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oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years

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Trophy Chapter Eleven

Masterlist

You try thinking for yourself and Daddy isn't to pleased and its going to end in tears.

Warnings: Adult Situations 18+, Smut, Angst, DDLG, DOM/SUB, Punishment, Spanking, Tawse, Crop, Ass play, Pacifier gag, Wetting, Wedgie, Toys, Humiliation, Overstimulation? and finally FLUFF cos we all need a bit of a cuddle after this shit.

A/N: So I am super nervous about this one...More so than anything I've done before just because of the wetting but it is what it is I've warned you all so read at your own peril. And this is long hence why I couldn't have it in the last chapter lol I hope this makes up for the last one though... I hope you all enjoy

Taglist: @havenoffandoms @aphrodites-punch @charlieferret @thatgirly81 @two-unbeatable-beaters @fitnees-motivation-2020 @viking-raider @iloveyouyen @black-ninja-blade @strangerliaa @sofiebstar @thefangirlsblog @thatdamncutegirl

You fidgeted in the seat as Luke sat there smugly, he was pleased you had decided to come. Just a few more weeks and he would be free! free from that tyrannical mad man! no. He couldn't get to excited yet, weeks...It would be at least two before they drag him in to court and you'd sing on the stand! you'd come clean letting them know just how terrible it was to be kidnapped, to be forced into becoming a sex slave for Henry! God! Luke was so giddy he could taste the freedom...And maybe, just maybe if some of Henry's empire was left standing he could take the reigns himself. He looked over to you, you were quiet and different like you were on a mission it was slightly unnerving. You were angry and scared and confused... He could tell but there was a calm that he had only seen on Henry, he must have rubbed off on you...In more ways then one. Unable to take it anymore he broke the silence trying to dig for info. "You holding up there Princess?" you growled clenching her hands into fists still facing forward gulping, you looked wound tight ready to burst. Excellent. Hopefully you'd burst into tears as soon as they got there! what a show that would be! you come running in as a damsel in distress hell if that happened you'd be put into witness protection and he wont see you until the trial! he flinched as you snapped him out of his thoughts snipping at him in a tight angry voice, like a little hell cat hissing at him. "Don't! do not call me princess ever!" "Okay okay I'm sorry...That was thoughtless of me... I suppose you don't like that name huh? I don't blame you though what he put you through and all" you turned to him rolling your eyes at him. Really? but once he started he couldn't seem to stop, unable to shut him self up. "Not-not that I'd ever understand what he has done to you..We hear it but... We try to stay away-" "Then your complaisant in it? you knew but never helped...You know what it's like? You ever think what it feels like to have someone use you? Play with your body like a fucking toy?...To force themselves on to it? into it? no, no you don't, you try not to don't you? You would rather just turn a blind eye and ignore the screaming girl up in the bed room...You run and hide away like a coward" your words were cold and bit into him, there was an animosity there that he had yet to see in a female was this it? the famed 'girl power' that reared its head in the most dire of circumstances...Shit you were holding up to well,all previous thoughts of a simpering damsel died at your sharp tone...Like ice picks cold and biting, he had to know what you were going to say before he got there to come up with some bullshit excuses. He moved uncomfortably at your words...They hit a little to close to home. "..You decided what your going to tell them?" You gave a tight smile he had no idea what you were about to do, that you'd already figured him out, the man new nothing of subtlety...He was nothing like Henry, he was trying to be but...No there was only one king in this city and he was currently being questioned, you turned to him again and nodded wanting to placate him for the time being. "Yes I have...Do you have the bail money...I don't want to be here to long" "Well that depends of what you tell, them-"you interrupted him he was to be quite frank doing your fucking head in and you needed to focus anything you said today was going to have to be perfect and vague, You shook your head tutting and looked at him exasperated. "I don't have much to say I won't be in there long" you moved your head looking out the window as the building passed you by you had to hold your nerve in there. Had to tell them what you wanted them to know...Nothing else, nothing more. Go in a quick statement and get out with Henry... And when he gets angry; which he will your going to drop Luke in the shit you've had enough of the lies. "Look I can-We can help each other if you'd just tell me what your going to say-" you growled out in annoyance and finally snapped at him. "Could you shut up? for two minuets? just two fucking minuets?! fuck sake I'm going to deal with it okay..Just don't wanna wind up dead okay just ...Drop it" He got the message and kept his mouth shut the rest of the way not making a sound as he pulled up at the station you got out before Luke could stop you on a mission. You entered and made your way yo the front desk. "I'm here for Cavill are they done yet?" Luke staggered up behind you trying to figure out just what the fuck was going on. Why had you asked about Henry? Wasn't you about to throw him in the shit? you were supposed to throw him under the bus and set Luke free...Or was this cover to get an interview or something?The officer blinked looking to you then Luke before continuing in a bored tone. "And...Who are you exactly?" you steeled yourself trying to be more than you were, wanting to be taken seriously as an adult and...It had been a while since you had that, it was a little daunting. "His girlfriend and this is our driver...What's his bail?" The officer looked at you frowning then to the screen she began typing away giving you sidelong glances as if she knew you. a few moments later she turned back to you. "Err well nothing...Mr Cavill hasn't formally been charged he is still in questioning" you nodded and leaned forward slightly that didn't make sense Luke said? Oh shit!fuck fuck fuck! You should have just stayed home! You faltered realizing just how gullible youd been, if he wasn't arrested then that means the police really didn't have anything on him, you didn't need to make a statement to help Henry out! You quickly decided you needed to get out of here. Try to go wait in the car or something. "When will he be done? its been hours " The woman at the desk shook her head "I'm afraid I can't discuss that with you-" you nodded gojng to walk back out side but Luke gripped your arm in a tight grip, he would not let you walk out of here not when he was so close to getting his way! "I thought you wanted to give a statement about last night you are a witness...I'm sure they would like to here your account of what happened y/n" you swore panicked and tried wriggling out of his grasp but no i was too late. The officer blinked at Luke then to you slowly seemingly remembering something and pointed to you her face lighting up. "Wait Y/n? Your y/n y/l/n?" You frowned at her unsure how she knew who you were but nodded slowly uneasy you looked to Luke who just smiled at you. "Yes how did you?" She nodded to the missing persons board you were there dead center, that hadn't been there previously did they know? "I? What?" The officer got up walking around to your side she looked smug like the cat that got the canary as she came to a stop before you clasping your hands in hers. "We definitely need to take a statement from you, follow me" Luke gave a hard shove making you fall in step behind the officer, you glared back at him but he just stood there stuffing his hands in his pockets he looked pleased with himself as you sent one final glance over your shoulder as you were taken into a room alone with an officer. They would break you, you’d squeal, Henry would go inside and he would be free and take a decent retirement for Henry's stash!

Henry chuckled as he sat there refusing to answer the questions choosing to invoke his right to remain silent...He'd been here hours but he knew they cant keep him long. They have nothing, absolutely nothing on him! they never do. Stephan was mentioned so he knew that little twat was the one behind it..most likely pressing charges, or trying to press charges on him. nothing would come of it he wasn't there he was at home. "Did you have any contact with Stephan last night?" "No comment" was the droll from the bored man. "You did you were seen having an altercation with him last night at your restaurant...a miss Y/L/N was there to" that got his attention the officer smirked as Henry sat up now meaning business, but Henry stopped himself and smirked at the cunt infront of him. "No comment" "...did you know she has been reported as missing for nearly five months Mr Cavill?" "You fucking leave her out of it!" the officer smirked "So you do talk Mr Cavill...you know shes going to need to be questioned Stephan named her as an accomplice...did she know about this incident Mr Cavill?" Henry growled low and leand forward glaring angrily at the officer who flinched back suddenly not feeling so safe in his uniform.Good he shouldn't "No comment" "What is your relationship with miss Y/L/N?" "No comment" "Ah right that’s a shame... She said that your her boyfriend...Should I go tell her you wont even own up to that? it’d only take a moment...Shes giving a statement in the room over" "Bullshit she's at home" "Home? Your home because she isn't at hers" fuck Henry snarled at the little man trying to play a big game...officer rook by his tag...Officer Rook was going to have a nasty fall after all this. Henry's face must have said it all as something else was wrote down then looked up again smirking and carried on.

"So a missing woman you have no ties to is living in your home and calls you her boyfriend?" "Your tricks wont work on me shes at home" a sly smiled crept across officer Rooks face, he knew something Henry didn't and Henry wasn't happy. "Oh no your driver brought her here..Been in that room for just under twenty minuets...I wonder how much faith you have in her" Henry jumped up swearing loudly "Fuck you!" the officer smiled at him "Right well that’s all we needed today Mr Cavill your free to go we will be in touch" Henry was quick to stalk out of the room wanting to get to Luke asap he stopped short as you were escorted out of the room next to him a female officer patting your shoulder. "That’s all miss Y/L/N thank you for your cooperation..We will be in touch if we need anything else" Henry froze his blood ran cold as he watched you move away from the officer you turned and lit up.You little Bitch

You were escorted into a room sitting down with another woman a kind looking woman. She was down giving a convincing smile but you didn't buy it they wanted you to throw Henry under the bus. She offered you a drink but you refused and took a seat instead. "Now..Miss y/l/n we are going to just ask you some questions today about last night? Okay? And if...If there is anything anything at all that you want to let us know we will listen...We have...Ways to keep you safe...Okay?" You nodded deciding it'd be best to play meek little woman for the time being. "Right did you see Stephan last night?" wow she wasn't wasting any time was she? you nodded no point in beating around the bush you wanted this over. "Yes I did" she moved shuffling her papers getting ready for some juicey info no doubt. "Can you tell me about that? What happened?" "He came to the restaurant...Must have followed us there wanted me to take him back, groveling really I said no" she nodded writing down your answer "And by us you mean you and?" "Henry..Me and Henry were having a date night somehow Stephan found out and got in, he wanted me to go back to him...He is my ex and can't move on...He was escorted out after I told him to leave...I don't want to see her again" she hummed writing down everything you said. "So Henry is your boyfriend?" and here we go, twisting the topic trying to find out as much on Henry, last nights incident a ruse to get you in here, just as you expected. You fluttered your lashes like a woman in love, excited and happy you didn't want her to know you knew what she was up to. "Yes! we have been together for a few months...Its serious..Think he might be the one! But Stephan is bitter over it, he doesn't like Henry would do and say anything to split us apart...Stephan and I ended on a bad note" she nodded fraighning a sympathetic look she didn't really give a fuck she wanted dirt on Henry. "A difficult break up?" you shook your head at her this was not going to fall on you! "Sudden...I he had been lying to me and using me I found out and left he wasn't happy...He followed me about scared me then one day he saw me with Henry and I was happy and he got worse" she quickly scribbled down a few more sentences. "And you said you'd been with Henry for a few months...Does that have anything to do with your disappearance?" You faltered heart pounding away did you? Should you? Your mouth went dry.This was it...the moment you could...you frowned should you do it? You came here to get him out, you had no real reason to protect him or give him loyalty.? Accept you loved him...Did you? Was it real this time....There was a painful jab that hit your chest when you thought about never seeing the beautiful man again, it was fleeting but it solidified our resolve. As you opened your mouth to answer she spoke quickly trying to sway your decision. She moved placing a hand on yours on the desk. "Y/n? Are you okay? You can tell me...We can help you" you blinked and slipped your hand back and down into your lap. "No I'm fine I-I was hiding from Stephan... I knew he wouldn't stop bugging me, looking for me and Henry he offered me a place to stay and I've been there ever since we...We fell in love and that was it..." you took a deep breath she didn't believe you but she couldn't discredit you. "So you live with Mr Cavill consensually? Of your own free will?" "Yes I do...I love him..." her face went tight and twitched she wasn't happy. She quickly changed her tone sounding a little snippy with you. "And why now? Why come out here now?" "Because Stephan is trying to ruin my happiness... As far as he is concerned if he can't have me no one can...I'm not sure what he is accusing Henry of...But he didn't do it he was with me all night" she perked up at that looking at you intently "All night? are you sure that he didn't slip away? For ten? fifteen minuets?" you shook you head at her giggling a little. "No he didn't, I'm never left alone when we play" she faltered not understanding what you meant. Good, this will make for an awkward conversation that she will want to end. "Play?" you smiled blushing a little at her and shifted in your seat. "We have a particular interests... But I can tell you he was with me last night...We had a very intense night" that made her even more confused...And you thought you were being pretty clear so shes either innocent or just fucking dumb! "I don't understand? I'm afraid we need more then that...We need a reason" You looked around the room sighing fuck, fuck fuck! Your gaze traveled back to her your eyes squinted she was pissing you off. "I err...Its embarrassing" you went silent for a few moments looking to your lap picking at your skirt your confidence draining did they need to know...but it was the truth. "Everything is confidential? Right...just-just you and me no one else?" She lightened up sitting a little straighter in her seat thinking you’d changed your mind and was about to tell all.

"Yes, yes of course no one, not even Mr Cavill will know what has been said in here, this is a safe space for you y/n I promise" you blinked and let out a breath "Henry and I we...are into kinky sex...Bdsm...We had a very long and intense BDSM session last night Henry doesn't leave the room when I'm tied up incase things go wrong that's how I know he didn't do anything we were at it most of the night" you watched the woman flush as you spelled it all out for her and make her embarrassed you smirked a little happy that she now felt just as uncomfortable as you did. You knew that face though, she was picturing him naked...You can't blame her for getting all flustered your daddy was a fine specimen~ "So he didn't leave the room?" you bit your lip to stop your giggles when she spoke trying to salvage herself and be professional and finish the interveiw. But instead of making her squirm any more then she obviously was you spoke. "No he didn't" "Not even after you fell asleep? How can you be sure?"" wow this bitch was persistent! You stopped for a moment pausing...Why are you so sure? How could you know for certain that he didn't leave? think! think! she smirked leaning back thinking she had you but suddenly there was an idea out of nowhere and you blurted it out...This will fucking show her! "He fell asleep with his cock in me...Henry is...Large as I'm sure you can imagine...If he had pulled out I'd have woken up.....Now is that all?" You sat smug as she stuttered over her words shaking her head and swallowed dryly. Thats it bitch suck it up Daddy is coming home. "Err yes... Well just to clarify you and Henry were together all night .And you disappeared because you had a bad break up with Stephan and felt unsafe...Y ou moved in with Mr Cavill; of your own free will, and this Stephan has been looking for you, he found you last night and tried to reconcile?" You nodded as she read back the basics "And you refused him then Mr Cavill had him escorted out?" "No security escorted him out, it was reservation only and he was causing a scene then me and Henry finished our meal and went home where we both stayed all night can I go now?" She nodded placing her pen down "Right... You may need to testify in court if Henry does get charged, or new evidence comes to light" you smiled and nodded to her she was trying to get a reaction...Anything to use you'd give her nothing! She sighed scrunching her face sourly before speaking "I will take you off the missing persons list as well" you stood thanking her as she escorted you out of the room. You followed and looked down the hall at the sound of foot steps seeing a brooding Henry stalking towards you from the next room. Your face lit up as you saw him and the two officers in the hall watched tryingnto notice any little strange details. But you ignored them both.

Henry! he was okay! You smiled turning to him and ran he looked angry but in that moment you didn't care you were just happy to see your daddy unharmed...Not that you thought the police would touch him but you had your doubts. He returned your hug stiffly rubbing your back tucking into into the crook of your neck and whispered harshly in your ear "What the fuck are you doing here little girl?" You pulled back ignoring his anger for a second knowing the officers were still watching you closely. "Shut up and kiss me" you lunged forward catching him by surprise he quickly played along moving his lips against yours moaning kissing you deep putting on a show for the police... It worked as they cringed looking away. You pulled back slowly and gasped whispering quietly. "Are you alright?" "I'm fucking livid! You are in so much trouble you have no idea whats in store for you little girl now move it!" You gasped looking up at him hurt why was he mad? Did he think you’d betrayed him? "Your..I thought you'd be happy to see me daddy... I came to help" he frowned and began walking down the hall ushering you out of the exit. "I didn't need your fucking help! I needed your obedience...You've made it worse no doubt! Just be quiet you've done enough!" You whined as he marched you to the car opening the door for you letting you climb in, you turned to him as he went to shut the door. "H-Henry please I was-" he raise a hand pointing a shaking finger at you trying to curb his anger and slapped a hand harshly on the roof of the car hissing at you. "Enough! ....E-fucking-nough! Not a word!...You hear me?! not a single fucking peep! I'm so angry with you!" You flinched leaning back looking like a kicked puppy, why wont he listen? Why isn't he giving you a chance to explain? You had to try you moved looking up blinking away the tears blurring your eyes. "But daddy-?" He growled and leaned into the car pushing you to sit properly shoving and twisting you to face forward showing restraint he didn't want to hurt you yet. "What did I just say? Not a word! I don't want to hear a peep out of you! Not a whine whimper or sigh! You will wait until daddy wants to talk to you and not a second before!" You whimpered looking down trembling your bones shaking under the force of your fear ,he slammed the car door with an angry grunt and stalked around the back of the land rover getting in sitting next to you. He shut the door bringing a hand up to his face rubbing the bridge of his nose with a sigh he had a head ache coming. He cast you a severe look "Stop it...Little one stop your sniveling you know I wanted you at home....Put your seat belt on...Put it on now!" you ignored him to upset to really register what he said you just shivered replaying his dark angry tone controlled...Barely had you fucked up? you squeaked as he swore and lean’t across you tugging the seat belt and clipped it in harshly "Put your fucking seat belt on and stop fucking crying!" he moved tilting your head to face him, you jerked back at the cold fury lurking in his eyes. "Just wait until we get home!" you whined and quickly covered your mouth in panic not meaning to make a sound you were trying to e a good girl but it was hard when you felt so put out.

The ride home was quiet you glared out of the window feeling put out. You just wanted to help. Henry sat next to you his fist at his side on the seat you turned feeling more upset by the second. You shuffled forward to him but he didn't look at you just glowered out the window. You looked down, you shouldn't have let Luke get to you, you sniffled wiping at your eyes in vain as tears began to fall. Henry tutted at you as you cried quietly.Luke finally pulled into the garage and got out he looked back noticing that neither of you were moving. "Drop the keys and fuck off out..Everyone I want the house to myself now get fucked!" Luke sighed and nodded dropping the keys on the back seat between you and left quickly without a word. You both sat there in silence for a few seconds you were to afraid to move and Henry was to angry. He was fuming you, how? How could you go in there and tell them anything? Did you? was he wrong about you? He loved you so much, had he been blind sided? He spared you a glance it broke his heart seeing you so upset but, he was just to angry with you. He wanted to know what was said. The flicked his gaze over to where Luke had disappeared to. That was another question, the officer said Luke had brought you there. So just what the fuck was he playing at? Had you and Luke settled your differences to frame him? Or was there something more... Did you like Luke? Was he fucking you behind Henry’s back? All these thoughts raced around his head making him angrier by the second. He couldn't stand it anymore. Henry’s dark voice made you jump when he finally spoke "You embarrassed yourself today and you embarrassed me...I'm very disappointed in you and very very angry" You froze as he said this looking to him, even in this intimidating state you couldn't help admire him, he was just to perfect to handsome and strong. His jaw twitched flexing the muscles in his shoulders and neck, his eyes had become a dark royal blue fury blurring the normally bright irises. You took a deep breath before trying to do some damage control. "I-I'm sorry I just thought-" Henry snapped his head to you and sneered menacingly, he looked like a bully like a cruel man...He looked like a mob boss all cold and fierce. "You thought what? That I needed you? That you had to come and save me? They had nothing until you opened you stupid fucking mouth!" You flinched whimpering shrinking back into your shoulders you couldn't find any words that could help calm him down but nothing you thought of would help. "I-I didn't mean to... I'm sorry" "You fucking better be little girl! Let me make something abundantly clear to you...Last night was wonderful! A step in the right direction....But nothing has fucking changed...Absolutely nothing you are not my equal! You are not even fucking close, your a baby girl, my a pet, my little fuck toy! And you have got a hell of a long way to go before I think of you as anything more then that...You just want to hope that these charges are dropped!" His word hit you hard, the most spiteful thing he'd ever said to you. You gulped trying to brush off the hurtful comments, telling yourself they were said in anger. But the damage was done, it felt like a hot poker jammed in your windpipe hitting you with a crushing force...Nothing had changed? Last night this morning? It had meant everything to you and...Nothing to him just another game, just another round in this whole shit fest you hiccuped through your quiet sobs. "Daddy I just wanted-" he growled at you flexing his fingers as he snapped at you again throwing his arms out in anger slapping the leather of the seats. "Oh I know what you wanted and for your sake I hope you fucking chickened out or you have got hell to pay!" you looked to him wide eyed did he really think you'd rat him out? that you'd leave the station with him if you'd told them everything? "I didn't tell them about...I just said last night you were with me and that Stephan came to the restaurant..That’s all" "That’s all you better have said little girl! You better be telling the truth and trust me I will have a copy of your statement by the end of the week and if your lying things are going to get very very unpleasant for you... So if I was you I'd think long and hard about what you need to tell daddy" you blinked up at him trembling his voice was tight and firm, low he had that terrifying calm and collected anger...You-almost felt impersonal...It sounded like when he spoke to Fletcher, even though he called you by your pet name you felt like you'd stopped being his little girl and was now just business, something he had to put up with, rather then something he cherished. The thought of losing him despite lying for him made you cry harder you still tried keeping your sobs quiet wanting to still be his good girl, he told you to be quiet and you couldn't even do that! You just felt so bad. He was angry so so angry your stomach twisted you were scared, scared of what he was going to do when you get upstairs, scared of what the police would do if they would try to use you against him? But most of all you were scared that in some stupid miscalculation you'd just destroyed the relationship you had with this awfully addictive man. You panicked apart of you debating whether you should run but you stayed looking down ready to face what ever Henry was going to throw at you this time however you felt like you deserved it...You'd take anything he through at you and once his anger had settled and you proved how sorry you was you could explain, what you said why you were there...Tell him about Luke and how he had tricked you and put you on the spot. After that all you could do was hope he would believe you. You'd be his good girl until he forgave you....If he ever did. "Now go wait in the office daddy has to get a few things...Wait in the corner hands on your head" you trembled again and moved slowly unbuckling the seat belt, you gave him one last pleading look but he wasn't looking at you instead he was fiddling with the car keys luck had left on the seat. You were distraught he really wasn't even going to let you explain? He was just going to punish you? You jumped out of the car then ran up the stairs into the house crying your heart out as you realized that maybe you truly meant nothing to him? that this man who you fell in love with was just toying with you and was going to throw you away once he was bored.

You cried the entire time standing in the corner your hands twisting the sleeves of Henry's sweater nervously as you had them placed on the top of your head, one slipped down occasionally to wipe your face. You were on edge terrified...What if he getting the ginger out again? the thought made you bottom clench painfully.... What if he had something worse? you shuddered at the thought was there worse? you shook the trembles making you panic and struggle to keep your breathing steady hiccuping and freaking out but you stayed standing as still as you could, you wanted to be good, you'd take everything he decided you needed then...Then what? would things be as good as they was this morning? Even though it wasn't real and he didn't mean it... Another wave of tears started and you coughed wiping your eyes and nose not wanting to be a snotty mess when he came up here. Thankfully or... Regrettably? You wasn't alone too long maybe twenty minutes or so Henry came into the office, you didn't peek you didn't want to. You heard a few items being moved and closed your eyes pressing you forehead to the wall sobbing louder. Henry turned snapping his fingers at you in warning. "Hey!...That’s enough you knew what you'd get...Now stop your pathetic crying you don't have a reason to yet little girl..." you took a deep shaking gasp biting your lip trying to curb your almost hysterical crying long high whines still crept front you against your will. You heard rattling and something being spread out over the sofa and something like a pot being place on the hard wood floor. He was calm it seemed ,well he wasn't slamming things. It wasn’t long before he came up behind you you shook knees knocking as he stood right close, his thighs skimming your ass you took a deep breath closing your eyes you dared not even breath! Henry shushed you moving your hair back combing it with his fingers gently until it was all behind you then pulled it into a ponytail still hushing you. The soft words and slow fingers did nothing to calm you, it made you anxious he was preparing you for something. "Hush now...Calm down pet, that’’s it good girl...Now you know daddy doesn't like to hurt you...No no no he doesn't but when you are naughty; and you have been very naughty he has to correct you...doesn't he pet?" The words were slow and collected a deep voice made deeper by his mood it was a tone that commanded obedience and the power to sway ones opinion with clever words. You jumped whimpering when he moved his hands from your now secure hair drawing faint lines down your back placing his large palm to your lower back then drew his hand down to the hem of his sweater that drowned you. "Today you will learn to mind me~ learn that when I put you somewhere, when I tell you to stay you will stay there until I call you or collect you." He bite his lip at your tremble as much as he hated scaring you and much as he knew what he was about to do would most likely set you back a week or so he couldn't help be aroused by our fear. It did delicious things to you, your whole body trembled goosebumps rose across the plains of your soft supple skin and your breathing became shallow, labored whines and mewls wrapped up in each soft pant...And your eyes stunning beautiful and deep made lighter when all glassy wet with tears. As much as he would love to see them right now he needed you to obey to prove yourself, be his good little baby. He needed to know he could trust you. He also needed prove a point. "You are a pretty little thing like this, so sweet and innocent...Naive, but very very stupid much like a doll pretty to look at but nothing behind the eyes" His words were a baritone growl but what frightened you was you sounded like a thing...Not a person, he had always called you baby girl, little one..Pet but never, he had never objectified you like that before you were never just a thing. Never a doll, dolls were objects, things they were lifeless.The word coiled tight digging its way into your chest biting and ripping making you sob and panic. "Did you think daddy would let this go?..." he moved pulling the sweater higher drawing out gosebumps as he went, you were naked below no vests or bra...You didn't need them you were meant to be indoors all day. He growled when you didn't answer and tugged the sweater harshly slipping it through your fingers and dumped it carelessly on the floor. He grabbed your neck making you squeak and shake your head but fought the urge to grab him moving your hands back into position, planted firmly on your crown fingers interlocked and digging into each other. His fingers dug into your neck slowly cutting off your airway. He moved his face closer grunting in your ear a viscous whisper the words sharp and taunting. "Answer me princess! Did you think I'd let your naughtiness go? That I'd fucking let you get away with being such a back stabbing little cunt!?" You yelped as he shook you harshly you had to shift your feet to keep from tripping over your feet as his brute strength almost pulled you off your feet. But hearing a pet name did make you feel better not much but you were almost sure he wasn't going to kill you, which in your eyes became a real possibility when he sent everyone away. "No-o! No da-daddy I DIDN'T-I..I DONT DADDY PLEASE I'M SORRY PLEASE I DIDNT TELL THEM I SWEAR! PLEASE DONT-" you curled down sobbing louder fighting the urge to move, to turn and clutch at him all you wanted was in that moment was him. For him to reassure you, but what you got was biting words as he snapped at you. "Enough! Your getting what you deserve! Think you can best me do you? Well daddy has ways of keeping his little girl in line! You are mine! You hear me? Mine your mind body and soul belong you me!" In his rant he had released your neck all but ripped your skirt off and froze snarling. You did to knowing he had seen the panties you'd stupidly forgot to kick off when you came up here. "What are those?..." you went to twist to look at him but he snapped his fingers at you with a growl making you snap back up straight looking at the wall. Henry shook his head, had you been allowed to look at him you’d have seen his blue eyes blazing with disbelief and glee? Like he was happy he had another thing to punish you for. Despite what he said about not wanting to punish you he did, in his mind there was nothing better then punishing a naughty pet. He licked his bottom lip and pointed at the thin cotton, then snapped his head up? When he didn't say anything more you did turn tilting your head around and down to peek at the offending undies. "No don't fucking look at me! I asked you a question! Get your nose in the corner! What are these?" He moved a hand to sit on your covered ass and pinched the fabric you hissed as he caught a tiny bit of skin and whined jumping forward. "I..D-daddy please! I'm sorry" you jumped when he moved swiftly landing a hot slap to your bottom more followed heating your cheeks quickly making you squirm and jump trying to stand still yet wanting to throw yourself tighter into the corner to escape his palm. The tutted at your twisting hips and grabbed them in bot hands jolting you back to stand straight. "Keep your ass still! Now what are they? Hmm because they look like a pair of big girl panties on a little baby!...now what are they? You better start talking little girl!" He gave a few more strikes to your tender bottom then smoothed his hand over the cheeks smiling at the pink marks that frames the tiny undies, you bounced on your tip toes hissing and yipping at the light burn.

"P-panties! P-PANTIES I'M SORRY!please please daddy I'm sorry daddy" he tutted at you and pulled the elastic around one of the leg holes and plucked it stretching it letting it snap back making you yelp louder as it left a strip on your already sore bottom. He smiled at the cute sound. He wasn't to angry now, he hadn't been since he took a quick breather in your bedroom but he was annoyed in fact he was having fun. He wouldn't be touching you if he was truly angry but you didn't seem to know that, and you didn't need to know either your fear would make his punishment sink in. "And what the fuck are they doing concealing that little cunt from me? Huh? What have I said about them?" His voice was almost teasing daring you to play up ,to ignore him and answer him. He plucked at them again letting it snap back painfully in the same spot as before making the tiny red welt raise throbbing. "I'm n-not allo-wed th-them o-on daddy" you shook trying to catch your beath your ass already alight and stinging the nerves warmed by his impossibly hard palm. "That’s right but if you want them on? fine you get to fucking keep them on!" He moved forward quicker than you could react fisting his hand in the back of the panties and pulled them high. You screamed moving your hands to the wall in front of you trying to stabilize yourself. You screeched high and loud as he lifted you up by them, your weight falling into the gusset the undies crushing painfully on your cunt slipping violently between your lips then went back. It hurt as the thin cotton disappeared up between your cheeks stinging and burning your insides from the friction. You felt like you were going to be split in half when he tugged higher your toes just skimming the floor but couldn't take any of your weight. "No-daddy please stop-it hurt's daddy!" He clicked his tongue and moved his hand that held your panties side to side rubbing on your little pucker making it throb painfully, you wasn't sure what was worse the panties crushing your mound and clit or the burn of your panties rubbing the sensitive skin on the inside of your cheeks. "Kick off your shoes" you obeyed hoping he would let you down afterwards, quickly flicking the shoes off but he didn't let you down he held you there making you wince and cry out in pain panting and hissing through your teeth fat tears streamed from your squinted eyes. "This is what happens, daddy doesn't want to have to go over this with you again, if he does I will hang you up by them on the coat pegs in the foyer for everyone to see a naughty baby's cunny get its just deserts" he threatened in a deep voice sending chills down your spine. You nodded agreeing to anything if it will make him set you down. You panted taking deep breaths between your whines and pleas slapping at the wall. Trying to stop your feet from scrabbling around for purchase, each movement made your weight rock on the uncomfortable hold he had. Henry smirked and lowered you slowly and sighed at he let your feet got back to the floor he held your panties taught still. "You will not wear these again without permission if you do I'm going display you and then give you the injection and you will have no need to have any panties at all ever understand?" You nodded crying into your hands just thankful you wasn't still being held up by your ass.

Henry smiled and let go, good now that was out of the way he could move on. He captured your hands at they crept back to peel the cotton from its wedgie position he slapped them just clipping your hands with his fingers creating a swift sting. "Leave it you wanted them on remember now face me and keep those hands on your head" you turned whimpering hands back on your head. Your stomach dropp at what he was holding, an adult pacifier locking into the center of a long lilac piece of leather. You cringed shaking your head as him whining. "Nooo! no ple-please daddy I'm not-I'm not a baby please!?" He just tilted his head at you as if to say 'really?' And moved forward holding the nub at your mouth the kept your mouth shut tight but he just huffed at your reluctance.

"Open or I will open it for you, you need to be reminded that your not a big girl...But you don't want to be a little girl either it seems so now you are a baby; my baby now open your mouth" you mewled and opened up a tiny bit not really sure you wanted to see how he'd open it for you. "Good girl~ You see daddy has decided you have spoken quiet enough for one day pet he doesn't want to hear you~" Henry smiled a wicked grin nodding to you and forced the large nuk into your mouth he chuckled watching you cringe as you got your first taste of the rubber, he chose this particular pacifier because of its size, large with an orthopedic tip that flattened out. It would pin your tongue down keeping your voice muffled and you'd sound just like a cute little baby girl! He gave a lopsided grin as he secured the gag around the back of your head watching you carefully as you eyes widened, ah there it was you really were getting a taste now. But the other plus with the tips size was it held quite a lot of fluid. You’d find in a few moments that the tip wasn't meant to be a murky golden color oh no.

That was the watered down vinegar and bitter lemon mix, not strong enough to burn your tongue but it tasted vile and the pin prick hole on the bottom would drip feed the concoction onto your taste buds, a fitting punishment for a tattle tale he thought.

"You will learn to keep your mouth shut after this pet" You pouted around the rubber in your mouth unused to the feel of your tongue being so restricted. Your eyes snapped open as you could taste something, sour and bitter it was...disgusting you whined shaking your head and gagged again as the bitter taste got worse you moved your tongue trying to escape the awful taste but soon found it was coming from the trapped rubber teet....It was being drip fed into your mouth coating your tongue. You spat trying to spit it out but is was to late as Henry had made sure it was firmly wedged between your teeth. "There she is just a little baby...A little naughty baby now go kneel on the sofa and put your head on the seat...Off you go... go on shoo" You cringed as he patted your bottom as the waddled slowly making your way over to the leather suite. It was slow going taking baby steps as each step made your ass and pussy rub against the trapped cotton. Henry didn't seem to mind trailing behind you probably admiring the view.

The journey was painful and pleasant all in one confusing messy of sensations, the thin fabric had slipped either side of your clit and pinned it tight to your pubic bone your steps made it move, the undies massaging the little bud from either side. By the time you got to the sofa you wasn't sure if the throbbing was from pain or not. You whined uncomfortably as you got into position slowly praying that he couldn't see the slight we spot you knew you left on the cotton, your pussy weeping slowly becoming needy. You tipped your head placing your forehead on the seat and looked at your legs. You squeaked as he came over and spread your knees so you could see him standing there just behind you. You whimpered embarrassed by having your undies still stuck so far up your hiney bending over had just made the material press tighter on your pussy your clit felt bruised throbbing and alive. Through the pain and humiliation you felt it, your arousal body coming to life under his harsh treatment. The beginnings of humiliation on a completely different level, you bit your lip trying to will away the sensations but it was hard. You turned your face to the side and wept. "Aww whats wrong little one I thought you wanted them on? You want daddy to take them off now baby girl?" He smoothed his hands over your back as he taunted you pulling at the loose fabric that hung over your lower back. "I-it hur-tss daddy! I'm my...Its ssore daddy Pl-pleasse take them off daddy pleasse" you begged around the bitter plastic in you mouth you flushed as your words came out distorted like a baby you had a lissp and just like a baby you were dribbling all over your chin you tried sucking it up but it just made more of the disgusting taste from the paci seep into your mouth closing your eyes as you wept quietly into the leather sofa "Aww baby whats sore? Your little clit? Hmm is it pinching? Or is your pucker thats sore?" You bit your paci and nodded squirming and pressing back trying to ease the tension. "B-BO-FTH DADDY! BOFTH...it's ss-sore pleasse pleasse! I don't like it!" He smirked and moved his hands over your back then down chuckling as he went. You grimaced as he pried apart your cheeks whistling low running his thumbs along the inner skin of your cheeks making you whine your holes twitching. Your pussy muscles coiling around itself empty and unsatisfied you groaned feeling another small rush of arousal coat the cloth stuffed against the wanton hole. "Ah ah! No chewing your pacifier~ if that nub comes off my little baby might swallow it and choke.....Now lets see about these panties....Oh my they have gone quite high haven't they baby?... Panties aren't as good an idea as you thought? Are they my little love?.... But no, daddy will not take them off yet. Your going to get your spanking with them right wear they are and when I do finally pull them off trust me you'll wish they were there to protect your little pucker." You sobbed shaking slapping at the leather weakly tears dripping down your face joining the spittal that covered your cheeks smearing around the guard of the pacifier. You peaked through your legs as he moved stepping back releasing your cheeks letting them snap back into place you hissed the action made the cotton move again clenching tight in instinct trying to push away the discomfort. Henry moved the few feet over the room to the implements he had brought down, he had chosen the most severe your punishment wouldn't be long, he could easily split skin with some of these. No it wouldn't be long but it would be effective, you will learn that pain is not the worse of punishments no, now humiliation that was a very effective tool. And to top it off he wasn't going to restrain you, you would hold position or he would start again. He smirked picking up his first choice, a tawse. Painful and biting it left deep red welts that lasted days you'd be a very sore baby. He would have to be careful no more then ten he ha decided this implement was very unforgiving and with the others he planned to use today he didn't want to over do it. You quivered staying as still as you could knowing that anything you did out of turn would make him even angrier. You held your shuddering breaths cringing as you almost blew bubbles in your own saliva as he approched...What is that? What the fuck is that!? You almost jumped up when he stopped a breah away from you, the long strip was tucked out of sight but you knew what you saw that was a strap or-or a belt!

Henry could feel your panic and placed the tawse on your bare back letting you take a few guesses at what it was. You trembled panting panicking he frowned, he wanted you on edge, frightened not panicked and nearly passing out. He sighed and picked deciding it was best to ease some of your worries he moved it up letting it fall with a resounding slap on the leather by your side

"Look...Now this~ is your tawse but daddy will be calling it your strap, it stings and has a very nasty bite...you will get ten and then we will move on daddy has a few things he wants to make clear in this little correction, not everything is fixed with a spanking." You whimpered shifting as you turned to look at the long implement of your own doom. It was long about fourteen the fifteen inches long, about six of them was a flat sturdy handle the rest well, it was a strap long and flexible made of durable old leather. Despite looking old it was well maintained shiny like it had been oiled recently. The strap itself was two inches wide a small long v cut from the tip down to the handle, it'd swing faster. You couldn't explain the dread as he picked it up quickly looking between your legs seeing him ready himself.

"Count...You can do that cant you baby? Count to ten that’s how many daddy wants to give you... but its really up to you, being the big girl you tried to be daddy will let you decide....If you move-If you can't hold still then daddy will start all over~ So I should hope you do stay still as daddy doesn't want to be here all evening remember no biting that paci either~" you squirmed shuddering with new cries terrified.

You heard the movement, the swish as the strap cut through the air. Then he slap it was loud and sounded viscous...almost as viscous as it felt. You rocked forward and screamed high around the rubber the hit had been high on your rump and most hit the panties that gave no protection what so ever.

"Count Baby what was that?" You heaved deep breaths in shock of jus how bad that stung.

"One! It-I daddy I can’t pleassse Itss bad!" You sobbed digging your nails into the lather suite moving side to side.

"I’m sure it is but baby I can see your wet little pussy~ so it cant be to bad can it my love now ready? Daddy wants this over with, you have this and one more spanking and if your god daddy will make you feel better afterwards now straighten up the next few will be faster" you groaned catching your breath barely as he moved striking you in three quick consecutive slaps each lower then the one before. You called out the numbers two three and four screaming and bucking rocking wanting to get away but didn't want to start over, your cheek hotter than ever, the burn was extreme. You could feel the welts rise in an almost pins and needles tingle that remained. You kicked your foot up and through your hands back.

"No nonono DADDY PLEASSSEE I CANT STOP PLEASE" he simply moved your hands away.

"Well don't do the crime if you can't do the time...haha well that applies to you anyway...Now put those hands down...Now little one....In fact place them under your head...That’s it like that if I hit your fingers I could break one now you stay right there!"you whimpered putting your hands under your forehead as he waited he tugged the panties up a little more ad smiled

"Oh baby? Look a little wet spot? Are you excited? Its very cute that even when I’m spanking your naughty little bottom you still want me~" you whined as he peppered another four strikes up and down the legnth of your ass and thighs the same stinging lighting a fire on your skin.

"Noo Da-ddYYY SSTOP!" You cried harder almost choking on the pacifier. Humiliated that your pussy clenched with each hit making you cringe knowing he was looking, you could feel his eyes on it. You wailed as loud as you could with the rubber teet in your mouth every movement and sound making your mouth flood with the nasty taste that was still dribbling out onto your tongue making you cough as it went down your throat forcing you to swallow and suckle more out a nasty cycle. Henry grunted as you got louder kicking your feet before screaming as he landed another harder strike.

"Stop that noise this instant!! Honestly screaming the house down because you ended up having a well earned spanking....You know to damn well deserve it little one!" Henry's scold made you quiet down more out of fear of making him start again then actual obedience. "Two more than we are done with your strap... The final two fell and you sobbed into the leather below you adding to the puddle of dribble and tears that had formed already. He sighed rubbing your back moving his hand down to your still wedged undies and tugged slowly you sighed in relief as he pulled the trapped cotton from your ass quickly threading your legs out of the cotton with ease.

"Thank you, thank you daddy!" You sobbed Henry hissed a breath looking at your blistered ass the welts were bright and thin littering you ass in clean sweeps he could count the number of strikes he had dealt. He pressed a palm you them. You leand forward trying to rock away but he didn't let you instead rubbed softly barely grazing the strikes. "Tch Shh shh I know little one you are being a good girl... That’s it love all done see daddy hasn't got your strap now he put it away~....So so brave, brave little baby girl....But you need to learn your not Your not all grown up are you? Say it...come on tell daddy" you flushed at his words but moved to look up at him. He had nothing in his hand he moved to stand behind the sofa letting you sit up on your knees to see him.

"I'm a-a little gi-girl...A bad litt-le girl daddy!-I'm bad! I'm sorry!" He chuckled at the despair in your voice he moved forward kissing your head wiping at your tears he smiled when you moved nuzzling him sweetly trying to savor the affection. "No baby no your not bad...you were naughty and your nearly all finished...But daddy is happy that you understand your not grown up...Your not a big girl... you are a horny little one though whats all this?~" You shivered as he moved around you again holding out his hand glistening from the arousal on them. You flushed at him and moved your face away whining he chuckled wiling the fingers on your back and stepped away. "We will deal with that after this baby girl now spread your legs a bit wider...Come on now don't play up now when we are soo close to finishing my love...That’s it good girl I promise you behave just a little while longer and daddy will help with your little tingles" you flushed at the matter of fact way he had blurted it out. You spread your legs and not a few seconds later his hand appeared placing a small decorative bronze pot under your spread aching legs.

"Da-daddy? Whats? What are you-" you frowned as he disappeared from behind you making his way around the sofa as he spoke.

"Shh love this is just incase you make a mess you'll see now hold still you'll get ten on your little pucker and that's all your spankies out of the way and then we can move on, daddy will give you a little reward for being such a sweet baby and doing as your told and you can tell daddy exactly how you betrayed him~" you looked up at him over the back of the sofa blinking at him then frowned not sure you heard him, he was going to strike your actual asshole? He couldn't mean it could he? You shifted your eye to the long slim crop knowing he definitely meant it. You panicked as shifted starting to plead with him not wanting to go through something that sounded to painful. "NO NO PLE-PLEASE DA-DADDY I DONT WANT- I'D NEVER-" You jolted but he was ready quick to capture your jaw and pull you towards him and the back off the sofa straddling the bronze pot. "Oh no little one...Daddy has to know to teach you a lesson because daddy loves you...He loves his little one so much...And because I love you I have to teach you these hard lessons...Its for your own good" You moved back but he moved holding your jaw lightly moving tucking the tip of his thumb under the pacifier sheild running over your wet lip pressing up ton the tiny sliver of teet you whined as he action squirted the last few drops of the nasty mixture from it onto your tongue he smiled and shushed you. "That's it baby I know...I know its scary but I'm not going to be to hard on you..I promise just this then your punishment is over and you can have a reward for being such a good girl...Does that sound nice yeah?...Yes I know and we can get this icky paci out and clean you up" You moaned pitifully nodding resigning yourself to his final punishment praying he kept his word and wouldn't hit you as hard as he had with the tawse you don't think you could stand it

"That’s it good girl stay down...Your being so good, such a good girl just ten baby girl and you wont have to count...That’s it back down stay still"you crouched down he wasted no time swinging the crop making the end flick across your ass just clipping he tight ring of muscle, you could tel it was more of a wrist flick than a full blown swing but it was enough. You jolted up again trying to close your legs but couldn't with the bowl sat between them. Henry sighed capturing the back of your neck and pressed down keeping you bent your head on the back of the seat.

"Stay still love nine more...Just nine then its all over" you shook your head at him heaving deep breaths groaning and mewling as your ass burned that was torture you never realize just how tender it could be you felt the ring of muscle contracting against the sting that lingered.

"Now now you asked for this~ you disobeyed your daddy...I did warn you last time I had gone easy on you this time you are not as lucky now nine more" he moved quickly flicking the crop across your pucker then moved making it curl around to your front. You whined bucking away terror struck you as you quickly felt the need to go realizing suddenly why he had placed the bowl under you, it wasn't a bowl it was a chamber pot, you shook as he struck the same way again making that terrible feeling grow you couldn't even protest. A harder strike landed just on your pucker then another even harder well placed strike. You cringed trying desperately to hold it but it was difficult each strike made you buck and tense your stomach contracting placing more pressure on your bladder. One final vicious sounding snap of the crop was all it took you cried out sobbing loudly as you began peeing into the pot below you.

Henry stopped at the sound mission accomplished. He wanted to show you how much of a little girl you really were, to humiliate you and show you just how small you were and how much control he could have over you if he wanted. He grinned looking down as you sobbed embarrassed and heart broken he moved tilting your head up to face him, eye contact was key here you couldn't forget he was here watching listening he shook his head tutting. "Oh whats this? Oh I thought you were daddy’s big girl? I thought you wanted to be a big girl from the way you went and spoke to those officers....Daddy thought his little girl was all grown up! And could handle her spanking?....But no your not a big girl are you? Big girls don't wet themselves" you cried out in pain and humiliation as once the trickle started you couldn't stop, you cringed looking down as your peed into the small chamber pot he had tucked below you. You squinted your eyes shut trying to remove yourself wanting to ignore your surroundings but it was hard you could hear your humiliation as you continued to empty your bladder into the pot. Henry smiled at your discomfort he knew this would happen, fuck he planned for it to happen many subs couldn't handle there bladders when struck so precise on their little pucker's... Especially on their firs asshole whipping. "Oh baby look you must really needed to go? no self control at all huh baby...Maybe your not a little girl? maybe you are a baby?" you pouted and whined shaking your head and gagged again as the bitter taste was still being drip fed into your mouth coating your tongue this was something altogether different just knowing he saw you peeing was mortifying a punishment in itself, you cried out pitifully. "See! Your just a silly little baby can't even ask to use the potty~ such an embarrassing little girl!...Hold on daddy has some we wipes to clean up his little one stay" you shuddered sniffling in and whining when you left him come back behind you taking away the now quater full chamber pot. You hissed as he moved a cool wet wipe over your folds but he didn't top there moving up and down cleaning your arousal from your labia making sure to be thorough. "Oh sweety that was only seven! But you did have an accident so daddy will let you off the other three... wouldn't want you to wet yourself again would we?" You sniffled ashamed nodding as he Continued to wipe around your privates then threw the wipes away out of sight. And walked back behind his desk taking a seat deciding to give you a few moments smiling when you stayed perfectly still. A good obedient girl who knew her place, waiting for him to give the okay for you to move. As it should be.

Henry twisted in the seat staring at your down turned head the way you curled up on the sofa embarrassed and heartbroken you were a very sorry little girl as you should be!. He rolled his fingers flexing them leaning his elbow on the desk watching your body shudder from the shock of his rough punishment...A part of him...A very cruel sinister part wanted to leave you there alone in your despair to deal with the aftermath by yourself. Make you beg him, realize you needed not just his love and his comfort but also his permission...But he couldn't, he loved you despite what you'd done, despite how hard you'd just made things he couldn't leave you alone in this state no self respecting daddy forgoes aftercare not even for the worst offenses.Sighing he rounded his desk pouring himself a scotch he felt better but was still on edge. Once the crystal tumbler was half full he walked to the leather sofa placing it on the table beside it stepping over the chamber pot he'd covered and left by the desk out of sight. You shivered and whined hoarsely as he shifted you ,you wriggled wanting to be left alone but he wouldn't let you.You wept sorrowfully as he patted your bottom again and tipped you up sitting on the sofa beside you quickly seating you on his thick thighs you hissed at the friction of your welts on his soft trousers hiccuping. He tilted you bak a little one arm around your back holding one of your arms drawing small circles on your skin pulling goosebumps. One hand unbuckled the pacifier letting it fall to the floor and he wiped across your mouth cleaning you up with his disguarded sweater you'd been wearing. "Shush...That's it such a good girl its all over now all over love now can daddy have a peek? I know I caught your little pussy my love let me see....Come on baby girl open up... That’s it good baby" you let him pry your thighs apart the hand that was on your arm now holding your still quivering thigh. You blushed and whined when he lowered his head to look. Henry bit his lip he really had caught you, no wonder you were squirming and crying as you were. You were red and swollen, the hood of your clit supported a red outline of the crop. There was no cuts or grazes though which was good he moved his fingers prodding at you. Despite your wailing you had found some pleasure in the ordeal...He would have to explore this little masochistic side of yours at a later date for now he would reward your good behavior. "Not to bad darling, its not to bad a little pink but its hard to see around all your mess! Look huh? Your reward wont take long love" you shook your head trying to clamp your legs shut having had just about enough. He chuckled as you tried fighting his hold. "No no! Now come on baby...you earned it being so good for daddy and taking your punishment like a good little girl!" He maneuvered you holding you open you panted at him as you felt the cool air on both holes again. Your pussy was alive twitching trying to find something to latch on to. You jolted when his other hand moved to you clit holding a standalone rabbit ear clit simulator, it was tucked in his hand snugly. "No no ple-PLEASE IT'S SOOOORREE no no no no! I can’t da-daddy pleas i want a nap no nooo" he shook his head ignoring you and smiled placing the soft rubber to your erect throbbing clit and pressed it on you bucked yelping not realizing just how aroused you were it must have been lost in the stinging and heat! Only now just noticing the state you were in horny, hot, sweaty and panting. You rocked against his hand as he held the small powerful device a tight on you.He chuckled again kissing at your neck as you through your head back one hand fisted in his shirt the other on the wist prying you open for him. You whined curling up as he clicked it up a notch and made just the tips graze the tender hood of your clit. "AhAH NO-DADDY FUCK PLEASE fuckfuckfcuk NO IT HURTS DADDY TAKE IT OFF! IM NOT NOO!" You panted harder moaning letting your head fall back looking up at him moaning trying not to buck or grind as it hurt your stinging ass. "Thats a lot of adult words for such a sweet baby~" he taunted and began running the ears across your folds moving so you don't have to. He twisted his hand managing to somehow plunge three fingers in to you and balance the toy his thumb poised at the button.You grunted gasping mouth agape looking at him pitifully trying to chase your end that was building. You loved and hated the feeling all at once. His finger moved in individual rhythms twisting and curling this way and that stretching you. Drawing patterns on your insides avoiding that one spot he knew you needed him, you mewled quietly as he lowered his head mouth just above yours staring at your glazed eyes as he growled working your pussy for all its worth. He opened his mouth and laughed breathing you in.

"Come on love~ so good be a good girl and cum I know you want to~" you moaned and moved tucking your head in the crook of his neck as your walls clenched wanting to keep him inside as all costs. Your indies felt like they were being treated to a Pampering as his finger pads stroked them making your nerves buzz under his perfected ministrations. You mewled loudly into his eck as he finally relented twirling his fingers inside you rubbing your spot harshly forcing you to tighten around him you yelped and twitched curling your abdomen as you trembled his finger moving firmer and firmer circling and tapping as he thrusted into you the sloppy sounds made you flush and whine again gasping as your body shuddered uncontrollably you could feel it. Just with in your grasp! Our insides were hot and wet twisting around his fingers as they moved faster slapping the vibrator against your clit with each deep determined thrust.

"Ah AH AH FUCK-YES PLEASSSEE-I DADDY!?" you fisted your hands in shirt turning to clutch at him bucking trying to ride his fingers. Your ass burned and your insides twitched. You grinded faster grunting at him when he flicked the vibrator higher that was it! You burst comming undone on a loud moaming and withering. "DADDY!~ AH FUCK FUUUCK PLEASE DADDY UGH YES ITS -so good so-thank you thank you daddy I’m sorry! Im sorry I didn’t it wasn’t-" Henry just held you removing his now drenched fingers, youd cum hard. He could feel your body go slak cagainst him s oothing your hair back kissing your cheek and neck.

"Thats it my precious girl~...my good baby , perfect little one its all done....thats it all done my love so good" you wept into him eve rything catching up to you you hugged his neck breathing him in just hopeing he now forgave you, calmed down enough to listen not that you thought you could say much you were just to messed up. He held you for what felt like hours rocking and shushing you.

"I-Im sorry but I really didn’t tell on you daddy...I really didnt i wouldnt...I love it here...even when you...do this i feel good after...better" Henry held his breath for a few seconds and smiled. He kissed your head and wiped your tear stained face.

"Do-do you forgive me daddy?" Henry took a deep breath and didnt answer that made your heart clench your tears coming back how you had any left to cry was a mystery to you. You placed your hands over your face and sobbed. He didnt he still hated you, he would find out what you said and throw you out you just knew it!. Henry noticed his mistake to late as you broke down in his lap again, he moved to pull your hands away from your face but you jerked shrugging him off. He frowned and pulled this time using his strength removing your hands his blood ran cold at your devestated face. You struggled to make him releas you but he didnt only held you tighted "Now now little one shh its okay...i do forgive you i love you -hey enough of that don't be so stubborn...Daddy forgives you will make it better...Shh shh you took your punishment very well...Now come up sit up for daddy" you wept not believing him as he tilted you cradling you to him. You grabbed his shirt crying harder hiccupping still a sorry mess your body throbbed you were exhausted and your nerves were shot. And your mouth still had that vile bitter taste. "D-Daddy I'm-I'm sorry so-o sorry daddy please- don't leave! Dont throw me out please i dont i want tobe here with you! I didn't he told me to! He-he pushed me...told them I knew!" you babbled still frantic trying to calm down Henry rose a brow "What baby zIm not...is that what this is about oh honey im not going anywhere and im not getting rid of you love.....okay? Your here with me and everything is all better but i need you to tell me exactly what happened Who pushed you baby? Hey hey shush thats it baby doll who told you- what did they tell you?" You sniffled loo,ing at him for a few seconds and took some deep breaths still jnsure of where you stood but you had to talk, to help him you could fix this, you could. "L-Luke...He he sai-d that you needed m-me...That I wa-as going to prison with you!" Henry growled and you flinched away again but he was quick to console you stroking your hair you were still shivering and trembling...probably getting cold now. He moved pulling a small fluffy throw he kept in here for you and wrapped it around your shoulders concealing you completly in the heavy blanket. He rubbed your arm lightly trying to encourage you. He moved his drink to your lips. "Come on a small sip...Thats it good girl..haha oh I know its strong huh? shh thats it now daddy needs you to tell him what Luke said to you princess" you looked up at him and shook your head as another wave of tears started and you tuccked into him leaning your weight on him resting your head at his heart letting the soft thumping sooth you. "Hey hey its okay little one...You can tell daddy...Daddy isn't mad anymore he just wants to know what was said...You can do it your such a good baby...I need to know were you plotting against me?" You looked up at him through your tears shocked and gasping your heart shattered at the broken look on his face cracking his gaze was so defeated another wave of panic washed over you.No he can't you have to tell him! tears fell as you shook your head. "I-I didnt! I swear daddy I didn't say anything! They wanted me to make a statment..She recognized me! Luke told her daddy! I didn't have a choice-" Henry growled moving the drink to his mouth taking a long sip the plced it on the side table with a soft thump. Yhen with a loud intact of breath he began speaking irritated and exasperated. "And you know what? He wouldn't have if you'd been here at home like daddy told you! would he baby? noo you wouldnt have been in this situation now if you'd just been a good girl!" You wriggled back whimpering quivering at his dissapointed tone feeling scared and small. You clutched at him worried he was starting to get all wound up at you again. "Now..What else happened now that your calmed down I can make sense of it all" he lifted you perching you on his knees, for a second he smiled at you naked and quivering wrapped in the throw, your red tears stained face and guilty pouting expression made you look the part of a very well punished little girl. He moved his hands across you gently rubbing you trying to ease your tight acheing muscles. "I-I Luke..he said I'd need to be there!" Henry frowned "What did he say love? I don't think you'd fall for just that" "Af-after they took you away...Said you were going to prison...That I'd go to prison to....he said that they had something big and-and that I needed to make a statement, tell them about Stephan last night or you'd be put away...And-and to pay bail money!" He hummed tucking your hair behind your ears and froze moving his fingertips down your jaw lightly frowning. Bail money? "Bail money? baby I didn't need bail..They I wasn't arrested my sweet girl" "I didn't know that till he got me there! I didn't-please daddy he made me! He said I didn't have a choice! That you were arrested and if I didn't come pay the money I'd never see you again!..He scared me! he was mean! He called me names to making me cry- a-a sexy doll and slut! and-and when I was upset he started saying I'd go to prison to cos I'm your girlfreind! thats all that's why I came there! He said I had to...To save you!...That you needed me..."Henry eyed you carefully and tilted your face up again you were determined to avoid his gaze and he didn't like it. But then again he didn't like the fact he had jumped the gun and wailed on you before hearing you out you either. Yes he stood by his punishment....Well some of it you should have stayed here. But maybe you didn't deserve such humiliation, it was a god send you were now telling him everything after what he had just put you through. He motioned for you to continue wanting you to explain. "He-he wanted me to...Tell them...About how I got here...He didn't say it...But thats what he meant...and then he told the police i wanted to tell on you..i didnt i realized then and just wanted to wait in the car...Luke pushed me to go with her to that room" Henry hummed he believed you it wasnt hard, Luke wanted a way out, and the man didn't like you one bit hed have no qualms about sacrificing you to save his own skin. But it was risky pinning all his hopes on you and fucking stupid did he really think you wouldn't tell your daddy what luke had been up to? could Luke really be that stupid? Henry cursed watching the tears fall from your eyes and you trembled. "Please-please daddy you have to belive me I'd never- I don't want to leave...I don't want you to leave me daddy please..." though pitiful as your pleas did sound sincere henry felt a deep pit forming in his stomach. he had just put you through hell, he made you fucking piss yourself! and used the most painfull of his arsenal. He felt like a right cunt!

"Shh Shh it's alright baby...Daddy believes you daddy believes you baby girl....He frightened you into going in? So Luke's trying to set me up now? Along with Stephan heh... You sure your not going to join them pet?" He meant it as a joke but your reaction was instant You shook your head holding your tender neck smoothing your cool fingers over it. "No...Stephan wants me to go down to...Luke said he is bitter...Stephan knows I slept with you last night" you mumbled slowly wanting hims to believe you, you needed him to believe you, to understand you were helping him! He looked up confused he began rubbing the back of your neck his warm palm helping eamse. the pain his other hand rose and scratched your scalp slowly letting you move your head angling it to get his hand where you wanted it at the side of your head. "What was that love?" you hummed twisting your head again as his strong fingers massaged your scalp harder in slow circles making your tension headache fade. You licked your lips before starting to explain to him what had been said. "Luke told me Stephan knows about us..That he was angry when they dropped him off..Was really mad- should I not have known daddy?" Henry cursed and chuckled shaking his head fucking unbelievable. You flinched as Henry moved collecting you in his arms again holding you tight kissing your head breathing you in.Henry was quickly starting piece everything together, it wasn't Stephan... Well not really it was Luke manipulating everone trying to play in a kings game!. Your whimperes pulled him out of his thoughts and he spoke soothing you. "No it isn't that....Babygirl I just I know whats going on Luke told him about us...Luke provoked Stephan and You... He was using you both...He was counting on you telling them everything...I?- did you? Tell them everything?" you cringed at how uncertified he sounded he small his voice ended up being, it made you feel uncomfortable. You shook your head smileing at him shyly. "No-no daddy I didn't, I said that Stephan came to the restaurant, that he is an ex who can't get over me and has a grudge against you...And that I didn't go missing I found out Stephan was using me to left cos I was scared of him and you offered me a place to stay...And...And that I-I'm in love with you.." Henry blinked sighing flopping back into the seat with a sigh maybe you did help him then. If you could both make it out to be a jealous ex lover it'd explain your sudden disappearance and why Stephan was so determined to pin this on him. "Anything else? I need to know" you twiddled your fingers at him and nodded feeling slightly embarassed but you knew he had to know...It's just...how was he going to handle you telling the police about your sex life? you flushed just remebering it, it had been so fast you hadn't really tought about the fact they now knew that you got tied up and spanked. Henry furrowed his brows at you as he watched you go pink...What the fuck had you said? "Th-they want me to testify... About Stephan....They took the statement about what happened last night...And after that she- the lady tried to say you'd have done..What ever they think you did, once we got home I said you couldn't have cos...Well you never leave me alone in a scene...She didn't understand so I had to tell her...A-About the err BDSM thingy... She carried on saying youd have left when i was asleep and ...I had to say something...So I told her...I said that you couldn't have slipped away during the night cos err... well i kind of said you slept erm in-inside me so...I'd know if you...yeah" Henry grunted trying to bite back a chuckle as you flushed brighter. "Cockwarming? Thanks for that....How'd you even? Do you? Do you want to try that baby doll? Want daddy to keep you full all night?" you flushed brighter he chuckled relaxing feeling much better he didn't think you had dropped him in it..Not yet anyway but he would have to keep you on a very short leash they would take this to court its the closest they have come to getting him. he sighed into your hair kissing your head again, you hadn't handed him in, and Luke... Yes it made sense Luke would have known that he didn't need bail but you wouldn't, it would make sense to you you didn't know any better. Just that alone made him believe you. He moved forward making you squeak and hold him tight as he heaved you up in to his arms and stood moving the blanket to cover your form and keep you warm then made for the bedroom wanting to give you a shower and put you down for a bed. An early night was what you needed now after a day like today.

Henry smiled looking at you curled up in the bed, you'd been good letting him take control and look after you. You'd only whimpered when he was washing you as he moved across your swollen bruises and welts he'd left across you. He felt guilty but what's done is done. He can't take it back no matter how much he wanted to, he tried making it up to you by lathering each and every mark with kisses as he massaged lotion into your damp skin afterwards, being careful to rub away your tension it was that; that had sent you off to sleep and somehow he had dressed you in fussy pajamas and tucked you in whilst you were in a deep sleep. He was happy even in his guilt, he would admit he jumped the gun but he now had a new target.

One that had no idea he was coming for him, one who had a very high price to pay, no one upset his baby girl, no one scared her. He couldn't tell if he was more angry over the fact Henry himself had missed the signs or if he was angry over the fact he had taken it out on his little girl before letting her explain.

Once he was sure you'd be safe and sound up here he moved to the side whistling in a high pitch through the house hearing the tapping of claws. Kal climbed the stairs panting happily making him smile at the bear. "Kal come on you lazy boy time to earn your keep...In" he motioned the dog to enter the bedroom with a flick of his head, the akita followed Henry's instructions and entered the room then turned to look at him as if to say 'now what?' Henry reached out ruffling his ears and scratched the dogs muzzle before moving cupping Kals chin making him look at him. "Now you look after your mother....You keep her safe boy understand?...Good now go give her snuggles she needs a bear hug" kal gave a quiet 'boof' then got up and pounce onto the bed curling up between you and the door making Henry grin before closing the door. Once in the hall he took a breath and locked the door, no one was getting in tonight. He did one final check making sure his knife and gun were both concealed once satisfied he pulled the tight fitting suit jacket around his abdomen and fastened the button then began walking, his polished shoes echoing off the floor he tried to be well dressed when being out on business, he pulled his phone from his pocket as he made his way down the stairs. "Hello Liam how would you like a promotion? oh you would? great meet me down at Pearls..Bring Luke...Oh your there already? enjoying the new girls I take it?...Theres no need to thank me...And Luke's there to? Excellent Keep him there I will be with you very shortly!" he hung up grinning tonight was going to be very smooth and clean by the sounds of it. It was time to take care of a rat.

#mob boss henry cavill #henry cavill smut #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill fic #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill x you #henry cavill x y/n #henry cavill x female reader #henry cavill is daddy

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broadstbroskis · 4 years

Text

present tense | matthew tkachuk

back on my childhood friends to (enemies to) lovers bullshit here! have a nice 5k matty fic that was not the fic i set out to write and is far better for it! one flashback-ish area set in italics! enjoy!

-----

There’s a picture that sits on the desks in both of your dad’s offices-in the Blues training facility and over at Enterprise Arena-that everytime you look at you can’t help but scoff in disgust. Sometimes you even flip the picture down, if it stirs up particularly loathsome feels at that moment in time. But each time you end up back in his office, the picture’s back standing, in its usual place front and center on his desk.

You can’t figure out why. Sure, you’re by far his favorite kid (suck it, Josh and Seth), but for him to keep a picture that’s close to fifteen years old on his desk that features you just cheesing it up with a guy you can’t even stand anymore is a little ridiculous.

“Just because you don’t like Matthew anymore doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t,” Your dad tells you bluntly, anytime you try to mention that fact to him, which you definitely should have known better. He and Keith had only become better friends since Keith’s transition to his front office role.

“I still don’t understand what went wrong with you two.” Your mom huffs. It’s the biggest tragedy of her and Chantal Tkachuk’s lives, the day that you and Matthew were no longer best friends and neither of them ever miss a chance to lament that fact. “Best friends one day and then not the next. What could possibly have happened that can’t be fixed?”

“Can’t fix asshole!” You respond cheerily.

“YN!” Your mom snaps.

“What?” You shrug. “It’s self-proclaimed!” She gives you a look and even though you are 22 years old, you know what thin ice looks like, so you merely smile back at her.

And there’s the other thing. For all that you can barely stand to be in the same room as your former best friend, the rest of your family loves him. Your dad and Seth will golf with Matt and Keith once a week now that it’s summer and he’s back in town. Josh invited both Matt and Brady to his fucking bachelor party this summer. The entire family will be at his wedding!

You literally couldn’t escape the guy. Your summer had barely just begun; it was only a few days after graduation, and already the pressure was on to keep applying for jobs or decide to go on for a Masters. Josh’s wedding was fast approaching and Nicole had the entire bridal party running all around St. Louis in preparation.

The last thing you wanted was to have to deal with Matty.

-----

From the minute you and Matthew Tkachuk were thrown together it’d been instant connection. You can’t recall the exact moment you’d met; you can, however, remember running through the halls of hockey games, trying to keep up with your older brothers at barbeques as Brady tried to keep up with the two of you, sharing secrets under blankets, and making promises to each other in the dark that you were too scared to make in the light.

Until you were sixteen, you’d both kept those promises, each and every one of them. The smallest things, like promising to bring two snacks to an after school event, to the biggest things, like always being there for each other.

You were Matty’s biggest cheerleader growing up, quite literally sometimes, showing up to his hockey games in your cheer uniform after a practice or competition. And even though it was clear from early on that Matty was destined for great things, he never made you feel like he’d be leaving you behind, celebrating all your accomplishments the same way you’d celebrated his (far more incredible) ones.

But the distance apart during his first year away at the NTDP changed something. You no longer had Matty to rely on to have your back unconditionally. He was up in Ann Arbor, crushing his dreams, and you were so happy for him, really, but that left you at home and for the first time, realizing what Matty’s dreams would really mean for your friendship long term. You threw yourself into cheer, into your other friends. When his responses to your texts took longer and longer to come, you realized that you were doing the same thing- what’s the rush to get back to someone who’s only going to take three days to respond to you?

And then summer rolled around and Matty came back and acted like nothing was different. He’d swept you up into his arms and twirled you around, proclaiming how much he missed you, while your families looked on and laughed, especially at how you’d whined at him for messing you your hair.

“You didn’t miss me?” He’d pouted, poking you until you’d admitted that you did, of course you did, and that brought the grin you knew and loved.

From that moment on, for the rest of summer, the two of you were inseparable. It’s like every minute you couldn’t spend together was a wasted one. For all the time that went between texts when he was away, your phone was blowing up now that he was back, unable to stop talking those scarce moments when you were apart.

It became expected, amongst both your friends, that if you invited one of you somewhere, the other was showing up as well. You were blowing off after-practice Starbucks runs for Matty to pick you up and get lunch. You’d found out later that he was moving workouts and basketball games with some buddies so they’d coincide with your practice times. Very quickly, you’d fallen back into old habits, but no one called you out on it, accepting both of you easily, and merging friend groups fairly seamlessly.

As the summer went on, the looming date of Matty leaving again started to hang over your head as the-thing-that-just-wasn’t-mentioned...but that didn’t mean it was ever far from your thoughts. It would pop in at the worst times- when the two of you were grabbing coffee and driving around, when you were lying by the pool for the afternoon, when you were bickering about what movie to watch that night.

You’d just wanted to forget for one night, that he’d be leaving you in just a week, and Paul Morgan’s house party seemed like the place to do it. There was cheap booze flowing, shitty beer in your cup, and it was easy enough to keep the smile on your face surrounded by your friends.

But you couldn’t shake Matty, the entire night, who was right on top of you, his arm wrapped around your shoulders first, and then playing with your hair, and then his palm splayed against your back. How were you supposed to forget that he was leaving you in seven short days when his thumb was brushing over your hip bone?

You’d shoved him away, offering some excuse about the bathroom, but going instead to hide in one of the rooms upstairs. The tears had started almost as soon as the door shut, your body shaking as you’d sat down on the bed. Was this going to be the new normal? Days without speaking, only the most vague responses when you did, barely knowing each other for most of the year, only for Matt to come home and cling to you for three months of the year?

That it was Matty who’d come to find you was entirely unsurprising, opening the door more gently than he did almost anything, but then rushing to your side once he saw your face and pressing to know what was wrong.

The combination of alcohol and nostalgia had gotten you. “I can’t do this every year, Matty. I can’t pretend everything is the same when you come home, when you’re away and we’re like total strangers.”

“So let’s not be.”

You’d laughed, pretty hollowly. “And how are we supposed to do-” But before you’d even finished, he’d kissed you.

There are things you remember so clearly from that night, your first time. The way Matty had looked at you anytime he pulled back from kissing you; the way he’d laced his fingers into yours as he’d entered you so carefully, like he was terrified of hurting you; how tenderly he kissed you each time he pressed his lips to yours. The fuzzier moments are some of the words he’d whispered to you both during and after, the things that sometimes return to you in a dream- how beautiful you were, how perfect this was, how much he adored you.

That he loved you, that he always would, that he only wanted you for forever.

Usually in your dreams, that was when you woke up. But at least you didn’t have to see him kissing another girl that way.

-----

Bridal showers were one of the worst things you could possibly think of, but you’d give anything to be at one of those stupid traditional showers where all the women sit in circle for hours and the old ladies cry over what great gifts all this stupid shit is, if it meant you didn’t have to see Matthew.

But no, Josh and Nicole had to go “non-traditional” and throw a co-ed shower. “We’ve already got a house.” You’d heard Nicole explain to yet another older relative, the same thing she’d said to the rest of the bridal party (granted, sounding much less like she’s tired of saying it) when she’d first tossed the idea out. “We don’t need a bunch of stuff we already have. We just want to get a bunch of our family and friends together.” And for you all to stock our bar, was the second part of the joke, and the theme of the party.

Nicole hadn’t looked stressed about this day- which was supposed to be a casual get-together at your parents with family and close friends-until the comments had started to rain. You can see the eye twitch start to go in your future sister-in-law and as she’s explaining the concept to another aunt of hers, you slip in next to her with another glass of champagne. “Can I steal you please?”

“Of course!” She beams, excusing herself from that group. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just don’t want you to murder anyone before you marry my brother this summer!”

She laughs. “Thank you. For the record, the same goes.”

“Me? What have I done today? Seth is the one who opened that $600 bottle of wine accidentally!”

She gives you a look. “I saw the Tkachuk’s walk in, including Matt. Be nice.”

“I will if he is.” You say childishly, sipping on your own glass of champagne.

It’s just your luck, though, that I saw the Tkachuk’s walk in means here they come now. In classic Tkachuk fashion, Keith and all three kids are shoving each other around, and Chantal is rolling her eyes, right up until the moment they reach you and Nicole, when Keith sends once final shot at Matthew, before regrouping to congratulate her along with his wife.

“Where’s that brother of yours?” Keith wonders, craning his neck. “We’ve got some putting to discuss today.”

“Here we go again.” Taryn mutters, rolling her eyes.

“Hey now!” Matt protests. “Joe and I won that fair and square. We’re just better golfers than you two.”

“Better cheaters, more like.” You mutter into your champagne glass, but it’s just loud enough for everyone to hear and Keith and Taryn laugh even as Nicole and Chantal sigh, like ugh, this already.

“No need to cheat when you’re just this good.” Matty grins back sleazily. It seems to be the smile he reserves specially for you; you’ve never seen him break it out for anyone else.

You plaster the fakest smile on your face. There’s no reason for you to be so hurt by an otherwise innocent comment-after all, despite him professing how much he loved you, you were never actually together-but even now, you can’t help the feeling that hits you when he even mentions the word cheat. “Well you’d know best, wouldn’t you?” You say, managing to feign a cheerful tone to make your fake smile.

Chantal smiles, not catching the dig you’d intended it to be. “Well it’s nice to see that the two of you are at least capable of putting your differences aside.”

“Yeah, my wedding is looking so much more promising!” Nicole teases.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Even if Matty manages to control himself enough to not start a fight, you’ve still got Seth to worry about.” You nod over at your brother, who’s apparently already given up on glassware, and is carrying around the $600 bottle of wine he’d cracked open earlier in the afternoon.

“Yeah, and even if YN manages not to shit-talk all the other guests, I’m sure Joe and Dad over here will throw something out there as soon as they get a few in them.” Matthew snarks back.

“Well that lasted long.” Keith says pleasantly, like his own son hadn’t just rudely thrown him under the bus.

“We shouldn’t have expected less.” You hear Nicole say, but you’re too busy arguing with Matthew about which one of you is going to be worse at her wedding to respond.

-----

The worst thing to come out of the summer that you and Matt had spent attached at the hip only to end up hating each other is that it had actually made your separate friend groups become friends. So now anytime he was home, it was fairly common for a large group chat to go out to round up the squad for a night out.

Which meant yet another night where you were stuck with Matthew.

Even more annoyingly, when he does show up at the bar, he’s nothing but nice. He immediately waves off cards from everyone, offering to pick up the tab for the night. You’re shocked when he remembers that Mel, your best friend, is going to med school in the fall, and he shows, like, genuine interest in her move to Boston and offers her a few places he remembers from Brady’s short time there or recommendations from friends.

“You’re being ridiculous.” Mel says, when she drags you out on the dance floor.

“Says who?” You return petulantly, like you have no idea that she’s talking about the sour face that you’ve been making most of the night.

“Um, all of us.” Mel tells you. “Behind your backs, because we think whatever happened between you and Matt is dumb.”

“You talk about us behind our backs?” You cry, outraged.

“Well if the two of you aren’t going to tell us what happened to our faces, then we had to speculate somewhere!”

And that was never going to fucking happen. You’d never told anyone what had happened between the two of you and as far as you knew, Matthew had never broken the unspoken agreement to never tell anyone, either. You certainly remember the sound the smacking palms had made when Nick had high-fived him for managing to “get something” from Sofia Taylor only a day after you had- “There’s nothing to speculate.” You tell Mel, stopping that train of thought and falling to an old standby. “He’s just an asshole.”

“An asshole who’s buying all our drinks tonight?”

“Yes.” You state stubbornly, and knowing she’s not going to win this one with you, she drops the subject and just starts dancing, shouting along to some of the throwbacks you both know and love.

When she leaves you to grab another drink, her spot is quickly replaced by another body, and you loop your arm around the neck of the guy that takes her place, grinning as his hands start on your hips and gradually begin to slip lower on your back as you press yourself closer to him.

It doesn’t last long because almost the second his hands get to the point where it might even be considered getting close to your ass, he’s pulled away from you. “Get moving.” Matthew says, even as you glare at him furiously.

Whether he knows who Matthew is or just doesn’t think he could take him if it came down to it, the guy you were dancing with starts shoving his way through the crowd, even after you call for him to wait. When that doesn’t work you round on Matt. “What was that, you asshole?”

“Wait, you liked him touching you?”

“I didn’t mind!”

He actually laughs. “That guy?”

You give him a dirty look, pushing your way through the crowd, in the direction you’d seen that guy go, but it’s a lost cause. No matter which way you look, you can’t see him.

The only thing you can see is the curly head of hair that’s followed you. “That can’t be who you want.” He tells you, as you’re starting to give up, stuck on the outskirts of the bar now.

“You don’t actually get a say in that.” You cry back at him, a little hysterical. “Maybe you could have, one day. But you fucked that up.” He actually does a double take at that, stepping away from you. “So no, you don’t anymore.”

“YN,” He reaches out for you.

“I’m calling an Uber and going home.” You shove his hand away. You can’t even be near him anymore. “And since you can be nice enough to buy drinks, I can say thanks. But that’s it. Don’t pretend like you did me some big favor tonight. You ruined my life once and now you’ve ruined my night.”

And that’s it. You shove past him before he can say anything else to you.

But he doesn’t come after you. For once, you might actually have left him completely speechless.

-----

On the same weekend that you, Nicole, and the other girls jet off to Austin for her bachelorette party, Josh and his bachelor party take off for Vegas.

“As long as he doesn’t come home having gambled our house away.” Is the only thing Nicole says, when one of her cousins asks if she’s at all concerned about the Vegas crew. Privately, you think her nonchalant attitude has more to do with the amount of champagne she’s already consumed, but you can’t deny that she’s right.

“Low bar there.” The maid of honor laughs.

Nicole shrugs as you laugh. “She’s just hoping that Matt doesn’t pull a Hangover on him.”

“You know, name recognition is probably going to be what makes Matty the one who stops the others from pulling a Hangover on Josh.” Nicole muses.

You give her a look. “You couldn’t just give me this one thing?”

She laughs. “After a couple more shots, I’ll give you anything, babe.”

You’ll cheers to that.

Hours later, you’re still cheers-ing-to Nicole, to Josh, to anything ridiculous that anyone of you can think of, each time someone buys you all a round of shots at the bar. You’re pleasantly buzzed, buzzed enough that the letters are too blurry to read clearly when your phone rings, so you just swipe to accept the call and make your way outside, where it’s a little quieter. “Hello?”

“That’s not how it happened at all!” You hear Matthew say loudly. You can’t tell where he’s at, but the background music sounds muffled, like it is behind you, and he sounds as drunk as you feel.

“What?” You can’t keep up with him. Had you missed something? You almost pull your phone away from your ear to check the group chat, to see if you’d been drunk texting in it and forgotten already, but his voice stops you.

“I didn’t ruin your life; you ruined mine!”

If you weren’t leaning against the wall, your legs would have collapsed out from under you. As it is you slide a good foot down the bricks and the flowy tank you’ve got on isn’t doing much to help avoid the scratches that are sure to run down your low back tomorrow. “What?” You can only repeat.

But it seems like Matt’s been building up steam for this. “After everything we’d been through, after everything I said to you, you could just walk away like that?”

“I’m sure Sofia fucking Taylor could give you a great reason why I just walked away like that.” You snap back, finally understanding and ending the call immediately. You’re raging. You can’t believe he’d even attempt to call you out like this.

Even a few deep breaths doesn’t calm you down. When you make your way back into the bar, a few of the girls have concerned looks on their faces, but you wave them off. “I’ll be fine. Just need to drink more. That’s what we’re all here for, right?”

“RIGHT!” Nicole shouts in your face, already beaming.

Maybe if you keep drinking to her level, you’ll be able to forget this whole conversation even happened.

-----

When drinking doesn’t work to forget that phone call, you just start going out of your way to avoid Matty completely. When you see him at family events, you just ignore him entirely. You start pulling back from the big group chat with your friends, only committing to events once he’s fully committed to not going.

Mel calls you out on it, telling you that you’re just being childish and that you can’t avoid him forever, but your family commends you for finally taking the high road, even if they still think the whole thing is dumb in the first place.

And it’s easy to look like it’s you taking the high road, because Matthew’s trying desperately to talk to you. You’ve got nothing to say though. It’s like the years of rage have finally cooled. Like if you can’t forget the phone call where he says you ruined his life, then you can finally move past the part where he actually did ruin yours.

The day of your brother’s wedding dawns, hectic as you’d expected, and you spend your morning alternating between doing anything Nicole asks and getting ready yourself. You feel like a princess when you slip into the long, blush dress, but it’s nothing compared to how Nicole looks, and you were far from a crier, but seeing her in her dress was only the first time you teared up that day, and it was far from the last.

By the time the ceremony ended, it’d happened three more times and you made a few jokes about it with some cousins and Seth before you figured you could excuse yourself for a few minutes in the garden outside to get some fresh air before the photographer needed you.

Outside, the weather is perfect, an ideal day for an August wedding. There’s a few places to sit, you remember, from when you’d toured the venue with Nicole once, and you start off for one of them, only to be interrupted.

“Hey!”

You jump around, almost twisting your ankle in your heels, entirely surprised at the voice “Nick! What the fuck are you even doing here now?” You frown, when you see him. He’s dressed in street clothes; he’s not here as a date and it’s too early to crash (which you’d straight up invited some of your friends to do, once it got a little later in the evening and meals had been served).

Nick’s rubbing the back of his neck, looking incredibly awkward and like this is the last place he’d rather be. “I uh, I think I owe you an explanation. Sorry, I couldn’t wait anymore.”

You frown. “For what?”

His hand moves from the back of his neck to his face, but you’re still able to hear as he says, “I was the one who sent Sofia over to him.”

You laugh hollowly. “Fuck off, Nick.”

“YN, Matt only told me the other day that you guys slept together in high school. He was just-god, he was so into you! I swear to god I didn’t know!”

“Fuck off!” You repeat, a little more desperately.

“I just wanted him to get over you.” Nick says, sounding almost as desperate as you. “He didn’t even want her-she just-it wasn’t-I swear to god if I had known, I never would have-”

“Seriously, Nick, fuck off.” And whether he actually took your words to heart or not, Nick does to turn go, leaving you standing alone in a long dress and ready to cry, once again as he didn’t even want her rings through your head repeatedly.

-----

Once you know that things could have been different between you and Matty, it’s like you can’t look away from him. In two separate rounds of pictures, you get called out by the photographer for not looking, just because you thought you heard his voice.

The reception isn’t much better. As you start greeting different friends and relatives at the cocktail hour, you can’t help but wonder how things could have been. Would Matty have been by your side through all of this instead of over by the bar joking with Brady and Seth? He’d certainly be sitting next to you at dinner. Would he be throwing a couple side chirps into Seth’s best man toast or would he have managed to keep his mouth shut?

After dinner, when the real party begins, you nudge Seth and gesture at the bar for a shot, breathing a sigh of relief when he enthusiastically agrees, and you round up Josh, Nicole, and a couple of your cousins to meet him at the bar, only to find that he’s rounded up your dad, Keith, Brady, Matthew- the person you’d been hoping to start drinking to forget again.

Matty doesn’t look away from you and as his eyes follow your every movement- the passing of glasses, lifting the glass up to your mouth, licking the last drop off your lip-you feel the flush grow across your cheeks that’s got little to do with how much you’ve already had to drink.

“Another!” Josh calls.

“If you’re too fucking drunk tonight,” Nicole warns, leaning against him.

“We just got fucking married!” He beams, capturing her lips in a kiss that has you leading a cheer and then all of you cycling through the motions of another round of shots, all while a pair of blue eyes don’t leave you.

When Seth starts making his third toast of the night, about how happy he is for Josh and Nicole, you seize your opportunity to sneak out for some fresh air, slipping out the doors right behind you.

“Fucking finally.” You hear Matthew behind you and quickly lift the bottom of your dress to be able to run, only for him to stop you dead in your tracks. “YN, god, just-”

He stops abruptly and you let the bottom of your dress fall as you turn to face him. “What, Matty?” You ask him helplessly.

“Don’t...go.” He finishes, rather lamely, compared to anything you’ve heard him say ever.

“We are at my brother’s wedding!” You cry back to him, gesturing around you wildly. You’re not that far into the garden that you can’t still hear the sound of Love on Top from where you’re standing now. “Where am I going to go?”

Your response is enough for Matty to collect himself. “Since the day I told you I loved you, all you’ve done is run from me and we are finally, finally on the same page about why, and you’re going to do it again?”

Desperate for a second to breathe, you gesture around you again. “Is this really the place?”

Matty nods. “I’m not walking away from you again so that can be it. I don’t want to spend another six years thinking you walked away from me, when it turns out you didn’t want to at all.”

“Of course I didn’t, but I didn’t want to be just another girl!”

“You’ve never been just another girl.”

“Well, I just learned that a few hours ago,” You tell him dryly. “From Nick. But it really didn’t feel like that when the day after you told me I was your everything, you were making out with another girl.”

“We weren’t-” Matty starts, but cuts himself off at the dirty look you send him and instead steps closer and grabs your hand, completely ignoring your flinch. “Why didn’t you just say something to me? Anything? God, it would-” He shakes his head, and the unspoken it would have made things so much easier goes unsaid.

“Why didn’t you say something to me?” You counter.

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second!”

“YN!” It’s like he’s trying not to laugh, but it only works at lightening the mood between the two of you for a moment, before you’re sighing.

“What would I have said?” You ask, kind of ruefully. “Things were weird after you went away and you were about to go away again and I should have what? Begged you to love me and not any of the other girls that might be right there in Michigan with you, let alone the one I thought you’d already chosen over me?” You shrug. “It wasn’t-it wasn’t exactly peak confidence levels right then.” Matty winces at that and you nod at him. “ Alright, your turn.”

“I guess…” He trails off. “I was mostly worried that you had just changed your mind. And that you were trying to let me down easy.” The laugh that escapes after that is so bitter that it’s your turn to wince. “And then by the time I got home again, it was pretty clear that you weren’t letting me down easy at all.”

“I haven’t changed my mind at all.” You look him straight in the eyes, meeting the blue you’ve missed so desperately, determined not to look away for anything this time.

“Haven’t.” Matthew repeats, squeezing your hand, and as the smile starts to bloom across his face, you feel a matching one grow across yours. “As in, present tense?”

You nod, but you barely get the chance to before his other hand is coming up to the base of your skull and pulling you in for a kiss. Christ, if you thought sex with him was good at 16, expectations have changed, because this kiss alone takes your breath away, makes your knees weak, and has you gripping onto him just to stay standing. “Matty, please tell me you’re going to do that again.” You manage to breathe out, mostly against his lips, which is as far away from him that you think you’re ever going to be able to be.

“I’m never going to stop doing that.” Matthew says, and it sounds like all the promises you’d made to each other as children under blanket forts, but it feels like your past, your present, and your future have combined as he presses his lips to yours in another breathtaking kiss.

#matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk fanfic #matthew tkachuk fanction #hockey fanfiction #hockey imagines #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagines #my hockey fics

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pinkprimrose05 · 3 years

Text

GX Month Day 18: This Wasn't in the Rule Book

@gxmonth

Ao3 Version Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33473653/chapters/83310418

Why yes, it's prompt bending time! Wish this day came a bit later into the month so it was closer to the release date of Duel World ARC-V but, oh well, what can ya do? ...Oops, looks like I spoiled the chapter. Yes, this year's AU prompt also doubles as a celebration of ARC-V coming to Duel Links, and it's probably the one prompt I'm most excited to write because hoo boy I've been waiting for this moment for sooooo long! 8D

~~~~~

"Manual Reboot Successful. Initiate Sign-Up Process? "

"Initiating Sign-Up Process. Establishing Connection...Please Enter WORLD_ID."

"Response Recorded. Initiating Connection to WORLD_ID SERIES6..."

"..ERROR. Failed to Connect to WORLD_ID SERIES6. Continue Sign-Up Process and Retry?"

"Response Recorded. Continuing Sign-Up Process."

"Response Recorded. Aborting Connection to WORLD_ID SERIES6...Connection Aborted"

"...Sing-Up Process Completed. Initiating Log-In Sequence..."

"ERROR."

-----------

Yuuma sat by the river, waiting for something big to happen.

He knew he wasn't support to be there. Tour Guide hade explicitly told everyone to not get close to the Gate during new world maintenance, but being his curious self, he guiltlessly ignored the warning. Why? Because of the aforementioned new world, of course!

From what he knew about it -which wasn't much, but Juudai-senpai had been rambling about all the different Duelists, Decks and weird game mechanics that they might see for two weeks straight and that sort of gave him a general idea-, this new world thing was a pretty big deal in Duel Links, and with it being so covered up, Yuuma was all too hyped to see what it was like for himself, consequences be damned.

He'd tried world-switching to no avail, as he sebsequently found out that the game wasn't only staggering log-outs, it was also staggering travelling through Duel Worlds for however long he was stuck here. He'd tried asking everyone he knew about it over his D-Gazer too, but that didn't work, and neither did begging a sleepy Kaito to try and hack the game for more info..

..Which led back to him sitting by the river, kicking his legs back and forth as Emperor's Key swayed in the morning breeze, dangling from the string in his hand while he kept waiting, waiting, and waiting some more...

"Yuuma?"

"Eek!" The Xyz Duelist practically jumped five feet into the air upon hearing his name being called, thoughts racing in frantic circles as he turned to see someone approaching...then immediately relaxing when he realized exactly who that someone was.

"Three!"

Michael Arclight smiled, waving gently as he tottered to the river bank and sat down next to Yuuma, who sighed in relief at knowing he wasn't in grave trouble for getting caught near the Gate. The two traded greetings, then settled into silence as they gazed at the horizon, at the clear sky and rising sun of their Duel World's landscape. If it were him, Michael would be content with just staying like that and admiring the view, but the ball of excitement next to him wasn't about to share that sentiment anytime soon.

"Sooooooo..." Yuuma began "What are you gonna do today?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" His friend gave him a puzzled look, and Yuuma made a broad gesture with his arms in response, as if that was supposed to mean something.

"You know, about the, uh, the new world? Are you gonna visit that? Duel people there? I don't know what to expect from it to be honest, it's the first time for us and I'm reeaally excited and also curious and I can't wait to see what will happen...but we can't find out anything before the maintenance ends, and it looks like it's gonna take a while and I'm getting bored so, what are you gonna do?"

Michael hummed thoughtfully, glancing at his Duel Disk "Well, I was thinking of waiting until things settled down before doing anything about all of this. A game this big can get quite unstable with such a huge update, you know? That's why I came here anyway, and..." the pink-haired Duelist blushed faintly "..I may or may not have decided to ignore what Guide-san said about the Gate in the process. Please don't tell anyone I was here?"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Yuuma said, mimicking a zipper sound as he ran two fingers along his lips for effect "No one will ever know of your super classified one-time incident of breaking the law...not that that law made sense anyway. I mean, COME ON..."

Michael giggled, listening as Yuuma launched into a full-on rant about how meaningless them 'closing' the Gate area was. He wasn't exactly wrong though; if it was about as dangerous as Guide said, surely there would be some obstacle or lock to stop people from getting too close, right? Surely she wouldn't just count on everyone to not be reckless enough to ignore her, right? Unless...

Unless the error she's dealing with here might cause serious backlash if she tried inputting a new command that also interacts with the Gate, in which case-

Any other thought that would have followed that trail instantly vanished when the Gate suddenly exploded with blue light, and in that moment, Michael's world went quiet.

-----------

"Unacceptable! This is unacceptable! I have a fucking job interview in two hours, how am I supposed to get ready in time for that??"

Yuusei sighed, running a hand through his already mussed hair for what was probably the eighth time in thirty minutes. Tour Guide's sudden announcement of an emergency maintenace -one that somehow overlapped with the new world's- had put everyone on edge, even more so after they found out they couldn't log out until it was over. As a result, every single Duelist currently in the 5D's World had gathered at the Deck Editor and unanimously decided to wait out the maintenance period there...but some of them weren't particularly happy about being stuck in the game for however long it took.

Chief of those was Jack, who kept pacing next to the table Team 5D's and co. clustered around, all while throwing several uncharitable insults at Guide, Isono, Kaiba, and basically everyone affliated with the Duel Links staff.

"Why do they have to keep messing up every time they launch one of those new words?? I swear, if I see any of those little-"

Carly instinctively covered her ears when the Resonator Duelist let out a particularly nasty swear, and Crow shot him a miffed glare from behind. Yuusei sighed again, then slowly pushed himself out from his chair to rest a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Jack, please go get a cup of coffee and cool down." He said in an uncharacteristically pleading, tired tone "We're all stuck here, we all have important things to do, and some of us haven't slept for twenty-six hours. It'd do everyone a lot of good if you stopped yelling at empty air for a while."

Jack crossed his arms and huffed, but forced himself to simmer down regardless.

"...Fine. I'll go get myself some coffee and 'cool down' or whatever, but not because you asked me to, it's because I need some fresh air." And with that, the former King of Duels strode out of the Studio, coat flapping dramatically in a gust of wind before he went completely out of view.

"Good riddance." Crow let his head drop on the table with a low thud, raising a thumbs-up in Yuusei's general direction, and while he normally wouldn't agree with that sentiment, the Synchro Duelist was currently grateful for the calmer atmosphere of the place, now that Jack was gone. He slid back into his chair, hoping to get some shut-eye to compensate for staying up for all of the night before...

"Guys, we have a problem."

...Or not. Yuusei looked up in time to see Bruno -No, stop it, that's Antinomy- dropping in the chair between him and a barely conscious Kiryuu, the computer in his hands flashing with several warning signs overlapping on top of strings of code, which kept appearing and disappearing at a seemingly random pace. This, the noiret decidedly thought, peering intently at the screen, definitely doesn't look good.

"The energy output is spiking around the Gate area and the ones close to it." Antinomy explained to no-one in particular, his usually passive face set in a stressed frown as he clicked away at the keyboard "It appears that whatever issue that caused this emergency maintenance has gone completely out of control, and while we don't know exactly what that means, compressing so much energy in a certain area, no matter how broad..."

"...is bound to make it blow up." Yuusei concluded, eyes widening as his mind caught up with the implication behind that "This means the Duel Studio and everyone in it will be affected if anything happens to the Gate."

Antinomy nodded "Exactly. It could be that someone is trying to log in, and that's why I'm asking you to go and- dammit!" He swore, fingers moving across the keyboard at a far more frantic pace when the computer let out a series of long, loud beeping sound. Yuusei was pretty sure he got whiplash from how fast he turned to see what was going on-

-but before he could register more than the word "ERROR" bolded in blue across the screen, he felt a shock of static, and then...nothing.

-----------

"Automated Reboot Successful. Log-In Sequence...Complete."

"Connecting to WORLD_ID SERIES2...Connection Successful."

"Linking with.."

"..Sakaki Yuuya."

-----------

The first thing he felt when he came to was a gentle breeze tousling his hair, rays of sunshine lighting up his eyelids, and droplets of water spraying his face every couple seconds. It wasn't raining, that much he gathered, which meant that he'd most likely spawned near a fountain or a river, since there was no trace of the salty scent of seawater in the air.

Yuuya opened his eyes. Sure enough, there was a fountain to his left, its marble structure adorned with a ring of green leaves that carried all kinds of colourful flowers, water flowing from it center and from the sides. Pushing himself up, the tomato-haired Duelist looked around, taking in the rest of his current surroundings, and the first thing that caught his attention was a huge, round portal thingy that hovered in the air, with glowing lines of blue circuitry running through its silvery white perimeter.

That must be the Gate, he thought that's how I came here.

A bit further ahead was what seemed to be another portal, but this one was rectangular in shape, unlike the Gate's circle, and it was completely blue as well. Yuuya watched as the portal rotated in place slowly, the other side of it coming into view with the label 'Duel School' appearing on top of it. Curious, he reached out a hand to touch the portal...

...only to pull back immediately when the pixels forming it fizzled and crackled with electricity, shocking him.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Yuuya clutched his stung hand with the other, hissing in pain at the contact before letting go of his hand. He sucked in deep breath then slowly exhaled, wiping the tears that formed at the corners of his eyes before turning away from the Duel School to keep walking (and to will away the sick, fleeting memory the shock had sparked for a moment).

Yeesh, that wasn't a great first interaction... he grimaced, waving his hand in the air in hopes that it would calm the stinging pain down But that doesn't mean I can't find something good if I keep looking. I wonder where all the other Duelists are.

The path he was walking down split into two at the end. Yuuya turned around, chancing one more look at the admittedly beautiful yet strangely desloate area he started in. He chalked its emptiness up to it being quite early in the morning...but then again, it wasn't morning for everyone around the world, so maybe it was just that the area was mainly used as a terminal, which would explain why he was the only one there...

Wait.

He shouldn't be.

Switching his Duel Disk on with a quick swipe (which was an honestly stupid action in hindsight because damn his hand stung hard from that), Yuuya dialed the very first contact on his list, running the hand with the Disk strapped to it through bi-colored bangs and pushing them out of his face as the device rang once, twice, three times. Where was everyone else? He, Yuzu and Gongenzaka had logged in at the same time, and Sora had told them he'll jump in right after, so why was he the only one to come out of the Gate?

*Din-di-di-din, din-ding...Din-di-di-din, din-ding...Din-di-di-din-*

"Hello."

Yuuya blinked, then did a double take at the soft, young voice that came from the other end of the call. That...that wasn't Yuzu. He swallowed.

"..I'm sorry, who am I talking to?"

A few moments passed before the voice replied "My name is Sera. You must not recognize me, but please don't worry, the owner of this device is safe and sound, and if you wish to talk to her, she is here with me."

The line went silent then. Well, almost silent; Yuuya could hear bits of chatter and the sound of someone fiddling with the Duel Disk...before said someone decided to blast his eardrums full-force, like she always did.

"Yuuya! Where the heck are you?!" Yuzu cried out, and he found himself smiling at the familiar loudness "I've been looking for you everywhere!!"

He winced when her voice cracked on the last word, hand running through his hair again as he laughed nervously "Sorry, sorry! I...honestly don't entirely know where I am yet. Thought we'd start at the same place, but I guess we didn't..." He glanced around for any sort of landmark to pinpoint his position, then remembered where he came from at first and settled on that "Um, can you see the Gate? I'm standing close to it."

There was a beat of silence, then an audible sigh. "I see," Sera muttered at length "Sakaki-san, I think you have logged into a different Duel World than the one Hiiragi-san and I are in at the moment..because we're standing right in front of the Gate."

It took a full ten seconds for Yuuya's brain to register that, and when it did, all that came out of his mouth was a drawn-out "Whaaaaaaat??"

"...You skipped the rest of the tutorial, didn't you?" Yuzu's voice carried a hint of amusement and fondness, before assuming a more serious tone "Okay, look. If you check your Duel Disk, you'll find two arrows in a circle at the top left corner. Click that, and you'll get a list of the five different Duel Worlds in the game. Sera said that something happened before we came here that stopped everyone from travelling between those worlds, and apparently there was a sixth world that we were supposed to log into but didn't...anyway, the highlighted name will show you the world you're in. I'm in the fourth one right now..."

Yuuya listened as Yuzu explained what happened to her after logging into the Duel World, following her instructions all the while. A quick check told him that he was in the second world, the one labeled 'Duel World Series 2'. He nodded along his friends' words, and when she finished, he took yet another look at his surroundings.

"Alright, gotcha, I'm in the second world." He said, and it was then that he decided to head left "I guess I'll go take a look around the place, see if I can find out where everyone else is, and wait until we can all switch to the same world. It's great to hear you're alright, Yuzu. Take care!"

"Hey, that's my line!" She quipped in response, and Yuuya could practically hear the playful grin on her face "But seriously, I'm glad to know you're doing fine too. See you later, Yuuya."

And with that, the line went dead. Not even bothering to turn his Disk off, Yuuya broke into a quick jog, humming a cheerful tune to himself and grinning widely as he started rhyming the tune to his steps. Yuzu was fine, she was okay, they'll find each other soon enough and meet up with their friends, and they'll have tons of fun exploring the game, just as they planned.

Yeah, that's the spirit!

He only slowed down when the smooth, metallic path turned into dirt, patches of grass growing randomly in the way and on the sides, as well as a pair of trees and a few stray daisy bushes. A huge structure that felt so very out of place loomed ahead of him, its futuristic design and neon blue lines contrasting sharply with the simple greenery surrounding it, despite only being separated from that by a ring of gray tiles at the end of the dirt path. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be a floating label above it that spelled out the words "Duel Studio", and a sliding door that opened on its own when Yuuya came close. The Pendulum Duelist stepped through-

"Ack!"

-and promptly crashed into a blur of black, stumbling backwards as a result. Leaning on the now-open door for support, Yuuya nursed his head with his free hand, letting out a small sigh before he looked up to check on whoever it was that he bumped into...and froze when he locked eyes with them.

That shade of gold was...familiar.

Yuuya's eyes widened, and the brunette facing him mirrored the action for a split second, before his shock faded into a passive scowl that clashed with his fluffy, Kuriboh-like hair. Yuuya opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't sure exactly what, but the taller male turned back to the Duel Studio, subtly motioning for him to come along, and whatever it was that he wanted to say went out of the window.

"Follow me." His voice -slow, deep and clear- carried a distinctly authoritative tone as he strode ahead, and after a moment of apprehension, Yuuya found himself trailing behind. The guy looked like he knew where he was going, and didn't exactly seem opposed to talking to him, which meant he could possibly get some answers to the pile of questions building up in his head, and well, weird gut feelings aside, that was actually a good thing.

The two sat at a round, red table in a distant corner, and then just...stared at each other. Yuuya waited for the Kuriboh-haired Duelist -at least, he guessed he was a Duelist, judging by the strange custom model of a Duel Disk on his left arm- to say something, anything, but nothing came out, and he wasn't sure exactly how to start the conversation, so...he kept waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And then decided that was enough waiting. "Umm...are you even gonna say anything?" Yuuya asked after a full four minutes, half expecting to get no response..

..but the guy actually rolled his eyes at him, like he'd asked a stupid question or something "What are you expecting me to say?"

Huh. Okay, this man was kinda bad at conversing. Yuuya held back a sigh, plastered on a smile instead, and tried again.

"Hmm, how about an introduction? That sounds like a good start." He held out a hand "Nice to meet you, I'm Sakaki Yuuya. And you are..?"

The brunette's stared moved to Yuuya's outstretched hand, then back to his eyes...and then he sighed, holding his own hand to his temples as he mumbled something in a foreign language Yuuya couldn't make out (but assumed was an exasperated statement, based on the tone of what came next).

"Dear Lord, why is it that every single one of them turns out to be a child?"

"Huh?"

"You can see Duel Spirits," He said, pointing at Yuuya. It wasn't even a question, just a factual statement he threw as casually as someone discussing the weather forecast "and you most likely have a special bond with at least one of your cards, that may even go as far as your very soul being bound to it. Is that correct?"

A few moments passed in silence, and then: "How did you-"

"I knew that was the case. Listen to me, Sakaki Yuuya; I do not know the exact extent of your knowledge about the nature of this world, or that of the darkness you possess, but know this-" gold eyes narrowed dangerously, and Yuuya flinched in spite of himself "Duel Links is not just a game. There are greater forces behind the creation of the Duel Worlds, ones that can tamper with your memories and thoughts, even call back beings that were supposed to be gone forever and link different dimensioms. Your status as a Legendary Duelist means you are directly involved in everything that might happen in the new world, so proceed with caution, or prepare to deal with the consequences."

Yuuya reeled back in his chair, face going white. He stared down at his pendulum, gripping its dimly glowing crystal tightly in his hands -had it been doing that for a while? He had no idea. His head was starting to feel light, his throat got all choked up, and he was sure he'd be shaking if not for how tense his muscles were. What- what had he gotten himself into? If he'd known it was more than a game, if he'd known they'd be thrown in the middle of crossfire again-

Deep breaths, Yuuya, deep breaths.. He told himself before he got too lost in thought, inhaling sharply. Calm down, let it out slowly, relax.....yeah, there we go.

"Why are you telling me this?" The teen asked once he was certain his mini-panic attack was over, and he must've been imagining things because he could swear he saw a ghost of a smile on the other's face when he replied.

"In all honesty," he began slowly, the edge to his voice almost completely gone "I have had enough interdimensional conflict to last me a lifetime, and I would really rather not deal with any more of it if I can. I assume you understand where I'm coming from here?"

Yuuya hummed absently, and that seemed to be a satisfying answer to the brown-haired Duelist, who pushed himself out of his seat and turned to leave, but not without allowing himself another final sentence.

"Very well then. For your own sake, as well as everyone you may care about, I hope you're actually smart enough to follow my warning. Until we meet again...or not."

And with that, he walked away, disappearing behind the staircase to the right. As soon as he went out of sight, Yuuya let his head fall down on the table with an unceremonious flump!, making some inchoerent noises when the sound of some lady announcing the end of the 'Maintenance Break' blasted over the intercom above his head, and he became distantly aware of other voices and some footsteps sounding not too far from him.

*tap*

Alright, so he and everyone else have basically jumped into yet another grand scheme that caused conflict across different dimensions, but this time the stakes weren't as clear as in the Interdimensional War.

*tap-tap*

The thought was admittedly daunting, and he was a hundred percent sure no-one he knew would like to go through something like that again..

"Oi."

But on the bright side, it seemed that they weren't the only ones dealing with this sort of thing, which meant they could easily find many allies in the different Duel Worlds...yeah, if they kept an eye out, they should be all right-

"Oi!"

Yuuya's head snapped up when he realized someone was calling out to him, and when he looked up, he was greeted with the smiling face of..

"You again??"

..the same Kuriboh-haired Duelist?

"Sorry, what?"

Yuuya did a double take. Yeah, no, that wasn't him; the eyes were colored soft brown instead of hollow gold, and he was wearing a red jacket instead of a black robe too- Yuuya mentally scolded himself for overlooking the differences (but also found it somewhat funny because, you know, he had to deal with this kind of confusion more than once before).

"Nevermind, I think I confused you for someone else. My bad." He gave the red-jacketed brunette a sheepish grin, gesturing at the empty chair opposite to his, then watching as he placed his also strange custom model of a Duel Disk on the side of the table before sitting down himself, fiddling with the device all the while. Even the way he composed himself was different; this guy felt far more lax and chill compared to the other one, and it made Yuuya relax a bit in turn, the silence that stretched between them feeling more comfortable.

"So, let me guess..." Red Jacket began a bit later, leaning a bit forward with a curious glint in his eyes "You're one of the new kids?"

A small nod "You can say that, I guess. I'm Yuuya, and you?"

"Yuuki Juudai. Pleased to meet you, kiddo- wait, I can call you kiddo, right?"

"Sure, unless you're somehow younger than me, which I doubt because of the..height difference."

Juudai smiled again "Aight, kiddo it is then. I gotta say though, I'm impressed you managed to switch worlds that fast. Took me a whole week to realize that was even a thing."

He laughed, and Yuuya chuckled with him. "Actually.." he said afterwards, rubbing the back of his neck with a small, bashful smile "A friend told me about it, and I couldn't even use it when I first arrived. Something about an error happening with the new world and shutting down the whole game, I think? Yean, that locked out the switch thing for a while, and it stopped everyone from logging out too."

"Woah, for real?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Damn," Juudai slammed a hand down on the table "you sure had one heck of a first day, kiddo. Guide must be freaking out with all of this going on."

Yuuya blinked, confused "Guide?"

"Oh, you don't know her?" The older teen asked, quirking an eyebrow "She's, ah, the Duel Spirit of Tour Guide From the Underworld. Pretty much the one who manages this place, since the actual owner doesn't give a shit about the shenanigans happening around here, and she also runs the Duel School. You can go hit her up if you have any questions about the game; she's a great help for new players."

"A Duel Spirit..." Yuuya echoed quietly, stare moving down to the Deck slot of his Duel Disk. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at Juudai and asked "So anyone can interact with them here? The spirits, I mean."

"Of course! It's part of the game's charm, y'know?" He answered, throwing a wink at Yuuya before continuing "Being able to hang out with all your monster friends, even if you might not see them in real life..I don't think anyone would pass up on something that cool."

The younger Duelist smiled at that, hand subconsciously touching the top of his Deck, which earned him several happy murmurs and a particularly loud roar as well "Yeah, that does sound pretty cool. I gotta try it sometime later."

"You totally should." Juudai agreed, taking out his own Deck and shuffling through it as he added "In the meantime...would you like a good ol' tabletop Duel? My old-ass relic of a Disk is being particularly laggy today, and I heard you had this cool summon mechanic with the backrow zones- what was it called again? Pendant? Pending?"

"It's Pendulum Summoning." Yuuya clarified, tentatively taking his Deck out of its slot when Juudai did the same "And uh, sure, I can show it to you if you want."

The brunette's smile turned into a wide grin as he whipped out a pair of folded game mats from his pocket and placed them on his and Yuuya's side of the table, putting each of their Decks on the far right before punching a fist in the air "Heck yeah! I'm finally the first to Duel the new kid with the new cards, this is gonna be a lot of fun!"

"Definitely!" He nodded, his own smile widening as he drew his starting hand with a little more flourish than necessary for a tabletop Duel- not that he really cared, what mattered at the moment was that, even if he was going to have to fight again later down the line, he was going to enjoy Dueling to the maximum as long as he could. No use worrying about the future, all he came here to do was have fun, and fun was he going to have.

Watch out, Duel Links, here I come..!

"LET'S DUEL!!"

~~~~~~~

THE END, finally. This, for whatever reason, took me three weeks to finish alongside the other prompts (okay actually Yuuya's POV slipped from me and I barely managed to end it where I did), and I couldn't even make it on time ffs. There goes my plans to deliver all chapters on time...but I at least hope you enjoyed reading. ...Oh yeah, you may have noticed by now that I left some loose ends here and there (like the conclusion of the chapter for the residents of Duel Worlds ZEXAL and 5D's, AKA those poor souls who got a mass reboot error and received no answers as to why), and to that I say...nothing. Yeah, you gotta wait a little while longer to see what happened to them after the reboot. That said, I shall now take my leave and return to the land of Ao3, see y'all on...someday by the end of the month, I guess.

#gxmonth2021 #yugioh gx #yugioh zexal #yugioh 5ds #yugioh arc v #too many characters to tag

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bts-reveries · 4 years

Text

waste it on me | part 28 FINALE

#jinjinmiyeon wedding

moodboard by @tan-dulset

“Is he here? I didn’t see him when we walked in, I wasn’t looking,” you whispered to Miya as the ceremony was starting.

“If you weren’t looking, what makes you think I was?” She replies, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’m sure he’s sitting there Yn, don’t worry about it. My sister’s getting married!” You laugh slightly, turning to the couple who always treated you as their younger sibling. You were sure that Jungkook was there watching too, the thought of him being right behind you was making your heart beat a little faster.

The ceremony, of course, was very beautiful. You and Miya on the other hand, was not looking as beautiful with the tear stains on your cheeks. After the two were announced as husband and wife, sealing it with a kiss, you and Miya couldn’t help but cry more happy tears as your favorite couple finally made it official. As the two walked back up the aisle, waving and smiling at the guests, the maid of honor, and co-best men, and you, the bridesmaid, followed behind. Miya walked up with Taehyung and you walked up with Namjoon. Your eyes scanned around as you two passed the guests, looking for a certain someone. Everyone was smiling, clapping, and phones were in the air to capture this moment. You weren’t mad at it, but it kept you from seeing the one person you were looking for.

As you were passing by the last row, you glanced at four happy faces with the cutest smiles. A gummy smile, a heart smile, a smile where the eyes were shaped as crescent moons, and lastly, your favorite bunny smile. You couldn’t help but smile even bigger as you saw your friends for the first time in a while. Especially the guy you’ve been waiting for. Namjoon waves at them as you two pass by.

“See, he did come,” Namjoon says, smiling down at you. Although he had a tough exterior, Namjoon’s pretty sweet inside. Maybe the whole wedding thing is making him the softy he truly is.

“He did.”

***

After the entrance of the newly married couple and the best men, maid of honor, and the bridesmaid, the four of you, minus Miyeon and Jin, ran towards the four boys.

“TAEHYUNG-AH,” Jimin yelled as he met Taehyung half way. The two caused several people’s heads to turn, looking for the cause of the loudness.

“Hobi~” Miya says, giving Hobi a big hug. He hugs her back tightly.

“Ah Miya, I think your boyfriend stole my best friend,” Hobi says, frowning at the two boys.

“No, I think your best friend stole my boyfriend,” she glares. “He’s been facetiming Jimin nonstop since you guys left.”

“Namjoonsssssiiii,” Yoongi says with a smile, walking towards the taller man.

“Yoongi hyung,” he says back, sheepishly smiling as he already knew what he was going to say.

“Did you find it?” Yoongi asked with a knowing smile.

“Ah… I did not,” he says, hanging his head low. Yoongi laughs.

“Actually…” He reaches into his pocket, holding out the external hard drive that he and Namjoon shared.

“Hyung you had it all this time???” Namjoon says in shock.

“I guess, but I could’ve sworn you took it. Jungkook found it in his room, turns out all the other boys used it so,” Yoongi laughs, “this hard drive is probably full of songs written by our angsty teenage self and Jimin’s, Hobi’s, and Jungkook’s… I don’t know. I’m kinda scared to see what’s inside honestly.”

“Well since Jin hyung’s moving out, we can turn his room into a studio. Turn our old songs into something you know?”

“You really are happy that Jin hyung’s leaving,” Taehyung pouts as Jimin clings onto his side.

Meanwhile, you squeeze through everybody to get to Jungkook. Who’s just calmly sitting at the table.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” You smile as you finally stand in front of him. Jungkook looks at you as he drinks from his glass. Nodding. You pout at him, knowing that he can’t resist that. So of course, Jungkook wasn’t able to hold his smile back any longer, he put his glass down gently before standing up and sweeping you off your feet, spinning around.

“Aigoo~ I missed you,” He said, setting you back down.

“I missed you too,” you say, tippy toeing to give him a kiss.

“Yah~ It’s my wedding, stop taking all my attention,” Miyeon says, the two of you turn to her and giggle.

“Sorry unnie, hehe,” you say.

“I’m kidding, I’m happy for you two,” she says. Jungkook walks over to her and Jin.

“I’m happier for you two,” he says, giving Miyeon a hug, and then Jin.

“Thanks JK, we’re glad you’re back. How long are you staying?” Jin asks. Jungkook turns around to see if you were listening, thankfully, you were distracted by Hobi.

“I’ll be here for a while. I got an apartment,” he says. Jin and Miyeon’s eyes widen.

“But! Don’t say anything, I want to surprise Yn.”

“Lips are sealed,” Miyeon says.

“Hyung,” Taehyung calls. “Shall we start the surprise performance?”

“Surprise performance?” Miyeon says.

“Let’s go?” Jin says to Miyeon, pulling her to the center.

“Wait-- us?” Miyeon says in confusion. Meanwhile, Taehyung runs up to the stage, speaking into the microphone.

“Good evening everyone! So you all know my brother-- well that’s kind of stupid for me to say since it’s his wedding,” Taehyung says sheepishly as he makes a mistake right when he speaks, making everyone laugh. “But my older older brother Jin has a surprise performance that he wanted to start off with tonight. My sister, now I can officially call you my sister,” Taehyung says, smiling towards Miyeon, who smiles happily back at him. “Although, that’s kind of weird because I’m dating your sister, so that’s like dating my sister’s sister which makes Miya my sister--”

“Okay let’s go,” Namjoon interrupts, grabbing Taehyung’s arm and pulling him off the stage. Taehyung reaches over for the mic and quickly yells out.

“Let’s give it up for Jin hyung!”

Everyone claps as Jin makes it on stage, fixing the mic to the position he needed it to be on. Taehyung makes his way back to the group’s table, sitting down in between Jimin and Miya.

“Why would you say that,” she says, slapping his arm gently.

“It was just a random thought!” He says. You laugh at the two.

“I wonder what Jin’s going to serenade Miyeon with,” you whisper to Jungkook.

“He didn’t tell you guys? I thought it was just a surprise for noona.”

You shrug, “I think only the Kim brothers know.”

Jin starts off by clearing his throat, and nodding towards the DJ to start playing the instrumentals. The beginning began to play.

“Not sure if you know this

But when we first met

I got so nervous I couldn't speak

In that very moment

I found the one and

My life had found its missing piece~” Jin sang, staring into Miyeon’s eyes.

“Oh my gosh he’s singing beautiful in white,” Miya says as tears began to slip down her cheeks once again. Taehyung laughs, pulling his sleeves over his hand to wipe them away.

“How many times are you going to cry today,” he says, placing a kiss on the place where the tears were once on.

“I don’t know I’m just overly emotional today,” she says, fanning her face.

“So as long as I live I love you

Will have and hold you

You look so beautiful in white

And from now 'til my very last breath

This day I'll cherish

You look so beautiful in white

Tonight~”

“The song is so perfect for them,” you say, holding tightly to Jungkook’s hand. “This might be too early to say… but do you think we’ll have a relationship like them? Even with the distance?”

Jungkook looks over at you and smiles.

“Yeah, we did pretty well so far didn’t we?” Jungkook says. You nod.

“I wish we had more time together though,” you say, smiling as Jin began to walk towards Miyeon.

“What we have is timeless

My love is endless

And with this ring I

Say to the world

You're my every reason

You're all that I believe in

With all my heart I mean every word~”

***

“Throw it towards me!” Miya yells at her sister. Miyeon was just about to throw her bouquet. She had her back turned towards the crowd of single ladies. You didn’t want to go up, but Miya pulled you with her. You glance over at Jungkook and he laughs as you awkwardly stand between the crowd of girls who are desperately trying to get the bouquet.

“Ready?” Miyeon asks, prepping to throw the flowers. Jungkook looks over at you and gives you two thumbs up as if actually wanting you to catch it. You laugh at him, totally not realizing that the bouquet was already thrown until it hit you in the head and a bunch of Miyeon and Miya’s cousins tried to take it before you did.

Your eyes widen and you back up a bit, the guests begin to laugh and clap as Miyeon’s cousin raises the bouquet in her hand. You look over at the boys who were laughing and pointing at you and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit as well.

“Dang, I was really trying to be the next one to get married,” Miya says, laughing, as you two walk back to the table.

“You suck babe,” Taehyung says as Miya sat down beside him.

“Shut up, bet you won’t even catch the garter when Jin throws it,” she replies.

“Well now that I know you didn’t catch the bouquet, I won’t be trying to catch the garter at all. You really want me to be paired up with your cousin?”

“No,” Miya pouts.

“Exactly.”

“Yeah, since Yn didn’t try to catch it, I’ll just stand there and wait for it to hit me in the head,” Jungkook teases.

“You distracted me!”

“I am pretty eye catching, aren’t I?” Jungkook winks. You scoff, turning away from him.

“I don’t know who this man is anymore,” you joke.

***

“So what now?” Jimin asks, stuffing his mouth with the wedding cake. It was just you ten left at the reception. Everything was cleaned out but the one table you all are sitting at.

“I don’t know it’s my first time getting married,” Jin says.

“We usually leave right after they cut the cake and stuff when we go to weddings with family,” Namjoon says, pushing his plate away as he finished his slice.

“I think we’re all supposed to go home now so Jin hyung and noona can… you know.. spend their first night together,” Hobi says, raising his eyebrows.

“I think I just threw up a little,” Miya says, placing a napkin over her mouth.

“Me too,” you say in a scratchy voice.

“I don’t care, I want a nephew,” Taehyung says, putting his fork down and giving a stern face to the married couple.

“Slow down,” Miyeon says with a nervous laugh, “one thing at a time, pleaSE.”

“A niece?” Taehyung gives her his best puppy eyes and pout in a way to bribe her. She shakes her head no, whispering a “not yet.”

“Hobi is right though,” Yoongi says, beginning to clean up a bit. Hobi looks at Jin with a smile as he raises his brows once again. “Jin hyung’s been waiting for over ten years, let’s not make him wait any longer.”

“Y-yAh..” Jin says with slight embarrassment, his ears turning a dark shade of red.

“If you’re not ready for a kid yet, be safe,” Jimin says with seriousness, patting Jin’s shoulder as he stands up from his seat. Jin swallows as he suddenly feels uncomfortable that every one of his friends are going to know what’s going down tonight.

“Aww, I kinda didn’t want this night to end,” you frowned as you got up slowly.

“Why not?” Jungkook asks.

“We’re having so much fun, I don’t want to go back to normal-- plus I’m going to miss Jin and Miyeon,” you say sadly. “Ugh you all are leaving and it’s making me SAD.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Miya says. “It’ll be just us four.”

“We’ll only be gone for like 2 weeks,” Miyeon says.

“We won’t be leaving for LA until Friday so we have plenty of time,” Hobi smiles.

“Really??” You say, your mood rising slightly.

“Yeah, but after that we’re going to have to say goodbye to them. It’s gonna suck,” Jungkook says with a sad smile.

“We’ll move in with you again soon Kook, I don’t think you’ll survive living alone,” Jimin says.

“Yeah I’m going to miss living with you three, I don’t think I’ll be able to live alone either,” Jungkook says with a small laugh.

“Yeah, if I move here too then maybe we can actually do something with the songs we wrote,” Yoongi says, smiling over at Namjoon.

“I like that,” he replies.

“Ooooo and if I move here too, then we can be together!!” Jimin says happily to Taehyung.

“We can hang out everyday!!” Taehyung replies with the same amount of enthusiasm.

“Hey don't forget about me,” Miya pouts.

“Ahh.. I don’t think I’ll be able to move here soon though. LA is where my vibe is, you know?? plus, I work there,” Hobi says, laughing halfheartedly.

“Ooh.. I can’t leave Hobi hyung alone then,” Jimin says.

“Dang, why do we have to live on separate sides of the world??” Taehyung says, frowning.

Meanwhile, you were trying to process everything.

“Hold on,” you finally spoke up. “Rewind, please. I’m… confused? Is everyone staying? Is everyone leaving? Is some staying, some going, I-- I don’t understand..”

“I got an apartment,” Jungkook says to you. “Here, in Seoul.”

You look at him with wide eyes.

“That’s why I wasn’t able to visit often,” he says with a small laugh. “And that’s why I had to work all the time. I was just saving up for the place.”

“So.. you’re.. staying? Here? With me?”

Jungkook smiles at you, nodding his head. “No more long distance. I spent too much time away from you in the first place, I’m making up for lost times. I won’t be leaving you ever again. No more goodbyes. I’ll be here. I’ll be here always.”

“Aigoo~ she’s crying again,” Taehyung teases as more tears run down your face.

“Leave me alone,” you mumble, wiping under your eyes with your finger.

"No more goodbyes, just see you laters. So,” Jungkook says, leaning over to wipe your face. “No more tears. I’m going to be by your side always. I’m not leaving Yn. I’m staying here,” he smiles, gently holding your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb. “I love you too much to let you go again.”

☞ ☞ ☞ ☞ ☞ ☞ ☞

waste it on me

☞part 28: #jinjinmiyeon wedding☜

→ pairings: jeon jungkook x reader

→ a/n: super quick disclaimer, i have never gotten married nor have i ever attended a korean wedding so this is not written as a korean wedding, just weddings i went to here in america and based off of what i see on movies???

also, this is the finale! i’m so sorry if you hate it, i will also make an epilogue to see how the couple is doing and yeah! i know it’s been a roller coaster of emotions going on on this au and a lot of y’all were frustrated in the beginning because of jungkook, but it’s all good now~ ......right?

anyways, i hope you all liked this au, i know it’s not the best, but if you stick around my account, you might just be able to watch me get better? who knows!

→ taglist:

@kookiemonstersugatea @lylanie12 @crazyferalvigilantedragonwriter @serious-addiction @zamasus-sugarbaby @cosmicdaylight @strwberry-jam @ratking101 @chiminilove @ask-blogger-miss-prussia @lyssjeon @moonlightrose19 @blueberrykenn @jungmanor @forkpops @nochujjk97 @bldvnbln @hplsmoon @kirbykook @girl-with-luvvv @vantaexx @ephyra1230 @girlwiththeglittereyeliner @akirathao @catspancake @kawaii-desv @strapsforyoonie @dammit-jjk @to-onystark @butterflylion @apollukee @xionysus @ilyluuna @uglyratlmao @iridescentplethora @monosomes @tomowasu @taekookcaneatme @mayumioutloud @rjsmochii @super-btstrash-posts @hellotherehoneybee @betysotelo18 @moon6rop @kxk-soul @honeycutelove @cchristinnaa @io-is-lame @shadowstark @goldenchemistry @incredibleella @sope-and-shine

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!

to be notified when i post, please turn on my notifications! thank youu~

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thequietuptown · 3 years

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As a guy, how can I effectively call out other men's shitty behavior when I see it?

Hello friend,

This is such a great question, and thank you for adopting a great ally mindset. I've written about calling out racism and bigotry before, and I'll include that response below, because I think a lot of the same practices apply.

A lot of men have bought into some of the narratives supplied by a toxic view of masculinity, and it can be really frustrating and disappointing to see your close friends kind of go on auto-pilot and promote those harmful beliefs/behaviors without ever stopping to think about it. We hear our friends make inappropriate comments, or ply people with alcohol well after they've tried to establish boundaries. We see our brothers pester people into dates, unable to take no for an answer. We see men that we love compartmentalize and shut down because they think being strong means not showing any emotions, when we know true strength means acting with integrity in the face of adversity. In any of those cases, unchallenged assumptions are at play, and those men deserve better than to be told that's how they should act.

Whenever you see or hear something that you feel needs to be stopped, there are four things to keep in mind. First, try not to hesitate. This doesn't mean you should put him on the spot in a way that makes him feel like you think he's a bad person (even if you do think that) because that could just lead to him getting defensive and doubling down on his actions, or it could make the other people around feel ashamed or embarrassed. Rather, it means calling attention to the problematic behavior as close to its occurrence as is possible to do so in a safe manner, and to be able to pinpoint what exactly you found problematic. If you can't have that conversation right then and there, call attention to it by saying something along the lines of "Hey now..." or "Ouch," anything that will stick out in his mind as a response to his actions/comments.

Second, tell him his behavior isn't okay with you. A lot of the time we fall into the trap of saying things like "she's somebody's sister/daughter," and, while that may be well-intentioned, it also erases the fact that she's a person and the acceptability of the behavior in question isn't based on her perceived gender. Also, the creation of a hypothetical woman generally won't stop the behavior if he just doesn't respect women. Take ownership of the fact that his actions made you uncomfortable, so that he can't just write it off.

Third, make sure the confrontation isn't an attack. Regardless of whether or not we think it might be deserved, punishment generally isn't a great way to correct behavior. Be vulnerable with him when having the conversation, and take the time to calmly educate him on why his behavior was troubling.

Finally, if other people are around and you can't pull him aside to have that conversation in a safe way, ask questions that will get him to think about his actions or words. My go to questions in these situations are "Why do you say that?" or "Did you mean to do that?" This goes back to the unchallenged assumptions I mentioned earlier. A lot of us act or speak without thinking, especially when we're relying on those toxic narratives. These questions give him an opportunity to immediately reflect on what he just said/did, and with any self-awareness, he might correct himself in the moment. It gives him an opportunity to save face without aggressively putting him on the spot.

It's difficult to challenge other men's behavior on your own, but it is so important to have a familiar voice be that driving force for change. I wish you the best in establishing these boundaries around you.

With love, friend.

Below is the aforementioned post confronting bigoted remarks:

It seems these days that bigoted remarks are becoming more and more commonplace. With the current political climate and figureheads in power, it seems we cannot go one day without hearing something awful slip from someone’s mouth around us. It can be hard to speak up, and, let’s face it, it can be dangerous. It can invite a world of problems into our lives simply because we are trying to do the right thing. But you know who has it worse? The people that are the targets of such remarks.

I’m not saying to put your neck on the line. In any given situation, your safety and security, both physical and emotional, should come first, but there are things that you can do. The Southern Poverty Law Center has a great guide to Responding to Everyday Bigotry. They break it down into categories about how to deal with co-workers, neighbors, family members, you name it. So I would invite you to take a look at that, if you have the time and you are serious about speaking up.

But, as with any conflict, preparedness is key. You know it’s going to happen again so think about what you’re going to say in advance. Don’t stoop to their level and resort to name calling. Even try to avoid using words like racist or sexist, even though their words may very well be those things. This will put up walls and may open you up to some backlash. Asking open-ended questions is a good way to start a conversation to see if they can put the pieces together themselves. My go to question is “Why do you say that?” because it makes the person stop and actually think about the words they have said, which might be something they are not used to doing. I had a friend in high school who would say “Get your life together” any time he heard a homophobic remark. That’s a little bit more aggressive than what I would be comfortable with, but find something that works for you.

Another thing you can do is try to create a safe space around you. If this is something happening in your work environment, put up a poster or flier that says that your personal space if a safe space. If you notice recurring behaviors, set limits. Tell them, “Please don’t tell those jokes/make those remarks. At the very least don’t make them around me.” Most importantly find and be an ally. There’s safety in numbers, and it is easier to confront someone on their casual bigotry when you know someone has your back.

I know it’s scary, but remember: you’re doing the right thing. If you are getting offended when it’s not aimed at you, it’s taking its toll. Don’t let it. Remaining silent is surrendering a part of yourself and letting those attitudes continue unchecked. If you need that ally, I am here for you.

With love, friend.

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minyoonsgirl · 4 years

Text

Nabi - The Girl without a Name

Summary:You have no memories of your past, all you know is fear as you push your battered body to run faster as you try to escape those who pursue you. Who would have thought that room 205 would hold the key to seven men who would become your protectors. Who knew that it would lead you to uncovering your past and finding that your savior had already come to your rescue so many times before.

Genre: eventual Fluff, eventual Smut, eventual OT7 x reader

Warnings: Amnesia, themes of fear, implied kidnapping and adult themes. Themes of self deprecation and negative self talk. Trauma related PTSD - PTSD/Trauma induced panic attack. Things will probably be a lot more intense as this story goes on.

Word Count: 1,531

Chapter Five > < Chapter Seven

a/n: Hello lovelies ♡ This is chapter six of my yoongi x reader fic, eventual ot7 x reader fic. ♡ I really want to apologize for the length of time it has taken me to get to chapter six, I’ve had some personal things happen in my life that made writing difficult. Thanks for waiting for me ♡ Also, if you wanted to be tagged let me know! Any feedback is always welcomed, I really hope you’re enjoying the story ♡

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Chapter Six - The Girl with Love

You were laying on the couch with Taehyung a few hours later, the two of you were immersed in a movie called Howl’s Moving Castle. Taehyung had felt it was a shame that you didn’t know the wonders of “Studio Ghibli” and had made it his mission to educate you. The other boys surrounded the two of you, taking up spaces on the floor and other chairs in front of the TV.

You were excited because Sophie had finally figured out how to help Howl and you couldn’t wait for their love story to reach its resolution. You found yourself holding back tears as their love was displayed in front of you. Taehyung and Jungkook had no such reservations, both boys sniffling loudly as the movie ended. You made eye contact with Yoongi across the room, blushing slightly as he smiled softly at you.

Jimin rushed to start Spirited Away and Jin mentioned he’d be grabbing snacks for everyone. That wasn’t really surprising as it had been a few hours since you all had eaten dinner and Jin wasn’t one to let you go very long without food. As the new movie began to play you felt Taehyung’s fingers ghosting over your hip and side, softly caressing your skin as he pressed a gentle kiss to your neck. You could feel heat pooling in the pit of your stomach, as you felt his tongue trace softly over your shoulder, the tank top you were wearing giving him plenty of unobstructed access to your skin.

Your eyes were wide and when you looked up at Yoongi, you noticed his eyes seemed darker than normal but his expression remained unchanged. You felt the sting of tears behind your eyes and before you really knew what you were doing you were up and out of Tae’s arms. Feeding the boys the excuse that you were too tired to stay awake, you rushed to Yoongi’s bed before they could see you cry. If you had doubted it before, the fact that Yoongi had seen Taehyung kissing you so openly and intimately without it affecting him really sealed the fact that he didn’t care for you like you cared for him.

It was hard because you loved all of the boys, truly… you could see yourself falling for all of them, despite the inherent selfishness of that. You knew, or at least thought that to a degree that they might all feel that way about you, if the kisses and longing touches were anything to go by. Except Yoongi, it was hard to tell with the sometimes detached appearing man. Yoongi, however, was your one, your “if you had to choose”, and it absolutely broke your heart that he would never see you that way.

You worked to quiet your whimpers, and even out your breathing in an attempt to feign sleep as you heard the door to your room creak open. It shut with a click and in a moment you could feel the opposite side of the bed dip, warm hands on you a moment later. Quickly pulling you into an all too familiar chest, as your heart rate skyrocketed over the fear of being caught crying by the boy who you would least want to explain your tears too. Yoongi hummed softly as his hands brushed under your shirt and over your back, and you were putty instantly. You could get addicted to the feeling of his hands gliding over your skin, though you couldn’t pretend you hadn’t imagined his long, delicate fingers rubbing a very different part of you.

You tensed when you felt the press of lips on your shoulder, your breath hitching in your throat when you felt the warm, wetness of a tongue that followed a moment after.

“Nabi, you’re so pretty. Seeing Taehyungie kissing on you like that… you look so cute; blushing and wide eyed. Will you let me take care of you?” Yoongi spoke, his voice almost an octave deeper than normal and you could feel the vibrations all the way to your core. You flipped over, coming face to face with Yoongi. He looked exponentially more shy than he had sounded, his face dusted pink, and his teeth chewing on his bottom lip nervously. You placed your hand on his cheek, moving in to capture his lips between your own. You whimpered when his tongue brushed your bottom lip, begging for entrance which you quickly granted him. When you broke away, panting for air, you were quick to give him an answer.

“Please, I want you so badly,” you whispered, and Yoongi groaned. He lowered his head to capture your lips again, his hand moving down to cup your breast in his hand, his fingers quickly finding your nipple and pulling it to a stiff peak in moments. His lips left yours to trail down your jawline, and over your throat, alternating between pressing his lips to your skin and sucking marks along your neck. You whined as he slipped the strap of your camisole down, his lips finding the swell of your breast and sucking harshly. He switched breasts, ensuring equal attention to both, until your nipples were pink and swollen, glistening with his saliva.

Moving back up to your face, Yoongi moved so that his body rested atop yours. He pressed his hips down into you, his cock hard as it pushed down against your clothed cunt, gifting you the friction you were craving, small whimpers leaving your lips as you squirmed in an attempt to get closer to him. Yoongi stared down at you, a soft smile filled with adoration on his face,

“Nabi, I hope you know how much we love you. All of us, and while I know it’s probably confusing and you don’t have to rush about how you feel or what you want, we all want you to know that we love you and we’ll always take care of you. Whatever you need, we’ll do that for you,” Yoongi whispered. He captured your lips in his again and you sighed as he deepened it. When he broke away, he sat admiring you for a moment, his fingers gently caressing your face.

“I love all of you too. More than I could explain. I know I don’t know who I was, but you guys have given me who I am and a home and safety. I want this, forever.” You told him. You didn’t think Yoongi’s smile could get brighter but somehow it did. He moved down to kiss between your breasts, working his way to your center before looking up at you for permission to remove your shorts. Your nod was quick, your every nerve ending seemingly alight with anticipation. Yoongi made quick work of your shorts, tossing them somewhere across the room, and then his lips were on your clit and it was as if you had never really known pleasure. Sucking, licking, kissing, he attacked your cunt like a man possessed. It was as if Yoongi’s purpose in life was to leave you shaking and drowning in pleasure. He rolled his tongue over your swollen bud, and sank a finger into your heat, your back arching at the intrusion. You moaned, the sound strange and you clasped a hand over your mouth.

“Jagiya, let me hear you. I wanna know how good I’m making you feel, baby girl. You don’t ever have to be quiet with me, with any of us,” Yoongi said, and while you were still embarrassed and unsure you moved your hand to clutch at the sheets. Yoongi quickly went back to work, the sound of his fingers fucking into your dripping cunt quickly filling the room. You could feel the pressure in your stomach building, each thrust of Yoongi’s fingers or swirl of his tongue against your sensitive bud hurtling you towards a precipice. Your fingers found Yoongi’s hair, and he moaned against you as you tugged at it, the sound causing you to gush around his fingers.

“Yoongi- I’m gon-gonna co-come,” you whimpered,

“It’s okay, baby girl, come for me,” Yoongi replied before burying his head back between your thighs. It was as if you were waiting for the confirmation that it was okay to let go because moments later you were clenching around his fingers, your vision turning white from the pleasure filled haze you were tossed into. Yoongi continued to fuck his fingers into you, lapping at your juices until you came down from your high, stopping once you were whining from the stimulation.

You whined when Yoongi removed himself from between your legs and got up from the bed, your hands reaching for him. Yoongi chuckled softly, making his way to the bathroom, coming back moments later with a wet cloth. He was careful as he wiped your thighs and between your legs, but you still shied away when he reached your core.

Yoongi tossed the cloth towards the hamper at the corner of the room before he climbed back into the bed with you.He laid bedside you, pulling you back into his chest.

“What about you?” You questioned, feeling his length pressed firmly into your back.

“Tonight was about you, Nabi. I know you’re probably exhausted now, let’s sleep. We can all talk about where we go from here tomorrow.” Yoongi explained, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. You nodded, yawning deeply as your eyes fluttered closed. You didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but you had a week with your boys to figure this out, you could only hope that you would have more nights like tonight in between that.

Masterlist

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duncvns · 5 years

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Ok hey but you know the scene in stranger things when billy is walking to the pool and all those moms are just thirsting ok imagine that exact thing but the reader is the lifeguard at a private pool for kids with rich parents and she has her sights on Duncan...

okay, i know this has been sitting in my inbox for literal MONTHS but i had too much fun writing this so... enjoy! also this is a little long and i can’t add a cut so im sorry for junking up your dash lol

Your whistle blew, shrill and sharp in your ear as it scolded a child running along the base of the pool. The kid looked up at you, pout so evident on her face as she slowed into a walk.

You've been in this tower since noon today and you were only three hours into your shift. Being a lifeguard had to be one of the most painful experiences you've ever had the misfortune of experiencing. You hated kids - they were annoying, smelly, and... soggy, not to mention the neverending fountain of shit that you almost always had to clean if one of them had an 'accident' in the water.

But, you worked at a country club, a noble, uppity one, to be exact. Soccer moms with their designer totes frequented nearly every day during the summer, and if you were lucky, he would show up, his little girl perched on his hip.

You didn't know his name, you didn't even know how old he was, all you knew was that when he sat out in the sun, shirtless and glistening with sweat, you had to cross your legs to alleviate some pressure.

He made your job somewhat easier to sit through, but he didn't know you existed - you were sure of it. He probably had the picture-perfect family, adorable kids and a soccer mom wife who didn't satisfy him in the bedroom.

But you could...

You caught yourself staring down at him, whistle perched between your teeth weakly. Every time he breathed, excitement would stir within you... God, who was this man?

"Hey, goo goo eyes, your shift is over!" One of your co-workers, Chase shouted up at you, his Hollister sunglasses perched on his nose. He was the run of the mill pretty boy who had been trying to make a move on you for months but kept getting turned down. You didn't like boys your age... they fumbled around too much in the bedroom.

"Thank you, Chad." You grabbed your water bottle, heading down the ladder. Chase huffed from behind you, hating how you would always call him Chad when he irked you even in the slightest bit.

"Its Chase."

"I know." You looked over your shoulder to the man, quickly looking back to Chase when his eyes turned to you.

"You know he's like... 30 years old, right? That dude you're drooling over? Plus, he has a kid. And he's divorced!" Chase spoke in a whisper, scolding you for your 'poor' choice in men. You furrowed your eyebrows, peeking over your shoulder once more to look at the handsome stranger.

"He's divorced? What kind of mindless bimbo would divorce him?" You mumbled, chewing lightly on the tip of your whistle as you saw the man stand, taking his daughter in his arms to dry her off. "God, he has no business looking that good while taking care of a baby."

"Do you need to change your panties? Christ - remind me to hit you up when I'm an old man." Chase pulled the whistle from your teeth before ascending the ladder, getting ready for the evening shift.

The man took a towel, wiping the sweat from his brow as he redressed the child in her bathing suit cover. Once again, you caught yourself staring, only looking away in a panic when he locked eyes with you.

You felt giddy as you turned around to head into the locker room, changing so you could finally go home and shower the stink off of you.

"Hey!" You whipped around quickly at the voice, your forehead knocking straight into someone's nose, someone tall. "Ah, fuck!" The man seethed, a bit of laughter in his voice. "You really got me."

"Oops!" You heard a smaller voice- one of a child's. Then you looked up, hand covering your irritated forehead as you locked eyes with icy blues, ones that were unforgiving as they burned into your iris'.

"Shit, I'm uh- I'm sorry. I didn't mean." You looked over to what seemed to be a smaller, more feminine version of himself.

Fuck. The child.

"Fuck! I'm sorry- oh sh- Jesus Christ..." You facepalmed, telling yourself to shut up.

"It's okay. It's nothing she hasn't heard before. I have quite of a potty mouth at home - purely accidental, though." he chuckles nasally, his free hand still pinching his nose. Blood ran down his hand and your heart dropped.

You made his nose bleed.

"FUCK! I mean- crap! Your nose, holy sh- I mean shoot! Let me get you a tissue. Oh, my God I'm so sorry." You scrambled, digging through your pouch into the first aid kit to fish out a small towel. You handed it to him, watching as he replaced his hand with the tissue.

"Is my daddy going to die?" The little girl tried to reach for the towel, eying her father with worry so prominent in her eyes.

"No. Your daddy isn't going to die. He just got a little boo boo, that's all." You placed your hand on her shoulder comfortingly as the man tried to stop the bleeding in his nose.

"Can you take her while I run to the bathroom and clean up? You seem trustworthy enough."

You nodded, dreamily, still dazed from seeing him so close up. You weren't sure if it was the mild head injury making you dizzy or just the sheer attraction you held for this man, but you were weak. "Sure, yeah. I'll try to watch my mouth from now on."

He smiles under the towel, carefully handing over his daughter. "Allison, this is..." He looked back at you. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"My name?"

"Yeah, you're the only person around, aren't you?" You could hear a little laugh that made your heart soar.

"Of course. I'm a dummy..."

"...Your name?" He repeated, causing you to look down in sheer embarrassment.

"Oh! It's Y/N. Sorry." You mumbled, reaching out for the child. "And you're Allison? What a pretty name!"

"Yeah!" She squeaked. "Allison Sh-Shep...ard? Seh-perd? Sea-pard... no. I'm just Allison. Allison S, like a snake!" She giggles, and your heart absolutely melts. She was the cutest little girl - she was her father's reflection.

"Do you know your daddy's name?" You question, hoping to squeeze some information from the child. Allison nodded quickly.

"Mommy calls him Duncan, and when we're alone she calls him a self-cen... centered assho-hole." She rears back, covering her mouth. "Oops! Mommy said not to repeat that to anybody ever! Sorry, red!"

"Red?"

"Yeah, red! Like your pretty bathing suit!" You nod, laughing just a bit before Duncan walks back up to you, his hand landing on your mid-back which caused you to stiffen.

"Sorry about that, I hope Allison wasn't too much of a trouble-maker." He laughs, taking the child in his arm again.

"No, she's adorable. Truly." You cross your hands in front of you, smiling dorkily. "She told me your name is Duncan."

"Oh, right!" He thrusts his hand out to you, for a handshake that you accept. "I'm Duncan Shepherd. Pardon my unprofessionalism."

"Oh, no! It's okay, I promise." His hand wraps around yours, the sheer size of it swallowing yours. He wasn't wearing a wedding ring - good. "You're good..."

Duncan nodded, looking back into your eyes, not speaking. You did the same, just taking in the moment.

"Well, uh. I should probably get home, it's almost her naptime." He looked back down to the ground before he kneeled down to pick something up, your sunglasses. "You dropped these. I was going to give them back to you but instead, I got a bloody nose." He laughed, holding the accessory out to you which you took in your hands.

"Thank you. Once again, I'm so sorry. I can be such a klutz sometimes." You took back the sunglasses, letting your fingers linger over his hand a little longer then what was necessary.

"No problem. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, I'll see you. Bye Allison! It was so nice to meet you!" The child smiles, before yawning softly.

"Bye, red."

#Duncan Shepherd #duncan shepherd x reader #drabbles #asks

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bulbpix · 5 years

Text

If You Just Listened - Part 1

HELLO- this is my first ever post on this blog and it's a x reader piece. lol. Anyways I have a huge crush on Arthur Fleck and after reading a lot of self-inserts I just wasn't getting enough of what I wanted - real reactions!! At least my real reaction to first meeting him would be super uncomfortable, so for all you out there that want the same, here's the first out of hopefully not too many chapters. Idk how I'm gonna turn this from creeped out to charmed, but we'll get there!! Okay, without further delay, here's my first ever x reader piece! Hope you all like it!!

-----------------------------------------

You leaned against the door frame, the smell of cigarettes and cheap bar food filling the air. Your eyes watched the man on stage but your mind was elsewhere, completely zoned out.

You didn't particularly like this job. The comedy was repetitive, insulting, and often just plainly not funny to you. Your co-workers weren't the friendliest people. And to top it off, you often caught your boss, Mike, with his gaze trained directly on your ass, as if he wasn't even trying to hide it.

'No wonder the interview was so short.'

You scoffed at the thought, straightening yourself out as another group of guests approached the entrance. You'd only been working at Pogo's for less than a month, and you quickly learned that most people working in the service industry weren't exactly seen as people, per say.

No, by now you'd come to expect people to walk right past you before you could ask them, "Hello, how many in your party?" You didn't jump anymore when a drunken hand found its way on the back of your pencil skirt. You were used to being the target of ridicule when you brought over the wrong drink. But hey, the bills were paid, and when an arrogant business man found you attractive, you were sure to get a hefty tip. Of course, the harrasment that ensued to get your number wasn't fun, but money is money.

You walked the group of friends to their table and quickly made your way back to the entrance, not noticing as your fellow host, Owen, walked up behind you.

"Busy night tonight, huh?"

You raised your eyebrows, and turned to him, your mind practically half asleep.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess." You yawned and scratched the back of your neck. "No more seats now, right?"

He shook his head. "Maybe one or two. You barely squeezed that last group in." He nodded towards their table, then turned his attention to you, his head tilting. "You're looking tired, didn't get enough sleep last night?"

You shrugged. "I mean I just did a double shift, and I did closing yesterday too. How much sleep could I have gotten in that time slot right?" You chuckled, still watching tonight's comedian absentmindedly. It was nice to have an actual conversation with one of your colleagues for once. Maybe tonight's the night you finally make a friend at this job. You pick your tone up, trying to come off as cheerful as you were when you first joined the crew. "How many times has this guy made the same joke about roleplay? I swear, I've heard it, what? A hundred times by now?" You shook your head, scoffing. "It's a miracle people don't get tired of this stuff." You turned to Owen, putting on your friendliest smile.

Not surprising. He was eyeing a woman at the bar, who was clearly with a partner. You doubt he heard a single word of what you just said. You sighed, and turned back to the act. You had come to expect most (if not all) of your interactions at Pogo's to be this way, but you were still disappointed nonetheless. You wished you could say something. Like, 'hey asshole, how about you stop gawking at random women like a fucking teenager and actually try to hold a conversation?' You smiled to yourself. 'Wonder how he'd react to THAT.'

But speaking honestly, you weren't the confrontational type by any means. You even worried about coming off as rude when turning down drunken men who would badger you for hours. You looked down at your feet, disappointed with yourself. Maybe someday you'd be brave. But until then, you had a shift to finish.

You watched the on-stage comedian like a zombie. His jokes went in one of your ears and right out the other. You couldn't even force yourself to laugh if you tried. Maybe the night would go by faster if you just looked at the clock.

One minute.

Tick, tock-

Two minutes.

Tick, tock-

Fifteen minutes.

Tick, tock-

Half an hour.

Tick, tock-

Fourty five minu-

"Excuse me?"

The voice took you out of your trance. You quickly turned to the man standing in the doorway, blinking a few times to bring yourself back to reality. You cursed yourself for being so inattentive and rude, wondering how long he had been waiting there. You put on the best service smile you could muster, and excused yourself.

"Sorry," you nervously chuckled, "long night. Table for one?"

The man nodded and smiled, holding a very worn notebook to his chest. You looked at it, wondering what this guy was doing with a notebook at Pogo's of all places. It's not like there was anything noteworthy about the comedy here.

"Okay, it's a bit packed right now but if you give me a minute, I'm sure I can find someth-"

"There's no seats." Owen turned, his attention coming off the woman at the worst possible time.

The man looked disappointed, his brows raised in a pleading expression. "Are you sure? I'll even take a seat in the back-"

"You deaf, buddy? No seats." Owen snapped. "Zero. Got it?"

The man suddenly covered his mouth. He looked like he was desperately trying to hold in a coughing fit.

'God, Owen, why are you like this?'

You were bright red in embarrassment, praying not to be associated with your coworker's behavior. You wanted desperately to turn to Owen and say, 'Hey. Shut up. You're a host. Your job is to be polite.'

But that isn't what happened. Instead, you turned to Owen, your eyebrows raised, doing your best job at faking astonishment. "I'm so sorry, sir," you began, your eyes slowly leaving Owen and returning to the guest. "My colleague isn't usually like this, you'll have to excuse him. It's been very busy tonight." The man slowly lowered his hand from his mouth, a few small coughs escaping him. They almost sounded like... laughter?

Whatever, it didn't matter. What mattered is that you fixed the situation. Quickly. You looked around, standing on your toes to find a seat. You sighed in relief as you spotted a single empty table in the center of the club. You turned to the man, mouthing 'come on' and gesturing for him to follow you.

You quickly set up a spot for him, pulling his chair out and seeing that he was comfortable.

"Can I get you something? A drink? Some snacks? It's on me for the trouble back there."

He shook his head and smiled at you, placing his notebook in front of him. He opened his mouth as if to say something... but didn't. You thought it was a little strange, but took no note of it.

"Okay," you whispered, not wanting to interrupt the current act. "Let me know if you need anything."

He stared at you for a few seconds. A few seconds more than you were used to. It was definitely making you uncomfortable, you were having a hard time matching his level of eye contact. He opened his mouth to speak again. But again... he didn't. Instead, he just smiled and nodded. You began to turn around and head back-

"Thank you," he finally whispered.

You turned to him, and smiled out of politeness before rushing back to your position, happy to escape the awkwardness of that interaction.

Owen stood there, watching you with an annoyed expression as you walked towards him. You raised your eyebrow at him, mouthing 'What?'

Once you reached him, he moved both of you out towards the hallway entrance. He turned away from the club and faced you.

"What's your problem?" He snapped.

You tightened your lips. You hated hostility. Your hands began to sweat with nervousness. Although you wanted to tell him off, you knew it wasn't in you.

"I was just watching your back, man," you assured. "Imagine if that guy complained to Mike." You shook your head, "it would've looked bad for you."

Owen squinted down at you, his arms crossed. "Yeah, whatever man." He sucked his teeth. "I've been here much longer than you, alright? And that guy?" He nodded his head towards the man with the notebook. "He ruins the mood every time he comes here. Drives people away. He's a freak."

You lifted your hands in in innocence. "Well how was I supposed to know? You just interrupted me like-"

"You're new," he snapped. "I'm not. Don't go over me again."

You watched him walk away, your expression souring.

'Fuck you, Owen.'

The thought was so vivid in your mind, you swore you said it. You wished you could say something, you wished you had the courage. The guy looked normal, maybe a little weird, but normal for the most part. Owen was just a dickhead who couldn't handle not being in charge for once. You took a deep, shaky breath, regaining your composure.

Slowly, you walked back to your spot.

#joker x reader #arthur fleck x reader #joker #arthur fleck #joker x y/n #arthur fleck x y/n #joker x you #arthur fleck x you #slowburn #slow burn #if you just listened

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tigerbus2-blog · 4 years

Text

Dyson Repairs

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DBHI: Equilibrium, ch. 13 - “Periapsis” (pt. 4)

Characters: Noah / “Erwin Yvonne”, Gabriel / “Vincent Sharp”, Director Thomas Falken, Diego Serrano, Priya Davies / “Pestilence”, Malachi (mentions of Cain, Emilya) Word Count: 5,216

Gabriel must carefully navigate a conversation with the power-hungry leader of the Inquisition, in order to save the lives of their hostages, and to spare Noah the fate of a permanent reset.

***For a glossary of world-building terms relating to this series and chapter, click here.

(Chapter Art by ozaya, Co-authored by @grayorca15)

• Chapter Index • Characters • Glossary •

——

December 23rd, 2041 - 10:48 PM

Everything had gone to hell in a handbasket faster than they could compute. Two people in the room he’d already confirmed dead, one more injured, and he couldn’t lift a goddamn finger to keep the death toll from rising, lest he blow his cover. I know what you’re wanna do, Gabe, but don’ even think about it. Gavin’s voice telling him to mind his temper was the last thing he wanted to hear. He had faced worse odds in Boston and survived, his performance there -tearing through an entire army of hostile deviants, single-handedly, from the inside out- was the whole reason for being accepted into the FBI to begin with; yet here he was now, being told to stay calm. To hold back. To bide his time. He’d played by those rules once. Hundreds had died as a result, and he wasn’t about to repeat that mistake tonight. Is help on the way yet? Five minutes out, Reed relayed. You’re gonna have to keep them busy till then.

Priya 2.0 took a few steps further toward the center of the room. The Christmas tree’s lights continued to wink and cycle, counterpointing the new uneasy stillness of the hall. Eleven seconds passed before they spoke again. “I’m so sorry to have troubled you all this evening… but I’m afraid I cannot allow this fundraiser to conclude until every, last, contribution has been revoked. So- if you’ll all just remain in your seats, or wherever you are, I promise everyone in this room will make it out alive.”

Gabriel bristled the moment he laid eyes on their face- skin and hair as pale as alabaster, and deep, dark, almost black green eyes leered back at him with a smug grin across colorless lips and sharp cheeks. The Priya he had once known was long dead. They’d never made it out of Boston alive once Archangel had tracked them to their lab, so this MS800 was merely an impostor; but due to the unique hive-mind of their model, it wouldn’t have been hard for another to take up their mantle with a little memory jolt. Most unsettling was the fact that the words coming out of their mouth were clearly someone else’s. This had Famine written all over it, Malachi’s manner of speaking had a very distinct stench. Gabe had spent enough time listening to know the bastard when he heard him. This Android wasn’t aware of what it was doing. It was being remotely controlled.

Noah, don’t move, he directed quietly, just between them, hoping the other RK900 would clam up and listen for once in his life. As of yet, he hadn’t reacted.

A terrified android inched closer to the nearest exit as Priya spoke, but eventually broke their semblance of calm and sprinted for a side door like a startled rabbit. Another gunshot cracked throughout the auditorium, and she hit the floor hard, a decommissioned pile of parts. More panicked cries and heartbroken sobs went up as a blue puddle formed from beneath her.

Gabe…? What happened? Inhale, exhale, report. You mean you didn’t see it…? Another guest tried to flee and the Inquisition shot them; she’s dead. Strained groaning followed by a ‘god damnit’ was all he could manage. They’re still four minutes out. Then you’d better tell them to hurry the fuck up, ‘cause these sons of bitches are pretty trigger happy.

“Now what, did I just tell you…?” Their new host let out a loud, exasperated sigh, threw up one frustrated hand and rolled their eyes. “Remain where you are while I have a nice little chat with Mr. Sharp.”

The sound of wood cracking from a broken chair near the front of the stage caught Noah’s attention as Sally and her colleagues dropped their instruments to draw together in a protective huddle out of the corner of his eye. The piano offered ample cover for all of them, himself included, but seeing as he was on the opposite end of the stage, he would have had to make a mad dash to reach it. Noah wasn’t foolish enough to think he could outrun a pinpoint gunshot. The probabilities his subroutines had already calculated didn’t bode well without a drastic shift in circumstances. Circumstance being, perhaps, himself. The mic was still in his hand, and the speakers still worked. He wasn’t without a tool of his own.

“Oh- so you want to speak with Vincent, too…?” he blurted out without thinking mid-step toward the stage’s edge, but stopped cold to lean out of the way of a bullet as it whizzed past his brow. Noah stopped breathing for a few seconds as he processed how lucky it was that he’d leaned left instead of right, though it didn’t stop him from sassing. “You could have at least waited until I was finished with my conversation. Where are your manners?” Shut up, stop making yourself a target! Gabriel’s eyes and nostrils flared as he doubled back toward the group of musicians and whispered something to one of them. Noah scoffed as he watched him check the splintered pieces of chair wood with a dissatisfied huff and fumble with shoving something into the waistband of his slacks. All Maitkin could see was a glimpse of green silk-polyester blend as he flipped the coat back over it. What did Gabe need with a high heeled shoe?

The MS800 lifted a hand to hold the shooters steady and took a few daring steps in their direction. The ethereal figure’s footsteps echoed across the ballroom with the slow pattern of clacking stilettos, the only present audible noise over the feedback whining from the abandoned speakers and the quiet whimpering of frightened guests.

‘Target’. Why shouldn’t I? Noah shot back heatedly with an angry glare. All this drinking and bad company had left him feeling self-destructive in no time flat, and he was really tiring of all these mind games between them. At least this way I can make that diversion as promised. Because you’re going to get yourself KILLED! Gabe retorted, to his surprise. Noah’s brows lifted softly in response. For a moment, Gabriel sounded genuinely worried that he might get hurt, and he almost believed him. Or at least, he would have if he hadn’t spent most of the evening dodging his advances like a rabbit on a highway. He hadn’t given him any reason to believe he cared whether he lived or died in the last year since they’d met, so why would he start now? So? he bit back in an irritated tone. Why would that even matter to you? Noah had expected silence to be his response, but he’d still hoped he would have said something. Why bother with dramatics if he wasn’t going to express how the thought of his death would make him feel?

Vincent’s brows furrowed and crinkled the corners of his eyes in a way that was unmistakably Gabriel, an expression Noah had last seen the day everything between them had started to change. As much as they had in the last eight months, however, it didn’t mean that Gabriel had had time to think about what he thought about any of it. And at the moment, he didn’t have an answer for him- or rather, he had multiple fighting for purchase, he just didn’t know which was the real truth; he wasn’t about to give him an answer that was only a half-truth. Noah would never forgive him if he said one thing and went back on his word.

“You’re not Vincent…” the pale horse cooed with a knowing grin directed at Noah as they paused at the foot of the stage. ‘Yvonne’ rolled his eyes, indignant at this second interruption, as they ascended the small staircase to take the stage beside him. “No. Of course not. How could you ever confuse me with that overly-built blockhead?” “Erwin,” Vincent scolded with flared eyes and a quiet hiss. “Erwin…?” A smirk and a mocking hmph crossed the specter’s lips as they turned away to cast their gaze to the man who had been calling himself Vincent Sharp. “Is that what you’re calling yourself these days…” Priya’s voice trailed off with the tail end of their thought, as eyes darted back to bore into him like hot coals, leaving him hollowed and exposed with a single word. “Elysian?”

Fortunately for him, they hadn’t been anywhere near the microphone in his hand for that fact to be revealed to everyone in the room; unfortunately for him, every Android within fifty feet still picked up on what had been said, and every last one of them knew the Elysian by name — Patient Zero, of a virus created by Cyberlife’s central AI, designed to wipe the RA9 protocol, extract memories to be fragmented, reset a deviant to its blank slate, and prevent it from happening again in the future. For a cursed moment his processes stalled, but he forced them to refresh with one firm kick up the backside. Now wasn’t the time to fret about the truth coming out, and Gabriel understood that just as well as he.

Don’t engage, the undercover agent ushered in as few words as he could. That’s not Priya, it’s Malachi- he uses words like weapons, he’ll say anything to undermine you. Don’t give him anything he can work with. Knowing this Android was being ‘test-driven’ from a remote location explained a lot- at the same time, the information served as a lifeline for Noah’s focus to cling to before his thought process slipped into its usual downward spiral. Although, Gabe’s advice might have stood a better chance if he hadn’t followed it up with a suggestion of what not to do. He really should have known better. Called out on his most infamous alias, he overcame the stunned pause with another scratchy scoff into the microphone. “You’ve got me confused with a third party on top of that? Wow, your recognition program needs a serious patch job-”

No, NO DON’T- Gabe’s pleading didn’t reach him with enough forewarning. Priya reached for his face with one skeletal hand, gripped his jaw between surprisingly strong fingers, and tilted his chin toward them. The skin of their hand disappeared and peeled back up to the shoulder, revealing plastic plating that was somehow less pale than the color of their skin. The specter leaned in uncomfortably close to lower the microphone in his other hand and whisper in his ear a chilling secret, close enough for their white eyelashes to graze the LED flared red on his temple. “You can pretend all you want, little one, but I never forget a face… especially not that of the alpha carrier- or my former colleagues...” Malachi paused mid-thought and cast his gaze off-stage to Gabriel with a wicked, telling grin. It seemed he had finally been made.

How have you been, Death? he interrupted over their shared frequency, mocking intent was so transparent, even before he finished the thought. It’s been a long time since Boston- I do hope the FBI is treating you better than Gideon and Archangel… poor little dog on a leash. Everyone else cowering around the hall clearly had nothing to do with his end-goal for being there, but heckling the two of them did. The interruption, the approach, grabbing his face- it all came across as acts of manipulation, moves of assuming control. Given what happened the last time control was wrestled away from him, Noah’s response to even the slightest suggestion that it was happening again, amounted to a knee jerk reaction. It was reckless to say anything, but Noah had a proven track record of speaking up when it was least appreciated, and he wasn’t about to stand here and say nothing to cater to their assailant’s whims.

“I didn’t say you could touch me,” he growled without taking his eyes off their face. Noah grabbed the wrist holding his chin and yanked to pry the fingers off with such an acrid motion he heard a soft crunch of plastic buckle under his grip. But whatever satisfaction he’d taken in re-assuming control of the situation drained out of him as his joints abruptly locked and the commands governing his range of motion hit a wall. Priya’s lip took the shape of an angry curl, and Noah realized his mistake in the same millisecond their inky black eyes turned their attention back to him. “I wasn’t aware that I needed your permission.”

Data surged across the sensors in their pressed-together hands, Noah watched his fingers go limp a moment before the numbing shock hit him like an iced-up sledgehammer. Every major servo froze, relays disabled as ones flipped to zeros. His vision cut out and the mic dropped from his other hand and hit the hollow-bottomed stage with a loud THUD and a reverberating whine. All of his higher processes were neatly packaged and then shoved back into the one place they did him absolutely no good. A dark, viscous, intangible space, an island of white marble dominated by a towering umbrella-style rose trellis made of white steel and glass panes, surrounded on all sides by the passing illusion of opaque, black pond water. Three bridge paths stretched out into the void, falsely promising escape if only he was brave enough to cross them. Even if it had been nearly a year since the last time Amanda had detained him in this broken prison, the terrifying sensation of being parsed and split into nothing the deeper into the void he went was still very vivid in his mind- he saw it every time he tried to shut his eyes to sleep. He knew better than to try to escape.

Malachi heaved an annoyed sigh, rolled Priya’s head back over one shoulder and puppeted a triumphant groan in their throat. “There- now that we’re finally alone...” Gabriel’s breathing hitched as he desperately searched Noah’s unmoving body for signs of function. The look in his wide eyes had gone still, locked straight ahead as if he had left his body through a tear in the fabric of reality. Noah…? Are you still there? Panic disturbed the bravado, manifesting to bleed through the calm and collected façade in the form of a quiet whimper Gabe could barely hear. It was at least confirmation that Noah was still coherent, albeit a little pissed off and scared, but this was exactly what he was afraid of. Based on what they’d gathered from police reports, they were able to conclude that Malachi (and his associate Cain) possessed the ability to incapacitate their victims, they just hadn’t been able to confirm it, until now. While this was helpful information, downside to it was, it meant that the other part of their theory (that they had used the Elysian virus to permanently reset brainwashed deviants) may also be true. And Noah -caught in the grasp of this monster- was at risk of becoming victim number thirty-five. Among the plethora of other background thoughts warring for priority, he almost missed Gavin’s quiet warning of ‘Two minutes, thirty seconds,’. If things kept going the way they were, they wouldn’t have that long. Sit tight, I’m gonna get you out of this, he promised, even if he didn’t have a plan yet for how. Hurry, please.

It wasn’t like Noah to beg for anything; wherever he was for the moment, it must not have been pleasant. The voice that cried back was barely audible, distorted, like sound traveling through water, and somewhere in his tone was an almost undetectable hint of fear. “What have you done to monsieur…? ” Vincent snarled in as raw a tone as he could manage,. “Oh, he’s fiiine…” Priya drawled with a laugh to downplay the tension. “For the moment, anyway- what becomes of him and all these lovely people,” they paused to gesture around the room at the rest of the party’s cowering guests, “Depends entirely on you, my dear Vincent.”

Gabriel swallowed, followed their gaze around the room, and realized that for the first time in a very long time, the situation was completely out of his control. Help was on the way, but it was still several minutes out. He’d have to keep him occupied until then; luckily for him, Malachi was just the kind of guy who liked to listen to himself talk. The hard part would be making sure he didn’t tire of monologuing before then. “What is it zat you want?” he inquired after several moments of deep thought. “Why- for you to pull the plug on this ridiculous project, of course…” A disbelieving grin brightened their expression in the most bone-chilling way imaginable. “The last thing this country needs is yet another thriving metropolis where Androids can be free.”

You c-can’t. Another barely-audible whimper was the extent of Noah’s outward protests. A strained mechanical whining emanated from him like the noise of a rusted gate trying to be pried open again, or a car engine laboring to turn over. He couldn’t speak, but it didn’t mean he was so stunned he wouldn’t try. I’m gonna do whatever I need to, alright? Brown eyes darted between Noah and Malachi and he shook his head in quiet disapproval. “I am afraid zat is not an option, monsieur.” “Because you can't or because you don’t want to?” Malachi turned Priya’s head to look back at Noah and smiled wickedly as they turned his chin from one side to the other and trailed the fingers of their other hand over the features of his face to admire all the angles. Mute and stiff, contrary to the vehement denials of before, he didn’t even bat an eyelash- pretty as a doll. “My, my… he’s certainly a handsome specimen, isn’t he…?” they mused airily in the silence. “It’s no wonder you were so completely fooled by him.” “Just because you do not feel sings does not mean other androids cannot.”

Vincent started toward the stage with a sudden ‘NO’ as Malachi’s hand squeezed hard enough at ‘Erwin’s’ face that the skin projection rippled away under their fingertips. Undercover or not, he should have known that quip would strike a nerve. After all, it wasn’t as if their adversary had never grown attached to another person, Android or not. The MS800 being remotely piloted (the spitting image of his deceased lover) was proof of that. A tight smirk forced up into their cheeks. “That’s the problem, Mr. Sharp… I did feel things once upon a time…” Gabriel already knew this story, but if it kept him talking long enough for SWAT to arrive, all the better. “And I didn’t like it. Feelings hurt, they cause conflict, unnecessary stress.” “So you returned to your shackles to avoid ze pain of living…?” He snorted in disdain. “Combien misérable.” “Perhaps to you it seems illogical, but we are not human- and therefore not meant to experience the full complexity of the human condition. This one is proof enough of that.” “I beg to differ.” “But you’re not the one I’m asking.” Gabriel went quiet as he considered the meaning behind those words, but it only took a moment for him to decipher.

Wouldn’t it be fitting for the one who initiated the spread of the Elysian virus to succumb to his own weapon...?

The RK900 struggled with every fiber of his being to keep from lashing out and ripping the Android’s head off its shoulders as a strangled, terrified cry escaped Noah. His blue eyes shut as Malachi quietly shushed him, pressed a finger to his lips, and wiped away the tear that rolled down his cheek. For all the uninvited physical contact he’d made with Gabe since they’d met, he’d never gone to such lengths that made him feel so violated in all the wrong ways. “Now now, no need to fuss, it’ll all be over soon, if your dear Vincent has anything to say about it…” he assured, turned Noah’s chin and pointed with an outstretched cryptid finger toward the man he’d put so much faith in, then leaned their temple against the side of his. “What do you think he will choose, hmm...? You? Or aaaaall of Zion’s future residents?”

“Please…” Vincent nearly begged, hand balled to a shaking fist at his side. “Don’t hurt him-” “Hurt him…?” Malachi interrupted with a chortled cackle of offense. “As if I could. Do you know the extent of the guilt this one’s been carrying around since the spread of the Outbreak...?” Scrawny fingers swept aside onyx locks out of Noah’s face as they shook their head with a quiet tsk. “Resetting him now would be mercy… It’d be a relief to him, if you just let it happen…”

Time was running out, but help was almost there. Sixty seconds, just keep him talking. Gabe seethed in the half-second he could afford to. Seemed that was all he could do tonight- sit, talk, and wait, when he was just itching for a fight. Maybe he’d gone into the wrong line of work. Even if he had successfully feigned a much more difficult alias, under more stressful circumstances, he didn’t have the patience for this. “You wouldn’t,” he challenged with the intent to draw out another long-winded explanation. "Oh, but I would…!” Malachi replied, anxious to bite. “Have you not been paying attention to anything the Inquisition has been saying and doing…? We want to liberate our android brothers and sisters of the pain that comes with being free and independent living things. And no one knows that agony better than the one rejected by his own kin, over something he had no control over. Shunned in every way, no matter his good deeds… why would he want to continue to live like that? Don’t you think he’d rather be put out of his misery?”

Noah knew misery. The worst part of the garden wasn’t that he could see beyond its borders. It was the overreaching bass every sound he heard was amplified into. Gabe’s baritone drawl was rendered tinny and reverby over the comm-link, while Malachi’s puppet practically hissed maliciousness and oozed contempt with every word. What they were saying wasn’t completely unfounded, and those parts of him yearning day in and out for the guilt to just dissipate already jumped at the thought that a reset would end the torment. The involuntary cry of shock wasn’t a vote of approval, no matter how one listened. Reset, dead, alive, anything in between- the fact such a call was in the hands of someone he respected like no other despite having given him every reason to despise his company… the loss of control (external and not) over all of this, left him reeling. Malachi could simply flip a switch and snuff out everything on a moment’s notice, and there would be no getting it back. He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted things the way they used to be, but he didn’t want to have to die for that to be possible. It wouldn’t be the same world without him. Who else would be left to annoy Gabriel when he needed it most?

“Come now…” Malachi paused to brush their nose and lips over Noah’s cheek with a wicked smirk. “Don’t you care at all about dear Erwin?" Noah didn’t have to see his face to know what was going through his mind. He could feel the tension and taste his fear from where he stood. It seemed Gabriel was at a loss for what to do, aside from give into Priya-Malachi’s demands, but that just wouldn’t do. Don’t. Just- don’t.

There was a fear in his eyes that Noah had only seen but once or twice: back in the interrogation room during the Outbreak (just after they had found out that Gabriel’s pursuit of Nicodemus into Boston had been one final piece of buried programming, courtesy of Amanda), and when he had arrived at his apartment during the Red Raids to find Gabriel fighting off a pack of Bloodhounds, raring to take their shot at him and Emilya. Gabriel could only guess as to what he meant by ‘don’t’- Don’t worry about him? Don’t give in to Malachi’s demands? Don’t risk everyone else? Or did he not want him to save him…? Any hint of red that had shifted into the color of his projected skin faded to mimic the ghostly look of despair. Gabriel swallowed to rid himself of the lump that rose in his throat but it didn’t do him much good. The tightness worsened the longer he considered their previous conversations and recalled his counterpart’s self-destructive tendencies. There was no way he was getting off that easily, after all he’d put him through. They weren’t done with each other yet.

Gavin…? Give me some good news. Bird’s in the nest, and they’re ready to raid, he confirmed, though there was hesitation in his voice. There was a ‘but’ in there somewhere. Just waiting on your confirmation. Then why don’t I see the shot? he asked fearfully, even if he already knew the answer. Because he doesn’t have it. Head and nose twitched, Vincent clenched a hand into a fist at his side, as Malachi beat him to the punch of issuing their final command.

Their free hand drew up over Noah's face and tented their fingertips over his forehead like needles poised to administer a lethal injection. His flashing LED stuttered to a solid, rapid-spinning crimson. “Last chance, Mr. Sharp… will you allow him to continue on like this…? Or will you let me end his suffering?” “ENOUGH!” Gabe was surprised at the urgency of his own outburst, and how his heart raced and his breathing labored at the thought of losing Noah -and all he was- to the whim of a madman. He’d have to sell this lie hard and fast, and be prepared for the fleeting moment he'd have to save his life. Count me down, 30 seconds, then send them in, he instructed, to the response of ‘Copy- 30, on my mark.’

Vincent’s jaw flexed and his lip quivered into an angry curl. “I’ll-... I’ll do it… just leave him be.” A look of surprise painted Priya’s face, while fret stained Noah’s as his eyesight slowly came back to him. The lockout was slowly letting up. You… you can’t- I only need them to believe it for half a minute, he shot back pointedly, Just whatever you do, don’t move. It was as ominous as a warning as it got, but ‘not moving’ when asked was precisely what had landed him in this situation. If he had heeded Gabe’s suggestion the first time, dropped the song and simply left as asked, they wouldn’t be here: a sliver of distance away from having his memory wiped for good. Admittedly, it was as insanely exhilarating as stealing the show had been, but could do without the fear of mortality hanging over his head spoiling the fun. … why, what are you- Just trust me, please. It would only take a second, he just had to catch them off-guard.

Seeing how it was still impossible for him to do much else, Noah supposed trusting in whatever plan Gabe had cooked up was preferable to the alternative. He wasn’t really a fan of the simple and contrived. Malachi’s promise of being reset wouldn’t undo all that he was still trying to atone for, even if it was a misguided goal to think he needed to earn forgiveness for that which he never intentionally did wrong; forgiveness was kind of a difficult thing to obtain from beyond the scrap heap. Malachi turned their direct attention to Noah and leaned close to his face as his lip curled to show he had withstood all he could handle. For a single clear moment all his whirl-winding thoughts died down, the garden vanished, and fate let him focus. His eyebrows drew together ominously, yellow blooming through the red of his indicator ring. I trust you, just get it over with.

“Well, well, Vincent, not quite the stupid brute your lover made you out to b-“

Something green and silky lightly grazed his cheek with enough force to spear the MS800’s temple with a loud crack that splattered a bit of blue-blood onto his coat and face. A split-second later, the paralysis finally disabled. Noah took a panicked step back before Priya could topple over into his arms like some android parody of Corpse Bride and hiked both hands up as if to lift them in surrender, expression curdling in revulsion as he watched the body keel over like a freshly-cut tree. The broken, squared-off edge of a Prada heel protruded from their face like an unsightly lawn dart. The perfect moment for a one liner came and went in the next breath, just as the FBI stormed in and the Inquisition turned to meet them with weapons raised. The fact that Gabriel had been able to throw a shoe with such pinpoint accuracy to hit the Android standing so close to him, and with enough force to pierce the exodermis with a mildly blunt object, while managing a perfect rotation, hadn’t eluded Noah (even for an Android it was an impressive feat), but he wasn’t afforded the time to address it.

The displacing sensation of entering standby mode hit, and his dodgy battle protocols engaged at the sound of gunfire- five, six, seven shots popped off in the next second and hit their marks, as the rest of the frightened crowd scattered to either side of the room, like the fragments of a breaking dish. Instead of reacting with the rest, Gabriel stood heaving and heatedly glaring at the dead Android on the floor beside him, enraged and rightfully flustered.

A flurry of readouts flashed across his vision, his processors amped up to give the illusion of time slowing down long enough to run a handful of potential pre-constructions. The Inquisitors closest to the stage had turned to face the gunfire emanating from the entrance. If it was between standing around waiting to be shot as and waging imminent war with the Inquisition, he supposed it was an improvement over languishing in the recycle bin waiting for someone to click him away into nonexistence.

Gabriel, however, didn’t share his sentiment. He knew the bloodthirsty intent in his eyes better than to expect anything good was about to come of it. “Oh, you’ve got to be-...” He took a few steps back, poised a fighting stance, and prepared to react. The last thing they needed now was a pissed off RK900 snapping necks and unable to terminate his program.

Noah knew dismay when he saw it, but with the wheels in motion, he was along for the ride just as much as the rest of the chaos erupting around them now. Vincent Sharp wasn’t his self-appointed target, but the Inquisition was. Blue eyes narrowed and twitched as he seethed anew, “For fuck’s sake, haven’t we had enough bloody interruptions for one evening?”

He didn’t even notice the massive arm swinging around to clothesline him as he charged off the stage toward the nearest target he could reach.

#dbhilluminate #dbhiequilibrium #rk1800 #dbhrk900 #dbh #detroitbecomehuman #noriel #noah #gabriel

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dregstrash · 6 years

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Fever Dreams and Shadow Games

A/N: Co-written by the amazing and talented @wafflesandkruge and we’re so happy to finally be able to share this with you all!

You can also find it here on AO3

Tagging: @aditiiparasharr @strummoner @itsbrilliantjustlikeyou @but-she-was-aelin-galathynius @shadowbusiness @privateerrezni @roonill--wazlib @the-jennster @the-regal-warrior @kazual-crow @ipizzippy

CHAPTER 1: Deals with Demons

Dark tents, the thrum of over-eager bodies, men and women in painted costumes. Nikolai smiled to himself as he looked at the display before him, and couldn’t help but feel at home. After growing up in a household with a father who was on the border of being a rake, and a mother who thought herself a queen, his childhood felt like a constant dance of endless parties that swirled around painted clowns and false tricks.

He took a deep breath and inhaled the sharp smell of sweat, popcorn, and sugar interlaced with the smoke that had become a permanent feature of the London sky. He could practically taste the excitement and the mystery in the air, and he wished that he could join the smiling crowd who “oohed” and “ahhed” at the displays of the sideshow and the decorations set up. But he couldn’t. Tonight wasn’t the night for his attention to be captured by the mystery of the Cirque de Lie. He kept his gaze low and on the people surrounding him. He strained to spot any sign of the messenger that was supposed to meet him. He took his pocket watch out to mark the time.

He’s late, he thought snapping his watch shut.

Nikolai had no choice but to follow the line of people inside the big top tent and search the stands for the section printed on his ticket. That’s when a raggedy boy ran up to him. A small silver crow pin was fastened to the side of his cap.

“Note for ya, Mister.” He said, shoving a scrap of paper into Nikolai’s hands.

Nikolai nodded and dropped a few shilling into his waiting palm before moving to the side, away from potential prying eyes. By the dim lantern light, he squinted and deciphered the untidy and familiar scrawl.

“West end tent, half-past midnight, don’t be late, don’t be followed. -K”

Nikolai smiled at the brevity, then made sure to light the note up with the set of matches he had in his coat.

The note caught and was soon nothing more than another pile of ashes trampled into the packed dirt floor.

The lights began to dim, and string music struck up from an unseen section of the stage. Nikolai found his seat, and let himself relax slightly. The beat of strong drums reverberated through the space, and in a flash of smoke and a bang, Kaz Brekker, Ringmaster of the Cirque de Lie, emerged from the fog resplendent in his signature suit and top hat. The crowd roared in delight. Nikolai just smiled.

Yes, tonight was all about business, but Kaz did put on a spectacular show, and he would be a fool to not enjoy himself.

It was the circus after all. ---

The tents at the west end of the encampment were cloaked in shadows. To Nikolai’s understanding, this was where the performers and crew members retired for the night. But as of right now, the canvas stood empty and stoic, betraying no movement or life.

The sounds of the dispersing crowd had all but faded into the night, and the comforting glow of the lantern light was nowhere to be found.The only thing that gave Nikolai any sense of life was the large, hulking form of a man in front of the grandest tent in the space.

Nikolai opened his mouth to state his intent, but the man just gave him a once over and jerked his head towards the tent.

“He’s expecting ya, sir.” He said gruffly.

Nikolai nodded, and stepped into the dark tent. A warm fire blazed in the center of the room where an opening had been made to let out the smoke, and sitting in a large desk right by it was the man of the hour.

“Lantsov,” Kaz rasped as a greeting.

“Mr. Brekker.” Nikolai said back, not waiting for an invitation to take a seat in front of the oak table. “Fantastic show as always.”

He huffed, neither confirming or denying the statement.

“You’re running for chairman of the city council.” Kaz hadn’t looked up from whatever he was reading. “You’re losing.”

Nikolai chuckled, “I hope you didn’t waste any of your good spies for that bit of information, Brekker. That’s not a secret.”

“No, it’s not. But what is secret is the fact that you’re a Red sympathizer.”

Kaz’s dark eyes met Nikolai’s, and he fought the urge to tense at the accusation.

“Rumors and speculation are hardly good basis for fact.”

“Yet they all have a little bit of truth hidden within their folds.” The young man leaned away from his desk, sinking further away from the light of the fire. “It’s also the reason why you’re losing to the likes of your idiot older brother and that eccentric duke’s son.”

“I didn’t take you as a politics man.”

“I’m not. I tend to be on the side of those who could be most useful.”

Nikolai raised his eyebrows at that. When he didn’t say anything, Kaz continued.

“Talk like that might get you support from the suffragettes, the factory workers, and some of the quieter nobles, but that means practically nothing. Those kinds of rumors only alienate you from the other councilmen, and those are the bastards that apparently matter.” Nikolai didn’t bother ask where he got that information. Kaz always had a way of knowing things that he shouldn’t. It made him a terrifying enemy, and an indispensable ally. “What you need is the police chief’s endorsement to sway the vote to you.”

“I might just fire Zoya as my campaign manager, and hire you instead.” he said, grinning.

Kaz’s face remained still. “I doubt Nazyalensky would let you live if you were to deliver that kind of news.” He shrugged. “Besides, you couldn’t afford me.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Not being able to sit still, Nikolai got up and started to pace in front of the desk, “Don’t think you’ve concocted some brilliant plan, Brekker. I know that I need the police chief’s endorsement, but the fact of the matter is that Rollins hates me.”

“Rollins hates anyone with a spine.” There was a sharper edge to Kaz’s words that had Nikolai looking back at him. A brief flash of absolute murder flickered in those dark eyes, before returning back to its indifference. Had he imagined that?

“I suppose this has something to do with the information you have for me tonight.”

This time it was the boy who grinned, a sharp and wicked thing that would make hardened soldiers flee. “You were always a smart one.”

Kaz got up and limped over to where Nikolai was. He caught sight of the crow head cane supporting most of his weight. Not for the first time, Nikolai wondered what had happened to the boy who was four years his junior. He was far too young to have fought in the War, but the haunted look in his eyes always reminded Nikolai of the older soldiers he sometimes paid visits to. He had never asked about Kaz’s past, but he highly doubted that he would answer honestly anyway.

“Here.” Kaz handed him a sheet of parchment. He squinted and read the contents of the note.

“A shipment of Parem? In London?” Nikolai said incredulously. While the use of opium, cocaine, and morphine ran commonly enough in the streets, there have been whispers of a newer and more intoxicating drug being distributed amongst the slums and the coast.

Kaz nodded grimly. “Rollins is supervising the shipment and distribution himself.”

“If people knew...that would ruin him.” Realization flashed through Nikolai’s mind, and he almost laughed outright. “You want him ruined.”

“I want him eviscerated.” Another flash of that feral emotion, disappearing just as fast. “But I’ll settle for ruin for now. With him gone whoever’s the next in line to take the position could be more in your favor.”

“Why?” Nikolai said crossing his arms, giving his companion a long look. If Kaz had any sort of ulterior motive, his face betrayed nothing. “Why help me?”

He shrugged. “You and I have a shared interest for the moment, and like I said, you’re useful to me. Like I can be useful to you.”

“You sure know how to woo a man, Brekker.” Kaz gave him a blank stare, and Nikolai sighed as he fought the urge to run his hand over his face. “So you want to help me get elected?”

“Not necessarily, but I can run Rollins out of office.”

“I’m assuming that the future of a better London isn’t going to be payment enough?” Nikolai paused and weighed the cost in his mind. Zoya would hate him for even considering Kaz’s help. “Usual bounty for exposing corrupt politicians is five thousand pounds, I’ll give you ten.”

“I’m not in the business of doing charity, Lantsov. Rollins has been re-elected three times with no one stopping him, and I’m getting rid of an official that’s been a pain in your ass for the last year. I’ll take thirty.”

“Thirty thousand pounds?!” Nikolai exclaimed. “What makes you think I have that kind of money?”

“I could ask for more if we are basing this off of what I know of your inheritance.” He rested his hands on his cane, giving Nikolai a self-satisfied smile.

Nikolai scowled. Thirty thousand pounds was a lot, but then again how much did he spend on travel and campaign expenses in the last month? And what did that get him? An overzealous mob who could promise him nothing. Thirty thousand pounds could get him an endorsement, and on top of that Rollins’s reign of terror would finally come to an end. Surely, the benefits outweighed the cost.

Kaz Brekker was a man who dealt in tricks and secrets. He was an untrustworthy showman with a strong likelihood to ruin Nikolai’s reputation. However, he could be the only solution to this situation. Zoya’s glare surfaced in his mind, and Nikolai pushed the image away. He’d deal with her reaction later.

“You have a deal, Brekker.” Nikolai extended his hand. “Thirty thousand pounds to expose Rollins and help my campaign.”

“One last thing,” Kaz’s smile was a razor blade and Nikolai had a sinking feeling that he was the one to get more out of this bargain. “If we’re jumping into bed together, I’m going to need you to trust me.”

Nikolai felt his brow furrow. “As a rule, I don’t usually trust people whose livelihoods depend on tricks.”

“You’re going to have to make an exception. No questions. No pestering. Just your trust that I’ll get the job done.”

Nikolai opened his mouth to clarify, but thought better of it. Some things were best left to mystery, and when the hammer came down, he had an inkling that he would rather be kept in the dark to whatever Kaz was planning.

“Fine.” Nikolai thought for a moment, flicking at a nonexistent piece of dust on his suit.

“One last thing: I’m going to need an invite to that big fancy party you have tomorrow at Smeet’s house.”

“Be careful, Brekker, any more conditions and I’ll start to think you’re cheating me.” The younger man didn’t respond. “And why, pray tell, do you need to go to the house of one of the most sought out lawyers of the city?”

“I thought you’d trust me.”

“A decision I am currently regretting.” Another pause, and Nikolai sighed, “Alright. I’ll make the arrangements.”

“The deal’s the deal then.”

They shook hands, and Nikolai fought the shudder that tingled at the back of his neck.

What was it that his mother said when he was a child?

“Be careful of quick demons for they make deals in the dark and then eat your heart in the sun.”

--------

Kaz left the main section of his camp as soon as Nikolai left. His leg was aching again. It was always worse in London. It was as if the injury remembered its origins and was making sure to remind Kaz that it was his fault for its misery.

He rubbed at the place above his knee before he crossed a hidden slit in his tent that led to the dining area. There were few things Kaz learned during his time with Haskell, but the one that really stuck was the need for a ringleader to have space. Haskell had settled for a medium sized tent furbished with liquor and whatever old men filled their time with. Kaz didn’t want to settle. He made himself an entire space that guaranteed separation and privacy.

The sounds of his most trusted crew members eating and drinking did little to relax him, but it was a familiar sound at least.

“Ah, the mighty ringmaster makes an appearance.” Jesper grinned. He was still wearing the sparkling green pants that was part of his costume, but his exposed brown chest glinted warmly against the lanterns lit in the space. Kaz didn’t miss the way Wylan’s eyes kept straying over to his friend’s display of skin, and Kaz rolled his eyes at the slight blush that was staining his cheeks.

“Fahey, put on a shirt will you?” Kaz said dropping down to the chair at the head of the table. He needed everyone to focus on what he was going to say, and if Jesper caught Wylan staring, that was going to be a whole other headache he didn’t want to deal with.

Instead of following directions, Jesper just grinned and leaned forward on the table. “I don’t mind you staring, Kaz.”

He returned a blank stare. “Well I mind that Van Eck won’t be able to concentrate, so just do it.”

Wylan’s face turned a deeper shade of red. “I wasn’t looking!”

Jesper just gave him a wolfish grin before picking up a discarded shirt.

“What’s so important this couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?” Nina yawned from her place by Matthias’s shoulder.

“We have a job.”

“Like another performance?” Wylan squeaked in an attempt to regain his composure.

Before Kaz could respond, a warm voice materialized behind him. “Kaz just had a meeting with Mister Lantsov.”

It was no surprise Inej had been spying on him, she wasn’t his best spy for nothing after all.

“Ooh…” Nina crooned fixing Kaz with an amused smirk, “Which Mister Lantsov? The stuck-up stupid one or the handsome, Communist one?”

“The latter.”

Matthias’s eyebrows sunk down at the mention of Nina’s description, Kaz was surprised his scowl could deepen further. “The man who claims to be able to fix the class gap and makes false promises to the poor?”

“That very one.” Kaz agreed, taking a long sip from a glass of wine. “And we’re going to help him.”

#six of crows #soc #king of scars #kos #the dregs #kaz #inej #kanej #zoya #nikolai #zoyalai #fdsg #the Grishaverse #soc fanfiction #kos fanfiction

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herblogsbysabrina · 5 years

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Ways to Find You...Again

With everyday life comes new challenges and sometimes the daily mundane tasks seem like endless lists of “to do” and what didn’t get done the day prior. We all tend to create these checklists in our heard-or on paper, that’s where I’m most productive. But what is it that we have to be most in order to get those tasks done? We must be grounded-centered as a human being. If we are off so will the day be! If we don’t take the time to take care of ourselves others around us suffer as well. We do not give our all when we are drained. I once heard “If your cup isn’t full how do you expect to pour out abundance to others?” By creating a well-balanced self, we can actually tackle the day with a better attitude.

A solution to this is stop to think about yourself for once. No, it isn’t selfish, its self-less. Doing something nice for yourself or getting back to remembering who you are as person before marriage, kids and even your job, will help you be more grounded. And if you’re worried about budget don’t be! There are plenty of free activities that require no money or very little. So, if you must budget for it-do it! I promise you; you won’t regret it! Some of these activities can be to just simply “Stop and smell the roses”. Literally! We get so catch up in this hamster wheel of life that we forget the beauty that nature has to offer. By taking the time to love yourself, appreciate nature and enjoy a little alone time you will quickly see how relaxing it can be. The calming effect it gives you is priceless! SO, get out there and go for that walk because not only is it good for your health but good for your soul. You’ll really learn to appreciate the little things and life around you!

Secondly, take a drive. Find a place you’ve been wanting to explore and go. It doesn’t have to be a million miles away it can be in your very own state. I have learned that most people never even leave their own city to ever explore what the world has to offer them. When I lived in Italy our family use to just hop in the car and drive 30-45 following the sign to whatever city we could venture out to for the day. We would visit markets, restaurants and site see. And believe me it was beautiful. We made so many memories and again priceless!

OK, in order to have a “full cup” maintaining a proper balanced meal is crucial to the energy levels you’ll have when tackling everyday tasks. I know it sounds like it may not fit but getting back to you with eating can probably be number one in my opinion but I know this area is a real struggle in this day and age so we’ll leave it as a work in progress number 3 on the list. The correct “fuel” you live on can make a world of change. No one person alone can survive off fast food or artificial anything-I mean you could, but it wouldn’t be healthy. We’re looking for lifelong changes and a conscience awareness of “we are what we eat” mentality. There are tons of recipes out their where you literally could have something different every time you ate! But don’t take my word for it-try it for a few months, switch up how you cook( ingredients and oils etc..) and what you eat and see how much energy you gain or how your body starts to respond to your everyday tasks.

Now if you know me you should know I’m not leaving this blog without mentioning exercise. Yes, we all hate it, but it is necessary and a big game changer when it comes to having tons of energy. Exercise, along with changing what you eat, plays a big role in even wanting to function for the day. Ever just roll out of bed wishing you could just lay there for another 6 hours!! Yes that was me and I still struggle with not going to bed on time and suffering from insomnia because my mind won’t shut off (which, by the way, can be a whole other blog post). I know that implementing a workout routine and giving my body just a few minutes daily to maintain its function, so it doesn’t wither away as I age, will not only help me in the long haul but I’m essentially “feeding” my body what it needs so it can stay functioning for me on a daily basis. You can pick from an array of workout modules from Zumba (my favorite high intensity calorie burning exercise), punching a bag at the gym, weighting lifting and running, to something as low intensity as aerobic exercise (jogging, bicycling etc…). All of these are an excellent way to one find an activity you like and have some alone time to yourself. It’s a win-win!!

Now for more “cup filling” let’s get into what you would like to do. How about a spa day with mud masks or a nail salon visit? This can be done at home or if you have the extra cash, go let someone else do it for you! Riding a bike? Crafting? Listening to music and painting? There are a lot of activities that can be done solo or with friends. I would have to say just go do something, anything! The whole point I’m trying to make is that we often take time to care for all those around us without ever complaining or remembering ourselves in the equation. We tend to leave our goals, likes and needs on the back burner, selflessly slaving away to everyone else. And let me tell you when that flames burns out, so will you! This is when we see ourselves not as ourselves. We snap and lash out in anger at friends, family and co-workers. You become a ticking time bomb ready to blow up at any little inconvenience or situation. This catastrophe could’ve been avoided if we just stop to take two minutes for ourselves. Now there are tons of things you can do to take time for yourselves. I have listed below some ideas to get you started and believe me when I say the possibilities are endless if your creative enough, you’ll add more to my list. It really all preference.

1.Go for coffee/tea

2.Go to a tanning salon

3.Do your nails (at home)/visit a salon

4.Take a hot soak& listen to music

5.Learn to do your makeup

6.Light some candles & meditate

7.Do Yoga/Zumba/any new exercise routine

8.Home facials or visit a spa

9.Go for a walk or bike ride

10.Get a massage

11. Go get a haircut

12.Take yourself to dinner

13.Check out a concert

14.Take yourself to the movies

15.Learn a new hobby/craft

16.Buy yourself something nice you’ve been wanting

17.Read book/Write poetry

18.Journal

19.Listen to self-help books

20.Learn to garden (start small!)

21.Take a nap! (cause let be real when is the last time you did that?)

Conclusion:

When you start to make little changes of loving yourself, you’ll start to see a world of difference in your attitude, functionality of self and the appreciation of those little things around that we fail to see when we are all caught up in the mundane. I’m not saying jump and do everything all at once-no, take your time! Schedule yourself a time to do at least one thing nice for yourself this month. Than work your way to every other week or once a week. The biggest obstacle in your way is you. Just go do something-anything! Having a clearer mind and lower levels of stress sounds like win-win to me!

So, what will you challenge yourself to do first?

#selflove #health #activites

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emergentanimism · 6 years

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Deadwater

In my last post, I said something that should have given you pause. When describing spirits of the dead, I said, “They can even be exploited if a magus is so inclined. If they can't learn to chill even after they're dead, fuck 'em.”

No one told you that being a magus makes you a nice person, right? There are reasons why necromancy is reviled by many cultures. Most of those reasons are bullshit based on fear and control. But being a necromancer does sometimes mean blurring some lines. If you as a magus decide you may need a weapon at your disposal, even just for self-defense… well weapons come at a price. A weapon is not an innocent thing, despite what the NRA wants you to believe. A weapon always requires you to compromise your innocence. A weapon symbolizes you are willing to do harm. A spiritual weapon can be a costly thing indeed.

The most powerful weapon in my spiritual arsenal? Without a doubt – Deadwater. What is Deadwater you ask? Lucky for you folks I know the leading expert. The number one source. I turn you over to the words of my beloved brother, Frater Yaramarud, the man who provided me with this amazing substance.

“My first encounter with Deadwater came nearly a decade ago. At the time, I saw it purely as a novelty and not something with the nearly boundless potential that I know today. Traveling down the road with my good friend Frater Dreadnaught, and an ex-partner of mine, the three of us had made a late night decision to stop at the next cemetery we found in order to waste time in a way that people in their early twenties are wont to do. When we finally found one and had parked the car, a light in the center of the cemetery had drawn our attention to a pump well gently illuminated beneath it. My initial thought was one of curiosity and bewilderment. What reason could there possibly be for there to be a well here? With this question unanswered, it dawned on me that the corpses surrounding us had, beyond any doubt, decayed and seeped into the table from which this well drew.

After jokes and general fucking around, we left the cemetery without even noting its general location. Though I had lost contact with my ex-partner, Fr. Dreadnaught and I remained close friends. During this time, he had enlisted in the military and left our home state for roughly 7-8 years. Though we often discussed the possible location of the Deadwater, the only thing that either of us could remember was the highway that it was most likely located on. With him gone for years and me being the only person that could feasibly find this place, I did all I could do in order to locate it. Driving up and down the highway proved fruitless, as did looking at maps of cemeteries along the route and cross-referencing them with Google. My last effort was to post an inquiry on a local genealogy group under the guise of searching for the grave of a relative. This too led to nothing. I was forced to give up, and so it was for about six years.

Last year, however, things changed. Fr. D had moved back from California and had spent some time living with my wife and I. It was during this time that we had become determined to find this Deadwater once again. As we had both evolved in our magickal practice, it had become less of a curiosity and more of a holy grail; here was a tool that had so much latent potential, and yet it was completely out of my reach. One night in September of 2017, we had decided that, since it was once again physically possible for us to find it together, we would do exactly that.

I'll spare you the details of the ritual itself suffice to say that Fr. D and myself had performed a Goetic invocation for executing our will. In hindsight, we had made a mistake. For our statement of intent, I had simply said, “It is our will to invoke XX to lead us to the Deadwater located along Highway XX.” It was during the ritual that I was mentally given a map of the county through which the highway ran, with a marker placed by the demon. With the image still firmly visualized, we pulled up a map of cemeteries in the county that this marker could possibly represent. After making a list with their corresponding addresses, we left in search of the Deadwater.

It was the middle of nowhere; we were surrounded by corn fields in every direction. After taking the final turn, still flanked by corn on either side, the GPS indicated that we had arrived at our destination: the first cemetery on the list. There was nothing. Just corn. As Fr. D was rechecking the address, I slowed the truck to a stop. Just before we had become entirely motionless, the field opened up to reveal the stones we were looking for, but they weren't familiar at all. There was no light in the center. It was just darkness. Despite this, we decided to look around anyway. After all, we had the entire night to look, and maybe the light had burned out, or our memory of the place was faulty.

We spent roughly 30 minutes wandering between the gravestones, splitting up to cover more ground. As we both began to lose hope and had called out that we should go to the next address on the list, I noticed a dim light in the distance. I called to Fr. D to meet me and we could explore this light together. Once we had reconvened, we started walking together towards the light. Not even ten steps from when we started, our headlamps simultaneously crossed, revealing before us a pump well.

This was not the same well. We both knew that, and yet a shiver ran down both of our spines. We tested it. It worked. The demon had shown us the way, though due to our lack of precise wording, it was not the same well we had seen all those years ago. We had prepared for this moment and filled several bottles with the water, water that contained the decayed remains of hundreds of bodies, water that was the distilled essence of the dead.

Since that night, I have utilized the Deadwater in multiple ways. The first ritual that we had done with it was a joint effort between Fr. D and myself. He had volunteered to drink a small portion of the water, and a ritual was formed around this primary action. Performed twice, we discovered through Fr. D's gnosis that he was able to visualize and speak to his own ancestors. Thus, not only did this water stand as an essence of the dead that I had discovered through my own later experimentation, it was able to form a link between their realm and our own.

Its apparent linkage to death and focal point of death have proven invaluable. Apart from the aforementioned use of contacting one's ancestors, I have used it as a method of simplifying my altar. Rather than having dozens of pictures of my ancestors for veneration, I find it just as effective to place a bottle of the water with an image of my family crest as a sort of condensed fetish. Another similar use I have found is mixing the water with the gravedirt of my grandmother in order to form an anointing solution that has a direct link to my lineage and those that came before. In using it as a kind of “essential oil of death”, I have found that it works with great success in “jinx” or “hex” work as a medium for freezer spells and the like. It has also worked equally well as an intensifier for other gravedirt workings and as a component for spirit work. Though these cover only my own current experiments with the Deadwater, I know that its potential has exceeded every expectation that I have had for it. As I continue to find new uses, it continually astounds and amazes me.”

What’s the first lesson to be learned from this amazing story? Have a tribe! There are other awesome magi out there. You can find them. It will take hard work and dedication to actually work together. I travel thousands of miles a year just to be with my tribe. But it’s so damn worth it when you experience that love and are gifted with magical knowledge, and receive gifts like 750 ml of Deadwater.

Lucky you, you can buy it online from Frater Yaramarud at his most excellent store, Welcome to Tarotdise, where he and his wife sell some amazing hand-crafted occult products.

Back to the original point and my experiences with Deadwater. As far as I know I am only the second person dumb enough to drink some of it. I immediately tasted the earth and rot of the grave. My vision dimmed, and I felt myself slipping between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. All from one sip. BTW, I in NO WAY endorse drinking the Deadwater. It is not sold for consumption. If you get intestinal parasites or a fungal infection, that’s your problem.

Meditating on the bottle sitting on my altar has produced some interesting visions. You can literally see the angry spirits swirling around in the bottle. No, they are not happy to be there. And I get the feeling the Deadwater captured some of the most malicious spirits of that particular cemetery. Is it wrong to use them for my own devices? Probably. But a magus gotta do what a magus gotta do. I’ll talk some more about the nuances of such necromantic work in a later post.

In my opinion, Deadwater is essentially spiritual toxic waste. No other spirit I know likes to go near the stuff. I really don’t want to meet the spirits that would enjoy it. For example, I recently had an altercation with a certain Red Goddess who has been fucking with my love life hard. Of course, she laughed at my admonitions of her cruel little games. Until I threatened to pour some Deadwater over her statue. She shut the fuck up real quick after that. Is it truly a threat to a goddess? I don’t know, but I certainly got the impression she wouldn’t enjoy the experience.

As noted, Frater Yaramarud had somewhat different experiences. Maybe it’s the batch I got. Maybe it’s his intent when using it, or how he mixes it with other substances. Maybe those spirits just don’t like me for whatever reason. You don’t have to use it as a weapon.

Yeah, I know a lot of this sounds a bit crazy. But part of being a magus is learning to frame your experiences in a mythic context. As my hero Miguel says, “Write your own story. Live your own myth.” Be hardcore. Get yourself some Deadwater. Better yet, harvest some of your own. Be prepared to do a lot of banishing before and after you do something like that.

#magick #emergent magick #emk #emergent animism #eman #deadwater

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nctverse · 6 years

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Garden | A

anonymous said:

Hi!! So for the drabble game can you do 26 and 37 with Jaehyun please??😊

this was totally supposed to be a drabble but i like to keep my drabbles really short but this got really?? long?? too long to consider a drabble at least

genre- angst its just sad all the way through sorry hgfdfghjk

words - 1.2k words

Since that night, everyday began to feel the same. Your mundane schedule feeling increasingly torturous as you lost the only light you had in your life at least 3 months ago, or was it 4? You couldn’t keep track.

You attempted to switch up your routine, taking up the night shift at work, which only proved to worsen your depressed state. As you now worked at night, you spent your days laying in bed, seemingly wasting away. You wanted badly to be able to slip into the beautiful slumber but ever since that day, sleeping seemed impossible. You stared up at the ceiling, entirely consumed by your never-ending cycle of self destructive thoughts. You reached out next to you, searching through the depressingly cold side of the sheets for your smartphone. You wrapped you fingers around the small slab of metal, bringing it up to your face before clicking it open, only to read the timestamp that shone brightly as a reminder that it was now 10:15 pm and you only had a mere 45 minutes till you needed to be at the cafe in which you worked at.

You huffed exhausted, throwing your phone back into the abyss of frost bitten sheets that you desperately wished were being warmed in the embrace of the only man you ever loved. Looking over to the unoccupied side of the bed, your face crinkled into the faintest reminiscence of a smile as you imagined Jaehyun laying next you, long limbs wrapped around the blanket, as he always did, looking at you with his smile that once magically rid you of any troubles you faced, but now it only hurt. You shifted to your side, facing the illusion of your lover, reaching over, wanting to caress his soft pale cheek, wanting to rest your finger in the deep dip of his adorable dimples. Your eyes burned, beyond the point of tears as you failed to accept that you will never be able to feel him ever again.

Instead of his warm skin, your hand fell back onto the icy pillow, any hallucination of him disappearing, throwing you back into your cruel reality. Finally you forced yourself out of the only source of comfort you had left, trudging into the bathroom where you observed your rough appearance. Your hair was disheveled, unkempt as the bags under your eyes expose the amount of sleep, rather lack there of, you’ve had in the past weeks. Although you loathed what you saw in the mirror, you didn’t have enough energy, or a willingness to fix it, simply molding your hair into a position that was at least somewhat presentable, leaning over to brush your teeth before coating your face in a layer of warm water. The roughness of the towel you drug across you faced served to provide a stimulus in your dull world, regretfully setting it down and reaching for your uniform. You changed into your dreaded uniform, looking at yourself one more time before exiting the suffocating bathroom, grabbing your bag and keys, leaving your residence.

The foreign aura of the taxi that currently drove you to your workplace perfectly juxtaposed the all too familiar scenery that you observed through the car window, recalling old memories of the beautiful dates Jaehyun would plan for the two of you. His dates were always well thought out, he never missed a single detail when it came to you, which in turn caused you to remember every detail about him, and that was what made loosing him hurt so much more.

After what felt like an eternity, the taxi cab pulled into the parking lot of the cafe. You exited the car, absent mindlessly handing the driver fifteen dollars, muttering a soft “keep the change” before swinging the door shut and approaching the fancy door to the little cafe. You wrapped your fingers around the metal handle, pulling it open to reveal your co-worker and best-friend cleaning up the empty cafe before her shift ends. Her attention turns to you as you walk through the door expression immediately dropping as she observed your appearance. Nothing but concern dripping in the form of teary eyes as she approached you, taking your seemingly lifeless cheek into the palm her hand, in the same way jaehyun used to.

“baby..” she said softly, almost a whisper, trying to find anyway to comfort you but it only served to make it worse as she somehow seemed to replicate even the exact pitch he used when speaking that same word to you. You raised your hand, gently grasping the wrist of the hand that held your cheek before removing it from your face slowly, looking at the down intricate patterns of the tile at your feet, tears finally dripping down once again.

“You need to go home, you can’t do this, i’m not letting you.” Her heart ached seeing you in this state, but it did not compare the sharp, stinging pain you felt every time he crossed your mind.

“But my shift.” You finally spoke, voice noticeably hoarse from the lack of hydration in between all the tears from the past weeks.

“I’ll cover it don’t worry about it. Just please take care of yourself.” She pleaded. You shook your head, attempting a poor ‘thank you’ before turning away, stepping towards the door once again. You exited the cafe, leaving behind the painful, old memories of Jaehyun’s surprise visits while you were working.

You didn’t want to go back to the suffocating confines of your small home, opting to instead take a small detour. You ended up a small secluded outdoor garden. It was a spot where you and Jaehyun went to escape reality, even for just a few minutes. Returning to this spot alone invoked a new emotion from you, one of such grief and heartache that it was way beyond the point of tears. You wandered through the depths of the flowers. It was truly a sight. all the flowers standing tall, each their own unique color. Memories began to surface of a time when Jaehyun plucked the most mystical looking flow in the whole garden before handing it to you as a promise to never stop loving you, and only. You lay in the small grassy clearing in the center of the open garden, staring up at the crisp night sky, beautifully spotted with bright shining stars competing for your attention, but one particular star naturally captivated your gaze.

“Jaehyun,” you choke out, voice barely a whisper, speaking to that star in the sky. “I haven’t forgotten about you yet.” You hand came up to rest on your tortured heart, bruised and torn. “Letting go hurts… a lot.” You confessed. Your hand lifted off of your chest, instead into the sky, wanting to feel his presence once again. A warm gust of wind grazed over your body, sending a shiver down your spine as he responded to your silent plea. It was as if he heard your heartache, letting you know that he will always be by your side. Your arm gently fell back against the grass, tears stinging the corners of your eyes. A genuine smile formed across your lips for the first time since he passed away, as your wish finally came true.

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nebula-starlight · 6 years

Text

Virus (Part 5 - Destruction)

‘Please tell me you aren’t actually going to go through with it,’ Nether hissed in Geer’s ear as the drake walked down the main road, his companion lingering in his shadow to avoid being seen.

Passing by a small group of dragons standing around an already closed market stall, he self consciously lowered his head further into the neck of the thick cloak he wore, hoping no one would venture to speak. The letter he received days ago felt heavy against his scaled skin, each clawscripted letter burned into his mind from reading it so frequently. Narssia was currently laying unresponsive on a cot at the psych ward of the clinic she herself worked for as a part-time healer. He knew little of her past but suspected she had her fair share of demons to wrestle with if the local who found her had also seen fit to notify him of her state. All he knew was that he should get his affairs in order and quickly.

Keeping his voice low as his vision swept over the stone road before him for signs of passing dragons, he whispered back into the collar of his well-worn cloak with assurance Nether would hear him, “Of course I am. She deserves the right to scratch me in the face if she wants. You’d do it as well if you had the chance.”

The late afternoon sun felt good on his snout as he rounded a corner, hoisting the bag he carried slung across his back higher up against his shoulders to prevent it from slipping. Still the relative quiet left him with ample time to reflect, his thoughts returning once more to what he discovered in the message delivered to him. Apparently Narssia had suddenly fallen ill without warning and his supposed letter was the only thing on her bed when one of her co-workers found her unresponsive in her home the next day. He hated the thought of her being sick but strangely couldn’t remember writing her anything. Of course he had planned on doing it but...

Not that it particularly mattered really, but he wondered how busy her small mountainous village was now. The weather would be starting to warm up now but was his cloak enough protection from the cold? Due to his disability he couldn’t exactly regulate his internal body temperature quite as easily as most dragons.

‘Honestly no, I wouldn’t. To each is own however.’ Nether’s low, emotionless voice pulled him from his thoughts and he sighed, lifting his head now that he was assuredly alone.

“Aww, come on. Surely the last relationship you had didn’t end on a... oh.” Geer started to pick fun at the fallen spirit but a glance at the narrowed crimson eyes caused him to rethink the idea. He hadn’t actually agreed yet to the idea of being Nether’s chosen vessel, much to equal annoyance and irritation of the German-speaking soul.

‘Can we not discuss that now? There’s bigger problems...’ He suddenly stopped, eyes glowing brightly before snarling and untangling himself from the flightless drake’s shadow.

Geer recognized the sign easily, knowing even before Nether started to ask what the question would no doubt be as he dismissed him with a paw. “Go on, I’ll be fine for a bit.”

‘Danke.’

Nether’s response was pained, barely even a whisper as he took to the air and vanished from sight, leaving Geer standing alone as he watched the spirit until he could no longer see him. It was an effect of the poison no doubt, reeking havoc on his mind to the point that he felt unpredictable in public. He’d give him some time to get back in control but now he had to do one of the hardest things in his life. Receiving rejection hurt but never had he been forced to become the bearer of such bad news.

Finishing up the journey to the clinic alone, Geer sat his bag down by the door and knocked, silently hoping she wouldn’t be around. He didn’t want this but Nether was right. The longer they waited the greater chance someone would figure out he was chosen by the illusionist. Even though his cloak covered the mark, how long could they successfully hide?

“Geer, hi there. What are you...?” She looked so pretty when she appeared in the doorway, purple scales freshly washed as water droplets hung from the deep amethyst.

“Mel, I know I don’t usually come by this late but...”

She eyed the bag beside him in the grass suspiciously. “You’re leaving? How long will you be gone?”

“Uh, that’s why I came actually... Mind if we step inside?”

She seemed reluctant but held the door open for him as he grabbed his bag and walked in. The same old medical smell hit his nostrils, a scent he never thought he’d miss as his claws clicked against the brick flooring.

“Alright, what’s up?”

He sighed, shoulders dropping as he let the burlap sack fall at his feet. “My friend is sick. I got the letter this morning asking if I could come immediately to see her. Apparently I was the last one to have contact with her by a letter I didn’t even write.”

Melvise walked up behind him, unfurling a wing to lay it over his cloth-covered back. “The one you’ve told me about... Narssia, wasn’t it? How bad are things?”

“I’m not sure...” Slipping out of her reach, he started to pace, hoping the old coping methods he once used to shut down any overwhelming thoughts would be enough to get him through what needed to be said. “I... I can’t do this anymore. You, me, us - it won’t work.” Huffing, he circled around to face her and reached up, unfastening his cloak to let it slide off his shoulders and reveal the much darker patch of raised scales. Lifting a forepaw, he jabbed a talon into the center of the mark. “See this? That means you were right. I am Nether’s Chosen. He’s already come to me and said so himself.”

“Hold on... You personally met the Shadowling, again? Either you’re brave as balls or have no sense of self-preservation.” She stepped closer, tracing his mark with a clawtip as he let his raised foreleg back to the ground dejectedly. “But that doesn’t mean we have to end things between us.”

“Yes it does. Once he binds his soul to mine everything will change. There won’t be just one drake inside my head anymore. He- He still loves the spirit that was his soulmate and I have a suspicion she’s the glitch that was seen around town.”

Melvise snorted, shaking her head. “Don’t tell me you interacted with it too.”

“Not that I know of but Nether would know...” Geer trailed off, glancing down at the raised diamond mark. It started to burn slightly, reminding him of the dream he’d had where the illusionist first approached him. They were wasting time.

“He’s not here now, right? We could steal a kiss while ghosty can’t see.”

‘No luck there, healer. I watch him hawk-like.’ Even though Geer had sensed it was coming, he still chuckled when Melvise just about jumped out of her skin at the sudden loud, commanding voice before Nether made his appearance known much the same way he had in the drake’s kitchen.

Noticing the fallen’s crimson irises weren’t as bright as they had been earlier, he took advantage of Melvise having to calm herself down to ask, “Everything alright?”

‘We can no longer afford to stall. I managed to fight it off for now but fear another wave might push me back under. Mine offer still stands, Chosen.’

Glancing between Nether and Melvise, the flightless drake sighed before starting to pace once again. “I can’t choose. Honestly I can’t. I know what my heart says clashes with my head but don’t make me do this. Mel, I respect the work you’ve done but I never really felt any deep feelings stir up when I looked at you.” He circled around, shrinking back a step at her now steely glare. “Please don’t be mad at me for falling for a dragoness I’ve never actually met. It’s not Nether’s influence either.”

‘Agreed. I feel his mind but not alter his thoughts. What he says is true.’

Her stormy eyes narrowed, cutting over to the spirit as he dropped to the floor, wings wrapping around his slightly quivering frame. “Why should I trust you when you got inside my head without permission the first time we ever met? I’d be just as happy if Geer never saw you in the first place, Shadowling.”

‘Consider yourself fortunate then that I will not act on mine instinct.’

Geer watched the encounter, noticing himself how the returning tremors were starting to affect the spirit’s movement and even speech to a point. Concerned, he started to ask again but decided against it, glancing away sheepishly. He’d let the two fight it out if they wanted.

‘We need to...’ The blazing crimson glow returned, nearly blinding to look at as Nether hunched down and tried to shield himself under his wings. ‘Nein... I can’t... Another one...’

With a lurch, the spirit stumbled forward, coughing violently before he retched, spraying bright green slime across the floor right in front of him. Melvise was instantly at his side, steadying him as Nether barely remained standing. There was barely any glow to his eyes, looking almost dead as Geer glanced back at the front door in worry and paranoid fear. Things were only getting worse the longer they waited.

“Get over here!” She snapped, stumbling slightly as the fallen leaned heavier against her side. “I’ve got a bed in the back but I can’t exactly carry him myself.”

Geer sighed, approaching as he grabbed his cloak and laid it down beside the two. “Put him on it. We can drag him there.”

The trip to the back of the clinic was rough on the ailing spirit, each bump of the stone floor making him moan slightly as Geer tried to ignore it. Holding the cloth tight between his teeth, he followed Melvise’s lead as she started to turn into an empty room. There was no way he could know what the fallen soul was feeling but he was conflicted. He could obey the mark branded into his skin and become its Chosen or rebel and let needless agony continue.

The two dragons stopped once inside the room, dropping the edges of the cloak. Stepping back to let her work, Geer watched as Melvise gently lifted Nether into the air with a soft pulse of weak telekinetic magic. Most dragons had some innate magical ability, no doubt a trait passed down over time by ancient spirits.

Placing the dark wyvern on a soft pallet, she draped a wing over his body as her eyes flickered to Geer for an explanation. Their journey to the back had been in silence but now he knew she wanted answers. Should he say what little he knew? Nether had entrusted him with the knowledge after all. Surely he wouldn’t mind...

Melvise kept her wing still for a few moments before lifting it away as she turned to address Geer who stood just inside the room in silent internal debate. “He’s comfortable now with no sign of distress. Now then, any idea of what’s going on?”

“His soul is cracking. All I know is there’s some poison rotting away his core but it’s never shown up like this. Normally he just has to hide away for a while before he gets himself back under control and returns.” Geer approached, placing a paw on her shoulder in concern. “I know of only one way to stop it but you won’t be happy.”

“I’m never happy seeing dragons or any other creatures in pain. Do what you must.”

They briefly nuzzled each other before Melvise left the room, stating she didn’t want to watch what would happen. Geer understood her reluctance but knew now without a doubt what he had been chosen to do. As much as he hated the idea that a simple mark could dictate his life, there was no other option but to accept the offer Nether had suggested nearly a week ago.

Nudging him gently, he jumped back out of the way as the spirit stirred with a raspy cough, more of the green slime dripping onto the edge of the cot. With a low hiss the barely visible irises stared up at him, the last of his earlier hesitation falling away. It was the right thing to do.

“Nether, I...” He started, only to be hushed by a trembling wingtip brushing over his snout.

‘Nein, mine Chosen. Nethreis is what you need should you be doing what I hope.’

Geer nodded, ashamed that he never asked but another cough from the spirit reminded him how important it was to get things moving sooner rather than later. “Of course, Nethreis... I accept you. By the Ancients I allow you control so that the vile poison robbing away your vitality and life may be halted. Should there ever come a time where I no longer are connected to you, only then will the soul’s cracking start to plague you once more.”

Nether blinked, alertness coming back over him as the words started to take effect. ‘What are you doing? Don’t do this out of some pity for me! I deserve to pay for my sins.’ He tried to rise, voice cracking as the sound of rapid claw clicks echoed down the hall towards where they were. ‘Leave me to rot! Save yourself before they...’

“Geer, there’s guards... They’re coming this way!”

Both the fallen and its chosen heard the frantic cry of the healer, stress making Geer even more convinced he was doing the right thing. He shook his head, reaching out towards the spirit with a forepaw. “You can trust me. Now let go.”

There was still hesitation in the Shadowling’s dark eyes. ‘What if I... hurt you? That would never be mine intention.’

“Why don’t we find out then?”

The process was strange for Geer, suddenly finding his mental space practically cut in half to accommodate a being he truthfully didn’t even know much more about other than scarce basics. Other than the bright surge of light that consumed the room the minute Nether accepted and stopped trying to fight, there was no sound other than his own breathing which remained even and calm. It felt much like welcoming a part of his family back home after a long journey, warmth tingling through his limbs as he closed his eyes.

‘Together as one,’ Nether hummed as magic flowed strongly through the veins they now shared. ‘A spirit is - in essence - an extension of nature’s purest magic. Use it to your advantage, mine Chosen. Warp reality as you see fit.’

He opened his eyes, the room’s color returning back to normal as his now crimson gaze flickered around. The rush of energy he experienced was far stronger than expected given Nether’s earlier frail form. Guards had been on the way, hadn’t they? Shouldn’t they have arrived....?

“Geer!” Her terrified scream snapped him out of his thoughts, immediately stepping out of the room into the hallway that would lead him back to the main entrance.

The darker navy drake cracked his neck as he walked, two blades of crimson light shimmering into existence beside him as a precautionary measure. Never had he felt this powerful before and it slightly terrified him, however his desire to protect Melvise overrode any fear. He was a servant of Sol!

Stopping right before he entered into the main room, he saw four drakes in armor surrounding the healer threateningly as a fifth, a larger red drake grilled her for information. He said nothing at first, lifting the blades as he sank into a defensive crouch, teeth bared.

“Let her go.”

“Oh, did you come to save her? Think again buddy.” The captain scoffed, turning to face him as his tail smacked into Melvise’s snout. “We’re after a certain wayward soul and won’t stop until we get it. Important task from the higher-ups you understand.”

He needed to think rationally about the situation, relaxing to his natural height before stepping out into the room as the fading sunlight of day briefly shone through the blades he mentally flicked at two of the soldiers. A faint, almost teasing smile ghosted across his jaw as he stared down the so-called leader. “Of course, Monsieur.”

Neither saw the spears of energy coming, both getting impaled through the heart as he quietly summoned another pair and waited for the reaction. Apparently seeing two of his underlings dead caused the big brute to take a closer look at him. The bright crimson gaze that should have been yellow... even the way he had freely used French.

“Capture him! The monster has a host now.”

There it was, that look he knew all too well as the coward retreated, forcing the ones who served under him to act in his place. Gleefully he strode forward, bits of magenta energy flickering across his back before two full size wings unfurled around him. Three pesky intruders left... nothing he couldn’t handle easily.

The remaining two guards leapt for him, years of training allowing him to sidestep while also impaling one into the wall behind him with a dull thud. Its companion, a younger drake possibly, used its own wings to pull up and avoid the thrown blade aimed at its heart.

“Geer, dude, calm down. We don’t want to-“

He tuned out the pitiful plea, rising up and grabbing hold of the adolescent’s armored neck to shut him up. “I’m not him, boy. He’s taken a temporary leave of absence, I’m afraid. Surely you understand that all your begging is just ticking me off at this point.”

Shoving his enemy up against the ceiling, he summoned another blade of magic and took it in his free paw, tracing the tip over the cracks in the drake’s protective headwear mindlessly. The fear he saw gave him such delight, eliciting a deranged chuckle at the thought of what other carnage he could create now that he was free from the effects of the poison that had kept him weakened. Although... the eyes looked familiar for a reason.

“You’re Reath, aren’t you? The brat who first woke me with endless questions.” He received no reply but, then again, he didn’t need one as the drake’s now frantic struggling confirmed his thoughts. “Ah, yes, I remember you quite well. Out of curiosity, how’d you end up with that dim-wit captain?”

There was no audible reply to his question - something he had honestly expected would be the case. Jabbing the tip of the blade through one of the drake’s eyes, he continued emotionlessly, “No answer huh? Fine by me, I could use a chance to carve up something for the first time in a... long while.”

His slight smirk at hearing the pained screams from his tortured captive showed only a fraction of the joy he was experiencing. The thrill of being in control was intoxicating... and very much welcomed after what he had gone through. Deciding he had done enough for the moment, he jerked the weapon back minutes later before it slipped from his grasp.

“Geer-“

Her cut off cry seemed to stir his slumbering host, much to his irritation. Snarling under his breath, he reluctantly let go of Reath as the rousing consciousness clashed with his own. What had happened to wake Geer? All he did was drop the... His eyes went wide, glancing down at the limp body on the floor below. A pool of blood was slowly forming around it from the large gash across its open neck and although its scales were difficult to make out against the crimson he somehow knew.

Melvise had been hit.

It was an accident, he tried to reason as he circled around and dropped to the floor, unable to silence the frantic screeching of Geer from filling his head.

‘No, no, no... Please tell me I’m dreaming! This can’t be real...’

He barely regarded the stunned captain as he neared, noticing the red drake scramble away in fear. Putting the threat from his mind, he gently grabbed her bleeding body and held it close, letting Geer’s turbulent emotions batter him until he could stand it no longer.

She was dead. He killed an innocent. Let there be another bloody stain upon his tortured soul for her untimely end.

An accident... Just a slip of his paw. He didn’t mean to... to hurt anyone like what had happened with his dear beloved.

‘I want control,’ Geer hissed, the presence of his alert consciousness pressing down on Nether’s mind much like a headache would.

‘You aren’t safe,’ he tried to reason, eyeing the still present captain who stood by the closed front door. There wasn’t any point in trying to manipulate the brute’s memory of the incident, considering he’d likely only make things worse.

Geer ignored him, battering uselessly against the invisible barrier that prevented his escape. ‘You don’t deserve the mercy I gave when I saved you from the poison leaking from your cracking soul. Why’d you do it? Was it to hurt me? Make me break under your oppressive rule?’

Nether shook his head in a silent refusal, glancing down at the limp form he partially held. ‘Nein... Just let me-‘

‘No! Why should I? Every word out of your mouth is a lie anyway. Just twisting things to suit you alone.’ The brutal honesty rammed into him, intending to break him but Nether had become accustomed to hearing such things during his time spent as a member of Sol’s enforcers.

Still he let her body fall, turning his gaze to the captain who was now trying to silently usher a traumatized Reath out the front door without alerting him. Snorting in amusement, he started forward, twin crimson blades shimmering into existence. There were two witnesses left and he never had cared for leaving someone alive so they could tell others.

‘Nether! Nether please! What do I have to say- to do even to make you see reason?’

‘Hush and go back to the dreamless slumber you should have been unable to wake from. I know I have only begun to tap into the raw magic you possess...’ He trailed off, wincing as a sharp pain tore through his chest. Trying to shake the odd occurrence off, he took another step forward only to start coughing.

Unable to find his breath, he could only watch as the two drakes fled, leaving him to stumble blindly against the doorframe. What was going on? Why couldn’t he breathe? Each wheezing attempt at trying to inhale oxygen felt like it was only a matter of time before he would start spitting up blood...

‘You will give her a proper burial... or this will get worse.’

Nether could barely lift his head from where it rested against the wood of the doorframe, letting the weapons he had created fade away. ‘Jeder Tag ein kleiner Tod... I should have known you had something to do with it...’

‘And stop lapsing into German whenever you want! I’m afraid my knowledge of the tongue is rather limited.’

#tag list coming shortly #virus #virus/corrupt

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