#not to mention the amount of attention on her during a very difficult moment in her life was... kinda shitty

[public-trans-it-deactivated20240]

I detest the 'lol gas leak' meme so fucking much for a variety of reasons, and a lot of those reasons are important issues with puritanical values and adversity to anything outside the norm.

But honestly the BIGGEST reason is just... this image is the source of the meme:

And God damnit SHE WAS RIGHT. Gas leak or no, I have seen SO MANY FUCKING TRANS PEOPLE (MYSELF INCLUDED) FLIRT EXACTLY LIKE THAT. That line would ABSOLUTELY work on me.

[gutouhua]

pairing. zhongli x f. reader

wc. 2.7k+

rating. explicit

tags. sort of canonverse, zhongli has ruts & dragon fangs, reader hails from mondstat, mentions of mates/mating, mentions of eating animal meat, zhongli is a perv for reader, zhongli calls reader ‘pet,’ age gap (reader is early-mid 20s, zhongli is biologically in early 30s), mentions of zhongli’s previous sexual relationships (dubcon), power dynamics, cervixfucking, overstimulation (sort of), zhongli wants to breed reader, pussydrunk zhongli, unprotected sex (pull out method)

a/n. MDNI! see end for notes

Zhongli had imagined it over a million times—taking you across the table and fucking your pussy. He knew you’d smell good down there, had scented it like a pervert in the days before your period—familiar lily mixed with strong musk and a tinge of metal. It made his fangs itch from the need to sink into your soft thighs and tongue at your slick folds.

Zhongli rutted in early spring, when trees blossomed and bore fat fruit—juicy peaches hanging heavy on thin branches. Sometimes he’d walk by them and look at them with an almost forlorn gaze. A deep ache in his body.

He wished that there was someone who would satiate his needs like seeds did to trees or bees with flowers. They mated with each other, year after year in a frenzy—a haze of powdery yellow spilling on every surface of Liyue Harbor. Zhongli didn’t have allergies, but even if he did, he would still love and envy the pollen.

It had been a long time since Zhongli had someone like that to spend his seasons with. A mate.

He’d drink copious amounts of lily bulb tea each spring to keep himself from fucking the first person who said yes to him, and would take himself into his hands with a furious passion every morning and night—even during work breaks—to relieve himself.

And it worked. He successfully passed multiple centuries of ruts like so, although it wasn’t always easy. As Morax, he was volatile—could pass for the Pyro Archon herself, Murata, but he tempered himself over the years, learning to be the composed man he was now.

But then you appeared, and the fire flared. Hutao’s newest intern—the first in nearly a decade, fresh. A slight little creature (although most people were small compared to Zhongli), and eager to learn about funeral services from Liyue’s very best. It was the first time you’d been to Liyue, so far from your home in Mondstat, and everything and everyone interested you.

I wonder if there’s a way to breed two creatures together to create an actual cocogoat. It’d be cool—Qiqi would be able to drink actual cocogoat milk, not that cheap substitute that Baizhu makes for her, and we’d be able to eat the meat. It’d taste good, right?

Zhongli chuckled, eyes soft on you. That would be a sight to behold. He didn’t mention that he’d been alive when cocogoats still roamed the Bishui Plains—a story for another time.

And then came the questions about himself.

Why are you so red, Zhongli-xiangsheng?

His rut came early this year for some reason, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. The lily bulb tea would suffice until he had a moment for himself.

But you had to make it difficult. So difficult for him.

Nothing, he murmured.

You grinned, stepping closer on tiptoes so your eyes leveled his chest. Soft rise and fall—imperceptible unless face to face like you were.

It doesn’t seem like nothing to me, Xiangsheng.

Zhongli fought the urge to inhale your soft scent. Sweet, powdery like lilies and dusk and something tender he wanted to bite—

—And he tasted blood in his mouth to stop his fangs from descending onto your exposed neck, nearly shook from the force it took to not bend you over his desk.

It would leave a mess. And Hutao would add it to his tab.

Even now you tempted him with coy glances, a bare shoulder, and sometimes a lingering touch in the space between his cuff and gloves—sharp like the sting of the formidable Raiden’s electro bolts.

“Do you want to know what I learned today, Xiansheng?” You had taken to calling him that instead of his mortal name one day. Zhongli wasn’t quite sure why, but he liked how it sounded on your lips.

He smoothed an invisible wrinkle from his suit and shuffled the papers on his desk while shifting to hide the stiffness in his pants. “Pray, do tell.”

You leaned forward, settling your weight on the heavy oak table. “I heard you’re rutting right now.”

Zhongli nearly choked on his tea. “What?”

“Rut, heat, season—Hutao told me.” You shrugged as if the topic was something mundane. “She said you rut every spring, but that it’s unusually strong this year for some reason. Something about the aura around you, I think. Why’s that?”

Because of you.

“Not sure,” Zhongli said.

“She also told me about that tea you drink.”

He nearly dropped his cup of tea. Damn the woman. Spilling all my secrets. And there wasn’t a single thing he could do—he was on her payroll.

“What about it?” he asked, trying for confidence.

“Lily bulb tea,” you continued, scrutinizing his cup, “apparently it helps calm you down and dampens the urge to fuck.”

Zhongli’s dick hardened.

“So does it?”

“What?”

“The tea. Does it help with your urges?” You jerked your head at the drink, curious.

Not when you’re around.

Zhongli had imagined it over a million times—taking you across the table and fucking your pussy. He knew you’d smell good down there, had scented it like a pervert in the days before your period—familiar lily mixed with strong musk and a tinge of metal. It made his fangs itch from the need to sink into your soft thighs and tongue at your slick folds.

He wasn’t sure what to say, but finally decided on: “Not really.”

You cocked your head to the side and bit your lips, Zhongli’s eyes following the pink tongue that peeked through. He wanted to bite them too. They’d be soft and break easily with a little bit of teeth—like almond tofu.

“Oh. Then what’re you going to do about it?”

“The usual.” Tea, masturbating, some rough fucking. Archons knew he’d need it tonight—some sort of distraction from you. He’d have to visit Madame Fang for an escort. She was used to his proclivities—would have someone able to take him.

“The usual? And what would that be?” Zhongli could almost picture you with a pen and paper in hand, a student eager for information.

He groaned internally. Now he was imagining you in a short skirt, stockings, maybe thigh highs—the fat of your thighs spilling from the top of the elastic. The image nearly had him spilling in his pants.

“I don’t think you’d want to know the particulars,” he said, his voice a soft rasp. He shifted again. “It might scare an innocent little girl like you.”

“Innocent?” You huffed. “Little? I’m a grown adult xiangsheng! I’m over the legal age—and actually much more than that. You can hardly call me little or innocent.”

“But you are,” he said indulgently, as one would towards a spoiled pet. “I am immortal, have fought and survived the Archon War. Tell me, pet, can you say the same?”

He was playing with you. Of course the two of you knew you couldn’t compare to him.

“But at the very least, you cannot consider me innocent. I’ve experienced enough things,” you muttered, annoyed.

Zhongli arched an eyebrow.

Before you knew it, he grabbed your wrist, pushing you onto the desk in one fluid motion—papers scattering to the floor like spring pollen. Zhongli pinned your hands over your head to keep you in place, and knocked your legs apart to slot his large frame between you.

“W-What’re you doing, Zhongli?”

He smiled. And there it was: his name always slipped out when you got serious.

Xiansheng.

What?

Xiansheng. He moved closer, spreading your legs further apart as he drew closer to you. You could feel your stomach pressing tightly against the cotton of your suit with each breath, your chest straining against buttons. Don’t be so impolite when your boss is trying to school you.

Xiansheng.

Good girl, he rumbled. You were so curious about the specifics of my rut—what I do to satiate my needs. Shall I show you? They say firsthand experience is the best way to learn.

His voice was heavy, hot against your ear, and you nearly jumped out of your skin when he darted a tongue out to lick the delicate shell of your ear.

So sensitive. I wonder if it’s the same in other places. Shall we find out?

Hutao had ordered him to be careful with you—a family friend. Your family owned the most successful funeral parlor in Mondstat, and they sent you to Hutao to learn how she conducted her business in Liyue. Zhongli had agreed. He could keep his hands to himself.

But then you showed up on the steps of Wansheng funeral parlor, and he knew he was fucked.

Do you want it, he whispered, I need to rut, but I always ask for permission.

Jealousy reared its ugly head. He’d done it with others—for decades, maybe even centuries, and it made sense, you couldn’t expect celibacy from him and yet…the thought of other people touching him made you want to rake your hands down his back, gouge, and suck every inch of his skin so others would know he was taken.

That he was yours.

What will it be, pet?

You nodded, eyeing the bulge in his pants. He was big. It was obvious, and it’d probably hurt. A tight fit.

Zhongli smiled—sharp teeth, predatory. I need words.

Yes.

No sooner did you give your permission did he slip your blazer off your shoulders and loosen just enough buttons to push your blouse up and over your head. You wore cotton—a simple white bra, and he wondered if you wore a matching set today.

He didn’t have to wait long to find out: you were already unzipping your pants, sliding stiff fabric down your legs, uncaring if it wrinkled. You’d have to remember to take it to the cleaners.

But later—now, you canted your hips forward, not caring about anything but the man in front of you.

So needy, he murmured, and wet.

His scent intoxicated you, his weight a delicious pressure against your skin.

Zhongli rocked against your clothed pussy, pleased to find you wet. You soaked through the cotton fabric, leaving an imprint in the shape of your pussy on your panties.

Fuck me, xiangsheng, please—I need it.

The scent of your arousal grew stronger with each tap against the wet spot. Heady, mind-numbing, as if a drug was coursing through his bloodstream. The amber of his hands grew darker, a deep, gorgeous fossilized hue, and his pupils thinned—they slitted into a sharp, almost feline countenance, predator to prey.

You would have me? he asked again, stars pulsing in his eyes. In his earlier days, before he was an archon, he had taken people without knowing what it really meant. The shame and guilt of it had made the act feel dirty for a long time—he went nearly fifty years without a single partner to help him through his ruts.

He would not make the same mistake with you.

Just fuck me.

He groaned, pulled your panties to the side—white cotton—and pushed himself into you, the entire length. It was tight and it burned as you struggled, walls stretching to accommodate his dick.

Feels so good, he grunted, you’re so tight, fuck. He lost himself in your tight heat, centuries of manners and poise melting before you.

He moved slowly at first, dragging his length out so that nothing but the tip remained inside before thrusting back in.

You shifted backward, trying to adjust to him. Soft pants, shallow—eyes squeezed shut to focus on each heavy stroke in and out of your cunt. When you started moving against him, seeking friction for yourself, Zhongli sped up. Kept most of his cock inside you with each stroke, prodding around for your sweet spot.

When he finally found it, earning a cry and squeeze around his cock that nearly made him cum, he smiled. Right there, pet?

You gasped, struggled to answer: Yeah, yeah-right there—

He continued to thrust, imprinting your insides with the shape of his dick, hitting that sensitive spot with almost boyish eagerness, but it still wasn’t enough to—

—You reached down to where his dick is splitting you apart and try to rub your clit, the hard nub aching for attention, but Zhongli pushed your hand away.

Allow me.

You almost whine—denial twisting your stomach into a tight knot, leaving your clit wanting, but he didn’t make you wait long. Deft fingers rubbed circles on your clit, grinding, until it swelled enough for him to pinch, hard.

Zhongli, please—

What did I say pet, he hummed and bit your earlobe in admonishment.

Xian-Xiansheng—

You were begging now, pleading—tears dripping from your face like fresh paint on canvas.

Please, xiansheng, please, I need it.

What do you need? He thrust forward, the head almost kissing your cervix.

Need…

Need what? Use your words, pretty pet. Another hard thrust, this time he touched your cervix. Half pain, half pleasure. Lines slowly starting to blur—was it because of his dick or your tears? You couldn’t tell.

You shook your head and fisted your hands in the collar of his suit, wrinkling the fine material as you dragged his face towards you to claim a kiss. Harsh and unyielding, a faint taste of iron between each ragged breath. Now you’d have to take two suits to the cleaners.

Vaguely, in the back of your mind, you’d forgotten how you even got into this situation in the first place. Something about lily bulb tea, alone time…and ruts…heats. Heat—were you the one in heat or was it him?

But it didn’t matter, all you knew was that:

Need to cum.

Zhongli’s pretty lips curled. And so you shall.

With one hand on your hips, he slammed his hips against yours in a punishing rhythm while his other hand battered your clit, thick fingers flicking the hard nub repeatedly until you felt nearly numb from the overstimulation. He felt you tense beneath him, hips rolling incessantly, your cunt gripping him so tightly he knew he was close.

Cum for me, he demanded, almost growling, give it to me.

And you obeyed—gave yourself over to the pleasure, moaning from the waves of pleasure washing over you.

Zhongli groaned as you contracted around him, each tight draw from your pussy taking him closer to his own release. Hips stuttering, he felt his fangs slip through, throbbing from the desire to taste you, bite you, mark you—

—Breed you.

It was messy, each time he pulled back and saw the amount of slick that coated his cock, his mind grew fuzzier, almost stupid. Zhongli couldn’t remember the last time he felt pussydrunk—

You bit the side of his neck as another orgasm ripped out of you, and this time Zhongli let himself go with a harsh growl, pulling out right as he cummed, thick ropes of sticky cum defiling your stomach. It was dizzyingly maddening: his cum moving with each shaky exhale, dripping onto your pussy, and Zhongli thought it was such a waste that it wasn’t inside you, filling you up. Some of it covered your clit—a glistening pearl. He fought every fiber of his being to not bend down and lick it. He didn’t like sweet things, but you were an exception.

“Did you learn a lot?” he finally asked after your breath had steadied a bit.

You were still coming down from your high, barely able to form a coherent sentence. “What?”

“I was teaching you,” he chuckled, voice husky. “Were you a good student? Paying attention?”

You thought about it for a moment. Looked at his disheveled appearance, his golden eyes, the wrinkles in his suit, and found it lacking.

“Not enough.”

“I am in agreement.”

Hutao narrowed her eyes. “You fucked him.”

“And what if I did? It’s not like you’ll fire me,” you replied lightly.

Hutao groaned. “I knew you wanted to fuck him, but I didn’t think you wanted to do it that badly. It’s not exactly good for my business, and you know he’ll stick to you for the rest of his season, right? That’s how it works for him. He doesn’t share.”

“Well good. Because I don’t either.” You wouldn’t have chosen him anyway if he liked to share. “But wait—what do you mean ‘not exactly good for your business?’”

The Wangsheng Director grinned at you. “Look at him: one of the most eligible bachelors in Liyue. Didn’t you notice that we have a large number of young clients? They come to Wangsheng because of him. I don’t care who Zhongli fucks as long as they give me their money—it keeps my beloved Wangsheng as the most profitable funeral parlor in Liyue.”

“Of course you would say that.” You laughed and thought about all the times your parents praised Hutao. “No wonder my parents sent me here to learn from you.”

Hutao winked. “Of course! Making money is the second best thing I’m good at.”

“What’s the first?”

“Death.”

uhhh i wrote this one about six-ish months ago too...been busy with zine work but hopefully when I'm done I can write more reader insert smut :') (also sorta tried a new style of dialogue lmao back when I wrote this)

Murata, also known as the God of War and the Lady of Fire, was a Pyro Archon and a member of The Seven who presided over Natlan.

先生 - xiānsheng. Has two main definitions: the first is teacher, the second is mister (Mr); gentleman; sir. Both suit Zhongli very well in this fic ;)

Dried lily bulb【百合】 is usually recommended in TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) clinics to treat coughs, dry throats and relieve heat. (But IRL, this doesn’t actually help with the horny feels LOL.) 

Zhongli as Morax has darker brown/amber skin tone on arms, so I chose to depict this in the fic as skin darkening when aroused. I also put a photo of something similar on an actual body. 

[cinnbar-bun]

Hugs and Kisses (ft various OP Characters!)

Characters included: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji.

Scenario: How they give/like to give hugs and kisses to you.

Rating: SFW

You can read this on my AO3 here!

Pt. 2 over here

Luffy

He likes to give quick kisses. Cheek kisses, forehead kisses, nose kisses- imagine a puppy all over your face.

Impulsively does it whenever he feels. During dinner, during a battle, during a random cuddle session, heck, sometimes just seeing you makes him kiss your cheek.

Very rarely kisses you on the lip, not because he hates them, he just thinks your cheeks are super cute. He does give kisses on the lips, again, without rhyme or reason. But he tends to give them in his most passionate or loving moments.

He loves it when you pinch his cheeks and kiss them.

Since he adores your cheeks, he has a habit of kissing them, then literally nomming on your cheeks like they’re dumplings or mochi. It weirds out the others sometimes and Nami has hit him over the head to yell at him that you’re not food.

Honestly, you’ve just gotten used to it because your boyfriend and captain are very goofy in general. It was one of the reasons you fell for him, so it’s rather endearing to you.

He loves having you on his lap then wrapping his arms around you. He likes to rest his chin on your shoulder while you’re doing something. This is so he has major access to your shoulder and cheek.

He thinks your shoulders taste yummy and are fun to nom on, too.

Slight joke: if you use a scented lotion, perfume, shampoo, or body wash, he will kiss/nom on you and then comment on the flavor/scent.

“Do you think you could like, use meat body wash?” “No.”

Literal puppy energy it’s so cute.

Zoro

Let’s get one thing straight, it’s that he’s not kissing you in front of others. Honestly, people wonder if he has ever kissed you.

Yes. A lot. But only in private (except for some reasons we will discuss in a bit). He is not too big on PDA and prefers your relationship to remain behind closed doors. It’s not anyone’s business what you two do.

He loves, absolutely adores, giving you forehead kisses. He likes to brush your hair back with his hands and then press a kiss there.

Quick pecks on your lips when he is walking sometimes. They’re so brief hardly anyone catches what just happened. He continues walking like he didn’t just do that, but you smile because it’s obvious how much he cares for you.

He is a very tired guy, and his frequent naps are made much better with you. He loves the sound of you kissing his face and slight whispers in his ear to get him to sleep.

I don’t think he can fall asleep in completely silent areas. He’s very used to noise, and to him, if it’s completely silent, that signals danger and triggers his fight response. So having you making noise to him is comforting.

AKA, give him the ASMR experience and whisper and kiss his ears. He loves it wayyyy more than he feasibly should. He adores it so much.

If you were dating during the timeskip and maybe visited him at Mihawk’s, please know that Mihawk has witnessed this but will never speak of such a thing.

Like I mentioned earlier, he will kiss you in public sometimes. Sometimes. Very rarely.

I think he’s jealous or very overprotective, but he won’t act out on it often. He trusts you. But say if, for some reason, maybe Sanji or another person is taking too much of your attention or looking at you a bit too much? Well, you can’t blame Zoro for trying to remind them that he’s with you- not them.

He might throw his arm over your shoulder or will kiss your lips just to make sure they get the point that Zoro is yours.

Another time he’ll do it is reuniting during a fight or after a difficult fight. Doesn’t give a crap, if he can, he embraces you and gives you the most passionate kiss that says so much- I love you. I’m so glad you’re safe. I’ll protect you, I promise.

Nami

Nami is generous with her kisses. She gives them a lot.

She’s not for massive amounts of PDA, so she won’t do a major make out session in the middle of dinner or something- she's not like that.

She’s more about physical contact like holding your hand and kissing your cheek.

She tends to lean into your shoulders, but if you’re smaller than her or prefer it, she likes it when you lean into her. She just begins to absentmindedly stroke your hair.

Nami is a fun gal, she often likes kissing you with sparkly or bright colored lipsticks to leave a mark. She likes to see how long it takes before you notice.

Nami is still Nami, though, so she likes to use her kisses to get her way. But since she’s dating you, it’s not in a malicious or manipulative way. It’s mostly used as a joke and her playing up the theatrics.

Nami likes when you kiss her hands, the top of her head, and her wrist.

Actually, this one is a big thing for her, but when you two start dating, she loves wearing matching jewelry with you- especially shiny jewels or gold. She’s a bit of an expensive girly, but she’s got good taste. She would prefer something that’s more subtle, like an accessory with a matching color jewel for the both of you, or one with a jewel of your birthstones. Something that looks innocuous but ultimately is important to you and her. It’s like a nice secret!

When you two get those accessories and wear them, she adores you kissing hers. Again, with the wrist thing, if she got a bracelet with your birthstone on it and you kiss it, she’s practically swooning and grinning ear to ear.

Nami thinks your lap is a very nice seat and she tends to sit on your lap while she is looking through something or counting money.

Her kisses have a faint tangerine flavor to them.

Usopp

“Kisses? Hah, I’ve given so many of them!”

He’s never had one. You’re his first kiss, and he is excited but also gets nervous and shy that you think he’s a bad kisser.

Constant overthinker, he will deadass put so much chapstick or lip creams to have soft lips because he’s afraid you will break up with him over chapped lips.

He loves, loves, loves when you kiss his nose and cheek. He turns red in the cutest way and oh my god, please, the smile he has on his face. It’s too cute.

You’re most likely making the first move to kiss him, he’s too nervous and shy to do that and feels he’ll overstep his boundaries if he does it first.

But once you two get more comfortable and Usopp gains some confidence, Usopp will take the lead and kiss you. It’s an amazing growth.

Gets nervous doing it in public so he tries not to. But he probably brags and lies that he couldn’t kiss you in public because OBVIOUSLY you’d just melt from his amazing kissing skills, and he couldn’t put on the spot like that.

Usopp, however, is easily excitable and emotional though, so occasionally, he’ll pull you into a kiss without realizing. It’s only when he hears the others chuckle and snicker that he comes to reality and turns red.

Usopp adores it when you hug him and rest your head on his chest. It makes him feel manlier and like your hero.

He’ll immediately drop everything to hug you and hold you close.

Sanji

You know how most of the others on this list are more lowkey and try to keep their affections private? Yeah, abandon that thought when Sanji is involved.

He’s happy to kiss you and hold you in public, whatever you wish. You wish him to carry you bridal style and proudly proclaim his love for you? He will. He will do it. Absolutely.

The screams of “MELLORINE!” “MY LOVE!” “DAARRRRLING!” and various other pet names he has for you is practically heard all day long. Sanji is just so enthusiastic about being yours.

 He’s a gentleman though, first and foremost, so he will always be respectful of you and your boundaries.

He tends to kiss your cheek and your knuckles the most. It’s not just one kiss though, so you’re peppered with them in between romantic French phrases.

 On a similar vein to Nami- Sanji wants to buy both of you promise rings. They’re classy and elegant, but very expensive. He loves when you wear it around your fingers and happily remarks how much he adores you and can’t wait to be yours forever.

Likes to keep his hand around your waist and have you beside him. You’re his other half, and he feels it the most when you two sit side by side.

He has a bad habit (is it really a bad thing though?) where he likes to hold you close and just watch you. He melts at your little mannerisms and facial expressions. Sure, there might be a fantastic party or performance in front of him, but with you- you're all he can see, and he never wants to stop looking at you.

You two have started a fun game- getting flavored lip balms or chapsticks then kissing Sanji so he can guess the flavor. So far, he’s gotten all of them right!

If you are ever sad or require a bit of comfort, Sanji will simply hold you close and stroke your hair and back. The smell of cigarettes that remain on his clothing is oddly comforting as he makes sure to be extra careful with you.

[wonysugar]

can u make a sunoo fic?

missed you | kim sunoo

synopsis : kim sunoo, your favorite stripper from the hybe boys establishment, started missing you after a while of you not showing up, so he had a lot of things to show you when you did come see him.<3

pairing : stripper!sunoo x rich!femreader

genre : smut :]

tags : sunoo is a male stripper, ricky from zb1 mentionned, jake from enha mentionned, reader is rich but it’s like not really relevant to the story, fingering (male receiving), biiiggg mommy kink, sub!sunoo, dom!femreader

warnings : none he’s just horny

word count : 1.5k

work was rough.

sure, going to work in itself wasn’t super difficult, but it was mostly the people working with you that made it unbearable. i mean, for god’s sake, you were a superior to the most of them, the least they could do was actually listen to you, and obey you when you gave orders.

which, they didn’t.

so naturally, you felt like going somewhere special, somewhere people knew their place and didn’t talk back to you during every second of the day.

immediately upon finishing your shift, your mind wandered to one place and one place only.

hybe boys.

-

you stepped foot into the establishment and was greeted by the comforting and familiar ambience, the music and lighting welcoming you with open arms.. you particularly noticed the usual customer seemingly going absolutely crazy over three of today’s boys, hoshi and jake. the third guy, whose name was apparently ricky has probably been staying for a short amount of time, due to him not being a employee you recognize, but it’s not like he was completely new either, since he clearly knew what he was doing. it takes someone with experience to grind on a pole like that with such a lustful expression. anywho, the said girl was having the time of her life and pushing everyone out of her way and honestly? who could blame her?

as cute as the boys were, though, you came for someone else. someone who caught your oh-so-precious attention since day one. to you. this whole strip club was like a restaurant, while he was both the main course and the dessert.

you spot him, kim sunoo, sitting down at the bar, probably on his break, talking to some seemingly older man as he’s being his very touchy self as usual. that quickly ceases once he sees you approaching him, immediately ignoring the other guy with a big cute grin on his face, as he clearly just saw that man as an opportunity to get more cute hand bags. that idea was quickly killed off by seeing you though. you always knew you were his favorite.

“y/nnnn, where have you been? it’s been soo long!” he says, clinging onto your arm and pulling himself in closer to you. you, in response pat the back of his head, returning the affection in your own way.

“work, baby. i’ve been super busy lately.. i barely have any time to see you anymore.”

he pouts, making your heart skip a beat. he always knew how to act adorable for you. “i missed you.. you could have told me, you do have my number, after all.”

you hum, wrapping your arm around his fairly skinny clothed waist, admiring his look for the night. you particularly noticed that he wore a piece of almost see-through lingerie that you bought him a few months back, probably walking around with it fully aware of how well it suits him and the impact it has on people.

despite how good it looked, though, you still felt the very intense urge to rip it off of him right at that moment. you knew you couldn’t though, not right now, at least.

“how much did you miss me, babyboy?” you whisper into his ear, careful not to let anyone near hear it. because yes, as hot as it probably looked, his regulars were pretty crazy about him, and his whole paycheck depended on them, so he kind of does need to act like he belongs to them. but really, you both knew that he belonged to you, and exclusively you.

“mmh, so much, mommy. i kept checking around the club every shift to see if you were here, but you never wereee.” he was already turning a little red, and his voice was getting higher and whinier with each word. the temptation to just cup his cute ass right then and there was strong, but you managed to contain it.

“you’re on break for another 30 minutes, right?” you asked, still whispering into his ear, his skin tingling in response to the warm breath it felt. he could only nod, poor baby was probably already so needy for you.

as to not waste any more time, you took his wrist and took him upstairs, where there were private rooms for “VIP lap dances”. now, let’s be realistic, as a regular, you knew that nobody ever used those rooms to get a personal show. while yes, this was technically a strip club, but it was also considered to basically be a brothel, too. not every employee here is comfortable to fuck clients, but most are. sunoo is one of the uncomfy ones when it comes to sex, but he seems to be way more than perfectly fine with it when it’s with you.

as soon as he closes and locks the door behind him, you take his lips in yours, immediately entering your tongue into his mouth, roaming the insides of it. cute whimpers coming out of him, you could clearly feel his hard-on as he lightly humped your clothed thigh, trying to make how horny he was not too obvious. he was failing miserably though, and viewing that sight made you chuckle involuntarily, voice low.

“so needy for me already, hm?” you teased.

“please fuck me mommy it’s been so long.. not even jerking off works anymore.. i - mmh oh my god - thinking about you while i jack myself off isn’t enough, i need your hands on me pleaseee.” he’s desperately whining and begging, being so good for you like this, you would just hate yourself if you couldn’t give him what he wanted. if you had known, you’d bring your strap-on if you were planning on staying for a long time, but.. fingers will do for tonight.

“then, sit on that chair for me, sunoo.” upon hearing his name, he immediately did as told, and even spread his legs so you could get better access. “so obedient for mommy, aren’t you? good boy.” you knew how desperate he’d act for praise, so he pouted and nodded eagerly, in hopes of making you understand that his dick was probably aching by now. he needed to feel your touch.

it didn’t take long before his cute cock was sticking out of his tight set, throbbing at the feeling of your thumb gently grazing its tip, teasing and feeling all of the precum leak from it. sunoo was a whining mess by this point, and he made it very well known that he wanted more, according to the bucking movements of his hips. his moans slowly becoming fuel for you, you progressively went faster, making sure to thoroughly stroke every inch of his adorable twitching dick. he was throbbing at each swift motion you made, his body shaking, already threatening to shoot his load all onto your hand.

not even 5 minutes went by before he started begging and calling out to you, mommys loudly spilling out of his mouth before a big amount of warm, white and thick liquid spurts out of his tip, most of it landing on your fingers and palm, the rest on the chair he’s sitting on. you loved the look he had on his face, everything about it drove you absolutely crazy. he was already far from being innocent, but you just wanted to corrupt him even further.

if you weren’t in a hurry, you would’ve started riding him a long time ago, taking all of his length and watching him squirm under you like he always did, moaning like a bitch at the feeling of his dick inside your tight pussy.

“f-fuck i missed you s-so mu-“

before he could even finish that sentence, you quickly grabbed him from the waist and turned him around on the soft chair, earning a small yelp as his soft ass was now facing you. you couldn’t bother to tease him, not when he was being this good for you. so, like anyone in this situation would, you spat on your fingers and gently rubbed them on his entrance, hearing how his whimpers and whines get higher.

“m-mommy, i just c-came - god - please..” he begged despite unconsciously arching his back so you could get better access. you chuckled at his poor attempt of not seeming like a desperate little puppy for you, he was so unintentionally adorable.. you just couldn’t wait to rim his ass roughly like he oh-so deserved.

inserting two fingers into his hole, his immediate response was to gasp and push himself deeper onto your digits, whining and sobbing at the pressure that was being applied.

pleads and begs for you to go faster escape his open mouth, “pleasepleaseplease”, “y/nnn” and “fuckk..” were the only things that could come out of his mouth, his drool slightly drooping out, just looking like a total slut from getting gently fucked by your fingers. if you knew he got like this desperate when overstimulated, you would’ve done it a lot more often.

“it f-feels so g-g-oodd momm-myy..” he moaned out shamelessly moments after, not giving a single fuck about somebody, anybody walking past and potentially hearing. his legs shaking uncontrollably at your digits. “didn’t you miss this, sunoo? didn’t you miss being fucked this good by mommy?”

poor baby could only nod his head, trying and barely succeeding in keeping his teary eyes open. he looked a mess, his cheeks all flushed, his messy and wet covering his sweat-coated forehead– fuck he looked so pretty. you were ravished by undoing him like this.

despite your inability to express it with words,

you missed him too, and that night,

you made sure to showcase it for hours to come.

[anndramarama]

dihua exchange fic: The Floating Lotus

I am very happy to be participating in the dihua exhange this month, and was so exited to write this fic for @lasenbyphoenix who asked for a pre-canon story from when LXY and DFS were young and arrogant. @lasenbyphoenix I hope you like it, and thank you for the inspiration!

The first section of the story is under the cut, and the rest is available to read on AO3.

Summary: After the announcement of his engagement to Qiao Wanmian, Li Xiangyi takes off on his own and ends up at an inn by the East Sea.

Content warnings: There is a decent amount of smut in the full story, but consent is sexy and so is Di Feisheng.

There is some mention of self-harm but only the aftermath is described, and not in great detail. Possible trauma in LXY's relationship with SGD is touched on but not described.

Thanks to: the exchange moderators for setting this up, to @lasenbyphoenix for the amazing prompt, I never would have tried to write a prequel story without you, and a special thank you to @kingsandbastardz for inspiring my version of LXY to pay careful attention to DFS's scars, and to one scar in particular. :D

I'm also genuinely grateful that I had this to work on. I took an internet hiatus to focus on family stuff that was not easy and writing dihua was very good for my mental health.

The Floating Lotus

At some point in the future, Li Xiangyi will tell a nervous disciple that he spent a great deal of time during his decade as Li Lianhua thinking about how one couldn't live in opposition to fate, but the truth is that he spent an equal or greater amount of time thinking about one view of a broad back and shoulders, and how to keep that view in sight despite the challenges fate put in his way.

He can't say why that view haunts him asleep and awake, or what it is about that particular person that moves him to do foolish things or take seemingly contradictory actions, but fate is funny and human hearts are even more difficult to understand.

All he can say for sure is that one day he was minding his own business, moving carefully down a martial path that seemed to make sense even if Xiangyi got less sleep than he wanted to and there seemed to be almost no one to talk to anymore, and then one afternoon in late autumn he saw sunlight glinting prettily off a fall of sleek hair moving through a busy market.

There was no reason for Li Xiangyi to be there, not at that time of day. The place was an accident, too: an unfamiliar market in an unfamiliar seaside town, bustling with life, quite a contrast to the quiet he was used to and thought he liked best. But the man was tall and trim, broad and lean, and his long hair swayed gently with each step, catching the mid-afternoon sun.

Without fully understanding why, Xiangyi had followed, weaving through the throng of people, and the compulsion amused him even as it led him deeper into the heart of the town.

As they rounded a corner, he was distracted by a street performer, an elderly man demonstrating qinggong by balancing on a single finger atop a narrow pole. The crowd around him gasped and applauded, creating a ripple of excitement that was hard to ignore. He watched for a moment and when he turned back, the person he was following was gone.

It was hard to describe, when he thought back on it, but he had been determined to see that person's face, or just to see the amusement through to something inevitably ordinary or dull. So he pushed forward, moving through the sea of faces and vibrant colors, hoping to catch another glimpse of that broad back and shoulders.

The smell of street food, the chatter of merchants, and the vibrant displays of fine and rare teas, trinkets, fruit and other delicacies faded into the background as he focused on his search, which led to the end of one dead end lane, and then another.

Li Xiangyi paused at the end of another empty alley, his eyes scanning the market. He was about to turn back when a woman approached him. Her face was lined and her hair was graying, and her eyes were bright with worry when she touched his sleeve.

"Gongzi," she said, her voice urgent, "you look like a man of skill and honor. Are you from a renowned sect?"

Xiangyi bowed automatically. "I am. How can I assist you?"

The woman glanced around nervously before continuing. "There's a female martial artist who appears at night, frightening everyone. She moves so strangely, and anyone with sense who sees her is scared to death. We need someone of your calibre to investigate."

Before Xiangyi could respond, someone spoke up from behind him.

"I've heard the same stories," said a man's voice. "She vanishes as quickly as she appears. Doesn't leave a trace."

Li Xiangyi turned to see the same broad shoulders he had been following earlier. The man's presence was commanding and -- Xiangyi coughed to mask his reaction -- the view from the front was good too.

Xiangyi nodded, considering the stranger's words, and turned back to the woman.

"If I may ask, how exactly is she scaring people? Has she hurt anyone?"

"Well, no," the woman stammered, "no one's been hurt, but she appears at random and only at night, and she has a weapon. Surely there's something wrong there?"

The stranger stepped forward and crossed his arms. "Oh, I heard that too. What kind of weapon?"

"It's a short sword, or maybe a dagger, but it's hard to say," she said, looking between them. "Please, will you help us?"

Xiangyi gave a reassuring nod. "I will do what I can," he said, already convinced he would do anything but. He was tired, and thirsty.

"Thank you, gongzi," the woman said, relief washing over her face. "My name is Lin Mei. If you need a place to stay, there's a reputable inn nearby called The Floating Lotus. It's comfortable and cheap."

Li Xiangyi hesitated, and did not look at the stranger.

"I appreciate the suggestion, madam," he said. "But I'll make my own arrangements."

Lin Mei nodded. "Very well. If you need anything, you can find me at the market most days. Everyone knows me."

He watched her move back behind a tea stall and sighed. The stranger was still there, looking at Xiangyi in a way that he couldn't quite parse, and even though they weren't touching he could feel the heat of the other man's body along his side.

"The old lady didn't lie. The Floating Lotus is comfortable and cheap," the stranger said, "but it's fully booked, no vacancies."

Li Xiangyi nodded. "Thank you for the information," he said, and would have turned away but a hand tapped his elbow.

"Ask me how I know," the stranger said. His fingers were still barely there on Xiangyi's arm, and that heat still sparked along his side.

He rolled his eyes and took a pointed step away.

"Let me guess, is it because you booked the last room?"

The stranger smirked. "You have no intention of helping that woman, do you?"

"She doesn't need my help," Li Xiangyi said, "she needs a magistrate. That so-called martial artist is probably a thief and the weapon she noticed is stolen goods."

The other man pretended to consider this. "But isn't it your duty as a young master from a righteous sect to help those in need?"

Xiangyi looked the stranger up and down, raising an eyebrow at clothes that were fine but not ostentatious, at a hairpiece that was utilitarian but obviously of high quality, and let his eyes linger at the covered sword on his back.

"If you think so, have at it. I'm tired and I need a drink, and the next town might have an inn with a room ready," he said, and started to turn away, ponytail swinging in a way that was not, absolutely not, deliberate.

"Suit yourself," said the stranger. "But even if you don't care about the old lady, think about the reputation of your Sigu Sect. Li Xiangyi."

Xiangyi's hand tightened on his sword. He turned around, ready to fight, but the stranger hadn't touched the weapon on his back. "I saw your sword dance the other day," he said, and looked Li Xiangyi up and down.

Xiangyi relaxed his shoulders and tried not to frown, but he could feel his face burning. The sword dance had been an impulsive act and the next morning, when Xiangyi was almost sober, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"You have the advantage of me," he said, and bowed the slightest bow he could manage. "May I have the honor of knowing your name, gongzi, and the name of your sect?"

The stranger nodded. "This one is called Fei. I don't belong to any righteous sect."

"Well then, Fei youxia, I'm not in the mood to accept any challenges today so let's part nicely, alright?"

The man called Fei moved a step closer until they were almost toe-to-toe. He had a full mouth and remarkable phoenix eyes with long lashes. They stared at each other and Li Xiangyi was caught between wanting to count breaths or heartbeats, both sounded so loud in his ears. It went on too long, and Xiangyi broke first. He stepped back and opened his mouth to say something snappish about personal space, but Fei cut him off.

"I won't fight you today, Li zongzhu," he said, as if it was his decision alone. "And I won't ask why you were following me if it wasn't to fight."

Xiangyi snorted. "How generous of you --"

Fei closed the distance between them again and then nodded over his shoulder. "But I do have a room, as you guessed, and would be happy to let Li gongzhu use it if he is willing to put up with my company."

Xiangyi hesitated, then smiled. Because of course. This absolute bastard.

But Xiangyi was tired. He was thirsty. The odds of him being able to take this man in a fight were good. And if they didn't fight -- well, if Xiangyi didn't fight this man that would be a good thing, wouldn't it? There was more to life than fighting, and there was only one way to find out.

"As long as Fei youxia doesn't get any funny ideas," he said, trying not to look too long at the other man's smirking mouth, "please lead the way."

Honestly, Xiangyi thought as he found himself following behind that familiar back and shoulders, watching Fei's ridiculous hair move like a curtain between his shoulder blades, this might be just what I need.

Because something was missing; something was not right.

If the trouble was in his head, heart, or body was difficult to tell. Days ago now, perhaps a week -- the same day the announcement of his engagement to A'Mian was made -- he had drunk too much, much too much, and then danced on the rooftops for fun. Xiangyi truly loved sword forms, and flying with his sword, so in the moment when the dance was done he leaned back for another drink, heart glad and body still tingling. But not quite settled. Not quite sated.

He had dozed on that roof, body held up by his sword, despite some of his juniors urging him to come down to continue to drink with them, and later urging him to come down and sleep. Xiangyi hadn't wanted more wine or a bed. He didn't want to sit with his juniors or talk with any xiongdi at all, or eat, or rest.

A few hazy hours later, a half-sober Li Xiangyi decided that if what he wanted wasn't there, in front of his face, it must be elsewhere. So he picked up his sword, skirted the attention of anyone in his Sigu Sect, and walked to the edge of town, then out of town altogether, and then vaguely in the direction of the sea. Maybe he had some idea that the sea would be soothing. He would find a place to meditate and return in a few days, and all would be well then.

So Li Xiangyi had been missing for close to a week, he reckoned, and his heart hadn't settled, but then he had only just reached the sea. By the sea, in sight of that vast and moving body of endless ocean, maybe everything would be alright.

Read the rest of this story on AO3.

[guideoftime]

▴ — @sapientiiae ;; Sheik & Zelda. "maybe it's not okay right now. maybe it won't be for a while. whichever it is, i won't leave you." when it gets hard || sentence starters.

   “We can set a trap? The important parts will be getting the Townsfolk out of the way, right?” 

   They’re whispering, the soldiers never whisper, they gossip like hens that have nothing better to do with their lives. They would have had better luck avoiding the Sheikah’s attention if they had just spoken loudly and proudly, rather than acting like they were trying to keep a secret. Sheik hummed and slipped over toward them, tapping one on the back and watching the light fade from his eyes as he jumped and paled at spotting Sheik. “What are you talking about?” 

   The man behind the one who just lost his soul spoke. “Nothing, Your Majesty, we have it under control.” 

   And Sheik recoiled like they had just stabbed him at the title. No one has thrown that at him yet, like they were afraid of sticking the title on someone like him, and he fully agreed. He would rather continue to be called the Sheikah or even his name than that. The wildly spirling emotions were carefully tucked aside as he spoke. “Explain. Now.” Give him something else to focus on. 

   Apparently, one of the patrolling guards had spotted a few strange looking monsters making their way toward Castle Town. The creatures were strange in that they vanished when the guards got too close, as if they couldn’t see them with their own eyes if the creatures didn’t want to be. So, the plan was to try and trap them when they reached Castle Town. It wasn’t a bad idea though he disliked the idea of putting the citizens in danger. Zelda would probably agree with him, but if done right no one has to get hurt. Telling them will cause a panic too, which adds another layer of problems. 

   Sheik’s half tempted to just go hunt the monsters down himself and see if they can hide to his eyes, but he doesn’t want to leave things unprotected. Not to mention Zelda would be angry if he ran off on his own and got hurt. 

   “We have to avoid causing mass panic. How many people know right now?” 

   There was a very small, select number of guards gathered who could keep a secret and would. Sheik had the Lieutenant gather them since he knew his soldiers best and then they gathered in the King’s old office to try and formulate a plan. To lay a trap, they needed to lure the monsters into Castle Town and then the trap itself. Which meant, picking a time of day easy to blend in with and when people would be gathered in the town center rather than scattered around difficult to protect. They pick noon, the busiest time of day for the shopping center. 

   Sheik makes them swear to not tell Zelda. He really should have just told her. 

   They build a large animal like trap, and Sheik layers it in Sheikah Seals. When they creatures walked beneath it, the soldiers would drop the cage on them and the Sheikah Seals would keep them from being able to escape. It was a simple plan, the hard part would be getting them all in one place. That’s where Sheik and the other soldiers who would be fighting came in. And if they somehow vanished from sight? Sheik had the Lens of Truth. Even if his eyes fail to see through their magic, the Lens of Truth will banish it. That’s the gift it has. Overall, he was fairly confident in the plan. Mitigating the amount of damage that would be caused was all they were going to try and do, rather than aiming to kill the monsters and possibly harming people who got in the way of the fight. 

   The first hiccup of the plan came when Sheik realized he would have to be in Castle Town. It just didn’t hit him during the planning stage, no, it hit him when he was trying to help them set up said plan. Sheik had carried the talismans out of the gate and the moment he was actually standing in the Town Center, he nearly turned around and fled. One of the soldiers caught his arm and gave him a brief, worried look, before tugging him toward the house they’d be using the roof of as the place to deploy the trap. 

   It feels like they’re babysitting him with how much they watch him. It’s degrading and he hates it. Not to mention they keep calling him with that title and Sheik, stressed now, wanted to choke someone. Unfortunately, with Noon quickly approaching, he had no time to deal with this. Not his trauma over this Town or the Title they’ve plastered on him. He tries to focus on setting the trap and being on the roof helped a bit, as long as he didn’t focus on their faces. 

   The plan was set, prepared and then when Noon finally struck, they waited. 

   And they didn’t have to wait long.

   Sheik can see the monsters, and apparently his newly acquired soldier friends can't. Interesting, so they were using illusion magic then. To make the Lens of Truth work though, he had to get down there and get close. The soldiers don’t like this plan, and Sheik brushes off their worry and shouts as he jumps down from the roof. This was where the bad idea of the lack of telling Zelda the plan came into play. 

   Castle Town is not a good place. They’re at the busiest hour of the day. There are monsters making their way quickly toward the people and her husband was about to have a panic attack the moment he realized what he just did. 

   Which was; jumping down, into a sea of people, with familiar faces and far too happy to see a man who murdered them. 

   They should have told Zelda the plan. They should have told her there was a problem at all because at least she knows how to use the Lens of Truth and could have done that while they still worked the plan from the roof. He doesn’t want her in danger, but there were about to be a lot of people in danger if he can’t breathe and do what he’s supposed to do. 

   Someone asks if he’s alright, Sheik feels like he’s swallowed his tongue. His heart has plummeted into his chest and as he looks away from them–his gaze lands on the happy couple, their newborn baby, a woman whose throat he had slit slowly while her husband screamed and begged for her life–one of the soldiers had shouted his name, there’s a monster whose hand was wrapped around the throat of some man and Sheik is spirling so rapidly out of control. 

   There’s hands grabbing at his face, Sheik almost yanks away until his gaze is directed forcefully down into the bright blue gaze of the Queen and her panicked, worried look. She’s saying something, her lips are moving but Sheik’s ears are ringing and when she realizes she can’t reach him right now she starts to search him. Obviously she finds what she’s looking for, prying the Lens of Truth from his fingers and turning to face the panicking citizens who are hurt. 

   The plan when run by the Queen goes a lot smoother. She takes control, she unveils their illusions with the Lens of Truth, and then the cage is dropped on her order–and it ends. It ends that quickly because she had just known what to do. She didn’t panic, she had managed so very easily. 

   Sheik flees. It’s a very cowardly reaction, he’s aware, but escaping is the easiest solution he has. After making a mockery of himself practically. Even in the face of real danger he hadn’t been able to just shove that fear down for a few minutes to save the people that he had so greatly wronged before. The Castle was too obvious of a place to run off to and hide, and Sheik didn’t want to see the faces of the soldiers again, so he ended up hiding in an alley, tucked away down some dark corner of Castle Town that was deserted. Knees drawn to his chest and forehead resting on top of them, he just breathed and tried to calm his mind. 

   It isn’t any surprise that after just a short while, she manages to find him. She’s known him since he was a child, twice over, even if they weren’t married she’s far too used to him and his habits. He feels her fingers brush against the top of his head, the simple touch of offered comfort. The gentle words of “it’s okay” and it’s not. What part of this is okay? If she hadn’t shown up, how many of them would have had to die before he could have pulled himself from that panic? 

   This was why he had tried to tell her, the person she needed on that throne, was not the person he is. 

   She shouldn’t have to do so much of this alone.

   It’s not okay. 

   And she can so easily read him. "maybe it's not okay right now. maybe it won't be for a while. whichever it is, i won't leave you."

   He knows that. So fiercely does he know that. She’s proven it over and over again. She fought to prove that. To both him and everyone else. But, when she sees what she did back there, how can it not place some form of doubt in her heart? Sheik, in his panic, would have just stood there and watched as those things started eating the people around them. She should be upset, maybe even angry, not standing there and trying to offer him comfort. It almost feels like if she was disappointed, he would have managed to swallow that better. 

   But this calm comfort, it digs at his heart and it makes him feel worse for not being able to be what she needs. They threw that title at him so much today, and he had wanted to help, he wanted to do the right thing. What he knows he should have been able to do. Yet, she still had to go out there, she still had to fix things and save him–and it shouldn’t have gone like that. He should have been strong enough to do it on his own. 

   She’s always fixing the things he breaks. 

   Including himself. 

   “I’m sorry.”

[mariesocuniverse]

Shirt

 Melody has a clothing malfunction

Era: 2019, DDD

Melody loved her stylists.

They always made sure she and the rest of the group looked great and that everything matched the concept perfectly. Not to mention, they always let her in to any gossip they heard.

The outfit she was wearing today was amazing and she loved the cropped jersey she was wearing along with the jacket paired with it. The stylists made sure she was comfortable and was in clothing she liked.

So she couldn’t really blame them for her current situation.

The Boyz were currently having one of their fansigns as part of their promotions for D.D.D. It was going well and both the fans and the members were having a fun time together.

It was when they had to perform the title track in front of everyone where it all went downhill. 

It was about halfway through the song when she felt that back of her crop top loosen. Melody was wearing a sports bra undernear for coverage, but that didn’t stop her from panicking internally.

Unfortunately, the strap unclasped and released, causing a very obvious wardrobe malfunction. 

Giving a reassuring smile to the fans in front who noticed and seemed concerned, Melody continued dancing and held the back of her jersey together with one hand.

The thing with boy group choreography is they were a lot. Most were fast, dynamic with no time to breathe, trying to show the best performance to their fans in just one song.

That also, unfortunately, means that there aren’t a lot of opportunities to fix Melody’s outfit.

Considering that the dance break for D.D.D is coming and all the parts where stood to the side for a break were over, things are about to get more difficult.

“Well, might as well commit.” Melody thought, as the floor part of the choreo started.

When the bridge started, she could see the concerned looks on Kevin and Sangyeon’s face as they did their part. In the moment, she could only respond with her eyes and tell them to keep going.

Since the dance break was coming up soon, so Melody was fully ready to just keep going with just one hand when Sangyeon moved towards her.

“Let me help.” He whispered, gesturing for her to turns towards her.

Melody let out a sigh of relief. Since the two of the were in the back during Juyeon’s solo, it was easy for the two of them to hide and fix the outfit malfunction.

“Sangyeon oppa I love you.” Melody whisper yelled as he fixed her shirt. Since there was a short timeframe between the dancing and Sangyeon’s next part, they had to work fast. 

“불꽃처럼 (oh oh oh),” She heard Hyunjae sing before the dancing started getting faster.

Sangyeon had to get in the middle for the spinning choreography and he couldn’t do that when he’s with her.

“I got it.” Sangyeon said, right as Melody felt her shirt tighten. She didn’t even get to say something as they got to their dance position and started the dance break.

Melody moved as if nothing was wrong, focusing on doing the dance break. She did, however, laugh when she made eye contact with the other members, who watched the whole thing happen. It was a bit embarrassing, but at least the situation got handled.

“Unnie are you okay?” A fan yelled out to her once the song ended. Other fans expressed their concerns as well.

“What do you mean, I did everything perfectly!” Melody said, feigning ignorance and pretending nothing happened.

“Melody really is a professional, isn’t she?” Hyunjae said, to which the fans agreed. 

“Of course, I’m an idol!” She said confidently, getting impressed sounds from everyone. 

Melody knew this would probably get attention online, considering the amount of people recording. At least it wasn’t too bad of an incident and that she could joke about it.

“Unnie is the best!” One of her fansites yelled.

“Thank you!!!”

Sangyeon looked at her and winked, making her giggle.

At least she knew she could rely on her members during at situation.

[minerviewrites]

Arcane's odd quirks :]

Sfw fluff with gn reader :)

Warnings: Trauma, medicine, needles, bombs mentioned briefly

❀ —————————————— ❀

Viktor- Doesn't like brushing his hair. There's no real reason behind it, actually... he just forgets to do it and then it becomes super tangled. When he was younger, he used to use those detangler sprays that smell like pear or green apple. Brushing his hair for him will probably become a daily routine since he's always working, and he's very appreciative of it too. Viktor makes sure to give you a big embrace and lots of kisses before you leave the lab.

Jayce- Doesn't like to wear shoes? Sometimes you'll walk into the lab and home boy just has his floor grippers out... Viktor will just be standing there in disgust and look at you- mouthing "this is your man". Sometimes he tries to lock toes with you if you don't have shoes on, and his feet are always super sweaty; not the ideal situation for you. Jayce is really romantic about it though; at least he says he is... You'll receive random pictures during the day of his feet

Vi- Really hates loud noises. It's connected to her childhood; she always feels like she immediately goes back to the factory where she lost everything. Vi will probably move out of Zaun because of this, and would love to move in with you if you live somewhere peaceful. Her dream as a girl was to move some forest or mountain where she could live more naturally, and there wouldn't be loud noises of the city

Jinx- Actually really good at administering medicine and shots if you need them. Since she grew up around Silco, she learned how to prep needles and measure medicine to the right doses. Jinx often jokes that she could've been an amazing nurse if she wasn't a crazy bomb addict; it becomes harder to deny after a while of seeing her work. She even gets super focused, which is rare for Jinx, if it happens at all

Caitlyn- Animals love her much, it's a little creepy. Once you two were on a romantic walk through a local park when a bird just landed on her shoulder. She didn't even look phased and just gave it a piece of bread from the picnic basket you were carrying. If you ask about it, Cait just says it's always happened, even when she was a baby. This makes it really hard to go on dates around the city; dogs and cats will walk up and demand all her attention

Ekko- This boy is a BEAST at crochet. Makes you sweaters in record time, and even makes some for your pets if you have any. It started off as just a hobby for when he was bored, but it quickly evolved into a mini business when he got older. Ekko once knit all of his workers gloves when it was super cold in Zaun; most of those workers still wear them when the winter months roll around. His favorite thing to knit though is little ducks, and he gives most to you as gifts

Silco- He draws a lot of architecture that he likes around Zaun. The first time you see him do it is during one of his days off; he was sitting on the roof of his apartment and just sketching everything his eyes could see. Silco normally likes to sketch alone, but he'll invite you do lay on his lap while he overlooks Zaun. It's a really peaceful moment for both of you and he asks you to join him again sometime soon

Sevika- Loves writing letters to you, even if you live with her. Everyday you'll find a letter on the counter where she expresses how much she loves you in a different way each day. Sevika finds it difficult to express how she feels in words, so she will usually write letters or notes in place of the words she can't say. Sometimes her letters detail how she just wants to leave Zaun behind and live with you somewhere across the sea. She knows it's a pipe dream, especially with her work, but she can always dream

Vander- Gosh this man is an amazing cook. He adds just the right amount of spice and seasoning, which always balance out the entire meal. Vander doesn't only make underground food; somehow he found a cookbook that details recipes from all over Runeterra. The first time he used a recipe from Shurima was an eventful time... since he wasn't familiar with the food, he added too much spice and Powder almost ended up in the hospital

[dr0wning-in-hell]

Ruin You- Druig

Summary: Y/N and Druig have been chasing each other for centuries, constantly running in the same circle with each other. One day when Y/N is flirting with the newcomer Eros, Druig has to show everyone including Y/N, who she belongs to.

Warnings: a bit of dark!druig?, smut, degradation, cursing, overstimulation, fingering, ass play, oral(m), light face slapping

Word Count: 4.2k+

Pairing/Characters: EternalreaderxDruig, Eros, the other eternals are like briefly mentioned

Prompt:  84.“It’s like you want to ruin men/women for me.”/ 93. “Move your hands to the side. I want to hear you.”/ 96. “Do you know how bad I want you?”

A/N: I’m a whore for this man. 

new masterlist| color prompts| prompt list| ko-fi

 Everyone that was apart of the Eternals could all agree that watching Y/N and Druig run around each other for centuries on end was tiring and honestly, it was getting old. 

Y/N and Druig were very similar, from their cockiness to their abilities. While Druig could control people with just a wave of his hand, Y/N could control their emotions, their feelings, and even make them see what she wanted them to see. Her abilities were very useful to the team, especially during battle. The way Y/N presented herself with such a sweet, maybe even innocent demeanor was what caught Druig’s attention. The two had been flirting, sliding some slightly sexual comments at one another, and building up the sexual tension between them for thousands of years. It was fun, it was a game. But when Eros showed up? It turned into something else, almost something dark.

Eros was a charmer, everyone saw that from the moment the brother of Thanos walked into the room. His smile. his eyes. his voice. Everything about him drew in women and men alike. Eros however, had an attraction towards the one and only Y/N. Maybe it was the fact that his own abilities only heightened hers and made it more difficult for him to wrap her around his fingers. Druig would watch from across the Domo as the two would flirt, they would flirt the same way Druig and Y/N used to. Ever since the Prince of Titan had shown up it was like Druig was invisible and this nobody was everything. He didn’t care if everyone else wanted to talk to the stupid prince, he only cared that Y/N was talking to him all the time. 

It was yet another day of searching for more Eternals across the galaxy, sending out signals but only ending the day with nothing. Y/N stood at the window and watched as they all floated amongst the open nothingness. She was lost in thought until she felt a hand rest upon her shoulder. She instantly fell out of her thoughts and looked up at Eros, who had now taken the spot next to her.

“Jesus, Eros you scared me.” Y/N laughed softly as she playfully put a hand over her chest. 

Eros chuckled softly as he folded his hands behind his back and looked out the window. “My apologies, I thought you would’ve heard me.” He half smiled. That smile was enough to make any man, woman, or child fall to their knees and beg him to spend any amount of time with them. Not Y/N though. Though she did like the flirting and teasing, her mind always wondered back to Druig, whom she had not spoken to much since Eros’ arrival. 

“Is there something you needed?” Y/N asked as her eyes watched him. There was something off this time, something felt different. 

“I think you and I both know about how our conversations always feel a little more than what they are.” The prince started out, watching as Y/N’s eyebrows knitted together. He continued, “I think we should stop this little charade and come clean about our feelings for one another.”

Was he kidding?

Y/N laughed nervously, her eyes looking out at the stars. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Eros. It’s just some harmless flirting, fun, that’s it.” There it was again, the feeling of something being off, the tension was rising but couldn’t pin point as to why. 

Eros turned to Y/N, causing Y/N to turn her head just a little bit to lock eyes with him. “I think we both know that’s a lie,” Eros said in a quieter yet deeper voice. Before Y/N could even respond Eros had closed the space between them and placed his lips against hers. It startled the Eternal to say the least,  but what startled her more was what separated them. 

When she finally came back to, her eyes landed on Druig pinning the prince against the wall. Both the men were radiating anger, making Y/N sick to her stomach. Anger was an emotion she never liked dealing with but somehow always dealt with, but too much of it often made her want to vomit. 

“Don’t you dare touch her, you hear me? She is not yours to touch.” Druig seethed out as his forearm pressed into Ero’s jugular. Eros smirked as he watched Druig become some angry.

“I believe that it is the lady’s decision, no? Last time I checked, she wasn’t yours either.” Those words seemed to make Druig’s anger boil even more. He released the prince which stunned him, but only for a moment before Druig punched Eros straight to the ground. 

Druig stood above the prince, fists balled tightly. “She is mine.” Y/N couldn’t register what had just happened fast enough before she saw Druig stalking towards her with a hunger in his that she never seen before. 

Y/N was dragged to Druig’s room, the door sliding shut behind her. “Druig, calm down please you’re making me sick.” Y/N said as she shut her eyes tightly. She felt Druig’s emotion begin to calm down and shift. He was still angry, but there was something else she had never really felt from him before. Lust, the hunger that some people could never feed on enough. When she opened her eyes he stood right in front of her, so close in fact that his breathe fanned her face.

“I’m never letting anyone touch you ever again, you’re mine. Only mine.” His accent sounded deeper, causing an ache to form in the pit of Y/N’s stomach. 

Y/N backed up against the wall as she was now the one pinned underneath him. Her heart was racing, thrumming in her ears. “D-druig you’ve got to calm down, please this is all so much.” Her e/c eyes darted across his face, searching for anything she could, though didn’t even know what she was searching for. 

“Say you don’t want me the way I want you. Say it and I’ll let you go, we can forget all about this.” His blue eyes pierced through her like knives, causing an uneasiness to coarse through her, but she also wanted more of it at the same time. When she didn’t respond he took that as her giving him permission. “I won’t be gentle, dove. Once I start I won’t stop till you’re begging for me to stop.” His lips grazed over the shell of her ear, causing a ray of shivers to run across her skin. 

Y/N pushed herself off the wall a bit to close the small gap between the two eternals, her eyes now resembling his. “I won’t break.” Y/N leaned in to his ear before whispering, “Do what you want.” That was enough for Druig to finally let go and grab the girl in front of him, turning her around swiftly and throwing her onto his bed. Y/N propped herself up on her elbows and watched the man in front of her make his way over to where she was positioned on the bed. Druig removed pieces of his clothes one by one as he watched Y/N with a dark shadow in his eyes. 

“Do you know how bad I want you? The thought of you beneath me has always lingered in the back of my mind.” Druig placed his thumb and index finger under her chin, drawing her in closer to him. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear you screaming my name.” He growled lowly. Y/N visibly gulped, her body shuddering slightly at all the intrusive thoughts that began to form in her head. “Get on your knees.”

Y/N didn’t waste a second as she scrambled off the bed and went to her knees, practically bowing to the man she was in front of. He looked at her with a cocky smirk, something behind his eyes told her that she was in for a very long night. Without even having to be told what to do she began to pull Druig’s boxer shorts from his body, watching eagerly as his cock grew in anticipation.

Before she could completely remove the article of clothing she felt a hand slap her left cheek. It wasn’t hard but it was just enough to leave a sting against her skin. Y/N looked up at Druig, her brows furrowed together with a slight tilt to her head. “Did I say you could touch me, dove?” Y/N shook her head no which made the God chuckle darkly. “Such a needy little slut aren’t you? Can’t even wait to be told what to do? You think you just know everything?”

“N-no, no not at all.” She said quickly, Druig traced Y/N’s face delicately, leaving feather light touches in his wake.

Druig smirked as he gripped her chin tightly, leaning down just a little bit. “Now you can touch me, puppy. Hope you won’t disobey me again.” Y/N nodded, mumbling a ‘Yes sir’ as she went to remove his shorts. This time she was successful in getting the piece of clothing on. Her mouth watered at the sight of Druig’s cock standing upright in front of her. She had always dreamt of him pounding into her for hours on end, not stopping until she was crying and begging for him to stop. 

Y/N glanced up at Druig again, seeing him nod to let her know that she could now begin to please him. She took the base of his cock in her hand, squeezing softly as she placed her tongue on the underneath of his dick and licked a thick stripe from the bottom to the top. Her eyes were trained on Druig the whole time, watching his actions and ticks. Druig’s eyes were becoming heavy as he resisted the urge to just force this beautiful mouth down on his cock and fuck her face till his heart was content. Instead he watched her intently, trying to get into her mind. 

As soon as Y/N felt the familiar sensation of Druig poking at her mind she let him in with ease. She watched his golden eyes as he slipped into her thoughts, placing such dirty images and ideas in her head. Watching him think of her like that caused a pool of arousal to drip onto her panties, which reminded her that she was still fully clothed. Druig told her her place her mouth on the tip of his cock and she easily did so. He thought he’d be able to hold back from just completely face-fucking her, but the intense feeling of her warm mouth enveloping just the tip sent him into a wild frenzy. Y/N didn’t mind either, she wanted to be used by him in every way, shape, and form. 

“Such an obedient little thing aren’t ya?” Druig teased the mindless girl, “All you needed was for someone to take over and take control, hm?” He chuckled as Y/N followed his commands and was bobbing her head up and down on his length, taking in every inch of him. Every time the tip of his cock hit the back of her throat she would let out a little whine, whether it was voluntary or involuntary, it was driving Druig crazy. Druig began to lose track of time as Y/N continued to bob her head up and down, licking around the base and then bringing her tongue all the way back up to the tip. 

Though Y/N was being mind controlled, there was a little voice in the back of her head that was guiding her movements. The feeling of being controlled was a high that she didn’t think she’d ever get enough of. Her mouth was pooling with a sweet mix of her saliva and his pre-cum. some of it falling down her chin. The sight was enough to get Druig to the edge, his large hands gripping Y/N’s head and holding her in place as his load spilled down her throat. Y/N whimpered as the salty substance filled her mouth quickly. Druig thrusted his hips softly a few more times, moaning as he began to come down from his high. 

Druig pulled himself from Y/N’s mouth and ended the little mind control game, smirking as she came out of his trance. The fact that she let him do such a thing to her, make her so vulnerable, it warmed his heart in an odd way. Y/N swallowed his load, opening her mouth to show him that she had taken all of it,

“Fuck, you’re a fuckin’ dream, puppy.” Druig groaned. He helped her to her feet, his hands firmly grasping her ass through her pants. “And I think you need less clothing.” Y/N smirked as she stepped back and began to strip layer by layer. She was teasing him and he knew it. By the way she was wiggling to get out of her shirt to how slow she was pulling it over her head. 

Once Y/N was completely bare for Druig he pushed her back onto the bed, her back hitting the mattress with a soft thud. Druig hovered over her body, his eyes drinking in the sight of her naked chest and her glistening pussy. His fingers instantly went to her throbbing cunt, teasing her bud before dragging the pads of his fingers through her folds. Y/N let out an obscene whine, head tilting back into the duvet beneath her. Druig’s blue eyes glanced up at her reaction, loving how just the smallest touches could get her whining. He continued his journey through her pussy, fingers scissoring her opening. While he watched Y/N writher on the bed he began to slide a finger into her, relishing in the sounds of her wetness. 

The moan that Y/N let out just from the slight touch had her blushing such a bright red she was sure even Rudolph would be jealous. Her hands went to her mouth to try and cover up her sounds, not wanting to disturb the other Eternals too much. Druig pushed a second finger into her and began to pump them in and out of her cunt at a steady pace, curling his fingers upwards every so often. The sensation of his thick fingers opening her up like that made Y/N’s mind foggy, only wanting more. 

“Move your hands to the side, I want to hear you.” Druig demanded as he quickened his pace to see what kind of sounds he could pull from Y/N’s mouth. Y/N did as he said, moving her hands to her sides and gripping the duvet with a strong force. Druig’s fingers continued to quickly move within her, curling, and scissoring at her insides. Everything began to blur together and Y/N was sure she’d pass out. Her moans became even louder with each move of her lover’s hand, each sound radiating across the room and through out the Domo. 

“Druig, please, ‘m so close.” Y/N whimpered, her tear filled eyes meeting his strong gaze. “Can I cum, please?” 

She was so nice about, but Druig wouldn’t let her get off that easily. He shook his head, bringing his mouth down to her nipples and sucking harshly against the skin. When he pulled away he did the same to other side, leaving large, purple bruises against her nipples. “You can cum when I say you can cum.” Y/N whined loudly, her back arching and trying to pull away from Druig and his brutal attack on her pussy. Druig grabbed Y/N’s thighs tightly and pulled her back to him. “Don’t fucking run.” His tone was threatening, though he would never harm her in any way. 

It was another few minutes of Druig pushing Y/N to the edge, tipping her over just enough and then pulling her back. She couldn’t contain her orgasm much longer, the pain becoming to much and her pussy was aching for that release. Without warning her legs closed around Druig’s hand tightly, preventing him from pulling away as she convulsed under his grip. Her moan was so pornographic even professionals would be jealous of how it sounded. Y/N’s eyes rolled back, head tilted into the cushion of the duvet as her hands gripped the material so hard she could’ve ripped it. 

Druig watched in aw at the sight in front of him. Not only did Y/N look even more ethereal than usual, but her pussy was just gushing with her juices. He had made her squirt. First orgasm of the night and she was already a gushing mess. Y/N’s body shook as she pulled herself back down to reality, eyes fluttering open to meet Druig’s stern gaze. At that moment she wished she could shrink into the covers and hide. 

“Thought I told ya, puppy,” Druig cooed slowly as he pulled his sopping hand from her core, bringing the digits to his fingers and licking them clean, “Thought I told you that you cum when I say you can cum.” 

Y/N whimpered, “’m sorry, I just couldn’t hold it anymore. It felt so good, everything was just too much.” Her eyes were pleading for forgiveness, and who was Druig to not give his little dove that? 

“If that was too much for ya, then maybe you can’t even take my cock.” His words made Y/N sit up right, shaking her head. “Too bad, I was gonna mold this messy cunt of yours to my cock. Make you mine forever.”

Y/N reached out for Druig who only let her hold his hands. “Please Dru, I want your cock. I need to feel you inside me.” 

Druig sighed dramatically, “Promise to be a good puppy for me? You won’t disobey me again, will ya?” Y/N shook her head in response, her big eyes starring up at him with such innocence but yet such sin made his cock twitch. “Alright then, I’ll give you m’ cock.” The way Y/N squealed in excitement was embarrassing but neither one of them could care less. 

The two lovers backed themselves up onto the mattress, their bodies bumping against one another just enough to send bolts of electricity through their bodies. Druig lifted Y/N’s legs over his shoulders, pushing his cock through her still sopping folds. He eyed her body, the way she twitched, the way she tried to pull back from how sensitive she still was. He smirked to himself, proud that it was him who made her feel this way. There was silence that surrounded them for a moment, it reminded them that once they do this there is no going back to how things used to be. Y/N nodded to Druig who was waiting for permission to finally push himself inside her. Druig leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss, his tongue slipping against her lower lip as he began to press himself into her. The gasp that escaped her lips as he slipped into her allowed him to push his tongue into her mouth and explore the inside. 

The stretch Y/N felt as Druig’s cock spread her open was something she never felt in all her life. This was perfect, like they were made for each other. Druig waited a moment before moving his hips, going slowly to make sure that he didn’t hurt the goddess beneath him. By the way Y/N’s mouth hung open in a silent moan was enough of a confirmation to let him know that he was on the right path. His movements sped up, hips now slamming against Y/N’s ass with such a strong force that it sent her body moving up the bead a bit. He held onto her thighs to keep her close to him, wanting her to feel him so deep within that she’d be ruined for any other man.

“Fuck, Dru you’re so big.” Y/N whined, “It’s like you want to ruin men for me,” Y/N teased, though in all honesty she knew that she was Druig’s now, just like he was hers.

Druig leaned against her ear, his breathe fanning against her skin as he continued his brutal pace. “I only want you to think of me from now on. Every moment of every day, I want you so ruined you only think of me.” He growled deeply as he nipped at her neck, red marks now trailing along her skin. Druig’s moans echoed in her ears, sending a shock wave to her already swollen and puffy pussy. 

Y/N nodded weakly, too blissed out to think or feel anything other than Druig inside her. The feeling of finally having him inside of her, claiming her in ways she hadn’t even thought of made her lose any and all thoughts. Y/N’s ankles were hooked around Druig’s neck, his body pressed closely to hers as he lifted her hips up a bit to reach even deeper. Every sound that left her mouth was like music to his ears, it made his confidence grow and he was becoming even more cocky with every thrust, lifting her hips to hit that spongey spot inside her that had Y/N shaking in his arms. 

His cock was just barely brushing her cervix, causing shivers to run throughout her body as she felt all of him everywhere. HIs mouth sucked dark spots along her neck and across the top of her tits, his cock sliding in and out of her at such a fast pace she thought she might fall into the pit that is space. Druig was grunting into her ear, mumbling about how good her pussy was and how this is the only pussy he’ll ever fuck.

Once Druig started to slow down but still continuously thrust harshly into Y/N’s messy cunt she knew he was close, which was a relief because she felt her core on fire moments after he had started fucking her into the mattress. 

“’M gonna cum, dove, you gonna cum for me? Let me fill you up so you’re walking around  with my cum spilling out of this tight little pussy?” He groaned into her ear. 

Y/N nodded, her nails digging into the skin of his biceps, “Please Dru, been waiting to cum, want it so bad.” She had tears brimming her pretty eyes, the feeling becoming too much yet again. Y/N swore she was going to explode at any second, but she wanted to cum with Druig. His lips attached to hers, bodies pressed as close they could go. 

“Cum f’me dove, want to feel you cum around me.” Seconds later Y/N was squirting around Druig’s dick and he was spilling his load into her pussy, creating a mess on his sheets. Y/N’s legs convulsed around his neck, his hips did the same as he made small thrusts into her to get them through their high. Druig was obsessed with the way Y/N’s face scrunched up in pleasure as she came, her eyes rolled back and mouth hanging open- it was something straight out of a hentai porn video. 

Druig slowly pulled out of Y/N, careful not to hurt her as he knew how sore she was going to be. He watched his cum slowly spill from her used hole, but the sight of his cum leaking out of her made him mindlessly stuff back into her with his fingers. Y/N whined, her body pulling away from him since her senses were too over whelmed.

Druig walked to his bathroom and warmed up a washcloth to clean up his lover. He was gentle as he cleaned her up, trying to steer clear of her sensitive bud. Y/N was still catching her breathe and coming back to reality as Drug had pulled out the dirty comforter from under her and covered the both of them with a fuzzy blanket. She didn’t know how long she had been spaced out, but either way it was definitely worth it. 

“Are you alright dove, I wasn’t too rough with ya, was I?” Druig asked softly as he pulled Y/N close to him. Y/N let him envelope her in his embrace, her head resting just right above his heart. She listened to his heart thump against his ribcage as her body finally began to relax. 

“I’m more than alright, that was amazing.” Y/N breathed out happily. Druig smiled, an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment washing over him. Y/N snuggled into Druig’s side, breathing softly as her eyelids grew heavy with sleep.

Druig stroked her cheek softly, looking down at the beauty beside him. “Good, because it’ll be happening more from now on.” He kissed the top of her head as the two of them drifted off to sleep, their bodies succumbing to the wave of tiredness that overcame them.

Meanwhile in the main room of the Domo, the rest of the Eternals were sitting in silence, horrified as to what they heard only moments ago. Eros sat their with his arms crossed, jaw clenched tightly with a sense of anger rising in him.

[carlisles-girl]

OMG UR CAIUS FIC WAS SO GOOD COULD YOU DO SOMETHING AB ARO PLEASE

a/n: Thank you so much! I’m very excited to write for Aro, he’s one of my favourite characters, more so because of Michael Sheen’s performance. I put a slight reference to something in this, you might catch it if you know other projects Michael Sheen has been in, but you might not, and that’s alright. Hope you enjoy <3

another a/n: I did put one or two feminine terms in this work, such as ‘mia regina’ which is ‘my queen’ in Italian, so do skip over it or replace it with something else if you’d like. I love writing this type of material in the middle of my classes, it adds so much adrenaline to not get caught.

-

Aro Volturi With A Human Mate

-

Instead of being angry and frustrated like Caius, Aro was more excited.

Like as if he was getting ready for a big party.

A human for a mate was inevitable for some vampires, of course, but Aro didn’t expect to be included in the some.

He was excited since it was rare for such high profile vampires to socialize with humans.

Aro often gushed to his brothers, excited to meet you, but also for them to meet you.

He wanted to host a ball for your welcome.

But Marcus noted that it would probably be slightly frightening for you to be in a room full of vampires.

Most of the vampires would look at you as if you were some sort of a snack.

Because it Marcus’ comment, Aro assumed it would be a greater choice to send an invitation to a tour of the castle.

Free of cost, of course.

When you had received the invitation, you were beyond excited.

An invitation to a tour of an ancient castle with endless legends, for free?

Absolutely.

The tour was the next day, so of course you were slightly nervous.

When the tour commenced, a very pretty woman named Heidi lead the tour group.

She began to speak of secrets of the castle, as well as secret corridors and legends.

Some things a normal tour guide would most likely have no idea about.

Heidi then looked in your direction, and smiled brightly at you.

“It’s very lovely here. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Just when she had finished her sentence, she opened the doors where there were three men sitting in thrones, and what seemed to be 4 guards.

The man who sat in the middle, greeted everyone and began speaking greatly of the castle.

He had only stopped when he motioned for your tour guide, Heidi, to come forward.

She did as told, and held her hand out towards him.

You would have thought it was to greet him, but it seemed like he was concentrated, or zoned out.

“Magnifico! I will get Demetri to escort them.” (Translation: “Magnificent! I will get Demetri to escort them.”

A man who you assumed was Demetri, walked in your direction.

“Come with me, all will be alright, rest assured. However, do not look behind you.”

You went with him, doing as he said, but immediately turned around when the rest of the tour began screaming.

“What the hell was that?!”

Demetri just grabbed your wrist and brought you upstairs.

“Just stay in here, I’ve been instructed to keep you under my eye. Aro will explain everything to you.”

“Aro?”

“The man who sat in the middle throne.”

You nodded, and decided to sit on one of the window seats.

You wanted to ask Demetri as many questions as you wanted to, but you didn’t want to bother him, or disrupt him from his job.

When the door had opened and Demetri bid his farewells, you had turned around and saw Aro.

“You must be Y/n, correct?”

“Yeah, and you’re Aro?”

“I am, I assume you have a good amount of questions?”

You nodded, and Aro moved swiftly but smoothly towards the opposite side of the window seat.

“May I?”

“Of course.”

He sat opposite to you, and smiled slightly at you.

“There’s no need to be afraid of me, or the others. You’re the most safe you could ever be in the castle. I promise you, I will keep you safe.”

“May I ask why the rest of the tourists were screaming when I left?”

“I sense that that question should be answered later, appropriately.”

You were slightly frightened as to what the final answer would be, it could be anything.

Perhaps there was a reenactment of the past after you had been escorted, one of the tourists got pushed and the rest screamed since one of them fell, or the worst:

They were murdered.

“I feel like I already know what happened.”

“I sense that you do know, too. I will tell you everything in a moment. But for now, would you care to lend me your hand?”

You trusted Aro, though you were positive your ancestors were screaming from above or below not to trust him.

You held your hand out in front of him, and before he held your hand in his own, he asked for permission or something else.

“I want you to think of the happiest memory you have stored in your mind, I will describe it to you. I will not see anything else besides the things you want to show me, unless I have your permission.”

You thought of a memory, and then placed your hand in Aro’s palm.

He covered the back of your hand with the palm of his other hand, then he began telling you small details of your chosen memories you had even forgotten about.

When he was finished, he brought his head up from looking down, and smiled at your face of bewilderment.

“That is so cool! Is that like your superhero power?”

Aro smiled widely at your interest in his gift, and began explaining what his was.

“I have a gift, it’s called tactile telepathy. I can read everyone’s thoughts and memories with a single touch. The others in this coven have multiple different gifts, they help keep us safe.”

“So you’re all like superheroes?”

“Vampires, darling.”

After that, Aro enjoyed seeing your memories whenever you two were apart for some sort of time.

Especially say you were having a difficult time attempting to explain something to him, he would hold your hand and immediately understand what you were trying to say.

“I understand you, cara mia. I always will.”

And he was right, he understands you in every way possible.

Aro memorized your body language on how you react to different things, as well as your facial expressions.

When you’re uncomfortable with something, he will do absolutely everything in his power to make you comfortable.

Aro will burn down the entire world for you.

When it’s time for you to go to sleep, you best believe that Aro set up the most lavish and comfortable room for you.

The best and most comfortable bed, of course.

You lay down on his chest, and he brushes the hair out of your face, admiring your tired eyes looking back at him.

“Would you like for me to read to you, dearest?”

You nodded your head, and Aro would get up from wherever he was seated, swiftly retrieve a book, lay back down next to you, and begin reading.

He loved having you hold his hand while he read, it lets him see what you’re imagining the scene that he’s reading to you.

And when you fell asleep while he was reading, he would be so very content.

You curled up next to him, sound asleep on his chest.

Aro adored seeing what you were dreaming.

He loved how humans brains worked while they were sleeping, keeping your mind entertained with multiple little scenarios.

When you woke up, however, Aro would prefer to have you describe your dreams, if you remembered them.

He loved to learn more about humans, especially in the modern age.

And you loved to learn more about vampires, especially in the ancient times.

Aro would often tell you stories of each coven he encountered, his old family and friends, and his past human life.

As much as he wants you to be changed into a vampire like the rest, he can’t help but smile whenever you got slightly nervous around him, stuttering over your words, and hiding your face with your hands out of embarrassment.

He pays attention to little details about you.

Especially your eyes.

Even the shade of your eyes stops him from changing you. Your eyes wouldn’t be as unique anymore, they’d be the same red as everyone else’s.

“You have the most magnificent shade of colour in your eyes, mia regina. I simply cannot get enough of them.”

Being absolute best friends with Demetri.

But wherever Demetri was, Felix wasn’t too far behind.

You three are like a troublemaker trio, always causing trouble and pulling pranks on different members of the guard.

Never Jane or Alec, though. Unless it was a scheduled board game night or something along the lines.

Which Alec loved to take away different players senses, allowing him to cheat in the games you’d play.

He doesn’t do it all the time, though.

Marcus was a lot more welcoming towards you, perhaps more than anyone else.

Whenever Aro couldn’t, he’d show you different areas of the castle you hadn’t seen yet, and would give you wonderful pieces of advice along the way.

“Remember to stay true to yourself, never let anyone think for you.”

Aro will spoil you insanely.

If you mention a specific piece of clothing even once, you better expect that when you wake up the next morning, Aro has an elegantly wrapped package placed at the foot of your bed with a note written in fine handwriting.

“Mia amato, I have seen you speak of this article of fabric, and I have gone out of my way to make sure you have every little thing you admire. I need you to be the happiest you can possibly be. Please accept my gift, and meet me by the gardens by noon. I’ll see you then. Cordialmente, Aro.”

You two have annual walks throughout the garden, usually during golden hour. The sun still above, but setting at the same time, making it seem like Aro was made of a trillion Tiffany Yellow Diamonds.

He loved finding a flower that suited your mood for the day, and putting it behind your ear.

“My beautiful.”

You two often walked either arm in arm, or hand in hand, but sometimes you would hold him closer with your arm wrapped around his waist, your head leaning on his side or shoulder.

Often times, when the moon is visible, you would slow dance together, looking at each other with smiles on your faces, just appreciating each other’s presence.

Usually, Aro would come back into the castle around 2 in the morning, carrying your sleeping self up to your shared room, after you had fallen asleep on his shoulder while sitting in the garden.

The rest of the kings and guards would be predominantly more happy than from before you had arrived.

You had given Aro something to look forward to after trials and mountains of work, something he didn’t have for hundreds of years.

Though, Caius was still slightly jealous of you.

You had practically stolen one, if the not the most, needed member of the vampire world. Aro was nearly as focused on you than he was on trials and legislature.

He’d warm up to you eventually.

At least, you hoped.

Speaking of trials, you wanted to sit in and watch the trials, to see what it was about, and how it worked.

You knew the most of it, of course, Aro had already told you. But you wanted to see it live.

Aro was quick to say no, he didn’t want you to get hurt, or worse, killed.

He understood what would happen to him if his mate was killed, Marcus was the example. He couldn’t even bear the thought of you not being by his side.

Though, you owning the key to his heart, convinced him to let you watch, letting both Jane and Alec stay on either side of you, protecting you if anything were to go wrong.

You would usually sit on Aro’s lap, and then the throne when he had to see what was truly going on by using his gift.

Jane usually stood on the left of the throne, and Alec on the right.

Mainly since Caius sat on the throne in the left, and Jane loved to torture the criminals.

He loved the front seat view.

Constant look backs of reassurance to make sure that you’re alright.

Nearly always having your hand in his.

Forehead kisses.

Constantly bringing the back of your hand up to his lips.

Getting the absolute best care in the world, health wise especially.

When Aro proposed, it was in the bedroom the both of you share, and he was reading some poetry to you.

All was going swell, and then he got to one page.

“I can write no stately poem

As a prelude to my lay;

From a poet to a poem

I would dare to say.

For if of these fallen petals

One to you seem fair

Love will waft it till it settles

On your hair.

And when wind and winter harden

All the loveless land.

It will whisper of the garden,

You will understand.”

At the end, you were leaned up closer to him, looking at him in awe.

He closed the book, and placed it aside gracefully, before leaning slightly closer to you. Placing his hands overs yours.

“Do you remember who wrote that, cara mia?”

“I do. That’s Oscar Wilde, right?”

“That’s right. There’s so much I want to say to you, especially in this particular moment, but I don’t think there’s enough words to express my love and affection towards you. I’ve known you for a little while, and I can feel the bond between us, and I know you can feel it, too. The universe has guided us together, and I am so very thankful for every second we have spent together, and I’m even more thankful for the rest of eternity we have. However, I am the most thankful of the fact that I have the most gorgeous human as a mate. I love you so much, anima mia. Will you do me the best thing that could ever happen to me in my thousands of years, and marry me?”

You said yes, obviously, who wouldn’t?

You leaned over to press your lips against his, as he held one side of your face with one hand, and the other hand slid a ring on your ring finger.

While Aro wanted an extremely lavish wedding, with all the diamonds in the world, you wanted something more of a homely essence.

So you compromised, and had a bit of both.

Aro invited nearly every vampire to the wedding, wanting to show you off in every way he could.

The Denali’s, Cullens, Irish coven, everyone was invited.

Except for the Romanian coven, Vladimir and Stefan. Not trusting them to be in your presence.

The wedding was held in the garden, the arch where Aro stood had your favourite flowers intertwining around it, with diamonds pressed in the centre of each individual flower.

Demetri walked you down the isle, smiling proudly when he handed you over to Aro.

Proud that his leader had finally found true love, and that one of his best friends is finally where they need to be.

After the official wedding ceremony, the rest of the night and day were spent smiling and showing off each other to the guests.

When the night ended, it was finally time for you to be changed to a vampire.

Aro sat by the bed were sitting on, making sure that you were absolutely ready to be converted to a vampire for the rest of eternity.

“Are you ready, my darling?”

You nodded your head, and Aro took one final look into your coloured eyes, attempting to remember every small detail of them.

Aro then moved your hair away from your neck, before placing his lips over where he would finally bite down and turn you immortal.

“Just say when, and I’ll see you after.”

[itsclydebitches]

I’ve been seeing an uptick in “anti-RWDE” posts lately  — which is a phenomenon I’d like to comment on at a later date  — but for now one of them (quite unintentionally) made me realize something about the finale that I haven’t seen others discuss yet. 

So RWBYJNOR saves everyone, right? Let’s just put aside the animation for a moment  — which didn’t show any army members making it out  — as well as the forgotten side characters  — Maria, Pietro, Qrow’s group isn’t forgotten, but still left behind  — and take things on good faith here. We’ll read the finale through the thematic intention: RWBYJNOR saved “everyone” in the Kingdom of Atlas in Volume 8, deliberately contrasting them with Ironwood who was willing to sacrifice a chunk of the Kingdom in Volume 7. Forget all the messiness and just accept that regardless of the consequences  — like a destroyed Kingdom and a “dead” team  — the heroes are heroic because they didn’t give into a “lesser evil” thinking and managed to save everyone. 

Now, how was that possible? 

Let’s go back to the beginning of the seventh episode of Volume 8, “War.” Salem’s grimm have just burrowed through Atlas’ defenses and taken them out. The shields are gone. She flies Monstra into the fields and releases an army of darkness that immediately heads for the city. What’s the very first thing Ironwood does? 

Soldier: Yes, sir?

Ironwood: I am evacuating all citizens to the subway. Prepare Manta Squad Omega, and dispatch to every part of Atlas.

Soldier: But sir-

Ironwood: Now!

He evacuates the people, with “the people” meaning all the Atlesians and however many Mantle folk got to the city prior to Salem’s arrival. When this episode aired I mentioned being confused as to why the soldier was so hesitant. Why wouldn’t you want the people to get to safety when a grimm army is heading their way? Fans against Ironwood took the soldier’s side, claiming that Mountain Glenn proved that any underground evacuation is a death sentence and thus he obviously doesn’t really care about the peoples’ safety. Fans in support of/neutral towards Ironwood pointed out that this is a pretty big leap, no one is coming up with a better idea for what he should do instead, and that within these circumstances it reads like the soldiers is illogically against this idea simply because everyone is against Ironwood now. The show wants characters criticizing his decisions and making him out to look like a crazed dictator... even during moments when it doesn’t make any sense to be upset with him. Shooting the councilman yes, trying to keep the people safe no. Basically, this small exchange was a mess, but the rest of the volume proved that this was a sound call. The subway never collapsed and no grimm ever made it to that enclosed space to pick the civilians off like fish in an underground barrel. 

So, why didn’t that happen? Well, one answer is because Oscar and Ozpin destroyed the whale. But how did they have time to do that? Without the people dying while they were being tortured, talking to Hazel, escaping with Emerald, fighting Salem, etc.? A lot happened between Salem starting her attack and Oscar ending it, so why wasn’t 2/3rds of the Kingdom’s population decimated during that time? 

Because Ironwood sent his army out to keep the grimm occupied. 

Outside of Ironwood’s cartoon villain actions  — random murders and bomb threats  — which get the most attention due to how deliberately, over-the-top horrific they are, these are the two actions that get the most negative attention from both the story and the fanbase. The soldier seems horrified by the order to evacuate. Marrow is devastated that young adults are fighting in this battle. The fandom is disgusted by both aspects of Ironwood’s character: giving orders that, as general, he expects to be obeyed and having an army that follows those orders. Putting side that cartoon villainy, this is what supposedly makes Ironwood the antagonist here. These are the qualities that have existed since Volume 2, resulting in a “he was always a bad guy” interpretation. These are the qualities that have resulted in anyone who likes his character being labeled as a “bootlicker.” We know these qualities make the fandom hate him because otherwise, more people would be confused as to why a presumably heroic character randomly shot Oscar. Orders, armies, and general military associations are at the heart of Ironwood’s presumed villainy. 

So let’s remove them. 

Ironwood has no evil army. Ironwood gives no evil orders. Power and control lies solely in the hands of our non-military heroes. Everything is better! 

...well, no. Because we saw in Volume 8 precisely the choices our heroes made when the attack started: half of them focused on saving a single individual (Oscar) and the other half kept to the sidelines. At no point did our RWB group act after sending the message and prior to securing the Staff. AKA, during the attack of Salem’s army. We got a very explicit moment in which Ruby looked out the window at the battle going on and turned away from it, continuing to discuss ethics instead of joining the fight. The people of Atlas (which, again, includes many Mantle citizens) had no one but Ironwood and his army because a third of the group was trying to rescue Oscar (they never even had a plan to blow up Monstra — that was also Ironwood), a third of the group was up in Amity, and a third was sitting in the mansion. They did nothing to help the people of Atlas being attacked by grimm. 

Thus, if you remove Ironwood’s actions, everything goes to hell. There is no longer an order to evacuate to the subway. Maybe some people go there anyway. Most probably don’t. They run in a panic wherever they can. Hide wherever they can. Go back home for some semblance of safety. 

There’s no longer an army. Either it doesn’t exist because we’ve determined it’s simplistically bad despite RWBY’s grimm-specific context, or Ironwood likewise never gives the order to protect Atlas’ border. Salem’s army moves unimpeded through the city, killing countless people as it goes. How do we know? Because they’re civilians who can’t defend themselves and there’s literally no one else to help. Remember: Ironwood is not giving orders, there is no army, RWB is in the mansion, YJOR is in the whale, Penny is out of commission, the Happy Huntresses are in Mantle. Those in Atlas are entirely alone. In time, Oscar destroys the whale, but by then it’s too late. There’s no concrete way to theorize how many have died, but it’s inevitably a lot. Everyone else is scatted across the city, trying to survive. 

So this scene 

no longer exists. 

When the group gets the Staff and creates portals for “everyone” to escape through, Mantle is ready to go. They’ve gotten everyone into the crater and can funnel them straight to Vacuo. Atlas, however, is in chaos. When Jaune enters the subway there’s only a few people there, many of which may be wounded or dying. He’s right back where he started, in Mantle at the beginning of Volume 8: needing to go door-to-door to find where people have hidden themselves, trying to convince them all to follow him (remember Oscar commenting to Ozpin about how difficult that was?). Except now, he and Nora are the only ones trying to get people to safey, the city is filled with far more grimm, a significant amount of time has passed for people to be killed or injured (making evacuating them even harder, both due to injuries and an unwillingness to leave hurt/dead/missing loved ones behind), he’s trying to convince these panicking people to go through magic portals, not just walk to a crater, and he’s aware that there’s a very short time limit for this task. 

Jaune returns in a panic of his own, explaining how difficult it will be to get that 2/3rds of the Kingdom to Vacuo. How many are already dead. Barricaded. Missing. Closeup on Ruby looking horrified, but then she rallies. They can do it. Atlas is falling, but residual dust gives them just enough time to find, calm, and evacuate those people. They’re heroes after all. Beating the odds is what they do. 

Then Cinder attacks. 

Suddenly, the group can’t evacuate people because they’re trying to keep themselves safe from her. Maybe Cinder gets the powers because Jaune was off looking for civilians, leaving Penny without a mercy kill. Maybe Nora dies because she’s still trying to help people on the city that plows into the one below. Regardless of how details might change, they’re not getting a spread out, decimated population through those portals before Cinder changes the wish and makes them disappear.  

In this version, the story starts with Ironwood wanting to sacrifice 1/3rd of the population to save 2/3rds and the future of the war. It ends with 2/3rds of the population dying instead. 

This is what I mean when I say the majority of the fandom wants to view a very complex situation through a ridiculously simple lens. The fandom wants to denounce every bit of RWBY’s fictionalized military, the context issues of that aside. The story wants to paint RWBYJNOR as the only heroes, in part because they succeeded in saving everyone (“everyone”) in the Kingdom when Ironwood gave up. 

But they only managed to save everyone because of Ironwood. Because he kept fighting for his people to the bitter end. This is why, though his horrific actions obviously exist in the story, they make no sense (he’ll threaten to kill his people so he can... save his people?) and mess up what little is working in the finale. The story wants us to celebrate the group for evacuating Mantle and Atlas, but the Atlas evacuation would not have happened if not for Ironwood’s actions  — the actions that are ignored in favor of having Winter blame him for everything and then killing him off. The rescue of “everyone” was very much a joint effort. RWBYJNOR’s win is not actually a contrast to Ironwood’s intended sacrifice, for the simple reason that their win depended entirely on Ironwood’s actions. 

If we’re going to celebrate the group getting everyone to safety, we should probably also celebrate the guy who got them all to an easy evacuation point and ensured they weren’t eaten before then. Does that mean Ironwood never did anything wrong? Of course not. As established, the story went out of its way to make him into a villain. Rather, it means that other parts of the story failed to maintain that black and white view, complicating the heroism of RWBYJNOR in the process. If we want Ironwood to be incapable of heroic action, always the bad guy, nothing good to say about him whatsoever... then we likewise need to accept that the group is rather unheroic in many regards too. That, on their own, they would have failed to save everyone, just as Ironwood’s plan failed to save everyone at the end of Volume 7. Because they chose their friend over a kingdom. Because they sat around in a mansion. Because by the time they took action again and tried to escape, without Ironwood’s help they would have lost a larger majority than they originally insisted be saved. 

[the-scarlet-witch-22]

Chaconne (Agatha Harkness x Reader)

Summary: You are an aspiring concert violinist who attends an audition for the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra, under the new direction of famous conductor Agatha Harkness

Word Count: 4.2K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBNquKkKcF4

A/N: Hello! This is an AU fic heavily inspired by one of my favorite tv shows Mozart In The Jungle. This is going to be at least 3 more chapters, and I already have the second part done so it should be uploaded by the weekend. Also, I added a link to the piece that is heavily mentioned throughout this fic. It’s not necessary to listen to it before reading (or at all haha), I just thought I’d add it in for anyone curious :) Hope y’all enjoy! Please let me know what you think, and my inbox is always open for any questions. Also: I do not own Mozart In The Jungle...Jeff Bezos please do not sue me. 

You rushed through the bustling streets of Manhattan, silently cursing yourself for not getting a cab. Not that it would’ve made much of a difference; rush hour in the city was horrendous no matter what form of transportation you chose. But at least you would have been sitting in an air conditioned car and not running through the crowded streets. You tightened your grip on your violin case as you hurried across the street, destination clear in your mind.

You had been finishing up your final private lesson of the day when you received a call from one of your old college friends. They informed you to drop everything you were doing, not literally because that would include your very expensive and very fragile violin, and hurry down to symphony hall because one of the first violinists in the Manhattan Symphony had sprained her wrist and they were holding open auditions.

A part of you knew the odds of being selected from hundreds of the best violinists in one of the most affluent cities for music was slim to none, but you also knew you had to take this chance. It’s what you had been working so hard towards during undergrad and grad school, and it would be nice to have a more...stable job. The Manhattan Symphony Orchestra was one of the greatest and well respected orchestras in the world, and you would kill to earn a chair.  

You ran faster than you had in months, and made a mental note to add more cardio to your basically nonexistent workout regime because wow, you were out of shape. Rounding the corner, you quickly dodged running into other pedestrians and could see symphony hall a block away. Despite the burning in your lungs begging you to stop running like a mad woman, you picked up the pace and sprinted to the building.

Ever since you started playing the violin you swore to anyone who would listen that you would play in the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra. Your siblings would always ask for concert tickets to see their favorite band, or sporting tickets, but you always begged your parents to take you to the symphony. While your siblings hated it and complained how long and boring it was (and the outrage that they weren’t allowed to bring food inside), you were enraptured by the entire experience.

You fell in love with the sounds of Dvorak, Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky. Sitting in the concert hall you waited in anticipation to watch the musicians who had spent their entire lives preparing for that moment; to pour every ounce of their soul into their instruments. Ever since the moment you stepped inside your first concert hall at the young age of five, you knew this is where you wanted to spend the rest of your life.

Shaking those thoughts aside you hurried through the building to where the blind auditions were being held. You silently thanked whatever genius came up with the idea of a blind audition, because you were a mess after running over twelve blocks from your apartment. Following the signs on the walls, you found the warm up room, but was surprised to find everyone packing up.

There were over a dozen people of various ages, and you noticed one of them crying. A woman around your age noticed your disheveled appearance and sighed. “If you’re here for the blind auditions, they were cancelled.”

You felt your heart drop. “What? Did they already find someone?”

“No, because the new conductor is a total psycho,” Someone else said angrily. “She kept yelling about how we’re all wasting her time and she’d rather have her pet rabbit play New World Symphony.” He motioned to the girl who was sobbing. “And she told Megan her tone was so bad that she would personally throw her violin into a wood chipper so no one would have to suffer through her performing again.”

The new conductor he was referring to was one of your favorites. Agatha Harkness. She was beloved throughout the music community and had many fans, but you had heard rumors of her hard work ethic and ability to make people cry in under a minute. You thought back to your undergrad violin lessons where one of your professors told you that your tone while playing Mendelssohn sounded like a dying donkey. Musicians were often times very blunt.

“That’s a bit harsh.”

“A bit?” The guy rolled his eyes. “This job isn’t worth it. I’m going to audition for the second violin chair in Iowa. It might not be as great of an orchestra but at least their conductor isn’t the devil incarnate.”

As the others continued to pack up, you still felt your gut twisting at what could have been. Feeling rejected, you left the room and saw the back entrance to the stage open. From a quick glance around it appeared the hallway was deserted, so you quickly ran through the door, violin case still in hand.

Time came to a stand still as you walked on stage and stared into the seemingly empty concert hall. You dreamt about this moment more times than you cared to admit. There was something so peaceful about being on stage. Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes and pictured a scene you had spent years dreaming about. Realizing the opportunity to play in this hall wouldn’t likely come again, you made the split decision to open your violin case.

Staring at your violin, you briefly wondered if this was a good idea. But, you silently argued that no one else was around, and besides, you did run half a mile to get here. It would be a waste to not play and appreciate the gorgeous acoustics. Plus you could feel your fingers aching to play something, anything, to let out the feelings of  disappointment from missing the auditions.

Gently pulling out your bow, you applied a generous amount of rosin before grabbing your violin. You took a few minutes to tune, and the moment your bow hit the strings you felt a shiver at how the sound bounced off the walls. You went through a condensed version of your normal warm up and played a few different scales before debating on what piece to play.

Although your friend had briefly explained the audition would be sight reading and then playing excerpts from Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the auditions were over and you wanted to play something else. It wasn’t the flashiest piece, or one of the better known violin concertos, but it felt right. Vitali’s Chaconne arranged by Charlier. You had originally learned the gorgeous piece during your junior year of undergrad for a concerto competition and it had quickly become a favorite.

Clearing your mind of everything but the music, you closed your eyes and began to play. Your bow swept across the string, producing the opening g-minor chord. The melodic sound rang through the empty hall and you felt your heart ache at how good this felt. It had been a while since you had the time to play this piece, but it was like it had been no time at all. Your fingers danced across the strings and you felt all the uneasiness leave your body.

While this wasn’t the most complex piece you had ever played, it required your full attention. The chaconne was structured as a simple sixteen bar phrase that was rephrased and dallied up with different techniques and melodies which made it easy enough to memorize, but hard enough that you needed to focus on the pattern your fingers made.

With every movement of your bow, every run you made up and down the fingerboard, you were letting out the pain and sadness you felt radiating through your body. It was hard to put into words how playing the violin made you feel, but the best explanation you had come up with was that it was your salvation. There was no sweeter medicine than performing. No matter how out of control life was, how bad things got, your solution was turning to music. It saved you.

As you neared the end of the piece, you felt your bow arm gently ache and you knew you had to have complete focus if you were going to hit the upcoming octave slides that led to the double stops of doom. Octaves were never a violinist’s favorite technique, and they were your own personal kryptonite. You had rather tiny hands, which made the stretch from your index to your pinky rather difficult on a good day. You changed the position of your hand to make the reach to hit the upper octave, but briefly winced when you realized you had fallen flat on the lower note.

You ended with a flourish of your bow on the final g-minor chord and let out the breath you had been holding in. You stood there for a moment, soaking in the afterglow of your performance and enjoying the quiet that radiated throughout the spacious room. Just as you went to clean off your violin and leave before you got kicked out, you heard the sound of slow clapping from within the hall. The hall was dimmed and you saw a figure sitting far up in the upper rows. The mystery figure continued clapping and they stood up and walked down the steps towards the stage. There in all her glory stood Agatha Harkness, the newest conductor of the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra.

“Not bad, but your octave slides could use some touching up,” Agatha offered as she stood at the bottom of the stage. “You tend to go flat on the lower notes.”

You felt your breath hitch as you saw the famous, and apparently very scary, conductor staring at you. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was still here.”

“Ah so you aren’t here for the auditions?” Agatha questioned, arching an eyebrow up at you. “What are you doing here then, breaking and entering? I’d hate to have to call security on you.”

“What? No, no I’m not...” You stammered, feeling your cheeks turn red. “I came for the auditions but I was told they were cancelled.”

Agatha laughed, and you noticed how it was more of a cackle. “They were. But believe me dear, I’m sure you would have done the same if you were in my shoes.”

“One of them said you threatened to throw their violin in a wood chipper. Isn’t that a little mean?” You pointed out.

“You did not have to listen to that imbecile butcher the opening of Mendelssohn,” Agatha argued, folding her hands across her chest. “Throwing her violin in a wood chipper would be the least I could do to ensure no one else suffers hearing that disgrace of a sound ever again.”

You stifled a giggle that threatened to escape. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

Agatha waved her hand in the air. “Maybe. But you,” she pointed a finger at you, intrigue colored her features. “You were good. Vitali’s Chaconne is a personal favorite of mine. Everyone always chooses to play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, or Mendelssohn, or Brahms, or something big and flashy. I’ve always preferred a more subdued piece like Vitali. Violinists don’t take enough time to appreciate the beauty of a chaconne.”

You stared at her in disbelief. Almost no one had even heard of Vitali’s Chaconne, but she did and it was her favorite. “Thank you, Miss Harkness. I-“

“Ah ah ah,” Agatha waved a finger to silence you. “I’m not finished. You were good, but not great. Your octave slides were flat. Your bow hold is giving me a headache, you need to relax more. Your vibrato is too fast, we need to work on slowing it down. Didn’t your teacher ever tell you that? And don’t even get me started on your opening chord.” She eyed the younger woman before continuing. “But despite all that, you have promise.”

You were speechless. She wasn’t yelling at you? “You think I have promise?”

Agatha nodded. “Which is why I’m offering you a job.”

“I got the position?” You smiled. “I can’t believe it.”

Agatha’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? No, don’t be ridiculous. You’re not ready to play with the Manhattan Symphony.”

“But you said you were offering me a job,” you repeated the words of the older woman.

“And I am. As my personal assistant,” Agatha explained as if it was the most obvious answer.

“You want me to be your assistant?” You said in disbelief. “Miss Harkness I’m not so sure if I’m qualified-“

Agatha cut you off again. “If you’re serious about being a violinist, especially being a violinist in my orchestra, we need to work on your technique. Natural talent only gets you so far my dear.” She shrugged. “And I may have just fired my newest assistant for being entirely incompetent.”

“I don’t know what to say,” You admitted. This certainly isn’t how you expected your day to go.

“I’m not going to force you to work for me, dear,” Agatha drawled out. “You can walk right out that door and continue on with your presumably simple and boring life.”

“And if I stay?” You prompted, already knowing what you were going to choose.

Agatha slowly walked up the steps of the stage and approached you. “Well then I’ll have my work cut out for me. As will you, darling. I’ll be working you quite hard.” You blushed at her suggestive tone and she smirked at your reaction. “Blushing already? I’ve barely even started.”

You cleared you throat before nodding. “Alright. I’ll do it.”

“Then let’s get started.” Agatha smirked. “This is going to be fun. Now, let’s take it from the top.”

Working for Agatha was interesting. She was very hard to read, and you could never tell if she was mad at you or if she was just in a mood. You had spent the past few weeks helping her prepare for the first symphony rehearsal of the season. Granted you weren’t doing much to help, all she was asking you to do was make copies of parts and to organize folders for each section.

Today was different. You entered the mostly empty building with a drink holder containing two cups of coffee in one hand and your violin case in the other when the sound of Agatha’s heels came click-clacking down the hallway. From the moment she rounded the corner, you could tell she was in a foul mood.

She was mumbling something incoherent but she stopped when she spotted you. “You’re late.”

You chose to not comment on the fact you were an hour early and instead carefully set down your violin case to hand her one of the cups of coffee. “Bad morning?”

“Hayward is an asshole,” Agatha seethed. “I had the entire season planned out but he thinks I’m not appealing to our investors.”

Well that explained it. Tyler Hayward was CFO of the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra and was a Grade-A asshole. You only had a few interactions with the man but they had all been quite unpleasant. He was less than pleased to discover Agatha had fired the assistant he hired and chose to hire you without consulting him. Luckily Agatha had all but kicked him out of her office and told you to come to her if he gave you a hard time.

“How is Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 not appealing to investors?” You asked in confusion. “Everyone loves The New World Symphony.”

“That’s not the problem. He thinks I’m playing it too safe with the soloists,” Agatha explained and you thought of the soloists selected thus far. You could see how they would be safe options, but who doesn’t love Joshua Bell?

“But it’s too late to get out of those contracts without losing money,” You pointed out. “Does Hayward not know that?”

“Oh believe me, Hayward always gets his way,” Agatha spat out, and you noticed she appeared to be growing angrier. “He’s still mad I was voted in as music director by the board instead of his choice for the position, so he’s punishing me. And now I have to deal with Maximoff.”

You made a mental note to address the first part about Hayward later when Agatha wasn’t as grumpy, but grinned at the mention of the famous pianist. “Maximoff as in the Wanda Maximoff? She’s-“

“A wild card and not the soloist I envisioned having,” Agatha finished for you, glaring at the mere thought of the woman as you both walked towards her office.

“But she’s an amazing pianist,” You argued, remembering the one time you had the opportunity to watch her perform live with the Royal Philharmonic. “The way she plays is beautiful, and magical, and-“

Agatha growled and glared at you, picking up the speed she was walking at. “And she has no control. She doesn’t listen to direction and thinks she’s always right. Her ego is her downfall.”

You arched an eyebrow. “Wow, that sounds absolutely nothing like you.”

Agatha let out a laugh but still sent you another glare. “Don’t push it, darling,” Agatha warned you as she unlocked the door to her office. “I am nothing like Wanda Maximoff.”

You rolled your eyes after she turned around. “Right. So I’ll take the Beethoven parts out to make room for Wanda’s piece?”

Agatha sighed and combed her fingers through her wildly curly hair. “Well I’d rather just tell the little Sokovian princess she’s not allowed anywhere near my orchestra. But since that would be frowned upon, yes put the Beethoven back. Her agent should be emailing us the parts later today.”

You set off to prepare the dreadful task of reorganizing each folder while Agatha studied different scores. She had her baton out and was mindlessly conducting as she went through the fourth movement of the Dvorak. Over the past few weeks you had started to fall in love with watching her conduct. There was something so mesmerizing by the way she could bring different pieces to life with the mere movement of her hands. You watched her right hand lightly grip the baton and noticed the position of her fingers lightly grasping the silver object while her blue eyes scanned the score.

She felt your staring and smirked as she continued conducting. “See something you like, dear?”

Blushing furiously you went back to your task of sorting music, but every once in a while you allowed yourself to take a break to watch Agatha conduct, and although she smirked whenever she noticed, she didn’t make any more comments. Eventually you finished the work and put the folders away while filing the Beethoven in the cabinet.

“Good, you’re done,” Agatha said as she stood up. “Now it’s time for my favorite part of the day.”

You internally groaned and realized what she wanted. “Where you make one of the interns cry and go get lunch?”

“Close, dear. But no.” She motioned to your violin case. “Come.”

This was your least favorite part of the day. Now, you were used to receiving constructive criticism, and even just good old fashioned criticism. Over the years you had less than kind violin teachers, and you shuddered at the memory of Stefan throwing a chair across the room when you only had three pages of Mendelssohn fully memorized two months before your recital preview. He kept yelling in Russian that he would not be the first faculty member to have a student fail a preview. Or the time Jacqueline caused you to have a panic attack right before your sophomore year concerto competition because she didn’t ‘like your stage presence’ and went on some insane rant, and then yelled at you more while you were sobbing. Ah, the fond memories you had of college.

But there was something so intensely nerve wracking about performing in front of Agatha that it made all of those encounters seem like fun and games. You weren’t sure what it was about the woman, but there was just something about her presence that constantly had you on edge. What made it ten times worse was that Agatha seemed to be aware of the effect she had on you, and did whatever she could to make you blush.

You took a few moments to tune your violin and roll your shoulders back while Agatha made herself comfortable in the audience, but you both knew she wouldn’t stay out there for long.

“Now darling,” Agatha called out from her seat. “I want you to remember what we’ve been working on. The first impression you set when your bow hits the string needs to be dominating. I want to feel like you’re pinning me down on the stage. Make me want it.”

You stared at her incredulously and shook your head, trying not to visualize what she just said to you. “Right...pinning...dominating,” You murmured as you straightened your stance and took a deep breath. Setting your bow on the string, you made sure it was positioned at the frog.

“I can see you tensing from all the way out here,” Agatha said in a mocking tone. “Do I need to come up there and help you relax?”

You knew her coming anywhere near you would do the opposite to relax you. “Nope. Just stay where you are!”

“Oh, are you the one giving orders now, my dear?” Agatha teased as she slowly got out of her seat and made her way towards the stage. “I’m just trying to help. You need to relax your shoulders, otherwise you’re going to end up with a hunchback.”

“I like the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” You offered weakly as you watched her stalk her way up the stairs, her heels clicking up each step.

Agatha rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.” She closed the distance between you and put her hands on your shoulders. “You need to relax.” She examined you closer and arched an eyebrow. “And breathe, my dear. Unless you want to fall in my arms.” You had taken to staring at the floor of the stage until you felt her hand gently cup your chin, forcing you to gaze at her. “Am I that hideous to look at that?”

“Ha, you’re so funny,” You managed to get out before taking a deep breath, and once again tried to relax your shoulders.

Despite your best efforts, you still felt tense, and Agatha noticed it as well. Letting out a gentle huff she moved behind you and began to rub your upper back. “Jeez, have you ever had a massage? It seems like you need one.”

“That’s a bit above my current pay check,” You quipped and blushed when you heard her responding chuckle.

“If you’re asking for a raise, you’re going to have to do better than that,” Agatha replied, her breath tickling your ear and sending delightful shivers down your spine. “You need to let go, darling. This much tension in your shoulders will do too much damage to your posture.”

She hit a particularly hard knot and you couldn’t help but moan at the sensation. You thought you heard Agatha mumble something under her breath but you were so lost in the sensation you didn’t ask her what she said. Agatha continued rubbing your shoulders and you slowly felt yourself relax into her touch.

“That’s it,” Agatha murmured. “Good girl.” Your eyes shot open at the praise and you heard her lightly chuckle. “Relax, dear. I could do this all day.”

Your shoulders eventually loosened up and you couldn’t help but groan when Agatha took a step away from you. “Quit your whining and play that chord,” Agatha demanded as she turned away from you, clapping her hands loudly. “I want to be wowed.”

Taking a deep breath, you fixed your stance before setting your bow back on the string. You were hesitating, and Agatha knew it too.

“Any day now. It’s not like I have anything else to do,” Agatha’s words were sharp but you knew she meant it as encouragement.

You let go of any fears you had of what would come next as you positioned your fingers on the string and rolled your bow to produce the g-minor chord. Your left wrist was loose enough to slow down your vibrato and you went through the first section without any interruptions from Agatha. As you began the next phrase you remembered what Agatha had told you about making it bigger and better than before.

“Always leave them wanting more,” Agatha had instructed her. “Make each phrase slightly different. No one wants to suffer through ten minutes of the same few notes.”

You added more vibrato for this phrase and changed the dynamics so you were growing in sound until you heard her calling for you to stop.

“Stop! Stop, that’s enough,” Agatha yelled as she walked back towards you. “That was...better.”

“Dare I say you sound surprised?” You joked causing her to glare at you.

“Fishing for compliments, are we?” She questioned, but eventually relented. “You’re getting better.”

You grinned wildly at her praise. “That was the nicest thing you’ve said to me so far today.”

“Keeping score?” Agatha mused, a smile threatening to tug at her lips at your enthusiasm. “Like I said, you’re getting better, but there’s a lot of work to do. I want to hear those octave slides and not feel like my ears are bleeding from your intonation. Chop chop.”

[bts-hyperfixation]

Soulmates

JJK X Reader soulmate AU

Warnings: Minor character death(car crash, only mentioned nothing graphic), Drinking

I don’t know if this is what you (the requester) were going for? this is somehow where I ended up

Everyone in this world has a soulmate. Someone that is meant to complete them and make them feel whole.

Your other half can be identified by the matching birthmark hidden somewhere on their body. There are also a lot of people whose marks are so close to matching that it almost feels like the real thing… almost. Sadly, many don’t ever get to experience the love of their true soulmate, so they settle for the closest they can get.

Jungkook was convinced he was one of the lucky few. Looking at her made his heart feel like it was going to burst. Every time he saw her the world got brighter, the birds started singing a little louder, and his stress nearly melted away entirely … nearly. But at 17 no one is going to pay attention to nearly.

Their birthmark’s matched so closely, each sporting a small puzzle piece on opposite wrists. You wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at the loved-up pair as they walked together hand in hand. And he loved her so completely, and her him, that they never thought to question it. Madly in love until the day she died.

Jungkook spent weeks almost comatose when the news of her car crash reached him. Couldn’t move, eat, sleep. To lose your soulmate so young was said to be a fate worse than never finding them at all. Even after coming through the other side people could tell he wasn’t the same carefree young boy he had been, most likely never would be again. His eyes’ looked far older than his years now, his soft features much more angular.

Three months after her death he resolve to never fall in love again, happy in the knowledge that he got to know her even for such a short amount of time.

….

You met Jungkook at a party. Someone from Uni decided that 24 was the right age for a big birthday bash. They hired out an entire club and set up a series of activities for people to enjoy. A mechanical ball on the main floor, a ball pit to the side, a BBQ in the smoking area, and a bouncy castle in the downstairs 90’s themed area. It really was an amazing event. You however spent most of your time watching the quiet Korean boy in the corner, every time his eyes met yours you felt compelled to move to him, talk to him, dance with him, anything that would get his attention on you. At the time you put it down to the alcohol. It took you exactly 3 and a half drinks to pick up the courage and interrupt his current conversation.

He was very sweet, really sweet considering he clearly didn’t want to be talking to you. It was evident in the way his eyes shifted and the nervous playing with his sleeves, still you persevered. Something about him wouldn’t let you give up, not yet at least. Your saving grace came when your favourite band came blaring over the speakers. “PRETTYMUCH” aren’t an underrated band per say but it’s difficult to find someone who knows them in your circle, so when Jungkook’s face lit up at the same time as yours you knew you had your in. So with the Phases remix blaring through the club you took your opportunity.

“I love this song!” You took his hand and pulled him on to the dance floor before you really realised that’s what you are doing. To start with he was frozen, a little shocked by your boldness, but as you gave it your all he joined in, loosening up for the first time that entire night. After that it was a lot easier to talk to him, you actually went into the smoking area to talk more about shared music interests.

After you went to get a drink you got caught up with some others and he came to find you. It felt like an electric shock when he’d grabbed your hand to get your attention, but there were a lot of balloons around so that would explain the residual electricity. By the time the party was over, and the club was closing, you didn’t want to leave him, not just now but ever. You found yourselves wandering around aimlessly, talking about nothing until the sun came up. Looking back it was then you decided Jungkook was it for you. You had never really believed in the soulmate tradition until you met him.

Weeks go by of you texting back and forth. You found out the reason he was so into music was because he was a musician himself, he even promised to perform for you sometime. A lot of promises were made in those messages.

‘There’s this amazing Restaurant in the city’ you claimed promising to take him with you next time.

‘I really want to see this movie’ he said promising to pay for tickets when it came out.

‘We should go see this band together’ The number one promise between the two of you, quickly racking up a lot of different acts to see together.

So when one of those bands turned up on the roster for the local you’d bought tickets immediately sending him the confirmation. Your stomach had fluttered thinking about seeing him in person again. And so you counted down the days as they passed. Picked and repicked your outfit. Talked yourself in and out of going. Eventually the day arrived. The doorbell signalling his arrival was deafening, ringing out through your small studio apartment. You took a few deep breaths before opening the door.

He was flawless, your tipsy memory hadn’t done him justice. A broad chest draped in a white long sleeve tee, ripped skinnies straining against his thighs, his hair swept into a James Dean quiff. You might’ve laughed at the way your outfits had accidently matched (a black crop with white skinnies) had you been capable of making a noise.

“Ready to go?” He asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. You’d nodded, blushing when you realised you had been staring.

It was a short bus ride into the town centre. Spent in relatively comfortable silence arms brushing against one another in the limited space on the crowded vehicle. The club was packed wall to wall when you got inside, no hope of getting to the front of the crowd, or so you’d thought. Jungkook grabbed your hand winked at you and began heading in the opposite direction of the stage. He led you up some back stairs and on to a balcony you hadn’t ever noticed before.

“I’ve played here before, almost no one knows this is here, but it will give us the perfect view.” He dropped your hand in favour of leaning over the railing. You couldn’t help but feel cold at the loss. The performance was great, you found yourselves screaming lyrics back and forth at one another. Some people had cottoned on to your little hiding spot and soon it became as packed as the rest of the club. Whether he was trying to protect you from the others or he was pushed there you will never know, but Jungkook ended up caging you to the railing, head resting on your shoulder.

After the show you’d decided it was time to ask him how he felt. The club was still busy, but the two of you had been in a quiet corner on your own nursing drinks and chatting aimlessly.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” You asked, broaching the topic carefully. You watched closely for his reaction, but he gave nothing away. Instead he just shrugged.

“I did once.” It was too blunt, you knew you should’ve stopped but you couldn’t, now you’d decided to tell him it was like verbal diarrhoea.

“I didn’t think I did, I mean I’ve never seen any ‘matching birthmarks’ and every couple I know is perfectly happy… but then I met you and I keep thinking about it, and you, and how I feel about you.” You watched as his face goes from pensive to a deer caught in the headlights.

“I… I have to leave now.” He got up and ran into the crowd before you even had a chance to reach for him. He dipped through a back entrance of the club and into the night before you could even push through the first layer of people.

The ride home had seemed a lot longer. Holding back tears had proved extremely difficult. Of all the reactions he could’ve given you that might’ve been the worst one. Somehow you found yourself thinking even him laughing in your face might’ve been better. You left the lights in your studio switched off that night. Made a beeline for your bed and passed out face down.

It would’ve felt like a bad dream when you woke up… if it hadn’t been for the crusty mascara tracking down your cheeks. You’d picked up your phone from where it lay abandoned next to you. Battery on 12%. You’d decided then it’d be best to run damage control, at least save the friendship.

Y/N: I’m sorry about last night…

You hadn’t expected his reply to be quick, so it’d surprised you when the typing bubbles appeared immediately; and furthered your sadness when they disappeared moments later without a message.

For days you spiralled. Going over the moment again and again in your head. Each replay turning the memory into something worse than the original.

Eventually you plucked yourself out of bed, deciding to face the problem head on and talk to the friend that invited you both to their birthday in the first place.

She met you at a café downtown during her lunch break. It was obvious by your red rimed eyes and sniffling nose that you had been crying but she was nice enough to ignore it for the most part. You caught up on her life for a little while until you physically couldn’t hold back anymore.

You told her exactly what had happened between you and JK, watching as her expression got both more understanding and pitying as you got closer to the end. Whatever you thought she was going to tell you was no where close to the story you got. You sat mouth wide open as she told you about the accident, and the way it affected Jungkook. It made you want to cry all over again. You didn’t know what to say once she had finished, stewing in your own thoughts for a while. The main thought that kept coming to the front of your mind was one that made you feel so evil. But you had to get it out

“What if she wasn’t really his soulmate. What if he was never meant for her” Its barely above a whisper but your friend heard it.

“He truly believes that she was” She replied squinting at you. Her break ended shortly after that leaving you alone with your thoughts.

…

It’s almost a month later when you see Jungkook again. Hadn’t heard a single thing from him since the concert but at least you knew why.

This time it was someone pool party. You honestly hadn’t been expecting to see him there. Didn’t even know you had mutual friends past that one girl. You didn’t think twice about your birthmark when you stripped down to your two piece. Why would you? Everyone has one. You were lay out on a sun-lounger with a drink when you spotted him. Tucked away in a corner once again, the only difference this time was his attention was already on you. He looked as good as ever, hair damp and slicked back, Long-sleeved neoprene shit covering his torso but trunks showing off his amazing thighs. You’d forced yourself to look away form him but could still feel the intensity of his gaze on you.

Eventually you couldn’t take it anymore, too hot under the sun and his stare you decided to change out of your swimsuit into a sundress for the evening. Heading inside you found your way into someone’s bedroom to get changed. Perhaps you should’ve checked to see if the door the locked though, because just as you had wiggled out of the bikini top Jungkook burst into the room.

“Ah shit… Sorry… I um.” His hand had flown in front of his eyes as he’d slammed the door shut behind him and you’d immediately reached for the flimsy dress pulling it over you torso so he could reopen his eyes.

“What in the actual fuck Jungkook?” you whisper screamed not wanting to draw attention to the two of you hidden away.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t think… I just needed to see…”

“See what?! My boobs? I think you managed that one perv. You haven’t spoken to me in weeks and now all of a sudden you can’t wait long enough to knock.” You came across a lot meaner than you had meant, you just hadn’t been prepared for him to want to speak to you again.

“No I’m sorry I’ll go, this was a bad idea, I was probably seeing things anyway.” He mumbled looking sheepishly at the floor/

“No wait it’s okay, I really want to apologise don’t leave.” You took a deep breath and waited for his eyes to meet yours properly. When they did you could see the shock behind them.

“Why do you need to apologise? I’m the one that ran off, I never even told you why and I fucked up and I’m sorry I just…” You reached for him then, wanting nothing more than to comfort him and then realised it wasn’t your place, arm dropping heavily back to your side. “I felt so guilty with you, not because of you, because of me.” You nodded in understanding.

“I found about your soulmate after I confessed to you. I’m so sorry I didn’t know. I never would’ve brought it up if I had known you had already found yours.” You’d broken eye contact with him then unable to watch the sadness in his eyes and not be able to do anything about it.

“That’s why I felt so guilty though because the way I feel about you is so similar to the way I felt about her, how I still feel about her deep down. I was so confused because you’re only supposed to get one soulmate, and if I could feel the same way about you in such a short time… it just feels like I’m betraying her by loving you.” He stepped forward reaching for your chin and forced you to meet his gaze. “The today when I saw your birthmark on your thigh I could’ve cried.” He uses his free hand to unzip the shirt he’d been wearing. He pulled his left arm from the sleeve exposing his birthmark to you. A puzzle piece to fit perfectly into your own.

You’d gasped at the revelation you were right. He was meant to be yours. And yet it didn’t feel right. The anguish on his face was clear, the internal fight he had obviously been having with himself ever since the concert.

“Letting yourself love me now doesn’t mean you loved her any less” you whispered, allowing yourself to move even closer to him, wrapping him in your arms. He’d nuzzled into your neck allowing tears to stream down his cheeks and onto your shoulder. You’d felt every bit of stress leave his body as he cried. Emotions he hadn’t even know he had been holding onto, finally letting himself really breath since he had lost her all those years ago.

You’d lost track of the time, just stood with him, holding him until the final few sniffles came. His cheeks had been puffy by and red when he pulled away, wiping his face on the sleeve still on his right arm.

“Do you want to leave? We can go back to mine” You’d asked carefully, not willing to let him go home alone after feeling like that. He’d nodded weakly, sliding his arm back into the shirt before taking your hand in his. You’d headed for the door only to be brought back by the hand he had on yours. He’d pulled you so close you could see the flecks of gold in his irises, watched your reaction before leaning in and kissing you. It was salty with left over tears, but you wouldn’t change you first kiss for the world. Everything felt like it clicked into place in that moment, the world tilted on its axis. The exchange was short lived, a chaste peck followed by a few smaller pecks before he let you lead him all the way home.

Masterlist

[thestorycfus]

The Sweetest Apparition - Part 3

Pairing: Peggy Carter x fem!Reader

Summary: Reader is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and historian who specializes in the life and legacy of Captain Carter. After Nick Fury uses the Tesseract to bring Peggy back, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts the reader to help her navigate life in the XXI century.

Warnings and notes: Food, mentions of Steggy, mentions of Stucky, very small mentions of war. Other characters are also mentioned. This got way longer than the first two parts, but there’s also way more Peggy here. This series takes place after the last scene of What If… episode one, including spoilers to that episode. Reader uses she/her pronouns.

Word count: 2,304

Series Masterlist

It should be a short walk to your apartment, but you made a small stop each time Captain Carter was curious about something. You also got some take out on the way, making sure to pick at least four different options from separate places and a couple of desserts too, since you didn’t know her taste yet. It was a while before you made it to your street.

During the entire time, your chatting was limited to safe topics - how loud and bright the city was, how many screens there were, the amount of coffee options that existed now. You watched Carter fall in love with her caramel coffee and made a mental note to buy her more sweets.

Soon, the Captain would also need to go shopping. Fury had gotten her the formal white blouse and the black pants she wore now, an outfit much more discreet than the uniform she was wearing when she fell, but that was her entire wardrobe at the moment. That was another mission you should handle, but it could wait until after lunch.

When you finally got home, you placed the food over a kitchen counter and gave Carter a quick tour of the apartment. It wasn’t much, but hopefully it would be enough for both of you until she was more familiar with this century. The tour ended where it started: in your tiny kitchen. You pulled a stool for the Captain and presented her with the options for lunch.

“I suppose you’ve never tried some of those, so I got a few different meals. Burritos, sweet and sour chicken, calzones and Pad Thai. For dessert, there’s lemon tart and triple chocolate cake. I might have gotten a little carried away.”

Peggy took a seat and examined her options. You wondered if that would be, technically her first meal since the 40’s.

“They are all tempting, but I might start with this one.” Her eyes were fixated on a burrito as if it was the Holy Grail. Yeah, that was surely the first time she ate in seventy years. She dove in, so focused on her meal that you didn’t dare to interrupt. Meanwhile, you took the other stool and picked a calzone, eating it while you watched Carter.

You were still trying to wrap your head around the fact that she was really here, and it was surprising that you hadn’t completely freaked out so far, but the prospect of the rest of the day started to worry you. The Captain would certainly have a lot of questions and, if there were inquiries that Fury left for you to answer, they probably pertained more to her personal life than to great historical events.

If the registers about her were right, it wouldn’t be long before the real conversation started. Peggy Carter was too smart to have such a debate in the middle of the street, but she wasn’t known for stalling. As soon as she finished her meal, in the privacy of your (now shared) kitchen, you would have to provide about seven decades of answers.

Before you could try to prepare yourself, she was done with her second burrito. You almost suggested dessert, but the look she gave you left no room for pauses. Carter turned on her stool to face you directly, her posture becoming straighter and her eyes never leaving yours. She was the perfect image of Captain Carter, the hero, the legend who defeated all odds. Still, when she spoke, there was softness in her voice.

“The meal was lovely and so is the apartment. I can’t thank you enough for you kindness, Agent L/N, but I must ask a few things more of you. If you have studied about my life, you must know what happened to Steve Rogers after I was gone.”

You should be ready for that. Of course her first personal concern would be about Rogers. His story with Carter went down in history as a tragic tale of love, bravery and loss. To his last days, Rogers had made it his mission to honor her legacy, but that wasn’t all that he did. How do you tell a person that the love of her life went on to live a decades long, fulfilling relationship with someone else, even though, from her perspective, they were together the day before?

“Please, call me Y/N. And you can ask anything, Captain. I will tell you everything I can.” You took a deep breath, going through the words in your head in search of the best way to let her know. It was best to keep nothing out. Carter deserved that. “Steve Rogers continued to serve as the Hydra Stomper until the war had ended and all known Hydra operations had been eliminated. After that, he stepped out of the suit so that Howard Stark could continue his research with the Tesseract. I believe neither of them ever gave up on bringing you back, but, in many ways, they also moved on to build new lives.”

You made a small pause, in case she wanted to say something, but Carter only gave you a nod, encouraging you to continue. It was impossible to look away from her eyes, or to keep anything hidden when she stared at you with such intensity. Even in silence, sitting still, she emanated a power that kept you talking.

“A few years after the war, Rogers and Stark started an intelligence agency to keep the world safe from threats we could barely understand. They named it S.H.I.E.L.D., because of you. That is the agency I work for, directed by Nick Fury.” There was something poetic in the way that same agency ended up being the reason Peggy Carter was back, but it wasn’t your place to point that out. “Rogers never stopped fighting, even without the suit. He was a legendary agent, working along with James Barnes until they retired. They were also together for the rest of their lives.”

That was the piece of information you feared would break Carter’s heart, but she had a bright smile after hearing that.

“That suits them. All of them.” The joy in her voice sounded so sincere, and you couldn’t help but ask.

“Were you and Rogers… Together? It is said so in the official files, but…” In your studies, you sometimes wondered if their relationship was just a myth, maybe a publicity stunt to humanize the fallen super soldier. It was your job to question the data, but you had never paid that possibility much attention until now.

Instead of being offended by your invasion of her privacy, Carter laughed so lightly and freely that you felt your cheeks getting warm.

“Oh, darling, Steve Rogers had a heart too big to have only one soul mate. He was the love of my life, yes, and I was the love of his, but not the only one. A love so beautiful and dedicated is supposed to be shared. Of course I’m sad I didn’t get to share the rest of his life with him, but I’m relieved to know that he and Bucky had each other. And that’s not to say I’m a being of such virtue that I’m above jealousy. I felt jealous of Steve alright, many times, but I could never be jealous of him with Buck. They fit well together and they were good for each other. They were real, just as Steve and I were. Steve deserved to be loved through a lifetime. I’m grateful that he was.”

Carter’s eyes shined with tears, but she didn’t allow any to fall. Maybe she would let herself grief for the lost possibilities later, but for now she was handling such an emotional journey with more elegance than you thought possible. It didn’t seem to be an act at all. On the contrary, what touched you the most was the honesty in her words. That selflessness of being genuinely happy to hear of how her soul mate lived on without her, in love with someone else, told you more about Peggy Carter than any history book ever had. And that’s how she reacted right after being thrown into the next century, coming directly from a war and landing in a world she didn’t recognize.

“I don’t think history ever made you justice, Captain. The general public thinks of you as a hero, but they’re so far from knowing the person behind the suit... You know, it’s very nice to meet you.” You couldn’t help but sharing a bit of what was on your mind. To that moment, your hero was turning out to be even better than your daydreams, and it was only fair to let her know so.

At that, she gave you a big smile and your heart skipped a beat. You would have a hard time sharing an apartment with this woman.

“You are far too kind to me. To be honest, they never showed much interest on me, suit or not, until I went against official orders and started throwing tanks around and fighting the battles that needed to be fought. I am more concerned about what I am able to achieve, regardless of how they will see me. And there’s no need to call me Captain, Y/N. Heavens, we live and work together now and you’re my guide to modern life. Peggy is fine. And it’s nice to meet you too.” She took the initiative to get a slice of chocolate cake, already making herself at home. You had the feeling that her adaptation to this world wouldn’t be too difficult, all things considered. Peggy Carter would take whatever she was given and make more of it than anyone imagined possible.

“As you wish, Peggy. Speaking of that, there’s a lot I think you’ll like to see about life now. What else are you curious about?” You took your own slice of cake, trying to feel at ease in this conversation. You couldn’t be on high alert whenever Carter was around if she was going to be around all the time, but that was easier said than done. Your responsibilities here were enormous and, to be frank, you were determined to be your best self and impress her, even if just a bit. Maybe telling her about the wonders of nowadays technology would do the trick.

“I am curious about everything. I can’t wait to know all about the development of science, or what I missed in seven decades of sociopolitical turmoil, but there’s one more person I’d love to hear about before we get to that. You mentioned Howard moving on with his life, didn’t you? What exactly was that little menace up to while I was gone?”

Now, that was a rich topic of conversation.

“Well, Stark continued his research with the Tesseract and with many other projects, sometimes along with the US government, and he built a billionaire empire. Weapons, all sorts of technology, wild parties. The man had everything. He has a son, Tony, who inherited the tech, the money and the brains, but with a stronger inclination to heroism. You see, Tony Stark built himself a supersuit, partially inspired by his father’s Hydra Stomper, but with a larger variety of uses. It’s said that Steve Rogers was a sort of mentor to him, but I couldn’t get Stark to talk a lot about it when I interviewed him.”

You couldn’t tell which part made Peggy more excited. She nodded along as you listed Howard Stark’s achievements, as if it was all expected, and her eyes got wider when you told her about his son. When you mentioned Rogers, she almost jumped in her seat. She was already invested, but dropping that name sealed the deal.

“Fury gave me this.” She took two business cards out of her pocket. “It has his telephone number and Barton’s too. Could I use your telephone to call him? I would like to meet this Tony Stark, and I bet Fury would be able to reach him.” 

Giving Director Fury a call from your cellphone felt strange, but how could you deny Peggy that? If the Director gave her the number, he wanted her to be able to reach him, right? 

Instead of dialing yourself, you showed Carter how to use the phone. She looked like a kid on Christmas whenever she was given access to new technology. You would make sure she got a cellphone of her own soon so you could show her everything the device could do. 

She called Fury and you waited as they talked for less than two minutes. Peggy handed you the phone when she was done, with a smile that said she got what she wanted.

“So, what did the Director say?” You asked, anxious to know the outcome of the call.

“We’re meeting Tony Stark tomorrow at 2pm in his tower. Was it him who named it Stark tower or is that Howard’s doing?” She narrowed her eyes a bit, still smiling.

“The tower was built by Tony, so I think we can’t blame Howard for that one.” You joked. “Are you meeting Fury at S.H.I.E.L.D. before you two go to Stark’s?”

“Oh, Fury is not going. He booked the meeting for you and me, if you would like to accompany me.” Peggy sounded hesitant, as if she had just considered that you might not want to join her on that plan. 

"You’re asking me if I wish to be there when Captain Carter meets Tony Stark? Please, if I didn’t get the chance to be a part of that exchange, I would beg you for a detailed retelling as soon as you got home.” 

Your reply made Peggy laugh once more, and you were getting used to that sound very quickly.

[jaskiersvalley]

Meet The Parents

Over on The Bog on Discord, there is a cursed Shrek channel. The idea for this fic was encouraged there and, well, 1.5k later, I have so many regrets, this is definitely what I'd call a shrekcident. All I can say is that writing Shrek and Fiona is really really difficult!

@dapandapod, @thecomfortofoldstorries and @fontegagrilledcheese I think you all asked to be tagged when this is up?

Meet The Parents

There had been several letters from back home, suggesting Jaskier return and brings his lovely travelling companion. It was, without a doubt, Jaskier’s mother writing the letters, she had always had a better grasp on courtly things than his father. Truth be told, it was no secret that the Count of Lettenhove absolutely hated ruling and would much rather spend his time out and about. There were several swamps in Lettenhove that he claimed needed his very dedicated attention. The fact Jaskier’s mother went along with him was no surprise. Despite her upbringing, she was quite fond of a swamp or two too.

“It’s another letter,” Jaskier sighed, flicking it into the fire in the inn. “I don’t understand why they are so insistent on me bringing you home. I mean, they’ve never been interested in previous love interests before. Probably because they’ve all held titles and had standards.” Geralt grunted, eyes fixed on the small alchemy set up he had going on the table. It didn’t deter Jaskier as he carried on. “Mother thinks you and father might get on well once you get past the initial shock of meeting.”

“I can’t imagine anyone being over the moon to meet a Witcher. Especially not one that their darling son is fucking.”

“Well, quite. Father had a couple of run ins with Witchers in his youth. Not all of them were pleasant. But I’m sure you can change his mind.” Jaskier hummed to himself as he thought. “Plus Mother was a cursed princess so you might find some common ground with her. And did I mention my uncle? I spent a lot of time with him growing up, he was really patient, letting me learn to walk by clinging to him. Anyway, he and his dragon-”

“Dragon?” Naturally Geralt perked up at that. “You should have started with that. We’re going to Lettenhove.”

Naturally Geralt had assumed the worst. As if anyone related to Jaskier would be able to keep a dragon against her will. His family was just too nice! But Geralt would learn that fact for himself in a few short weeks when they arrived at Jaskier’s ancestral castle. It was a castle, not a mansion, well kept, if a little more shabby than most. There were overgrown bushes around it and Geralt could have sworn the small of a sulphuric swamp drifted on the winds. They marched up the stairs, everything eerily quiet until the door burst open to reveal two menacing figures.

“Ogres!” Geralt shoved Jaskier behind himself, a snarl on his lips and ready to fight. “I believe this is the Count and Countess of Lettenhove’ residence. What are you doing here?”

“Witcher!” The male ogre spat. “Nothing good has ever come of your kind. You’re not making us move.”

From behind Geralt, Jaskier sprang forwards. “Mother! Father!” He embraced the ogres before being almost bowled over by a donkey. “Uncle!”

“You call this a greeting? This is how you say hello to your favourite uncle? What have I got to do before I get a hug from my favourite nephew?” The donkey looked to the side where the ogres were still staring and turned to see what the issue was. “That’s a Witcher. Oh, that’s your Witcher! That’s a nice Witcher.”

That seemed to pull Jaskier back into the moment and he stood up, clearing his throat. “Right, Mother, Father, Uncle, this is Geralt of Rivia. Geralt, my family.”

Vesemir would be so ashamed if he ever found out how Geralt reacted. All the years spent drilling manners into Geralt’s head were for naught.

“How?!”

“Well,” the donkey said into the stunned silence, “when one ogre loves another ogre and they’re into experimenting with potions-”

“Donkey!” Jaskier’s parents cried in unison before his mother continued. “Please excuse Donkey. I’m Fiona, this is Shrek. And to answer your question, ogres and humans had different anatomy. We got curious, had potions to change temporarily and, well, Jaskier happened during those three days.”

It was Jaskier’s turn to hiss, “Mother! Please don’t tell Geralt about your kinky sex lives.”

“Yes, Eskel told me about ogre anatomy and the differences in rather too much detail,” Geralt grumbled.

“Eskel fucked an ogre?”

“It was an orgy actually - though he insisted on calling it an ogre-y. Said he couldn’t get the mud from the swamp out of certain places for over a week.”

As far as first impressions went, Geralt didn’t think he could have done any worse. But he was being ushered in all the same, Donkey already chattering away about the inane things that had happened since Jaskier last visited. It left Geralt in the rather silent company of Shrek while Fiona led the way.

“Dinner’s at seven,” Shrek gritted out and Geralt hummed in acknowledgement which garnered a grunt in reply.

“Oh my word, you’re marrying your father,” Donkey cried at Jaskier, head snapping to look between Shrek’s retreating back and Geralt standing in the hallway as Fiona opened a door.

“Don’t mind him-” Whatever else she was saying went over Geralt’s head because he caught up with Donkey’s words. Just what was that about marrying?!

They stepped into the room and Jaskier let out a wail of anguish. “Mother! Two beds, really?”

“Just be glad Shrek let you even share a room. But I couldn’t talk him out of having Mirror on the wall.”

“Hello,” the enchanted mirror called. “Please don’t rearrange the room or do anything untoward, I really rather wouldn’t see those kinds of things.”

Geralt closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths. This was fine, he could do this, there was a dragon somewhere around and he was duty bound to make sure she was free. He regretted such a decision by the evening. There was indeed a dragon who lived at the castle but she refused to take a human form, far too happy and, of all things, in love with Donkey, enough to have a clutch with him Dragon-Donkey babies were terrifying, Geralt had ascertained, menaces, taking their temperament from their father while their mother gifted them with wings and the ability to breathe fire. Suddenly, Geralt understood why there were never any contracts in the area. The locals befriended every creature, monster and anything in between. And any they couldn’t? Well, ogres and dragons could easily keep things in check.

Once the shock of it all had worn off, Geralt could actually focus on eating. Other than Jaskier, there seemed to be no one who cared for things like utensils.

“Please, Mother, Father, at least try to have some manners?” Jaskier looked pleadingly at his parents. His only response was Fiona letting out quite the impressive belch before high fiving Shrek.

The sound of small, pattering feet caught Geralt’s attention. He looked at Shrek and Fiona before trying to find the source of the sound. This seemed like the kind of company that would appreciate his party trick with a fork. A hand around his wrist stopped him.

“Not the Three Blind Mice. They’re friends.”

Almost disappointed, Geralt settled back to finish his surprisingly hearty meal. It wasn’t the usual fair of courts, this was more about being filling and warm rather than showing off all the money that went into making tiny portions full of expensive spices. However, it certainly helped set Geralt at ease.

“So, when’s the wedding?” The small amount of peace was shattered by Shrek asking around a mouthful. It had Jaskier shrieking while the rest of his family watched him, frozen in place but not exactly surprised. More like they were patiently waiting for him to be done. Shrek shrugged. “I thought you were bringing your Witcher home to get married. Isn’t that how it usually goes in fairytales?”

“That’s only princes and princesses,” Donkey cut in. “You have a viscount. They don’t have to get married. Unless…?”

“I’m not proposing,” Geralt blurted out. There was a collective groaning sigh from the table, some of it relief, some of it disappointment and Geralt didn’t know just how offended he should be. He didn’t expect Jaskier to loudly but delicately put his cutlery onto his plate to make in clink pointedly.

“Good. Because I wanted to be the one to propose. On my own terms. In my own time. Mother, do you still have the ring? I think I will take it with us. Might eventually use it.”

Donkey gasped. “Not the One Ring?”

“No!” Jaskier sounded exasperated. “We all know what happened to cousin Gollum with that one. I don’t have any wishes to lose my hair because of that. I meant Grandmother’s ring. I doubt Grandfather’s would be very useful.” He turned to Geralt. “Grandfather was turned into a frog. His ring is rather tiny as a result.”

Of course Jaskier had ogres for parents and a frog for a grandfather. He still took after his uncle the most by the sounds of things. Given how Donkey hadn’t stopped making noises, whether it was humming or popping his lips, it was incessant. Geralt felt he now understood Jaskier a whole lot better. And, when the time came, if Jaskier did offer him a ring, Geralt had zero reservations about the knowledge that he would say yes. But the wedding was going to be at Kaer Morhen, he was going to have to insist on that.

[mqgriett]

Tech- Princess

Request: hello darling, i saw you were taking requests (it’s okay if you aren’t anymore, just disregard the rest of this) and I was wondering if you’d be able to write something for Tech? I’m absolutely starving for content surrounding him and I’d take literally any crumb you’d be willing to spare🥺 prompt/genre is totally up to you! @bandaid-bunny

Pairings: Tech x Fem!Reader

Warnings: small mention of death (very very minor, like a sentence)

Summary: you left the Jedi Order a year ago, which meant also leaving the Bad Batch. Tech’s feelings for you never faded, and neither did yours for him.

Notes: I really want to write a part 2 to this!! Please lmk if y’all would want a second part!! 

Tech adjusted his tie for the fifth time, looking at himself in the reflection of the silver elevator. He licked his hand, smoothing back any stray hairs on top of his head. 

“Nervous much?” Hunter muttered next to his brother. 

Tech shook his head, “of course not. Why would I be?”

“Because this is the first time you’re seeing her in a whole year.” Crosshair replied, a smug smile on his face as he crossed his hands over his lap. 

“And why would that make me nervous?” Tech scoffed, rolling his eyes and straightening the cuffs of his suit. The collar of his dress shirt felt increasingly tight and he pulled on, further giving his brother more of a reason to tease him. 

“Last time you saw her you couldn’t talk right!” Wrecker slapped him on the back, making Tech choke on his own spit. 

“That-”, cough, “is-”, another cough, “not true.” He finally caught his breath and repeated his sentence a little clearer. “That isn’t true.” 

“Really?” Crosshair raised an eyebrow and turned to Hunter, who was giving Tech the same look. 

Sarg intertwined his fingers, bringing his fist to the side of his face and making his voice a few octaves higher to mock Tech, “You look especially beautiful in the night time, it hides all of your imperfections. No- it highlights your imperfections. No- you have no imperfections in the night time. No- you’re perfect” 

Tech crossed his arms, his cheeks glowing a shade of bright red as Hunter reenacted the scene from a year ago.

“We’re here for a surveillance operation, that’s all.” he swallowed the ball in his throat, “I might not even get the opportunity to speak with her, so I have no reason to be nervous.” 

The quiet ding of the elevator reaching the top floor was his saving grace. Tech was the first one off and he automatically began to scan the crowded room for any sign of you. As Wrecker walked behind his brother he whispered, “surveillance operation.” He nodded and followed the rest of the Bad Batch, eyes still searching for any sign of you. 

“Sarg, good to see you.” said Cody’s strong tone of voice, catching Tech’s attention again. 

“Same to you, Commander.” Hunter replied, giving the 212th trooper a strong handshake. Cody pointed out that the Bad Batch and 212th were allowed to have fun that night, and that they were only to interfere with anything if it was a threat to the princess’s life. He pointed to the other troopers that had accompanied him that night. The majority of the 212th attack battalion dotted the ball room. 

There was no sign of you after roughly twenty minutes, allowing Tech to ease up a little bit. Crosshair returned from the bar, standing next to his brother and handing him a medium sized glass with a small amount of black liquid. Although he wasn’t much of a drinker, Tech downed the shot within seconds of having it in his grasp. 

***

“Nervous much?” Padme asked, watching from the corner of your room as you adjusted the front of your corset for the fifth time. 

You ignored her snarky comment, continuing to speak your thoughts out loud, “Out of all the squadrons he could have asked, of course he chooses 99.” 

“You’re going to smudge your makeup if you keep pacing and sweating like that.” she replied, walking to your side. “And, who knows? Maybe he’s not here.” 

“Hunt- The Sergeant, doesn’t go anywhere without him. He’s here.” you answered, taking a loud breath in to calm yourself. “It’s been at least a year. Last time I saw him I was allowed to go on missions and hold a weapon that’s bigger than my palm.” 

You reached behind yourself and started to undo the corset, “Now I need to go and sit in meetings, sit like a lady, smile and nod, and be pretty. That’s all… Could you re-tie this for me? The seamstress made it so I couldn’t breathe.” You motioned to the strings of the corset. 

“How about you wear that blue dress, you liked that one.” Padme suggested, trying her best to get you into a better mood. 

You sighed, “alright.” 

As you walked back to your closet, Padme spoke behind you, “if you look on the bright side, attachments are no longer forbidden for you.” 

It genuinely made both of you laugh, lifting your spirits a little as you unhooked the blue dress from its hanger. “maybe embrace that he’s here. You no longer need to follow the code, make the best of it.” 

She was right, the Jedi code no longer applied to you. 

About a year ago, when your sister had passed, it left you to take the throne of Alderaan as Princess. Your father, Bail Organa, was a senator and your mother, Breha Organa, was Queen. Someone needed to help her govern the planet, which led to you leaving the Jedi order and fulfill your duties as the only living legacy of your parents. 

It was a difficult decision to make, and tonight would lock it in. The majority of Senators were here, including a few other monarchs. Last time you had seen the bulk of them you were still a Jedi Knight, now you were Princess of Alderaan. 

This party was risky to throw, but it had already been postponed many times before. There was a small window to celebrate the new princess, which is no-doubt why the Bad Batch was called in. Majority of the troopers were on missions, and if the party was to be short on guards then it needed the strongest battalion available, Clone Force 99.

It was already twenty minutes into the celebration, and you had five minutes prepare to see them again. Last time you five were together it was a special operations mission, you were a Jedi and they were your designated clone battalion. Now you were tasked with pretending to be someone else, a princess. 

You tugged your dress on and allowed Padme to lace the back up, it was time. 

***

A loud sound of trumpets echoed through the room, quickly drawing everyone’s attention. The lights dimmed everywhere except the grand balcony with a staircase leading down to the main floor. 

Tech followed the voice of the announcer, who seemed to be invisible among the huge crowd. “It is with great pleasure that I welcome the Queen and the new Princess of Alderaan.” he said obstreperously. 

Queen Breha walked with grace down the steps, waving as she descended. 

Next came the princess, her gold-accented, sleek, pastel blue dress shining in the light beautiful. Tech’s heart raced as he saw you, his glass slipping from his grip. He had nearly forgotten how beautiful you were, and the way you quickly walked down each stair nearly made him faint. The expensive glassware would have broken if it weren’t for Hunter’s quick reflexes. 

The only other time he had witnessed the sight of you in a dress was during an undercover op, other than that you were frequently in your robes. Maker, you were breathtaking in that gown. He was going mad and you were still across the room. 

You turned over your shoulder, automatically scanning the crowd for any signs of the Bad Batch. It seemed that every free moment you had was interrupted by a Senator or distant relative congratulating you on your new status. So, you smiled and made small talk, a tiny headache beginning to creep up on you. 

As you thanked Senator Clovis for coming, a strong hand touched the small of your back. “Need a break?” Hunter asked behind you. 

In that moment you could have cried at the sound of his voice. You were so overwhelmed and tired, wanting to collapse every time you needed to start a new conversation with someone. As you turned, you straightened your back, “Sergeant.” You gave him a curt nod, “Thank you for coming on such short notice.” 

Hunter raised his eyebrow, waiting a moment before hooking his arm within your own. “Since when do you call me Sergeant?” he mused, beginning to lead you over to the edge of the ballroom. 

You were well out of earshot of anyone important now, and your whole demeanor changed. You let out a breath of air and slouched, letting your legs rest a shoulder-width apart. “You have no clue how happy I am to see you.” 

“Right back at you Command- Princess.” he said, letting go of your arm. 

“Don’t call me that, for maker’s sake.” you pleaded, your tone genuinely sad. 

He smirked, “not your thing, huh?” 

You shook your head, “where’s the rest of the boys?” 

“Wrecker spilled that Corellian wine on his shirt, Tech and Cross are helping him get cleaned off.” he responded with a shrug, as if it was a regular thing; on that thought, it was. 

Your heart fluttered, “Tech’s here?” 

Hunter chuckled deeply, combing his hair back, “he is. Why?” 

You pursed your lips while narrowing your eyes, “just curious.” 

Before Sarg could tease you any further, the large gold door to the men’s bathroom opened and the other three Bad Batchers stumbled back inside the room. You instinctively looked over your shoulder, your gaze catching Tech’s. 

You both froze, trapped in each other's presence. He smiled, eyes sparkling in the faint light of the ballroom. 

The group of three made their way to Hunter and you, Wrecker with a huge grin on his face. 

Crosshair performed a dramatic bow, “m’lady.” he slid his hands into his pockets, a smug smirk on his face as he greeted you. 

“I hate you,” You teased, shaking your head the smallest bit to show you disapproval.  

“Hi Princess.” Wrecker didn’t hesitate to pull you into a tight hug, but he soon let go once realizing that he was possibly transferring the wine stain onto your dress. 

Tech wrapped his arms around your waist and whispered, “you look nice.” 

You rested your chin on his shoulder, “back at you.” 

Crosshair interjected, “you got something on your dress.” he twirled his long finger towards your abdomen. 

Wrecker had accidentally transferred some wine on your gown. You frowned, knowing that you now had to change dresses. “Kriff,” you mumbled, secretly slightly relieved that you got to leave for a few minutes, “I’ll be back. If anyone asks, just say I’m touching up my makeup.” 

As you took a step forward, Padme’s words seemed to echo in your mind. Maybe embrace that he’s here. You no longer need to follow the code, make the best of it.

You smiled, “Tech would you mind coming along? I’m not supposed to leave the room without another person.” 

He looked slightly surprised at your offer, but after tripping over a few words he nodded and followed. 

Tech took a deep breath once you two were alone, clenching and relaxing his fists to ease a bit of his nerves, “I missed you, we all did. Missions aren’t as fun without you.” 

You grinned, “I missed you too. Everything goes by slower nowadays.” 

“You don’t enjoy your new life?” He asked, eyebrows creasing to form a concerned expression. He looked around at all the gold accented treasures hidden among the castle. 

“There’s no excitement. Every day is just a repeat of the last.” The elevator doors opened and you both stepped inside. 

They slid shut, officially making it just the two of you. “Do you miss the Order?” 

You shook your head, “Not as much as I thought I would, but I miss the adventures. I miss you.” you said the last piece quietly, hoping he didn’t hear. 

But since it was Tech, and he was the most attentive person you knew, he heard. He turned to look at you, making deep eye contact, “I miss you too. Co-piloting with Crosshair isn’t as fun as it was with you. I’m not as good at calming Wrecker down as you were.” 

You arrived at your floor, the doors opening again and both of you walking out. There was an awkward silence surrounding the two of you now, both wanting to say the same thing. 

As you stepped foot in your room, the energy shifted a little. You motioned for Tech to make himself comfortable and made your way to the closet. 

He sat at the foot of your huge bed, admiring how well-decorated it was. He turned to look at the wall his back faced, eyes wandering to your nightstand. In the middle stood a framed photograph. It was a picture that Wrecker had taken after a rough mission. You and Tech were both asleep, your head on his lap and his hand draped over your waist. He sighed and called out to you, “You know I’ve always loved you, right?” 

You froze, barely finishing at pulling the peach-colored dress over your head when his voice reached your ears. By the time you had turned around, Tech was standing in the doorway of your closet. 

No more Jedi Code. 

You walked to him, placing a gentle hand against his cheek and kissing him. He grabbed your hand and held it, leaning forward to deepen the kiss. He had waited too long for this to end quickly, and you felt the same.