#must've really fucked him up that :( but he probably couldn't have said as much as he did if they were there

[divinekangaroo]

Not to mention the immense irony that the 'farewell' speech Tommy gives to his family opens exactly as would a politician’s speech about honouring his promises.

Emotion the enemy of oratory, etc.

[oracle-of-dream]

Sweetness #5

Minors DNI

Summary: This is a continuation of Sweetness #4, Sohee's been avoiding you–much to your dismay. You're going to have to corner him if you want to keep your plan on track...

Warnings: Male Reader, Virgin Sohee, Blowjob, Handjob, Riding, Pet names (Love, Sweetness), Thick Cock Sohee, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation, Crying, Cum swallowing, Creampie, Cockwarming, Talking through it

Wordcount: 3.6k

Your dreams were almost a review of the last few days. Sungchan, Anton, Seunghan, Eunseok, and now Shotaro. A collection of memories, each full of pleasure made you sweat under the covers. The whole thing seemed silly at this point. Fucking your friends to get back at them for trying to take advantage of you. Was anyone really being punished? Or were you actually just wanting to have fun with each of them? So what if you enjoyed having sex with them? It's not like things would be different... right?

You tossed and turned as doubt stacked in your mind. Were you really making the right call by going overboard in your plan? It was just supposed to be an act to catch them, but you still ended up having sex by the end of it. With Shotaro, you didn't even bother keeping up the act for long...

If you stopped now, what would they think? What if Sohee thought you hated him? You can't stop now. You have to see it through to the end.

In the morning, your thighs were still sore from your early morning visit to the bathroom with Shotaro so you took your time before getting out of bed. It was 11 AM when you came out of your room, the others were whispering with each other which stopped when you walked in.

"Good morning, y/n... How are you feeling?" Anton asked.

You rubbed the back of your neck. "I'm okay, I think the pain in my back and neck is almost gone. I must've slept weird and it messed me up pretty badly."

The others exchanged looks with each other, all having some sort of understanding in their eyes. They were probably talking about if they'd tell you–maybe then you'd come clean.

"We're glad you're doing a bit better. Sungchan's finishing breakfast any minute now, so come sit." Seunghan told you as he pulled out a chair.

"Aww, I wanted y/n to sit next to me!" Shotaro complained.

"He sat with you last time," Eunseok said, seated on the other side of your empty chair. Sitting between them reminded you of being sandwiched between them in bed. You shook your head, tossing the thought aside, as you fixed your pants so your bulge wouldn't show. You only thought about it for a split-second but you were already getting hard from remembering it.

"I'll sit next to Sohee and Wonbin," You said as you moved toward the two.

"Shotaro, you can have my seat since you want to sit with y/n," Sohee muttered. Shotaro was happy to take Sohee's seat if he could sit by you. You noted Sohee's distance from you but knew you couldn't bring it up now. It would only make noise where you didn't need it.

Sungchan served breakfast, slightly burned sausages with waffles and juice. Everyone ate quietly, the sound from the nearby TV kept the room from completely silent. The news said that the snowstorm was ending, and the ice should begin to melt tonight, meaning you could go home tomorrow. You were running out of time... You eyed Sohee as he ate, he tried to avoid your gaze but you knew he could see you looking at him. As soon as he finished his plate, you stood and scooped it off the table.

"I'll take this for you, Sohee," You said warmly, smiling at him.

He nodded, trying not to look at your face. "Thank you," He muttered before getting up and moving to the couch in the living room to be closer to the TV. You put the dishes in the sink, which Anton was responsible for cleaning according to the others, and made your way to sit on the couch. You were a comfortable distance from Sohee, but you noticed he shifted away from you as you sat down. Only a few minutes before he got up and walked into the bathroom. Wonbin took his place on the couch, raising an eyebrow at you.

"Why are you following Sohee so closely?"

"I'm not–"

"You watched him like a cat on a rat. I'm sure he felt it."

You sighed. "Does Sohee have an issue with me? He's not normally so distant... Did I do something?"

Wonbin chuckled before leaning in to whisper, "You mean other than fuck his bandmates?"

You hit his shoulder. "Shut up! He only knows about Sungchan and Anton."

"And we all know about Shotaro."

Your eyes rang. "Huh, how'd you know about that?"

"Do you think we're all deaf? No one moans that loud in the bathroom with seven other people in the house unless someone is helping them." Wonbin smirked at you and poked you with his elbow. "And, Shotaro came clean before you woke up. The guilt of breaking the promise ate him up, I suppose."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Are you planning on going after Sohee next? Or me? We're the last two you haven't seduced." Wonbin's light-hearted smirk shifted sharply with an analyzing glare. "I don't know that game you're playing, but I think I'm starting to figure you out."

"Wonnie, I don't have a game anymore... It was funny at first, but things just spiraled. I don't know if I can keep it up anymore." You sighed heavier as you leaned your head on Wonbin's shoulder.

He pulled you closer, shifting so you could lay your body on his. "I don't think Sohee hates you or anything. I think he's nervous for his turn with you."

"Why would he be nervous–it's not like I want to hurt him."

Wonbin looked around, checking to see the bathroom door still shut. "Don't tell him I told you. Sohee's still a virgin, he's nervous about his first time–not just because it's you, but he's never been with someone else."

You buried your head in Wonbin's chest. "How can I do it now!? I can't do that to him... His first time should be with someone he cares about, something special. Not something I trick him into..."

"Well, you can't really back out. He's expecting you to approach him now. He told all of us after Shotaro spilled the news."

"How can I approach him? The cover is that he has to make me. He's too sweet to do that."

Wonbin shrugged. "That's not really my problem. You're the one he's nervous about. So, find a way to make him comfortable or something." He rubbed your head softly. "Or, you can skip him–probably break his kind heart, and fuck me."

You turned over to look at him. "I didn't think you'd be so excited to have sex with me."

"I feel like I'm owed for keeping all this a secret, plus helping you with Sohee. And it's only right I get a turn if everyone else does. I deserve you most, don't you think?" Wonbin's playful smirk came back. He loved to tease you, pulling you by your waist to make you blush; moaning in your ear, making you brush his hair, even grabbing your ass when he passed. If anyone in Riize felt like your boyfriend, it was him. Maybe that's why you were always so open with him.

"Well, regardless if you think you deserve me, I'm getting Sohee first. I'd cry if I made him sad..." You heard the bathroom door open. "I've gotta go, keep the others busy?"

"We already promised Sohee we'd stay out of his way."

"Since when did you guys have so many secret conversations without me?"

Wonbin pushed you off him, urging you toward Sohee's room. "Since you started fucking us. Now, go get him."

You awkwardly walked toward Sohee's bedroom, looking back into the living room. The others were watching you as you walked away. They were waiting for you to leap on Sohee... All of them knew you were faking the hypnosis now, so it made sense they'd be cautious of you, but your skin burned under their watch.

Sohee's door was closed. You knocked on it, breathing in sharply. "Sohee? Can we chat for a minute?"

"Y-Y/n!? Um–Give me a second!" Sohee replied nervously as you heard things being thrown around the room. You waited patiently at the door, still looking over your shoulder every few seconds to see if any members were trying to watch from around the corner. No one was there. After a minute passed, Sohee's door opened slowly. The room was dimly lit, with the curtains swallowing all the sunlight from the window. "Come in, please," Sohee's smile was a cover to hide his nervousness. You entered the room and Sohee closed the door behind you, the lock faintly clicking. He sat on one end of his bed while you sat on the other. "So... what did you want to talk about?"

The light in the room shined in his eyes as he looked at you, his face focused and careful.

"I wanted to talk about... you."

"Me?"

You tried to think of something clever, but with him looking at you so close you couldn't. "Wonbin told me that you wanted to speak to me about something, but you were feeling really nervous about it. I want you to know you can tell me anything. Anything."

Sohee swallowed hard. "I do have something... a confession really." He shifted closer toward you until your knees were touching. "We've been keeping a secret from you, and I don't think I can keep it any longer." He got closer, placing his hand on your thigh. "The others have been having sex with you while you've been hypnotized. Then we all lied about it to you and I feel horrible..."

You cracked a smile. "Sohee. I've got a secret too... I'm not hypnotized anymore. I've been aware of everyone's intention to take advantage of me from the beginning and made a plan to get back at everyone."

Sohee's shoulders slumped as their burden was relieved. "So, you knew? And let me think I was holding such a big secret."

"One by one, the others found out after I told them. They've been keeping the secret for me so I can punish you all."

"That means I'm next, right?" Sohee's eyes shimmered expectantly.

"I–I don't know. I thought it was a punishment, but now it feels like I'm taking advantage of you guys in return. I don't know what they told you, but Wonbin told me... That you haven't been with someone... Sexually."

Sohee's ears turned pink. "Y-Yeah, I haven't had sex before. But if it's with you, I'm okay with that."

"You should have sex with people you want to have it with. Not some trick, Sohee. What I did was a bad thing."

"Well, you're not tricking me right now! We're both being honest, consenting adults. So we can still do it, right?"

"Sohee–" You were cut off by Sohee planting a kiss on your lips, his eyes closed as his hands tightened their grip on the fabric of your pants. His breath was cool and tasted like he'd eaten a handful of mints. His lips were soft and gentle, but also stiff and unmoving. He really wanted you, more than he could put into words. You placed his hand on your neck, showing him how to hold you. Sohee's moans emerged immediately as you deepened the kiss, pushing past his lips. His body tensed, so you massaged his shoulders until he could relax. He moaned into the kiss, opening his mouth more as you sucked on his tongue.

You pulled away from this kiss after a few moments. "Now you try."

Letting Sohee lead, you pulled you in for another kiss. He confidently pushed past your lips, sucking on your tongue as you offered it to him. You moaned into it, which made his brain glitch as he pulled away.

"Sorry! I–"

"That was a good sound. You want me to do that, and I want to hear you too, Sohee."

"C-Can I ask for something?" You looked at him, it was taking all his courage to ask. You nodded, allowing him to speak. "Can you call me something else? Sohee is my name, but I want something special."

"Something like, Baby?" You watched Sohee deflate a little. He must not like that one. "Or Love?"

"Love sounds amazing," He said breathlessly.

"For you, Love. I'll call you whatever you like." You climbed onto him, straddling him, his hands were stuck to the bed while he watched you. "It's okay, you can touch me." You slide your shirt over your head, tossing it aside. You pulled on his shirt. "Can we lose this?" Sohee raised his arms as you pulled it over his head. You let your hands slide over his torso, leaning forward and encouraging him to do the same to you. He was awkward, but his hands eventually found their favorite place on your waist. "Ready for the next part?"

He nodded.

"Words, Love."

"I'm ready, Sweetness." Sohee smiled at you.

You tried to keep face, but your heart skipped a few beats as his name for you. "You know that doesn't work anymore, right?"

"Sorry, I think it fits you. I hope it doesn't bother you."

You got off the bed and slowly stripped your pants off, watching Sohee's face. He didn't know where to look, trying not to look at your bugle but also not wanting to look at your face. "You can look at me. We're both getting undressed, remember?"

Sohee nodded. "That's why it's dark... I'm a little shy."

You wanted to bite him for being so cute. He was so self-conscious that he'd rather have his first time in the dark so he doesn't have to acknowledge his own body... You knew this had to be perfect for him. You tossed your underwear aside, standing naked in front of Sohee. He was in awe–he wasn't moving, just watching you... Which was starting to get embarrassing.

"You should get undressed too, I don't want to stand here alone..." Sohee scrambled to his feet, trying to get out of his pants. "Wait–be slow about it." You got close to him, getting on your knees. "Like this," You whisper as you slowly slide his pants down his legs, helping him step out of them. You were about to slide off his underwear before you looked up at him. "We can stop at any time, Sohee. Just say something."

"I understand. Let's keep going."

You nodded as you slid his underwear, letting his hard cock point up at you. It was probably the shortest of all the members but it was thick. It was hard and red, and his tip was swollen and throbbing. It was begging for you to touch it, leaking precum in a steady stream. You took it in hand. "That so thick, Love. I think I might have trouble putting it in my mouth..."

"S-Sorry," Sohee moaned as he leaned against the bed for stability.

"It's nothing to be sorry about, it's beautiful. Cute, just like you." You kissed his tip, earning a loud moan from him. His ears turned red as he covered his mouth.

"S-Sorry..."

"Love, if you apologize every time I do something, this will be hard for you..."

"Right. So–I mean, okay."

"Sit if you're not comfortable." Sohee listened obediently, sitting on the bed with his legs spread as he watched you. You focused on his cock again, it throbbed in your hands and radiated heat. His balls were heavy and thick. Did he not ever jerk off? You moved your hands slowly, up and down as you felt around for his sensitive spots. Sohee's knees shook as he moaned into his hand. You could tell he couldn't last as long as the others, from the way his moans were so breathless–he was in bliss. "Want more?"

"So bad, please." Sohee's eyes closed as his head fell back.

"Call me that name again."

Sohee looked at you. "Sweetness?"

"Now, tell me what you want." You smiled, assuring it was okay.

"Please... Put it in your mouth, Sweetness..." Sohee mumbled, embarrassed of the words leaving his lips.

You smiled. "Of course, Love. Anything for you." You opened wide as you put his tip in your mouth. You were right. It’ll be tough to hold it all in your mouth but for him, you'd do it. Sohee's moans went high-pitched, sounding rapidly as you bobbed your head on him. His knee couldn't' stop bouncing, his hips gently bucked, and his hands found your head. To your surprise, Sohee massaged your ears gently as you sucked him off. No one had ever touched your ears, but it was even more of a turn-on. You had to close your eyes and take a breath before pushing deep. His cock stretched your throat as it pulsed.

"Oh! Woah, Y/n, I–I'm gonna–" Sohee tried to put the words together, but it was too late. He came down your throat with a loud moan, his body twitching as his fingers massaged you faster. He was trying not to hurt you, but as you sucked him through his climax you felt his hips lift slightly–forcing you to take more.

You slowly pulled off his cock, swallowing anything left in your mouth before finally breathing again. It was hot–Sohee's cum, you could feel it making its way down your throat. Warning your insides.

"I didn't mean to," Sohee paused to breathe. "I didn't mean to cum so soon. We didn't even go that far..."

You chuckled. "Did you want more?"

Sohee nodded.

"What a greedy one, aren't you, Love?" You pushed Sohee on his back as you straddled his hips.

"I'm sorry for being greedy... But I want to be inside you, so bad, y/n."

You looked at Sohee under you, he was a mess. His lips parted, shaking whimpers falling from them, and his cock twitched–ready for more. "I want you in me too," You whispered as you lifted your hips, lining his cock with your hole. Slowly, you sank down onto Sohee's dick, earning whines and moans from the other. You felt him pushing inside you, his thickness stretched you more as each inch passed deeper into you. Once you had him inside you completely, he took a few moments, breathing heavily as you adjusted to his size. Sohee was shaking from overstimulation, and his eyes rolled back. "Are you still with me, Love?"

Your voice snapped Sohee back. "Y-Yes! I'm h-here, I'll be here till you're satisfied. Please–use me how you like..." Sohee could barely get through his sentences, moaning every other word as he felt your walls tighten around him. Sohee was in another world. He couldn't have imagined how you'd feel around him, but it was so warm and every twitch made him want to bust.

"Sohee," You moaned his name, in a tone that gnawed at the rope of sanity that Sohee was trying to hold onto. "You're so big... I need your help." Placing his hands on your hips, Sohee gripped you tightly as you started listing yourself. Once high enough, you'd sink back down and stuff yourself full of cock again. Sohee's eyes watered as a few tears streaked down his face, his voice was hoarse from the nonstop moaning. You drank up every second of it as you enjoyed riding him. You went faster and harder, making Sohee's moans louder and higher–borderline screaming.

"I–" Sohee had to swallow hard, "I'm gonna fucking cum!" Sohee usually tried not to swear, there was never a reason to do it. But your fucking him was more than enough to make him let loose every sweat he knew. "Fucking, shit! You're so tight, I can't stop, fuck! You feel so good..."

You grind your hips into him, pushing his cock deeper. "Cum for me, Love. All inside me!"

That was enough to push him over the edge. His hips found new strength as he pushed up, lifting you slightly and holding you there. His cock plunged deeper than before as he came for the second time, his moan on his lips was your name as he shot into you. "Fuck! Fuck! Fu–I'm sorry... I'm sorry, y/n... I can't do it anymore," Sohee hiccuped as his eyes streamed with tears. His convulsions were intense, making his cock shift inside you which made his convulse again. He was stuck in a shaking cycle until you kissed him, stroking his cheek as you calmed him down.

"You did so good, Sohee. I'm so proud," You cooed in his ear.

Sohee twitched, softer now. "T-Thank you... I'm sorry–I couldn't make you cum..." Even after having sensory overload from two intense orgasms, he still cared about you. How sweet.

You gently lifted yourself off him, trying not to make it worse for him. But Sohee stopped you. "Fuck!" Sohee's grip on your hips tightened and he slammed you back down onto him. Maybe it was luck, but he hit your spot–dead center. You came all over Sohee's chest, cum even shooting onto his face. Your head rolled back as your orgasm ripped through you, your walls tightening which made Sohee whine again. "I'm sorry! Sorry–Please don't leave. It's so sensitive, can we just... lay here? For a little?"

You nodded, your jaw too tight to speak. You laid on his chest as you stroked his hair, letting him drift to sleep... Once it was clear you could move, you climbed off of him–even while sleeping Sohee didn't want to let you go. You found your clothes, tucked Sohee into his bed, and opened the door to leave his room.

Wonbin was waiting for you at the door. "You done?"

You nodded.

"Good. Come out here," Wonbin ordered as he grabbed your wrist, dragging you with him.

[toastermoth]

Hey I was wondering if you can do a hc of the OM Characters finding out that MC used to be a singer in the human world but in reality was unsuccessful and doesn’t like mentioning about it at all but still has passion over it. It doesn’t matter about the gender and yeah. If u can Tysm! 🤗

Obey Me! x Gn! Singer!Mc

I had so much fun writing these- tysm anon for requesting!! <3 LUKE IS LIKE YOUR LITTLE BROTHER!!! P.S. You can also read this as platonic or romantic! Lucifer: 1st Born

He finds out because you were taking too long in the shower and heard your captivating voice singing.

He would be surprised and though looking unimpressed on the outside, in the inside this man is so happy if he could he'd squeal like a little girl.

When he's alone with you he'll definitely ask you to sing for him and through small pleas you agree, and when you're done he'll be smiling his signature smile and clapping softly.

"Where did you learn to sing like that y/n?" he asks awaiting your response like a dog waiting for a command.

"Well I just liked singing! I used to be a singer in the human world but it didn't work out.."

He hears your voice break when you say those last 4 words and he is devestated.

How dare nobody appreciate your beautiful voice?!

He must've been glaring because then you said "But I still have a passion for it! They never discouraged me enough to make me quit!

That reassured him as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Y/n, never give up your passion, and if nobody supports you just know that I will personally string them up and make them appreciate your singing."

You laughed a little and Lucifer was just happy that he was able to hear your amazing gift.

Mammon: 2nd Born (Sorry his is short-)

He finds out one day when he heard you start singing a song for a playlist you're making to study.

WAIT WHAT?!

HIS HUMAN CAN SING?! WHY IS THEIR VOICE SO AMAZING?!

"WHY'D YA NEVER TELL ME?!"

You yelp in surprise and ask what he's talking about.

"YOUR SINGING OBVIOUSLY! IT'S LIKE GRIMM FOR MY EARS!"

You make a face and after much begging by the 2nd born, you decide to tell him

"Well, nobody really liked my singing in the human world.. I tried everything but no matter what I never really got listeners or fans haha.."

This poor man is wondering WHY?! HOW?!

He looks at you with his blue-yellow eyes and cups your face.

He says "Well they're stupid because you got the most amazing voice. Hell better than the angels! And they're angles for fucks sake! Look human, what I'm trying to say, is that you shouldn't listen to anyone who talks down to ya. I'll be your number 1 fan y/n! Nobody is gonna take that spot either ya hear me?"

That reassured you as he tackled you and pulled you into a hug.

"My precious human! How dare they keep this talent from me!"

He probably made a t-shirt saying "Y/N's #1 FAN"

Leviathan: 3rd Born

He found out when you started singing the opening to an anime!

Singer mc?! LEVI.EXE:SHUT_DOWN

Once you knew that he noticed your smile dropped and stopped singing and whispered a small sorry before looking down almost looking shamefully.

"Y-y/n?! Where did you learn to sing?! H-how can you-?!"

This poor boy has so many questions which you were reluclant to answer.

He gave you the cute 'anime girl' eyes (which is what he called it) and he knew you couldn't resist them.

"Mmmm fine. I used to be a singer in the human world and I gave it my all I really did but.. I never got anybody to listen.. I enjoy singing still but only for myself.."

Oh HELL NO. Levi may be shy but he can get ANGRY.

"That's impossible! Your singing is the most amazing thing my ears have ever experienced! You're just like the mc in the anime I'm-A-Secret-Singer-In-Highschool-Living-A-Normal-Life-But-Please-Send-Help!"

The long ass title of course made you snicker but he looked at you with serious eyes and said, "Henry had people who talked down to him but he never gave up! A-and neither should you y/n!!"

Satan: 4th Born

He found out by you humming a tune to singing some of the lyrics from a song in a movie that was inspired by a book that you were looking for in the library.

He couldn't help but be frozen by your hypnotic voice. You didn't notice him until he leaned on a bookshelf and something fell.

"I'm sorry Y/n. I couldn't help but listen to your singing. Where did you learn to sing like that?"

You paused a little bit while he motions you to sit in one of the library chairs.

"Can you tell me y/n?"

You sigh knowing he wouldn't forget about it and would probably ask you about it tomorrow and decide to tell the blonde haired demon.

"Well, in the human world I was a singer and I enjoyed it, loved it actually! But people didn't really like my songs or my voice or anything so I just kinda quit.. I never lost my passion for it though."

He sits looking at you in what you can tell is a mix of anger and confusion.

"Why did you give up? People are ruthless, but I think you should try again y/n. You never know and if they don't like your singing they can suck dick."

The last part of his sentence makes you laugh a bit as he smiles and looks at you saying, "I believe in you y/n. Even when you don't believe in yourself."

Asmodeus: 5th Born

He found out you could sing when he dragged you to a karaoke bar.

"C'mon sweetie! You'll do just fine besides my voice will take the main stage and you can sing backup! We got this we'll crush every demon! And don't worry I'll let you pick the song, as long as it won't ruin my beautiful voice!"

You think he only said the last part because he saw you looked a little nervous but you were still thankful.

After the karaoke session you noticed how everyone there was looking at you and not as Asmo which was weird because he's the lust demon, then you noticed he was even looking at you with sparkles in his eyes.

He bowed to the crowd then dragged you back to the house of Lamination.

"Where did you learn to have such an enchanting voice darling?! That was amazing!! I need to bring you to there again, you'll be all the talk all over Devildom!-"

He stopped once he took a look and saw you looking at your knees in discomfort and silence.

"Sweetie.? Are you alright? Did I make you uncomfortable?" Despite popular belief he was actually very caring and kind and not always self-centered.

You nodded and said, "That was my first crowd in a long time.."

Confused, the pink haired demon asked "Well what do you mean sweetheart?"

So you explained it to him.

"Well, I used to be a singer in the human world but, it didn't really work out and I never really had a crowd that enjoyed my singing but maybe they didn't even enjoy it as much as I do.."

"Y/n. I know demons, and I know just by their faces that they loved our performance. Your performance! Don't be so hard on yourself, because I know that you did amazing and I'm perfect so obviously I'm right!" He said swishing his hair in an attempt to make you smile. (It did)

"There's that smile I adore! Let's get your confidence back and go to more karaoke bars okay? Next time you better sing a duet with me though!"

Beelzebub: 6th Born

How he found out was one time you were baking with Luke and Barbatos (and Beel decided to bring himself to 'taste test.') and a familiar tune came from Barbatos's voice from him humming then Luke joined in singing and eventually you joined in on the fun.

Soon the kitchen was soon made into a ballroom with you singing and dancing with Luke and Barbatos stil humming the music as Beel watches in total awe.

You're a little worn out from singing and dancing till you see the tall orange haired demon looking at you as if you were the most prized food in all of Devildom.

"Y/n your voice is amazing!"

"Ah.. you really think so Beel?"

He nods his head as Barbatos and Luke agrees.

"Well, let's just get back to this cake yeah?" The three boys wondered why you were so dismissive but Barbatos and Luke paid no attention and they continued working. Beel however did not forget about your captivating voice.

On the way back to the house of Lamination he asks, "So you don't need to answer, but why did you just shut down the idea of singing? I really like your voice and I think so does Luke and Barbatos."

"Well it's not somthing I really talk ab-" theres the Beel puppy eyes. Damn you Beel for being adorable.

"Okay.. I used to sing in the human world, and I really loved it so I tried to become a professional but nobody.. really liked my singing as much as I do.. so I kinda gave up on that profession."

This poor boy was shocked.

"But why? Just because some people don't like it doesn't mean you shouldn't. Your voice is very nice to listen to especially when singing. Even if you don't like it I do and so does Luke and Barbatos and everyone who didn't support your singing is stupid."

You smiled knowing at least somebody liked your singing at least one person.

"If you start singing let me know, I want to hear your voice again singing."

Belphegor: 7th Born

How he found out was when he called you up for a nap and said he needed a lullaby.

"Y/nnnn I need something to make me fall asleep I can't fall asleep without oneee.." Which was halfway the truth. After much begging on the behalf of Belphie, you gave in and started singing a small lullaby.

Once you were done singing and started humming Belphie sleepily commented, "Such a mystical voice.. how not famous lullaby singer..."

You laughed a tiny bit to yourself for how sleepy he is and turned to him seeing even though sleepy he was dead serious.

"How are you not famous.?" he asks.

You hesitate to meet him in the eye as he lays close by you, knowing him he'd keep himself awake until you told him or he would lay on you until you told him.

Sighing, you say, "I tried to be famous, to sing as a real singer. But people just, didn't really listen and I was unsuccessful.."

You notice a hand lay you down and the fluffy blue haired demon says, "Well they lost out on a good singer.. that means you're now my professional lullaby singer.. screw the money grabbing producers who can't tell talent."

You smile at him being this caring and start singing another lullaby to lull him to slumber as well as yourself.

"You're the greatest singer and make sure you believe that too.."

OKAY HI THAT TOOK A LONG TIME AND I SORTA GOT LAZY AT THE END- BUT TELL ME IF YOU WANT ME TO DO A PART @ WITH BARBATOS, DIAVOLO, SIMEON, AND SOLOMON!! (AND LITTLE BROTHER LUKE!!!)

[apomaro-mellow]

3 though idk how much it will help but I love drama😅

oh my god you instigator LOL I also tacked on @goodolefashionedloverboi's request too

First part

He should've known that telling Eddie to shut the hell up would yield the opposite result. The phone calls were so constant, that Steve stopped picking up. When he saw him coming down the sidewalk, he walked the other way. Eddie had even started to try and send messages via the kids and wasn't that pathetic?

What was more pathetic was how hard it was for Steve to do all of this. He wanted more than anything to hear Eddie out, to find out that maybe his feelings were real all along. But there was no such chance.

There was a panicked moment when Eddie came to his work and he saw him talking to Robin outside. But Robin, steadfast and loyal and just as bitchy as him, told him to step off.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around", Steve said he pushed a mail cart around.

Robin dug her hand in and handed it off to the white collars of Hawkins in the office building they worked at now. "I felt like a bouncer at a club."

Steve thought he was doing a good job on the break up mend. He hadn't spoken to Eddie in days, he hadn't rebounded on some poor soul, and he only cried late at night when he was all alone with his thoughts.

The moment he thought he was up though, was of course, when the universe brought him back down. He knew Dustin's house was a danger zone, what with the odds of Eddie being there. But Dustin had invoked a Code Red on the walkie and Steve came barreling down the road, nail bat at the ready.

Once again, Dustin pointed him in the direction of his cellar. Steve vividly remembered what Dustin had been keeping down here before. He went down the stairs, heard a familiar voice cry out "No! Wait!" before the door shut above him.

Steve held his bat defensively. He was down here with someone. He was about to swing when a lightbulb turned on and he was face to face with Eddie. Honestly, Eddie might've been safer from his bat if he was a stray demodog.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't know", Eddie held his hands up in surrender. "But if I had to guess...I think Henderson wants us to talk."

"Did you put him up to this?!"

"Eddie didn't put me up to anything!", Dustin shouted from above. "You two need to get your shit together. I'll be back in an hour. Don't have make up sex in my cellar."

Steve tried opening it up but they were sealed shut until Dustin, or perhaps Mrs. Henderson let them out.

"The nerve of that kid", Eddie huffed.

"Right? Where the hell does he get it from?"

"Not from me. Us Munsons are humble. He must've gotten it from your side of the family."

Steve smiled as a traitorous breath of laughter came from him and he clamped it down immediately. It wasn't fair. Eddie couldn't do this. He glared at him, ready to blame the whole situation on him even though he was probably tricked as well.

"Don't look at me like that", Eddie said, his voice soft.

"I'd rather not look at you at all." Steve turned his back on him, hoping he could ignore him until they were let out. He came face to face with the mended part of the wall that Dart had dug out years ago. Such and odd series of events that led him here, that led him to Eddie. Just for it to end like this.

"Steve-"

“I fucking hate you.”

“No you don’t. Take that back right now.”

"I won't."

"Then look me in the eye and tell me."

Steve turned and he wished he hadn't. All he saw in Eddie's eyes was heartbreak. He knew because it mirrored the look in his own eyes. But it couldn't be real. It just couldn't.

"You should be in the movies, you know that? Give Hollywood a run for its money."

"Steve just listen to me! I'm sorry for playing with your feelings. I really am! But I wasn't lying when I said I want to be with you. Steve I l-"

"Don't you fucking dare." Steve's grip on his bat tightened. "Don't say that if you don't mean it or I swear..."

"Steve..." Eddie took a breath and stepped closer to him, incredibly aware of the weapon in his hand. "I love you."

Steve dropped the bat and Eddie pulled him into his arms. Steve wanted to beg for so many things. For Eddie to always love him, to treat him gently, to make him believe that he wanted him forever. It all came out in the form of tears.

"If this is another joke-"

"The only joke here if that I had you and fucked it up like an idiot."

"You really want me?", Steve sniffled.

"Baby, baby, baby", Eddie cradled his face and wiped some of his tears away. “I’m not even gonna lie, I’m just so fucking obsessed with you.” He wondered how many of his messages got through to Steve in the end. "Did you listen to any of my voicemails?"

Steve allowed a small smile through. "I think if I did, I would've caved in too fast. I'm obsessed with you too. I love you, Eddie. Too much probably."

"I'll be the judge of what's too much. And you, Steven Malcolm Harrington, are not too much."

Eddie kissed him and Steve felt whole again. Then Eddie kissed him again and Steve felt more than whole. In between the kisses, Steve started to laugh.

"I can't believe we're making out where Dustin kept his pet demodog."

Eddie jumped up into his arms. "His pet WHAT!?!"

Send me a dialogue prompt

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Man-Sized

8/9 God's Away on Business

Pairing: Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley x F!OC

Tags: Explicit content, +18 audiences only. Smut, romantic angst, fluff. An unapologetic LOVE STORY. Sexual tension, mutual pining, banter, flirting, developing relationship, strangers to lovers. Simon Riley has a dark past (partly inspired by Modern Warfare 2: Ghost comics).

CW/TW: References to PTSD, depression, past torture and abuse in later chapters.

Summary: A uni student who pole dances at a strip club to pay her rent encounters a mysterious giant of a soldier seemingly incapable of falling in love.

I'm 20 minutes away. You home?

Sure! You're always welcome.

Simon never told her if he was a minute away. Something was different here.

The key turned on the lock of her front door sharply 20 minutes after he had sent that text, and she went to greet him.

Their hug lasted longer than usual, and she could feel the relief and sadness just pour from him. He embraced her like a 200-pound shadow, then kissed her gently on the cheek, not mouth — that kiss spoke of companionship rather than lust, and her heart melted against his chest.

He looked like hell. Not only drained but like he had been through hell. Something awful must've happened if a man like Simon couldn't conceal the emotional maelstrom he was evidently in.

"You just got back?"

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

She didn't usually ask How was work. It wasn't really work. It was something else.

Simon didn't answer, he just took off his jacket and shoes like he was sleepwalking. He continued that sleepwalk to her couch. It had become some sort of a safe place he had carved out from the world to curl in, even if he never curled in anywhere, simply sat down with a manspread that usually made her mouth water. But seeing him stare off into space like he had just seen a mushroom cloud in the distant horizons didn't make her want to jump his bones. It made her want to close him in a hug and shelter him from all the pain in the world.

"I lost people yesterday."

"Oh. Oh shit."

Something like this was bound to happen at some point. Her first feeling was relief from knowing that Simon had survived unscathed from whatever horror he and his team had been through.

"That's… I don't know what to say."

Now that he had poured some of that exhaustion on the floor of her hallway, she noticed that he was enclosed in a shroud of latent need for revenge. The air seemed to thicken around him: of course he would deal with heartbreak by silent wrath. His eyes reminded her of the Antarctic stare; they just kept staring off into the void while also appearing sharp and aware, like he might burst into action from the slightest little threat such as a sudden sharp sound. Her tiny little home, soft lights, and messy book piles seemed childish and nonsensical compared to the ominous man who had seen too much.

"23."

"What..?"

"23. The number of people I have lost in total."

Shit… Fuck. She tried to remember something useful from the psychology books she had gobbled up not too long ago. But she couldn't turn into a therapist and offer him treatment. He might only laugh at such tries, anyway. Surely they offered counseling services or trauma therapy in his workplace for these kind of situations… But Simon probably steered clear of those, too.

"Is Soap alive?"

"Yeah. Wounded."

Compassion took over, and she finally walked to him, sat down, and reached to place a hand over his.

"Sometimes I wonder if thousands of people are worth one good man," he said with a deepening, impending fury, a tempest barely held in confinement. "Not to talk about three."

Thousands of people…

That meant… Wow. Okay.

He was definitely working on preventing missiles or some shit. Saving the world.

Sweet Jesus… And she had just joked about it.

"This world could use another flood."

The shroud turned into a whole cage that prevented her from comforting him. The hand underneath her palm seemed to tingle and burn as if it was coated with tiny spikes.

He was always so dramatic, but it didn't make him sound whiny or childish. It was actually scary. He was the weapon of mass destruction, an atom bomb in one man, about to detonate and level a whole city with a blast and nuclear winds.

"Have you ever thought about… quitting, you know? Doing something else?" She offered him a choice like someone would offer a doughnut to a murder victim, hoping it would make the pain go away.

"I was an apprentice to a butcher before I enlisted."

"Well, that's… a bit different from what you're doing now."

"Is it?"

Another sliver of information about his past, and she wasn't necessarily surprised. The worlds they lived in were like night and day. She had a safety net, friends who didn't kill or fear being killed, she had a degree, access to education, a promising career in the culture field ahead of her. Simon had a rough childhood and a dark past; he had chopped corpses of dead animals for money and then pursued a career in killing humans. He had lost 23 and killed God knows how many people.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You got any food?"

"Sure. Um, no. But I'll order something."

She moved to rise from the couch, but he turned his hand and seized her by the palm. The warm fingers closed around hers and gave her a soft squeeze.

"I like that pasta sauce you make."

"The Bolognese?"

"Yeah."

"Then that's what you shall have."

There wasn't much else she could do. He wouldn't, or couldn't talk about it, so she ran to the nearest market to grab minced meat and some fresh herbs because dried ones simply wouldn't do right now. She made him food and seasoned it with as much love as she could while he put up a floating shelf she had gotten for books that didn't fit in her bookshelf anymore.

The scene was domestic, almost traditionally so. She had never thought of herself as a woman who would happily cook for a man. A man who put up her furniture for her. But then again, she had never thought she would date a man like Simon in the first place.

She suggested they watch a few episodes of a new tv show she was binging while they ate. Then he went to the shower, and she soon stood at the door, asking if he wanted to be alone. There was no answer, which in Simon's case meant it was safe to proceed. He was facing the cascading water as she stepped in to hug him from behind.

Perhaps it was the simple things. Even when the world was burning or war was raging or families were being torn apart, it was the simple things even then: some good, homemade food, some distraction, no matter how brainless and meaningless, some skin-on-skin connection and a good night's sleep.

It wasn't much; it wasn't a therapy session or a resurrection or anything life-changing. It wasn't much… But on the other hand, perhaps it was perfectly enough.

She gathered he might not be in the mood right now, but when he grew hard just from her embracing him, she slithered a hand down and stroked him shyly. He didn't stop her from pumping him to a release filled with weary sighs while he merely leaned on the tiles as she tried her best to alleviate his pain. He grabbed her hand after and laced their fingers together, used her hand to hug himself while a single, almost inaudible sniff pierced the sound of running water. It immediately turned into him clearing his throat — Simon didn't know how to cry.

He usually slept with boxers, perhaps a shirt on too, but this time he wore a whole set of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt into bed.

"You got that Glock here somewhere?"

He checked the mag and gave the gun a routine inspection, which seemed more like a comforting procedure than having anything to do with actual necessity. He had left it to her fully operational and with a weighted note to remember to rack the slide before firing.

It dawned on her that his gift served a whole other purpose too. It had been planted in her apartment, and not just for her protection.

A bleak thought passed through her mind about whether she would die that night in the hands of a traumatized, paranoid soldier, but she crawled into his arms nevertheless. He fell asleep right away — a sign of deep exhaustion. She wanted to caress him, hold him, but he rarely let her. Even now, when he was at his most vulnerable, he was the one who spooned her as they drifted off into sleep while there was a knife tucked under his pillow and a gun sitting on the headboard of the bed.

But instead of a possible homicide victim, she felt like a sleep toy when he tightened his grip on her through sleep with a sharp, irritated rumble when she tried to change position only slightly. It was then that she cried the tears he could not.

***

The darkness woke her up with a nightmare. Not a cold sweat one, but the kind where you were free falling and woke with a jolt just before the impact.

It was a familiar dream where she tried to hide from her abuser, the one who was supposed to love her but had turned out to be a grooming hunter. The most nightmarish thing wasn't that she was being chased again. No: the most aggravating thing was that she still felt weak. She was a grown-up now, she had more grit, she should've been perfectly capable of fighting back with words and fists. She wanted to voice her will, shout at him to leave her alone, even hurt that man, find some weapon to stab him with, just fight back somehow — but her muscles never worked, and time was running out: he was getting inside the building she was hiding in.

This time, it was different. With ecstatic thrill, she realized she could call for help. This time, she had a weapon called Simon. But the rotten thing was that he didn't answer the phone. He didn't come to her aid even when she sent distressed texts, and she was alone, weak, nothing but trash to the man about to come and bend her under his will again.

It was just a dream, but waking up was always a relief. She was breathing like she had just been saved from drowning. To her surprise, Simon was fast asleep, probably too spent to stay vigil, which was both unsettling and heartbreaking. He was hard against her, and she realized it must've bled into her dream, adding to its menacing nature.

Still, the relief was immeasurably sweet as she noticed Simon was physically here, holding her. Trauma was a bitch, but it didn't get to her this time. Nothing could hurt her. No one could come and take her away from the heavy, safe cage of his arms. The ripples of the nightmare slowly turned into something entirely different. How she could get wet just from feeling him thick and pulsing against her back after such a night terror was… well, it was new.

What had happened in the shower before they retreated to bed was fucking hot. Despite the evening full of grief and loss, that simple, urgent, shiver-ridden handjob in the shower was so beautiful that she could've cried from that alone. He was so done in that she finally got past the wall that seemed to prevent her from touching him. The connection was so pure that she didn’t quite know where she ended and he began.

She had never felt this kind of bond with another human being before. She hadn't even known that there were men like Simon, and perhaps there weren't. He was one of a kind.

Curling up together amidst a burning world, a selfish world, a world sinking like a ship, was so utterly beautiful that it was breaking her heart into pieces.

She shifted, sure of Simon waking from her turning around, but he only stirred a little and fell back asleep. Her hand seemed to have a will of its own as it found its way under his pants and caressed him. The thick flesh pulled against her palm, calling her to give him more of that stress relief, to drown him in love. Surely he would only be pleasantly surprised if she woke him up with her mouth.

She didn't get far before a hand shot out. Fingers scraped against her scalp and grabbed, yanked her by the hair, then raised her from between his legs.

Fuck… Of course.

How could she be so stupid?

"That's not a good idea, sweetheart," he said with a sleepy, slightly alarmed grunt. "Even though I appreciate the gesture."

He gentled his grip on her as if it had only been something naughty that had accidentally, in the spur of the moment, turned into too rough a treatment. Her scalp was burning, but what shocked her more was witnessing how quick his reflexes could be.

She was dealing with someone who had gotten used to being touched only with violence, with pure intention to cause harm. The darkness was the time for phantoms; they appeared in her bedroom as if she had called them forth with her mouth. The nightmare was still fresh on her mind, giving ground to having another talk about things neither of them wanted to discuss… But she had wanted to ask a certain question from the moment she had seen all those scars.

"Have you ever been tortured?"

The hand caressed her hair now, and she cursed that they almost always made love in the darkness. She wanted to see him, needed to see him, to make sure that that hand belonged to Simon instead of a ghost.

"Just ask how many days."

"How many days?"

"98."

She had expected the answer to be something like two or three days. That Simon had survived full-on torture without breaking for a week, at the very maximum.

98 days covered over 3 months.

He took her hand and brought it to his ribs, on a protruding scar she had seen many times. It wasn't the most prominent, but it was, apparently, one with the meanest memory.

Shouldn't have asked… Shouldn't have asked…

"Got slapped up on a meat hook like those pigs back there in the butchery. You believe in karma?"

"Simon.. Jesus Christ."

"Nah, the hook was the nice part. It's the brainwashing that really gets to ya." He rubbed himself with her hand as if to relieve a long-forgotten pain.

"If the mind breaks, you're done."

Simon wasn't living in the same world as her. He lived in the same realm as Roman slaves who were slaughtered for entertainment in the Colosseum, as soldiers freezing to death on the Eastern Front of World War 2, as political prisoners tortured in North Korean internment camps.

"This is horrible."

"What's horrible is you wakin' me up like this and not finishing the job."

Shivers of ice seeped down her spine. He was so unfazed… and it wasn't just denial or a defense mechanism. He was simply in terms with what had happened to him — what had been done to him. He didn’t turn his gaze away from the abyss. She wouldn't call it healthy or normal, but it was mature as hell, something so profoundly self-sufficient and fearless that she knew she would never meet a man like Simon.

Feeling both scared and aroused, she granted his wish and took him back in her mouth. They had just talked about meat hooks and psychological torture, but he was hard as a rock. The moan that left him as she went deep and flattened her tongue against him was an exhausted and deprived sigh, and she felt tears welling up.

He was broken and perfect and beautiful, he simply wouldn't yield. Not in any storm, not before a hurricane, not amidst a fallout, not in the thick of whatever apocalypse would come and rain upon this world. The least she could do to honor such a man was to make him sigh like that.

The moans that left him were different from when he was fucking her. They sounded fragile, arduous, and brought pain to mind. His enemies had tried to break him for nearly 100 days and failed. She couldn't stop thinking about where all those scars had come from — mutilation, beating, cutting, flagellation, not to mention being suspended on a meat hook…

Had it ended in him being buried alive? Or was that a whole other story? And who had been in the coffin with him? An enemy or a friend?

He said the physical torture wasn't even the worst of it…

She thought about how he always looked so incredibly tired, was so paranoid about someone coming to get him. He had most likely been subjected to sleep deprivation and constant interrogation, other slow methods meant to break someone psychologically. Methods that escaped her imagination.

Tears ran down her cheeks, and she sobbed against him, like a pathetic woman who knew nothing of the world’s darkness. A killer's hand found its way in her hair again, this time with the gentlest caress.

"Dove… C'mere."

Whatever test this was, she felt like a total failure when releasing him and letting him pull her into another staunch embrace.

"I'm sorry," he said softly while petting her hair like she was a child who had had a nightmare.

He shouldn't be sorry for anything. He shouldn't be consoling her for his own torture. Her own past seemed like a walk in the park compared to this, her depression was laughable. Even when she knew these kinds of things shouldn't be compared.

"Sometimes forget that you're a civilian."

How on earth he could forget that was beyond her. What Simon had forgotten, though, was what civilian life was like. What ordinary, day to day life looked and felt like. Why would he want to continue his job after everything he had been through?

Unless he didn't care if he got killed.

Unless he wanted to get away. Had been wanting to get away for years now, just like her…

The tears were running in streams now, and her nose was stuffed, broken sighs passed through her mouth as he kept her in one piece with a simple hug.

"Gotta say it gets me fuckin' hard when you shed tears for me,” he said, amused, while she was crumbling under the weight of their darkness.

"You're always so cocky," she sighed, trying to get air through her mouth because her nose was clogged from the tears.

"Isn't that what you like about me?"

When she wouldn’t speak, he turned her around to lie on her stomach and started to caress her back. Slow and steady, purposeful. He cherished her from neck to waist, rubbed the knots between her shoulder blades, soothed tension in places she didn't even know she had any. It was the gentlest touch she had felt since childhood, a caress of her entire being.

How poetic, that a butcher was the only one to have touched her with such mercy.

She should be the one doing the comforting, but here they were again. All those psychology journals, all those books, all that education, and he was the one who knew what to do, how to handle his shit. And her shit too.

"C'mon... Tell me you like it."

The callous hand cupped her ass, slid down her thigh, beckoned it to lift to gain access to her. It was just an inspection due to her not having said a word, and he must've taken it as a sign of her being proud and stubborn... And then the night laughed at her with a gratified haze as his fingers met her wetness.

"Alright, have it your way. But you're always drippin' for me… That's how I know ya like it."

He relished in what he found, spread the moisture all over her folds, causing her hips to rise up to present her pussy to him — like it was normal that she was soaked after such a sad evening and a fright of a night.

But Simon didn't seem to regard it as perverse at all. To him, it was quite natural, mostly an endearment, as he climbed on top of her like a god of war about to get a taste of bliss after a hard day on the battlefield.

The bulged tip found her entrance with a familiarity that was only sublime. He was such a tease when he wanted to be, coating himself with her before going straight in.

"Got your eyes and your cunt wet for me. If that ain't love, don't know what is."

Words escaped her again as he stretched her wide, and she could feel his hunger, both their hunger. He simply had more patience than she did to not act upon it right away. He set a pace that was sweet and slow, so greedy that it made her grab the sheet in a tight fist.

"You're hopeless," she sighed while her back arched to meet him in perfect sync, the rhythm they had established long ago was the most divine for both of them. Perhaps he wanted to feel alive too, especially on a night like this. His hand found hers, the one grabbing the sheet, and she opened for him, interlaced her fingers with his, and squeezed. The sadness turned into a lazy, warm pool of love and arousal, even euphoria.

"That's it sweetheart… what else? Tell me how much you like me."

It was never straight-shooting with him. She couldn't just say that he was driving her insane. It had been embarrassing enough to spill all that love in the air when she had been drunk, with him between her legs like a bloodhound that had caught scent.

So she told her what he disliked about him. Those things happened to be the ones she absolutely loved about him as well.

"You talk too much," she offered, already out of breath.

"Never hear that at work."

"Probably because you don't fuck your co-workers."

He laughed at that, so uncharacteristic and unbridled that it made tiny bubbles brim all over in her, too.

"Know a few dolls who wouldn't mind if I did."

Jealousy bled instantly. No — it clawed at her insides. Simon had women on his team? He had discreetly left them unmentioned up until this point.

It crossed her mind that maybe he was the lovesick one now. But that couldn't be true… He was just being arrogant, as always.

"Don't worry darling. I'm all yours."

That husky purr drove her only more nuts. He even sent his hands down to her waist and held her steady while making it known to whom she belonged.

"Think you can handle me?"

The next thrust was punctuated, his balls pressed against her clit, rewarding him with a tight moan she simply couldn't hold back. The appeased rumble above her told her that he only got a kick out of this childish boasting.

"I don’t know. Your ego is too big for me," she tried to sound dry during yet another delicious fucking.

"Got somethin' else that's big," he bragged, voice covered in molten gold. "Right? Just for you."

On that, she refused to entertain him. He knew perfectly well just how big he was. Simon didn't do relationships but had surely had his fair share of women who had run into his arms more than gladly. Far more eagerly than her, or at least, with far less dignity. It was despicable, but she was jealous of his past too and envied every single one of them, whether the women he'd had amounted to dozens or hundreds.

"You like big men?" He brushed her hair aside from her cheek as if wanting to see her face to read the answer from her expression, even if it was too dark to see anything.

"I like men who know when to shut up," she blurted.

A laugh, rough but hearty, echoed in the bedroom.

"Marry me."

Her eyes went wide, her jaw opened, a quick gasp passed through…

"Or don't. 'S not worth the pension."

A joke… He was joking.

Her eyes fluttered closed, but her mouth was left hanging open; then it slowly but surely curved into a quivering little smile. This goddamn man would be the end of her.

He caressed her again, then brushed a thumb over her lip in a soft, yearning gesture that told her he wanted to kiss her but couldn't from this position. The gentle lovemaking in the dark thick of night was sweeter than any pain, and she did something rebellious: she reached for that thumb, captured it in her mouth, and sucked.

"Fuck…"

It was a surprised huff. Completely taken aback.

She swirled her tongue around it, gripped it tight, mouthed it like it was his cock — and could feel his hips buck unexpectedly.

"Not gonna last long if ya..-"

The hurried explanation ended in a lengthy groan, and the body above her went rigid, then shuddered. He came without warning, the thumb was pushed even further into her mouth, and he was buried in her to the hilt, hissing and moaning like it caused him pain.

He was always a gentleman when it came to her pleasure, never chased his own before she had gotten hers first. It must drive him a bit mad to spill so soon — especially when it wasn't even the first time today.

It was the softest cataclysm she had ever seen, another stealthy peek behind those high brick walls. His body crushed her, the massive arms closed in around her, he rubbed his face somewhere in her neck… and he was trembling. Perhaps it was his way of weeping since he couldn't cry actual tears.

He was finally speechless, gathering himself after an unusually weak moment. He swallowed, panted, then swallowed again. Struggled to regain control, snatched it back like an injured soldier. But he wasn’t angry, nor was he ashamed, he was pretty damn delighted.

"Now look at what you did," he scolded, but the tone was playful. He slipped out of her mouth, the heavy chest was throbbing against her back, and she mourned the fact that her skin only met cotton.

"You had it coming."

Arousal made her voice thicker than usual, and he buried his face further in her hair.

"Really…"

And again, he wouldn't pull out. She was just gathered in his arms and dragged to lie on her side. Her back met a solid chest, and the hand traveled up her throat, making her expose her neck for him to wolf from behind. It was probably her weakest spot – and as soon as he noticed it, he took advantage of the knowledge. He even used teeth on her, made love bites like they were some horny teenagers. She would have to wear high collars for classes next week…

"Does that feel nice?" The attentiveness was nearing unbearable proportions, his voice so close to her ear that her eyes rolled back. He was big, even when soft, and continued to rub against her after slipping out. Another hand dove down to assist her reach her own peak.

"Judging by how wet you are, it does."

He was right, as always. The tears were dry, but her pussy was not; she was so wet that it was a miracle how he was able to be as precise as he was.

How the hell could one man be so good at everything…

"You're too sweet for your own good," he whispered when she shattered against that chest and those fingers, her own flexing against his arm as she came. She let him carry her to the shore, break on it like a wave. The broken cries were such a signature, the music of them such a tell, that it really didn't matter that she didn't, couldn't use words with him.

This was the best therapy either of them could get, no matter what any book or professional said. They were wildly alive, they had found each other through horrors and blood and tears. Somehow, he had found his way to her orbit, collided with her in that dark, grimy, degraded place where she danced for money for a tortured killer like him. Her job was a good workout, and it paid the bills, but it had also brought Simon to her, and she had never been more grateful for deciding to go on those pole dance classes years ago.

"I have to wear high necks to school again," she said afterward in his arms, all snug and prepared to glide back to sleep.

"Serves you right."

He was hard again while she was feeling sore and puffy and content — and slathered, with both of their juices, which he used to lazily guide himself through her folds.

"Ready for another round if you are," he offered.

That would be his third one already… The ungodly amount of stamina on this man was frightening.

"I- I don't think I can."

It was mostly an acknowledgment of his size, and they both knew it. Simon just tightened his hold on her, appearing quite pleased with this outcome. Won another round, the gloating, lovable bastard.

"Alright, dove. Let's get you some sleep."

***

The next morning, when she was making him an omelette he suddenly began to speak.

"I usually fuck everything up when shit hits the fan, no matter the cost."

She turned off the stove and moved the pan away to stop the hissing sound threatening to drown his voice.

"This time, I just wanted to get back."

It was a confession of another kind… A compliment. Might even be the highest compliment she had ever received from this man. Simon wanted to stay alive and return to her rather than avenge his fallen ones.

Still, there was bound to be recoil, some survivor's guilt — or a bitter self-reflection moment of a superior.

"Are you blaming yourself?"

"I don't know. No, that's not what I meant."

"I realized…" His brows drew together in an attempt to search for the right words. "I realized there that… You might be the only person I can trust."

She was moved, ripe for walking to him right then and there and relieve that tension in his shoulders. Freaking finally give him that massage he had yearned for since autumn. There was something profoundly wrong with her that she hadn't done it yet.

He always attended to her. It was supposed to be a display of authority, but she knew that the best leaders didn't lead with fear; they served. It was high time someone served him.

"It's not a good sign," he muttered.

"I would see it as a great sign," she said with a shy smile, but it died on her lips as she saw how he only appeared to fall deeper into misery.

"Right? Simon?"

"I thought I already dealt with this shit 10 years ago."

That sentence sent ice down her back. Her skin broke into goosebumps, they seemed to travel all the way up to her head. Her palms were already sweating by the time he spoke again.

"You see, everyone I trust either dies or…" Simon was staring inwards into some distant memory she knew nothing about. She went to sit on the small piece of furniture that could almost be called a dinner table. Not necessarily because she wanted to get closer to him, but because her stomach was churning and she feared she might faint in her little kitchen.

"Everyone I love, dies."

She forced a hand reach out to grab his as she tried to call him back to the present moment and back to her.

"That can't be true. I mean, that can't be set in stone kinda true."

"Who knows."

The walls were suddenly so high that she couldn't get to him even when they were holding hands like this.

But this was the most precious thing in her life. She would fight for it if she must.

"I'm willing to take that risk," she said without fear.

"I admire your courage."

He didn't say he was willing to take that risk too. She hadn't quite prepared for that, nor for what came after.

"I can't do my job if I'm…"

"If you love someone?" She offered when he wouldn't continue.

She fucking hated his job at this point. She hated his dead father, and she hated the Manchester slums, she hated everyone who had hurt him and betrayed his trust. But it was like peeling an onion when it came to Simon: there was always a new layer underneath the one that was shed away. Who knew what was hidden at the core, or if she would ever even reach it?

"Well, what about… your mom?"

"Dead."

"You have siblings?"

"Dead."

Holy shit. Things were even worse than she had thought.

"What about friends? Like, off work?"

"Not anymore."

Terror began to swell and roll inside her like a tidal wave. A menacing calm before the storm, an eerie silence a split second before the explosion.

"You have nobody?"

He stared off into space, telling her with that look alone that he had no one. He released her hands, or rather, forced her to release him. Then he dropped the atom bomb.

"I didn't mean for things to go this far."

All her fears, long since lulled to sleep, crawled through the earth to suffocate her.

It was true after all: she had been just a bit of fun, a one-night stand that had turned into a plaything. A plaything who had latched itself onto a man who didn't want extra baggage.

"What a nice thing to hear." Her voice was metal, and Simon wouldn't say anything, proving her worst nightmares true.

He had had enough of her and now wanted to end things. The beautiful dusk had rolled into a knifelike dawn, and it was time to finish the show.

"Then why are you still here?" She finally dared to look up at him, and he looked confused, like he didn't know the answer to that question.

Things spun out of control so fast that she felt faint in the head. It was hard to think rationally when all their shared memories were suddenly covered in a wicked haze of shallow fucking, noncommitment, and her being an absolute fool for having believed that Simon would want her for the rest of his life.

"I get it that you're a super secret soldier spy, that you have to sneak around and give me a heart attack every other week. I get that we can't be together as much as I would like. But if you don't even want this, then what the hell are you doing here?"

His eyes were wide, his throat worked an arduous swallow. He looked more hurt than ever, more in pain than he had been last night due to the death of his teammates.

But to her, it was the look of a poker player who had got caught red-handed in cheating.

How dare he joke about marriage and elaborate on how sweet she was during the night, only to set everything on fire the next morning?

She was just a sweet little stray cat he liked to pet and pamper and fuck when he had the time, a nice little vacation from work filled with excitement. Everything needed to be exciting to him, he needed a dose of adrenaline and knife play and showering bullets to make him hard so he could fly back to grey London to get a go with his pole dancing little school girl.

Putting up shelves, seeing pictures of her spending Christmas with the family, tea and omelette in the morning were too mundane, too boring. She had been another kind of adrenaline shot.. But now she was only a dry syringe with the words I love you spoken in the air.

She got up and took a few steps back, tried to cut off a love that she already knew wouldn’t die, would never, ever die.

"This is so fucked up. If I'm just some momentary lapse in your life, then…" she shook her head at a loss for words. He had been silent for the whole outburst, but at her last suggestion, he cut in.

"No. Never. You're–"

She was so riled that she couldn't even hear his words. "You know what? Go do your job then. I'm sick and tired of waiting for you to come home to me, only to hear something like that. God…"

He snapped his mouth shut after she cut him off and simply raged on, all the longing and confusion of whole months streaming out of her mouth with an annoying high-pitched account. If she hated her voice right now, she could only imagine how it must sound to him. Her irritating hysteria only worsened the situation, especially when Simon remained so fucking calm.

"This is just…" She laughed through tears she didn't want him to see. With sheer willpower, she fought those tears back to the abyss. He would probably just get off on seeing her cry.

After all, she was the sweetest girl there was. Too sweet for her own good. The most gullible, naive piece of shit.

"I don't know how this is gonna work."

He stared at her with chest heaving, then his breath settled into a calm, ordered roll, his expression turned to stone. The rage was directed inwards before it could lash out at her. The man called Simon turned into Ghost, a professional killing machine, so quickly amidst a raging storm that she could hear the eye of it reach them, the whole world around her go silent. Or perhaps she was momentarily deafened by that cold-hearted stare that turned away from her with a final, lingering tinge of sadness. Even that was gone by the time he rose from the table and walked to the hallway.

Her heart was struck with a blade; she bled dry before she could even take a step to follow him. She saw him put his shoes on, then reach for his jacket, which he flung on with heavy shoulders and a broad back turned to her like a shield.

Simon was resigning.

He was fucking leaving.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. He reached for his pocket and drew out a cigarette and a lighter, the flash of cold steel stinging her eyes although there was little sunlight because the day was grey. The Zippo was something she had found for him from a thrift store, and it had the tusked Snaggletooth logo of Motörhead on it. It felt like the perfect gift after noticing Simon had played the band's music from some old, burned cd when he had taken her on that shooting trip. He had ruffled her hair when receiving it, evidently pleased. "Knew you were a keeper," he had said when she told him she loved Motörhead too.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, the cigarette was sent between his lips, and he wouldn't look back, only marched to the door with heavy steps.

The fear wouldn't die even when she tried to tell herself that he was only going for a smoke to calm his nerves from her sudden fit. They would talk things through when he got back.

Which was why she never said anything, didn't follow him.

The door slammed shut, and she swallowed and turned to get a sip of her coffee. Her hands were shaking, the coffee was cold, and she realized she had just basically told him to get out. That cold-blooded stare still haunted her, and she wanted to go check if Simon was truly there, smoking on those steps and being a wall, her wall, against the cold, uncaring world.

She played the conversation over and over in her head, what was spoken, and the frost of horror turned her senses sharp, her ears started to ring from the silence. Simon had told her he trusted her and she had just freaked out — hadn't even let him finish what he had tried to say.

She wanted, needed to tell him right this second that she was sorry for being such a lunatic. She turned for the door, then walked back, forced herself to remain calm.

He needed space, and she didn't want to upset him more than she already had. He was older than her, used to nuclear seasons and warheads and blunt trauma, he was sharp as a whip. He wouldn't get rattled so easily. He would come back, smelling of fresh smoke, he would tell her what to do. That they would make it work no matter what. Flesh out a plan.

Because that’s all she wanted to hear. That he was serious and wanted this to work as much as she did. That it was just some miscommunication.

But her instinct told her that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

Minutes passed, and she finally went to open the door, and there was no one there. The streets were silent, the grey clouds even darker still, hanging over her like doom. She was feeling nauseous, a shudder went through her whole body, then her teeth started to rattle.

She closed the door and turned and tried to take a step, but her knees gave in and she slumped somewhere on the floor of her hallway filled with shoes and dirt and emptiness.

#simon riley x oc#ghost x oc#ghost smut#simon riley smut#simon ghost riley x oc#mw2 smut#ghost fanfiction#simon riley fanfic#cod fanfic#simon ghost riley#simon ghost riley x female oc#simon riley x female reader#ghost x female reader

[salsakiyoomi]

bakugo isn't a good kisser.

he isn't a bad one either, but he will forever remember how sloppy his first kiss was.

it was like one of those kisses where two kids decide that they're gonna get married when they get older and give eachother flower rings as a declaration of so, and then they press their lips against each other's to seal the promise — it's a sloppy, childish and innocent kiss, one that they would probably forget a few years later, and so the promise of marriage as well.

his first ever kiss was with you — he had reached and agreement between him and himself that, yeah he probably really really liked you and moved out of the denial stage, he didn't say a word about it though, but little did he know that you had noticed how his gaze lingered on you for too long or how his ears turned pink whenever you would tease him — little did bakugo also know was that his feelings were reciprocated.

and so on the eventful evening of his birthday, after everyone tuned out when the party had ended, it must've been sometime around twelve or one am that the two of you were all alone in the kitchen.

"happy birthday, hedgehog." you had teased him, bumping your hips against his, you watched him scoff and roll his eyes but you didn't fail to notice the pink tint on the tips of his ears, "i told you not to call me that." he had said then, crossing his arms over his chest in hopes to tune down the beating of his heart.

"but you're so fun and easy to tease, katsuki." you'd laughed, grinning at him as he turned his face away from you — you took the few steps closer to him so now that your body was almost pressed against his and your hands cupped his cheeks and faced him towards you, "come on now, katsuki, look at me." you'd said softly, still grinning at him as his face warmed beneath your touch.

fuck, well he was looking at you now and his eyes met yours and holy shit he could swear his heart is about to leap out of his chest with you staring at him like that, like you're about to —

your lips pressed against his.

it caught him so off guard that his entire body tensed up, unable to comprehend that you were kissing him right now so much so that his mind felt a little dazed from your touch but he soon relaxed into it.

at the time, it was the best kiss bakugo had ever had — probably because it was the only experience at kissing he had but looking upon it now, he remembers how hasty it was and how his teeth clashed against yours, he also remembered that he didn't wash his teeth after eating that spicy chicken sandwich and he wondered if you could taste it on him, because he could taste the flavour of your favourite cherry lip balm on your lips — he felt the way your lips moved against his into a smile before you pulled away, looking up at him with a flushed face and a sheepish grin, though he couldn't day he looked all that much better himself.

"i'm gonna assume you liked that." you'd said and bakugo didn't miss the hint of uncertainty that laced your voice.

"fuck you."  he'd exclaimed, before pulling you back into another kiss — one that was probably even sloppier than before since you'd laughed and shrieked into it before your lips finally pressed firmly against his, and your arms wrapped around his neck while his hands gripped your waist.

so, bakugo might have been a bit of a bad kisser then, but he sure as hell is a better one now.

or at least, he'd say so about himself judging from the way he leaves you breathless everytime he decides to press his lips against yours.

whatever the case may be, he doesn't mind how sloppy or neat the kiss is, or how wet or heated it may get — as long as it's with you, that is.

and if you were to say he's a bad kisser, well he wouldn't mind practicing with you.

[teddybearspankingoffurski]

*'Okay Paul, you got this. One month and a bit of dating behind you and calling him your boyfriend, he'll say yes. Of course he will! It's Ted, what was he gonna do? Break up with you? No.'

Paul fixed his hair awkwardly in the mirror, feeling horribly sweaty and nervous as the ring box sat heavy in his coat pocket. He would do it up front, no putting it in the food bullshit, what a great way to swallow a ring. He sighed as he checked the time again, 20 minutes until he'd said he'd pick Ted up, 15 minutes till the reservation just in case they ran into traffic. Perfect.

He'd rehearsed the words a million times over and double checked everything, but just to be sure, he did it one more time.*

Ted, no, Theodore. I have something really important to tell you. We've been going out for a while now, been friends even longer and-

*The bathroom door creaked open, a very unimpressed Richie standing behind it.*

R: You've been in there for 47 and a half minutes, I need to take a dump, or should I leave you to overthink some more?

*His tone was standard, a sarcastic teenager. Paul sighed, quickly squeezing past him and giving him the bathroom to himself. As he started to clean the kitchen in panic and nerves, he silently wondered how Ted was prepping for their date night.*

@paul-j-matthews

[This is it. This has to be it, he can't put it off anymore. Paul would never be happy with Ted, he knew that much for a fact from the start. He knew this could never last, but then Paul started avoiding him at work. He'd been dry as hell over text, always seemed busy. Ted knew he must've fucked up somehow, and he couldn't let things go on any longer. He needed to leave Paul before Paul left him.

Still...if this was the last date they'd go on, then he may as well dress nice for it. Make it as good of a memory as it could be, before he goes on ruins the evening. Really, Paul would probably be relieved to have that weight off his back. Ted was doing him a favor. This is how things should be. Ted was meant to be alone forever. That's just how things should be.

So he tugged on a nicer shirt, some deep brown slacks, generally just making sure he looked nice for his lover. Besides, maybe to cope later on he'd find someone to talk to, hook up with maybe. Either that or he'd drink himself to sleep. He almost preferred the latter.

Ted drove to Paul's house, the pit of anxiety growing in his stomach. He'd always hated confrontation, but he just knew he wouldn't be able to handle being left, especially not by Paul.

He knocked on the door, waiting patiently for an answer.]

[tomurasghoul]

● Shigaraki x Reader fluff (G/N reader)

Sorry if there's any typos (not proofread)

Summary: Shigaraki feels overwhelmed, reader comforts him and they fall in love.

Includes: swearing (mild), angst (also mild), fluff, bit ooc

WC: 994

You were sitting at the bar, talking to Kurogiri and having a drink. Dabi and Mr. Compress were both sitting on the couch behind you, drunk and being rather loud. Shigaraki was situated next to you, scratching himself mercilessly.

You tried not to pay attention to him, maybe he was plotting the League of Villains' next scheme, which, as the leader, he often did. Although he usually doesn't get this worked up....

After a few more minutes of this, Shigaraki stormed out. 'Ugh! You people are insufferable!' Dabi and Compress didn't bat an eye at the blue-haired man's sudden outburst, but you were worried about him.

You turned to follow him, but Kurogiri was quick to stop you. 'Tomura Shigaraki likes to be left alone when upset. I am speaking from experience.' You knew Kurogiri was probably right, but you felt terrible seeing Shigaraki like this. You decided to ignore Kurogiri's warning and followed him outside.

When you stepped outside, the cold winter air swallowed you, so you reached behind the door for the nearest coat. It happened to be Compress', so it was huge on you, but no matter.

As you approached the darkness of the alleyway, you could hear Shigaraki quietly scratching and muttering to himself. 'Why can't I get a minute of peace and quiet in this place? Don't those shitheads realize how much stress I'm under?' You were unsure if you should really approach him, but you were curious to know what was going on, so you proceeded towards the alleyway.

'Go away, Compress! I'll fucking kill you if you don't leave me alone right now.'

Oh, yeah... You were wearing Compress' coat, so you must've looked like him in the darkness of the alleyway.

You walked closer to him. 'It's just me, don't worry.' You stood in front of him.

'Y-you go away too.' He stuttered, shivering from the cold.

You sat down beside him.

'I told you to leave. Are you forgetting that I'm your boss? Or that It only takes one touch for me to disintegrate you?' He tried to threaten you.

'Are you okay?' You ignored his threats. 'You seemed really upset just now.'

He turned away from you, not answering your question. You sat there for about 10 minutes, both not saying anything. After a while, you stood up. 'If you're not gonna tell me what's wrong, I might aswell leave.

And yet... you couldn't leave him out there alone.

Shigaraki stood up aswell and hugged you tightly, mindful not to touch you with all five of his fingers.

You heard him sniffle softly.

'It's okay, I'm here.' you assured him while you wrapped your arms around him.

'Please don't tell the others about this.' He pleaded. 'I usually never cry, but-'

'Shh', you shushed him. 'I won't tell anyone. I promise.'

Normally, Shigaraki would've never let someone shush him like that, but since you were being so kind to him, he let it slide. Just this once.

He buried his face in the crook of your neck, still crying and shivering from the cold.

You ran your fingers through his hair.

'What do you say we go back inside and I make you a hot-chocolate? I can tell you're cold, and you might get sick if you stay out here.'

'Just wait a few minutes... I'm a mess right now.'

He wiped his tears with his sleeve and sat back down. He patted the floor next to him, signaling for you to sit there.

You obliged.

'You know, I have been wanting to tell you something for a while now, but I'm not sure if I can.'

You caressed his hand softly. 'You can tell me anything.'

He pulled his hand away.

'Don't do that. You could die.' He looked genuinely worried.

'Is the big boss getting soft on me now?' You teased, trying to lift the tension.

He wasn't having it.

'Alright, I'm sorry. I thought it could help lighten the mood.' 'Now what was it you were going to tell me?'

'Just forget I said anything.'

You were really curious to know what it was. You were certainly hoping to hear that one particular sentence, but maybe you were delusional for even thinking about it.

'Come on, spill.' You pried.

'I said forget it.'

'Is there a reason why you're scared to tell me?' You thought maybe you had done something to make him hesitant.

'I'm just afraid of how you'll react.'

'You know what? I have something to confess aswell. How about I go first?' You were really nervous. Was he gonna take it well?

'Whatever.' He said.

'So.. I've actually felt this way for a while now, and I just wanna tell you that- that I'm in love with you.'

Silence.

Shigaraki looked surprised at your confession. He didn't say anything, though. Did you just get rejected?

You sat there for what felt like hours, anticipating his response. that's when his expression changed from surprised to almost angry.

'Is this some sort of joke? Cause if it is, I don't find it funny.'

'I'm being serious. I'm crazy about you...'

Was that too cheesy? That was how you really felt, though.

It was as if he was making you wait for his response on purpose. It was dead silent between you two, the only sounds being bypassing traffic and the cold wind that blew.

Shigaraki scooted closer to you, as if you weren't close enough already.

'I guess... you're not so bad either.'

You chuckled. 'I'll take it.'

The happiness you felt was indescribable. You couldn't believe he felt the same way about you.

'I'm quite cold.' He said. 'Can we hug again... maybe?' He sounded a bit embarassed.

You removed one of your arms from Compress' coat and signaled Shigaraki to put his arm in. He happily did so.

He then put his head on your shoulder.

'This is nice.' He said while he 'discreetly' wiped away a tear.

(REQUESTS ARE OPEN)

[aemond-one-eyed]

I Can Fix Him (No Really, I Can)

(Closed starter for @rhaenaspearls)

The first morning waking up in his old chambers made Aemond feel uncomfortable and strange to say the least the circumstances as to why he was back in the Red Keep only made it stranger. It was no secret that Viserys would be dead soon, the latest report he'd heard insinuated the King was functioning no better than an infant by now. His older sister would soon be the Realm's first Queen, and he and his siblings would no doubt be shunted back to Dragonstone shortly thereafter. He hoped he would ultimately be successful in his attempts to convince Rhaenyra to appoint him to her small Council, potentially as Master of Wars if she did as everyone said she would and elevated Daemon to be her new Hand.

If he was being honest, though, he would accept any position she was willing to offer him; Anything to get him off their gods' forsaken family island. To say Aemond was bored there would be a monumental understatement, he spent most of his time reading whatever he could get his hands on, or flying around on Vhagar, but fuck he wanted something to do. He couldn't even participate in tourneys like most second son's did to occupy their time since he'd never been able to stay on a horse after the accident that cost him his eye. He had heard people around Court refer to him as "The Spare's Spare" and as much as it infuriated him, he couldn't mount an argument against it's validity to his own feelings.

He reached over to his side table and grabbed one of his vials of milk of the poppy, downing it before he got on with his day. He knew he should probably be trying to be less dependent on the drug, but he would buckets of it if he was going to get through the upcoming weeks. He finally managed to get himself out of bed and dressed, pulling his eyepatch on last, before leaving to go scrounge around the kitchens for some food. As he was walking down the hall, about to descend the main stairs, he tripped and fell over something. One of the servants must've left left supplies at the base of the stairs in their hurry to prepare for so many guests.

"Who the fuck left something out in the fucking hall?!" He yelled. Then, the supply crate started to cry. Shit...definitely wasn't a supply crate then. He pushed himself up and looked down towards his feet to find one of his sister's many spawn in a sad heap on the floor. Before he got the chance to say anything, though, Rhaena was whirling down the hall towards him, anger written all over her face. She picked the child up, who was apparently named Aemma, and consoled her in her arms for a moment before demanding why he would kick a child.

Aemond only stared at her, astonished, and blinked his one eye a few times, "I'm sorry, you think I kicked the kid?! It's not my fault she was running around unsupervised, if you didn't notice I have one fucking eye! I couldn't see the little one, maybe you shouldn't ne letting her run off so much, we could've both tumbled down all those stairs just from you being a bad nanny." He sneered, then grabbed another vial from his pocket and sucked down a few drops as his foul mood grew even worse.

[bubble-popping]

day 38 and i'm still not feeling great (lol) so continuing stuff from the drunz au of the last two days

They left early in the morning, just before the sun broke over the horizon. Dream said nothing beyond, "We're heading north." So they did. As they walked through a dense dark oak forest, Punz realized they probably should've asked how long this job would be for. A long-term investment without negotiating any terms was extremely risky, and yet, they dived in headfirst. Admittedly, they'd been naïve, and rather impulsive.

Dream donned his usual attire again, the long cloak and white mask, but what lay underneath remained a vivid memory in Punz's mind. How he lay underneath them. Disassembled with such precision, picked apart until everything laid bare. Flushed cheeks, heavy breaths, a perfectly arched spine. His noises had been so erotic, so encouraging.

Punz's analytical mind ran wild.

He'd tried to hide at first, pretend it didn't affect him as much as it really did, and Punz was fooled--at first. They'd even briefly wondered if they'd gotten rusty after going so long without bedding another person.

But then, as they reached the glistening slit between his legs, Punz knew it must've all been a front. He crumbled immediately, tense and twitching all over, hands tugging at their hair and pleas tumbling from his lips like prayers. And oh the way those plush thighs squeezed his head-

"Stop." Dream's arm shot out in front of them as he halted, going completely still and silent--just like the woods around them, which was why Punz knitted their brows in confusion. Dream couldn't possibly have better hearing than them; they were a wolf hybrid mercenary for god's sake. The spiteful part of them wanted to push his arm away and explain how they were the bodyguard here, not him.

"You hear something?" They quietly asked, nonetheless.

"No. Something just feels... off," Dream muttered, turning his head to look around.

Silence followed his words, suffocating, deafening.

Punz just barely made out the familiar sound of a crossbow firing in time to pull Dream out of the way. The arrow whizzed by, inches from Dream's head, lodging into a tree in front of them. Something murky green and rancid-smelling dripped down the bark. A poison-tipped arrow.

Dream whipped to the direction the arrow came in and abruptly took off.

"Wait! Dream!" Punz called after him, helpless to do anything but follow as best they could, which turned out to be quite the challenge. Dream was fast. Inhumanly so. Like he'd trained his whole life for speed and endurance.

Another figure soon came into view, wielding a crossbow and running for her life. It was hardly a chase with how quickly Dream caught up to the unknown assailant, but Punz was shaken from that thought when something solid and heavy crashed into their side, effectively bringing them to the ground. There, they wrestled with their attacker, fighting for control over the dagger he produced. Eventually they managed to knock it away, taking out one of their own and scoring a clean stab at the man's stomach. They drove it in deep, twisting it just to see his face scrunch in pain, before ripping it out. With a swift slash to his throat, the man choked on his own blood until he went limp, and Punz finally was able to get up.

They knew death intimately, danced with it on more nights than not, but what happened after was entirely foreign to them.

Their attacker dissolved. Flesh and bone became a thick puddle, varying shades of red surrounded by clothes.

What the fuck?

"That one too? Dammit." Dream's voice brought their attention away. His mask was pushed aside, a scowl etched deep in his face as he wiped blood from his lips.

"What the hell was that?"

"That is why you're here."

"Are you being hunted or something?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"But why? What'd you do? And why'd-no, how did that guy become liquid!?"

"It's none of your business why I'm on the run. The second part, though... The why is to prevent secrets from being spilled. As for how... beats me. Must be some special potion that only takes effect upon death." Dream seemed to be in thought for a moment before shaking his head in dismissal. "It doesn't matter. Let's keep going before the next ones catch up."

With that, he merely moved on, leaving Punz to blink incredulously at the slowly spreading mass and wonder exactly what had they gotten themself into.

[cirrostrata]

i wrote this while listening to harpy hare on loop at 3am

charger block finds something he's not supposed to ^_^

This couldn't be happening.

Nobody was supposed to see her logs. Absolutely no one. And yet there Charger Block stood, eyes wide, hunched over her desk. A bit reminiscent of a stray cat; both in terms of appearance and in how much of a pain in the ass they could be.

"How much did you see?" Michael said, her voice tense. Her hands were shaking. She told herself it was out of rage.

"Uh- Ummm, nothing! Nothing! I didn't see anything!" Charger Block blurted out the words without a second thought. The first excuse he could think of, probably. It was quite obvious.

"Don't lie to me. How much do you know?"

"I didn't read that much, I promise! It was just, uh- that- that Noah guy! And uh…" Charger Block trailed off, seemingly realizing right as he started his sentence that he shouldn't be confessing to what he saw.

"And what?" Michael asked, gritting their teeth. They must've looked absolutely furious. Anger did always come easy to them; they could use it to their advantage right now.

"Your, uh… your last patient. The one with the blacked out name…" Charger Block's voice was much quieter now. He seemed quite intent on staring at the floor.

"Dammit. Of course you see the one thing you weren't supposed to find out about. Noah probably would've come around to fuck with me eventually, but them?" Michael chuckled humorlessly. "Just my fucking luck. Of course."

Charger Block was finally able to pull his gaze away from the ground. He looked up at Michael defiantly.

"Why did you not want me to find out?"

"That's not for you to know," Michael retorted, crossing her arms.

"Well, maybe it is! They were your patient before, I'm your patient now! That's gotta count for something, right?" Charger Block stepped closer to Michael as he spoke, anger evident in his motion.

"I'm not telling you and that's final. Forget everything you saw." Michael hoped their naturally taller stature would intimidate Charger Block along with their words. All they wanted was for him to stop being such a nuisance, asking all these questions. They really didn't want to deal with this right now.

"I don't think I will, actually. If you didn't want me to find out about them so bad, maybe it's because you did something to them." Charger Block was right in front of Michael now, glaring daggers at him.

Michael was completely off guard. The absolute shock of the accusation stunned her into silence.

"A-ha! I'm onto something, aren't I!" Charger Block had a wild grin son his face now. It made Michael feel sick. Everything about this made him sick.

"You… You aren't supposed to know. That's it." Michael's protests were much weaker now. She couldn't meet Charger Block's gaze.

"Just tell me! What happened to them? Did you do something or not!?"

Michael could not cry in front of Charger Block.

"No! No, I-… God no. Lumynex… terminated them."

He probably looked pathetic now, hiding his face in his hands, but he barely cared at this point. She couldn't let him see her cry.

"Whuh- terminated? What does that even mean?"

They didn't want to have to be the one to explain this. And yet she had to. It's never easy, is it.

"They're… gone. They don't exist anymore." Michael's words were muffled by her hand covering her mouth. She was gripping the desk like her life depended on it.

"What?! Like, they aren't even in the S*n?!"

"Yes." Michael snapped. He tried to make himself sound frustrated, but it just came out sounding pathetic. Like he was a petulant child throwing a tantrum. He probably looked like one too.

"Oh…"

A heavy silence hung in the air before Charger Block began to speak again.

"Why… were they terminated?" Charger Block asked hesitantly. Michael couldn't look at his face, staring up at him. He was just a child. He didn't need to know about any of this.

"I don't want to talk about it." The anger in their voice was already gone. They sounded so tired. They felt so tired. Michael shifted from leaning on the desk to sitting against it.

"Oh… Okay. Yeah. That's fair." Charger Block glanced away awkwardly for a moment, clearly not knowing what to say, but abruptly his expression changed; a telltale sign he'd had an idea.

"Wait! You like primroses, right?"

"What? How do you know that?" Michael was once again caught off guard (that always seems to happen with Charger Block), but this time it wasn't as viscerally unpleasant.

"That's all I needed to hear. Menu! Gimme a bouquet of primroses." Charger Block closed his eyes as he spoke, and within seconds the bouquet materialized in his hands. He looked quite pleased with himself.

"No, seriously. How did you know that?" Michael was still in disbelief.

"Sean told me!"

Oh, of course it was Sean. She always remembers little things like that. Though if Michael recalled correctly, they actually had a shared fondness for the flowers. It'd been so long though… Michael can barely recollect what he likes himself at this point, let alone what others like.

Michael was snapped out of their reverie by Charger Block shoving the bouquet into their hands. The flowers were varying shades of pale blue, purple, pink, and white. The sound of the plastic wrap crinkling as they adjusted their grip was oddly comforting. Was it comforting if it made them want to cry? Why did everything make her want to cry now? Why was she so pathetic?

"…Uhm. Tell Sean I say thanks. Or something. I don't know." Michael was talking without thinking now, something she hated doing. But she needed to say something so she wouldn't start sobbing.

"I was the one who gave you the flowers though??" Charger Block had a confused look on his face, smiling like he was about to laugh. Michael must look so stupid right now, of course Charger Block would want to laugh at him.

"Okay fine. Thank you to both of you. Whatever." Michael instinctively hid his face behind the bouquet, realizing too late after they'd made the motion that he had just signified he was happy with the gift. Dammit. There's no winning with Charger Block, is there?

"You're very welcome!" Charger Block had a stupid grin that took up nearly his entire face. He looked way too happy for someone who accidentally accused Michael of the afterlife's equivalent of murder just a few moments ago.

"Why are you doing this?" Michael asked. Normally that's something she wouldn't say out loud because she knew it would get her nothing but concerned looks and "are you okay"s if she asked why someone showed kindness to her. But she was losing grip on her restraint, and she didn't much care for the consequences of what she said right now.

"What do you mean?"

Oh right, Charger Block is an idiot. He really should've remembered that.

"Why are you trying to make me feel better? I am, quite frankly, awful to you. And it's not like you can help me with my problems anyway."

"I mean, I wasn't trying to like… fix everything or anything like that. I just wanted to, uhhh, distract you for a second so you weren't so sad. And it worked, right?" That last sentence was accompanied by another shit-eating grin. He was definitely doing that on purpose.

Michael sighed. "I guess… I appreciate the effort, at least." He would rather quit his job than admit that the gesture was genuinely one of the kindest things someone's done for him in recent memory. The fact his own patient had to comfort him was just the consequences of never talking to anyone anymore, he supposed.

"Great!" Oh, no, Charger Block was way too proud of himself when he said that. He could see right through Michael's facade, couldn't he? Of course. She'd been having a much harder time of keeping her feelings in check as of late. Probably because of everything new going on now. She did always struggle to adapt to changes.

She couldn't give up the act now, though. Better to feign ignorance than admit defeat.

"What good do you think distracting me will do in the long run? We're here for eternity, remember? That's a pretty long time, in case you weren't aware." They just needed to push him away again. That was easy enough, right?

"Oh, I don't really think about that. It's more important how you feel right now, right?" Charger Block replied.

"What do you mean you don't think about what's going to happen?" Charger Block's way of thinking was absolutely inconceivable to Michael. How could he not care about the most important part of existence? The future was the only thing Michael hadn't ruined yet. It was the only thing worth caring about now.

"'Cause you're just gonna get worried if that's all you think about! And then you'll be sad! And then you won't do anything! And then not doing anything is gonna make you even sadder! So, uh. Yeah. I just kinda… Go with the flow, I guess." Charger Block made vague gestures to accompany each sentence as if that helped explain his point better, although it looked more like he was flailing around like an idiot to Michael. It was absolutely not the slightest bit endearing.

Michael hummed noncommittally in acknowledgement. Despite his simple diction, she had to admit that Charger Block was surprisingly insightful. Maybe it was just her compromised psyche making her consider things she normally wouldn't, but it sounded a lot like Charger Block had described the exact cycle she'd been stuck in for the past decade or so. Was breaking out of it really as simple as "not thinking?" How do you even do that on purpose?

"Uhh, Michael?"

Charger Block's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"Sorry for uh, assuming that what happened to your last patient was your fault. I might've just realized that not thinking ahead was a bad thing there." He tried to keep his tone light, but the look on his face couldn't hide the guilt he must be feeling. Not that Michael cared.

"Yeah, that was pretty stupid of you. And I think that's saying something, considering you've done a lot of stupid things." A smile crept its way onto Michael's face as they spoke.

Charger Block laughed at that, to Michael's relief. It's just because he was always being the same ignorant kid he always was, not because Michael was worried about what he thought of them or anything. They didn't care in the slightest about Charger Block hating them, in fact. That thought definitely didn't make him feel as if he was spiraling into an endless abyss at all.

"So, uh, are we cool now?" Charger Block asked.

"Sure," replied Michael. This was just for convenience. She didn't need her patient getting involved in her personal matters. The fond look on her face meant nothing.

"Cool! So, uh, you… probably want me to leave now, right? I mean I did sneak in here and go through your stuff without your permission." Charger Block looked away, fidgeting with his hands.

"Actually… I… wouldn't mind… if you stayed a bit longer. I remembered some logs I have that you might actually enjoy reading." Not getting involved at all. He was keeping an appropriate emotional distance from Charger Block. This was purely professional; just a way to prevent Charger Block from going through his logs again in the future.

"Wha- So I could've just asked?!" Charger Block looked absolutely astonished.

"Yeah. Not thinking ahead again, I see," Michael replied. The smile on their face grew.

Charger Block laughed again, and- okay, Michael couldn't pretend she didn't care anymore. She was, quite frankly, desperate for the opportunity to connect with Charger Block. He'd reminded her of her old patient in a few ways, and she tried to distance herself from him out of fear that he would meet the same fate they did. But right now, she didn't care. Maybe things would work out; or maybe not, she didn't know. All she wanted to focus on right now was this moment.

Michael gestured for Charger Block to sit next to him, and he walked over accordingly.

"Alright, let's start with this one… Now, the logs are supposed to be for collecting data on your patient so you understand their behaviors, but it gets boring just writing down what you see; especially if there's nothing happening with your patient at the moment. So, I like to use my logs to practice my writing sometimes."

Charger Block was unusually quiet, as if he were intently listening to what Michael had to say. She'd almost forgotten the joy of explaining something she enjoyed to someone who would want to listen to her.

"This one was actually inspired a bit by my last patient…"

[amoransia]

Leviathan: "Oooooooooh"

Beelzebub and Asmodeus: (This could've been an email.)

!!!Chapter 65 spoilers below!!!

Good fucking food and good chapter as per usual. Thank you for showing me my snake wife (Satan) again. Loved every page, and I hope Fukayama-sensei is taking his time recuperating from his surgery and doesn't push himself too much.

I say this because those pages were out of this world. I love the spookiness factor they're finally adding. A lot of exorcist manga just focus on the action and completely forget they're dealing with demons (and other creatures of similar nature) so I'm glad Aruma added that in. Belphegor's pathetic poltergeists(?) are really funny, too lol.

Babacat confirmed!! Troperrific called it! I had my money on Cattan instead, lol. Regardless, this basically means she's been spying on Priest since the very beginning, so there's a high chance she'll try to talk-no-jutsu him into corruption(?) using what she knows about him. What Vergilius couldn't convince him to do, she'll probably (almost) succeed? If that's her goal, anyway...

Surprise! Chicken legs, as per her folklore of having a chicken leg-powered house. Nice to see that Aruma-sensei has some basic knowledge on her. As usual, they do look into things. Which makes me happy. I thought the chicken was kinda cute until her disemboweled headless corpse waddled in. Jesus.

Apparently, disembowelment and beheading are the punishments given to schismatics in the Ninth Bolgia in Dante's Inferno. Yeowch. Perhaps this is her punishment because she wanted to help wrongly convicted souls while not inherently being a non-believer and merely disagreeing? I don't know.

I'd also like to mention that Mikhail is probably going to gain a more prominent role when it comes to Baba Yaga. He was the first to recognize it was Baba Yaga, and I think this is because he's more familiar with Slavic folklore than the rest of the cast. After all, Mikhail is a name of Russian origin, so he's probably from around there. He probably got told stories of her as a child.

(I used to affectionately dub Mikhail "Florida man" because of his crazy antics, but he also does fit those crazy Slav dudes that post videos of themselves randomly bringing down abandoned buildings with only bricks. Anyway.)

Really hilarious that Priest can somehow tolerate the horror fuckery that happened this chapter but can't handle horror MOVIES or Japanese spirits. My MC is truly built different and I love him dearly. Someone get him a good therapist and multiple trips to a bunny café.

Just look at him go!!

Imuri's face didn't show up even once in this chapter, by the way! Probably means nothing, but it'd be curious if her reactions were obscured because she was familiar with Granny somehow. Imuri's lived quite a long while, too, after all. Wouldn't be weird if she knew some people here and there.

(Might I add that we've yet to see the mysterious Cass friend she texts... He said he hesitantly submitted a request to see her to the Church, but it's been a while since that...)

This line alone is either a red flag or a green flag, but I'm hopeful it's actually a green flag, since it goes against Satan's wishes. Maybe Baba Yaga will actually sympathize with Priest, since she's been watching over him... dunno!

Additionally, this is also something I mentioned on my Twitter, but to me, it appears that she's being set up as another parallel character to Priest:

Both are the strongest of their team

Got called "it" and "thing" by their respective benefactors

Both want(ed) to help people

Witnessed or witnessing wrongful accusations against the innocent

Priest even sympathized /explicitly/ with people who were wrongly tried for supposed witchcraft in chapter 64. Surely she must've heard him say that? I previously thought Vergilius would take on the role of the parallel, but I think Granny is a more deliberate one!

Welcome back Tachibana my beloved boss girl, in the most literal sense. She even has a big ass coat on. Is she single? We should ask Aruma-sensei. Please do a Q&A, I pinky promise to be civil.

Anyway, I'm convinced Mammon is coming back too, then, since she is extremely capable. Mammon's (first) arc was definitely rushed due to the looming danger of the axe, so I'm excited to see him being pathetic again. He's grown on me, for the wrong reasons. I think he's a big fan favorite amongst the JP sphere as well. He's the only Demon Lord that I feel truly values his human connections, so that's no surprise.

All in all, it was a perfect chapter, and I have nothing to say about the Japanese and/or translation of the chapter; I have but one single complaint:

Chapter 65

Chapter 36

THEY CLIPPED HIS FUCKING NAILS!!! NOOO!!!!!!!!!!! HIS EVIL SLY BITCH SWAG... it's GONE!!!!!!!!!! It has been STOLEN!!!!! Someone has to die for this FUUUUUUUCK

[skzhocomments]

THE WHITE LILY (Mafia Book #1 - Bang Chan) - Chapter 15 - I was never there

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

General masterlist

Chapter 14 | Chapter 16

Let me know if you'd like to be on the taglist for this story or on the general taglist!

---

Chapter 15 - I was never there

chapter word count: 2.8k words

~third person POV~

"Sky, can you hear me?!"

"I think Minho's mic works, guys!" Seungmin shouted to Jeongin and Han, turning his eyes to the big computer screen in the van and turning off his headphones, putting Minho on speaker.

"Minho?!" Han spoke.

"Connect me to Chan right now!" the boy shouted through the earpiece. "I did it! Fuck, but there's a BIG problem."

"We hear you, Lee Know."Chan spoke, signaling to Changbin and Momo to retreat to the cars outside.

"I killed him!"

"So he came to Tunnel A, after all, like Shade thought." Seungmin affirmed.

"There's a big problem here, fuck. Jeongin, prepare the medical kit immediately! I'm coming with Felix and Hyo!"

"Minho, calm down, what's wrong with them?"

"They've been shot! Shade... shot them both."

~

"What the fuck happened?!" Chan opened the van's door and helped Minho carry Hyo and Felix inside. "Hyo, you were there with Shade the whole time... fill us in."

"I... Channie... I'm so sorry. Shade... no, Emilia. She... betrayed us. I don't know what happened, I really thought we were friends!" Hyo looked like a mess, crying her eyes out and bleeding profoundly from her leg.

"What... do you mean to say, Hyo...?" Chan asked with hesitation.

"When we were alone, the earpieces suddenly stopped working, and... she pulled out the gun on me... Told me she hates my guts, hopes I die and that she'll make it look like an accident! But then... Lixie opened the door... he tried to stop her, so she opened fire!" she cried.

"No... it can't be..." Chan shook his head. "That's impossible... she would never..."

"She kicked my gun from my hand when I tried to shoot back and then she shot me in the leg! Fuck, this hurts like a bitch!"

"It's impossible..." Chan continued to deny.

"OPEN YOUR GODDAMN EYES!" Minho shouted. "You have proof right here!"

"And there's more-" Hyo continued, barely speaking through the tears. "She must've been hand in hand with them the whole time... her room... still looked the same..."

"I- no..." Chan couldn't believe his ears. "But Lee Know killed their boss, so how..."

"I saw it too..." Minho nodded. "There were pics of her on the walls..."

"I told you... the baby with the rose mark on his back... wasn't a coincidence..." Hyo kept insisting.

Despite her messed up appearance, she was burning with happiness that she planted that seed a few months ago. It all fell into place, as Chan seemed to doubt Shade more and more.

Minho also bit the bait, much to her surprise, which only made things better for her. She was glad that she had the brilliant thought to shoot her leg and make it look like Shade did it.

It was so satisfying, she barely held in her smile.

Minho pat Chan on the back. "She probably thought that I wouldn't be able to take him down on my own... I know you love her, but... Lixie might not make it, Chris! And Hyo is also badly hurt! Because of her!"

"So... where is she, then?" Chan continued asking Hyo, not knowing what to think. Was Hyo telling the truth? How could she not, when she herself was bleeding so much?

"I don't know, Chris!" She cried out. "She ran away!"

"Look, we have some cameras outside, don't we? Seungmin can check if she left the Manor." Minho kept his calm, even though he was burning with rage inside. He also noticed that Chan wasn't completely rational, and when it came to hierarchy in SKZ, he was the next in line. It was time to help and take charge.

"Mhm, I found her... she headed towards the garage and left with a car just a few minutes ago. I'm trying to make out the plate number."

"Chris, we must... we must not let her get away." Hyo said. "What she's done to me... to Felix..."

"We won't." Lee Know placed his hand on Hyo's shoulder, comforting her. "We will find her and bring her back..."

Jeongin tried his hardest to tend to Felix and remove the bullets from his chest so he can stop the bleeding, being unable to process what the others were saying. His Emi would never do that. He was sure of that. 

However, seeing Chan's gaze darken, his blood ran cold. He felt that his leader's feelings for Emilia were disappearing with every word Hyo said, and hearing how determined Lee Know was to find her, he imagined the worst.

Emi, stay away... he pleaded in his mind. It would be better that way.

~

Emilia took a car and started driving towards the side of the house where Jeongin, Jisung and Seungmin should've been stationed. However, no one was there when she arrived.

This can't be... Am I too late? she cried, hoping that the boys found Felix and took him back to the house.

It was only one way to find out, so she drove as best as she could, forcing herself to stay awake. The loss of blood was getting to her head, and the pain was almost unbearable, which forced her to take many stops on the long drive back to Stray Kids' house.

Tears were uncontrollably falling down her face, her vision blurry.

How did things get this fucked? She wondered, cursing herself for pushing down the uneasiness she felt about this night... that feeling of calm before the storm.

After almost three hours, she reached the house and stumbled inside.

She was able to hear voices in the kitchen, so she ran as fast as she could, in her wounded state, towards them.

Around the table, Chan, Hyo and Jeongin looked somberly.

"Emilia?!" Jeongin exclaimed and got up, coming to embrace the girl. He was quick to notice the blood coming from her abdomen, but before he could say or do anything, Chan got up and pushed him aside.

"Chan, how's Felix?!" the girl asked worriedly.

"Shade... bold of you to walk in here like this."

Shade? Why is he calling me Shade? Emilia quivered. He hasn't acted so cold ever since the baby incident...

"I don't know what you-"

"I'm barely holding myself together right now" Chan exhaled angrily. "... please, tell me... what the fuck did you do to Felix and Hyo?"

"I- I didn't do anything! Hyo, she's the one-"

"She's lying!" Hyo screamed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face once again. "After what you've done to us, you dare to come back here?! How could you shoot me and Felix?"

"What?! I didn't- Chan, you have to believe me. Look, she-" Emilia tried to defend herself, but her words seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Chan got angrier the more she spoke.

"Get out." He spat.

"Wh.. what?" she looked at him puzzled. He surely wasn't telling her what she was hearing... was he?

"You heard me. Get the fuck out of here and never come back."

"But- but Chris-" she tried touching his face, wanting to speak some sense into him, but he already seemed to have his mind set.

"Don't fucking touch me." He replied emotionlessly.

Seeing that she wouldn't back down angered him even more, so he took it out on her with a powerful slap on her face.

The hit didn't seem to register, however, as she tried coming next to him again, touching his face, her hands shaking.

"I said, DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" he pushed her as hard as he could, making her body hit the wall behind. She fell on her knees weak, powerless.

Why was this happening to her?

"Chan-" Jeongin tried to intervene, but he was quickly shut down as well.

"Go check on Felix, will you?" his leader commanded.

Huh, so Felix is alive, that's good... Emilia thought, feeling relieved that at least her friend was alright.

"For what you've done, I should kill you right here and now. You somehow managed to make me fall for you. How stupid was I?!" Chan continued angrily pulling out his gun and pointing it to his former lover as soon as Jeongin reluctantly left the room. "How could you betray them, hm?! How could you betray me?!"

"I never-" she tried to talk, but the blood in her mouth from the slap made her cough.

"You look so pathetic." Chan laughed lowly. "And you are worthless. It wouldn't even be fun killing you at this point."

He came closer to her and grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her to look at him. His gaze was so cold, it made her freeze, for she never saw him like that, not even in the first night she came to kill him.

In her head, especially since becoming his lover, she never connected Chris, the love of her life, to Chris, the heartless mafia leader.

"I'm gonna give you some time to pull yourself together... and when your world's sweetest, I'll hunt you down with everything I have. You hear me? This shall be fun. We can even put your pretty head on display somewhere in the garden when the time comes, why not? That's what rats deserve."

Emilia stood on the ground, silent.

"Not gonna say anything, doll? Then get the fuck out of my house already, will you? You fucking traitor." He let go of her hair pushing her, and turned around.

Nonchalant, he grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped off the blood on his hands – hers – then headed towards the door, signalling to Hyo to follow him.

Hyo took one last glance at Emilia before exiting the room in crutches. Seeing her like this was even more satisfying than if she managed to kill her earlier. 

God, what a good feeling! she smirked, turning around.

~

(Song: The Weekend - I was never there)

(quick A/N: I recommend listening to this while you read the next part, as it's been an inspiration for this chapter)

~

Emilia stood on the ground bleeding for what felt like hours. After having her whole life taken away from her by the man she loved most, she was completely empty.

It never mattered that she would've never betrayed Chan, that she would always be on his side, because it seems he was never on hers.

Otherwise, why would he turn his back on her so easily? How could he not even listen to a single word she tried to say?

He took Hyo's words at face value once again and didn't even doubt for a second that things could've happened differently.

Channelling all the force left in her body, she used the wall behind her to stand up. She slowly made her way out of the house, leaving a trail of blood behind her, and she walked through the now-so-familiar gardens of the manor, out on the empty streets, so dizzy she didn't even notice where she was headed.

However, her feet seemed to have a location memorized, as they brought her there without her mind to it.

The Overpass.

This shall be her grave.

Seems fitting. She thought, leaning against the old bridge's wall and letting herself fall down to the ground, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.

Her vision was blurry enough either way, so why not just close them and listen to the world around her? After all, the last senses you lose when you die are hearing and touching, and so her hearing was as sharp as ever. Even sharper, perhaps.

Hearing the water's flow beautifully in front of her, she wished she could just be one of the fishes swimming without a care in the world in there.

Ah, if only I was a fish! She thought, bringing a smile to her face.

But no, I always wanted more. Too much.

Thinking of him hurts...

Fuck.

Why was I so stupid?

I can't believe I got myself tricked so easily.

Did I bring my own demise?

I must've, right?

It's all my fault things turned out this way.

Somewhere from her left side, heavy footsteps were closing in. She pulled out her gun, pointing it towards the dark figure that was approaching, and pulled the trigger. 

Of course, nothing happened. The gun was as empty as it was earlier when Hyo stabbed her.

She couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle.

„You lost a lot of blood." a quiet voice spoke next to her. She quickly felt herself being picked up from the ground.

She let herself indulge in this last gesture of care and placed her head on this person's shoulder. It felt different from Chan's.

Opening her eyes slowly, she was unable to see anything but a dark silhouette.

"San...? why are you here...?" Emilia asked weakly. "You died... did I... also... die...?"

"Shh. Don't speak. I'm here to repay the favour. I'll be your guardian angel this time." The voice said, making no sense in the girl's head, for the boy was not her former partner, but her Shadow.

"I'm gonna fix you. Everything will be alright." Jeongin spoke again, trying more to assure himself than to assure her.

"I will take care of you... I will never leave you alone..."

His voice was growing distant, as Emilia slipped in and out of consciousness.

~

She woke up a few days later in an unfamiliar room.

"Argh." She tried to stand up, the pain in her abdomen stopping her.

"You're awake! Thank God!" Jeongin rushed near the bed. "I was afraid you're gonna wake up when I'm not here."

"Felix... how is Felix?" Emilia asked anxiously, as she suddenly remembered all the events that took place before she passed out.

"He's stable for now, but... we still aren't sure if he'll make it... he has yet to wake up." Jeongin looked down for a brief moment, before sitting on the bed next to Emilia and grabbing her hands.

"I'm so glad you're awake, though. You have no idea."

"Jeongin... you shouldn't be here, Foxie..." she looked away. "I'm a traitor in Chan's eyes... he will kill you if he found out..."

"Emi, I know you would've never harmed Felix or Hyo... She is lying, isn't she?"

Hearing that question brought back all the feelings she tried to bury. She started crying uncontrollably, letting herself be embraced and soothed by Jeongin.

"Shh, it's okay."

"But it's not! Chan, he- fuck, Jeongin, I messed up!"

"If Felix wakes up, this whole misunderstanding will be solved..." Jeongin started.

"No, you're missing the point. I messed up because I let myself fall so in love with him, it hurts! I didn't care about how fast and hard I fell for him. Why didn't I know how dangerous that was, hm?!" She started sobbing, feeling all the pain inflicted on her soul by her former lover.

How little regard did he have for her and their relationship, she wondered? Why was it so easy to push her away, to not even care about what she had to say?

Wasn't he supposed to love her? To be on her side?

Or were those just lies?

Her feelings for Chan were suicide, only you couldn't see the ropes.

The boy held her tighter.

"I was simply... oblivious that his kisses were poison to me. How couldn't I notice it was too good to be true?!" she cried and cried, holding onto Jeongin for dear life.

However, this time he pulled away and wiped the tears off her face.

"Emi... it's not your fault. What other people do is not up to you..."

"You're right, but you know what the sad thing is? Even if I knew, it probably wouldn't have mattered. As long as it was him... I would've... gladly... drunk any poison." She smiled genuinely.

Jeongin didn't say anything in response, waiting for the girl to finish.

"The only mistake I made... was to not realise that he wouldn't do the same for me."

I would've taken a bullet for him to prove how much I loved him, but as it turned out... all this time, he was the one holding the gun.

"How ironic... Why did things happen like this?" she continued smiling.

After all, nothing hurts more in this world than a heart left wondering why. 

She didn't know what to do with herself, so she simply had to turn off everything around her. She had to grow numb, and her smile in these circumstances only proved so further.

"Jeongin, even if Felix wakes up, which I pray to God will happen, I can never go back there. Chris... I don't want to see him ever again."

The boy nodded.

"I always thought... white lilies represent a new you, a Rebirth... but you know, Innie?"

"I'm not sure I follow..." he replied, confused, unaware of the painting in Hyunjin's greenhouse.

"The truth is, they have a double meaning. They represent the dead... And that's what I want to be for him, do you understand?"

"Emi-"

"You will go out and dig a grave for me... and if he ever asks..."

"... I understand. And I promise you that I will do just as you asked me."

"Thank you, Innie." The girl smiled shily. "Truly. You're the only one I can still trust."

"Emi... how about this? We'll wait for a few more days until you are a bit better, you lost so much blood... and after that, let's leave this shithole behind, together. Let's run far away for good." 

Jeongin grabbed Emilia's face and looked deeply into her eyes. 

"I'll make you forget all about him."

With no warning, he pressed their lips together.

Let this be... the last time we see each other, Innie. Emilia thought and indulged in the kiss. 

The first time they met, she gave him the gift of life, saving him. This shall be her farewell present, then. 

---

Chapter 14 | Chapter 16

[endiecutieo6]

-Gorebruary 2023-

Week 2

Heyo! Let’s get to it so that tumblr doesn’t want me dead. Now, onto the content warning!

Day 8/Too many teeth: Body horror, blood, open wounds

Day 9/Freakshow: Body horror, blood, stitches

Day 10/Drowned: Lots of blood

Day 11/Dissected: body horror, eye strain

Day 12/So many eyes: body horror, ommetaphobia, eye strain

13/Cannibalism: Blood, open wounds, visible organs, shaking (for the video portion)

14/Love: Eye strain, visible bruising, visible self harm, blood, organs

“Hyperdontia:

Hyperdontia is the condition of having supernumerary teeth, or teeth that appear in addition to the regular number of teeth (32 in the average adult). They can appear in any area of the dental arch and can affect any dental organ”

PN: I messed up the ordering on this one. This prompt was meant to come AFTER the next one. I also am so mixed about this one. I feel like I could’ve done much better, maybe lean less on the blood and more the body horror. I guess I like the coloring?

"-and here we have our "weeping groom"! Oh? Yeah, that's a guy. Legend has it he's been waiting so long for his lover at the altar, that he kinda forgot it he was the bride or not, and-hey, stop knocking on the glass, he doesn't like that"

"How did he get like that? Well, we don't actually know, we found him like this and took him in, and he just keeps waiting, constantly. He never stops waiting. It's... actually kinda tragic... Now, this freakshow has come to an end. The exit is right behind you, please throw away your garbage in the appropriate spot, and we hope you'll visit again!"

“…um, are you gonna leave or-oh, the blood? It's just decoration, he's not in any actual pain or whatever-hey, I said to stop knocking on the glass! If you really give that much of a shit about him, you'd not do that! Now, get the fuck out before I call security."

"Fuckin' kids- had to install that window because people would throw cigarettes at him- who's the real monster, those fucks or this innocent man? Anyways, let's get you cleaned up and taken to your room, okay bud?"

PN: there’s an au behind this one I just haven’t explored it yet. I also have had a redraw of this on the backseat for fuckin’ ages. I worked really hard on this one anyway.

“No one really knows what happened, when it happened, or even who did it, but it was poor Tracy who came across his corpse first. You swore you could still hear her scream ringing in the air, petrified in a way she'd never been before. Poor girl.

Rusty, spear-like pole to the neck. That's one hell of a way to go. Probably snapped his neck in two, but the blood on his fingers seemed to indicate it didn't fully kill him. It must've been agonizing, and you couldn't help but cringe as you wrote your report.

You already suspected one of the hunters had something to do with it, but who specifically? Hell If you knew.

You knew you were going to have to skip dinner, too afraid you'd empty your guts out on the floor, when you finally noticed the poof of blood in his mouth, and you realized that he, probably in a panic and desperately trying to call for help, choked and drowned in his own blood.

You kept that out of the report. You wanted to forget about this as soon as you could, if just for the sake of your own mental health.”

PN: I both really like and really don’t like this specific image, and it’s hard to explain why. I feel like the angling is a little wonky. Also an OC is writing the report and I might show the OC later.

“Curiosity killed the cat.

Freddy had an issue at letting go, leaving stones unturned and just walking away. It was almost like an itch, maybe even a rash, and he couldn't resist it. He'd scratch and scratch till he clawed his skin open, and he wouldn't stop until he finally got the answer. He knew he'd regret it once it was over, especially if he saw something he couldn't forget, but now he could let it go.

These periods of destructive curiosity were on and off, always something new and always something that would hurt him once it was all over. He'd do it to stories, or people; over analyzing and picking apart every aspect until he was too frail from over exhaustion to continue. It was easier with stories, and it was exhausting with people. It was even worse with himself.

It was only when he looked at himself did he realize how little he thought about his actions, how little thought went into his actions, and suddenly it mattered so much he felt like he was going to fall apart. It was a frenzy; he was practically ripping himself open, claws he didn't know he had sinking into his flesh and just tearing it away. His hands shook terribly, but he couldn’t stop. He had to know.

It wasn’t until he was done dissecting everything about himself did he realize the damage, but it was too late to take anything back. He felt so fucking hollow it made him dizzy. The world seemed to spin around him, yet it was too late.

He couldn't take it back, and by god he wished he could.”

PN: not happy with this one. Even the sketch for this one was weak and I just can’t find anything good about it. I wish I tried a little harder.

“Maybe it’s a little out of line, but I can’t stop staring at you.

You’re so pretty, like a blooming rose.

I can’t let this chance pass me by.

So, I’ll say it:

I love you.

Will you be mine?”

PN: I like this one! I don’t have too much to say other than that unfortunately.

PN: this is literally just the PV for “The spider and the Kitsune-like lion” by MASA. I have super mixed feelings about this one because I feel like I didn’t try hard enough. The body is fine but the head is just iffy. If I redrew it I’d try much harder.

WARNING:

This story contains:

Depictions/ descriptions of self harm

Depictions/ descriptions of violence

Mental Breakdowns

Mental health struggles

“He couldn't do this again.

It hurt, it hurt so much. It sunk its rotten daws into his shriveled heart, and the way it tugged it down- it was too much.

He promised he wouldn’t do this again, to dare let this feeling take over him. It nearly brought him to tears every time he glanced down at the ring on his finger, a golden band that reflected his pathetic expression. Sometimes, he swore that his expression would narrow its eyes at him, disgusted. It nearly made him want to take it off but that only hurt more.

In desperation, he locked himself away. He hardly left his room, only leaving when he needed to, and praying no one noticed his puffy eyes and his red cheeks. Humiliatingly, he found himself bursting into tears at the drop of a dime. He was practically weeping his way through the day, and it was getting harder to hide.

That damned feeling stil lingered, stood at his doorway and just stared. It flexed its claws and grinned a toothy grin, eyes narrowed in a forced attempt at a smile. "You can't ignore me forever" it sang rapping its blistered knuckles against his nightstand as he tried to sleep "there's no point: I'm not leaving"

It was true, and he hated it. A reality he couldn't deny was a cruel punishment, but maybe he deserved it.

As the days went by, he only got worse. He wouldn't eat, he'd bang his head against his desk until he was too faint to continue, he'd scratch at his neck and shoulders and chest, wishing he could just rip himself open and be done with it all sometimes, he'd wrap his fingers aroundhis neck and just squeeze. It was almost cathartic when his vision started to darken, when his mind began to twirl and his heart seemed to scratch desperately at his flesh. He'd always let go, but then he'd do it again and again.

But, every action has a consequence, and his was the various marks his injuries would leave behind. Bruises and cuts on his forehead, blood smeared underneath his nose, the growing red stains where he'd been too tired to clean up his wounds and let them bleed into his shirt, and the deep, reddish prints his palms left behind. A beautiful portrait of his suffering.

The others were starting to notice; Lingering stares followed his every movement when he occasionally snuck out of his room. It made his skin crawl every time they opened their mouths, as if they wanted to say something, only to decide against it and just give him a look, almast a silent plea for him to just stop.

Every time, he'd paused in consideration. He'd look down at himself, down at the dried blood on the underside of his fingernails, and he'd want to end all of this.

Then, he'd look up and see them. His heart, his treacherous, bastard heart would dare to beat, and it was like he was pushed back into the water. And, as he drowned, he'd chuckle to himself, suddenly remembering words he would bitterly growl to himself as a pathetic method of comfort he'd turn to when the dark, lonely nights became unbearable:

“What's called romance is nothing but fooling oneself before foding others"

What a hypocrite.

With the cycle starting all over again, he'd let his mind entertain fantasies of his fingers, having finally sunk deep enough into his chest to rip it open, grasped and finally tore out that tell tale heart, and he'd smile as he imagined himself floating away into a red sea, happy.

What a terrible thing: to be in love.”

PN: Love the story, hate the image. It fails to convey the pain I wanted it to and it just doesn’t stand up on its own. It seems like a first draft, and I'm so disappointed in it. Also, the love in this story is meant to be towards Kreacher but I kept it vague enough to be anyone. I think it makes the story stronger.

Alrighty, see you guys soon!

[haystarlight]

Disabilities and Disclosure

@lollytea made a post about this idea and I went with it.

I don't have dyslexia. If you or someone you know has it, I'd appreciate your input!

@avatarmerida @fairytales-and-folklore

______________________________________________

"Disabilities and Disclosure"

"I'm gonna have to borrow that book when you're done with it!"

Willow wasn't really thinking when she made that promise. She'd been too caught up in Hunter's cool outfit and his sweet smile to realize what she was signing up for. She'd been so preoccupied with flirting with the cute boy she didn't bother to think she was actually going to have to read that book later.

At first, she put it off. They were busy fighting villains, rebuilding society, rebuilding their homes, starting a new semester at Hexside. Then, a few months after she and Hunter started dating, he remembered she had expressed interest in reading Cosmic Frontier.

Oh no.

"Here you go! you can keep it, I have another copy at home."

"Aww, Sunflower, this is so nice of you."

Hunter blushed, he always blushed when she called him that.

Aw fuck. The book was even bigger than she remembered.

"A little fat, ain't it?" She chuckled nervously "how did you read it all in 2 days?"

"Haha well, yeah. I don't wanna brag but you do remember I've been called a 'genius teen prodigy'," He said this in a tone that sounded like he did want to brag. "it's not that fat, tho. A regular reader like you can probably kill it in a week or two. And then you can share your thoughts with me, Gus and Camila!"

Yeah. Sure. A regular reader like her.

A week or two. Sure.

Hunter must've sensed her uncertainty because his voice immediately dropped from excitement to comfort.

"Hey, I won't get upset if you don't like it. Just so you know."

"Aw, yeah, I wasn't worried about that. But thanks."

She tried looking at the summary on the back and almost got a headache. She knew he wouldn't mind if she didn't like it... But would he be disappointed if she couldn't even finish it?

"Oh, and I hope you're cool with this... I kinda wrote stuff on the margins," he said this bashfully.

Willow opened the book on the first page. The first two pages of every book are always blank before the actual story gets started. She'd always considered that a waste of paper.

This time, however, she saw on the first blank page something written in Hunter's perfect calligraphy. He had such nice handwriting. Her writing was so messy in comparison.

Even she was able to read the three simple words written there with love and care.

'To my Captain 💛'

What had she done?

______________________________________________

The days passed by and no matter how hard she tried, the damn book was impossible to finish.

It's not that she couldn't read at all! She could read! She was 16, not 5!

But some words were harder to understand than others. Words that were really long and complicated gave her the hardest time. It didn't help that all these characters had odd names that looked impossible to pronounce and even harder to spell. She kept getting headaches whenever she stared at a page for too long.

She had always been like this, since she started school. It was one of the reasons abominations were so much harder for her than plants, abominations required a lot of reading and theory, plants were direct hands-on action. She had so many memories of staying up late with her parents trying to help her as she agonized over the homework.

And, as the days passed, she kept avoiding having to talk to Hunter. He always asked her how far into the book she was, which scene had she gotten to, who was her favorite character so far. And Gus was no better. Gus knew of Willow's reading issue but it seemed like the young boy had forgotten about it as he got caught up in the excitement as well.

One day, Willow was alone, sitting on the school steps when she suddenly couldn't take it anymore and screamed in frustration, throwing the book away from her.

Luckily, someone caught it.

"Wow! You must be really angry at this thing," Luz said, in between scared and impressed. "did your favorite character die or something? I hate it when that happens."

Willow sighed.

"No, it's just... it's so hard to read."

"Really? It says here the age rating is 13 and up," Luz pointed at the back of the book.

Willow groaned.

"Is it because you don't understand all the weird sci-fi things? I know you guys still don't know a lot about the human world. It makes sense you don't get all the space and science-y thingies," she laughed. "heck, I'm a human and even I don't get it half the time! It's super confusing, you don't have to feel bad for -"

"That's not it either, Luz."

There was a silence between the two of them. Luz felt the weight of that silence and sat down next to her. The human carefully laid a hand on her best friend's shoulder.

"Hey. You don't have to tell me but it looks like it'll make you feel better to tell someone."

"It's... I don't... it's not that I can't read or write! You've seen me do it! I know how to read and write! I'm not a baby!"

Luz simply stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"But, even though I can do it, I find it very... difficult. There's lots of words that I can't spell because they're too long, the letters sometimes like... move around and blurr together even when I'm wearing my glasses!" She took off the golden frames as if to clarify. "and I keep getting headaches and I hate it when a sentence has too many comas and -"

"Oh, you have dyslexia!"

Willow stopped her rant to look at her friend. She put her glasses back on, confused.

"What?"

"Oh, that's what humans call it! I don't know how witches call it or if it even has a name here. I didn't know witches could have dyslexia... but I guess it makes sense cause human brains are very similar to witch brains. I wonder if-"

"Luz, what's dyslexia?"

"Oh, right, sorry," she smiled apologetically. "it's a learning disability. It's what you just described. Someone who has a hard time reading, who can't spell long words, who struggles with big books... etcetera."

Willow looked shocked, her mouth slightly opened. It has a name? Other people have it?

"I'm not a doctor so I can't really diagnose you. But, if you want, we can do some research! There's lots of info on the human realm! It's actually a really common thing so we have lots of methods to help make it easier. We can look up Cosmic Frontier audiobooks! You can just listen to it, no reading required."

Despite of herself, Willow smiled. Luz was a really good friend.

"Thank you, Luz. That sounds nice."

"And I bet Hunter will love to help! You know how he loves research!"

The smile dropped as quickly as it had come, replaced by panic.

"NO! DON'T TELL HUNTER!"

"Okay, why?"

"He just... Hunter's so smart and I'm..."

"You're smart! Just because you have a learning disability doesn't make you not smart! Mom has ADHD and she's super smart!"

"What's ADHD?"

"Oh, it's another learning disability. I think I have it too but that's a conversation for another day."

"Mmmkay," Willow shrugged and went back to the matter at hand. "Hunter's so smart and he's such a good reader and... and he's always going on and on about how talented and clever I am and he admires me so much and... I don't want him to be disappointed or to see me different."

Luz stayed silent for a moment while she contemplated what to say. She finally settled on:

"I'm not gonna tell him because I respect your privacy but I think you should tell him. Hunter loves you but he doesn't have you on a pedestal, he knows you're a person with limits and weaknesses. He's not going to be disappointed if you tell him this."

Willow didn't respond but she knew her friend was right. Oh, where would she be without Luz the human?

______________________________________________

A few days of research and information gathering with the assistance of Luz and Camila, and Willow was now ready to come clean to her boyfriend.

She sat with him on a picnic they'd set up in the forest as she laid out all the information. Hunter would occasionally ask a question but, for the most part, he just let her speak. In the end, Willow stared at him in deep dread.

"Wow, ok. Thanks for telling me this," he stopped to take a sip of apple blood before continuing. "how can I help?"

Willow stared at him, processing the words.

"You want to help?" She asked incredulously.

"You're my girlfriend and you need help, therefore, I'm willing to do what I can. Is that not how it works?"

Willow couldn't help but smile. Hunter was getting better at this relationship thing.

"Yeah, thank you. I was just... I was being paranoid."

Hunter tilted his head, offering her to go on.

"You're always... you're so smart and well-read and... you always tell me how talented and clever you think I am and you compliment me for knowing so much about flyer derby and plants and insects... I feel like I'll disappoint you if I'm actually not as smart as you think I am."

Hunter frowned. He did tend to go on about how amazing his girlfriend was, he couldn't help it! He loved her! And she had always looked so happy when he said those things, responding with a smile or a blush or a thank you or paying him a compliment in return.

He didn't realize that maybe there was a bit of a negative side to it.

"Willow, I'm not gonna be disappointed in you for having limits and weaknesses. Nobody's perfect! And that's fine! You're the one who taught me that!

The plant witch snorted. It was true, she had been the one to teach Hunter that. Why couldn't she remember her own advice?

"There it is," Hunter said, fondly.

"There what is?"

"You snort like a pig when you laugh, you kick people in your sleep, you take pictures of strangers on the street like a creeper..." He counted on his fingers. "I could keep going but the point is, I know you're not perfect. It's okay to not be perfect. I don't love you because you're flawless! I love you because you're Willow and you're impossible not to love."

He said that last part so sincerely, she had to believe him. The plant witch grabbed her boyfriend in a tight hug. He hugged her back and she felt the warmth fill her with comfort.

"I love you too, Sunflower."

They kissed. They'd already kissed so many times, it came naturally to them by now. Willow was long familiar with the taste of his lips but it still somehow brought firebees to her stomach no matter how many times she did it. It never got old, she would never get tired of it.

Every time they kissed, like clockwork, flowers came out of Willow's head. It was like her heart and her magic couldn't control themselves when she felt his kisses. This time, the flowers on her hair were white bellflowers.

"Now, back to the 'how can I help?' thing," Hunter said, after they had broken apart. "I think I have an idea you might like."

______________________________________________

Normal people would simply find a Cosmic Frontier audiobook for Willow to listen to. Or maybe they would read to her out loud. Or maybe they'd show her the movie adaptation (tho, she'd been told by Hunter, Gus and Camila that the movie was awful and did a terrible job at adapting the original source material).

Hunter wasn't a normal person, not by a long shot.

He'd decided to act out all of the memorable scenes from the book like it was a play. After telling the others, they had also been incredibly excited to help.

Everyone did something. Willow built the stage and props, Hunter made the costumes and wrote the scripts, Vee and Gus were on special effects with their shapeshifting and illusions respectively, Amity brought some abominations for extra manpower and Luz and Camila put together a playlist of songs that went perfect with every scene. Eda and King brought snacks.

When the night of the premiere finally came, Willow sat down at the Owl House's backyard with Luz, Amity, King, Eda and Raine as they watched it all unfold. Luz took out her phone and started recording because she wanted to put it on Mewtube, Amity didn't understand anything that was going on, Eda ate all the snacks and King fell asleep on Raine's lap halfway through. Perfection.

It wasn't a quality production, it was very low budget and DIY. It reminded Willow of those plays the bard witches from the drama club at Hexside often did. It was silly and weird but it was wonderful.

At the heart of it all were the actors. Vee obviously knew how to play a convincing alien monster, Gus and Camila were not professionals but they felt such passion and appreciation for their character's plight that they could bring themselves to do a pretty good performance. And Hunter was just IN IT! He was an artist lost in his art and Willow never wanted him to stop ever.

His voice cracked with emotion on the dramatic scenes, he stricked poses and smiled at the audience, he recited every line from memory, he even cried on the sad parts. It was hard not to love the book when it inspired something so incredible on all these people she loved.

When the play ended, the actors took a bow and everyone clapped. Luz was the loudest, woohoo-ing and wolf whistling. She cheered so loud, King woke up with a yelp.

Willow made flowers with her magic, throwing them at the stage enthusiastic. Gus caught one and pointed a finger gun, winking at her. Vee caught one and giggled. Camila caught one and her smile got even bigger.

She threw a whole bouquet of roses. Hunter caught it and blew her a kiss.

Yup, this was her new favorite book.

[eshtaresht]

oh damn oh jees I'm so normal sooo sooooo normal rn ahaha! emotionally, I'm feeling sorta ZGBZFDHZV HV ZDH DZVVZDS ZD ZZV LZV. like, it's trigun, I expected it to hit hard BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO HIT SO HARD spoilers for ep 10 under the cut as usual

tbh I'm mostly shaking about the next ep and impending season finale, but this one was still pretty brutal

firstly, the goofs. vash fucking SNEESING and getting ruthlessly bullied by wolfwood is pretty much in spirit of their relationship in 98' anime and I'd love to see more of it (pls I hope there'll be a season 2)

scar reveal! I was afraid they're gonna give him a glow up and yeah, some scars are barely visible, but the other ones look awful. so, everything I hoped for, good to see he's in pain /j. also nico tried so hard not to stare at shirtless vash... he's looking away respectfully

vash is such a wet cat pathetic paperbag of a guy... just let that guy take a shot, barely flinched, took the bullet 'cause he thinks he deserved it. didn't even think of attending the wound until wolfwood said so. and, mind you, vash doesn't have any superhuman abilities so that must've hurt like hell

nico's job is so funny because to keep vash safe he has to get into mega epic fights, but also remind that idiot to eat and take care of wounds. again, vashwood duo feels more like the original now, after the sandsteamer. I think nico actualy started caring about vash since he saved the orphanage, it's great to see him conflicted with his mission

also policemen from ep 1 and the guy who shot vash are like... second best side characters in stampede and this is not a compliment. the best ones are nomads who ate worms btw

oh meryl, she's gonna girlboss so hard now... woe to all the haters and naysayers, she's getting character development and faces the same conflict as vash and nico thus gaining more narrative significance!! don't get me wrong, manga and 98' anime meryl was a crucial character, but she's getting much more freedom in stampede to develop and get into action

the moment where she gets up during wolfwood voiceover is when we start to see the "iron lady" and I'm so here for it! now we just have to wait for her designated therapy dog girlfriend to appear and when I can be at peace

tbh I don't really care about roberto. no hate, just neutral, rip drunckle grumps

everybody just dumped zazie... so rude, meryl didn't even answer their question >:(

elendira is..... not bad, but disappointing in comparison to the manga's gorgeously evil and hilariour girlboss who was also explicitly trans! oh look, she's a child experiment plant hybrid now, yay... meh

TESLA CONFIRMED omg I'm SOO exited for the next episode we're gonna be in SO MUCH PAIN

knives yeeting vash into the pit got a giggle out of me, but also... damn he actually was preparing all these years, crafting a perfect trap. and all the plants... he couldn't fix them and boy oh boy, I'm pretty sure he gathered them not for safekeeping... HE'S GONNA DO A LAST RUN ON THEM TO "FIX" VASH!! that was probably what elendira was refering to when she started crying

I am the normallest about this. these twins are such hyppocrites I wanna study and dissect them. knives doing the most cruel thing to his sisters so he can get rid of everything that makes vash human in hopes that if they were on the same footage they would finally stay together.......

and the words that he says to vash hurt so much more because it's true. he does love humans, but the main thing driving him is guilt. in stampede, more than ever, vash blames himself for pretty much all human suffering, because he helped the great fall happen. no wonder he's so depressed and not nearly as goofy! homeboy doesn't just protect the lives rem saved, his pacifistic quest is penance for all the people he (thinks he) killed

july is going to destroy him.