked. 

“Oh it’s where you tell two truths and a lie. And everyone else has to figure out which is the line of bullshit, or the lie. It’s really fun, because the more you go, you can’t use the same three things, and then you really have to get creative to use in the game. And some people are easy to read and you can very easily tell which one is the lie.” Zakira offered. 

“But you should ace that game. Humans have very expressive faces. You should catch on pretty quick, cause everyone has their little things that either they do with their faces or tells in what they do or how they hold themselves. Others, you’d swear all of them are the truth and others you’re pretty sure all of them are the lie. It works best when there’s alcohol involved because then the truths and the lies get more outlandish. But then that’s when you really get to the really good stuff too.” Zakira smiled as she relaxed and breathed a breath of relief to finally get the overfull ache from her breasts from milk released. 

“Well, then I’ll give you a secret to use against us rakshasi, kajit and tabaxi and catfolk in general.” 

“Ears and tail thwaps?” Zakira guessed. 

“Well, yeah, there’s subtleties to it. And yes, there’s expressions in both. Body language, posture and fidgeting tell on us just as much.” Sulaimon divulged. 

“So that thwapping that guy is doing with his tail on the floor over there, that’s irritation and frustration?” Zakira guessed as she didn’t even bother opening her eyes, just turned her head and nodded to the sound before settling back in. 

“Yup.” He admitted before Zakira cracked an eye open. 

“Black tiger with white stripes, his tail is rattling like a rattle snake. What’s that?” She asked as she nodded over to him. 

“Oh that’s excitement and happiness.” Sulaimon revealed. 

“And the one with lazy flicking, boredom?” Zakira guessed. 

“That or thinking, usually serious thought.” Sulaimon gently corrected. 

“Ah, so what are you seriously thinking about then?” Zakira asked once she noticed Sulaimon’s tail do the same as it laid next to him and the tip slowly flicked back and forth. 

“What I want to make you for lunch or dinner when we go to my parent’s house whenever I get the message to them.” 

“Mmm. I see.” Zakira nodded as she closed her eyes again. 

“What should I bring?” She asked. 

“Nothing, you’d be the guest.” 

“Yeah, that’s not gonna cut it. I don’t eat at tables where I’m not allowed to add anything to. If your parents open up their home, I should be a gracious guest right? How do I do that?” Zakira asked. 

“Show up.” He admitted. 

“And?” Zakira prodded as Sulaimon took a deep breath in and slowly let it exhale as he had to think about it as the flicking of his tail got a little faster. 

“Honestly, they’d be happy to meet you and have you and show their own hospitality. So, you really don’t need to bring anything but yourself and Anna.” Sulaimon repeated. 

“Fine, spice mix it is, I’ll put strip peppers in it.” Zakira replied with a shrug and a smug grin. 

“Oh no, Zara-Joy already had me try those. Way too spicy for the kids.” Sulaimon quickly shook his head no, while his eyes went wide with fear. 

“There’s more than one kind. Some of them are as sweet as cherry tomatoes, others are the spiciest thing to put in your mouth and would tempt you to strip your clothes off and in your case, shave your fur off. I’d use the mild ones. They have just enough kick to tingle the lips but not burn. But they have really good flavor. Of course, I guess I could just give them some seeds to them too, if the kids eat the spice level that tonights meal was served at, they’ll like it just fine, if anything I think the kids would giggle to feel the tingle.” She mused. 

“Ok, that would be quite good then. They would love that.” Sulaimon had to admit. 

“Figured.” She grinned before Anna finished nursing and was halfway into Suliamon’s chest before Zakira could even get her breast back into her top, but Sulaimon was ready and able to get her with his one free arm. 

“There, better now you got a full belly?” He asked as he let her sit on his arm and use her arms up on his chest before he noticed the milk still around her mouth began to drip down, and without thinking, he licked her mouth clean which got Anna to squeal and wiggle and bounce in delight while Sulaimon tried not to get milk drunk himself because while he was nursed as a baby, he hadn’t gotten any since weaning and Zakira’s was…way too delicious. 

But the act got Zakira to laugh as she finished putting her breast and pulled the dupatta off from being wrapped around her chest and moved the pillow that Anna had laid on to keep her arms from having to hold Anna’s full weight while she drank. 

“Good?” Zakira asked Sulaimon before his ears laid down bashfully. 

“Yeah, it’s milk.” Sulaimon sheepishly offered with a shrug. 

“Mmmhmm.” Zakira hummed as she giggled through her nose. 

“Whose ready for Bullshit?” Zakira asked the group that was still in a circle in the living room. 

“I am!” All of the visitors from Willow began before Zakira got in and sat down on the pillow she had been using for Anna as the group let them into the circle as Sulaimon sent a message home that he would be bringing his protectee, Zakira and her daughter over to the house for a meal. 

“You go first Zakira.” They urged her. 

“Ok, 1. Anna has never pooped and threw up on me at the same time. 2. My house has the pantheon of Marsaier’s gods carved and painted on the walls. 3. There were 177 dunes of sand visible from the north side of the road between Willow and The Crown City.” 

“Three’s bullshit!” Almost all of them answered. 

“Nope. One. Anna was only four months old when she puked and pooped on me in bed at the same time.” Zakira proudly proclaimed as everyone laughed while groaning at the same time at how disgusting that was. 

“Why’d you count the dunes?” Sulaimon asked. 

“Boredom.” Zakira shrugged. 

“Your turn.” Zakira urged Sulaimon. 

“Oh um. 1. I was the youngest captain and youngest commander to be appointed in King Amit’s Army. 2. I have been on over 100 blind dates since I was appointed as a Captain that never resulted in a second date, 3 is… I have 216 weapons, six sets of armor but only 4 sets of the army uniform.” He proposed. 

“Number 2 is bullshit.” Most of them suggested. 

“Nah, I’m calling 3 bullshit, there’s no way you only have four sets of the uniform. But I believe all the other numbers are correct.” Zakira said. 

“That’s true. I only have three sets of the uniform.” Sulaimon admitted. 

“How?!” All the other soldiers asked. 

“Less to wash and dry myself. Otherwise my rank is a pin to pin into the shoulders of the regular uniform.” Sulaimon shrugged. 

“How do you have 216 weapons?!” Most of the people of Willow asked. 

“Yes.” Sulaimon confirmed. 

“Why so many sets of armor?” The others asked. 

“Well, there’s the regular training armor, the testing armor, the official deployment armor, which comes with a spare and then a formal fancy set for official ceremonies and then the last one is worn specifically for coronations.” Sulaimon listed off. 

“Why only three sets of the uniform?” Zakira asked. 

“One being worn, the second is dirty and in soapy water, soaking so the dirt and dust gets out of it before I can finish washing them when I’m done training for the day, the second is already up and drying in the sun, ready to be worn the next day.” Sulaimon smiled proudly.

“Simplicity and complexity, I like it.” Zakira smiled approvingly. 

“Thanks.” He nodded before he got a message back from his parents. 

“What’s that? New marching orders?” Zakira asked. 

“No, I sent a message home about your interest in meeting my mother. They want to have you over for lunch or even dinner tomorrow.” Sulaimon offered. 

“Oh, uh, which is better for them?” Zakira asked. 

“Either or, your choice.” Sulaimon. 

“Lunch is more informal.” Zakira decided. 

“Lunch it is then.” Sulaimon nodded and wrote down her reply and gave it back to the messenger. 

“I’ll need to go to the Spice District tomorrow morning then.” Zakira urged him. 

“We will definitely do that then.” Sulaimon readily agreed. 

After games, they all started to get sleepy and Sulaimon walked Zakira, the moment they tried to part, Anna began to cry like she was being tortured in between trying to nurse to go to bed. 

So once she had nursed her fill but still cried incessantly, Zakira finally caved and called Sulaimon into the room. 

“Sulaimon, Help.” Zakira said tiredly as she was sitting in bed, propped up by pillows and was near tears herself because of how exhausted she was from the rollercoaster of the ride the day was. 

“I got her.” Sulaimon reassured her as he quickly slipped into the room, the only sign he had done so, being the white of his shorts and the way the light reflected off of the back of his iris’ as he fought not to practically get into bed with her and hold her too. So he picked Anna up from Zakira’s arms and pulled her into his own as her cries started to lesson considerably. 

“Sweetheart, it’s time for bed. Come on now. Your Mommy’s had a very long and tiring day. We need to sleep.” He said before he cradled Anna into his own chest as Sulaimon paced the room, making sure to stay in the low lights coming into it from the windows so that Zakira could still watch him if she felt she needed to as he just kept purring, rocking and humming to Anna as Zakira gave him an appreciative smile and rearranged the pillows to simply lay back and tried to get some rest in the bed, even as attractive as the sight of a half naked Sulaimon was in the low moonlight. 

Anna fought sleep and kept an iron grip on his fur on his chest and neck in her fists and refused to let go, even in light sleep. But Sulaimon was undeterred and kept with it, keeping his humming soft and kept his purring loud enough to settle Anna further into sleep as he walked around the room but mostly stayed to the foot of the bed. Once Anna finally slipped into deeper sleep and finally loosened her grip did he pull her hands off of his fur and kissed them sweetly nonetheless before kissing her temple as he changed his hold on her carefully so that she was laying down in his arms rather then on his chest but kept her close to make sure she wouldn’t wake up, she still turned and curled up to his chest, even in sleep and tried to grab at the shorter fur of his chest. But once she slipped back into a deep sleep again, her hold fading again, did he finally stop humming the lullaby’s his mother always sang and hummed to him and his siblings growing up. 

“There. Get some sleep Zakira.” He breathed as he passed her back into Zakira’s hold in the bed. 

“Thank you Sulaimon.” She thanked him as she grabbed his hand and kissed the back of it gratefully as she put Anna snuggly next to her in the bed and curled her whole body around her daughter. 

Sulaimon smiled softly and fondly before he left the room and closed the new door as quietly and softly as he could. 

Then he pulled a blanket and a pillow and pulled the chaise lounge that was at the bottom of his own bed and put it right on the other side of the door, not wanting to be any farther than he had to be from them as he kept an ear out for any noise inside the room. 

Once he was asleep himself Wennet herself, taking the form of a lilac bunny, seemed to slip into the room by shadows. She considered him and was pleased by his efforts to be respectful to Zakira and mindful of her needed space yet protective enough to even guard her door at night and granted him very restful sleep, even as little of it that he would be getting. That even though he would only be sleeping for a handful of hours, that his sleep would be as restful and restorative to him as if he would be getting more than a dozen and granted him very pleasant dreams and hints at his future so he would remained patient, kind, and focused during the day. She also granted the same to Zakira, sensing how much Zakira needed the same while also blessing her with pleasant, enlightening and inspiring dreams as well so that her heart and mood would be lightened and she would be much more conducive to letting go of her pain, sorrow, anger and hurt and actually accept Sulaimon’s attention and affection and love and return it and come back to her former, happier self before she slipped out of the room and went around to the others who had come to The Crown City from Willow. It wasn’t too long before Anna had woken up as well and started to fuss which immediately woke up Sulaimon, his eyes snapping open and he immediately sat up and moved to get up and back into the room but then he heard Zakira’s gentle singing and humming and he couldn’t help but gasp softly at it’s ethereal beauty. Then he paid close attention to hear that she was humming and singing the same lullabies that Sulaimon had sung earlier. But coming from her, they sounded better than they ever could have. His heart melted as he swooned and laid back down, now that Anna had quieted down and let Zakira’s voice lull him back to sleep.

[flowersandbigteeth]

Hi! So this is my first time sending in an ask so I feel anxious about it but-

I love your work and constantly check for updates because I've already read all your work. When you don't update I kinda have to scavenge to find other similar authors that do full length fics and not just like drabbles or blurbs or headcannons or whatever

Anyways do you have any other authors that you can recommend in the same monster x reader genre that write full stories and oneshots?

Oh noooo, lol! The struggle is so real (ὀ⌓ὀ⑅)

I don't know a whole bunch of creators, just off the top of my head without diving deep into my likes and reblogs. I am actually very specifically rabid about monster cod crossover fics the most @bluegiragi does monster cod crossover comics and I'm addicted

I definitely recommend checking out the (whatever monster) x reader tags and looking for creators who just do one monster type, they tend to have more finished series because they are focusing on one theme, imo.

@labgrowndemon is one who comes to mind, for example, has awesome, very emotionally rich werewolf fics

More generally I know some of the bigger accounts:

@monstermag is great! They just put out the winter edition and there are awesome stories in there! You can dl all the previous issues for free I'm pretty sure. You can find a bunch of different monster writers and artists in there, so that's probably the fastest way to find a bunch of authors quickly

@momolady has an impressive selection of fics. She's brilliant and there's kind of something for everyone, so many different monsters to choose from. She has a patreon for the discord and rough drafts, art, and stuff for a bunch of different tiers.

@monster-bait writes monster romance novels and I am subscribed on her patreon. I get quarterly art in the mail and her books are lovely <3 I have the beautiful prints she sends stuck all over my bulletin board

You can find some monster romance themed discords on disboard, as well. I'm in Monster Manor, which i highly recommend to find more monster fic stuff. It's pretty active and they have a bunch of recommendations for books and creators to check out. Probably most of the people on there are indie authors themselves and post different snippets and whatnots.

I also should note, as I was looking, many creators are on strike for the next few weeks, so please respect that

I hope that helps a little ^_^

[terato-is-life]

Hey guys, many of you may not know about it, but I am also a translator (English, Portuguese and Japanese, with more languages in the way).

I would like to offer my services for those who would like it, translating from/to these languages if requested.

If interested, just PM me.

Tagging a few who may like it: @momolady @cozycryptidcorner @aelia-likes-monsters @monstersandmaw

[shifterglitter]

About Me

Greetings Shifters and curious minds alike. 

My name is Vi (“Vee”), I’m 30 years old and have been on Tumblr since 2009. 

Cancer Sun, Pisces Moon, and Sagittarius Rising

My main account is @purplepirateadventures, however, that is an 18+ account and I do post NSFW stuff on it. I will keep everything on this blog SFW and 15+ friendly (as I do curse a lot).

I identify as genderfluid/queer. I am comfortable with all pronouns. So whatever you perceive me as is correct. My favorite Pronouns if you are looking to butter me up are: It/Its, Ve/Vir, Fae/Faer, Bun/Buns, Spri/Sprout, Cubi/Cubiself, and Dem/Demonself.

I am Abroromantic and Abrosexual (Ace Spectrum)  https://lgbtqia.fandom.com/wiki/Abrosexual (+ level 5 monster lover)

I recently started experimenting with Shifting and am using this platform to connect to others in the community and document my experiences.

When I am not shifting or working overnights at the local Airport I am watching Anime, Maladaptive Daydreaming to music, or reading Monster Smut. I am also a witch, a rock collector, a member of the TST, and an oracle reader. (If you’d like a DR Channeling, or other reading I could use the practice so please DM me.)

My Favorite Podcasts are: Myths Magic and Murder, Desert Skies, What Fresh Hell is This?, and Tower 4.  My Favorite Anime are: Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece, and Trinity Blood. My Favorite Artists are: Ghost, Sleep Token, Dread Buffalo, Markiplier, Save a Fox, Hollow_VA, Momolady, and SiobhanKaufmanArt. My Favorite Books of last year are: Bloodshed, A Court of Wings and Ruin, Forget Me Not, Thrawn, and Iron Widow.  My Safe food is Potatoes. My Safe texture is Velvet. 

Some People you may hear me talk about:

I come from a very abusive family, however, in my adulthood my siblings and I have become incredibly close. I am so grateful for that. So I am the oldest of 3 children. The middle child is my brother, Joshua, who is obsessed with 3e DnD and THC products. While Wilhelmina (Willow or Mina for short) is the chosen name of my baby sibling (trans/questioning); their hyperfixation is miniature war games like WH40k and Battletech. We are all writers, painters, and neurodivergent. 

My best friend is a guy I met through boy scouts in middle school. His name is Nick and he is a pharmacist. 

My platonic soul mate's name is Harley. They are on tumblr, but I'm not going to out them because they aren't a shifter. I've recently reconnected with them after an extended falling out.

All of these important people in my life are not spiritual in any way so I don’t see myself opening up to them about all of this. 

I have an orange cat named “Abraham Delacy Giuseppe Casy Thomas O’malley”, or Mr O’malley for short. And an energetic little Blue Merle Corgi mix named “Tax-Evasion”, whom we all call Eevee. You will see pictures of them here as my millennial ass can not help but share my fur babies with the world.

How I discovered Shifting

My Favorite Shifting Tools

My DRs

Main & Active DR Waiting Rooms Distant Future DRs Original Creation

My Original Methods

The Stitching Method The Candle & Mantra Method The Traveler Method The Plasmoid Method

[aelia-likes-monsters]

is there a writer youd die to collab with?

Yes, several.

I saw a few tags the other day when this was popping up in a bunch of inboxes. Super flattered that amazing folks like @momolady and @monstersandmaw and @snowkissedmonsters mentioned me, because I adore all of their writing and would happily work with them if I weren't a sad little writers-block-riddled gremlin recently.

I actually have collabed with @thetravelerwrites on the piece about Famine (she wrote the beautiful epilogue for it.) And @elizabethtarington and @cozycryptidcorner are often in Discord bouncing ideas off each other so much that I'd count those as collabs in some ways. (Some of my stories literally would not exist without the authors I've tagged above. They're allllll incredible folks who have helped me extensively, and they're not even the only people who help me out.)

So like, yeah, there's more, and I could probably sit here and keep tagging for hours because there's folks like @zarcake-writes and @love-and-monsters and @monster-bait and so many more whose writing I have enjoyed over the years and who I would love to be like "yo let's work on something together!!!" (but who I also know are often either busy publishing books or living life) or who I would be kind of embarrassed to show my gremlin writing style to.

If we've chatted about stories and I didn't tag you, it's my goldfish memory keeping me from tagging you, and not a lack of love. <3

[bucketsofmonsters]

To anon who asked for blog recommendations: depending on what you look for (monster-wise) you may also be very pleased with the fabulous and epic stories (and art!) at:

@monstersandmaw

@monsterboyfriendcatalogue

@aelia-likes-monsters

@moonshine-nightlight

@momolady with @momosmonsters being the library blog

@terato-romance unfortunately not updated for quite a time now

and search their blogs for much more comprehensive rec lists than this one

Or visit @space-australians and

http://www.authorbettyadams.com/humans-are-weird.html

if you want some hilarious random alien-human interactions instead!

I've just arrived here, but can see that lovely @bucketsofmonsters can write with the best of them! What an honor to find it! :D

Some more wonderful recs for the anon that was asking!! There's a few on here that I've never seen before, excited to go check them out, thank you so much!

[monster-madame]

Gargoyle Monster Romance

Ok, monster lovers! Time for a review!

Susan R Neely has been writing monster romances and has *quite* the backlist. I found the author through her book, “Carnage (Whispers From the Bayou Book 1).”

Set in the early 1900’s, this is a sort of classic Beauty and the Beast Tale. The heroine is more of the “pure kind princess” variety than the “kicking butt and taking names” type of heroine we see a lot.

This is a classic retelling of Beauty and The Beast (complete with a possessive monster who gets told off and called to the carpet).

Carnage is a gargoyle who has seen battle, and who also has trouble speaking words (dictation, etc). I appreciated how the author utilized different types of communication in this story, as well as avoiding a good number of pitfalls fantasy authors stumble into around speaking disabilities.

I do like how Neely builds up a community of characters (using a literal community for monsters, called The Whispers), and this is a good nighttime cozy read for folks looking for something sweet and maybeeeee a little stereotypical.

Thinking on why I felt prompted to share THIS book, I think it’s the literal community of support the author has built for her monsters. The monsters show camaraderie and friendship, a good showing of positive masculinity. I appreciated how the author wove in other characters, without being obvious about setting up future books. Kind of reminds me of the work of MomoLady on tumblr!

But, hey! Tropes exist because we love them! ;)

Book HERE! (Affiliate ad link)

As always, reblog for more book reviews! 😘

[monstersandmaw]

Aaaaaahhhh my adorable mothman stickers arrived from @momolady today!!!! They’re SO PERFECT and SO CUTE!!! Everyone should go get themselves some of Momo’s wonderful stickers from her Ko-fi shop - they’re all amazing quality and will make any monster lover swoon!!

[thecandywrites]

Monster March 2024- Day 6- Doppleganger- Adjacent- Spring Fling

So what makes this Prompt Adjacent is- I actually commissioned @momolady for a modern- Short King- Goblin Boyfriend. Because I had this idea but my brain- at the time went- "nice idea, I have no dialog for that". She has not released the commission to Tumblr yet (it's coming, Matthias is EPIC and everything I never knew I always wanted) And OF COURSE, the moment I commission her? My brain went- 'Oh yeah, here you go'. So, obviously different characters, different names, same idea and concept which is close enough to a doppleganger in my opinion. And what better way to share "versions" of the same story than through something like this? And of course, I want to be clear- this is not being released because I wasn't perfectly happy with my commission, that's not true, I'm always 1000% satisfied. This is just what my brain gave me while I waited on a *Professional* because plot bunnies have a way of breeding and growing.

So, as always, huge thanks to @borealwrites for their amazing Monster March 2024 Prompt List. You have brought order to my chaos. lol. Enjoy.

Spring Fling

Gabe stopped and froze when watched the most beautiful woman he had probably ever seen in his life- walk into the hotel lobby as he was trying to push his kid and himself and their luggage cart into the elevator but stopped and rubbernecked the lilac night elven hybrid beauty that walked in. 

“Hello Gorgeous.” Gabe breathed to himself as he felt his eyebrows raise into his hairline and his cock twitch against the leg he had put his cock next to in his pants. Hot damn. 

She was gorgeous and practically a goddess. That perfect, pastel lilac with a soft ballet slipper pink undertone skin, paired with long, platinum blonde hair that reached that bodacious derriere, hanging in curls he wanted to wrap around his finger. Those hips that were hypnotizing him. He nearly fell over, trying to crane his head around as he watched her walk through the lobby.  

And that jiggle of her ample cleavage and even that heavenly soft belly? Oh, he was done for. And then to see her in a sports miniskirt, with those long legs, with her large and in charge thighs that jiggled ever so deliciously from her steps,  that he wondered would snap his waist off if they were to wrap around him? He could dream. Especially to see those tattoos snake up her legs and disappear under that skirt? Oh he wanted to see just how high up they went. 

She was already nearly statuesquely tall, made even more exquisitely so in her wedge sandals with those bangles around her ankles the charms delightfully jingling with each step, accentuating her beautiful, pedicured feet in them. 

Granted, Gabe was half goblin and half verdan, so he was already short, and he already knew every other woman was going to be taller than him. Which, he had made his peace with, a long time ago. Then he looked past her to see that the affect that she had had on him- was the same affect was on every other guy in that lobby as they seemed to part for her and let her walk right up to the desk since they had already checked in themselves but seemed to linger to watch her appreciatively, from orc, to elf, to tiefling, to minotaur, to human, every single kind of guy stopped to stare, some of them even whistling which made her head duck down and a pretty fuchsia blush dust on her cheeks as she pressed those full lips into a thin line and those heavenly lashes flutter as a worried frown cross her features before the protective side of Gabe came roaring to life. 

He owned a coffee shop, and employed a lot of baristas and he knew that look all too well. But this wasn’t his establishment and, as much he wanted to step in, he was clearly outnumbered and most of these guys were at least two to three times his size and ten times his strength. 

“Hi, I have a reservation under Thorne?” She offered to the receptionist before the elevator dinged. 

“Dad?” Tristan asked and that finally pulled Gabe out of the spell Miss Thorne had seemed to cast over him. 

Right, he was here with his son. He probably shouldn’t go chasing tail while he was with his son. He needed to refocus. 

“Yeah, sorry, let’s go.” He finally said before he pushed the cart into the elevator before a few more passengers boarded the elevator with them to go up to the various rooms. 

Meanwhile, Tatianna kept her head down as she walked into the hotel as she felt anxious that she felt that everyone was staring at her as she tried to walk quickly from the door to the receptionist’s desk and hated that the lobby was full because of course it was full of other dad’s whose wives and kids were in the car as they waited for their dad’s to check in. But being a single mom, she had to do this and to see a guy rush from the back- to dismiss the receptionist so he could stand proudly at the check in desk and smiled brightly at her as he got into position to wait on her as he even gestured to her and called her over. 

"I can take care of you right here Miss." He pleasantly called out. 

“Hi, I have a reservation under Thorne?” She asked as she had her phone- in it’s wallet case in one hand and got the credit card she was going to use to pay for this trip- in the other. 

“Yes, hello Miss. Thorne, welcome to Starlight Suites. My name is Nathan, I’ll be checking you in today. I see you have booked a Little Dipper Suite, however, we are actually overbooked for that class of suite. So could I get you a free upgrade to an Aurora Suite instead?” The manager asked hopefully as he had seen her from the office and immediately got up out of his chair so he could check her out himself. 

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Tatianna smiled as she seemed to pull her phone down just out of sight as she silently put the phone to record this interaction. 

“And you said that’s a free upgrade to an Aurora Suite right?” She repeated for her own record as she tucked her arm under her cleavage but kept the phone placed in such a way so as to record him too. 

“Of course. You won’t be charged anything, not even the smallest of fees for the free upgrade to the Aurora Suite.” He repeated with a charming smile. 

"Oops, overbooked on those too, Let’s get you into the Grand Celestial Suite.” He quickly offered as he clicked like crazy on his mouse to move her reservation up through the various tiers of their system- straight to the top. 

“And also, for the inconvenience, I’m going to throw in fast passes for the park as well.” He informed her as he went ahead and gave her every add on he could in the computer and using his managerial code to comp it all too, as if Tatianna had been a five diamond award inspector he was trying to schmooze his way into getting a five diamond rating. But he was going to do his best to give her a five diamond experience nonetheless as the other receptionist slowly turned her head to give her manager an incredulous look before she just turned back to what she was working on and subtly shook her head. 

“Oh, that’s very generous of you. Thank you.” Tatianna simply smiled pleasantly as she had hoped that this wouldn’t happen. But, at the same time, this would enhance her daughter’s Natalia’s vacation too so she shouldn’t complain as she chanced a look at the other receptionist and saw how she was just shaking her head and Tatianna was sure she was blushing from her chest up to the tips of her ears as she feared all the other guests were about to contest that perhaps they didn’t get the same treatment. But thankfully that didn’t happen. 

“I’ll be right back.” Nathan offered before he had to go into the back to get the packages that were technically supposed to get all kinds of upcharges to access, but that he was freely giving to the hottest guest he had had in years as he avoided the irritated glares of the receptionist who was on duty but who had instead made herself busy clearing out the room cards from other guests and putting them into the basket that was used to recode for new rooms. 

Nathan came back only a moment later with everything he had eagerly grabbed from the back to make a custom “welcome package” for his guest. And when he printed out practically half a reem of paper of all the coupons and vouchers and passes to her, he had to instead put it all into a folder to keep it all organized as he even gave her a discounted rate on her actual reservation. So that she essentially got half of her original reservation for free, but with the value of everything she now had, was really at a huge discount as he made sure to use his best pen- to write down all his phone numbers with, especially his personal number on the back of his best business card for her. 

“Will you need any help getting your luggage from your vehicle? Also, feel free to park in priority parking. Just in case.” He insisted as he made sure to give her a special placard that she could park there without getting towed or anything before she took that as well. 

“No, we packed light, we can carry it ourselves. Thanks.” She waived off before she waived by with her left hand, trying to subconsciously flick her left ring finger with it’s wedding ring still there on her finger the most- to hopefully catch his attention and give him the subtle signal that she wasn’t “on the menu” herself before she walked out of the line of sight of the receptionist desk and past the elevators, just as Gabe was there, with his now empty luggage cart. 

“Oh, are you returning that?” She asked as she pointed to it. 

“Yup, you need it?” He asked as he gently pushed it towards her. 

“Yes, thank you so much. Have a great day!” She thanked him brightly with a smile that shamed the sun and that made him swoon as she took it and pushed it herself as now Gabe could really oggle that amazing ass and those powerful thighs in that flouncy work out mini skirt with shorts underneath- as she walked away from him. But not for long before the elevator doors closed and he found himself simply sighing in defeat as he went ahead and pressed the button for his floor. 

“Down boy.” He sarcastically chided his own cock as it had seemed to instantly get hard and wanted out of his pants and instantly into her. He was practically a dirty old man at this point, there was no use lusting after a sweet young thing like her. 

He went back to his room and unpacked and then went to go get some ice and nearly dropped the ice bucket when he saw Miss Gorgeous walking down the same hallway he was staying on with that luggage cart with quite a bit of luggage on it. 

“Natalia, could you please get the door for me?” Miss Gorgeous asked a young girl who was wearing a hoodie with her shorts and headphones and still nose deep into her phone before the girl murmured and put the key card to the reader and opened the door for her mom. 

“Thank you Sweetheart.” Her mom cooed as she maneuvered the luggage rack into the room from the hallway before the door shut behind her and Gabe practically engraved the room number onto his brain before he decided not to be a nosy stalker and continue to get the one thing he knew he needed to get- ice. And at this rate, a very cold, ice cold shower. 

Then, once he had to practically dive to scrape the remains of the ice from the ice machine and he got the ice and was on his way back to his room, he noticed the manager outside of her room, knocking.  

“Is there a problem?” Tatianna asked worriedly once she came to the door. 

“No! No problem at all, Miss Thorne, you just forgot this at check in. And I wasn’t sure if your drink bar was fully stocked or not, so I brought some complimentary items, just in case.” He offered her another folder and a bunch of gift bags, practically bursting with goodies and even a flower arrangement and two bottles of wine in wine gift bags, dangling from his fingers, one red, one white, along with a bottle of champagne, the best they had- from the bar downstairs. 

“Oh, thank you so much.” She managed to say in a forced polite, pleasantness that Gabe caught onto once again as his instincts suddenly planted his feet right where they were as he stayed at a respectful distance but still in full view as his own ears seemed to train on Miss Gorgeous and this manager, who was clearly making her very uncomfortable. 

“And of course, my card, feel free to call me at any of those numbers if you have any needs that I can fulfill.” Nathan tried to say as he pointed to his personal number he had written on the back of his business card for emphasis as Gabe frowned deeply as she seemed to want to hide as much of herself behind the door.  

“Oh, ok, I still have your card that you gave me downstairs at check in, but thank you. Now I really have no excuse to accidentally lose your number. But really, the room is very nice, quite luxurious, thank you so much for the free upgrade, my family and I really appreciate it and it’s really making our family vacation from good to great.” She tried to compliment. 

“Oh, yeah, um, sorry, did I need to add more passes or something? Did I miss someone?” He asked as he distinctly remembered that there was just one adult and one minor at check in, both feminine names. 

“No, it’s a girls weekend this weekend, we left the boys at home. And it isn’t Miss Thorne, it’s Mrs. Thorne actually.” She tried to waive off after she put the things down behind the door instead of letting him come into the room himself. 

“But we really appreciate your hospitality and generosity. Have a nice day.” She tried to politely say before she shut the door and Gabe’s gut and instincts screamed at him that this asshole was going to be a problem. Gabe got a good look at the manager’s name badge so he could have half a mind to write corporate about this as he changed his course to walk right up to this guy as the manager made a single step away as he had turned away from Gabe to head to the elevators. 

“Can I have your card too? Just in case I should need anything either?” Gabe asked loudly before Nathan seemed to jump a little that he got caught before turning on him with an irritated scowl that he quickly tried to cover up in a pleasant smile. 

“Unfortunately that was my last card, I’m sure if you go down to the receptionist desk, they can give you one there. If you’ll excuse me, other guests need my attention.” Nathan politely offered before he walked off and rounded the corner at the elevators before the door creaked open and Mrs. Thorne peeked her head out. 

“Is he gone?” She whispered. 

“Yeah, he’s gone. Sorry about that, you should complain to corporate for harassment.” He offered to her as he backed away from her door, so as not to appear to be crowding her too- as she poked her head out further to make sure that manager wasn’t lurking anywhere before she heard the elevator ding and the doors open, thanks to her large, beautiful ear inclined towards the elevators as she faintly heard him huff as he went on and then the doors closed, bringing him back to the main lobby. 

“Here.” She offered the card that the manager just gave her and gave it to him. 

“Are you here with your family too?” She asked as she eyed him appreciatively as she recognized him from the elevator earlier as now he was closer, she could take a moment to really appreciate more of his features. Those big, beautiful sage green ears, combined with that very distinctive nose, that had been just a touch crooked from his fighting youth she imagined and she of course, noticed how a few gray hairs peppered his otherwise dark brown hair as it slicked back over his head with a few pieces, defying it and curling back over to hang in his face as a few wrinkles seemed to frame his eyes and make a pair of laugh lines around his handsome mouth. 

“Yeah, granted that family consists of just me and my son, Tristan. But yeah.” He offered. 

“That’s wonderful. I take it you’re here for the Spring Fling?” She asked hopefully as she nodded out of the window that showed the amusement park, with it’s world renowned and world record holding roller coasters piercing the skyline since this hotel was considered one of the many resort suite hotels of the park. 

“Yes.” He confirmed with a nod. 

“Us too, maybe we’ll see each other again at the park. Here, he gave us free vouchers for fast passes at the park this weekend. If they’re tied to my room, just use my room number and my name. Tatianna Thorne, in room 1553 and you can claim you’re my guests if need be. Here let me write that down for you.” She grabbed at her purse behind the door and got a pen out and wrote them down on the paper before she just handed him the new folder of new coupons and vouchers, another set of the ones Nathan had already given her at the receptionist's desk. 

“Oh, we’re ok. You don’t have to.” He tried to refuse her. 

“Did you have all of this already? Because if you did, you could use this instead and get a refund for yourself.” She tried to insist as she took a step out of her room and practically pushed the folder into his hands. 

“You don’t owe anyone anything, me most of all. If the manager is going to be like that- the rest of your stay, I’ll happily bear witness to his harassment as an objective witness to it. Just in case.” Gabe insisted. 

“I know, that’s why I’m so grateful for you stepping up and stepping in. He insisted that all of this was free at check in and I’m afraid that if I say anything now, he’ll end up charging me for all of this. And I really don’t have that kind of money. And I really don’t want it to be a ‘he said- she said’ kind of thing.” She offered in a low, hushed murmur, as if she was afraid that if she said it too loudly, the manager would jump out of a room at any moment as she gave the hallway another worried glance to see a family head towards the pool as the dad gave her a longing glance before he refocused on his family. 

“So what exactly did he say at check in?” Gabe asked as he felt himself slip back into protective manager mode. 

“Actually, if you don’t mind, could I get your email address? I actually recorded the conversation, just in case. I could send you the audio file, it’s too big to send in a text.” She offered as she pulled her phone out of her pocket on her shorts under her skirt.  

“Yeah sure, it’s…” Gabe gave her his gmail address before she gave him her phone as he traded his ice bucket and the folder for so she could save him as his contact as Gabe felt like he must have slipped and hit his head because this felt so surreal. 

But the poor woman was scared because she was being preyed upon. And obviously this had been done to her so many times that she knew she had to do things like this to protect herself and he would not be that asshole to take advantage of this, or her before they traded it back and she sent a quick text to him, so that he would know who the new message was from so he could save her in his phone. 

“Dad?” Tristan asked once he poked his head out of his room to wonder where his dad was. 

“I’ll be right there.” Gabe offered. 

“Thank you so much for doing this. I hope you have a good weekend with your son.” She offered. 

“Thanks, and I hope you have a good girls weekend. You should call those boys in your life to come if he tries that again.” Gabe offered. 

“Oh, that. Yeah.” She blushed and looked away guiltily and moved her side swept bangs behind her pretty ears that had blushed a dark violet. 

“White lie to keep the creeps at bay?” He guessed. 

“That obvious?” She asked with a wince. 

“Nope. Sounded like the gospel truth to me and it is- as far as I’m concerned. I own a coffee shop, the things my baristas have to tell all their customers, I’ve heard it all.” He waived off. 

“Oh! That explains it then. I’ll let you get back to your son. Thank you so much for your help.” She offered. 

“Yeah, and if you ever need mine, I’m just a few doors down the hall, in 1575. Don’t be a stranger ok?” He pointed to where his son was standing and watching curiously. 

“Only if you won’t be one either.” She grinned happily. 

“For sure Mrs. Thorne- enjoy your evening.” He offered as he used the folder in his other hand to salute her off and walked away, feeling a whole foot taller. 

“You too.” She returned before she slipped back into her room. 

“So what happened?” Tristan asked his dad. 

“You know how I, very rudely and disrespectfully, ogled at Miss Gorgeous when she walked into the hotel?” He asked with a wincing grimace. 

“Yeah. And now you’re talking to her. Did you get her number?” Tristan asked his dad hopefully. 

“I did, but not for that reason. The manager of the hotel was coming on to her and she was very, understandably- uncomfortable. So I made it a point to stay and witness the interaction, just in case the manager tries anything else. And because I took that stand of solidarity, she got my number and my email address so she could send me the recording of the interaction as proof of what the manager did, just in case he doubles back on either her or us. And, he already gave her a set of fast passes and so she had these extra ones that she felt obliged to share with us. So if we see her, and her daughter, be nice and say thanks ok?” He urged as he gave his son the folder and put the ice bucket in it’s place before he fished his phone from his pocket to smile at the new number and save it as Tatianna Thorne. 

“Holy cow! She got…everything! He hooked her up!” Tristan gasped in astonishment as he took the folder to the table and took out everything and organized it before Gabe wiped his hands off and came over and sat down to see it all. 

“Tatianna Thorne.” Tristan read off of the pretty name written across the paper. 

“Pretty name.” Tristan grinned at his dad. 

“And an even prettier woman with it.” Gabe blurted as he just looked at all of this stuff and knew he was holding vouchers for hundreds, if not at least a thousand dollars worth of stuff as he got on the app and used the codes already printed off on the papers to add what he could to his digital tickets on the theme park’s app and grinned when all of it was added flawlessly and seamlessly. 

“So what’s her daughter’s name?” Tristan asked. 

“I have no idea. I didn’t ask  and she didn’t tell. But I’m sure you’ll see her around, probably at the pool if not in the theme park.” Gabe shrugged. 

“Got it all?” Tristan asked before they double checked it. 

“Yup. Got it all.” Gabe nodded.

“Can we go down to the pool now?” He asked. 

“Yes.” Gabe caved before they got changed into their swim trunks and went down to the pool and swam around for a while with the other kids before Tatianna came down, both her and her daughter in bikinis and bath robes as nearly every guy and several women with a pulse seemed to stop and stare to see them there. 

“Ugh.” Natalia glared at everyone who was gawking at her and her mom. 

“Let’s just go.” She urged her mom as she pulled the bathrobe around her tighter.

“If you feel unsafe we can go. Do you feel unsafe?" Tatianna asked.

"...no..." Natalia grumbled as she practically had to stamp 'fuck off' all over her face as her dirty glares finally got the others to look away and stop staring at her or her mom.

"Well, if any of them dares to approach you or makes you uncomfortable, let me know and we will deal with them and we'll leave. But otherwise, I would really appreciate at least a little soak in the hot tub. The younger kids are still safe, I'm sure most of the moms are too. And there's other girls here who look to be about your age. Maybe you can make a friend or two while we're here.” Tatianna encouraged as she put her things down and put her hair up into a messy but still gorgeous bun before she shirked the bathrobe off and walked over to the hot tub and slipped in just about the time, all the dads seemed to want to get into the hot tub too. 

“Hi, I take it you’re Mrs. Thorne’s daughter?” Tristan asked as he came up to Natalia and gently tapped on her upper arm before she turned on her heel to start cussing this guy who had the audacity to know her mom's name- before she turned and frowned and closed her mouth and then looked down to see Tristan there, staring up at her with a friendly smile. Aw, he was just a little kid. Ok, false alarm. She reeled her knee jerk reaction back and dialed down her intensity a bit and tried to remind herself that not every single man she saw was not out to get her or her mom. That there were still some good, and innocent people out there. And with him being so much smaller than her, and appearing to be so much younger than her, she happily slipped into 'big sister' mode.

“Oh, hi, yeah. I’m Natalia Thorne. Nice to meet you.” She offered as she sat down on the sun chair so she could be more or less eye level with him and smiled warmly as he looked about at least a year younger than her, but because he was clearly a goblin hybrid himself, made him a lot shorter than her, but only helped her feel more at ease with him. 

“I wanted to come and say thank you for the fast passes and the drink cup vouchers and the funpix.” He cheerfully offered to her. 

“Aww, you’re welcome. I’m happy you get to use them. So what’s your name?” She asked as she offered her hand for him to shake. 

“Tristan, Tristan Black. That’s my dad- Gabriel Black. But you can call him Gabe.” He said as he pointed over to his dad who was still in the water, trying not to get jumped on by the other kids jumping into the pool as Natalia connected the dots from the earlier conversation her mom had had in the hallway that she had overheard.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Tristan. So you’re here for Spring Fling right?” She asked. 

“Yeah. I won this trip in a book reading contest at my school over the whole school year.” He smiled. 

“Awesome! How many books did you read?” She asked. 

“One hundred and thirty eight!” He beamed. 

“Holy cow! Wow! That's a lot. I probably only get to read a few a month. Which ones were your favorites?” She asked. 

“All of the Lord of the Rings.” He smiled. 

“Ooh! I've seen the movies, never got a chance to read the books.” She offered happily.

"Well did you like the movies?" He asked hopefully. 

"Yeah, granted they're a bit typecasted. But yeah." She nodded. 

"Well yeah, unfortunately, it is. That's the way it's always been in Hollywood." He had to nod in agreement with a more dissappointed expression.  

"Well you never know, there's a lot of actors and actresses that try to break all those typecasting molds. Besides, with Netflix and Amazon and Disney, new types of media are being produced all the time. Maybe a new mini series will come out that will break all the molds and make us look at everything and everyone differently." She encouraged.

"Well what kind of books do you like to read?" He asked when he saw a corner of a book peek out from her pool bag. 

“Oh! It's a ‘laws of the universe’ book that discusses how gravity, electromagnetism, along with strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force can orchestrate how different solar systems work and we can use them to chart courses through star systems one day.” She answered as she pulled it out and showed it to him.

“Woah, I know about gravity. I don’t know about any of the other things.” He offered sheepishly as he stared at the different diagrams and things in the book.

“It’s ok. Very few people do. I just really like science. But did you know that most of the rides that are in the park- run on electromagnetism? Every single steel coaster uses electromagnetism…” she began before she slipped her robe off and walked with him from her chair back to the pool to talk about how and why they used it to mimic jet propulsion without having to use the engine of a jet or the mechanics of a big hill to gain speed and momentum.

Gabe hung back as he was sure Tristan was learning more in this moment than he had his whole life in school as soon other little kids, overhearing Natalia talk about the coasters came to join in on the conversation and listen to her with rapt attention as she sat on the steps with all the little kids around her as the older kids seemed to hang back and then regroup with each other and left her alone.

“Did you invent the roller coasters?” One kid asked. 

“No, it's just an interest of mine." She shrugged off before the other families came down to the pool as the older teen guys immediately perked up at seeing Natalia there with the other littler kids as their dads seemed to immediately notice her mom as Tatianna immediately put her guard up with the older guys as Natalia did the same with the older boys.

Meanwhile- Tatianna felt like she batted away every advance from every other guy, even ones clearly there with their families as she used that time to make sure each and every single one knew and understood that her daughter was only 14 and way under age and off limits and that if their sons tried anything, they would be dealt with accordingly with the proper authorities if need be. Granted she got a bit of flack for her daughter dressing like "jail bait". But she could easily and readily defend that the problem was with them- sexualizing a child. Not, what that child was wearing.

That seemed to shut the dads of the boys up and get them to pull their sons aside and let them know that Natalia was off limits. But that didn't stop all the other guys who didn't have a son to pose 'a threat' to Natalia to just close in tighter as they were eager to run all the other guys through the dirt and mud for practically being pedos. So while Tatianna got to win Natalia some breathing room by getting as many as she could off of her daughter's trail in a sense- it only made her feel more hunted herself.

The wives seemed to congregate together and watch on jealously as Tatianna wished her bikini top covered more of her bountiful chest, even though it was cut modestly, her bountiful chest could make a nun’s shroud look sexy as sin. She felt like her breasts were liable to float right off her chest and into the eager hands and mouths of the others in the hot tub with her as the rest of her body was not even close to relaxing, if anything it was even more tense than it had been before she ever slipped into this hot tub. 

But then, Gabe got out of the pool and Tatianna found herself practically staring to see, even cold, the burmese python of a cock in his swim trunks as she subconsciously licked her lips and wanted nothing more than to see just how big and girthy it could get when it would get hard. He was like a well seasoned steak among fast food burgers, and she was starving and sick of fast food. 

“There’s room for you to sit here Gabe.” Tatianna offered as she moved so that he would be between her and all the others in the hot tub. 

“Oh, thanks.” He grinned as he came to her rescue and spread out to give her more room and space as she practically wedged herself into a far corner.

“So how are those boys of yours doing? Hopefully not getting into trouble while you get a girl’s weekend with Tali are they?” He decided to ask her before she beamed a happy smile for him that he would refer back to that little ruse she had used earlier. 

“No, they’re on a motorcycle trip up north- doing the Tunnel of Trees because the trees are blooming and it’s really pretty this time of year. But much chillier.” She offered. 

“Nice, and they ride…?” He ventured. 

“Oh Matty got himself an Indian Pursuite Elite. So he and Jake are quite comfortable on that ride.” She beamed as Gabe whistled as the corners of his mouth quirked up into a big grin. 

“That’s a nice bike.” He nodded. 

“That’s a forty five thousand dollar bike.” Another dad balked. 

“Well My Steve had an Indian Chief before and for our anniversary this year, he went ahead and got himself that early anniversary present.” Tatianna divulged. 

“How many years have you two been together again?” Gabe asked. 

“Fifteen. Natalia is 14 already. I can’t believe it, we’re getting so old!” Tatianna laughed, her own lines and wrinkles on her own beautiful face seeming to really make her look that much more like a masterpiece in Gabe's eyes.

"Nah, just better with time. But I know Steve still counts himself lucky to have you faithfully by his side." Gabe offered and the look of adoration and happiness that practically made her glow. 

"You bet your sweet ass he does. He's never had to worry about that from me." She proudly proclaimed. 

"Because you've never given him a reason to worry." Gabe smiled as she nodded. 

"And I know he trusts you to keep an eye on his girls while he's away." She winked at him which made him crinkle his nose and laugh and nod.

"A trust I don't dare betray." Gabe nodded before the others took that as deterrent enough for them to lose interest and get out of the hot tub before Gabe slid away to afford Tatianna more breathing room before she finally felt safe enough to relax. 

"Thank you so much for that." Tatianna thanked him as she melted into the hot waters. 

"I take it, that happens to you a lot?" He asked. 

"Yeah, I keep forgetting how much Stephan shielded me from all of that. Now, it's just easier to wear the ring and have everyone assume the idea of him as deterrent enough." She muttered. 

"Divorce?" He guessed. 

"Nope. He died. He was a firefighter. He got caught in the California wildfires when he volunteered to help fight them. His helicopter crashed when he got stuck in a fire tornado." She revealed. 

"Yikes." He grimaced. 

"Yeah. What about you? Please tell me you don't have a tale of woe greater than mine." She tried to offer in a slight teasing tone. 

"Nope. Not even close. Tristan came from a one night stand. But his mom and I are friends but obviously it was a one and done. Simple joint custody. She moved on with another guy. And I have tried to as well. But every woman I try to date, thinks that every young batista I employ is a threat to her. But they are just college girls in a college town just trying to survive each semester. And I have no interest in girls in that age group. Especially when I'm right at that age where I'm not quite old enough to be their dad but not quite young enough to be a big brother either." He tried to explain as he used the water to slick back his hair again before it would fall back in his eyes and disrupt his view of her.

"What's the college and what's the town?" She asked curiously.  

"Oxford." He answered. 

"Oxford… Ohio?" She asked. 

"Yeah…" He answered as she started giggling then laughing. 

"Oh no way. Eaton." She offered. 

"Oh my gosh. Wow. Small world." He had to laugh with her because that was practically 25 minutes away from home. 

"So what's the name of your coffee shop?" She asked. 

"Coffee, Black. Because my last name is Black and that's how I like my coffee. And I also own the adjacent bar Black and Tan." He offered. 

"Nice. I'm a trauma nurse at Kettering Medical, Preble. I'm the trauma nurse stabilizing patients when they get care flighted from our little rural Medical Center to Dayton or Richmond Indiana." She offered. 

"Wow." He blinked in surprise. 

"Matthew was a helicopter pilot for Med Flight when he wasn't a firefighter or when he wasn't in the airforce, flying choppers for them. And we met when the Preble County Medical Center got a set of helicopters and a group of helicopter pilots. And after I showed a lot of aptitude for it, he got me on his crew and we got on the same work schedule so that we always worked together. But since he died, I've been on the swing shifts with the other pilots when I'm not the triage nurse." She confessed. 

"Did he really have that motorcycle?" Gabe asked. 

"No, he had a Suzuki, his brother got an Indian though and he got to ride it a few times when his brother broke his ankle getting his bike into a motorcycle trailer. That Indian was the most comfortable bike I had ever ridden and we had agreed that for our anniversary, we would upgrade to that. But when he died before we could do that, I used a portion of his life insurance policy and I upgraded to an Indian Elite. I got it in royal blue, my favorite color. But the way Tali and I pack - we needed the SUV for this trip and it's only supposed to be hot today and get the cold snap tomorrow. You know how spring is, a lamb one day and a lion the next." Tatianna murmured lowly so that only Gabe could hear her as she leaned in and cupped her hand around his handsome and distinguised ear before she sat back up as he could only hope and pray that these bubbling waters would distort the fact that his cock was practically trying to swim into her from there. God, it had been practically a lifetime since such a heavenly sound went into his ears as her face brushing up against it, almost made him shudder instead of just lightly shiver as all the hair on his arms tried to stand on end.

"So what about you? Is it just you and Tristan? Do you have any pets?" She asked. 

"Two cats, and two dogs." He answered. 

"Alfie, Lucie, Bugger and Trix." He listed off on his fingers as Tatianna got to appreciate he had four fingered hands and those fingers were bigger, and stout and strong and long. Long enough to probably reach her G spot just right if he fingered her she mused. 

"Three cats, 1 dog." She answered.

"Jasmine, Contessina and Roxanne for the cats and one big chonkous humongous dog - Buddy." She listed off. 

"Sounds like a full house." He said. 

"It is. But that's only because Steve and I never got to have more kids. Because by the time Natalia was 4 and in preschool, and we were already so happy to be done with nursing, weaning, and diapers and potty training, and I was wanting to jump head first into flying helicopters, I couldn't do that and have a baby on the tit at the same time because I took those four years off to be a stay at home mom, which was fun, but I missed work and I didn't want to get just to the point of flying just to be grounded again for another four years. But then, just as I got my pilot's license, just for Steve to die in a helicopter crash trying to fight those wildfires that burned most of the state, and for him to be gone and now it feels like I wasted all that time learning to fly when I could have been a mother to more kids, but, still, can't change anything now. And now that Tali is getting older, it's nice that it's just the two of us and every weekend gets to be a girl's weekend." Tatianna tried to justify. 

"Woman, you're gonna make me cry." Gabe tried to tease as he wiped a stray tear from his eye. 

"Sorry, sorry, sad backstory over." She shook her head. 

"So tell me about all those baristas in that coffee shop of yours." She instigated. 

"Oh you mean the walking disasters that think common sense in a special kind of change in the cash drawer?" He remarked before she barked a loud laugh before he did everything in his power to make her laugh as her peals of laughter soon echoed in the pool room. 

"Mom? I'm hungry." Natalia said as she came over and sat next to her mom. 

"I'm hungry too Dad." Tristan said as he did the same. 

"What sounds good for dinner?" Tatianna asked. 

"I don't know, let just get dressed and see what's around." Natalia shrugged. 

"Ok, see you at the park, you guys have a good night." Tatianna offered before she slipped out of the hot tub and picked up her things, slipped into her flip flops and left with her daughter out of there as Gabe resisted the urge to follow them. 

"So how did things go with Mrs. Tatianna go?" Tristan asked. 

"Really well, how did things go with Natalia?" Gabe asked as he noticed his son was practically vibrating with excitement. 

"She's so cool! And wicked smart!" Tristan gushed before he spent the entire walk back to their room to talk about it. 

"So why did you stay so close to Gabe?" Natalia asked and she and her mom got to their rooms and stripped out of their bikinis to get changed into something for dinner. 

"Because he heard me tell the manager it was a girl's weekend and that we left "the boys" at home." Tatianna prompted. 

"And?" Natalia nodded. 

"And Gabe was there, in the hall and witnessed that. And he stayed until the manager left. And at the pool, he brought that up to the other guys, and we pretended to know each other and with him playing along with the little white lie that Dad is alive and that you have a brother who is currently having a boys weekend with Dad, he was essentially a cockblock for me. And saved me from more and more aggressive flirtations. And he owns a coffee shop in a college town and he deals with aggressive patrons trying to flirt with his baristas so he's used to running interference without also having an ulterior motive. And so far he's the first one on this trip who hasn't tried to flirt with me. And he just made me feel... safe and relaxed while he shielded me." Tatianna tried to explain as she stuffed her boobs into yet another minimizing bra to try to contain her bountiful cleavage.

"So the first gentlemen among pigs." Natalia grinned as she slipped into a sports bra and then another outfit for dinner before she grabbed her little makeup bag. 

"Yes, very much so. But now, thanks to this little white lie that got spun into this whole thing and with Gabe practically swearing I'm a good little faithful wife who would never dream of infidelity, now I can't pursue him while we're here without appearing like a huge hypocrite and then open myself up to the masses. And to make it either worse or better, he lives in Oxford. Like 20 minutes away. And he's actually my age! And he wears his age so well and he's actually, genuinely funny. But this is still our vacation and I should be focused on you." Tatianna tried to console as she touched up her own makeup in the mirror.

"Hey, if you want to get dicked down while we're here, I'm cool with that. And if a weekend fling ends up being a little more permanent, I don't mind. Plus, Tristan and I got along pretty good. He's still at that "most girls have cooties" stage. Which is actually kind of nice.” She praised. 

"So what would you like for dinner?" Tatianna asked.

"Steak, and shrimp." Natalia answered. 

"So that's either Outback, Longhorn, Texas Roadhouse, Logan's…" Tatianna listed off.

"Let's invite Gabe and Tristan, see what they want." Natalia offered. 

"Really?" Tatianna asked as her eyes lit up and her ears perked up.

"Yeah, if your ears perk up that high at the thought of it. Yeah." Natalia grinned happily, happy to see her mom happy too. 

"Ok." Tatianna beamed before she shot Gabe a quick text. Oh this trip officially had the potential to go from good to great if Gabe said yes. 

To be continued….

[gatorkid509]

I posted 86 times in 2022

That's 22 more posts than 2021!

19 posts created (22%)

67 posts reblogged (78%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@momolady

@thecaffeinebookwarrior

@gatorkid509

@far-side-skies

@gothamcitycentral

I tagged 34 of my posts in 2022

#storm hawks - 20 posts

#sticker album - 7 posts

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles - 4 posts

#rottmnt - 4 posts

#my art - 3 posts

#stickers - 3 posts

#repo mantis - 3 posts

#storm hawks oc challenge - 3 posts

#rise of the tmnt - 2 posts

#repton - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 98 characters

#even thought i now think it's portrayal of killer croc is one of the characters poorer adaptations

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

A preview of some Storm Hawks redesigns of the Raptors, I've noticed the Raptors never really get a chance to be re imagined by other SH artists despite being very well liked in the fandom, but that's all going to change thanks to me.

Here's the 4 preview sketches! Not full body because I want that to be a surprise.

See the full post

12 notes - Posted February 10, 2022

#4

Finally got a chance to enter @far-side-skies Bird Month Challenge, I’ve attempted to participate before, but usually stopped either due to art block, not finishing on time and work. But this month I was determined to actually do the art challenge, and now I have and I defiantly want participate in future Bird Moth Challenges( Assuming I don’t quit half way through -_-; ) And yes, I did color it traditionally with my markers since I’m still figuring out my new drawing tablet and a new art program. So I had to be really careful when I was coloring, as well as trying to find the right colors to fit this months Sea Hawk theme.

So allow me to introduce the famous Atmosian film star Calliope Pandion.

Age: Reported to be around her late 30s( She doesn’t like sharing her real age)

Home Terra: Terra Atmosia

Bio:

Beautiful and very talented, Calliope actually had a pretty rough start to her acting career, taking bit roles and rarely getting a speaking part. But her big break came when a then unknown movie director Carmilla de Luna chose Calliope for her then upcoming movie Desert Heat, a romantic film that needed a beautiful actress to star along side the male Raptor lead. When they finished filming and the film was released, it was a huge hit with audiences( Mainly with human women) and propelled Calliope to stardom. Since then she had starred in multiple films, and has continued to act in more of Carmilla’s films since they both wouldn’t have gotten famous without one another. And with Carmilla, she has been dubbed as “ The Woman Mates With Monsters” by her fans( Her mainly human fans) due to a lot of her films having other species as her love interests. Their are however rumors that she actually hates working with actors and directors of a different species and treats her co stars badly behind the camera and Carmilla’s back, but they have yet to be proven.

Trivia:

- She has starred in about 42 movies in her 10+ years as an actress.

- While she does have many fans, she does have her haters, may of which are of the different species of Atmos that criticize how their species are depicted in her films( One Blizzarian hater stated that the film Eternal Snow had depicted Blizzarians saying “Hoser” to many times.)

And that’s Calliope, the idea of a famous actress in Atmos that’s secretly against other species  has actually been on my mind for months, as well as @uncertainty5​‘s BMC OC AVADA also giving me inspiration as well.( And no, I don’t think Calliope would work in one of AVADA’s movies since not only she’s heard he mainly makes propaganda films for Cyclonia, but also because he’s a Merb.

And Carmilla de Luna is a female parody of actual director Guillermo del Toro.

I hope you guys like( or hate) Calliope, I had fun drawing her and again, I’m so glad to finally have a chance to enter @far-side-skies​ Bird Month Challenge.

And good luck to all the other artist who are participating 

12 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

#3

Mission to Find Lost Storm Hawks Stickers almost half way achieved!!!!

Look what came in the mail today!!

The Stickers for the Storm Hawks Sticker Album!!!

I bought them of of ebay from who I believe also sold me one of the sticker albums, they were selling them as a sort of "mystery bags" and I brought them mainly because I was curious to what they are. And I did not expect them to contain the SH Stickers at all.

Though as you can tell, 5 of them are cut in half, possibly due to them being bigger then the custom mystery bags or they're made to be like that. And I don't know what's going on with the Sky Knight council sticker, it looks really weird.

Still, I'm glad I finally got my hands on some of the actual stickers since, like I've said before, they are really rare and hard to come by.

I know I should be filling the sticker album with them, but I don't think I want to, mainly because they look so good on their own. Maybe put them on my wall via thumb tacks/push pins since I don't want to simply stick them on my wall since it would be very hard to take them off. I'm not sure yet.

Also I totally fan girled when I saw the Murk Raiders sticker since they are my favorite Squadron next to the Raptors.

13 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

#2

Yeah, I fell back into one my very first fandoms, The Batman a.k.a. an underrated gem that gave use some of the best designed villains, one of the best versions of Batman, and some of the best episodes. Though it does have a lot of flaws( I still hate that they made Poison Ivy a teen just so she can have a connection to TB Barbara. They could have obivously made Ivy a botany teacher who turns bad, I know student/teacher friendships aren't seen as much in media because of student/teacher relationships, while controversial, are more widely known, but it's still possible)

Sorry, back to subject, I absolutely love the Team Penguin episode, something about this group of Gotham misfits banding together because Penguin saw a movie about teamwork just gives me the feels, and it makes me wish they teamed up again just for fun.( Maybe without Penguin because that means they can use either Firefly or Ragdoll's names for the group, The Gotham Gangsters/ Villains United sound much more cool) and it would mean more screen time for Ragdoll and Killer Moth as they didn't really get much screen time after that episode( Ragdoll made a slight cameo in Rumors and Killer Moth got a mention, which sucks as I find his mutanted form adorable and so fluffy!!!)

So for this drawing, I was curious about whether or not Killer Moth has instincts of a moth since he's now mutated into one, and I couldn't help but think he would unintentionally annoy Team Penguin with his new habits of chewing on their clothes and attraction to bright lights( an irony because Ragdoll makes jokes if Killer Moth has these abilities when they first meet). I'd imagine he would fly behind Firefly because of Firefly's jetpack emitting a bright yellow glow and trying to get close to it that they would crash into one another when he gets too close.( And he's definitely going to apologize for it since he can't help it.)

So yeah, here he is chewing on Ragdoll's sweater, I did color it with markers and you can definitely tell I did a pretty botched job at coloring KM's fluff, mainly his neck fluff as it looks too close of a color to his outer fluff, and I made part of his antennes. I also botched Ragdoll's colors to despite having the right browns for him, I made the left patch too dark so that hides his x shaped eyes( Speaking of which, how does Ragdoll see with those X shaped eyes on his costume? do they have tiny holes that let him see? This has been bugging me since I first saw him). I took a picture of the sketch just before I colored it just in case I botched it with markers( And of course I did) so expect a digitally colored version eventually.

Though I do have to say, I did get them pretty accurate to how they look in the show, Moth was, of course, really hard because of the fact I don't usually draw insects, but his fluff was really fun to draw. And Ragdoll was surprisingly easy for me, maybe it's because he's not as complex as other versions of him.

And might I add that Team Penguin was very close to becoming an all animal themed team if they included an acrobatics villain with an animal theme. Though I will let it slide as the only other animal themed villain that knows acrobatics is Catwoman and I don't think Penguin was willing to ask her join due to the last time the 2 teamed up.

Now I want to write headcannons for Team Penguin, doubt I'll actually do it, but who knows.

And so, I think that's pretty much it, tell me what you think.

18 notes - Posted January 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Guess what came in the mail today!!!

A official Storm Hawks Sticker Album!!!!!

I saw on the official Storm Hawks Wiki that there was a photo of a sticker album cover that was released in I believe Germany by a company called Panini. I thought " Whoa! Cool!!" And immediately went to eBay to see if someone was selling one! And their were two!! Both from different sellers, and I bought from both because I have no self control!( Actually the one you see here was more pricey, the other less pricey one with hopefully arrive in about a week, but I'm a bit concerned since they didn't give a tracking number, I hopefully find out soon)

And when I opened it I was both amazed and confused.

Amazed because I was looking at years worth of unseen pages that went right under Storm Hawks Fans noses.

And confused because they're wasn't any sheets that included the stickers like most sticker books I've seen/had, most of them either have the stickers at the end or in the middle. Does that mean I have to do more hunting for the actual stickers? UGGGGGHHHH!!!!!! Nooooo!!! I actually wanted those stickers!!

But... on the bright side, it has a POSTER!!!!!!

See the full post

26 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[spamlikely]

Keeping track of my favorite fics

Unfinished

-Obsidian by snowkissedmonsters

-Nothings Wrong with Dale by moonshine-nightlight

-Male dremora by monstersandmaw

-Gabe and Odessa by monstersandmaw

Finished

-Alard the Fae by momolady

-The Secret We Keep by frostsinth

-The Unexpected Human Problem by eruden-writes

-Male ‘yautja-inspired’ alien x gn reader by monstersandmaw

-Auberon the Room Monster by momolady