#not to mention... joining a server that already is close just

[dreamauri]

♪ — 𝗪𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡? - part eleven max verstappen x reader ( angst ) series summary , when he wants to be normal, he can count on you, stranger.

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Summer break used to feel like a breath of fresh air. Now, it’s just . . . heavy.

He sleeps too much. Or not at all. The sun comes through the window at the wrong angle. His phone is always face down. The sim rig in the corner is gathering dust, like even it knows something’s broken in him.

It’s been weeks since Hungary. Since Belgium. Since her voice.

The walls of his apartment are silent — no comms, no engine hum, no laughter through tinny headphones.

And Max . . . can’t do this anymore.

On the seventh day of summer break, still in last night’s shirt, he powers up his PC.

Just to look, he tells himself.

He logs back into Discord. His fingers hesitate over the server name before clicking in.

He joins one of the active voice chats. Muted.

He doesn't plan on speaking. He just needs to hear her. Just once.

And then —

There it is. There she is. There you are.

Your voice. Soft and bright, laughing at something someone said. Light in all the places Max forgot could hold light. He closes his eyes, leans back in his chair, and just listens.

“Yeah, I might swing by the café after work,” you’re saying. “The interns are driving me insane — if I don’t get caffeine, someone’s getting a stapler thrown at them.”

People laugh. You laugh. Max’s chest tightens. God, he missed that laugh. He missed you.

He leaves the call before he does something stupid.

The next day, he’s on a train to Paris.

No one knows. Not his manager, not the team, not even Victoria. He pulls his hood up, keeps his head down, sunglasses tucked low over tired eyes. He tells himself it’s just a trip. Just coffee. Just closure.

But when he walks into the café you mentioned — tucked on a quiet side street near the river — the barista greets him like fate’s already written the next chapter.

“Mocha?” she says with a smile, handing it over.

Max blinks. “Uh . . . yeah.”

“On the house,” she says, nodding toward the whipped cream. “A girl told us you might drop by.”

His heart stumbles. “She did?”

The barista just winks and moves on.

Max finds a spot to sit outside on the grass in a random park, the paper cup warm in his hands. He stares at the heart drawn in whipped cream on top. Small. Soft. Perfectly imperfect.

He tells himself not to overthink it. She didn’t do that. She didn’t request that they put a heart for him. She’s angry at him. She hates him. She probably warned them not to say anything if he showed up.

The heart was probably just . . . what they always do. A café flourish. Nothing more.

But still.

Still.

He brings the cup to his lips, closes his eyes, and for a split second — just one — lets himself pretend it means something.

That maybe, somewhere in Paris—sitting on a patch of grass to escape your messy life too—you’re thinking of him as well.

[leopardom]

so you happened to miss the live Q&A with Nace and Bojan on the Joker Out official discord server yesterday? worry not, i got you covered

Souvenir Pop Discord Listening Party - Q&A with Bojan and Nace ✨

questions are in bold and are all from discord

quotation marks are being used for all the the word-by-word answers by Bojan and Nace

dialogues between Bojan and Nace, reactions and some worth-mentioning moments are in italics

there were some questions about touring to specific places again or for the first time. answers to all of them were vaguelly positive, so i didn't include them here

the whole listening party lasted about an hour and a half so this is a long read

{steaming Muzika Za Decu and Šta Bih Ja and waiting for Bojan and Nace to join}

Q: How are you doing after the album release? [missed Bojan's answer] N: "Feeling as usual - super bad" *joking about it with Bojan*, had to get up early to take Pino to the vet

Q: Which artists were your musical influences for Lips? both: The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey and Nick Cave

Q: How did you do the screaming kids in Muzika Za Decu? N: initial recordings were done with kids of their friends. after bringing the tracks to their producer, he asked for more voices so they recorded more with some kids from a music school in Kranj (Nace's hometown). Nace was present in all those recordings

Q: Do you have any vacation plans? N: most of them are going to Thailand again B: Thailand is "too far away to call it a vacation" so he's probably going somewhere closer to Slovenia

Q: Why is Carpe Diem ever so slightly diffrent? B: they remastered the song because they realised the mastering they had done already was a bit bad - "that's why it sounded like it came out of a toaster compared to other eurovision songs"

Q: Any TV series recommendations? B: Atypical, Narcos, Peaky Blinders N: Game Of Thrones Nace asks Bojan if he's watching anything atm and he says only some history stuff. Nace and Kris are watching Naked and Afraid religiously, and according to Bojan, "in the van, outside the van, in hotel rooms, everywhere"

Q: How do you choose what the next song will be about? Are there any criteria? B: "The songs just happen as they do, a storyline usually comes with the vocal melody [...] The story is never a fake thing, it's always something real so there is really no choosing more in a sense of like "we have a couple of songs and we choose which one we're gonna have" but it's not connected to what the song is about. More like "what the song sounds like and what kind of a vibe we wanna put out""

Q: What is your go to effect for your instrument/for some songs? N: only uses drive and tape echo

Q: Which song did change the most during the recording process? B: Lips *Nace agrees* - it started as a whole different song called J’taime and was supposed to be an english/french or slovene/french duet and also very rock n roll

Q: Are there any more tour dates coming? B: yes but they have nothing planned yet so it will take some time

Q: If you had to live somewhere for 6 months where would it be? both: London B: "If I had to go live somewhere for longer, I would go to Palermo"

Q: Why are your songs so good!? How do you never make bad music? B: "We do, you just don't get to hear it"

Q: Who is writing the weekly updates? N: all of them *Bojan gets confused for a moment and doesn't realise they're talking about the openstage weekly updates*

Q: Thought process during the making of the album? B: "It’s a clusterfuck" *banter about how they love and hate what they do while making an album*

{break to listen to Carpe Diem and Stephanie. Pino starts barking at the first few moments of Carpe Diem and then Nace and Bojan realise they need to close their mic for that section lol}

Q: (question for Nace) What strings/bass equipment are you using and if you have any small tips for bass beginners? N: tip - "the equipment doesn't matter, what matters is what you do with the bass. start with lighter strings and try to learn as many songs as you can" // he's using D’Addario and La Bella flat strings

Q: Which song took the longest to finish? both: Šta Bih Ja (they crashed the studio pc because of the number of takes they had to do)

Q: What was your music inspiration for Mesto Duhov? both: there wasn't some specific inspiration music-wise

Q: Which song did y'all think think would be the fan favourite?? N: Bluza [missed Bojan's answer here because my laptop ran out of battery lol]

Q: Nace, what is your screentime on your phone because you‘re online like every time N: 9h 23min today “because it was release day”, usually is around 3-4 hours (Bojan's is 3h)

*Bojan proceeds to yap about how he's learning spanish on duolingo*

Q: Ever thought of selling posters ? It's a lil less expensive way to support you and also propaganda both: no because it's difficult to ship and they get ruined in the process. they may think about posters as merch for concerts only

Q: Who played the piano in Sonce? B: it's written and played by Jan N: "One of Slovenia's best piano players, renowned..."

Q: What happend with Schlager? B: "Nothing happened to it, it's doing quite well, we had a chat yesterday and everything is going fine in Schlagerland, but it couldn't make it to the album. Didn't feel like it. Maybe next time"

Q: When you first made music did you expect it to reach people so powerfully that it created year lasting friendships and have people travel so far to see you live? B: no because they were used to the way things work in Slovenia (smaller distances and sometimes people don't even travel from one city to another even if they're around 20 minutes away from each other) so this was very new to them but they're happy to see it

Q: How is the new album going to affect the setlist? Will you still perform older songs? B: the whole third album will be performed on the upcoming tour and there will be some variations on the setlists regarding the songs from the previous 2 albums

Q: Is there any possibility to hear you singing in italian on next albums? B: there was an idea for this album but didn't work out

Q: Do you have plans for a spanish song? B: "There was an idea called "si me das in beso más" but didn't go through [...] because it was getting into a reggaeton-ish direction"

Q: Will there be a french song in the future? B: J’taime was supposed to be one but didn't happen

Q: What about Souvenir Pop fridge magnets? B: they're considering it (Nace adds that he'd love to have one)

Q: Best slovenian cuisine and best places to visit in Slovenia N: food - prekmurska gibanica // places - Bovec and Bohinj B: food - kranjska klobasa and žlikrofi (to represent Jure) // places - Bohinj, Postojna cave, Logarska Dolina

Q: Nace, which cruise ships did you play on? We would love to have Joker Out cruise gig in Finland! N: the cruise ship he worked on was AIDAbella (belongs to german cruise line AIDA Cruises), he was there for 6 months and the cruise was in the Baltics B: would love to do the cruise from Finland to Estonia "where everybody supposedly gets extremely smashed"

Q: Was the writing process of Stephanie different, because you have Žare as composer but not Jure? B: the percussions were computer-based drum loops so maybe that's why

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from? Or do you just wake up with it one morning? B: "(inspiration) is memories becoming visible in your own head" - they all have memories and impressions in their lives that just get triggered when writing a song

Q: How did you get the idea of making Lips? It has such a different vibe of all the songs you have B: Žare showed them the heartbeat that can be heard in the song, Bojan came up with the "put your lips on mine" line and proceeded to finish the lyrics on their way back home from Bucharest after Summer Well fest. it was basically Nace who turned the idea of Lips into a song music-wise

Q: Why did you decide to release stephanie so close before the album release? Was it the plan all along? B: apparently he didn't know the song was getting released, he just saw it on their instagram stories and rolled with it lol

Q: Does lyrics just pop into your head and then you decide the story or do you decide on a common theme/story the song is gonna have and then make the lyrics about that? B: usually there's an insistent thought in his head and he works around it

Q: What do you think of Baldies Out? Which song do you want us to cover next? context: Baldies Out is a group on instagram which posts - you guessed it - bald edits of Joker Out. occasionally there are covers of Joker Out songs, adapted with lyrics that fit the bald theme of the account B: they could cover Lips and turn the lyrics into "put your hair on mine" or Ako Toga Više Neće Biti "so it's a man who's going bald singing to his hair - it's a song between a guy and his hair" Bojan is frustrated because he looks very bad bald meanwhile Nace finds himself cool in his bald edition, Bojan too believes bald Nace looks cool, Nace jokes about shaving off all his hair and Bojan says he'd like to see that and proceeds to complement his beard and tell him he'd look "badass as hell"

Q: What's something you want to experience in life but haven't yet? N: see mount Everest/visit Nepal B: have a farm *banter with Nace: he'd like to have goats, chickens, a horse, rabbits, dogs, cats and a bull*

Q: Why did you choose the openers for the tour that you chose (I love them) B: the answer was in the question; they love them too

Q: Also Romania misses you guys, please come back next year B: they all loved Romania and Summer Well, he then mentions how he's not a fan of festivals as an attendand and has been to one for a couple of days only once when he was 18

Q: Are the cities at the end of the Bluza MV a teasing of a European tour? B: no, they were just cities on the old radio they used for the mv

{break to listen to Ako Toga Više Neće Biti and Bluza}

Q: Ruisrock next year?! B: they loved Ruisrock this year and would love to be back

Q: What are your favourite books, if you have any? B: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini N: he's currently reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

Q: What's your favourite Big Foot Mama songs? both: Buldožer, Led s severa, Neki sladkega

Q: Have you heard of the genre "midwest emo"? both: no (and they had to google it)

Q: What was the most cathartic song to write and why? B: Everybody's Waiting, Lips and Ako Toga Više Neće Biti

Q: What’s your fav Schlager (as in the German music)? N: mentions Semino Rossi and Ibo and the songs Ibiza (by Ibo) and Rot sind die Rosen (by Semino Rossi)

Q: Are there more songs like Muzika Za Decu & Mesto Duhov (more loud and rock) songs in the vault??? B: no, just these two

Q: Souvenir pop Vinyl/CD when? N: CDs will be available at the gigs but they're not sure when they'll be available online. vinyls will come around January/February

Q: What is your favourite memory from making the album? N: the recording of Ako Toga Više Neće Biti *Bojan agrees*

Q: Fav Finnish artists/bands you know? (Käärijä doesn't count) B: Sonny, Ville Valo *Nace agrees*, Sunrise Avenue and he loves the Blind Channel cover of Left Outside Alone (Nace says this is Bojan's guilty pleasure song) N: Pikku G

Q: When new merch? B: it's coming with the tour

Q: Would you like to receive Get Watermarked stickers next tour? context: it's a photo of Mark in a pool(or a hot tub i'm not sure) and someone edited the phrase "Get Watermarked" on it and turned it into a sticker for the sys tour both: they'd absolutely want one

Q: Do you often get stopped by fans on the street or any public places? Is there anything that irritates you? B: gets followed around often but people are not very invasive N: doesn't get stalked as much as Bojan and doesn't mind when fans stop him on the street

Q: Are you familiar with Käärijä's EuroPass on Kollekt and would you consider doing something similar in the future? B: they don't know what that is and "if it's good then we should consider it but if it's not good then we're not considering it"

Q: Tying onto the q before, restaurant reccomendations and favourite sight? Bojan's fave restaurant is Aftr and Nace's is Sushimama, they both agree that their fave sight is the Ljubljana castle

Q: I noticed you guys follow some of my fav musicians on instagram so i was wondering Nace what’s your favorite Declan McKenna song and Bojan what’s your favorite Greta van Fleet song N: Nothing Works B: doesn't have a fave GVF song, just likes the band

Q: What are the possibilities for JO (whether concert and/or meet and greet) in the US and/or the UK? both: they were supposed to play in NYC in May but it was a very last-minute thing and didn't manage to get working visas in time. they'll have a gig or more in the UK next year

Q: When you were at the Sziget festival, have you tasted hungarian foods? if yes, what was it? / when will be new products in the shop? B: has been in Hungary twice (once this year for Sziget and once as a child) but hasn't tried anything hungarian - ✨I love food no matter where it comes from. Hopefully the kitchen✨ N: new products will be online hopefully by the end of 2024 but they're not sure yet

Q: Is the concert in Novi Sad definitely happening? Due to the tragedy a lot of events have been canceled out of respect for the victims so there's been some rumors about it possibly getting canceled B: the concert will go on and the profits will go to the families of those who have lost someone and those in need

Q: Are you gonna come back to places you've already performed at during the EU tour, or maybe try to get to new cities? B: "A little bit of both"

Q: What's your fav spanish dish? both: paella

Q: How is the trumpet playing going? Will we see it on stage? B: trumpet playing is going great, will happen on stage at some point too

Q: Is there any connection between Mesto Duhov and the lyrics : "mesto polno je duhov" ? "mesto polno je duhov" is a lyric from Padam B: "There is no connection except for the connection that both of them were written by me and it looks like I have horrible imagination"

Q: Did any of you play any unexpected instruments for any songs? For instance we already know Nace has a guitar track and a drum track on the album but are there any other surprising credits? - Jan played lots of synths and bass on the chorus of Stephanie - Nace played synths and programmed the drums for Stephanie and Lips - Bojan played the drums for Ako Toga Više Neće Biti, bass on the verses of Stephanie and also did synths for Stephanie - Jure played piano for Bluza (???) all credits are written down on the album

Q: Any chance of coming back to Scotland next year? *they both chant "no Scotland no party"*

Q: Do you like BOOOM? both: yes N: he used to be their producer and worked with them on their first songs

Q: Can you give advice for young musicians like you? B: "Surround yourself with people you love and people who inspire you. Trust yourself. Always be critical to yourself but not to a point where you become self harmful"

Q: What do you value the most in life? B: health N: health and relationships

Q: What book could you recommend? Or if you can't choose one, what book are you reading now? B: The Kite Runner and The Alchemist (he then jokes about how Nace should recommend some Disney cartoon)

Q: Who had the idea using the piano for Sonce and who played the part? (I assume Jan but still) And can you upload the damn music sheet for it? I need to play this B: the idea about the piano was collective and if anyone wants the sheet music for the song, they should ask Jan for it

Q: If you had the chance to record and release a cover of a song of any of your favourite artists, which song would it be? *Bojan jokes about it being Gangnam Style* N: something by The Beatles, maybe Let It Be B: Silencio or Bulería by David Bisbal *starts singing Bulería*

Q: Nace, what is the best bassist joke you have ever heard? N: most of them are in slovene and he doesn’t say any B: "I think being the bassist is the biggest joke"

Q: How do you approach writing lyrics? Do you prioritize storytelling, imagery, or rhythm? B: prefers and prioritizes storytelling

Q: Which song do you personally find the most emotional and why? B: "Everybody's Waiting because it's like a very personal struggle song, Ako Toga Više Neće Biti because it's… a very personal struggle song" N: "Whenever I’m hearing Sonce I just get in this special state like I'm getting drown in a song and stop thinking about everything else"

Q: Assuming you’ll come back to The Netherlands in the future, is there another city you’d like to visit or a venue/festival you’d like to play? both: they'd like to play Pinkpop fest

Q: Would you ever like to hold a concert in Ukraine?? B: they'd love that and hopefully as soon as possible

Q: Will there be music videos for the new songs on the album? B: yes N: they're recording a new video soon apparently Bojan wasn't aware of that either lol

Q: Any Italian French or Spanish music that inspired you to try writing in those languages? Also Bojan you can pick two+ languages on duolingo and do them at the same time N: they we listening a lot to an italian song called Il mio canto libero, he loves Nek and he listens to a lot of french electronic B: he's listening to italian, french and spanish music a lot, he loves a song called Buona sera signorina (note: had to google this and maybe the title is actually Buona sera ciao ciao) both: they all like L'Impératrice and Bojan butchers the pronunciation of the band name

*at this moment Bojan finds out you can learn two and more languages on duolingo at the same time and proceeds to add italian to his account*

Q: 1 - What were some of the inspirations for Muzika Za Decu? 2 - Bojan can you tell us a dad joke? 3 - I just wanted to say that Lips should be a soundtrack of a movie B: party breakers *doesn't answer the second question because he's too busy doing italian on duolingo* both: they agree that Lips should be in a movie soundtrack

Q: Do you know when will you release the dates and the cities for the tour? I assume there will be a european tour for the new album N: there will be a european tour at some point next year and they will announce it "once Bojan stops learning italian" (Nace basically makes fun of Bojan doing his duolingo right at that moment)

{break to listen to Lips, Mesto Duhov and Sonce}

Q: Bojan would you try to sing Carpe Diem in estonian ever again? B: yes

Q: Can we expect a new concert intro for the tour for one of the new songs like the intro for Katrina and Gola? N: yes

Q: Is Bojan learning finnish in Duolingo? B: no, only spanish and italian

Q: Will there be a chance of a collab between Joker Out and Käärijä? B: hopefully one day

Q: Do any of you play chess? B: he and Kris play chess online, Kris less often than Bojan

Q: Will you pop a souvenir in Istanbul soon? N: they want to but have to find a date to reschedule the cancelled gig from this summer

Q: Have you visited any tourist attractions while in Bucharest? N: no and only he and Kris walked around the city centre for a bit while being there

Q: Nace, why did you bring four basses to the recording studio in Hamburg and did you record on all of them? N: one of those basses wasn't his and "when you're in the studio you just wanna have more basses"

Q: Is Pino the best boy in whole world? N: yes ❤️❤️❤️

Q: How do you guys decide to who to follow on insta? (for example fan pages,artists) N: they just follow the pages they like

Q: Apart from Nace and gluten, are there any things you all don't like or can't eat? B: he doesn't like tomatoes and is intolerant to avocado

Q: Do y’all notice Joker Out edits on TikTok? Do (did) you like them? N: he and Bojan don't have tiktok. Jure, however, is addicted to it

Q: Did you know that all of you are saving and changing peoples lives? B: "When we started doing music none of us could ever believe, or think even, that it could mean so much to someone as it does to a lot of you. Even though we went through so many different stages in a very short period of time, because our life changed so dramaticaly, I will say that the fact that you actually feel the music and it helps you in certain situations and hard times... I just want you guys to know that literally it means the same to us. The whole sharing of this energy is very real and we are trying to do our best to kind of make you know that we're here. And sometimes it's also hard for us because we're trying to tolerate our personal life and everything else with the music and with communicating with fans, but we appreciate it so dearly and we're happy that it's changing your lives and, just so you know, you're also changing our lives everyday. We're very, very honoured to have you on board with us and so thankful for all your help and all your enthusiasm, for all the love. You're incredible artists as well, we see the arts that you create daily - a lot of it is inspired by us which is also crazy and incredible so... Just a big thank you! And thank you to the Joker Out discord server, you're doing an incredible job, it's become so much bigger than what we ever expected. (thank you) to Joker Out Subs, all the groups that have been formed, as well as Baldies Out. I think it's a very big contribution to the bald Joker Out generation 💀😂. Just thank you so much!"

*Bojan presses something, gets lost in the server and both he and Nace are trying to figure out how to get back to the channel with all the questions (they succeed), they announce that an art contest will start (more info about that can be found on the latest-news channel of the official server) and Nace informs everyone he has to take Pino for a walk before saying bye to the chat*

end

[vellichor-of-the-solivagant]

Like Birds on a Broken Branch | 2

Monster! Task Force 141 X F!Reader

Previous Chapter / Masterlist / DISCORD SERVER

Context Warning: NSFW! Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dub-con/ Non-con, Fingering, Murder, Author's Poor Attempt in Dark Fic, Monsterfucking, Mentions of Slavery

John Mactavish had you sitting on his lap as soon as you were brought into a limousine, his big hands gripping your ass, forcing you to grind yourself on the throbbing cock inside his boxers. Whereas the dragon—whom they called Price had his hand wrapped around your throat as he guided your hand to his monstrous dick. His horns, wings, and tail were nowhere to be seen.

You grumbled at his kiss, eyes open and brows knitting to let them know that you were repulsed. But they did not bother to acknowledge that, nor did you have the power to force them to talk about it.

Price forced your hands to stroke his cock at the pace he desired, already slick from the precum leaking from his tip, which felt . . . strange on your hand, the ends of your fingers not even meeting the slightest.

This was like molesting an oversized hotdog or a sausage.

God, now you hate hotdogs and sausages.

“Yeah, yeah,” Price groaned into your mouth, “that's it, dove.”

“I said,” you growled on his lips, taking a deep breath when Mactavish thrust upward, “fucking stop.” You bit down on Price��s lip, which made him tighten his grip around your neck and slowly pull away. He let your hand go and you pulled back from his dick, frowning at the sudden lack of air.

“Now, little one, let's not be rough,” he mumbled under his breath, his eyes trailing down to your exposed cunt, wetting a spot on his friend's boxers. “Although, you seemed to be enjoying it.”

“I don't—” your breath hitched up when Mactavish planted his calloused fingers on your clit and made maddening circles, that caused you to hold onto the dragon-shifter’s arm. Your eyes threatened to close and you pursed your lips to hold back the moan, but still, you couldn't help but let out stifled noises.

Price smirked at John which the other returned, and turned to the other two who just watched the scene unfold.

“Are you two not going to join?” He questioned, pulling your arm to wrap it around his neck and planting a kiss on your arm. He grinned at the sight of your slightly parted lips and gave the corner of your lips a peck, which seemed to have brought you back as you pursed them closed.

You clawed on his shirt as Mactavish slowly inserted a digit into you, pumping in and out, till he tightened his grip on your ass, guiding you up and down on his finger. You put your hand over your mouth, gnawed on your lower lip, and let your eyes close as your pussy clamped down on Mactavish’s finger, not wanting to give them the noise or reaction they wanted to see from you. But someone pulled your hand away and you flattered your eyes open. Price ran his thumb over your lip, smudging the blood on the fragile skin which made it redder and swollen.

“Graves just caught her a week before, Price,” Kyle reasoned out and crossed his arms. “Give her some break.”

“I agree with him,” Simon claimed and gazed down at your bouncing ass, skin already marked red by Mactavish’s harsh grip. The sight of them being stretched out was enough to make him hard.

Price raised his brows, glancing at the hardened tents on their pants, and huffed, moving away from you and soap. “Suit yourselves,” he declared, and pulled up his pants, before buckling his belt back in place.

You breathed a sigh of relief, making Price chuckle. “That's enough, Soap. We don't want her breaking before we get back home.” Then, he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a broad chest littered with dark hair that ran down to his stomach and under his pants.

He jerked the shirt off and handed it to the incubus underneath you.

John grumbled in retaliation, but he snatched the shirt from the dragon-shifter's hand and drew it over your naked flesh. “Come on, we don't want you getting cold.”

As soon as you were at least clothed, you jumped away from his grasp, scooting to the cornermost seat of the limousine, eyes scanning all of them. You tugged on the hem of the shirt in an attempt to hide your exposed, slick folds.

An unusual group, you thought. Very, very unusual.

Dragons were territorial, they do not share, but this Jonathan Price almost had you in front of three others, who very much didn't seem to be dragons as well.

“Strange, aren't we?” Price spoke as he saw your questioning gaze. “I'm sure you've never heard of dragons letting others mate with their woman. But they are more than just others—they are my friends, my brothers, my family. What I get, they get.”

“Birds of a feather, fuck together, huh,” you mumbled, frowning at them.

“Oh, ooh, she's funny,” John commented, a grin appearing on his face, “I like that on females.”

You kept a frown on your face as he said that, and asked, “What. . . what are you?”

“An incubus.” He smiled and motioned at the other two,  who fortunately still hadn’t touched an inch of you. “Kyle is a Siren, and Simon’s a Wraith.”

You felt like thrashing at his words, maybe hitting your head against the windows of their goddamn limousine which God knows how many people have they had fucked over these nasty seats. A territorial dragon, a demon who feeds on lust, a siren who was known to hypnotize people, and a wraith who was considered the killing machine of monsters—a reaper.

What kind of group is this? Fucking Weirdos.

You breathed out a sigh as you stared at the towering structure before you. A castle? That would seem to be an understatement. This place was more of a fortress, now your version of hell—a labyrinth in which you were soon to be imprisoned, till the day you rot in their hands. Honestly speaking, only four monsters were far better than having a dozen of them buying you from the auction. You had heard of stories where a woman was taken by eleven orcs, and her story was never heard of again.

You couldn’t imagine yourself being in that poor woman’s situation, but you couldn’t bring yourself to be thankful, despite you being fortunate enough.

A hand wrapped around your waist as you stepped out of the car, your bare feet leaving the rough and cold concrete as you were lifted in the air. Price heaved you up in his arms, guiding your arms to wrap around his neck. You met his once-golden eyes, now the color of the sky. You wondered, at the back of your mind, how would a dragon’s eye feel at the palm of your hands. 

“From now on, this will be your home,” he motioned at the enormous skyscrapers as he started to saunter forward the vast courtyard, his brothers-in-arms following just a step behind.

“Home?” You echoed, your warm breath fanning his lips. “Is this not just a cage for me till you toss me aside?”

“Toss you aside?” He let out a small laugh. “Why would we do that?” he leaned forward, his lips brushing slightly at the corner of yours, inhaling your scent mixed with his and the incubus. Then, he lifted his gaze at yours, awaiting your reaction.

You gave him none and remained silent as your response and in return, he merely smiled until you all arrived before the enormous, double mahogany door, carved with intricate designs. None of them bothered to land a knock on the door, yet it still opened, revealing a grand entryway.

The ceilings were high with chandeliers heaved up. The walls were tall and adorned with paintings and torches, and a series of lofty windows were encased with crimson drapes that matched the carpet beneath you. And as soon as they stepped inside, several people with black veils hiding their faces appeared and lined up, their heads all lowered.

“They are our servants—now yours, too, but pay them no mind,” Mactavish remarked, humming as the five of you continued on your way and climbed up a staircase.

It didn’t take long till you were brought to a wide and seemingly endless corridor, and yet Price still hadn’t let you down to walk on your own. He was perhaps enjoying the plumpness of your butt or the way your arms were wrapped around his shoulders or the feel of your thighs against his rough hands. Either one, you enjoyed none of it.

Nonetheless, you found yourself intrigued by how exquisite their place was. In your deepest imaginations, you had always thought that if ever you were captured and sold, your new shelter would be next to sewers and you would sleep next to roaches and rats.

But their fortress was a delight to the eyes.

You all took a halt before a double door, much smaller than the ones at the entrance, but you found the design similar. Kyle, the siren, fished out a golden key from his pocket, which he plunged into the knob. With a crisp click, he pushed the doors open and a spacious chamber greeted you.

Windows outspread across an entire wall, providing a view you knew would be gorgeous in the daylight and night. Before one of the glasses was a swing seat made of vines and crimson roses, cushioned with an equally red pillow.

A sizeable bed sat toward the center of the room, a white canopy falling from the ceiling to each of the four posts, and a magnificent display of flowers topped them and decorated the tulle at the top.

The far corner of the room showcased a series of bookcases, each filled with books. A lavish reading chair encased with gold sat before them, a table beside to hold mugs of hot chocolate or treats. A gorgeous desk sat under the window nearby. String lights lined the walls, casting the entire room in an ethereal glow.

“Welcome home, love,” Price whispered to your ear and you slowly turned your head to face him, eyes wide to his narrowing blue ones as he flashed a smile.

When men give gifts to women, it is expected that the women shall paint a smile on their lovely faces and thank their men. In this case, men will think they have women wrapped around their fingers, just like a pet would stay obedient to its owner for food.

You glanced back at the room and shifted your gaze to the floor, before bringing your attention back at him. “Should I say thank you?” you asked him in a small voice.

“Isn’t that the customs?” He questioned, raising a brow. “When someone gives you a gift, you ought to show your appreciation. But we want you to do it in action, not words.”

You pursed your lips and frowned, contemplating your next words. This was a fucking deal with the devil. No, you were literally sold to four devil incarnates, posing to be good by giving you goddamned needs.

You knew in the back of your mind that this was manipulation, but were you in any position to refuse them? Was there ever a choice, when all there were behind the answers were consequences?

“How?” you mumbled, not daring to meet their eyes. “How am I supposed to show my appreciation?”

You slowly closed your eyes and let the warm water from the shower wash the sweat and . . . the disgusting feeling of the dragon and the incubus’ salivas from your skin. You lowered your head, making your tresses fall, framing your face, but they soon got swiped out of the way as Kyle took your chin and lifted it.

Your lashes flattered open and you gazed up at his caramel eyes.

He painted a small smile on his face.

Under the shower, you both stood soaked when he offered (forced) to wash you himself. You couldn’t help but gulp at the sight of his flexing abs through your lashes and thank whoever stood above all, he wore shorts, sparing you a look of his dick, which luckily didn’t look hard under the fabric at the moment.

“Are you done?” you asked.

You didn’t want him to look at your naked body—as if you hadn’t already flashed everyone (no thanks to Graves, that leech) — and get ideas. You knew wasn’t anything you could do to him if he wanted to take what he desired from your body, but there was hope in the thought that you could have control over their desires and lust for you.

You were already quite thankful when the dragon and the incubus had to go somewhere earlier and let the siren and the wraith look after you instead, for whatever reason. You couldn’t imagine what would they make you do in the pretense of showing them that you value whatever they give to you.

“No, not quite,” he hummed, cooing you as if you were some poor animal they brought home from an animal shelter, which wasn’t so far from your situation. He seemed soft, appeared soft, even his gaze was. But there was a hint of superiority and a condescending tone in his voice, which was well hidden, as in the meanings of the lyrics in a song.

“Come closer,” he commanded.

He was a siren, you reminded yourself. They were known to drive people to madness with the sound of their voices, and you might be going insane now, as you inched to his touch.

His thumb ran over your lower lip and slowly, forced it in your mouth, letting you soak the sliver of his skin with your own. His hand took your waist and pushed you to the freezing, tiled wall. Then, he removed his finger and shoved his mouth onto you.

Your eyes narrowed at the gentleness of his kiss, compared to the dragon and demon, and slowly you closed your eyes. His hand caressed your hip and leisurely hoisted one of your legs to his side, whereas his other hand cupped your cheek.

You found yourself growling in his mouth when his hand made its way to your clit, giving the sensitive bud painfully slow circles.

“Kyle . . .” You moaned into the kiss as he slowly put in a digit.

“Yes, love?” He pulled away, making you open your eyes, as he started to pump in and out, his palm hitting your clit each time.

“Fuck me,” you begged, watching his supposedly brown eyes were now flashing green. “Fuck me, Kyle.”

A smirk appeared on his face and he quickly pulled his finger out of you, eliciting a whine from you. He put a finger on your lips, hushing you and you threw your arms around his neck as he shook off his shorts, before he aligned his cock to your entrance. At an agonizingly slow pace, he dragged the tip up and down, coating himself with your fluids, and in a low voice, he uttered, “It’ll be fine, just listen to me.”

You nodded, drowned in the sound of his . . . voice.

His voice?

Fuck. Fuck!

No, no, no, no!

You quickly pushed yourself away from him, but with the slickness of his skin and yours, and that he was more formidable than he looked, he didn’t move an inch.

He laughed and flipped you around, slamming you to the wall. Your cheek planted on the cold surface as he snatched your hands and pinned them above your head with his hand. With one hand, he pulled your hips towards him, groaning at the feeling of your ass on his hardened dick and he began to grind on you.

“Didn’t think you’d catch on that,” he mumbled in your ear as his hand left your hip and wrapped around your mouth, muffling your protests. “That’s a first.”

You struggled—tried to slip out of his grip, but as you moved, he groaned. “Is this how you thank me?”

“You won’t appreciate it if I shove this down your throat, Gaz.”

Kyle looked over his shoulder and found Simon leaning on the bathroom door with a tray of food in hand. “Hey, Ghost.”

“So much for giving her a break,” Simon huffed, which the siren called with a not-so-uncanny nickname considering he was a Wraith, and turned away from the scene. “Enough of that and let her have a good dinner.”

Kyle, and for whatever reason the Wraith called him Gaz, heaved a sigh, and unhanded you.

You immediately jumped to the corner of the shower compartment, eyes wide to watch his movements, and found a mocking smile on his lips.

“How unfortunate.” He picked up his clothes from the floor. “We were just getting onto it.”

“I don't give a fuck,” Simon replied in a loud voice.

“You should give a fuck, she's our wife!” Kyle shouted back and walked towards the bathrobes and towels neatly folded in woven baskets, taking two from both.

You grimaced at his words.

A wife to a man was supposedly the other half of their soul, a person to whom they pledged an oath to uphold until their last breath.

But in this land, at this time and age, those words no longer exist. To women, they were nothing but a story now.

Next Chapter / Archive of Our Own / DISCORD SERVER

Comment if you want to be on the taglist

Taglist: @cringeycookies, @sunndust, @noonespecial475, @spooky-skeletonie, @casualunknownrunaway, @lialucis , @tanaari , @mc-cos-charm , @demonic-bird

[thisonehere]

To Deal with a Judas

A/n: Thank you so much, @unknown-niko, for this amazing idea. It is long over due that I write it for you.

Summary: You are there to witness Bi-Han's betrayal, and you act accordingly.

Tag: Mk1, MK AU, Request, long fic

C/w: Mention of blood and killing, Betrayal, Good-Bad ending

"Kuai Liang and I will capture him," Bi-Han's voice hung low as he stared at the entrance he saw the necromancer Quan Chi walk into, his new target. "Stay here, do not let them activate the soul stealer." Bi-Han ordered Tomas. He had had just clashed with thee of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's most powerful lackeys, a vampire, a demon, and a collection of souls. He could feel his blood pumping, his heart racing, the adrenaline flowing throughout his body, and Bi-Han loved every second of it. He wanted to go after the sorcerers next, he couldn't wait to get his hands on the sorcerers. He'd them under a mountain of snow.

"And me, Grandmaster?" He turns and there you are, eagerly waiting for instructions. Bi-Han narrowed his eyes. "You..." He trails off, what to do with you?. Bi-Han was unsure on bringing you with him on this mission, you should be home, where you'd be safe. He thought you too inexperienced to join him, you might slow him down, hinder his efforts. But Liu Kang insisted, and now you're here. He looked you up and down with his judgemental eyes, not sure what to do with you, no doubt picking you apart and seeing every possible weakness you have that would make you a liability.

"You will stay here. Stay with Tomas and keep watching just in case any more minions come." His voice was stern and his gaze forbidding. Your shoulder slumped at this, you had hoped to go with Bi-Han and fight by his side. Make up for the earlier defeat. When Nitara swooped down and attacked, she had knocked both you and Tomas aside, you remained somewhat unconscious during the fight while he and Kuai dealt with her and Sareena. You felt so ashamed of it, you embarrassed yourself in front of him, mad yourself seem weak to him, that was one of the last things you wanted. "O-oh... Very well then. I won't let you down." Conviction and passion in your voice. Behind turns his back from you as he and Kuai climbed the steps and entered the building.

You and Tomas quickly went to work ensuring that the soul stealer remained inactive. You started lookout and Tomas took care of anyone who came close, which wasn't often, everyone seemed to stay in the building. Time went on longer and longer and there was no sign of Bi-Han or Kuai, you started to worry. "What are they doing in there?" You wondered out loud causing Tomas to know shrug. "No doubt Kuai and Bi-Han have already dealt with them." He said hopefully. But something kept tugging at your heart, something was wrong. Something happened to them.

---

"Soul Stealers are deadly, but they're not enough." Bi-Han growled to Shang Tsung. He and Kuai's hand were bound in chains, they had failed and they were captured. Kuai hated the smug look on Tsung's face as they were carried away. But he stopped thinking about that the moment the sorcerer began to try to tempt his brother to join him. Worse, Bi-Han seemed to be interested in this. He tried to intervene, he begged his brother not to listen to this snake, not even as much as the entertain the thought the server was trying to pour into his mind, but he was silenced by his own brother, his Grandmaster.

The halls were filled with the marching of General Shao's and the clanging of chain around his and Kuai's wrists. Kuai was desperate, not about breaking free from these chains, but stopping his brother from being beguiled by the serpent holding them captive. Tsung mused about Emperor Ying, specifically about his army. They entered a tomb, Emperor Ying tomb filled to the brim with a silent cold warrior. Kuai's eyes went this way and that as he eyed every statued warrior, the Dragon army. Mindless automatons that could unleash unknown destruction and the subjugation of realms. It all horrified Kuai, but the look on Bi-Han face horrified him more. He looked...impressed.

Bi-Han stared at this, he climbed the steps to meet Shang Tsung, and he offered his restraints to him. "BI-HAN, NO!!!" He cried, Shao's men jump to retrain him as he calls out to his brother. His ignored his brother as he shook hands with Tsung, a pleased smile hung on the sorcerers face. "Father would turn in his grave if he saw this!" Bi-Han froze at this, he quickly wiped around to face his brother, a vile sheer on his face. "He was a doddering old fool. He did us a favor having that accident, and I was right to let him die."

"Let him die? YOU SAID YOU TRIED TO SAVE HIM!" once again Kuai lunged forward and the Soldiers pulled him back. He felt evey dizzy. Kuai felt his heart slowly break, it felt like the world was going to madness. "A lie. Because you couldn't and still couldn't face the truth. Father had...had..." Upon instinct, Bi-Han caught a knife aimed at his head. All heads turned to see where it came from and there you were standing there, tightly gripping another of your throwing knives, ready to launch it. "Y/n?! What do you think your doing?" Bi-Han's softened for a second when he realized it was you who threw the knife. He stared at you for what felt like an eternity, then they slowly narrow in fury spat at you as he throws the knife to the ground. "You...You..." but he couldn't find the words. You just stared there as you locked eyes with your grandmaster and both of you stared at each other. You felt your blood run cold under his gaze.

Kuai immediately took advantage of everyone being distracted, he elbowed one soldier in the face and slammed his chains against the others. Blood spattered everywhere and everyone put their attention on Kuai now. The room erupted into chaos, everyone in the room didn't know who to focus on. You both raised hell, Kuai slammed his chains like a mad left and right while you threw your blades at every person you could make out as a target.

During the calamity, Kuai found Bi-Han and he charged at him. Kuai slammed his chains against Bi-Han so hard that Bi-Han slammed to the ground. He didn't get back up. Kuai raises the chains over his head and brings it down for another strike. He does it again and again, if he keeps this, he'll kill him. Rage filled him, all he could see was red at the moment as he was stuck in some sort of a berserker rage. A soldier ran at him, his sword thrown. Kuai spun around about strike but acted first and threw your knife clean into his head. "KUAI, COME ON, WE NEED TO GO!" You shriek at the top of your lungs.

At that second Kuai became aware of the now awakening Dragon army. Tsung activated them and now they had their eyes on him. He bitterly looks down at his unconscious brother, there's many things he is feeling right. But he can't figure them out right now, now he needs to escape. You both rush out of the chamber, as you do you hear multiple footsteps behind you but neither of you look back.

---

"This way!" You let Kuai into the Treasure Chamber. With his pryromancy, Kuai managed to melt the chains allowing him to free himself. Kuai spotted the unconscious bodies of Quan Chi, Rain, Havik and Darrius lying on the ground. You could feel his eyes fall on your quizzically as you both rush through the room. "I followed you into the building, they found me, I left them like this." You quickly explained to him as you guided him through to the nearest exit. He knew you were a competent fighter, he always did, but he never knew you were capable of this. He wants sti impressed by this, proud of you, but his mind was racing thinking about his brother. He tried not to think about it, it hurts to much to think about. He just forces himself to run faster.

In no time you were outside the main building where the cold wind greets you. By now you could hear the yelling of hundreds of soldiers scattering here and there trying to search for you. "Y/N, THERE YOU ARE!" Tomas called as he ran up to you. He was so worried for you, one minute you were right next to him, the next you were gone. "Where have you-" he froze when he saw Kuai was behind you. "Kuai? Where's Bi-Han?" At the mention of his name both of your faces darken. "He has betrayed us. We're all in imminent danger." With that, he rushes past you both, leading the way as you both run after him.

Kuai told Tomas everything, how he was captured, Bi-Han's betrayal, his involvement in their father's death, everything. You stay quiet the whole time. "Letting father die... Forsaking Earthrealm? He's abandoned for all reason." Tomas's eyes widen at every news and revelation. You noticed the cold wind beginning to pick up, it was like it was furious and was unleashing its wrath upon you all.

"I knew Bi-Han's frustrations run deep. But I never thought--" Kuai continued to talk but your mind began to wonder as you thought of Bi-Han. You threw a knife, you made an attempt on his life. Your blood still ran cold at the thought of how he looked at you. A look of both rage as well as hurt, as if your treachery hurt him on a deeper level. What was he going to do to you the moment he got his hands on you, you knew how brutal your Grandmaster could be. Your heart began to race, you felt confused, so lost, so scared. You were in over your head, you could just feel it.

"--But we are still brothers...and you, Y/n..." You hadn't realized that was still talking until both he and Tomas stopped walking. He had turned to you both, a hand on both your shoulder as he gave you two a warm look in his eyes. "Y/n, you have proven yourself today. I am fortunate to have you by my side." You stare at Kuai, unable to speak. You gently lay a hand on his, the warmth comforting you, almost making you forget your fears. No one has spoken to you like that in years. Bi-Han's words were always harsh and critical, it seemed to be the only way to show he cared, but Kuai's words were filled with love in every word.

"Do your Oaths mean nothing!" You all freeze as the snowy winds begin to clear and calm, and there Bi-Han. His fits clenched and a scowl on his bruised face. "It is your duty to obey my will!" Kuai immediately steps forwards determination and rage in his eyes. "Not if it betrays Lin Kuei principles. We won't sacrifice them to serve your ambition." Bi-Han's fists clenched even harder, you were scared that it would draw blood. Your eyes wandered all over Bi-Han, they fell on his fist. In one of them, he tightly held your knife. He growls as he steps forward just a little. He stares all of you in the eye.

When they fall on you, you felt your blood run cold. Who knew what he was thinking about. Maybe how he'd punish you, perhaps. Give you to Shang to be his new test subject, lock you in a deep dark cell and leave you there to go die alone, or maybe he'd kill you right now if he was feeling merciful. You gulped hard as you took a few steps back.

Not waiting another second Bi-Han lunged forward with your knife. Kuai charged as well, you and Tomas stayed as you watched brothers begin to battle. Bi-Han slashed at his brother with the blade this way and that while Kuai dodged here and there to avoid them. It was like the two were dancing, Bi-Han spun and slashed with his blade, leaving a flash trail of sliver as Kuai went here and there as he avoided the blade.

He tried to avoid every strike but he found himself getting cut. For a second, Kuai thought he had caught his brother's arm before where brought it down on him. But he realized too soon, Bi-Han had the blade in another hand. Kuai is slashed across the left eye. He screams as he falls to the ground clutching his. "End this brother, embrace the future!" Bi-Han said as he extended his hand to his brother, a crazed look in his eyes as Kuai stumbled to his feet. "I want no part of it. You pervert all that it means to be Lin Kuei!" Pulling his Kunai, Kuai clenched his fist and he tries to catch his breath. He clenches fist and attempts to steady his breath, fresh blood dipped from the cut over his eye. He clenches his fist over the Kunai as he stares down his brother, anticipating him to make the next room.

But you beat him to it. You rush forward and throw another knife; Bi-Han freezes as the knife lands...right into Kuai's right shoulder.

With a cry of pain, Kuai stumbled as he clutched at his shoulder. "I... I'm sorry..." Your voice cracks as tears ran down your face. He slowly looks back at, horror slowly turns to you. "Y/n...?" You fail to meet his gaze. He looks past you and he sees Tomas, barely conscious as Rain and Havik retrain him. "I said I left them like that, never that I beat them" you mumble under your breath. Kuai angrily rises to his feet. "Y/n, what are you doing! What is the meaning of this!?" You struggle to even look at Kuai, both out of fear but also because your vision was blurred thanks to your tears. Kuai's gaze softens on you for a second. "Why?" He asks, his voice filled with pain he clutches at his soldier "I-I love you Kuai, always...But my loyalty, so much of my love...is to your brother." The fortress feels like everything has gone silent. A betrayed and broken hearted look is painted over his face, first his brother, now you. Kuai didn't know how much more he could take.

The entire fortress shakes as the skies turn green, Tsung has activated the soulnado. In the distance Kuai can hear the marches of thousands of soldiers coming down to take him. Kuai stares at the sky as he realizes everything is crumbling around him. "Kuai, please. Surrender, I don't want you or Tomas to get hurt." Kuai clenches his jaw as he lowers his gaze to the ground.

---

The soldiers came and they took Kuai and Tomas away. He didn't look at you as they bound him and led him to no doubt a cell. But you didn't care, all you knew was he and Tomas wouldn't die and you found some level of peace with that. You stood there alone with Bi-Han as the cold winds blew your hair in the breeze. You back was to him, you didn't know what to say, what could you say? You had no idea what to do next, you just betrayed your home, Liu Kang, Kuai, Tomas, all for him.

"Y/n, look at me." Bi-Han's demanding voice finally breaks up the silence. Your heart beats against your chest as you face him. "Now, I want you to, kindly, Explain to me what in Elder Gods you were thinking! Making an attempt on my life, siding my brothers escape only to capture him again. Explain, Now." His eyes beat you down with sneer, it made it so much harder for you to speak. With a shaky breath you explained that after waiting so long outside and got worried, so you followed him into the building. Quan Chi found you and he told you that Bi-Han and Kuai were captured, that Tsung was plotting to tempt Bi-Han into joining his side. You knew Bi-Han would join him but Kuai would protest, You knew he would somehow break free and stop Bi-Han. So you came up with this plan to get him and Tomas captured.

"And why did you do all this? Did you not think I could handle my own brother." Bi-Han eyed you, offended. Making it much harder to say this next thing. "Grandmaster, I think you are a marvelous man, the greatest warrior I've ever known...but Kuai is stronger than you." You could feel the rage emanating from Bi-Han as you said this. "How dare you-" he began to storm towards you. "Kuai, easily overpowered you, General Shao, and Shang Tsung while his hands were bound!" Bi-Han now stood towering over you as you defended yourself, his eyes violent. "I am your Grandmaster! I had everything under control, how dare you think so little of me?" Normally you would cower in fear of your Grandmaster when he was upset, but not today, too much adrenaline rushed through you.

"No! I think the world of you! You are the greatest thing I've ever had the privilege to be around. I count my blessings every day that I have the privilege of serving you. I adore you, Grandmaster, I will stay loyal to you until the day I die and even then my soul will be yours." It felt so odd to finally confess to Bi-Han like this. But you were desperate, and scared even. You just wanted Bi-Han to succeed no matter what. As you sigh as you finish, you lower your head to catch your breath. Bi-Han just looked at you, his eyes narrow as if he's disgusted. You hold yourself as you begin to feel so crazy. "Forgive me, Grandmaster, I shouldn't have-"

"Bi-Han." He calmly interrupted you. "I-I'm sorry?" You noticed he's holding your knife by the blade now as he hands it to you. "You may address me as Bi-Han, you've earned the right." Your body shivers slightly as Bi-Han places a hand on your shoulder. He now looks at you differently, as if he's seeing you in a new light. He then walks past you, but before he leaves you, and turns to you, impressed. "Perhaps it was a good idea for Liu Kang to send you with me. I look forward to your continued service. Now, come, we have much to do with our new allies." He turns and walks away and you quickly race after him.

A/n: Don't lie, you were shocked by the twist. Just call me Miss direction... Or miss trust... Or miss demeanor, or miss serable

[daylighted]

i seriously did not want to do this but if i'm gonna be talked abt behind the scenes, and if ppl i follow are going to start turning on me because of one actual psychopath that has not left me alone for 3 weeks, i'm gonna say my piece because it is not fair to know that i am being painted in a bad light, when i have been a victim, and my friends have been dragged into this because every time, it is made public.

all of this has happened in a span of twenty one days. here's my proof.

this is a server that one of my close friends and most adored people (who, again, like anyone else mentioned in this, should not have been dragged into this fucking tirade) created for spn fans on discord to cultivate a fun little community and to make friends. she acquired the link, i don't know who invited her or if somehow she just found the link if it was posted and joined herself, but she showed up.

four days into her being there, i tell the server, i'm making a mr. & mrs. smith inspired jackles bot. i'd more say 3, because i posted it at midnight that day. eleven hours later, she says 'i wanna make a mr. & mrs. smith dean bot.' so my whole idea. and i am not a confrontational person by nature, so i was trying to lightly discourage without straight up saying no, because i did not know this girl. it'd been a little over 3 days.

i have the person i was replying to blurred because i'm actually sick of people getting dragged into this that did not have any reason to be put in between her shit with me, whatever the hell that may be.

here is me lightly trying to deny it but not outright saying no, and maybe that's on me, but who in their right mind sees someone else's idea and eleven hours later just blatantly copies it?

and she did copy it. word for word. this is my intro message on the left, and this is hers on the right. it's literally word for word, practically, with the lines lining up and everything.

so i'm angry. i don't care abt follower account but now i'm going to look like the thief because at this point, i'm not anywhere near big. like 300 followers. which again, don't care about, but sometime between the span of this above and what's coming, she'd been posting abt a milestone very close to 1k. that is a clear difference, and an abuse of the writing channel, that is supposed to have been a safe place for us to share our ideas.

i don't say anything about this, though. my breaking point is when she discovers my bonnie & clyde au and says she wants to make a bot based on it. which maybe i would have said yes to someone else, but she'd stolen my idea already before, word for word, and i wasn't in the mood. so i politely told her no, and that i was planning on making bots out of all of my aus. and she goes something like, "oh, that's fine, i just really liked the idea is all." i have deleted our dms on discord because i didn't want her reaching out to me again, which does come up!

anyways, i think it's cool. i'm thinking she's not going to take anything else, because i denied her one thing, so maybe this was just a one-off.

she posts this into the writing server, like she's showing off that she made the bot anyways / had made it already in the short span of time it took me to reply to her, and was trying to get hype for it??? or something?? or rub it in my face that she made it anyways? i don't know her motives. for anything that happens in this.

not to mention, she made a mr. & mrs. smith dean pt two in this time, for some reason. again, not her idea.

but going back to the above screenshot, that's her chatting with bonnie & clyde!dean. please look here at a screenshot of my fic, literally making it clear that whatever the intro she used for this, it was identical, because the interaction here is identical to my writing.

the day before this, december 1st, she was also asking me to tell her abt the au, but i'm not going to downright say that it was to stake out stuff to steal, but looking back, it seems like it.

so by this point, i'm angry! really angry! because every idea i mention in that chat, gets stolen by her. so i make this post. kind of infamous when it comes to future things.

immediately, she knows it's about her, because she's messaging me everywhere. i. do. not. engage. behind the scenes, i'm talking to people in the server abt it, because i literally am being stolen from and expected to take it! so she gets kicked.

this causes her to message me even more. this causes her to make an entire post ( now deleted by ppl in the server's request, because we thought once 'resolved', it would be resolved ) tagging every single person in the server. not just me, not just the people who came forward or the server's owner, but everyone who has no idea what's going on. trying to pitch her case.

her case being, by the way, that the reason she copied me was because of photographic memory. i feel like i have a screenshot of this but can't find it, and also don't want to keep using all my limited picture spaces. but if i find it and you want to see it, i will show it.

she gets let back into the server on a warning. it's like a 3 strike system, i imagine, which this is where things get psychotic! like genuinely!

the very day that i tell her no to the bonnie & clyde thing, i get this in my inbox.

on god, never before have i been told this ever. and i'm supposed to believe that it's not a coincidence, when the only person i've 'wronged' on tumblr so far is her, and just for calling her out on her shit? i've literally been on tumblr for maybe 2 months maximum at this point. like i only know a handful of people, and most are in this server.

so i move on. whatever. one of my friends from the server makes a post ( that i rb-ed, but i'm not gonna link it because again, i'm keeping them out of this if i can, but it's also on my page still ) in my defense, because genuinely, it is not that fucking serious to tell a fanfic writer to kill themselves.

after she posts it, she gets an anon telling her to track them. and then one telling her to kill herself. again, i'm not posting who's doing this, but she responded to it, and it's on her account if you need to see more proof.

so you might be thinking, how do you know this is her? it's a lot of circumstantial evidence and gut feelings. and yes, i did doubt it at the time that maybe it wasn't, and i was just paranoid, but literally sometime last week, she not only:

messaged me 4 times privately on discord to reply to a question i already answered (being like do you think i'm a bad person? or something like that. but i answered it! and she added something on the end that i didn't see because i was busy and in a different timezone.)

tagged me twice in the server to try and get my attention for this question.

private messaged me here on tumblr.

sent an ask, which i do still have & a screenshot in case it gets deleted btw, about it.

MADE. A THROWAWAY ACCOUNT. BAITING ME INTO REPLYING TO IT. it was a comment abt a fic, so i said thank you, and within 3 fucking minutes max, she sent me ANOTHER message on discord saying "please stop ignoring me." THE ACCOUNT NOW, IS GONE. SO THAT'S HOW I KNOW IT'S HER. you will see later, too, that this is fitting for her character.

i know that screenshot is not much to go off of, but that account did not follow me, did not even like or interact with that fic. i remember taking that screenshot because i was like, there's no way this is her, like actually no way, because the first message to get me to say anything was just like a compliment. and the moment i replied, she messages me, and after i message back, i get the above response. i hope this makes sense.

this is her strike 2, by the way, because i was getting harassed and i wasn't going to sit there and be like yeah this is fine that this is happening to me. i am six hours, maybe more, behind her timewise. as you can see in the screenshot, it was 1:27 am for me.

so all of this happens, and she's getting increasingly more passive aggressive. she keeps bringing up CONSTANTLY that none of us interact with her things anymore, which is crazy to me, because she hardly interacted with ours but expected things back for her. not to mention, of course i wasn't going to interact with someone the same after that someone stole my shit.

all of this leads to december 17th, which yes, was yesterday. which i'm assuming is her big crashout because it's the only reason i can think of anything else that it could be??? but me and a lot of the other server members get anons like this. which is why, like i said earlier, i am convinced the kys is her. this one is the one i received.

and these are a couple that my friends did.

none of us reply, and she's spamming in the chat asking if we got anything, and we all deny it, because we know it's her. like, who else comes into other people's asks to talk shit on someone else? it makes no sense. especially people that the anon wouldn't have known? that she was friends with? i wasn't even in her little intro tagged post, like a lot of the server was before now, so it's literally a dead giveaway that this is her.

when she gets to me, though, after being told i think twice that no, none of us received anything, tumblr must have eaten it, her message changes. and she's like "i just got a second ask telling me that you definitely got one." and when i asked to see the screenshot of the ask that name drops me, she says she deleted it. like how convenient, right?

so this is where things get absolutely mental. more so than they are.

the dani era. shortlived but absolutely insane. suddenly she's leaving her account, as you probably saw from one of her posts that's now deleted, but i might have a screenshot.

you can't really see it but she changed her server name to dani too, and you might have seen her account before literally this afternoon, was daniisms. so again, she is kicked, because suddenly handing off your account to a stranger is weird and violates the rules. i am not in charge of the kicking, by the way, if for some reason you think i am. i literally am just a person in the server who for some reason was targetted? idk.

i don't want to air out her shit but this is the reasoning she provided for why she was quitting and 'dani' was taking over. sorry it's so small i was on my laptop n so it's just. like that.

in a later message, she brings up how specifically she is depressed... because of lack of engagement from us. literally. and i get that that's upsetting, but she just handed over her whole account allegedly? because of it? that's insane to me.

so after she's kicked, she starts messaging some of us on discord, i got an ask.

this, also, is still in my drafts, because i was going to privately be like arty this is actually clinical please seek help, but it wouldn't let me post it privately so i didn't! because i never wanted! any of this! public! from the very beginning!

also you can see there, the username change. so a lot of us block her. i didn't because i wanted to see if being kicked and no longer apart of the server would make her give it up, which yeah, i should have, but i give a lot of benefit of the doubt if you can't tell, when all it does is bite me in the ass.

because a lot of people got blocked, she made an account called bella-oftheball, and only followed two people from the server, commented on one of my random fics, and on the account right now, her only like is another person from the server's. not to mention, the header on the account is literally exactly her edit style. again. blocked.

so this morning. all of us are getting messages from arty again, suddenly back on her account, and claiming that all of this is a hacker. that she hasn't even been here for weeks. so this is the first time she's seeing any of this allegedly and she's confused, doesn't understand why she's gone from the server, her discord account's deleted...

still here in my friends list. lol. and she's in my asks, as you can see where i answer it. so you can see her exact defense and then her in the comments.

now i just want you to tell me why a hacker would:

post all of her drafts

target a spn tumblr writing acct??? like?

and none of her sideblogs ?

make up ANOTHER persona aka the friend named dani.

go through the effort of liking some of our things when she did, and interacting with all of us in the server???

because hackers usually idk. delete the entire accounts. or post awful things on someone else's accts. they wouldn't just run it like their own ??????

so yeah. she's back on tumblr btw, as artyandink, as arty. i'm posting this because her intro message has changed to no longer have any of the server ( not me, never me, and i wonder why! ) but people that i know she's telling all of this too and painting not only me as a bad guy, but also my friends who literally only are involved because they were defending me. dragged into this shit for daring to believe me.

i am making this both in my defense and as a warning. please be careful around this person! she switches identities on a dime to fit her narrative, will harass you if you don't answer fast enough, will harass you if you say anything she doesn't like, and will literally torment your entire friend group if she deems fit, as a form of sick pleasure or something. again, i don't know her motive, just that i've been going through this behind the scenes for 3 fucking weeks, all for it to lead up to this, and to have me being pinned by her to people that do not know a thing about this because it was NEVER MEANT. TO BE PUBLIC. OR THIS INSANE.

<3 please stay safe ily guys.

[rhiaarrow]

Honestly I think Bad and the Late Night Trio is my favorite dynamic that's come out of the QSMP.

And I'm not just talking about qBad, Dapper, Pomme and Richas I'm also talking about ccBad, Dappmin, Pommin and Ricardão.

It's just the little things they do, because they're just so used to each other by now and the adms have become such good friends because of the amount of time they spend together on and off the server.

There's just so many examples that stick in my head because they're just so sweet when you realize that none of this people knew each other this time last year.

Like the time when Richas just showed up in front of Bad randomly one day after the reset (the day that Dapper set up the magnet mining machine) and just went;

"Dapper told me through the magic of discord to come see the cool stuff you've been doing, what am I here to see tio?"

Or when Bad and Dapper were out investigating and Dapper puts down a sign saying;

"Richas won't stop telepathically asking if he can come visit."

To which Bad just offhandedly replies

"If he can Dragon Magic his way here then sure, but I am not walking all the way home already."

And sure enough, a few minutes later we hear Richas' horn sound out as he appears out of the blue, having finally been given permission by Dappmin to join their exploration

Not to mention the amount of times we've arrived and been told by Bad; "So heres what [Richas or Pomme or Dapper or any combination of those 3] and I did off stream. "

Or "No Richas I'm not leaving I'm just sending the Ghosties off."

Or when Bad was attempting to figure out how to bribe Richas into keeping his armour on in Lucky Ducks by figuring out what he loved the most before going

"If you don't put your armour on I'll take away fofoca time."

And then explained to the chat that 'fofoca time' is what Richas calls it when he and Bad hang out after stream and that got Richas to put his armour on immediately.

Or even today when Bad threatened to end stream in order to make Richas use a heart container.

Not to mention the night Pommin and Ricardão spent with ccBad training him in battleship before that day in Purgatory 2 or the night they spent modifying the egg signs together.

My favorite example of how close they are even outside of their characters will still forever be the night when Bad, Richas and Pomme were collecting ice together to cover the favela ocean and Ricardão and Pommin were very obviously sat in a vc together while the mined.

They spent a while teaching Bad and the other how to pronounce certain sounds in their native languages.

Then Richarlyson asked Bad about a sound he struggled with in English so Bad taught Ricardão how to make the 'th' sound in the English language correctly while Pommin judged the noise they were making because Bad obviously couldn't hear.

Then later Bad asks Pomme where Richas went since he wasn't visible on the map and she just stands there before telling him that she knows the location and taking him to the exact coordinates.

And they do that a couple times until Bad finally decides to sneak up on Richas and scares Ricardão so bad that he stops moving completely in game for a solid minute and Pommin is just keyboard smashing on signs because she's laughing too hard at how loudly they screamed.

And then Ricardão had to go afk for a couple minutes later on because someone had come to check on them since they'd screamed so loud so early in the morning and they had to tell them that they were, in fact, fine.

Sure right now the way they interact with each other definitely slightly breaks Bad's rp of not knowing each other, especially with Richas.

But at the end of the day when they hang out together it's not just qBad and Richarlyson, it's also Ricardão & ccBad who have spent a frankly ridiculous amount of hours playing together in the less than a year they've known each other (not counting the time Ricardão admitted to being a fan of BBH for).

In fact Ricardão confirmed to Foolish today that since the reset they're the player with the second highest playtime, after Bad, but only by a little bit, and I just think that's very fitting.

Long story short, I LOVE the late night trio and Bad's dynamic because they're just such a chaotic mess who are all willing to do anything and everything that one of them wants to do, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.

It's soooooooo hard to believe they've not even known each other for a year yet because they just all click so fucking well that it's insane.

People from 4 different nationalities, 3 of them playing speechless eggs, and they've become so close thanks to this server. I just think it's beautiful :')

(It is also 3am so I may just be rambling nonsense, so if this makes no sense forgive me xD)

[ellaa-writes]

The Beast Within

author note: Part 1. Part 2 here. I wrote something close to this story on my first blog but I decided to redo it and maybe make it into a series? Anyways Alpha König is back! Alpha König headcanon can be found here. Will help with understanding this König. masterlist

summary: Omegas are rare, in a world full of Alphas and Betas. Being a Omega was not only dangerous but they were highly sought after. After living your life has a Beta in disguise, you meet a scary Alpha, but not any normal alpha. But a gaint Apex Alpha who won't stop at anything to make you his.

tags: 18+ only, slightly dub-con/non-con. Kidnapping vibes, Alpha/Omega dynamics. Female reader Mentions of alcohol and blood. Marking/biting. This is an Alternative Universe (which will be expanded). No smut in this but their will be eventual smut. vague mentions of nudity. Not proof read.

This was dangerous but it was exhilarating. The adrenaline coursing through your body gave you the sweetest high. You were in a packed night club somewhere in central Europe. The special blend of herbs and modern day pharmaceuticals that your best friend Kalina gave to you earlier, helping to mask your true identity. You were an Omega, which is very rare in this day and age. And there had to be at least hundreds of Alphas packed into this dimly lit club, bodies grinding on bodies. The musky smell and loud music filling the air.

Your friends got a private table on the 2nd floor, above the dance floor you were currently looking down on. You should be at home, preparing for you next heat that is only a couple of days away. But you've had a rough week at work, wanting nothing more but to feel the buzzing numbness from the alcohol. Turning back to your friends, one of them sliding a shot glass in your direction. Grabbing it and holding it in that air with the others. Bringing it to your lips and savouring the burning liquid. Joining the rest in slamming the small glass back in the table. One of your friends already trying to flag the bottle girl down for another round of shots. You sink was feeling warm and sticky, the alcohol doing its job. You closed you eyes for a second, enjoying the music and the vibration it sent through your body. But there was something else, something different.

It began creeping up your slow spine, goosebumps forming in its path up to the back of your neck. Where it bit down and stung, your reflexes acting out you touched your neck. Trying to find any indication you were bitten, but there was nothing. That strange feeling was sitting heavy in your stomach, it was either the 3 shots and 2 margheritas you had or the world was about to end. You slowly turned back towards the dance floor, but it wasn't down below. It was sitting across, in another private section. His eyes were burning flames of ember staring into you with such a fierceness that it scared you a bit. Your best friend reached out touching your arm which snapped you out of the trance you were in. Bringing you back to your surroundings. She looked at you with concern "You feeling ok?" she began rubbing her hand up and down your arm. You gave her a smile, nodding you head "Yeah, yes... I'm good. Just getting a little warm that's all." you let her know. A few of your friends began cheering when the server brought over another tray of shots. Making you and her to laugh, joining in and grabbing the glass from the tray before it was lifted away." Hold on, wait up. I just wanted to say, that I love you all so much and let's all hopefully get laid tonight. Alright, good!" Meave said, she was the oldest out of your group. Her gorgeous red hair danced around her shoulders while she did her speech, looking right into your eyes when she mention getting laid. Which made you blush, feeling a little embarrassed that she even said that. But it wouldn't be true to Meave. Her and Kalina are cousins, after meeting Kalina in year 1 you three became inseparable. "Oh don't listen to her babe." another one of your other friends whispered into your ear, making you giggle. You took the shot, setting the glass back down. You all but almost forgot about the stranger staring you down. But another stinging bite at the base of your neck, making you jump and yulp out of shock. Kalina and Maeve looking at you with concern. "I think something bit me" you yelled out, making a few of them laugh. You didn't notice it, when Kalina found the same eyes you saw earlier. The same uneasy feeling washed over her, she knew what he was. She could feel the power radiating off of the Alpha, but he wasn't just any ordinary Alpha. He was an Apex Alpha, she knew you were in danger. Apex Alphas were stronger than a normal Alpha, not just in psychical strength but mentally too. Their senses highented, making them damn nearly a God. At one point in history they were viewed as the closest thing to a demi-God, many believing they were the most special, having the blood and DNA of the gods running through them.

She grabbed you arm quickly standing up and pulling you up with her. Laughing you asked her "What's going on" trying to balance in the heals that Meave borrowed to you. "We need to go, like right now." she began pulling you towards the stairs, ignoring the calls from the others. She lead you down the steps, through the bodies and to the entrance of the club. "Hold up, Kalina. What the hell is going on." you tried pulling back, to slow her down but her grub only got stronger while she dragging through the exit and out onto the street. "Hey Kalina, talk to me." you tried getting in front of her. Trying to get her attention, but Kalina was in flight mode. Searching the street for any sign of taxi, when she found one she marched right over with you still in tow. Banging in the front passenger window, catching the driver off guard. "Are you running?" she asked quickly, the driver bossing his head and unlocking the door. "Hurry, get in. Quickly." she said while opening the back seat door and shoving you in. "Kalina what the fuck is going on." you asked while she closed the door. Reaching for the window down button. "Please get home and lock up immediately. I'll tell you later." she told you. She then went back to the front window and gave the driver your address before he quickly pulled away from the street and towards the direction of your small apartment.

You sat in the back seat, confused and starting to feel sick. The alcohol turning into bricks in your stomach.

Kalina watched has the taxi drove away, praying you'd get home safe and listen to her and lock up. Hoping that the Alpha would lose your sent. She turned back towards the club, noticing the Alpha storming out. His nose high in the air, sniffing you out. His eyes snapped towards her, her own fear taking over. She should have gotten in the car with you, but now she's in the path between a angry honey alpha and sweet omega pussy. She always pittied you, when you were young and coming into puberty. She could smell the changes happening to you, they were different than hers. She was a simple beta, but you became an omega. She knew the rarity of it, she also knew the risk of began one. Many of the omega being snatched up, nothing more than breeding machines to produce more alphas, female or male. She began helping you mask your smell at a young age and disguising yourself as a beta.

Sticking her head up high and ignoring the heated look he was giving her. She began to make her way back inside, but not before being pulled to the side by a pair of very thick solid fingers. The alpha had her corned, looking down at her. His nostrils flaring with anger, his chest rising and falling. He was trying to control himself, trying to push the animal that was inside him down. "Where is she." he said in between breaths. Kalina yanked her arm back "None of your business, now will you please excuse me." she began to move past the alpha but he grabbed her again. "Get off me." she yelled. Causing the bouncer and a few others to look in their direction. "You can't hide her forever." he called out to Kalina as she disappeared back inside. She hoped he was wrong.

You made your way inside you one bedroom apartment. Closing the door and locking in behind you. Your feet were sore and your head felt heavy. Walking into your kitchen to grab and glass of water. Standing in the dark, debating if you should wash your face or deal with the consequences in the morning. Refilling the glass you slowly walked to your small bathroom, turning the light on which made you wince. Pulling your hair back and using your expensive cleanser, one of the few things you splurge on. You found yourself kicking off the heals and peeling the tight dress you hand on off and falling into your bed. Only wearing the silky panties you had on, pulling the blankets down and over your body. Sleep found you quickly, drifting off into dreamland.

You woke a few hours later to what sounded like banging. You sat up in your bed, the blanket having fallen to your hips. Your tits out in the open, the air was cold causing your nipples to perk up. Listening in the dark for anymore noises and not hearing anything else you laid back down. Snuggling into your pillow, ready to fall back to sleep. But you heard your bedroom door slowly creak open. Your eyes snapped open, every hair on your body standing straight up. The same stinging from earlier made its way to the base of your neck again.

You instinctively reached out to your phone, but before you could full grab it. It was thrown across the room and you were flipped over on your back. The blanket that was covering your chest now on the floor. Thick hard fingers found themselves around your throat. The same burning ember eyes from the club were looking down at you. You didn't get a good look at him before, but you could see him clearly now. He was massive, not only in size but also in height. His head had to be nearly touching the ceiling. He was looking at with with such intense lust, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smirk. "I found you." was all he said before he removed his hand from your throat and brought his mouth to replace it. You could feel his hot breath fanning out over you jaw and down your chest. He pushed his nose into the vein that ran down the side, lightly licking its trail down to your crease were you neck net your shoulders. He paused a bit before he opened his jaw and bit down hard. Causing you to screaming and thrash, trying to push this gaint off of you. The trance you were in breaking and the panic and fear consuming you. Your screams got louder before his hand found its place over your mouth. "Shhh, darling. It's ok, I found you. Your safe now." he whispered into the side of your temple. Having released your neck, you could feel the blood drip down your back and onto the sheets below you. You began feeling dizzy, your vision getting blurry. He was still cooing into your temple, lightly kissing it and brushing his free hand over your hair. Trying to easy your fear and pain. You were stronger than he thought, fighting his trance once again. Once he felt you go limp in his arms, he let you go. Moving towards your closet, pulling out a shirt to cover you up with. He needed to cover you up, he knew if he didn't he would lose control. The beast in him still snarling and growling to get out.

[fictioncupid]

Put the World on the Demolition Strip Baby; We're Gonna Watch the Sunrise. (they/them ver) (NSFW)

Looking for the he/him version?

Ao3 link! - Put the World on the Demolition Strip Baby; We're Gonna Watch the Sunrise.

MINORS PLEASE DO NOT REBLOG OR COMMENT. (This is my new writing blog! This is not stolen content! I've just moved!)

Summary:

Ronin’s sat above you, weight resting heavy over one of your thighs with his hands braced near your head, dark red-purple hair falling in heavy strands around your face. There’s blood on his cheek, smudged. It’s not his own. You want to lick it off him. You can feel the weight of his crowbar creasing a heavy dent on the pillow above your head. It should scare you. To know that your boyfriend is a vicious murderer. That his favourite murder weapon of choice is resting so close to you. You can smell the blood on it, have been able to since you opened the bag, since he walked in with it. It only serves to rile you up more. Your hips twitch upwards in tiny little humping movements. Ronin's grinning so wide it almost splits his face. God, there must be something wrong with you to want this so much.

OR,

todays the day you get intimately acquainted with Ronin's crowbar.

12,215 words :)

Pronouns & genital terms used!:

Ronin- he/him, cock, cunt

Reader- they/them, clit, pussy, cunt, entrance

CW/TW under cut! THIS IS DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT CONTENT. READ THE CW, HEED THE CW; IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!

CW: D/S dynamics, sex, power imbalances, blood (not period), some dysphoria talk relating to bottom growth (dw we resolve it, no unresolved trans angst in my porn nuh-uh), uh Ronin being gross and reader being unapologetically into it.

TW: unhealthy relationship dynamics? (like don’t actually date a serial killer that shit CANNOT be good for you) blood, BLOOD, murder mentions, deranged thinking, inappropriate use of a crowbar, complete ignorance of blood borne pathogens and safe sex, uhhhh sexy murder talk, also MAD sexualisation of murder and serial killing throughout the whole thing

Also, ik ronin’s technically had both top n bottom surgery in like the quasi-canon of tumblr facts but i am currently horny for bottom growth and tdicks so TRY AND STOP ME YOU CANNOT MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

××××××××××

You already knew your boyfriend was a killer. Had known since you joined that damn chat server, way before you met him in person, but this is the first time you’ve seen the evidence first hand. As something more than just a news article or a ‘funny’ photograph dumped in #killer-shit by Ronin himself. …You didn't expect to find it so thrilling.

You’d always told yourself you were okay with it. That you would learn to be okay with it. Hells, you met Ronin for the first time in the alleyway he likes to commit his murders in, it's not like you could claim ignorance. 

He'd been covered in blood then too, but you'd brushed past it. Told yourself it was his own. That Ronin's nose was bleeding when you met him. That's where the blood was from. That you were a good person and you could save him. Fix him. Told yourself that you wanted to. You had to, right? Never mind that you only decided all this after you’d gotten home, heart racing with adrenaline from your little meetup, telling yourself that the throbbing in your clit was from ‘misattribution of arousal’ and not how electric it had felt to have Ronin kiss you in the place he normally kills people. 

Still, you've never been able to crush the niggling little worry that when you come face to face with it, when you are finally confronted with evidence so overwhelming that you can deny it no longer, that you’d balk. Turn tail and run for the hills because as much as you love your boyfriend- you are no killer. You can’t even really stomach the sight of blood. Normally it makes you sick and queasy.  So you avoid it; as much as you can, you dodge and drop the topic like it’s on fire and you’re out of water so you have to avoid getting burned.

Ronin seems to have more faith in you though. Whether it stems from your unwavering addiction devotion to his devilish persona, or from the glassy eyed stare you gave him that day in Purgatory when he brought out his knife. How you didn’t even flinch when he pressed it to your throat, just stared into his wild, wicked eyes and whispered, ‘so are you kissing me now, or after? I have to say I’d much prefer now.’ 

That had Ronin cracking up. He’d lowered the knife in favour of clutching his knees, bent over double as a wild cackle ripped free from his throat. When he finally stopped laughing enough to speak he'd said, ‘I, a certified serial killer, the butcher, the devil himself, just threatened your life and you’re asking me to kiss you? Awh baby, darlin’. I’ve thought as much before, but now I’m certain that we’re a match made in hell.’ Ronin had then crowded you into the wall, gently pressed the knife into your hands, cupped your face and kissed you. It’d taken your breath away. Still does to think about it.

You could have killed him then. Probably should of. It's what he was suggesting when he handed you the knife; giving you an out if you really were somehow bluffing. That was Ronin through and through; impossibly kind in the most deranged possible manner. And you loved him. 

But the thought had crossed your mind, once or twice. That maybe you weren't built for this. For him. You can’t look at the news articles he posts in announcements, or the photos in #killer-shit, or watch scary movies with him without crying and screaming at the tension, the jumpscares, and the gore. Always trying to hide in the fabric of his shirt, behind his jacket, hands pressed tight over your ears to block out the sounds. You’re pretty sure the only reason Ronin’s okay with it is that he finds your innocence endearing, cute even, and your tears hot. Proven by how he forces you to sit still afterwards, both hands gripping your face tight so you can’t back away from him as he looms above you, blocking out the light from the television so all you can see is him. Vision filled with his devilish beauty; his face twisting in a mock version of pity as he traces the path your tears took with his fingers.

The television behind Ronin serving to make him look like a fallen angel by Christening him with a halo of blue light, spilling out from behind the little plastic horns glued to his beanie. He’d be sickened by the thought. Ronin leaning in and licking the tears off your face. Shushing you softly and rubbing his thumb over your lip when you open your mouth to ask why? You don’t get it. 

But Ronin fucks you so sweetly when he’s done. You think it’s a prize for withstanding the horror, his horror. That, or it turns him when you let him push you so close to the edge, let him make you cry and tremble with fear before soothing it away with the thick line of his cock. He always lets you curl into his chest afterwards, rocks you to sleep while reciting odd, esoteric poetry from the depths of his mind that you think might be about how much he loves you. You hope. 

But you do worry- or, you did worry, that one day Ronin would come home to you while covered in proof that he was out hunting more than just animals, or that one day you would read the wrong article about him, or that someone would tell you about a gruesome murder done by none other than the ‘devilish butcher’, and you’d never be able to look at him the same again. That the room wouldn’t light up around his smile anymore. Instead it would seep sinister into your dreams and invade the cracks in your head with its polluting light and then you would have to leave. Quietly. Unable to face the man you love and tell him you’ve finally realised what he’s been telling you all along: that he’s a monster. 

Well, that day is today. You heard Ronin leave early this morning, slide out of bed while it was still dark, too dark for him to be leaving for work, despite your whining and pleading for ‘five more minutes’. Telling him, ‘nooooo ‘Nin, cuddles,’ when Ronin chuckled and said he had work to do. You’d drifted grumpily back into a half sleep when you felt a gloved hand brush over your forehead before Ronin stooped to press a gentle kiss there. 

‘I’ll be back real soon, darlin’. Keep dreaming of me while I’m gone.’ You’d opened your eyes blearily to catch sight of him leaving, dressed all in black with a mask pulled up over his mouth and nose. Ronin had waved his crowbar at you merrily before tucking it in his coat and under his arm and strutting jauntily out the door. You’d thought he looked like an angel then too. Not that you’d ever tell him that. It wasn’t until sometime later, after you’d woken up properly and had some time to think about it, that you realised this was the first confirmed time you’d seen him leave to go kill someone. 

You’d seen him after he’d killed plenty of times before, when he was still loopy and ecstatic from the thrill and the rush, but the perks of not living together fully yet had meant it was usually after he’d showered. And while he was one to brag, he never seemed to go into specifics, at least not with you. He was usually more preoccupied with bedding you anyways. Excitement leaking into his movements as he’d throw you onto the bed, grin at your outraged squeaks and then shut you up by rutting his thick cock against your mouth until he was satisfied. 

But this time, this time is different. This time you know where he’s going, what he’s doing. And you’re just sitting around his apartment, docile, waiting for him to come back. Drinking tea and making breakfast like nothing is different. And maybe it isn’t. It certainly doesn’t feel different. That’s what you’re convincing yourself anyways. Until Ronin opens the door with a slam and struts in, whistling. You don’t jump like you usually do, a phased calm shifting over you when you see him, like you’re settled in your own skin for the first time in your life; like you didn’t even realise something was wrong until suddenly it wasn’t. 

Black backpack in one hand, Ronin is conspicuously free of both his gloves, his mask and his crowbar. He almost looks normal when he sees you, but his eyes are wild when you make eye contact. You freeze in place, standing off the side of his kitchenette after placing your dishes in the sink. Ronin’s grin is feral, laced with something evil and you should be scared. You want to be scared as his eyes scan up and down your body, dressed only in one of his worn out oversized sleep shirts; Ronin looks upon you like prey and you shiver. 

There’s blood on his face. Just a trickle by his mouth, obscure and miniscule enough it could be his own but you can’t deny it any more. It’s not his. It's someone else’s. Someone he’s killed. Your boyfriend is a killer. A stone cold killer, for the sick, sick thrill. Your legs feel weak and your head spins with how quickly all the blood in your body rushes south, at the thought of how dangerous he is. Your clit twitches in anticipation as if to say ‘hello Ronin, darling. How I've missed you.’

‘Hey there darlin’. Got you all pavlov’d up for me, huh baby?’ Ronin’s eyes are dark with delight as they flick from your face to where you're fidgeting and rubbing your thighs together to try alleviate the heavy ache in your clit. ‘Just can’t wait to have my cock split open those pretty little folds of yours, can you? Well, too bad. You’ll have to be patient while I put this away first, but then I’m all yours darlin’.’  Ronin winks at you comically. You don't laugh, you can’t.

Ronin gestures with the bag to show you what he’s talking about and the word, ‘Don’t.’ slips out your mouth before you can think to stop it. He raises an eyebrow at you. 

‘What’s got my sweet little saint all riled up today?’ Ronin’s looking at you with curiosity on his face, clearly expecting an answer but you don't have one. You barely have any thoughts at all other than the raging need to see it, to see proof with your own eyes. 

You get to your feet with your pulse racing and your hands numb and tingling. It feels like all the blood in your body is in your head. Or your feet. Or your cunt. It thrumbs heartily with every step you take towards him. The excitement and thrill starts to slip off Ronin’s face and he’s watching you with a calculating look, like he knows today's the day. It softens slightly when you slip one hand into his, press a soft kiss to his lips and gently take the bag from him with your other hand. 

The bag’s heavier than it looks, and it should repulse you- the thought that there’s a murder weapon in here, a heavy metal crowbar stained with blood. Someone else's blood. The weight of it should spring a sick dose of reality to the forefront of your mind but as you kneel before the bag and slowly unzip it all you can picture is how strong Ronin is to be able to swing such a heavy implement at someone accurately and with ease. How he'd look in the moment. The strong lines of his shoulder and back, the tension in his arms and the ecstatic- no, the crazed expression he must have as he swings the crowbar above his head and brings it down again and again with one sick crunch after another. 

You feel like you can't get enough air though you're breathing heavier than you should be. Your face is aflame and it’s making you dizzy. You shove the sides of the backpack down with shaking hands, and it’s there. Wrapped in a white plastic bag, you can see the thick outline of the metal and the blood that’s pooling in the folds and creases of the bag around it. You reach out to peel the plastic back but a hand catches you by the chin, and turns your head to face him: Ronin. Your God. Your devil. 

Ronin’s taken his jacket off, kneeling on one knee as he looks at you with curiosity and stress on his face. Like he’s equally fascinated and worried by your reaction. That is, until he catches sight of your blown pupils and open mouth, watches the way your eyes race across his features, between his brown eyes and soft lips. Darting down to trace the line of his body, your gaze flickers back and forth between his strong arms, the slope of his pecs, and the crease in his trousers hiding the bulge of his cock. You lick your lips, mouth startlingly dry.

Ronin’s face cracks into a wide grin, eyes starting to relight with the fire from his kill, ‘Well hello there, lost little lamb. Are you in need of a Shepherd? Or ‘ve you finally found what you’ve been lookin’ for?’ His gaze lands on the bag and you look at it, mouth dry, and then look at him, like you’re waiting for permission, his permission. Ronin raises his brows at you, delighted grin on his features, tip of his tongue sticking out between his teeth, challenging you. 

You turn back to the bag, are just reaching in it when you feel the heavy weight of your boyfriend settle itself along your back. His head rests in the crook of your neck, content to just watch as his hands stroke lightly up and down the sides of your stomach. 

Your hands are shaking as you reach in the bag, gently peel back the plastic. The bag sticks to itself in the places there's blood pooling. The blood gets on your hands as you unwrap it. It's wet. And cold. Did you want it to be warm? Hot with life? Spurting from a still beating heart in a steady wet, hot pump? You shudder, full bodied and Ronin cackles, delighted by your reaction, beside your ear, leaning in to press a kiss against your cheek as you slide your fingers under the crowbar, feeling the heavy weight of it.

‘You like it, baby? You feel it? You like me?’ One of Ronin’s hands slides down to press against the front of your crotch and you gasp, hips rutting up into the feeling. Ronin inhales sharply, you feel it against your temple. ‘Awh, baby. Darlin’. Fucking knew it. Knew you wanted this since that day in Purgatory, before that, even. Might have been able to hide it from everyone else with your little ‘innocent lamb’ act but I knew you wanted more the second you entered the slaughterhouse and didn’t run screaming for the hills. You’re a sick, sick pervert huh?’ 

Ronin huffs a laugh against your temple and you want to say something, anything to deny it, deny him, but your hips are humping up against his hand in these minute, fricative little pulses you can’t quite control and you’re more turned on than you’ve ever been in your life. You squirm in his arms. Ronin slides his hand down, large fingers pressing firmly against the soaked seat of your underwear, rocking them back and forth gently until his middle finger settles between your folds, presses a delicious friction up against your clit. 

‘Just had to bring it out in you, didn’t I darlin’? You needed the devil to come along and corrupt your sweet little aorta so you wouldn’t have to take the blame, wouldn’t have to admit that you like this. That you want this, almost as much as you want me. Isn’t that right, baby?’ Ronin’s voice is barely a whisper but you hear every word loud and clear. Your face burns and your pussy is throbbing with need. 

You whimper, high pitched in your throat and Ronin shushes you, presses a gentle kiss to your fluttering eyelid. ‘Shhhh, don’t you worry, darlin’. I’ll take all the blame this time. Now, let the devil take you on down to hell.’ Ronin is going to be the death of you. You moan low in your throat and press your cunt harder against his hand, he rubs slow circles over your clit with the top of his palm, presses two fingers firmly over your entrance and rubs them over it. 

Your fingers grasp shut on the thick, cold, hard metal of the crowbar. It’s positively wet with blood. Ronin laughs by your ear again, a high pitched giggle you’ve never heard him make before. It sounds exactly as deranged as his usual cackling laugh. You turn your head to look at him, nose brushing his face you’re so close and he says, ‘watch’ as he slides his hands to cover your own. The one that was down your pants is sticky and wet where it lays over the back of your hand. Your breath stutters at the loss of friction against your pussy. Ronin presses a kiss against the side of your eye.  ‘Patience, baby. Patience. Good things come to those who wait, don’t ‘cha know?’  He laughs again, a light huff of breath ghosting over your eyelashes. You’re not sure if it's directed at you or his own words. You really don’t care. 

Ronin turns one of your hands over. Adjusts your grip so you have one hand wrapped tight around the bottom of the crowbar and the other supporting slightly above it. You feel lightheaded. Ronin’s hands are wrapped tight over yours as he lifts them up, raises them up beside your head, as if you’re going to- as if you could- ‘Ready, darlin’?’ Ronin asks, voice a sickly low drawl. You can feel your clit twitching a steady one-two. Thumping away with your heartbeat in your underwear. You swallow thickly. Ronin tightens his grip over yours, then resettles and rests more of his weight against your back. 

It feels like he’s everywhere. You can’t think. You can only imagine how hard he must be. Cock twitching away in his underwear. You think of him fucking you. You think of fucking him. His face as he moans. You think of the crowbar pressed tight across your throat, the wild grin on Ronins face as he’d watch the light slip from your eyes; if he would stop before it was too late. 

‘I asked you a question darlin’.’ 

You can’t look away from your tight grip on the crowbar. Your hands, wet and sticky with blood, seeping between your fingers and dribbling down over your knuckles. The vivid red colour smudging underneath Ronin’s tight grip over your hands. You don’t think you’re breathing. You nod, minutely, fractured, frantically. Unable or unwilling to make a bigger move lest it wretch your sight from where you need it. 

You feel the tension in your boyfriend's arms as they pull back slightly, the thickness of his muscles as they recoil and, ‘Whoosh! Ha-ha!’, let go. Your arms swing forwards, the motion contained and precise, using only the exact needed strength and precision to knock the now empty backpack straight into the wall. A whimper leaves your throat, high pitched and strangled. The feeling-  when the swing connected, the contraction of Ronin’s muscular arms around you, how powerful the blow had felt. You’re gonna pass out. The jolt of electricity you feel in your clit almost hurts. Your hips rock down, seeking friction that isn’t there.

‘Ronin.’ It comes out gasped, guttural, full of want and need.

‘Yeah. You like it, baby? You like me, huh? In all my grotesque delight?’ Ronin presses his grin to your cheek; you’re sure it would be a kiss if he could stop smiling. ‘Sweet little thing finally realised they’re dating The Butcher? Also known as The Devil Himself, darlin’.’ Ronin’s nosing against your face as he says this, you can feel his wicked smile brushing your cheek as he does. You lean back against him, squirming, trying to rub yourself against him or turn around to see him, but Ronin tightens his grip on your hands, brings your focus back to the crowbar and says, ‘ah-ah-ah, we’re not quite done yet baby. How about… some target practice?’

Ronin lets go of your hands, slides out from behind you and saunters into the kitchen. 

He flashes you a winning smile before slamming open one of the kitchen cupboards with a bang. Ronin watches you for your reaction; always does when he pulls shit like this, but you barely even notice the noise. Hands limp around the crowbar, it rests heavy against your thighs, leaving bloody red smudges on them. Your eyes are fixated instead on Ronin’s broad shoulders. How the blood on his hands is leaving smudges against the white cupboard doors. 

You’re so weak in the knees about it- about him, that when Ronin waves you over to the kitchen counter while setting a series of increasingly ugly mugs against its edge, you forget about the crowbar and stumble as the weight of it pulls you forward. Your knees buckle beneath you, and you land sprawled out on the carpet. You hear Ronin laugh from somewhere above you while you’re still staring at the carpet in shock. You watch as his spiked shoes stride slowly into view. When Ronin bends at the waist and his face swims into your vision, he’s wearing the same twisted version of faux-pity he wears after you’ve white-knuckled it through a horror movie with him.

‘Awh, sweetheart… Somebody’s desperate. You just can’t get enough of me, can you?’ He boops his knuckle against your cheeks and then your nose. Embarrassment floods through you, tinting your face red. You should be affronted. Humiliated. Or maybe some shade of afraid, but it’s hard to be with your sweet, loving, murderous boyfriend leaning over you with an entirely fond look on his face. Eyes alight like you’re what he’s been waiting for since the dawn of time, or, since the birth of Lucifer. Arousal curls hotly around your spine and joins the rutting, swirling mess in your gut. The sticky, wet-hot mess in your panties. The thought swims through your mind that you could come from just this; him standing over you, mocking you so sweetly. Maybe if he put the sole of his boot against your clit then…

‘R-Ronin…’ 

Ronin puts a hand behind his ear, tilts his head towards you in an over-exaggerated pretence of listening, ‘What’s that, sweetheart?’ You swallow, mouth dry.

‘Ronin.’

‘One more time, say my name, darlin’.’ It’s obvious he’s teasing you. Has been since the very start, but then an idea strikes you, and you can’t not.  

‘Butcher.’ Falls from your lips, breathless and Ronin groans. It’s the first time you’ve acknowledged it out loud. He turns his upper body away from you for a second, running his hand through his hair. His beanie falls off and hits the lino behind him with a clatter but neither of you turn to look at it. There’s blood in his hair when he faces you again. Sticking strands of it together as it falls back in his face and the look on it, half-pained, half-giddy, flushed red high on his cheekbones. 

‘What you do to me, darlin’. Flesh ‘n’ bone pretty, I told you.’ It comes out choked, less drawled than usual and your heartbeat skips a wicked step to be having an effect on him too. 

‘Still, we should save that for after. C’mere, upsy daisies.’ Ronin says as he tucks his hands under your armpits and drags you to stand on your wobbly legs. Holy shit your boyfriend is strong. 

You leave the crowbar on the floor. Have no choice but to. You crowd into Ronin’s space as soon as you’re able, put your hands on his neck, his cheeks, follow the action by pressing kisses to the blood left behind by your hands. Ronin laughs the whole time, and he’s beautiful. He puts his hands on your hips and pulls you into him. Catches you in a blinding, tummy fluttering, pussy burning kiss. One hand gripped tight on the back of your neck, the other tugs at the front of your panties until they slip up between your pussy lips. 

‘Roniinnn.’ You whine. He presses wet, hot kisses down your neck like a trail of fire. 

‘What? You don’t like it? I think you look rather… ravishing, like this. Could just devour you like this.’ Ronin tugs on your underwear again and again and it pulls tight around your clit, you moan in stuttering little breaths at the friction. ‘Sounds like you do.’ Ronin groans, kisses open mouthed at your neck. You shake your head, movement restricted by his tight grip on the back of your neck, his lips slide wetly against your skin. Ronin bares his teeth against your neck, not biting, but warning, and you freeze. ‘I think you do~’ Ronin murmurs, singsong. He uses his grip on the back of your neck to make you nod. You’ve never been more turned on and more embarrassed at the same time. 

‘No?’ Ronin pulls away from your neck to look you in the eye. Your face is burning with shame. You shake your head minutely, unable to hold eye contact with him as you lie. ‘Shame.’ Ronin mutters. He nips at your neck with his teeth, if it felt anything other than good you’d think it’s punishment for lying to him. He presses an open mouthed, wet kiss against it after, laves his tongue over it like he’s apologising but you know he’s just enjoying tasting the bruise. 

Ronin then yanks your underwear down your legs in one smooth motion, and pulls away to lead you to the counter with his fingers linked through yours. He pauses briefly, stooping down to pick up the crowbar at your feet. ‘Can’t forget this now can we?’  He waves it at you cheekily. ‘Alright,’ Ronin looks over his shoulder at you, ‘C’mere darlin’, I don’t bite.’ 

That’s a bold faced lie; Ronin does bite, the bastard, but you shuffle up behind him anyways. Wrap your arms around him and attempt to peak over his shoulder but you’re too short. You can just sort of make out his hands as he lines up ugly mug after ugly mug. 

‘Not pugsley!’ You gasp. Pugsley is a truly horrific, yellow, pug-faced, square shaped mug with an inside lip that creates a circle rim. You got it at a yard sale. It’s impossible to drink out of. At some point Ronin superglued googly eyes over the pugs' own to create this truly awful 3D effect. You both delight in serving the other beverages in it at seemingly random moments, hoping to catch the other off guard and startle them into laughter. The rule being that if you laugh then you have to drink out of it. Which is impossible, and usually a hilarious speedrun of how fast one person can spill a drink down themselves. Ronin gets you more than you get him, but the few memorable moments where you caught him off guard enough to succeed are more than worth it.

Ronin laughs, ‘Alright, alright. Not pugsley.’ You’re sure he only put him in the lineup to start with to get a reaction out of you. He puts his fingers on the top of the mug and sends it sliding towards the sink. It falls in with a clatter. You hope it didn’t break. 

Ronin lines up four mugs, one in front, three behind, and places the crowbar down beside them. It sticks briefly to his hands where the blood is starting to dry. You watch his skin peel away from it with your heart in your throat. ‘Now come here.’ Ronin grabs you from behind him and pulls you round in front of him. 

‘What are we doing?’ Your clit still feels heavy and hot and present between your legs and you think that there are other things you’d much rather be doing with your boyfriend at this very second.

‘I told you darlin’. Target practice.’ Ronin waves a hand fluidly as the scene in front of him. Oh. So that’s what he was doing. You consider complaining, putting it off and dragging your boyfriend to bed but if it’s target practice, if he’s teaching you, then surely you’ll get to see him swing his crowbar at least once. That’s not something you can gloss over and pretend you don’t want, because oh boy do you want. Plus, the rewards for playing along with whatever challenge Ronin sets for you that day tend to be on the more generous side, and you really want to see what his sick mind cooks up for you this time. Your pussy will survive this brief pause. 

‘Usually I prefer my targets a little more… alive. But, I’ll make an exception. For you, this once.’ The look Ronin gives you is playful, but you can’t be sure if he means it. There’s as much chance that the next time Ronin lets you touch his crowbar may be as contingent on the idea of you killing someone as it’s not. The thought sends a sick, desperate thrill down your spine. 

Ronin guides you in front of him, hands on your waist, ‘Feet shoulder width apart.’ His voice is a mocking drawl. You do it anyway. ‘Good job baby!’ He’s talking down to you, like you’re a child. It shouldn’t turn you on but it does. You shudder in response.  Ronin wraps his arms around you, over your shoulders. Dances his fingertips down your arms to settle them over your hands. He wraps them around the crowbar, tight and draws both your arms back. 

‘You wanna bend your knees, be about thiiiss far away from your target,’ He measures the distance between you and the counter with his arm, then reapplies his grip over yours. He slides your top hand down towards the bottom, ‘And keep a good, tight grip, just like that, but you don’t wanna grip it too high. You’ll catch your hand in the swing and soften the blow. Can’t crack any skulls when you’re pullin’ your punches now can ya’, darlin’?’ 

Ronin demonstrates the swing trajectory a few times, pulling your hands through the motions to practice. You’re nervous, heart racing like this is the real thing. Your hands dip slightly when Ronin lets go and steps back, the crowbar is heavy and the full weight of it pulls them down slightly. You’re struck once again with awe over how strong Ronin is.

‘Try line up your shot first.’ Ronin’s hand presses against the small of your back when you don’t move. You breathe in slowly through your nose, then exhale through your mouth. You hear Ronin take a few steps back. You line the curved tip of the crowbar up with the mug, practice your shot, once, twice, pull back and then swing. The mug explodes when the crowbar connects with it. You see it in slow motion. The pieces fly everywhere. You stumble as the weight of the crowbar and the momentum of the swing pull you along with it before Ronin’s arms catch you around your waist and keep you from falling. 

You giggle hysterically when the world catches back up to you and you’re held safely in your boyfriend’s arms, crowbar held stiffly and awkwardly out in front of you. Your elbows ache slightly. You lean your head back against Ronin’s shoulder to see his face in all its beauty. His eyes are dark as he looks at you and all you can think is how much you love him. How much you want him. You’re maybe a little high off the thrill. The rush. This is a murder weapon. Your boyfriend’s murder weapon. It’s been used to kill people. Your boyfriend kills people. Your pussy flutters back to life now that the pressure is off. You did good. You feel good. You try rubbing your thighs together to get some friction against your clit. 

‘Good job, baby.’ This one isn’t mocking, it’s entirely sincere and you squirm under the weight of it. Ronin doesn’t give direct compliments easy. He presses a kiss to your temple and laughs loudly, ‘I’ll make a murderer out of you yet.’ It’s something Ronin says to you often, and you usually laugh it off, brushing it under the rug of ‘usual Ronin antics’, but, maybe he’s been serious this whole time. The thought makes you gulp. Your pussy is drooling between your thighs. Leaving sticky wet marks between them.

‘What? You didn’t think I was joking, did’ja?’ Ronin’s eyes are twinkling with delight as he says it and your mouth runs dry. Oh shit. He wasn’t joking. ‘Now, watch me work!’ Ronin steps back from you slowly, making sure you’re not too loopy and dazed to stand on your own before prying the crowbar from your frozen fingers and dancing around you to line up another mug.

‘Step back baby. Don’t want to hit ya’. Least, not yet.’ You laugh at his teasing. For all Ronin’s threats of killing you, you know he’d miss you far too much. Or, miss the prospect of killing you after the rush fades. You think you’re okay with either. As long as it keeps you alive and in his arms.

‘What about my target practice?’ You say, Ronin looks down pointedly at your hands, they’re shaking. The blood that’s transferred from the crowbar is starting to dry and flake off around your fingers. You can’t help but feel a little… disappointed. You tuck them behind your back. Ronin is watching you silently. When you look up he flashes you a cheesy grin and waves his crowbar in a little circle like he’s saying ‘batter up!’ He’s already put all three remaining mugs in a little row on the edge of the counter.

You’re waiting for him to line up his shot when crack. Ronin’s arms shoot out and hit the first mug dead centre and you’re struck by what a vision your boyfriend is. Ceramic shattering to dust in front of him, the long line of his arms held out, wielding his crowbar with finesse and ease like it’s a part of him. An extension. Crack. The wild glee lighting up his face as he pulls his arms back and cackles, head tipping back with the laugh and then forwards again to face his target, the deadly serious look in his eyes as he locks in on the next mug, his hair falling in his eyes, tendrils sticky and wet looking with the drying blood. Crack. Your own bloody handprints littering his face and neck. He looks divine. Saint like. You would kill for him, you realise with a start. You will kill for him. Some day. Maybe soon.

‘’Nin…’ You say. Ronin looks over at you.

‘What is it, baby? Do you need me? Am I making you weak in the knees?’ Ronin reaches out and taps the end of his crowbar against the back of your knee lightly. You stumble slightly and his smile widens slowly. Like a predator circling his prey, Ronin stalks up close to you, breathes himself into your space, tucks a piece of hair behind your ear. ‘Gonna fall head over heels for me again?’ His grin is shit-eating. Your pussy clenches hotly in response.

‘’Nin, I need you.’ Your hands grasp at the front of his shirt, creasing it into tight little folds between your fingers. All the heat and want and desire from before flares back into life in the pit of your stomach. 

‘Need me, need me. Bet’cha wanna please me. Ain’t that right, baby? Am I your God or am I your God?’ 

It should be embarrassing, how fast you drop to your knees. Nuzzle your face into his crotch where you know his cock is hiding. But you’re dizzy with want. Your whole cunt is throbbing so hard you wonder if you could come just like this, simply by getting your mouth on him. Ronin needs to take his pants off now. Before you gnaw through them. You lean down and bite his bare knee, exposed by the hole in his jeans. He jumps a little, steps back to pull his knee out of your reach and swats at your head. You grin and gnash your teeth at him mid air.

‘As sweet as that offer is, darlin’, I had somethin’ a little more… gruesome in mind.’ Ronin grins wickedly at you and offers you his hand. You let him pull you to your feet, twist you into a bruising kiss before he lets you go. You watch as Ronin walks over to the backpack, and pulls out the plastic bag the crowbar was wrapped in. There’s a pool of blood at the bottom of it. Ronin grins wickedly at you before motioning you over with a beckoning finger. ‘Kneel.’ He says and you do. Situate yourself at his feet and wait with bated breath to see what he does next.

You’re not expecting it when he takes the bag and tips the remaining blood inside onto the crowbar before picking it up. Your breath catches in your throat. You wonder if that’s how it looks when he's using it. Ronin smiles, pleased at the look on your face. ‘Y’see, I was wondering, just how badly do you want this, baby? How badly do you want me? How far are you willing to go?’ 

Ronin crouches in front of you, holding the crowbar out in front of him. He lines the end of it up with your head like he’s going to hit you, pulls it back a little and you tense.  You don’t think he would, but with Ronin, you never truly know. ‘Nah.’ He chuckles, stands back up and taps the crowbar on one of your shoulders, then the other, then he ever so lightly bumps it against your forehead. ‘Here I knight thee, Pretty and Rotten and Mine, forevermore.’ Ronin swipes his thumb along the side of the crowbar, leans forwards and you feel him swipe a cross onto your forehead. ‘Forevermore and always, darlin’.’ Before he leans in and licks it off. Ronin crouches back down.

‘So, as I was saying, just how badly do you want this, baby? You want the devil so badly that you’d kiss his instrument of bloody delight?’ Ronin proffers it to you, palms up. He’s watching you with calculating eyes, like he’s seeing just how far he can push you before you break, but there’s also an intense joy in them, like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. Ronin’s lips are pursed to the side, an eyebrow quirked in question. 

You want to rub your pussy on his face, against his nose, his mouth, his tongue. Your hips rock down against nothing at the thought, a quick motion but you know Ronin catches it as his eyes dip down to look at your bare cunt, hidden out of sight by his oversized t-shirt and a smirk curls around the edges of his mouth. 

Instead of responding to his question, you lean in and lick a slow stripe along the crowbar. The copper-y metallic taste of blood, a stranger’s blood, fills your mouth and your heartbeat thunders as you swallow. They’re dead now. Made into mince meat at your boyfriend's hands. You lean in and press a chaste kiss against the cold metal, and then against Ronin’s fingers curved over the bar.

‘Ha-ha! I didn’t think you’d actually do it!’ Ronin crows with laughter. ‘So what d’ya think, darlin’? How does death taste? Pretty fuckin’ great right?’ 

You’re honestly not sure, you could go without it, but it wasn’t terrible like you expected. You actually quite like the taste of metal, so you’ve always though the taste of blood is kind of nice, but if Ronin wants to know that he’s going to have to work for it. You lick your lips and screw your nose up in distaste. 

‘Not for you, huh darlin’? Awh, poor baby. So naive, so deluded.You really think you can lie to the devil? …I’ll let it go, this time. I have something much worse in mind anyway. Put your legs apart for me, darlin’. That’s right, there we go. Now put your hands behind your back.’ You do as he says. Ronin reaches over and holds the edge of your shirt up to your face, ‘ say ‘ah~’, then he tucks it in your mouth so you’re bare from the chest down, exposed. You watch as his gaze trails up and down your naked form, you can’t keep your hips still, they twitch back and forth in time with the soft pulsing in your clit. 

Ronin grins sharply,  ‘Perfect.’ He says, then he takes the crowbar and holds it upside down, turns the sharp edge of it away from you and slots the curved part up against your cunt. You gasp around your shirt, and the look on Ronin’s face is heady. You knew he was getting off on this, but it’s different to see it. His eyes are half-lidded, gaze dark, mouth open in with a smirk, tongue peeking out as he watches the shock register on your face. You can’t believe he would do something so, so disrespectful. Something so fucking hot you can’t help but buck your hips against the crowbar, grinding your clit into the cold bite of the metal. It’s wet, and you know it's the blood mixing with the slick from your cunt. 

Part of you feels sick. The other knows you’re going to cum harder than you ever have in your life to the thought of your boyfriend, Ronin, The Devilish Butcher, the Devil Himself, using this very crowbar to split some poor suckers ribcage open, to break their knees, to crack their skull. You whine and rock your hips back and forth against the crowbar, rut your clit against it desperately. Your whole pussy pulses red-hot, pleasure licking across it sending shudders through you while you get off on thinking about how dangerous Ronin is.

Ronin is watching you with an intense look on his face, like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. Your head tips backwards in ecstasy and his hand comes round to support it, tilts it up so that he can see your face. ‘I want to see the look in your eyes when you come from this, darlin’.’ Oh fuck. You struggle to keep your eyes open as the pleasure twists itself into an electric whine, burning fire across your cunt and sending fricative little jolts through your legs and up your spine. You can feel the curved edge of the crowbar pressing up deliciously against your entrance and you whine, wishing the end of it wasn’t sharp so that Ronin could fuck you with it. 

Your hips stutter down, drag your clit against the wet, bloody metal, feel yourself twitch and pulse with delight at how utterly grotesque the action feels. Ronin bites his lip and you think he sees it before you feel it and it vaguely occurs to you to be worried, before your climax washes over you in a thundering wave and you start to twitch. ‘Oh, fuck.’  Slips out your mouth before you can stop it, then devolves into a rasping, guttural moan. You feel a glittering, fuzzy numb feeling grasp the edge of your vision and your toes and shoulders as your hips rock, your clit tenses, then jolts and pulses with the rhythm of your release. You twitch your way through it until your vision dips into black around the edges, and dimly you recognise that you’re passing out just before you do.

When you come to, you’re laid panting in Ronin’s lap, one of his arms supporting your shoulders while the other brushes sweaty hair off your face. ‘Did ‘cha see the light, darlin’?’ Ronin’s smirk is cheeky, self satisfied, and you swat a limp hand at his face in mock outrage. You’re far too spent to actually consider making a real attempt at a comeback. Ronin crows, delighted at this, dodging your slow hand with ease before dipping his head down again to grin at you. ‘I take it that means you did. How were the pearly gates? Closed?’ For all his showboating he slows and kisses you softly, presses his forehead to yours and mutters, ‘Did God tell you you spent way too long dancing with the devil to be let in?’

‘Nooo.’ You grumble, slide your face away from the heavy weight of Ronin’s gaze, turn yourself sideways to hide your expression against Ronin’s stomach and wrap your arms around his middle, ‘He invited m’ in. Told him to fuck off and send me back to hell b’cause that’s where you are.’

There’s a beat of silence before Ronin laughs again, disbelieving and delighted. You feel it rumble in his chest before he pulls you up to sit in his lap properly. ‘Well aren’t you the sweetest?’ You can feel his grin as he presses his lips to your forehead. Your limbs are all loose and you feel euphoric. Giddy and content and happy to be in Ronin’s arms. He rocks you slightly and you laugh, head tipping back as Ronin kisses down your neck, scrapes his teeth against your throat. You shudder away from the stimulation and remember that while you may be satisfied, Ronin has been waiting patiently all this time and you want to make him feel as good as he made you.

‘Ronin.’ 

‘Mhm,’ you know he’s not really listening by the way he’s leaving little open mouthed kisses along your jaw.

‘Ronin.’ 

‘Yeah, baby?’ He breathes before pressing a sucking kiss at the skin just underneath your ear. 

‘Ronin!’ You snap.

‘What?’ Ronin pulls back, hair dishevelled, mouth bitten red with confusion in his eyes.

You smile at him cheesily. ‘I want you to fuck me.’ 

Ronin groans, ‘Yeah, baby? Shall I go get the strap? You want The Butcher to fuck you? You want to get to know me, your god, biblically?’ He’s leaning down to kiss at your neck again when you stop him with a hand on his shoulder. 

‘No, ‘Nin.’ You breath, ‘I want you to fuck me. I think I’m loose enough, and I think you’ve grown since we last tried.’ 

You can’t keep the grin off your face at how Ronin freezes, his pupils blown wide with lust. He wets his lips, ‘You want me to…?’

‘Yeah.’ You lean in and kiss him. Ronin doesn’t react for a second but then he’s pulling you against him, bruising, sliding his lips over yours and licking his way into your mouth like he wants to suck the air from your lungs. He pulls your legs over his own to sit between them. You feel his hips rock up under your own, the fabric of his trousers brushes over your wet cunt and you jerk away from the sensation, being too much too soon. 

‘I wish I could fuck you like this.’ Ronin grumbles against your lips.

You pull back and murmur, ‘You can fuck me another way.’ Press your forehead against his own and watch his eyes slide shut in an uncharacteristic moment of weakness. Ronin breathes out heavily and nods. 

‘Hey!’ You say, and shove him backwards while his eyes are still shut. They fly open in shock and you hold your breath, but then Ronin laughs, leans back on his elbows and appraises you with delight. 

‘Little lamb’s got teeth. How cruel, baby. What’s next? You gonna cut out my heart too? Press my still beating atrium against that dirty little cunt of yours that likes blood so much?’ 

‘Not my fault you were looking all depressed about getting to fuck me.’ You crawl over and sit on his legs, reach for his fly, undo it, and start tugging down his trousers. You glance up at Ronin’s face, lean up and kiss the wary look off it. You’re not sure what it means and that worries you. Ronin is usually a really easy read, once you’ve gotten past all his sarcasm and teasing and esotericism (which is ironic considering his opinion on esotericism is ‘hard knock’). You lean over and kiss him again, a simple peck this time. ‘I really think we’ll get it this time; I’ve been on reddit.’ You say cheekily.

‘And what wisdom did the Glorious Platform of Reddit have to share?’ It’s dripping in sarcasm and you have to resist rolling your eyes.

‘Just some helpful hints, and a position we haven’t tried before.’ You start tugging his trousers down, ‘hips up, baby.’ Ronin’s hips rock up before he lifts them deliberately; he has always liked when you use his own pet names on him. You shuffle down trying to pull Ronin’s trousers the rest of the way off, they get caught around his knees. 

‘You know it still might not work, right?’ Oh. So that’s how he’s feeling.

‘Yeah, I know. But we can still try; we got real close last time. Jesus, Ronin, how long are your legs?’ Ronin’s trousers turned inside out as you tugged them down, so you have to bundle them up to finally yank them off his feet.

‘Yeah and I was too small.’ He’s being petulant. Not even making his usual joke of, ‘no, just me,’ at your ‘Jesus’. Arms crossed, laying flopped back on the floor like he doesn’t care, what a big baby. You chuck Ronin’s bundled up trousers at him. They hit his face with a ‘flap!’ and he sits up, outraged. 

‘Stop being a baby. That’s my job.’ You say. You lean up and put your hands on his thighs, rub them back and forth soothingly. ‘I thought you’d want this. That’s why I suggested it, but we don’t have to; we can do something different.’

Ronin smooths a hand over his face, ‘No, I want to. I really, really want to. I’m just worried it won’t work, and that I’ll end up feeling less than.’

‘You will never be less than to me. No matter what, Ronin. Okay?’

‘Damn, darlin’, didn’t know you liked me that much.’ He’s smiling cheekily, but you know it’s genuine in the way it plays around the edge of his mouth and crinkling his eyes as he looks up at you.

‘Yes you did, asshole.’

‘Yeah, I did.’

‘Now, you want me to suck your dick first or what?’

Ronin chokes on a laugh, ‘Forgot how much of a romantic you are there. You not gonna wine and dine me first, darlin’? Rile me up until I’m cryin’, beggin’ for it? Oh wait, that was you.’

‘Asshole. I’m asking if I can dine you right now.’

Ronin giggles. ‘Touche. But nah, you don’t need ta’.’ Ronin sits up on his elbows and shoves his boxers down over his hips aggressively. ‘I’ve been rock hard ever since you looked at my crowbar like it was something you wanted inside you, baby. Since you finally showed me some of your rot.’ He kicks his boxers off and they go flying but you don’t see where, you’re too busy focused on the wet mess of pubic hair sticking out from between your boyfriend’s legs.

Ronin parts his legs to let you see what’s between them, the rough black hair covering his public mound, the dark skin around the swollen red lips of his cunt, a thick sheen of slick leaking out from between them. His cock is sticking out from his folds, dark red and twitching against the chill of the open air. Fuck. He’s so hard.

Ronin sucks in a breath and slides a hand down his front, parts his fingers in a ‘v’ shape around the top of his cock and presses down to pull his foreskin back with a hiss. Your mouth waters and you can't resist. You lean down and spit on his cock, letting it run out of your mouth and down your tongue slowly while looking up at Ronin. Ronin moans, and his hips hump into the air towards the wet heat of your mouth, you watch the spit run down over the head of his cock and then down between his folds so you chase it with your tongue. Press between his folds and lick up under his cock and over the head of it. Ronin moans, his hand sliding down to cover the back of your head. 

You seal your lips over his shaft with your tongue under it and push your head forwards, sucking gently. You can feel his cock pulse rhythmically against your tongue. You’re expecting him to push your head down but Ronin cards his hands through your hair and pulls you up. You look at him, mouth still hanging open, confused as he pants roughly, ‘You’re the one who said ya’ wanted me fuck ya’, darlin’.’

Oh shit. Yeah. You do. You nod rapidly, scramble to your feet and look at your boyfriend; he’s a vision on the floor; bloody hand prints on his neck, red hair disheveled, wet looking and pushed back, the light smattering of hair covering his thighs, his t-shirt rucked up around his stomach, his happy trail leading down to his hard cock sticking out proudly and his shiny wet cunt underneath it leaking between his legs. ‘You coming?’ You ask as you hold out a hand. 

Ronin grabs it and hauls himself to his feet. He leans over and grabs the crowbar off the floor, then puts his arm over your shoulders and starts walking you to his bedroom, ‘that’s the plan, sweetheart.’ You snort out a laugh at his bad joke. 

Ronin steers you into the room, drops the crowbar beside the bed, and just when you’re about to turn and kiss him, he drops his arm and shoves you, full bodied, onto the bed. You shriek in shock. You hear Ronin laughing uproariously behind you before you hear the fast padding of his feet as he launches himself towards you. ‘Wait, Ronin, no!’ You bring your arms up in defense but it's too late, and your boyfriend lands on you with a crushing blow. It doesn’t hurt anything other than your pride but you still don’t appreciate being sneak attacked and squished like this. 

‘Get! Off! Me!’ You smack him (gently) over the shoulders and on his side and his butt and anywhere you can reach. ‘Awh, I thought you liked me.’  Ronin’s face pops into view, flushed with excitement at getting revenge for your earlier antics. He leans his head on his hands and puts on an exaggerated pout, ‘what? Don't ‘cha like me, darlin’?’ 

‘Not anymore I don’t.’ You say. You see Ronin’s eyes narrow in disbelief as a wicked smirk overtakes his features.

‘Is that so?’ 

‘Yep.’ You pop the ‘p’, turning your face away from him in protest. 

Ronin starts laying wet kisses against your throat, talking in an over-exaggerated, fake, throaty moan, ‘So you don’t want me to try and bully my red-hot, throbbing, monster cock into your teeny tiny pussy?’ He’s clearly mocking you from his overzealous tone and you hate that it works. You’re mortified that he can fake arousal in such a kitsch and satirical way and it still makes you shiver and squirm to hear it. Ronin laughs against your throat. ‘Yeah, baby? You like that? Should I start using more cheesy porn lines during sex? Will that get you off?’

‘Shut up, Ronin. You know it’s you I like.’

Ronin noses under your jaw and whispers in your ear. ‘Fuck, really? Never noticed.’ He cackles it proudly against your cheek and presses a loud smooch against the side of your face. God fucking damn it. Always has to fucking win this man. Like it’s wired into his bone structure. ‘I knew it~.’ 

Ronin starts pressing wet, warm kisses under your ear again and you let out a satisfied sigh. You could stay here all day, you think, when Ronin shifts over you, lines your hips up with his, starts rutting forwards again and you feel his bare cock drag wet over your clit. The friction is a delicious bite of a sting against your spent clit, making your hips stutter away from and back into the movement. You can feel it when Ronin’s cock twitches hotly against your clit and the feeling makes you whine; you love rubbing your clit on his cock.

You rock your hips up to meet Ronin’s; his breath puffs against your temple in hot bursts and you can hear him moaning low in his throat on the downward drag of his hips. You don’t want to stop him but then you think of how ecstatic you would both feel if you could get him to actually fuck you; you don’t try this very often as it sets off his dysphoria if it doesn’t work but you know it’s one of Ronin’s biggest fantasies- to be able to fuck you himself. 

‘Ronin. Ronin, come on. Fuck me.’

‘So impatient all the time.’ Ronin murmurs, nosing along the edge of your face before pulling back to look you in the eyes. He has the same dopey, lovesick look in his eyes that he did that day you met him in Purgatory- not that he’d ever admit that’s what it was. He thumbs over your lip before leaning in to kiss you again softly. ‘But when you ask so nicely how can I resist? …So, how do you want to do this?’ The words are whispered against your lips, ‘Since you’re the certified reddit expert ‘n’ all.’ Ronin snickers. You smack him (gently) round the side of his head for the cheek. Ronin smiles at you cheekily, kisses you again. 

You get him to lift himself off you for a minute, his cock peels away wet and sticky from your cunt and you stifle a whine at the loss of burning hot heat, the feeling of him twitching against you as you move together. You hook a hand around your knee and pull one of your legs as far up and out as you can while keeping the other one laid out. You feel your cunt lips peel apart and allow the wet line from your clit to your entrance to kiss the open air. Ronin’s sat back, watching you open mouthed, hazy red high on his cheekbones, his eyes half lidded as he does. 

‘’S that f’ me?’ He asks. You bite your lip and nod. You watch as Ronin exhales slowly, an attempt to keep control, but you don’t want him in control. You want him to take you; like he does when he’s out in Purgatory.

‘Ronin.’ You say. He barely tears his eyes away from your cunt to look at you for a second before he’s staring at it again, leaning towards it like he wants to put his mouth on it but that’s not what you’re doing right now. ‘Ronin.’ He doesn’t even flinch. He mumbles something about ‘such sweet rot’ and your clit twitches under his attention. ‘Butcher.’  You try. Ronin’s eyes snap up to meet yours. ‘Get- get on- straddle my leg, and-’ 

‘Wait.’ Ronin says, and you pause, letting go of your leg for a second as he leans over you. ‘I think we’re forgetting something.’ You’re confused as to what until Ronin reaches across and casually lifts the crowbar from beside the bed with one hand.  You watch the muscles in his arm twist and flex as he handles it. ‘’M not exactly The Butcher without my handy-dandy little friend.’

‘Please never call your crowbar your ‘handy-dandy little friend’ again.’ 

‘What? You don’t like it?’

You cover your face. ‘No, I don’t like it, it's not sexy at all.’

‘Ah, I forgot. You’re a freak who gets off on the fact that their boyfriend is a murderer. A serial killer. The Butcher. You’re a dirty little pervert.’ Ronin’s holding the crowbar in one hand, tapping the end of it against the other, leaning over you, leering. He’s beautiful. You’re about to deny his claims when he says, ‘don’t lie. Not this time darlin’. I know you like it. It’s written all over your face. Can see it when I-’ The crowbar crashes into the pillow just above your head with a ‘thump!’ Ronin moves so fast you don’t see it coming. You gasp and flinch, but your hips kick up as you do, ‘-swing it around a bit.’ Ronin’s smirking at you, self-satisfied. ‘Told you~’ He says. He goes to pick up the crowbar but you stop him, grabbing his wrist. 

‘Leave it there.’ You say. The heavy pressure above your head is a dizzy-making reminder of just how dangerous Ronin is; a heavy reminder of how he didn’t even pause before swinging at you. How strong Ronin has to be, how sure of himself he is to have done that and known he wouldn’t hurt you, or, how reckless he is knowing he could have and doing it anyway. You don’t know which idea turns you on more. You squirm in place, waiting for Ronin to answer you.

‘Sure.’ Ronin says, before he leans down and kisses you gently, ‘Whatever gets you off, you pervert.’ You snort out a laugh. Ronin levels you with a burning stare, eyes dark with want. You feel the hair on the back of your neck raise underneath it and your skin pricks. You wonder if this is how his victims feel when they realise he’s going to kill them. You can’t stop the shudder that rolls through you at the thought. 

‘Leg up, baby.’ Ronin helps you pull your thigh back into your own grip, and then straddles himself across your other leg at an angle, ‘So then I just put it in?’ He sounds a little breathless at just the thought.

‘Uh-huh,’ you’re a bit breathless yourself, trying to keep your hips from twitching up towards the heat of his. Ronin leans over you, wraps your raised leg high on his waist so you can let go of it, braces his hands by your shoulders and slowly lowers his cunt over yours; you feel his cock brush against the swollen lips of your cunt. You whine as you hear him inhale sharply, before his cock slides firmly over your clit, slips down between your lips with a stroke of fire and bumps against the wet suckling grasp of your entrance. You clench against the intrusion and feel Ronin exhale heavily against your face. He grinds his cock down against you and you moan in the back of your throat, hips rocking back and forth into the movement. 

‘C’mon, darlin’, baby,’ Ronin breathes against your temple, ‘You gotta relax, gotta be nice and open f’me f’r this to work.’ He pushes his cock against you harder, it slides wetly over your entrance and down towards your buttcrack. ‘Shit.’ Ronin mutters, looking down. You catch his face with your hand, tangle it in the hair behind his ear and pull him into a bruising kiss.

‘C’mon, butcher. Try again, need it in me, need you in me.’ You murmur against his mouth, let go of his face and grab one of his hands, slide it up behind your head and wrap it around his crowbar, then you wrap your hand over his. Ronin drops his other arm onto the elbow and full body shudders against you. You feel his hips rut against your ass once, twice before he manages to pull them up and slot his cock against your cunt again. 

You can feel his shaft pressed up the length of you, putting pressure against your clit, as the head of his cock brushes your entrance. You breathe out, ‘Wait- wait a sec, can you- what if- pull your foreskin back, baby.’ Ronin nods, lets go of the crowbar to reach down and adjust himself, before putting his hand back on the crowbar. You then reach in between you both and pull the lips of your cunt to the side, out of his way. It works, Ronin’s cock slides down slightly, the head presses against your entrance firmly and you press your hips up into the pressure, breathe in deep and try to relax. 

His cock is pressed fully up against you. You hear Ronin moan and grind his hips against you and your entrance flutters. You want him inside and your body agrees. You can feel your cunt pulse against him and you know Ronin feels it too the way he chokes on a moan and his hips stutter before they come to an abrupt halt. He lets out a choked gasp where his head is tucked against your neck. You’re about to ask what’s wrong, Ronin’s whole body is a tense line above you but then you feel it; the head of his cock sliding slowly in under the pressure of your suckling cunt, rubbing just about an inch inside of you. 

The feeling is erotic. It relights the fire in your belly, the slow burning aching pleasure of pleasing Ronin; having him fit inside you, knowing how much your boyfriend has wanted this. Ronin’s hips start moving back and forth slowly, carefully, like he’s afraid this won’t last or he’ll slip out. You hear him whine, mutter, ‘oh fuck,’ choke out, ‘baby. Darlin’. You feel divine.’ against your neck. You laugh, breathless, feel your cunt pulse around him in agreement and he groans against your neck, slides his head up and kisses wetly against your jaw. ‘Fuckin’ killing me darlin’. That’s my job.’ His voice is laced with venom. Ronin dips his head down to nip at your neck. You yelp, jump slightly at the sharp sting and Ronin groans. 

His cock dislodges with a wet ‘pop’, but Ronin just laughs against your neck, giddy off the high of getting to fuck you himself; safe in the knowledge that he’s managed to do it once so he can do it again. He starts sucking a new bruise on your neck as presses his cock up against your entrance again. ‘You gonna put me out of a job, darlin’? Replace The Butcher with your perfect fuckin’ pussy ‘n’ you’ll kill about the same amount.’ 

You can’t even laugh at his stupid joke, too focused on the hot, heavy pressure of him against your entrance. His cock slides into place easily now that he knows the angle. You moan as you feel him press into you, a burning hot pressure and you can feel every twitch and pulse of his cock as he does. 

Ronin’s head dips forwards, his forehead bumps your own and he grits out, ‘Not- not gonna last, baby.’ You can feel his arms shaking beside your head, his hips pulsing forwards in heavy, slow grinds, pumping his cock into you in a hard rhythm. 

You pant out, ‘wait, hold on jus’ a sec-second, I think I can-’ you slide your hand between you both, down to where Ronin’s pelvis has been brushing over your clit, spiking electric little shocks up your spine. 

Your entire cunt feels molten, the heat of his cock inside you, the pressure of his shaft against you all the way up to your clit. You press your fingers down over the little nub and  start rubbing in little circles. You can feel your clit bumping little kisses against Ronin’s shaft on the down stroke. Ronin shudders as he realises what you’re trying to do, presses his lips against your temple and leaves panting little kisses there until his voice is overtaken by guttural, stuttering moans. You tighten your grip on the crowbar above you, think of Ronin swinging it at your head earlier, picture him doing it to someone else, picture him killing them. 

Your clit twitches hotly against Ronin’s cock, you rock your hips into the heavy motion of his rutting and feel the head of his cock rubbing firmly inside you; your hips and thighs start to shake as you come with a low moan. Ronin chokes against your temple; he’s still in you and you know he can feel every wet, slick pulse of your cunt around him. His hips freeze up before hitching harder against your cunt and you feel his cock contract as he starts to come in you. You whine and press your hips up into the feeling, your orgasm spasms into over-sensitivity with a series of heavy clenches but you wouldn’t cut this short for Ronin under threat of death. You’re not pulling back until he does. 

Ronin presses his forehead to yours. You hear him gasp wetly, feel something drip onto your face, feel his breath spilling in and out rapidly against your cheek as his hips hump against yours in several long presses until he shudders and slumps over you. Ronin lands on you, chest to chest, panting hard. His cock pops out your cunt with a slick, wet noise and you can feel him twitching slightly against your thigh with aftershocks. 

Your hand is numb when you peel your sticky fingers off of Ronin’s and the crowbar. You take care to peel back his fingers too, giving Ronin’s arm back to him and interlacing your finger’s with his against your shoulder. You use your other hand to pet gently at the sweaty hair on the nape of his neck as you both catch your breath. 

Ronin’s the first to break the silence, his voice is a little slurred and entirely giddy as he mumbles, ‘told you I could do it, darlin’.’

There’s a heavy beat of silence before you try smack him (gently) on the shoulder, laughing- but you are limp from your second orgasm in the space of thirty minutes and your hand just sort of glides across his sweaty back of his t-shirt and skids onto the bed with a bump. ‘Told me, told me? Who was it that suggested this in the first place? That’s right, me. You shithead.’ You try to fake outrage but you’re giggly and out of breath. 

Ronin snorts out a laugh and props his wobbly self up on one elbow to look you in the face, ‘Who taught you to be so proud little lamb? Next you’re gonna start blaspheming and fantasising about serial killers, and we can’t have that can we?’ He’s smiling that dopey lovesick grin, and you know he’s teasing you but all you can see are the little shiny wet lines streaking down from the corner of his eyes and you think ‘holy shit, I made him come so hard he cried’. 

You rub a thumb over the corner of his eye gently and Ronin turns his head into the motion before biting at your thumb. He’s like a big cat really. Rubbing himself all over you and biting you for affection. The thought makes you snort a laugh and you say, ‘did you see the light then, darlin’? Who’s cryin’ for it now?’ 

It’s Ronin’s turn to laugh at this and he says, ‘yeah. And I told God all about what a dirty little sinner I’ve been making you into,’ he presses his head into your hand and his eyes are bright as he looks at you and says, ‘so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.’ Ronin bites his lip, leans in and kisses you gently. He then ruins the moment by looking pointedly at the crowbar and then saying, ‘hope you like hell, darlin’, cause heaven isn’t open to you now.’ 

His voice is dark and heavy when he says it, but even if you believed in hell you know for a fact you ‘wouldn’t be found anywhere else, Ronin, because this is where you are.’

‘You’re so sickly sweet. My little saint.’ Ronin’s voice is mocking when he says it, but he kisses your forehead anyway. He’s still wearing that lovesick look when he pulls back and you know that just as you would brave hell for him that he’d brave heaven for you- not that you’ll ever ask him to. You like hell far too much to ever leave, and if the devil just so happens to keep fucking your brains out with the help of his crowbar you don’t think you’ll ever go back.

…

‘Hey, Ronin...’

‘Yeah, baby?’

‘D’you think you could take the sharp end off your crowbar in the shop?’

‘Why would I want to-’ Ronin cuts himself off with a startled laugh as he figures out what you’re getting at. ‘I’ll see what I can do baby. You fucking pervert.’

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Playing Pretend (Part 9)

Two fools finally admit how they feel.

Roy Kent x Reader

2.6k words

Warnings: Language, lots of kissing, allusions to smutty things

Series Masterlist

Roy’s heart was hammering when you walked into the reception. It didn’t matter that he’d already seen how gorgeous you looked, or that his lips had been pressed against yours all weekend, or even that he was a professional fucking footballer who’d dated women like Gina Gershwin. You always had this effect on him, even more so now that he was finally ready to tell you he loved you.

His resolve flew out the window when you confidently strolled up to him and took the champagne he held in his hand. “Thought you were going to have something strong waiting for me?” you teased, downing the half-empty glass, the bubbles tickling your tongue.

“That was mine,” he chuckled. “Some server came and shoved it into my hand as soon as I walked in.” He picked up a glass from the table and offered it to you, the condensation dripping over his fingers. “This is yours.”

With a sheepish grin as your apology, you accepted the glass and took a sip. Whiskey. Your usual go-to drink when you were with Roy. The familiar burn had your mind racing, remembering the dream you had last night. God, it was kind of embarrassing. In your dream, you pounced on Roy as soon as you got back to your room from the rehearsal dinner. And he rejected you. And- ugh even worse- he was so damn nice about it. It wouldn’t be the first time you dreamt about him, it wasn’t even the raciest dream by far, but knowing he was in the same bed as you while you dreamt it… and the fact that even in your dreams you didn’t have a chance with him… oof.

But you couldn’t think about that right now. You had to take your seat next to Roy and applaud with everyone else as your sister and her new husband made their grand entrance. Instinctively, Roy reached for your hand, giving it a sympathetic squeeze when Jim laid a particularly deep kiss on your sister’s lips. But, for the first time all weekend, you found that you really didn’t care. Maybe it was having the gorgeous footballer of your dreams doting on you for days now, even if it was just for show, but the stabbing feeling in your chest didn’t appear.

Instead, you turned to Roy and smiled, a real smile, and leaned close. “So, how many dances are you good for tonight?”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Told you, as many as you want.” He connected his lips to yours, a deep, loving kiss, a real one, whether you knew it or not. “I am all yours tonight.”

If only he knew how badly you wished that was true. And if only you knew how true it was.

The two of you chatted with Jen and Paul during dinner, making jokes about the poshness of the weekend, blushing when your older sister began teasing you about your own wedding that she was so sure would be happening soon. Once servers came around to begin clearing plates, Roy joined your favorite brother-in-law at the bar to grab another round so you’d have something stronger than champagne for the toasts.

“God that man loves you,” Jen clucked, poking your nose affectionately.

You blushed and looked down. “Seems like it, huh?”

She nudged you. “I’m serious. That look in his eye is the same one I remember Paul having right before he asked me out for the first time. It’s cute, seeing Roy Kent all domestic and in love.” She kissed your cheek. “Especially with my little sister.”

Before you could figure out what to say, Roy was sitting back down, plopping two drinks down on the table. “Miss me?” he teased, stealing a small kiss, the naturalness of the action making your heart skip a beat.

“Always,” you answered, trying to find that look in his eye that Jen had mentioned. You thought you might have seen something in the way his eyes lingered on yours, that soft smile playing on his lips that you couldn’t believe you got to kiss. A thought you’d never had before crossed your mind: I should tell Roy how I feel.

For the first time in your life, you didn’t feel scared of the inevitable rejection of telling Roy Kent you loved him. Even though you always knew it, this weekend really showed you how much Roy cared about you. You knew that his “no” would be compassionate and full of affection and be said in a way that let you know he loved you, even if it wasn’t the way you wanted. If there was ever a time to tell Roy Kent you loved him, it was tonight.

As the best man took the microphone for the first speech of the night, Roy pulled your chair closer to his, wrapping an arm around your shoulders, nuzzling his nose against your cheek. “Alright,” he whispered in your ear. “Take a drink every time someone says something that makes you want to vomit.”

You chuckled, leaning into his embrace and stoking his cheek with your finger. “Or anytime someone narrowly avoids mentioning that the groom used to date the bride’s sister.”

Roy’s stifled laugh filled your heart. “We’ll be sloshed before the dancing starts.”

You really only half-heard the speeches. Your mind was too preoccupied with Roy- his arm around you, his breath on your cheek, the thought of telling him how you felt, the possible reactions he would have. You did listen enough to exchange knowing looks with Roy over the top of your glasses when the maid of honor- a friend of your sister’s from college- made a comment about “love at first sight” that elicited more than a few raised eyebrows.

“Fucking wanker,” Roy hissed, glaring harshly at Jim.

“Doesn’t matter,” you assured him, kissing his cheek; he immediately softened at the feeling of your lips on his skin. “Shit, sorry,” you giggled, picking up a napkin to wipe away the lipstick mark you left on his scruff.

Roy had to stop himself from telling you to leave it there, loving the idea of being marked by you.

It felt like an eternity before the dancing finally began. While you fully expected Roy to drag his feet and need a bit of prodding to get moving, he surprised you by immediately offering his hand as a bouncy Whitney Houston song urged people to the dance floor.

“Shall we?”

He didn’t need to ask twice. You took his hand and let him lead you to the dance floor, thankful that you had the one partner you knew would never make fun of your lack of rhythm. Roy quickly set you at ease, bringing his body close to yours, moving his shoulders effortlessly, even giving you a flirty twirl or two. Dancing with Roy Kent was the most fun you’d ever had.

After a few fun, fast songs, a slow Adele song filled the air. Roy raised his eyebrows expectantly, taking your shy grin as permission to pull you flush against him, his hands settling low on your back, definitely lower than a friend’s hands should be. You reciprocated by letting your hands linger at the nape of his neck, your fingers brushing against those curls you loved so much.

“How’re you feeling?” Roy asked, his voice thick with concern. “Surviving?”

When the evening shadows and the stars appear

And there is no one there to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love

“More than surviving,” you answered lightly, wanting nothing more than to dive into those eyes that stared at you with affection. “Honestly. I’m actually having a great time with you.”

He nodded. “Good. Good.” His grip tightened on you. “D’you think anyone would notice if we disappeared? Went for a little walk?”

It was as if he could read your mind. “I don’t really care if anyone notices,” you admitted. “Come on.” You reached for one of his hands and tugged him off the dance floor, away from the reception, not stopping until you were in a darker, quieter part of the property, an overgrown garden couples often disappeared to on warm evenings like this one.

“Feels like I’m in a fucking Jane Austen novel,” Roy joked, giving your hand a squeeze.

You snorted, as if you weren’t nervous as all hell. “What do you know about Jane Austen?” you challenged.

Roy smirked. “I know they go for lots of walks in gardens. And that her books always have the best love confessions. I even know that ‘bewitched me body and soul’ wasn’t in the book, although it is a fucking romantic line.”

“Roy Kent,” you huffed, shaking your head. “When will you stop being the perfect man?”

He stopped under the cover of a willow tree, enclosing the two of you in your own private world as he took your other hand, holding both tightly. “You think I’m perfect?”

You realized what you’d just said. “I mean… come on,” you scoffed, trying to play it off. “You’re Roy Kent, aren’t you? Handsome footballer. What girl wouldn’t-”

“But you,” he interrupted, his eyes full of yearning. “You think I’m perfect?” Before you could choke out an answer, he continued. “Because I think you are. I’ve thought it for a long fucking time.”

It was as if the world was both spinning and frozen at the same time. “Roy, what are you saying?”

He kept a firm grip on your hands, his eyes searching yours frantically. “You kissed me. Last night, in our room, you kissed me.”

You froze. It wasn’t a dream.

“And I wanted it so fucking badly,” he continued, letting one of his hands cup your cheek. “But you were so fucking sloshed- and shit, I didn’t know what you really wanted and-”

“Oh, fuck this,” you gasped, grabbing his face and pulling him close, letting your lips crash into his hungrily, not caring if your nails left little crescent marks on his cheeks. If anything, they’d mark him as yours.

He melted into the kiss, his own arms wrapping around your waist to hold you tighter, tight as he could, marveling at the feeling of finally fucking having you for his own. He’d served you your drinks tonight; you were a tad tipsy, sure, and he could absolutely taste the delicious mix of whiskey and champagne and wedding cake on your tongue, but he knew you were sober enough that your kiss was telling him the absolute truth: I want you just as much as you want me.

“I love you,” he mumbled against your lips, refusing to break the kiss for anything short of the apocalypse. “I fucking love you.”

You seemed to agree, because you gasped, “I love you too,” into his mouth, the sensation and words both sending shivers down his spine.

The kiss lasted forever. Or barely a moment. You weren’t sure which. You just knew that when the two of you finally came up for air, there was no mistaking the delight on Roy Kent’s face, the same delight you knew you wore.

“Your lipstick’s a bit fucked,” he teased, the red on his own mouth evidence of his observation.

“I don’t think I care,” you admitted. “It’s a good color on you, anyways.” Deciding he needed a bit more of your lipstick, you pressed another kiss to his lips. “You love me, hmm?”

He nodded. “Loved you for a long fucking time actually. You?”

Despite the fact that you just had Roy’s tongue in your mouth, you were suddenly bashful. “Roy, I have loved you for as long as I can remember.”

He let his hands come up to hold your face, his grip gentle as if he was afraid you would break like a china doll. “There was this one Christmas I came home… you were wearing this little pink dress… and you were so fucking lovely.” He shrugged. “I was a fucking goner. I tried so hard not to love you… because I never thought this would happen. Even with the whole football thing, I never thought you’d see me as anything other than the boy you grew up with, your childhood mate. But fuck, it was torture.” His thumb stroked your cheek. “Never wanted anything in this whole fucking world as much as I wanted you.”

“We’ve wasted a lot of time, haven’t we?” you sighed, pressing your forehead to his. “So much fucking time.”

Roy pressed another kiss to your lips. “Nothing we can’t make up for,” he promised. “And trust me, I plan on making up for every moment we’ve missed.” There was a mischievous sparkle in his eye that set your skin aflame.

With a giggle, you took off the flower crown you wore and placed it carefully on top of his curls. His smile softened, a sweet, lopsided sight you took a mental photo of to hang onto forever. “Looks good on you,” you promised. Anything would look good on that man.

He pulled you back in for another kiss, this time walking you backwards and pressing your back against the willow tree that hid the two of you from the world. One of his hands cupped your face while the other lazily stroked your bare arm, as his mouth slowly explored yours. Your own hands snaked around his shoulders, caressing his neck, trying to memorize the way his hair felt in your gentle grasp. You loved the way he took his time with you, confident and timid all at once, letting out soft groans every time he realized he was kissing you.

“We should head back,” you finally murmured, eyes fluttering as you wondered when his lips had found your neck.

He sighed against your skin. “D’we have to?” The begging whine in his voice had you tightening your grip on his hair, something that had him pressing his body closer against yours.

“Unfortunately,” you giggled, your thumb stroking the material of his shirt. “I’m the sister of the bride and you’re a famous footballer. We’re pretty easy to miss.”

“Fine,” he huffed. Before he let you go, he pressed a particularly languid kiss to your neck, letting his tongue glide over the small bit of skin. The sensation had you shivering. “Cold?” he asked in a smug voice. You could feel his smirk against your skin.

You laughed and shoved him off of you. “Prick,” you teased, intertwining your fingers with his.

“Oi, you better be nice to me,” he warned playfully as the two of you reluctantly started to head back to the party. “Because our first date is either going to be some exclusive five-star restaurant, or a trip to fucking Tesco to buy some mini muffins to eat in the parking lot.”

“As long as you’re there,” you hummed, giving his hand a squeeze, “both sound fine to me.”

He laughed and pressed a kiss to your temple, looking positively dreamy in your flower crown. “Easy to please. I like that.”  He brought you back to the dance floor, pulling you to himself. “I love you,” he repeated, wondering if you’d heard him correctly the first time, because this was all too good to be true.

“I love you too,” you assured him before pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Is it too forward of me to ask how long we have to stay out here?” he purred in your ear. “Because I’d really like to take you back to our room and continue what you started last night.”

Even though you rolled your eyes and gave him a little shove, the blush on your cheeks and sparkle in your eye promised Roy he wouldn’t have to wait long.

[starlightrosess]

˚₊⋆｡°✩₊ /whisper: I love you

summary: You survive another shift at work, witness a thirst trap-induced server meltdown, and meet the guild’s mysterious silent tank—all before the raid even starts.

word count: 2.7K

tags: fluff, modern setting, mmorpg, online friendships, light humor, voice chat banter, slice of life, gen z slang, SMAU!!

notes: lowkey forgot i mentioned that choso and you where matching pfp's so the mc's pfp changes mid convo.. please pretend it doesnt im too lazy to redo it LMAOO

credits: @strangergraphics-archive for dividers

➽ CHAPTER TWO

"Thirst Traps & Tank Buffs"

➤ YOU BARELY REMEMBER FALLING ASLEEP, but you do remember logging off. Saying good night to everyone in the VC before closing discord. The light from your monitor flickering off as you turned your pc off. Everything just had you buzzing with excitement. Being invited to that guild, the raid clear, Gojo's laughter every time you wiped, and Choso never leaving your side. You don't think you've had as much fun playing Sins of Valor as you did tonight.

You carried that high the next morning you woke up.

You did regret staying up way too late last night, but that didn't stop the buzz in your body. You got out of bed way too quickly for someone who hates waking up in the morning. You threw your work uniform on and rushed out the door to your bus stop.

Your phone buzzes with discord notifications, but you don't check them until you get off the bus and inside the café, where you work. You pull out your phone in the break room while you check the messages in the new discord you were invited to.

There was a flood of @'s and replies to his announcement in the general chat. Some names you recognized from the raid last night, while others you didn't. Last Save Point wasn't a huge guild per se, but it did have a decent amount of people in the server. You smiled and sent out a quick thank-you message before tucking your phone into your apron pocket and clocking in for the morning.

"You seem extra giddy this morning. What happened in Sins of Violence last night?" Your coworker Nobara asks.

She started a few months after you and is still in high school, but she honestly carries herself like an adult. Working afternoons and weekends, balancing work and school.. somehow. You're still not sure how she does it. At first, you two didn't talk much, but you had your first real conversation when you were explaining a frustrating raid night to a now ex-coworker who played the game casually. Nobara, who didn't really play any other games besides The Sims and Mario Cart, was obsessed. Listening like it was a drama.

“So you died because your tank refused to take aggro?” she asked, jaw slightly dropped. “Yep,” you said, wiping down the espresso bar. “Instant wipe. Whole raid gone.” “That’s so toxic,” she said, dead serious. “I’d uninstall the whole game.”

From then on, Nobara would always ask about what's going on in your game.

"It's Sins of Valor" You corrected, "and uh, nothing much. Just got invited to a new discord.. and a guild. Cho and I also cleared that raid we've been struggling on, finally."

"Woah, that's huge! You've been mentioning how Cho and you have been looking for one, right?" Nobara replies quickly. You nod your head in reply, grabbing a clean rag and wiping down the tables while you chatted.

"Yeah, it was so cool. They invited us after we completed the raid with them." You explain.

Nobara starts wiping all the cups clean, "Sooo, you have to tell me about them then! Are they weird? Are they hot? Are you the main character in a drama now?" She wiggles her eyebrows at the last part like she already knows the answer.

You chuckle, pushing chairs into place at the front tables before heading behind the counter to help with prepping syrups and drink mixes for the day. "No, nothing like that. If they were weird, I wouldn't have joined."

"So you admit that they're hot?" She fires back immediately.

You laugh again, shaking your head. "I didn't say that either! I don't even know what any of them look like, only their characters."

Nobara lets out a dramatic gasp, "That is peak fan fiction energy."

"It's real life, not a story"

"Says the girl who got recruited into a guild after showing off her cracked gaming skills," She teases with a hip bump.

You shrug, "Okay, maybe it's a little like a story. For you, at least."

Nobara then sets down the cup she is wiping and turns around to fully face you, leaning against the counter like she is ready for some tea to spill, "Alright, Who's in the guild. I want details"

You laugh but give in. "Alright. Full party from the raid. There were eight people, including Cho and I." You start counting on your fingers, trying to recall who was all there. "Okay, first off. Satoruwu aka Gojo. He was the Raid leader. He is a celestial, plays a broken ranged DPS class and pulls aggro before the tank like.. constantly."

"So, basically a walking disaster."

"Exactly"

You raise another another finger, "Then there is Nanam1e—that’s Nanami. Super serious. Zero patience. I genuinely can’t tell if he enjoys the game or if he’s just here out of obligation."

Nobara nods her head excitedly.

"Off-tank is Dokt0rShok0—Shoko. She’s chill. Like... maybe too chill. Every time we took a pause between wipes, I swear I heard her snoring."

“Oh my god. Do you think she’s an actual doctor?”

You shrug. “Honestly? Kinda wouldn’t be surprised.”

"Then there’s Tea4T1me, Utahime. She’s one of the healers. She was super nice—after the raid. But during? She was micromanaging everyone like she was running an elite military unit." You joke.

Nobara lets out a laugh, "I'm sure someone has to step it up."

"Next up is GetLowGeto aka Geto. DPS. Had, like, all the boss guides and drop rates open mid-raid. Knew every mechanic before it happened. Also, constantly giving unsolicited advice—and plays a hot female elf. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t actually a girl until halfway through."

Nobara’s eyes go wide. “I totally forgot people still do that.”

You laugh. “Right? It caught me off guard.”

You pause, trying to figure out how to even begin describing the last member.

"Okay, lastly we have OniBabe69.. aka Toji. I.. I don't even know where to start with him."

"Hot mess?" Nobara asks

You wince. "Worse. His character is hot—like, genuinely—but he’s pretty much shirtless, plays a Demon DPS, and just charges in before anyone says a word. He either top DPS’s or dies immediately. There’s no in-between."

"Oh my god. I’m in love."

You cringe. "Don’t be. He moans into the mic when he crits."

She gasps, instantly horrified. "Jail. Straight to jail."

You both burst out laughing as you return to your morning tasks.

"So yeah," you say, wiping down the counter. "That’s the raid team."

Nobara slides next to you and gently bumps your hip with hers. "You’re really in for something with this crew, huh?"

You smirk. "I already know."

She grins. "You better give me every update. I want drama. Romance. Betrayal. Fashion."

You laugh. "What is this, a fantasy reality show?"

She winks. "Exactly. And you’re the main character."

Near the end of your shift, Nobara looks over at you. The café is dead, just leaving the two of you to finish up your closing tasks. She leans over the counter, watching you mop the floor and stack the chairs up on the tables.

"You know, Yuji and Megumi started playing last week after I told them about your adventures." You blink before looking over at her.

"Seriously?" You respond

"Dead serious. They’re terrible—like, dying-in-the-tutorial-level terrible—but they’re obsessed. Won’t stop talking about it."

You snorted, setting the mop aside. "That’s wild."

"I know! I was actually surprised they wanted to play," she said, hopping off her stool to grab some towels from the back. "They’ve been completely glued to this shooter game lately. Neon Six? Neon Riot? Something with colors and guns."

You knew the game she was talking about. Choso played it occasionally.

"Anyway," she went on, returning with the towels and placing them on the counter for the openers tomorrow, "I told them I’m an honorary party member until I can actually install the game myself."

"Oh?" you raised a brow, amused. "What’s stopping you?"

She gave you an embarrassed look. “Need to order an external hard drive first. My laptop is already screaming every time I open Chrome, so I’m pretty sure SoV would murder it.”

You laughed as you headed behind the counter to grab the keys for the front door. “Don’t worry. I’ll carry you through the starting dungeons and quests.”

Nobara smirked, following you to the front. “You better!"

You both then left, and you locked the doors, ending your shift at the cafe. You gave Nobara a wave and told her to get home safe before making your way to the bus stop. As you waited for the bus you opened discord to check the messages in it.

You let out a laugh as you see Nanami start typing, this was obviously going to start some sort of argument. It all seemed to be in good fun, though. The bus arrived, and you quickly got on, sitting down at your usual spot. It was empty around this time, only a few other people spread out inside it. As you look back down at your phone, you see Nanami has replied.

The chat goes silent while they wait for Toji. Then suddenly his message pops up as a spoiler. You have to click it to see the image, so you of course do.

Yeah, he definantly has abs.

You almost find yourself at a loss for breath as you look over the image. Toji is standing in the bathroom in front of a bathroom mirror, towel slung low on his hips and his phone half covering his face.

His black hair is damp and still sticking to his forehead. There are water droplets all across his skin indicating that he just got out of a shower. His jawline is sharp and dusted with a faint stubble. His eyes are barley visable behind his phone but you can tell they are dark, and his expression is a smug smirk.

And those abs?

He's got the stomach that people die for. Carved, Defined. There is even a scar that runs across his torso and one that peeks out from his hips. His arm is flexed just enough to show definintion but not too much. This man knows what he is doing.

You tried to hold back your laughter on the bus as you read all the messages on your screen. Soon another messaged popped up on your notifications. A smile spread across your lips as you read the username.

You quickly replied, sending him a selfie of yourself on the bus. Then as soon as it sent the stop for your bus arrived and you quickly rushed off of it. It’s been a long time since heading home felt this exciting—probably not since high school. You reached your apartment door and fumbled with the keys for a second before finally swinging it open. Stepping inside, you locked it behind you out of habit, then made a beeline for your room. Your bag hit the bed in one motion as you all but launched yourself into your chair, already reaching to power on your PC.

Logging into SoV was like second nature, your fingers flying across the keyboard as you entered your username and password. Your summoner spawned right where you left her, beside the koi pond at the guild house. Choso was already logged on waiting for you.

His avatar was sitting beside the water, his face lit by the floating lanturns in the cherry blossom tree beside the pond. When you appeared he quickly stood up and walked over to you without saying a word.

Then a trade request popped up.

You accepted it.

You recevied: Foxflame Earrings

Tiny red tassel earrings appeared in your gear inventory. Their color matched your mask perfectly. You grinned behind the screen as you clicked on an emote in game, sending Choso's character a kiss with a heart.

ch0s0 whispered to YOU: thought they matched your outfit You whisper to ch0s0: they're perfect.

Soon you hear your discord blowing up with notifications and you quickly open it to see an @ in the discord server. Everyone is getting ready for another raid it seems.

You quickly slide into VC, expecting everything to be chaos but it was surprisingly...chill.

"Hey" Gojo said, "Look who finally logged in, we were about to send a search party."

You chuckle in reply and roll your eyes, "If anything im early. You said ten mintues.. its been less than two." You tease back. You hear Gojo let out a soft chuckle before hearing the notfication sound of someone sending you a party invite.

satoruwu has invited you to join the party!

You accecpted immediantly. As you look around, you notice Choso is gone from your side in game, probably to prepare the the raid. Your eyes then scan the party and look through who is already here.

★Tank★ cr1tB4by ★Healer★ Tea4T1me ★DPS★ OniBabe69 ★DPS★ satoruwu ★DPS★ YOU

"Soooo... who is cr1tB4by?" You ask, raising a brow. "He wasn't here last night."

"He was supposed to be... but his power cut out right before the raid.. again" Utahime answers with a sigh.

"Again?" you ask

"Yeah. His setup's cursed or something." she adds with a sigh.

Toji chimes in, "I think his router’s just a cursed spirit at this point."

You laugh. "Okay, but seriously. Who is he?"

"No idea." Gojo says. "We don't know his real name. So we just call him Crit."

"We do know some details about him though! Like he is still in high school. He's a mute. Doesn't talk but always joins VC. Muted the entire time." Utahime explains.

"But he types in chat?" you ask

"Only uses macros during fights," she says. "They’re custom, too. Super detailed. Timing’s insane. Honestly? He could probably solo half the mechanics if we all dropped dead."

"He's our go too healer on raid nights, but he does also play tank when Nanami flakes out on us." Gojo adds on.

"Interesting..." You reply.

masterlist || prev. chapter || next chapter

[welikevitamins]

!METALLICA FANS!

so we recently have stumbled upon a fairly new metallica writer here on tumblr, @mustainegf, which is great because people giving the rest of the fandom media to consume and enjoy is always nice, but we have noticed a few things about their writing that just seem.. off

well, to say it simply we suspecting that they might be using AI to either write their fanfiction or help with it, which is highly unethical, since they don't even disclose it anywhere if that's the case.

not to mention how her discord server is full of minors, and she knowingly keeps exposing them to the content she creates on her platform. the fact that she is allowing minors and non minors and people with undisclosed age to make sexual jokes between eachother since the moderation is basically nonexistent is nothing but shameful, they should have a way of checking the age.

here are some things were are the most suspicious about and evidence regarding her use of ai:

~

the first thing is the sheer amount of fanfiction she managed to write since her first post in march of this year. well, after adding up all of the fanfics from each of her master lists for the people she writes for + the chapters of her series, we've concluded that she managed to write roughly 312 fanfictions this year. and sure, while some of those are headcanons and shorter formats, most of her work are full on stories. which seems simply impossible, since even short stories require a bit of a thought behind them. also Elena is supposed to be an adult since she writes NSFW stories, so we assume she has some things in her life that she does outside of writing all the time.

so the second that makes us suspicious about Elena's use of AI are her character ai bots.

its surprising that her, a pretty good writer would write such vague and simple intro messages, one would think she would make them more detailed since she possesses the skill to do so, same with her coding, the bots clearly don't know who they are and are just making up stuff like badly written ai's tend to do.

here's an example.

well, If you know a thing or two about kirk, you know this is simply not true. Kirk was born in 1962, which in 1989 made him 27, he is also not half-African American. mistakes like that could be prevented by simple coding, which is very simple if you put any kind or effort into it, it's basically just using a template and putting in information about the character, along with example messages to make the bot better, which a writer shouldn't struggle with.

here's an example of the short introduction messages she tends to make for her bots, it's quite unusual for someone experienced in writing to something like this. with no backstory or any additional context whatsoever.

moving forward since we already have discussed all of the ai points, we can move on to the situation going on with Elena's discord server.

those conversations are happening between minors, which the fact that they are saying stuff like this in public discord servers is just inappropriate on its own, but this server is also accessible to adults. users upon joining can choose a role of either 18- or 18+, and yes, most people there are minors, but there are also some adults. and the fact that adults and people of undisclosed age can engage in NSFW conversations about grown men with minors, is just highly dangerous and irresponsible, since the adults are free to chat with the minors anytime, they aren't separated in anyway.

moderation isn't exactly doing anything to stop that, since most of them are minors.

to close it out, we think that Elena herself is probably a minor, since she is very secretive about her life, which well, isn't necessarily wrong but it's very weird that we basically only know her name. And being a minor doesn't make the situation on her discord server excusable, she should take responsibility like a grown up if she wants to start grown up things.

to elena: you can either sort this out with us in private or come out and admit to what you're doing.

[floef-likes-minecraft]

Enamoured

Wordcount: 927 Summary: Pearl finds Joel at his base, looking at a somewhat familiar sight.

Pearl had come to Joels base to return the purpur, of course. Well, she wouldn’t just yet because she had to think of a clever way to present it to him first. She had toyed with the idea of building one of his famous skyscrapers out of it, but that would take her days. While she loved that idea, she didn’t think she could finish it before Joel would discover it. She could just cover one of his buildings in it, but that seemed unoriginal as she had already done so with Etho’s unfinished roof.

As she wandered through the base, she found herself drawn to a street with strange lighting. Given how hidden away it was, it should be nearly pitch black here but from the back a bright light flooded in. It was slightly pinkish and blue and almost seemed to move. Pearl stopped for a moment, wondered if it was safe for her to continue and then decided that she was willing to take the risk.

Pearl didn’t find anything dangerous. She didn’t find anything that wanted or could kill her. Instead, she found one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The street turned and leaded onto a bridge suspended high above the city, between two tall buildings. The bright lights came from the biggest billboard known to man, casting light and shadow over the colorful buildings. Because she was standing so close it took her a moment to fully see the moving hologram of a beautiful woman in deep blues and pinks and she looked vaguely familiar. Before Pearl could put her finger on who she was, she noticed Joel, who was standing in the dead center of the bridge, looking up to the billboard much like she was. He looked just as enamored as herself.

Instantly, Pearl had forgotten what she had come here to do. Joel seemed almost sad looking up at the light, high mouth slightly opened and barely blinking. It was as if he’d seen it for the first time, just like Pearl, despite this being his base. Pearl set her feet in motion, walking up to Joel silently.

“Who is she?” she asked in a whisper. Joel flinched and looked to his side. He blinked hard and swallowed before he answered. Pearl swore she noticed a tear in his eye, but she was smart enough not to mention it.

“I – I have no idea,” he said eventually. “I designed this billboard in a bit of a trance, I needed something to go up here. Then… I just created this.”

He gestured at the billboard vaguely and the lights almost seemed to reach out for his hand.

“She’s beautiful,” Pearl said.

“She is,” Joel confirmed and they stood in silence for a couple of moments, just enjoying the lights in front of them. Pearl had known Joel from before he joined this Server, they had been on some more Servers before and they had a lot of mutual friends. Joel was always the abrasive one, the loudest in the group and he didn’t shy away from a prank or comment that went over the line. But Pearl was observant and had always noticed the few dips in that energetic façade. He cared deeply for his friends and creations and there had always been moments where he had struggled with is memory. He played all of that off, however, just to not be perceived as weak or lesser than anybody else. Pearl didn’t know what background Joel came from, but there was no need for him to feel that way.

“Eh, what was it you came for?” Joel eventually asked, tearing his eyes away from the billboard.

“I… I forgot,” Pearl lied. Joel didn’t need to know about her purpur ploy. Not yet, at least. Joel snickered, the confidence that Pearl was used from him flowing back.

“Well, do I know that feeling Pearl,” he joked. “But you can just confess if you’ve gone on to long without seeing my beautiful face.”

“Oh, you wish,” Pearl said and she rolled her eyes. “I would’ve just gone to Bdubs’ and looked at that horrifying sign you made there.”

“It’s an expression of my emotions, thank you very much,” Joel defended himself. Pearl didn’t know what Joel had against horses, but he took every opportunity he could to rub in it Bdubs’ face, who loved the animals. Wars had started over less on this Server, Pearl knew, so she was curious where this would end.

If they even could, because rumors of another, actual war brewing outside this Server had started spreading.

“But, once you’re already here, can I ask you for some advice?” Joel started to walk along the bridge, away from the billboard Pearl didn’t really want to leave behind. “I have a couple of color palette’s I need help with, they just aren’t doing it for me.”

“Sure, I’ll take a look,” Pearl followed Joel, happy to help. Before she turned to corner she looked at the billboard once more. Now she saw the glittering background, which didn’t pop as bright as the hologram of the giant woman herself. It rolled over the screen, depicting a large white tower with a pink roof and several purple and green hot air balloons. It was to specific of a background to just be random. There must be some purpose to it and Pearl felt like she knew what it was. It was on the edge of her mind, but she just couldn’t touch it.

It probably wasn’t important.

Thanks for reading! This is a part of a fic/AU I'm writing which is very much not as peaceful as this. But I know myself by now and I might never actually finish a full story lmao. So, have this, as I'm pretty happy with this.

[f4rtnite]

Bkdk online dating AU Preview!

Midoriya went home, took off his shoes, and greeted his mom. He went straight to his room and on the computer. Discord was already open and now Midoriya could finally relax, talk with his online friends, and forget about the struggles of his daily life.

While online he would mainly talk with his friends and moderate chats. He would always share fun facts about All Might and was constantly showing off his collection. A lot of people would turn to him when they needed to find specific merchandise. He was also an expert at spotting differences between bootlegs and official products.

He gets a notification, “@exsplosive_might111 has joined the server”

Midoriya immediately welcomed the new user and sends them the rules and verification process. Afterwards the new user posts an introduction. The introduction had quickly caught Midoriya’s attention since there weren't that many 13 year old boys like him in the server. This made him super excited and he started up a conversation with him as soon as possible.

@allmight_is_the_goat0715

Hey @ explosive_might111 you're the same age as me, that's so cool :D There’s not that many young ones here :(

@explosive_might111

Omg really? That’s so cool! can I send a friend request??? :3

Shortly after, they immediately start talking about everything All Might. Midoriya was impressed by how much this guy knew. They started talking about limited edition All Might merch. They both challenged each other to see who had the most/rarest merchandise. Midoriya had more by a long shot, but they noticed that they both had the same limited edition holographic all might card.

Allmight_is_the_goat0715

Wow where did you get that card??? :0 I've hardly met anyone who has it :DDD

Explosive_might111

Got it from a vending machine. Weren't they exclusive to only a few cities here???? I got mine in Musutafu :333

Allmight_is_the_goat0715

OMG ME TOO!1!1!1!1 we must live around the same area :DDD

They had stayed up talking all night. Despite it being a school night and the fact that Bakugou usually goes to bed early, they never stopped chatting. Midoriya, or his online nickname Mikumo, had told his new friend all about his life. He mentioned how he gets bullied but did not bring up that he is quirkless.

Bakugou, or nickname Aka (means red) had told “Mikumo” bits and pieces about his daily life. He felt bad for his new friend who was unfortunately getting bullied, but he felt guilty because Bakugou knows that he's a bully himself. They shared many things about themselves with each other. It was 3am before they had finally decided to go to bed.

Midoriya logged off of discord. He didn't expect to chat with the new user for so long, but he's glad that he did. Most of his online friends were much older than him so it was nice to be able to talk to someone his age and be able to relate to them.

Midoriya turned off his computer and put his phone to charge. He was really looking forward to the next day. Perhaps classes will be easier to sit through since now he has his new friend that he can talk to throughout the day. Midoriya just hopes that he's as active as him so they can talk all the time. He also got excited knowing that his new friend Aka could potentially live close to him. It's been so long since he last had a friend in person. His mom told him to never ever meet up with people he's met online, but Midoriya wouldn't mind meeting this guy sometime.

Did you enjoy reading this? Read the full completed fic here! https://archiveofourown.org/works/58319551/chapters/148525768

[leafofkudzu]

Hello and happy endless January! Despite how long this month may have seemed, it is almost over - and that means it's soon time for another art party hosted by my guild, Verdant Shield [VS]! We're taking a little tour of the cozy size of the jungle this time, over at Mabon Market in Caledon!

For those who aren’t familiar with art parties, they’re a concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - in-game get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all types to hang out, chat, and create together! Get your favorite character/look together, head to the location, find someone that catches your eye, and create! Afterwards, everyone posts their creations in a shared tag (ours is #VSArtParty) so others can see, interact, and share! Tl;dr: the ‘goal’ of an art party isn’t to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is under the cut, but will also be posted again via reblogs as the squads go up on the day of the party!

Location Information:

Caledon Forest is a nice easily-accessible map for everyone, and Mabon Market even has its own dedicated waypoint (that is, Mabon Waypoint)! I imagine we'll kind of scatter out across the market and beach, so don't take my exact location in this screenshot too seriously!

Time & Squad Details:

As we always do, we'll be having two parties - one on EU servers and one on NA ones - with an hour break in between. People tend to arrive early and/or jump between accounts as soon as the break comes up, so don't be surprised to see tags and announcements going up ahead of schedule!

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Time (aka 3pm Eastern Standard Time or 4 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting on my EU alt account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Aemryn of Dusk for an invite.

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (aka 1am Central European Time or at in-game reset). I’ll be hosting this one on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Kirslyn for an invite.

Closing Words:

A few days ago some nasty info came to the surface about various GW2 sources being scraped for AI purposes, with tumblr tags specifically being mentioned. Though I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for being discouraged and not wanting to draw at all (even this post was delayed because of it), I think at the end of the day, even if you don't post anything publicly, you still shouldn't deny yourself the company and community of your fellow creatives! If you'd like to make this art party have more of a focus on screenshots, or even just hang out and not draw at all, please feel free - your presence is what makes these parties...well, parties, after all!

If you are still interested in posting your artwork though, please check out Glaze and Nightshade as potential ways to protect yourself (and hurt AI datasets) if you haven't already! And even if you don't do that, make sure to slap signatures/watermarks/etc wherever you can. This may be a disheartening time for us, but it doesn't mean we have to stop doing what we love.

So, whether you're coming to create or just to hang out, I look forward to seeing you all this Saturday. Take care, stay safe, and see you soon! ♥

[connorsnothereeither]

was it hard/weird to go from being a fan to a cast member? And what was your favorite part of each?

I mean,,, in an odd way not really? There was a slight weirdness to it in the beginning, maybe, but outside of a few issues, it was honestly a very easy transition for the most part, and I think it’s because I was friends with the some of the cast before I was a fan? I sort of occupied this weird middle space already while I was in the fandom, almost.

I didn’t really start watching Fable solely from the place of stumbling onto it as a fan. I came into it wanting to watch and support my friends. Most of the cast and I were already in the same circle of friends and creators, or at least closely adjacent ones, when the server launched. Jamie and I had been great friends for a few years at that point, and had connections and friendships with a lot of the cast through my girlfriend and other mutuals before even joining the fandom. So a lot of the time, as much as I was active in the fandom side of things, I was also talking with the cast and my friends about the creator side of things (not to mention being a mod in the discord and in twitch chats), and had more of the cast I kind of knew reach out to me and become better friends because I was in the fandom. So I was sort of already a known presence and mutual when I was invited into the cast server as the VA for Deltavera, and after spending so long in that creative space (at least a few months) as a guest voice actor, not much really changed when I was invited as a player character, other than getting my own character. I was sort of already there in a way, I just… got to also be a cast member for season 3.

In terms of my favourite part of each?

From a fan perspective; I love the support the Fable fandom has for each other. There’s such an excitement and supportive atmosphere to the things everyone creates and the way everyone participates in lore together from the fandom side of things. Whether it’s people spending ours in vc’s puzzling out codes and languages together, or the way so many people came together to theorize, to even just how complimentary the fans are of each other’s work, there is such an aspect of community which is ironically not present in a lot of big fan communities I find.

And from the cast perspective it’s much the same. I love getting to see how people react to things I’ve made. I love people translating Telchin passages, or theorizing about little Ulysses lore drops, or make headcanons for him which I always adore reading. As someone who has wanted to be a writer since I was 5 years old, there is an excitement and happiness I genuinely can’t describe about seeing people react and engage with media I’ve made or had a hand in making, and I genuinely get emotional about it a lot of the time. I love being part of something which has a community in the way it does.

[ash5monster01]

hey i saw that your requests are open and can i request a charlie fic where he realize that all this time his parents blatantly favors his childhood friend (aka a fem!oc) and sister (yes he has a sister in the movie—a super tiny details) and grew to resent them both especially the fem!oc? feel free to ignore if your requests are actually closed or if you feel the idea is way too dark ;;;

p.s.: i love ur new romantics fic so much and we're on the same discord server;)

Turn Back Time

Pairing: Charlie Dalton x OC!FemReader

Warnings: angst, minor depression, emotional abuse, disconnect, mentions of death, personality issues.

Summary: Charlie hated a lot of people in this world but the one he never planned on, was her.

word count: 1.6k

Masterlist

Charlie was used to it. In fact he was used to his parents favoring everyone over him. Friends, Teachers, Aunts, Uncles, hell even Neil. Most of all though was his sister and Iris. The girl next door, only daughter of a successful family that his parents were always trying to keep up with. They always wished he would be more like her, but to him that thought never really occurred. In fact it never even bothered him, especially since he could escape from it all at school. He could be at Welton for months on end with no worry about being the perfect child for once. That is until he was expelled.

Now that he was permanently home he never realized just how long he would be under the criticism of his parents and that it would make it harder and harder not to blame the people they favored more. Everyday it was ‘You should be more like your sister’ or ‘You know Iris is already scouting Ivy Leagues’ and he was beginning to hate it. Nothing he could do would get them to stop and because of all this it had started to put a strain between him and his sister. Worst of all between him and Iris. Iris, the first girl he loved and the only girl he always thought he would. For years all he had ever wanted was her and now when he looked at her, all he could see is an image of something his father wanted him to be. The last thing he ever wanted to do was please his father.

“Hi Charlie” his sister sweetly smiled from her bedroom door. He tried to offer a small smile back but he had just finished mowing the lawn and the sweat that was beaded on his forehead was already beginning to fall.

“Hey Claire” he responded and that’s when she opened her door a touch more to reveal Iris laid upon her bed, magazine pinched between her small fingers as she bounced her leg to the song on the record player.

“Me and Iris are hanging out if you want to join?” Claire offered, clearly excited at the idea of spending time with the brother she never gets to see, but as Charlie looks between them, he struggles to find the desire to spend any time with either of them. If he did his father would just see it as him wasting time. Time he could be using to get back into a good school.

“Thanks but I’m going to take a shower and probably study” he says and neither him or Iris miss the way Claire’s face drops at the denial. Charlie practically begs himself to feel a semblance of guilt but all he sees is a girl his parents would always deem better than him.

“Let us know if you change your mind” Iris says after a beat, sitting up to usher the small girl back inside and leave Charlie to do what he needed.

As soon as the relief of the cool water pounds on Charlie’s back he finds himself stuck in thoughts surrounding the current life he was living. He hadn’t heard from his friends in months, which wasn’t their fault. He had been banned from any phone use, and if he tried to write a letter, his Dad would remove it from the mailbox immediately. He was all alone, he no longer could even enjoy the comfort of his sister. Worst of all he couldn’t enjoy the comfort of Iris. She was once a girl he adored and now he couldn’t even look at her. He couldn’t look at anyone, not even as they all sat and ate dinner that night. All he could do was listen to the praise his parents gave to everyone but him as he pushed his peas around his plate.

Iris watched him from across the table, how he never looked up to meet her eye and she suddenly found herself missing him. She only ever got to see Charlie in the summer but for those short three months every year, he had become important to her. He was different now, he wasn’t as happy or witty. His sarcastic nature had been eliminated completely and worst of all he didn’t look at her with desire anymore and even though Iris had found it annoying before, now she missed it. So later that night, as she sat on her back porch she watched Charlie step out onto his and she decided to say something.

“You’re different” her voice carries out into the night air, startling Charlie as he turned to spot the girl with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, trying to bring himself to admire how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. He knew she did, he just could no longer bring himself to care. He hated that, all these years of loving her and somehow any feeling inside him had died along with Neil.

“It just means that the Charlie I know would never say no to spending time with Claire, let alone me. You won’t even look at me” she argued, a breathy chuckle falling past her lips even though she found nothing about this funny.

“I just-.. I can’t” he says, his excuse weak and coming out in a breath that couldn’t carry. Iris had no sympathy, she no longer understood him.

“I know you went through a hard thing and I know your parents are hard on you, but if you push away everyone who actually does care. Then you’ll have no one” she says with the shake of her head, scoffing into the night air as her eyes scanned the dark back yard. Charlie felt the smallest twinge in his gut but nothing strong enough to make him feel anything.

“Sorta feels like it already” Charlie says and Iris sucks in a sharp breath, not expecting the coldness from her friend. Charlie had a big ego, he was cocky and could be rude, but those were things that made him who he was. Now, he was the shell of something she never understood and her heart broke for the chance they could’ve had.

“We never stopped being on your side” she tells him and Charlie shrugs as he looks up to the night sky. The stars are bright tonight, shining down at him just as he spots orion’s belt.

“My parents already decided you weren’t” and it finally hits Iris exactly why he had been so distant. Something that wasn’t even her choice.

“You know that’s not my fault” she whispers, tears stinging at the back of her eyes. She may have never loved Charlie the way he did her but he was still there. A safety net of someone she always cared about and she always thought that maybe someday they’d have their chance.

“I know, but nothing ever is” he says, mind stuck on all the tragedy he had just endured. How he had tried to express free will only to find out it would backfire on you every time.

“So this is it then? You decide me and Claire are the bad guys and leave us behind forever?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the railing. The distance between the two porches feeling more and more.

“I didn’t want it to be that way” he tells her earnestly and Iris finally feels the tears begin to pool in her eyes as she looked at the brunette boy across from her.

“Will it ever change?” she asks, voice tearful and crushing Charlie’s chest even more and he looks back at the house that holds his parents. Parents he had to live with until they found another school to ship him off to or until college. Parents that will continue to compare him to every person in his life until Charlie wished he was dead. Thing was, Charlie hasn’t entirely lost hope. He had hope that time and distance could change him. Hope could be fleeting but it never meant it wasn’t there.

“I hope so, it’s not like I can turn back time” Charlie says with a pressed smile, knowing just how much he yearned for the ability to go back and change how things had ended up. Change how he felt about her.

“Me too” she says, tears glistening in the porch light as Charlie finally looked at her. Looked at how grown and beautiful she had become.

“You saying I had a chance?” he asks, knowing how many times he had tried to ask her out, tried to make her his own. Just to get denied every time, see the beautiful roll of her eyes and purse of those perfect lips.

“You always did Charlie, I was just waiting until you grew up” she answers honestly and Charlie’s heart clenches, practically begging his brain to stop being so dumb. Two parts of himself torn over what to do when the girl he always loved admitted to wanting him too.

“Don’t count me out just yet, I still have about a year of growing up to do” he tells her and Iris laughs, hands wiping the tears off of her face. Head tipping to the sky and eyeing the big dipper just to make sure no more tears resurfaced.

“Sounds good, we can talk about it in a year and if not then, maybe after college” she agrees and Charlie lightly laughs, a real genuine laugh for the first time since he came home.

“Okay, it’s a deal” he says with a nod and Iris smiles one more time, listening to the cicadas buzz and feeling the cool air around them.

“I miss you” she suddenly whispers and Charlie nods, knowing exactly what she meant.

“I miss me too”